The sharing economy is changing capitalism

According to this brief clip, the sharing economy is inducing capitalism to take risks it normally would not have and thereby producing beneficial innovation.

RIP net neutrality

Senate regressives filibuster minimum wage hike

See this article. And this was to just open debate on raising the minimum wage. They don't even want to talk about it, let alone go on record as not supporting it. It's not at all surprising, as a host of documented evidence of late shows that the regressives could give a damn about what the people want. And the majority clearly want this raise. The regressive rationalization is that to do so will cost jobs, when in fact the evidence is to the contrary. Very much like they tout voter fraud to support voter suppression, also contradicting the evidence.

This is good though, in that it only strengthens these facts in the public's mind come the November elections. Keep up the good work regressives getting yourselves voted right out of office.

IPCC Summary for Policymakers tainted

So says Robert Stavins, co-coordinating lead author of chapter 13 of working group 3 of IPCC's 5th assessment report. He is clear that his criticism only concerns "the government approval process of the Summary for Policymakers" (SPM). And that "the Technical Summary and the 15 chapters of WG 3 -- retain their full scientific integrity," as they were "completely untouched by the government approval process of the SPM." He goes into the details of why the summary was more a political than scientific process, and that such politics is a conflict of interest to scientific integrity. And that the SPM process should be corrected. See the article for the extensive and articulate details.

Wisconsin judge rejects voter ID law

See this story. This federal judge decided that WI's new voter ID law is unconstitutional because required forms of ID are a burden to low-income people and minorities. They are also unlikely to have the documents necessary for such ID and such restrictions violate equal protection. The judge further ruled that the rationale of voter fraud justifying the law was itself a fraud. Hopefully this will set a legal precedent for other such regressive legislative proposals of the same ilk.

Racist idiot spin

Maher blasts regressives and progressives

But regressives more, and deservedly so. Progressives can be obnoxious with political correctness, but regressives cheat to win because the public is so obviously against them.

Bonnie on dynamics of the generative self

See her video below, where she presents a sort of WC lattice with several similar ideas to this thread.

High plains moochers

Krugman nails it again on regressive support for 'takers' like Bundy. The regressives make him into a hero because he challenges the government, as if that alone were the issue. They rail against takers and lawbreakers when it's the downtrodden or poor but when it's the upper class it's just fine. Bundy is benefiting by stealing from public land, plain and simple. And with militia support it is armed robbery. To elevate a thief into a hero is the worst kind of dumbing down possible, their Duck Dynasty moment. Which tells us a lot about why they hate education, as an ignoramus is much easier to manipulate with misinformation and demagoguery, or Fox News in a nutshell.

Regressives have no answer to Picketty

See Krugman's accurate diagnosis. The regressives cannot coherently argue the facts, nothing new there. So instead they attach Picketty as a Marxist. The obfuscating tactic is not particular to Picketty, in that anyone who even mentions income inequality is by their ideological definition a Marxist or socialist or communist. The reason they must name-call is because Picketty's facts destroy their rationalizations for such income disparity. They claim that the 1% earned their wealth and that they are job creators, not born out by Picketty's voluminous research. So they resort to their tried and true strategy of trying to besmirch the messenger, by again with absolutely no evidence to support it.

Cliven Bundy, Professor of Negro Studies

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Cliven Bundy's previous supporters

Koch brothers are a sun block

And surprise, surprise, they lie to do it. See this article. Solar capacity is up 418% since 2010 due to some States providing tax incentives. And also because of the rapid decline in the cost of solar panels. Like Rifkin suggests, this allows these individual solar producers to reverse their bills when the produce more than they use. Since solar is finally feasible enough to start providing competition to big oil the latter through the Kochs are trying to stop it dead in its tracks.

Stand your political ground if you want to win

So says this article. It dispels the myth of the independent voter who wants to see a balance between liberal and conservative. Or that wants a candidate to move to the middle. To the contrary, those identified as independent tend to be more strongly partisan to one side than those who identify with a Party. And liberals tend not to come out to vote if their candidates try to move to the center or right, hence causing them to lose as they did in 2010. Both sides want candidates that strongly stand up for their principles. The regressives at least understood this and it led to their overwhelming victories in 2010. It's a lesson progressives must learn, like the likes of Sanders and Warren. And Obama after trying to negotiate with the regressive terrorists. Strongly stand you political ground progressives and you just might take back the House and hold on to the Senate this year.

Warren on Picketty's book

And let her be Sanders running mate in 2016, an unstoppable team.

Colbert on Hannity and Bundy

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The US is ripe for progressive change & leaders

In response to LP in this post:

Is there really a way to message climate change to people who completely deny it? Per the research in another post such 'facts' only piss them off further. And the likes of the humongous regressive spin machine like Fax and Rush make it all the harder. I don't see that anyone, including Lakoff or IT, has yet to figure it out. I'm guessing though that this % of Americans is only around 20%, so there might be ways to reach the other 20% or so of those who vote Republican and 10% or so that vote independent. We only really need a couple % to win elections.

Proper framing, including scientific fact, will reach the "realistic and progressively sensitive people," whose ranks appear to be growing daily. As I pointed out with some of the new Amazon bestsellers, as well as numerous opinion polls, it appears general public opinion is shifting due to the rigged system. As it has for marriage equality and marijuana legalization. Given that the average working folk's lifestyle has been drastically reduced from such a system they are mad and more open to the facts of how this was created. And by the polls they appear ready to vote on issues and for candidates that redress the inequality. It seems the shift is close to enough  to elect the needed representatives to make RE law.*

It bears repeating

Given the last post, this video bears repeating and another view. And that was in 2011. The new IPCC reports are again confirming the increasing acceleration of this process.

The urgency of climate change action

When 97% of climate scientists say we are the "very likely" cause of global warming, that's about a good a consensus as you can get. And if we are to reverse the process, we need to do so from addressing the cause. If we just say "well maybe it's part of the problem but not so much" then our action to reduce human emissions is also not so much. And if the IPCC, using hundreds of scientific orgs and thousands of scientists from dozens of countries, not only determines the cause but give us serious recommendations for addressing this dire problem, we'd better get really busy now. And yes, those cures will be hard and bitter and require significant sacrifice. But the alternative?

IPCC on anthropogenic climate change

I'm going to trust the IPCC on this one. See this detailed wiki entry.

"According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is 'extremely likely' that human influence was the dominant cause of global warming between 1951 and 2010.^[2] The IPCC defines 'extremely likely' as indicating a probability of 95 to 100%, based on an expert assessment of all the available evidence." ^[3]

3 of Amazon's top 5

More good news. I already mentioned that Picketty's book is #1 on Amazon. #2 is Senator Elizabeth Warren's book, A Fighting Chance. And #5 is Michael Lewis' Flash Boys about high-frequency traders. All are about a rigged system. It's highly unusual for this type of book to be so highly rated, and there are 3 in the top 5. This might be a positive sign that the masses are waking up. And hopefully will get motivated about the upcoming elections.

Comment on the FCC Chairman's blog post

Update: There are still zero comments on the Chairman's blog post so apparently he isn't accepting any. Instead of wasting time commenting on it please write to him and the other commissioners directly at the email addresses below.

Related to the last post, the FCC Chairman has a blog post here on the topic. Please leave your comments on it asking him to just classify ISPs as common carriers. It's that simple to reinstate net neutrality. What he's proposing is NOT that. Also contact him directly and the rest of the commission at the following:

Chairman Tom Wheeler: Tom.Wheeler@fcc.gov
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn: Mignon.Clyburn@fcc.gov
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel: Jessica.Rosenworcel@fcc.gov
Commissioner Ajit Pai: Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov
Commissioner Michael O’Rielly: Mike.O'Rielly@fcc.gov

The new net neutrality is not so neutral

See this article. So the FCC responds with a new set of rules that kowtows to corporations, not people. Oh wait, I forgot, corporations are people and money is speech. The new rules will allow internet provides to charge more money for faster delivery, thereby setting up fast and slow lanes. The result is that those with the money get the fast service, the rest of us get the barely passable back dirt road. Or possibly no road at all. Oh no, don't worry says the FCC, that won't happen. Yeah, we believe that big money won't corrupt the system. Have you seen the Supreme Corps recent rulings?

And Obama was a vociferous proponent of net neutrality. See this report showing his past speeches defending it. Not so much anymore by the looks of his FCC. Also sign this petition from freepress to the FCC Chairman, asking him to reclassify broadband as a telecom service. And quit letting big $ dictate the last vestige of our democracy, a neutral internet.

Senator Bernie Sanders on oligarchy

Please, oh please, run for President Senator. Even if you don't win the Democrat nomination it will at least provide a progressive platform that will make Hillary move to the left. Although I'm guessing your agenda will resonate much more with most Americans and that you'll win the Presidency.

A message from the Center for Science and Democracy

A branch of the Union of Concerned Scientists:

Stewart skewers Hannity again

In this clip Stewart gives Hannity credit when he is right, something you will never hear Hannity do with Stewart. Not to worry though, as he goes after Hannity's 'medieval' regression.

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Climate change denial claims debunked

Also see this report by the California Office of Planning and Research, which provides scientific evidence debunking many climate denier claims. They use the IPCC but also the US National Academy of Sciences, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the UK's Royal Society. A few examples of the debunking: 

“There isn’t a scientific consensus on climate change. Lots of scientists have signed a petition against it.”

In fact, there is a very strong scientific consensus that climate change is occurring and is caused by humans. Recent studies have shown that about 97% of active climate researchers agree that climate change is human-caused. And the few who disagree have substantially less climate expertise than the 97%. Some years ago, a petition rejecting a consensus on climate change garnered press attention, with its proponents claiming they had collected thousands of signatures from scientists. In truth, the signatories largely had training irrelevant to climate science such as veterinary medicine or no scientific expertise at all.

(Anderegg et al. (2010). Doran and Zimmerman (2009).) 

“Scientists are out for personal gain, publishing alarmist studies to capture research grants.”

Liberal/conservative traits

Given that regressives are still denying climate change, science, facts and so on I thought I'd reiterate the following:

The following is an excerpt from the book Reality Check which supports these studies:

“Mooney (2012) also describes research which shows that conservatives (especially modern Republicans) are particularly prone to deny scientific realities such as evolution or climate change. […] Conservatism also tends to be associated with a variety of other personalty traits, including dogmatism, intolerance of ambiguity and uncertainly, fear of death, fear of change, less openness to new experiences, less integrative complexity in their thinking, less nuanced thinking, more need for so-called closure, and so on. Liberals, on the other hand are characterized by some of the opposite personality traits: rejection of dogma, tolerance of ambiguity and uncertainly, less fear of death or change, more openness to new experience, curiosity about the world, and more complex and nuanced thinking without the need for simplicity or closure” (300).

One of the articles in the "these studies" link (#12):

What's the best solution to climate change?

Continuing from this post, see the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. From this news release therein:

"According to the Working Group III contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report, it would be possible, using a wide array of technological measures and changes in behaviour, to limit the increase in global mean temperature to two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. However, only major institutional and technological change will give a better than even chance that global warming will not exceed this threshold" (my emphasis).

MSNBC's ineffective fair and balanced approach

Another post in this thread follows on the above topic.

Here's a good article on how some MSNBC hosts give a forum to extreme wackos in the name of being fair and balanced. I saw these examples on Hayes' show and agree completely with the criticism that one cannot treat these fanatics who do not 'reason' or acknowledge facts as an adversary worthy of respect or equal treatment. By trying to engage them Hayes only allows them yet another forum to inculcate their propaganda further. And he fails to accomplish what he thinks he can, some sort of rapprochement leading to a better political process. The critic comes the the same and correct conclusion as Corbett here.

Thanaticism, capitalism, kennilingus and necrophilia

andrew linked to this Integral Options article on thanaticism. I was reminded of this post and the one following. I applied Faber in the first post to kennilingus in the second:

Now many folks have discussed how kennilngus, with its ideology of false unifications, often ends up supporting "rigid conservatism" politically. But I like this other image, that of "fantasies of necrophilia," as applicable to the dogmatic TOE agenda. I may have to change my neologisim to Necrolingam, with necrolingus the act of so doing. This removes Kenni  from the equation altogether so as to not make it so "personal," whereby he becomes just one of of a long line of metaphysical unifiers that like to have intercourse with the dead Absolute and thereby control the relative living through hegemony and ivory (white folk). (Sung to the tune of Ebony & Ivory, all the more ironic since there ain't no "black" or marginal people or ideas in this here unification.)

Stewart on Hannity's typical hypocrisy

It's not that hard to show. More like taking candy from a baby. But it's still funny. This time over Hannity's defense of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.

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Meryl and Maks perfect tango

California leads the way, as usual

Robert Reich reports on an interesting proposal. California, as usual, is on the forefront with a new Bill, SB 1372. It bases corporate tax rates on the ratio of CEO to average worker pay. The higher the ratio the higher the tax and vice versa. This ratio used to be 30:1 but is now 280:1 and 354:1 in big corps. As Picketty astutely noted, this is not at all tied to CEO performance but on how they rig compensation committees in circle jerks. Remember when these masters of the universe crashed the economy? Their compensation did not fall one bit but rather was increased for failure.

Dean Baker reviews Picketty

Dean Baker reviews Picketty and offers solutions based therefrom, including the following: reduce financial institution insurance subsidies and add a financial transaction tax; do not privatize Fanny and Freddie; eliminate pharmaceutical monopoly subsidies, as well as such subsidies to telecom, airlines and airports, broadcasters; add a carbon tax. Picketty did a good diagnosis but was short on treatment, so these progressive solutions pragmatically ameliorate the disease. We're going to need a different Congress though to enact this, so let's get busy on this year's critical election.

How post-rational potentials aggravate pre-rational habits

Layman Pascal started an IPS thread by the above name. My initial response follows. Check in with the thread periodically to see the ongoing discussion.

Thanks for starting the thread, as it reflects several of my concerns in recent posts. I'm even going to have to give in and accept the premise of IT as the current meta-marker, just not particularly kennilingus. I'll say more as I ponder, weak and weary, over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore. For now I'll just re-post some representative examples of this phenomenon from other threads:

From here. (Also see the one following it.):

More bad news on climate change

More bad news on climate change. We've not only hit 400 ppm CO2 it's been consistently over this figure in the last month. "This is higher than it's been in millions of years." "And few countries have given any indication that they plan to cut emissions in the near future -- at least, not enough to affect the trajectory the planet is on." They compared government inaction to a patient informed by his doctor that his cholesterol is through the roof, yet denies that it means anything.

Fatty Boom Boom

Yippie kai yay motherfucker! Very amusing and entertaining.

Ideology over facts

In the Picketty interview (see a couple posts below) at around 10:00 he responded to a question about the economics profession. He said part of their problem is the ideology, in that in order to be taken seriously they focused on mathematical formulas. Thing was, the formulas were isolated from data and facts in some abstract Platonic and/or Aristotelian ideology (my translation). So it was quite a shock to the economics world when Picketty and his team of international economists actually complied the data on income inequality over several countries and centuries. That it contradicts the ideology is evidence that the latter needs to get up to speed to match the facts. Naturally progressives welcome this task and regressives are still in denial.

Btw, his book is now number 1 on Amazon. Think people are interested in the facts? Not good for the regressives in the upcoming elections. But good for humanity.

Tribal paranoia

This Krugman post notes that tribal regressives who don't believe in climate change--it's a massive liberal conspiracy--are trying to thwart and roll back renewable energy programs. The Koch brothers are of course one such sun block, as are other usual suspects like ALEC and Americans for Prosperity. Krugman rightly notes that these folks are paranoid.

Unfortunately we also have the RIFTers on the tribal left, also a bit paranoid who don't trust government or tech and thereby add fuel to the regressive agenda and make it all the harder to reverse climate change.

Thomas Picketty interview

See this previous post discussing his work. Hear it from the horse's mouth below.

Petition to raise minimum wage in Seattle to $15/hour

From Robert Reich:

If you've seen my film "Inequality for All" you know that raising the minimum wage is one of the most important steps we can take to reduce income inequality in America. If we're going to get as many workers out of poverty as possible, we should raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

That's why I'm so excited about what’s happening in Seattle, Washington. Fueled by a November election victory in which the minimum wage in a Seattle suburb was raised to $15, Seattle leaders are now considering raising the minimum wage to $15 for everyone. If Seattle adopts a $15 wage, it could be the spark that sets off a wildfire of minimum wage victories across America.

Nearly 70% of Seattle voters want a $15 wage, according to a January poll. But, predictably, big business is mobilizing to stop it. Faced with strong support for the $15 wage, they plan to use local small businesses as the public face of a campaign to create new loopholes and exemptions.

That's why Sara Condra, a low-wage worker and student living in Seattle, has started a petition on Democracy for America's YouPower petition platform urging the Seattle City Council to support a $15 minimum wage for all workers, without loopholes.

Sara is standing up to these corporations and I'm proud to support her. I hope that DFA members across the country will join us. Please sign Sara's YouPower petition telling Seattle leaders to support a $15 minimum wage for all -- without loopholes and exemptions.

Subtle bodies

The issue of subtle bodies has again come up at IPS. Perhaps it might help to revisit Excerpt G, toward a comprehensive theory of subtle energies? I agree with Lingam when he says:

"If, in the following, I question the adequacy of some of these interpretations, I am not at all questioning the authenticity of the experiences or realizations of these great sages. I am simply suggesting that, as evolution itself continues to move forward, new horizons can be used to recontextualize and reframe these experiences in interpretive meshworks that are more adequate in the light of modern and postmodern contributions" (8).

I question some of his reframing as more of a rehash, but it's a place to start.

What the 1% don't want you to know

See the video below, Moyers interviewing Krugman on Thomas Picketty's book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. This is why I focus in my blog on the kind of info therein. Krugman and Moyers maintain that we must disseminate this information far and wide. For when enough people are aware of it then there just might be enough people willing to do something about it. Willing to apply enough pressure on government to countervail the oligarchy. If we don't fight for democracy we will surely lose it, and we are well on our way already. And that means all of the 99%. We must put aside some time for civic responsibility no matter how busy we are, no matter what other responsibilities we have. The 1% deliberately created this situation where just don't have the time and energy to fight back. That's all the more reason why we have to.

Happy Easter delusions

The following is in response to max at IPS, who believes in the actual reality of the Tibetan Buddhist rainbow body. It's the claim certain adepts of a particular school gain such meditative control of their being and essence that they do not die; they transform into a body of light. And their physical body does not deteriorate at apparent death; it just shrinks into nothingness. Granted we might take such a claim as metaphorical, but max and many adherents of this school take this quite literally. (See this prior thread called 'letting daylight into magic' and the Batchelor thread.) Given my lack of patience with such nonsense here's how I responded:

You actually believe that those folks did not die and transformed into a rainbow body? You can't get any more metaphysically shentong than that.

max: "if you would get your head out of your books long enough to notice"

You obviously don't know much about me, as I'm adept in meditative techniques and states as well as a few of other disciplines. It's the interpretation of such states that is of issue, and rainbow bodies are utter nonsense. If that means I'm closed-minded to such moronic beliefs then so be it. And in keeping with the facetious well-wishing, happy easter to you as well. Christ rising from death is commensurate with your own delusions.

Krugman on the economic feasibility of renewable energy

From this blog post:

"Even as the [IPCC] report calls for drastic action to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, it asserts that the economic impact of such drastic action would be surprisingly small. [...] The estimated reduction in economic growth would basically amount to a rounding error, around 0.06 percent per year. What’s behind this economic optimism? To a large extent, it reflects a technological revolution many people don’t know about, the incredible recent decline in the cost of renewable energy, solar power in particular.

Nanoart

From the U of Cambridge nanotechnology art gallery.

"The colours in the image show the different directions of the magnetic field in a layer of polycrystalline cobalt that has a thickness of only 20nm. The direction of the magnetic field in the film changes at the positions of domain walls. The field of view is approximately 200µm. The image was acquired using the Fresnel mode of Lorentz microscopy in a field emission gun transmission electron microscope. It was recorded out of focus to enhance the contrast of the domain walls, and then converted to a colour induction map by applying the Transport of Intensity Equation to the image intensity."

Hold Cliven Bundy and his domestic terrorists accountable

This borders on, if not crosses over into, actual insurrection. If the federal government allows it to continue without prosecution it will only embolden these faux 'patriots' and eventually lead to exactly the type of bloodbath they want. Hold them accountable to the same laws the rest of us must obey. From the Daily Kos:

Sign the petition demanding that the federal government collect every cent that deadbeat, domestic terrorist Cliven Bundy owes to the American people, and to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Click here to add your name.

Deadbeat rancher Cliven Bundy has become a right-wing hero for disavowing the United States government, ignoring court orders, illegally using public lands for personal gain (for over 20 years!), and staging an intense stand-off between armed “militia” members and the federal agents. That standoff ended with the federal agents backing off in the interest of public safety.

Imogen Heap

Imogen Heap is a fine example of what I've been talking about, this artinatural hybrid. Or splice, if one prefers that word. It is art, and interestingly, art is the base of words like artifice and artificial. The first part of the video she explains the tech. Her performance starts around 13:35.

Regressives repeatedly wrong on Obamacare

Not that the facts every stopped them. But the facts are yet again disproving their claims based on pure ideology. See this article as the latest example. The regressives claimed that no one would enroll and they were wrong; 8 million is the latest figure. They claimed first-year premiums would increase and they were wrong; those premiums are lower. Now the spin is that premiums next year will skyrocket and yet again they are wrong; several predict that increases will be modest, including the CBO.

Transcendence continued

From this post. Spoiler alert. Also see this ongoing IPS discussion of the film.

I enjoyed the movie, despite many critics that do not. (Roeper is an exception, giving it a A.) It had many of the themes we've been discussing of late, primarily the benefits and dangers of the IoT. After Depp's character is uploaded he develops nanotech that heals people, makes medical discoveries, creates better ways to farm for less cost with minimal pollution etc. However in the process of healing folks with nanites they become 'hybrids' with super strength and are connected to the 'grid.' They still maintain their autonomy but are linked in the 'commons.'

This of course frightens everyone else, including Depp's past associates, who thinks we'll somehow transcend our humanity and become machines if this continues. They even convince his wife, who heretofore went along with the program. She accepts intentional infection with a virus so that we she too is uploaded it will kill the program. Depp of course knows the plan but accepts it because he loves her and believes her when she tells them he is 'hurting' humanity.

The real grievance industry

The regressives are constantly complaining that the downtrodden are a grievance industry. As usual they are so self-oblivious that they project onto others what they themselves do. Chris Hayes ably demonstrates this.

Hanacek's review of The Zero Marginal Cost Society

Here. He lauds Rifkin's agenda but warns that the current internet is structured by central players who want to dominate it. Rifkin acknowledges as much. And yes, there are hazards to the IoT like government and private spying and hacking, also addressed by Rifkin. Hanacek is optimistic though that the IoT can be structured in a P2P way to override the powerful centralizers, giving a couple of current examples. Like Rifkin he says we can go forward into the collaborative commons or slide back into regressive feudalism. We've already done the latter with oligarchy ruling the day, so let's hope we can again move forward into a better world for all via enacting visions like Rifkin's.

Transcendence

The movie Transcendence opens today, which I'll see this afternoon. I still think its premise is remiss given the critique of Wolfe, Hayles and others. I think it was Lakoff that criticized that idea because it's founded on the disembodied, abstract notion of mind, that such a consciousness doesn't have a 'body' with feedback loops etc. However the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) has embodied sensors and feedback mechanisms, which is sort of its version of space-time image schema. So while downloading human consciousness into the net still seems fantasy, maybe the IoT could develop its own consciousness given this complex, interconnected embodiment?

Calling the cable company

Amy Schumer accurately portrays what this is like. And we want to let Comcast and Time Warner merge?

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Wild Child

This one's been rumbling around in my brain today.

Money out, voters in

I viewed this conference last night. The link has a recording of the conference as well as action items for fighting the Supreme Corp's rulings. Please check the link and engage the fight against McCutcheon. I included the video below.

Free speech is holding Limbaugh accountable

Yes, free speech works, even against the oligarchs. Must be why they are so adamant to silence free speech in the name of the kind of free speech that equals money. See this article for more details on how several movements have cost Limbaugh big time. Yes, even he has the right of free speech, but he must be accountable for that speech.

Join:  The Flush Rush Facebook community
Visit:  The StopRush sponsor database
Tweet:  #stoprush Twitter campaign
Fact Check:  Limbaugh Lie Debunking Site
Install: ThinkContext StopRush browser extension--notifies you as you browse which companies advertise on Rush


Some examples of said accountability:

Senator Sanders on US oligarchy

I receive an email today from the Senator detailing the regressive agenda, an agenda founded by the Kochs and other billionaires. One can see the entire letter here. David Koch ran as a VP candidate in 1980 on the following agenda. Back then it garnered only 1% of the vote but today, through massive buying of elected officials, it has become the main GOP agenda.

The abolition of the minimum wage; the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid; the abolition of social security; the abolition of personal and corporate income tax.

Their goal?

Krystal Ball on patriotism

She rightly rips the regressives a new one over this so-called 'patriot' Cliven Bundy. He's the rancher who has been convicted of grazing his cattle on federal land and not paying the grazing fee for several years. Bundy proclaims he doesn't believe in the federal government and therefore will not pay. A bunch of paranoid militia types have rallied around Bundy threatening armed rebellion. And this is what the regressive politicos are lauding as true 'patriotism." Ball fights back and more accurately defines these wack jobs and what constitutes actual patriotism.


Krystal Ball - Cliven Bundy Ranch patriots are... by ewillies

The GOP knows how to win over women

Which women? The kind that long for the 'good ole days' when men were men and women served them? Obviously not women from this century.

Krugman on growth

See this post. An excerpt:

"There are some people on the left who keep insisting that economic growth is incompatible with reduced emissions, and that therefore we have to turn our backs on growth. [...] It’s worth pointing out that they have a much too narrow notion of what it means to have a growing economy. It doesn’t necessarily mean more stuff! It could be better stuff, or more services — and there are also choices to be made in how we produce and distribute stuff. There is absolutely no reason to believe in a one-for-one link between real GDP and greenhouse gases."

West Coast

A new single by Lana Del Rey. The voice and music are as usual dreamy but the video is boring.

James & Peta

Received the first perfect score last night on DWTS.

Petition for a fair tax system

See Robert Reich's video below on how the tax code is rigged to make the working class bear the brunt, while the rich get off easy. We'd have plenty of government money for social welfare programs, infrastructure rebuilding, teachers, police etc. if but the rich would pay their fair share, not an extra share. But no, the Ryan budget wants to give the rich even more breaks while raising our taxes and gutting education, social welfare, teachers etc. If you're fed up watch the video and sign the petition, thanks.

Study finds that the US is an oligarchy

Funny how sometimes it takes science to catch up with common wisdom. In this case, they finally figured out the obvious, but with 'science' behind it now some people might take this as more than rhetoric. Some with half a brain, that is. An excerpt:

"Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. [...] America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened by [...] the nearly total failure of 'median voter' and other Majoritarian Electoral Democracy theories [of America]. When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy."

DC's cherry blossoms

Tis the season and by the pictures it was spectacular. See the link for more pics.

Senator Sanders on income inequality

He is his usual self in this Senate speech. I truly hope he decides to run for President, for this is the People's candidate. One can also see the transcript here.

The not so mysterious disappearance of democracy

Posthumanism

With the advent of the new movie Transcendence it seems many visions of the transhuman are disembodied, like robotics or transferring our consciousness into a virtual reality. Or at the very least enhancing the human with machinery, like those mechanical suits worn in Avatar. Here's a review of a book that goes in the other direction, back to embodiment and away from the 'subject' of modernism, in which the usual transhuman visions like the above are still embedded to create a super human subject. A few excerpts:

"The problem with much of what passes for posthumanism (or sometimes transhumanism) is that it is not sufficiently posthuman....[it] explicitly grounds the post/transhumanist project in notions of human perfectibility, rationality, and agency....[or] promotion of the new science as a tool of human mastery over the natural world.....[it] is not abandoning the autonomous liberal subject but is expanding its prerogatives into the realm of the posthuman."

Instead it might be more like the following:

Sonson

Balder introduced me to this group. You can listen to and buy their record here, A Shine Below the Mound. Several songs remind me a lot of The Doors music.

Study finds that government listens to the rich

Big surprise, eh? See this report. While it's true that despite popular opinion polls, the rich get what they want and the government could give a shit less about the people. However the study did find that the government listens to 'interest groups,' especially when the rich are involved. So one progressive strategy is to form giant interest groups where the progressive rich are involved. Yes, there are progressive rich people like George Soros and Bill Maher, so the key is to organize with money behind you. Recall this article about the noblesse oblige, so let's enlist them to organize with us. Moveon.org is one such example.

Just Dance

Caught my eye

I was attracted to this browsing the net. I couldn't identify the artist.

Walmart's prices and living wages

Interesting video on how much Walmart's prices would go up if they paid their employees a living wage. Answer, not much. And that's if they passed on all of that cost to consumers. If they instead ended stock buybacks they wouldn't even have to raise prices at all.

Obama on the real voter fraud

As usual he's good with the rhetoric, citing a DOJ study that actual voter fraud is about 0.00002 percent. And that the real fraud is the smoke screen of using voter fraud to disenfranchise a lot of Democrat voters. Everyone not blinded by ideological manipulation already knows this. But what will Obama's Justice Department do about it? Obama is great of giving emotional speeches but not so much on taking action in what he says he believes. I hope that he does but that hope has been so much abused that its going to need much more reinforcement before it once again stands strong.

Colbert responds to pinhead O'Reilly

As usual, Colbert wins this one too.

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Chicken fat song

I was forced to do this in gym class as a kid, part of President Kennedy's fitness thing.

Stewart on Fox's absurd spring break coverage

Who will pay for the fixed infrasture costs?

In a continuing series of posts on Rifkin's new book, see Frischmann's review of the book here. Actually he only has space to deal with one key issue: Who will pay for the fixed costs of the infrastructure? He credits Rifkin for addressing the issue but also criticizes him for being incomplete. Rifkin acknowledges this will be an epic battle of the monopolists and the commons, but Frischmann thinks it's going to be a lot harder to overcome the former than it might appear, if it can be done at all.

Tesseraction

This figure came up today, a visual depiction of what many words have been expended to explain in this IPS thread. Just watch it for a few minutes and see what state(s) it induces.

TwoFacebook

See this article for what you should know about Facebook's image versus the reality. Maybe that should be its new name? TwoFacebook? Some excerpts:

"Facebook shareholders called out the social network for backing politicians whose positions on public policy issues, such as Internet freedom, LGBT rights, and the environment, don’t align with Facebook’s image, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

"As recently as last year, Facebook contributed to three politicians who supported the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act, policies that threatened free speech online, according to the filing. Forty-one percent of Facebook’s PAC contributions also went to politicians who voted against LGBT rights, with another third going toward candidates pushing the deregulation of greenhouse gas emissions and striking down the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

Senator Bernie Sanders for President

Rifkin's recent talk on his new book

Meryl and Val were awesome

On DWTS last night.

Reich on the minimum wage

Forget $10.10. Adjusting for inflation and productivity, and given current economics $15 should be the minimum to keep families out of poverty and off the public dole, while having enough buying power to pick up the economy.

Werbach on Rifkin's marginal cost internet

Here's Kevin Werbach commenting on Rifkin's marginal cost internet, the foundation for his project.

"The marginal cost of connectivity is virtually zero, but the up-front expenses of building high-speed broadband networks are massive. [...] The potential benefits of a world of cheap digital connectivity are titanic, both in economic and social terms. It's far from certain, however, that we'll get there along the current market and policy trajectory."

"As Rifkin points out in his book, unlicensed wireless devices point the way to another model. [...] Various providers are deploying WiFi access points that automatically function as public or community hubs. And TV White Spaces, the 'super-WiFi' technology that Rifkin mentions, is finally ready for widespread commercialization. If open wireless connectivity continues to grow, it might overcome the paradox of network infrastructure funding."

Facts v. regressive fiction, still

So the regressive (un)rationale in McCutcheon is that it equalizes the every day person with the rich, in that the former can now give as much as they want too. Thing is, they don't have nearly the same money.This is even accounting for the fact that we're comparing the 1% to the 99%.

Let's look at some fact-based reality to frame the discussion.

Supreme Corp Chief reassures us

I'm not sure if it's intentional but the poor folks huddling under a bridge here reminded me of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the manger. I'm sure Jesus would be reassured that he could be heard in Congress if he but could cough up the dough. Knowing regressive rationalization, he should be expected to perform a miracle of turning two bits into two billion dollars, through hard-earned work, no doubt.

Cable networks climate change accuracy

According to the Union of Concerning Scientists, here's the stats on cable network accuracy on climate change reporting: MSNBC 92%, CNN 70%, Fox 28%. Public opinion on the topic is not that accurate, largely due to the misinformation of networks like Fox. Not at all surprising, as that is the only way for regressives to counteract the facts; outright lies in the hopes of influencing the public to vote against their own human interest.

McCutcheon lawyer slips up, admits the truth

See this post. When Dan Backer asked about free speech equaling money, the lead lawyer for McCutcheon said they are not synonymous. And yet that is the crux of the issue, that limiting one's monetary contribution is limiting one's free speech rights. He qualified it by admitting "money was a necessary tool to engage in political speech." So then those without money don't get to engage in political speech? And only those with money do? Which is exactly the effect of this ruling, and makes Backer's and the Supreme Corp's reasoning fallacious.

Hyborg

Continuing the Borg theme, Joseph commented: "The difference between the Borg and an enlightened community serving the common good is that the Borg never formed a strong separate ego to begin with."

Debatable. In this wiki on the Borg Queen it quotes her as saying: "I am the beginning, the end, the one who is many. I am the Borg." Shortly after it notes she is not an individual, but later on it also notes:

"Many different theories have developed over the role of the Queen and the extent to which she may represent a hierarchical structure in the previously supposed-to-be Collective nature of the Borg. The exact nature of the Queen is still hotly debated and has many possible explanations."

Regardless of the Queen's individuality, I suggested 7 of 9 as the human-borg totem, more in line with the balance of individual and collective. And a 'human' face more indicative of the tech that is 'implanted' in each of us through our use of tools.

Totem poles

Continuing from this post on totems, someone recommended bees. Speaking of hives, and consonant with Rifkin's collaborative commons, I'm reminded of the Borg. It's an interesting contemporary totem given our actual hybrid fusion with tech, as our nervous systems have been altered by using the internet, computers, games, etc. The Borg ship is also of interest to those of us fond of cubes. 7 of 9 might be its human hybrid totem.

Speaking of which, here is some chem-tech that has significantly changed the way this old man behaves, and an apt totem for our cultural obsession with youthful performance. Adds another meaning to totem 'pole.'

More from Rifkin's new book, The Zero Marginal Cost Society

He has a new blog post with another excerpt from the book. This time it addresses net neutrality, an issue I've been harping on. If the greedy capitalists have their way they'll undermine this entire project but privatizing the internet. If we the people don't get our government to correct this recent ruling we will only go further down this road and Rifkin's dream will remain only that.

"Until the present, the Internet, and now the more expansive Internet of Things, has been managed as a global Commons with three primary stakeholders playing a collaborative role in its governance -- the government, private sector, and civil society. Now, however, the private sector is beginning to stray from the three-party stakeholder alliance, seeking increased income and profits by way of price discrimination -- a move that threatens to undermine one of the guiding principles of the Internet: network neutrality, a principle that assures a nondiscriminatory, open, universal Communications Commons in which every participant enjoys equal access and inclusion."

And this on the internet monopolists like Facebook. I keep trying to make people aware of just what they are participating in by using this fascist tool.

Spiritual totems and garbage art

Balder started an IPS thread on totem candidates for trans-lineage spiritual practices. He started with the magpie with good justification. Another possibility, though not as aesthetically pleasing, is the bottom feeding flounder. They take the left overs from all the others and therefrom make sustenance. Leftovers metaphorically might be the marginalized, what is left out or ignored, including the waste. Perhaps the ugly is better to indicate this is not a pretty affair?

Speaking of waste, I'm reminded of those that collect garbage and therewith make art objects. Like this page. One example: note the shadow. I like the metaphor of the shadow here being what is beautiful underneath the appearance of outward ugliness, the mysterious withdrawn.

Same trailer, different park

Kacey Musgraves won album of the year just now on the ACM awards. Here's one of my fav songs therefrom.

Wealth theology

This idea has been around forever it seems (one example) but Zogby adds more fuel to this fire. He went to Temple, whose founder, Russell Conwell, thought that if you were rich or poor you deserved it. Why? If you were faithful to god and worked hard you were rewarded, if not you were punished. Hence praise the rich and damn the poor. Given the Supreme Corp's McCutcheon ruling heaping more power to the rich after Citizens United, and given that they're about to give corps religion, I'd say this malady seems to wash over the entire regressive party. God damn them every one.

Colbert on O'Reilly's illogic

As usual Colbert highlights the ridiculous and specious 'arguments' of regressives based on absurd non sequiturs. This time it's O'Reilly on equality, a joke all by itself.

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Assholon

Searching this thread I'm amazed to not have found my second most infamous theurjism besides kennilingus: assholon. How could I forget to put that in here? Wow. Anyway, it seems the first time I used it was in an old Gaia thread Balder referenced here. The post right after I said:

"Briefly perusing that thread I came upon yet another of my ingenious neologisms when I said: 'So perhaps we could describe a part that thinks of itself as the whole universe as an assholon?' I like that for describing the AQAL holon of everything so from now on..."

The liberal media fallacy

See this article for the details. If the media was really liberal like regressives claim then why have we heard next to nothing, if not complete silence, on the following progressive issues? I'll just list the issues. Have you heard any of this reported in mainstream media? (And I don't mean actual liberal media, like MSNBC.)

1. Where the jobs went.
2.  Upward wealth redistribution and/or inequality.
3. ALEC.
4. The number of people in prison.
5. The number of black people in prison.

Caputo, Keller and herstory

From the continuing discussion in the Noah thread:

One can accept religion and even Christianity without that certain metaphysics. Perhaps this thread based on a book Keller edited might be of help. Therein a relation is shown between religious idealism (“false unifications”) and conservative polity. And here's Keller from the first post in this thread:

"Such progressivism does not need consensus on whether God is the name of the possible, its source or its realization, whether God is omnipotent, weak or alluring. It does need concurrence on the formal criteria of progress: the actualization of social, ecological and planetary relations of justice with sustainability. Such rhizomatic radicality is not about uprooting our traditions but about exposing them to our confounding togetherness—as species, peoples, genders, sexualities, races, religions, even—Lord help us—our Christianities. [...] The more theology absorbs the methods of deconstruction and pluralism, the more the opposition between secularism and religion can itself be deconstructed. And as Jim Wallis has pointed out, 'the secular left will give up its hostility to religion and spirituality, or it will die.' And this is politically crucial. For that hostility contributes to an evangelical stereotype about Godless humanists, etc. But the more we heal that hostility, the less we constructive theologians sound like Christians to evangelicals."

And this from Keller on Faber on god as differential nondualism: