Category: Opinion

Donny/Elmo At Warp Speed

In the lead let me say that this is an op-ed from a site known as “Public Catholic”….not my personal opinion….although I see some similarities….

Trump is set about dismantling the very government that most of us pretend to support…..Personally I do not see any benefit in what he is doing except for Trump personally…..

It took Hitler six months to completely destroy German democracy. Trump is moving much faster than that. Many of the things he and Elon are doing are flat-out illegal. But no one raises that question because no one believes that the law applies to Trump or Elon or any of the gang of thugs who are now running our country.

They are dismantling our country and setting up an absolute dictatorship.

it’s too much to discuss in detail and too obvious to deny. I don’t see any reason except MAGA fantasies, to doubt that Trump plans to use the military, the FBI and the CIA against the American people, to control and oppress us.

What Trump and Musk are doing is completely illegal. Going into sensitive government systems and unilaterally canceling appropriations passed by Congress, doing away with whole government agencies that were created by laws passed by Congress just by personal say-so, putting an unelected billionaire in control of our whole government and letting him just say “this agency is gone, we won’t honor these contracts, I’m firing these thousands of people” on his say-so is open dictatorship.

Every time you read about Elon Musk firing people and shutting down agencies, you are reading about a clear violation of the law and an equally clear action by a dictator. Every. Time.

We the People are losing our country. It is being destroyed right in front of our eyes.

If you aren’t worried, you’re either not following what is happening, or you are a MAGA who is under such strong demonic influence that you can’t comprehend what is right in front of you.

The Trump/Musk Dictatorship is Coming at Warp Speed

Once again this is an op-ed from another site that I posted purely as FYI for people to see.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Nihilism,Narcissism….

Today is a full day of medical stuff and Since I am having such a terrible time dealing with the effects of my treatments I will be posting a lot of other people’s stuff….I hope no one minds.

This is a re-post of a very good and detailed post that says a lot….hopefully someone is listening besides me….

Narcissism, Nihilism, and the Destruction of America or Why We’re so Fucked

Time for us Americans to start taking a close look at what we have done to this country.

I hope everyone has a good day.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Open Letter To ‘Independents’

College Of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

2024  vote is closer than most Americans think….

The news seems to be focused on what is humorously termed the ‘independents’ as the deciding voters for the next few elections…..

Independents reign as the voting bloc for political candidates to deal with this election year, new data show. Gallup has found that 43% of US adults identified as independent in its survey, while 27% of respondents said they’re Democrats or Republicans. That’s a low for Democrats, Axios reports. There have been blips, but independents generally started to outnumber the ranks of the two parties in 1991. “The increase in the percentage of independents has come more at the expense of Democrats than Republicans, which might be expected since Democrats were previously the largest political group,” Gallup’s post says.

To begin with I am not comfortable with the term ‘independent’…..simply because these self-described voters will vote either GOP or Dems….that is not an ‘independent’ in my book.

They are still part of the problem for it is the D or the R that they are voting for….is not in any way an independent voter.

I am an old fart so as an old person I apparently have a different definition for the term.

My thought is if you are an independent then you probably avoid politics like the plague….but that is just me…..

Independents often are portrayed as political free agents with the potential to alleviate the nation’s rigid partisan divisions. Yet the reality is that most independents are not all that “independent” politically. And the small share of Americans who are truly independent – less than 10% of the public has no partisan leaning – stand out for their low level of interest in politics.

Among the public overall, 38% describe themselves as independents, while 31% are Democrats and 26% call themselves Republicans, according to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2018. These shares have changed only modestly in recent years, but the proportion of independents is higher than it was from 2000-2008, when no more than about a third of the public identified as independents.

An overwhelming majority of independents (81%) continue to “lean” toward either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. Among the public overall, 17% are Democratic-leaning independents, while 13% lean toward the Republican Party. Just 7% of Americans decline to lean toward a party, a share that has changed little in recent years. This is a long-standing dynamic that has been the subject of past analyses, both by Pew Research Center and others.

Political Independents: Who They Are, What They Think

But are these voters truly independent?

Not really.

On the one hand, more Americans identifying as independent probably doesn’t seem like a bad thing. Independents are often portrayed as more open-minded and less dogmatic in their political views. And in a nation whose founders feared factional politics, the value of political independence is also an attractive one to many Americans.

The problem is that few independents are actually independent. Roughly 3 in 4 independents still lean toward one of the two major political parties, and studies show that these voters aren’t all that different from the voters in the party they lean toward. Independents who lean toward a party also tend to back that party at almost the same rate as openly partisan voters.

“Independents tend not to look all that different from partisans,” said Samara Klar, a political scientist at the University of Arizona and co-author of the book “Independent Politics.” “But they do tend to be more averse to identifying themselves as a partisan when there is a negative stigma associated with partisanship. So, it’s really the arguments, the hostility, the negativity that seems to be driving this behavior.”

Few Americans Who Identify As Independent Are Actually Independent. That’s Really Bad For Politics.

Or these voters could be ‘undecided’ voters…..another term I do not agree with…..

All in all a true independent has principles beyond party then more political parties would be in the mix….as it is they are not….most vote either ‘R’ or ‘D’…..and the nation suffers.

Is there any debate?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Price Gouging What Is Missed

Since Biden touched on this subject and now Harris has jumped on it with both feet, much has been written abut the idea….I too have written about it and now I found another side to the subject….this one is from The Moderate Voice…..

One week ago, Vice President Kamala Harris told a North Carolina audience that she planned to propose a federal ban on price gouging for food.

In criticizing Harris, the Washington Post editorial board demonstrated its lack of basic economic theory. Then various news organizations jumped from “price gouging” to “price controls” (a la Nixon). Now Cato Institute economist Scott Lincicome insists farm policy is the culprit behind food price increases.

Thirty-seven states already have laws on the books that prohibit “price gouging” in the lay person’s understanding of that phrase. This type of prohibited price gouging concerns taking advantage of high demand or supply restrictions during an emergency (a hurricane is coming and then it landed).

Another lay definition of price gouging is charging an excessive price “because a corporation has the power to do so, aka Ticketmaster.”

What pundits don’t get about the Harris “price gouging” proposal

A fascinating op-ed….I do not necessarily agree with their assumption but I include it for my readers to have as many sides of the policy as I can locate.

After reading the piece please let me know what you think.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Your Vote–Something To Think About

This is a re-post from my friend John and his points are valid and should be considered before you vote in November.

Read it!

Why I Believe Former President Trump Will Win in 2024, and the Consequences if He Doesn’t (Opinion Editorial)

It is time for Americans to start thinking about the nation and stop all this stupidity of personalities.

If you want this nation to return to the days of glory then for god sake think before you cast that vote.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Is Antiwar Bad?

Since my return from Vietnam in 1970 I have been antiwar….after witnessing the brutality, devastation and death I made my choice to not support war and I have been unapologetic since those early days of my youth.

When I returned I joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW)…..and to this day I feel the country owes us a debt of gratitude…..

Veterans have and continue to play, an important role in instigating social and political change in this country. One such group of veterans is the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, or VVAW: a movement of military veteran activist who, while struggling to heal from the psychological, emotional, and moral injuries of war, demanded through protests and demonstrations that our leaders fulfill their obligation to help veterans address their physical and mental health challenges, find alternative resolutions to conflict, and to bring an immediate end to the war in Southeast Asia.

Soldiers coming home from war joined VVAW members in speaking out through their poetry, short stories, novels, memoirs, and testimony to Congress and the American people about their experiences in war and afterward. Their intention was to educate the public about the horrific battlefield conditions they experienced while fighting America’s war in Vietnam, the nightmarish atrocities against innocent civilians that in many cases they may have committed, and the lack of care and horrendous conditions they suffered at Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals upon their return home.

This Nation Owes a Debt to the Vietnam Veterans Against the War

Fast forward to today….

I have not seen the need for the US to involve itself in the wars of the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and all those minor incursions to include Ukraine of today.

Because of my antiwar stance I have received a lot of grief and chastisement for my opposition….everything from it is human nature to save the world for democracy and defense of the country…..yada yada.

None of which I will agree to at any point.

Many pro-war people see us antiwar activists as somehow anti-American and/or anti-democratic…..this is just plain wrong.  I have been told this on several occasions….at least these psuedo-patriots have not used the old say, ‘America love it or leave it’ that was their favorite back in the day when they had no answer for the questions asked.

The media which is mostly owned by the M-IC has lead the charge to sideline any dissent….with little to no coverage when there is a mass protest against the US involvement in these wars of adventure.

Most people get their confused and false ideas from the media and the lack of quality information and when that info is available if it does not conform to what has been instilled in the minds they lash out with idiotic reason why antiwar is not in the country’s interest.

With the Ukraine thing antiwar disclaimers, I have done so on numerous occasions, as to let the reader know that they are not pro-Putin…but these disclaimers are unnecessary…..

Over the last seventeen months, it’s become customary for those who disagree with US foreign policy on the Ukraine war to preface every objection to that policy with at least one, possibly two, disclaimers.

Disclaimer #1: The Russian invasion, they’ll concede, was “unprovoked.”

Optional Disclaimer #2: The Russian invasion, they’ll say, was “unjustified.”

I understand the impulse. They’re trying to preemptively communicate that they are “anti-war” or “anti-intervention” without being mistaken for horror of horrors, “pro-Russia.”

But those disclaimers are neither necessary nor wise.

The Russian invasion was not “unprovoked.”

For one thing, to “provoke” is, per Merriam-Webster, “to incite to anger” or to “arouse to a feeling or action.” Who decides whether Party A has been “incited” or “aroused” by Party B? Party A.

For another, Ukraine, NATO, and the US had been put on notice for quite some time (at least eight years, and actually more like 20) that Russia considered their actions provocative … and chose to continue down the same route rather than backing off or negotiating an amicable solution. The provocations were, in other words, both ongoing and intentional, not just occasional accidents.

To say that an action is “provoked,” though, is not the same thing as saying that the action is “justified.”

You might “incite me to anger” by singing loudly every time you walk past my house, but that doesn’t mean I’m justified in getting out my 12-gauge and sending you to your grave. Cutting me off in traffic may justify a honk of the horn and a selected obscenity or two. It doesn’t justify following you home and burning your house down.

Opposing War: No Disclaimers Required

I will forever remain antiwar….if that is too difficult for mental midgets to grasp then it is on them…..for it is not my problem.

I have taken my stance and shall remain firmly rooted in antiwar….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Every Vote Counts

It’s that magical time again!

Time is closing in for the citizens of America to go to the polls and vote for their choice for president.

And now the opinion pieces will begin for those people that vote outside the two party system.

Some may choose not to vote….and there will be those that will ostracize those people that by not voting they are helping elect this slug over this……and if there is no choice that represents their principles then I say do not vote just because some lay-about wants to chide you into doing something you do not want to do.business as usual no matter the party.

Then there are those voters like myself that could possibly vote for a third party we will not vote for one of the two parties that will do nothing for the country….I do not buy into the popular BS that by voting for a third party you will elect this candidate over that.

Either one of those unpopular options is a personal choice and as such everyone needs to just STFU.

You see my vote is just that…MINE and no one has the right to question what I do with it.

For one reason that I vote other than the two majors…..I feel they have f*cked up our democracy…..

The most compelling theory based on historical patterns of democratic decline is that hyper-polarization cracked the foundations of American democracy, creating the conditions under which a party could break democratic norms with impunity, because winning in the short term became more important than maintaining democracy for the long term.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fades because “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S. 

Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

It is an older story but it still rings true today.

The theory today is that if there is not a good choice in the two parties then the voter should just hold their noses and vote for the least offensive.

Sorry I do not subscribe to this lunacy.

If one has principles then one should vote for the person that best represents those principles….no matter the party.

To recap…..your vote is your vote please do not piss it away on the ‘hold your nose’ vote.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How About A New Lottery?

Lotteries of all sorts are very popular….many buy their chances at a big payday….and lotteries have been used for many things in the past….they were even used for the draft before it was eliminated.

Since they are so damn popular and since damn near half of American citizens do not vote at anytime….how about a election lottery?

America’s presidential election is just next year, but the competitive ugliness on display on social media leading up to it is already making any sane person want to dip their head into boiling acid.

Fortunately, according to a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, there could be a better way: eliminate elections altogether and pick our leaders by lottery. Say what?!

“In the United States, we already use a version of a lottery to select jurors,” Adam Grant wrote in The New York Times. “What if we did the same with mayors, governors, legislators, justices and even presidents?”

Grant makes a persuasive case for picking our leaders randomly from a pool of candidates by pointing to research by Alexander Haslam, another psychologist, who’s run experiments that show that better decisions are made when the group leader is chosen by lottery essentially versus if the group leader is chosen for their leadership skills or if elected by their peers

“‘Systematically selected leaders can undermine group goals,’ Dr. Haslam and his colleagues suggest, because they have a tendency to ‘assert their personal superiority.’ When you’re anointed by the group, it can quickly go to your head: I’m the chosen one,” writes Grant.

Electing leaders by lottery, he points out, does have some historical precedent.

“The ancient Greeks invented democracy, and in Athens many government officials were selected through sortition — a random lottery from a pool of candidates,” says Grant, who says he’s been suggesting the idea to US Congress members.

https://futurism.com/the-byte/professor-suggests-replacing-elections-lottery-system

I would have to do more research but on the surface this seems like a logical way to do the picking.

I know that someone on here has got to have an opinion on this….would this be using technology for our benefit?

Any amazing thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It’s A Trap!

Sorry I had to get my rendition of Adm. Akbar of Star Wars famous warning….

Okay that out of the way…..has anyone considered that HAMAS is setting trap for Israel?

Could this ‘war’ be masterful plan to lure Israel into committing to a plan that will not end well?

Even the White House is concerned with the impending invasion and subsequent ‘occupation’ of Gaza.

As the world awaits what appears to be an imminent ground invasion of Gaza by Israel, President Biden sought to tread a fine line in regard to the Israeli response in a 60 Minutes interview. He supported Israel’s right to go after Hamas and said the group should be wiped out, but he also warned against an occupation of Gaza and worried about the fate of civilians.

  • Occupation: “I think it’d be a big mistake,” he said of the idea of Israel reoccupying the territory, per the New York Times. “Taking out the extremists … is a necessary requirement,” he added, but “I think that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again.” Meanwhile, Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog told CNN that “we have no desire to occupy or reoccupy Gaza. We have no desire to rule over the lives of more than 2 million Palestinians.”
  • Hamas: Biden agreed when asked whether Hamas should be “eliminated entirely,” saying they had “engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust,” per Newsweek. “Israel has to respond. They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards.” Longer term, he said “there needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.”
  • Civilians: The president did not call for a ceasefire when asked about one, and said he was confident Israel would abide by the “rules of war” in regard to protecting civilians. He also backed the idea of creating an evacuation corridor or “safe zone.” Axios offers a quick assessment: The president “has been full-throated in his support for Israel in the wake of the Hamas attack, but his remarks on 60 Minutes signal that he hopes to keep some guardrails on what is likely to be a massive Israeli operation in response.” More than 1 million have fled their Gaza homes in anticipation of the ground assault, per the AP.
  • Border: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters during a visit to Egypt on Sunday that a border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will reopen to allow in the shipments of humanitarian aid for Palestinians, per NPR. He added that the UN is helping Israel and Egypt coordinate the shipments through the Rafah crossing.
  • Militant leader: Israel said one of its missile strikes over the weekend killed a Hamas commander believed to have led one of the massacres on an Israeli kibbutz, per the Telegraph. The military says Billal Al Kedra led the attack on Kibbutz Nirim during the Oct. 7 raid.

A ground invasion and occupation could be just what the plan was the whole time.

The trap could draw in the US as well….

The Pentagon has selected 2,000 troops to prepare for a potential deployment to support Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Pentagon officials told the paper that the troops would be tasked with missions like advising and medical support and are not intended to serve a combat role. The personnel that have been selected are from across the US armed services, and some are already in the Middle East while others are outside the region.

The Associated Press also reported that the US is preparing for the potential deployment. One official told the AP that they would “not be sent to Israel but could be sent to countries in the region.”

It’s not clear what circumstances would lead to the deployment, but the prepare to deploy notice comes as Israel continues to bombard the Gaza Strip and is expected to launch a ground incursion. An Israeli military spokesman said Sunday that Israeli forces were “in formation” to launch an attack on Gaza City.

(antiwar.com)

Is this a prudent decision?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”