I've been thinking about these idiots in camouflage suits and masks doing armed intimidation

patrols around Texas mosques. Even though we have to get people like this OFF the street ASAP, I don't really blame them because they are nothing but shills, marks in a great capitalist confidence game perpetuated at the behest of the billionaires by the Fox propaganda phallus and hate-talk radio.

But it's not these idiots that should get the blame. They're just ignorant know-nothings who want to assuage their feelings of powerlessness (and possibly compensate for something small in their lives?) by DOING something, by golly! So round them up, put the drunk ones in detox and give the rest a good shaming. Because they are being used. They are nothing but huckster's marks.

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So who is really behind this Islamaphobic shit? Well, if you ever want to understand anything, follow the money. Ask yourself who stands to profit or otherwise benefit from this kind of racist crap?

- First, the Military Industrial Complex. Companies like General Dynamics, Lockheed, Boeing, Halliburton, Bushmaster, and of course people like the Koch Brothers, because wars consume LOTS of oil.

- The generals love it because when they retire, they'll be paid off with cushy jobs with these defense contractors.

- Politicians will take massive bribes and quietly vote for more defense spending at the expense of programs that actually help their constituents. The 'Donald' might even ride the crest of racism to the White House.

- The swollen corporate-owned propaganda 'news' organs will all benefit because pseudo-sophisticated pundits will get to solemnly intone pseudo-sophisticated and intelligent-sounding platitudes about the forever war and their precious ratings will stay high.

- And let's not forget the bankers on Wall Street. War is good business. Their shareholders will supposedly make lots of profits, but that money will actually flow to a few c-level and big investors.

In fact, wars are always considered a good idea by the billionaires, because any social or labor unrest is quashed in the name of patriotism, and money systematically flows upward, away from workers, away from social programs and to the top 1/10 of 1% of the people. The rest of us, everyone knows, are expendable.

As to the idiots in camouflage and masks toting their Bushmaster assault rifles outside of this Texas mosque, and the idiots in Trump's rallies who are beating up minority demonstrators, they are cannon fodder. They always have been, and as long as they let the powers that be do their thinking for them, they always will be.

The tragedy is that our children, too will become cannon fodder. Why? For more profit? And let's not forget ISIS wants this war because their ideologues want to bring down the west and if they can get the western nations to really clamp down on Islam (like these guys in Texas, and like Trump says he wants to), then they figure it will start a holy war that can avenge people Israel and the rest of the west have killed in various wars over there.

We need to step back and THINK here, folks. Peace is still a good idea.

Will Clinton turn out to be 'Ms Wall Street' if elected? Seems she's not fooling anyone...

on Wall Street, that is. As one Wall Street lawyer put it, “If it turns out to be Jeb vs. Hillary, we would love that and either outcome would be fine.”

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/11/23/who-impugns-hillarys-integrity

Here's an excerpt:

Last year, William D. Cohan, author of Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World, interviewed dozens of Wall Street’s leaders on their reaction to Clinton’s newfound populism: “Down on Wall Street they don’t believe it for a minute. While the finance industry does genuinely hate Warren, the big bankers love Clinton, and by and large they badly want her to be president. Many of the rich and powerful in the financial industry—among them, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, Tom Nides, a powerful vice chairman at Morgan Stanley, and the heads of JPMorganChase and Bank of America—consider Clinton a pragmatic problem-solver not prone to populist rhetoric. To them, she’s someone who gets the idea that we all benefit if Wall Street and American business thrive. What about her forays into fiery rhetoric? They dismiss it quickly as political maneuvers. None of them think she really means her populism.”

<snip>

Inevitably, the big money going from Wall Street into the Clinton campaign reinforces doubts about the strength of her reform promises. But it isn’t Sanders or O’Malley who impugn her integrity; it is her Wall Street donors themselves. They are sophisticated, cynical and paying attention. And they are confident her new-found populism is a campaign posture, not a real position.

How is it good for the American people that the Koch brothers have their own spy service?

American Postal Workers Union Executive Board Endorses Bernie Sanders for President

“Politics as usual has not worked. It’s time for a political revolution,” said APWU President Mark Dimondstein. “We should judge candidates not by their political party, not by what they say, not by what we think they stand for, but by what they do. Applying that criterion, Sen. Bernie Sanders stands above all others as a true champion of postal workers and other workers throughout the country.

“He doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk,” he said. “He is a leader in the fight to protect the public Postal Service.”

Read more here: http://nhlabornews.com/2015/11/american-postal-workers-union-executive-board-endorses-bernie-sanders-for-president/

Good news for Bernie.

Al Gore declines to endorse Clinton.

Al Gore says he isn't ready to endorse anyone in the 2016 Democratic presidential race, including front-runner Hillary Clinton.

"It's still too early, in my opinion, to endorse a candidate or pick a candidate," Gore, who served as Bill Clinton's vice president, told People magazine in an interview published Tuesday.

Read the ENTIRE article here:
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/259723-gore-says-its-still-too-early-to-endorse-anyone

If consumers were made aware of ‘chick grinding,’ which is commonplace in most egg factories...

Some really good toons

Sorry, folks - I don't know how to download a picture in this textbox, but here's a link to some really chilling comic art.

http://www.trueactivist.com/this-artwork-is-probably-the-most-accurate-and-scary-portrayal-of-modern-life-weve-ever-seen/

Ghostly sounds of jackboots echoing in the night. Glass shattering, gunshots and people disappearing

into the night and mist.

What am I talking about? I'm talking about Donald Trump's xenophobic hyper-nationalist followers. Why? Because they scare the shit out of me. Here's an excerpt from a Huffington Post article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-florida-rally_562ce403e4b0ec0a3894ba2d

Pro-immigration protesters and Donald Trump supporters clashed at a rally in Miami on Friday, leading to one protester being forcefully dragged out by his collar to chants of "USA! USA!" Ariel Rojas, one of eight student protesters from Florida International University, was seen on video being forcefully dragged to the ground by his collar and then kicked as rally-goers cheered.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to calls or emails about the scene, but NBC Miami reported that the campaign said the man who dragged the protester was neither a Trump campaign staffer nor an employee of the resort, but "merely an attendee" at the rally. Trump acknowledged the protesters several times during his hour-long speech. At one point, he encouraged people to remove the protesters and noted, "You can get 'em out, but don't hurt 'em."

"See the first group, I was nice: 'Oh, take your time,'" Trump said from the lectern. "The second group, I was pretty nice. The third group, I'll be pretty more violent. And the fourth group, I'll say, 'Get the hell out of here!'"

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated instance of violence from Trump supporters.

I'm in my late 50s and my father fought in the Second World War. All we have to do is look back about 90 years and we can see an alarming number of parallels between the US now and Germany in the waning days of the Wiemar Republic. We all know what happened then, but let's take an alarming look at what is happening in the present-day United States.

I will lay it out for you:
1. We already have crushing military might, complete with satellite proxy armies who will do our bidding
2. We already have a pervasive domestic 'security' apparatus, complete with rendition, illegal property seizure, and political prisoners held without trial
3. We already have theocrats who are revising the history we teach our children to downplay social movements and instead reflect obedience to the state
4. We already have the oligarchs, particularly the bankers and military industrial prison complex in the wings, waiting to increase profits
5. Our national government is deeply corrupted, with Citizens United allowing monied interests to legally bribe those we elect to represent us

All those things are already in place. The only thing, the only spark that is needed is a demagogue.

I'm very concerned here. I hope you are, too.

Keeping us in ignorance is no accident. The primary 'horse race' is nothing more than a shiny

object, meant to draw our attention and interest away from the fact that the establishment wings of both parties support Wall Street bankers, the military industrial complex, and the neoliberal capitalist model.

The happy thing, the only thing that is saving us, I think, is social media. The people are always going to be at a disadvantage against these monied interests. And we must remember that they are smart, powerful and relentless. They put out their propaganda message 24/7 through all the corporate-owned mass media.

What do we have? Our minds, and our native curiosity. And, we have the internet, which places the knowledge of the world at our fingertips. And the only real 'freedom' we have? Our ability to think things through for ourselves.

I'm not sure where I got this advice, but it is very good advice: When someone says, 'well we need to do THIS,' follow the money. If you understand where the money to make THIS happen comes from and where it goes, then no matter what the propaganda organs SAY, you will understand who benefits and how it will affect you and your family.

An everyday example: in my state there is a huge pent-up demand for condominiums as growing numbers of Baby Boomers are downsizing from their suburban homes. Developers are going to the state legislature under the guise of 'removing onerous regulation.' What this actually means is that the developers want to remove liability regulations on the quality of their work. So, if they build a condo complex and it falls down around the ears of the residents because of shoddy construction practices, what they want is to NOT be held liable for this. But the media never TELLS you this; it never even mentions it. You must find out for yourself.

This, then - finding out for yourself and then thinking it through, is yours, mine and everyone's responsibility as citizens of a republic. We supposedly have a representative democracy where those we elect ostensibly look out for our interests, but the American people have become lazy and ignorant, partly - or mostly - because of this constant propaganda. So we sit around saying, 'well, the media should tell us this,' while at the same time forgetting who the media actually serves.

To find out what the candidates want, where they stand on issues, and what specific policies they want to implement is hard, true, but it is possible.
1. First, look at their websites. Look at where they say they stand on these issues.
2. Then look at their records in office. How have they voted? What have they done?
3. Compare their actions with their words. If the actions and words match, then you're in business.
4. If the actions and words don't match, toss out the words and look only at the actions.
5. Ask yourself if you agree with the actions; how did they benefit you? And if not you, whom did they ACTUALLY benefit?
6. Then look at where the candidates are getting their money. This will tell you what you need to know about each candidate.

A quick recommendation from me? www.berniesanders.com. Speaking personally, my own opinion, I agree with what Bernie says he wants to do. Bernie has a pretty successful 40 year record of trying to put those things in place. And, his money is coming only from small donations from supporters, NOT super PACS. That's why I have chosen to support Bernie.

You all know Bernie wants to make tuition at state colleges free and says he'll pay for it by

imposing a tax on Wall Street speculators.

Here's what that tax will ALSO do:

I'm going to tell you a story about the 'stock-gate' scandal. Haven't heard of it? What a surprise! That's because the media in the USA is owned by 6, count them, 6 large corporations. So, I'm telling you:

The source is a happy little book called 'Web of Debt' by Ellen Brown.

This was first exposed in a 2004 Investors Business Daily article. Basically 'market makers' which are Wall Street investment bankers, are doing something illegal.

Oh, my goodness! Who would have thought that?

What they are doing is practicing an illegal practice called the 'naked short sell.' Basically, this is "a coordinated effort by hedge funds, broker deals and market makers to strip small and medium-sized public companies of their value.

You know, the ones YOU'VE invested in your 401K...

Between 1998 and 2004, this 'naked short selling' practice resulted in over 7,000 public companies being 'shorted out of existence.' Oh-oh. This resulted in a bunch of layoffs, too.

Basically, these Wall Streeters have a huge interest in doing this because they make a fee for every 'trade.'

The damage? As much as $1 to $3 trillion has been lost (this is YOUR 401K we're talking about here), and more than 1,200 hedge fund and offshore accounts have been involved in the scandal.

So, basically, our choice here is to:
A) allow the Wall Street greedheads to continue to rip us off, OR
B) put a tax on these transactions and use that money to pay for college tuition for our children and grandchildren!

So which would YOU rather do?

Golly, let me think...