The Evening Blues - 2-16-16
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features jazz singer Jimmy Rushing. Enjoy!
Jimmy Rushing - Going To Chicago
“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.”-- George W. Bush
News and Opinion
BBC Imagines World War III
The documentary film “World War Three: Inside the War Room” was described in advance by the BBC as a “war game” detailing the minute-by-minute deliberations of the country’s highest former defense and security officials facing an evolving crisis involving Russia.
What gave unusual realism and relevance to their participation is that they were speaking their own thoughts, producing their own argumentation, not reading out lines handed to them by television script writers.
The mock crisis to which they were reacting occurs in Latvia as the Kremlin’s intervention on behalf of Russian speakers in the south of this Baltic country develops along lines of events in the Donbas as from summer 2014. When the provincial capital of Daugavpils and more than 20 towns in the surrounding region bordering Russia are taken by pro-Russian separatists, the United States calls upon its NATO allies to deliver an ultimatum to the Russians to pull back their troops within 72 hours or be pushed out by force.
This coalition of the willing only attracts the British. After the deadline passes, the Russians “accidentally” launch a tactical nuclear strike against British and American vessels in the Baltic Sea, destroying two ships with the loss of 1,200 Marines and crew on the British side. Washington then calls for like-for-like nuclear attack on a military installation in Russia, which, as we understand, leads to full nuclear war.
The show was aired on Feb. 3 by BBC Two, meaning it was directed at a domestic audience, not the wider world. However, in the days since its broadcast, it has attracted a great deal of attention outside the United Kingdom, more in fact than within Britain. The Russians, in particular, adopted a posture of indignation, calling the film a provocation.
Making NATO 'nervous': Corbyn opposes UK nuke renewal program
US military burn pits built on chemical weapons facilities tied to soldiers' illness
In 2007, shortly after vice-president Joe Biden learned that his eldest son would be deployed to Iraq, the then-presidential hopeful turned to a modest crowd at the Iowa State Fair and admitted that he didn’t want Beau to go. “But I tell you what,” he said, his family lined up behind him. “I don’t want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years and so how we leave makes a big difference.”
Beau arrived in Iraq the following year, and spent the next several months serving as a Jag officer at Camp Victory, just outside of the Baghdad Airport, and Joint Base Balad, nearly 40 miles north of Baghdad. Though he returned home safely in September 2009, he woke up one day a few months later with an inexplicable headache, numbness in his limbs and paralysis on one side of his body. Beau had suffered a mild stroke. His health deteriorated, and he was diagnosed with brain cancer. Less than two years later, he died at the age of 46.
Though the underlying cause of Beau’s cancer cannot be confirmed, evidence gathered in a new book out Tuesday suggests a possible link between his illness and service. Based on clusters of similar cases, scientific studies and expert opinions, author Joseph Hickman proposes in The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers that US service members in Iraq and Afghanistan confronted more than one unexpected enemy that followed them home. Many soldiers complain of respiratory issues relating to their burn pit exposure. But others likely developed more life-threatening conditions such as cancers, Hickman contends, because of what the burn pits were built on top of: the remnants of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons program.
From the moment the US launched its campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon ordered the use of open-air burn pits to dispose of the wars’ massive volume of waste. The military relied heavily upon these sprawling ditches, which burned around the clock to consume the tens or even hundreds of tons of junk generated daily. By May 2003, according to Hickman, there were more than 250 burn pits at US bases peppered across the two nations.
The Defense Department has long recognized that burn pits pose a substantial danger, especially to the environment. Waste management guidance in 1978, for instance, said that solid waste should not be burned in an open pit if an alternative is available, like incinerators. But the department charged ahead anyway and hired contractors like Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR) to manage the pits. And up until 2009, the military didn’t have comprehensive standards in place governing what could or could not be burned. Centcom and the Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment regarding the standards or lack thereof.
Assad: Syria Ceasefire Not Possible Within a Week
In televised comments, Syrian President Bashar Assad expressed doubt about the chances of a ceasefire getting into place later this week, as scheduled under last week’s Munich deal, saying he doesn’t believe it would be possible to get a full ceasefire together that quickly.
Assad says to him a full ceasefire would also mean halting the movement of weapons among “terrorist” factions, along with those groups, who he defined as all rebels, strengthening their position anywhere in Syria. He said such moves would not be allowed.
Assad also said that the Munich deal left too many questions unanswered, including who is going to hold the rebels to account in complying with the deal, and what is supposed to happen when rebel groups reject the deal and go back on the offensive.
What Turkey & Saudi Arabia Aim to Gain with Possible Ground Invasion in Syria
Turkey Threatens ‘Harshest Response’ as Syrian Kurds Advance on ISIS Territory
After a weekend of artillery strikes against both Kurdish and Syrian military targets, the Turkish government today threatened its “harshest response” yet against the Kurdish YPG if they dare get any closer to the Syria-Turkey border.
The threat comes amid a Kurdish offensive against ISIS, which controls much of the Syrian side of the border in Aleppo Province, and is under growing pressure from several fronts. The YPG seized the town of Tal Rifaat today, just a few miles out of the ISIS territory.
The Kurds blocked the road between Tal Rifaat, held by an Islamist rebel faction, and the border town of Azaz, which Turkey uses to supply various rebel forces with weapons. Reports suggest they took the town with relative ease, as they have other rebel territory in the area.
Turkey ‘Shocked’ by US Putting Them in ‘Same Basket’ as Kurds
The Turkish Foreign Ministry has expressed “shock” at weekend comments by the US State Department urging both Turkish and Kurdish YPG forces to stop fighting and focus on the “common enemy” of ISIS. Turkish officials were galled by the idea that they and the Kurds were in “the same basket.”
Turkey began attacking northern Syria over the weekend, focusing initially on YPG targets but quickly expanding their attacks to also include the Syrian military. Turkish officials warned the US today they don’t intend to seek permission to fight “terrorist organizations” like the YPG.
Syria: newlyweds pose amid the rubble in war-torn Homs, now an inspiration for artists
Obama’s Most Momentous Decision
With the Russian-backed Syrian army encircling Aleppo, cutting off Turkish supplies to rebels and advancing on the Islamic State’s capital of Raqqa, a panicked Saudi Arabia and Turkey have set up a joint headquarters to direct an invasion of Syria that could lead to a vast escalation of the war. And there’s only one man who could stop them: President Barack Obama.
It is probably the most important decision Obama will make in his eight years in office since a Turkish-Saudi invasion risks a direct showdown between Russia and NATO, since Turkey is a member of the alliance.
The U.S. traditionally has held tremendous power over client states like Turkey and Saudi Arabia. So, an order from Washington is usually enough to get such governments to back down. But Ankara and Riyadh are being led by reckless men whose continued existence in power might well depend on stopping a Syrian government victory – helped by Russia, Iran and the Kurds – and a humiliating defeat of the Turkish-Saudi-backed Syrian rebels, who include some radical jihadist groups. ...
For his part, Assad has not ruled out that Turkey and Saudi Arabia will invade. He told the French Press Agency (AFP) on Monday: “Logically, intervention is not possible, but sometimes reality is at odds with logic, particularly when there are irrational people leading a certain state. That’s why I don’t rule that out for a simple reason: Erdogan is a fanatical person with Muslim Brotherhood inclinations. He is living the Ottoman dream…
“He believes that he has an Islamist mission in our region. The same applies to Saudi Arabia. The collapse of the terrorists in Syria is a collapse of their policies. I tell you that this process is surely not going to be easy for them, and we will certainly confront it.” ...
Despite the tough Turkish and Saudi rhetoric, Saudi Arabia at least, has made it clear that it won’t invade without the U.S. leading the way. That puts the ball squarely in the Oval Office where President Obama has resisted committing U.S. combat troops to another war in the Middle East but reportedly wants to avoid further alienating U.S. “allies,” Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Turkmenistan president rewrites constitution to let him rule for life
A commission led by Turkmenistan’s President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has drafted a new constitution that extends the presidential term to seven years from five and removes the upper age limit on candidates for presidency. ...
Turkmenistan’s rubber stamp parliament is expected later this year to pass the new constitution, published by main state newspaper Neutral Turkmenistan on Monday for national discussion.
Berdymukhamedov, 58, is serving his second term as president after securing re-election in 2012. The current constitution imposes no limits on the number of terms he can run for, but sets a ceiling for presidential candidates’ age at 70 years.
His predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov, had ruled as president for life until his death in 2006, becoming the centre of a bizarre personality cult.
Putting John Paulson on AIG’s Board Is an Insult to Every Law-Abiding Citizen
If you are not yet sufficiently repulsed by the billionaire class in New York City riding roughshod over the most basic rules of ethical conduct, consider what just happened at AIG – the too-big-to-fail insurance company that was bailed out by the taxpayer during the 2008 crisis to the eventual tune of a $182 billion commitment, while its Board had the gall to pay multi-million dollar bonuses to its disgraced executives. AIG also used its bailout money to make multi-billion dollar backdoor payments to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks for credit default swap bets they had made, which AIG had insured, on dodgy subprime mortgage products.
AIG’s Board of Directors just appointed hedge fund titan, John Paulson of Paulson & Company, to its Board – despite the fact that he is named in a SEC complaint as a willful participant in the disgraceful Goldman Sachs deal that was designed to rip off investors while financially lining the pockets of Paulson and Goldman Sachs. While Paulson was not charged by the SEC, its complaint made clear he played a key role and profited greatly to the detriment of misled investors.
Adding to the outrage of this AIG Board appointment, not one major newspaper that we could find thought it was relevant to mention Paulson’s past transgressions in reporting on his Board appointment.
European Groups Expose 'Terrifying Extent of Corporate Grab' Within TTIP
Even with global inequality at historic highs and corporate tax evasion in the public spotlight, a new report out Monday shows how a so-called free trade deal between the U.S. and European Union could further threaten tax justice, hampering governments' ability to ensure that critical public services are well funded or to pursue progressive tax practices.
According to the London-based Global Justice Now and the Netherlands-headquartered Transnational Institute, the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) "would massively increase the ability of corporations to sue member states of the EU over measures such as windfall taxes on exceptional profits, or use of taxation as a policy instrument such as a possible 'sugar tax'."
"Despite the enormous public outcry over companies like Google and Amazon paying ridiculously small amounts of tax in the UK, the government is trying to sign us up to a trade deal that could effectively prevent us from bringing about laws that could address tax injustice," said Global Justice Now executive director Nick Dearden on Monday.
"The ability to enact effective and fair tax systems to finance vital public services is one of the defining features of sovereignty," he added. "The fact that multinational companies would be able to challenge and undermine that under TTIP is testament to the terrifying extent of the corporate grab embedded in this toxic trade deal."
How Scalia's death blew up an anti-union group's grand legal strategy
The anti-union lawsuit known as Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Assn. is widely viewed as one of the leading casualties of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's death.
What's less well-known is how the anti-union plaintiffs connived to fast-track the case through the federal judiciary in order to get it before the court while it still harbored a conservative majority. Their method was to encourage the lower courts to rule against them, so they could file a quick appeal. But Scalia's passing is likely to leave a 4-4 deadlock over the case, so the last ruling, in which the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for the teachers union, remains in force. ...
The target of the Friedrichs lawsuit, and several others just like it, is the "agency" or "fair share" fee. Under the law and according to a 1977 Supreme Court decision known as the Abood case, unionized public employees can be assessed nonmember fees to cover solely the cost of negotiations and contract enforcement, without being compelled to join the union and support its political activities by paying full union dues. That's the arrangement in California. ...
Plainly aware that Abood was hanging by a thread, the Center for Individual Rights strived to speed the Friedrichs case through the lower court after it was filed in 2013. It did so by conceding in both federal court in Santa Ana and at the 9th Circuit that both would be bound by the Abood precedent; therefore, it asked both courts to simply rule in the teacher union's favor so it could promptly carry the appeal to the Supreme Court. Both lower courts did so. ...
The implications of Scalia's death for Friedrichs are a bit uncertain. Some experts say the appellate ruling in favor of the union would be effectively affirmed by an evenly divided court. Others believe the court will ask for re-argument of the same case next term, presumably after it gets back up to full nine-member strength by the appointment and confirmation of successor to Scalia. If the Senate sticks to what it says is its determination to not even consider approving a new justice until after a new president is sworn in next January, the delay could keep the Abood challenge at bay at least until late 2017. For now, at least, the unions have won. But only for now.
In Michigan, Sanders Slams Government That Has Money for War, Not for Flint
Speaking at a campaign stop in Michigan on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders said that the embattled community of Flint is the "canary in the coal mine" in a country that has seemingly endless money to spend on wars in the Middle East, but cannot afford to protect its citizens or rebuild its aging infrastructure.
"It is beyond my comprehension that in the year 2016 in the United States of America we are poisoning our children," he told a crowd of more than 9,300 people at Eastern Michigan University after meeting with a number of Flint residents earlier in the day.
"Can you imagine being a mother, seeing your own baby’s, your own child’s intellectual development, deteriorate in front of your very eyes?" he asked the crowd during a mid-afternoon rally. "That is happening all over that city." ...
Sanders contrasted those who question the expense of replacing Flint's damaged pipes and water infrastructure to the "trillions" spent on waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan. "When we went to war in Iraq, the trillions we spent there, not a problem," Sanders said.
Days of Revolt: The Problem
The issue is not Hillary Clinton's Wall St links but her party's core dogmas
In my younger days, the Democratic party seemed always to be grappling with its identity, arguing over who they were and what they stood for all through the 1970s, the 1980s, and into the 1990s. What Democrats had to turn away from, reformers of all stripes said in those days, was the supposedly obsolete legacy of the New Deal, with its fixation on working-class people. What had to be embraced, the party’s reformers agreed, was the emerging post-industrial economy and in particular the winners of this new order: the highly educated professionals who populated its clean and innovative knowledge industries.
The figure that brought triumphant closure to that last internecine war was President Bill Clinton, who installed a new kind of Democratic administration in Washington. Rather than paying homage to the politics of Franklin Roosevelt, Clinton passed trade deals that defied and even injured the labor movement, once his party’s leading constituency; he signed off on a measure that basically ended the federal welfare program; and he performed singular favors for the financial industry, the New Deal’s great nemesis. ...
That Clintonian consensus, which slouches on in the bank bailouts and trade deals of recent years, is what deserves to be on the table in 2016, under the bright lights of public scrutiny at last. As we slide ever deeper into the abyss of inequality, it is beginning to dawn on us that sinking the New Deal consensus wasn’t the best idea after all.
Unfortunately, focusing on the money being mustered behind Hillary Clinton by various lobbyists and Wall Street figures misses this point. The problem with establishment Democrats is not that they have been bribed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the rest; it’s that many years ago they determined to supplant the GOP as the party of Wall Street – and also to bid for the favor the tech industry, and big pharma, and the telecoms, and the affluent professionals who toil in such places. ...
In truth, our affluent, establishment Democrats can no more be budged from their core dogmas – that education is the solution to all problems, that professionals deserve to lead, that the downfall of the working class is the inevitable price we pay for globalization – than creationists can be wooed away from the tenets of “intelligent design”. The dogmas are simply too essential to their identity. Changing what the Democratic party stands for may ultimately require nothing less than what a certain Vermonter is calling a “political revolution”.
SC Poll: 63% of African-American voters back @HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/PEVf5vx5VA
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) February 16, 2016
Clinton Refuses to Pledge Not to Take Fossil Fuel Money
Hillary Clinton has rejected a Greenpeace challenge to pledge not to accept campaign contributions from the coal, oil or natural gas industries. The Greenpeace pledge is here. In part it reads:
I will prove that I work for the people by refusing money from fossil fuel interests...
While her response to Greenpeace affirms the general goals of the pledge, she has refused to take it.
Bill Clinton Leaves For-Profit College Position
Former President Bill Clinton’s role at a for-profit higher education company will end Friday, just as his wife has begun questioning some of the industry’s practices from the campaign trail.
Since 2010, Clinton has been honorary chancellor of Laureate International Universities, part of Laureate Education Inc. the world’s largest chain of for-profit colleges. His departure has nothing to do with the campaign, the company and the former president's office said, telling Bloomberg that he had agreed to a five-year term in the position. ...
The end of the former president's role–which came with an undisclosed paycheck–comes as the Clintons face questions about possible conflicts of interest involving their financial interests, their family foundation and Hillary Clinton's official work at the State Department.
Hillary Clinton has the SAME LOGO as Barry Goldwater
Sanders supporters revolt against superdelegates
Bernie Sanders lost by a hair in Iowa and won by a landslide in New Hampshire. Yet Hillary Clinton has amassed an enormous 350-delegate advantage over the Vermont senator after just two states.
Outraged by that disconnect – which is fueled by Clinton’s huge advantage with Democratic superdelegates, who are not bound by voting results – Sanders supporters are fighting back.
Pro-Sanders threads on Reddit have been burning up with calls for action, with some supporters even reaching out to superdelegates (who are typically Democratic governors, members of Congress, and top state and national party leaders) to lobby them on the Vermont senator’s behalf. Progressive groups are also taking a stand: There are currently two petition campaigns designed to urge superdelegates to reflect the popular vote, rather than the sentiment of party elites.
In one of them, MoveOn.org activists are targeting undecided and committed Hillary Clinton superdelegates with a clear message: wait until all the votes are counted before throwing support behind a candidate. ...
As of Sunday, the petition had 112,107 signatures with a goal of 125,000 signatures. ...
A second petition by three progressive groups asks superdelegates to "announce that in the event of a close race, you’ll align yourself with regular voters - not party elites." That petition, which grew by 10,000 signatures between Friday and Sunday, had 171,010 signatures Sunday, with a stated goal of 175,000.
Utilities Getting Regulatory Support for Screwing Solar Customers
Now that solar power is reaching prime time, the fossil fuel industry is doing all that it can to stop its growth. ...
In 2015, the U.S. saw 16 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity installed, which accounted for two-thirds of the total. Solar alone accounted for about one-third of new capacity last year. Natural gas only captured 25 percent of the newly installed capacity despite several years of incredibly low prices. The banner year for clean energy occurred while 11 gigawatts of coal-fired electricity came offline as old plants were retired amid rising costs and stricter environmental regulation. The clean energy transition is very much underway.
But the backlash from incumbent industries has also sprung to life. With solar and wind suddenly eclipsing fossil fuels as a preferred option for new power plant capacity, utilities and other fossil fuel interests are moving quickly to disrupt the progress of clean energy.
The industry argues that homeowners with solar must pay fees to cover their costs of using the grid. Solar proponents dismiss that argument, pointing to the costs saved by not needing to build new power plants.
However, the threat that solar poses to the utility industry is deeper than customers no longer needing to purchase electricity. Building new power plants and other large infrastructure is at the core of utility industry’s business model. Since those costs can be passed onto the ratepayer in the form of regulated rates, building expensive infrastructure is actually a source of profit. Customers switching to solar ends up hitting the utility’s bottom line twice by no longer buying as much electricity and upended the utility’s case for costly new power plants and transmission lines.
Calling for Ban on Dangerous Gas Storage, Residents Occupy State Regulatory Building
While others demonstrated below, a pair of climate activists in San Francisco on Tuesday scaled the headquarters of the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to protest the regulatory body's failure to adequately address the danger posed by underground natural gas storage facilities in the state.
Highlighted by the nearly four-month leak at the natural gas facility run by SoCalGas company at Aliso Canyon near the town of Porter Ranch, the group of campaigners outside the PUC building—in addition to the two who scaled its front and dropped a large banner above the entrance—say that failure to properly monitor such sites is both a risk to local residents as well as the planet due to the clear climate impacts of gas and oil drilling.
Breaking: Climate activists scale PUC HQ in SF and occupy ledge to protest #porterranchgasleak #keepitintheground pic.twitter.com/zEUB5giiFQ
— Laurel Sutherlin (@LaurelSutherlin) February 16, 2016
Those on the ground held signs reading, "Natural Gas Hurts Communities" and "Stop Climate Change: Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground," while the the larger banner hung from the building said, "Natural Gas Leaks: Shut It All Down" in large black letters.
"It is unconscionable that these regulators are putting people at risk while giving companies a pass," said Kelsey Baker, from Occupy San Francisco Environmental Justice and one of the two people currently occupying the ledge.
The dramatic protest was scheduled to coincide with the arrival of U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in southern California where he is scheduled to tour the Aliso Canyon facility later on Tuesday.
Larvicide, Not Zika Virus, True Cause Of Brazil's Microcephaly Outbreak: Doctors
The microcephaly outbreak in Brazil, which coincided with the spread of the Zika virus, continues to stun the world, even months after the incident was first reported. ...
According to the Physicians in Crop-Sprayed Towns (PCST), a chemical larvicide that produces malformations in mosquitoes was injected into Brazil's water supplies in 2014 in order to stop the development of mosquito larvae in drinking water tanks.
The chemical, which is known as Pyriproxyfen, was used in a massive government-run program tasked to control the mosquito population in the country. Pyriproxyfen is a larvicide manufactured by Sumitomo Chemical, a company associated [PDF] with Monsanto. However, PCST has referred to Sumitomo as a subsidiary of Monsanto. ...
The group of Argentine doctors points out that during past Zika epidemics, there have not been any cases of microcephaly linked with the virus. In fact, about 75 percent of the population in countries where Zika broke out had been infected by the mosquito-borne virus.
In countries such as Colombia where there are plenty of Zika cases, there are no records of microcephaly linked to Zika, the group said. ...
While there is no solid proof yet that the larvicide causes microcephaly, the local government of Grande do Sul in the southern portion of Brazil suspended the use of the chemical larvicide pyriproxyfen.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Why Today’s GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’
It Takes Hillary Clinton to Lead a Global Pillage
The Clintons really don’t get it: False attacks and failed strategies as Hillary repeats 2008
Chris Hedges: Bernie Sanders’ Phantom Movement
Silicon Valley roots for Bloomberg for president
US Shrugs Off Yet Another Report of Cluster Bombs Launched By Saudis In Yemen
A Little Night Music
Jimmy Rushing + Billy Taylor - Boogie Woogie
Jimmy Rushing w/Count Basie - I left my baby
Jimmy Rushing - Fool´s Blues
Jimmy Rushing - Mr. Five by Five
Jimmy Rushing - Harvard Blues
Jimmy Rushing & Count Basie - Don't You Want A Man Like Me?
Count Basie and his Orchestra with Jimmy Rushing - Evenin'
Jimmy Rushing - Some Of These Days
Comments
Good afternoon Joe & c99%-ers.
I am sure our famously free press a.k.a lamestream media pick up the Larvicide angle reg Zika virus coverage. And bet on Biden to talk about deadly chemical exposure in the battlefields.
There are reports about Russia deliberately targeting a MSF hospital in Idlib,Syria. Haven't checked the sources etc.
evening funkygal...
the reports that i saw earlier today sourced the accusations that russia bombed the hospitals to turkey. turkey has somewhat less than zero credibility in these matters as far as i'm concerned.
Yesterday I saw a Reuters report quoting MSF. But the
MSF person didn't pinpoint the source of attacks. So was flabbergasted.
The 1%-er class loves em some Bloomie. Even in 2008, I
remember some 1%-ers called for Bloomie to be anointed King of the USA. Maybe Vanguard's whatever Bogle, or someone of his ilk - said something like "Now we have foreign-born CEOs for Amreekan companies - Vikram Bandit(citi) etc etc. ZOMFG! we are hopeless! I wonder if this country can even run itself any more. But there is
a guy who can make trains run on timea savior and that is Bloomie"."Good" billionaire my ass. WHat next? Clean coal? Atoms for
peace? Oh wait !
It sounds like a Liberal Class framing. I won't be surprised if some Liberal Class members fall for him. Because ZOMFG ! he mentions "climate change" !!!! And also given that Liberal Class embraces pseudo-solutions. Capitalism run amok? Temper it with regulations and "save it from itself". mass surveillance? make it transparent. Drone murders? Make it transparent. Climate crisis? Green Capitalism. State-sponsored terrorism/mass murders? Do it with "allies" (don't go alone that is). So, a "good" billionaire? Bring it on.
they love mayor 1% better than bernie...
that's for sure. i think that it is virtually guaranteed that if hillary goes down in flames, bloomberg will burst on the scene to save the day for his fellow 1%ers.
This is what is making my day today :
A 24-hour Black History Month programming - music, interviews, etc etc. Fittingly, it kicked off with Blues music.
http://kfai.org/news/2016/02/53459
I like the option of listening to it on the radio and not have to be on the Internet . And whatever I miss, I can catch it online for 2 weeks from the archives.
The Chris Hedges article was refreshing
…for me, at least. I have foreseen that political change cannot come from inside the United States. It must and will come from outside. The world will act in concert to neuter this failed and internally gutted empire. Trapped as they are in a propaganda bubble of inverted totalitarianism, the American Colonists have no idea how pitiful they appear after being asset-stripped to fund empire's military industry. But the world can see it clearly. Credit Suisse' annual Global Wealth Databook [PDF] for 2015 confirms it:
Only Kazakhstan, Libya, Russia, and Ukraine have worse wealth (and income) inequality than the United States.
And that brings us back to Chris Hedges and his latest essay on the Bernie Sanders campaign, which joe placed in the "also ran" list at the bottom of Evening Blues: Bernie Sanders’ Phantom Movement. I think Hedges has a realistic view of the current political position of Americans and their hopes for 2016 elections.
To get everyone on the same page, Hedges asks Sander's supporters the following questions:
After the corporate coup d’état of the Federal government and the creation of a pay to play political system, hope is all that is left. Big money controls the media and the national narrative, along with the courts and legislatures, and their armies of lobbyists and think tanks. But people believe they are part of a democracy and they make the effort to vote. What is the thinking here?
To that last, on Hillary, it brings to mind that she paraded two murderous monsters across her campaign stage — Kissenger and Albright — the utter dregs of humanity. And establishment Democrats did not flinch, demonstrating no moral compass at all. This is the Party that must be elected because the Republicans are so horrible? Oh my god.
Hedges returns to the theme of "Revolution" and describes what that means to someone on the Left, such as himself. Is this what you have in mind when you think of political change?
Does revolution mean something different to Bernie Sanders supporters ?
Is this what people demand from Bernie Sanders?
Are these desperately needed changes impossible in America?
According to Hedges:
I don't agree with this last statement. It strikes me as pure fantasy on Hedge's part. Americans will never lift a finger. They are no longer capable of such self-directed action. Besides, the militarized police of the United States [former combat vets] would crush them mercilessly with their weapons of war — once martial law is declared.
This fascist state will end with a whimper, not a bang. And the American Colonists will have the world to thank.
Hey, Pluto! Agree with your incisive analysis,
except for one point. (That is, if I interpret Hedges' sentiments, correctly.)
I 'think' that when Hedges says,
he's basically reiterating his previously stated view that,
IOW, he's not imagining, or even suggesting, that Americans would/should rise up in armed insurrection against the PtB.
His emphasizes (I think) is that 'reforming' the Dem Party "from within" ain't gonna happen. And, that it will require direct action--peaceful civil disobedience by great masses of Americans--if there is any hope of effecting change in, or reform of, our corporatist neoliberal government.
I know that it's difficult to imagine most folks getting off their couches to participate in anything that drastic, but I think that Hedges believes that it will eventually come to that, or we're doomed, since, as he points out,
Joe, I'm up to my eye brows in personal family and medical matters right now, but wanted to say 'much thanks' for the excellent 'news and blues' that you faithfully provide us. Even though for a while I can't always comment, I read EB every day, and appreciate all the information that you provide us. (Especially helpful to me now that circumstances are limiting my blogging, and my ability to ferret out the latest news.)
Hey, hope to drop back in a bit with a happy and a sad news story, both of which came down on my cell phone news feed recently.
Have a good one!
Mollie
elinkarlsson@WordPress
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.--Will Rogers
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
I believe he's calling for others to get out there and fight!
Hedges believes in revolution. He forgot to tell us how that can happen. For all his negativity about the Democratic Party (probably true) he doesn't ask whether his revolution can happen. He doesn't look at it and conclude that it's hopeless....which it is. This ruling class is protected by firepower that the citizens can't match.
If, on the other hand, millions took to the streets in peaceful protest...oh ....that might have already happened...ok, if tens of millions took to the streets...then what? If we had tens of millions of people willing to protest in public I'd say we'd have a hundred million willing to vote in private.
I hope I'm being clear in what I'm saying. It is more likely, I believe, to have enough people voting to change things than it is to have enough people in the streets in some situation where the powers that be go "oh, we better run for it". Every single person who would be in the streets would vote for something better (if they actually count the votes).
One more way of expressing this: Obama won the last couple of elections with more than 60 million but less than 70 million votes. You figure the winner in 2016 will be in that range. If we had 60 million people out protesting it would not be enough. It would make the news but it would be scoffed at as "20% of the population".
and if it were not peaceful it would be even more doomed than Sanders' run for the Presidency....or anyone else's who might be better than Bernie.
I think that is why they slowly militarized the police
The ruling class knew one day people would get fed up with the corruption of the government and rise up.
But as mentioned in another comment, getting people off their couches is not going to happen. Too many people believe that the people they vote for have their best interests in mind. And if people eventually do rise up they will be put down as easily as OWS was.
And they have divided this country with the social interests while continuing global hegemony.
Most of the people still believe that the troops are fighting for our freedoms when they haven't done that since they fought the British.
Every so called war has been for the corporations to steal other country's resources using our troops and tax dollars. Then they sale the products back to us.
Smedley Butler told us that back in the 30's yet no one listened to him.
Eisenhower may have warned us about the MICC, but not until after he helped create it.
And while Bernie might be able to change some of the income inequality, I don't think any president can stop the global hegemony that the U.S. has been involved in since the Monroe doctrine was signed.
The CIA doesn't answer to anyone and as was pointed out last night, they are funded by the Saudis. I bet Israel is helping too, since they are the ones benefiting from the wars in the Middle East. Soon there won't be any country left to threaten their hegemony of the Middle East.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
evening shahryar...
i would imagine that 60-70 million people up and marching would be enough. numbers of people that large acting in concert could be damned hard to ignore.
Points well taken, Shah. My 'guess' is
that Hedges believes that this is the only remedy because he doesn't believe that the Dem Party Establishment would ever 'allow' Senator Sanders to win--no matter what.
I've heard this same sentiment many times, come out of the mouths of MSM reporters on satellite radio (XM). MSNBC's Mark Murray, and 'The Hill' Editor, Bob Cusack, literally stated this on XM. Their words,
And Murray then went on to say that the WH Press Secretary (Josh Earnest) is always very careful to put on the record that, should the President wish, "he reserves the right to endorse a Dem Party candidate before the primary process plays out."
I took that as stating that 'O' would actually jump in the primary process to get his coalition behind FSC if it's necessary. And, I believe that he might have the power to sway the AA Community, if he really tries.
OTOH, if 'O' stays out of the primary, I believe that Bernie has an excellent chance of garnering much of the minority vote, as I believe we're already seeing.
IOW, in a 'fair' contest, I believe that Bernie could win the nomination.
The question is--"Will the Establishment Dems, including the sitting President, allow for this?" Dunno. But I wouldn't bet the farm on it. I'm not sure that I believe that we actually have a democratic (voting) process, anymore. And, I'm not sure that I know what those folks would stop at, in order to prevent a Sanders presidency. On satellite radio, MSM reporters 'make no bones about it'--a Trump or a Sanders Presidency would not be tolerated by the PtB.
Hey, I hope that the reporters--and, in turn, Hedges--are wrong on this issue.
IMO, if Bernie does as well as is expected in Nevada (even if he loses, but it's close), I think we'll have an answer pretty soon. The PtB have to know that if FSC wins only 1 (South Carolina) of the first 4 primaries/caucuses, without some quick action to slow down Bernie's momentum, her chances at taking the Dem Party nomination are greatly diminished.
So, I figure we'll see something (not sure what) pretty drastic come about relatively soon, if Bernie has a good night in Nevada.
And to be clear, I hope he does (have a good night).
I'm not stating what I 'hope' happens. It's just my opinion of what I believe will 'likely' happen. (OTOH, every day that 'O' doesn't make a formal endorsement, I am increasingly hopeful.)
Mollie
elinkarlsson@WordPress
“If a dog won’t come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.”--Woodrow Wilson
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
... I am sure ...
I am sure you don't have a democratic voting process. I started to believe that around 2000 and so far nothing I read in all those years has convinced me of the opposite.
https://www.euronews.com/live
By 2020 ...
By 2020, more people in the world will have a smartphone than running water
Calculate how much contaminated water there is, how fast diseases can spread with ever increasing temperatures and no real effective measures to fight against and avoid the diseases to spread, consider how many people will not have clean water at all and how many droughts will diminish the harvests to feed the people, I think there will be "enough people" ready for a "revolt" no matter what. It is pretty clear which industries will enslave the people into those conditions. And those working for those industries or not working at all, will have nothing to lose.
https://www.euronews.com/live
U.S. air wars on Iraq kept targeting the water infrastructure
After Bush senior’s war, the infrastructure couldn’t be restored because of sanctions.
After Bush junior’s war, the infrastructure couldn’t be restored because of contractor conduct and corruption.
Neoliberal economists and politicians want to privatize water.
Israel keeps stealing Palestinians’ water so the settlers can enjoy full swimming pools.
For these people, it seems near-future population die-off due to lack of clean water is a feature, not a bug.
I wonder for whom else lack of clean water is a feature ...
Today's special report of Democracy Now from Flint, MI is a terrific eye opener about how it is "legally" possible to commit a crime against the citizens of certain areas in Flint.
I can't link yet to the clips with transcripts, but I highly recommend to watch it, especially the part at the end of the broadcast of how Nestle is drawing water for free from wells and aquifers and selling it back to the citizens, who have at the same time pay the highest water bills in the US for their poisoned tap waterOk for me that's the last time I buy any bottled water from Nestle and if I were a citizen in the Flint areas that are victimized with that water, I would ask for a boycott to pay the water bills for poisoned water. I think it deserves a yuuuge outcry. I also learned that actually to prove how poisoned the water was, citizens and scientists had to relay on Virginia Tech folks to test the water, that means apparently that in MI you can't get your water tested? Such a test is not that difficult and costs not more than 70 to 80 bugs. So, where are the labs that can do those test?
I also hear today for the first time about SLAPP lawsuits with which the sons of mothers and grandmothers were threatened for participating in actions criticizing the abuse of corporate companies for water withdrawals from aquifers. I just listened to it in the radio, but am not able to retell the story I heard without being sure I don't misquote.
In any case the fact that families are threatened and intimidated with those lawsuits is a clear sign that you are in a situation that starts to be similar and reminds me of the fears and threats German citizens were afraid of in the thirties.
Together with the overwhelmingly weaponized US police forces it reminds me of what my mother told me about her church confirmation ceremonies in Berlin under Pastor Martin Niemoeller The SS was standing in the back of the church and scared the hell out of the fourteen year olds, who got confirmed by pastor Martin Niemoeller. I am not sure my mother really understood at that time of why the SS stood in the back of the church. By the autumn of 1934, Niemöller joined other Lutheran and Protestant churchmen such as Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer in founding the Confessional Church, a Protestant group that opposed the Nazification of the German Protestant churches was such a "radical" at that time. She was just scared to hell.
The fact that she might not have understood it (I think she was confirmed in 1934 or 1935) came out only when, in her late eighties, we talked about her past life and she seemed to be still fearful of the SS in her church at her confirmation ceremonies.
So, I don't know, a lot of things come up in my mind, of how easily you can intimidate citizens.
https://www.euronews.com/live
here is the clip for the Nestle "shenanigans"
Michigan's Water Wars: Nestlé Pumps Millions of Gallons for Free While Flint Pays for Poisoned Water
https://www.euronews.com/live
as I mentioned a little later, they'll let him be nominated...
but they will accidentally on purpose leave him high and dry in the general and then blame him for the loss.
The one percent certainly doesn't care
…whether the president is Republican or Democrat.
The polarizing two party system must be preserved. No coalitions allowed. Polarization is the most powerful mechanism in nature for dividing the people and controlling them.
Bernie has always voted to support Empire and he has pledged not to challenge the binary party shackles on the body politic.
Hedges believes Bernie will make a graceful exit.
I don't know. It's the greatest multi-billion-dollar show on Earth. Worth every penny.
You nailed it, Pluto--'that' is the Million Dollar Question!
Unfortunately, he may have painted himself into a box, by having already made so many definitive statements about not running as a third party candidate. I, for one, would certainly forgive him, were he to change his mind!
Remember, Bloomberg is waiting in the wings to run if it appears to be a Trump VS Sanders contest.
If Trump does get, or looks like he will get the Republican Party nomination, I think the MSM will be all the more in FSC's corner, and that the push back against Bernie by the Dem Party Establishment could intensify. Not so much, though, if a Kasich or Rubio should appear to be poised to get the Republican nomination.
It's hard for me to believe that something won't break soon, or no later than the 'SEC Primary.' Actually, I can't imagine that the two parties won't pull out all the stops prior to that round of primaries, unless Trump and Bernie appear to be considerably weakened ahead of those primaries.
The most important thing that Bernie's supporters can do, IMHO, is to continue to be very vocal against unfair actions by the DNC, and/or the Dem Party Establishment, in general.
It may be the only 'firewall' that Bernie has. Hopefully, in the end, it will be enough.
Time will tell . . .
Mollie
elinkarlsson@WordPress
“If a dog won’t come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.”-- Woodrow Wilson
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
which is why i keep wondering why he's so negative about millions of people being mobilized around some of the things that we need to have happen before power can be wrested from the institutions that are screwing everything up.
once people are mobilized and they confront the unyielding powers-that-be, then they get radicalized after which the kind of revolution that hedges is pushing for can happen on a scale large enough to make a difference.
Hey, Joe. Well, I sure can't 'get in his head,'
but my 'guess' is that Hedges has a problem with Bernie throwing his support behind his corporatist neoliberal opponent, FSC, if he loses the Dem Party nomination.
Frankly, I shudder to think that he would actually do this. Yet, from all that I've heard him say on the Sunday talk shows, and repeatedly read (in articles), it appears that Bernie is adamant that he "does not want to be a spoiler, and elect a right-wing Republican." (Pretty much a verbatim quote, BTW.)
If I'm not mistaken, Hedges has pretty much indicated that his view or perception of his run would be different if Bernie were willing to make a third party run; that is, if he were to lose the Dem Party nomination. Frankly, I'm with Hedges on that one. IOW, if in the end, the Dem Party plays 'dirty tricks,' which clearly denies Bernie the nomination, I hope like heck that he won't endorse FSC, and instead, will wage a third party run against her.
But, I understand that not everyone agrees with this POV.
In the end, maybe the Dem Party Establishment simply cannot buck the will of the people--meaning the Dem Party Base, and Bernie supporters of all stripes. That would be wonderful!
Count me in as hoping that this is the final outcome.
Have a good one, All!
Mollie
elinkarlsson@WordPress
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."--Will Rogers
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
it's a fascinating point in history
possiblities!
Bernie wins the nomination. Could he win the election?
Bernie wins the election. Could he get anything done?
Bernie loses the nomination. Would he support Flying Spaghetti Clinton? I think he would. And then we're $@#%&ed.
We wouldn't be having this discussion if Candidate Obama had become President. Instead we got President Obama and his parade of Monsanto, Comcast, Goldman Sachs friends. But if we'd had President Candidate Obama to build on.....sigh
answers
Bernie wins the nomination.
He will win the election.
Can he get anything done?
Little, but something.
Bernie loses the general elections.
Expect the Republican turn around and get as "normal" as HRC and the establishment Democrats.
Bernie loses the nomination.
If he would support HRC after he lost the nomination, he can retire and resign and go home and never show up again.
It would negate all his points he made during the primary campaign. He knows very well that HRC and at least half of all establishment Democrats would never be able or willing to implement and push for any of the major changes Sanders would have liked to get through. There is no point to support HRC for him. To me that would smell like betrayal. But may be he would not want to lose his Senate seat. What else is new?
And I find it really not a fascinating, but a very awful point in history.
https://www.euronews.com/live
yeah but...
what hedges' argument seems to assume is that all of bernie's followers will fall in line lemming-like behind bernie when he leads them over the cliff.
i don't think that a significant part of bernie's followers are going to go for hillary.
May it be without violence...
...if not on both sides, at least on our part. Am I ready to be brutally mowed down without responding in kind? I am not sure. I can only hope to be.
evening pluto...
while i'm not a fervent supporter of bernie, i do appreciate some of his handiwork and thought i'd take a stab at hedges' questions for supporters:
they probably can't wrest control of the party quickly. they can, however, break the party. it might be quite possible for them to split the party and take a large piece of the base with them.
wresting control of the party from the neoliberal jackasses would take years and a long-term commitment. breaking it could happen quickly.
that's not the work of a campaign. the purpose of a campaign is to win offices of public trust and build a mandate for a platform.
can the people of the united states topple the mic, wall street, etc.? maybe, maybe not. remains to be seen. seems to me that they'd stand a better chance of that with sanders in office than any of the other likely-to-win candidates.
hell no. you can't say enough bad things about the two corporate parties as far as i'm concerned. they are basically evil.
on the other hand, the democratic party needs to keep up appearances in order to keep the scam going. so, if sanders is ahead by a convincing lead, they may have to acquiesce.
not only do i accept that, i blame the neoliberal assholes like clinton and obama for assisting in the destruction of those movements.
moving on...
i'd argue that it does. i think that the word revolution has been so degraded in common usage that it is quite possible for it to mean damned near anything.
i don't think that sanders or his supporters have any desire to depose the government, suspend the constitution and replace those institutions. nor do i suspect that they wish to liberate the wealth of this nation for the people, taking control of the means of production and putting them at the disposal of the proletariat.
i suspect that even hedges does not want a "real" revolution. however, i'm certain that he wants something different from what sanders and his followers want.
I believe the powers that be would rather lose
it's ironic that Sanders supporters are called "purists" and accused of "taking their ball home" should he lose the nomination. Not good Democrats! We must beat the Republicans! You have to vote for Hillary or else you're a Naderite!
But the truth is, I believe, that the Democratic structure will deliberately back off, providing little support for Bernie if he gets the nomination, and would be quite happy to see him lose so they could blame the left and use it as an argument that no lefty should be allowed to get future nominations.
That would be their way of looking at it long-term and I think it makes sense for them....just as it makes sense for us to not vote for Hillary and for us to hope the Dem Party falls apart as mentioned above.
i'm sure that they would do...
what they did to mcgovern or worse to bernie. winning doesn't matter to the powers-that-be because the rethugs will protect their interests as well as the dems will.
After all, the entire reason super-delegates exist
…was to make certain there will never be another George McGovern on the Democratic ticket.
Or, another Bernie Sanders.
As the wonderful Susan Sarandon says:
Well, fuck them!
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
A woman after my
own heart. I concur, fuck them.
And yet ironically
Hillary's conversion from Republican to Democratic was in Mc Govern's campaign. Her transition from Goldwater Girl to a Democratic pol started in his campaign. I have to confess that as a young'un at the time he ran I never liked him. Something felt smarmy about him and Eugene held me back. Was I a rad a purist, maybe so, but did not feel comfortable voting for him. Did I want the Yippies or assorted radicals to have power hell no. I went to a 'be in' fearuring the chicago seven, the radical hippies of those days and I thought no way do I want these assholes to have power they are as crazy as the assholes in power now. This is how I feel about Hillary and in no way will I give my consent to allow her to have power. This whole primary is not about McGovern and his ivory tower liberal politcs, it is not equivelant to the reality we are looking at today. Bernie is not as Hedges said a traitor. He's doing what he can within the system to counteract the damage done by the so called partisans who are just the same face with different marketing ploys.
As an aside
I saw somewhere today that Hillary's logo is virtually identical to Goldwater's.
Coincidence? Perhaps.
Glodwaters arrow went right
Hillary's goes left. Seems she has no sense of direction.
so the movement then would have to work on
splitting the Democratic Party. I wished they would. And I wished they really, really fight to change the electoral system and get power over the MIC.
Good to see you giving such a detailed answer. Thanks.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Evening Joe...
I mostly agree with that^^^, and on that note, here is what I have for you tonight:
Not new, but pertinent....
Signs of a Dying Society
New, and bound to piss you off:
The NSA’s SKYNET program may be killing thousands of innocent people
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
evening triv...
that's really interesting, but kind of unsurprising (for cynical folks like me) information. i would have expected that the data miners and qualitative analysis geeks would not be able to make a foolproof algorithm for identifying terrorists. but, as with the drone program itself, it appears that the spooks are comfortable with much more collateral damage (or whatever euphemism they are using for cold-blooded murder these days) than anyone would have imagined.
Well, you and I, and I'm sure many here
would have no problem imagining just how comfortable these ghouls are with the murder of innocents. After all, isn't Kissinger an elder statesman? Isn't Madeline "we think the price was worth it" Albright a "get" for the campaign trail, and a role model for us wimmens? Not to mention her enviable collection of lapel pins~
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
So much for the notion that Nazi Germany was unique in history
… in its application of industrial methods and technology to killing.
(Use of railroad infrastructure to kill all the buffalo and starve Indians, or use of Gatling guns against non-Europeans doesn’t count because Indians and other non-Europeans don’t count and have never counted, dummie!)
Good. All good points.
I believe it is vital that the issues are named. That the words are spoken out loud. Or, at least that they are read and understood.
One reason I mention the obsolete US constitution so frequently, not just online but in real life to the politically engaged, is because I am absolutely fascinated by the shock it elicits. The very thought of changing it in any way is poison to Americans. My words cause physical pain, breathing becomes very difficult. All this from a simple proposal to rewrite the US constitution. To make it relevant to the 21st century. To confer human rights directly upon the people. I am asked to make my words go away, so disturbing are they.
I understand Americans and the mental damage that the pounding US propaganda has caused. I found one special weakness: the fear and mistrust they have for each other. Obama was certain right about one thing he said: "They cling to their guns and their Bibles." And their Constitution. All of this rooted in profound insecurity about their own futures. Personal security left America decades ago. Americans know it is dangerous to come together in the US. They will be photographed. They will be maced, beaten, and arrested. They will be strip-searched. They accept they may die at the hands of the policeif they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. They saw what happened to Occupy on television. They are lost and terrified that they will lose everything they still have.
I know what to expect of them.
Now, as for this passage:
Is this snark? Or did you jump the snark? A fever dream, perhaps. Or are you teasing?
Morons...
the Constitution was meant to grow and change, isn't that why Jefferson called it a living document? I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it was supposed to get up and dance. I'm also pretty sure our representation wasn't supposed to end at a certain number, such as 535, so that power would become so concentrated, but people are either stupid, brainwashed, or not interested.
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
thank you for bringing up 435
It made me look up the story. Congress set it in stone in the 1920s
The population in the 1910 census, when the number of reps went to 435, was 92 million or so. The population now is about 3 1/2 times that.
Thanks to the wonders of a tool called Excel I see that in the 1910s there were about 200,000 people per representative compared to over 700,000 now and that if we added representatives per 200,000 we'd have in the neighborhood of 1500 reps.
snark?
i was mostly making a point about traditional meanings of revolution and what is being proposed by hedges and sanders.
yeah, we have people in this country who believe that the constitution was written by god and handed down to 'merka - though the one great mystery about the constitution for these folks was how coy god was about staking out his claim and demanding that we all pay obeisance to the hairy thunderer and his earthly representatives (them).
but, if you're asking me. there is one sort of revolution that i'd like to have, which is an entirely peaceful revolution where everybody suddenly figures out what must be done for us all to live in peace and prosperity and just does it.
i am, of course, far too cynical to believe my dream revolution can come true.
as far as a revolution that can be effective, i suspect that if the constitution is not revised (after all, it was written by and for the 1%) and pursuant to that revision, the current government is deposed, the wealth is redistributed (including land reform) and the means of production are not put in the hands of the people - a lesser revolution is doomed to be rolled back over a period of time and we will be worse of than we are now for the passage of time and the failure to address key problems like climate change. climate change cannot be addressed without reconfiguring our economy. capitalism is the ultimate enemy of a habitable earth.
I feel like if we can just bust up the duopoly...
it's a great first step. Sure, I'd love more, but just seeing the scales fall from quite a few eyes lately has been amazing to me.
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
heh...
i'm good with incremental change if the increments are large enough and frequent enough.
i'm also good with rewriting the constitution as long as i get to do it.
Oh...okay...
Um, when you do that rewrite, could I just put in a good word for universal human rights?
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
how large should incremental change be?
I'd say at least large enough to see it.
As an example of questionable change, allowing gay Americans to serve in the military is not necessarily a good thing.
Generally, constitutions are written by people
…but not by sitting governments. There are international specialists who travel the world to facilitate the process. Politicians are not really participants. Participants can be professionals, scholars, ordinary people. They begin with an array of the world's best constitutions (the US constitution is never used anymore because it is stingy, entrenched, and obsolete) to provide inspiration and proof of concept in action.
People ratify constitutions, not state governments.
Ratification is not very contentious because constitutions are about operating systems not politics. Also, the entire constitution focuses on providing benefits and justice and government access to the people — and defining human, civil, and social rights and duties. Government duties and obligations emerge out of this. Anything else is a footnote or a cultural preference.
It is an open process that takes several years. The entire nation is educated and involved in pre-radification decisions. In the end, the people are highly empowered. Constitutions are revised or rewritten, on average, every 40 years. Thus each generation has a say in the nation's destiny and in the ways they benefit from the commonwealth.
That being said, the US constitution would definitely be unique. All of them are. They are not interchangeable. They all tell a story.
If constitutions are operating systems
I wanna have a Linux based OP and not the Microsoft OP of the billionaire for the billionaires...
/s
https://www.euronews.com/live
Here in the US the constitution
is interpreted like the freaking Old Testament. The bill of rights is just as insane when it's quite clear about human and civil rights. It's crazy when the amendments get jerked around and start fixating on shit like what a well regulated militia is or isn't. I have extreme contempt of court these days, since 9/11 the rule of law now means whatever they say it is. Abuse of power applies to all of the branches which are not separated other then infighting between the political factions with power. I know the founders were a bunch of white rich bastards but still they were influenced by the enlightenment and more secular then the freaking religious crazies and bent preaching huckster pols we now have to contend with. Even if they are not fundies they all pay homage to the God Bless America, in god we trust. Wrapped in a flag carrying a cross. Interesting that neither Bernie or Trump are big on organized religion.
I think that's exactly what Sanders should push for
... rewriting the constitution with a circle of wise men, elderly ones. Abolish the death penalty for good, non negotiable and and non-re-amdendable. And I could imagine that it needs something like replacing some institutions.
But what the heck.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Hey I won the internet
or at least my corner of fb. by commenting on that article by Hedges. It was a gut reaction. I just don't believe that people even here in the USA where we're programmed and indoctrinated to accept this shit as inevitable, the only way forward, and somehow patriotic or any of that jazz, are buying it. Do they want to get killed in the streets as revolutionaries hell no who does? Do they want some damn change other then what the polls of mass deception tell us they want? Hell yes. They are moving out of the political fake lines that the owners of the place have drawn.
Do not underestimate the peoples ability to know when they are screwed. Hedges goals are mine but he offers nothing that will get us there other then civil disobedience or vague threats of a physical revolution that not only is impossible but sounds to me like we would end up with major assholes in power from the other side of the coin. no thanks. What a lame revolutionary and leftist elitist this dude is. Sure maybe the rest of the world will rise up and smack the US down but in the meantime I'm voting and supporting any candidate within the system who is at least offering a glimpse of democracy and the common good.
Hedges has always irradiated me. I'm a child of the 60's and had to suffer through endless so called radicals (useless) from McCarthy though McGovern. Yeah you may be be right in your and Hedge's contempt of the American populace we will never win anything via the broken electoral system. I just don't believe this. I think political revolutions vs. violent ones are possible and people throughput history have gotten rid of assholes with inevitable power like this through parliamentary means. Especially when combined with civil disobedience and a massive populist disgust with the Empire that tells them this is all you get suckers. Have you noticed the discontent right and left here and globally that's in the air?
Agree with some, disagree with other things ...
Oh, they know, but won't talk about it or admit it. So, what does it help, if they know? The Germans knew that Hitler "was a "little crazy" with the Jew issue. Did it help? They also knew, that fighting Russia is a lunacy. Did it help they knew?
Unfortunately, I believe, they have gotten more assholes into inevitable power through parliamentary means than they have gotten rid of them with same means.
When the stomachs tells the disgusted and disobedients that they need something to eat to survive, I think political revolutions, even violent political ones are rarely possible and if they start, they are rarely successful to achieve the goals they wanted.
Yes, have you seen many of those discontented that were not co-opted, pacified or manipulated into deals they never wanted to get into?
Wait what will happen in Europe.
https://www.euronews.com/live
evening shaz...
congratulations on winning the internet. lots of good points in your comment.
i respect hedges' intellect and goals, though sometimes, like you, i find his thinking to be quite rigid and lacking in creativity applied to problem solving. that he can't see the potential in sanders' movement building actions is sad and makes one wonder what motivates his hostility.
may be a form of PTSD ...
I think he has seen too much and lived through too many conditions that cause some sort of trauma (he lived "war" and "poverty inside black communities" and teaches blacks in prison regularly. For a long time he is with both feet and eyes and ears on the ground battle fields). He just cuts out any compromising idea to the point it triggers hostility against "fake solutions". He may see something "dishonest" in Sanders effort to run for President as a Democrat. It's his way of "fighting". Part of having PTSD-like symptons is to be "fixated on specific ideas", which would explain what you describe as "lack of creativity". In a way you can see in Sanders same kind of fixations. But both are way too intelligent to not see that in themselves, I believe.
https://www.euronews.com/live
I caught this nice little snippet reg the democracy loving
Democratic party :
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/10/why-bernie-still-wont-win/
Hedges is right.
heh...
bernie can ask me to vote for hillary until he is blue in the face.
ain't gonna happen.
i suspect that a lot of bernie's supporters feel that way.
They sure do.
I read comments in all sorts of places and Bernie people are all "Bernie or Bust."
I'm not experienced in this sort of thing. Has this happened before to this degree?
All the tedious Republican hate and Democratic demonizing is starting to make sense. It's a form of brainwashing to create the ultimate binary boogyman. Hands-free sheep-dogging, so Party members always come home wagging their tails behind them.
Once the general election begins, won't that happen? Won't the lesser-evil formula voting kick in?
The logic is unassailable. If you don't vote for Cruella, the boogyman will win.
I'll go for anyone or anything...
...that can save us. I believe we have spent more than enough time to try and prove whether we or they can or can't.
I will pray for help from any agent! Thank you!
Tech IPO bubble burst
Next will come tech in general
An example list
lnk
evening gj...
i guess man does not live by clicks alone.
Good Evening and "Dankeschön", Joe, and a "top comment"
"Dankeschön" to Pluto.
May be we could just argue to stop to vote for "Better Democrats" and instead start pushing for "better movements". Hedges, Jill Stein and Wilkerson, all voices of good conscience, values and morals. Sanders should listen. Nothing else to say. Waiting for part 2 of Hedges/Stein interview, waiting for solutions. Waiting for some down to earth steps to take to push the better movements into better parties into better electoral procedures. I don't know if my lack of faith and trust is due to my age or due to a personal depression. I need to see some light at the tunnel of this awful status quo. There is a need to stop the train wrecking us all and fight. May be we all are too scared?
https://www.euronews.com/live
evening mimi...
i think that anybody who doesn't have doubts about the likelihood of the people standing up by the millions and demanding (the same) serious changes is not tethered to reality. on the other hand, estimations of probability are not a good reason to give up pushing for what you want.
Saudi / Russian oil alliance?
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
evening dr...
i have my doubts that such a freeze will work out given the desperate economic straits of some of the countries involved.
thanks for the story!
In another news, Sun rises in the West :
http://www.juancole.com/2016/02/israel-friedman-of-the-ny-times-surrende...
But given Spouting Thomas' record, I soon expect a reversal & a bombastic pro-Israel column.
Or, is it different this time? with Spouting Thomas telegraphing the elites' "evolving" opinion reg Israel?
heh...
i'm cycnical enough to assume that elite opinion regarding israel only evolves in a bad way.
Inside Cole's post,
there is a link appealing to my Florida obsession - snake, crocodile etc. on a serious note, seems Homo Sapiens could have contributed to this scary scenario by dumping pet snakes in the Everglades.
Another reality check on Bernie the peacenik :
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/16/blood-traces-bernies-iraq-war-hyp...
Good evening, Joe. Thanks. Interesting but not surprising
about the microencephaly outbreak.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
A final thought,
Just to clarify--I'm not endorsing, or agitating for, violence in any form or fashion by agreeing that 'peaceful' civil disobedience might be necessary to effect change. And, to my knowledge, Hedges has never endorsed violence as a means to any political/social/economic end, or goal. He is literally a 'man of the cloth,' as they say. What I've seen him engage in on video, is 'peaceful protest' by refusing to leave when ordered--resulting (sometimes) in an arrest, and maybe a fine (as far as I know).
Certainly, if he has done so, and I've missed it, I absolutely distance myself from any such statements and/or actions.
Having said that, I think that Hedges believes that just like unions' power has been greatly diminished due to selling out to corporations, and/or the reluctance on the part of many (not all) unionists to show much resistance via serious strikes, etc.--he believes that the American People won't likely achieve really meaningful reform--aside from very, very small and incremental changes--unless they are willing to go beyond the ballot box to effect change.
Hedges may, or may not be correct. However, his vast experience as a foreign correspondent for almost twenty years in regions that experienced major political upheavals and/or structural changes, tend to make me strongly consider his POVs over and above those of folks like myself, who've never actually witnessed such historical processes.
Mollie
elinkarlsson@WordPress
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."--Will Rogers
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.