"Hot Coffee"

I just now finished watching the documentary, "Hot Coffee".  It's online at NetFlix and probably other sites as well.  Remember the infamous McDonald's lawsuit involving a lady who spilled coffee on her lap?  Remember how most of us denigrated her for bringing suit against McDonald's?  This film covers that case and several others in the tort arena; more than that, it delves into the Oligarchy's role in so-called Tort Reform.

In the case of the lady suing McDonald's, my mind was completely changed.  After seeing photographs of the burns, finding out that her medical bills were well over $10,000, and that there were hundreds of prior similar incidents and McDonald's ignored all complaints, and that her recovery involved numerous skin grafts, I decided she deserved every penny she was awarded by the jury.  Most importantly, initially all she requested of McDonald's was that they pay her medical bills.

Another case involved a 19-year-old woman employee of KBR (a subsidiary of Halliburton at the time) who was gang raped in Iraq by male co-workers and then locked in a shipping container.  The criminal case went nowhere ("He said, she said", I assume), and she couldn't bring a civil suit---tort case---against KBR because her employment contained a mandatory binding arbitration clause in fine print.  It took her four years to get the case into court.  Another case involved a mother who gave birth to a mentally damaged son, the damage being due to obvious medical malpractice.  Because of caps on court case jury awards in her State, her son's medical bills are now being paid largely by MediCaid (in other words, by the taxpayer) instead of by those who caused the damage.  There were other cases covered in the film, but I don't have time to go into them.

The above cases certainly make the documentary interesting, but it's real value is in the exposing of the so-called Tort Reform propaganda.  Backed by mega corporations, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and former politicians such as George W. Bush, the tort reform movement is attempting (with significant success) to bamboozle Americans into believing that juries who hear tort cases somehow are incompetent when it comes to determining the amount of awards to plaintiffs.  Of course, the tort reform propaganda doesn't state it that way.  :)

I'm beginning to doubt that most people know the function of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in our society.  It's primary purpose is to be a lobbyist in DC for mega corporations.  It also funnels campaign funds to candidates for State Supreme Court Justice who are favorable to mega business interests.  Such Justices are then instrumental in overturning jury awards to wronged plaintiffs in tort cases.  The film documents such actions.

Tort Reform propaganda concentrates on those nasty trial lawyers [:)]; I fully admit that personally I don't care much for them either.  What the propaganda ignores and suppresses, however, is the fact that bringing suit in court is our main protection against shabby manufacturers, employers, and others.  The propagandists say that what they're against is FRIVOLOUS lawsuits, not the concept of bringing suit...and so, they promote caps on jury awards.  Think about that for a moment.  1. Frivolous lawsuits generally are thrown out of court.  2. Caps on awards apply to everyone and every case, not just those deemed frivolous by the Oligarchs.***  3. Without the possibility of a very large punitive damage award against them, those causing damage to people have little incentive to clean up their acts.  [***The film shows a clip of George W. Bush (back when) bragging to Congress that such-and-such Legislative Bill will put a stop to "frivolous" lawsuits by placing caps on jury awards to plaintiffs.  The man never could reason (or at least appears not to be able to).  Hey, Dubya, those caps you're so proud of apply to ALL cases.  They would even apply to a hypothetical case against a surgeon I once knew who used to boast that he could operate on a patient even when he (the surgeon) was "three sheets to the wind"... drunk.  Caps---what a dandy idea, George...yeah, right.] 

The Oligarchs also are rapidly implementing mandatory binding arbitration wherever and whenever they can, the purpose of which is to keep people out of court.  Do you hold a bank credit card?  If so, there's a 99% probability that if you have a dispute with the company, you cannot sue them in court---you're subject to mandatory arbitration.  The same is true if you own a cell phone...and many other manufactured goods.  It's also true for a large number of employees at a large number of places of employment.  According to the film, more employees now are subject to mandatory arbitration than there are members of employee unions.  No redress in court for you.  Anyone with common sense should be able to figure out that "arbitration" is a scam---it's biased in favor of the employer or manufacturer or other defendant.  The supposedly "independent" arbitrator would like more arbitration business from the Oligarch.  What do you, the plaintiff, have to offer?  Nothing, as far as the arbitrator is concerned.

Tort Reform and mandatory arbitration are two more oligarchical tools designed to dominate individuals and bypass basic individual rights.  Don't fall for the blatant propaganda.

Happy Trails

The Class War in America

I just now finished watching a fairly recent piece on Frontline, "Two American Families" with Bill Moyers.  Brilliant.  He chronicled the struggles of two families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin over a period of about twenty years.  What a vivid illustration of the economic travails of those hard-working folks and of a once-great country going down the drain.  I tried to leave a comment on the PBS website, but that function was not working for some reason.  My comment follows...

In my opinion, The Big Picture related to this story is as follows.  As Warren Buffett stated not long ago, "There's a Class War going on in America, and unfortunately, my class is winning.".  The Oligarchy, devoid of political ideology, for decades has been promoting Globalization for the simple reason that it greatly benefits the upper, upper crust.  Cheaper labor, relatively few health & safety standards for workers, relatively few environmental regulations with which to comply, no labor unions, etc. all mean more profits for the transnational mega corporations.  Manufacturing and jobs leave our country.  We are rapidly approaching the day when only two economic classes will remain in the USA:  the super rich and the poor or so close to poor that the difference doesn't matter.

Despite their rhetoric to the contrary, both Republican and Democrat politicians support (or do not oppose) the above scenario.  You think not?  If you were to name all the American politicians who do NOT support NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO, the IMF, and the like, I predict that the numbers of them would not take up more than the fingers of one hand...and those few folks have been marginalized completely.  Despite the unceasing propaganda in this great land, politics is (for all intents & purposes) dead in the USA...all that remains is Crony Capitalism...Mega Business...Fascism.

The situation will not improve until Americans fully realize that we have been Divided and Conquered by the Oligarchy.  They get richer while we get poorer.  Even if that realization ever comes, I fear that Americans cannot effectively divorce themselves from divisive politics long enough to take the peaceful action necessary to correct the mess that we're in.  Even if, by some miracle, the political propaganda was ignored...even if Americans could analyze what's going on devoid of the dead political paradigm...I fear we would not have the will to execute a solution.  It would take a massive boycott of the Mega Corporations and their Cronies in DC.  The chances of that happening essentially are zero.  I don't see it ever happening; I hope, for the sake of my grandchildren, that I'm wrong.

Google Flaws

This is my second rant regarding Corporatocracy computer tech whiz kids.  In this case, here are some pointed questions/comments for the Google folks [I would have emailed these to them, but they don't allow a customer to do that.]---
1.  Why do you have 89,000,000 [:)] "accounts" for ONE person?...a separate YouTube acct., a separate Blogspot acct., a separate Chrome acct., etc., ad nauseum.
Here's a thought---one person can have one account that's good for all the Google stuff.  At the very least, you could allow us to have one User Name & password for all these separate accounts.  Oh, I know---"security" issues.  You let me worry about my security on all these innocuous websites of yours.  There's nothing to secure!
2.  Speaking of  "security", stop telling me that I MUST choose another password because the strength of my choice is weak.  Mind your own business.  I should be able to use any password that I please.
3.  Why do you insist on continuing to use a defunct, nonexistent email address for my Blogspot sign-in...& refuse to let me update it?
4.  Do you purposely make creating an "account" difficult & incredibly convoluted?  Do you have any common sense at all?  I tried to set up an AdSense "account"; after an hour, I gave up.
5.  Do you really believe that your "Help" pages are speaking to the lay person?  Here's a clue:  I have a Master's Degree, & half the time you may as well be speaking Greek to me.  Have mercy...wake up.  Not all of us are tech geeks.
6.  Stop being so cheap---hire a bunch more people so you then can permit us to email you.  The fact is, it appears as though you don't really care what problems your customers are having with your convoluted procedures.  Just remember, we're the reason you're able to make money from your advertisers.

Now, sign out of this account, sign in to your Google account to get your verification number, then click on "Help", scroll down to "Numbers", take note of the Number in the red brackets, then sign out of your Google account, check your email, follow the link given in the email, then sign in to your XXXXXX account, scroll down to "Add Account", click on that, then sign out of that account, sign back in to your Google account, look for "Add Account, Step 2", then click on that, then sign in to your YYYYY account, look for the box that says, "Step 3", click on that, go to your email, click on the link, then look for "Step 4", then verify your ID by supplying a new password, then type in the code letters (that no one can read half the time), click on "Submit", then sign in to your Google account, scroll down, and then...

Hey, Whiz Kids---  creating an "account" should be a one-page, one-click process.  Why are they "accounts" at all?---they're all free of charge.  Oh, forgive me, I forgot--- you're tracking all of us and our interests, and then selling that info to advertisers.  Are you selling or giving the info to anyone else?

Political Correctness (PC)

This (below) is from a postscript that I wrote to my brother.  It may be of interest to some or all of you...and, as always, it's just my opinion.  [Thankfully, I think the PC Movement is on its way out of our society; at least, I see the beginnings of that.]

Russell Means (R.I.P.) of A.I.M. stated in an interview with a Caucasian, "I'm an American Indian; a 'native american' is anyone born in this country."  John Echohawk of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) once wrote, "There is nothing whatsoever wrong with the term, 'American Indian'."

As you might guess, I really don't like the whole "politically correct" schtick.  I think it's akin to de Tocqueville's "mild despotism"...the bending & shaping of individuals by the power structure.  It doesn't bother me that others use the term "native american" (as long as they don't insist that I use it), but I prefer "American Indian"... and I have only the greatest respect for those folks.  [I'm aware that some Indians prefer "Native American".]

To illustrate how silly (to me) all the PC stuff is--- Almost everyone would refer to us as "White"; even the Fed Gov't uses that term on forms.  I really dislike the term. Typing paper is "white"; I certainly am not.  European American, Caucasian, Anglo---fine, no worries...but please, not "White".  As applied to humans, I think the term is stupid...but...I don't make a big deal out of it & start a PC movement to pressure everyone into not saying "White".  After all, taking offense to something like that is (to me) the problem of the offended...I think it's a sign of insecurity & psychological weakness.  I say to such folks:  look inward to solve your problems, not outward.  Whatever happened to "Sticks & stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."?

Point is: I believe that the whole PC Movement is a contrivance of the power structure (Oligarchy) to intrude upon Individualism and limit free speech.  The Oligarchy does its best to make us into a Nation of Sheep.  Well...enough of that whole subject.  [It's good to vent... avoids ulcers...& prison :)]

Happy Trails

This and That

1.  I see by yesterday's headlines that Afghanimization is going about as well as did Vietnamization---Nixon & Kissinger's plan to turn over the fighting in Vietnam (back when) to the South Vietnamese Army.  Similar conditions exist in Afghanistan as existed in Vietnam during that war---a corrupt government, a native Army incapable of defending itself, a native people who do not support the corrupt/puppet government, and a native people who want us out of their country.  And yet we continue... completely ignoring the lessons of History.  Young troops being maimed & killed for the sake of the Corporatocracy...the Oligarchy...the Plutocracy...whatever you wish to call it...and, the estimated one trillion dollars worth of unmined minerals...the natural gas & oil pipeline corridors...Brzezinki's "American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives".  Shameful...and utterly so.  Apparently most Americans still believe that the present war is protecting us from TERRORISM, the Boogie Man that replaced the other Boogie Man, Communism.  Please.  That's about as true as the line that the Vietnam war was protecting us from Communism.  Let's see, N. Vietnam won...and life everywhere else went on pretty much the same.  No dominoes fell.  We now trade with Vietnam and visit there at will.

2.  Kudos to Snowden, the guy who blew the whistle on the NSA.  The NSA's actions were the result of orders from the FISA "Court", a secret "court" with absolutely no oversight by anyone...not Congress, not anyone... except of course, the Dictator-in-Chief (any President, not just Obama).  Where are the "checks and balances"?  Over the last 2-3 decades, the Executive Branch has seized an incredible amount of unconstitutional power.  Defenders of that obscenity can go on & on about how this or that secret action---with no oversight---prevented this or that calamity.  They miss the point---our Constitutional Republic cannot legally operate that way.  We have, in effect, an Outlaw Government.  Defenders of the current obscenity can go on & on about how, as Obama put it, "no one's conversations are being listened to".  Really?  How do we know?---there's no oversight.  Plus, the NSA actions included the internet.  I didn't hear anyone say, "no one's web surfing is being watched".  Again, how do we know...there's zero oversight.  Our Republic exists in name only...the checks and balances are long gone.  Long gone.

Be Well

Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville

Below is a dynamite quote from Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville; it was written a couple hundred years ago.  It's an amazing prediction that generally sums up the way things are in the USA (& pretty much all of the developed world) today.

"After having thus successively taken each member of the community in its powerful grasp and fashioned him at will, the supreme power then extends its arm over the whole community. It covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting.  [Emphasis added.] Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, [Emphasis added.] till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

I would change only the very last clause to read as follows: 
"...of which the government and the Oligarchy are the shepherds."

The situation cannot be blamed only on the Republicans, or only on the Democrats; both are responsible, and equally so.  To blame one or the other, which it seems most Americans do, is to fall into the Divide and Conquer Trap that was well executed by the Oligarchy.  It's important to realize, however, that the whole thing is not a "conspiracy" of any kind...at least, no more a conspiracy than AT&T "conspiring" to make as much money as possible.  The Oligarchy uses the word "conspiracy", or the words "conspiracy theory", to eliminate further discussion of a topic...no one wants to be thought of as a "nut".

The problem is not only at the national and State levels.  Unfortunately, most counties, cities, and towns have adopted "International" property and enforcement codes.  My experience has been that because their codes are international, in the minds of the government officials, that makes everything OK and unassailable by reason and common sense.  I hate to say it and see it, but this is almost everywhere---
"...covers the surface of society with a network of small complicated rules, minute and uniform, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate, to rise above the crowd. The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men are seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting.  Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people,  till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd."

All the elections in the world will not change any of that, and violence is not any kind of option---it would be completely & brutally crushed in short order.  Guaranteed.  Massive, peaceful boycotts are not viable options either...only because most Americans do not have the will for such things and we are totally Divided and Conquered.

Sad to say, but I see no effective solution on a large scale.  People are resisting in small ways, passively.  That's about all one can do.  All of this is why I've (for the most part) given up on politics and rarely post on this blog anymore.  I've turned to Art, and what a joy!  Despite that, every so often I see something like the quote above and share it.  I do it mainly because it saddens me to see most of my fellow countrymen still stuck in the anachronistic Repubs v. Dems political paradigm.

Happy Trails

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.