Wakeful Videos 2019-08-10 (24 videos)

This is essentially a collection of enlightening videos published once a week and so helpful in learning what is really going on and how we may change our rigged system into a good one that everyone should watch them. The top topic this week: mass shootings (intelligent thoughts, not the usual BS).

Channels: Empire Files, Kim Iversen, John Spritzler, AJ+, Thom Hartmann, Greg Palast, RT America, The Humanist Report, Democracy Now!, PowerfulJRE, RT UK, HOT 97, Secular Talk, The Majority Report, Graham Elwood, The Grayzone, The Jimmy Dore Show, The School of Life…

Topics:

1. Mass Shootings: Why they Happen
2. Oh-So Criminal “Illegal” Immigrants
3. National “Defense” For Profit
4. Medicare for All: Bernie, Scare Tactics & Private Insurance
5. Bernie: 6+ Million Views of Lengthy Informative Interview
6. Capitalism: The Global Rentier System, UBI & the 1%
7. Capitalism: The Current Trend May Have the Top 10% Own EVERYTHING by 2052
8. Easy Elections Hacking in America
9. Recent AOC Interview
10. Rich Boys: The Koch Boy
11. War-for-Profit Empire: U.S. Kills More Afghan Civilians than the Taliban
12. World: Interesting Maduro Interview (Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal in Venezuela)
13. Police Brutality against the Homeless
14. The Billionaire Meter on Candidates
15. Humor: Political Porn Comedy
16. Loneliness & Friendship

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! 🙂

Political Awakening Video Weekend 08-05-2018 (14 videos)

In this weekend’s video compilation, Paul Jay, Leo Panitch, Amy Goodman, Thomas Frank, Thom Hartmann, Chris Hedges, Barrett Brown, Stacy Herbert, Max Keiser, Aaron Maté, Stephen Cohen, Richard Wolff, The Rational National, Jimmy Dore and others go into astute System Analysis and discuss topics like Obama & Clinton Crap, the Putin Panic, cruel capitalism, climate change and its denial and anti-science-propaganda, Healthcare for All, the idiocy of the well-to-do, and how we can freak them out (real FUNNY!!!), and the deathblow to investigative journalism. (sorry for the delay, I was sick)  

Short yet Smashing Speech by Chris Hedges

As a follow-up to Monday’s sharing of Chris Hedges’s and Richard Wolff’s great recent conversation and yesterday’s sharing of late Ed Schultz’s Swan Song Speech (less far along but perhaps the exactly right stepping stone for some people who have still a little to catch up), here is another speech by Chris Hedges, a short one this time (only 16 minutes!) but still packing a big punch. Enjoy:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for ChrisSmileyMedia and the title: “Chris Hedges Revolutionary Speech”)

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Ending Note: To get the word out, please widely share links to these posts. You can also help in other ways (including much needed financial support). Only together can we change this messed-up world. And remember: signing up for notifications is the best way not to miss new articles and shared videos from this corner of awakened independent media.

Video Weekend 03-24-2018 (10 videos & comments)

This weekend’s video compilation covers various areas:

1. U.S. Barbarity
2. Voter Manipulation
3. Economy
4. Corrupt Politics
5. Shamestream Media
6. Change

 

I. U.S. Barbarity

Finalizing the transformation of the U.S. into a country of 100% barbaric brutality:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bolton Fabricated Lies that Justified War on Iraq “)

Note: Let’s be careful not to make this only about Trump. Reagan invaded Granada. G.H.W. Bush invaded Iraq. Bill Clinton ravaged flourishing Yugoslavia leaving a clutter of tiny, weak, and poor new nations behind. G.W.-Cheney invaded Afghanistan and Iraq (war for oil). Obama expanded our wars and drone-based from-the-sky terrorism on civil populations in many nations (the kind of horror which breeds violent terrorism coming back at us). Trump is just the latest and possible last step. (Let’s see how much our domestic corporate police state brutality, not discussed in this news video, will also be revved up during his tenure.)

 

II. Voter Manipulation

Twitter, Facebook, Cambridge Analytica…

More on political social media abuse, the corrupt government-corporation marriage, etc.:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “‘Pro-Hillary Bots’ Used Twitter Bots on Sanders Supporters | America’s Lawyer on RT America | “)

More confirmation of the Cambridge Analytica Meddling and also an example of how money can mess with integrity. After all, the oligarchs have their paid foot soldiers:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Brittany Kaiser, former Cambridge Analytica director: ‘I voted for Bernie’“)

If you missed them, here are this week’s articles on electoral rigging via Twitter and Facebook:

1. Corporate Greed Shredding Democracy — Meet the Twitter Bots
2. The Cambridge Analytica & Facebook Story — (Spying and Electoral Manipulation)

 

III. Economy

Richard Wolff on creating inequality:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Economic Update: Capitalism Breeds Inequality“)

 

Robert Reich on why are we working harder than ever and getting nowhere. It’s the rigged “Political Economy” which structures the market against us.

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Robert Reich, “Saving Capitalism”“)

Gist: The market vs government debate is a distraction. There is no market without a government (that sets and enforces the market rules, like what is legal tender, what is fraud, contract fulfillments, etc.). So, the real question is whether the market-government system (which is the real economy) works for most of us or merely a small number at the top. The other common myth that is utter nonsense is that (in our current system) people get paid what they are worth. Also, trusts and lobbying create behind-the-scenes pre-distributions which shift wealth and income to the top while they raise our living expenses.

Good point: If we give up on politics, we give up on a good nation and world.

 

More government rigging for the Robber Billionaires:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “On Contact: The New Gig Economy with John McDonagh“)

Note: So, New York’s taxis were limited by number to some 13,000 for umpteen years. Then, Uber comes in, promises the regulators comfy kickback jobs on its board, and suddenly 100,000 more taxi-like Uber cars are allowed into the market, and the taxi drivers – whose earnings have been ruined in one fell swoop – get levied an additional congestion tax to penalize them for all the extra cars. Their garages switch from splitting profits with their drivers to charging them a whopping $120 leasing fee each morning, putting them into a hole they must try to dig themselves out of in the next 16 hours or so of uninterrupted work and customer-hunting, while the garage owners income is thereby secured. And, eventually, a taxi driver who can’t take it anymore drives right up to the front of City Hall and blows off his own head with a shotgun. That’s how our rigged market-government economy is screwing workers and coddling the top and their corrupt political handmaidens until life for the rest of us becomes an agonizing ordeal we prefer not to stay in anymore.

 

IV. Corrupt Politics

The GOP raiders and their Dem enablers committing the latest Wall Street deregulation:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie Sanders Cites “Corruption” as Reason for Wall Street Deregulation Push “)

 

Change on the Outside, Continuity on the Inside (the roll-back of Dodd-Frank by a Repucratic-Dempublican alliance):

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Democrat’s Playbook To Sell You Out Revealed “)

 

V. Shamestream Media

Why we need independent media:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Bernie Sanders Calls Out Media’s Obsession with Stormy Daniels Scandal“)

 

VI. Change

An academic analysis of our flawed world and a suggestion for how to fix it:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Is Another World Possible? – Leo Panitch on RAI (4/4) “)

Notes: Living conditions were actually improving during much of the 20th century under a system of capitalism held to certain limits and socially responsible rules by a political upheaval and lingering political awareness of the citizenry. But when these improved lives led to a slothing off of public political awareness and participation, the plutocrats that had been left in their seats of imbalanced power, started rolling back the societal advances so we ended up in our current mess echoing medieval conditions of autocracy and serfdom. Now we need to think about change, fundamental change, so it won’t be rolled back again. Various ideas are being discussed.

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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. 🙂

Disconnected America – A Mentally Unhealthy Place

Americans, today, live in a money-obsessed, profit-driven society which distorts and stifles our shared humanity, resulting in despair, rage, and loneliness that generate, among other things, mass shootings.

The article I wish to point you at contains something to mull over: Capitalism Breeds the Lonely, Alienated Men Who Become Mass Killers?

In short, the article proposes that mental health can be likened to four pillars: (1) an intimate relationship, (2) a circle of friends or family, (3) shared activity groups (like workplace, clubs, political organization, sports teams, and such), (4) connection to one’s nation and the world through political, economic, or similar participation. When people’s lives lack these pillars, they become mentally unstable.  

Video Weekend 01-20-2018 (5 Videos & Commentaries)

… in 4 categories:

1. The Money Monsters (hedge fund politics and more)
2. Russia, Russia, Russia! (instilling some reality)
3. Celebrity Politics (lets take off the blinders)
4. Moving Forward (good strategy wins)

 

I. The Money Monsters

Money “Making” Money (in reality siphoning it away from those who earn it). The super-rich taking from the rich and turning our government into their puppet. A little explanation of index funds and the hedge fund scam, plus an additional little insight into the current tax “reform” gift to the rich:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Warren Buffett Wins $1 Million Bet That Hedge Funds Are a Rip-Off “)

 

How the Predatory Capitalists Crashed the World Economy. What’s sadly funny is that the makers of this documentary in 2011 still thought the mortgage banksters and Wall Street predators who with their self-enriching criminal gambles crashed the world economy and robbed millions of working people of their homes, jobs, and careers – in other words their chance at a tolerable life – were about to be held accountable:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “The men who crashed the world“)

 

II. Russia, Russia, Russia!

Some real info about Russia:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “American Journalist In Russia Tells Truth About RT“)

Note: 21:22 min in, a great point is made. Namely, if the Russian political elite had really wanted to boost Trump’s candidacy in 2016, all they would have had to do is publicize what they know about the Clinton’s uranium deal with them. No need for them to hack into the DNC’s emails to commit the oh so horrible “election hacking” of revealing important truths to the public. That was clearly done by others. Plus, the Russian political elite doesn’t care who’s in office in the U.S. because it won’t make a difference since ALL U.S. governments, R or D, have been hostile to them.

 

III. Celebrity Politics

For most people, politics has always been about particular personalities in politics. Not for me. I prefer to look at the big picture, find the faults, and design strategies to fix them. However, sometimes it is useful to review what the corporate politicians do to us and remove their false halos:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Obama Chose Wall St. Over Main St. – Thomas Frank on RAI (8/9) “)

Thomas Frank is someone with whom I don’t agree under the bottom line. He stays faithful to the treacherous “Democratic” Party, and he even endorsed Hillary if I recall correctly, an attitude which in my opinion misses the point that we will only go further down the drain if ALL the main parties (currently two) keep betraying the people, our country, and world to the robber billionaires because they can keep doing so as long as we keep playing into their hands.

It’s not some kind of impractical “purity” stance by me, when I insist we must create a new major party (or coalition of parties) to represent us. Rather, it’s an external pressure strategy combined with a fallback strategy. And it is also the simple reality on the ground, meaning it’s happenng and won’t just go away.

This strategy is not really in conflict with attempts to take over this duopoly party by flooding the base, either. In my opinion, it is a mistake to learn nothing from the past and continue to let any of the current two major parties get away with endless corruption and treason just because of many long years of habitual allegiance and unjustified trust in them. The time for such naiveté is over!

We are too close to the cliff now, to let corrupted politicians push us ever closer to it or – as has become ever more common in this century – sell us out at a rate that can only be described as a frantic fire-sale. We can’t expect different results by doing the same thing. We can’t expect the crooks in politics to go away if we give a pass to those crooks who rule a party we think we can take over. Taking over a party must include outing the crooks in it. And historically, it has always required massive pressure from outside the party, as well. Study up on what pressured FDR into going for the New Deal. Established political parties don’t change when the crooks running them feel assured that voters have nowhere else to go. Hillary and her machine were a blatant example of that attitude, as are Tom Perez and the lingering corporatist elite in the “Democratic” Party. They want their corporate money and figure we are helpless. Let’s prove them wrong!

 

IV. Moving Forward

Thoughts about breaking the corrupt party duopoly:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “People’s Party Founder Nick Brana, Live! Paradise Or Oblivion!?”)

Great points:

1. 57:15 min: “What’s the U.S. mission statement? ”
2. 1:43:38: “People get so normalized into the way the world is that they have a hard time seeing what it could be. In a weird way, they believe that society is organized in a natural way. They believe that the way we are organized is the natural way to organize. … No, these were policy choices that people made to advantage themselves while disadvantaging others. And all these policy choices can be changed. ”

Election Integrity:

I really do wonder why so many Americans seem to be so sold on electronic voting or electronic vote counts, and that in the face of massive election fraud in our country, a good deal of which made possible because of our electronic voting and vote counting. In other countries, much greater election integrity exists because they count votes by hand at the polling stations in the public and with opposing party members double-checking (recounting) each others’ counts. Simple and solid. The only chance of tampering exists up-chain in the count reporting. As long as that is handled in a transparent way, there can be no tampering with the cast votes.

So, why does Nick Brana seem to like block chain voting which is toted as a means of more tamper-proof electronic voting? Maybe because the American public isn’t yet ready to ban electronic voting and vote counting like, for example, Europe has done? Maybe he is looking forward to greater citizen participation in decision making by letting us all vote on issues rather than leaving them to corruptible delegates? The latter is something I toy with. I just don’t yet know if it can be done in ways that (A) eliminate tampering and (B) maintain voter anonymity. It’s another thing to research in the future. One question in my mind: can block chain voting really be transparent?

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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. If you find any value in what I do, please consider becoming a patron and supporting this site with an automatic monthly donation of $1 or more. If you can’t afford this, then don’t, but please share my posts, tell folks about my online course offering, refer others to this site, refer me to paying outlets or companionable fellow blogs, partake in discussion, or contribute essays of your own. Or help my book get out there when it’s finished. Thanks. Only together can we change this world. 🙂

All the GOP Has Done is Attack the Poor

It’s the gist of 2017, but it’s also been true for a very long time. The thing to add is that some thirty years ago the “Democratic” Party joined in this feeding frenzy of the rich upon the poor. The Dems try to save face by sometimes standing up for one or the other safety net program when the Reps are attacking it. However, in the long run, both political gangs are set to steal from the poor to give to the rich. It’s the millionaire minions working for kickbacks from the robber billionaires. And whenever we, the people, turn a blind eye because the current raiders are affiliated with the party we believe to be ours, we enable them.

The below video describes the current raids:

(Note: if the video linked above gets deleted, you may search the Internet for the title: “Donald Trump & Republicans Want to Cut Social Safety Net Programs in 2018 “)