Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Trump's coming ‘climate moment': and why we should be careful what we wish for...

Trump's coming ‘climate moment': and why we should be careful what we wish for...

by Rupert Read

The Atlantic Magazine Compares Obama's Response With Trump's

Here's a very informative article from The Atlantic magazine that compares official responses from the Obama administration with President-elect Trump's administration in regards to the recent incident in Germany where an individual purposefully drove into a large crowd of people at a Christmas Market. Several people were killed and over 50 were injured.

We are going to have to be vigilant and pay close attention to the use of language used  over the next four years. This won't be the end of this discussion.

Read the article here.

Update: And today, he doesn't even remember saying what he said. Read it here: http://reverbpress.com/news/donald-trump-baffled-statement-video/


Scarey Stuff


The New “Water Barons”: Wall Street Mega-Banks are Buying up the World's Water

The New “Water Barons”: Wall Street Mega-Banks are Buying up the World's Water

Haven't You Always Dreamed of owning 298,840 Acres of Land In Paraquay?

"We haven’t either, to be honest. But former president George W. Bush apparently had.

Maybe you missed it, but he purchased all that land back in the glory days of 2005 and 2006. Maybe he thought he was investing in the next great retirement destination… We can see it now… strip malls in their dozens, tracts of identical houses from horizon to horizon, fleets of Buicks and Cadillacs doing 22 in a 30. Paraguay Land Can’t you see the potential?

 Or maybe the Bush clan had something else in mind when they purchased all that acreage in the remote Chaco region of Paraguay… After all, it does seem an unlikely retirement destination.

Bush’s judgment may not have always been the best, but still… The Chaco is a semiarid, sparsely populated area known — to the extent that it’s known at all — for its abundant wildlife, rapid deforestation, nothing in particular… and what lies beneath it…

 Our Real Wealth Trader and Outstanding Investments contributor Jody Chudley thinks he knows the true gen about the Bush land grab. Jody says he has a “secret” about the Bushes. And he adds, “It has to do with an investment idea that’s hardly on anyone’s radar.”

 The real reason Jody thinks Bush 43 and family snapped up nearly 300,000 acres in those semiarid, sparsely populated wastes of Paraguay? Water. That’s right, blue gold. Bush bought the rights to a veritable ocean of fresh, clear-as-glass, Grade A water.

His land rests atop one of the largest freshwater aquifers in the world: Acuifero Guarani, by name. According to Jody, “Acuifero Guarani covers roughly 460,000 square miles under parts of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. It is estimated to contain about 8,900 cubic miles of water.”

 If you can’t quite imagine 8,900 miles of water, picture a pool nearly three times the size of California. That should give you a decent idea. A fair amount when you consider that 98% of this planet’s water is salt water. Of the other 2%, almost 87% of it is trapped within glaciers, hence inaccessible. Jody’s “trusty calculator” informs him that only 0.25% of the water on this cosmic ball is fresh (underground, or in rivers and lakes). Just a drop in the figurative bucket…

“Wouldn’t you love to know what high-level intelligence the Bush family has been privy to over the years that would make them go out and buy hundreds of thousands of acres of water rights in a remote South American country?”

 How cheeky of Jody to raise such an impertinent question. But perhaps W knows something we plebeians don’t? Think of all the secret intelligence crossing that fancy English oak desk in the Oval Office. And do pause for a moment to consider the investing opportunities this could potentially provide.

We mention only in passing that his old man happened to be the head of the CIA at one point… You needn’t own a tinfoil hat to raise an eyebrow here. Jody came across a piece of 2008 research from Credit Suisse estimating that two-thirds of the world’s population is likely to live under “water-stressed” conditions by 2025. Quite a lot of people, that, and 2025 isn’t exactly the distant future.

 You know about the historic drought conditions afflicting California and much of the Western U.S. But Brazil and other parts of South America are also in serious drought. And guess, dear reader, who happens to own a lot of neighborhood water rights? (Out of respect for your intelligence, we won’t answer that one.) Makes us scratch our head just a bit, though.

Does Bush know something none of us knows? [Ed. note: Water will become an increasingly valuable commodity in the years ahead, Bush or no Bush. And Jody’s found a great way to make money from it. He advises buying a diversified, low-cost ETF to ride this macro trend. His favorite? The Guggenheim S&P Global Water ETF (NYSE:CGW)]."

Reprinted from AgoraFinancial.com

Another Fox News loon joins the government — but K.T. McFarland could be the least qualified of all

Trump ought to invest in the tin foil hat business. He has enough conspiracy theorists in his cabinet to make him a nice profit.



Another Fox News loon joins the government — but K.T. McFarland could be the least qualified of all

Sunday, December 4, 2016

We Won This One For Now ... Sacred Stone Update

The news today changed in a second. One minute we were discussing our sadness about the Sacred Stone protest and the next minute we read that the Army Corp of Engineers will not be approving the easement for the finalization of the DAPL project in North Dakota.
So, we were discussing what the tipping point may have been. We've been supporting the Native Americans who have been praying for a resolution to a stalemate over the completion of the pipeline. We have been signing petitions, posting on Facebook, supporting the cause with donations and encouraging President Obama to intervene. I truly believe that when millions of people come together there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Today is a day to celebrate.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Mother Jones

Mother Jones

Pay Back Is A Bitch

"I listened as they called my President a Muslim.
I listened as they called him and his family a pack of monkeys.
I listened as they said he wasn't born here.
I watched as they blocked every single path to progress that they could.
I saw the pictures of him as Hitler.
I watched them shut down the government and hurt the entire nation twice.
I watched them turn their backs on every opportunity to open worthwhile dialog.
I watched them say that they would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who the nominee was.
I listened as they openly said that they will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as they did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.
Now, I'm being called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce protesters.
To "Get over it."
To accept this...
I will not.
I will do my part to make sure this great American mistake becomes the embarrassing footnote of our history that it deserves to be.
I will do this as quickly as possible every chance I get.
I will do my part to limit the damage that this man can do to my country.
I will watch his every move and point out every single mistake and misdeed in a loud and proud voice.
I will let you know in a loud voice every time this man backs away from a promise he made to them.
Them. The people who voted for him.
The ones who sold their souls and prayed for him to win.
I will do this so that they never forget.
And they will hear me.
They will see it in my eyes when I look at them.
They will hear it in my voice when I talk to them.
They will know that I know who they are.
They will know that I know what they are.
Do not call for my tolerance. I've tolerated all I can.
Now it's their turn to tolerate ridicule.
Be aware, make no mistake about it, every single thing that goes wrong in our country from this day
forward is now Trump's fault just as much as they thought it was Obama's.
I find it unreasonable for them to expect from me what they were entirely unwilling to give."
Author unknown.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

SIMPLE

Design Rules You Should Never Break

Here is a brief list of basic design elements that everyone should follow when creating pages. Read through them and tuck them away ... start looking at others' work. Train your eye to detect problems and explore ways to address them.



https://designschool.canva.com/blog/design-rules/

Monday, September 19, 2016

Slowly, Then All at Once - KUNSTLER

Slowly, Then All at Once - KUNSTLER

One of the World's Biggest Fisheries Is on The Verge of Collapse



“What we’re looking at is potentially one of the world’s worst fisheries collapses ever,” says John McManus, a marine biologist at the Rosenstiel School at the University of Miami who studies the region’s reefs. “We’re talking hundreds and hundreds of species that will collapse, and they’ll collapse relatively quickly, one after another.”



One of the World's Biggest Fisheries Is on The Verge of Collapse

Friday, September 16, 2016

The Great American Surrender

"A substantial portion of this country wants someone not to govern, but to rule, to defeat the imaginary enemies they have concocted so as not to bestir themselves to resist the forces that actually are working against their interest. For the balance of this election cycle, and largely due to the presence in it of this ridiculous man and his ridiculous campaign, the American people have proven themselves profoundly unworthy of being called citizens." The Great American Surrender from Esquire Magazine is a good read.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Democrats Will Learn All the Wrong Lessons From Brush With Bernie

Rolling Stone's Matt Taibi hits it out of the park with this article. The Democratic party thought we were a joke. They made fun of Bernie Sanders and thought we were all uneducated, freeloading millenials. Surprise!

They don't get it. As Bernie said right from the start, "It's not about me, it's about us." He may not win the Democratic nomination at the end of the Convention in Philadephia, but the revolution continues. 

Read the article here




Sunday, May 1, 2016

Voter Suppression Screwed Bernie, and Will Screw Dems in November if Lef...

LIVE Stream: Bernie Sanders holds press conference in Washington, D.C (5...

Watch this 30-minute news conference where Bernie Sanders discusses the journey to the Democratic Convention in July. He has a narrow path to victory, but not an impossible one.

Please, if you still have a vote to give, give it to Bernie and the political revolution that he is leading. There are millions and millions of us who have finally found something to hope for, something that will transform the political process and the nation as well.


   

Friday, April 22, 2016

Bernie Gets It Done: Sanders' Record of Pushing Through Major Reforms Will Surprise You


You won't hear this on the National News, but Bernie has been a busy man his entire life. Yep, he has been quietly creating legislation and working with his colleagues to change laws and amend bills. This article by Zaid Jilani at alternet.org highlights his record of accomplishment.







Thursday, April 21, 2016

Interview With Zephr Teachout



Zephr Teachout, author, activist, and now Congressional hopeful was recently interviewed by Tim Murphy at Mother Jones. 

Bernie Sanders has raised money for her and identified her as part of the "political revolution." In turn, she has offered her support to his campaign. 

Check it out:
Bernie Sanders' Revolution MZephr Teeachight Win in New York After All | Mother Jones

Sanders Has an Army of Die-Hard Facebook Fans, While Clinton's Campaign Is Trying to Buy Popularity






Re



Thursday, March 31, 2016

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Bernie’s idealism is his greatest virtue: America needs dreamers — and now more than ever

"Outbreaks of hope and determined impracticality provide an important rebuttal to the politics of accommodation, to the idea that the minor tweaking of the status quo is the best we can expect in our lifetimes."


Read the whole article here.




Sunday, March 6, 2016

Bernie Sanders Campaign Needs to Address Primary & Caucus Voting Manipul...

BERNIE SANDERS MESSAGE FOR DONALD TRUMP

Bernie Sanders' message for Donald Trump supporters

"Ever since Donald Trump has been opening his mouth, you're seeing all these bitter people, demagogues, latent racists become emboldened. You're seeing some ugly stuff happening around this country. I know you`re angry. And you know what? You should be angry because you`re working longer hours for low wages. We've got millions of people who are in trouble today. People are hurting. They're struggling. They're fearful and confused. They are anxious on a number of levels. We have people with two or three jobs, worried to death about their children, worried about their own retirement. The cost of everything, from college tuition to prescription drugs, has gone up and people aren’t getting paid a living wage. What’s the cause of their problems? Who is their enemy? Is it Wall Street? Is it Big Money? Or Big Pharma? Is it massive inequality in terms of wealth and income? Why do you keep voting for people who are giving more tax breaks to billionaires, who are going to send your jobs abroad, not going to let you form a union, not going to allow your kids to go to college? Because they pick out a victim whether it`s Blacks, whether it`s gays, whether it`s women, whether it`s immigrants, whether it`s Muslims who we can pick on. We can't allow racism and xenophobia to gain traction.Don’t go to the dark side. Don't take it out on the Muslims or Latinos. Don’t go bashing immigrants or refugees or African-Americans. We've got to stand with the people who are being attacked today. We’ve got to stand up to the people who are so angry, so hateful.Try to help us work together to create a country where your kids and you can have a decent standard of living. We’re going to fight to give you that. It has to be a bold and radical agenda, a political movement that will make your life better, not just other people's lives worse."- Bernie SandersFOR PEOPLE WHO KEEP CRITICIZING AND ASKING WHAT HE HAS ACHIEVED IN LIFE-~Elected by the state of Vermont 8 times to serve in the House of Representatives. ~The longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history. ~He was dubbed the "amendment king" in the House of Representatives for passing more amendments than any other member of Congress. ~Ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee.~Former student organizer for the Congress of Racial Equality and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. ~Led the first ever civil rights sit-in in Chicago history to protest segregated housing. ~In 1963, Bernie Sanders participated in MLK's Civil Rights March. One of only 2 sitting US Senators to have heard MLK's "I have a Dream Speech" in person in the march on Washington, DC. ~Former professor of political science at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and at Hamilton College. ~Former mayor of Burlington, VT. In a stunning upset in 1981, Sanders won the mayoral race in Burlington, Vermont's largest city. He shocked the city's political establishment by defeating a six-term, local machine mayor.Burlington is now reported to be one of the most livable cities in the nation.~Co-founded the Congressional Progressive Caucus and chaired the group for its first 8 years. ~Both the NAACP and the NHLA (National Hispanic Leadership Agenda) have given Sanders 100% voting scores during his tenure in the Senate. Earns a D- from the NRA.1984: Mayor Sanders established the Burlington Community Land Trust, the first municipal housing land trust in the country for affordable housing. The project becomes a model emulated throughout the world. It later wins an award from Jack Kemp-led HUD.1991: one of a handful in Congress to vote against authorizing US military force in Iraq. “I have a real fear that the region is not going to be more peaceful or more stable after the war,” he said at the time.1992: Congress passes Sanders’ first signed piece of legislation to create the National Program of Cancer Registries. A Reader’s Digest article calls the law “the cancer weapon America needs most.” All 50 states now run registries to help cancer researchers gain important insights.November 1993: Sanders votes against the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement. Returning from a tour of factories in Mexico, Sanders says: “If NAFTA passes, corporate profits will soar because it will be even easier than now for American companies to flee to Mexico and hire workers there for starvation wages.”July 1996: Sanders is one of only 67 (out of 435, 15%) votes against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, which denied federal benefits to same-sex couples legally married. Sanders urged the Supreme Court to throw out the law, which it did in a landmark 2013 ruling – some 17 years later.July 1999: Standing up against the major pharmaceutical companies, Sanders becomes the first member of Congress to personally take seniors across the border to Canada to buy lower-cost prescription drugs. The congressman continues his bus trips to Canada with a group of breast cancer patients the following April. These brave women are able to purchase their medications in Canada for almost one-tenth the price charged in the States.But that didn't change the discourse about the price of pharmaceuticals in.August 1999: An overflow crowd of Vermonters packs a St. Michael’s College town hall meeting hosted by Sanders to protest an IBM plan to cut older workers’ pensions by as much as 50 percent. CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and The New York Times cover the event. After IBM enacts the plan, Sanders works to reverse the cuts, passing a pair of amendments to prohibit the federal government from acting to overturn a federal district court decision that ruled that IBM’s plan violated pension age discrimination laws. Thanks to Sanders’ efforts, IBM agreed to a $320 million legal settlement with some 130,000 IBM workers and retirees.November 1999: About 10 years before the 2008 Wall Street crash spins the world economy into a massive recession, Sanders votes “no” on a bill to undo decades of financial regulations enacted after the Great Depression. “This legislation,” he predicts at the time, “will lead to fewer banks and financial service providers, increased charges and fees for individual consumers and small businesses, diminished credit for rural America and taxpayer exposure to potential losses should a financial conglomerate fail. It will lead to more mega-mergers, a small number of corporations dominating the financial service industry and further concentration of power in our country.” The House passed the bill 362-57 over Sanders’ objection.October 2001: Sanders votes against the USA Patriot Act. “All of us want to protect the American people from terrorist attacks, but in a way that does not undermine basic freedoms,” Sanders says at the time. He subsequently votes against reauthorizing the law in 2006 and 2011.October 2002: Sanders votes against the Bush-Cheney war in Iraq. He warns at the time that an invasion could “result in anti-Americanism, instability and more terrorism.” Hillary Clinton votes in favor of it.(But hey, Hillary has said she's sorry, what's the big deal? It's not like the US invasion of Iraq caused anything for us to worry about. It was just a vote. And now Hillary has all that experience traveling in airplanes around the world.)November 2006: Sanders defeats Vermont’s richest man, Rich Tarrant, to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Sanders, running as an Independent, is endorsed by the Vermont Democratic Party and supported by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.December 2007: Sanders’ authored energy efficiency and conservation grant program passes into law. He later secures $3.2 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the grant program.September 2008: Thanks to Sanders’ efforts, funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding doubles, helping millions of low-income Americans heat their homes in winter.February 2009: Sanders works with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to pass an amendment to an economic recovery bill preventing Wall Street banks that take taxpayer bailouts from replacing laid-off U.S. workers with exploited and poorly-paid foreign workers.December 2009: Sanders passes language in the Affordable Care Act to allow states to apply for waivers to implement pilot health care systems by 2017. The legislation allows states to adopt more comprehensive systems to cover more people at lower costs.March 2010: President Barack Obama signs into law the Affordable Care Act with a major Sanders provision to expand federally qualified community health centers. Sanders secures $12.5 billion in funding for the program which now serves more than 25 million Americans. Another $1.5 billion from a Sanders provision went to the National Health Service Corps for scholarships and loan repayment for doctors and nurses who practice in under-served communities.July 2010: Sanders works with Republican Congressman Ron Paul in the House to pass a measure as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform bill to audit the Federal Reserve, revealing how the independent agency gave $16 trillion in near zero-interest loans to big banks and businesses after the 2008 economic collapse.March 2013: Sanders, now chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and backed by seniors, women, veterans, labor unions and disabled Americans, leads a successful effort to stop a “chained-CPI” proposal supported by Congressional Republicans and the Administration to cut Social Security and disabled veterans’ benefits.April 2013: Sanders introduces legislation to break up major Wall Street banks so large that the collapse of one could send the overall economy into a downward spiral.August 2014: A bipartisan $16.5 billion veterans bill written by Sen. Sanders, Sen. John McCain and Rep. Jeff Miller is signed into law by President Barack Obama. The measure includes $5 billion for the VA to hire more doctors and health professionals to meet growing demand for care.January 2015: Sanders takes over as ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, using the platform to fight for his economic agenda for the American middle class.January 2015: Sanders votes against the Keystone XL pipeline which would allow multinational corporation TransCanada to transport dirty tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.March 2015: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation to expand benefits and strengthen the retirement program for generations to come.The Social Security Expansion Act was filed on the same day Sanders and other senators received the petitions signed by 2 million Americans, gathered by the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.September 2015: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) today introduced bills to ban private prisons, reinstate the federal parole system and eliminate quotas for the number of immigrants held in detention.January 2016: Sanders Places Hold on FDA Nominee Dr. Robert Califf because of his close ties to the pharmaceutical industry and lack of commitment to lowering drug prices. There is no reason to believe that he would make the FDA work for ordinary Americans, rather than just the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies.THE ISSUES THAT MATTER & HOW BERNIE WILL PAY FOR HIS PROPOSALS- https://berniesanders.com/issues/http://feelthebern.org/all-issues/Choose Bernie Sanders, not demagogue Donald Trump or oligarch Hillary Clinton!Don't #MakeAmericaHateAgain#FeelTheBern #Bernie2016 #NotMeUs #ImWithHer #MakeAmericaGreatAgain #DonaldTrump #Trump #DonaldDrumpf #Drumpf #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain #BernieSanders

Posted by Amir Parvez on Saturday, February 27, 2016

Saturday, March 5, 2016

THE RISE OF AMERICAN AUTHORITARIANISM

The American media, over the past year, has been trying to work out something of a mystery: Why is the Republican electorate supporting a far-right, orange-toned populist with no real political experience, who espouses extreme and often bizarre views? How has Donald Trump, seemingly out of nowhere, suddenly become so popular? What's made Trump's rise even more puzzling is that his support seems to cross demographic lines — education, income, age, even religiosity — that usually demarcate candidates. And whereas most Republican candidates might draw strong support from just one segment of the party base, such as Southern evangelicals or coastal moderates, Trump currently does surprisingly well from the Gulf Coast of Florida to the towns of upstate New York, and he won a resounding victory in the Nevada caucuses. Read more here.

2016 Election (Feat. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders) Rap Video

Real Time with Bill Maher: Sarah Silverman Feels the Bern (HBO)

Friday, February 26, 2016

How You Can Elect Bernie Sanders Using The Internet

"Senator Sanders stood up when he didn't have to stand up as a young man. The way to define the character of a person is...

Posted by Bernie Sanders on Friday, February 26, 2016

How the Democratic Establishment Is Digging Its Own Grave

I'm a fan of Tom Cahill. Filing this here to read later. What do you think?



How the Democratic Establishment Is Digging Its Own Grave

After Considering the Clintons, Black Thinkers Like Bernie Sanders

After Considering the Clintons, Black Thinkers Like Bernie Sanders

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

America’s Micronesia Problem

I had to put this here so that I can read it later. I lived in Micronesia between 1975-83 and I continue to follow news from there.





America’s Micronesia Problem

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Nevada Opens Criminal Investigation of Hillary’s Campaign

Well, look what showed up today? We'll see if this goes anywhere, but for now it really doesn't surprise me much. How about you? To watch the video, click the headline or click here

Friday, February 19, 2016

Arrest photo of young activist Bernie Sanders emerges from Tribune archives

To read the article and see the photo, click on the headline.

Senator Bernie Sanders, I Dare You To Comprehend This Speech! Jaw Droppi...

Bernie Sanders: NO I WILL NOT YIELD! 1992

Hillary Clinton's New Anti-Bernie Attack Ad Flops Miserably

Former Congressional Aide Reveals Why Government Doesn't Work (Video)

Check out this video from my Facebook friend Kate... she has been in the trenches and knows what she is talking about. Check it out here. 





I Like Bernie, But...

I Like Bernie, But...

Michael Moore Nails Every Racist, War-Mongering, Pseudo-Christian, RW Gun Extremist - In One Tweet

Michael Moore Nails Every Racist, War-Mongering, Pseudo-Christian, RW Gun Extremist - In One Tweet

Breaking Down Walls | Bernie Sanders

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Stonekettle Station: The Latter Days of a Better Nation

Stonekettle Station: The Latter Days of a Better Nation:   If these are the early days of a better nation, there must be hope, and a hope of peace is as good as any, and far better than a hollow h...

The real differences between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, explained

Sanders believes that we must essentially re-imagine American democracy, if only because so doing has at least the chance of broadening the scope of what is possible.

Click on the headline to read the whole article. 




Bernie Sanders Explains How We Pay for Medicare/Single Payer Healthcare

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Inside the Horror Show That Is Congress

Check out his Rolling Stone article written by Matt Taibbi from 2005. It's a long read, but clearly shows Bernie Sanders in action. Here is the entire article... Inside the Horror Show That Is Congress

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Robert Reich on Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan's agenda

If you watched the President's State of the Union Address, you saw Paul Ryan sitting just behind him. He's the new Speaker of the House. Now that he's beginning his reign, what are Ryan's goals? Watch our video to find out -- and be warned.

Posted by Robert Reich on Thursday, January 14, 2016