Wakeful Video Weekend 2020-05-17 (15 videos)

Meaningful videos from this week, incl. People’s Party! (unfortunately me so busy struggling to get back into wage slavery taking continued education crash courses, I only had a few hours this Sunday to search and check these out… still worth sharing, though… esp. the People’s Party stuff). BTW, I lack time to share this link on social media (and I get censored on them), so please subscribe, comment, and share. Enjoy what you find here!

Stars & Channels: Richard Wolff (Democracy At Work), Jesse Ventura and Brigida Santos, Graham Elwood (The Political Vigilante), The Jimmy Dore Show, David Doel (The Rational National), and Nick Brana + Jerry Perez.

Topics/Sections:

1. Pandemic Ghost Towns
2. Our Predatory Capitalism’s Insanity
3. Jesse is Back (Notes: empire, socialism, bankruptcy…)
4. The Jimmy Dore Show
5. The Rational National
6. Movement for a People’s Party

Making the American Revolution Finally Come True

When the world looks at the engraved words of our nation’s founders and early fighters they are deeply moved. No prior statements held such power as the bold proclamations that we are all created equal; with equal rights to life, liberty, and happiness; rights to be ensured by a government allowed to govern only by our consent; a government bound to serve rather than rule us, and obligated to provide for our “general welfare” (meaning a good life for all, not heaven for a few privileged and hell for everyone else by dint of being robbed by the privileged with the government standing idly by or even assisting the privileged).  

Political Awakening Video Weekend 08-12-2018 (17 videos)

Read the brief descriptions and pick the videos to watch and make your ears flutter. Political awakening and education of the first tier. Share widely and subscribe to notifications, so you don’t miss future ones.

Stars: Paul Jay, Cornel West, Richard Wolff, Harriet Fraad, Chris Hedges, Nick Braña, Abby Martin, Brian Becker, Jimmy Dore & Co, Thom Hartmann, Debbie Lusignan, Ron Placone, Kyle Kulinski (“Secular Talk”), Marc Steiner, Bill Black, Mike Papantonio (“America’s Lawyer”), Jamarl Thomas, and more.

Topics range from corruption through our thieving economy and rigged politics, actual (not fake) election fraud, fake news (Putin/Russia), a cure for both Trump Derangement Syndrome and Trump Denial Sundrome, as well as successful soundbite debating, to deep thoughts on what it means to be human, political humor, and the dawn of the People’s Party.

At the very least, don’t miss the final three: Cornel West’s profound speech, Jimmy Dore & Co’s humorous stage performance, and a conversation between none other than truth teller Chris Hedges and (future president) Nick Braña! 🙂

Video Weekend 04-28-2018 (10 videos)

This weekend compilation of politically relevant videos includes three that I found gathering dust on my virtual shelves (this happens since I have to do my research and writing on the side of making a living) and which it is high time to share. Topics: mainstream party corruption, the right to assemble and dissent, money in politics, our continued economic decline, the joke our mass media have become, and challenging the system. Major stars: Nick Braña, Jimmy Dore, Richard Wolf, Mike Figueredo, Steve Grumbine…

 

I. Mainstream Party Corruption

Get an insight view of the “Democratic” Donors Party. Also, why Democrats give up on the “Democratic” Party and root for a New Party:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title “MPP-TV Second Interview With Former Howard County, Iowa Chair Of Democratic Party, Laura Hubka” and the name Nick Braña (our future president, mark my words 😉 ).)

Nice quote: If we want to make change, don’t we actually have to be who we say we are?

 

II. Constitution and Democracy

The right to assemble and dissent:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title “Free Speech, the Right to Assemble and the Chilling Effects of the Police State” and the name Steve Grumbine.)

Just remember that this only one of many similar events across our country. The establishment is trying throughout our nation to criminalize us for not agreeing with its destructive cruelty. Back when this video apparently slipped through my cracks, so also did this related article.

Note, 234 people were charged with mostly felony charges for being present at a demonstration! Making use of your 1st amendment right or simply passing by while others do is now being treated as a felony! How much more un-American can our country get?

As this more recent article explains, some 59 arrested people are still being prosecuted.

 

III. Money in Politics

Pay-to-Play Clinton Style :

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Hillary Clinton & Bill Clinton’s Legally Questionable Schemes Using Clinton Foundation”)

 

The corruption bosses keep roaming and raiding:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “The DNC and DCCC are Funneling Money to Hillary Clinton’s Super PAC”)

 

DNC Weapon of Mass Distraction, revolving doors, …:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “DNC Files Lawsuit Instead Of Helping People”)

 

IV. Economy

Simple truths that should be obvious to everyone:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Economic Update: Struggling Against the System”)

Richard Wolff: “bottom of the economic heap which is the lower 2/3”

Living space: 14.9 m2 = 160 square feet = a room of 12.6 x 12.6 feet, basically a largish bedroom… and that as a whole apartment. I am sure Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t live on that square footage. It’s more like low-income ancient Romans or their slaves. Essentially, working people who a generation ago could afford real apartments or entire houses are now moving into dormitories. Definitely not an economic “recovery” but an economic decline.

Comment: O.K. … so, in our economic system, the rich maximize their profits by driving people into poverty and financial struggles, so they become depressed and take anti-depressents, which further turn up the profits for the rich who hold ownership over the drug factories. So, even more profits for the rich. So, all is good.

 

V. Mainstream Media Morass

AKA lamestream or shamestream media.

Propaganda TV:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “BBC Host Tries Censoring Truth On Syria”)

Comment: Jimmy asks who actually stills turns on the TV to get informed by corporate channels like CNN. My answer: I occasionally watch those channels, and I do it in order to find out what lies, propaganda, and other manipulation is currently being rained on the American people.

Funny: OMG, don’t tell the truth on TV. If you tell the truth you give credence to the truth! We must never do that on the corporate mass media!

Funny, too: We get lied into war over and over again (Golf of T…, WMDs, gas attacks), and when this experience makes people skeptical, they are “conspiracy theorists”. Even when governments eventually admit their lies, and someone reminds us of this, he instantly becomes a “conspiracy theorist”. How many folks still by this? Good grief!

 

What a joke our TV news shows have become:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: »CNN Reporter Sniffs “Poison” On Air«)

 

Privileged MSM stooges:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Chris Hayes’ Journalistic Malpractice Over DNC Wikileaks Lawsuit”)

Jimmy Dore was mocking our oligarchs and their minions for their “who cares about jobs attitude”. My extension: Indeed! Who cares about jobs? We, the privileged, have bountiful and secure jobs, or we are so rich we don’t need jobs, having the unwashed masses toil for us. Hahahawwww…

 

VI. System Challengers

One of Bernies biggest gifts for America: we can now run for office without selling out to Big Money:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Screw Blue Wave- Stand For Something! Says Iowa Progressive”)

Great statement from this Berniecrat candidate for 2018: “Nobody that walks out to work every day should ever have to [worry] that if something happens to them – whether they get injured on the job or whether they get sick – that they will lose everything that they have built for their family.” Spot on!

Another good comment on our failing system: ”… how the richest country in the history of the world is actually sliding backwards…”

Also, Jimmy Dore speaking satirically about plans to raise the retirement age: “everybody wants a 70-year-old fireman”

Pete D’Alessandro: “people work as hard as they can and not make any gains” – My life exactly!

Comment: I think that Social Security for All (financed as a citizen dividend that puts a stop to piling all our economy’s unearned income on the billionaires and instead spreads it around like the Alaska Permanent Fund does), possibly even more so if mixed with a earned-shared assets approach that would allow the creation of residual income for workers, could completely change our system to where questions like retirement age would become a personal decision instead of a government imposed same-size-fits-all thing. Let us retire from the rat race when we are ready, not when some lawmaker decides.

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Ending Note: It takes me at least 100 hours a month to research and write news updates and analyses and work on my book. Please widely share links to these articles, so this work is not for naught. You can also help in other ways (including much needed financial support). Only together can we change this messed-up world. Let’s do it! 🙂

Strategy Condensed: The Way Forward

To solve our tragic and growing problems while we still can(!), we must put aside traditional party allegiances and blind loyalties, and instead join forces to focus primarily on election integrity (so our votes count and aren’t suppressed), on getting money out of politics (so our votes even matter), and on reforming our extremely rigged economic system so it can’t continue to fuel money in politics and the manipulative narratives which currently shape much of public opinion. Blood money from our rigged economy finances two corrupt major parties, an army of lobbyists 42,000 strong, and nation-wide brainwashing through “think tanks” and corporate mass media. This is how the establishment recovered from FDR’s New Deal and re-corrupted absolutely everything. I suppose that, while we are at it, we should also break up the big media trusts, not just the big banks. What say? In the meantime, let’s make use of and support alternative media like this one, so we can grow our own awareness and that of those around us. Naturally, let’s push for our immediate needs, as well: healthcare for all and reasonable drug prices, income security, a fair corruption-free justice and law enforcement system, free education at all levels, protection of communities and the environment, and so on.

Be a leader. Be one of the first to vote outside the twin party tyranny when outside candidates are far better than the corporate stooges dominating the Dempublican charade. There are still people who let themselves be played by the you-can’t-vote-third-party-or-independent-unless-the-majority-is-already-doing-so fib. That’s a trick to maintain the status-quo, and the way to break through this is to lead the way rejecting this false choice narrative.

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Ending Note: It takes me at least 100 hours a month to research and write for this site and work on my book. Please widely share links to these articles or help in other ways, so this work is not for naught. Financial support is really helpful, too! Only together can we change this messed-up world. 🙂

 

How the Fight from the Bottom Looks at the Local Level

Here is the inspiring recording of activity at the local level. If you think you are the only one sick of Big Money in politics so greedily taken by the treacherous major parties think again. If you think you are the only one who wants to kick these corrupt political “parties” (I rather think of them as political gangs, a political form of organized crime), then think again. If you think nobody will move to replace this corruption with a true people’s party or coalition of people’s parties representing you and me, watch this video where a local chapter is forming:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Chicago Movement For a People’s Party Chapter Launch”)

Note: We all need to undergo a transformation at some point in our lives to awaken to the crooked rigging of our system, pull off the wool from our eyes, and get ready to fight for what’s right.

Thought: So, maybe, thanks to Noam Chomsky speaking his mind, we will some day have Nick Brana as president, and good life will return to the United States. And this time for all!

Hear, hear: How divorced the vision of a people’s party is from the major parties we currently have.  

Video Weekend 04-14-2018 (11 videos)

Some videos I wanted to share for weeks kept slipping through the cracks (what with me having all sorts of existential battles to fight each week and day). Here they finally are, and then some. There’s a lot of bern in this compilation.

1. Inequality
2. Mentality
3. Party Corruption
4. Media
5. Foreign Policy
6. War

 

I. Inequality

To start, here is the full recording of the inequality town hall of Bernie Sanders which you probably have seen already somewhere (I think I may have shared at least a small clip from this already). More videos further below refer to it. If you want to (re-)watch or search through the whole event, you can do it right here:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie’s Inequality in America National Town Hall – TYT Summary “)

• Note: Very important point: the top 10% (not just 1%) do well enough and therefore do everything in their power to block the 90% below them from doing better.
• Question: How are people who can’t get a job join a labor union?
• Note: 44% of homeless people have a job but get paid too little to afford a home.
• Good comment by Darrick Hamilton: Can we simply work hard and study hard and [thereby] adress inequality. The answer is no.
• 1:08:45: How ourcorrupt laws are written.
• Note: Another good point: the establishment not only rigs our elections and legislative process but also works on lowering our expectations so we let it all happen.
• Noteworthy phrases: people being cut out of the game, shaming the poor
• Nice quote from Bernie: ”… this 1% that wants it all and is prepared to step on everybody.”

Comment: Dubious (neo?)-liberals wooing progressive voters are always saying that they and we want equality of opportunity. I am not satisfied with that. I want a less cruel system. In fact, I want a system that is NOT cruel.

And here is the TYT summary:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie’s Inequality in America National Town Hall – TYT Summary”)

… and Kyle Kulinski’s commentary:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Michael Moore: Dems Need To Be A Party For Workers“)

… and “The Rational National’s” commentary:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie And Michael Moore Slam Corporate Media’s Failure On Poverty “)

Everybody is empathetic, a self-serving “conservative” says (except he, apparently, who places the “Free Market” god above compassion and solidarity that he believes we simply cannot afford): — It’s sometimes helpful to check up on the other side of the fence in our divided society. So, under this link you can listen to a well-to-do, comfortable-all-his-life GOP/libertarian supporter ignorantly philosophizing over economics and reinforcing the to him so convenient belief that helping the disadvantaged is simply not possible or will miraculously happen by itself through the profit-driven market which doesn’t give a rat’s tail about people’s misery. (btw, loosing abysmal jobs with slave wages is actually a good thing, not a bad thing, if we make it possible to replace them with better alternatives – and the example of McDonalds replacing people with machines happened actually in the context of McDonalds having had record profits; furthermore, Bill Gates created only a microscopic portion of “his product”, so why does he get almost all the profit? … Like many confused folks, this guy does get some points at least somewhat right, such as that rising student loans without university price regulations drives the prices for university attendance up (it’s only part of the story, though, as usual). For the same reason, by the way, a universal basic income or federal job program shouldn’t come without safeguards like rental price control to prevent rent usury that could undo any widened prosperity).

 

II. Mentality

People’s inside diseases result in a sick society. Meet the quasi-religious mentality at the top of our dungheap society pooping down on us below:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “The Religion Of Libertarianism“)

 

III. Party Corruption

Topics: a fool’s errand to run as an honest candidate inside a corrupt party; no law enforcement concern over Americans stealing elections from Americans (only Russian suspects of minor electoral shoplifting seem to matter), election officials who tear up ballots, immunity of white-collar criminals, corporate and government crimes being the biggest of all crimes by far, helping culture and society instead of only a few individuals, etc.:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “[106] Democrats Destroy Democracy, Banks Launder Money For Terr¤rists w/ Tim Canova“)

 

IV. Media

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie Keeps Shíttíng On The Media & It’s Glorious “)

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie Hammers Corporate Media: They Cover Stormy Daniels Instead Of Poverty!“)

If it doesn’t get too repetitive, here is a similar commentary by Mike Figueredo.

 

V. Foreign Policy

The “World Police” fosters dictatorships and war:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie Stands Up To War Machine! Introduces Yemen Resolution “)

 

VI. War

An exact replay of last year’s media stunt[1] to legitimize yet another American war crime in the Middle East[2]:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “WEB EXCLUSIVE: Strikes In Syria – The Hard Facts (with Max Blumenthal)”)

Note: the U.S. Military Industrial Complex creates and supports Islamist terrorism (together with Saudi Arabia and Turkey). Are some eyes finally opening?

 

VII. Special Conversation

In this excellent conversation of two champions, Nick Braña from the Movement for a People’s Party talks with Tim Canova about leaving the “Democratic Party” and a lot more:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Tim Canova leaves the Democratic Party! Takes on Debbie Wasserman Schultz as an independent!“)

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Ending Note: It takes me at least 100 hours a month to research and write for this site and work on my book. Please widely share links to these articles, or help in other ways, so this work is not for naught. Donations are really great, too! Thanks. Only together can we change this messed-up world. 🙂

The Great People’s Platform

I want to share this remarkable piece of work with you. As I and others have pointed out before, being against bad conditions of our current world isn’t enough. To move forward, we also need a vision of the future we want. I shared with you my own attempt at a draft of a people’s platform (or agenda, or wish list) in 2016 as a way to kindle a discussion. It is still up for reading and a Facebook Page for commenting on it is also still up.

However, the Movement for a People’s Party (which started out as the Draft Bernie for a People’s Party idea and movement but evolved beyond Sanders by now, looking especially at forming a people’s coalition outside the twin-party tyranny; a way to have third parties, old and new, work together against the tyranny and to give us, the people, our voice back in our country’s affairs) just came out with its own more fleshed-out draft and is inviting everybody to take a look and make their own proposals. If you wish to really go deep, you could compare their draft with my draft and point out the gaps in each. 😉 Admittedly, I have been too busy these days to read the MPP draft from end to end. How do other people get by with only 24 hours in a day?

Anyway, perhaps you can make the time in a timely fashion. Here are two snippets from this platform document to raise your interest:

 

Discovery and Unity

Probably all the folks who read my writings have had many, most, or all of their lives’ dreams crushed to the point that being born a human in this world is a curse.

My own dreams and goals were crushed again and again, forcing me countless times to restart my “life” from scratch and lower my goals to where I am now reduced to a struggle for mere short-term survival, the fight for long-term survival having been lost forever, making me wish – if I am to be honest – that I had never been born. (On the side of my struggle for survival, I try to fight this corrupt system through my writing while I still can.)

This depressing hardship is the life not just endured by me but, I suspect, the majority of human beings born in our times… at least once they reach a certain age. How can we be proud of such a failed civilization or not wish to improve it?

I think that most people don’t have it in their nature to rock the boat. They just want to pursue their goals, no matter how sensible or senseless they are; and they want to be left in peace. Therefore it is easy for confidence tricksters to scam them and set up a system that works as a continuous and self-perpetuating scam known as our economic and political system. 

Paper vs Online Voting

Folks, imagine if we had a site where fantastic visionaries and activists like Nick Brana, Jimmy Dore, Lee Camp, C.A. Matthews, Jamarl Thomas, Tim Black, Mike Figueredo (just to name a few in no particular order) could and would put their heads together and anybody else (besides trolls) could join a genuine public discourse and even vote on issues, thus creating a forward moving alternative to our rigged political system and propagandist establishment media… It’s something I hinted at last Friday.

Then, on Saturday, someone whom any frequent reader of mine surely knows left a comment. Nick Brana! Yeah! A happy day for me! 🙂