1/. Naomi Klein with an insightful story on how corrupt societies profit from shocks and disaster......her example is Hurricane Katrina with details of how this horror was handled with incompetence and corruption that you haven't heard before....
She also makes the point that Trump and the brains behind him will use a "Shock" to turn our society into a police state even more corrupt than it is now.....an excellent story, warning of a possible future....
An excellent article....
A Blackwater helicopter in Iraq.
There have been times in my reporting from disaster zones when I have had the unsettling feeling that I was seeing not just a crisis in the here and now, but getting a glimpse of the future – a preview of where the road we are all on is headed, unless we somehow grab the wheel and swerve. When I listen to Donald Trump speak, with his obvious relish in creating an atmosphere of chaos and destabilisation, I often think: I’ve seen this before, in those strange moments when portals seemed to open up into our collective future.
One of those moments arrived in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, as I watched hordes of private military contractors descend on the flooded city to find ways to profit from the disaster, even as thousands of the city’s residents, abandoned by their government, were treated like dangerous criminals just for trying to survive.
I started to notice the same tactics in disaster zones around the world. I used the term “shock doctrine” to describe the brutal tactic of using the public’s disorientation following a collective shock – wars, coups, terrorist attacks, market crashes or natural disasters – to push through radical pro-corporate measures, often called “shock therapy”. Though Trump breaks the mould in some ways, his shock tactics do follow a script, and one that is familiar from other countries that have had rapid changes imposed under the cover of crisis.
This strategy has been a silent partner to the imposition of neoliberalism for more than 40 years. Shock tactics follow a clear pattern: wait for a crisis (or even, in some instances, as in Chile or Russia, help foment one), declare a moment of what is sometimes called “extraordinary politics”, suspend some or all democratic norms – and then ram the corporate wishlist through as quickly as possible.
2/. John Oliver on Tucker Carlson of Fox News......three very funny minutes....
On Sunday night, John Oliver took shots at Tucker Carlson while discussing President Trump‘s travel ban, which was partially reinstated by the Supreme Court.
Oliver said the ban itself is “shameful” for leaving thousands of refugees “in the lurch,” but then he turned to the Fox News host, who he referred to as a “human lacrosse stick,” for tweeting this last week:
He said that question “made the Statue of Liberty give up and drown herself in the Hudson River.”
3/. Andrew Sullivan with his weekly look at the news - this week it's how Trump owns the Republican Party, why our jails are full [hint - NOT drug crimes] and a short piece on the Democratic Party that's too depressing to recommend......but Dems - read it anyway....
One of the more remarkable political developments of the last six months — the culmination in some ways of the last 18 months — is the transformation of the Republican Party into the Party of Trump.
Think back to early last year. Close to every major Republican politician regarded Trump as an excrescence that would eventually go away. Today, the GOP owns Trump completely and Trump owns the GOP. In Gallup, he receives around 85 percent support of Republicans, with only some minor softness around the edges. At his inauguration, he had 86 percent support. That’s the key reason why his general approval ratings have leveled off at around 40 percent. That seems to be the floor.
Think back over what we have learned these past six months, and let that sink in. This solid 85 percent is despite a deeply unpopular Obamacare replacement, which clearly targets Trump’s core voters, and would wreak real havoc in their lives.
4/. Not much comedy this week on TV as it was a holiday opportunity for the shows.....so here is a classic - Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett show with the Elephant story.....one of the funniest four minutes you will ever see....
5/. Ohhhhh the internet - Trump's meeting with Putin photoshopped by wastrels and idlers on Reddit.....very amusing.....ohhhhh the internet!
CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS
When it comes to marking historic moments in time, Redditors don’t disappoint.
Soon after photos of President Donald Trump’s much anticipated meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at Friday’s G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, began circulating online, the site’s users began tweaking one of the snaps in amusing ways.
6/. Paul Krugman with a summary of the Republicans appalling health care bill......
Does anyone remember the “reformicons”? A couple of years back there was much talk about a new generation of Republicans who would, it was claimed, move their party off its cruel and mindless agenda of tax cuts for the rich and pain for the poor, bringing back the intellectual seriousness that supposedly used to characterize the conservative movement.
But the rise of the reformicons never happened. What we got instead was the (further) rise of the decepticons — not the evil robots from the movies, but conservatives who keep scaling new heights of dishonesty in their attempt to sell their reverse-Robin Hood agenda.
Consider, in particular, Republican leaders’ strategy on health care.
7/. Amy Schumer as a guest on Ellen.....six hilarious minutes.....
8/. Lucien Truscott on long distance travel and how difficult it is to get healthy food.....this resonated with me because two years ago Mary and I took a three month road trip across America, and we tried the chains Truscott describes and couldn't eat their slop.....but not all of us have a choice....
A very good essay on Amerika.....
America votes the way it eats
You can learn a lot about how the voting public thinks based on what's available to eat in chain restaurants
(Credit: Getty/Shutterstock/Photo montage by Salon)
After this last election, we already know the way America votes. Now, after spending the last three weeks on the road, I know the way America eats. I’m convinced these two things are connected.
It’s hard to eat well — or even marginally correctly — when you’re on the road. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of driving: three weeks ago, from Long Island to Nashville, Tennessee; a few days later from Nashville to Charlottesville, Virginia; a week ago from Charlottesville to Birmingham, Alabama, and back over the weekend. Sunday, I’ll pack my son in the car and take him back to Nashville; then I’ll turn around and drive to Washington, D.C., and from there, back home to Long Island. That’s about 4,500 miles altogether, almost every mile of which I spent out on the interstates doing 70 mph.
The big signs stuck up on poles above the trees for the restaurant chains flash by.
9/. The worst album covers ever made......some of these are beyond belief.....
Are These The Worst Album Covers Ever Created?
Not all album covers are created equal. Some album covers are so incredible that they can’t now be explained by the people who originally conceived of them. These are the worst you’ll ever see.
10/. Hope this never happens to you, but if it does you have to hope the SWAT team has some common sense before they kick your front door in.....
This Week in Hate highlights hate crimes and harassment around the country since the election of President Trump.
Three families had to evacuate their homes in Florida in January after someone sent an anonymous email to a detective, claiming to have placed bombs at their addresses. The case, discussed at greater length in This Week in Hate on Wednesday, was unusual in that the only apparent connection between the victims was their surname, Gonzalez. But it was also an example of a kind of harassment that’s become disturbingly common: a practice called swatting.
In a swatting, someone makes a fake report of a bomb or shooter at a victim’s address, hoping to draw law enforcement officers, such as a SWAT team, to the house. This can be terrifying and sometimes dangerous, as heavily armed officers arrive at the home of an unsuspecting person.
11/. Solar power is getting closer to letting you get off the electric grid and generate your own power - the reason? Batteries are getting better.
Boy I hope this comes true........I truly hate Duke Energy and FPL....
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Several of the big trends in clean electricity depend, in one way or another, on batteries. How fast batteries get better and cheaper will help determine how fast renewable energy grows, how fast fossil fuel power plants get shut down, and how fast the vehicle fleet electrifies.
The consulting firm McKinsey & Company recently released an analysis noting that batteries, like solar panels before them, are getting cheaper much faster than anyone expected — and the consequences for the power sector are going to be immense.
Batteries have entered a virtuous, self-reinforcing cycle.
12/. A wonderful article from the Orlando Sentinel, written by a Mount Dora resident.....
He certainly makes his point!
I
put up a large United States flag Tuesday morning. I’m 66 years old, and it’s the first time I’ve ever done that. Yes, I stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance because I have no desire to insult those around me. But I don’t recite the Pledge of Allegiance because I do not believe in pledging loyalty to groups or causes or to someone else’s god. I don’t like groups or causes because I can’t control what they do — I can only control what I do, and sometimes not even that.
But I came to understand something about embracing the idea of the United States while drilling holes for the flag bracket. Something emotional, made up of equal parts longing and anger. This is some of it.
You can’t have my country.
Todays guy jokes.....
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.......My favorite...... below.:-D...
And the winner for theMOST ORIGINAL / CREATIVE PANHANDLERSpotted on recent trip through Hardy, Arkansas
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