Friday, July 31, 2015
Energy democracy
See this article. Energy generation and conservation are critical issues to 1) saving the
planet from climate change and 2) moving to the next phase of
socio-econnomics that 3) empowers people to evolve their consciousness
toward a postmetaphysical spirituality. This project has significant
impact for all quadrants, levels, lines, states and color coordinating
(one's clothing with their skin type ;/).
Regressives want to defund Planned Parenthood
They've already got this initiative going in Congress. It's all based on a fake video 'proving' PP is selling baby parts from dead fetuses. And it's completely false. As but one example of many debunking the lie see this article and this video. Again, facts do not matter to these regressive ideologues who manipulate even dumber idiots.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Journal of the American Medical Association on Obamacare
See this article. Regresives still won't believe it because it contains facts and stuff. An excerpt:
"The Journal of the American Medical Association has just released a report declaring the Affordable Care Act a rousing success, especially for minorities without healthcare. Over the first two enrollment periods, 10.2 million Americans have received private coverage through Obamacare, and another 12.2 million have been covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Program- and thanks to Obamacare, costs for Medicaid have dropped dramatically and the program is fully funded for the next thirty years."
"The Journal of the American Medical Association has just released a report declaring the Affordable Care Act a rousing success, especially for minorities without healthcare. Over the first two enrollment periods, 10.2 million Americans have received private coverage through Obamacare, and another 12.2 million have been covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Program- and thanks to Obamacare, costs for Medicaid have dropped dramatically and the program is fully funded for the next thirty years."
100,000 of us join Sanders in organizing party
See this article. It's time for we the people to take back our democracy.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Regressives try to gut net neutrality again
Hartmann explains below that they're at it again. The FCC made new rules in February ensuring net neutrality but the ISPs are at it again via they paid lapdogs the Republicans. The Senate has proposed new legislation that prohibits the FCC from enforcing its new rules and cuts its budget by $20 million. The House voted to suspend the net neutrality rules indefinitely. See Hartmann for more details. It's time again for we the people to get active on this issue and stop them one more time.
Another Clinton/Sanders comparison
This one on the Keystone Pipeline. Clinton also hedges on the TPP. Sanders is quite clear on both. Who do you want running the country?
The Next System Project summer newsletter
Can be found here. See it for a lot more than the following from the newsletter:
The project met with an explosive response:
The project met with an explosive response:
- A diverse group of leading activists, academics, labor leaders, policy makers, progressive business people and environmentalists signed our short public statement on the systemic nature of the crisis and the need for systemic solutions – and they have since been joined by many thousands more.
- Fifty thousand people viewed our short promotional film on the project, and we have reached tens of thousands more through favorable coverage in progressive outlets like The Nation, Grist, Upworthy, The Leap and YES! Magazine, and many more.
- Our national launch webinar attracted over twenty co-sponsoring organizations, from National People’s Action to BALLE and CODEPINK, and over 3,000 people participated or have viewed it since.
- We are building an extensive mailing list and strong followings on social media.
- Many allied and like-minded organizations and initiatives, both in the United States and in other parts of the world, have been reaching out to us to explore partnerships and collaboration.
Organize for Sanders tonight
If you have a desire to have a greater impact on our society, to engage in social
justice and environmental sustainability, a significant way to do so is
by volunteering a couple of hours per week to the Bernie Sanders
Presidential campaign. Here is his agenda. There's an organizing meeting tonight and you can find one local to you here. Please consider this as one way to get engaged with bringing democracy back to America. Thank you.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
The Commons have come to town in Spain
See this Commons Transition article. An excerpt:
These newcomers to the municipal political scene identify with the Commons. [...] A perusal of their programmes and of the manner in which they were developed demonstrates that this is not simply an empty phrase, but the reference to the Commons introduces instead a new political discourse and horizon and, above all, a new way of ‘doing’ politics. [...] On analysis, the new political culture they aim for is rooted in the tradition of urban struggle now revisited and improved on the basis of the citizen movements that originated in the 2008 financial crisis, the indignados of 2011, and the successive ‘waves’ (mareas) that followed in the housing, health, education, culture and urban ecology sectors. The tradition of self-management and ‘self-government’ often rooted in libertarianism and long known as ‘municipalism’ has been revisited by the culture and practices of the many anti-growth, ecological, alter-globalisation, and cultural movements inspired by the spirit of the Indignados of 2011 with an impressive mastery and intelligent use of new technologies and audiovisual media."
These newcomers to the municipal political scene identify with the Commons. [...] A perusal of their programmes and of the manner in which they were developed demonstrates that this is not simply an empty phrase, but the reference to the Commons introduces instead a new political discourse and horizon and, above all, a new way of ‘doing’ politics. [...] On analysis, the new political culture they aim for is rooted in the tradition of urban struggle now revisited and improved on the basis of the citizen movements that originated in the 2008 financial crisis, the indignados of 2011, and the successive ‘waves’ (mareas) that followed in the housing, health, education, culture and urban ecology sectors. The tradition of self-management and ‘self-government’ often rooted in libertarianism and long known as ‘municipalism’ has been revisited by the culture and practices of the many anti-growth, ecological, alter-globalisation, and cultural movements inspired by the spirit of the Indignados of 2011 with an impressive mastery and intelligent use of new technologies and audiovisual media."
Reich on the central issue
From his FB post:
"The central issue in the upcoming election should be the gross imbalance of power in America – to large corporations, Wall Street banks, and extremely wealthy individuals. Specific policy proposals offered by candidates are irrelevant unless they serve to rebalance power, because without such a rebalancing nothing can be done. Most important are proposals to (1) get big money out of politics; (2) break up concentrations of economic power (the largest Wall Street banks, major health insurers, big Internet service providers, Big Agriculture, major airlines, Big Pharma, large military contractors); (3) increase taxes on the wealthy (including inheritance taxes) and on large corporations; (4) strengthen the countervailing power of small businesses, local banks, trade unions, and community-based grass-roots organizations; and (5) restore voting rights, end gerrymandering, stop voter IDs and other forms of voter suppression.
"The central issue in the upcoming election should be the gross imbalance of power in America – to large corporations, Wall Street banks, and extremely wealthy individuals. Specific policy proposals offered by candidates are irrelevant unless they serve to rebalance power, because without such a rebalancing nothing can be done. Most important are proposals to (1) get big money out of politics; (2) break up concentrations of economic power (the largest Wall Street banks, major health insurers, big Internet service providers, Big Agriculture, major airlines, Big Pharma, large military contractors); (3) increase taxes on the wealthy (including inheritance taxes) and on large corporations; (4) strengthen the countervailing power of small businesses, local banks, trade unions, and community-based grass-roots organizations; and (5) restore voting rights, end gerrymandering, stop voter IDs and other forms of voter suppression.
Monday, July 27, 2015
The facts on the regressive agenda
These are the facts, but they manage to fool their cretin base that something else in the case.
Going on offense
Per previous posts on why Dems lose by accepting and responding to the regressive frame, Sanders knows that we must not succumb to this tactic but create our own framing and narrative.
Reason and dialog don't work on idiots
See this article. All of the issues mentioned--climate change, gun control, racism--just cannot be explained to Fox so-called News idiots that have been programmed to believe things despite facts and science. So sane people rightfully give up on these cretins. Except Fox so-called News and Donald Trump, who feed these idiots more red meet to get their votes.
Sanders shuts down Todd on Meet the Press
Chuck Todd does what he does as a mouthpiece for the corporate agenda. He tried to set up Sanders with that agenda in the way he framed his questions. And Sanders quickly questioned the set up and proceeded to shred it with facts and an alternate framing. Sanders is the only Presidential candidate that does this. And it's what Democrats generally need to do to win, instead of just accepting the framing and trying to respond to it, always a losing strategy.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
We can make a difference, and we must
I like this a lot, from Robert Reich's FB post:
An old friend told me last night he was deeply depressed about the country. “Our economy isn’t working, our democracy is in the hands of a few billionaires and big corporations, Hillary is offering band aides, Bernie can’t win, the Republicans are to the right of Attila, and Trump is a demagogue and a fool,” he said.
I asked him what he was doing about it.
“Me? Nothing. I can’t do a thing.”
“That’s the problem,” I said. “Your cynicism is a self-fulfilling prophesy.”
An old friend told me last night he was deeply depressed about the country. “Our economy isn’t working, our democracy is in the hands of a few billionaires and big corporations, Hillary is offering band aides, Bernie can’t win, the Republicans are to the right of Attila, and Trump is a demagogue and a fool,” he said.
I asked him what he was doing about it.
“Me? Nothing. I can’t do a thing.”
“That’s the problem,” I said. “Your cynicism is a self-fulfilling prophesy.”
More on the capitalism debate
Some of my further comments from links in the last thread:
I appreciate that not everything is transcended and included, that in some lines like worldviews things are replaced. (See the anti-capitalism thread for those comments.) Hence we don't include capitalism in the next wave. Of course there are hybrids during the transition, but capitalism will be fazed out.
Also I don't see any discussion that capitalism is still feudalism, that it never took to the development of democracy. The latter was the goal in the political system but the elite financial aristocracy maintained the feudal structure with economics. Again, granted there are now hybrids, where some companies are including more democratic procedures and worker-ownership, but that will evolve completely out of capitalism at some point.
I appreciate that not everything is transcended and included, that in some lines like worldviews things are replaced. (See the anti-capitalism thread for those comments.) Hence we don't include capitalism in the next wave. Of course there are hybrids during the transition, but capitalism will be fazed out.
Also I don't see any discussion that capitalism is still feudalism, that it never took to the development of democracy. The latter was the goal in the political system but the elite financial aristocracy maintained the feudal structure with economics. Again, granted there are now hybrids, where some companies are including more democratic procedures and worker-ownership, but that will evolve completely out of capitalism at some point.
ITC debate on capitalism
See this FB IPS thread for the discussion. Also see Jeremy's report here. My response:
Interesting that the conscious capitalist Michael used Rifkin as a source for the increasing empathic embrace. But he did not use his latest work on how the Commons is 1) already well underway and 2) will eventually replace capitalism as the dominant socio-economic system. Rifkin himself agrees with Michael that capitalism was a good and necessary stage in its time. But that time is passing, and Rifkin has done his homework on the next wave.
Interesting that the conscious capitalist Michael used Rifkin as a source for the increasing empathic embrace. But he did not use his latest work on how the Commons is 1) already well underway and 2) will eventually replace capitalism as the dominant socio-economic system. Rifkin himself agrees with Michael that capitalism was a good and necessary stage in its time. But that time is passing, and Rifkin has done his homework on the next wave.
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Why 'moderate' Democrats lose every time
See this article for the details. A host of red state Democrats are worried over the supposed "leftward shift" in their states represented by the rhetoric of Bernie Sanders. They see him as catering to the progressive base but not connecting with those in the middle. Democrats need to be "big tent" and appeal to a wide spectrum of folks from all political leanings, they claim. And yet that is exactly what Sanders is doing, and what they don't do with their wishy-washy, toothless agenda. And exactly why such Democrats lose to Republicans time and again. If they had the guts to stand up for American values like Sanders, which truly cross political and ideological lines, they too would start to win. But they still don't get it, so it's time for more people's candidates to get rid of their infestation of the Democratic Party.
Friday, July 24, 2015
Fight for what is right
Continuing from this post in reference to academic rules,
I posted the cartoon to show that these sort of philosophical debates have
always been fist fights. And per Wilber's chapter on polemic to expect
otherwise is perhaps wishful thinking. Such 'tension' between views,
even polemically, creatively evokes response and development, even
collectively in culture over time. Like the literal war over slavery,
and slavery lost. Well, wage slavery is still around, the current, and
at this point metaphorical, war. So
it will be with the rancorous debate on conscious capitalism, etc. But
given the emerging neo-Commons the writing is already on the wall for
that one, even though some can't read too well. Bam!
The Katechon
Joseph brought this up in this aforementioned FB IPS thread. He describes the Katechon as
"that which restrains or impedes. In this context, Ken may be serving a conservative function- providing a certain continuity and reminding us of the fundamentals of the movement, but also functioning as an impediment to what is trying to emerge. This is also the difference between Lenin and Luxemburg. Lenin insisted that the change in the consciousness of the movement came from without (the party, the guru, the spiritual experts), while Luxemburg said that it developed organically within the movement itself."
Perhaps in this instance we could call it the Kennichon?
"that which restrains or impedes. In this context, Ken may be serving a conservative function- providing a certain continuity and reminding us of the fundamentals of the movement, but also functioning as an impediment to what is trying to emerge. This is also the difference between Lenin and Luxemburg. Lenin insisted that the change in the consciousness of the movement came from without (the party, the guru, the spiritual experts), while Luxemburg said that it developed organically within the movement itself."
Perhaps in this instance we could call it the Kennichon?
The war on whistleblowers
The war on whistleblowers, when we should be valuing them for their
significant role in accountability and transparency in government and
business. I know of this personally, as I blew the whistle on the
professional liability insurance industry. What I revealed were
legitimate ethical and legal violations. And yet I was thereafter
shunned by honest brokers in the industry that did not participate in
such behavior because of some sick code that you just don't turn on your
industry no matter what they do. We see the same dynamic with police
abuse, where even the good cops refuse to expose and/or denounce bad
cops. Loyalty is a good thing, but not in these situations.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
No vacation required in the US
Just work until you drop and be grateful for that shitty job you peon.
Academic rules of engagement
Michael Schwartz started a FB IPS thread calling for civilized academic debate on Ken Wilber. After several other posts I said this:
And there is a time to drop the pretense of civilized debate and just fight against what is wrong. Sometimes the former is a way to capitulate to the hegemonic power structure, to succumb to its premises while politely disagreeing. Which in effect doesn't change that structure one iota.
And there is a time to drop the pretense of civilized debate and just fight against what is wrong. Sometimes the former is a way to capitulate to the hegemonic power structure, to succumb to its premises while politely disagreeing. Which in effect doesn't change that structure one iota.
Conservative socialism
Contrary to regressive spin, it is alive and well in America. E.g., the Alaska Permanent Fund, established by a Republican governor, is a publicly-owned oil and mineral extraction operation that provides dividends to State residents. The Texas Permanent School Fund uses publicly-owned land and mineral rights to underwrite education. The Tennessee Valley Authority is a publicly-owned utility that provides electricity to nine million customers at lower rates. "There are, in fact, already more than 2,000 publicly owned electric
utilities that, along with cooperatives, supply more than 25 percent of
the country’s electricity, now operating throughout the United States." Their efficiency compares with private industry and such operations reduce costs, prices and taxes. Socialism works.
Natural capitalism is not conscious capitalism
In
this article on Mackey's conscious capitalism Paul Hawken, coauthor of Natural Capitalism, warns:
"Without a systematic and coordinated approach to climate change, energy
production, oceans,
food, militarism, poverty, and other issues, there will be an
ecological and corresponding social collapse because the shadow side of
private enterprise is parochialism and narrow self-serving interests." These issues are only superficially addressed by Mackey, and when he does it's from a purely libertarian capitalist position.
To further show the differences, see this from a Hawken interview:
To further show the differences, see this from a Hawken interview:
Tim Winton on Wilber's growth to goodness obsession
See his full comment from this FB IPS thread. My response to this partial excerpt of his:
Tim: "So I'm proposing that in the wake of the clear demise of Ken's ability to maintain the growth to goodness approach that we look to a kind of naturalistically informed ecosystemic literacy as the basis for how we create what we valorise."
Amen Tim. And it's already happening in the neo-Commons movement as documented by Rifkin and the P2P Foundation. Which, not coincidentally, is ignored or devalued by kennilingus. And just as often not ecognized by many other integralites, since taxonomic modeling as hierarchic growth is the first principle. I.e., the dominant gonad, a play on dominant monad.
Tim: "So I'm proposing that in the wake of the clear demise of Ken's ability to maintain the growth to goodness approach that we look to a kind of naturalistically informed ecosystemic literacy as the basis for how we create what we valorise."
Amen Tim. And it's already happening in the neo-Commons movement as documented by Rifkin and the P2P Foundation. Which, not coincidentally, is ignored or devalued by kennilingus. And just as often not ecognized by many other integralites, since taxonomic modeling as hierarchic growth is the first principle. I.e., the dominant gonad, a play on dominant monad.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Greece and the EU's magical thinking
See this Krugman piece. So now the solution is to bring in the technocrats, who cling to a failed ideology despite the facts of said ideology never working. Sounds a lot like the US Republican Party with their trickle-down. And their refusal to admit to scientific, or any other, fact.
Lack of regulatory enforcement
See this story, where the SEC is still not enforcing regulation passed 5 years ago in the Dodd-Frank Bill. Which of course is directly pertinent to President Obama's claims that there are enforcement provisions in the TPP so we need not worry about it. Recall Senator Warren's report on the terrible lack of enforcement in previous trade agreements. And then there's the Justice Department's complete lack of criminal prosecution in the Wall Street crimes, despite said Wall Street admission to crimes. The regulators have clear laws and refuse to enforce them because they too are paid off by these criminals.
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Commons Transition Plan
Check it out here. The table of contents:
Introduction Regenerative Society Current Status
1.De-Fragging the Technical Infrastructure Transforming our Energy System Transforming our Agricultural System Transforming our Urban Design
2.Society, Politics and Economy: The Tools of Change
3.Consciousness, Culture and Media: Why Change is Inevitable Summary
Summary
Introduction Regenerative Society Current Status
1.De-Fragging the Technical Infrastructure Transforming our Energy System Transforming our Agricultural System Transforming our Urban Design
2.Society, Politics and Economy: The Tools of Change
3.Consciousness, Culture and Media: Why Change is Inevitable Summary
Summary
Monday, July 20, 2015
Why Sanders must beat Clinton
And then on the the White House. See this article. Some excerpts:
"A paradigm shift has taken place. Many Iowans drove 50 miles to hear Sanders speak in Des Moines, primarily because Bernie Sanders has surpassed Clinton as the ideal choice for Democratic nominee. Regarding electability, Sanders has also surpassed Clinton as the realistic choice for Democratic nominee in the minds of many voters, because as one Salon piece illustrates, Hillary 'just doesn't get it.'"
"A closer look at the electoral map shows why Bernie Sanders could realistically defeat any GOP challenger. If voters around the country still care about middle class economics, the federal budget, trade and other hot button issues in 2016, Sanders has a legitimate chance to win. Also, since Sanders isn't tied to Obama fatigue like Hillary Clinton, it's quite possible the Vermont Senator re-energizes an America that just recently decided the Confederate flag doesn't represent its value system."
"A paradigm shift has taken place. Many Iowans drove 50 miles to hear Sanders speak in Des Moines, primarily because Bernie Sanders has surpassed Clinton as the ideal choice for Democratic nominee. Regarding electability, Sanders has also surpassed Clinton as the realistic choice for Democratic nominee in the minds of many voters, because as one Salon piece illustrates, Hillary 'just doesn't get it.'"
"A closer look at the electoral map shows why Bernie Sanders could realistically defeat any GOP challenger. If voters around the country still care about middle class economics, the federal budget, trade and other hot button issues in 2016, Sanders has a legitimate chance to win. Also, since Sanders isn't tied to Obama fatigue like Hillary Clinton, it's quite possible the Vermont Senator re-energizes an America that just recently decided the Confederate flag doesn't represent its value system."
Human potential satire
True
story: On my first visit to Esalen 30 years ago I arrived late in the
evening but the hot tubs were still open. I was soaking next to this guy
who was doing a massage workshop. He said to me: "Think about it,
massage therapist. Therapist if broken
into two words says the rapist. And that's exactly what a massage
therapist is, the rapist." This inspired one of my human potential
satires, which can be found here. PS: I later went on to become a massage therapist.
Gag me with spirituality
In this FB IPS post I lined to David Jon Peckinpaugh's FB post on spirituality wherein he said: "I can't do the 'spiritual' crowd any more. I have a near-immediate
gag-response to anything remotely 'spiritual' these days. It wreaks of
pretentiousness to me now." And this after 20 years in the spiritual community.
Eric responded in part with this: "In Islam, the Kingdom of Names is a metaphysical taxonomy, describing types and levels of spiritual stuff. Being attached to the KoN is not considered 'real' spirituality."
I said: This sounds like the incessant taxonomy of kennilingus passing itself off as spiritual and/or evolved stuff.
Eric responded in part with this: "In Islam, the Kingdom of Names is a metaphysical taxonomy, describing types and levels of spiritual stuff. Being attached to the KoN is not considered 'real' spirituality."
I said: This sounds like the incessant taxonomy of kennilingus passing itself off as spiritual and/or evolved stuff.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Sanders continues to draw large crowds
See this piece. Sanders
draws a crowd of nearly 12,000 in Phoenix, and around 10,000 in Dallas.
This is a people's movement and we can and must win back our
government. One reason is that he is not making strictly red-blue,
republican-democrat distinctions, the old way of seeing politics. Now
it's what's good for ALL of us and its resonating.
On the new socio-economic order
Continuing from the last post, it discussed the need for a new socio-economic
order. Clinton's paleoliberalism is pretty much conscious crapitalism,
while Sanders is on the side of economy democracy and "employee
ownership, consumer and producer cooperatives,
cooperative banks." This is the transitional phase into the Commons
I've long railed about, the next wave in socio-economic evolution.
Sanders gets us on that road, Clinton keeps us in paleocapitalism along
with kennilingus.
No comparison between Clinton and Sanders
Yet another article that understands there is no comparison between these two. Hillary is all talk when it comes to the issues Sanders has proven to support over a long history. Hillary is of the old order, Sanders of the new. An excerpt:
"She [Hillary], Bill and Barack Obama practically invented neoliberalism and remain members in good standing until proven otherwise. If your speeches are long on weepy tales of “everyday Americans” you met on the campaign trail, but short on policy prescriptions, the credit goes to David Axelrod, not Paul Krugman. If you’d raise the minimum wage but won’t say how much, you’re Mitt Romney. If you back the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership–and despite recent evasions she’s all for it–you’re fighting for capital, not labor."
"She [Hillary], Bill and Barack Obama practically invented neoliberalism and remain members in good standing until proven otherwise. If your speeches are long on weepy tales of “everyday Americans” you met on the campaign trail, but short on policy prescriptions, the credit goes to David Axelrod, not Paul Krugman. If you’d raise the minimum wage but won’t say how much, you’re Mitt Romney. If you back the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership–and despite recent evasions she’s all for it–you’re fighting for capital, not labor."
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Whole Foods exploits prison workers
See this article for conscious capitalism at work. I'm sure WF rationalizes that they're doing the prisoners a favor. Elevating them by giving them productive work. Teaching them the value of a dollar. Yadda yadda. Some excerpts:
"Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, whose net worth exceeds $100 million, is a fervent proselytizer on behalf of “conscious capitalism.” A self-described libertarian, Mackey believes the solution to all of the world’s problems is letting corporations run amok, without regulation. He believes this so fervently, in fact, he wrote an entire book extolling the magnanimous virtue of the free market.
"At the same time, while preaching the supposedly beneficent gospel of the 'conscious capitalism,' Mackey’s company Whole Foods, which has a $13 billion and growing annual revenue, sells overpriced fish, milk, and gourmet cheeses cultivated by inmates in US prisons. The renowned 'green capitalist' organic supermarket chain pays what are effectively indentured servants in the Colorado prison system a mere $1.50 per hour to farm organic tilapia. Colorado prisons already grow 1.2 million pounds of tilapia a year, and government officials and their corporate companions are chomping at the bit to expand production.
"Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, whose net worth exceeds $100 million, is a fervent proselytizer on behalf of “conscious capitalism.” A self-described libertarian, Mackey believes the solution to all of the world’s problems is letting corporations run amok, without regulation. He believes this so fervently, in fact, he wrote an entire book extolling the magnanimous virtue of the free market.
"At the same time, while preaching the supposedly beneficent gospel of the 'conscious capitalism,' Mackey’s company Whole Foods, which has a $13 billion and growing annual revenue, sells overpriced fish, milk, and gourmet cheeses cultivated by inmates in US prisons. The renowned 'green capitalist' organic supermarket chain pays what are effectively indentured servants in the Colorado prison system a mere $1.50 per hour to farm organic tilapia. Colorado prisons already grow 1.2 million pounds of tilapia a year, and government officials and their corporate companions are chomping at the bit to expand production.
The NY Times is a corporate mouthpiece
See this article, which details how the NYT, while doing stories on inequality, sells Clinton but doesn't even mention Sanders. Amazing. The corporate agenda at work.
Sanders connects with Latinos
So much for Silver's prediction that Sanders can't carry the minority vote. In this article both Sanders and Clinton gave speeches to the largest Latino civil rights organization and Sanders had twice as many applause interruptions.
"Many pundits have written that Sanders has a problem addressing audiences of color, because he comes from nearly all-white Vermont. But Sanders’ La Raza speech shows that he can deeply connect with Latino audiences."
"Many pundits have written that Sanders has a problem addressing audiences of color, because he comes from nearly all-white Vermont. But Sanders’ La Raza speech shows that he can deeply connect with Latino audiences."
Enterpreneurs start out on third base
See this article. So much for the theory that they are self-made and pulled themselves up by their bootstraps.
"Entrepreneurs don’t have a special gene for risk—they come from families with money."
Another corrupt Republican Presidential candidate
Hartmann details how the Koch brothers bought the WI Supreme Corp and stopped a criminal investigation into Governor Walker's illegal campaign financing. This is standard procedure for Republicans in their mission to attain complete oligarchy and destroy democracy. And that is no exaggeration. Walker's agenda, the WI legislation and now their Supreme Corp provide ample, clear evidence of this fact.
Hartmann and Papintonio on Sanders v. Clinton
Clinton supports Wall Street oligarchy and Sanders has a long history of supporting democracy. Clinton avoids and prevaricates on giving clear positions and Sanders tells is like it is.
Friday, July 17, 2015
The capitalist plan to devalue you
To make you feel worthless. Then they can manipulate you anyway they want. You'll hear it in just about every Republican spin.
Habermas on Greece
From this interview:
"The Greek debt deal announced on Monday morning is damaging both in its result and the way in which it was reached. First, the outcome of the talks is ill-advised. Even if one were to consider the strangulating terms of the deal the right course of action, one cannot expect these reforms to be enacted by a government which by its own admission does not believe in the terms of the agreement.
"Secondly, the outcome does not make sense in economic terms because of the toxic mixture of necessary structural reforms of state and economy with further neoliberal impositions that will completely discourage an exhausted Greek population and kill any impetus to growth.
"The Greek debt deal announced on Monday morning is damaging both in its result and the way in which it was reached. First, the outcome of the talks is ill-advised. Even if one were to consider the strangulating terms of the deal the right course of action, one cannot expect these reforms to be enacted by a government which by its own admission does not believe in the terms of the agreement.
"Secondly, the outcome does not make sense in economic terms because of the toxic mixture of necessary structural reforms of state and economy with further neoliberal impositions that will completely discourage an exhausted Greek population and kill any impetus to growth.
Post capitalism
Some excerpts from this article:
"Capitalism, it turns out, will not be abolished by forced-march techniques. It will be abolished by creating something more dynamic that exists, at first, almost unseen within the old system, but which will break through, reshaping the economy around new values and behaviours. I call this postcapitalism."
"Almost unnoticed, in the niches and hollows of the market system, whole swaths of economic life are beginning to move to a different rhythm. Parallel currencies, time banks, cooperatives and self-managed spaces have proliferated, barely noticed by the economics profession, and often as a direct result of the shattering of the old structures in the post-2008 crisis."
"They exist because they trade, however haltingly and inefficiently, in the currency of postcapitalism: free time, networked activity and free stuff. It seems a meagre and unofficial and even dangerous thing from which to craft an entire alternative to a global system, but so did money and credit in the age of Edward III."
"Capitalism, it turns out, will not be abolished by forced-march techniques. It will be abolished by creating something more dynamic that exists, at first, almost unseen within the old system, but which will break through, reshaping the economy around new values and behaviours. I call this postcapitalism."
"Almost unnoticed, in the niches and hollows of the market system, whole swaths of economic life are beginning to move to a different rhythm. Parallel currencies, time banks, cooperatives and self-managed spaces have proliferated, barely noticed by the economics profession, and often as a direct result of the shattering of the old structures in the post-2008 crisis."
"They exist because they trade, however haltingly and inefficiently, in the currency of postcapitalism: free time, networked activity and free stuff. It seems a meagre and unofficial and even dangerous thing from which to craft an entire alternative to a global system, but so did money and credit in the age of Edward III."
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Socialist Jew
Good one. And good way to frame his socialism by comparing it to Jesus for the religious vote.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Corrupt Greek connection
From Robert Reich today:
"The Greek bailouts so far have really only bailed out Greece’s creditors. None of the money stays in Greece to help it rebuild its economy and alleviate the suffering of the Greek people. But European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has the power to pump money into Greece by creating more euros and buying up Greek government debt. Will Draghi use monetary policy to save Greece?
"An interesting historic fact: I mentioned a few days ago that in the early 2000s Goldman Sachs helped Greece hide its mounting debt off-the-books, and in the process doubled that debt. Who was then Goldman’s Vice Chairman and the Managing Director of its International Division? Mario Draghi."
"The Greek bailouts so far have really only bailed out Greece’s creditors. None of the money stays in Greece to help it rebuild its economy and alleviate the suffering of the Greek people. But European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has the power to pump money into Greece by creating more euros and buying up Greek government debt. Will Draghi use monetary policy to save Greece?
"An interesting historic fact: I mentioned a few days ago that in the early 2000s Goldman Sachs helped Greece hide its mounting debt off-the-books, and in the process doubled that debt. Who was then Goldman’s Vice Chairman and the Managing Director of its International Division? Mario Draghi."
Richard Wolff on Sanders & Socialism
The taboo is over and people are once again openly exploring what this means. Especially since Sanders' Presidential candidacy and his admitted democratic socialist label.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
This one is a dead giveaway on Hillary
Robert Reich on Clinton not reinstating Glass-Steagall. She knows where her bread is buttered. Sanders gets his butter from the people, not Wall Street.
"Hillary Clinton won’t propose reinstating a bank break-up law known as the Glass-Steagall Act – at least according to Alan Blinder, an economist who has been advising Clinton’s campaign. 'You’re not going to see Glass-Steagall,' Blinder said after her economic speech Monday in which she failed to mention it. Blinder said he had spoken to Clinton directly about Glass-Steagall."
"Hillary Clinton won’t propose reinstating a bank break-up law known as the Glass-Steagall Act – at least according to Alan Blinder, an economist who has been advising Clinton’s campaign. 'You’re not going to see Glass-Steagall,' Blinder said after her economic speech Monday in which she failed to mention it. Blinder said he had spoken to Clinton directly about Glass-Steagall."
It's time for p2p in Greece
From this article on Syriza's surrender:
"Syriza’s failure to deliver on any of its campaign promises or to reverse the logic of austerity lifts the veil of illusion regarding institutional top-down solutions and leaves the grassroots movements exactly where they started from: being the main antagonistic force to the neoliberal assault on society; the only force capable of envisioning a different world that goes beyond the failed institutions of the predatory capitalist market and representative democracy."
"Syriza’s failure to deliver on any of its campaign promises or to reverse the logic of austerity lifts the veil of illusion regarding institutional top-down solutions and leaves the grassroots movements exactly where they started from: being the main antagonistic force to the neoliberal assault on society; the only force capable of envisioning a different world that goes beyond the failed institutions of the predatory capitalist market and representative democracy."
We are all Greeks now
From Chris Hedges:
"Human life is of no concern to corporate capitalism, which is designed to callously extract money from the most vulnerable and funnel it upward to the elites, while it turns everything, including human beings and the natural world, into commodities to be exploited until exhaustion or collapse. To swell its profits, corporate capitalism plunders, represses and drives into bankruptcy individuals, cities, states and governments. The destruction of Greece by the big banks and financial firms is not about austerity or good government. It's about a rapacious elite of all-powerful corporate oligarchs, backed by a militarized police force and the most sophisticated security and surveillance apparatus in human history, forming nations of impoverished, dis-empowered serfs in which the laws it imposes on the poor are little more than 'organized sadism.'
"Human life is of no concern to corporate capitalism, which is designed to callously extract money from the most vulnerable and funnel it upward to the elites, while it turns everything, including human beings and the natural world, into commodities to be exploited until exhaustion or collapse. To swell its profits, corporate capitalism plunders, represses and drives into bankruptcy individuals, cities, states and governments. The destruction of Greece by the big banks and financial firms is not about austerity or good government. It's about a rapacious elite of all-powerful corporate oligarchs, backed by a militarized police force and the most sophisticated security and surveillance apparatus in human history, forming nations of impoverished, dis-empowered serfs in which the laws it imposes on the poor are little more than 'organized sadism.'
Varoufakis on Germany's new master plan
I'm looking forward to Varoufakis' speech this coming Thursday. An excerpt from this article where he
"will accuse Germany of hiding the truth about its real aims for Europe, and say his country’s exit from the single currency is all part of a plan hatched a long time ago to ‘discipline’ countries who do not do as they are told. [...] He will name German Finance Minister Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble as the man behind a conspiracy to re-structure the Eurozone in a way which favors banks over citizens and plutocracy over democracy."
"will accuse Germany of hiding the truth about its real aims for Europe, and say his country’s exit from the single currency is all part of a plan hatched a long time ago to ‘discipline’ countries who do not do as they are told. [...] He will name German Finance Minister Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble as the man behind a conspiracy to re-structure the Eurozone in a way which favors banks over citizens and plutocracy over democracy."
Miss USA on math
It's a parody but not by much. But it's the direction the regressives have on education.
Monday, July 13, 2015
Krugman on the Greek bailout
See his piece for more. An excerpt:
"This goes beyond harsh into pure vindictiveness, complete destruction of national sovereignty, and no hope of relief. It is, presumably, meant to be an offer Greece can’t accept; but even so, it’s a grotesque betrayal of everything the European project was supposed to stand for."
"This goes beyond harsh into pure vindictiveness, complete destruction of national sovereignty, and no hope of relief. It is, presumably, meant to be an offer Greece can’t accept; but even so, it’s a grotesque betrayal of everything the European project was supposed to stand for."
Bailout "rescues" Greece?
See this article. It's what happens when the warrior of the people Varoufakis is taken out of the game. Warrior gone, democracy loses, banks win. Media bought and paid for: "rescue"? Wow.
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Sanders IS the mainstream
Which is why it's so funny when his regressive opponents say he's not when in fact it is they who represent only the 1%. Sanders destroys that argument in a little over a minute.
The Pope and P2P Commons
From this Bauwens FB post quoting the Pope, who sounds a lot like Sanders here:
"In conclusion, I would like to repeat: the future of humanity does not lie solely in the hands of great leaders, the great powers and the elites. It is fundamentally in the hands of peoples and in their ability to organize. It is in their hands, which can guide with humility and conviction this process of change. I am with you. Let us together say from the heart: no family without lodging, no rural worker without land, no laborer without rights, no people without sovereignty, no individual without dignity, no child without childhood, no young person without a future, no elderly person without a venerable old age."
"In conclusion, I would like to repeat: the future of humanity does not lie solely in the hands of great leaders, the great powers and the elites. It is fundamentally in the hands of peoples and in their ability to organize. It is in their hands, which can guide with humility and conviction this process of change. I am with you. Let us together say from the heart: no family without lodging, no rural worker without land, no laborer without rights, no people without sovereignty, no individual without dignity, no child without childhood, no young person without a future, no elderly person without a venerable old age."
What unions gave us, what Wall St. is taking away
You know that you'd never have had any of these things without unions. That many of these things are evaporating is proof that the likes of these Wall Street types have almost done away with unions.
Participatory pluralism
This excerpt from Corbett's latest at Integral World aptly describes the above:
"Instead of a cognitive intelligence quotient based on ones developmental capacity for theoretical abstraction and strategic-instrumental manipulation, other measures of development could be used to assess the aesthetic capacity to create a beautiful life, or the therapeutic capacity for contemplative and meditative calm whereby wisdom and cognitive-emotional maturity are the developmental indicators. There are literally dozens of alternative lines of development and their combinatory syntheses with other lines, levels, and types that can be used in the formation of the self and the collective. Moreover, no one singular combinatory synthesis need be hegemonic so as to homogenize the potential diversity within a given population. In fact, true societal and cultural freedom and diversity would require such a heterogeneous approach toward the constitution of self and society.
"Instead of a cognitive intelligence quotient based on ones developmental capacity for theoretical abstraction and strategic-instrumental manipulation, other measures of development could be used to assess the aesthetic capacity to create a beautiful life, or the therapeutic capacity for contemplative and meditative calm whereby wisdom and cognitive-emotional maturity are the developmental indicators. There are literally dozens of alternative lines of development and their combinatory syntheses with other lines, levels, and types that can be used in the formation of the self and the collective. Moreover, no one singular combinatory synthesis need be hegemonic so as to homogenize the potential diversity within a given population. In fact, true societal and cultural freedom and diversity would require such a heterogeneous approach toward the constitution of self and society.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Fear and threat as regressive tools of the trade
Speaking
of how threat lowers one's ability ,or cognitive level, if you prefer,
or takes one down to survival needs per Maslow, see Naomi Klein's study
of this in The Shock Doctrine. The banksters know about this, as do US
Republicans, hence they use constant
fear and threat as tools to keep the masses in submission. Same with
the Greek crisis, which was intentionally created by the banksters (see
this for how it was done).
As a related aside, it is no coincidence that the Pope has asked Klein to work with this staff on solutions to the problems enumerated in the Encyclical. And she is the best person for this job, not Dawlabani or the 'developmentalists."
As a related aside, it is no coincidence that the Pope has asked Klein to work with this staff on solutions to the problems enumerated in the Encyclical. And she is the best person for this job, not Dawlabani or the 'developmentalists."
Eat shit and die
See this article. The Pope's use of the dung metaphor is apt, since unbridled capitalism's motto is "eat shit and die." Some excerpts:
"Unbridled capitalism is the 'dung of the devil.'" says Pope Francis.
"Unbridled capitalism is the 'dung of the devil.'" says Pope Francis.
Friday, July 10, 2015
Actually 99.99% of experts agree on climate change
See this article which corrects the previous 97% agreement. There is no legitimate debate on the issue. None. Zero. Nada. Anything to the contrary is a corporate smokescreen and/or complete idiocy.
When the fighter is gone
As another follow up to this post: So
Varoufakis resigns because his fighting spirit for democracy might get
in the way of making a deal with the banksters. So what happens? See this story, where the Greek politicos offer pretty much the same
austerity proposal that the Greek people rejected
in the referendum. This is what happens when you take the fighter out
of the negotiations: the banksters win again and democracy loses.
How Sanders can win minority voters
I mentioned Frederick Douglass in this post. This
connects to how Sanders can reach the minority voters in this post, via minority
orators like Reverends Jackson and Sharpton. If they get on the Sanders
bandwagon this could very well turn the tide. First we must convince
them that Bernie beats Hillary as a champion of minorities, which
shouldn't be too hard.
Senator Warren to regulators
The following video which claims she embarrassed the
regulators, the regulators cannot experience embarrassment over their
inability to enforce the financial laws. They are part and parcel of the
corrupt graft that buys their loyalty to the oligarchy. But
embarrassment is not Warren's MO; it is to change the laws that allow
such corruption. That is the good fight.
Progressive piss and vinegar
I
was watching the PBS series on The Abolitionists, meaning of slavery.
There came a turning point for Frederick Douglass when he realized his
great oratory only moved those of like mind and didn't affect the slave
owners one iota. The time came to fight, in this case physically so, and
a war between the north and south ensued.
We are now engaged in another war, that of the oligarchy and the rest of us. And make no mistake, the oligarchy with their policies are killing many of us daily. We must stand up and fight, and progressives like me appreciate those that do. At this point the fight is political and we've seen some results from such principled fighting. We have yet to resort of violence and I hope it never comes to that. But we simply cannot succeed if we don't fight back.
Hence I appreciate both the fight in Varoufakis and Warren, and Sanders' piss and vinegar is the only antidote for American politics at this point.
We are now engaged in another war, that of the oligarchy and the rest of us. And make no mistake, the oligarchy with their policies are killing many of us daily. We must stand up and fight, and progressives like me appreciate those that do. At this point the fight is political and we've seen some results from such principled fighting. We have yet to resort of violence and I hope it never comes to that. But we simply cannot succeed if we don't fight back.
Hence I appreciate both the fight in Varoufakis and Warren, and Sanders' piss and vinegar is the only antidote for American politics at this point.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Nate Silver on Sanders
Nate
Silver of fivethirtyeight has some astute analysis here. If Sanders
can generate recognition in other States beside Iowa and NH he might
have a chance. Silver though is assuming Sanders will only carry the
white liberal Dems, as in IA and NH. I'm guessing that Sanders will
start to carry minorities and even some Republicans as his message gets
out, since his positions are favored by the majority of people
regardless of Party. Plus if he does carry IA and NH that will generate a
lot of press and more people will become aware of him and his populist
positions.
More on developmental framing and enactment
Continuing from this post, here are some more comments from that thread.
Another take on what is included or replaced in transcendence is in the IPS fold thread. As to a so-called integral view requiring an explicit developmental framing, I'm reminded of this IPS post quoting Gidley:
"Gidley talks about the difference between research that identifies postformal operations (PFO) from examples of those that enact PFO. And that much of the research identifying PFO has itself 'been framed and presented from a formal, mental-rational mode' (109). Plus those enacting PFO don’t 'necessarilty conceptualize it as such' (104), meaning the way those that identify it do, i.e., from a formal operational (FO) mode. Which is of course one of my key inquiries: Is the way PFO is identified through FO really just a FO worldview interpretation of what PFO might be? Especially since those enacting PFO disagree with the very premises of the FO worldview and its 'formally' dressed PFO?"
Another take on what is included or replaced in transcendence is in the IPS fold thread. As to a so-called integral view requiring an explicit developmental framing, I'm reminded of this IPS post quoting Gidley:
"Gidley talks about the difference between research that identifies postformal operations (PFO) from examples of those that enact PFO. And that much of the research identifying PFO has itself 'been framed and presented from a formal, mental-rational mode' (109). Plus those enacting PFO don’t 'necessarilty conceptualize it as such' (104), meaning the way those that identify it do, i.e., from a formal operational (FO) mode. Which is of course one of my key inquiries: Is the way PFO is identified through FO really just a FO worldview interpretation of what PFO might be? Especially since those enacting PFO disagree with the very premises of the FO worldview and its 'formally' dressed PFO?"
Democratic socialism in a nutshell
I was listening to Thom Hartmann discuss democratic socialism today with a caller. The caller asked how we could frame it succinctly and effectively to sway his ignorant Republican friends. (I know, redundant terms.) What I got from it is this frame: workers democratically control the means of production.
Zimmerman reviews the Encyclical
See Zimmerman's integral review
of the Encyclical. One of his complaints is that it is not
integral because it doesn't delineate phases of cultural evolution.
True if by that we mean in the way that developmental psychology
does. But the latter is not necessary to exemplify the phases, i.e.,
it doesn't have to be framed in developmental language to be
integral. E.g., Zimmerman admits that “although the Encyclical
includes certain elements of this view of cultural development, those
elements are not woven into a coherent thread, nor are they
foregrounded.” This is such a red herring and straw argument that I
find it hard to believe anyone still accepts it in the integral
community. The actual elements of such development are even quoted by
Zimmerman in plain sight and meaning. Just invoking a developmental
paradigm is not in the least necessary for anything, including the
Encyclical, to exemplify such levels. Integralists really need to get
off this kick and realize it's partly motivated by their own need to
control debate, elevate their own status, and sell their integral
modeling products. All manifestations, by the way, of the sort of
modern capitalism the Pope criticizes, and which many integralists
unconsciously accept.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Where's Clinton on this?
See this article where Senator Warren is re-introducing the Glass-Steagall bill to separate regular from speculative banking. Many think it was what set up the financial crisis. Note that Sanders supports it and in fact voted against the original repeal of the Act way back when. We'll see if Clinton supports it this time, and even if she does I won't believe her. My guess is that she'll remain silent on it, ignoring it.
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