Forum Post: Left Forum 2015-Part 1
Posted 8 years ago on June 3, 2015, 12:15 p.m. EST by trashyharry
(3084)
from Waterville, NY
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Session 1 5/30 Entertainment Superpower:Media Technology and the American Empire...Panelists included Alexa O'Brien,Chair;Chris Hedges;Tim Sherrock;Ahmed Ghappour;Ray Nawasielski...It was my idea to attend the Occupy/Black Lives Matter discussion instead of this,but I was persuaded by another person to attend this one for the simple reason that Chris Hedges was on the Panel.I thought the existence of one well-known person on the panel was not a good reason to choose one panel over another,but allowed myself to be persuaded.The panel discussion was mainly about the massive leakage of classified information that took place during the preproduction phase of the movie Zero Dark Thirty.Ray Nawasielski is an investigative journalist who has evidently made all possible efforts to identify who was responsible for this leakage.He discussed various little known deep cover CIA assets in Holywood and their nefarious activities promoting propaganda movies such the aforementioned Zero Dark Thirty,American Sniper and the disgusting Seth Rogan Comedy about N.Korea.Also discussed were how CIA assets work with Hollywood producers to introduce many different kinds of propaganda elements,not just straight up lies and withholding of factual information.Mr.Nawasielski described how a CIA asset type person named Mark Bolan works with Hollywood producers on sophisticated propaganda techniques using plot and narrative that "provide inference opportunities" for audiences.Chris Hedges was able to unleash a few hilarious one-liners when discussing the awesomely nauseating nature of the rank cultural stew being cooked up by these movies.Summary:Should have gone to the Black Lives Matter Panel Discussion instead.
Maybe - ''The End of Capitalism Has Begun'', by Paul Mason:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/17/postcapitalism-end-of-capitalism-begun
''Without us noticing, we are entering the postcapitalist era. At the heart of further change to come is information technology, new ways of working and the sharing economy. The old ways will take a long while to disappear, but it’s time to be utopian.''
http://www.leftforum.org/ - 2016
fiat lux ..
Consider that "There Is No Art for Art's Sake": Remembering Political Muralist Jose Guerrero''
paz y luz ...
''Left Forum 2016 .. What Next for the Movement Behind Bernie?'' :
fiat lux ...
''Rethinking Working-Class Resistance'' by Henry A. Giroux - http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/31238-flipping-the-script-rethinking-working-class-resistance and it doesn't take 51%, it takes 7% to get rolling!
"Everywhere we look today there is the looming threat of totalitarianism and the eradication of those public spheres that produce the critical and energizing formative culture necessary for a radical democracy." Giroux
Sadly, this forum comes to mind. bw.
And more from Giroux: "Neoliberalism has created a ruling-class society of monsters for whom pain and suffering are now viewed as entertainment."
"But there is more at work in the madness of neoliberal capitalism than the oppression caused by its economic structures and the iniquitous gap in wealth, power and income that it produces. Americans also live in an age of death-dealing loneliness, isolation and militarized atomization."
"Now is the time for working-class people to join with others to create new political formations, to rethink the possibilities of politics and to organize for both short-term gains and long-term fundamental changes. It is time to flip the script."
Re. ''flip the script'', please do consider: ''How Ecuador Transitioned From 20th Century Neoliberalism to 21st Century Socialism'' ----- http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/31662-how-ecuador-transitioned-from-20th-century-neoliberalism-to-21st-century-socialism - That would be a harbinger of ''Independence Day''!
The forum sadly comes to mind just as the Occupy movement is being praised for bringing these issues to light. I still have hope for the forum.
I credit Occupy Wall Street for the move to the left that this country is taking. Yaay! Little by little we have planted the seeds and those seeds are beginning to grow.
Many are now giving the credit for the move to the left to Occupy. I would like to watch the seeds grow as the forum continues, let's hope it does.
ow.ly/O9bau
Absolutely: "Nearly four years after the precipitous rise of Occupy Wall Street, the movement so many thought had disappeared has instead splintered and regrown into a variety of focused causes. Income inequality is the crisis du jour—a problem that all 2016 presidential candidates must grapple with because they can no longer afford not to. And, in fact, it’s just one of a long list of legislative and political successes for which the Occupy movement can take credit."
Too bad about the co-optation of this forum. But revolutions are not linear, nor are they easy, nor are they quick.
See you on twitter. I'm @4beautifulworld. You need to tweet more, windy! LOL!
I check twitter every day now and I'll tweet more soon. Solidarity to you bw.
Excellent. And, see this article which is an interview with Chris Hedges.
http://www.occupy.com/article/were-revolutionary-moment-why-chris-hedges-believes-uprising-coming-soon
Here's an excerpt that I just love, lol:
"S: What kind of person engages in revolutionary activity? Is there a specific type?
CH: There are different types, but they have certain characteristics in common. That’s why I quote theologian Reinhold Niebuhr when he talks about “sublime madness.”
I think that sublime madness – James Baldwin writes it’s not so much that [revolutionaries] have a vision, it’s that they are possessed by it. I think that’s right. They are often difficult, eccentric personalities by nature, because they are stepping out front to confront a system of power [in a way that is] almost a kind of a form of suicide. But in moments of extremity, these rebels are absolutely key; and that you can’t pull off seismic change without them."
Peace and let's hope Greece gets it right and votes No! Oxi!
Another quote from the article, "If we are not brutal about diagnosing what we are up against, then all of our resistance is futile. If we think that voting for Hillary Clinton… is really going to make a difference, then I would argue we don’t understand corporate power and how it works" - See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/were-revolutionary-moment-why-chris-hedges-believes-uprising-coming-soon#sthash.ne4ahHpc.dpuf
Faith that good wins the battle with evil is hopeful to me because of the power of Love! I may be possessed by it.
The uprising is coming, Hedges is right. It started today with the Greek Referendum voting NO to austerity! No to economic tyranny! No to oppression!
Woo Hoo! A great day for the 99%! The uprising is coming! Let them fall like dominoes! Let the world economy restructure to work for all people!
Solidarity, Windy, and "Socialism is love."
''Presidential politics has long been a source of frustration for many left-wing activists. Organizers work tirelessly year-round in trying to raise consciousness and fight for social justice. But every four years, the country gets consumed and distracted by the presidential election - or what Noam Chomsky calls "a public relations extravaganza that only marginally deals with issues."
Further .. ''This election cycle, however, may be a little different. The candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who is running as a Democrat, has proved to be a significant variable that has changed the calculus of the Democratic primary. The self-described "democratic socialist" has tapped into some of the country's populist outrage and is raising issues like - single-payer health care, tuition-free college and Wall Street's sinister influence on the American political process. His message has been generally consistent: He is advocating the same views in 2015 that he has for decades in front of small crowds in Vermont.This authenticity is one quality that most presidential candidates, including his main opponent Hillary Clinton - cannot credibly claim to share.'' -- Excerpted from this deep and rather excellent article:
lux de profundis!
Bernie Sanders is drawing HUGE crowds:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=610&q=bernie+sanders+crowds&oq=bernie+sanders+crowds&gs_l=img.3...379.3690.0.3798.21.11.0.10.10.0.154.1004.3j6.9.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..3.18.1042.n51erbdKmWQ
Personally, I think any American leftist who is not supporting Bernie Sanders right now is a fraud. This is our big chance. We may not get another one.
Bernie Sanders is authentic and not bought.
From your truth out article: "In this sense it may be useful to reflect on similarities and differences between the mobilization surrounding Sanders' campaign and the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 and 2012, which many have similarly described as powerful due to its lasting effects on public discourse. The Occupy movement peaked with encampments in public spaces in more than 900 cities and 82 countries. But by early 2012, the encampments were mostly gone, in part due to mayors in places like New York City and Boston ordering brutal police crackdowns. Now, years later, some look back at the movement as a failure; it didn't result in any immediate economic reforms, and the movement has largely fizzled out. But one of the goals of Occupy - which didn't make specific demands or specifically endorse candidates or legislation - was to help the public see the world through the lens of class: the "99%" (the working and middle classes) vs. the "1%" (the ownership class). In this sense, Occupy had a great deal of success.
Damn straight. Success and a watershed change in how Americans think about class, money, freedom, debt and overall economic fairness.
Kids today, and I have a few myself, are almost all for Bernie. IF the kids vote, Hillary is finished.
''IF the kids vote, Hillary is finished.''
Fyi https://berniesanders.com/issues/
ad iudicium ...
Bernie can win over Trump supporters.
"Bernie Sanders: I can win the backing of Donald Trump supporters"
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/27/bernie-sanders-donald-trump-income-inequality
“What Trump has done with some success is taken that anger, taken those fears, which are legitimate, and converted them into anger against Mexicans, anger against Muslims,” Sanders said.
“In my view, that is the not way we are going to address the problems facing this country,” he said.
Instead, Sanders supports a platform of bringing citizens together to push Congress to pass laws that address income inequality."
“Trump insisted on Thursday that the US must keep wages low in order to compete with other countries, one day after he dug in on his assertion that ‘wages are too high’ in America.”
“It appears that Mr Trump is getting nervous that working families are catching on that his policies represent the interests of the billionaire class against almost everyone else,” Sanders said.
Yeah! Bring it on....
''Yeah! Bring it on....''!! Li'l Left To Lose but oh, SO MUCH to gain, when Turkeys Stop Voting For Xmas!!!
spero meliora ...
Sanders destroys Trump by 13 points In Blockbuster Poll
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/264023-in-blockbuster-poll-sanders-destroys-trump-by-13
Go Bernie! Go Bernie! Go Bernie!
In a fair fight, Bernie Sanders kicks the shit outta Trump, every time!!! The 99%'d get it!! IF MSM let 'em!
From which, I briefly excerpt - ''It's a little-known fact, but we reporters could successfully sell Sanders or Elizabeth Warren or any other populist candidate - as a serious contender for the White House if we wanted to. Hell, we even told Americans it was okay to vote for George Bush,a man who moves his lips when he reads.
''But the lapdog mentality is deeply ingrained and most Beltway scribes prefer to wait for a signal from above before they agree to take anyone not sitting atop a mountain of cash seriously.
''Thus this whole question of "seriousness" – which will dominate coverage of the Sanders campaign – should really be read as a very profound indictment of our political system, which is now so openly an oligarchy that any politician who doesn't have the blessing of the bosses is marginalized before he or she steps into the ring.''
Thanx for your interesting link - which is food for 99% thought & reasons for paranoid anxiety for the 1%!
spero meliora ...
''Who Pays Taxes in the US? Everyone but the Super-Rich''!! --- http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/31201-who-pays-taxes-in-the-us-everyone-but-the-super-rich
"...the banksters and vulture capitalists - the billionaires who make most of their income by moving money back and forth - pay a maximum rate of 20 percent of their earnings from the stock market."
While....
"The highest tax rate on income taxes in 2014 was 39.6 percent for households earning more than 439,000 dollars - and the majority of US households paid an income tax rate of between 15 percent and 28 percent."
No society can function in a healthy manner with an economic system like this that is rigged for the greedy creep one percenters who hoard huge amounts of wealth and pay very little tax while little old ladies who worked their whole lives and 20 percent of our children live in poverty.
Banks should 'serve' The Real Economy - NOT the other way around! Right now - as the ''Bilderberg Conference'' takes place in Austria, we must all question - The Tyranny of High Finance; Low Ethics, Crapitalism and its Parasitic effects on The 99%.+ fyi see http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/31280-pathologizing-the-poor-reinforces-stigma-while-deterring-advocacy-and-public-policy Long Live OWS!
"As long as the poor remain too overworked and sick to speak up, the emphasis in our political and social cultures will continue to focus on everything and everyone except the chronically disadvantaged." From Truth Out.
And, poverty literally kills: "Scientists Find Alarming Deterioration In DNA Of The Urban Poor"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/08/poverty-race-ethnicity-dna-telomeres_n_7228530.html
''When the One Percent is looting, facts are of no interest.'' ... was how this following article by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was subtitled - http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/15/greece-sound-and-fury-signifying-much/ and thanks for that rather shocking link about epigenetic effects of societal stress. I recommend it to all readers, as I also do for this excellent doc.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu5sTyAXyAo
What a great article by Paul Craig Roberts. I agree 100%. The collapse of Syriza and the surrender to the Greek 1% is not just that. It is the actual collapse of the left and social welfare systems across the globe and the power solidification of the global 1%. Our fight could not be more important at this point. I only hope Varoufakis keeps up the fight.
Roberts says: "The message from the collapse of Syriza is that the social welfare system throughout the West will be dismantled."
"The One Percent’s sigh of relief has been heard around the world. The last European leftist party, or what passes as leftist, has been brought to heel, just like Britain’s Labour Party, the French Socialist Party, and all the rest."
So, it's time to wake up people! Let's hope that Corbyn in the UK and Sanders in the US are signs of that awakening.
''4 Ways Socialism Is a Cure for American Exceptionalism'' by Paul Buchheit ... .. .
multum in parvo ...
A Modern Form of Socialism:
Environment: Drones Dropping Seeds Instead of Bombs
Schools: Yes, We Can Actually Learn from Other Countries
Banks: How Many Credit Default Swaps Does One Family Need?
Workplace: Closing the Wage Gap - institute a Guaranteed income
"As Alperovitz explains, "What most people think of as socialism is that, with socialism, ownership of wealth and power is traditionally concentrated within the state and its national government. The vision that’s emerging in these experiments around the country is anathema to that. It begins in neighborhoods and communities, in cities and states. It’s about decentralizing power, changing the flow of power to localities rather than to the center."
Less centralized government. Even conservative Republicans should like that."
Re.Gar Alperovitz, I've enormous time for the man & his ideas for Revolution in the Workplace etc. - eg.
"The Question of Socialism (and Beyond!) Is About to Open Up in These United States", by Gar Alperovitz : http://truth-out.org/news/item/15680-the-question-of-socialism-and-beyond-is-about-to-open-up-in-these-united-states from:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/in-defence-of-the-broad-church-of-socialism-from-t/#comment-1025147
BUT I have to but you a but here, I'm afraid! Gar's ideas are essential to The 99% now and going forward BUT in a de facto Corporatocracy hiding behind a Duopoly, while all wrapped up in a Very Real - Military Industrial Complex; 99% opposition to Corporations, has to be from above, below & from any which way.
Bernie Sanders Has A Chance From Within The System next year - altho' yes .. it's a long shot! April is the first hurdle, but if he gets the Democrap nomination above Hitlary, everyone on this forum knows that he has a far better chance against ANY Repugnant in the running - with or without The Corporate MSM!!!
Sen.Sanders getting to be POTUS (siiigh, swooon, thuddd as I faint at the prospect!) will ENABLE ideas like Gar's & massively hasten Real 99% Grasroots Democracy; Locally, Workplace, State & Nationally!! Gar's ideas are Very Important but they are not Insurgent right now as they are slow burn developments.
But I TOTALLY accept the reasons for many of the reservations re. Bernie fronting The Venal Corporate Democraps but there is no magic wand here in the next 6-12 months. ONLY a Sanders presidency can let a thousand Left Roses bloom - but any ''Political Revolution'' can NOT be left to liberals in The USA!!
I could ramble on but I'll end with insights into the Core Problem that The 99% face ...namely Corporate Rule by stealth, co-option and corruption with these 2 items from a long time personal heroine of mine:
http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/33890-the-rise-of-the-illegitimate-authority-of-transnational-corporations by Susan George & also consider:
http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/33903-corporations-not-people-have-been-made-stakeholders-in-the-new-global-order for an interview with her.
I really can't recommend this fantastic lady's insights enough to you & all. Solidarity to you & yours bw.
per aspera ad astra ...
"Since the onset of neoliberal politics at the beginning of the 1980s, which accelerated at the end of the Cold War in 1991 when the Soviet Union disappeared, the number of transnational corporations has soared. Globalization has given wings to the giant corporations and helped them to create their own meta-organizations to deal with particular world spheres such as trade and the environment. Other outgrowths are both 'meta' - above or beyond in Greek - and 'mega' - great or powerful - such as the World Economic Forum (WEF), better known by the name of the Swiss skiing resort where since 1971 it has met yearly: Davos. The growing ambition of the Davos cluster of organizations can be simply defined: to run the world."
"...evidence shows illegitimate authority to be on the rise and democracy to be in serious danger of succumbing to the neoliberal disease."
Simple but powerful truths from Susan George.
''Of course 'socialism' was most-searched term of 2015: its ideas fit our times'' by K. Sawant:
per aspera ad astra ...
"Since the Occupy movement, the dirty word as far as many millennials are concerned is not socialism, but capitalism."
Yeah! Imagine if we older people said to the younger people that we love so dearly. Look, we've messed this place up, we will no longer vote. We'll let you decide your future because it's too late for us. We want you to have what you want....Bernie would be the next President. In deference to our children, older people should support Bernie. He speaks to the vision of the future that our young people want.
''The incredible potential of human beings has always been limited by the need for most of us to spend all of our waking hours struggling to survive --- either because of our limited tools and technology - or in more recent times because of all the social structures that concentrate wealth and power among small minorities of people.
So, ''By redistributing that wealth and power to be democratically controlled by all of us, socialism could both liberate billions of individuals currently chained by poverty & exhaustion and also, liberate our entire species from the need to restrict our cultural and ecological aspirations to whatever can make a profit for a tiny handful of jerks.'' - From, with added paragraphing ...
''How Could Socialism Be Boring? It's a System Run By and For People'', by Mark Karlin: http://www.truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/34074-how-could-socialism-be-boring-it-s-a-system-run-by-and-for-people & also fyi:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/15/the-socialist-malala-yousafzai-the-us-media-doesnt-quote/
Sen.Bernie Sanders has integrity and long term consistency and he is talking a language unheard in American National Politics for 40-50 years. His 99% Truths energises the old and inspires the young. He would be appealing to those in between IF Corporate MSM would give him exposure on television.
However despite expecting and manipulating the low-info Americans to do so - those particular Turkeys Won't Vote For Thanksgiving!!! The thing for The 99% to realise .. is Just How Organised The 1% of The 1% are!! The 1% & 10% follow the 0.01% because they're convinced that they've got enough to lose - IF they don't follow but then they get old and have kids grow up & then realise that they are The 99% - too!
tempus fugit ...
Bernie now leads in Iowa.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/21/politics/iowa-poll-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-donald-trump-ted-cruz/index.html
Sanders, meanwhile, has opened up an eight-point lead over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, leading her in Iowa 51% to 43% among likely Democratic presidential caucus-goers.
Oh, god, I'm laughing here. LOL. Bye bye establishment.....
Bernie ahead in Iowa?! Can we trust these polls?!! Are they lying to ''up the ante'', motivate Reactionary Turkeys &/or induce complacency?!!! None, some or all .. I'll ''LOL'' along with you but watch your six & furthermore ...
''Socialism is love, it's fair, it's humane and it's liberating. Bernie's version of it isn't even all that radical. It's based on the very successful democratic socialist countries such as Canada, Denmark and Sweden that blend capitalism with socialist checks and balances. Why people are afraid of a system that gives humans protection from adversity is beyond me. I can only think that fear is based on a lack of knowledge and understanding.''Great & thus in compliment:
''Democratic Socialism in the United States'', by Sen. Bernie Sanders ... a fantastic Pro-99% speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G6T_TCE064 - with Q&A @ Georgetown University
Also best to be mindful of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30pdyzWOxnE too; mais RSVP ici s'il vous plait http://occupywallst.org/forum/left-forum-2015-part-2/#comment-1068817 - si tu veux!
fiat lux ...
Occupying Wall Street is gonna be a thing again if Bernie wins.
He says in an email to his supporters:
"Greed, fraud, dishonesty, and arrogance: these are the words that best describe the reality of Wall Street today.
We can no longer tolerate an economy and a political system that have been rigged by Wall Street to benefit the wealthiest Americans in this country at the expense of everyone else. While President Obama deserves credit for getting this economy back on track after the Wall Street crash, the reality is there is a lot of unfinished business.
That's why today in New York City I announced my plan for taking on Wall Street. We must break up the banks, end their casino-style gambling, and fundamentally change the approach of the financial industry to focus on helping the American people.
To those on Wall Street, let me be very clear. Greed is not good. In fact, the greed of Wall Street and corporate America is destroying the fabric of our nation. And here is a promise I will make as president: If Wall Street does not end its greed, we will end it for them.
As most people know, in the 1990s and later, financial interests spent billions of dollars in lobbying and campaign contributions to force through Congress the deregulation of Wall Street, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, and the weakening of consumer protection laws.
They paid this money to show the American people all that they could do with that freedom. Well, they sure showed the American people. In 2008, the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street nearly destroyed the U.S. and global economy. Millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their life savings.
Meanwhile, the American middle class continues to disappear, poverty is increasing, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider and wider by the day. But the American people are catching on. They also know that a handful of people on Wall Street have extraordinary power over the economic and political life of our country.
We must act now to change that. Our goal must be to create a financial system and an economy that works for all Americans, not just a handful of billionaires.
There are eight points to my plan, and I want to go through each of them here because I think it's important for our campaign to discuss specific policies with our supporters. Some of this may seem a little in the weeds, but I trust our supporters to be able to handle this kind of policy discussion.
Here's my plan for what I will do with Wall Street when I am president:
Break up huge financial institutions in the first year of my administration. Within the first 100 days of my administration, I will require the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a “Too Big to Fail” list of commercial banks, shadow banks, and insurance companies whose failure would pose a catastrophic risk to the U.S. economy without a taxpayer bailout. Within one year, my administration will break these institutions up so that they no longer pose a grave threat to the economy.
Reinstate a 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act to clearly separate traditional banking from risky investment banking and insurance services. It is not enough to tell Wall Street to "cut it out," propose a few new rules and slap on some fines. Under my administration, financial institutions will no longer be too big to fail or too big to manage. Wall Street cannot continue to be an island unto itself, gambling trillions in risky financial instruments. If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist.
End too-big-to-jail. We live in a country today that has an economy that is rigged, a campaign finance system which is corrupt, and a criminal justice system which often does not dispense justice. The average American sees kids being arrested and sometimes even jailed for possessing marijuana. But when it comes to Wall Street executives — some of the most wealthy and powerful people in this country whose illegal behavior hurt millions of Americans — somehow nothing happens to them. No jail time. No police record. No justice.
Not one major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted for causing the near collapse of our entire economy. That will change under my administration. “Equal Justice Under Law” will not just be words engraved on the entrance of the Supreme Court. It will be the standard that applies to Wall Street and all Americans.
Establish a tax on Wall Street to discourage reckless gambling and encourage productive investments in the job-creating economy. We will use the revenue from this tax to make public colleges and universities tuition free. During the financial crisis, the middle class of this country bailed out Wall Street. Now, it’s Wall Street’s turn to help the middle class.
Cap Credit Card Interest Rates and ATM Fees. We have got to stop financial institutions from ripping off the American people by charging sky-high interest rates and outrageous fees. In my view, it is unacceptable that Americans are paying a $4 or $5 fee each time they go to the ATM. And it is unacceptable that millions of Americans are paying credit card interest rates of 20 or 30 percent.
The Bible has a term for this practice. It's called usury. And in The Divine Comedy, Dante reserved a special place in the Seventh Circle of Hell for sinners who charged people usurious interest rates. Today, we don't need the hellfire and the pitchforks, we don't need the rivers of boiling blood, but we do need a national usury law.
We need to cap interest rates on credit cards and consumer loans at 15 percent. I would also cap ATM fees at $2.
Allow Post Offices to Offer Banking Services. We also need to give Americans affordable banking options. The reality is that, unbelievably, millions of low-income Americans live in communities where there are no normal banking services. Today, if you live in a low-income community and you need to cash a check or get a loan to pay for a car repair or a medical emergency, where do you go? You go to a payday lender who could charge an interest rate of over 300 percent and trap you into a vicious cycle of debt. That is unacceptable.
We need to stop payday lenders from ripping off millions of Americans. Post offices exist in almost every community in our country. One important way to provide decent banking opportunities for low-income communities is to allow the U.S. Postal Service to engage in basic banking services, and that's what I will fight for.
Reform Credit Rating Agencies. We cannot have a safe and sound financial system if we cannot trust the credit agencies to accurately rate financial products. The only way we can restore that trust is to make sure credit rating agencies cannot make a profit from Wall Street. Under my administration, we will turn for-profit credit rating agencies into non-profit institutions, independent from Wall Street. No longer will Wall Street be able to pick and choose which credit agency will rate their products.
Reform the Federal Reserve. We need to structurally reform the Federal Reserve to make it a more democratic institution responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans, not just the billionaires on Wall Street. It is unacceptable that the Federal Reserve has been hijacked by the very bankers it is in charge of regulating. When Wall Street was on the verge of collapse, the Federal Reserve acted with a fierce sense of urgency to save the financial system. We need the Fed to act with the same boldness to combat the unemployment crisis and fulfill its full employment mandate.
So my message to you is straightforward: I’ll rein in Wall Street's reckless behavior so they can’t crash our economy again.
Will Wall Street like me? No. Will they begin to play by the rules if I’m president? You better believe it."
''Why people are afraid of a system that gives humans protection from adversity is beyond me. I can only think that fear is based on a lack of knowledge and understanding.''(from yr reply below)
Right bw & thanx for your essential & extensive reply with the ^Bernie Sanders e-mail^.Another possible reason could be a deep lack of love and thus a lack of; empathy; compassion; generosity, kindness and mercy - all of which essentially stem from ''love'' & thus their absence - from a lack of that love. Finally in compliment of your comments, please see ...
Viva The Spirit of Occupy Wall Street!!! Viva all the seeding work that Never Stops!! 99% Solidarity to all!
per aspera ad astra ...
the wealth is already distributed
we eat we live
extra work is what the rich require of us to receive that
The word that you are looking for is ''mis-distributed'' maybe?! Otherwise you're in distinct danger of sounding just like a mis-informed, low-info, MSM-viewing American non-voter!! OR, worse a RWNJ!!!
temet nosce ...
Socialism is love, it's fair, it's humane and it's liberating. Bernie's version of it isn't even all that radical. It's based on the very successful democratic socialist countries such as Canada, Denmark and Sweden that blend capitalism with socialist checks and balances. Why people are afraid of a system that gives humans protection from adversity is beyond me. I can only think that fear is based on a lack of knowledge and understanding.
Maybe a real question now is - Is there ''A New Opportunity in 2016''?!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB7_E_B0aTE -BS in MA and
https://berniesanders.com/issues/ - and by Albert Einstein
Fear is ''based on a lack of knowledge and understanding''!! Only Light, Love & Logic will defeat it!!!
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33696-the-future-of-socialism-in-the-us-an-interview-with-kshama-sawant &
consider http://www.alternet.org/economy/4-ways-socialism-cure-american-exceptionalism
et veritas vos liberabit ...
Let us package it properly in the Chinese way for the masses still under the control of their reptilian brains. We shall call it "Capitalism with Mammalian Characteristics" because mammals rose to prominence on being warm-blooded, having parental caring for the young, and feeding them milk.
If that still does not work because it lacks reptilian resonance, we shall call it "Capitalism with Avian Characteristics." The prominent descendants of the reptilians are the birds. They do what the mammals do mostly, without the milk, but worm or insect paste is a good enough substitute.
"From Capitalism with Love" sounds good, too.
Both birds and mammals have lengthy childhoods compared to the reptiles. Amongst them human beings have extremely long childhoods because I have heard kids' ball of wisdom that ALL of their numerous pets die, which is really a testimony to our great success in keeping our kids alive.
Socialism is like any other forwarded form of civilization = only as good as it's practice in representing the FULL population.
The question is just how much adversity to try to protect people from.
Like a child with overly controlling parents who never really grows up and lives at home until 30, sometimes we can have too much of something and the effects are reversed.
or we could just drool and say the same thing
''Turn Left on Main Street'' - by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship ...
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/31179-turn-left-on-main-street
"Some 63 percent of Americans agree that the current distribution of wealth is unfair. And in a Gallup poll done earlier this month, a majority, 52 percent, think that government taxation on the rich should be used to reduce the wealth gap… A majority of Americans oppose the Supreme Court Citizens United ruling, one of a number of such rulings that have increased the ability of the super-wealthy to influence politics. A good half of Americans support federally financed political campaigns so as to level the playing field… Some 79 percent of Americans believe that education beyond high school is not affordable for everyone. And some 57 percent of people under 30 believe student debt is a problem for youth… According to a very recent Yale/Gallup poll, some 71 percent of Americans believe global warming is occurring, and 57 percent are sure that human activity (emitting greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide) is causing it."
They want us to think America leans right, but most Americans do believe in ideas and policies that are socialist in nature.
"Greece Needs Our Solidarity in Its Struggle Against Austerity" - by Prof. R.D.Wolff... http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/31714-greece-needs-our-solidarity-in-its-struggle-against-austerity - Thanks for the very good excerpt above.There are more parallels between USA and Greece than people care to admit.
Greece: "I'll vote NO with both hands." A Greek 85 year old's struggle with austerity and her feelings about the Germans:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/02/greece-austerity-germany_n_7716490.html?utm_hp_ref=world
Economists Call to End Austerity in Greece:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/02/greece-austerity-economists_n_7714148.html
“I can think of no depression, ever, that has been so deliberate and had such catastrophic consequences,” Joseph Stiglitz
"It is startling that the troika has refused to accept responsibility for any of this or admit how bad its forecasts and models have been. But what is even more surprising is that Europe's leaders have not even learned. The troika is still demanding that Greece achieve a primary budget surplus (excluding interest payments) of 3.5 percent of GDP by 2018."
Consider .. ''How Ecuador Transitioned From 20th Century Neoliberalism to 21st Century Socialism'' ----- http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/31662-how-ecuador-transitioned-from-20th-century-neoliberalism-to-21st-century-socialism
Further to your good article and excerpts from Joseph Stiglitz .. please consider: ''Austerity Has Failed'' by Thomas Piketty, Jeffrey Sachs, Heiner Flassbeck, Dani Rodrik and Simon Wren-Lewis .... from this linked article .. http://www.thenation.com/article/austerity-has-failed-an-open-letter-from-thomas-piketty-to-angela-merkel/
Why is it that "investors" who love to take on "risk" don't really take on any risk at all? Why is it that the global 99% are always bailing out "investors"?
Answer: By Corruption; Co-option; Control & Deceit of - a) ''Moral Hazard'', b) ''Perverse Incentives'', c) ''Regulatory Capture'' & d) ''Conflicts of Interest''! Apathy/Ignorance on the part of The 99% doesn't help!
Also fyi ... "Dr Schäuble’s Plan for Europe: Do Europeans approve?" (Eng. version of article in Die Zeit) http://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2015/07/17/dr-schaubles-plan-for-europe-do-europeans-approve-english-version-of-my-article-in-die-zeit/#more-9296 by Yanis Veroufakis. They wanted him out of EU/ECB negotiations re. Greece because they could not face his arguments, ethics, intelligence or unyielding 99% solidarity.
"Yanis Varoufakis brands Alexis Tsipras the ‘new De Gaulle’ as election gets ugly"
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/22/varoufakis-brands-alexis-tsipras-new-de-gaulle
Varoufakis stays true to his Marxist leanings. No selling out for him. We'll have to wait and see what the future election brings to Greece. But, Tsipras, as popular as he is, has made many on the left in Greece very angry.
Yanis Varoufakis is going to become a Global 99% Icon ... as if he isn't already, lol! Also, re.Greece & Bernie Sanders and ... Peurto Rico, pls consider: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32557-sen-bernie-sanders-from-greece-to-puerto-rico-the-financial-rules-are-rigged-to-favor-the-1 ... (Video and Transcript)
The global 1% is organized across borders, nations, currencies, markets, and economies. The global 99% must do the same!
Bernie gets it. From your article:
"Over 70 years ago, the major economic leaders of 44 countries gathered at a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to establish international economic and financial rules. As a result of that conference, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank were established. I think it is clear to anyone who has taken a look at this situation that the rules regarding our international financial system today are rigged in favor of the wealthy and the powerful at the expense of everyone else. Today, 85 of the wealthiest people in this world own more wealth than the bottom half of the world’s population, over 3 billion people. By next year, Oxfam has estimated that the top 1 percent of the world’s population will own more wealth than the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population. In my view, we have got to begin—and I hope this forum today is a start in that process—a serious discussion about how we change our international financial rules to expand—expand economic opportunity and reduce income and wealth inequality, not only in Greece and in Puerto Rico, but throughout the world. The global economy is simply unsustainable when so few have so much and so many have so little."
Bernie Sanders is spot on and Yanis Varoufakis is a natural leader of the GLOBAL 99%. I hope they both continue to march for the people of the world.
Amen and "'Plan X': Former Greek Finance Minister on the Movement to Democratize Europe''
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33418-plan-x-former-greek-finance-minister-on-the-movement-to-democratize-europe by Alex Sakalis +
https://opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/yanis-varoufakis-alex-sakalis/one-very-simple-but-radical-idea-to-democratise-eur - Alt. Link
dum spiro, spero ...
Sadly "Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying More Than They Should Be"
Those between the ages of 45 and 54 have seen a startling increase in death rates.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-middle-aged-americans-are-dying_5637fdb6e4b079a43c046244
This is largely due to economic stress. "They theorize that an uptick in "the epidemic of pain, suicide and drug overdoses" may be tied to 2008's financial crisis, and say many baby-boomers are among the first to live a harsher life than their parents."
Time is of the essence. We need real change....and we need it soon.
Re.roots of ''economic stress'', see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
Thanx for your strong link and the link above is my reply and thoughts from elsewhere.
fiat justitia ...
"I then realized that I had to flip the script to survive and became acutely aware that the alleged strengths of ruling-class types, such as their, cold, hypermasculine modes of embodiment, along with their ruthless sense of competitiveness, their suffocating narcissism, their view of unbridled self-interest as the highest virtue, their ponderous and empty elaborated code, and their often savage and insensitive modes of interaction, were actually poisonous deficits. That was a turning point in my being able to narrate and free myself from one of the most sinister forms of ideological domination, "those unexamined prejudices that keep us from thinking."
Gee, I could really relate to that, myself, having been brought up in an extremely racist, sexist, macho, religious and conservative part of NYC. Overcoming those ideologies was no easy task. I think for me, I turned to music and later, university, as did Giroux, kind of always knowing in my heart from a young age that there was more to the world than my petty local society was telling me.
Unlearning that you have no value if you are compassionate and empathic and humanitarian is a huge deal. You can be poked fun at for being so by your peers and family, yet overcoming the fears of humiliation from others at how you think is one of the most freeing things a person can do.
It is in these "neighborhoods" where people are oppressed by the very people they are near. In the suburbs and cities where people are made to feel stupid for having a worldview that encompasses all people and that puts love over fear. Waking up to that reality and overcoming it is no easy task but it is what we all need to do.
Here's a link to the piece:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/31238-flipping-the-script-rethinking-working-class-resistance
Indeed .. ''Unlearning that you have no value if you are compassionate and empathic and humanitarian is a huge deal. You can be poked fun at for being so by your peers and family, yet overcoming the fears of humiliation from others at how you think is one of the most freeing things a person can do.'' --- Thanx for your clearly rather heartfelt, personal & indeed moving reply and in compliment, please try to consider...
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/33696-the-future-of-socialism-in-the-us-an-interview-with-kshama-sawant but in the event of any reply to that, please consider this link to another ...
thread ... http://occupywallst.org/forum/occupy-the-truth-challenging-the-medias-premature-/#comment-1067424
per aspera ad astra ...
Wealth inequality in America is out of control. "The 100 top CEO's now have equal retirement wealth to 118 million (41% of) Americans."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-28/top-100-ceo-retirement-savings-equals-41-of-u-s-families
Yep, 118 million. Pretty sick. Time to turn this thing around. Let's get our country back from the oligarchs. www.berniesanders.com
This is our chance.
''Top 100 CEO Retirement Savings Equals 41% of U.S. Families'' - takes some believing and it is time to clearly draw the conclusion that with finite fiscal / financial resources - then so much accumulated by so many - DIRECTLY impoverishes the many and as your link says: ''Some of the chief executives with the biggest retirement stashes are at companies that have cut retirement benefits for new employees.''- and
''Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, used to offer pensions to most workers but has eliminated that option for employees who joined after 2002, replacing it with 401(k) plans'' 401(k)s are a HUGE subsidy and enabler for Wall Street - and there lies a whole different box of snakes. With NO Universal Healthcare; NO Debt-Free Education and NO Secure Pensions - for the vast majority of Americans, one has to ask: ''WTF is American Democracy All About?!'' Finally & maybe at a tangent:
fiat justitia ...
"With NO Universal Healthcare; NO Debt-Free Education and NO Secure Pensions - for the vast majority of Americans, one has to ask: ''WTF is American Democracy All About?!''
Had to repeat that.
''Flipping the Script: Rethinking Working-Class Resistance'' - http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/31238-flipping-the-script-rethinking-working-class-resistance An introspective, subtle & very insightful article. +
fiat lux ...
money is put into the system by investors and drained by interest
Bingo .. and that is exactly ...
ad iudicium ...
Greek vote is most important thing for Global 99% to happen in years! Greece must vote NO to put these dirty bankers and oligarchs on notice!
Yanis Varoufakis, Greece's finance minister accuses Europe of terrorism. He says he'll quit if Greece votes yes.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/live/2015/jul/04/greek-debt-crisis-countdown-to-polling-day-live
Thanks for these Greece links. I shall try to use them today. Solidarity to you. Happy 'ID' :-)
Happy Independence to you too and to all the good folks on this forum who have fought hard for years to free the 99% from economic tyranny!
Freedom is an ILLUSION if you are forced to live in debt!
''Our NO is a Majestic, big YES to a Democratic, Rational Europe!'', by Yanis Varoufakis:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42308.htm - Bless those Greeks' Courage.
''Freedom is an ILLUSION if you are forced to live in debt!'' OUCH!!!
Solidarity for True ''Independence'' - 'FOR' All and 'FROM' Bankers!
Democracy was put to rest in Europe tonight. Evidently, what the people of Greece voted OXI, NO, to, was a "yes" in the minds of the government that "represents" them. More austerity and suffering for the Greeks ahead and all that without their dignity and sovereignty.
50 billion euros in Greece, 70 billion euros in Ireland, 40 billion euros in Spain - one Euro-country after another is forced to support its banks with huge sums of money in order to equalize the losses incurred by money worldwide from bad loans.
But where do the billions go anyway? Who are the beneficiaries? With this simple question the award-winning business journalist and nonfiction author Harald Schumann travels across Europe and gets surprising answers.
The rescued are not in the poorer Euro states - unlike commonly believed - but mainly in Germany and France. A large part of the money ends up with the creditors of the banks that want to be saved or must be saved. And although these investors have obviously made bad investments, they are - against all logic of the free market economy - protected at the expense of the general public against any losses.
Why? Who gets the money? Actually, simple questions, but that regard the core of European identity. Maybe the most passionate film on the banking crisis.
==========================================================================
The above is about - & taken from, the blurb for https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=15&v=xu5sTyAXyAo which I can't recommend highly enough - to all ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
List of banks bailed out of 2008:
http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/storysupplement/bankbailout/
Pay close attention to the number of zeros. But, no money for education, healthcare, infrastructure. Beyond sad.
The ''List Of Banks Bailed Out in 2008'' .. should be printed out and distributed widely! Also fyi ... http://thischangeseverything.org/ and http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32365-a-welcome-new-yardstick-for-measuring-ceo-greed Avarice/venality seem to have become ''attributes'' these days.
The List of Banks Bailed out is literally too long, but I'll put a few below, and here are the totals of the bailout:
Total purchase amount: $204,808,576,320 Total repaid: -$96,249,045,000 Capital Purchase Program total investment: $108,487,042,320
10/28/2008 Wells Fargo & Co. San Francisco Calif. $25,000,000,000 10/28/2008 State Street Corp. Boston Mass. $2,000,000,000 10/28/2008 Bank of America Corp.1 Charlotte N.C. $15,000,000,000 10/28/2008 JPMorgan Chase & Co. New York N.Y. $25,000,000,000 10/28/2008 Citigroup Inc. New York N.Y. $25,000,000,000 10/28/2008 Morgan Stanley New York N.Y. $10,000,000,000 10/28/2008 Goldman Sachs Group Inc. New York N.Y. $10,000,000,000 10/28/2008 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. New York N.Y. $3,000,000,000 11/17/2008 Regions Financial Corp. Birmingham Ala. $3,500,000,000 11/17/2008 UCBH Holdings Inc. San Francisco Calif. $298,737,000 11/17/2008 Bank of Commerce Holdings Redding Calif. $17,000,000 11/17/2008 Broadway Financial Corp. Los Angeles Calif. $9,000,000 11/17/2008 SunTrust Banks Inc. Atlanta Ga. $3,500,000,000 11/17/2008 Northern Trust Corp. Chicago Ill. $1,576,000,000 11/17/2008 Provident Bancshares Corp. Baltimore Md. $151,500,000 11/17/2008 U.S. Bancorp Minneapolis Minn. $6,599,000,000 11/17/2008 TCF Financial Corp. Wayzata Minn. $361,172,000 11/17/2008 BB&T Corp. Winston-Salem N.C. $3,133,640,000
IMAGINE IF THEY'D GIVEN THAT MONEY TO THE 99% INSTEAD.
The level of Bailouts of Private Banks @ 100c/$ is really quite unbelievable - even 7 years after the GFC & fyi, see: http://wallstreetonparade.com/2015/08/michael-hudsons-new-book-wall-street-parasites-have-devoured-their-hosts-your-retirement-plan-and-the-u-s-economy/ - Solidarity to u&yrs with #S17 looming.
The only people receiving the benefits of socialism are the 1%. The 99% suffer the greed and depravity of capitalism.
Bang On The Button! + fyi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM + Solidarity!
The amount of the bailouts would have been enough to outfit 100% of residential homes with total solar power and still have over a trillion left over.
Crash the two towers, go on the offensive against the whole planet, crash the system, claim emergency, pillage trillions during state of emergency.
Another well played scheme on the people, all in only 8 years.
Well said. Exactly. It's shameful.
85 richest people in the world are as wealthy as the entire poorest half of the world. Yet we bail them out. Sickening.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/20/oxfam-85-richest-people-half-of-the-world
'This 'capture of opportunities' by the rich at the expense of the poor and middle classes has led to a situation where 70% of the world's population live in countries where inequality has increased since the 1980s and 1% of families own 46% of global wealth - almost £70tn.
''Opinion polls in Spain, Brazil, India, South Africa, the US, UK and Netherlands found that a majority in each country believe that wealthy people exert too much influence. Concern was strongest in Spain, followed by Brazil and India and least marked in the Netherlands.''
From your excellent link. Also fyi, please further consider: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42772.htm
15 years
''The Endless Art'' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmEvTa7Npk0
pax, amor et lux ..
Good post trash... The Left Forum was super, as were the speeches given by Hedges and Sawant Sunday night at the All Souls Unitarians church. It was a memorable weekend.
FYI: http://kshamasawant.org/ Solidarity @ KS!
People like Kshama Sawant are a rare breed in politics today. The fact that the president of Seattle's Urban League is running against her shows how worried the Democrats are of the emergence of a third party. That organization has had close ties with the corrupt Democrats for a long time.
BIG MONEY will be doing its best to support her opponent, and it is essential that we support Ms Sawant, because it is not just her seat on the city counsel that is at stake, rather she is a symbol of the systemic change that is possible.
I was elated to have met Kshama, as she likes to be called, and to have had the chance to talk to her.
Re.''BIG MONEY'' and Kshama Sawant and in honour of her efforts and struggle for The 99%, please consider: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26131.htm - and with a reference to The US Constitution: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article42029.htm + Solidarity to you and yours.
aaaaAAAHHHHHHAAAAHAHAHAhaaaaa - I love it - I absolutely LOVE IT - you - one of the Cadre of the opt-out and walk away'ers - talking about supporting a politician - MY GOD - what kind of a hypocrite does that make you?
So the people who do not support having this struggle being swallowed up by the corrupt Democrats, you NOW view as a "Cadre of opt out[ers]..". I kinda liked it when you labeled people who held views closer to Occupy's as being a "gang." That was funnier and more revealing as to why you are really here.
You talk shit - that is all you do - it is appropriate - as - with your "bring nothing" to the table bullshit - all you are - "IS" - BULLSHIT! Makes you a fitting symbol/representative of the wall street criminals.
Errr.... it was the "wall street criminals" who YOUR Presient relied on to win his election. In return the iniquitous bankers did not get prosecuted, and were able to go on nearly unimpeded on their villainous agenda. That is just about as rotten as quid pro quo gets.
You can not saddle me with ownership of that sellout OH-Bummer. Though you certainly do endlessly try. Neither can you sell the dems as being anything near as hawkish as the rethuglicans. That is just some of your false conflation.
You (say that) you hate both parties - and that the only solution you would consider is a third party. Funny thing "IS" though that you never introduce that third party - nor do you ever promote the forming of a third party. You just say that that is the only option.
Just like everything else that you rail against - you say that you have another better alternative - BUT - you never present it.
Obama is YOUR President and he belongs to the same corrupt party that YOU love. Just because it is impossible for you to defend him does not mean that you can divorce yourself from him, or that he is any different from the people in that corrupt party that you still advocate for continuously. No one that I know in Occupy is anything like you!!
By implying that the Dems are a bit better than the Republicans, you are in effect saying, that YOUR corrupt party is the lesser of two evils. It is far more difficult to form a third party when hacks, like yourself are present. But you know that. So if it has become one of my jobs to keep this struggle from being co-opted by one of the corrupt two parties, so be it.
BTW, what happened to your copy & pasting? Are you feeling frustrated, listless and tired?
Blow Me. You deflect and you have nothing to back your position. You erroneously conflate. You forward no alternatives. YOU ONLY THROW SHIT.
Start presenting real action for the public to unite in taking - OR - shut the fuck up - as you have been exposed as a 1% supporter.
More profanity from the little Coon Rapids' man! Can I assume that YOUR President exemplifies the reason we should all be hacking for the Democrats?... lol
You ASS-u-me perpetually - I take it as you are an ASS. You hack for the 1% and do your best not to directly say so. But your efforts to be mysterious are quite a failure as your continuous bent is to support the 1% and that is obvious by the fact that you never present anything for the public to unite in to oppose them.
I understand your twisted thinking. Anyone who does not support the CORRUPT Democrats is a supporter of the "1%", right? I have never had a head-ache in my life, but reading your bullshit, I do feel a tingle. It causes me to laugh though....
Can't help wondering - where you at these days and - how come u ain't here fighting for The 99%?
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32627-the-dirty-war-against-youth-from-ferguson-to-ayotzinapa
Can't help wondering - where you at these days & how come u ain't here fighting for The 99%?
My God you are such a feeble agent provocateur. Do you do this on your own in support of the 1%? If so - WHY? - Do you think that you are earning some sort of loyalty bonus? Damn - if so - oh my - aren't you just so thoroughly retarded.
[Removed]
BTW, having conversations with political hacks is a waste of time because the merits made in diaologue are ignored by people whose only concern is making this a partisan battle. The time for you to have a good dialogue with people has long past.
You do bring up a good point - you and your Cadre are the worst of political hacks - BUT - I will not leave you alone to spout your bullshit propaganda. It is too bad you and yours have chased away many good people and have been so determined that you got the sign-up page shut down. I guess that your success in doing so only points out how weak so many individuals are that they would let you chase them away.
Me, chased away people on this forum?? From what I hear, YOU were the CHAMPION of running roughshod over this forum, and banned people who did not agree to your beloved, corrupt Democrats.
No - when I was moderator - I regularly banned Odin as well as thrashingmasks. I have never promoted the democratic party - I have however promoted individuals who I have thought really represented for the people. Not my fault if there are no rethuglicans that are for the people.
So sorry that you are so reality challenged as not to see this simple fact (truth).
I see these "truths," and I am not blinded by the fact that we have had DEMOCRATIC President for seven years who now is pushing hard for the TPP. Nor can I not see that both of the DEMOCRATIC candidates running for President are supporters of the MIC and War. And I am completely aware that Hillary has yet come out against the TPP, and that her corrupt DEMOCRATIC husband signed the bill to have the Glass-Steagall Act repealed. Both parties stink!
OH-Bummer Stinks - Hillary Stinks - GWB Stinks. But I can not agree to your total dem rep conflation.
You say you need a third party to make a difference.
OK
You don't have that third party and candidates as of this point in time.
SO
While you come up with that third party and their candidates - lets prove your charge that the dems are just as bad as the rethuglicans.
As (if your charge is correct) if the dems are just as bad as the rethuglicans - then - it should make no difference as to who holds a sufficient majority to bust through any roadblocks tossed up.
SO - AGAIN - as the rethuglicans have come out openly against the people in favor of the wealthy and Corp(se)oRATions - lets concentrate on removing all rethuglicans from office (local state and fed) - if your charge is correct and the dems are just as bad as the rethuglicans - well then - nothing should change for the better for the public or for that matter for the worse.
In proving your point you will have lost nothing and will in fact have gained some plausible support for your as yet non-existent third party.
No, let's concentrate on getting corrupt Democratic hacks, and anyone that is advocating for either party out of Occupy!! The mere fact that you tolerate the lowlife corrupt Democrat accomplices that you do.... You are showing your true colors.
Go Fuck Yourself you 1% supporting agent provocateur.
what the anti war core say ?
That ''Drone Strikes Are Creating Hatred Toward America That Will Last for Generations''?!
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2015/12/drone-strikes-are-creating-hatred-towards-america-will-last-generations/124327/ &/or
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43684.htm [alt link; quicker load; clearer font]
ad iudicium ...
humans are capable of letting go of grudges
a work a say job late lasts for generation
people want to live their lives and will work whatever job they can to feed their children
do not consider the social/global consequence of their work
Educate - Agitate - Organize!!!
Get Together And, Strategize!!
Make A Movement & Mobilize!
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people" [John Adams; Second President, 1797 - 1801]
dum spiro, spero ...
pole position is not news
That's true so fair enough but you should ask yourself about the near total lack of coverage about Bernie Sanders on Corporate MSM (especially on television) compared to the coverage of Trump and then ask:
cui bono?
you mean about the air strikes ?
Re. Drones Strikes el al, see ''The (Socialist) Malala Yousafzai the US Media Doesn’t Quote'':
From which...''On 11 October 2013, Malala met with Obama in the Oval office. The press could hardly have lauded The President more, for taking the time out of his busy schedule to meet the 16-year-old activist, and for bringing his family with him. What went much less reported was that, at this meeting, Malala warned that US drone strikes are “fueling terrorism.”Obama ignored her(presumably mumbling something like “Sorry, but I have to drone strike your home/neighbors/friends cuz freedom”) - and The White House left the comment out of its official statement.
Further... ''In recalling the incident Malala said she “expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts - and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people.” Again, not a peep from the Obama administration — who, presumably, given its supposed investment in fighting terrorism, would not be interested in spreading it further.
Finally... ''Just a few weeks after this meeting, Nabila Rehman visited the White House to testify before Congress. Her story did not inundate the US media — as, it is much less favorable. The eight-year-old Pakistani was out in a field picking okra when her grandmother was eviscerated.. right before her eyes, by a US drone strike. Seven children were also wounded, including family members. Given such a very horrific report - you’d think the USG would express interest in learning from it, as to make sure random civilians are not again slaughtered by bombs falling from microscopic dots in the sky. Yet only five (out of 430) Congressional representatives attended the hearing.'' As USG prefers PR-Spin to Clear Truths!!!
spero meliora ...
drones strike would still be wrong if they didn't cause terrorism
''Collapse with Michael C. Ruppert (Full Movie)'':
RIP Michael C. Ruppert (Feb.3, 1951 - April 13, 2014)
Emphatic ditto re. what you say re. drones. Respect!
pax et lux ...
"The best you can do is NEVER good enough." So I ain't worried about a thing.Thanks for your feedback.The only thing I can do is give a description of what I saw and experienced.If that's of little or no use to those who were not able to attend,we'll all survive,I daresay.
Here's where it's at .. https://berniesanders.com/issues/
And where you at these days trashyharry?! Solidarity :-)
pax, amor et lux ...
why politician say we must trust their judgement
See: https://berniesanders.com/issues/ & consider his analysis.
Don't ''trust'' pols but look at what was said before and then now.
Ask yourself are they for themselves,the 0.01% or for The 99%?
Don't come to conclusions 'til you're happy that you've got facts!
ad iudicium ...
san bernadino is a crazy not a crazy organization
''A Shame on America: Hate Attacks on U.S. Muslims are Spiking — & Where’s the Outrage?'':
From which ... ''White supremacists love the Donald, and are telling everyone to vote for him. Trump is giving them a mainstream platform they’ve never had before. He's directing so much traffic to neo-Nazi hate sites that their servers are crashing, and they are having to upgrade.
''The target of the neo-fascist’s hatred are Muslims. 21st-Century Islamophobia - just recycles the same myths of 20th-century anti-Semitism. Islamophobia is just the 21st-century repackaging of 20th-century anti-Semitism. They are two sides of the same racist, fascist coin.
''How long is the American public going to remain quiet about the escalation of hatred? And how long is the media going to exacerbate it?''
fiat lux et fiat pax ...
these words suggest a casting system to create terrorists
Now it's funny that you should say that - because ...
'Regime Change' in Libya Helped Rise of Isis: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43761.htm
Article Exposes Who Controls America: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43763.htm &
Nothing Funny About a Donald Trump: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43753.htm which ends ...
with: ''That’s what Donald Trump is: America’s id personified, complete with spray-tan, extemporising a neofascist playbook from pulpits paid for with real estate money. He is a brutal punchline to a joke that was never funny in the first place. People have been laughing at Donald Trump for 20 years and he still has that hair. It’s too late for laughter. Trump is selling fascism with a cartoon face. It's the only type of fascism that was ever going to sell in America.''
caveat emptor ...
politician wants to defeat non-exist ISIS
What?! What are talking about?!! Re. ''defeat non-exist ISIS''
their origins and creation were real enough though - right?!!!
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43724.htm -- from Harpers' Mag.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43763.htm analysis of the above
and - http://occupywallst.org/forum/how-serious-isis-in-iraq/#comment-1046547
ad iudicium ...
Your clear and concise posts are very appreciated by me and a cross link to P2/2 -
http://occupywallst.org/forum/left-forum-2015-part-2/ Solidarity and thank you again.
Thought you would have provided a link.
Oh well................
Watch Left Forum 2015 on @Livestream: http://livestream.com/accounts/6754733/events/4070733?t=1432944150317 …