Google is the Absolute Pits

Here are some suggestions for Google's parent/holding company (Alphabet, since 2015):  [Their new motto is  "Do the right thing."; following are some right things that need to be done...ASAP.]

1.  Implement a helpful, decent, effective Customer Service system.  Right now you essentially have none at all.  You seem to think we users have time to screw around with your discussion "Forum", or to decipher what some guy with a heavy accent IN INDIA is trying to say in English.  At the very least, get a Customer Service email address...you know, like most companies have done.  Yes, that means you'll have to hire more people;  try to do that in the USA.

2.  Stop making us re-sign-in to everything Google just because we use a different device once in a blue moon.

3.  Understand that some of us out here in the real world don't have a cell phone.  So, when you ask us to give a phone number during your "Security Check-Up", all you're going to get is a landline.  Then you, living in the Land of Assumptions, try to send us some "6-digit verification code" by text that we're supposed to enter online in the "Security Check-Up".  Ooops...it's a no-go.  Or, you ask us to supply a "recovery email"...different from our normal email.  Sorry, I only have one email...can barely keep up with that.  Don't want two.

4.  Tell your East Indian CSRs it's really not professional of them to hang up on a caller seeking help...especially when that caller has been polite & civil.  I called a "Technical Help" number, explained the problem (# 3. above), and was told at the end, "Well, you have to talk to the Technicians."; then he hung up.

5.  Take whatever steps necessary to dispel the reputation you Tech companies are getting amongst those of us who are not Tech Whiz Kids.  That reputation is as follows:  you don't seem to care one whit about everyday users; you only seem to care about advertisers.  If it weren't for us users, you wouldn't have any advertisers.  Hello.

6.  Insert some common sense into your approach to "security".  Anyone with at least half a brain knows that nothing on the Internet is "secure", no matter what you say; therefore, none of us with any sense at all reveal any sensitive info on the Web.  Give us a choice regarding all this supposed "security". 

How do I know that nothing on the Web is secure?  Headlines for the last 20 years have proven that's so.  Major companies, even banks, government agencies, and even the Pentagon have all been hacked.  And you're worried about my email?  Really?  Here's a clue:  I'm not...because there's nothing in my email account worth stealing.  There's no sensitive info there at all.  And, after all, it's my email, not yours.  Also, this computer belongs to me, not you; if I don't want your "email security" for my email on my computer, that should be my business, not yours.  Hello, again.  I suspect that all this supposed "security" somehow benefits you and your advertisers, not me.
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It's definitely unfortunate that the Internet is not considered a Public Utility by the Corporatist Republicans and Corporatist Democrats in DC.  Anyone with any common sense knows that the Web is a Public Utility.  Too bad that neoliberal privatization has been the flavor of the day for decades.  When the recent trashing of net neutrality by the current Administration kicks in, we'll all be disadvantaged.  The Elites win again.
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Yes, this essay is a rant; ranting helps prevent ulcers.  😊

p.s.  I'll bet most users are wondering:  where is the "security" protecting us from intrusion by private Tech companies???  That security doesn't exist.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

War is a Racket

"As I look back on my 33 years of service in the Marines---from Second Lieutenant to Major-General---I realize that I've been nothing but a thug for Bankers and Big Corporations."  ~ General Smedley Butler

See brainyquote.com for more quotes by General Butler.

Only people who don't know what's going on still believe that our brave & well-meaning military folks are fighting for freedom, democracy, etc.  In actual fact, they are the unwitting enforcement arm of our Fed Reserve Bank and other Western World Mega Banks, as well as other major Corporations whose leaders believe they are the real rulers of the world.  Butler clearly pointed that out in his book, "War is a Racket".

Now (& for some time) that both Repubs & Dems in DC pretty much ignore and/or violate key parts of the U.S. Constitution, the Corporatists are free to complete their establishment of Global Private Rule.  Public Governments still will exist, but only as window dressing.  By the way, none of this is a "grand conspiracy"; to the Powers-That-Be, it's simply "good business practice" and "the best thing for the world".  It's also important to grasp the fact that Corporatists are NOT Free Market Capitalists; instead, they are Fascists.  The very last thing they want is a Free Market.  They prefer a series of Monopolies supported by their puppet governments.

To those who believe Trump is fighting all this, and is the champion of the Common Man, you are sadly mistaken.  Trump is the quintessential elitist, Corporatist, Establishment, Crony Capitalist...the worst kind of capitalist.  He's a serial liar, a Super-Rich snob, a gaslighter, and doesn't care at all about the bottom 90-99% of the USA citizens.  He's just telling you what he thinks you want to hear.  His whole history proves all the above.  Study it, and then you'll see.  A good start is the documentary, "Meet the Trumps:  from Immigrant to President"; it's found on Netflix and elsewhere.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

We're Voluntarily Heading to the Brave New World

Below is my response to a forwarded, satirical email from a dear friend.  In that piece of satire, a caller is ordering a pizza from what turns out to be "Google Pizza" instead of "Gordon's Pizza" .  As the conversation proceeds, the customer is amazed to discover that the business knows the caller's pizza-ordering history, medical history, finances, etc., etc.  The header of the forwarded email is:
"This could be where things are heading.

                                                                      .... Partially there now?"

My response has been edited for this venue...in particular, the last four paragraphs have been added.

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We're probably HALFWAY (or more) there already.  Plus, people who have this small electronic tower (I think one is called Alexa, or something) in their homes that they request things of, and that listens to the household even when it's turned off, are flat-out crazy...or maybe merely not thinking clearly.  

Employees at some company recently agreed to have electronic chips embedded in their hands (or maybe some other part of the body...can't remember).  There certainly are some advantages to having "chipped" humans (e.g., opening restricted doors, finding lost kids, kidnapped people, etc,), but the dangers far outweigh the benefits. Imagine what an errant gov't or company could do with such tools.

How people cannot see the danger of these things is completely beyond me.  We seem to be voluntarily heading into the Brave New World.  All because these gizmos supposedly make life "easier" & "more convenient".  The whole thing is just plain nuts... chips in humans, SMART HVAC systems, SMART household appliances, SMART cars, SMART anything, including---Hello--- SMART phones.  They're all hackable, by individuals or by institutions public and private.  Privacy not only is at risk, but privacy also is starting to be treated as some sort of anti-social sin.  The former is bad enough, but the latter is even more dangerous.

The Corporatists---the Powers-That-Be---want to eliminate privacy as much as humanly possible.  They appear to believe that's a very good thing.  As a corollary, it seems they want people who seek solitude to be thought of as anti-social (in a harmful way), off-kilter, perhaps even mentally ill or dangerous.  The Corporatocracy is working toward having us all in a closely-watched herd, or a series of such herds...because herds are easier to manage than free-thinking individuals.  In a still relatively free society such as ours, the Powers-That-Be can't rely on massive brute force to control us, so instead, they use Edward Bernays style Propaganda--- molding the public mind--- and maximum surveillance.  History shows those have been very effective.

All the above must be peacefully resisted if we are to retain any semblance of freedom.  Protect your privacy as much as possible.  Avoid "tracking" of your activities whenever possible.  Speak up against the War on Cash (the War on Un-tracked Transactions).  Avoid surveillance whenever possible.  Gov't AND Big Biz have no business whatsoever in tracking our activities unless we are suspects in a crime.  But they have adopted the attitude that everyone should be tracked and/or surveilled.  That's a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment.  According to the Fourth, the people are to be "secure in their persons, houses, PAPERS and EFFECTS" (emphasis added) unless there's "probable cause" and a properly obtained, specific, and signed Warrant.  The NSA hasn't observed that in decades...and the Big Boys in the Telecom Industry have assisted the NSA in constantly recording our emails & phone calls...1.5 billion emails per day are recorded in the USA.  The Snowden documents revealed that the NSA has a program (can't recall the name of it) the goal of which is to record "everyone, everywhere".

At times, a few "Conservatives" have said to me, "If you're not doing anything illegal, why should you care?  What do you have to hide?"  Are you kidding me?  1. What the NSA is doing in that regard is unconstitutional, and thus illegal.  2. No one needs to justify wanting & protecting privacy...it's a Natural Right.  3. There's a definite danger in relinquishing your privacy; the info obtained easily can be used against anyone who is a critic of the Gov't (or some Mega Company), especially by any rogue element within the Gov't (or Corporation)...and you would most likely never know who did the deed that ruined your life.  And all that could happen to individuals who never broke the Law.

Do I really have to remind everyone of McCarthyism?  Why in the world do you think the Fourth Amendment was created...perhaps to protect you from an errant Gov't?  Hello.  It slays me that "Conservatives" rail against "Big Government", and yet for the most part, fully support the massive NSA---many, many times larger than the CIA---and its illegal, unconstitutional activities (I'm not saying all their activities are such).  Do you support the Constitution, or not?  You can't have it both ways and still be ethically consistent...or even make any common sense.
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Not only my opinion.  Happy Trails

Trump Admin Wants to Kill Net Neutrality Rules

Ajit Pai, who originally was brought into the FCC by Obama and more recently was appointed as FCC Head Honcho by Trump, is planning to eliminate Net Neutrality Rules (referred to as NNR in the rest of this piece).  Pai has a credible background, but it should be noted that he did a two-year stint as a Verizon attorney.  He claims that the NNR are hurting Business interests, stifling job development, and that the Mega Internet Providers should be allowed to "voluntarily" comply with the spirit of the Rules.  Please...who in their right mind thinks that will work out in favor of the rest of us?

I don't have the time to detail all the reasons why NNR need to be retained forever, so if you're not already familiar with those reasons, do a Search for:  what killing net neutrality means for the internet.  Suffice it here to say that those Rules prevent the Mega Players from screwing over 99.9% of us relative to internet usage.  Killing the NNR would hurt us and benefit the Big Boys in the Internet Game.

Although the Oligarchs lost the last battle over this issue, it's obvious they haven't quit the war.  They never will.  That's because the internet is the greatest democratizing tool ever to exist...and they know that.  The Gaslighting Trump knows that, and the last thing billionaires want in a society is full participatory democracy.  As in the last battle over NNR, it again will take millions of citizens speaking out to overcome the Oligarchs' efforts to eliminate these protections.  On Wednesday, July 12, you'll see all kinds of postings on the Web showing you how to have your voice heard.  Please participate.  If you don't, it's pretty much guaranteed that:  the cost of internet usage will increase; there will be "slow lanes"; some sites will be "throttled"; smaller ISPs will be hurt; and outfits such as Comcast and Verizon will be the BIG winners.  There will be censorship on items/ideas that never should be censored.

To those of you who still support the Corporatists in the Executive Branch (or anywhere else), this issue further demonstrates that their beliefs & policies definitely do not favor the everyday citizen.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Deceitful, Stumblebum Democrats & Republicans in DC, the Corporate Media, and the Russians

Below is my Reply to an email from an organic farmer friend.  He stated in his email that the Repubs were only three States away [Democracy Now claims they're six States away] from being able to call an Article V Constitutional Convention, and that they would do so in order to push through Amendments making the USA even more of a Corporate State.  He thought the time was ripe for them to make such a move.  I've edited my response a tiny bit for this venue.

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I doubt there ever will be another Constitutional Convention.  That would open up a can of worms with which Repubs don't want to deal...because then they would have to be on the record regarding being against a bunch of common sense things, such as Term Limits.

Enough States have called for a Convention numerous times...Congress always has just ignored it (thus violating the Constitution), even when Repubs were in Power.

See:  http://foavc.org  (Friends of the Article V Convention).

You may be right, but it's highly doubtful.  The GOP is way behind on its promised blitz of legislation, investigations are going on, some of the Repubs are hiring private lawyers, and over 200 SENIOR Staff positions in the Administration still are unfilled...100 of them are in the State Dept.  Plus, there's a good deal of dissension in their ranks.  There's just too much on their plate now, and it's going to get worse for them.  For one thing, the spending bill extension (or whatever it's called) runs out before Fall; then they have to deal with raising the Debt Ceiling. 

Trump's Administration already is failing.  I don't think the guy could organize a successful Bake Sale.   He's too arrogant & egotistical to do anything in which he's not the dictator of the whole scene.

The last Constitutional Convention was in 1787.  They don't have the time or the focus to launch another in the near future.  Finally, it's possible that by the time they get those three [or six] States, the Mid-Terms will be here & many/most of them will be out of office.  Of course, that depends on the Democrats, who (like the Repubs) seem to have no clue as to how to run a railroad...or anything else.  

The major political Parties are an utter failure.  They just stumble around, and every so often look out the window of their Ivory Tower while wiping the excess gravy from the Congressional Gravy Train off their lips...trying to figure out what We the People on the ground want from our politicians, or how to further deceive us.  Then, puzzled by trying to understand folks outside the DC Beltway, they go back to bellying up to the Public Trough & slurping their way through the rest of their Term.  They are a disaster, & gave rise to the likes of The Don & his Crew of Corporatist mobsters.  What a tragic joke politics is in America.  Any good politicians are either marginalized or assassinated.

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The following was not included in my Reply---

Trump's recent, childish, "wrestling" Tweet/video clip speaks for itself.  Even the most die-hard of his supporters should be embarrassed for our country.  His behavior (e.g., the recent video clip, his shoving of a Leader to the side onstage at an International Conference, his ridiculous handshake in which he sometimes jerks the other person toward him, his silence when asked a question by Angela Merkel at a Press Conference, etc.), his outright lies, and his ignorance of domestic & world affairs all demonstrate that he isn't even close to being Presidential material.  What he's doing is "gaslighting".  [Google:  What is gaslighting?]  Trump may be ignorant, but he's not stupid.  He's a serial liar, and a dangerous, deceitful person.

As to the Corporatist Democrats, they continue harping on this narrative:  the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming.  [That's the title of a 1966 movie, a comedy-drama.]  Anything to distract from their own failure and corruption.  Anything to distract from their rigging of the Dem Primaries in the last election.  The Corporate Media aid & abet them in the hysteria over Russia "interfering in our election".  Their caterwauling about it is the height of hypocrisy.  Back when, our Gov't made certain that Boris Yeltsin was elected to Office in Russia.  Never mind the dozens of times the Feds interfered with elections in other countries all around the world...including complete overthrows of gov'ts.  Where is the discussion of the content of Podesta's hacked emails???  The Corporate Media briefly skimmed the surface of that, and then buried it.  Instead, it's Russia, Russia, and more Russia.  Russia doesn't want a war with us; it's our Elites who keep provoking things.

Both the Repubs and Dems are bound and determined to demonize Russia and deepen the New Cold War...and New Arms Race.  [The USA is the largest Arms DEALER in the world.]  Anything to distract from the total failure of our two major Parties.  It's no wonder that an idiot such as Trump got into Office.  It's past time to peacefully rectify a situation which threatens not only us, but the entire world as well.  The Corporatists (including Trump) must be kicked out of politics in this great Land.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Trump---the Fake Rebel

Trump is (& has been) up to something; WHAT is not clear.  His actions can't just be chalked up to "he's a rebel politician".  Being petty, petulant, paranoid, ignorant, unprofessional, reckless, & immature (the way Trump is) never would serve a rebel well.  Something else is going on.

I certainly don't know, but maybe it's one or more of the following:

1.  he's using his office to further enrich himself; or,

2.  it's all a ploy to get Pence in as President; or,

3.  Trump is angling to repay the Bankers who bailed him out years ago; or,

4.  he really is an ignorant, petty, empty suit; or,

5.  he's mentally ill, or becoming senile; or,

6.  some combination of the above.

Most of the people of the world must be laughing themselves silly because of us having such a buffoon as our "leader".  Or, perhaps they're crying because he's so ignorant and dangerous.  Donald Trump has to be the most incompetent, ignorant, rude, and downright dangerous President this country ever has had.

The fact that he got elected really is a testament to how desperate Americans were for a change in the status quo.  His Fascist idiocy never would have been supported under normal circumstances.  The Corporatist Coup in this Land (ongoing with every Administration since 1981) is now complete.

Jefferson and Madison (both of whom were Elites) warned us way back at the beginning of our Gov't that this very thing was likely to happen...unless we remained vigilant.  We didn't remain so.  Our Founders are turning in their graves.  The Republic of the USA now exists totally in name only.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Observations on the Insanity of the Elites and on the Progression of Corporatism

Let's first define one term.  By "Elites", I'm referring to those who are either super-rich, or in positions of super-power and/or influence, or both.  These people are in public or private positions, or both.  It's a general definition; there are always a few exceptions to any general rule.  The exceptions, however, do not invalidate the general statement.
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1.  We've had the National Security & Surveillance State since at least 9-11-01.  Yes, security is important; however, excesses in that field by the Elites have created a monstrous problem.  It is this:  the Fourth Amendment essentially has been eliminated.  Other constitutional guarantees of protection against an errant gov't have been seriously compromised as well.  The Elites have done all this by various means, but often it's by passing laws in the dead of night before any of our "Representatives" have had a chance to even read a particular law.  Those who originate these laws (e.g., The PATRIOT Act, FISA, the National Defense Authorization Act, etc.) seem to have the insane idea that even though the laws are in conflict with the Constitution, somehow they trump that document, which of course, is the Supreme Law of the Land.  We the People appear to be putting up with this nonsense.

Perhaps it's past time to recognize that the "Security" State is more concerned with security for the State as opposed to for us.  We are fast going toward a Hard Fascist State, and leaving behind the Soft Fascism which we've had for at least a decade or more.  Many people don't believe that because, I think, they associate Fascism mainly with the anomalous weirdness of the German Nazis & their obsession with the elimination of Jews.  Let's not forget Franco's Spain and Mussolini's Italy; they were more truly Fascist.  Fascism means the marriage of the power of the State to the power of Big Business.   It's a totalitarian rule by public & private Elites.  That's what we're rushing toward in the USA.

2.  Not since the Cold War with the old Soviet Union have we been so close to a nuclear war disaster in the world.  The current crop of politicians in DC seem to hold the insane view that:  (a) "tactical" nukes can be used without any significant, serious, long-term, detrimental consequences to humans and our planet; these business folks probably haven't had a science class since high school, & they are clueless on this subject; and (b) a "first-strike" war is permissible under the Constitution and International Law... not true.

Critics of this critique probably will say something to the effect of:  Iran, Russia, and especially North Korea are a distinct danger to us, and threaten us repeatedly.  Some of that is true, but not to any serious degree.  What those countries are doing, for the most part, is pushing back against our threats to them.  We have economic and financial sanctions against them (especially N. Korea & Russia).  Sanctions are an act of war.  The Bully-Boy US Gov't seems to believe it can act against any other gov't in the world (including allies) and there will be no blowback.  That's an insane belief.

As reported by the dissident, Noam Chomsky (on Democracy Now), not long ago N. Korea offered to sit down and talk about their stopping weapons-delivery testing in exchange for our Gov't lifting sanctions against their country.  Our DC politicians refused to even consider it.  Naturally, to my knowledge that whole business never was revealed by the Corporate Media.  I'm not defending N. Korea; I'm against any totalitarian regime.  The point is, our Gov't appears to be escalating the situation, rather than diffusing it.  Worse, with Buffoon Trump, the politicians now are talking about a first-strike...with a possible nuclear option.  That's unmitigated insanity.

3.  Our top-level politicians, including both Democrats and Republicans (and those in the Corporatist Cabinet), seem to have lost all common sense.  Here are just a few examples of that.

(a)  The Democrats keep harping on the concept of Russia "interfering with" or "influencing" the last election here.  They can't or won't face the fact that the real reason they lost the last election (& not only at the national level) is because We the People no longer buy into their Corporatist and/or Neoliberal crap.  Almost without exception, top-level Dems are shills for the Wall Street Casino Capitalists.  They truly do represent the Status Quo...which most Americans have no patience for anymore.  Dems whining about the Russians displays hypocrisy to the Nth degree.  Our Fed Gov't has a history of interfering with elections, influencing electoral outcomes, and even overthrowing democratically elected gov'ts.  During the Clinton Era, our Gov't made sure that Boris Yeltsin got elected in Russia.  Top-level Dems are insane to keep on with this Russian interference narrative.

(b)  Trump and the Corporatist/Neoliberal Repubs are in the process of making it easier for the Financial Sector, especially the monopolistic Mega Banks, to screw over the bottom 99% of Americans.  They are doing so by removing the paltry restraints on the Crony Capitalist, Mega Banks.  They are guaranteeing the next Bust in the Boom-Bust American Business Cycle.  We're right on the cusp of being overdue for that Bust, and they are hurrying it along.  They do this because, for the most part, the Super-Rich benefit greatly from such a Bust.  How?  It's simple:  during a major recession or depression, the Elites can buy up assets cheaply.  We've seen it over & over in our history.  For example, not long after the 2008 Crash, Mega Banks bought up smaller and/or troubled banks at pennies on the dollar.  The "Too-Big-to-Fail" Mega Banks grew by 37%.  During the Great Depression of the 1930's, super-large landowners and banks bought up small farms and a myriad of other assets at bargain prices.  Assisting that type of scenario, as the current Repub Corporatists are doing, is insanity.  It will further ruin our country and cause great suffering among the majority of us.

(c)  Similar to the point above, both Repubs AND Dems refuse to bring back the Glass-Steagall Act.  In my view, their refusal is because they are Wall Street shills.  If Mega Banks want to play at Casino Capitalism using bizarre financial derivatives, then they should do so with their own money, not ours.  That's just common sense.  Anything else is insanity.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

A Blistering Critique of Democrats, Republicans, Trump, and the Deep State

Chris Hedges is recognized as a genuine "Progressive" and well respected as a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.

This clip (below), only about 12 minutes long, is on a site deemed by the Democrats & Republicans to be a source  of "fake news"...and also deemed by them to be a place where "supporters of Russian Propaganda" pontificate.  It's RT, formerly "Russia Today".  There are a few (very few) sites that really do put out fake news.  The stories are complete fabrications.  From what I've seen over the past two years, RT is NOT one of those sites.  They do, however, have a certain "slant" to many of their presentations.  That's easy to recognize and filter out...just as it is with any other news site. 

Analysts on both the American "Right" and "Left" often appear there as guests.  As one of many alternatives to Mainstream American Media, I've found it to be a very good source of analysis.  All news sites are "slanted" to one degree or another, & this one is no more so than Fox, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, Democracy Now, PBS News Hour, The Washington Post, New York Times, etc., etc.

Democrats and Republicans have failed...utterly.  The result is King Donald the First.  He won the election because people were justifiably angry, desperate, & wanting change.  [As a friend pointed out, there also was manipulation of the voter rolls by the Repubs with a program called "Crosscheck"; however, that does not explain why a lot of people voted for Trump.]  Unfortunately, Trump is a Corporatist and a Con Man.  He will violate the Constitution even more than Bill Clinton, Dubya Bush, & Obama.  The Police State here will grow, more money will be sucked away from the Lower & Middle Classes, and once again, the Deep State/Shadow Gov't will prevail.  The Super-Rich will get richer, and the economy will crash...more than it has already.  The 7-10-year Boom-Bust Cycle, which benefits the Upper Crust & has been ongoing for about 45 years, will continue.  

The good news is that it's likely we'll survive...and finally wake up & see through the Edward Bernays style Propaganda coming from the so-called "Right", the so-called "Left", and other Corporatists such as Trump.

This clip is a must-see; it's a brilliant critique---

https://youtu.be/iaoea9fcHDM

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Plutocracy and Politics in the USA

Below is an edited version of my email response to a friend.  He had written that our economic and social ills overwhelmingly were caused by the Republicans.  [Parts of this piece didn't copy/paste properly, and I don't have time to correct them.  It's all readable.]
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You'll never convince me that somehow Repubs are bad and Dems are much, much better.  Neither will anyone convince me of the reverse of that.  At the highest levels, those old labels don't matter anymore... they all (at the very top) subscribe to the Neoliberal agenda.  In developed countries, that agenda is sweeping the world with its Corporatist, Globalist "vision".

Pard, you appear to be completely misunderstanding what I've been saying.  Apparently, I haven't made it clear.  [All that is no surprise to me because humans are the worst communicators of all species on the planet.  We jump to conclusions, assume things not in evidence, fail to fully describe things, etc., etc.  Even honeybees communicate better than we do:]

I agree with your "facts" about certain people in politics.  What I'm trying to tell you is that, at the highest levels, it doesn't matter anymore if they are Repubs, or Dems, or Druids.  The Powers-That-Be don't care if Schumer is a Democrat, or if Ryan is a Republican... all they care about is whether or not those Corporatists support/promote the Neoliberal/Neoconservative, Corporatist, Globalization, Oligarchical agenda.  Anyone who doesn't support that agenda either never makes it to the top of the Power Pyramid, or if they do, they are completely marginalized.  [Ron Paul & Dennis Kucinich are good examples.]  That means, at the highest levels, Parties don't matter anymore.  At the top, they're all on the same team.  At the level of Main Street, Parties simply are used to distract, divide, & conquer us... and make us think that at the top there are significant differences on issues other than hot-button topics such as gay marriage or abortion.  There aren't.

There are little to no differences (at the highest levels) regarding war, the economy/jobs, High Finance and Monetary Policy, privacy & the Surveillance State, free speech, the Fed Reserve, the Police State, socialism for Mega Banks & Mega Insurance Corporations but no one else, USA Hegemony, and Corporatist Globalization.

Those of you who keep working in the old political paradigm are playing right into the hands of the Plutocracy.  They want us to fight with each 

other.  They want us to think "it's the other side's fault".

And that's working great for the Powers (public & private) at the top.

Trump isn't a "Conservative" OR a Republican; he's an apolitical opportunist.  He's nothing but a Corporatist.  So is Obama, who became 

a multi-millionaire while in office.  They're both Crony Capitalists.

Neither one of them cares one whit about any political Party.

The Powers-That-Be, regardless of political affiliation, are in a whole 

different world than we are...and they don't care about political Parties.  

They only care about power, position, money, and their own security.  

That's why young, relatively poor men are sent off to war in order to protect the lives & property of the rich old men who started the war for 

economic/financial reasons.  Parties have nothing to do with it.  

While not all Plutocrats are bad apples, their group/Class is ruining this country... primarily via Crony Capitalism.  In the first full year after the 2008 Crash, 93% of all wealth in the USA went to the upper one one-hundredth of a percent of our population.  That's not Free Market Capitalism, or a Republic, or a Democracy... that's a Plutocracy enabled by Crony Capitalism.  Russia has the same system--- the merging of State and Private Power.  It's the result of what one author called The Conservative Nanny State.  That's welfare for the Super-Rich... at the expense of the rest of us.  So far, it has amounted to trillions & trillions of dollars.

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Not only my opinion.  Be Well 

The Deceitfulness of Clinton is Astounding

At the Democratic Convention, Clinton made the following statement regarding the VP choice, Kaine:  "He's a Progressive who...".  If that weren't so comical, it would be tragic.  It's a bald-faced lie.  Kaine isn't in the same ballpark as Progressives; hell, he's not even on the same planet.  I'm not a Progressive, but even I know that.  So does Hillary.  Kaine is a Corporatist of the first order.  Anyone with any astuteness at all in the field of politics knows that.  All you have to do is look at his record.

That's how the Oligarchy operates.  They make false statements, and then repeat them until people start accepting them as true.  It's a tactic as old as politics.

So we have the deception of Clinton, and the ignorance of Trump... unless Trump's pronouncements are an act... which certainly is possible.  What a choice.  Of course, there are others running for President.

[For any new readers, I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, and don't support either Clinton or Trump.  I firmly believe we all should boycott the national election in November.  The new President already has been selected... by the major Party hierarchies, the Plutocrats, the Corporate Media, and the corrupt parts of the Financial Sector.  Basically, the election is over.  Right, Madam President?]

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

With the Kaine Choice, Sanders Already Has Been Marginalized... and the Repubs Have Given Up

The Democrats now have two Corporatists in the top slots, Clinton and Kaine.  The Sanders' contingent now is marginalized almost completely.  I suspect that some, perhaps many or most, Democrats think that the supposed demise of the DLC---and the return of the DNC---as the Head Honcho of the Democratic Party meant that the Dem Corporatist days were over.  The DNC may be running things, but the strategies, the policies, and the tactics are pure DLC...and, of course, Hillary and Bill were key figures in the DLC.  The Corporatists and the War Hawks win again.  C'est la vie.

The Republicans finalized their plans to split their Party and throw the November election.  Let's see, who didn't even show up at the Convention?--- all three Bush Boys (perhaps Poppy Bush is incapacitated, I don't know), McCain, Kasich, Rand Paul, Rubio, Romney, Graham, Toomey, and a few others whose names escape me at the moment.  So much for unity.  The Republican Hierarchy has decided to give the election to Wall Street's number one choice---Hillary.

Barring any extreme unforeseen circumstances, the November election essentially is over.  The Financial Sector and the War Hawks are the winners.  About 99% of the rest of us are the losers.  Even if by some miracle Trump & Pence win, the previous statements still stand.  Don't vote at the national level in November, or if you must, vote for a worthy alternative to the Corporatists.  There are several of them from which to choose...no matter what makes up your political beliefs.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Corporatism Wins Again: The Primaries, Trump, Clinton, Sanders, and Voters

Preface
I'm not a supporter of Trump, Sanders, or Clinton.  Even if any of their supposed Populism is genuine (& with two of them, I'm sure it isn't...with Sanders, I don't know), I don't believe it's possible anymore for a President to significantly change the rotten, corrupt State-Corporate System.  I think all national elections should be boycotted.  I mention all this only so you will know that I'm not biased in favor of any of the candidates.
...........................................
Here's one way that Corporatists have hornswoggled much of the American populace in this Primary election.  The night before the largest Primary election in the country (CA), the Associated Press and NBC both announce that Clinton IS the presumptive nominee of the Democrats.  That's a message to the unelected Superdelegates:  get on board with Hillary.  It's also a message to Sanders supporters:  you're wasting your time...stop being "spoilers".  The fact is:  even after the CA election, Clinton still doesn't have enough firmly pledged, elected delegates to be the Democratic nominee.  I imagine she will get the nomination, but that will be due to the unelected Superdelegates.  She has been courting them since her loss to Obama back when.

Here's another way that Corporatists have hornswoggled much of the American populace.  Trump is a candidate who normally would be shunned by the Corporate Media...because of his narrow views, because he apparently has no depth regarding proposed policies, because he appears to have little understanding of anything governmental, social, or economic, because he trumps Dubya Bush when it comes to putting his foot in his mouth, in short--- because he isn't a serious candidate.  The Corporate Media have embraced him (so to speak) because he's a money-maker for them.  The President of CBS (or CEO, or something) smilingly stated that.  That's why the Corporate Media have given him probably three times the coverage of any other candidate---Repub or Dem---in this whole Primary season.

People in the Shadow Government (a well-established concept by both the Right and the Left) must be tickled to death.  Those Corporatists want Clinton as President.  That's because she's a strong Wall Street, Mega Bank supporter and a fierce War Hawk & Perpetual War supporter.  That means more money & Power for them.  They know that Trump will be slaughtered in the November election.  But even if he isn't, even if by some miracle he wins, the Corporatists won't care...he's one of them.  They prefer Clinton only because Trump appears to be unstable, somewhat of a wild card.  Most of the time, it's difficult to determine exactly what he really believes.  The only thing they know for sure is that he's not any kind of Populist.  That's good enough for them.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Some of the Corporatists Finally are Waking Up re: the Economic Collapse

Quotes from---
Goldman Sachs:  "We are witnessing a Stock Market exodus.";
Bank of America:  "The U.S. may already be in a Recession.";
Wall Street Journal:  "A Hedge Fund Exodus";
CNBC commentary:  "This [the weak consumer] could be the 'Black Swan' for the economy.";
                                 "We are in the midst of a deceleration in the economy, and the chain of                     dominoes leading to a recession has started to fall.";
                                 "This is the foreshadowing of a recession.";
JP Morgan:  "An economic crisis is inevitable.";
                   "The U.S. economy is steamrolling toward a Recession."
                   "Recession risk in the U.S. is rising rapidly.";
Bloomberg:  "The Shipping News Says the World Economy is Toast.";
                    [The Baltic Dry Index is way down.]
                    "The clouds are gathering again over the global village we live in; they are getting darker every                        day.";
CitiGroup:  "The global economy is on the brink of a Recession.";
                  "The global economy seems trapped in a death spiral...";
US Bank CEO:  "I worry that the economic, political issues can impact people's incentive to consume and                                their optimism to go down. That's what worries me."
                          [Well, it's difficult to maintain an incentive to consume when:  your wages are stagnant; or                                you have a part-time or temporary job; or you're unemployed; and the cost of living                                     (especially groceries and rent) keeps going up.  Hello.]

The above institutions/people have only scratched the surface relative to the Economic Crash that already has started, but at least it's a start.  Now, if we can get the politicians to admit what's going on, maybe we'll get somewhere.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well, and Best of Luck to Everyone

Hillary Clinton is a Neoliberal Corporatist

Part of this piece is taken from a video I made and posted on my YouTube Channel.
[YouTube.com/user/scotthaley12]

As Jeremy Scahill (a best-selling author and producer of documentary films) put it in an interview on Democracy Now!, "She's a raging Neoliberal...".  That means Hillary is a Corporatist, not any kind of Populist... despite the propaganda to the contrary.

Harper's magazine (and the piece was re-posted on Bill Moyers & Company dot com) stated that Ms. Clinton "supported Bush's Iraq madness, Obama's Afghanistan & Libya stupidity, and her husband's pro-banker, pro-deregulation, and pro-'free-trade' policies...".  To those of the political Right who might be thinking all that sounds pretty good, you should think again.

Corporatism is NOT Free Market Capitalism.  Instead, it's the marriage of the power of the State to the power of Big Business.  Both FDR and Mussolini called that Fascism.  It's what we've had in the USA (and much of the world) for decades.  It's monopolism and Crony Capitalism.  It's raping economies around the world, and it's making the Super-Rich richer while shrinking the Middle Class.

The labels "Republican" and "Democrat" essentially are meaningless at the highest political levels.  Those labels once meant something; that's no longer true.  At the highest levels, the politicians pretty much are all Neoliberals... they are all on the same Team, so to speak.

Not just my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  It's not a "conspiracy".

Obama's Lies Increase in Size and Number

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/28/u-s-officials-invented-terror-group-justify-bombing-syria/

If it weren't so tragic, it would be absolutely comical.
1.  A President decides that he (alone, all by himself) can launch a war.
2.  Problem:  The Constitution says otherwise.  [The NYT's editorial board agrees.]
3.  Problem:  ISIS is not currently a threat to the U.S. or its allies...except for Iraq, which is finally supposed to be defending itself...and is now engaged in a civil war.
4.  Problem:  the public is sick to death of unending wars.
5.  Problem:  this war has no U.N. backing either...just like Bush's war.
6.  Problem:  mid-term elections are approaching.
7.  Solution---
WALLA!...Wallah!...Viola!---
There's a new Boogie-Man, more horrible than ISIS, and he's coming to get us!
Any day now!
[Even if that were true, it's a Law Enforcement issue.  Besides, History has demonstrated that a military cannot defeat a terrorist organization.  Remember British Palestine and the Jewish Irgun?  Remember Batista and Castro?  Remember Iraq?  In the longest war in our history, have we yet defeated the Taliban in Afghanistan?]

The propaganda for this new, current years-long war should be obvious to even the most die-hard Obama worshipper, Fed Gov't lover, and Oligarchy apologist.  Come on, people don't really believe this load of crap, do they?  It's interesting now that the illegal war has been launched, officials and the Corporate Media have backed off concerning the immediacy of the new threat.  Big surprise...not.

By the way, The Intercept website is unique in that the Fed Gov't has banned its employees from reading anything on it.  That's a bit like book-burning.  Be aware that if you read the article above, most likely you'll run a risk of being considered a "potential terrorist" by the largest terrorist group in the world--- the highest levels of the U.S. Fed Gov't.  Of course, you'll be the wrong kind of potential terrorist.  Many of us feel that we're free to read whatever the hell we want to in this country, so we go to the site daily.  You may not want to take that risk... unless you really desire some independent, non-corporate news.  [The Gov't hasn't banned Democracy Now! yet; you also can get non-corporate news there.]

Meanwhile, we're bombing both ISIS and Al Qaida (the Nusra Front) targets in Syria, two groups who hate each other and are rivals.  Plus, Human Rights Watch (a fairly conservative rights-watch-group) is calling for an investigation into a U.S. Tomahawk missile strike that allegedly killed five children and wounded other civilians.  If it happened that way, once again your tax dollars are killing children...not 500, as in Gaza, but even ONE is too many.

Lastly, the Republicans, the other branch of the Mega Transnational Corporatist Party in the U.S., are no better.  The Oligarchy rules.

Be Well  
p.s.  I love this Land, but Democrats and Republicans have subverted our Gov't to the point where it's now a soft Fascist Police State primarily serving mega, transnational CORPORATIONS at the expense of the rest of us.  We can end this abomination peacefully.  STEP ONE:  stop drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid.

Crony Capitalism and Why the American Economy Still is Doomed

In addition to the USA, this whole business applies to many, many other countries.

If you're a harsh critic of David Stockman (Reagan's Budget Director), as I have been for years, please try to suspend any prejudices about him and watch the fairly recent Bill Moyers interview of Stockman found at the link below.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cscD9pGGwIU

That interview is the best explanation I've seen of why/how:
1.  Crony Capitalism, which has devastated our economy, differs from Free Market Capitalism.
2.  The labels of "Republican" and "Democrat" really don't matter anymore.
3.  Oligarchs in BIG Business (mega, transnational corporations) have taken over the Fed Gov't.
4.  Financialization has contributed greatly to the ruination of our economy.
5.  In the last 20 years or so, Repubs and Dems have had essentially the same economic policies.
6.  Mega corporations such as GE have decimated the USA manufacturing base.
7.  The "Free Markets" of the last 20 or so years are not Free Markets at all.
8.  Corporate welfare (only for mega corps.) is expected as an entitlement by the Big Boys.
9.  Bill Clinton, Dubya Bush, and Obama all have rigged the economic Game to favor super-rich Oligarchs.
and
10.  The bailouts of "Too Big to Fail" constituted the greatest heist in our history by financial institutions that presently are even larger than they were before the bailouts.

In addition, Stockman points out something I've indicated on a previous post:  30-40 years ago, the Business Culture in America was significantly different than now; CEOs were concerned about the health of not only the company, but also the health of their communities and the American economy.  Today it's mostly about only short-term profits and golden parachutes.

This is not the same David Stockman of years ago.  This guy has nailed what's wrong with today's American economy.  He agrees with many others (and I agree with them as well) that despite so-called "reforms" by Congress, almost nothing has changed since "Too Big to Fail".  Another economic crisis currently is in the making...and there's a chance that it will be even larger than 2008.  He also agrees that this whole scenario is not due to one political party or another; instead, the fault lies at the feet of Crony Capitalists.

The interview is about 25 minutes long, and it's a must-see for anyone hoping to understand why our country is going down the drain.  [This is not pessimism, it's plain reality.]  For things to change, we have to stop drinking the Edward Bernays style Propaganda Kool Aid.  We're being played for chumps by both Repubs and Dems at the highest levels.  It really is time to wake up.

Be Well

Computer/Internet Tech Whiz Kids Are Crazy

I'm hoping that family/friends/email acquaintances will see this post because it contains an alternate email address...even after successfully going through all their "security" questions, Hotmail won't let me access my scottfree12 account.  New/alternate email:  AbstractCowboy@hotmail.com .  I can't remember too many email addresses, so drop me a note at my alternate address.  Am hoping sooner or later to convince Hotmail that the other "[another] person [is] using this account" (scottfree12) is me.  Then I can get back my email address "book".  Don't ever forget your email password if you have Hotmail.  Answering the "security question"---e.g., "Who was your favorite teacher?"--- will not be enough.  So my question to the corporatists at MSN is:  Why do you even have a security question?  It did not suffice in my case.  Neither did my full name, birthdate, latest email contacts, recent Hotmail folders created, etc.!  Wake up, Whiz Kids, enough of your security crap.  [Can you tell that I'm frustrated with Techs?  :)]

The move to the beautiful State of New Mexico was smooth, but tiring.  Am way out here in (essentially) the wilderness.  After moving into a cabin & finally getting a landline phone---cell coverage is nonexistent on the 50 acres---I spent literally hours on the phone trying to get high-speed or satellite internet.  Wild Blue Satellite has a customer at this place (100 yards down the driveway), but claims to have no coverage---at the end of an hour conversation trying to figure out how that could be so, the tech finally tells me that satellite internet is done by "allotments", & this area is full-up.  Am on "high-speed" dial-up now; what a joke---the "high-speed" part.

Have done 15 new paintings since arriving here.  Don't know yet if I can email those as attachments while on dial-up.  Time will tell.

My best to all.  Keep resisting the Crony Capitalist Corporatocracy, and be well.

A Paradigm Shift in Politics

The word "paradigm" and the phrase "paradigm shift" should be reserved to the natural sciences (and excluded from the social sciences), according to the reknowned Thomas Kuhn--- author of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Despite that, the words have found their way into many disciplines; therefore, with apologies to Kuhn, we shall apply them to politics.

The old paradigm in politics---Conservative versus Liberal (not classical liberal) or Right versus Left [or even Republican versus Democrat]---is rapidly dying, or already dead. This notwithstanding popular opinion to the contrary. A new paradigm has been emerging for decades, and so, we are in a paradigm shift of monumental proportions and significance. The new paradigm is not easy to describe or comprehend, but we'll give it a try below.

This description is not meant to be all-encompassing or strictly definitive, but merely an overview of the situation. Nor is it meant to coin terms. For lack of established terms, let's refer to one group in the new paradigm as the Globalist Corporatocracy, or for simplicity, the Corporatocracy. It is comprised of elites in the banking field, the corporate landscape, and the Government (particularly the Fed Govt) who are loosely joined by mutual interests and goals. We shall refer to the other group---much more difficult to define---as the National Sovereignty-Individual Sovereignty-Populist folks, or for simplicity, the Sovereigns.

The Sovereigns, though comprised of dissimilar groups, have evolved into a broad political category largely because of a shared disappointment with Government. Even folks of the Progressive Left have begun to realize that they have common interests and goals with Conservatives (not Neoconservatives) and Libertarians when it comes to issues such as individual rights, and accountability in Government. Many Sovereigns undoubtedly still do not see completely that Government and Corporatism now have a perfect marriage in the U.S., but the opportunist Bush is making that lack of sight more and more a thing of the past.

Our current President (King George), who ran in 2000 on a platform with planks of a humble foreign policy and no nation-building, completely reversed himself once elected. Commentators may crow forever about how 9-11 changed everything, but elements of the Bush Administration had plans for more use of the military and for nation-building LONG before 9-11. We may thank the current Administration, however, for bringing together unlike groups of people who finally are beginning to see the outline of a Shadow Govt (the Corporatocracy).

The Corporatocracy continues to promote the old political paradigm (Right versus Left) because it makes the electorate easier to manipulate. Nowhere is this more evident than in the mainstream, Corporate Media---which appear to be dominated completely by the Corporatocracy. Edward R. Murrow's warning about the devolvement of (in particular) TV News shows into vehicles controlled by biased Corporatism certainly was right on the mark. The old "divide and conquer" strategy is blatantly obvious in Corporate Media's promotion of an outdated, dying political paradigm. Pitting one group against the other is a good way to keep the shadow government out of the light of exposure. [The premise is: our ills are not due to the Corporatocracy, but rather to the activities of the Right...or, those of the Left.]

In our opinion, the paradigm shift became readily apparent (though it existed previously) shortly after the 1964 Presidential election. Barry Goldwater (the Right) and Lyndon Johnson (the Left) had been through a volatile and heated campaign for the Presidency, and Johnson won in a landslide victory. There were many issues involved, but it eventually boiled down to this: Goldwater was portrayed as a "warmonger", and Johnson was portrayed as the "peace" candidate. Keep in mind that up until the election our involvement in Vietnam was relatively minor. We all know what happened: after being elected to office and sworn in as President, it didn't take Johnson long to begin an exponential escalation of the Vietnam "War" (it was officially known as the Vietnam Conflict, primarily because Congress had not declared war). The "peace" candidate of the Left became the "warmonger" of the Right, so to speak.

Johnson did not run for a second full term, so in 1968 it was Richard Nixon running against Hubert Humphrey. Humphrey definitely could be considered a Liberal, but Nixon---though he ran as one---was no Conservative. At best, Nixon was a Moderate. He ran vowing to end the increasingly unpopular Vietnam "War". We all know what happened: Nixon took office in January, 1969, and our involvement in Vietnam did not end until 1975. [Nixon was out of office by then, due to the Watergate scandal.]

The point of this bit of history is to illustrate that the influence of the Corporatocracy was becoming more and more apparent in the middle to late '60s, and into the '70s. The military-industrial complex made a ton of money because of the involvement of the U.S. in Vietnam. Johnson, the "peace" candidate in '64, most likely was influenced heavily by the military-industrial complex (a major part of the Corporatocracy) to expand the war. Same with Nixon, who had run on a platform of ending the war. The Corporatocracy won---it didn't matter whether a Republican or a Democrat was President.

Other moves by the Globalist Corporatocracy can be seen in my previous post, The Fed Government & the Corporatocracy. The ultimate goal is seamless global business, with the political governments of the world run by a Corporatist shadow government, all for the benefit of billionaires. In all fairness though, we should concede that a few members of the Corporatocracy (e.g., David Rockefeller) do have some altruistic goals---they actually believe that they can save the world (eliminate poverty, etc.) if only we eliminate the restraints of national sovereignty and have a one-world government run by business people (corporatists).

In order for the Sovereigns to be politically effective, they have to throw off completely the old Right-Left paradigm. Should that happen (and it probably will...eventually), a political force will emerge that is fully capable of defeating the Corporatocracy. Until then, we should expect less individual freedom, the virtual elimination of borders, almost zero accountability in government, and more war.