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HERE, HERE! these banks are just cutting the middle-guy, buying wholesale. If not stopped, wealth will continue to flow to them, and rest of us are forced to become a nation of shopkeepers scratching out a living. How do we stop this kind of encroachment when they increasingly own the lawmaking powers of government that will continue giving them all kind of tax breaks and other laws that make this possible. It all starts with campaign finance reform. The second area of challenge is for some smart attorney to turn this corporate personhood thing around on them and breakdown the protection they have from financial liability as entities. They are persons now and should not have that protection any longer.
Not much left to say on this subject that's new. Even to our representatives. They all know what's going on. Talk is cheap but, in great quantity it can be effective. Just listen to those conservative talk show hosts repeating the same messages over and over. Repetition is the mother of all convincing. That's their weapon. We should do the same thing. Which I guess, we are.
Thom meant it as a double insult,and i agree with Thom
For all of us who loves America, who believes that the middle class is the backbone of this country. Thom Hartmann’s blog on how the “Rich rats hijacked our democracy” is a must read for all Americans who works for a living. To survive we must regain control of our country from the Americans who are buying our Congress, and put it back into the hands of the majority, the working Americans.
Isn't it Sheldon Adelson, the gambling magnate?
I just wanted to tell you, Marc and Nachos, that I agree with you both.
That said, I think all rapists are scum and ought to be shot. Or at the very least... well never mind. - AIW
THOM'S USUAL ELOQUENCE. I had always admired Thom's broad grasp of history, but his overview of the Adams/Jefferson/Calvin philosophies and how they reflect Republican/Progressive differences today was mind-blowing. Thom is a master teacher of our times, a truly illuminating person. I was equally fascinated with his previous discussion about the history of hypnotherapy. As a psych major and lifelong student of the works of Carl Jung, I had not heard this story about the cultural impact of the novel Trilby before. It explains a great deal. I have an expanding list of people with whom I would like to have dinner in this lifetime, and Thom stays up in the top five. That will be a conversation well worth waiting for. Antoniafelix.com
Kend ~ Of course, Kend. You might be out there; but, you're never far off. First, oil companies don't really produce anything. They rape the Earth and bottle it. You don't need a lot of laborers to do that, just a few specially trained workers and machine operators. It's cheaper to send them everywhere to rape the earth than to train the locals.
Secondly, thanks to the US ban on HEMP, together with the multi national corporate monopoly on the energy source, the oil industry doesn't really have any competition. Why risk losing well train employees trying to skim profits off of their labor when the product makes all the real profit? You cannot compare the oil industry to any other business in that respect. It is a unique filthy freak show a world apart from anything else.
I was just wondering if the rich "rats" in the title was a typo for "brats" or if it was meant that way as a double insult. Personally, I'm leaning toward the double insult. Bravo, Thom!
MMmmNACHOS ~ You are so right we should be better than that. Shouldn't we? Yet we aren't, are we? Our criminal justice system is a joke. Such a crime was almost unheard of in the middle ages when we would simply take a child molester and boil him in oil in the village square. Everyone in town would look at that and walk 10 feet around any child they saw. Yet, we are so much better than that! We can put a pot smoker in jail for life and allow an axe murderer to be eligible for parole in 6 years. Yet, we are so much better than that! In Texas innocent people go to jail and are executed. When their innocence is finally found out, none of the prosecutors, judges, executioners, or witnesses are brought to justice. Yet, we are so much better than that! Edward Snowden who gave up everything he had to blow the whistle on illegal spying done by our government is facing a possible execution or assassination for his trouble. Yet Wall Street Bankers who destroyed our economy and cost a huge chunk of our population their homes get away scott free. Oh, we are so, so, so much better than that!
Yet one man stands up to defend his own son against a sick sexual predator and "Oh, my, what a travesty of justice? What a disgrace to our morality that such a beating took place? How can anyone take pleasure in that kind of violence? How can such a wrong right another wrong? Who's going to stand up for that poor, poor man whose only crime is raping toddlers." Oh sure, if it was still an egg or a zygote there would be people standing in line to defend it. But as soon as it is born it becomes free game. Who cares about the little victim? Maybe you'd like it if we sued the father, gave the money to the rapist, then let him go with an apology, and threw the father in jail? I wouldn't put that past our crazy justice system. What a great message that would send out, huh? That'll teach him to stand up for his kid! That'll teach him to take the law into his own fists. I'm sorry, but if that's the way you really feel then WE ARE NOT BETTER THAN THAT; AND, WE PROBABLY NEVER WILL BE. We are a SICK society that has lost it's moral compass. Just look at the imbeciles we have on our Supreme Court. We have twisted values and no logical sense of what is right or wrong. We don't know our ass from our nose or which way is up. It's no wonder that we have so many sick adults walking around thinking it's just fine to try and seduce a minor. Until that little (BIG) problem gets fixed we will never be better than that. When our criminal justice system takes a back seat to--and get less results than--the middle ages we really have nothing to hope for any more.
Cheers!
Which is why I said "You would no doubt suggest I was cherry picking......"
Searching through such a huge document without using search terms would mean reading the entire document and making notes.
I must admit I have not read the whole report only certain sections - in this case those that reference extreme weather and the low confidence in a link with AGW.
Would you now accept after reading the section (and possibly checking out that NOAA link) that the IPCC report states no confidence in a link between AGW and extreme weather events, and that there has been no increase in the number or severity of storms in the Atlantic (and elsewhere should we care to look)?
Perhaps another cherry-picking keyword search for 'hiatus' is in order.
Hey Chuck,
'IF' my aunt had balls, she be my uncle:))
I didn't vote, because I feel most cases more than deserve the death penalty. The idea that it costs less to keep someone imprisoned (fed and sheltered and secured from the public) for life rather than kill them is absurd. It may be true (I have plenty of respect for Thom's factfinding), but that simply means someone is dropping the ball financially in our criminal justice system.
The way I look at it is like this... IF YOU TAKE A LIFE AND ARE THE AGRESSOR, YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO PAY WITH YOUR OWN.
Self defense of yourself or others and accidents, of course not.
If someone is murdered, then why do the scales of justice tilt on the side of the murderer?
If you steal money then you can expect to be punished, in addition to full restitution. This is reasonable to act as a deterent for others to commit theft. I don't believe prisons are terrible places, except for white guys. Blacks and Latinos have each others backs. So forget about prison being a deterent. 90% of the outstanding homicides in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens, which brings me to another issue I side with the conservatives on.
The bottom line is "eye for an eye".
Scott Glenn, the actor, who researched for his role in Silence of the Lambs was a hard lined liberal against the death penalty, until he saw some of the monstrous things serial killers do. The real "Jack Crawford" was John Douglas, who showed Glenn the crime scene photos and changed his thinking on capital punishment. I read about this in the book Mind Hunter by John Douglas.
It shouldn't make a difference if the person killed was young or old. You take a life, you forfiet yours.
The NLP toolbox was a great contribution to my therapeutic work. As you know, a trance state is not necessary to achieve results. I just called it 'visualization.' Now most 'treatment' is chemical because one can prescribe in ten minutes. Thanks private insurance!!
One hand giv'th and the other tak'th away.
Oh the tangled web we weave.
Yo DMARC, a few weeks ago my girlfriend and I were sitting on the porch after work enjoying a couple cold ones with one of her coworkers. the conversation got into some work issues; one of the installers for the solar company she manages had been abusively milking the clock and not completing jobs in a timely manner...Then another issue regarding cigerette breaks for the adminastrative staff came up; they now have to record their smoke breaks and are only allowed 3 per day. Nothing to date has been done regarding the employee who milks the clock.
So upper mangament has a hard on for tracking "smoke breaks", but turns the other cheek over an employee repeatedly not working efficently.
My point is; Lets take concern over the"real" issues that dramatically affect us all.
Hyping violence, as you suggest, will not resolve issues such as Sexual Offenses. If war beget war, instead of peace (true resolve), and I know you agree with that, then what makes you think that promoting violence will resolve or societies struggle with crime. We have thousands of Laws on the books (unfortunatly many are Draconian by design), Our country allows Capital Punishment, We have a "zero tolerance" drug policy, and many sentencing guide lines are now mandates that in most cases are over the top. None, that is NONE of these attempts are successful at quilling crime.
So you may have compassion towards the young boy, and feel elated over the fathers jab, left hook, and foot stomp, to the face of a young man who, yes is "fucked up", but what you are suggesting as a measure of resolving crimes of sexual misconduct is very warped and would only create a much bigger issue by encouraging people to go out on a rampage wit htheir pitch forks and tourches.
I believe we are better tthan that.
MMmmNACHOS ~ Well said! I agree! However, one must ask themselves if in that same room at the same moment just how hard it would be for you or me to pull that father off that rapist. I seriously doubt either one of us would have even tried to pull him off until we thought he was going to kill the guy. That being said, I also think it is also safe to say that we would have stopped the beating mostly to protect the father and the son from the law and not to protect the rapist from the father. Correct me if I'm wrong.
The mind is a funny thing my friend. It's easy to sit back and judge the father after the fact. However, the moment you are surprised seeing a defenseless child being accosted by an adult--your own child, a child you know and love dearly--by an adult old enough to know better, you react, you don't think. As far as that is concerned I think the father reacted appropriately; and, I really think you agree.
On the other hand, I will admit that to overreact to the violence on my part may have been somewhat inappropriate. Violence should never be sensationalized and for that I apologize--to this extent. I do have a lot of hostility toward members of the clergy who have molested children. Not because I was a victim--I wasn't. However, I am very sensitive to the pain of others. Also, I have known others who have been molested by priests. I doesn't take much for me to put myself in their shoes; and, when I do, ALL I feel is RAGE!! I can't help but know in my heart that GOD feels the same way!
This is not about an eye for an eye. If it were I would simply want to line up the priests and rape them. This is about accountability and discipline. This is about making an example to insure that this type of thing never happens again. There was never any accountability provided by the Vatican to deal with this crime. These monsters not only walked free, but in many cases walked right into new and better jobs in communities where they could exercise their predatory habits again with impunity.
All I want to do is to protect the helpless kids. If some predator needs to get beaten to a bloody pulp to do that than so be it. That isn't revenge, that is preventive medicine. Our problem as a society is that we are afraid to spank. We have made discipline into a taboo. As a result we have a bunch of self absorbed brats turned into adults walking around that still don't have any boundaries or limits. Expand that to what the 1% and our Pentagon is getting away with and it is quite easy to see just what this undisciplined, "turn the other cheek", pacifist mentality has gotten us. The fact of the matter is that if you spank the child when they are young--establishing firm limits--then you don't have to beat them to a bloody pulp when they are adults.
The same thing goes for politics. If, in 1974, when Nixon resigned and Ford pardoned him, if the people rose up and stormed the white house taking prisoners and executing civil justice, none of the evil that has been committed by the government since would have happened. No President would ever dare. Now the only thing Presidents fear is what happened to JFK at the hands of the 1%. They have no respect whatsoever for the 99%.
Perhaps it was wrong of my to gloat and cheer this case of physical abuse. I'll admit that much. Certainly I have to applaud your ability to cope with your own misfortune. It was very big of you to let that go; and, I do really admire that.
However, I also admire solutions to problems that work. You sure can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. Allow the media to sensationalize what happened to this young punk as the consequences of his behavior. Personally, as disturbing as it is, I think that would have a very positive impact on preventing this type of crime in the future. Consider it a public SPANKING! Certainly, any would be molester seeing what happened would have to have that in the back of their mind when contemplating a future felony of their own. Is it really worth it? Do I really want to piss off a parent that much? For that reason, I must still stand by my decision to applaud not only the father's actions; but, the police and medias decision to publicize it--right or wrong. Bravo!!
Cheers!
Once in a while I send a relative some classic example of reich-wing malfeasance. She refuses to listen/look at any of it.
Lesson: the best propaganda system is the one which can get its target to self-censor and refuse exposure to other viewpoints. The question becomes not 'is it a verifiable point?' but rather 'does it fit with what I already believe?' The idea of an evidentiary process carries no weight in their political world. Authority figures rule! (Even if they are only pretty, script readers.) Check out the first chapter of Hard Times (Dickens) and compare with 'no child left behind' where kids are taught to fill in the right bubble. The assumption that there is only one right answer and that no discussion is warranted, is a significant, perhaps essential component of an effective propaganda system.
Not a clue.
...and that "desperation" is also part of the problem. People are willing to sell-out and work for less and less...Diminishing expectations! They will work longer and harder for less even though their efforts are worth more. Some don't even receive their checks as promised per the hirering process.
We could probabley make some change happen if 100k or more workers, (of any industry), were to organize and form a general union that helped define and oversaw and encouraged enforcment of fruitful labor policies that guarunteed workers living wages, bennefits, and safe and healthy work conditions.
KEND...How do you make it through the day???No offense, but does someone take you by the hand when crossing the street? Do you have someone to tie your shoes, or do you wear slip-ons that have an L and a R to tell you which foot to put them on?
Do you even understand what you just said? "If wages and benefits were reasonable no one would have to out source." Do you get that the reason that wages are no longer in tune (reasonable as you put it) with the basic cost of living is becasue for the past 30 years (starting with Reagan) Unions have been underminded by this Corporate high jacked Government.
The comparison of todays min. wage has less value than it did back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.
FUCK oil companies...they are no different than any other global corporations...Hiding billions in off shore accounts, threatining to lay-off thousands of employees if they do not receive their tax breaks, or if "loop holes" are closed, or if the minimum wage is raised to meet the basic cost of living...They are Frauds! They only care about the board members financle interests.
You do get that Unions were started because shrued business owners would not ensure that workers would be paid a fair (and reasonable) wage, that workers would receive adiquate breaks, and/or would have safe working conditions. Unions also helped define certain work ethics and in many cases assured legal representation for workers.
That being said I do not deny that as time moved on it isn't so much that Unions became too powerful, as much as they got abusive with their power...Much like how the majority of todays Corporations are abusive with their power. It's natural, especially when you alow a capitalist system to opperate at hay-wire.
I encourage you to have someone read to you about the Ludlow Massacre of 1914
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/10289031/Operating-Buk-missile-syst...
Every time Obama claims that MH-17 happened because Russia was backing the separatists someone should remind him that Russia, or the separatists, did not over-throw the original legitimate Ukraine government. The US backed Nazi-loving Ukrainian thugs did that.
Russia did not divert MH-17 over the war zone nor order it to descend down to 33,000 feet...Ukraine did that.
And what the heck does the US even have to say about it, anyway?...only one person out of all of those on-board MH-17 was a half US Citizen who became a Dutch citizen. So he was a dual national...probably didn't even like the US anymore..that's why he was living in the Nederlands (my speculation anyway).
The US, because they have their dirty hands in the affairs of so many countries*, overthrowing legitimate governments, is a worse propaganda machine than Nazi Germany or the old Soviet Union. Why should we trust what they say, anyway, when they are the reason the 99% of us are merely footstools to the master race...the 1%. They lied us into an illegal war in Iraq. They lied us into a dirty illegal war in Vietnam. And they manipulated us all along. Why should we believe their propaganda now?
I heard Michael Weiss, editor in chief of the Interpreter (an online journal that translates and analyzes Russian media) on one US propaganda news program today on TV that claimed that the Russian reports of a Ukraine jet that was only a couple of kilometers away from MH-17 were bogus because the that particular model of the Ukraine military jet (Su-25) could not get up to the altitude of 33,000 feet but only 23,000 feet...talk about bogus....Weiss' logic is bogus as hell. The Su-25 didn't have to be at 33,000 in order to shoot it down. Because the Su-25 can get up to about 33,000 feet, momentarily, from it's normal 23,000 ceiling and I'm sure that even if it didn't get up to where the MH-17 was, at 33,000 feet, it could get off a missile that would easily reach the MH-17. It would also explain why Ukraine had MH-17 descend down to 33,000 feet.
By the way, there are a whole lot of photos, even close ups of various MH-17 crash items here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeroenakkermans/14698699531/in/set-7215764...
* General Wesley Clark. Retired 4-star U.S. Army general, Supreme Allied Commander of NATO during the 1999 War on Yugoslavia said:
Video of the interview of Gen. Wesley Clark and transcript of that interview here:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/we-re-going-to-take-out-7-countries-in-5-ye...
Such hatered DANNEMARC...To have no sympathy. I have sympathy for ALL those involved in this incident, and pray that they are all able to heal and find peace. Unfortunatly these types of cases and up as a 3 ring circus, sensationalized by the media, and ignorant hysteria that in the end does not bring true peace.
I did not say that rape is acceptable, however two wrongs do not make a right. What that father did may, to some degree, be understandable, however his actions should NOT be applauded as heroic, nor should they be encouraged as acceptable.
There is an investigation that may lead to the father facing charges.
As far as your beef with priest that have sexually abused children...Sounds like it hits really close to home for you. I hope someday you find peace through forgiveness. I was sexually molested when I was 8 years old by my friends older brother, (he was 17). It wasn't until I was in my 30's that I first begain to confront the issue, and it took me until just a years ago to finally feel forgiveness (for myself, and for him).
An eye for an eye and soon the whole world is blind, (Which unfortunatly most people are).
Cheers!
Does it? I never heard about that! What kind of cancer does it cure?
Thanks for that link, DAnneMarc! I do sometimes catch the Ring-of-fire but I missed that one. Yeah, just wait till the Muslim corporations start demanding that Sharia law applies to all their employees. The Christian Taliban in this country will go bonkers and demand that they can't do that!