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The fossil fuel issue is not new for us. My question directly goes to the environment and its negativities. Really glad to know about this.
Religious fanatacism and fascism are like ugly twins.
Isn't it amazing how this culture nurtures sleazeballs like Sheldon Adelson! A virtual hotbed of sleaze. Makes that biblical "golden calf" look downright soulful by comparison. Know what I mean? (tsk)
Forgive me, I can't find a way to reply comment directly to Thom. Thom, I love your show, and, while I am not as Liberal as you, I respect you as mostly right on. And, I agree totally with the gist about this Christain nonsense. But you touch a nerve when you talk about my ancestors. In particular, William Bradford. He led his party to relative safety. The English king wanted their heads. He wanted them to worship him as leader of the Anglican Church. My ancestors first set foot on American soil on November 11, 1620. The Mayflower had suffered damage in the heavy seas of the North Atlantic. The crew was anxious to return to England. Those brave folks had little more than the clothes on their backs to face a New England winter! About 20% of them perished that first year. But, they recovered and flourished. My ancestors went on to fight in the Revolution. You are WRONG! They were NOT Puritans. They called themselves "Separatists." You are correct, the Puritans came shortly thereafter. And, yes, they did awful things. And, yes, there are some in my family tree. The New Plymouth colony had to intermarry or become inbred. There were only about 80 of them after that first winter. William Bradford was elected Governor in 1621. He was the first Anglo government to last in this land. Please do not call him a "Puritan."
"It’s called the Christian hard-right, it’s been in America for a very long time, and it’s pushing beliefs that share a worldview and a face with those of ISIS and the Taliban. - See more at: http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2014/07/rise-american-taliban#sthash.s7zMyjOp.dpuf"
Well I'm dang sick and tired of folks pairing the word "Christian" with any type of hate politics or malevolent organization which embodies the antithesis of The Light of the World.
There is no "Christian" hard-right. They may call themselves that and carry any number of signs and flags, but the Light of the World exposes them for what they are- minions of Darkness.
Christ means Light and when we no longer sit in the darkness of falsehoods and bad will towards men, the world will prosper in joy and peace.
Christianity has never meant "Force." In fact, it was the Luciferan character which insisted that all men must be made to bow to one Lord. In fact, that is what got Lucifer kicked out of heaven to carry out his rage upon the earth.
So please, stop bashing a perfectly good word which these Latter Day Luciferans of many professions are dragging through the mud. Christ does not mean War, Crusades, Stinginess, Hatred, Intolerance, Selfishness, or Destruction. Don't lay the blame for these ills on Christianity or the existence of religion.
Tyrants use emotional and spiritual tactics to manipulate all into darkness where their Deeds thrive.
"Religious extremism is rearing it's ugly head once again."
I disagree. I contend that it has never stopped... They just got louder from being financed by very rich people who want a third world country government for the United States. They don’t want regulations; they want the freedom to rob the general public without consequence and the protection of their private assets with public money and blood.
The religious right should stop and think about who they truly represent in their fight for domination. They won’t. They are sheep in wolves clothing who are being sheared by their financiers and will soon find themselves laid bare and impoverished. When that time comes; they will blame the very government they created.
As a woman and a daughter of a Minister, I agree that this far-right religious zealotry is wrong and needs to be fought tooth and nail. As a voter I have been fighting against this type of fascism and for nearly 45 yrs I have been voting against oppressive political activity.
I have demonstrated, sat-in, volunteered, marched, and followed the politics of this country for too long to see it sink into a Corporate Religious Quasi Democracy.
The People are the Power of this Country and need to stand up and tell those who think they can buy and sell us so.
Sven -- I had a cololnoscopy today, bought a washer on Tuesday, and preparing for videoing a memorial ceremony for a friend on Saturday. Please stay tuned.
I am going to be using keyword search to determine if the uncertainty mentioned in those paragraphs is in the system, the measurements or the estimates, but not until July 27.
If these male domination freaks ever try to oppress me, they will immediately receive a belt in the nose and a kick in the azz.
douglas m -- In which universe have you detected a progressive congress?
It would be far too easy to agree with you but then we would be doing exactly what the American taliban would do. We don't wish to emulate them, simply work to ensure the American taliban don't become a ruling force in America. We already have too many crazies within our government!
The Crusades have already started with Saint Raygun leading the charge.
Akovia -- You forgot to mention that most of his income from gambling is in China. He has bribed China officials. He is trying to avoid prosecution in the US by buying politicians.
DAM -- Have you been able to track down any farmers who are now raising hemp in the US? Since American farmers were cheering Obama when he re-characterized hemp, I would think there would be some indicator around.
OU -- If your aunt wants to be an uncle, why don't you pay for the operation (or at least vote for her)?
I've complained for some time about the rise of christian fundamentalism in this country; I'm glad that somebody important - Thom - has finally said something about it. Personally, I think fundamentalists are traitors to the Constitution, and freedom in general; they should all be charged with conspiracy, rounded up, and nailed to whatever religious icon is appropriate. Or maybe just deport them.
Afrer 2008 depression / crash US should have broken up largest banks ...These powerful crooked banks are a dangerous monopoly. Big Banks, Corps & billionaires run our country .Last 30 + years US policies, laws are anti middle class ..and favor wealth ! Why ? Because Supreme court says ' Money is Speech Corps are Persons ! Why do we listen to the diversions from GOP year after year ? GOP vowed to make Obama a failure 5 yrs ago. GOP ' leadership no longer puts USA first . The GOP is anti fair wages, anti middle class and anti womens right to birth control.
How dare they tell us how to plan our families .
This is one of those rare occasions when I have to disagree with Thom.
Thom says becoming a landlord is “a smart financial decision”, a “great way to earn some extra money, help pay the mortgage, or even make a living once you retire and no longer take home a paycheck.”
I think it’s a great way for property owners to be subsidized by the less fortunate. I think it’s a rotten system, generating all kinds of abuse from both sides of the deal.
Don’t get me wrong, folks. I’ll acknowledge that there are exceptions to this general rule, where there is a fair exchange between landlord & tenant that is mutually beneficial. But in a majority of situations, it’s not so great.
When my hubby & I were renters, we did not have big banks or hedge funds for landlords. But we had to deal with plumbing problems, carpenter ants, warped floors and ceilings, slug invasions (even finding slug tracks on our clean dishes in the dish drainer!) and other headaches. If my husband didn’t happen to have all these nice handyman skills, I don’t know what we would have done. That’s because all the people we rented from were deadbeat do-nothings who could only be depended upon to take our money.
Rent from Wall Street, or some corporate entity?! I’d rather hang myself. - AIW
You've made excellent points regarding public smoking (regardless of the substance being smoked). I like your perspective about public pot consumption being most likely a fad and "backlash" against decades of prohibition. But like cigarette smokers, pot smokers should have some respect for the rights of non-smokers. Nobody should be exposed to either kind of smoke involuntarily. Even if pot smoke isn't the health hazard tobacco smoke is, it can still be unpleasant and annoying to the non-smoker. - Aliceinwonderland
The house always wins.
My grandmother talked of the days when she was a young girl os escaping the dust bowl with everything they owned loaded on a Model-T. I later read Grapes of Wrath and envisioned the details of life in the days of The Great Depression and found myself wondering not just the human cost, but "why." Born in the fifties, an age of technological promise: rocket ships and the race to the moon; freeways, television, and an anticipation that I would follow with a similar lifestyle and relative financial security.
We no longer fly rockets to the moon. Wages have stagnated since the days of Reagan with massive consolidation and leverage buyouts. I knew there was something called the Sherman Antitrust Act and was befuddled watching NBC announcing massive job layoffs in the thousands. I had a sense something profound was taking place, but understanding the reasons wasn't as clear.
Several months ago, the local Sacramento newspaper ran a story about the corporate buying of nearly 25% of rental properties in the area, cashing in on the demise of the for near middle class. NPR just did a story last week about how poorly maintained these corporate homes are maintained. I flash on my grandmother's stories of the days of economic darkness and wonder what perfect storm of market forces and world events might spin the world into an abyss unlike anything ever before encountered. Perhaps even worse is the pace of mediocrity as we slowly digress into an Orwellian world of corporate servitude until the planet chokes on the gasps for its cleansing. Tag you're it :-) Rich in Folsom
Tell me the banking industry isn't a clear and present danger to the economy itself.
More importantly I'm sure they will stop making profit over destroying everything in their path.
I picture bankers as Ferengie from star trek. The love of money.
They will obviously have to be heavily regulated before anything will get better in this economy.
Wait we have a progressive congress, I feel safer already.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeEMSht_E30&list=UUuFCfiQxxQFt3ELgYceCElw
Palindromedary ~ If pot were legalized people would probably smoke it in public en masse for a brief period of time at least. Already here in Oakland--which is rapidly becoming known as Oaksterdam--you can smell the stuff in the air in almost any major thoroughfare. However, this is just medical marijuana, not recreational marijuana; and, I don't believe this is going to become a norm. I think it is a fad and nothing more than the understandable backlash that several generations of obscene marijuana prohibition has fostered.
Personally, I don't believe that public smoking of weed will ever be allowed to be as completely legal, common, and accepted in the public as cigarettes smoking once was; mostly, for the reason that you've just stated--it is quite annoying to most people who don't smoke. Besides, smoking really isn't the healthiest way to consume anything. It's best when turned into candy, chocolate, popcorn, pretzels, cookies, brownies, or almost any other kind of food--as is already available in medical marijuana facilities. It doesn't bother anyone else and can be consumed even by people with severe respiratory problems. In my opinion, in the future, smoking things will become a lost art simply because of the health and social complications. Till then we are just going to have to be tolerant if we really value our own individual freedoms. To insure our freedoms we have to completely respect the freedoms of others. Of course, in return, they will have to respect our freedom to breath clean air.
chuckle8 ~ I believe you might be mistaken. If I remember correctly, marijuana does not cure cancer. If it's regular recreational use helps to prevent cancer--or any other disease--that is unknown as of yet; although, there are good reasons to warrant studies in that area. More importantly there are plenty of people who are willing to volunteer for those studies and the only thing preventing the research is the law. What it is known, is that the consumption of Cannabis eases the symptoms and discomfort of chemotherapy and other toxic pharmaceutical treatments used to treat cancer and other diseases. Basically, it eases pain, reduces stress, causes drowsiness, and stimulates appetite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f52CWIukR_8&list=UUuFCfiQxxQFt3ELgYceCElw
Holy Crap! I hadn't thought of the re-package thing but I did notice a little over a year ago our tax assessment went through a flip-over. I have a rental house and part of the ability to make money with a rental is through the depreciation of improvements over 27.5 years. My properties (home and rental) had the same basic split in values, approximately 35 % improvements and 65% land. Now and for the last two years it flipped the improvements to 65% and property to 35 %. A 30% increase in the deductible amount. I can't get it because it has been a rental for 15+ years and the deductible amounts were set then. I called our King County Appraiser and they said it was a reflection of the price land is/was selling for, but would not say anything more. I used to think it was just some local Richie Rich's wanting to make a few extra bucks but I now believe it is because of the oncoming billionaire landlords and how a 30% increase will make the paper they want to sell a lot more profitable! As Teddy K. said so well, "When will the greed stop! How much is enough!"
Thanks,
Jack K.