THE EARTHIAN – 5
Effective Learning Publications, 32 East Main Street, Statesboro, Georgia, USA, November 30, 2018
Or So It Seems to Me Today
Richard John Stapleton, PhD, CTA, Editor & Publisher
My weltanschauung and zeitgeist have not changed much since the publication of The Earthian 4 but it seems to me the Doomsday Clock has moved a bit closer to Midnight.
There has been increasing talk, writing, and chatter around Spaceship Earth about the almost certain dire consequences of global warming and climate change, the consensus among experts being that if significant reductions in atmospheric carbon dioxide and methane do not occur in the next ten years there is going to be hell to pay by Earthians alive after that. There has also been more conversation about the possibilities of another world war, entailing the risk of a nuclear Armageddon.
It’s hard not to play AIN’T IT AWFUL, a common transactional analysis psychological Game, in this blog by citing and linking nothing but articles painting Earthians as Victims of obsolete economic and political systems manipulated and exploited by rapacious sociopathic Persecutor oligarchs and their corrupt bought and paid for lackey politicians, however true that might be in reality.
On the other hand, it will do no good to play the transactional analysis Game of GREENHOUSE, citing and linking nothing but upbeat articles encouraging humans to stick their heads in the sand, or pretend everything is just hunky-dory with everything coming up roses for everyone, to live in Candide-like worlds.
In the past three months I have tried to set up a De-Gaming Democracy group here in Statesboro, to engage citizens of various persuasions in face-to-face discussions of relevant economic and political problems and opportunities, in what I call the Ogeechee Economic Forum meeting the third Saturday of each month, with little success. So far two attendees have shown up. It appears most humans are not interested in, or are afraid of, transacting in a Game-free Adult way in public dealing with economic and political problems and opportunities. Hopefully interest in this will pick up in the coming year.
For more information regarding the use of Transactional Analysis to create better democratic processes read my book Born to Learn: A Transactional Analysis of Human Learning.
For more information on how to co-construct better organizations and economic systems read a free Kindal copy of my book Business Voyages: Mental Maps, Scripts, Schemata, and Tools for Co-Constructing Your Own Business Worlds.
See my article “Toward the Creation of Spaceship Earth, Incorporated,” published in MWC News (Media With Conscience) September 2013 for some management science ideas on how humans might eventually co-construct an economic and political system that is viable and satisfying for everyone.
As usual this month’s THE EARTHIAN cites and links as SOURCES recent articles written by clear deep-thinking hard-hitting independent writers published in various sorts of Internet publications around Spaceship Earth dealing with ecological, economic, social, political, religious, and military affairs around Spaceship Earth. While I generally agreed with these writers about what is most relevant about Spaceship Earth states of affairs, before I read their articles, they all brought up facts, analyses, conclusions, ideas, or perspectives that were new to me when I read them during the last thirty days or so, thereby teaching me something, which is why I included them in this issue of THE EARTHIAN.
This issue of THE EARTHIAN is linked with 78 articles published in Internet publications of various sorts around Spaceship Earth.
It’s not easy for humans to separate relevant from irrelevant focal point entities and issues to see what is really going on when they are inundated and saturated with propaganda, fake news, sanitized pablum, and sensationalized drama produced by mainstream and government media around Earth.
If you have ideas on how to democratically discuss in Game-free ways economic and political problems and opportunities in something like the Ogeechee Economic Forum to separate relevant events from irrelevant events go to my RESPONSES page and let me know about them.
I do not want to sell subscriptions or advertising or solicit donations for THE EARTHIAN, but I would like to sell more books. If you feel you’ve gained some value from THE EARTHIAN and would like to reciprocate go to our Effective Learning Publications page and purchase one or more copies of my books. Born to Learn will be an unusual and potentially useful gift for anyone who can read English.
BEST WISHES FOR GOOD READING AND A SATISFYING HOLIDAY SEASON!
SOURCES:
November 30, 2018
If nobody else wants to buy treasury bonds to finance the US budget deficit the US Federal Reserve can buy them by just punching digits into computers and calling the resulting numbers money and then buy Treasuries by depositing the numbers in the US Treasury bank account, with which the US Treasury can write checks to pay for things, such as its military adventures and its social security loan repayment obligations, at least for a while longer, maybe a trillion-plus dollars worth a year of these numbers for another decade or so before everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
“These Countries are Dumping the Dollar,” by Robert Wheeler, THEORGANICPEPPER.COM, https://www.theorganicprepper.com/dumping-the-dollar/?fbclid=IwAR1MkSTV3Qg8YmwwDK33smoGwCh6QXlQ_oKtBDEK2iNGe6My2x4-p9Sw9YY.
November 30
Sounds right to me.
“When you want to sanction States, you call them terrorists,” by Thierry Meyssan, VOLTAIRENET.ORG, http://www.voltairenet.org/article204116.html?fbclid=IwAR1qgkEVSWyG6TQm-phR76iE3DaH6HVQqIOL_dB4rwIY_p7R9SQzeEiLKuQ.
November 30
Say it ain’t so Joe
“Eyewitness Juarez: There’s no ‘you break it, you buy it’ policy here,” by Jane Stillwater, INTREPIDREPORT.COM, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/25648.
November 30
Sounds right to me.
“Freedom Rider: The Democrats win and black people lose,” by Margaret Kimberly, INTREPIDREPORT.COM, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/25651.
November 30
History it seems really does repeat itself.
“Who’s funding Bannon’s Fourth Reich?,” by Wayne Madsen, INTREPIDREPORT.COM, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/25656.
November 30
Most Demo politicians in Washington like to stay in office and selfishly hog power as long as they can about as much as Repug politicians, consequently at the end of the day doing what their party bosses tell them to, regardless of what is best for we the people. What a nasty business.
“Demcratic Party ‘Leadership’ is Upside Down,” by Norman Solomon, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/29/democratic-party-leadership-is-upside-down/?fbclid=IwAR3ZVvGe9b81Pva6qTjyNR6eKvlva8Du7azysbs6Aorm4MDWELzjplVDGFw.
November 30
I am not in favor of worshiping labels and ideologies such as capitalism and socialism, although I agree with most of the policies of this article. See my FreeFairProgressParty platform showing what I think should be done ASAP to get the US back on track.
“The Principles of Socialism,” by Charles McKelvey, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/29/the-principles-of-socialism/?fbclid=IwAR0nkFVW87rrXICyel36VddW6uR1WXVTceEV8jMKejv5_BNMYBVRGwpNHm4.
November 30
Say it aint so Joe
“The Audacity of Struggle,” by Ron Jacobs, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/29/the-audacity-of-struggle/?fbclid=IwAR3miekxBHaUBXsOSAImnRk-DBiano7Zbo7J95S4-ZxplQb8F8zIuqngTpA.
November 30
A positive step. About time.
“The Senate’s Yemen Vote is a Historic First,” By Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now, TROUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/video/the-senates-yemen-vote-is-a-historic-first/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR0BjvJIYlz9N9aHahR7kYUe7Q7-BcU6FPIeu2OEpKRTEzLrTRwbmFoMtfU.
November 30
This is a new one on me.
“South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life,” by Minwoo Park, REUTERS.COM, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-prisonstay/south-koreans-lock-themselves-up-to-escape-prison-of-daily-life-idUSKCN1NS0JB?fbclid=IwAR0vuR_C7BZ6pE98oOyNRTCzYojION8cQQ2iMhivsmXUDNbwKe-Zl2mybeE.
November 28
This may be the most sordid and pathetic sex story of modern times. Human nature run amok. Sick sexual desires and behaviors, intelligence, and money causing the exploitation and further degradation of pubescent girls caught in the worst of circumstances not of their making. Where is the fairness in the world? What caused it all? What causes some children to be born into these situations? Is it the capitalistic economic system causing some highly intelligent perverted people to acquire enough money without working to afford to do something like this, while causing some people to live miserable homeless lives? Is it the greed of less guilty people causing them to make money by helping the prime crime perpetrators evade common law to live opulent lives devoid of generally accepted decency, fairness, and morality? What causes the prime crime perpetrators to do what they do in the first place? Are the causes primarily biological or psychological? What can be done to stop the progression of their cause-effect chains in society? Are we all victims to some extent in a hierarchy of worst off to best off? Bill Clinton and Alan Dershowitz flew around with this guy on his Lolita Express airplane to private events.
“How a future Trump Cabinet member gave a serial sex abuser the deal of a lifetime,” by Julie K. Brown, MIAMIHERALD.COM, https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html?fbclid=IwAR3LOI5DDa13dVV720CwvRZEoy20eUOh4fZhD-9NpTlHdpehg5lOvvaus10.
November 28
Would be an interesting precedent since the Demos could do the same thing the next time one of them gets to be president. Maybe Trump is not as antisocial as he seems to be most of the time.
“Exclusive: Trump threatens to declassify ‘devastating’ docs about Democrats,” by Marisa Schultz and nikki Schwab, NYPOST.COM, https://nypost.com/2018/11/28/trump-threatens-to-declassify-devastating-docs-about-democrats/?utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=Native&utm_campaign=NYPFacebook&fbclid=IwAR23dH6NUWPjbhR7diSEJNJtysyF-7T9Hor2VeoPW0kq1STzNvKmNpXJOb0
November 28
Growing up in Northwest Texas various people told me I looked like I was part Cherokee Indian. About eight years ago I paid Ancestry.com to check my DNA. According to the Ancestry.com test I am ninety-eight percent European and two percent Western Asian. Because of the early assertions about my ancestry I learned to appreciate better than most what it feels like to be subjected to racial slurs. I have read several accounts of the Trail of Tears disaster, one of the most heinous acts of the US government against natives of this continent. Therefore this poem resonates with me more than it would with most.
“Poem of the Day: ‘Trail of Tears: Our Removal,'” by Linda Hogan, https://us12.campaign-archive.com/?e=f9ab7e9ce1&u=c993b88231f5f84146565840e&id=6af868b6f5&fbclid=IwAR3CIzg5S_MXyX1Mgw8E12jiamNeWTRBe85YWjSOebNpnyT4XZSq_bSk6so
November 28
Ever heard of Katharine Hayhoe? Neither had I until I read this. This strong intelligent brave lady is doing what all of us should do if we had the brains and means to do it, argue against these people who deny climate change.
“Author of U.S. Climate Assessment drops epic Twitter thread: ‘I’m here to set the record straight,'” by Walter Elnenkel, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/27/1815601/-Author-of-US-Climate-Assessment-drops-an-epic-twitter-thread-I-m-here-to-set-the-record-straight.
Novenber 28
How would Trump know what is or is not fake news. Most likely he cannot keep up with the facts of any of it, since he is apparently suffering from dementia. But this article discloses a new twist, once again making the Russians conveniently look like the bad guys. One thing is for sure: this is pure soap opera, diverting human attention from serious issues, such as over population, climate change, and nuclear weapons.
“Here’s what Paul Manafort was lying about–and it’s the missing piece between Moscow and Trump,” by Mark Summer, DAILYKOS.COM, https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/27/1815508/-Here-s-what-Paul-Manafort-was-lying-about-and-it-s-the-missing-piece-between-Moscow-and-Trump.
November 27
Talk about a narcissistic egomaniac. This self-described genius thinks he can do no wrong since he has a divine right to reign superior. Whatever he says and does is right because of his superior intelligence. He said so in this article. We, mere average mortals, are supposed to believe or pretend to believe his bullshit no matter what he says like adapted children.
“Trump slams Fed chair, questions climate change and threatens to cancel Putin meeting in wide-ranging interview with The Post,” by Philip Rucker, Josh Dawsey, and Damian Paletta, MSN.COM, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-slams-fed-chair-questions-climate-change-and-threatens-to-cancel-putin-meeting-in-wide-ranging-interview-with-the-post/ar-BBQaAmg?fbclid=IwAR1ElBdRloCfwErbEgLHPTid2p10vxSR4XtgEDRQBgoTXYZdATJ45g56oHk.
November 26
Say it aint so Joe
“It’s Getting Hot in Here,” by Jeffrey St. Clair and Joshua Frank, COUNTREPUNCY.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/23/its-getting-hot-up-in-here/?fbclid=IwAR1AEzl86SFrPQhbTqXiHqzKWdvmf2ADAdux8UJqpvtB-Y5FNINfVrZ3xdI.
November 26
Leave it to the French students.
“Employment, Ecology, Extinction: French Students Take on the System to Save the Species,” by Kristine Mattis, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/26/employment-ecology-extinction-french-students-take-on-the-system-to-save-the-species/?fbclid=IwAR1wjyJKb0QGJaTyEU_lVTnflPiQkhKFWKQsreaA6VsifolKltjDbGBFxKQ.
November 26
Right way to go.
“A New Economic Model for the South: Ditch Corporate Welfare and Fund Farm Co-Ops,” by Valerie Vande Panne, In These Times, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/26/employment-ecology-extinction-french-students-take-on-the-system-to-save-the-species/?fbclid=IwAR1wjyJKb0QGJaTyEU_lVTnflPiQkhKFWKQsreaA6VsifolKltjDbGBFxKQ.
November 26
Say it aint so Joe
“Neoliberalism Has Vandalized Latin America: The Roots of the Migrant Crisis Go Back Decades,” by Natalia Segura, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/26/employment-ecology-extinction-french-students-take-on-the-system-to-save-the-species/?fbclid=IwAR1wjyJKb0QGJaTyEU_lVTnflPiQkhKFWKQsreaA6VsifolKltjDbGBFxKQ.
November 26
Raise taxes on all of them back to where they were before the Reagan administration lowered them from eighty percent in the 1980s setting in motion the catastrophe that has been gradually unfolding ever since.
“Restore Higher Tax Rates for Corporations That Can’t Contain CEO Pay,” by Dean Baker, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/articles/restore-higher-tax-rates-for-corporations-that-cant-contain-ceo-pay/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR20VCLLNOpv7Uuw9hb_IoLCYpe8MxVKxN1VVFL-ZGJfBs2koMlhAVH6p30.
November 26
What the heck is going on here?
“CDC identifies 31 states with 116 confirmed cases of AFM,” by Debra Goldschmidt, CNN.COM, https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/26/health/acute-flaccid-myelitis-afm-numbers/index.html.
November 26
The most nitwit idea yet by a nitwit president.
“Trump Seeks to Reignite Feud With CNN, Proposes State-Run Television,” by Jeremy Barr, HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/trump-proposes-state-run-television-seeks-reignite-cnn-feud-1163920?fbclid=IwAR0VaL09ETPi3imWvLqJmc3FZXOvYsriYkhGn2EYwk1ATFSzcKbqcEAq2HM.
November 26
Unbelieveble. You mean MAGA Trumpie could not keep these jobs from leaving. I wonder how many cars and trucks this CEO ever built
“GM to halt production at several plants, cut more than 14,000 jobs,” by Robert Ferris, CNBC.COM, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/26/gm-unallocating-several-plants-in-2019-to-take-3-billion-to-3point8-billion-charge-in-future-quarters.html?__source=sharebar|facebook&par=sharebar.
November 25
Another evolutionary change.
“Exclusive: Chinese scientists are creating CRISPR babies,” by Antonio Regalado, TECHNOLOGYREVIEW.COM, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/26/gm-unallocating-several-plants-in-2019-to-take-3-billion-to-3point8-billion-charge-in-future-quarters.html?__source=sharebar|facebook&par=sharebar.
November 25
A dangerous witches’ brew.
“The next crash,” by Robert Reich, INTREPIDREPORT.COM, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/25582.
November 25
Sounds about right to me.
“Lessons From the California Wildfires,” by George Wuerthner, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/23/lessons-from-the-california-wildfires/?fbclid=IwAR0icEVuS85tVZQmett847duG9rW2uneOlQTNFBPR9TlbLGKhaqgSC0gaZ4.
November 25
I can believe this.
“Afghanistan is Collapsing. Get Out: Now!” by Brian Cloughley, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/23/afghanistan-is-collapsing-get-out-now/?fbclid=IwAR0VDBnnp5kRiIkHhiKS9gdCPBC_XhOEJNo0RQUsJoXsnf3iwGPWh5dBd30.
November 25
Amazing recall of facts of states of affairs underlies Chomsky’s success. No wonder he is not president, having been blacklisted by mainstream media for decades. Chomsky may be the smartest man alive.
“Noam Chomsky Turns 90: How a U.S. Anarchist Has More Than Survived,” by Bruce E. Levine, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/23/afghanistan-is-collapsing-get-out-now/?fbclid=IwAR0VDBnnp5kRiIkHhiKS9gdCPBC_XhOEJNo0RQUsJoXsnf3iwGPWh5dBd30.
November 24
Gasoline now costs $7.06 a gallon in Paris. What would happen in the US if gasoline suddenly cost that much?
“French protesters angry over fuel taxes clash with police,” by Thomas Adamson, APNEWSLCOM, https://apnews.com/d3033b920af449b594e66b51890b517b?fbclid=IwAR2gytfeuhqq7CH1xer3F4EEc-W6fdyTiPagEpIey6anNx6ns8xR3NLafoA.
November 19
About what I have been saying for about twenty years, albeit much less eloquently. See my FreeFairProgressParty to see what I have been saying.
“Barack von Obamenburgh, Herr Donald, and Big Capitalist Hypocrisy: On How Fascism Happens,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCY.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/16/barack-von-obamenburg-herr-donald-and-big-capitalist-hypocrisy-on-how-fascism-happens/?fbclid=IwAR2SSoqLyei_ngnU9-rqXfnsEh_c2QHAzruHEfXOZp2N99x17lICId3lnVE.
November 18
Another MUST READ poignant article before the shtf by one of Earths’s smartest humans, Chris Hedges.
“Scum vs. Scum,” by Chris Hedges, TRUTHDIG.COM, https://www.truthdig.com/articles/scum-vs-scum/.
November 18
Sure looks that way.
“Noam Chomsky Calls Trump and Republican Allies ‘Criminally Insane’,” by John Horgan, SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cross-check/noam-chomsky-calls-trump-and-republican-allies-criminally-insane/?fbclid=IwAR0qXiErXv9ZiBWX4nT2TTRGWptGuu8ZasjeY7qONFt82ZyS1h5WQjIEyR8.
November 18
Sad and insane beyond belief.
“Mitch McConnell Calls to Cut Social Security, Medicare,” by Nicole Goodkind, MSN.COM, https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/mitch-mcconnell-calls-to-cut-social-security-medicare/ar-BBOtGyE?ocid=sf&fbclid=IwAR1ThbakoneuoO_5VhdQ9pulev5bFkGJtICpO_EDNz9A7YKSedoD6gSVR20.
November 17
Interesting but simplistic. There is no way corporations would spend money on employees if it did not increase productivity, and there is no way they would want to increase productivity if they could not sell what was produced. Since they are already selling enough to satisfy what people can buy there is no reason for them to want to increase the ability of their employees to produce more, by spending more money on them. If they did and productivity per employee increased with sales remaining the same they would reduce the number of employees. Therefore there is no way reducing stock buybacks would automatically help employees, unless corporations for some reason just got more fair minded and gave them significant raises, which is not likely to happen anytime soon, since they have almost never willingly done it.
“The STOP Walmart Act is Rewriting the Rules of Stock Buybacks,” by Lenore Palladino, Roosevelt Institute, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/articles/the-stop-walmart-act-is-rewriting-the-rules-of-stock-buybacks/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR3wvHsrKhYBEmuOvk2lnRAUZ7caAJ3qNF8t6-yzPezQ_NM8fGpVJAR3pw8.
November 17
True or false?
“Dozens arrested after climate protest blocks five London bridges,” by Matthew Taylor and Damien Gayle, THEGUARDIAN.COM, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/17/thousands-gather-to-block-london-bridges-in-climate-rebellion?CMP=share_btn_fb&fbclid=IwAR1t0q3rEIeZgQO0Jd_jvH5pvH0VEBzhkX4T9uyjM908y30fDZGwA88hqlg.
November 17
Should go without saying.
“Trump is NOT above the law,” by To: US Congress, from Your Name, ACTIONNETWORK.ORG, https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/trump-is-not-above-the-law-protectmueller?source=facebook&&fbclid=IwAR3lJwcBxYgKnaBJbqV703fJzuFFDxOQb6waWAa6T2oLMDxmH1R-5dwUzKw.
November 17
Could not agree more, since I wrote this one. This article was also reposted in the INTREPID REPORT.
“One More Time: “Payroll taxes,” ARE NOT TAXES!,” by Richard John Stapleton, EFFECTIVELEARNING.NET, https://blog.effectivelearning.net/one-more-time-payroll-taxes-are-not-taxes/?fbclid=IwAR0bvZngxb4lzCq9K0wrpKUy24wAFM6yHuzZS9iUmINN6-x3koysh_fhH5Q.
November 16
Does Trump have dementia?
This article presents compelling evidence he does. To see and hear for yourself how Trump has declined mentally and physically see this U-Tube interview by Tom Brokaw when Trump was thirty-three years old. Back then Trump did not have problems speaking grammatically correct compound sentences or accessing and using words more specific and relevant than “wonderful,” “beautiful,” and “great.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-w47wgdhso.
“Is Something Neurologically Wrong With Donald Trump?,” by James Hamblin, THEATLANTIC.COM, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/01/trump-cog-decline/548759/?utm_source=fbb&fbclid=IwAR2sFsesZh5kE0lpp4QCiDCYF0VNMVScu_vjsjrhDDWMD3LBHzhW72Y7-7U.
November 16
Meanwhile Assange is dying in his room in the Ecquadorian embassy in London after six years of solitary confinement.
“As the Obama DOJ Concluded, Prosecution of Julian Assange for Publishing Documents Poses Grave Threats to Press…,” by Glenn Greenwald, THEINTERCEPT.COM, https://theintercept.com/2018/11/16/as-the-obama-doj-concluded-prosecution-of-julian-assange-for-publishing-documents-poses-grave-threats-to-press-freedom/.
November 16
What a fine kettle of fish.
“Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s assassination: CIA,” by Shane Harris and Greg Miller, SMH.COM, https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/saudi-crown-prince-ordered-khashoggi-s-assassination-cia-20181117-p50gn3.html?fbclid=IwAR1mOZ_NWYLSfvN_1WfLc7O17eFYZV6rq9iWRSw7_C3oXiIAVyMuwiYAyBs.
November 15
Here is the hard part: “Based on the science,” reads the group’s website, “we have ten years at the most to reduce CO2 emissions to zero, or the human race and most other species are at high risk of extinction within decades.”
True or False?
“The Global Extinction Rebellion Begins,” by Dahr Jamail, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/articles/the-global-extinction-rebellion-begins/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR1zXarsOw_bj4NMt6bprXkX7VoZMKgVenfzfj_m4H8gOqGu5_6OkHsh2ZE.
November 15
Not much has changed since his time has it?
“Words of Wisdom from Harry Truman,” furnished by Gordy Teller, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=362843557802391&set=a.158713731548709&type=3&theater.
November 15
Can you believe Russia’s GDP is as small as it is? I guess having some ICBM’s and big nuclear bombs left over from their Soviet Union days makes people think they are much bigger than they are. The Russian economy is about 1/12 the size of the US economy, as this chart shows.
“The $80 Trillion World Economy in One Chart,” by Tyler Durden, ZEDROHEDGE.COM, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-28/80-trillion-world-economy-one-chart?fbclid=IwAR0WKbS2UeKw0MVfqhQv0bwzy89PC7BrFkuX4dhDWR-_WKErDFY53wOroNQ.
November 15
Roy Clark and Hee-Haw: One of the best TV shows ever.
“Roy Clark, country music legend and ‘Hee Haw’ star, dead at 85,” by Sasha Savitsky, FOXNEWS.COM, https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/roy-clark-country-music-legend-and-hee-haw-star-dead-at-85.
November 15
Save the wolves!
“Gray wolf population could lose federal protection under GOP bill,” by Kellen Browning, MCCLATCHYDC.COM, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-10-28/80-trillion-world-economy-one-chart?fbclid=IwAR0WKbS2UeKw0MVfqhQv0bwzy89PC7BrFkuX4dhDWR-_WKErDFY53wOroNQ
November 14
Good article but simplistic. The author says wars are not deterministic, WWI in this case, that “we” “made” it happen, not deterministic forces of history. I beg to disagree. “We” did not make it happen. Something caused the people who actually started WWI to start it. They did not just get out of bed one day and “poof” start WWI without being caused to do it, and whatever that something was was also caused, and so on back into infinite time in unbroken interconnected cause-effect chains. Whatever they were feeling, thinking, and doing, “something” caused them to feel, think, and do what they felt, thought and did–ideas, beliefs, and feelings previously stored in their brains–which were also caused by something. Which is the scary part now. “Something” can cause world leaders to do something mega dumb and stupid again, such as start WWIII. But maybe not. Hopefully the inevitable ineluctable cause-effect chains of history are now such that they will not cause another world war. That’s possible.
“For What?” by Dennis Morgan, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/14/for-what/?fbclid=IwAR0QQJz9prKhNWtTo82V2xd1acU0U50XnvwAPPPO9n9Mxbe22b7i52bHOxI.
November 14
Another article I agree with, having written it myself.
“Whence We Came, Whither We Go,” by Richard John Stapleton, EFFECTIVELEARNING.NET, https://blog.effectivelearning.net/from-whence-we-came-whither-we-go/?fbclid=IwAR2Jh21L0f30ctoTlpyZLmJJNnvbm83p_96Du6gWwNVwIxGWiEhKnjwtdL8.
November 14
As anybody should have known, the Trumpies significantly lowering federal income taxes for elite rich civilians would increase the budget deficit, as would increasing military expenditures for poor soldiers, sailors, and airmen and their staff, and their fat cat corporate suppliers. According to this article the federal deficit reached about $800 billion for fiscal 2018. It is expected to rise to about $1 trillion in fiscal year 2019, the worst ever, starting October 1, 2018. As shown here https://www.thebalance.com/current-u-s-federal-government-s… the federal budget is composed of mandatory spending for such things as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for US citizens and discretionary spending for such things as military employees, hardware, wars, and adventures. Much lying and confusion goes on regarding the funding of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Most of the time in mainstream media people say money ordinary people pay for Social Security from their paychecks and organizational revenues are “payroll taxes,” which is a misnomer, or a lie, depending on the knowledge and intention of the writer or speaker. Those payments are FICA or Federal Insurance Contribution Act insurance payments. Social Security payments to recipients are not welfare or operating expenses of the federal government; they are insurance benefits paid to people who paid into the Social Security insurance system, a quid pro quo. I can build a case Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid should not be listed as part of the federal government budget. This whole operation is a large insurance company run by the federal government for the health and welfare of US citizens, producing monetary benefits related to premiums paid, potentially a very successful insurance company, given federal power to determine by law fair prices for drugs, surgeries, and hospital stays charged policy holders. During various years after the creation of the social security system in 1935 social security payouts to beneficiaries were less than premiums paid into the system from deductions from payrolls and organizational profits and revenues, now about 6.2 percent for employees and about 6.2 percent for organizations, about 12.5 percent of yearly income per insured person overall, up to a certain level of income, now $128,400 per year. This formula generated a surplus of over $3 trillion dollars up to 2018, piled up in a Social Security Trust Fund, which the federal government borrowed from in various years to pay its bills for discretionary activities and operations, including dramatic and unnecessary military adventures, and all the rest. Unfortunately yearly social security premiums paid in are now less than social security payments paid out to beneficiaries, counting Medicare and Medicaid, and the federal government is now having to borrow money elsewhere yearly to pay back what it borrowed/robbed from its Social Security Trust Fund piggy bank through time, robbing Peter to pay Paul you might say, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Unfortunately this borrowing is not reflected in the yearly stated US budget deficit. The US federal government in fiscal 2019 will have to borrow more than $1 trillion, maybe as much as $1.3 trillion, assuming it can continue to find ordinary people, corporations, central banks, and government agencies willing and able to buy its treasury notes, bills, and bonds. For more background and details go here, https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TRSUM/.
“Yellen says rising deficit is unsustainable: ‘If I had a magic wand, I would raise taxes’,” by Fred Imbert, CNBC.COM, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/30/yellen-says-rising-us-deficit-unsustainable-if-i-had-a-magic-wand-i-would-raise-taxes.html?__source=sharebar|facebook&par=sharebar.
November 14
Trump has told us he is a “stable genius,” whatever that means. Seems to me he would have to be some sort of idiot to say and do some of the things he comes up with, such as blaming Californians for the unprecedented wildfire disaster that has befallen their state, and threatening to withhold federal aid to deal with the aftermath. Not only does he ignore the facts of situations and their causes and consequences, an indicator of low intelligence, he is almost devoid of tact and empathy, prime characteristics of sociopaths.
“Forty-Eight Dead and Counting From California’s Deadliest Wildfire,” by Dahr Jamail, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/articles/48-dead-and-counting-from-californias-deadliest-wildfire/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR0jl_F5dVmxMohQHYGPeuUi_9OEBpWOLTiufgCCeWHmWGQzedXrbtEyyvI.
November 12
Pathetic the way world wars happen.
“I felt then, as I feel now, that the politicians who took us to war should have been given the guns and told to settle their differences themselves, instead of organizing nothing better than legalized mass murder,”
by Harry Patch, the last veteran of WWI, who died in 2009 at 111 years old, presented by Christopher Lyden, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157019945019802&set=a.204060384801&type=3&theater.
November 12
Another peace advocate
“Albert Einstein: Rebel, failure, genius,: by Facebook Watch, https://www.facebook.com/LifeStories.Goalcast/videos/552138715245509/UzpfSTEwMDAwMDM0OTY1MTE4NjoyMDQxODc1OTQyNTAwNzA4/.
November 12
MAGA should be M”S”A”F”GA, make “some” Americans “feel” great again, maybe twenty-five percent of eligible US voters. That’s all Trump can accomplish.
While Paul Steet’s wording in this article may be inflammatory and overly harsh in the eyes of some he paints a relatively true picture of the subject state of affairs. One can build a plausible case the taking of the territory of the US, Canada, Mexico, and the nations of Central and South America from native inhabitants was caused by the greed of rich Europeans and the desperate grinding poverty of poor Europeans. Had Europeans not been moral and economic failures they would not have destroyed the original human inhabitants of “America”. They would have stayed where they were.
“When America Was Great, Savage White Un-Settlers Raped a Continent and Assaulted a Planet,” by Paul Street, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/26/when-america-was-great-savage-white-un-settlers-raped-a-continent-and-assaulted-a-planet/?fbclid=IwAR2kin4kjL1AGjw9bou205JF9dzK4y3cDqpvSHjd7yhcl0QoxCJ234KqL3M.
November 12
More than a grain of truth here.
“The Republican Plan to Dumb Down America,” by Colbertepisodes, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10217817168845016&set=a.10202176615200950&type=3&theater.
November 12
Say it ain’t so Joe
“The Best Way to Honor War Veterans Is To Stop Creating Them,” by Caitlin Johnstone, https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the-best-way-to-honor-war-veterans-is-to-stop-creating-them-a034a2714499?fbclid=IwAR1F8WdXz4FMo-w2TL-oRs0IFGMlooDcukPnWpqzl4r-edcw87zSJpZpV68.
November 12
David Stockman rides again.
“Stockman: The Nation’s Fiscal Doomsday Machine is Now Unstoppable,” ZEROHEDGE.COM, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-09/stockman-nations-fiscal-doomsday-machine-now-unstoppable?fbclid=IwAR0oEQ1JW1RKQUJLSQ3_s4PKjV2Sq-Nqd45zXYFCmIPK_n1PCt6HYoscpZI.
November 12
Relevant facts on healthcare.
“Half of Health Spendoing in the US is Now Government Spendng,” Ryan McMaken via The Mises Institute, ZEROHEDGE.COM, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-09/half-health-spending-us-now-government-spending?fbclid=IwAR0CS9xoAmsZzikWkwAAZrYCvU4N2w-noVwZY3rjlFWoUhJTEoT1KXNXd3w.
November 12
I still cannot get rid of the idea that the US is supposed to be the good guy. This sort of thing is what Josef Stalin used to do in his communist Russia with his gulags.
“Crucifying Julian Assange” by Chris Hedges, TRUTHDIG.COM, https://www.truthdig.com/articles/crucifying-julian-assange/.
November 12
Say it ain’t so Joe
“56 U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America,” by LiberationNews.Org, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156245035571936&set=a.386595276935&type=3&theater.
November 11
I never knew England and France started WWI. Unfortunately WWIII won’t be like WWI. It will be many orders of magnitude more horrible, if it happens.
“Margolis: We Are Heading For Another Tragedy Like World War I,” Eric Margolis, ZEROHEDGE.COM, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-11/margolis-we-are-heading-another-tragedy-world-war-i?fbclid=IwAR3vmkSYswHjega8OVNwsoVAE96yEUtAtIGEEq7c2gW_HtmH2PCtrkDuTiQ.
November 11
Unfortunately this well written article is relevant.
“The Second Time as Farce: We’ve Seen It All Before,” by Jason Hirthler, INTREPIDREPORT.COM, http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/25542.
November 11
Right on. According to the article, “The good news is that Democrats will take over the House of Representatives and hold onto or take back governorships in the upper Midwest and elsewhere. That less odious duopoly party also did well in statewide elections all over the country, and about as well as could be expected in gerrymandered state legislatures.”
“What now?” by Andrew Levine, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/09/what-now/?fbclid=IwAR3WsIZ-dT2kDY9W2S135Q_I4yTopTp4C1PwfVK0bitAAYkwrJlCxFrMRnc.
November 11
The whole idea and plan is outdated. It’s absurd that small rural states should be given disproportionate power to run the whole country. Two senators per state might have been a good idea to sell the US constitution in the first place, but it’s no longer rational. The US is no longer a union of independent states, just like a state is not a union of independent counties. How absurd would it get to call each state the United Counties of whatever the name of the state is? Or each county the United Precincts of whatever the name of the county is? Either abolish the US Senate or increase and decrease the number of senators per state to make representation in the senate proportional to population in the state, thereby making all votes equal in power. And maybe come up with another name for the United States of America, such as Murica.
“The Senate is an Institutional Barrier to Democracy,” by Sohale A Mortazavi, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/articles/the-senate-is-an-institutional-barrier-to-democracy/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR2MtTnGIbTGOxl9cEiXEVxli_lwxph9mztoEb-ubgMmLIkxreQ33FOazoo.
November 11
Life not being easy for most people living in the US most don’t want to know about the economic, political, and military atrocities of their people that have been a significant cause of living conditions getting so bad in various countries south of the US border that millions of people born there were and are willing to do almost anything to get inside the US to compete for a better life.
“US Must Take Responsibility for Asylum Seekers and Their History That Drives Them,” by David L. Wilson, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/articles/us-must-take-responsibility-for-asylum-seekers-and-their-history/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR3flV92yskZtbsCU-1Yhc_tO3X2AtMvfCSILiZMLaxssQt_KFsq9i16mEc.
November 9
Here is another helpful article by Joyce Wilson, an Effective Learning Report correspondent, for teaching your children at home.
“How to Use Educational Online Tools to Entertain Kids on a Rainy Day,” by Joyce Wilson, EFFECTIVELEARNING.NET, https://blog.effectivelearning.net/how-to-use-educational-online-tools-to-entertain-kids-on-a-rainy-day/?fbclid=IwAR1jzar5UMu7e7M5sT3_17DcdPWFgfzhBP1v4cYu1B-lQJnEjW1TnHGrdrE.
November 9
What is going on here? Ordinary life, sex, religion, alcohol, street drugs, and other narcissistic thrills and comforts are not enough to produce dopamine highs? Hopelessness? How can anyone be truly happy with all the corruption and idiocy going on around Spaceship Earth? So you have to do something like this to prove you exist or have significance? Do some ecociders think they are making heroes out of themselves by killing others and themselves, thereby reducing environmental stress and decay by removing human genes from the causative factors, thereby improving the chances of long-run survival for all Earthians? If so, who are the worst survival threat contributors? Happy superior-feeling joyous horny cis-gendered humans with plenty of dopamine who sexually produce too many future selfiecidal depressed offspring? Is it more moral to be depressed than happy?
For more on the natural purposes, uses and effects of dopamine read this, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine.
“Selfiecide,” Sunday Chronicle Cover Story, DECCANCHRONICLE.COM, https://www.deccanchronicle.com/sunday-chronicle/cover-story/050217/selfiecide.html?fbclid=IwAR0QwLGD5oFahZDoUPhD35qgObnUMVsUhCU-xPeMERdfxd-0EamFcyHWFRY.
November 9
They don’t “make” money they “take” money.
“Billionaires Made More Money in 2017 Than Any Other Year in History,” by Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, TRUTHOUT.ORG, https://truthout.org/articles/billionaires-made-more-money-in-2017-than-any-other-year-in-history/?utm_source=sharebuttons&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=mashshare&fbclid=IwAR32gHZ-2iqY_cX_ZV25X0UjDIJUADtv1KGC1MT303iv2OZkYnVfb8qdXSM.
November 9
Of course, we’ve had it.
“How Aristocracies are Born,” by Josh Hoxie, COURNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/09/how-aristocracies-are-born/?fbclid=IwAR1MNMdfNLyXvPfhwfGIjDLF7DgT6ZMAoZep2XCNr4CZZbv-LWO-uH2cIso.
November 9
And I used to think the US was the good guy.
“The Malevolent Hypocrisy of Selective Sanctions,” by Brian Cloughley, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/09/how-aristocracies-are-born/?fbclid=IwAR1MNMdfNLyXvPfhwfGIjDLF7DgT6ZMAoZep2XCNr4CZZbv-LWO-uH2cIso.
November 9
Say What? We have no defense against it, you say? You mean the finest fighting force in history is powerless to shoot this thing down? I thought the biggest problem the US’s finest fighting force in history had was finding enough enemies to fight to justify the money it costs US taxpayers, based on a cost/benefit analysis.
“Russia Deploys Its Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle,” by Andrei Akulov via The Stragegic Culture Foundation, ZEROHEDGE.COM, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-08/russia-deploys-its-avangard-hypersonic-glide-vehicle?fbclid=IwAR3LmGQGwFnaCAqmIfALOlqVDQMqHbmN8W4r4K7k05OwYO13d9TpwMV6cg0
November 9
An abomination of our time, hungry phone jackals scavenging for any scrap of cash they can swindle at any time; it’s not that all of them are inherently malevolent, they just have to make a living doing what they do. What a world. Looks like the US Federal Communications Commission ought to be able to do something to stop this. I get my privacy and my productivity interrupted about ten times a day by these jackals, and it’s pissing me off more all the time. And, no, there is no way I can block them by punching something on my phones. Apparently you can block some of them with a smart phone, which I have no intentions of buying. You have to respond to the jackals if you receive any relevant calls at all from ok people, otherwise you miss out on something valuable.
“Why robocalls have taken over your phone: The scourge isn’t going away,” by Colin Lecher, THEVERGE.COM, https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/7/18069178/end-robocalls-lawsuits-do-not-call-registry-ftc?fbclid=IwAR2vQaglzKF2IPFP2xmI5ITgIKA26RmHLhBNJnkHxBkiKFCM8-tRQgkstws.
November 9
The way to grow GDP is to produce more goods and services, not create and borrow more money.
“Why we get bad diagnoses for the world’s energy-economy problems,” by Gail Tverberg, OURFINITEWORLD.COM, https://ourfiniteworld.com/2018/11/07/why-we-get-bad-diagnoses-for-the-worlds-energy-economy-problems/?fbclid=IwAR0MMP7xnh8bWeuf6rRooCK8OF-5VWMW5uzIbiiCywKmJrH5tIf7DeZrYqg.
November 9
Hopefully close to zero.
“What are the chances that America’s disunion turns into Civil War?” by Ian Morris, MARKETWATCH.COM, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-are-the-chances-that-americas-disunion-turns-into-civil-war-2018-11-07?mod=mw_share_facebook&fbclid=IwAR0RTFRuoR9ANeFT_NfRJoBnL1p-ezyyutKZdITmyoXdvmGqXfVCj4wZuUI.
November 9
Excellent article. I vote for alternative three.
“It’s Not the End of the World,” by Jeff Thomas, INTERNATIONALMAN.COM, https://www.deccanchronicle.com/sunday-chronicle/cover-story/050217/selfiecide.html?fbclid=IwAR0QwLGD5oFahZDoUPhD35qgObnUMVsUhCU-xPeMERdfxd-0EamFcyHWFRY.
November 8
I used to think computers could not do anything humans did not instruct them to do. The problem is that humans may not be smart enough to be aware of everything they have allowed computers to do within the bounds of their instructions.
“The Dystopian Future of Facebook,” by Mark Kernan, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/08/the-dystopian-future-of-facebook/?fbclid=IwAR0_3O3Yt-w_JmmEoLn9Y39MRPZVNbvqW_xe0vqH3Zdds92baVktOOAAsH8.
November 7
Say it aint so Joe
“The Troika of Tyranny: The Imperialist Project in Latin America and Its Epigones,” by Roger Harris, COUNTERPUNCH.ORG, https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/11/07/the-troika-of-tyranny-the-imperialist-project-in-latin-america-and-its-epigones/?fbclid=IwAR1GciQ1aLnj2_9x3bngd2YsiURRHhR5z4UVGjNAe84TlB0b7SKTxNyQrr8.
November 5
Scary article, but small business people are not rich. There never was much to tax there. There is a big difference between small business and big business. Small business owners are mostly like we the people, having little wealth and power relative to the billionaire big business oligarchs who run the world.
“Turn Off, Tune Out, Drop Out – Small Business On The Brink,” by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, ZEROHEDGE.COM, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-05/turn-tune-out-drop-out-small-business-brink?fbclid=IwAR30BRRTLapyIymXnaYF5PT0PtaNuPp0Ea6jZ2pE5Y5Bv4Kb1oU3XjtkQag.
November 5
What is a fourth turning?
“The Fourth Turning & War Of The Worlds,” by Administrator, THEBURNINGPLATFORM.COM, https://www.theburningplatform.com/2018/11/04/the-fourth-turning-war-of-the-worlds/.
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