Jesus and disciples were far from white

OMG, they'll never get into the US now!

Capitalism in Norway

Quite different than in the US. Even though Norway's conservative party now holds a majority they don't want to disrupt the welfare state. That's partly because for them welfare is more like it says in the Preamble of the US Constitution, "to promote the general welfare." An excerpt from this article below (and see it for much more):

"So here’s the big difference: in Norway, capitalism serves the people. The government, elected by the people, sees to that. All eight of the parties that won parliamentary seats in the last national election, including the conservative Høyre party now leading the government, are committed to maintaining the welfare state. In the US, however, neoliberal politics put the foxes in charge of the henhouse, and capitalists have used the wealth generated by their enterprises (as well as financial and political manipulations) to capture the state and pluck the chickens. They’ve done a masterful job of chewing up organized labor. Today, only 11 percent of American workers belong to a union. In Norway, that number is 52 percent; in Denmark, 67 percent; in Sweden, 70 percent."

Star Trek economy

Capt. Picard has to explain earth's evolution to a capitalist passenger who has awakened after centuries of hibernation. Star Trek is indeed one vision of our future in the neo-Commons, leaving behind the capitalism of humanity's infancy.

The great tax experiment

Conservatives claim that to stimulate the economy we must have low taxes, few regulations and low wages. So Reich takes a look at how this policy didn't work in Kansas and Texas, and how the exact opposite worked quite well in California. No matter how many times the conservative plan is tried it fails, while the opposite succeeds. But when your ideology trumps reality that's always the case. And we're about to see the failed conservative policy played out again on the entire US and it will fail again. Unfortunately we the people are going to suffer horribly in the interim.

Ayla: Pride and Joy

She does it again, this time with Stevie Ray.

Rousey is finished

Apparently her coach filled her head that she could box with the best strikers. Holm and Nunes proved that wrong. If Rousey would've stuck to her judo she might have had a chance. As it is now her fighting career is over, as she can't stand the humiliation.

What 'political correctness' means for Twamp

And his bottom feeders:

The Devil

 

Satan is not seen as a strictly evil force in the wesoteric tradition. S/he is more the earthly passions which motivate us to action and sheds the light of knowledge, and is only 'evil' when unbalanced. Freemason Albert Pike, in his masterpiece Morals and Dogma, wrote this in the preamble:

"LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darknesss! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light, and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual or selfish Souls ? Doubt it not!"

Aleister Crowley said of this (d)archetype in the Book of Thoth:

Twamp the traitor

Twamp praised Putin for not retaliating against US sanctions due to their hacking of our election after Putin said that's because Twamp would 'restore' US-Russian relations. Of course he will, in that Twamp will be a Russian lapdog as proven by his many statements, including this one, that shows he is already one. Some of the Twitter responses to Twamp's Tweet accused him of treason, and reasonably so, given that according to 18 U.S. Code § 2381:


“Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”

Gun facts

And funny how none of the US gun nut paranoia about the government taking over by instituting totalitarian regimes has happened in those other countries with gun control. I know, facts have no effect on paranoia or Republicans. Same difference.

Taibbi on the Russian hack hysteria

See his article here. Basically he suggest caution in believing the recent FBI/DHS report because, well, government agencies lie and have their own agendas too. True enough. He also says that the evidence provided so far doesn't have independent verification, that the intelligence reports are all we have. And we should wait until we get that before deciding if the story is true, false, or some combination. Again, true enough. But it's always been the case that national security keeps secret very sensitive information to protect its sources and agents in the field.

Granted, again like above, with this sort of cover it could just be a propaganda campaign and we're right to suspect that. And we won't know of course unless we can get another hack, or whistle blower, that reveals the 'true' story. But one might also surmise that were the official hack story not valid there would be hackers and whistle blowers all over this by now and as yet there isn't any outside evidence to the contrary. We'll see.

Kremlin names Trump employee of the month

Another funny but true one from Borowitz:

MOSCOW (The Borowitz Report)—Capping an extraordinary year for the former television host, the Kremlin has named Donald J. Trump its Employee of the Month for December.

“No one has worked more tirelessly for the glory of the Fatherland than Donald Trump,” the Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an official statement. “He has set a high bar for all Kremlin employees, and for that, we salute him.”

To mark the honor, Trump’s name will be added to a plaque that hangs in the hallway outside the Kremlin’s H.R. office.

According to Kremlin sources, Trump faced tough competition in the Employee of the Month voting, besting both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and ExxonMobil’s C.E.O., Rex Tillerson.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate, in Florida, Trump called the award “a tremendous honor, just tremendous.”

“Obama was President for eight years and he didn’t win this a single month,” he said. “Loser.”

Use a flashlight

And skip that other shit.

The new Twilight Zone

And it's the scariest episode ever.

Obama sanctions Russia for the hack

Following up on the last post, see this article. The President signed an executive order that will freeze Russian assets as well as return cyber warfare attacks. Russian compounds in the US will also be shut down and will oust 35 Russian intelligence agents. See the article for more details about this very real hack that influenced our election. Twamp will probably reverse this when he takes office, since he's likely being blackmailed by Russia for not releasing information on his dealings there that would get him impeached.

FBI and DHS confirm Russian hacking

See the report here, detailing who did it, how and to whom. I'm guessing though that this evidence will not convince the paranoid conspiracy theorists who think that our government agencies are just creating smokescreens for some insidious and ulterior motive.

Administration plan to destroy Medicare

See this article detailing the incoming Director of Health and Human Services plan to strangle Medicare to death, and us along with it. The notion of 'balance billing' is being floated for Medicare. It is a current custom for those that use 'out of network' providers on their health insurance plans. Physicians that are in-network agree to accept what the insurance company will pay for their services, minus co-pays and deductibles. But with out of network physicians a patient must pay the difference of what the physician charges and what the health insurance company will pay. So the plan is to now apply this to Medicare, which currently requires physicians to accept what Medicare will pay for their services in exchange for getting a lot more patients via Medicare. That means the elderly on Medicare would have to make up the difference in fees and it could amount to vast sums on their out of pocket expenses, if effect draining whatever savings they have while enriching physicians. Great plan there Republicans.

Twamp lies on bringing back Sprint jobs to US

See this story that provides the proof. Twamp took credit for this when in fact Sprint announced bringing these jobs back in April of 2015! And the major media outlets (aka lamestream media) reported on Twamp's claim but did not retract or correct it when the facts came out. WTF media? Complicit much?

FBI Comey's letter did affect the election

See this study by the Princeton Election Consortium. While there were many factors for Twamp's close win, the release of that FBI letter just days before the election changed the polls by around 4%, which is more than the margin Twamp won by in FL, MI, PA and FL.

Ayn Rand collected social security and Medicare

See this article. Rand was dead-set against such social programs, calling those that accepted them parasites. But when she got cancer and her medical bills threatened to destroy her, Rand was convinced by a social worker to accept social security and Medicare benefits to help with the bills. So when the rubber met the road her bullshit philosophy went out the window. And yet this crap lives on in the Republican Party and their policies. Btw, the article links to a rebuttal of this by a Randian, which admits Rand did indeed accept those public programs and then proceeds to speciously argue against them.

Hidden Figures

I'm looking forward to this movie, based on the true story of the black female engineers that were part of the team that propelled John Glenn into the historic first manned space flight. And it's well past time that such stories were told.

We're already in the Fourth Reich

See this article reviewing a book on the Third Reich, which states the US is already very much like it. With Twamp all that has been hidden in this regard will only be increased and made more readily apparent. From the article:

"Many in the United States fear a Trump election because there might be an explosion of state repression against the vulnerable, particularly against specific racial and ethnic minorities. And yet, the neoliberal state has already created a penal system to rival the world’s most authoritarian dictatorships. The United States imprisons more citizens (total and per capita) than any other country on Earth, and African Americans and Latinos at a vastly over-represented rate. Many fear Trump would bring massive deportations of undocumented immigrants. And yet, the neoliberal state already engages in mass deportations, at the level of millions during the current administration, with countless more waiting in dire conditions in the world’s largest network of immigrant detention camps. Many fear a Trump election would bring mass persecution, surveillance, and restrictions for American Muslims. And yet, the neoliberal state already spies on Muslims, administers religious tests at borders, and polices Muslims for nothing more than their religious practices. Many fear a Trump election might bring economic ruin, and yet, for most Americans, wealth is vanishing, wages stagnant, real unemployment steady."

4E cognitive science and mindfulness

I've posted this before, Thompson's lecture on reframing mindfulness meditation within the embodied, embedded, enactive and extended framework. It de-mystifies mindfulness into more of an integral postmetaphysical spiritual frame, recontextualizing spirituality itself.

Your mind is beyond your brain and body

See this article, which does not go into any sort of metaphysical realms to achieve this. It's in full agreement with Andy Clark's work, as well as the 4E philosopher/scientists. E.g.:

"Siegel argues that it’s impossible to completely disentangle our subjective view of the world from our interactions. [...] We’re all part of each others’ lives. The mind is not just brain activity. When we realize it’s this relational process, there’s this huge shift in this sense of belonging.”

Carrie Fisher on aging

Hopefully "never before" will become "never again"

Yet another story claiming exasperatingly "never before" relating to the Twamp. "Never before has a President or President-elect spoken so dismissively of the C.I.A." Never before have we had to say "never before" on a daily basis about a President. We're getting to the point where we hopefully will start saying "never again."

Remembering Princess Leia

Amen and RIP sister.

Reich on possible Twamp impeachment reasons

See his FB post, copied below. It's hard to imagine how Twamp could not be impeached, even with the willing participation of his own Party.

1. Taking money from foreign governments, in violation of Article I Section 9 of the Constitution.

2. Colluding with a foreign power against the interests of the United States, considered treason.

3. Using the presidency for private gain, in violation of federal law (5 Code of Federal Regulations 2635.702).

4. Seeking to intimidate critics, in violation of the First Amendment.

5. Undermining the freedom and independence of the press, in violation of the First Amendment.

6. Attacking freedom of religion, in violation of the First Amendment.

7. Undermining the rule of law through arbitrary and capricious statements and orders, in violation of the Due Process clause of the First Amendment.

8. Suppressing the votes of minorities, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Letter by >360 companies to the incoming White House

Following up on the last post, this link has the letter that over 360 companies sent to the incoming White House. It basically says that keeping with the Paris Accord is good for business, not just the environment. So if Twamp and his swamp dwellers are all about good business then this should have some impact with them. I doubt though that it will, because the Admin. is all about maintaining fossil fuels, no matter the business bottom line.

The market might support renewable energy

Even though Twamp and his bottom feeders will not. This article shows that wind and solar energy production is now financially competitive with fossil fuels. So whether businesses give one shit about the environment or accept climate science, they may be forced to use renewable energy sources for their bottom line or lose out to those that do. Ironic that business will lead the way to a better future, even if our government will do everything to prevent it with is literal dinosaur mind set and energy source. The dinosaurs are about to go extinct yet again because they can't adapt.

Monbiot on neoliberalism

See his article here. He comments on the book What About Me? The Struggle for Identity in a Market-Based Society. We unconsciously accept this sort of society as a given without question, like in itself it is a reality and not a social construction. But it is indeed constructed by those with the power and money and rigs the rules so that it stays that way. To do so it reinforces that the winners deserve it and that those that don't succeed are losers deserving of scorn and what they (don't) get. It sells the idea that everyone can also succeed if they just work hard and play by the rules. But since the rules are rigged it's rare that anyone can succeed at this game. It sells competition and merit as hallmarks but again rigs the system so that there is no competition or deserving merit. It's a big lie to keep most of us down and to feel like it's our own fault. Fuck that.

Pledge to resist Twamp

Sign the pledge here if you agree. It says:

Pledge of Resistance to Donald Trump's Assault on America's Environment, Democracy and Civil Rights

I pledge to stand in resistance to Donald Trump's assault on America's clean air, clean water, climate, wildlife, civil rights, reproductive rights, gender and racial equality, and freedom of speech and religion.

I pledge to stand in solidarity with those threatened by violence and intimidation because of who they are, what they believe or their opposition to Trump's dangerous agenda.

Donald Trump is an unprecedented threat to our nation's democracy, health and environment. He must not be allowed to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency, gut the Clean Air and Endangered Species acts, raid our public lands, eliminate regulations protecting poor communities from pollution, deport millions of people, take away our reproductive freedom, or force millions to live in fear.

I pledge to resist Trump through action.

I pledge to speak out, make phone calls, sign petitions, join rallies, support conservation and civil rights groups, educate my family and friends, and keep a compassionate, loving heart while fighting fiercely for the values I cherish most.

Keith Ellison being co-opted too?

Dore makes a good point in the video below. Starting around 2:55 he discusses Ellison's recent Tweet that if you think Hillary is corrupt then you're buying 25 years of GOP propaganda. Yes, the GOP has been exaggerating Clinton's problems and even making shit up. But no, that doesn't negate the facts on Clinton's Wall Street ties and her and the Dem Party being badly corrupted by Wall Street money. Even Sanders made this very case during the primaries.

So why is Ellison trying to paint this "you're either for us or against us" picture?

The gig economy is taking over

See this recent report by a Harvard and a Princeton researcher. See it for lots of details. The abstract:

"To monitor trends in alternative work arrangements, we conducted a version of the Contingent Worker Survey as part of the RAND American Life Panel in late 2015. The findings point to a significant rise in the incidence of alternative work arrangements in the U.S. economy from 2005 to 2015. The percentage of workers engaged in alternative work arrangements–defined as temporary help agency workers, on-call workers, contract workers, and independent contractors or freelancers–rose from 10.7 percent in February 2005 to 15.8 percent in late 2015. The percentage of workers hired out through contract companies showed the largest rise, increasing from 1.4 percent in 2005 to 3.1 percent in 2015. Workers who provide services through online intermediaries, such as Uber or Task Rabbit, accounted for 0.5 percent of all workers in 2015. About twice as many workers selling goods or services directly to customers reported finding customers through offline intermediaries than through online intermediaries."

National Review: Twamp is abandoning his promises

Yes, the National Review, the premier conservative magazine, is saying this. Twamp promised to drain the establishment swamp, instead he filling up his appointments with the worst of establishment oil and Wall Street insiders. Ryan and Mitchell, leaders of the House and Senate, are going full speed ahead with an establishment agenda. Twamp has backed down on his promise to jail Clinton. Twamp bitterly campaigned against globalism yet his Secretary of State is globalism personified. Twamp has admitted that all his promises were campaign stunts to be left behind. He was from the start only in it for himself and manipulated his followers only to now dump them to enrich himself and his cronies further. And this coming from the most conservative magazine imaginable. You've been suckered fools.

America stands out

But not in a good way. And it's about to get much, much worse.

The consequences of repealing Obamacare

30 million lose coverage, 27,000 people die each year. Did Twamp voters consider this when they voted? Oh, I forgot, facts. So no. See the video here.

Hannah Arendt, “The Origins of Totalitarianism” (1951)

So true given our last election. She said:

"The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists."

What Twamp voters believe

Yes believe, since it is not in the least fact-based. You don't confirm children's false beliefs, and certainly not lies they've been fed. You compassionately yet firmly correct them and teach them. And you sure as hell don't let them run a country. See this recent PPP poll. Here are some of the results.

• 40 percent of Trump voters insist that he won the national popular vote.

• 60 percent of Trump voters think that Hillary Clinton received millions of illegal votes.

• 73 percent of Trump voters believe that George Soros is paying anti-Trump protesters.

• 29 percent of Trump voters don’t think California votes should be allowed to count in the national popular vote.

• 67 percent of Trump voters think the unemployment rate went up under President Obama. Only 20 percent accurately believe it went down.

• 39 percent of Trump voters think the stock market went down under Obama. And 19 percent are unsure.

• 14 percent of Trump voters think Hillary Clinton is connected to a child sex ring run out of a Washington pizzeria. Another 32 percent aren’t sure one way or another. Only 54 percent are certain that Pizzagate is a myth.

Twamp's grammar below 6th grade level

And is his overall intellectual development. That's why so many Americans like him, because they are at the same level. At that level they don't understand that our leaders really need to not be like them but far, far better. I know, we're not supposed to talk down to these folks. But when they are children we really need to talk to them as such, compassionately yet firm to set limits to their behavior. If not, then we get a 6th grader as President who already wants to accelerate the nuclear arms race. And the GOP is certainly not going to set limits on Twamp for fear of retribution. We in for a long haul under a child-king just like in the old days we thought we as a culture have outgrown.

Tyrant Twamp and the media

Reich on the 4 techniques tyrants use to control the media, and how Twamp is using them.
Welcome to Amerika.

Maddow interviews Conway on Twamp team conflicts of interest

Amazing how Conway never directly answers questions while always changing the subject. And in particular, these questions on specific financial conflicts of Twamp and his team. It's a art form to behold, if more than a bit treacherous and ultimately damaging to the US and the Presidency. Either Conway is genuinely snookered by this ideology or she's an insidious, inveterate but nonetheless masterful liar. Good on Rachel for not falling for it and continuing to press Conway time and again, to no avail of course.

A practical guide for resisting Twamp

Download or read the guide online here. Here's their blurb:

Since this guide went live as a Google Doc, we’ve received an overwhelming flood of messages from people all over the country working to resist the Trump agenda. We’re thrilled and humbled by the energy and passion of this growing movement. We’ll be updating the guide based on your feedback and making it interactive ASAP. You can sign up for updates at www.IndivisibleGuide.com.

Every single person who worked on this guide and website is a volunteer. We’re doing this in our free time without coordination or support from our employers. Our only goal is help the real leaders on the ground who are resisting Trump’s agenda on their home turf. We hope you will take this document and use it however you see fit.

We want to hear your stories, questions, comments, edits, etc., so please feel free to ping some of us on Twitter: @IndivisibleTeam, @ezralevin, @angelrafpadilla, @texpat, @Leahgreenb. Or email IndivisibleAgainstTrump@gmail.com.

And please please please spread the word! Only folks who know this exists will use it. Good luck — we will win.

People with 33 weeks of paid leave oppose 6 weeks of paid leave

Borowitz hits another home run with this one about Republicans in Congress:

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—President Obama’s proposal to give workers six weeks of paid leave is meeting strong opposition from a group of people who annually receive thirty-three weeks of paid leave. Members of the group heard the President’s proposal on Tuesday night, one of the few nights of the year when they are required to report to their workplace.

The opponents of paid leave, who show up for work a hundred and thirty-seven days per year and receive paid leave for the other two hundred and twenty-eight, were baffled by other moments in the President’s speech. For example, they were confused by Obama’s challenge to try to survive on a full-time job that pays fifteen thousand dollars, since they all currently hold a part-time job that pays a hundred and seventy-four thousand dollars.

Give Twamp a chance?

Fuck no!

Sanders would have beaten Trump

I agree with this article on the topic. Twamp won Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by the slightest of margins, garnering just enough of those working-class voters that Obama won in previous elections. Twamp did so by appealing to working-class suffering, which Clinton and the Dem Party abandoned some time ago. But not Sanders; he was a working-class hero that not only talked the talk but walked the walked for decades in Congress. Odds are strong he would have received the majority of the working-class votes in those 3 States. He would have also received substantially more of the Millennial vote than Clinton, since a significant portion of them went with the Green Party after the Dem Party screwed Sanders in the primary. And no, the Dem Party still hasn't faced these obvious facts about not only this election, but why they've lost several past elections.

Integral Theory Conference debate on post-capitalism

I might have posted on this before but it's been a while. Here's Jeremy Johnson's report on the debate. Some excerpts follow. See the link for much more:

"We begin with Zak's statement. His "weak" argument is that we should at least inform ourselves with the basics of heterodox economics (or Marxist economics). The "strong" argument is that, if we are going to be Integral Theorists, we should at least be post-capitalist. We shouldn't label these kind of progressive suggestions as green meme, because too often that is a substitution for actual thought. We're not dialoguing with the actual thought form.

"Too often we take it as a given that we should be transcending and including, without doing the more difficult work of looking at history and discerning what structures actually had to end, or disintegrate. We don't transcend and include injustice, we get rid of injustice. As integral thinkers we should speak, take power, and be opposed to things."

Integral and me

I just came upon this again and am re-reading it: Marco V Morelli's "Integral and me." I relate to a lot of it, like the following excerpts. Thank you Marco for voicing some of my own thoughts and feelings:

"I tried to avoid identifying or associating with integral altogether—a term which, even before my departure from I-I, I had grown to regard with irritation."

"I felt that something wanted to come through, but that it couldn’t live in the integral box I had built around myself. The Integral Revolution was a dud. [...] I no longer felt the need or desire to identify with or be part of any kind of integral anything."

"I was tired of spending the best of my waking hours, and the cream of my youth, studying post-representational phenomenologies with professors who confessed to be merely spinning their wheels, going nowhere and accomplishing nothing. I had reached a limit of what the discourse could reveal to me, and craved a more intimate and immediate relationship with the world: less philosophy and more reality."

"The question was, how to get the ideas out there most effectively? And here, looking back, is where I believe we erred. We turned Integral Theory into something too much like a product—some kind of proprietary software for the mind, which one could buy into, and in so doing solve the big questions of life and the universe. [...] In our marketing, we used adverbs such as “staggeringly” and “literally” to modify the grandiose adjectives attributed to the theory. [...] But it resulted in a message which, while in many ways exciting and inspiring, in other ways merely recapitulated the dominant logic of the consumer paradigm. [...] But our message was off-putting to many more who I would consider just as evolved, but looking for a more grounded, egalitarian, less self-aggrandizing kind of approach."

Twamp hires more foreign workers

Sure, he says he doesn't want US jobs leaving the country, but I guess that doesn't apply to hiring foreign workers to work in the US. A Trump winery just applied for temporary visas to hire temporary foreign workers. It's not only broken promises to his supporters but a direct conflict of interest, since his Dept. of Labor will decide on such visas. Twamp has hired 1,256 foreign workers in the past 15 years, claiming he just can't find Americans to fill those jobs. Which is of course bullshit.

Standing up for the Dakota pipeline

JP satirizes support for the oil company building the pipeline.

The grand lie of capitalism

In this clip Redacted Tonight discusses how a Fox News clip accidentally revealed this grand lie. On Fox an injured fast food worker was praised for his rugged individualism for working with an arm and neck injury from a car accident to afford Christmas presents. What this inadvertently reveals though is a system where this poor kid has to work after an injury because he's paid so little in the first place to take off work, and because these fast food employers don't provide paid medical leave. Yeah, that's something to celebrate you callous bastards.

The Banana Republicans on social security

Olbermann exposes their proposed legislation to gut social security hidden under Twamp's idiotic and incessant flak. Those who counted on Twamp's promises not to cut it will be none the wiser when it passes until they start receiving a lot less in their checks and can't make ends meet. Which by then is too late and people starve and die. Welcome to Amerika. Resist!

Meagyn Kelly, Twamp's communications director, climate change

The questioning starts at around 2:15 in this video when she asks if Twamp's EPA head Pruitt believed in climate change. The spin doctor just spins prevarication (i.e., lies for the vocabulary challenged) until she has to ask a second and and yet a third time, finally saying (3:20): "But you're not really answering; is that a hard question?" Indeed it is, for the simple and truthful answer is no, Pruitt doesn't think it's real and will reverse all climate change policy to date with the willing GOP Congress.

Hallelujah

From Pentatonix:

The library of things

Since we have book libraries where we can borrow, why not things as well? It's happening all over now and makes sense, since these things cost a lot of money and for the most part sit around unused in one's garage. Why not share their use with the community?

Science and emancipatory spirituality

Continuing from this post, the edited excerpt below on science and emancipatory spirituality from NSP sounds like integral theory and practice.

"Each stage in the development of the universe incorporates and transcends that which went before. [...] Each stage of history, in turn, makes further developments possible which finally bring us to the present moment. That evolving reality has been understood through much of recorded history as an integrated and mutually interacting web of body, mind, soul and spirit. When we faced problems in our human reality, we often understood those problems to be dysfunctions in the way these different levels of reality interacted with each other."

"We are 'holons,' entities who are simultaneously separate beings seeking to maintain our own individual existence and parts of something much bigger than ourselves. In the contemporary world, it’s easy to understand the consciousness of ourselves as separate beings, but it’s very hard to develop a sense of ourselves as part of the unity of all being."

“In some spiritual traditions, the solution to this problem is to obliterate the individual ego. The ego itself is seen as the big problem, so the solution is to overcome it. Emancipatory Spirituality, on the other hand, does not seek to obliterate the ego, but to put it in balance with the rest of the universe. […] Emancipatory Spirituality teaches that every one of us is standing on the platform of thousands of previous generations of human beings. We inherited the wisdom, the language, the categories, and the work of the past.”

Borowitz on the GOP immigration plan

I laughed out loud at this one, so funny because it's sooooo true.

G.O.P. Unveils Immigration Plan: “We Must Make America Somewhere No One Wants to Live”

By Andy Borowitz,  November 19, 2014

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell unveiled his party’s long-awaited plan on immigration on Wednesday, telling reporters, “We must make America somewhere no one wants to live.”

Appearing with House Speaker John Boehner, McConnell said that, in contrast to President Obama’s “Band-Aid fixes,” the Republican plan would address “the root cause of immigration, which is that the United States is, for the most part, habitable.”

“For years, immigrants have looked to America as a place where their standard of living was bound to improve,” McConnell said. “We’re going to change that.”

So much for holacracy eh?

See this article. Holacracy isn't working at Zappos largely due to its top-down imposition of an abstract system that reduces and controls human emotional input because of its dominant computer operating system metaphor. (Also reminiscent of the integral operating system.) Many Zappos employees are having trouble with it, and when that becomes a 'problem' they are fired or quit. Nearly 1/3 of their workforce did so since 2015. It reminds me a lot of my lengthy discussion of real and false reason, as well as Zak Stein's criticism of the computer metaphor and promotion of an ecological one.

Rhetoric as valid and valuable political activism

Good article on how we must now, more than ever, not give up the fight. To the contrary, our spokespeople are critical in the fight to motivate us to action, to inspire and inflame us to move our feet and not just our hearts. I do take heart to this message, as that is one of the main roles of my blog, my contribution to a proactive progressive participation.

Spiritual activism training

Continuing from the last post,  and given that the article discusses Lerner, perhaps consider his Network of Spiritual Progressives as one possible answer to my inquiry? Right now they're offering spiritual activism training. One can attend via teleconference if they don't reside in the bay area, and/or get the recordings. There is also a low-income sliding-fee scale if one can't afford the suggested fee.

So how do 'evolved' spiritual practices help the downtrodden?

Continuing from the last post, another point of note from the article, particularly for this forum, is that many of the down-trodden working class maintain religious belief and community to help with their malaise. And they reject to uppity well-educated that often deride such belief as superstitious nonsense. So how do those involved in integral postmetaphysical spirituality (IPS) reach or help them? Is perhaps its major emphasis on theory, philosophy and academy seen by those in need as just more of the same elite snobbery that they've come to reject? And if so, then how do IPSers use their 'evolved' spiritual alternatives to help these folks without trying to convert them?

I'll let you know if I get any responses from that forum.

The spiritual crisis of the modern economy

Excellent article that discusses Michael Lerner's analysis of what happened in this election. We live in a meritocratic materialistic society where we are judged solely by our jobs and earning capacity. This sort of economy favors the well educated and highly skilled, and everyone else must live up to that standard or suffer the consequences. Never mind that not everyone has an equal opportunity to attain that; if they don't it's their own lazy fault according to the privileged. And of course the less well off come to believe this themselves like dogs kicked regularly.

Which is of course right where the well off want them so that they can benefit from abusing their labor. Twamp is a prime example in his business practices. And ironically the downtrodden believe him when he tells them he will help them, not knowing his kind are the very people that created their situation. Since they are afraid to bite the hand that does not feed them but promises to do so, they also believe the lies the well off like Twamp feed them about others they are manipulated to think caused their problems, like immigrants or Muslims. It's a vicious cycle that maintains the status quo.

Also ironically, these poor souls were led to believe that Clinton, as a Wall Street lackey, didn't care about them when if fact it is Twamp and the Republicans who have proven time and again through their policies that they despise the very people they need to win elections with lies and manipulation. The only way to break this cycle is with authentic progressives in charge of governments from the bottom up, initiating policies that help people in need with assistance and jobs so that they once again build up enough self-esteem to think clearly and vote accordingly for those that really want to help them and against lying bastards that just want to manipulate them for their own benefit.

And yes, Sanders was indeed that sort of candidate that would have not only won but brought along other progressives on down ballot tickets to do exactly that. But no, the elite Democrats sucking big money teat saw an end to that agenda and they lost yet again. If we want to change this cycle it is indeed time for Our Revolution, meaning we the people.

Operation Democratic backbone

The Young Turks have a petition on this here, as explained in the video below.

What does unpresidented mean?

Indeed it does.

Tweetin' with the Prez

Meyers' segment on how Twamp will forgo the usual press conferences and conduct all information through Twitter. It's the only media format his 3rd-grade brain can handle.

Cornell West on reforming the Dem Party

Continuing from the last post, see this Democracy Now interview with Cornell West, who has serious doubts  that the Democratic Party can be reformed due to its allegiance to Wall Street and neoliberalism. Pelosi getting re-elected to head the House minority is one obvious sign. The Dem platform couldn't even come out against the TPP or fracking.

Can the Democratic Party be reformed?

Can the Democratic Party can be returned to its progressive roots? We've seen Clinton profess such an agenda but a lot of us didn't believe her. Or is the Party too far in the grip of big money to ever be ruled by the people again? Sometimes it seems like the establishment Party makes promises in a progressive direction, but it that just to appease the progressives to dupe and manipulate them? In the Sanders interview (last post) he seems to think so. I have serious doubts, given the Wall Street contingent rules the day.

Sarah Silverman interviews Bernie Sanders

The interview doesn't start until 2:55 in the video below, so jump to that point and skip the preview crap. "We cannot be the party of the liberal elite."

Maher interview on Twamp

First thoughts since the election. He fears retaliation now and comments on the new Administration, as well as odd bedfellows of the FBI and Putin.Will States with legal marijuana now be raided by the Feds?

Twamp reneging yet again on moving jobs to Mexico

This time it's other jobs in Indiana moving to Mexico with nary a peep from the Twamp. One IN company, Rexnord, will lay of 350 workers and close its plant in Indianapolis. Those factory jobs will be relocated to Mexico. Twamp even commented on Rexnord in a 12/2/16 Tweet, yet according to the union that represents Rexnord said Twamp has not bothered to contact them about the layoffs. Other IN companies are also planning of moving jobs to Mexico, but again, nothing from Twamp who promised to shut this sort of thing down. Just empty bluster folks, but everyone should have known that from the beginning.

Unpresidented popular vote

This graphic shows the popular vote and makes fun at child Twamp's misuse of the word unprecedented.

Post truth world

Gingrinch: eliminate Presidential ethical rules for Twamp

Yes, I spelled it Gingrinch, as in the Grinch who stole democracy. Now he wants to steal the ethical rules governing President Twamp, saying there should be no restrictions on mixing business with the highest office. Additionally, if by some chance the GOP grows a spine and challenges such conflicts, the President and his cronies and children should be immune from any prosecution. Hence the need to change those sorts of ethical rules to eliminate any debate whatsoever. From President to King Twamp is where this is all going. And we shouldn't be concerned about this road to fascism?

GOP's insidious plan to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid

Hartmann and a caller below discuss how the new Secretary of Health and Human Services plans to cut all of these programs. They reference the Center for American Progress's (CAP) report on this here. Basically the plan it to tie those programs to the debt. If the debt goes above projections for a given year then those programs take automatic cuts. That means that Congress won't have to vote on such cuts so it's an insidious way to get the cuts without taking obvious responsibility. And knowing Republican economics, which reduces taxes on the rich and corporations, budgets cannot be met with such reduced revenue. So the wealthy get by with paying little to no taxes to support such programs and they get automatically cut. Sneaky, underhanded, unethical, greedy and despicable basket of deplorables indeed. The Twamp dwellers have been fooled again.


See the CAP link above for the specific details.

Hannibal Lecter to head Health and Human Services

Given Twamp's picks so far, this makes just as much sense. At least when you die from lack of healthcare it's good to know you'll be feeding the hungry.

Fooled again

This story shows how Twamp overperformed where Romney lost and why. Yeah, the places hardest hit by neoliberalism believed that Twamp was an outsider and would fix the system. But he's the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing and will only accelerate the neoliberal agenda. Sheep fooled again. You'd think they would learn by now, but it's hard to educate someone when they're cold, hungry, depressed and on drugs. Right where neoliberalism wants them, rigging the system and then blaming these poor souls because they don't have the gumption to pull themselves up by their fraying bootstraps. And in turn they blame immigrants or Muslims instead of the real cause of their problems: the Twamp creatures.

Brand New Congress on Uber

From their FB post:

"Really, Uber? Teachers should need a side hustle? These latest ads by Uber, such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsbWt6FjlTk, are how big companies start normalizing the idea that people in decent jobs should not be earning a living wage. Notice how, with a quick video transition, they show us that this guy is a science teacher -- but even he needs a 'side hustle' to survive. If anyone on Uber's advertising team had been a teacher, they would know that being a teacher is an insanely difficult, all-consuming job. Teachers most certainly should not 'need a side hustle.' 

"We should demand better of our society. We should invest in education, infrastructure and production while fighting for the rights of labor to make these jobs ones that people can lead a decent life on. Let's not fall into the mental trap of assuming we can do nothing but have a declining quality of life where everyone needs two or three jobs just to get by. But of course, huge companies would love nothing more than to normalize the idea that workers only deserve a pittance."

The nation of Pacifica

Time to succeed and quit contributing our human and tech resources, as well as our huge tax contributions, to Twamp Amerika. Same for the progressive States in the northeast, the nation of Atlantis.

The right budget cuts

Consider this and expand social security with all the revenue generated from the right cuts. Let your representatives know with your votes for those that agree and throw the other bums out.

US pipeline spills, 1986 - 2016

This is their record. Not if, but when. So how can we justify even one more? Unless of course we don't give a fuck about people, culture, or the environment, just the almighty dollar. Is that really the country you want to live in? You do realize that this will only be accelerated under Twamp, right?

US press normalizes Twamp

Following up on this post, this article details how the American press has and continues to normalize Twamp. One found Twamp "subdued and serious," one approved of appointing Bannon and Sessions, one found accurate criticism "too harsh." Why? Because they need access to the President for their ratings, so to hell with accuracy and truth. Any time they approached the truth Twamp and his supporters called them liars so the press backed off, again due to their bottom line.

Christmas presents are not made by elves

Just maybe consider who actually makes them, under what conditions, and to whom all that money you spend goes to? From this expose:

"The imagery of cheerful elves making gifts in Santa's workshop is far from the reality, and contributes to hide from our sight the conditions of workers in the factories that make what we so enthusiastically buy. Some 80 per cent of the world's toys are manufactured in China, with just about every popular children's toy bearing a 'made in China' label on its underbelly. The harsh reality is that long before Christmas songs are blasting from every department store in the West, these 'elves' who are in fact, real, living Chinese workers, are forced to work around the clock to churn out millions of products, ready for arrival in western stores for the festive season."

"To cope with this, workers are forced to endure inhumane treatment, working excessively long hours for unethically low wages, in unsafe conditions, facing verbal, and often physical or sexual abuse. All in complete violation of their fundamental human rights. This is the grueling monotonous life endured by millions of factory workers across the world, to meet the increased consumer demand of the Christmas shopping period."

The complicit American press in the rise of Mussolini and Hitler

See this story citing the historical record with specific details of the US Press's published statements. Some credited Mussolini "with saving Italy from the far left and revitalizing its economy." Some called it a return to "normalcy." The press portrayed Hitler as a joke, that no one could possibly take him seriously. Some said after he won that the office and staff would tame him to common standards of decency and protocol. Does any of this sound familiar of the US press in this recent election?

Putin to sing at Twamp inauguration

Given that all the most popular entertainers are refusing to perform at the Fourth Reich installation, Borowitz hits another home run with this one:

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—After having difficulty persuading prominent entertainers to participate at the event, the Trump transition team announced on Sunday that the Russian President Vladimir Putin would sing at Donald J. Trump’s Inauguration next month. In a brief statement from the Kremlin, Putin said, “I will be most delighted to perform for my comrade.”

The choice of Putin raised eyebrows in Washington, since the Russian, while famous for invading neighboring countries and imprisoning political opponents, is not particularly well known as a singer. The Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway pushed back against such criticism during an appearance on CNN. “If we limited ourselves to people who had talent and experience, that would disqualify half of our Cabinet,” she said.

Hillary's plea to an elector

Funny yet true.

The transition to biosphere consciousness has already begun

Ok, maybe not in the US. But still it's flowering elsewhere. Following up on this post, here's a 2010 'integral' Rifkin riff on the emerging ecological consciousness. To highlight from the below: "Making global connections without any real transcendent purpose risks a narrowing rather than an expanding of human consciousness." The rest:

"The real crisis lies in the set of assumptions about human nature that governs the behavior of world leaders--assumptions that were spawned during the Enlightenment more than 200 years ago at the dawn of the modern market economy and the emergence of the nation state era. The Enlightenment thinkers--John Locke, Adam Smith, Marquis de Condorcet et. al.--took umbrage with the Medieval Christian world view that saw human nature as fallen and depraved and that looked to salvation in the next world through God's grace. They preferred to cast their lot with the idea that human beings' essential nature is rational, detached, autonomous, acquisitive and utilitarian and argued that individual salvation lies in unlimited material progress here on Earth.

"The Enlightenment notions about human nature were reflected in the newly minted nation-state whose raison d'être was to protect private property relations and stimulate market forces as well as act as a surrogate of the collective self-interest of the citizenry in the international arena. Like individuals, nation-states were considered to be autonomous agents embroiled in a relentless battle with other sovereign nations in the pursuit of material gains.

Solar power now cheaper than wind power

See this article. This is in large part due to China rapidly deploying the tech and helping to finance it in other countries. Solar is also undercutting fossil fuel prices. Besides China, other emerging markets are leading the way, like Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, South Africa, and India. The OECD countries meanwhile are still mostly tied to fossil fuels. And the US, with its new government administration, will set back alternative energy production in the US for decades, as it's now completely controlled by the fossil fuel industry.

The new Environmental Protection Agency's agenda

Something to consider for you Bernie or busters that voted your 'conscience.' Did you really think that Clinton and her Cabinet would be this bad for the environment and our literal survival? See this Intercept report and tell me how that conscience is doing now?

The new EPA head, Myron Ebell, has been the Director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI). The article links to the CEI's legislative agenda, which will dismantle environmental safeguards while promoting fossil fuels. It even rationalizes that fossil fuels "increase life expectancy." Also follow the money: the CEI gets lots of it from the fossil fuel industry and the Koch brothers. See the article for many specific CEI, and soon to be EPA, plans to implement this agenda. And welcome the exponential increase in likely irreversible climate change disasters. It's the end of the world as we know it.

Weekend update on the Russian hacking

While this SNL segment is admitted fake news, it always turns out to be far more accurate than the plethora of fake news on the internet touting to be real. Then again, SNL's audience has more than half a brain and can tell the difference, unlike most Twamp supporters that live entirely in their brain stem like swamp creatures.

Twamp the useful idiot on SNL

They did yet another of their parodies on one of their easiest targets ever. They start with Twamp's 3rd-grade grasp on the English language, poking fun at how he said the word 'unpresidented' instead of 'unprecedented' in a recent Tweet. The proceed to demonstrate how Putin and the new Secretary of State will be running our government while the bewildered Twamp will be out of the loop, the perfect useful idiot, much like Dubya Bush. It's funny but also frightening because like Cheney with Bush, his VP and Cabinet will have all the real power and we already know what they're up to.

Twamp's climate science witchhunt

Following up on this post, Lee Camp comments on this witch hunt:

Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

Ha, this reconciliation at the heart of kennlingus and the model of hierarchical complexity is merely mythic, not even rational. Isn't it ironic, don't you think? Then of course there is amodal hier(an)archical synplexity.




Quote :According to leading expert on linguistics and cross-cultural mythology Lévi-Strauss, in every mythic system we will find a constant pattern: a persistent sequence of binary discrimination's (as between interior/exterior, individual/collective, spirit/matter, etc.) - followed by a ‘mediation’ (reconciliation) of the paired categories thus distinguished. The most basic function of a mythic belief-system, then, is not just to attempt this mediation of what is sensed as irreconcilable but to establish the possibility of reconciliation itself. So much so that for any given “mythic” structure of meaning and social belonging (e.g. conservative Christian, liberal-progressive, New Age pagan, secular-atheist, Western Buddhist, etc.) it is much more important to believe in the possibility of a solution (a reconciliation of opposites in higher synthesis) than ever to find one in actuality.
In other words, the function of a mythic belief system is to tell stories that eliminate the uncanny, the absurd, the bizarre and the dissonant from our self-understanding, with the all too human dream of a final pattern that makes everything make sense.

Democracy's tombstone

World Economic Forum on the 4th Industrial Revolution

I discussed this quite a bit in the IPS thread here on Rifkin's latest book. Not only will there be an increasing interface between humans and machines but a new economic system is arising after Keynesianism and neoliberalism, the neo-Commons. The video goes into many aspects of life affected by this shift, including education, work, healthcare, communication, energy etc. And at the heart of this new system is a shift to an ecological consciousness.

Even though the new President and Administration in the US will set back this transition for some time here, it will continue to grow in other places like the Scandinavian countries, Germany and even China. And eventually the US will wake up enough to elect leaders that will progress us toward this inevitable new and better world.

A literal white Christmas

A nativity scene without Jews, Arabs, Africans or refugees below. Except soon there won't be any trees left either. And all the animals will be in pens where they can't move, pumped with antibiotics and bred strictly for slaughter. And the north star, and all stars, will no longer be visible due to nuclear winter. Oh, and Merry Christmas.

Colbert honors our Russian master

In his monologue he starts by speaking Russian in honor of the Putin stooge about to take office. Then he addresses Twamp's idiotic remark about the White House not talking about the hack before the election when there is evidence to the contrary. Even Twamp talked about it and asked Russia to do the hack. He also addresses the transition team asking the Energy Dept. for the names of employees involved in climate science, ostensibly to fire them immediately and destroy said research.

Electors demand intelligence report

In this story there are now 70 electors that have signed on to a letter to the Director of National Intelligence. The letter says in part:

"The Constitution envisions the Electoral College as a deliberative body that plays a critical role in our system of government  --  ensuring that the American people elect a president who is constitutionally qualified and fit to serve. [...] The Electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations. We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as President of the United States."

I'm glad there are at least a few Electors that take their responsibility seriously. And of course they are all Democrats except 1, so the odds of enough Electors changing the results are nil. Still, it's a good sign that there are still some true patriots left that value the Constitution, not the empty rhetoric of the Republicans.

Update: The Director of National Intelligence is refusing to provide the intelligence briefing, so this is going nowhere. I hope the above 70 Electors still decide though to vote for someone other than the Russian  Manchurian candidate.

Christmas carpool karaoke

Drain the Twamp

What Twamp promised and what we're getting with his appointees are two different things. Per this source "Trump’s 17 cabinet-level picks have more money than a third of American households combined." He drained the swamp all right and installed those bottom dwellers right into the Twamp. And still some of those poor fools who believed him still cannot face the facts and are trying to rationalize all this as "well, he needs expertise from those that know the system." Yeah, they know the system all right: How to manipulate it for their own benefit while screwing everyone else. Some folks are just not capable of learning.

Twamp blatantly lied to 66 million Americans

I know, it's not news since it's an everyday occurrence. Seems people have gotten inured to this fact. This article proves that Twamp lied about the White House not mentioning the Russian hack before the election when it's a matter of record that indeed it did. "Here is the first sentence of Ellen Nakashima’s October 7 Washington Post report: 'The Obama administration on Friday officially accused Russia of attempting to interfere in the 2016 elections, including by hacking the computers of the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations.'” Since Twamp and his bottom feeders can't accept reality then surely this must be a conspiracy by the Washington Post and the White House to print this story after the fact and somehow inject it back in time.

Minnesota Billionaire Governor's economy strong

See this story. Billionaires per se are not the problem. It's how they implement policy and run their businesses. The MN Governor instituted a higher minimum wage and increased taxes on the wealthy and now the economy there is booming. MN has reduced unemployment, turned their budget deficit into a surplus, increased job growth and increased median income. There are numerous examples of States that implement these policies and improve their economies, thereby once again proving this agenda works while trickle down does not (and never has).

CA Governor Brown defies Twamp's anti-climate change agenda

Kudos to Governor Brown for this defiance. The Twamp Admin will cut climate science research money, including disabling satellite monitoring. Brown pledges that CA will then launch its own satellite to keep up on the data. This is what we need, the progressive States to do their own programs and fight back against the most regressive regime in US history. Which States, by the way, provided almost 3 million more popular votes for Clinton in the election, the true winner.

Regifting America

Colbert calls it that but it's really more like a violent, non consensual sexual act.

Senate majority leader covered up Russian hacks

See this report. McConnell not only knew about this before the election but threatened retaliation if anyone revealed it before the election. Yep, country first with these power mongers who would rather a Russian stooge in the Presidency then a competent Democrat. Of course they think they can control the Stooge and so far they are right with the staff appointments, including the VP pick.

Why the Dakota pipeline protest is required

See this story, where an oil pipeline broke 2.5 hours away from Standing Rock. It's not if these pipelines will break or leak, it's when. There have been 220 such leaks in the US just this year.

Speaking of sweatshops

Continuing from this post, a meditation on this tarot card:

He works hard for the money but by the looks of his tattered jacket he isn't paid much. He can't afford to live in the city so lives and works in a small rural town on the outskirts where the cost of living is less. His wares though are likely sold in the city where the money changers make the profit on his work while paying him pennies on the dollar. It's the typical capitalistic sweatshop overseas where Walmart has its products made and then sold in the US, where it can treat its US workers in like fashion.

Demand a new vote

Please consider this petition:

"In light of recent evidence reported by the CIA, that the United States 2016 Presidential Election has been infiltrated and tampered with by the Russian government to elect Donald J. Trump, in collusion with the FBI, and abetted by widespread voting malfeasance and suppression, We The People of the United States demand a new vote on the 2016 Presidential election, to take place in Federal buildings, and overseen by the Federal Government."

Christmas thoughts

Consider the sweat shops when you're on your Christmas buying spree.

Amy Schumer's Paris visit

She is sooooo funny.

Palast: It's not a recount when

you don't count the votes in the first place. Grep Palast has done in-depth investigative reporting on the Interstate Cross-Check program that cut thousands from the voter rolls, mostly minorities that vote Democratic. In this clip he just returned from the recount in Michigan where there were 75,355 votes for President in Michigan that were not even counted, mostly in Detroit and Flint in you guessed it, Democratic districts.  And the MI Attorney General said that the recount could not look at those ballots. Another 50,000 were purged from voting due to cross-check. Then a MI court stopped the recount altogether because Jill Stein did not have standing, meaning the outcome would not affect her chance of winning. Twamp was right; the system is indeed rigged.

Energy Dept. tells Twamp transition team to go to hell

Recall this story where the transition team wanted a list of Energy Dept. employees involved in climate change science. Today the Energy Dept. told them to fuck off, we're not giving you that information. Good for them. It's the only reasonable response to the these regressive bullies.

Borowitz: Putin to get intelligence briefings for Twamp

Here's his full piece:

Putin Agrees to Receive Intelligence Briefings in Trump’s Place

By Andy Borowitz

  11:20 A.M.

 

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—In what Donald Trump’s transition-team members are calling a further example of international coöperation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to receive daily U.S. intelligence briefings in the place of the President-elect.

Trump, who had earlier decided that he did not need the briefings and had assigned Vice-President-elect Mike Pence to receive them, said on Tuesday that Putin was a “much better choice.”

Olbermann on the Russian coup

He reiterates several of the points I made in recent posts in his inimitable style and flair. I'm so glad we have him back commenting on political affairs.

Colbert on Russia winning the cold war

He starts his monologue last night with Twamp complaining about political correctness over Time calling him Person of the Year instead of Man of the Year. It's not PC of them but it is sexist of Twamp's response. Then he moves into Twamp's Secretary of State pick, a Putin stooge. Plus there's Twamp's own dealings with Russia, as well as the CIA report of Russia hacking the election to favor him. Yes, Russia won the cold war and installed a puppet dictator in our Presidency.

Sanders in forum with Twamp supporters

Interesting to hear how the bottom feeders rationalize their support. Twamp calling for a Muslim ban based on xenophobia is called "starting a conversation." And how Sanders diplomatically counters such specious beliefs.

Putin's coup

And without firing a single shot. Borowitz said on FB: "Putin Agrees to Receive Intelligence Briefings in Trump's Place."