Video Weekend 9-23-2017 (8 Videos)

Once again, a collection of fine videos to brighten your weekend with enlightenment and fuel for our political revolution:

I.
Jimmy Dore and Lee Camp together. A fine duo. Unfortunately, I felt they had both made the same statements before, and better, when they did them alone and better prepared. Still, I like what comes up 14:20 minutes into this clip (asking why you would donate to the “Democratic Party” when its primaries are rigged by its own admission!). The talk then moves to the topic of our rigged debates keeping out third parties… handcuffing presidential candidates to keep them away from the rigged debates… and record climate events in the past two months. Later Lee Camp, talking about Bannon, reveals how our corporate media lift up right-wingers by allowing only THEM to criticize corruption even though they are part of it):

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Jimmy Dore On The Corporate State And The Power Of The Petrodollar “)

 

II.
Political wrangling surrounding Bernie’s Medicare for All bill:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Some Democrats Are Pretending Bernie’s ‘Medicare for All’ Bill Doesn’t Exist “)

 

III.
The usual lies about healthcare costs and single-payer:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Aetna CEO is Scared To Death of Single-Payer”)

Debunking one of the biggest lies: No, single-payer coverage such as Medicare for All is not single-provider healthcare, meaning a government-run healthcare, but merely a government-secured payment system. So, you can pick and choose your doctors as before, except this time their will be no question whether or not you can pay. It is simply our government doing its sworn duty to look out for its citizens.

 

IV.
Cha-Ching:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Obama Enriches Self With Back Room Oil Deal”)

 

V.
We have a responsibility not only for ourselves to fix our country:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Propaganda Buries Facts & Manipulates Emotions – Abby Martin with Chris Hedges”)

Various revelations about our country’s dark history. Also: an interesting and creepy revelation from former war correspondent Chris Hedges. He explains how the despotic regime in a foreign country went through the same motions as our southern states with their glorification of the Confederation: basically, when people are getting desperate over their worsening lives, give them a myth to feel good about, the better to control them. In our case, that myth would be the ‘noble heroism’ of our civil war’s slavery defenders, building up a white-against-black and south-against-north mentality that keeps us from uniting against the blood-sucking establishment controlling and exploiting us from above. The more divided we are, the better controlled from the top we are.

 

VI.
An older but very nice conversation:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Cornel West and Richard Wolff talk about Capitalism and White Supremacy”)

How much better off are freed slaves when they become enslaved by a wage slavery system? When one king of a company can hire and fire you, abuse you, rip you off and make you lick his boots – and every alternative job is just as bad – it is anathema to democracy!

 

VII.
Nice historic review of the last century of our economy and politics – the New Deal and its repeal:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Full Show 11/11/15: How Reaganomics Killed America’s Middle Class”)

Conclusion: we can’t keep a golden age after getting it, if we don’t topple the plutocrats who will roll back everything to resume their godlike status among a sea of serfs. The pendulum will always swing back to the dark side if we do nothing to lock it in place.

 

VIII.
And not to forget: the environment we depend on. One thing apparently forgotten in this conversation was the great danger that lies in our getting the permafrost soil to melt, releasing huge amounts of methane, which is a far worse greenhouse gas than CO₂. Basically, we are terraforming ourselves off this planet:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “After Maria “Obliterates” Puerto Rico, Trump Pushes Dangerous Climate Policy”)

~

Help us help you! Find out more here! Or snatch scientific literacy from the jaws of public school defeat here!

Advertisements

One More Thrust to Destroy the GOP’s Wealthcare Zombie (ACA-Repeal, Trumpcare)

As I think I recently mentioned, Republican “leaders” are hurtling one more time toward an Obamacare repeal, and we must tell them “No!” — Even as Bernie Sanders has put forth his Medicare for All bill, the worst of the worst in Washington are still hell-bent on shredding federal protections found in the Affordable Care Act, killing its subsidies and Medicaid expansion, and suffocating the fifty-year Medicaid program that benefits everyone from newborns to seniors in nursing homes. If we don’t stop them, they will do it this month before time runs out for them.

I want to share with you a passionate, excellently written and informative article: We Can Stop the GOP’s Dash to Destroy Health Care

Quotes:

“The GOP lawmakers who demand repeal, and the rich donors who back them, don’t seem to mind bulldozing our health care to make way for their tax cuts and market-based dystopia. … An unprecedented national solidarity has blossomed around the repeal proposal – in opposition to it. … That opposition includes medical and hospital groups. Patient organizations. Republican and Democratic governors. The health secretary for the home state of the bill’s top sponsor. Veterans. People who simply believe every person in our country deserves, and should get, health care. … So, call, call, call – not just to your senators, but to your representatives in the House, too. (Here’s the number for the Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121. But call local offices, too!”

I quickly dug up the following (untried by me) places to find phone numbers:

• http://www.statelocalgov.net/
• https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/

And this page gives you an idea of where the political creatures live:

http://www.politicalcampaigningtips.com/the-big-list-of-local-elected-offices-for-political-candidates/

~

Help us help you! Find out more here! Or snatch scientific literacy from the jaws of public school defeat here!

The Equifax Calamity – Possibly the Biggest Data Breach in History

Remember the report that, thanks to Equifax, we may all become victims of identity theft? The possibilities: credit card fraud, tax refund theft, ruined reputations and credit ratings replete with denied apartments, insurances, or jobs, and even worse: credit cards or bank accounts being set up in our names and the bill collectors coming for us over those false accounts, arrest warrants getting issued against us because of the crimes of others, arresting police shooting us in our beds… at least that’s what I can imagine coming at us. Here is an update interview:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Massachusetts First to Sue Equifax Over Massive Hack “)

It’s really sad to hear that the vulnerability is said to have been in an open-source software, since open-source is usually considered one of the best protections against hacking. But, of course, it won’t help when the quickly produced patches are not applied down the line, in this case by the staff of one of our three ruling credit bureaus. 

Takeaway from Bernie’s MfA Unveiling

Medicare for All. We all want it. And the healthcare profiteers and their political cronies have been fighting it tooth and nail since FDR’s days, happy to see us suffer and die as long as they can extort us.

In fact, blocking healthcare for all isn’t enough for the worst of the political leeches in office. The crooks in the “right” arm of the establishment party (the arm called the Republican Party) are gearing up for yet one more effort to repeal Obamacare (despite the fact that he copied it from them). Despite all the popular unrest about this, they still wish to replace it with that heinous billionaire tax gift that is Trump’s wealthcare plan. (with a “w” rather than “h” when not mendaciously misspelled). At the same time, if sparingly released news are to be believed, arguably the worst of them all, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is making yet another attempt to demolish Medicare by privatizing the program to mainly benefit huge insurance companies while also giving yet more tax breaks to the very wealthiest Americans. (Can people who so betray the American people really still be called Americans?)

In the meantime, to move the fight for justice forward, Bernie recently unveiled his new Medicare for All bill proposal. Here is the ceremony:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie Sanders Unveils the Medicare for All Act – September 13th,2017”)

And here are my takeaways from the event: 

The Political Mud Slinging Continues

Even as record-size hurricanes keep tearing into the nation, the political mud slinging continues. Good grief! Well, be prepared, fine people who want to clean up the mess of our country: you are going to get more smears and gaslighting. Mrs. Clinton just came out with a book preaching alternative facts (in other words: lies and creative interpretations to warp reality). So, anyone who accuses any of us of not letting go of the 2016 debacle and Hillary’s second historic failure to realize her dynastic claim on the American throne, let’s be clear: it’s her not going away. It’s her continuing the smears side by side with all those other neoliberal handmaidens of the robber billionaires and their destructive corporations. And, of course, they do this in order to continue their devastating politics which has been flushing our country and its people down the drain. You smearers and gaslighters seriously expect us not to fight back when you act to harm our country? Naturally, we shouldn’t spend much time on these silly excuses and justifications for 2016, because we mustn’t let ourselves be distracted from the real issues. Let’s just place a response for the sake of defending against fake facts and then return to fighting on the issues. 

Video Weekend 9-09-2017 — Hurricanes, Climate Change, Selfish People, & Equifax’s Horrible Hack (9 Videos)

CBS reported it has been more than 100 years, in the U.S., since two category-4 hurricanes have made landfall in the same year. Tearing through the Caribbean, Irma was upgraded to category 5! And, meanwhile, Hurricane Jose is coming strong in its wake, a third big hurricane (or tropical storm for hair-splitters?) to form within some two weeks of time in our part of the planet. According to USA Today, Hurricane Jose joined Irma in reaching 150 mph winds on Friday, the first time on record the Atlantic has seen two storms that intense at same time. Meanwhile a 4th, weaker (105-mph) hurricane named Katia (it has been rare so far to have three roaring at the same time) is taking aim at Mexico’s east coast right now.

With all this happening, who here still insists on denying climate change or, in other words, reality? Years ago, I explained the severe weather events from global warming (including strengthened blizzards in wintry regions on Earth) comparing our planet to a pot of water being brought to a boil (the turbulent boiling water being our atmosphere in the analogy). I have been around long enough to have personally experienced our climate change. The cold winters of my youth are gone where I grew up, and record low harvests are hitting the farmers there from way to many rains in the growing season, rotting grains and fruits. Back in my earlier years, no-one ever imagined melting ice caps on the poles and polar bears swimming to Canadian beaches seeking refuge. Climate change is real, folks; and among this weekend’s videos is plenty of evidence.

Some notable facts before the videos start:

Communication with Cuba and other Caribbean islands has been lost. Barbuda, the first island to feel the force of Hurricane Irma was devastated. Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, said 90% of buildings have been destroyed (the count may have risen to 95% by now), and 50% of the population of around 1,000 have been left homeless.

ABC’s West Palm Beach news announced that Irma’s 24-hour-long 185 mph winds are unprecedented in recorded history! According to ABC Action Weather, Irma would be classified as category 6 if 5 weren’t the highest number on our rating scale. Maybe climate change will soon force us to expand the scale? I heard of storm surges up to 20 feet in the Caribbean.

Another sad piece of related news: price gouging by some airlines asking people trying to get to safety thousands of dollars for inland flights. Likewise, I heard of $45 prices charged on water bottle packs.

For those wanting to stay up to date beyond the things the sensationalist mass media report, travel.state.gov gives factual updates on Hurricanes Irma and Jose.

And now to the videos:

 

Hurricane Irma pushes aside recent Hurricane Harvey in severity and brings up memories of Hurricane Katrina:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Hurricane Irma Is Stronger Than Katrina Was At Its Peak “)

 

Overall, Katrina killed 1,245–1,836 people, making it the deadliest United States hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. It’s really sad that some right-wingers among our political crooks have been trying to rewrite history by spreading rumors that it was Obama, not Bush II and his war-profiteering and torture-promoting puppeteer Dick Cheney, who stood by idly as the catastrophe unfolded. Katrina also opened our eyes to how much our infrastructure, built during the New Deal, has been left to rot since our robber billionaires and our politicians and media pundits joined forces to focus exclusively on squeezing wealth from the middle and bottom to the top of the dungheap society we have become.

 

A bit more about our current storms:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Strongest Hurricane EVER RECORDED In Atlantic Heading Toward Puerto Rico And Florida”)

 

What a storm surge is and how it comes to be:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “What exactly is storm surge? “)

 

… and some more on our climate change catastrophes:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It “)

Montana is an example for the disastrous result of curring government spending in areas that protect and serve the people and our lands (while always maintaining and boosting the graft and pork spending such as military expenditures and corporate subsidies in connection with which we never hear a peep about budget deficits).

 

I have noticeably reduced the degree to which I watch The Young Turks (other than their associate Jimmy Dore, that is) ever since Cenk Uygur and others switched to supporting HRC in the 2016 presidential election — and after some underhanded smear attacks against citizen journalists — but I want to share this clip, largely because it rings true with me what these guys are saying about the reality perception and compassion of traditional “conservatives” (or GOP-voters) based on my own personal experience with many of them:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “The Trick To Being A Paid Liar: Zero Empathy “)

 

A little explanation of the greenhouse effect behind climate change:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s Simple Explanation of Climate Change “)

 

A little bit more explanation of climate change:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Climate change explained in under 2 minutes “)

 

If you want to listen to a pointy-headed scientist for nearly 20 minutes, here you can (For me it got really interesting 12 minutes in):

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Climate Change Explained and Proof it’s Man Made (Dr. Michael E. Mann 1 of 2) “)

And, I guess, I just learned that pointy hats are designed to hide balding. 😉

As a final word on the issue in this post, maybe I should remind everybody that I now offer an online science course which makes science super easy and fun and removes all excuses for science illiteracy and denial such as climate change denial even as hurricane after hurricane is hitting us in the face. And, besides, best of luck to everyone in the path of these storms!

 

And now to something completely different (a favorite Monty Python quote of mine):

Rummaging through useful news, info, and commentary clips I came across yet another TYT segment I’d like to share, because this is huge news, IMHOP, for the majority of Americans. You know, Equifax isn’t a company that you do business with. They get your data without your consent. With 143 million folks affected, most adult Americans may now soon be targeted with identity theft and the many horrible after-effects, as soon as the crooks can catch up with their enormous windfall. Expect to never qualify for a loan again, be blacklisted from employment and rental apartments, possibly for the rest of your life, and get arrested out of the blue for crimes you didn’t commit and know nothing about. I have long felt that our credit bureaus and collection agencies were a scourge on our country, and now they are about to prove it to everybody:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “UNPRECEDENTED Hack Leaks Financial Info Of 143 MILLION People “)

Hmm… on the other hand, maybe the wave of identity theft we may now experience may create a strong enough backlash to also give us a tool to fight the ongoing criminalization of political dissidents…? I wonder.

 

Related articles:

1. Hurricanes, Climate Change Denial, and a little Remedy
2. The Chain-Smoking Climate Change (Commentary with Video)
3. Nine Things You Absolutely Have to Know about Global Warming (Medium)

Support alternative media and citizen journalism. Help us any way you can (donate, recommend, contribute…). Maybe even help YOURSELF by signing up for my revolutionary online science course which makes science fun and easy-peasy: 

.

 

Vote Against Gerrymandering Now! (Only a Few Days Left)

Did you know that, early next week, the Supreme Court is about to decide whether to end partisan gerrymandering? It’s almost certainly the biggest anti-corruption case of the year. We, the people, have a few days left to let the SCOTUS know what we want. Gerrymandering has dropped to a backseat when we are talking about rigged elections since, lately, voter suppression, ballot spoilage, and voting machine rigging have surged so much. But, gerrymandering has long been one of the 800-pound gorillas in the room of election integrity, one we definitely mustn’t ignore.

Here is the link to the page Represent.Us has thrown up to let us vote against partisan gerrymandering which is one of the surest ways to fix election outcomes and guarantee corrupt career politicians their eternal re-elections, especially when people mostly pick between only two parties and their voting behaviour is very predictable: Add your name to this petition before September 5th!

And here is a brief video on how gerrymandering, directed by each state’s dominating party, works:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Gerrymandering: How drawing jagged lines can impact an election – Christina Greer”)

Support alternative media and citizen journalism. Help us any way you can.

Video Weekend 7/15/2017: 7 Videos

This weekend, enjoy politically relevant videos across a wide spectrum of issues: media mendacity, Syria, U.S. poverty, automation and lay-offs , the next economic crash, repression of dissent, government spending for a new New Deal, and Universal Basic Income.

 

1. Media Lies and Syria

Beware the corporate media! Beware, beware, beware! If you use outfits like CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News as your only source of information, you will be mislead again and again. Sometimes they will let a bit of real news slip through; but you can only tell real news from fake news if you do some vetting of sources. One way is to check out multiple information sources from different places on the political spectrum – alternative media especially (to get away from vested corporate interests) – and then compare the disagreeing reports to find commonalities. Another way is to use your brain to take into account how these sources make their money, then put two and two together, and you will know what’s really going on. You know that you can’t trust a used cars salesman when he praises a car standing on his lot; but he may be quite honest talking about the weather or the problems his child has in school. Makes sense, right? — I work hard to bring you the real news, as well as original thoughts and ideas; so you would do well to follow my posts and help me reach more people (or even help me become financed, for example by a small donation from you, or you buying an online course from me).

One topic the corporate media are compulsive liars about is our eternal warfare around the globe. So, here is some rarely heard news about Syria:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Max Blumenthal on How the Media Covers Syria”)

Quote: “The progressive media’s job is to challenge [the establishment media] narrative, but in the Trump era this is not really happening.” The great risk, at this time, is that alternative media join the corporate media in their distractive anti-Trump mania, a convenient trick for our corporate media and politicians not to report on corporate crimes or truly transformative political opportunities. Merely resisting won’t move us forward. We must do more to fight the establishment and take our country back from the robber billionaires.

 

2. American Poverty

Meet the Poor Country USA (over half the U.S. lives in or near poverty (such as working for less than a living wage)). See and hear from their reality, if you don’t experience it yourself every day, or know you are not alone if you do:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “America Is The Poorest First World Country Linh Dinh”)

If you want to know how we got to this place, I write about this regularly. In fact, if you haven’t read it already, I wrote a succinct summary yesterday: How the Bandits Took Over

 

3. Automation and Lay-offs

McDonald’s just used its record stock prices to fire 2,500 of its workers. Conclusion: Technology either improves the profits of plutocrats or the lives of workers. Plutocrats fire workers replaced by machines to improve their profits. In contrast, workers owning their companies and making the decisions would improve their lives and their communities:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “McDonald’s, Capitalism, and Unemployment”)

 

4. The Next Economic Crash

The next economic crash is about to hit:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Economist Dr. Richard Wolff – The Lottery Economy”)

 

5. Repression Of Dissent

Brutal repression of dissent is quickly growing in our country. It will soon be the dark future for all of us if we don’t fight back now when it is still only hitting some of us:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “[#68] A U.S. Political Prisoner Is Finally Released & CNN Cover Up”)

 

6. Government Spending for a New New Deal

The below is probably the best video by Steve Grumbine that I have seen so far. This one is really good — full of vital truth. Gist: Watch your language! Most Americans need and want the same things, but the way we talk, pushing the party-line-division buttons, we tune each other out. Talk real issues, not slogans, party lines, or candidates:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Crossing political boundaries”)

Gist continued: Federal spending is an investment which can have taxes collected afterwards to balance out the economy. You don’t need to fight drawn-out political trench wars to free up tax dollars first, and you don’t need to burden most working people with higher taxes, to give us things like Medicare for All. All we really need, is a broad coalition of voters (across party lines) to get us a new New Deal. Taxes don’t exactly pay for any of these, the government does. The federal government can print all the money it needs (or create it with a click on a computer, actually). Taxation is only the re-taking of money from the economy lest we get inflation if the growth in money supply exceeds the growth of the economy. This re-taking is best done in places where the money uselessly accumulates (the billionaires).

Now, Steve Grumbine promotes a federal job guarantee but seems to oppose a universal basic income. Personally, I think that combining the two of them would give people a greater amount of flexibility. The thing not to overlook, after all, is that government – even one that is accountable to the voters (as our American government definitely is NOT and has not been for decades!) – is never perfect. One-size-fits-all measures always do wrong by some people. Hence, in my opinion, having an unconditional universal basic income as a financial safety buffer for all those for whom a federal job guarantee might not work, is highly recommendable. For example, if a federal job guarantee, for whatever reason, would exclude taking care of one’s children or one’s elderly (say, because their might be a worry about nepotism or unqualified care), then people able to rely on an unconditional basic income could still make the choice to care for their relatives, making for more individual liberty and a better, more caring society. Liberty and choice is what government should guarantee us, just like our founders demanded.

 

7. Universal Basic Income: A Comedian Talking Sense that Escapes Most Serious People

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Breaking The Stigma Towards Universal Basic Income Can Better Society!”)

---

Don’t forget to support alternative media and citizen journalism. Help us any way you can (share, comment, write, urge others to share, find us bigger outlets, donate, or buy an online course from us).

We Are So Out-Donated on Political Campaigns, We Are Letting Our Information Sources Die

Truthout, which for the longest time has been providing trustworthy and critical news coverage unlike all those mainstream media — the same Truthout about whose hair-raising revelations I have often reported here — just gave out a final desperate yell for financial help. For years, Truthout has always survived on reader donations (like I would like to do, too). In their current fund drive, they have whittled down the missing donations amount to about $10,000. However, after all our donating to Bernie Sanders and other anti-corporate candidates and campaigns, we seem to be reaching our limit. Truthout writes: 

Video Weekend 6/24/2017: One Who Came Before: Bill Moyers

In the dark days of accelerated mass media consolidation by giant corporations, when they were thoroughly brainwashing the American people and blacking out every bit of important truth, before the arrival of independent media on the Internet such as you are reading this very moment, you could count the remaining voices of truth on the airwaves on the fingers of one crippled hand, foremost among these a name that resonates venerably with many of the older folks: Bill Moyers. As fascism descended upon our country, he was cut down, yet rose again. Like Bernie Sanders in politics, Bill Moyers had the stamina and age-long standing in news and commentary to somehow persist. Like Bernie, old enough to enjoy his final years in retirement, the decline of our country and our lives has not let him rest; and when I think I will never hear from him again, I stumble upon a happy surprise.

In 2014, Moyers foreshadowed what Bernie Sanders would bring to the table of public discourse in his soon to follow campaign. Coming from a venerable old media man who interviews a former Republican who has come to see the light, perhaps the following two videos might open eyes even for people who self-identify as Republicans, conservatives, right-wingers, or whatever labels they prefer and which they consider incompatible with the virtues and values of justice and liberty for all, commonly associated with the political “left.” Here are these two remarkable videos:

Moyers & Company (Published on Apr 15, 2014) :

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “The Deep State Hiding in Plain Sight”)

Moyers & Company (Published on Apr 18, 2014) :

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “What the 1% Don’t Want You to Know”)

And here is an audio-only recording which could be of special interest to Black voters but also anyone else who wants a fundamental course change of our country. One of the ideas raised, is an interesting way of rethinking: the “blank-out campaign.”

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Voters Don’t Have to Choose Between Clinton and Trump”)