This symbolism is very similar to 2003... remember the chainsaw? Deregulating housing loans was great wasn't it? I mean 2008/2009 were some of the best years ever!
Red tape cutting event with chainsaw. (James Gilleran of the Office of Thrift Supervision)
Things are worse than the fox guarding the hen house; the fox can only eat his fill and no more, the greedy one percent and their minions never get enough. It was bad enough when they were buying politicians, now the robber barons are in government.
My sentiments exactly. I am still angry for the very same reason. Being polite was more important than the survival of our democracy?!? Then, seeing photos of the Dems at the inauguration, smiling as though everything was peachy-keen, made me scream. There was a photo of Nancy Pelosi standing with others around Chump as he was seated, signing something. She had a big old cheesy grin on her face. What is wrong with these people?! We just had a Corporate take-over of our government....?!? The conflicts-of-interests are simply blinding yet it is as if everyone is trying to pretend it's a normal exchange of power...."let's wait & see how it goes...maybe there's something we'll agree on...?!?!" The resistance should have started at the top from Day One, when all this crap started happening.
Now, the illegit prez wants to investigate non-existent voter fraud here yet Russian interference (as determined by our various intelligence agencies) is never even mentioned!
It is all so mind-boggling.
I can remember wondering, as many have through the years, how the German people allowed for a Hitler to take over their country. I think many in this country had judgement in their hearts too, thinking, "WE would NEVER allow that." Well, guess what? Maybe we are going to learn the hard way how that happened. An unstable egomaniac has grabbed the reins. Only this time, he's also part of the Corporate Elite so it is a new American version of fascism. Authoritarian & nationalistic right-wing system of government. Did our fellow Dems not see this coming?!?
Instead of creating pot-holes, they rolled out the Red Carpet.
Quote 2950-10k:I sure hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid the only way to stop this now is the old fashion way. Crack open your history books...it ain't pretty.
You are, of course, referring to REVOLUTION! Perhaps, we should try the French method this time around. I'll sharpen up my guillotine.
Quote Thom:So why are Trump and the Republicans trying to take us back to a time when only aristocrats could afford to be informed?
Because an uninformed and uneducated populace is easier to deceive and control, and those two actions go hand-in-hand. We Americans have gotten so stupid, we can't even program our own VCR's. What happened to the good old days when we were the standard bearers for good, quality education; when foreigners would come to this country for a good education? America will die in ignorance.
Regarding the election that just took place....We all knew that if the illegal seizure of our government was successful, the future of the entire planet would end up in deep peril. Weeks of opportunity went by to legally correct and redirect this evil back to where it came from. I'm still outraged the election wasn't declared invalid. It seems not a single Dem including Obama nor our Justice dept. cared to step up and do what was right for humanity. Obama wouldn't even fire Comey.
Sure, we've turned a blind eye to election fraud before, and it got us into endless war that is still costing trillions, not to mention a crashed economy. This time however it's far more evil. The entire planet is about to get sodomized by a few bloated old wheezers/sniffers with bad hair dye, and it seems we are all just standing by and watching the assault unfold.
How many years do the Koch's have left, a couple at best???? ....and how many more billions do they need?
Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm sure most have....Trump has the same type of mental illness that Hitler had. Standing in his shadows are Pence, Ryan, and McConnell ... just plain old SS type dumb- asses, all totally ignorant of the magnitude of what is about to unfold.
I sure hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid the only way to stop this now is the old fashion way. Crack open your history books...it ain't pretty.
With Trump's recent actions as president, I believe that we have elected the most insecure, insane, man in history, who is now the president of the United States of America
Wagnesr9 - Sadly it won't end with charter schools. Betsy DeVos is a fundamentalist Christian who would have our tax dollars flowing to church schools as well. The churches will teach pseudo-science and non-science creationism. Of course the dumber the population is the more susceptible to propaganda.
A poll done and reported today on NPR (which Trump is going to defund and Republicans don't listen to) said that when shown the pictures of the Mall crowds for both the Obama and Trump inaugurals, 15% of the Trump voters said the 2017 picture had more people. And Trump has started his campaign of voter suppression by lying about the so called 2-3 million illegal votes. We are in for a hard ride.
To answer Thom's rhetorical question: It is obvious why conservatives want to restrict the distribution of information. First of all, Donald Trump stated on the campaign trail that he loves "low information voters." It's obvious that the less information a person has to work with, the more likely he is to watch Fox News and vote Republican. Second of all, if you can deny education to the bulk of the people, then only the wealthy will have a voice. Hence the emphasis upon Charter Schools.
The inexorable march to fascism is now at ...double-time ...hut! Anybody who has been in the military knows WTF that means -- things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.
Lock and load, rock and roll, boys and girls!
Now ... just gotta figure out who the bad guys are...?
Thom- This is about the investigation Trump wants on voter fraud- which includes double voting- voters registered in two states. How do we get someone like Mark Shields or Leslie Stahl to interview Greg Palast and Kris Kobach. Whatever happened to his investigations? Tonight the suggestion was made on PBS that the voter fraud could have, if true and substantiated, worked to swing the votes in the swing states by 20, 30,000 votes. Why don't the PBS folks know about "crosschecking" ? The two officials interviewed said there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud and that President Trump is making a fool of himself pursuing this line of inquery. What do you think?
Gee, you sound angry. Touch a little nerve there, did we? Tch, tch ... better gobble up some more psycho meds, or go shoot something with your big 'ol "AR" that you so love to brag about. (WARNING: When still drooling from meds, do not look down muzzle to see if loaded!) You may use my avatar for target practice.
1. BTW, where's your avatar? Look deeply into the magic mirror on the wall that never lies, oh Dark Fuzzy Spirit... }:--((
2. After your nasty little smears shared with TomDorr against Chelsea Manning's sexual orientation -- buried at the end of the days-old thread, when you evidently thought no one would notice -- it has been established quite plainly for all to witness who the clueless bigots and homophobes really are on this forum. That's all the information anyone needs.
The purity of spirit within all living beings is worthy of honor. Nonetheless, as is most of humanity on Earth, I'm disgusted and appalled not by your spirit but by the noxious, right-wing, group-think disinformation campaign waged by reprehensible authoritarian leaders and followers, whose disjointed thought patterns have been twisted by hateful, fearful, divisive propaganda, such as that which constantly spews forth from immature, fragile EGO MAN Trump, Faux-Fox News, lie/hate radio, and the fringe swamp of the "big lie and half-truth" brainwash that would make Joseph Goebbels proud.
3. Again, your reading comprehension seems to suffer a bit when you get mad. The long, long menu of an unpalatable daily fare of easily debunked, despicable lies served up day in and day out by right-wing, angry little trolls is what was described in the previous exhortation as "clogging up the forum" -- not the mere volume of internet ink used.
But I get you. Reading anything longer than a few sentences on a blog thread is such a damn hassle these days ... so, so hard to focus in this world of quick and easy sound bites. Well, sometimes the simple truth is not so simple; unfortunately, it may require more of an effort than the pithy bumper-sticker sloganeering that trolls have perfected and are barely capable of absorbing.
It's very impressive, though, that you actually took the time to peruse my dissertations -- even delving in deep enough to actually count the words. Wow! I'm honored! I'll keep 'em coming just for your sake. There's hope for you yet, girl!
Back on topic: Now what were you "blithering" about?
Something about some cherry-picked factoid to do with some billionaire-inspired, Wall Street ancillary trade agreement, which you were dishonestly trying to pin solely on Obama, because he (yes) stupidly went along with your chosen party, jam-packed with unpatriotic Congressional Republicans?
Something about how your low-IQ, bankrupted, head pervert with the fake clown hair -- the laughing stock of the world -- was somehow going to swoop in and save the day?
Oh well, it doesn't matter -- just more white noise from another swamp troll. Bless her spirit.
Trump is attacking on all fronts. If we fight each battle separately, according to individual interests we can never WIN any. Time to Unite together and just say NO! to EVERYTHING.
'Yes...hey we don't like the senator graham looking into the hacking issues. We also don't like your surveillance people reviewing conversations with our ambassador in United States. Thanks to your Patriot Act. We forgot about this. This is big problem for us and for you. Remember Golden Shower!
'Ok, Il run interference again. I’ll disrupt things and make it rain on the press while I do damage control and manipulate America.’
Summary : A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements) 2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love. 3. Believe that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with other special or high-status people (or institutions) 4. Requires excessive admiration 5. Has a sense of entitlement 6. Is interpersonally exploitative 7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others 8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her. 9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.”
What does it mean if someone does have NPD?
If someone does have “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” they can, indeed, wake up, see a Tweet or a news report from a foreign leader criticizing him, mocking him, calling him “weak” or threatening his ego in any way and order some kind of impulsive, vindictive, punishing, immediate response that could include an unhinged order to attack that foreign leader or foreign country with military force, even including the authorization of nuclear weapons.
It is extremely likely that there would be some kind of impulsive, angry diplomatic response.
Because someone afflicted with this incurable and progressive “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” simply can’t help himself.
Here’s why:
1. People with NPD are extremely sensitive and insecure. They psychologically require constant compliments and acknowledgement because they do not have their own internal self-esteem. They need to get it from others.
2. If someone does criticize them, even in a Tweet or on a television comedy show, it triggers this deep and painful lack of self-esteem and they MUST lash out to relieve the pain of the criticism.
3. They have only two modes: They are either fully your friend and love you or you are their enemy and they will do everything to discredit you or humiliate you. They can’t help it. The pain of having someone in their circle who does not approve of them or acknowledge them, (almost constantly), is too great.
4. There are only two ways to deal with someone with NPD, and they are both dangerous. There is no healthy way of interacting with someone with this affliction. If you criticize them they will lash out at you and if they have a great deal of power, that can be consequential. If you compliment them it only acts to increase the delusional and grandiose reality the sufferer has created, causing him to be even more reliant on constant and endless compliments and unwavering support.
5. Because they crave the attention and approval of others they develop great capacity to engage and entertain and can be quite charismatic, even to the point of developing a cult-like following.
6. Someone with NPD will NEVER get along with any member of the press, or any media outlet that criticizes him.
7. Someone with NPD will NEVER hire (and will fire) anyone who criticizes him. Therefore, and because they believe they know better than almost everyone else, they have a very hard time listening and taking any advice.
Concerns Expressed by Mental Health Professionals
The President of The United State and Commander in Chief is the only American who has ANY say over the mobilization of The United States Military, the authorization of a military strike on a perceived or real enemy and the launch of any and all of the weapons possessed by The United States Military, including 7,000 nuclear warheads.
There is no “Fail Safe”. There is no “Team”. There is no thoughtful review.
The National Security Advisor, The Secretary of Defense, The Secretary of State, The Joint Chiefs of State and every General in the military can all emphatically say “NO!” but if The Commander in Chief wants to initiate military and even nuclear action, NO ONE can stop him. American law does not allow a military officer to make those decisions.
Only a civilian, The President, elected by The American People can access the nuclear codes. Only that President can use the nuclear codes.
And if he does, the military is duty bound to follow his order.
A President and Commander in Chief who does have Narcissistic Personality Disorder would be very dangerous to all Americans, and the world.
Trump says that they are going to use American made pipe for the pipelines. But the foreign made pipe is all ready there. So are they going to leave the foreign made pipe sitting in piles and use USA pipe to finish it? Or is this just a decoy statement? Any pipeline built in the USA should be USA pipe. Do not forget that Trumps hotels are made from foreign steel.
I have been an opponent of the TPP for various reasons, However, opting out entirely could hurt the USA. China was not part of it, opting out will give China a huge opportunity to build free trade agreements with the Asian countries we are opting out of. That will put the USA at a hugh disadvantage by our having to negotiate country by country against whatever China has to offer them. What leverage will we have unless it is more military domination to control the lost trade countries.
The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement would have promoted the interests of giant, multinational corporations over the interests of labor, environmental, consumer, human rights, or other stakeholders in democracy, AND FURTHER CONCENTRATE OWNERSHIP OF THE NON-HUMAN PRODUCTIVE CAPITAL MEANS OF PRODUCTION!
The REAL STORY is a story about the collusion among a globally wealthy ownership class to further concentrate private sector ownership in ALL FUTURE wealth-creating, income-generating productive capital asset creation on a global scale. A sorta FREE TRADE ON STEROIDS!
With or without such trade agreements, the wealthy ownership class has institutionalized greed (creating concentrated capital ownership, monopolies, and special privileges). “Hoggish,” the term I have given this practice, is about the ability of greedy rich people to manipulate the lives of people who struggle with declining labor worker earnings and job opportunities, and then accumulate the bulk of the wealth through monopolized productive capital ownership. Our scientists, engineers, and executive managers who are not owners themselves, except for those in the highest employed positions, are encouraged to work to destroy employment by making the capital “worker” owner more productive. How much employment can be destroyed by substituting machines for people is a measure of their success – always focused on producing at the lowest cost. Only the people who already own productive capital are the beneficiaries of their work, as they systematically concentrate more and more capital ownership in their stationary 1 percent ranks. Yet the 1 percent are not the people who do the overwhelming consuming. The result is the consumer populous is not able to earn the money to buy the products and services produced as a result of substituting machines for people. And yet you can’t have mass production without mass human consumption made possible by “customers with money.” It is the exponential disassociation of production and consumption that is the problem in the United States economy, and the reason that ordinary citizens must gain access to productive capital ownership to improve their economic well-being.
There is another alternative, a balanced JUST Third Way, based on an understanding of binary economics, by which over time the economy's productive capital assets will become almost entirely individually owned by 100 percent of the citizens, as individuals. Such an economy would produce efficiencies of production fully using ever-advancing technologies of production that will fuel a greater growth of the world economies by eliminating the problematic condition of the exponential disassociation of production and consumption through ordinary citizens gaining access to FUTURE productive capital ownership to improve their economic well-being, without taking anything away from those who already own.
It is critical that private property ownership in productive capital be extended to ALL people because of the increasing power of productive capital to produce more and more of the wealth or products and services needed and wanted by society. Because productive capital – the non-human factor of production – is an independent productive power separate from human labor power, and represents an increasing role in creating wealth, the question to be addressed is: Who has the right to acquire ownership of productive capital?
While people have private property rights in their own labor, due to tectonic shifts in the technologies of production it is not enough for individual survival if people cannot get jobs, or if jobs, in reality are no longer doing a substantial part of the wealth creation. As exponential technology shifts destroy jobs and devalue the worth of labor, people need not only private property rights in their own labor, but also private property rights in the productive capital assets that are doing ever more of the work.
We as a nation, and other nations, can no longer limit people to personal rights while restricting ownership acquisition rights in wealth-creating, income-producing productive capital assets to those already well-capitalized. To be a just society, all individuals MUST have effective property rights not only in their labor and personal use possessions but also in FUTURE productive capital asset creation. Because of this imbalance, the result has been that the consumer populous is not able to get the money to buy the products and services produced increasingly by the non-human factor – physical productive capital – as a result of substituting machines for people. And yet you can’t have mass production without mass human consumption.
Broadened, private sector individual ownership of FUTURE productive capital assets as a societal objective is the ONLY individual private property-rights approach that will provide solutions to income inequality, unemployment, underemployment and anemic GDP growth – all of which is rooted in the tectonic shift in the technologies of production and its concentrated ownership. This reality, as a practical matter, is destroying jobs and devaluing the worth of labor, widening the income gap between the rich and poor and struggling (each resentful and suspicious of the other), and resulting in our inability to achieve double-digit GDP growth in the United States and other countries.
To solve this challenge, several policies must be implemented in the United States:
1. Tax reform is needed to incentivize broadened individual ownership of corporations by their employees. As an incentive, provide a tax deduction to corporations for dividend payouts, which would tighten-up the right of each owner to his or her full share of profits, a basic and historic right of private property. It would eliminate double and triple taxes on corporate profits, shifting the burden of taxation to personal incomes after exempting initial incomes that would allow low and middle class citizens not to pay taxes on incomes needed to cover basic living expenses. It will also encourage corporations to finance their growth through the issuance of new full voting, full dividend payout shares for financing their productive capital growth needs through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and Capital Homestead Accounts (CHAs). Politically we need to insist that politicians lift barriers to the democratization of future ownership opportunity based on sound principle, rather than redistributive taxation.
2. As increasingly more workers acquire ownership stakes in FUTURE corporate productive capital assets using ESOP financing mechanisms, workers will build second incomes to support their living expenses, which in turn means they will be better "customers with money" to support demand for the products and services that the economy is capable of producing. By reason of the higher marginal spending rate on the part of workers second incomes, more of the additional income earned by the new capitalists (who have many unsatisfied consumer needs and wants) will be spent on consumption than if the income had been earned by those capitalists who now have concentrated the ownership of productive capital exclusively, and who have few, if any, consumer needs and wants. Such broadened incremental consumption will fuel a demand for more consumer products and services, which in turn will provide incentive for greater productive capital investment.
3. For all Americans, the Federal Reverse needs to create an asset-backed currency that can enable every man, woman and child to establish a Capital Homestead Account or "CHA" (a super-IRA or asset tax-shelter for citizens) at their local bank to acquire a growing dividend-bearing stock portfolio to supplement their incomes from work and all other sources of income. The CHA would process an equal allocation of productive credit to every citizen exclusively for purchasing full-dividend payout shares in companies needing funds for growing the economy and private sector jobs for local, national and global markets. The shares would be purchased using essentially interest-free credit wholly backed by projected "future savings" in the form of new productive capital assets as well as the future marketable products and services produced by the newly added technology, renewable energy systems, plant, rentable space and infrastructure added to the economy. Risk of default on each stock acquisition loan would be covered by private sector capital credit risk insurance and, if necessary, government reinsurance, but would not require citizens to reduce their funds for consumption to purchase shares.
4. Reform the tax code such that the tax rate would be a single rate for all incomes from all sources above an established personal exemption level (for example, an exemption of $100,000 for a family of four to meet their ordinary living needs) so that the budget could be balanced automatically and even allow the government to pay off the growing unsustainable long-term debt. The poor would pay the first dollar over their exemption levels as would the stock fund operator and others now earning billions of dollars from capital gains, dividends, rents and other property incomes.
5. As a substitute for inheritance and gift taxes, a transfer tax should be imposed on the recipients whose holdings exceeded $1 million, thus encouraging the super-rich to spread out their monopoly-sized estates to all members of their family, friends, servants and workers who helped create their fortunes, teachers, health workers, police, other public servants, military veterans, artists, the poor and the disabled.
6. Eliminate all tax loopholes and subsidies.
These polices would result in rapid and substantial economic growth with the GDP rate in double digits. As a result of the stimulus effect, more REAL, decent paying job opportunities and further technological advancement would be created while simultaneously broadening private, individual ownership of FUTURE wealth-creating, income-generating productive capital assets, which would support second and primary incomes for ALL Americans.
In this new FUTURE economy, a citizen would start to benefit financially at birth and continue as he or she enters the economic world as a labor worker, to become increasingly a capital owner, whose productive capital assets contribute as a non-human worker earning a second income, and at some point to retire as a labor worker and continue to participate in production and to earn income as a capital owner until the day you die.
As we ALL contribute to the building of a FUTURE economy that can support general affluence for EVERY man, woman and child, at some point as the technologies of production further advance there will be far less need for human workers and productive capital asset ownership will become the primary income source for most people. As general affluence becomes more widespread people will be free and economically secure to pursue their creative desires and pleasures, further contributing to the cultural and societal development of the country.
Trump is not the 45Th.
Instead of the "45th" president, we should refer to him as the "45th*" president.
This symbolism is very similar to 2003... remember the chainsaw? Deregulating housing loans was great wasn't it? I mean 2008/2009 were some of the best years ever!
Red tape cutting event with chainsaw. (James Gilleran of the Office of Thrift Supervision)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pMscxxELHEg/SSj9kLPDgvI/AAAAAAAAD1U/b7uNjYr5p-w/s320/chainsaw.png
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2008/11/wapo-regulatory-failure-at-office-of.html
Worst than the fox guarding the hen house
Things are worse than the fox guarding the hen house; the fox can only eat his fill and no more, the greedy one percent and their minions never get enough. It was bad enough when they were buying politicians, now the robber barons are in government.
Dan, San Diego
My sentiments exactly. I am still angry for the very same reason. Being polite was more important than the survival of our democracy?!? Then, seeing photos of the Dems at the inauguration, smiling as though everything was peachy-keen, made me scream. There was a photo of Nancy Pelosi standing with others around Chump as he was seated, signing something. She had a big old cheesy grin on her face. What is wrong with these people?! We just had a Corporate take-over of our government....?!? The conflicts-of-interests are simply blinding yet it is as if everyone is trying to pretend it's a normal exchange of power...."let's wait & see how it goes...maybe there's something we'll agree on...?!?!" The resistance should have started at the top from Day One, when all this crap started happening.
Now, the illegit prez wants to investigate non-existent voter fraud here yet Russian interference (as determined by our various intelligence agencies) is never even mentioned!
It is all so mind-boggling.
I can remember wondering, as many have through the years, how the German people allowed for a Hitler to take over their country. I think many in this country had judgement in their hearts too, thinking, "WE would NEVER allow that." Well, guess what? Maybe we are going to learn the hard way how that happened. An unstable egomaniac has grabbed the reins. Only this time, he's also part of the Corporate Elite so it is a new American version of fascism. Authoritarian & nationalistic right-wing system of government. Did our fellow Dems not see this coming?!?
Instead of creating pot-holes, they rolled out the Red Carpet.
You are, of course, referring to REVOLUTION! Perhaps, we should try the French method this time around. I'll sharpen up my guillotine.
Because an uninformed and uneducated populace is easier to deceive and control, and those two actions go hand-in-hand. We Americans have gotten so stupid, we can't even program our own VCR's. What happened to the good old days when we were the standard bearers for good, quality education; when foreigners would come to this country for a good education? America will die in ignorance.
Regarding the election that just took place....We all knew that if the illegal seizure of our government was successful, the future of the entire planet would end up in deep peril. Weeks of opportunity went by to legally correct and redirect this evil back to where it came from. I'm still outraged the election wasn't declared invalid. It seems not a single Dem including Obama nor our Justice dept. cared to step up and do what was right for humanity. Obama wouldn't even fire Comey.
Sure, we've turned a blind eye to election fraud before, and it got us into endless war that is still costing trillions, not to mention a crashed economy. This time however it's far more evil. The entire planet is about to get sodomized by a few bloated old wheezers/sniffers with bad hair dye, and it seems we are all just standing by and watching the assault unfold.
How many years do the Koch's have left, a couple at best???? ....and how many more billions do they need?
Just in case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm sure most have....Trump has the same type of mental illness that Hitler had. Standing in his shadows are Pence, Ryan, and McConnell ... just plain old SS type dumb- asses, all totally ignorant of the magnitude of what is about to unfold.
I sure hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid the only way to stop this now is the old fashion way. Crack open your history books...it ain't pretty.
Was Comey in Trumps pocket? Trump blew him a kiss on TV and Comey came running with a smile on his face. Do he purposely frame Hillary?
With Trump's recent actions as president, I believe that we have elected the most insecure, insane, man in history, who is now the president of the United States of America
#3 - Don't forget your guns now!
Wagnesr9 - Sadly it won't end with charter schools. Betsy DeVos is a fundamentalist Christian who would have our tax dollars flowing to church schools as well. The churches will teach pseudo-science and non-science creationism. Of course the dumber the population is the more susceptible to propaganda.
A poll done and reported today on NPR (which Trump is going to defund and Republicans don't listen to) said that when shown the pictures of the Mall crowds for both the Obama and Trump inaugurals, 15% of the Trump voters said the 2017 picture had more people. And Trump has started his campaign of voter suppression by lying about the so called 2-3 million illegal votes. We are in for a hard ride.
To answer Thom's rhetorical question: It is obvious why conservatives want to restrict the distribution of information. First of all, Donald Trump stated on the campaign trail that he loves "low information voters." It's obvious that the less information a person has to work with, the more likely he is to watch Fox News and vote Republican. Second of all, if you can deny education to the bulk of the people, then only the wealthy will have a voice. Hence the emphasis upon Charter Schools.
The fox is now guarding the henhouse. So much for the egg production....
The inexorable march to fascism is now at ...double-time ...hut! Anybody who has been in the military knows WTF that means -- things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.
Lock and load, rock and roll, boys and girls!
Now ... just gotta figure out who the bad guys are...?
We may see the day of two internets.
http://observer.com/2016/09/a-second-internet-coming-soon-courtesy-of-th...
ct
Thom- This is about the investigation Trump wants on voter fraud- which includes double voting- voters registered in two states. How do we get someone like Mark Shields or Leslie Stahl to interview Greg Palast and Kris Kobach. Whatever happened to his investigations? Tonight the suggestion was made on PBS that the voter fraud could have, if true and substantiated, worked to swing the votes in the swing states by 20, 30,000 votes. Why don't the PBS folks know about "crosschecking" ? The two officials interviewed said there is absolutely no evidence of voter fraud and that President Trump is making a fool of himself pursuing this line of inquery. What do you think?
Wow! This thread was friggin awesome! Thanks to all for their effort and energy ... so much grist for thought.
Gee, you sound angry. Touch a little nerve there, did we? Tch, tch ... better gobble up some more psycho meds, or go shoot something with your big 'ol "AR" that you so love to brag about. (WARNING: When still drooling from meds, do not look down muzzle to see if loaded!) You may use my avatar for target practice.
1. BTW, where's your avatar? Look deeply into the magic mirror on the wall that never lies, oh Dark Fuzzy Spirit... }:--((
2. After your nasty little smears shared with TomDorr against Chelsea Manning's sexual orientation -- buried at the end of the days-old thread, when you evidently thought no one would notice -- it has been established quite plainly for all to witness who the clueless bigots and homophobes really are on this forum. That's all the information anyone needs.
The purity of spirit within all living beings is worthy of honor. Nonetheless, as is most of humanity on Earth, I'm disgusted and appalled not by your spirit but by the noxious, right-wing, group-think disinformation campaign waged by reprehensible authoritarian leaders and followers, whose disjointed thought patterns have been twisted by hateful, fearful, divisive propaganda, such as that which constantly spews forth from immature, fragile EGO MAN Trump, Faux-Fox News, lie/hate radio, and the fringe swamp of the "big lie and half-truth" brainwash that would make Joseph Goebbels proud.
3. Again, your reading comprehension seems to suffer a bit when you get mad. The long, long menu of an unpalatable daily fare of easily debunked, despicable lies served up day in and day out by right-wing, angry little trolls is what was described in the previous exhortation as "clogging up the forum" -- not the mere volume of internet ink used.
But I get you. Reading anything longer than a few sentences on a blog thread is such a damn hassle these days ... so, so hard to focus in this world of quick and easy sound bites. Well, sometimes the simple truth is not so simple; unfortunately, it may require more of an effort than the pithy bumper-sticker sloganeering that trolls have perfected and are barely capable of absorbing.
It's very impressive, though, that you actually took the time to peruse my dissertations -- even delving in deep enough to actually count the words. Wow! I'm honored! I'll keep 'em coming just for your sake. There's hope for you yet, girl!
Back on topic: Now what were you "blithering" about?
Something about some cherry-picked factoid to do with some billionaire-inspired, Wall Street ancillary trade agreement, which you were dishonestly trying to pin solely on Obama, because he (yes) stupidly went along with your chosen party, jam-packed with unpatriotic Congressional Republicans?
Something about how your low-IQ, bankrupted, head pervert with the fake clown hair -- the laughing stock of the world -- was somehow going to swoop in and save the day?
Oh well, it doesn't matter -- just more white noise from another swamp troll. Bless her spirit.
How many words was that?
:--)))
Trump is attacking on all fronts. If we fight each battle separately, according to individual interests we can never WIN any. Time to Unite together and just say NO! to EVERYTHING.
Hello Donald?'
‘Hi Vlad'
'Yes...hey we don't like the senator graham looking into the hacking issues. We also don't like your surveillance people reviewing conversations with our ambassador in United States. Thanks to your Patriot Act. We forgot about this. This is big problem for us and for you. Remember Golden Shower!
'Ok, Il run interference again. I’ll disrupt things and make it rain on the press while I do damage control and manipulate America.’
“Donald Trump has NPD
Summary : A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Believe that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with other special or high-status people (or institutions)
4. Requires excessive admiration
5. Has a sense of entitlement
6. Is interpersonally exploitative
7. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
8. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
9. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.”
What does it mean if someone does have NPD?
If someone does have “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” they can, indeed, wake up, see a Tweet or a news report from a foreign leader criticizing him, mocking him, calling him “weak” or threatening his ego in any way and order some kind of impulsive, vindictive, punishing, immediate response that could include an unhinged order to attack that foreign leader or foreign country with military force, even including the authorization of nuclear weapons.
It is extremely likely that there would be some kind of impulsive, angry diplomatic response.
Because someone afflicted with this incurable and progressive “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” simply can’t help himself.
Here’s why:
1. People with NPD are extremely sensitive and insecure. They psychologically require constant compliments and acknowledgement because they do not have their own internal self-esteem. They need to get it from others.
2. If someone does criticize them, even in a Tweet or on a television comedy show, it triggers this deep and painful lack of self-esteem and they MUST lash out to relieve the pain of the criticism.
3. They have only two modes: They are either fully your friend and love you or you are their enemy and they will do everything to discredit you or humiliate you. They can’t help it. The pain of having someone in their circle who does not approve of them or acknowledge them, (almost constantly), is too great.
4. There are only two ways to deal with someone with NPD, and they are both dangerous. There is no healthy way of interacting with someone with this affliction. If you criticize them they will lash out at you and if they have a great deal of power, that can be consequential. If you compliment them it only acts to increase the delusional and grandiose reality the sufferer has created, causing him to be even more reliant on constant and endless compliments and unwavering support.
5. Because they crave the attention and approval of others they develop great capacity to engage and entertain and can be quite charismatic, even to the point of developing a cult-like following.
6. Someone with NPD will NEVER get along with any member of the press, or any media outlet that criticizes him.
7. Someone with NPD will NEVER hire (and will fire) anyone who criticizes him. Therefore, and because they believe they know better than almost everyone else, they have a very hard time listening and taking any advice.
Concerns Expressed by Mental Health Professionals
The President of The United State and Commander in Chief is the only American who has ANY say over the mobilization of The United States Military, the authorization of a military strike on a perceived or real enemy and the launch of any and all of the weapons possessed by The United States Military, including 7,000 nuclear warheads.
There is no “Fail Safe”. There is no “Team”. There is no thoughtful review.
The National Security Advisor, The Secretary of Defense, The Secretary of State, The Joint Chiefs of State and every General in the military can all emphatically say “NO!” but if The Commander in Chief wants to initiate military and even nuclear action, NO ONE can stop him. American law does not allow a military officer to make those decisions.
Only a civilian, The President, elected by The American People can access the nuclear codes. Only that President can use the nuclear codes.
And if he does, the military is duty bound to follow his order.
A President and Commander in Chief who does have Narcissistic Personality Disorder would be very dangerous to all Americans, and the world.
Yes, and we need to resist his outrageous tweets and executive orders.
Trump says that they are going to use American made pipe for the pipelines. But the foreign made pipe is all ready there. So are they going to leave the foreign made pipe sitting in piles and use USA pipe to finish it? Or is this just a decoy statement? Any pipeline built in the USA should be USA pipe. Do not forget that Trumps hotels are made from foreign steel.
I have been an opponent of the TPP for various reasons, However, opting out entirely could hurt the USA. China was not part of it, opting out will give China a huge opportunity to build free trade agreements with the Asian countries we are opting out of. That will put the USA at a hugh disadvantage by our having to negotiate country by country against whatever China has to offer them. What leverage will we have unless it is more military domination to control the lost trade countries.
The TPP needed renegotiation, not killing.
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The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement would have promoted the interests of giant, multinational corporations over the interests of labor, environmental, consumer, human rights, or other stakeholders in democracy, AND FURTHER CONCENTRATE OWNERSHIP OF THE NON-HUMAN PRODUCTIVE CAPITAL MEANS OF PRODUCTION!
The REAL STORY is a story about the collusion among a globally wealthy ownership class to further concentrate private sector ownership in ALL FUTURE wealth-creating, income-generating productive capital asset creation on a global scale. A sorta FREE TRADE ON STEROIDS!
With or without such trade agreements, the wealthy ownership class has institutionalized greed (creating concentrated capital ownership, monopolies, and special privileges). “Hoggish,” the term I have given this practice, is about the ability of greedy rich people to manipulate the lives of people who struggle with declining labor worker earnings and job opportunities, and then accumulate the bulk of the wealth through monopolized productive capital ownership. Our scientists, engineers, and executive managers who are not owners themselves, except for those in the highest employed positions, are encouraged to work to destroy employment by making the capital “worker” owner more productive. How much employment can be destroyed by substituting machines for people is a measure of their success – always focused on producing at the lowest cost. Only the people who already own productive capital are the beneficiaries of their work, as they systematically concentrate more and more capital ownership in their stationary 1 percent ranks. Yet the 1 percent are not the people who do the overwhelming consuming. The result is the consumer populous is not able to earn the money to buy the products and services produced as a result of substituting machines for people. And yet you can’t have mass production without mass human consumption made possible by “customers with money.” It is the exponential disassociation of production and consumption that is the problem in the United States economy, and the reason that ordinary citizens must gain access to productive capital ownership to improve their economic well-being.
There is another alternative, a balanced JUST Third Way, based on an understanding of binary economics, by which over time the economy's productive capital assets will become almost entirely individually owned by 100 percent of the citizens, as individuals. Such an economy would produce efficiencies of production fully using ever-advancing technologies of production that will fuel a greater growth of the world economies by eliminating the problematic condition of the exponential disassociation of production and consumption through ordinary citizens gaining access to FUTURE productive capital ownership to improve their economic well-being, without taking anything away from those who already own.
It is critical that private property ownership in productive capital be extended to ALL people because of the increasing power of productive capital to produce more and more of the wealth or products and services needed and wanted by society. Because productive capital – the non-human factor of production – is an independent productive power separate from human labor power, and represents an increasing role in creating wealth, the question to be addressed is: Who has the right to acquire ownership of productive capital?
While people have private property rights in their own labor, due to tectonic shifts in the technologies of production it is not enough for individual survival if people cannot get jobs, or if jobs, in reality are no longer doing a substantial part of the wealth creation. As exponential technology shifts destroy jobs and devalue the worth of labor, people need not only private property rights in their own labor, but also private property rights in the productive capital assets that are doing ever more of the work.
We as a nation, and other nations, can no longer limit people to personal rights while restricting ownership acquisition rights in wealth-creating, income-producing productive capital assets to those already well-capitalized. To be a just society, all individuals MUST have effective property rights not only in their labor and personal use possessions but also in FUTURE productive capital asset creation. Because of this imbalance, the result has been that the consumer populous is not able to get the money to buy the products and services produced increasingly by the non-human factor – physical productive capital – as a result of substituting machines for people. And yet you can’t have mass production without mass human consumption.
Broadened, private sector individual ownership of FUTURE productive capital assets as a societal objective is the ONLY individual private property-rights approach that will provide solutions to income inequality, unemployment, underemployment and anemic GDP growth – all of which is rooted in the tectonic shift in the technologies of production and its concentrated ownership. This reality, as a practical matter, is destroying jobs and devaluing the worth of labor, widening the income gap between the rich and poor and struggling (each resentful and suspicious of the other), and resulting in our inability to achieve double-digit GDP growth in the United States and other countries.
To solve this challenge, several policies must be implemented in the United States:
1. Tax reform is needed to incentivize broadened individual ownership of corporations by their employees. As an incentive, provide a tax deduction to corporations for dividend payouts, which would tighten-up the right of each owner to his or her full share of profits, a basic and historic right of private property. It would eliminate double and triple taxes on corporate profits, shifting the burden of taxation to personal incomes after exempting initial incomes that would allow low and middle class citizens not to pay taxes on incomes needed to cover basic living expenses. It will also encourage corporations to finance their growth through the issuance of new full voting, full dividend payout shares for financing their productive capital growth needs through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and Capital Homestead Accounts (CHAs). Politically we need to insist that politicians lift barriers to the democratization of future ownership opportunity based on sound principle, rather than redistributive taxation.
2. As increasingly more workers acquire ownership stakes in FUTURE corporate productive capital assets using ESOP financing mechanisms, workers will build second incomes to support their living expenses, which in turn means they will be better "customers with money" to support demand for the products and services that the economy is capable of producing. By reason of the higher marginal spending rate on the part of workers second incomes, more of the additional income earned by the new capitalists (who have many unsatisfied consumer needs and wants) will be spent on consumption than if the income had been earned by those capitalists who now have concentrated the ownership of productive capital exclusively, and who have few, if any, consumer needs and wants. Such broadened incremental consumption will fuel a demand for more consumer products and services, which in turn will provide incentive for greater productive capital investment.
3. For all Americans, the Federal Reverse needs to create an asset-backed currency that can enable every man, woman and child to establish a Capital Homestead Account or "CHA" (a super-IRA or asset tax-shelter for citizens) at their local bank to acquire a growing dividend-bearing stock portfolio to supplement their incomes from work and all other sources of income. The CHA would process an equal allocation of productive credit to every citizen exclusively for purchasing full-dividend payout shares in companies needing funds for growing the economy and private sector jobs for local, national and global markets. The shares would be purchased using essentially interest-free credit wholly backed by projected "future savings" in the form of new productive capital assets as well as the future marketable products and services produced by the newly added technology, renewable energy systems, plant, rentable space and infrastructure added to the economy. Risk of default on each stock acquisition loan would be covered by private sector capital credit risk insurance and, if necessary, government reinsurance, but would not require citizens to reduce their funds for consumption to purchase shares.
4. Reform the tax code such that the tax rate would be a single rate for all incomes from all sources above an established personal exemption level (for example, an exemption of $100,000 for a family of four to meet their ordinary living needs) so that the budget could be balanced automatically and even allow the government to pay off the growing unsustainable long-term debt. The poor would pay the first dollar over their exemption levels as would the stock fund operator and others now earning billions of dollars from capital gains, dividends, rents and other property incomes.
5. As a substitute for inheritance and gift taxes, a transfer tax should be imposed on the recipients whose holdings exceeded $1 million, thus encouraging the super-rich to spread out their monopoly-sized estates to all members of their family, friends, servants and workers who helped create their fortunes, teachers, health workers, police, other public servants, military veterans, artists, the poor and the disabled.
6. Eliminate all tax loopholes and subsidies.
These polices would result in rapid and substantial economic growth with the GDP rate in double digits. As a result of the stimulus effect, more REAL, decent paying job opportunities and further technological advancement would be created while simultaneously broadening private, individual ownership of FUTURE wealth-creating, income-generating productive capital assets, which would support second and primary incomes for ALL Americans.
In this new FUTURE economy, a citizen would start to benefit financially at birth and continue as he or she enters the economic world as a labor worker, to become increasingly a capital owner, whose productive capital assets contribute as a non-human worker earning a second income, and at some point to retire as a labor worker and continue to participate in production and to earn income as a capital owner until the day you die.
As we ALL contribute to the building of a FUTURE economy that can support general affluence for EVERY man, woman and child, at some point as the technologies of production further advance there will be far less need for human workers and productive capital asset ownership will become the primary income source for most people. As general affluence becomes more widespread people will be free and economically secure to pursue their creative desires and pleasures, further contributing to the cultural and societal development of the country.
Support the Agenda of The Just Third Way Movement at http://foreconomicjustice.org/?p=5797, http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/the-just-third-way-basic-principles-of-economic-and-social-justice-by-norman-g-kurland/, http://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/jtw-graphicoverview-2013.pdf and http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/the-just-third-way-a-new-vision-for-providing-hope-justice-and-economic-empowerment/.
Support Monetary Justice at http://capitalhomestead.org/page/monetary-justice
Support the Capital Homestead Act at http://www.cesj.org/homestead/index.htm and http://www.cesj.org/homestead/summary-cha.htm. See the full Act at http://cesj.org/homestead/strategies/national/cha-full.pdf
See "Financing Economic Growth With 'FUTURE SAVINGS': Solutions To Protect America From Economic Decline" at http://www.foreconomicjustice.org/9206/financing-future…economic-decline and "The Income Solution To Slow Private Sector Job Growth" at http://www.foreconomicjustice.org/9872/the-income-solut…ector-job-growth.