The Weekly Watch
What Democracy?
Studies clearly show our government does the bidding of the 1% not the people.
Using data drawn from over 1,800 different policy initiatives from 1981 to 2002, the two conclude that rich, well-connected individuals on the political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of or even against the will of the majority of voters.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer...
And how convenient that the voting system itself is rigged in many ways to shape any election that might threaten the oligarchs.
Hackers competing in a contest at a Las Vegas convention breached the security of several voting machines, pointing to glaring deficiencies in the security of US elections.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/07/hackers_in_competition_breac...
Then there's T-rump election rigging council
https://www.thenation.com/article/trumps-commission-on-election-integrit...
I tell you US democracy is dead.
We are so far away from our image of ourselves. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Nice piece about the woman who wrote those words, Emma Lazarus, with her biographer, Esther Schor, about why Lazarus wrote the poem, how it became one of the most iconic verses about the United States and why she has long been a target of white nationalists. Video and text.
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/4/why_emma_lazaruss_iconic_poem_the
Is it time to throw out the capitalist system and adopt socialism? Socialism might look like this in the 21st century...starting at the workplace. (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDgI7DvxTNk
We use to rely on the courts to help, but sadly the injustice system is part of the corporate oligarchy too.
Great discussion about our injustice system with Chris Hedges and legal scholar Edgar Cahn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_czs3EPfJ8 (25 min)
If you missed last week's interview with Eugene Puryear, it is worth a listen too(25 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buWC8f88uL4
The War on Drugs is about mass incarceration. It's about destroying the activist community. It's about destroying the black community. But it was never about the drugs themselves--unless you mean the drugs that were consistently pumped into this country under CIA cover. Yet Attorney General Jeff Sessions is insistent on starting a new drug war, Lee Camp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDUScdYgCLc (11 min)
They arrest reporters in Turkey. Jeff Sessions want to import that idea.
https://theintercept.com/2017/08/04/jeff-sessions-promises-to-crack-down...
We need the media to support our wars. Jimmy Dore and Adam Johnson discuss the situation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJumkzWZyw4 (22 min)
They also discussed Bezo owning the Washington (com)Post (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDGZSgynkPk
Robert Rosenthal tells Robert Scheer about his experience with leaks and “fake news” in this week’s episode of KCRW’s “Scheer Intelligence.” “The adversarial relationship between journalism in this country and power has existed [for decades],” he tells Scheer, “and governments will use, abuse and spin information and hope they don’t get caught.” (32 min podcast)
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/robert_scheer_robert_rosenthal_fake...
They are fighting tooth and nail to keep from providing health care to all the people. .
Ralph Nader talks to insurance expert Robert Hunter about another way toward a single-payer healthcare system: buy out the insurance industry. Attorney, Joanna Darcus, tells you how to fight for your rights against predatory student loan debt collectors. And we get Ralph’s take on the Democratic Party’s “Better Deal.” 30 min podcast
https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/fighting-student-loan-debta-better-deal/
Distinguished economist, Robert Pollin, joins us to share his ideas on a progressive more egalitarian economic agenda. And Dr. Steffie Woolhandler tells us why doctors and other health professionals want a single-payer, Medicare for All healthcare system. 30 min podcast
https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/a-more-progressive-economic-agenda/
It doesn't matter what the people say, they are bound and determined to kill net neutrality too. FCC Chair Ajit Pai wants to stop classifying the internet as a public utility, which subjects companies to tough regulation and encourages equal access. Can on-line activist stop him? (13 min + text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:18946:Activism-Won-Net-Neutrality---Can-...
Capitalist always aim to suppress unions... this time in Mississippi. Nissan employees voted Friday to reject the United Auto Workers (UAW) effort to unionize the Canton plant by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.
http://www.msnewsnow.com/story/36068444/nissan-employees-voted-to-reject...
Here's a clip of the Nissan workers being interviewed
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19695:EXCLUSIVE%3A-Nissan-Workers-Talk-T... (15 min or text synopsis)
Bernie, Nina, Danny Glover, Cornel, and many others joined a pro-union rally back in March.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...
You've heard of the State department issuing travel advisories to other countries. But how about one to another US state? They better add Alabama to the list...
A travel advisory for Missouri has been issued by the NAACP. “I think it's long overdue. The only problem is that they could've issued a similar advisory for a number of different states”, says Gerald Horne His research has addressed issues of racism in a variety of relations involving labor, politics, civil rights, international relations and war.
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19689:NAACP-Travel-Advisory-for-Missouri (8 min and transcript)
I got a robocall from this moron yesterday, AL rep Mo Brooks. Jimmy Dore explains (7 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJZYJUAWBFo
It's not the news without some trumpeteering
So as we descend into corporate fascism Glenn Greenwald asks who is worse...T-rump or deep state? https://theintercept.com/2017/08/05/whats-worse-trumps-campaign-agenda-o...
Rising stock prices is not an indicator of financial health like Trump would have you believe, specially when you examine who is buying that stock, says economist Michael Hudson.
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19687:Trump-is-Turning-Against-the-White... (11 min and transcript)
So where do you put your money (if you have any) with a falling dollar and an imminent stock market crash? Max discusses gold vs. bitcoin with a couple of guests in an interesting conversation (25 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccDjhdqZ5yI
Trump's dubious Russia connections are more about Russian oligarch's investments and secret loans than election manipulation. A conversation with Paul Jay and investigative economist James S. Henry
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19685:American-Role-in-Creating-Russian-... (21 min and transcript)
Newly confirmed FBI Director Christopher Wray is the most "patrician" and "Wall Street-oriented" lawyer that has ever held the position, says James Henry (6 min and transcript)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19631:What-Do-We-Know-About-Christopher-...
More with independent journalist Marcy Wheeler and economist James Henry. video and text
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/2/wray_confirmed_as_fbi_director_as
Jimmy Dore reviews T-rumps boy scout speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh_4EvKIMBc (3 min)
and his speech to the police (13 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGrYMIqVIEs
Our crazy foreign policy...let's start with Korea
Look at Iraq and Libya who agreed to stop nuclear arms production...no wonder N. Korea continues. https://theintercept.com/2017/07/29/dan-coats-north-korea-nukes-nuclear-...
Podcast with transcript...
With spiking tensions between the United States and North Korea, we reflect on the history of the region with author and foreign policy expert John Feffer. And The Intercept’s Naomi Klein talks to U.K. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn about the Reagan-Thatcher era of privatization policies and lessons the Democratic Party could learn from Corbyn’s unexpected electoral success.
https://theintercept.com/2017/08/02/intercepted-podcast-pyongyang-and-th...
Three part interview with Jill Stein (all with video or text) starting with the situation in North Korea
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/1/negotiations_not_war_green_partys_...
Then about T-rump and Russia
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/1/jill_stein_on_trump_as_a
and concluding with election fraud
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/4/green_party_s_jill_stein_our
The UAE continues to embed itself into DC culture.
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/30/uae-yousef-otaiba-cnas-american-prog...
In Brazil, the oligarchs took over during the Olympics and the world was (and is) silent.
https://theintercept.com/2017/08/03/brazils-corrupt-congress-protects-it...
But Maduro...he must go. And all corporate media spin it so. Why?
It is all about the oil. Whatever else one hears about Venezuela, it is all about the oil. That is what one needs to know first about why the U.S. Empire has Venezuela under siege. It is about the oil.
https://www.opednews.com/articles/Venezuela-Under-Siege-by-David-William...
When the U.S.A. wanted a regime change it used to be done in secret by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), especially when that country had a democratically elected government such as Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954), Chile (1973), Nicaragua (1980's), Haiti (2006), Honduras (2009), Ukraine (2014) and Syria, where the bloody project is still raging, the body count mounting, and millions of refuges are homeless.
In the last few decades the U.S. has grown bolder in its regime change projects. What used to be done secretly is now unabashedly done in plain sight. The 2017 Venezuela regime change project has gone public. Most of the U.S. public cannot see the forest for the trees of propaganda that has the public confused about what is behind the chaos in Venezuela today. Mostly what is behind it is U.S. funding millions of dollars to the political parties of the oligarchs. Without that money the opposition political parties would be more divided than they already are and weaker.
….
There is only interest in Venezuela "economic capacity", as CIA director Mike Pompeo admitted, meaning mostly oil. The U.S. wants Venezuela to embrace neoliberalism so that international mega-corporations can exploit its oil, which is the largest proven reserve in the world. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former CEO of Exxon, wants to see his former employer get in on the profits, instead of profits being invested in Venezuela's people.
When is the public ever going to get it that the U.S. does not care about democracy, human rights, the deaths of innocent civilians and those widowed, orphaned and made homeless by U.S. stoked wars? They want the oil.
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/170-more-blog-posts-...
Next up Iran...
Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, whose new piece for LobeLog is titled "The Mask Is Off: Trump Is Seeking War with Iran."
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/7/31/is_trump_trying_to_sabotage_the
Don't forget Afghanastan. We want their mineral resouces (and may as well get their drugs too).
https://www.democracynow.org/2017/8/3/trump_considers_prolonging_afghan_...
And last but not least...the proxy war in Ukraine. The Pentagon and State Department have drafted a plan to arm Ukraine's fight against Russian-backed rebels, a move that would escalate the country's three-year war (12 min with transcript)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:19671:Pentagon-Plan-to-Arm-Ukraine-Means...
The war on terror is a failure. The U.S. government has prosecuted 807 people for terrorism since the 9/11 attacks. Most of them never even got close to committing an act of violence. A brief synopsis as well as a link to the full data set https://trial-and-terror.theintercept.com/
Spending on the Department of Defense alone is already well in excess of half a trillion dollars a year and counting. Adjusted for inflation, that means it’s higher than at the height of President Ronald Reagan’s buildup of the 1980s and is now nearing the post-World War II funding peak.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176311/
We aren't the only nation promoting war. India and China are at odds over a border dispute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StViuIdB0ZE (4 min background)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHRcscqbgU (6 min what's happening this week)
So democracy dies as senseless wars bleed our national lifeblood, as global warming accelerates, as we cause the sixth great extinction (which may include our own species), all in blissful ignorance due to the corporate media. I missed so many important stories this week. My desktop is in the shop, and my little netbook is a poor substitute. I hope you'll help me fill in the gaps with your comments. Have a good Sunday.
Comments
The first quote is misattributed to Jefferson.
http://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/2291
I've seen many quotations about corporations that supposedly come from Jefferson, but, so far, not one seems to actually have come from him.
Just FYI, the internet is full of misattributions, and often many websites will contain the same one. Before I post a quotation, I try to remember to google a few key words from the quotation, plus the name of the alleged author, plus misattributed misattribution. Every time so far, I have gotten either a hit from a trustworthy source that tells me which work, letter, etc. of the named author contains the quote, or it will tell me it's probably misattributed.
I will now go on to read the rest of your post, which I am sure is excellent.
I must admit...
I grabbed the clip art with no research, but the quote fit my theme. From your link...
No matter I agree with the substance of the quote, but I will be more careful of authorship in the future.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Zero problem with using the quote, only with the attribution.
I would not have said a word if the attribution read either "Author Unknown" or even "Often attributed to Thomas Jefferson.
God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
My favorite misattributed quote, which has zero scriptual support:
(I fixed the Isaiah 24:4 quote for them)
https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Shelter+from+the+s...
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
I'm no bible scholar,
but I'm pretty good at navigating wiki...where I found:
The phrase originated in ancient Greece and may originally have been proverbial. It is illustrated by two of Aesop's Fables and a similar sentiment is found in ancient Greek drama. Although it has been commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the modern English wording appears earlier in Algernon Sidney's work.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
I have now read your post and it is so good that it's
inspired me to do an essay, but I probably can't do that today.
Thanks!
What have we become?
A corporate warmongering oligarchy that terrorizes the world and its own citizens.
Everyone knows this. International polls shows that world, including significant portion of Americans, deem US as greatest obstacle to peace.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2013/12/31/biggest-threat-world-peace-...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good Sunday morning, Lookout.
So much to go back and listen to. I will pour my tea and sit down to listen for a couple of hours. I so appreciate the work you put into this. You keep my education going, which keeps my talking points clear.
The rains have been all around us with only a stray shower hitting us this past week. Hoping for a dash today. Watching the future-cast, our valley will remain in the donut-hole, but I have hopes of catching an edge here and there.
Have a beautiful day, everyone!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
congrats on the rain
I commented in el's ot today how nice this summer is with regular rains. We have hardly used the cisterns this year. Here's wishing you just enough (but not too much) rain!
People forget that increased temps allow the air to hold more water. Therefore we can expect more drought and flooding. Another thing forgotten, water expands as it is heated which will contribute to sea level rise.
Thanks for dropping by!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks for the info
Stuff to read all day long.
Have a great day.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
A little more evidence of our decline
Congress is working to eliminate class action lawsuits in favor of arbitration
http://www.epi.org/publication/correcting-the-record-consumers-fare-bett...
Much of the Democratic Party’s rhetoric has been ‘Uberized’ by a creeping free-market ideology that treats workers as lone competitors in a survival-of-the-toughest economy.
http://www.alternet.org/labor/uber-democrats-workers-should-cooperate-no...
Only two senators voted against the Russia sanctions Bernie and Rand
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cf...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Thanks, a real eye opener
Much to read. It strikes me that when people point out there isn't much difference between D's and r's that it depends your perspective. Looking up from the 99% we see D's and r's that live in the same neighborhoods, having excellent schools, sending their kids to the same ivy leagues, vacationing in the same enclaves. They may see among themselves huge political differences that (for them) don't really matter on a day to day living level. They all benefit from tax cuts, will find a way to get an abortion if needed, move to a better school district if schools lag, gain access to good medical care, have fat 401k's. In short, they have enough resources to exempt themselves from most legislation, to always have a work around no matter what happens. Mostly the argument at their level is how the 99% should live their lives. It's not so much about the differences between the parties, but the similarities in how they rule.
indeed
C. S. King is credited with the quote, "the color isn't black or white, the color is green."
The currency of privilege is absolutely money...not party.
Thanks for coming by!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Nissan Workers Reject Union
A side note from Labor Notes on "Right to Work" statutes and the Nissan vote:
Of course racist southern "Christian Soldiers" helped lead the battle:
http://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2017/08/racist-who-pioneered-right-work-...
More history here:
https://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/articles/racist-past-and-present-ri...
I am just beginning to realize how badly America has sucked since somewhere around 1492.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
the south is well brainwashed
Unions are not accepted (nor understood). How can workers vote down having an organization that works for them? The same way they vote for Corporation T-rump.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The video for the
Ralph Nader site is "blocked by my service provider."
Is this part of the censorship by telecommunications companies?
dfarrah
I don't think so
It is an audio file, but you should be able access the site and listen. It might be a out of country issue?
You could try starting at the https://ralphnaderradiohour.com home page.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
@dfarrah Me, too!
Me, too!
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
The Collapse of Our Judicial System
Loved the Edgar S. Cahn interview. Thanks for reposting the Puryear interview, which I missed.
Thanks to the Democratic Surrender Strategy on Judicial Appointments it may be too late to salvage our judicial system. The Clarence Thomas Takeover:
Their ideology:
Clarence Thomas is winning the long game:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/08/clarence-thomas-legal-vision...
Way to go Nancy and Chuck! Thanks for nothing centrist Clintonites!
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
@Meteor Man
They do whatever their paymasters desire; therefore, it seems likely that this result was desirable, or at the least the predictable results of this servitude to Mammon in those betraying their public office and people. Disaster is all that can be expected from this level of pathological blind greed, disconnection with reality and corruption in both wings of The Two-Faced Corporate Party.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Morning Lookout...
Today's Lake Nemi is Bedminster, NJ
Caligula's wall would have been elaborate, question remains will a well-done steak eater build anything?
"Caligula spent untold sums of money on infrastructure projects, some on aqueducts and temples.
He tormented high-ranking senators by making them run for miles in front of his chariot. He had brazen affairs with the wives of his allies and was rumored to have incestuous relationships with his sisters." Wapo.
Thanks for the work and today's Weekly Watch and have a good one.
thanks for the Caligula report
Little has changed in the empire really. All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Adam Johnson and war timeline. Iran election model.
Adam Johnson in interview with Dore said it takes about five years of propaganda to build up agreement on war. In regards to Russia we are at that point or even way past it depending on when the rhetoric got really heated. It certainly became super-heated after the Ukraine coup. And now many democrats are openly using the word "war".
One thing to note is this same hysteria about Russia has been going on for a long time in Europe also. In fact, I would say that it was worse in Europe until last November. And along with the super heated hysteria, the US is making aggressive moves toward the Russian homeland. It is worth remembering a Gallop poll that come out the second day of the Bush Iraq invasion which found 70% of Americans supported the invasion. Propaganda works.
Looks to me like the US and Iran have evolved to similar electoral systems. In Iran as far as I understand, the religious authorities pick the candidates who are allowed to run. In American we can them billionaires. And from that point, people are allowed to choose the pre-picked candidates. In the case of the democrats last year, the base votes were "ignored", and the unpopular choice won.
has either party ever fought
against war? I can remember a few individuals, but never a party. We are a nation of war.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Very true. No peace party. Liberal chickenhawks.
Yah, some pundits talk about the War Party, and by that they mean both major parties as they share the same beliefs over war and foreign policy. If there are differences they are only in degree but not fundamental policy.
Just as the side note. Just as Iraq created the right wing chickenhawk, Russia has now created the liberal chickenhawk. I get a perverse and guilty pleasure in telling liberal chickenhawks that there are no barriers to going to the Eastern Ukraine and Syria to fight them Russkis and get some payback for Hillary's defeat.
If this is true, then why did tptb want Trump as president?
I still think they wanted Trump as president because he could get away with appointing the people who are in charge of our regulatory agencies who want to roll back the progress that each agency has been able to accomplish.
Perry is in charge of the department of energy which is dangerously understaffed since its funding has been cut, or is going to be cut. The number of personal who should work for this agency is too low.
Carsen wants to gut funding for HUD which is already underfunded.
DeVos is destroying the department of education, or what was left of at after Obama and Arne Duncan left of it.
Add in the rest of the agencies and you see the patter.
The reason that Trump is able to get away with this is because of who he is and because this has been the republicans' wet dreams for a long time. And it is very convenient or suspicious that the democrats are in no position to fight back against the republicans, especially since they jettisoned over 1,000 seats during the last 8 years.
Can anyone imagine the uproar if Hillary had become president and she appointed these types of people to do these things? There would be hell to pay for the democrats if she had even thought about this because it would go against the image that democrats are the party of working people.
This is why I am thinking that tptb wanted Trump over HERheinous.
Just my $.02.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
perhaps that is case in point?
Palast is sure the $hill won Michigan based on his research.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
@snoopydawg
I dunno, I mean, Obama's appointments were accepted and at least some of us thought that Clinton would have picked similar appointees off the list Her would have been given. And Her's incredibly bloodthirsty and rejoices in the horrible deaths of other people, where it seems that Trump has to know that there's something beyond sadistic pleasure in it for him (including keeping the Presidency/staying alive/apparently keeping his daughter happy, if claims are true) before he starts firing off missiles. They're both psychopathic/sociopathic lunatics, but in different ways.
What would be different, other than the media covering for Her - with a fake 'Resistance' by one carefully self-made 'powerless' wing of The Two-Faced Corporate Party now possible as a distraction while the world burns almost unnoticed, because 'HER DIDN'T GET HER TURN!!!'?
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
The more things change, the more things stay the same
or in other words, this shit has been going on for much longer than I realized.
This is a delicious article that shows that the democrats have been bankrupted policy wise since before the Clintons got their hands on the party.
It is about how Trump's presidency looks much like Nixon's did during his first term.
The last paragraph of this article shows why Her lost to Trump and why any democratic candidate in 2020 is going to lose to Trump, just like they did when Nixon won his second term.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Distinguished economist,
(My interjection of what was over the blank space where a video should have been, but which didn't copy-paste: 'This content has been blocked by your service provider')
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.