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A Conversation Overheard
{… a rhyme …}
“No problem. We’ll just keep denying
that we profit while the earth is frying.”
… “Will we have to continue our lying?”
… “Yeah, that and our Congressmen-buying.”
===================================
Change His Image, Yet STILL …
{… a rhyme …}
You must change Trump’s image
if he’s to survive the scrimmage.
BUT:
Tho’ you give him costumery
with plentiful plumery
and lipsticked perfumery,
he’s STILL just a frig-
-ging pig.
… IMAGE: The Donald re-costumed:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4054/5138407832_4acf70b95e_z.jpg
=============================
How often do you hear our 1% owned news media educating the public on TPP news? It will be passed during the lame duck session after the election. Then Hilary or (God help us) Trump will not take the blame. Suggest writing to the POTUS and Congress but they do not listen. The next 4 years are going to be terrible, but in 2 years from now we start another POTUS election if we make it that far.
Queenbee, you get paid for every one, don't you? And probably by the word too.
"But it's time to get something straight, this isn't a partisan issue."
Go Green!
Maize (my people call it "corn") and blue, properly blended: Green.
Excellent commentary Thom, and spot on.
Teapublic party voters hate free trade and refer to the TPP as Obama Trade, yet they still vote for the party that is owned and controlled by the private sector elites/fascists behind all of these trade deals. Hell, they even believe Dangerous Don when he lies to them about his stance on free trade.
McConnell, the Teapublic Senate leader has even blocked Democratic Party legislation that would have ended outsourcing tax breaks. Both McConnell and Paul Ryan who is currently the second most dangerous man on the planet, were tickled pink when the fast-track authority sought by Obama got passed. Just for the record, in the House vote, "218 to 208," only 28 Dems voted for it.
Based on all of these facts, it would seem the Teabaggers live in upside down Fox world....the blood has all flowed away from their brains for sure.
Is the below correct?
Let's be very clear about the taxing. The explanation about the German VAT needs to be made crystal clear: From what you have written, Tom, here is what I understand:
For example: a car made in the U.S. is shipped to Germany. A 19% tax is tacked onto the American price which the German consumer must pay.
A German made car shipped to the U.S. has a 19% discount put on it, so the American pays 19% lower for it than would a buyer in Germany.
It's widely known, for many years, there are over 1500 over the counter drugs, that will fail your drug test. It's another scam on Americans, by some drug test lobbyists, and probably, some private prison executives. Shameful.
Tom D -- I still think the point at which the wage increase is too much is when the increase is greater than the increase in the productivity rate.
When the Wall St. Urinal agrees with Thom Hartmann, you know the issue is a no brainer http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-revitalize-u-s-manufacturing-1465351501
"A similar idea for lowering the trade deficit is imposing a value-added tax. The tax, which is used by more than 130 countries, is applied to each step along a production chain as a product or material increases in value or is consumed. How does this help domestic manufacturing? Almost all countries with VATs waive them on exports but impose them on imports, at an average rate of about 17%.
“Right now we’re the sucker, because everybody else is charging the tax on [U.S.-made goods] coming into their countries, but we don’t charge it on their stuff coming to the U.S.,” says Harry Moser, president of the Reshoring Initiative. He figures a 17% tax on $2 trillion a year of imports could generate more than $300 billion a year in revenue. And a VAT would make imports more expensive, boosting the appeal of U.S.-made goods with consumers."
"The rap on VAT, as with state sales taxes, is that it’s a regressive tax on essential, everyday items, like clothing, that every buyer faces regardless of their ability to pay. The upside: A VAT would put the U.S. on the same kind of tax system used throughout the rest of the world. In theory, that would make our exports more attractively priced because they wouldn’t be taxed twice—once in the U.S., as they are now, and then when they enter other countries."
KEY: ""A VAT would need to be coupled with an elimination or reduction of existing taxes on businesses, including payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare. Likewise, consumers would need tax relief to make up for the higher prices they would face for most purchases."
Hillary Clinton says she's against the TPP. If you believe that, then you don't understand she will say anything to get elected. This "free-trade agreement" is a Trojan horse for corporatization of our government, the 9th characteristic of fascism on steroids.
The TPP is the name of the first knife she will use to stab her middle class supporters in the back. This prospect makes her more dangerous than Trump.
#BoycottClintonTrump: vote Green, the only sane choice left. #JillOrBust
Hi,
So Thom keeps on talking about how Jill Stein is a vanity candidate which is totally wrong and ironic because he keeps saying hes progressive. So the argument is that a vote for Jill is a vote for Trump. First of all that argument is wrong and is using fear as a tactic to vote for Clinton. Trump uses fear and progressives shouldn't. So Clinton should earn our vote especially progressives not by the use a fear! By saying we should elect Clinton and hold her feet to the fire is nonsense. Same thing with Obama because the only way we can keep elected people accountable is by voting! For example Obama said he was against TPP but now hes all for it same as Clinton will be for it! So when that nonsense is said its basically saying for example if a person has two hostages. The person says they want a flight and a thousand dollars before he lets the hostages go. But then says ok I will let them go but after you have to give me my demands. The leverage is lost and I'm pretty sure there not going to get the demands!!! Don't vote for the lesser of two evils but vote your heart plus what the candidate really believes in!!! Plus if we get enough people to vote for Jill then we can elect her just like when everybody thought Bernie was pie in the sky/fringe candidate!!!
Thanks. Andrew (Bernie supporter and now Jill supporter)
The arrogance is showing that "money first" equals the zero economy, there is zero left.
Consider recent flash flooding globally from long-duration, high-intensity weather bulldozing downtowns and the reason is simple, our roads were made for the wheel and because these storms never happened since Medieval times what happens to runoff wasn't part of planning.
Each of these events cost a billion or more, part of the zero economy, there's zero left for anything after repairs ...
Or the large-area lowland flooding with 100-year to 1000-year storms take your pick, the watersheds are like the roads and need physical changes to deal with runoff, and to stop that type of flooding requires terracing the entire watershed, especially after wildfires to pond rainfall and let it penetrate to groundwater, the Inca were masters of this.
Vote Green Party and Jill, it's not over, consider getting past voter fraud and gerrymandering is easier with the third party, just harder to get on the ballots.
Until around 1998, over 95% of all the world's resources was being used by just 5% of the world's population and that 5% was the United States. Poor people, like all breeding is biologically driven. The more adverse and negative an environment, the higher the breeding because most offspring will die off.
Yes there is higher breeding in the third world where living depends heavily on human labor and where disease, war, famine and drought kill many.
But they are not the ones using up or harvesting the majority of resources es.it is the West, spearheaded by the USA who harvests crops to feed all those poor and manufactures meds to keep them I've, so that they can become consumers that feed the greed.
Humans have been hoisted by their own Petard which is greed.
Been an Indie for over 38 years. Indies do not win elections at the Presidential level because we have no party, no platform and most importantly, no state, federal or local infrastructure.
Congress gets things done not a President. A third party vote is a vote FOR whoever ever wins. If you vote third party and Hilary wins, make no mistake..you voted her in and whatever happens, you helped to enact.
If you vote third party and Trump wins, it is the same indictment.
3rd party President would be a lame duck or a puppet of either party in Congress and at the state level, not much would change unless your state government wanted it to.
What creates "happiness in a society?" What creates happiness in an individual?" What is the difference between happiness, contentment and sustainability?
WHERE or what will be the outlets for aggression, sadism, rape, etc that are a part of most societies but whose capacity for "happiness" lies with the perp and rarely the victims?
Your idea remains only that because too much is not considered. We have models of achievement and greed to redirect negative human tendencies towards physical actions to compete. War, mobs, lynching, pogroms, oppression, torture, murder, sexual violence etc are all symptoms of a society in dysfunction and out of balance. Redistributing wealth or collective ownership would not address the need of outlets for negative human behavior, including the desire to dominate and compete.
I think these articles about climate change are all over the place.
We can't have data from the IPCC projecting the end of mankind by 2050 if we don't change our ways then have projections for the decades in 2130 predicting gloomy futures.
We cannot have articles pointing to positive feedback loops and imminent demise also declaring it takes thousands of years to repair even moderate damage. (Who would survive to steward and by what means?)
We cannot have projections of millions of tons of resources especially extracted based on a model ensconced in a future where humans have already killed themselves especially off.
We can't even discuss resources e extractions when the material used to run the extracting machines is limited and near its end..
All of this seems,like gloom and doom theory couched in optimistic denial.
They are diametrically opposed. Either we are here or it does not matter..either we stop all use of most finite resources or we don't. Either we curb population growth or not...
BUT...if the positive feedback loops are in play.. supposedly, no matter what we do, we are both doomed and shall only be here less than half a century more, anyway.
Please excuse my typos. I'm on my phone and it auto correctts
Dan Brown seems to quote (sources unknown to me) in Inferno suggesting a couple of interesting things.
1) 1920 population was 2 billion
2) today population is 7 billion
3) over population will completely choke out the human race in 100 years
4) Denial is a huge coping mechanism
Looks like it's time to create a new model and make the old one obsolete as Bucky Fuller said .
Another way is possible moving from a power a possessions economic model we could move to a Use and Access economic model . Using the stuff of life but not owning it individually and letting everyone have access to the stuff that creates happiness in society's .We could reduce our economy not grow it .
We have an absurd idea of everyone owning there own copy of everything here in the West while two thirds of the planet are mostly in poverty and have access to very little of the basics in life like clean water ,health care ,electricity and education.How can we grow the economy so everyone has there own copy of everything like us in the West .
This is not going to happen people we have only limited resources .We have used more resources in the last 40 years than the last 40 000 and we are not slowing down .We are taught this is progress in our schools and by our media and academia but this is progress to our own demise .
Sharing the stuff of life with everyone so less stuff is manufactured and this means much less to landfill .The stuff has to be made to very high specifications so it lasts .Example using Hemp fabric or paper makes much more sense .Cutting down zero trees that after all supply us with so much for life to work.
We will see sense eventually life has never been about gathering stuff and owning stuff and survival of the fittest and seperation from each other it can never work that way .
We have to put in place new guiding principles that work for humanity the planet and all of life that guide our evolutionary path .
Namaste
Perpetrators of Inanity
{a limerick}
Perps such as Limbaugh and Hannity
come up short when it comes down to sanity,
and their mouths are savage
as civility they ravage,
and their brains implode in inanity.
PS:
The number of such perps is galore:
Alex. O’Reilly. Many more.
Katie, bar the door.
===========================
About voting Green, let me state clearly that: - it isn’t unlikely that not voting against Hillary would not preclude negative consequences for values which are not hostile to citizens’ non-thinkings other than those which are not absent in the minds of those who don’t withhold their opposition to the non-Progressives.
Too Much Information
{… a pair of limericks …}
Too much info’s afloat.
Too much info to note.
So things are crumbling
with the citizen mumbling
that “my Savvy remains remote.”
… … …
At many a website he joggles
his cursor to find the toggles
to find out whassup
as our system blows up.
No luck. So his mind just boggles.
=============================
Looking from past elections, the Green Party never wins big enough for President, Congressman or the Senate. I think we need to create a Progressive Party not necessarily that name but one that will fill out with all those who would've voted for Bernie Sanders and could not brings themselves to vote Hillary in and therefore a possible Trump Presidency. I worked for Bernie and continue to talk with others who I worked with about this. Many are going to the Green Party or becoming an Independent like myself after 45 yrs. a Democrat. We are splitting up and this isn't good unless we can come back together and organize a new party following the ideals that Democrats use to stand for.
With the increase of precious resources being extracted from our planet plus the use of these resources polluting the atmosphere that has triggered global warming. After knowing this for many years I fear that many of my like-minded friends & acqaintances feel that our planet will overheat to the detrimant of all plants and animals. They (us & animals) will die from exposure from warming of our atmosphere, the ocean's rise & the eventual methane gas increase. The fossil fuel companies won't stop their drilling, digging & fracking which is the major reason for global warming & melting glaciers.
I have hope myself that if everyone who is educated about this dilemma could unite & bring a massive decline on fossil fuel extractions and make more electric cars & line our highways with solar voltaics we could stop this warming trend. I am for a total stop too but reality tells me we'd have a better chance at reducing their extractions. There would have to be millions of us working on this one issue which, I feel, is the biggest issue going. I know we need to stop the war machine our country has become also and get a total moratorium on nuclear weapons. My God, these are very scary times we live in.