We Need a New Business Model

The US war economy is driven by the MIC (AIPAC, oil, pharma, big AG, etc.) lobby. The ownership is on display. Last Saturday our purchased representatives financed more genocide, destruction, and global chaos, along with the suppression of free speech banning TikTok, plus the theft of Russian assets (bound to undermine the USD)...and this is our business model. What a failed system! The "deep state" mafia carrot and stick persuaded Johnson (and Trump) to flip on their stated priorities...they obviously caved.
"You know they got six ways from Sunday to get you!"

Look at the country which results from these warmongering policies...(2 min)

Afternoon folks!

Some more great stuff this week! In the blues department, there's an album split between Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf featuring tunes from their London Sessions (with Brit blues-rock musicians backing them) and an album from Piano Red (the original Dr. Feelgood?) from Atlanta. After that there's a live double album of zydeco/cajun/blues from Clifton Chenier. In the blues-rock department we've got an album this week from Jeremy Spencer after he left (early) Fleetwood Mac and joined a religious cult, kind of an odd album with some good tunes. After that, there's a live album from country-rockers Poco and we finish off in the diversity department with Tom Waits and his Swordfishtrombones album.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the tunes!

Well, friends, we got us some civil unrest here and there.

Back when I was in college, I did some protesting against Viet Nam war, but it was mostly lending support for draft dodgers heading to Canada, and assisting conscientious objectors. It was never any conduct that would get me arrested, or expelled from school. One must have a clean background check to get into law school and another to even be allowed to take the bar exam. I ran away from parties full of students passing out a variety of drugs. I meant to do what I could within legal bounds.?

I wonder what I would do as a student now. Would I give up my goals and dreams to try to prevent a genocide? Would I give up on a degree? Would I destroy my chances of being hired by a corporation?

It will take much soul searching on my part to measure my integrity.

While the kids risk more than they can imagine, it is we oldsters who have so little to lose. It is we who should be in those tents. We often think of the young folks as Iphone gamers.

College protesters today are my heroes, and my heart.

The film clip immediately below is a scene from the movie 1984 starring Richard Burton as O'Brien and John Hurt as Winston Smith.

Here's a quick synopsis of the plot:

Winston Smith (John Hurt), a bureaucratic flunky living in the totalitarian state of Oceania, breaks the law by daring to fall in love with Ministry of Truth worker Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). Attempting to escape, Winston and Julia are tracked down by the Thought Police. Both must be "re-educated" into loving the State -- and by extension, the shadowy dictator Big Brother.

Source (See the description below the youtube clip)

In this scene Winston is being physically tortured by Inner Party Member O'Brien to break him emotionally with the end result being Winston's confession that the false statement 2+2=5 is in reality actually true. O'Brien uses pain methodically, to impress upon Winston that the Party is in complete control and to break his will.

Winston is in great physical pain from the torture but it is the psychological fear of even more excruciating pain that ultimately breaks him. He just wants it to stop.

In 1984, "2+2=5" is a false statement created by the Party and an example of the many ways the Party controls people. In making people believe that a random, false statement is an objective truth, the Party distorts and claims control of truth itself. Winston understands that slogans like "2+2=5" are mechanisms of the Party's social control until he is tortured. In the end, he traces the equation in dust, showing that the Party eventually controls him, too.

Source

25 April 2024 - Vote For Your Paychecks!

Back in January the leader of the UAW, Shawn Fein (yes, I wanted to write Sinn Féin, heh), announced that the UAW was endorsing Biden for President. This was after very strained relationships between the UAW leadership and Biden, but Biden had supported the UAW during their strikes in 2023 (see this article at Reuters for more) and so Shawn Fein returned the favor. Whether that translates into union votes for Biden or not remains to be seen. Fein himself admitted that it probably wouldn't (from the article by Wilmer J. Leon III, discussed more below):

Following the union endorsement Fein explained that he expected most of the UAW membership would not vote for President Biden in November. During an interview on Fox Business Network’s Your World with Neil Cavuto, Fain stated, “Let me be clear about this. A great majority of our members will not vote for President Biden…The majority of our members are gonna’ vote for their paychecks, they’re gonna’ vote for an economy that works for them.”

Strikers at the General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant on September 29, 2023 in Lansing, Michigan. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images from CNN article here.