Clinton blames Sanders for lying

About all the money she gets from oil and gas lobbyists. And yet there is easily available evidence that indeed she does. Does she think we're that stupid that we can't research this for 2 minutes to find the truth?

Sanders now up by 6 points in WI

See this article. Just a few days ago it was 4.5 points. Hopefully he'll get up to 10 points by the primary and win by at least that much. 538 now gives Sanders a 57% chance of winning there, but projects a win by only 1 point.

Senator Warren on the Colbert show

She accurately goes off on Trump as a loser.

Voter summary

Paul Ryan admits he was wrong

On the whole "takers" thing in the video below. He claims he didn't say this to be politically correct, which would be anathema to his followers. But he did say it because his polling says that his old frame no longer works, so he has to now spin the issue to once again fool his ignorant base. And yet his policy and budget proposals still hurt the very people he now claims to understand better, proving that it is just spin and not sincere.

JLo carpool karaoke

With JCo.

Trump and Sanders rallies respond to free hugs

See this article. At one rally the huggers got hateful or racist comments and few hugs. In another the huggers got lots of  hugs. Care to guess which is which?

New poll has Sanders up in WI

See this article citing the latest Marquette University Law School poll, which has Sanders up 4.3 points over Clinton. Sanders really needs a win here, and by more than that spread, to gain some good momentum going into PA, MD and NY soon.

Obama supports Wasserman-Schultz

And in so doing slaps down the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. We learned quickly when Obama took office that he was no progressive despite his rhetoric proclaiming it. But to support Wasserman-Schultz? With her record of corporate lackeyism? That is a bridge too far. I guess since he's on his way out, and tacitly supporting Clinton, he has designs on his own corporate sponsorships and subsequent fortune awaiting him.

538 on what Sanders needs to win

As usual they do an in-depth study and it's not promising. It's possible but highly unlikely. Still, it's absolutely no reason to not continue voting for Sanders in any upcoming primary. We the people still need to show our preference and garner as many delegates as possibly to influence the Democratic platform so we can hold Clinton's feet to the fire if she's elected. And who knows, even if it is strongly against the odds Sanders just might pull it off.

AZ Secretary of State confirms election fraud

See the video below. The Republicans are always claiming voter fraud when time after time it has been proven to be completely false. However the Republicans in AZ and other States where they control the legislature have time and again been the ones committing election fraud with voter ID laws and others measures. Any time a Republican blames a problem on someone else you can rest assured it's because they are the ones doing it, AZ election fraud just one more example.

Silverman on a different politics

For one, taking NO money from corporations or superPACs, just we the people. Follow the money to understand whom candidates represent.

Sanders' moral message

Thing is, the psychopathic 1% and their like-minded Republican (and Democratic) lackeys lack any morality and could give a shit about the rest of us.

Republicans froth over Cuba, but what about Saudi Arabia

The regressives have gone apeshit over President Obama's visit to Cuba, and yet not a peep about Saudi Arabia's atrocities. Why? In a word, oil. Which tells you they really don't give a shit about what they claim; it's just theatrics.

Paige & Mark

Second best dance of the night. She tied with Wanya on the leaderboard. Mark was injured so Paige danced with a substitute.

Wanya & Lindsay

Best dance of the night on DWTS.

A Trump strategist quits

And tells his followers to wake up to reality. A must read for everyone, especially Trump supporters from someone on the inside of his campaign. A teaser:

"He doesn’t want the White House. He just wants to be able to say that he could have run the White House. He’s achieved that already and then some. If there is any question, take it from someone who was recruited to help the candidate succeed, and initially very much wanted him to do so. The hard truth is: Trump only cares about Trump. And if you are one of the disaffected voters — one of the silent majority like me — who wanted a candidate who could be your voice, I want to speak directly to you as one of his biggest advocates and supporters. He is not that voice. He is not your voice. He is only Trump’s voice. Trump is about Trump. Not one of his many wives. Not one of his many 'pieces of ass.' He is, at heart, a self-preservationist."

Borowitz on the media in Sanders' recent wins

Just a bit of hyperbole from the master, but not much. Quote:

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—Bernie Sanders failed to impress major media outlets over the weekend as he barely managed to win seventy per cent of the vote in three western primaries.

The major cable networks briefly mentioned Sanders’s vote tallies in Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii but noted that he ran out of steam well shy of eighty per cent.

“There’s no point in sugarcoating it,” one analyst put it. “Rough night for Sanders.”

According to one cable executive, Sanders needs to “put up some big numbers fast” if he expects the networks to continue giving his campaign airtime.

“It’s going to be harder and harder to justify covering him while he’s stuck down in the seventy-per-cent range,” the executive said.

Foreign leaders on the GOP primaries

Here Secretary of State Kerry tells what foreign leaders think of our GOP primary; that we are an embarrassment to the rest of the world.

What does Hillary Clinton stand for?

This video explores the question and makes good points. Clinton ignored major issues until after Sanders proved they were popular. Not only that, she previously supported the opposite positions. She doesn't have a Senate record of actually standing up for the positions she now says she champions. This is why Wall Street continues to pour their money into her, as they know she's just talking and will do their bidding. Do the Democrats that support her actually believe her populist positions? If so, based on what evidence? Seems most of those supporters and themselves corporate sell-outs, know Clinton is too, and echo-chamber the talking points to fool the uneducated and ignorant base to vote once again against their own, and the country's, best interests.

Young people are right about Clinton

See this article. A few choice excerpts. See the article for much more detail.

"The millions of young voters that are rejecting Hillary's campaign this year are making a carefully reasoned, even reluctant calculation about the limits of the insider politics both she and her husband have represented. For young voters, the foundational issues of our age have been the Iraq invasion, the financial crisis, free trade, mass incarceration, domestic surveillance, police brutality, debt and income inequality, among others. And to one degree or another, the modern Democratic Party, often including Hillary Clinton personally, has been on the wrong side of virtually all of these issues."

Reich on the status of the Democratic race

From his FB post, quote:

“Bernie did well yesterday but he can’t possibly win the nomination,” a friend just wrote, attaching an article from the Washington Post that shows how far behind Bernie remains in delegates -- but which gives only total delegate counts including superdelegates.

Wrong. The fact is:

1. Bernie won big yesterday in Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. He’s now eliminated a big portion of Hillary Clinton’s delegate lead. As of today, she has 54.9 percent of the pledged delegates to Bernie’s 45.1 percent.

2. There are still 22 states to go with nearly 45 percent of pledged delegates still up for grabs – and Bernie has positive momentum in almost all of them.

3. Hillary Clinton's lead in superdelegates will vanish if Bernie gets a majority of pledged delegates.

4. Bernie is outpacing Hillary Clinton in fundraising. In February, he raised $42 million (from 1.4 million contributions, averaging $30 each), compared to her $30 million. In January he raised $20 million to her $15 million.

5. By any measure, the enthusiasm for Bernie is huge and keeps growing. He’s packing stadiums, young people are flocking to volunteer, support is rising among the middle-aged and boomers.

Will Ferrell auditions for animal expert

On the Colbert show. He should get the job.

Robert Reich envisions The People's Party

In this piece Reich sees the establishment continuing on after this election, with further cuts to social programs and tax breaks and subsidies to the wealthy. Which will cause yet another crash and the people will finally be fed up to form a third Party. Said Party will draw in the disaffected from the rigged system on all sides and will stand for the following. A nice vision:

"Getting big money out of politics, ending 'crony capitalism,' abolishing corporate welfare, stopping the revolving door between government and the private sector, and busting up the big Wall Street banks and corporate monopolies. The People’s Party also pledged to revoke the Trans Pacific Partnership, hike taxes on the rich to pay for a wage subsidy (a vastly expanded Earned Income Tax Credit) for everyone earning below the median, and raise taxes on corporations that outsource jobs abroad or pay their executives more than 100 times the pay of typical Americans."

CA to raise minimum wage to $15/hour

See this article, detailing an idea whose time has come. This is what happens when we the people get active.

New logo for the Progressive Party

Ever since that bird landed on Sanders' podium it is the symbol of the Sanders progressive movement. Hopefully it will be the beginning of a new Party altogether.

The church of the spiritual but not religious

Good God.

Rosario Dawson's rousing Sanders introduction in San Diego

I'll let her speak for herself, since she does such a great job of it.

Birds of a feather?

Not.

David Brooks on the end of a GOP era

David Brooks, mind you, is glad it's the end of the Reagan era. He's not happy that it took Trump to destroy it it, but it's time to reorganize around different principles. It will require that the GOP give up the old ways of Adam Smith's utilitarian individualism and be open to Durkheim's collective social relations based on compassion and love. Fucking wow, this is a monumental moment of realization for a Republican.

Climate change accelerating at alarming rate

Hartmann explores two new scientific discoveries that say the amount of carbon we're generating is more than a gigantic extinction event 66 million years ago. That past event took 4000 years, and we're creating more carbon in the environment than that event in just 200 years.

Postmodern realism

See this Ph.D. thesis on the topic. Amen to this statement in the abstract, not typical of kennilingus pomo reductionism:

"Against the critiques which have been levelled at postmodernism I will argue that critical realism is theoretically best placed to mediate the various postmodern positions and concerns by developing a reading of critical realism which places critical realism firmly within the context of postmodernism as an alternate postmodernism. Yet if critical realism can be understood within postmodernism, postmodernism can equally be understood within a more encompassing, more mediated realism."

Being a Derrigaga, I was impressed with Chapter 2 wherein the author supports Derrida as a critical realist, not the relativistic boogeyman of kennilingus. In fact, from p. 89: "That is to say, différance cannot be contained or articulated within language but operates as the hidden domain of the real."
Reminds me a lot of Bryant's analysis of Derrida in "Time of the Object." 

Just perusing a couple of sections on metaphor, and its necessity and inescapability, the thesis could have been 'fleshed out' on this with Lakoff & Johnson's Philosophy in the Flesh. Alas, they and their ideas on the matter were not referenced.

Chapter 4.3 on hauntology reminds me of this Caputo analysis:

Democracy Now interview with Greenwald on terrorism and Trump

 In the video below Democracy Now asks Greenwald to respond to the Brussels terrorist bombings. He says that Americans should not be surprised when the terrorists respond this way after we carpet bomb them. That in fact we play into ISIS' hand when we do the carpet bombing that kills innocent civilians as acceptable collateral damage, which just creates more terrorists. We also play into their hands with the Republicans' response of refusing Muslim refugees, and of surveilling and harassing those already in the country. This is what ISIS wants by their tactics, to drive a wedge between Muslims already in Western countries and those countries. Contrast it with how President Obama refuted the Republican xenophobia, instead suggesting we build relationships with non-radicalized Muslims.

How do we transform society?

Following up on the last post:

 Regarding Bauwens' comments on accelerationism in the initial post, he's right that we don't gain power via direct political power. It requires instead for us to "create prefigurative livelihoods which actually embody different post-capitalist logics, and to build social and political forces around this concrete transformative change."

I'm currently reading Dark Money by Jane Myer, which documents how the libertarian capitalists took back power in government. It was not by direct contributions to candidates or direct participation in that government but by building subversive networks of think tanks disguised as philanthropic foundations that propagandized their 'free market' ideology. Through this the wealthy could 'donate' tax-free dollars to inculcate these values in schools, media, the courts and finally legislators. You can hear these values verbatim any time a Republican legislator opens their mouth, when out comes the pre-fab ideas and laws of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Non-capitalist techno-utopianisms

Here's the section on Bauwens and P2P of this much larger article. An excerpt:

"The new Commons is related to the older form of the commons (most notably the communal lands of the peasantry in the Middle Ages and of the original mutualities of the workers in the industrial age), but it also differs mostly through its largely immaterial characteristics. The older Commons were localized, used, and sometimes regulated by specific communities; the new Commons are universally available and regulated by global cyber-collectives, usually affinity groups. While the new Commons is centered around non-rival goods (that is, in a context of abundance) the older forms of physical Commons (air, water, etc.) increasingly function in the context of scarcity, thus becoming more regulated."

ColorofChange v. Congressional Black Caucus

Finally, a challenge from another black organization against the CBC. The latter has sold out its own race to the oligarch for money and power. The below is from ColorofChange.org:

A Washington, DC Political Action Committee¹ (PAC) that claims to speak for Black people but is really a mouthpiece for corporate power recently made two very big announcements that could impact important upcoming elections. Two weeks ago, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC, with it's lobbyist-dominated Board of Directors², made a high-profile endorsement of Hilary Clinton and quietly decided not to endorse, fellow CBC member, Rep. Donna Edwards' historic bid to become only the second Black woman to be elected to the Senate.

The lobbyists sitting on the CBC PAC’s board represent the worst of the worst -- companies that are notorious in the mistreatment and exploitation of Black people. The depth of corporate influence over the CBC PAC is so troubling because its endorsements carry the name of the Congressional Black Caucus, trading off a name that is wrapped in the moral authority of the civil rights movement. For hours, media incorrectly reported that the Congressional Black Caucus and not the CBC PAC endorsed Secretary Hillary Clinton for President.³ Meanwhile, the CBC PAC's corporate board members and donors who represent private prisons, big tobacco and the anti-worker National Restaurant Association were nowhere to be seen. This is wrong and the CBC must act to stop it now.

 

Join us in calling on the CBC PAC to remake their board to reflect CBC leadership and cut ties with industries that harm Black people, including Private Prison lobbyists, Big Tobacco, and the anti-worker National Restaurant Association.

The reality of the Kansas tax cuts

The standard Republican spin is that in order to spur economic growth we need to cut taxes on the so-called "job creators." In this video Seth Myers examines what a ginormous disaster this ideology was in Kansas. It's an ideology that has never worked for anyone but the super rich. Hence our current level of inequality and poverty not seen since the great depression. And yet these ideologues continue with their spin completely devoid of any facts. So instead of raising taxes on those who can afford it, what did the Governor do? Cut programs for children and education, among other social programs. WTF!

White Christian terrorists

In this video Hartmann discusses a recent news story that give examples of white Christian terrorists in the US.  Since 9/11 these instances have killed or injured significantly more people in the US than Islamic terrorists. And yet we don't hear about blaming all Christians for these atrocities, let alone even hearing about them at all. But we certainly do hear the hate speech blaming of all of Islam for their few degenerates.

The Pope's advisor

Who is yours?

President Obama sets Republicans straight on Muslims

The Republicans want to prevent Muslims from coming to America, and to watch closely those already here. The President clearly articulates why they are dead wrong on the topic. And unAmerican to boot.

Republican 'logic'

Meaning specious and illogical. They claim they can't even consider a Supreme Court nominee because "the people need to decide," meaning the people in the next election. That supposes that the people didn't decide our current President, whose was elected twice in landslides. And his job is for 8 years, not 7. So this graphic turns the tables on them and says then they don't get to do their jobs for the last year of their term. (Problem is though that they haven't done their jobs since they were elected, instead just blocking and obstructing everything constructive for we the people.)

Sanders: what will the Democratic establishment do for us?

In this video the host asks Sanders will he and his movement support Clinton if she wins the nomination. He turns the question around and asks what the Democratic establishment do for our movement if that happens. Will the establishment, including Clinton, represent all of us or just the upper middle class? Will they continue to participate in the big money, corrupt campaign contribution system or denounce it in favor of small donations, or even better, public financing?

I doubt that the Democratic Party will ever be as he hopes. My guess is that we'll have to form a new Party, like the Progressive Party, to enact the sort of ethical and people-based Party he envisions. By then the Democratic Party will be like the old Republican Party, which it pretty much is right now, and the Republican Party will go the way of the Whigs.

Brainwashed

Certainly not what Jesus would say or do.

The truth about Kasich's OH record

In this video Thom Hartmann talks with OH Congressman Tim Ryan to explore Kasich's actual policies. They are a very different story than the spin, like attacks on workers rights to collectively bargain. Kasich claims he turned around Ohio's economy when in fact it was Obama's stimulus package that did so. Kasich was against that stimulus but took it and claimed his efforts improved matters. Kasich was also against the auto bailout, which also brought jobs back to OH, again taking credit for something he opposed. Even given all that, OH is still having sub-par growth compared with the rest of the nation. His and his Party's policies gutted local community funds for schools. Meanwhile that funding goes to private charter schools, which are some of the worst performing in the country.

Paige and Mark

This was my favorite dance on the season opener of DWTS Monday night. Mark is continuing his trend of highly creative and entertaining choreography. And Paige's performance was far better than later dancers who received higher, and undeserved, scores.

Paul Ryan's apology

In this article he apologizes for past rhetoric about the poor. He said:

“There was a time when I would talk about a difference between ‘makers’ and ‘takers’ in our country, referring to people who accepted government benefits. But as I spent more time listening, and really learning the root causes of poverty, I realized I was wrong. ‘Takers’ wasn’t how to refer to a single mom stuck in a poverty trap, just trying to take care of her family. Most people don’t want to be dependent. [...] I was callous and I oversimplified and castigated people with a broad brush. There is a lot of that happening in America today.”

Thing is, he has not proposed any changes to policy that would actually help the poor.

Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms

In this video James Hansen highlights some of the points from his crew's climate report on the topic. We're already in big climate trouble and need action now.

More Hartmann on the 90%

Following up on the last post, see Hartmann's article on the topic at Salon/Alternet.

Both Parties ignore the bottom 90%

Hartmann explains that Republicans are the Party of the ultra-rich. The Democratic Party used to be the Party of labor and the working class but is now the Party of the professional class, the top 10%. Neither give shit about the rest of us.

Another interesting point is that these professional-favoring Democrats got obsessed with complexity. But given the distinctions made in recent posts about different kinds of complexity, the kind favored by these Dems was the metaphysically abstract kind that doesn't arise from concrete embodiment. Hartmann uses the example of Wall Street's complex financial instruments, which are exactly of this kind. They are not based in concrete wealth but are mere abstract things is some kind of Platonic ideal plane. They do manage though to extract real wealth from the economy.

The Hillary Clinton emails

See this article about them with a link to the actual emails. The intro:

"The Hillary Clinton emails have recently been released by virtue of Clinton’s use of a private email server, WikiLeaks, and the Freedom of Information Act and they stand as potentially one of the most damning sets of emails ever exposed to the light of day. With 30,322 emails having been written by Clinton and the fact that Clinton herself has been so heavily involved in untold amounts of treachery during her tenure as Secretary of State alone, the emails are a veritable treasure trove of both incriminating information for Clinton and vindicating information for those who have been critical of her in the past."

Stages of grief

I'm guessing the second is everyone's experience. One problem with stage models of any kind is the mistaken assumption that one step cleanly and clearly leads to the next in a ladder like progression.

Sanders on the race to the bottom

A very touching, personal story of labor abuse. And how Sanders cared enough to change it. This kind of agenda for the working class is absent in every other candidate, who instead keep promoting the top-down corporate agenda that thinks if we just give the so-called job creators all the money everything will just trickle-down for everyone. This story shows it does not without caring human beings in positions of governmental power doing something about it.

Complexity discussion

Speaking of the differences between the model of hierarchical complexity (MHC) and other forms of complexity (in this post), I recently had a discussion with Cory David Barker at the Commons Yahoo Adult Development Forum.* I inquired into the fractal nature of the MHC, since it uses a monofractal structure, i.e., recurring, self similar patterns. Multifractals though

"are more highly advanced mathematical structures: fractals of fractals. They arise from fractals 'interwoven' with each other in an appropriate manner and in appropriate proportions. Multifractals are not simply the sum of fractals and cannot be divided to return back to their original components, because the way they weave is fractal in nature. The result is that in order to see a structure similar to the original, different portions of a multifractal need to expand at different rates. A multifractal is therefore non-linear in nature."

Obama '08 ad about Clinton

Same story, different election.

Trump and Cruz tax plan

Again, just the facts.

Senator Warren nails Trump as a loser

Her FB post is copied below. Wow.

"Let’s be honest – Donald Trump is a loser. Count all his failed businesses. See how he kept his father’s empire afloat by cheating people with scams like Trump University and by using strategic corporate bankruptcy (excuse me, bankruptcies) to skip out on debt. Listen to the experts who’ve concluded he’s so bad at business that he might have more money today if he’d put his entire inheritance into an index fund and just left it alone.

"Trump seems to know he’s a loser. His embarrassing insecurities are on parade: petty bullying, attacks on women, cheap racism, and flagrant narcissism. But just because Trump is a loser everywhere else doesn’t mean he’ll lose this election. People have been underestimating his campaign for nearly a year – and it’s time to wake up.

More on the Stein interview

Continuing from this post, the first 10 minutes starts with the current mind- as-organism metaphor, which is a rehabilitation and expansion of an indigenous model. This of course reminds me of the neo-Commons model. And that the interim mind-as-machine model was 'wrong,' since it doesn't match living, natural systems. I.e., it was not a necessary evolution but a regression.

Another example of the Sanders media blackout

Sanders' rally last night had an overflow capacity crowd and not a peep from the major media. This is typical of most of his other overflow rallies in the past. They simply refuse to air the actual support for this candidate while they constantly air Trump rallies. Not only that, they don't call Trump on his lies when he claims to have rallies bigger than Sanders. Or for that matter call him on any of his lies. Manufactured consent indeed.

Amy Goodman reams the media for manufactured consent

And as why Trump is doing so well, given his incessant and free media coverage. The media are ratings whores that give not a shit for what this means for democracy.

The beautiful mind of Dr. Zachary Stein

Balder posted on FB IPS this link to Tim Winton's interview with Zak Stein. I really appreciate the table of contents so that I can zoom in on a particular topic when I have limited time. E.g., (35:45 - 37:45) Signs of Catastrophic Bifurcation discusses the current situation where both the regression to feudalism and the progression to democracy co-exist. I.e., the reigning capitalistic oligarchy and the emerging libertarian socialism of the neo-commons vie for ascendancy. We also see it playing out in the US Presidential election, with extreme regression on the Republican side, less extreme regression mixed with some progression in Clinton, and a much more progressive streak in Sanders and the rising cultural movement he represents.

An app little used

Unfortunately it's an app that requires way too much work for many inculcated in our 'give it to me now' culture to use.

John Quincey Adam's Amistad speech

In the video below, Anthony Hopkins as President John Quincey Adams address the Supreme Court in the movie Amistad. The movie is based on an actual event. The speech highlights recent posts on Eisler and her partnership model, in that it emphasizes that we are a society that relies on each other, including our forebears. And the rampant individualism, as the speech goes, it antithetical to that social contract. When he is rhetorically asking the advice of the former Presidents he said: "We have long resisted asking your for guidance. Perhaps we have feared in doing so we might acknowledge that our individuality--that is so, so revered--is not entirely our own" (8:30).

The real freeloaders

It's a shame that hard-working Americans fall for this aristocratic (1%) fallacy and blame other hard-working people of minimum income for being the freeloaders. A clear case of misdirection away from the real perpetrators of our discontent, aka manufactured consent.

The US is not a democracy

See this article. The Presidential election is determined not by votes but by delegates. The discrepancies between actual votes and delegate apportionment is explored. And how both Parties are corrupt in this process.

Reich on SCOTUS nominee Garland

See his FB post here. He shows how Garland and colleagues on the US Circuit Court expanded on the Citizens United decision. Garland will only do the same if appointed to the SCOTUS.

Facebook's new emojis tell a universal story

It starts in the family

The following is from the Eisler interview. Republicans are right about one thing: it starts in the family.

"In the United States, Trump and the Kochs are part of the regression to the domination system. The growing gap between haves and have-nots that was the norm just a few centuries ago is part of this regression. So is the global rise of religious fundamentalism, with its push to top-down theocratic rule, holy wars, and a 'traditional' male-dominated, highly punitive family. But that is not the whole story. There is also continuing movement toward the partnership system. [...] The peace movement and, more recently, the movement to end traditions of violence against women and children challenged the use of force to maintain rankings of domination. The movement for economic equity challenged top-down economic control. The environmental movement challenged man’s conquest of nature."

McDonalds on the benefits of increased minimum wage

See this Reich FB post. After McD raised its minimum wage to $10 an hour its US President said that it increased employee loyalty, reduced the turnover rate and increased sales due to better customer satisfaction. Once again the ideology that denounces minimum wage increases has proven to be completely unrelated to reality.

Maher on what really created Trump

It's the New Age nonsense that feeds narcissism and self-delusion, with Trump a prime example. Being given everything he wanted from birth didn't help this syndrome.

Dancin' to Don't

I'm often behind the times culturally and just getting around to this Official Ed Sheeran video. I've danced to this song at least 100 times at west coast swing dances, where I often do a lot of improv to match this fine music. And almost just as often, at least some of the female west coast swing dancers complain about my playing with it instead of just leading them through the same boring patterns they were taught. Granted there are occasionally some more advanced dancers that also like the improv and so engage it with their own creations to compliment what I'm doing. This video encourages me to continue the practice, as that's what the dancer in the video does. And with a partner at some points. Play on!

MacKenzie's version of Billie Jean

My favorite performance of the night, given not only the vocal and musical talent but the innovative interpretation of this classic.

Did Sanders actually argue for superdelegates deciding?

See this article and the video below (starting at 3:30). Maddow asked Sanders directly, three times, if he would consider trying to sway the superdelegates to vote for him even if he lost the regular pledged delegate count. And three times he prevaricated. I'm more than a bit disturbed by this.

Hedges and Nader

See the following video.

Hedges: "You have got the rise of these faux liberals, like Clinton or Obama, who will speak in that traditional language of liberalism defending the interests of working men and women and the poor, but in fact serve corporate power."

Nader: "Without a doubt, its rhetorical snake charmers."

Where and how Sanders needs to win big

See this analysis, which lays out a path where and how Sanders needs to win to get the nomination. It is realistic and gives low odds that it can be done. While I continue to hope against the odds I also have to face the increasing likely hood that Sanders will not win this particular race.

Stiglitz on inequality

See this excerpt from his book The Price of Inequality. Inequality is not a result of the 'natural' forces of the marketplace but intentionally designed to drain wealth from society and give it to those in power. A lot of it has to do with the Enlightenment worship of the individual, and the specious notion that those at the top deserve it due to their own herculean efforts. What those at the top did learn was how to manipulate the government to do their bidding, rigging the system in their favor at the expense of everyone else. See the article for a much more detailed analysis.

Eisler discussion links

I've had a few recent posts on her, so if you want to follow discussion of her work here are two places to do so: FB IPS discussion, Ning IPS discussion.

Empathy's evolution

The Eisler stuff reminds me of this Rifkin video. The first 5 minutes is about empathy. The second 5 minutes is about its evolution concurrent with forms of energy-communications-tech.

More Eisler

Following up on this post, the abstract of her 2015 paper Human possibilities: the interaction of biology and culture:

This article briefly describes the two main strands of a new unified theory about human nature and human possibilities: cultural transformation theory and bio-culturalism. Bio-culturalism combines findings from neuroscience about how our brains develop in interaction with our environments with findings from the study of relational dynamics, a new method of social analysis focusing on what kinds of relations—from intimate to international—a particular culture or subculture supports. Bio-culturalism recognizes that our species has a vast spectrum of genetic capacities, ranging from consciousness, caring, empathy, cooperation, and creativity to insensitivity, cruelty, exploitation, and destructiveness, and proposes that which of these capacities are expressed or inhibited largely hinges on the nature of our cultural environments. Cultural transformation theory looks at the whole span of human cultural evolution from the perspective of the tension between the contrasting configurations of the partnership system and the domination system as two underlying possibilities for structuring beliefs, institutions, and relationships. The article describes the core components of partnership- and domination-oriented societies, provides examples of each, and proposes that our future hinges on accelerating the cultural transformation from domination to partnership in our time of nuclear and biological weapons and the ever more efficient despoliation of nature, when high technology guided by an ethos of domination and conquest could take us to an evolutionary dead end.

Trump one of the top 10 global risks

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

"A Donald Trump presidency poses a top-10 risk event that could disrupt the world economy, lead to political chaos in the U.S. and heighten security risks for the United States, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Electing Trump could also start a trade war, hurt trade with Mexico and be a godsend to terrorist recruiters in the Middle East, according to the latest EIU forecasts."

New Riane Eilser stuff

Here's a new Eisler interview. Also see her recent article for The Next Systems Project.

I've commented on this before. Given her definition of a dominator hierarchy, where one pole dominates the other--like man over woman, heaven over earth, etc.--it is a regression. A healthy hierarchy always balances those poles. Granted that balance is dynamic based on contingencies, so it's not a static, completely symmetrical and foundational metaphysical state.

In terms of spiral dynamics, which posits an alteration between individual and communal levels, I interpret Eisler's work to see the so-called strictly individual levels as regressions, when the spiral takes a downturn before moving back up to the next level. That is, individual and communal are always in dynamic balance in each level in the healthy hierarchy. Note the word 'hierarchy', as she accepts that aforesaid balanced societies indeed progressively evolve.

FrankenTrump

Sanders needs 58% of the remaining delegates

According to Nate Silver this morning. Not impossible but not good odds. I'm hoping he makes it for the sake of the nation and the world.

Most voters hate both Trump and Clinton

See this poll. Me too, but I hate Trump more. Lesser of two evils yet again.

Compare budget proposals

Between the House Republicans and the Progressive Congressional Caucus (CPC) here. In doing so one can clearly see the moral difference between these groups. The GOP budget wants to further slash health and safety programs so that incidents like the Flint MI water crisis increase. The same slashing goes for discretionary spending programs that help people in need like food stamps, killing consumer protection and healthcare as well as favoring fracking over renewable energy development.

Robinson on the Garland pick

From his post at Ring of Fire:

• He is very pro-police and rarely votes in favor of criminal appeals.
• He is unlikely to turn over existing criminal justice rulings like the death penalty.
• During his time as a lawyer, he represented the tobacco industry.
• During his time as a lawyer, he fought against the Clean Air Act.
• During his time as a lawyer, he represented corporate entities.
• As a judge, he voted against allowing Guantanamo detainees access to civil courts.
• He is absolutely not a progressive liberal.
• Orrin Hatch loves the guy.
• He is just a placeholder to call Republican Senate’s bluff
• He will almost certainly side with Conservative justices.

Cousins on the Garland pick

In this video Cousins makes clear that Garland is a corporate lackey, so if Citizens United and other like Supreme Corp decisions are revisited they're likely to be reaffirmed. And he's right that Clinton, if President, will likely do the same with any nominees she gets to pick. We'll see what Sanders and Warren, real progressives, have to say about this pick.

President nominates Garland for SCOTUS

See this article. This is not encouraging:

"An eventual appointment for Garland is also less likely to mark a liberal shift in the Supreme Court. If anything, his contributions -- given his age and his moderate record so far -- are likely to be more pragmatic than path-marking for some of the country's most hotly contested legal issues, such as voting rights, gun control and the scope of presidential powers."

I.e., he could go either way on important progressive issues, likely maintaining the corporate and oligarchic status quo. Given that the regressive Senate will not even discuss the topic I can see Obama's strategy, to show how obstructive they are to possibly turn the tide in Senate races. But suppose it was the GOP's strategy all along to get a more moderate nominee like this and they now confirm him? Not so good.

Robert Reich on the primary results

From his FB post:

"Bernie Sanders won Missouri and came very close to winning Illinois in today’s Democratic primaries, but lost Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida. Ohio is a big loss. Some attribute it to independents who decided to back Ohio Governor John Kasich in the Republican primary (and deliver a message to the Drumpf) rather than cast their votes for Bernie. (Independents had put Bernie over the top in Michigan last week.)

So where does this leave the Democrats? You’ll hear that Hillary Clinton is now unstoppable, especially given all the superdelegates she’s lined up. But:

1. That view underestimates Bernie’s support in important states that haven’t yet held primaries, like Wisconsin and California.

2. It also fails to acknowledge the groundswell of support he's had so far in key states like Michigan and Missouri, and how close he’s come in others like Iowa and Massachusetts.

Bad night for Sanders

Clinton was expected to win big in FL and NC, and she did in FL by 30% but only 14% in NC. But OH was supposed to be close, and so far it isn't with 90% reporting she's up by 14%. It's still close in IL and MO, but win or lose there, Sanders now faces a virtual mathematical impossibility. As I said in this post though, now it's a matter of going the distance, getting more delegates and influencing the Party Platform. I will try not to throw up when I vote for Clinton in the general.

Colbert: Trump is your idiot uncle

Constructivist Foundations, 11(2), 3/15/16

At this link:

Constructivist Foundations 11(2)

Exploring the Diversity within Enactivism and Neurophenomenology

Edited by Tom Froese, Sebastjan Vörös & Alexander Riegler

Editorial

Sebastjan Vörös, Tom Froese & Alexander Riegler

Epistemological Odyssey: Introduction to Special Issue on the Diversity of Enactivism and Neurophenomenology

Target Article

Mario Villalobos & Dave Ward

Lived Experience and Cognitive Science Reappraising Enactivism’s Jonasian Turn

Open Peer Commentaries

Humberto R. Maturana

Confusion of Reflective Domains?

Shigeru Taguchi

Can the Lived Experience of Living Beings Be Approached through Inference?

Paulo De Jesus

Sweeping Anthropomorphism Under the MAT

Jean-Luc Petit

Is Intentionality Banned from Sciences of the Living Being?

Peter Gaitsch

Modern Anthropomorphism and Phenomenological Method

Steve Torrance

Varela’s Sixth Step: Teleology and the Re-Visioning of Science

Rasmus Gahrn-Andersen & Matthew Isaac Harvey

Phenomenological Teleology and Human Interactivity

Jérôme Proulx

Living (in) Different Enactivist Worlds: A Mathematics Education Researcher’s Point of View on Enactivism

Authors’ Response

Dave Ward & Mario Villalobos

Enactivism, Cognitive Science, and the Jonasian Inference

More analysis from 538

See this article, which now includes demographics into the formula. Much as I hate to admit it, the math just isn't there for Sanders. Even if he wins narrowly in some states like OH, IL and MO, since the delegates are apportioned his delegate count gap with Clinton will continue to grow because she wins much more significantly in other states.

What the designer of the Confederate Flag says about it

So how is this not racist?

Sanders the internet defender

See this article where techies assert Sanders will be the defender of net neutrality while Trump will overrun it. Keep in mind that the Internet of Things, paramount to the emerging neo-Commons, requires a free and open internet. And that oligarchic capitalists will do anything to prevent that from happening.

Some lawyers defending Trump's violent rhetoric

See this article. But inciting violence is most definitely not under first amendment protection.
Yes, a few lawyers are defending it, parsing the definitions of the words "immanent" and "lawless." If you recall, "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is." Specious rationalization, more like it.

Bryan v. Malik

One of the best Voice battles ever. Bryan won, then the other 3 judges wanted to steal Malik immediately.

Trump lies every five minutes

See this article for the details. His rabid followers could care less though, but the rest of us might.

"After a week of fact-checking Donald Trump’s statements for a total of 4.6 hours of stump speeches and press conferences, from a rally in Concord, N.C., on Monday to a rally on Friday in St. Louis, they uncovered that Trump lies every five minutes. The estimated total was more than five dozen remarks that were mischaracterizations, exaggerations, or totally wrong."

Samantha Bee interviews Trump supporters

And these are the smart ones. It's frightening how they rationalize racism and violence.

Another story on the tightening Dem Primaries

See this article.

"Here's what we know: down by 37 in Illinois just five days ago, Sanders is now up by two according to CBS News; down by 30 in Ohio five days ago, Sanders is now down by only single digits; the only polling in Missouri has Sanders in a statistical dead heat with Clinton, per the poll's margin of error."

Democratic primary polls tightening

This site shows the polls over the last several days. The races have tightened in OH, MO, and IL. Here's hoping Sanders can pull off wins in all of them and make this a real race for democracy.

Senator Warren on Trump inciting violence

From her FB post today:

"There's a history of demagogues calling those they disagree with 'terrorists' and using that as justification for intimidation and violence – and that history is ugly and dangerous. There's also a history of people staying quiet for too long, hoping for the best but watching silently as the threat metastasizes. Donald Trump is a bigger, uglier threat every day that goes by – and it’s time for decent people everywhere – Republican, Democrat, Independent – to say No More Donald. There's no virtue in silence."

Prosecute Trump for inciting violence

If you thank that's what he's doing then please consider this White House petition to prosecute him for this crime.

Getting real about Clinton

We all know Clinton's spin, that she's the realistic one and Sanders is the naive idealist. This article uses that realism to show why Clinton's chances against Trump are much more difficult. She has a 12% net negative favorable rating compared to Sanders net 12% positive. Clinton has an enormous amount of baggage the GOP will use against her: "Whitewater, Travelgate, Troopergate, Lewinskygate, Vince Foster Murdergate" as well as the Clinton foundation and her Wall Street contributions. Sanders has none of that. Let's get real Shillary.

Cartoonists from 12 countries depict Trump

Scotland follows. See this link for the others.

Clinton: "Where was he [Sanders]...

"when I was trying to get healthcare in '93 and '94?" Right behind you Ms. Clinton.

Maddow: the diary of a US fascist

538 on the IL Democratic primary

Continuing the recent polling discussion, 538 still gives Clinton a 95% chance of winning the IL primary. This is because they use weighted averages of eight polls. As you can see, the most heavily weighted is YouGov, an online-based poll, which is the most accurate and has Sanders with a 2-point lead. This poll tends to reach at least some of the Millennial demo. But look at the large disparity with the other polls showing Clinton with a sizable lead. Of course when those are averaged in, even with less weight than YouGov, it skews the result.

SNL parodies Clinton's appropriation of Sanders' message

And as we all know, it is disingenuous spin to garner support.

Trump threatens Sanders

With his violent supporters. It's not enough that Trump incites his followers to violence at this own rallies. Now he threatens Sanders with the same violence at his rallies. I hope this wakes up the rest of us Americans with a brain to overwhelming vote this guy down.

Reverand Jesse Jackson says: "Feel the Bern"

But doesn't actually endorse him. I've often said that in order for Sanders to get a larger % of the black vote he'll need prominent black leaders to endorse him. But this is not an endorsement like it's spinned to be.

Sanders ad

Compare with a Trump rally and messaging. Which America do you want?

End gerrymandering

The following is exactly why Republicans don't want an end to this corrupt process: they don't want fair redistricting for all voters. They don't even want those people to vote.

Clinton's disingenuous tactics

Hartmann will vote for the Democratic nominee, whether Sanders of Clinton. And he admits that increasingly looks like Clinton. But he cannot help but criticize Clinton for her disingenuous attacks on Sanders record. It hurts Clinton's credibility, which is already abysmal. Which in turn hurts her chances at winning against the much bigger and greater threat to democracy on the Republican side. It's a dirty tactic that only reinforces peoples' distrust in all politicians.

However, Hartmann notes that this tactic is what cost Clinton the MI primary despite her large lead in the polls. And what demo caused that upset? The Millennials. And they get their info from social media and the internet, which of course exposes such tactics. Let's hope that this demo continues to keep informed and vote in droves in the remaining primaries so that Sanders can win. Then we can have a candidate that needs not resort to such shopworn political tactics.

538 refuses to address this obvious fact

After Sanders won Democratic Michigan primary against all the polls that had him considerably down, 538 offered every imaginable excuse. But they refused to address the one viable and obvious reason: these polls are not reaching Millennials. Millennials are the demographic that is significantly in favor of Sanders and the key demo that ensured the win in MI. And yet not a peep about this from 538. I can only wonder why they are ignoring this factor. Bottom line: Ignore the polls young people and do your civic duty and vote for your candidate!

In this video Maher addresses it during Overtime (starting a 9:15).

Democratic purity tests

Maher's New Rule shows how Democrats that get too crazy on purity tests in their own Party miss the big picture of Trump as President. Would the latter really be preferable to Sanders or Clinton? If so, that's some serious mental illness.

Frank Luntz on the youth vote

When the star Republican pollster and spin master reveals this you know it's true. What's even better is that he hasn't found a way to manipulate the Millennials with his spin, as the latter are just too savvy these days due in large part to social media giving them the information they need to overcome the spin. A brief excerpt. See his article for much more detail.

"The Republican Party doesn’t have a problem with younger voters. Younger voters have a problem with the Republican Party, and it is rapidly becoming a long-term electoral crisis. [...] The problem, or 'crisis' if you're an active Republican, is in their political identification. Fully 44% identify themselves as Democrats, higher in my polling than any age cohort in America. By comparison, about 15% call themselves Republican, lower than any age cohort. The remaining 42% say they’re independent, but on issue after issue they lean toward the Democrats. It’s not that young people love the Democratic Party — they don’t. But they reject the Republican Party and the corporate interests it appears to represent. Democrats can live with this dynamic. Republicans might die by it."

Wilber parody

I missed this Wilber parody the first time around. LOL funny.

SAVE Benefits Act press conference

From the press conference Wednesday, when they delivered 800,000 signatures of Senate majority leader McConnell. We really need to ask ourselves what kind of society we are to cut earned benefits to our seniors, veterans and disabled while we give corporate welfare to the rich.

Clinton (I) versus Sanders (we)

A lot is revealed in their language. Same difference between capitalism and the Neo-Commons, oligarchy and democracy, integral (I-I) and syntegral (we-oui).

American education

No, it's not free but an investment in our human infrastructure as not only well-educated but highly productive members of society. That is, if we care about investing in a better society.

Obama blamed for Trump's rise

The President sets the record straight that the GOP and its media (propaganda) outlets are what created this monster, not him.

Comcast and Verizon are violating net neutrality

Please read the following from fightforthefuture.org:

The FCC is deciding right now whether or not to let Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile undermine net neutrality with total impunity. These companies are trying to see if they can break the law in plain sight and get away with it. If they win, it will endanger the open Internet forever. But the FCC won’t act unless they see an overwhelming public response — help us submit 100,000 comments to the FCC in the next week.

Tell the FCC: Zero-rating schemes violate Net Neutrality and threaten the open Internet. Don't let these Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile get away with breaking the law.

Net neutrality is the basic guiding principle that has made the Internet what it is today. It keeps powerful interests from slowing down or censoring content, and it’s what guarantees us access to the expanse of knowledge that makes the Internet revolutionary. Last year, the FCC passed the strongest-ever protections for the open Internet, and it happened with such overwhelming public support that companies like Comcast and Verizon can’t publicly oppose net neutrality the way they used to.

Now, Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are trying to work around the rules by doing something called zero rating, even though last year’s net neutrality rules already ban it as a discriminatory pricing model. The problem is the FCC decided to deal with zero rating on a, "case by case basis," which so far has meant that the FCC hasn’t done a thing. [1]

Companies are using the FCC’s slow response to their advantage, hoping to spread enough propaganda about the programs that the FCC won't ban them. The reality is, though, the FCC will only act quickly if enough of us speak out and demand that they do the right thing.

Tell the FCC: protect net neutrality and stop Comcast, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile from undermining the open Internet.

Florida Governor Scott can't denounce Islamaphobia

On Morning Joe they asked Scott if, like Trump said last night, Muslims hate Americans. They repeatedly asked Scott this question which he refused to answer.

IF we the people keep at it

Following up on this post, one thing the Sanders candidacy is doing is again motivating people to get involved, to vote and lobby their representatives. Also if Sanders is the nominee those that vote for him will also likely vote for more progressive candidates down the ticket and they might at least retake the Senate. If that movement keeps up for the next mid-terms, and if more courts overturn Republican gerrymandering, then they might also retake the House. So it might only take a couple of years to get the ball rolling in this direction IF we the people keep motivated and active.

Ontario Cananda to implement basic income

An idea whose time has finally come. See the article for more details.

"Ontario has announced it could soon be sending a monthly cheque to its residents as it plans to launch an experiment testing the basic income concept. While officials in the Canadian province are yet to release any specific details of the project – including how much will be given to residents who participate – the finance ministry has published a report confirming the government’s intention to roll out the experiment."

Marco on Sanders

See this FB post re: Marco Morelli on Sanders. I appreciate an integralite like Marco admitting that integral thinking is not the impetus we need right now to create the conditions necessary to motivate a transformation to a more developed and participatory form of democracy. That in itself is a prerequisite for supporting the already emerging next wave of socio-economics in the form of the neo-Commons. And that an 'integral' thinker like Obama pretty much, but not entirely, perpetuated the status quo oligarchy, as would Clinton. Kudos.

Gordon Gekko supports Sanders

The real person who inspired the fictitious character Gekko in the movie Wall Street, Asher Edleman, was asked on the show Fast Money who would be the best US President for the economy. He unequivocally and quickly said Sanders. He explained that the rich don't spend of lot of their money, while the lower and middle classes spend most of it, thereby accelerating the velocity of money turnover and strengthening the economy. Sanders is the only one suggesting proposals to do just that.

End Times transfer of wealth

See this Hartmann clip. He spends the first three minutes discussion the typical arguments of why Ted Cruz is so dangerous. But around the three minute mark he goes into the religious community Cruz grew up within his father's ministry. And that is what is truly frightening, as they believe Cruz is an emissary of Biblical proportions ordained by God to usher in heaven on earth and distribute all the wealth to the believers. Scary shit.