Friday, October 21, 2016

SAR #16295

Caution enriches passion.
Protecting The Serving: The PA Senate has passed a bill that would let cops prevent the public from seeing body cam video without a court order.
Manufactured Manufacturing: Yes, US manufacturing is in the tank, except for computer and electronics stuff. Cars, trucks, appliances... not so much. But the government numbers show improvement because they count “vast improvements in quality” as a manufacturing gain, regardless of how few workers those improvements require.
Not Really, But: The US Chamber of Commerce says that the scare headlines about TPP undermining national, state and local laws and regulations simply are not true. Nothing in the TPP agreement gives the ISDS arbitrators the power to overturn laws or regulations. They can, however, make governments pay huge settlements, billions and billions. But the law(s) will not be overturned by the ISDS process.
Food For Thought: Does the US really need all those oversas bases? Yes, if it is to retain its empire. Are they cost effective? Probably not,but boy do they swell the prideful chests of the unemployed.
Damn Democrats: Illegal immigration is harder than it looks. In 2014 about 200,000 Central Americans tried to sneak in to the US; hardly a flood, but significant. But Obama, since 2009, has deported more than 2.5 million people, nearly 25% more than Bush. Another case where the facts have Democrat bias.
His Master's Voice: Trump's dog whistle refusal to commit to accepting the will of the electorate was pure red meat for that half of his voters whose grip on reality is slight and whose anger is barely under control. Has Trump tried to stoke fear among his more loosely wrapped followers? Yes, but to what end? Never mind what he says, pay attention to what his followers are hearing.
The Third Branch: In John Kische's Ohio a judge has restored the right to vote to thousands who were targeted by Kasich's administration on the suspicion they would vote Democrat.
Look Carefully: White collar crime is not necessarily different from other forms of criminality except 1) The perpetraors tend to wear suits, thus the white collars, 2) While they are often “caught” by the press, they are relatively immune to actual arrest and trial. 3) Very rarely does a white collar offender – say the head of Wells Fargo or any number of senior Goldman Sachs officers – stand trial. 4) They rarely serve actual jail time.
The Downward Spiral: Spoiled and ignorant white students at Texas State University in San Marcos walked out of their anthropology class when the professor told them that we are all of African descent. Which we are. A teacher in a Norman, OK high school pointed out to his class that being born white conferred immense privileges that are part of the birthright racism of being white in America. The students were deeply offended to learn the truth. At the University of Florida the school is offering counseling for over-protected brats who claim to be offended by Halloween costumes.
Family Stress: Spokesmen for Philippine President Duterte have announced that the Philippines and the US are undergoing a trial “separation”. Until this matter is resolved the family would like be allowed to quietly work out their problems.
 

4 comments:

McMike said...

re rigged elections. I have said this before, but it's worth repeating. What no one in the official media seems willing to note is that what Trump is doing here, is merely amplifying a theme that the GOP has been pushing for decades. Indeed, see the item you posted directly below it. The GOP has been pounding the fear of voter fraud across the nation for years, and passing draconian Jim Crow laws to "stop" it.

Furthermore, the election system is deeply flawed, heavily prone to dirty tricks, and been systematically undermined for decades at the state and local level by Republican operatives in these lesser yet hugely important elective offices - purging voter rolls, losing registrations, limiting poll hours, not putting enough voting machines in certain places. Let's not even start with gerrymandering.

This coupled with dirty tricks like spreading disinformation about how and where to vote, and using poll watcher challenges for intimidation.

Not to mention the small detail that the 2000 election was in fact stolen. After a variety of counting shenanigans and legal maneuvering, made possible by the advance work of corrupt secretary of state and army of local operatives, the Supreme Court of the United States performed a judicial coup. There's no other word for it.

All of this resting on a foundation of voting machines that are built by crony companies, the code kept secret, the output cannot be verified, and the machines can be hacked by my child.

This is all well documented and nothing new and Trump certainly did not invent any of this.

Not to mention the practice of delegitimizing your opponent is nothing new; another strategy the GOP has elevated to an alarming pathology.

In other words, distrust in the election system is bipartisan and completely rational.

mike said...

Yes, yes, we all know Trump's crazy about the possibility of vote hacking because that can only be done by Putin to make Trump the winner, according to people like yourself who have once again proven historically illiterate after the 2000 Florida debacle. But go on and keep making fun. Joe Stalin was an idiot:

"It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."

Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/josephstal109571.html

McMike said...

Just in case it's not clear, McMike is not mike.

Mike, perhaps you are a new reader. CKM is not necessarily endorsing every article he posts. And despite the historical analysis, which you and I share, Trump is pursuing a uniquely unhelpful and reckless way of dealing with it.

G-fan said...

"Does the US really need all those oversas bases? Yes, if it is to retain its empire. Are they cost effective? Probably not,but boy do they swell the prideful chests of the unemployed."

I doubt most unemployed know these bases exist, or know about any more than the ones where they have a friend/relative stationed. Most unemployed I've met in the USA don't even know who their local state representative is, even if they have voted. Now that's how to rig a sham democracy.