The Weekly Watch
Capitalism Consumes Democracy
Capitalism is inequality personified isn't it? Those with the most money have the most power...with the consent and approval of the court. Democracy on the other hand is about equality...one person, one vote...each person equal under the law. The two systems simply are not compatible, and capitalism has clearly won.
Gasping toward more profit... all the stops pulled out to promote more fossil fuel by the united states of frackers, the leading producer and polluter. Rushing head long into climate disaster and extinction to cover their debts and squeeze a few more dollars out of an antiquated energy system. Killing themselves and their children to fulfill their greed. Now killing brown skinned people around the world who live where there are resources to extract...not a problem. In fact it was wound in the DNA of our country when we exterminated first nations peoples. And exploiting people (especially those of color) is as natural and appropriate as slavery was to our country's founders.
Capitalism has led us down the path of insanity. Out of step with reality, T-rump and his oligarchs want to keep the world dependent on fossil fuels and he's willing to use the US military to achieve his goals.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176384/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_milit...
How I miss the simplicity and serenity of blind patriotism and jingoistic nationalism. So mourns Maj. Danny Sjursen, a U.S. Army officer and former history instructor at West Point. He served tours with reconnaissance units in Iraq and Afghanistan. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/unlearning-war/
As we exploit our own country and people...China wants a cut! They are buying into expanded US production and export of natural gas. The Chinese government, and major petrochemical companies are moving forward with a new multi-billion dollar petrochemical hub in Appalachia (14 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21157:A-New-%27Cancer-Alley%27-for-Appal...
You have to wonder when you compare our faux democracy with China's faux communism. Which is most successful? Wars or infrastructure? Two hundred years of development or 4000 years of civilization (destruction and extraction)?
Max and Stacy look at China where they went from almost no bullet trains a decade ago, to the longest high speed rail network in the world. In the second half, Dan Collins of TheChinaMoneyReport.com covers stories from the new Polar Silk Road to their venture capital market overtaking the U.S. market to cloning primates and Trump’s new National Defense Strategy elevating China to ‘economic predator’ status. (25 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLutN0aHvgo
So what are we to do? Are we caught in the tar pit of the corporate system like Brer Rabbit and the tar baby? http://www.uncleremus.com/tarbaby.html
As Jimmy tells Caitlin this week...I'm sitting here looking at an Apple computer, driving a car with Exxon gas, shopping at Amazon...I can't be a hermit in the woods. I enjoyed this interview with Caitlin which focuses on her book “Woke” and looking with both eyes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZjWWzvmQqg (37 min)
Like it or not we are all consumers within the oligarchy. Ralph talks with Liam McCorrmack of the Consumer Union about how they test and report on products...helping people be better consumers.
https://ralphnaderradiohour.com/naming-brand-names/ (1 hour podcast sorry no text)
Don't expect the consumer financial protection bureau to do much for you
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/consumer-financial-protection-bureaus-...
So we seek truth to understand. Where is truth spoken? What is real news vs fake news?
What is good journalism? Isn't it in the eye of the beholder? Do we just read and watch newscast with which we agree? I like the Real News most of the time. Aaron Mate interviewed a CIA person spewing his “trust the CIA bullshit”...but he questioned him about his evidence....as he did author of Collusion. Is that bad journalism? Interviewing people we disagree with to try to understand their perspective? Now I much prefer interviews with people like Max Blumenthal with whom I mostly agree. (2 parts with video and text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&...
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21183:Can-Trump%27s-Neocons-Exploit-Russ...
Perhaps giving the Russia antagonists equal time is justified, but I much prefer Max and Glenn's ideas over the CIA and the neocons.
Only when the real and profound grievances of those attracted to fascism are addressed can they be pried from its grip. Chris Hedges writes about Clara Zetkin, a German revolutionary, and fascism.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/how-we-fight-fascism/
Somehow I think having a purity test and operating on the principle that we must agree on all issues is a false premise. We have to work together where and when we can, on whatever we can, with whoever will put their shoulder to wheel along side us to tackle the many causes we must address. We must synthesize the many glimmers of truths to distill our own and act on our personal truth in our own unique way.
Julian Assange has rejected contentions by The Intercept that he supported the Republican Party during the 2016 presidential election in a series of tweets.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/julian-assange-denies-wikileaks-backed...
So last Sunday there was some discussion about The Intercept. They have their own issues within their staff. Risen and Greenwald debate the russiagate narrative and the evidence to support it. My take is that Risen wants belief and opinion to be the focus of reporting. Glenn thinks it should be evidence.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/21/video-glenn-greenwald-and-james-rise... (1 hour video - transcript with podcast below)
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/21/intercepted-podcast-russiamania-glen...
Vijay has his say on the question of Russia as a threat. (19 min video or text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21172:Is-Russia-a-Threat%3F
Glenn's take on Russiagate being on par with Pearl Harbor.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/19/a-consensus-emerges-russia-committed...
Ben Norton weighs in too. (4 min video with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&I...
Better let Jimmy Dore get in his two cents
The indicted troll farm was reported on three years ago in the NYT. Jimmy highlights the reporter's interview on MSNBC (23 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN-tf3HM9ao
….and here's another 9 min clip from Jimmy on the memes that changed the election
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0u8Icq7j7M
The US is the one meddling in elections. We are purposely kept blind.
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/379-andrew-levine/35...
So among all those russiagate stories which is “best”? Which report presents us with the honest” situation? Well, from my view, bits and pieces of all of them speak truth. The issue is can we tell the difference? It all depends on your perspective.
We think we have it bad in the states. It's worse in the UK. Their media is such a propaganda joke that the people are seeing through the crap...and Jeremy continues to be popular despite the smears.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/21/failed-attempt-smear-jeremy-corbyn-r...
WAIT...breaking news....
The U.S. House Intelligence Committee has just released a Democratic Party memo, countering Republican claims of FBI surveillance abuses. (7 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcwHCVSqI6I
Jimmy had several excellent interviews this week. Two of them with Bill Binney. The first clip deals with FBI, CIA, NSA...malfeasance. The second focuses on Syria. And third about Julian Assange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGYSuULFzt0 (35 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne4xZY02-1Y (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgLU9Rxlyew (6 min)
Is going into dangerous countries to get an on the ground perspective real journalism? Here's a story about “on the ground” reporting in Yemen and what it requires.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/24/iona-craig-won-a-polk-award-for-her-...
Here's the story...https://theintercept.com/2017/03/09/women-and-children-in-yemeni-village...
Syria
World powers have approved a 30-day humanitarian ceasefire for Syria. A resolution was passed in a unanimous vote, at the UN Security Council headquarters in New York. (10 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt1scIVya8c
Good thing because the complicated situation is a powder keg. (2 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_LpJKyZwHg
Peter Lavelle and Alastair Crooke discuss Syria’s shifting sands. What is Trump’s foreign policy for the Middle East? Is the Pentagon looking for a conflict with Russia in Syria? And what are the possible outcomes of this war? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuTlEHiYLAU (26 min)
Iran
Really it is about developing a war with Iran isn't it? Lawrence Wilkerson says that in targeting Iran, the U.S. and Israel are threatening wider conflict in Syria and Lebanon
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21174:Wilkerson%3A-The-Trump-Netanyahu-I...
Israel and Saudi are allying to promote an Iranian war. Scholar As'ad AbuKhalil says Saudi Arabia is a strategic partner of the U.S. and Israel, promoting Zionism though its powerful media while increasing its hostility to Iran (20 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21181:Saudi-Arabia%27s-Unholy-Alliance-w...
As a top aide agrees to cooperate against Benjamin Netanyahu, Phyllis Bennis warns that the Israeli Prime Minister's domestic corruption case could lead him to ramp up threats to Iran and other rivals
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21194:What-Netanyahu%27s-Growing-Corrupt...
Education
Today's students can only name a couple of our current wars. The good news is that they want to learn.
The bad news: they tend to think that the men who flew those planes on 9/11 were from Iran.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176389/tomgram%3A_rebecca_gordon%2C_amer...
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/02/22/911-hijackers-were-iraqis-...
It may be the right wing rising in colleges. Whaat?
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/14/alt-right-campus-free-speech-adl-splc/
St Paul teachers have concessions that corporations will pay more into the school system.
https://ourfuture.org/20180220/st-paul-teachers-pit-common-good-vs-corpo...
Teachers feel under funded...Many educators say meager budgets prevent them from developing new ways of teaching in-demand soft skills
http://hechingerreport.org/teachers-want-prepare-students-jobs-future-fe...
Rob Helfenbein, Associate Dean of the School of Education at Loyola University, in a wide-ranging conversation on public education. (18 min video and text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21196:The-Nation%27s-Strongest-Charter-S...
Purdue announced that the company will no longer be flooding doctors’ offices with sales representatives hawking OxyContin. This move may be the closest admission of guilt we will ever see from Purdue Pharma — or the patriarchs of the Sackler family that gave it birth.
https://inequality.org/great-divide/big-pharma-firm-brought-us-opioid-cr...
Immigration
Corporate liberals essentially insist that "good immigrants" have the right to stay and be super-exploited as a legally vulnerable workforce. A truly anti-racist and progressive response, in contrast, would insist on the full and immediate "legalization" for all, while striving to abolish the exclusionary nature of national citizenship itself, and dismantle the walls that uphold it.
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/43583-pro-immigrant-liberalism-and-ca...
Korea
Perhaps South Korea can stop the US path to war on their peninsula.
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/92-more-blog-posts-f...
Honduras
The Honduran government cracks down on protests against the contested elections that delivered the presidency to incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández in November.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/20/honduras-election-protest-tigres/
Venezuela
The US is taking steps toward preparing for a potential military attack on Venezuela. Stopping this war needs to become a top priority for the peace movement.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/war-preparations-venezuela-election-ne...
The democraps
On Thursday evening, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took the extraordinary step of publicly attacking a prominent Democratic candidate in a contested Texas primary. They want a corporatist! https://theintercept.com/2018/02/22/national-democrats-go-nuclear-public...
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/22/emilys-list-laura-moser-texas-congress/
NY democratic candidate, Patrick Ryan, while working for Berico Technologies, compiled a plan to create a real-time surveillance operation of left-wing groups and labor unions, hoping business lobbyists would pay top dollar to monitor and disrupt the actions of activist groups across the country.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/22/patrick-ryan-congress-berico-dataminr/
Heading into the 2018 midterms, Democratic leaders are favoring corporate-friendly candidates -- even though Bernie Sanders' 2016 campaign showed them a different path, Aaron Mate reports (video and text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/story:21197:For-2018%2C-Top-Democrats-Follow-t...
Puerto Rico
It is the same story again and again...drive Puerto Rico into debt and then privatize the island for personal profit.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/21/citigroup-citi-puerto-rico-debt/
San Juan Mayor describes the situation today. (video and text)
https://www.democracynow.org/2018/2/19/five_months_after_maria_san_juan
The Economy
Austerity didn't produce recovery in Latvia, it produced the semblance of recovery, says white-collar criminologist Bill Black. It also led to rampant criminal activity in the banking sector, such as money laundering, taking bribes, and violating sanctions against North Korea (10 min with text)
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=767&...
Richard Wolff discusses the way capitalism blames government (democracy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW1tlUGM7Z8 (3 min)
With the conservative-dominated Supreme Court set to hear a case that poses the "biggest threat to organized labor in years" next week, members of National Nurses United (NNU)—the largest organization of registered nurses in the U.S.—rallied across the country on Thursday
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/02/22/nurses-rally-defense-unions...
Environment
The Alaskan Bering Sea lost one third of it's sea ice in 8 days
http://therealnews.com/t2/component/content/article/608-sabrina-shankman...
Building a new vision
scores of progressive leaders this week endorsed a bold 11-point platform that calls for Medicare for All, tough Wall Street regulation, and a ban on corporate money in elections.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/02/23/demanding-fundamental-restr...
http://campaignforamericasfuture.org/pledge/
Mark Fiore has a 1 minute cartoon which supports Raggedy Ann's perspective from last week.... After the horrific school shooting in Florida there may some be glimmers of hope. When bright, media-savvy high schoolers become politically active en masse, there is reason to hope.
https://www.truthdig.com/cartoons/electoral-gunsights-video/
Capitalism
No matter how we live in the US we are capitalists consumers. In this weekly edition I've danced all around the issue of consuming reliable honest media. I've danced around it in part because all the outlets are flawed...just like us as humans. Some more honest than others...but all victims of their own perspectives and motivations. No one can be an honest broker of the news...though we have many great efforts here at c99. All we can do is filter information trying to sort out the important bits from the rubbish. Here's hoping you found a bit of honesty somewhere in this weekly edition.
I look forward to your stories and thoughts.
Comments
I see Al has a similar meme about capitalism and democracy
...up on his essay. Maybe it's great minds, but probably it is just obvious.
I was thinking of the trivial example of ethanol additive in gas. It lowers mileage, increases pollution, requires more energy to produce than is reaped, and has other downsides. So why is it added? The original intent was energy independence. However when we started becoming a net producer from fracking that argument goes out the window. Remember Iowa is the first caucus in the election. That's why we have ethanol in our gas. As I said another (trivial) example of how the two systems just are not compatible. Mixing the two systems leads to poor decisions and choices.
http://www.alternativeenergyprimer.com/ethanol-as-fuel.html
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
What an ambitious undertaking this thread is. Thank you!
Glad you came by
Won't be worthwhile without readers and users. Hope you find some pieces of value.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Why the false flag argument is absolute bullshit.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbmsBBch8nU]
The common argument is that mass shootings are false flags perpetuated with the end goal of taking away the guns of the average pleb. Bullshit. Every time there's a mass shooting the gun merchants and manufacturers make a fuckin' killing. The bought government doesn't want to take away guns. They want to sell more for profit, starting with the arming of overworked, underpaid teachers. Yeah, that'll stop mass shootings. Dipshits.
The other argument? "We need guns to defend our rights." Bullshit. We lost what should actually be called our privileges when this country voted in rapacious capitalism in 1980 and when Al Gore was Crosscheck'd by the Repigs in 2000. And in both instances the gun nuts and militia rejects did jack shit to defend them because they voted for it. Hell, Bill Clinton sucked their dicks even after Timothy McVeigh terrorized Oklahoma City.
Don't forget the Bundy Ranch morons. Those assholes actually had the gall to put women and children out as human shields so the feds wouldn't shoot. They even had a little 'rebellion' in Oregon that failed miserably amd they still got off relatively easy. Not to mention one of those assholes was gaming the foster system and using kids as relatively free labor.
Think about this the next time some 14 year old Alex Jones listener goes off about false flags.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
I heard a piece about Trumps efforts to restrict guns
He wants to take away guns from anyone labeled a terrorist...you know like BLM, socialists, occupy, and so on. If there ever is gun control in this country it will be to protect the powerful, not the vulnerable.
It is no wonder we never hear about our violent US culture exporting war around the world as a contributing factor in our violence at home.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Punch down, punch left. It's all they know.
Because the last thing the damn porkies want is anyone going after them once end-stage capitalism finally dies. And the angry white militias will be more than happy to act as capitalist shock troops. Hell, they did just that during the early years of FDR's administration.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
Will capitalism ever collapse?
...and if so what will be our next system? I suspect an age of scarcity in a time of wild climate, but I hope we create some more positive future for ourselves. Wouldn't it be nice to have a society based on equality and respect for each other and our planet?
Sadly the reality is we must find what peace we can in this dysfunctional world economy.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
easier to imagine end of the earth than end of capitalism
a quotation attributed to Fredrick Jameson
yes capitalism will collapse
the earth will do it
My favorite author Bruno Latour in a long interview in LA Review of books
Latour's early work in Science Technology Studies was to show how a scientific fact is produced. There was outcry from scientists who wanted their privileged position but now they need help and are turning to this work
war of all against all, Hobbs, and the most widespread war is on the horizon
Latour argues that The New Climate Regime is organizing politics globally and our current approaches have failed. When pollution crosses borders and the seas rise, states are no longer able to protect us.
Migration of humans and non humans in order to survive is pushing existing political systems to the limit and they are not doing well.
The Critical Zone of Science and Politics: An Interview with Bruno Latour
I think that is likely!
I appreciate your introduction to Latour a few week ago.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
So there were 18 separate communications to law enforcement
BEFOREthe Parkland massacre about this whackjob, warning that he is a nutjob with gunz -- some explicitly calling out imminent "school shooting". Yet it f___king happens anyway.
Meanwhile the US is bloodsucking taxpayers (what is it now? A $$$ trillion a year?) to spy on citizens -- including DHS, NSA, CIA, FBI, and a hundred other 3 letter acronyms). Bankrupting the country to spy on citizens under the guise of "Keepin Us Safe". But ultimately this apparatus was not capable of piecing together 18 separate communications about a whackjob who wants to use his AR15 to kill humans.
Shall we dismantle this $trillion Stasi Monster -- because it actually doesn't work.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
false flags
false flags may not be about buying, selling, or having guns at all. they may be a distraction, a fear mongering, a training exercise, or just a series of casual bets between psychopathic billionaire chess players for their own amusement.
bygorry
like...squirrel!
Distraction and omission seem to be the two main tools in the propaganda box. Well, with a hefty dose of outright lying (like Saddam's WMD, Russia hacked the DNC, Iran is the greatest threat, and so on).
Now where is that squirrel?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Mexican president won't visit WH b/c President Shithole
bitches at him on a phone call about Mexico needs to pay for his Wall to Nowhere.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-testy-call-with-trump-over-bo...
Am I the only one who suspects that Trump has a construction company lined up to loot the taxpayers for this insane fucking wall. I'm guessing the company name is Fuck The Emoluments Clause Inc.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Bingo...emoluments clause
If they want to go after Trump all one has to do is look at his use of office for personal profit. The Russia meme is a red herring so to speak.
I bet TPTB are nervous about Mexico's possible election of a progressive president...
leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador enjoys a double-digit lead in Mexico's presidential race despite an active smear campaign against him. A tactical alliance between divided leftist groups might still be possible, says John Ackerman
The more the world rejects our capitalist domination, the more aware people become. Like in gjohn's piece about how the russian sanctions are backfiring.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
The banks want the wall built
They have lots of money involved with getting that damn wall built and that's why the democrats keep telling Trump that they will give him funding for it. They hide that behind their support for the Dreamers. Notice that when the Dreamers are a stand alone issue, the democrats won't hold out for getting DACA reinstated. Pelosi's 8 hour filibuster schitc (in 4" heels) did nothing because she didn't try to get people to vote for DACA. Kabuki.
The message echoes from Gaza back to the US. “Starving people is fine.”
The wall and more fossil fuels!
Of course it's about money...the fluid of capitalism. It's my hypothesis that the banks are over leveraged in the fracking fields....this is why we're willing to sacrifice our kids...we can't help it....got pay that loan. So build more pipelines, so we can off shore our oil. Drill more profitable off shore wells too. It is a foul capitalist cabal at the helm....looking for more profit....squeeze a little more....it's just a few more peons. Besides the banks could go belly up like 2008. Isn't a wall better than that?
Desperation leads to poor decisions doesn't it? Reminds me of Guy Clark's song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpZV1iJ99g4 (4.8 min)
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Morning Lookout, excellent work.
Relative to Venezuela, I saw this article last night from Peter Koenig, a very good analyst, about President Nicolas Maduro announcing the launch of a new cryptocurrency, the “Petro Oro”, based on oil. He characterizes this effort like this:
"Can you imagine what this means? – It sets a new paradigm for international trade, for safe payment systems that cannot be tampered with by the FED, Wall Street, SWIFT, New York courts, and other Washington puppets, like the European Central Bank (ECB), the unelected European Commission (EC) and other EU-associated Brussels institutions. It will allow economic development outside illegal ‘sanctions’. The Petro is a shining light for new found freedom from a hegemonic dollar oppression."
Potentially big news and a reason why the U.S. and friends are stepping up efforts down there.
I'm not sure about another currency backed by oil, seems like something with a serious shelf life to me and contrary to trying to wean ourselves off the stuff. But, this looks like a big thing and something to keep an eye on.
The Venezuelan “Petro” – Towards a New World Reserve Currency?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48860.htm
I like the idea of investing in a crypto backed by something
...and I support their effort to build a socialist country. But I haven't bought a petro (nor a bitcoin for that matter). Might be a good way to help them by pass the sanctions. Thanks for the links. Max Keiser has been advising them and has been working with Mexico on a silver based crypto. China is buying oil in gold based yuans too. We are headed for a major currency shake up in the near future. gjohn has a better grasp of the economics, but just printing US money (mainly digitally) isn't sustainable.
Rexxon Tillerson's been ginning up support for a take over...following in the path of his predecessors...but not meeting with great success however the sanctions are having a real effect. Reminds me of the way we have relentlessly persecuted Cuba...we simply will not tolerate a country that values it's citizens above our corporations!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
So much to digest....
Hey lookout, just a heads up to let you know that your piece from last week was highly received on FB. Quite a feat given FB's stiffling of all things that aren't Aunt Marta's dinner. First they throttle a site so no one can see it, then they spam you to buy boosts for your stories so you can reach more people.
Anyway, great job. Appreciate all your work.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
That's interesting
There is always too much in the weekly cycle to digest. Seems we get lost in the forest looking at individual trees and missing the forests itself. That was my purpose in starting this series...to try to make sense of the situation each week and roll it into a cohesive story. Didn't take long to see the difficulty of that task, so I roll along trying to piece together some sort of fabric from the threads of disjointed information. Some weeks I'm more successful than others. It is the nature of chaos to reveal patterns.
Thanks for the heads up and visit. Good to see you around!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Great post
Capitalism is sure making me insane. Though for us it seems like it's monopolies and fees, pay more for less without any changes to the product. Your observation to "compare our faux democracy with China's faux communism" is chilling because it feels like our leaders would love to have Chinas system and both systems are moving to their own brand of fascism. This married to a fundamentalist christianity would be a nightmare.
there's a real decline in public and corporate service
...at least in my part of the world. The infrastructure in both the public and private sphere is in need of repair and upgrade. Utilities no longer serve their clients and there is no oversight of the monopoly services. Just think of Flynt and multiply.
China just has better priorities and goals than our government. They are leading the world in solar installations, desert reclamation, and so on. In part because their highly populated country has abused the natural resources of their country for many centuries...to the point where they have to go solar, and electric cars, and trains or choke to death.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
@Lookout Same here, it feels
Same here, it feels like we've been used up, easy profits taken, and unless there is gentrification there is little improvement that can be afforded. China....on the face, it's a miracle with what it has accomplished. But like any country, at what cost to it's people? How does it treat it's least powerful citizens? Are their poor living in the culverts under those marvelous high speed trains? It's what I hate about America.
a young friend took a job in China
...teaching English. Couldn't finish out her contract and left early due to air pollution.
http://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.j667
They have more people than the US in just 20 of their cities.
http://www.ibtimes.com/chinas-urbanization-underestimated-china-adds-9-m...
It is a different world...difficult for us to relate. Sure seems like trouble seeing the millionaires vs the common folks...at least we have inequality in common.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Morning. Excellent work. Matt Taibbi new article Russiagate
#Russiagate Skeptics Take a Beating We don't know for sure where the Mueller probe is going, but don't dare say that out loud
Readers here know that there is a lot of political crap around this issue. And democrats crying Pearl Harbor is scary.
I do not have enough time here right now because of the Tar Baby. I had seen Matt's story and it came up on the REC list at DK/TOP/orange goop
I made some comments and posted the debate between Risen and Glenn and other stuff
what in the world was I thinking?
i am hardwired to rush to education as the answer and I am not saying that they are full of shit as they fall hook line and sinker for the Russian threat, so I spent too much time, but probably won't get zapped from being there
i seem to have spent more time there in the last couple of weeks just to see where they are
and i know where most of them are, but I did make a comment that dems are full of shit, something like that, and got 23 recommends. And when I go there and good people have a post, like subir, I recommend them
but........
I hadn't seen Taibbi's article
I'll check it out. Edit - I did finally read Matt's piece. Surprisingly rational to be rec. at the DailyLost. I'm impressed with your tenacity to speak truth in the hollowness there.
Noam suggests we shouldn't seek to persuade others to our point of view. They must discover it on their own to internalize the idea. As always, he makes you think. (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8WDMKOU-OI
Good to see you around!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
@DonMidwest I think they are a
I think they are a reflection of the methods the democratic party will use to make sure there are no Bernies to skunk up the party in the future.
ToP takes writing orders
The other day I noticed that almost every front page and wreck list diary was about Russia Russia Russia. Next couple of day it was the school shootings and then the NRA...
It's almost like they are pushing a certain message and making sure that everyone is on the same topic.
Then the comments become an echo chamber with everyone saying the same thing as the ones that they are replying to.
The message echoes from Gaza back to the US. “Starving people is fine.”
Say black is white enough times
...and it becomes real...as evidenced by WMD, russia, and all the memes they spin so well.
Of course it depends on being a part of the echo chamber doesn't it?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Don't
mention Bernie or FDR favorably, diss the party, HER or any sitting dem. Commenting about progressive economics, dem failures and WWC will bring down the Flying Monkeys.
bizarre isn't it?
how truth or efforts to see it are meet with disdain. Keep on looking...cause they...
I want...
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Another awesome
news compilation and commentary. Many thanks, Lookout!
glad to see you
You keep an eye open and I'll keep a lookout.
All the best.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”