I, for one, can no longer put up with their myriad calls for fresh human flesh. Nor can I stand idle while they sap our precious bodily fluids.

You shouldn't, either.

Regards,

TWM

I'm curious as to how many folks know how the Ukraine catastrophe started?

At the risk (well, certainty) of being labeled a Putin lover/defender and so forth, there are a couple of things that I'd like to point out regarding the horrible downing of MH17 and the deaths of so many.

First off, this man:



the Director of National Intelligence, flagrantly and admittedly lied even to Congress and still has his job. Clearly, our government has no big concerns about lying to Americans. So why would we believe anything at all that they tell us? It might be true, it might be a lie, but mostly, it will be what suits their own goals, not ours.

Sadly, it's hard to know who to believe here. In situations like this, I tend to turn to the foreign press to see what they're saying, particularly those sources that tend to be truthful and tend not to be US lapdogs. I took a look at Deutsche Welle, which I've found to be fair and level-headed, and it seems that things are not so clear with regard to who downed MH17:

From:
This may be BS, it may be accurate... but it is in a legitimate news source that seems to no longer be in bed with the US government.

The bottom line is that I'm suggesting that we all wait a little while before forming a judgment here. Things may become quite clear in the coming days - or, like the Syrian gas attacks, they may become more uncertain.

(And no, this doesn't mean I approve of Putin. I don't. With gusto.)

Source: NY Times

The Obama administration has urged congressional leaders to take swift
action to halt the rush of United States companies moving abroad.

In letters sent to four lawmakers, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew
said the administration supported a quick fix that would halt the trend of
so-called inversions, in which United States companies buy a smaller
competitor and reincorporate overseas to save money on taxes.

Speaking at the CNBC Delivering Alpha conference on Wednesday,
Mr. Lew called for legislation that would include a package of business
reforms, one of which would bring tax levels of companies in the 20
percent range.

“The best way to deal with this is through comprehensive business tax
reform and we have a plan out there that would accomplish multiple
goals,” he said, citing business tax reforms and providing resources for
infrastructure investments.


Read more: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/obama-administration-seeks-end-to-inversion-deals

I posted the following as a response to an OP a few weeks ago, but it keeps haunting me as I read about the latest wet kiss to Citigroup. Here's what I wrote:

"I spoke with someone high up in DOJ a few weeks ago. An old buddy of mine. We were ingesting adult beverages.

The problem with going after banks, he explained, is that only the people at the top know the bad stuff that's happening - the lower folks only know their jobs, not how their jobs contribute to the big-picture scamming. But if they go after the people at the top, it will hurt the bank and many of the innocent lower folks might lose their jobs. The DOJ is very mindful of how awful it was when Enron was prosecuted. So no serious prosecutions will happen, on purpose.

(Yes, this is really what passes for rational thought at the DOJ.)"

So that's what's going on, I think. Apparently, prosecuting Enron was a huge mistake. So absent an epic sea change, the bankers get to savage us until at least 1/20/2017. What happens after that is for us to decide over the next 2 or so years.

I just don't get it.

Elizabeth Warren has it right, it's an awful assault that the oligarchs are trying to keep secret so we can't fight back.


It's a sickness. The rich and powerful have stolen enough from us, they don't need new laws to steal even more.

Sometimes I do dumb things, like posting this.

(Ok, I often do dumb things, you're right.)

When I do these things, I feel bad about myself, depressed by my stupidity.

Then I think about Republicans, and I feel better about myself: "Lord, I'm not that ignorant after all."

Thanks Republicans! I appreciate your helping me out. But if you stopped, that would be even better, OK?

I'm so goddamned mad at the TPP garbage that I've gotten the idea to write a pamphlet or book about all the ridiculous stuff going on, titled:

How @#$%ing Stupid Are We?
It's *your* fault America's this screwed up, and only *you* can fix it.

It would be a compilation of all of the provably dysfunctional nonsense that voters have let happen to America, that are just power-screwing us every day, things like "free" trade, outrageously expensive and crappy health care, insane military spending, absurd wars, upside-down tax policies, and so forth.

Just stupid, stupid stuff that we do to ourselves, for which their are easy fixes that are proven to work whenever they've been tried.

We won World War II in two theaters and put people on the Moon, now we can't even tie our shoelaces without severing a finger.

Talk me down - I'm sure it's a dumb idea and I'm just mad right now. I'll probably reconsider in about 5 minutes, grrr.

"We'd really love for the little people to have rights, but we just can't swing it."

"Sorry!!!"

"But once it's law... we can work together to make it better! Yes, we can!"

It was uplifting to read that the bipartisan TPP will give the developing world a break: The US and other developed countries have backed off their demand that sanctions be immediately imposed on countries that violate worker protections. Instead, there'll be... discussions.

U.S. compromises on labor rights in latest round of TPP negotiation.

Discussions! LOL! "Say, about those children locked in factories for a week at a time... no worries, that class of people were bred for that sort of thing. Could you pass the Grey Poupon? Thanks ever so much."

So microwage countries will be able to drive labor costs even lower, and grab more American jobs. And the rich all over the world make even more money, and everyone else gets @#$%ed even worse.

Yay!

Anyone else sick of this sick abuse of the 99%? Would it be unfair to call this effort sociopathy?

I'm of a mind to get off my fat ass and do something to help stop this awful abuse-in-the-works.

the rebellion by the American colonists?

What if the colonists had boomerangs?