Je ne suis pas Charlie

Remember when we were falling all over ourselves to post a "Je Suis Charlie" picture somewhere?  Of course we wanted to stand up for freedom, but since none of us had really heard of that French language magazine or were familiar with the kind of thing they print, it was all so easy to flatter ourselves that we're noble defenders and not lemmings.

So what do you think of their cartoon showing a multi layer collapsed building with the arms and legs of squashed Italian corpses oozing out and calling it lasagna?  Gratuitously tasteless, heartless and disgusting come to mind rather rapidly.

Nothing of the sort that justifies slaughter of course, just enough to raise questions about whether they learned anything about humanity and decency and compassion from it.  Suddenly I'm not so Charlie any more.

Taco Terrorism

A chicken in every pot, 40 acres and a mule -- political promises are the fabric of election-year rhetoric. One might think "a taco truck on every corner" would be such a promise, but this is racist and xenophobic America and it's a promise meant to terrify us like the "yellow peril" and the "red menace" once did. Sure, most Americans aren't old enough to remember and are too proudly ignorant to care, but I remember when pizza and even spaghetti were "foreign" food in a land of white bread, roast beef and potatoes. There was a time when Hamburgers and Frankfurters were foreign as well.

Now that the forward into the past movement seems to have taken over our dreams (or for some, our nightmares) the concept of more widely available Mexican or Tex-Mex food can be frightening, even for some of us of Mexican origin. Frightening even though the long history of our country's dietary improvement has been a history of expanded choices and better food. Most frightening is that Latinos for Trump founder Marco Gutierrez has commented that without more xenophobic immigration policies as proposed by that tin-horn Hitler Donald Trump, that's just what we would have.

Now the county I live in is, along with some contiguous areas, still heavily agricultural. At one time the sugar cane was cut by Jamaicans and the oranges and other fruit picked by Hispanics, but today only the latter remain in quantity. I don't know of any Jamaican restaurants, more's the pity, but there certainly are Mexican and Guatemalan establishments although I'd like to see more and yes, a few more taco trucks.  Great places to get great food when you don't want to go into a sit-down restaurant.  Is this more of a threat than a Jewish Deli on the Lower East side, a German beer garden in Milwaukee, a Cuban restaurant in Hialeah or a Pizzeria on Mott Street? A taco truck on every corner indeed. Unless you own a McDogfood or you're a racist piece of shit, why wouldn't you be happy about it?  Maybe you could just call them freedom rolls.

I guess it's no stranger than the existence of Latinos for Trump itself,  or Gays for Phelps or Christians for Krishna.  People are crazy -- as though we aren't reminded every time we watch or read or try to run away from the news!

The Clorox Conspiracy

It's probably true that the liar Trump could shoot someone in cold blood at high noon and No one -- no Republican, that is, would drop their support for him.  So It's silly to think that another demonstration of how he shoots from the hip, without bothering to check a fact or read a news item isn't going to matter to anyone but those already all too aware of the mortal danger the US is in from this lying bastard.

Liar Trump, in the haste to pin another lie of Hillary tells us once again how she erased e-mails but horror of horrors, she used chemicals -- expensive chemicals to do it. Obviously Liar Trump has little idea about how computers store data or how it's erased. Her Lawyers used BleachBit software as many businesses do to make sure security is not breached. Psycho Trey Goudy made much of this without making the connection that doing that also makes it impossible for a third party, like Liar Trump's friend Putin, to recover data by hacking.  It's a security measure, dummy.

But no, Liar Trump, it's not bleach. Although you hardly needed to prove it to us, your frantic rush to defame makes it obvious how just make things up for your stupid fans to repeat while ignoring your dishonesty.

Happy Days

Everybody knows America used to be great -- greater than it is now, that is, but I wonder when that was and whether everyone would pick the same time of maximum greatness if asked. Nobody seems to be asking.  I suspect we'd get a bunch of different answers though and I suspect many would refuse to answer, again for a variety of reasons.

For me, of course it would be the years that were greatest for me and that means when I had few worries and everything was new and exciting and simple. That would be around 1955 when I got a new Bike for Christmas and never watched that boring evening news with boring people like Walter Kronkite. All was right with that best of all possible worlds.

Yes, of course my dad had been bitching about the Army-McCarthy hearings he watched on our 10" big screen Admiral TV in Black and White. But really, who cared if Communists had taken over the government and all the movies and half the TV was secretly infused with Communist propaganda when the new Mickey Mouse Club was on the air, Annette's All American bosoms and all. If she was trying to induce us all to unite and cast off our chains, I didn't notice.  Things were great.

It has to have been one of Donald's favorite times too, since he's only a year younger than I am,  My dad didn't complain about the 90 something percent top tax bracket, at least not then. Did old man Trump?  Somehow both dads prospered anyway as did the nation as a whole. In fact GDP has been almost independent of that number since the end of WWII when America was pretty much great by anyone's standards except for the Japanese and Germans. The war was pretty much successful and we pulled it off without the help of a massive, recession building  tax cut for the wealthy like W did.  Long about the time I turned 18 or so, the greatness was a lot harder to see, and outside of the moon missions, I think we were rather mediocre in fact. Face it, most of the world thought we were assholes.

I do remember that the fathers of many of my friends as a kid thought the peak of greatness was a lot earlier at about 1900 or so and I used to agree until I learned about the Panic of October 1907 and of course WWI and the world flu pandemic and the huge race riots and lynchings and the horrible conditions of immigrants bringing disease and crime and those women who insisted on voting.  It certainly wasn't great during Prohibition when just like today, you got shot when you went out on the street as Donald says.  I'm tempted to think it's pretty much a personal thing - greatness.

No matter what you're time of greatness was, it's in the past, isn't it and that means we have to look backwards to find it again, particularly if we don't have more mansions than Henry VIII or a series of inappropriately young trophy wives and jet planes  like someone I won't mention.  The future is always scary and the past has a known outcome, so as soon as I have that time machine perfected, I'm going to go back and buy me a knucklehead Harley and maybe a 56 Chevy Chevy Bel-Aire sport Coupe or what the hell, a 57 Vette and wouldn't worry about the Bomb because I would know it wouldn't happen. Nobody even had to worry about making a living back then did they?

Chasing Doomsday

Mornings like this I sit with a cup of coffee watching the crawl on Bloomberg TV as my finances improve - or not. This morning I checked their website to see what Secretary Yellin had to say about the likelihood of raising rates this year and in the corner was one of those ubiquitous ads about some "expert"  "Breaking his silence" and how I'll never believe what he has to say about just how bad the US economy is.  They're right, I won't believe it any more than I have believed any of the nonsense about impending doom since the bull market began after W went back to Texas and Obummer took office. I know many who missed out on it because of "experts."  Are they now out campaigning for Trump or are they simply out. 

"We are now facing serious economic problems in the United States.
And it's about to get much, much worse.
The evidence is piling up all around us...
In recent months, we've seen nearly $8 trillion disappear from world stock markets... and a whopping 70% of investors lose money in 2015."

Last time I checked this is the second half of 2016 and the markets have been setting highs.  Growth in GDP is very modest compared with India and China but unemployment is under 5%, but hey, some people avidly watch Fox News and buy books from "experts" who are selling investment strategies based on impending doom. Same guys who were telling us to to buy gold at $2000 as a hedge against the coming disaster and right before that market collapsed -- but hurry!  Do it soon!

Remember that guy on TV in 2006 who was telling you to borrow 125% of the value of you home to "jump on a hot stock?"   But do it now before it's too late and the Liberals shut us down. Come to think of it one Mr. Trump thought that would be a good year to start peddling mortgages. What a genius!

“In light of the continued solid performance of the labor market and our outlook for economic activity and inflation, I believe the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has strengthened in recent months,”

Said Chairwoman Yellin this morning, but what does she know? She's not even selling advice and advice is worth what you pay for it, right?  No you can't trust the government in this modern age when NOAA and NASA fake all their climate data and every university fakes their research just to harm the coal industry and kill jobs. Besides the Experts are breaking their silence. There is no drought in California -- and buy now before "they" take the site down! Follow the experts. The end is upon us.

Home on the Range with Rush

I hate to sound like one of those people who see patterns where there aren't any, but I've noticed that a battle of bullshit seems to be developing between Rush and Donald J.  Donny is raving away at the Crooked Clinton Foundation this morning, but Rush is just dying to get some attention by telling us that

'' The US Department of Agriculture is holding summits to promote the role of lesbian farmers as a part of its 'Rural Pride' campaign."

After they put all the conservative farmers in those FEMA camps, those vast areas of "real" America will be taken over by Lesbians and the second amendment will die.  I'm not making this up. Millions of Americans listen to this and believe it, just as millions of Americans listen to Donald tinyfingers scream about the Clinton Foundation and don't bother to ask why there's no Trump foundation. Mr. Gigabucks apparently gives less to charity than I do, is prone to keep the money he raises for others, like veterans and when pressed by the Governor of Louisiana to contribute something for storm relief, he gives money to a gay-bashing pesudochurch.

Is there any coming back from this level of insanity, or should we just give up and embrace the horror?  Any country that tolerates these men has no future.

STANDING TALL AT CANNON BALL

Right now there is an organized protest happening in Cannon Ball, ND. The indigenous people of Standing Rock Reservation

began a small protest against the installation of a part of the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River upstream of the reservation.

This is one of the poorest communities in the US and they depend heavily on the water from the Missouri for drinking, fishing and irrigation.

They have since been joined by other tribes wishing to show solidarity and their ranks have swelled to 1200 or more protesters. They have established a second camp, Sacred Stone Camp about 1 1/2 miles from the construction site. 

Despite claims by law enforcement that they have been shooting guns and that the protesters have pipe bombs, no evidence has been produced to back these claims and organizers insist that they are staging a peaceful protest and that their security team is doing everything possible to ensure that.

The Standing Rock community delivered a petition with 150,000 signatures to the Army Corp of Engineers in July which, in typical Washington tradition was completely ignored and the Corps signed the pipeline permits on July 25th. The permits were obtained by Dakota Access LLC, a subsidiary of the industry giant, Energy Transfer Partners who have their fingers in many pipeline projects and are also in partnership with Sunoco Logistics. All told, there are over a dozen pipelines and projects currently in their possession.

The Sioux tribe of Standing Rock have sued the pipeline company and are scheduled to be heard in federal court on Aug 24th. So, for now, construction on the pipeline has halted. There is also separate lawsuits being filed by ranchers along the pipeline route questioning the legality of taking their property by eminent domain by ETP. And, as it turns out there is a long history of ETP strong-arming reluctant landowners into either accepting any "fair" offer they deem to make or facing seizure of their lands by eminent domain once FERC permits are obtained.  Which is how they treated landowners along the Commanche Trail Pipeline, Rover Pipeline and Trans-Pecos Pipeline as well as along others 

they operate.

And what of the threat to the lives and natural resources along the pipeline? There is a list HERE of pipeline spills, leaks and explosions and associated incidents. Already in 2016 there have been 15 incidents across the country, including the creek spill at Rozet, Wyoming. And THIS incident along the Eastern Panhandle Pipeline, another ETP owned pipeline.

In 2015, there were 41 incidents. The most frequent cause is decaying pipes and joints and deficient maintenance. Not too surprisingly, Koch Industries which has a pipeline division, settled a huge lawsuit in 2000 where it was determined that there were multiple leaks and that there was thousands of miles of pipe in disrepair from lack of maintenance.

For the folks at Standing Rock, an incident like any of these would be catastrophic. And how much more damage can these folks along the Dakota Access pipeline expect when the company that ultimately owns the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, owned and operated by GOP megadonor, Kelcy Warren (who also has strong ties to former TX Gov Rick Perry), is in financial trouble and being touted as NOT a good investment risk (HERE). If they fold, who will maintain the pipeline and equally conversely, if they don't fold, how capable will they be to ensure safety along the pipeline? Shouldn't these questions been asked and answered BEFORE Dakota Access LLC received federal permits?

These issues are designed to be localized just the way the big oil companies want it. If it is not happening in our own backyard,

we tend to be removed from the events which only encourages these companies to take even greater liberties in destroying the democratic fabric of our country. Sooner or later we all pay for corporate greed and government mismanagement as evidenced by the ongoing battles in my own state of North Carolina over the dangerous coal ash dump sites owned by Duke Energy, puppetmasters of the current governor who has a long history with Duke Energy. 

My personal opinions aside in regards to pipelines and what we really should be doing, like researching viable alternative energies, 

shouldn't we, at the very least, expect our government to ensure that fair and equitable negotiations are afforded to affected landowners

and surrounding communities and that regular inspections are conducted and effective plans in place to deal with accidents AND a fund set up for compensating individuals and communities if disaster strikes? And shouldn't there be transparency and better communication with the people? These pipeline companies are using land that isn't theirs and getting incentives and other provisions from the federal government that is paid for by our tax dollars. Should we not have assurances that OUR fellow citizens and OUR natural resources are being rigorously protected?

To those who wish to participate, a petition has been started HERE.

 I stand with the community of Standing Rock Reservation and North Carolina communities and all the other people within our borders being unfairly treated and illegally put upon by our government and the mega corporations that take advantage of such controversial devices as eminent domain to further their own agendas without regard for human and animal denizens or their environment. 

This land is your land, this land is my land but only for as long as we keep raising our voices and taking measures to protect it and preserve it.

No Bottom

Obama's Policies. Is that the most often used couple of words in the American idiom in the last 8 years? Of course I've yet to see that enumerated or described beyond that phrase. It's just Obama's Policies which now suddenly as the need has arisen have segued into "Hillary's Policy's."

Donald Trump has been telling African Americans that "Hillary's Policies" are to blame for their problems. 

"No group in America has been more harmed by Hillary Clinton's policies than African-Americans No group. No group. If Hillary Clinton's goal was to inflict pain to the African-American community, she could not have done a better job. It is a disgrace."

You'd think that such a disgrace could be pinned down to specifics, but since a Secretary of State doesn't make policy at all, and particularly not as concerns bad schools, lack of economic opportunity and the long list of other disadvantages minorities are exposed to, an explanation might be in order, but of course with Trump Disciples, their minds fill in the blanks with whatever Trump suggests.. 

Of course when he cites "Democratic control" as the cause for the Katrina fiasco, he neglects to mention that the Republican president literally danced while New Orleans drowned and Brownie did his "excellent job"and that the GOP has been trying to disband FEMA ever since. Their minds fill in the memory gaps with lies.

Trump is moving forth from empty accusations of  dishonesty, crookedness and mental diseases to make her the origin of racism in America: the universal scapegoat. Apparently he retains some vestigial doubt that African Americans are going to buy that one and has offered the "what the hell, you've got nothing to lose" argument as additional bait. Is this the lowest, sleaziest and most desperate political ploy in our history?

It remains to be seen because our agonizing political fiasco has weeks and weeks to go and there's no bottom in sight.

The Fourth Estate: R.I.P.

There are reasons why journalists are scrutinizing Trump’s candidacy, reasons embodied in this Twitter message:

Donald Trump (August 14): “It is not ‘freedom of the press’ when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!”

Trump’s message is clear: Lies are in the eyes of the beholder and First Amendment freedoms will be at risk. As candidate, Trump has spun falsehoods with impunity, bullied reporters, and threatened to prosecute and prosecute anyone opposing him.

In campaign statements since last year, Trump wants to:

• Make it easier to stifle media criticism;
• ‘Open up libel laws’ and sue journalists;
• Abuse his regulatory authority for political purposes;
• Damage the interests of investors in media companies that criticize him;
• Maintain a blacklist of reporters and media outlets;
• Subject the press to a censorship regime.

Trump is NOT A NORMAL CANDIDATE. As president, Don the Con, the consummate flimflam man, will abuse the powers of office to bully and retaliate against any critics. Are your taxes really in order? Will a surveillance state controlled by Trump tap your phones and watch your emails? Or worse?

This is why a good many Republicans, as well as Democrats, are alarmed. Trump represents an existential threat to democracy as we have known it.

Back in the USSA

Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
They leave the West behind
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia's always on my mind

-The Beatles-

OK, let me get this right: Russia is in league with Iran against ISIS and Iran is letting Russia use their air bases.  Trump wants to abandon NATO to Russian aggression and to  assist Russian aggression  in the Middle East. Russia is in favor of supporting Al Assad against the Rebels we've been trying to support. That would make us not only an ally of Russia, but of Iran and of Bashar Hafez al-Assad, the bloody tyrant.  Yep, the man sure can make deals! As he said, he knows more about it than the Generals.

That would make us an enemy of NATO, whom Trump wants to abandon and put us in violation of our long standing treaties, which are, as I should remind the Trumptsters, the law. Yep, break the law, abandon Europe to the Russians, and get in bed with Iran and Syria.  Should we mention that Trump wants more nukes in the hands of Middle Eastern countries?  And why not? Anything to make America great again and defeat Crooked Hillary who want's like Obama, to "trash the constitution"

So we have a "conservative" candidate that wan't to be allies with Russia and has asked for (and received) help from Russia in trashing his opponents.  A man whose campaign manager is under investigation by the Ukrainian anti-corruption commission for accepting money from Russia and who has been a registered agent for Russia in the US as confirmed by a former US Ambassador to Russia ---- and Americans want to vote for him!

I guess the Red scare is over and America would be great if only we became part of a new recrudescence of the Soviet Union, an empirial Plutocracy run by a dictator and a mob of multi-bilionaire mobsters who ship their Rubles abroad to be laundered by Donald J. Trump. This can't be the planet I was born on or the country I was born in. Maybe we should just call it Soviet Dumfukistan and be honest about it.