Loaded for Bear...

This speech by Chris Hedges, in Santa Cruz on November 2014, finds him in rare form, and is perhaps one of his best.   If you are an activist (or even not), and you find yourself looking around at the Democratic-Republic facade crumbling around you and the rest of us, and get discouraged - view this.   You'll be reminded in a hurry as to why the fight is worth the effort - even if we don't win (as far as the courts of public opinion and otherwise are concerned), the key is to RESIST.   

This man talks the talk, but he also walks the walk, having been arrested several times for protesting and having been booed off the stage at a college commencement for having the temerity (read: courage) to speak out against the Iraq war.   

Check it out.  

Redux, and Redux (and Wash, Rinse, and Repeat, Again and Again)...

Of all of the overly premature 2016 campaign rumblings going on in the MSM, one that has piqued my interest is that the MittWit is considering a run for the presidency again.   You've got to admire this guy, if nothing else for his tenacity, hubris, and possibly, his unshaken faith in the prophecy that a Mormon president will save the country.  

Need a few reminders of just what a clueless oligarch this guy is?   Here are a few memes published on Democratic Underground, featuring the "47 percent" comment that famously hoisted him on his petard in 2012. 

If you think Obama had fun with him in the second and third debates in 2012, imagine what HRC will do to him (and as you may know, I'm no fan of Hill OR Bill).  

Please proceed, Mitt.    

Outrage

This has been making me absolutely ill lately.   

More than half of all school-age children are now living in low-income households.  

It's not like we weren't warned this was happening.  We've seen the trends.    We've seen the results of the economic policies of Reagan and afterward.  

We've heard the countless exhortations by those "of means" for those "without" to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and stop being so "lazy".   They're getting brazen now, too - to wit, Warren Buffet said something to this effect not too long ago, and you can turn on Foxy News or Foxy Business anytime to hear variants of this theme.  

And there are precious few media outlets out there that will provide adequate pushback to this nonsense.  Think Mess-NBC is going to provide that pushback?  They're feeble, at best.  And the other outlets, RT (with its Putin smear), Pacifica Radio (with its Hippie smear), and most of the remaining liberal talk show hosts (who have been driven to near-online-exclusivity), have been driven to the sidelines.  

We're supposedly the richest country on earth.   What more proof do we need regarding how unequal the wealth is being redistributed?  This is just the latest in an arms-length list of indictments of American economic superiority.

Freudian Slip, Much?

In this clip, brought to us by the fine folks at The Young Turks, Meet The Press' Chuck Todd finally lets slip the truth as to why modern political "journalism" is so milquetoast.     Bark at the politicians (now owned by Corporate America) and they no longer come onto your show.   Then, you have no show.   Then, you have no career.  

We knew it was only a matter of time before somebody lets the truth slip out.  

What do we do about this?  Comments are welcome...

A Wish for 2015 (and beyond)...

My biggest wish for next year (and beyond) is summed up quite nicely in this post in Democratic Underground.  

I would extend it a bit, though.   We need Dems who can say "BULLSHIT" to the right people, namely, Corporate America, the Big Banks, and Big Media.    The current Third-Way bumper crop is only too willing to call "Bullshit" on progressives and others not of a corporate-friendly ilk.  

Hope you all have a safe and happy NYE 2014, and see you next year...

Divide, Placate, and Subdue

To those who are veterans of the Anti-War movements of the '60s and '70s, as well as from the Occupy movement, its a puzzlement as to why more young people don't take up those causes.   With everything going straight to hell - economy, international conflicts and war, etc. etc. etc. - why aren't there more protests?  Where is the direct action we thought was synonymous with youth?

This article attempts to explain why the lack of involvement.   Crushing student loan debt, the restructuring of our education system to meet corporate, rather than educational goals, the growing surveillance state, and other factors are cited.    While I agree with the article, I think it left out a couple of things:

1.  The brutality our militarized police uses to crack down on mostly peaceful protesters (I'll never forget the article from I-forget-where, where a converted military tank was profiled with a heading to the effect of "Occupy Protestors, Meet This..."). 
2.  The ineffectiveness of traditional protest methods, and the mockery they engender from those more monied (remember during Occupy Chicago, how those at the Chicago Board of Trade would stare down from their multi-stories-up offices to take pictures, mock, and otherwise thumb their noses at the protesters - some even dropping applications to fast-food joints.)
3.  The Weapons of Mass Distraction: the hundreds of entertainment options we now have, which serve as a sort of "soma" for the masses, as Aldous Huxley described the drug in his book Brave New World.   

Where to now?  I welcome your comments...

Quibbles and Bits - No Surprises Here edition

More to chew on...

>>  The election results don't surprise me a bit.    This is the effect of a combination of two things: massive amounts of cash being spent by massively wealthy individuals, and voter apathy on the part of those who probably vote only in the Presidential contests.   

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

>> Obama's presidency is now over.   And the Fat Lady is warming up her voice for the out-of-key aria that will accompany the upcoming impeachment proceedings, endless hearings, and continued gridlock.

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.   

>> Now, those of us on the left will actually be ROOTING for gridlock.    The Repubs are likely going to try to pull out the Paul Ryan budget, as well as take every God-forsaken hack at Obamacare that they can.   The more Obama vetoes, the better.

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES. 

>> If you think the $4 Billion price tag was big, just wait until 2016.   The Kochs and their cohorts just bought themselves majorities in both houses, and you better believe they are licking their chops.   How does $8 Billion sound for a presidential election?  Or $10 Billion?   The sky is the limit now...

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES.

Quibbles and Bits, Show Me and Tell Me about The Police State Edition

More to chew on...

>>This video has my blood boiling:

They won't tell the "accused" (the woman filming this) about where the call originated that led them to come to her house (I guess she's a "suspect" or a "person of interest" by virtue of exercising her first amendment rights.)   They want to know what might happen after the protest.

This is the Police State - Live and in Blushing Color.

UPDATE (12/14):  I find it interesting that the account which housed this particular video was apparently terminated.    I'll leave the observation at that, and the speculation with you.   But I'm leaving the link up anyway.   

>>Here's a story of a 10-year old getting Tazed as a lesson from a cop about what happens when somebody disobeys said cop and any of his cohorts.  Amazing - all of the negative press coverage about the police - from OJ, to Rodney King, to Ferguson, and now this - doesn't seem to affect their behavior one iota.    

Note the commonality of the two stories above?   The brazenness.   The absolute lack-of-giving-a-damn-about-what-we-the-taxpayers-who-pay-their-salaries think.   Not even the slightest attempt at repair of their relationships to the citizenry after the above mentioned bad press. 

Free society? Gimme a break....

(Actually, Officer Taze-A-Kid probably would.)

This pretty much sums up the vast majority of Main Stream Media news...

This is just too juicy, brought to you by the journalistic paragons at The Onion News Network:

Comments?

Pressing the Gaza Issue

This post from Alternet, by the ever-excellent Max Blumenthal, digs into the details surrounding Mess-NBC's unceremonious dismissal of Palestinian correspondent Rula Jebreal, for daring to provide an alternative viewpoint to the pro-Israel slant being propagated across American mainstream media in regards to the ongoing Gaza massacre (sorry, but that's what it is), especially at Mess-NBC.   Chris Hayes' tepid defense of his employer, in a post-sacking interview with Ms. Jebreal, is also detailed.    This entire sordid episode is yet another nail in the coffin of my having any shred of respect for that network - I was under the impression that provocative viewpoints, backed with facts, are the entire point of journalism.   But this is what happens when a corporate entity is up against a nearly-untouchable political lobby in this country - a lobby that seems to state that any criticism of the State of Israel, no matter how slight or benign, is considered anti-Semetic.  With all of that said, here's my take:

The State of Israel has every right to exist as an independent, sovereign nation.   It's independence and sovereignty should be defended, as is the right of any lawfully constituted nation.   However, as an independent, sovereign nation,  it is subject to the same level of scrutiny and criticism as any other nation, from any other nation.   In this regard, Israel is not entitled to special treatment, neither is it the holder of any type of perceived "exceptionalism".    To voice any type of feedback critical of the actions of the Israeli government, then, is NOT "Anti-Semetic".   To say the affirmative would be to say that the State of Israel's actions are in the name of all people of Hebrew descent - it doesn't take a lot of Internet surfing or research to determine this to not be the case.  

There are those who would say that people like me should, at the least, "shut up" because I'm not Jewish and therefore, don't have "skin in this game."   Really?   The US Government (read: our tax dollars) subsidizes the Israeli State - regardless of the taxpayers' ethnic origin.   If we have to pay, then we have a say.   Period.  

I may wind up getting plenty o' flak about this post.    Fine.   Bring it.   

Where There's Smoke, There's...

     The Huffington Post had this about a newish trend amongst the Big-Ass-Diesel-Pickup-Truck-Standing-In-For-A-Phallus crowd: "coal rolling".    Diesel truck engines intentionally altered to blow black smoke, all supposedly for the purposes of a political/social statement that says "F-U Obama", "F-U Environmentalists", or whatever the F their made-up purposes.    They are often accompanied by back window signs to the effect of "Prius Eliminator" or some other type of garbage.  

Look  - if you're one of these people or sympathize with them:  nobody is forcing you to buy a Prius.   Nobody is telling you how to run your life.   Like Diesel?   Great - I used to own a GMC 3500 with the 6.5 Turbo.   But everybody, including you, has to breathe in the same air which you're belching that black smoke into - and all for some "statement".   Lung cancer and other diseases associated with Diesel soot are prices I would rather not have to pay for your statement of rebellion.   This is the same thing - worse, actually - than the bikers with the loud pipes or the cars equipped with those bumper speakers that are more suitable for testing metal fatigue in aircraft than listening to music with.   The sonic nuisances are one thing, but we all have to breathe in your second-hand soot.   

I'd be in favor of regulations that would limit the modifications of diesel engines, lest this trend gets out of hand.   I would also not be hesitant about calling the Air Quality Control Board of whatever state you're in, and turning in these turkeys.  

The only "statement" that the coal-rollers are making regards the size of a$$hole that these people are.