Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Thursday, August 15, 2019
BIG News on the Economy
On Wednesday night, 8-14-19, in their News broadcasts, the Corporate Media finally admitted that a Recession "may be" in the near future. Isn't it amazing how we (according to them) went from "our booming economy" to a Bust "may be" right around the corner. Ha!
Of course, the Corporate Media have known that for at least a couple of years. Their News isn't "fake", but it's often incomplete. The metrics for the next Crash have been in place for, at a minimum, the last three years. News of a "booming economy" meant a "boom" only for a relatively small percentage of income earners. The underlying, base economy has been pretty much a disaster. Half the workers in this country are either in poverty, or bordering on it. HALF.
We're talking about workers, not people on assistance/welfare.
The greatest transfer of wealth (to the Upper Crust) in the history of humanity is still in full swing. The so-called "recovery" doesn't apply to the majority of Americans. I've gone through the stats in many previous posts, and don't have the time or energy to repeat that now. The reasons for this dire situation also have been detailed in previous posts.
Here's all you need to know for the near-term future: there's no "may be" or maybe (see the first paragraph above) about the coming Crash. It's about 99.9% guaranteed. We're overdue for it. Again, if you don't believe that, simply look at the time intervals between Booms & Busts from the 1973 Recession to present day. It won't be only here in the USA; it will be worldwide. It won't be a minor downturn. It will be a major Crash. All you can do is plan and act accordingly.
What does "plan and act accordingly" mean? Here are my main suggestions.
1. Pay down as much of your debt as possible. When the Crash hits, your income & purchasing power may go down, but debt payments likely won't.
2. Stock up on extra, everyday household goods...not only food, but paper goods, OTC meds, toiletries, anything you use regularly. Credit will dry up for a time (maybe a week, or two, or ?), and businesses run on credit, not cash. That means delivery of goods to stores will slow way down or stop...temporarily.
3. Keep some ready cash handy. How much depends on your comfort zone. Banks very well may limit withdrawals for a time.
4. Hang on to (or obtain with cash) hard assets. Their value will increase when inflation hits.
5. Don't take on more major debt, unless it's for an asset that you can sell relatively quickly. When announcing their "news" about the Recession, the Media suggested that you perhaps (because of current lower interest rates) should now buy a house or a car. That's wise advice only if you can pay cash and have no extra debt. Corporate interests want you to take on more debt...don't.
Not only my opinion. Be Well
Monday, February 13, 2017
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---
Not only my opinion. Be Well
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Throw Out the Constitution...
because ignoring it has the same effect.
One thing is glaringly obvious regarding the discussion about Syria & the authority to attack: no politician in DC and no one in the Corporate Media has said much of anything (perhaps nothing) about the Constitution. Instead, we hear about "precedents", the War Powers Act, Humanitarian imperatives, etc. There's a very good reason for that. Nowhere in the SUPREME Law of the Land is power delegated to the Fed Gov't to attack a country that is no threat to the USA and has not attacked us. If I'm wrong about that, I'd like to see anyone in the Gov't or anyone in the Corporate Media point out exactly where that power is enumerated in the Constitution.
I'm not asking commenters on various public forums to show me the constitutional authority... because my experience with comments there the last few days has shown me that (if those forums are representative samples of Americans' constitutional knowledge) most Americans nowadays know almost nothing about how this Republic is supposed to operate legally.
Someone needs to tell "Bomb-Bomb-Iran" McCain that the War Powers Act, along with every other LAW, does NOT supercede the Constitution. If Laws trumped the SUPREME Law of the Land, there would be no point at all in having a Constitution. For decades, the puppets in DC have ignored the Constitution at will. Not long ago, I saw a clip on YouTube in which a Congressman (can't remember his name) said to an interviewer, "Half of what we do is unconstitutional. What's the big deal?". That pretty much says it for politicians.
The Supreme Law of the Land is crystal clear on the permitted uses of the military, there are only three...1. To execute the laws of the land (as in the case of the Whiskey Rebellion in the mid-1790s). 2. To repel invasions. 3. To quell insurrections. [Numbers 1 & 3 appear to be so similar that in the last 50 years I've usually said there are only two permitted uses.] People sometimes retort that this is modern-day America; all that old stuff is completely out-of-date. Perhaps so; that's why there are two mechanisms for updating the Constitution---the Amendment process and the Constitutional Convention. Both were purposely designed to be cumbersome...changing the Supreme Law of the Land should not be easy. For a time, the DC puppets did use the Amendment process to update the Supreme Law, but then they quit. It was easier to pass laws. They gambled that the American public would not know the difference; apparently, they won. I guess it never occurred to the Founders that We the People would allow our servant government to ignore the Constitution.
The Commander-in-Chief is constrained by the permitted uses of the military enumerated in the Constitution. I've been appalled to read or sometimes hear people say something like: The Constitution doesn't prohibit the President (or anyone in Gov't) from doing thus-&-such; therefore he/she/they can do it. We are a Gov't of Enumerated Powers [Google it]; the enumeration of things that the Gov't can do IS the prohibition. Creating a comprehensive list of prohibitions would be impossible---the list would be endless. [Isn't American Government taught in schools anymore?]
President Obama claims to be a constitutional scholar; I see no evidence of that at all. Or, if he is one, then he's deceiving the public. Again, I challenge ANYONE in Gov't or the Media to show me legitimate, constitutional authority for attacking Syria...constitutional authority. Anyone in Gov't or the Corporate Media. [I'm not naive enough to expect a response.] I like Woody Allen's old joke: I feel much better now that I've given up hope. :)
One thing is glaringly obvious regarding the discussion about Syria & the authority to attack: no politician in DC and no one in the Corporate Media has said much of anything (perhaps nothing) about the Constitution. Instead, we hear about "precedents", the War Powers Act, Humanitarian imperatives, etc. There's a very good reason for that. Nowhere in the SUPREME Law of the Land is power delegated to the Fed Gov't to attack a country that is no threat to the USA and has not attacked us. If I'm wrong about that, I'd like to see anyone in the Gov't or anyone in the Corporate Media point out exactly where that power is enumerated in the Constitution.
I'm not asking commenters on various public forums to show me the constitutional authority... because my experience with comments there the last few days has shown me that (if those forums are representative samples of Americans' constitutional knowledge) most Americans nowadays know almost nothing about how this Republic is supposed to operate legally.
Someone needs to tell "Bomb-Bomb-Iran" McCain that the War Powers Act, along with every other LAW, does NOT supercede the Constitution. If Laws trumped the SUPREME Law of the Land, there would be no point at all in having a Constitution. For decades, the puppets in DC have ignored the Constitution at will. Not long ago, I saw a clip on YouTube in which a Congressman (can't remember his name) said to an interviewer, "Half of what we do is unconstitutional. What's the big deal?". That pretty much says it for politicians.
The Supreme Law of the Land is crystal clear on the permitted uses of the military, there are only three...1. To execute the laws of the land (as in the case of the Whiskey Rebellion in the mid-1790s). 2. To repel invasions. 3. To quell insurrections. [Numbers 1 & 3 appear to be so similar that in the last 50 years I've usually said there are only two permitted uses.] People sometimes retort that this is modern-day America; all that old stuff is completely out-of-date. Perhaps so; that's why there are two mechanisms for updating the Constitution---the Amendment process and the Constitutional Convention. Both were purposely designed to be cumbersome...changing the Supreme Law of the Land should not be easy. For a time, the DC puppets did use the Amendment process to update the Supreme Law, but then they quit. It was easier to pass laws. They gambled that the American public would not know the difference; apparently, they won. I guess it never occurred to the Founders that We the People would allow our servant government to ignore the Constitution.
The Commander-in-Chief is constrained by the permitted uses of the military enumerated in the Constitution. I've been appalled to read or sometimes hear people say something like: The Constitution doesn't prohibit the President (or anyone in Gov't) from doing thus-&-such; therefore he/she/they can do it. We are a Gov't of Enumerated Powers [Google it]; the enumeration of things that the Gov't can do IS the prohibition. Creating a comprehensive list of prohibitions would be impossible---the list would be endless. [Isn't American Government taught in schools anymore?]
President Obama claims to be a constitutional scholar; I see no evidence of that at all. Or, if he is one, then he's deceiving the public. Again, I challenge ANYONE in Gov't or the Media to show me legitimate, constitutional authority for attacking Syria...constitutional authority. Anyone in Gov't or the Corporate Media. [I'm not naive enough to expect a response.] I like Woody Allen's old joke: I feel much better now that I've given up hope. :)
Friday, December 7, 2007
"War Becomes Perpetual...
when it is used as a rationale for peace." ~ Norman Solomon, from the film at the link below.
This is excellent on propaganda in America. From LBJ to GWB, it details how "officials in Washington" and the media have sold wars to the public via distortions, omissions, and/or outright lies.
To my Conservative friends, yes, it leans Left (and is narrated by Sean Penn); but I'm not part of the Left, and I found great value in it. If nothing else, the Nixon tape on the nuclear option is worth the watch...and why Phil Donahue's show was cancelled...and several other interesting bits.
To those who really don't have time for these hour-plus documentaries, please try and watch at least the first 19 minutes. I don't think that you'll regret it. Can't do 19 minutes? OK...do 15 minutes, or 10.
http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/war_made_easy.php
This is excellent on propaganda in America. From LBJ to GWB, it details how "officials in Washington" and the media have sold wars to the public via distortions, omissions, and/or outright lies.
To my Conservative friends, yes, it leans Left (and is narrated by Sean Penn); but I'm not part of the Left, and I found great value in it. If nothing else, the Nixon tape on the nuclear option is worth the watch...and why Phil Donahue's show was cancelled...and several other interesting bits.
To those who really don't have time for these hour-plus documentaries, please try and watch at least the first 19 minutes. I don't think that you'll regret it. Can't do 19 minutes? OK...do 15 minutes, or 10.
http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/war_made_easy.php
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