PatrickforB
PatrickforB's JournalSome thoughts on needless cruelty.
I just read the article on here about Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota who boasted about killing a good dog and then throwing its body into a pit.
A couple of years ago, I remember reading about a conversation Trump had with someone - he was just making conversation, and he said he was at an event and someone collapsed right in front of him. There was blood. What did he do? Turned away and left quickly.
Then he was having affairs with women while Melania was recovering from childbirth.
Let's not forget the Mittster, who tied his dog Seamus to the roof of his car and then drove cross country like that. Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher wrote “your dead kids don't trump my constitutional rights. Jim Jordan turned a blind eye to kids talking about how they had been sexually abused at Ohio State. I could sit and make a huge list of these kinds of things. But here's my question:
How did a substantial portion of our population lose their moral compass? Why are so many of us so needlessly, thoughtlessly cruel? Who made so many of us this way? Why?
And what about all these old white guys who are fine with women dying in hospital parking lots because they cannot get an abortion even if it is the only thing that will save their life? I'd like to ask them what if she was your daughter or granddaughter? You want to let her die because of ideology?
I was thinking about my dad today. He was buffeted by life, and died a bitter man. I watched as he became bitter and it was very sad. He was a lifelong Republican, but he served in the Second World War. You know, the one where we lost 600,000 of our people to get rid of Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo and the rest of the fascist monsters. Dad fought in the Battle of New Guinea in 1944-45. He had a couple of medals but he didn't care much about them. He wouldn't talk to me about it either. I can remember once I asked him if he thought the war in Vietnam would still be going on when I got old enough. He looked somberly at me and said, "I hope not."
Dad would not recognize today's Republicans who have been so perverted by the Koch brothers, the Mercers and the rest of these freakish billionaires who are driving wedges between us so we won't notice them picking our pockets. AM talk radio...well, he would eventually have fallen prey to it. Fox 'news.' Same. But if he came back today, he'd shake his head.
We need to take back both patriotism and morality, because the Republicans have clearly become evil. And Russian, Chinese, and other enemy 'trolls' are on our social media working feverishly to keep this chaos going.
We can all help change our course, each in our own way. When I see it happening, I will speak out.
That's all...
Found on Facebook - Zappa on SNL with a letter board.
OK, typing it in laboriously, working my fingers to the bone, I tell you!
Frank Zappa pointing to a letterboard that has this poem:
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help, no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold
Kind of prophetic, don't you think?
Let's see what 'make a link' does:
[link:https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=833040272193250&set=a.603067458523867|
Rustin on Netflix
My wife and I just watched Rustin, a movie on Netflix.
I had never heard of Bayard Rustin, but he was a major player in the Civil Rights movement, and he was the organizer of the March on DC in 1964.
The reason I never heard of him is that historians in the past downplayed his participation because he was gay. Obama gave him the Medal of Freedom in 2013 posthumously because he died in 1987.
The movie was GREAT. Colman Domingo turned in a stunning performance as Rustin, and Aml Ameen played Martin Luther King, Jr.
It was outstanding. Those people, all of them, were heroes. They really were. And now we know about Bayard Rustin.
Here's the trailer:
A thought about our culture of punching down.
Hello, all. I have just been thinking about getting kicked while you are down. Because I have been there. While the American people are generally good, we have a system - shareholder primacy capitalism - that nickels and dimes pretty much everyone to death.
For example, I pay for cable streaming. In August 2023, the company I use for high-speed internet, cable TV and yes, a land line (I know I'm a dinosaur), suddenly raised my monthly subscription price by 10.7%. I went into the soul-sucking black hole that is this company's 'customer care' system. After two marathon four or five hour sessions, I finally was connected with what can be called a 'churn manager,' which is a person who has just enough power to lower your price to where it is close to what you were paying - just a little higher, but hey, better than 10.7%.
This last month, I noticed they once again raised my price around $8 per month.
All about shareholder profits. That Wall Street bull be hungry!
My wife and I were watching John Oliver's show on student debt, and there was a young lady who had a loan balance of $80K to begin with. She has PAID ON THIS LOAN for ten years. Ten years, and she has paid in over $100K!
She still owes $76K. In the video, she asks, "How is this fucking possible?"
Oliver did a nice shout-out to Biden on that too, because he has acted to forgive billions in student debt. Biden's a good guy, and has been a really good president.
Anyway, I'm thinking about Trump. For years he has been the personification of zero-sum (for me to win, you must lose) capitalism. He has a long record of failing to pay people who provided goods and services to his business, and there are dozens, possibly hundreds of businesses who did work for Trump in good faith who are now bankrupt because he did not pay them.
He has also mocked individuals who have disabilities, incited violence and so on.
It is ironic how he now cannot come up with the money he needs for these settlements. Years of punching down, and now he is finding out what it is like to not have the money he needs.
My career life has been dedicated to bringing the peace of having enough to those who are victimized by economic violence. Because make no mistake. Poverty - simply not having enough is economic violence. Actual war accelerates this, as we see with the plight of Palestinian civilians, and the millions in Ukraine and Russia who have had their lives destroyed because of one monster.
But poverty is a slow burn. Grinding, perpetual economic violence. I'm talking about the people who are victims of poverty, hunger. People who do not have enough. Eleven people a minute on this planet starve to death. Millions of people in the US, including children, go hungry once in a while. Our kids are saddled with forever loans that keep them enslaved to predatory lenders. Like the young woman who still owes $76K after paying over $100K on a student loan originally in the amount of $80K. Old people like me continue to work because of HEALTH CARE DEBT.
This is economic violence. Working your ass off for $7.25 per hour, working two jobs because one won't do. Being a sick kid or flat tire away from losing your job. Being homeless because this country is so unforgiving to its poor. Kick 'em while they are down. Greed is good. That's the mantra. Privatize, deregulate and GUT government programs.
Anyway, the proverbial chickens are coming home to roose for Trump. No one will give him any money. I'm sure he 'went to Jared' who got $2 billion from the Saudis, but Jared isn't coming through. In fact he's been talking about expelling Palestinians from the beachfront in Gaza so he can profit off development.
Shareholder primacy capitalism is rotten to the core.
You wonder why the media is now reporting Trump is considering 'little Marco' as a running mate? Why they perpetuate the horse race narrative? Why they continue to tout poorly constructed polls that show Biden is supposedly 'deeply unpopular,' while it is their own failures in reporting the actual truth that has caused this hypothetical unpopularity.
Here's the thing to know:
CORPORATE OWNED MEDIA COMPANIES ARE PUBLICLY TRADED.
This means that their corporate officers, essentially everyone in managerial roles, including executive producers and directors have NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRUTH IN NEWS REPORTING.
Nope. Their ONLY fiduciary responsibility is to generate profits for shareholders. Back to my earler story about my cable company - MSNBC and NBC are owned by Comcast.
That Wall Street bull be HUNGRY, and that is why we do not get truth in news.
Punching down? Wall Street is a master at that, and we are all affected by their insatiable greed.
Oh well, rant over....
A thought about our culture of punching down.
Hello, all. I have just been thinking about getting kicked while you are down. Because I have been there. While the American people are generally good, we have a system - shareholder primacy capitalism - that nickels and dimes pretty much everyone to death.
For example, I pay for cable streaming. In August 2023, the company I use for high-speed internet, cable TV and yes, a land line (I know I'm a dinosaur), suddenly raised my monthly subscription price by 10.7%. I went into the soul-sucking black hole that is this company's 'customer care' system. After two marathon four or five hour sessions, I finally was connected with what can be called a 'churn manager,' which is a person who has just enough power to lower your price to where it is close to what you were paying - just a little higher, but hey, better than 10.7%.
This last month, I noticed they once again raised my price around $8 per month.
All about shareholder profits. That Wall Street bull be hungry!
My wife and I were watching John Oliver's show on student debt, and there was a young lady who had a loan balance of $80K to begin with. She has PAID ON THIS LOAN for ten years. Ten years, and she has paid in over $100K!
She still owes $76K. In the video, she asks, "How is this fucking possible?"
Oliver did a nice shout-out to Biden on that too, because he has acted to forgive billions in student debt. Biden's a good guy, and has been a really good president.
Anyway, I'm thinking about Trump. For years he has been the personification of zero-sum (for me to win, you must lose) capitalism. He has a long record of failing to pay people who provided goods and services to his business, and there are dozens, possibly hundreds of businesses who did work for Trump in good faith who are now bankrupt because he did not pay them.
He has also mocked individuals who have disabilities, incited violence and so on.
It is ironic how he now cannot come up with the money he needs for these settlements. Years of punching down, and now he is finding out what it is like to not have the money he needs.
My career life has been dedicated to bringing the peace of having enough to those who are victimized by economic violence. Because make no mistake. Poverty - simply not having enough is economic violence. Actual war accelerates this, as we see with the plight of Palestinian civilians, and the millions in Ukraine and Russia who have had their lives destroyed because of one monster.
But poverty is a slow burn. Grinding, perpetual economic violence. I'm talking about the people who are victims of poverty, hunger. People who do not have enough. Eleven people a minute on this planet starve to death. Millions of people in the US, including children, go hungry once in a while. Our kids are saddled with forever loans that keep them enslaved to predatory lenders. Like the young woman who still owes $76K after paying over $100K on a student loan originally in the amount of $80K. Old people like me continue to work because of HEALTH CARE DEBT.
This is economic violence. Working your ass off for $7.25 per hour, working two jobs because one won't do. Being a sick kid or flat tire away from losing your job. Being homeless because this country is so unforgiving to its poor. Kick 'em while they are down. Greed is good. That's the mantra. Privatize, deregulate and GUT government programs.
Anyway, the proverbial chickens are coming home to roose for Trump. No one will give him any money. I'm sure he 'went to Jared' who got $2 billion from the Saudis, but Jared isn't coming through. In fact he's been talking about expelling Palestinians from the beachfront in Gaza so he can profit off development.
Shareholder primacy capitalism is rotten to the core.
You wonder why the media is now reporting Trump is considering 'little Marco' as a running mate? Why they perpetuate the horse race narrative? Why they continue to tout poorly constructed polls that show Biden is supposedly 'deeply unpopular,' while it is their own failures in reporting the actual truth that has caused this hypothetical unpopularity.
Here's the thing to know:
CORPORATE OWNED MEDIA COMPANIES ARE PUBLICLY TRADED.
This means that their corporate officers, essentially everyone in managerial roles, including executive producers and directors have NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR TRUTH IN NEWS REPORTING.
Nope. Their ONLY fiduciary responsibility is to generate profits for shareholders. Back to my earler story about my cable company - MSNBC and NBC are owned by Comcast.
That Wall Street bull be HUNGRY, and that is why we do not get truth in news.
Punching down? Wall Street is a master at that, and we are all affected by their insatiable greed.
Oh well, rant over....
On behalf of my wife, my ex wives, my daughters and granddaughters, I am elated that
E Jean Carroll was awarded $83 million. She did NOT 'ask for it.' That whole assertion on the part of Trump's team was the same bullshit women have been dealing with for decades and decades. And it is just wrong. Finally, we see a woman be vindicated.
I'm glad of the verdict, and what do you bet Trumpy will not be able to shut up?
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Gender: Do not displayHometown: Not disclosed
Home country: USA
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Member since: Mon Apr 28, 2014, 07:28 PM
Number of posts: 14,585
