Even Democrats are Repeating the Nonsense that Sanders is “Putin’s Choice”
On February 21st, Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders revealed in an interview that, about a month ago, U.S. Intelligence Dept. Officials briefed him that Russia has plans to ‘assist’ him in the 2020 election. Sanders response to the prospective foreign assistance was direct—he told Russia to “Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do.”
The Vermont Senator also went on to call Russian President Vladimir Putin “an autocratic thug” and clarified, “Unlike Donald Trump, I do not consider Vladimir Putin a good friend… I stand firmly against (Russia’s) efforts, and any other foreign power that wants to interfere in our election.” He speaks of course of Trump’s close relationship with the Russian leader, and of Trump’s encouragement, in plain sight, of Russian interference in his 2016 campaign.
Despite Sander’s straight answer to the news regarding Russia, Trump was not hesitant to bring it up during a Las Vegas rally the day before the Nevada caucus. He quipped about Bernie honeymooning in Moscow and snidely warned Democrats to be careful about foreign interference in elections. Then, he bragged that Putin really wants four more years of Trump.
Trump’s snarky speech is ironic given the fact that when Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire first informed the President about Russia’s support of him for 2020, he reportedly threw a fit, angry that Maguire would disclose such information with Democratic nemesis Adam Schiff in the room. Even though reporting such activity to the POTUS is part of the DNI job description, Trump ended up terminating Maguire for, essentially, telling the truth and doing his job.
No one Knows Who is “Electable” even though all the Candidates Try to Claim they are the One that can Beat Trump
The conventional wisdom is that only a moderate centrist Democrat can defeat Trump. There are, however, only a lot of theories, based on the standard data, to support this contention and the same people espousing those theories are the ones that said that Hillary, based on the same methods of predicting election outcomes, would beat Trump with ease.
Bernie Sanders does have “extreme” proposals, compared with the bland, compromise based plans of the more moderate wing of the party. Maybe, just maybe, going up against the most extreme most volatile and completely corrupt politician in recent history requires an extreme challenger? Trump will cheat and lie, that is clear, and someone to take him on must be ready for that and must be able to show that he (or she) can survive the shit storm he will create and then take the country out of this nightmare.
You can not compromise with a sociopath.
2016 All Over Again but with a twist, and perhaps, a Different Outcome
The propaganda spin that appears to have been planned long in advance seems to be working already. Viewing various tweets from Democrats who are not aligned with Sanders indicate that they are actively parroting the Putin planted misinformation.
The two threads they have, apparently subconsciously, picked up are:
A – Sanders has no chance and the proof is that he is the Putin’s preferred opponent for Tump (unsubstantiated inferences stated as fact and as original thought)
Or
B – That Sanders is going to be called a Communist (or is a Communist) and that his past, regardless how innocent compared to Trump, makes him an easy target that he has no chance to win in the general election. There are even those that posit that he must be a Communist because Putin “likes” him.
In other words, they have taken the bait, hook, line and sinker.
According to the New York Times:
The Russians have been preparing — and experimenting — for the 2020 election, undeterred by American efforts to thwart them but aware that they needed a new playbook of as-yet-undetectable methods, United States officials said
They have made more creative use of Facebook and other social media.
Rather than impersonating Americans as they did in 2016, Russian operatives are working to get Americans to repeat disinformation, the officials said. That strategy gets around social media companies’ rules that prohibit “inauthentic speech.”
(emphasis mine)
Typical examples of the parroting of the Russian disinformation:
Not even close…tells us something when Russia and trump are fronting for him…
The disturbing thing is that these supposedly intelligent Democratic voters are immediately jumping to the first thoughts that Putin has planted in their minds.
The real truth is that Sanders is the most dangerous candidate to both Trump and Putin and should be seen as such. They have an elaborate plan to stop him but they fear that he will do the one thing that they can not overcome; awaken the American people to the power they already have.
And Outsider Rises Up in Spite of Both Republican and Democrat Establishments being Against Him: Sound Familliar?
The cable news pundits have already started repeating that Sanders, “a socialist candidate” has little chance to win and will hurt down ballot races for the House and Senate. Naturally, they have no proof of this and no idea if another candidate would do any better in that regard. They are parroting conventional “wisdom” and creating noise just like Putin wants.
There are also already rumblings and propaganda-troll posts that are implying that because Sanders was in Moscow many years ago on his Honeymoon (supposedly) that he is therefore, obviously, a Communist.
The fact that so many have taken it at face value that Putin is “helping” him, although zero evidence has been revealed and no details exist showing what exactly this “help” consists of, creates a perfect launching pad for what is likely to be the most blatant and ridiculous-nonsense mudslinging contest in history.
Want to know more about Putin’s Corrupt Rise to power? Click to buy “Blowout” and at the same time help Lynxotic and All Independent Local Bookstores
On the other side is the rock-solid record and consistency of Sanders. People can disagree with his goals and platform but it will be difficult, indeed, to rattle him when trying to sling random insults and trying to make up lies about him to dissuade those who have followed his political career.
Likewise, Trump’s response to the briefing—both his hysterics in Washington and his jests in Vegas—illustrates a subliminal touch of fear. Fear that Bernie will win the primary, which he did, “bigly”, without but in reality in spite of, supposed Russian assistance.
As Bernie leads the Democratic race after definitive wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, it is looking increasingly likely that it will ultimately come down to “Trump v. Sanders” in November.
Trump and the Republicans will undoubtedly try to turn this murky Russian briefing report against Bernie again, spinning the wheels of propaganda over and over. We can all relate, in the meantime to the sentiment of Bernie’s final word when interviewed on the topic on the eve of the Nevada Caucuses: “I don’t care, frankly, who Putin wants to be president.”
Politics is a Shady Business filled with DoubleSpeak, even more so if you are a Reality TV Star, it seems
Reams of digital paper and endless words have been expended in efforts to document the attempt to “ask”, coerce, bribe, blackmail or otherwise instigate a quid pro quo with president Zelensky of Ukraine: The release of promised military aid, already approved by congress but blocked by the White House, in exchange for the announcement, by Zelensky, that there was an investigation (real or imagined) by Ukraine into Joe Biden.
Other than the typically bogus claim by Trump, that Ukraine did not feel pressured, and the carefully worded quote from Zelensky, below, There has been little to no comment or investigative reporting on the bigger question beyond the question:
Why didn’t Ukraine and Zelensky simply comply with the “do us a favor, though” request and just announce the imaginary investigation?
Anonymous
As mentioned above much digital ink has been spilled speculating on possible reasons why this might be, but very little follow up or digging has been initiated or reported. This seems unusual with motives to resist this “non-pressure”, if you take Trump’s version, or outright blackmail which the facts imply, being potentially important in proving or at least shedding light on Trump’s motives (which are obvious unless you listen to Republican explanations).
Little is reported of any direct comment from Ukraine or Zelenskyy as to the real reason the “ask” was never considered or acted on. The paragraphs below from the Time.com interview are a carefully worded evasion of an answer, highlighting the difficulty for Ukraine in dealing with this issue without even more problems potentially to follow.
The War that Russia Denies ever Existed is at the Heart of the Matter
One obvious thought, also seldom mentioned, regarding reasons not to do this favor for Trump would be the understanding that, as Putin and Russia’s top preference for US President, Trump would be the last person Ukraine should want to see re-elected! And, talking about sanctions against Russia, as Zelensky mentioned often in the transcript of the call with Trump, below, these are the same sanctions that Trump tried to cancel immediately after his inauguration, before he was blocked from doing so by Congress.
The excerpt from the call that pertains to the “ask” is shown below, but the vague and submissive tone is only understood in context when compared with the more candid, yet still veiled, response to questions in a later interview:
We are great friends and you Mr. President have friends in our country so we can continue our strategic partnership. I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly.. That I can assure you.
– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Excerpt from the Time.com interview with President Zelenskyy:
Interviewer: When did you first sense that there was a connection between Trump’s decision to block military aid to Ukraine this summer and the two investigations that Trump and his allies were asking for? Can you clarify this issue of the quid pro quo?
”Look, I never talked to the President from the position of a quid pro quo. That’s not my thing. … I don’t want us to look like beggars. But you have to understand. We’re at war. If you’re our strategic partner, then you can’t go blocking anything for us. I think that’s just about fairness. It’s not about a quid pro quo. It just goes without saying.”
– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Interviewer: : Do you have any trust in Putin going into these talks?
”I don’t trust anyone at all. I’ll tell you honestly. Politics is not an exact science. That’s why in school I loved mathematics. Everything in mathematics was clear to me. You can solve an equation with a variable, with one variable. But here it’s only variables, including the politicians in our country. I don’t know these people. I can’t understand what dough they’re made of. That’s why I think nobody can have any trust. Everybody just has their interests.”
– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Clearly, there is a visible difference between what is said on the official phone call and in the interview with Time.com. Clearer still would be the real truth on the “Ukrainian perspective” which will likely only be available once Trump is no longer president. Any more candid response from Zelenskyy would endanger him and his country and make them vulnerable to retaliation for telling the truth.
Full Transcript and Relevant Excerpt from July Call
As follows the full excerpt pertaining to the “favor” from the unclassified transcripts released in September (full transcript follows):
The President: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike… I guess you have one of your wealthy people… The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you’re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.
President Zelenskyy: Yes it is very important for me and everything that you just mentioned earlier. For me as a President, it is very important and we are open for any future cooperation. We are ready to open a new page on cooperation in relations between the United States and Ukraine. For that purpose, I just recalled our ambassador from United States and he will be replaced by a very competent and very experienced ambassador who will work hard on making sure that our two nations are getting closer. I would also like and hope to see him having your trust and your confidence and have personal relations with you so we can cooperate even more so. I will personally tell you that one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine. I just wanted to assure you once again that you have nobody but friends around us. I will make sure that I surround myself with the best and most experienced people. I also wanted to tell you that we are friends. We are great friends and you Mr. President have friends in our country so we can continue our strategic partnership. I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly.. That I can assure you.
UNCLASSIFIED
Declassified by order of the President
September 24, 2019
MEMORANDUM OF TELEPHONE CONVERSATION
SUBJECT: Telephone Conversation with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine
Participants: President Zelenskyy of Ukraine Notetakers: The White House Situation Room
Date, Time July 25, 2019, 9:03-9:33 am EDT and Place: Residence
The President: Congratulations on a great victory. We all watched from the United States and you did a terrific job. The way you came from behind, somebody who wasn’t given much of a chance, and you ended up winning easily. It’s a fantastic achievement. Congratulations.
President Zelenskyy: You are absolutely right Mr. President. We did win big and we worked hard for this. We worked a lot but I would like to confess to you that I had an opportunity to learn from you. We used quite a few of your skills and knowledge and were able to use it as an example for our elections and yes it is true that these were unique elections. We were in a unique situation that we were able to achieve a unique success. I’m able to tell you the following; the first time you called me to congratulate me when I won my presidential election, and the second time you are now calling me when my party won the parliamentary election. I think I should run more often so you can call me more often and we can talk over the phone more often.
The President: (laughter) That’s a very good idea. I think your country is very happy about that.
President Zelenskyy: Well yes, to tell you the truth, we are trying to work hard because we wanted to drain the swamp here in our country. We brought in many many new people. Not the old politicians, not the typical politicians, because we want to have a new format and a new type of government. You are a great teacher for us and in that.
The President: Well it is very nice of you to say that. I will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European countries are doing and they should be helping you more than they are. Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is talk and I think it’s something that you should really ask them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks Ukraine, but she ·doesn’t do anything. A lot of the European countries are the same way so I think it’s something you want to look at but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine. I wouldn’t say that it’s reciprocal necessarily because things are happening that are not good but the United States has been very very good to Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy: Yes you are absolutely right. Not only 100%, but actually 1000% and I can tell you the following; I did talk to Angela Merkel and I did meet with her I also met and talked with Macron and I told them that they are not doing quite as much as they need to be doing on the issues with the sanctions. They are not enforcing the sanctions. They are not working as much as they should work for Ukraine. It turns out that even though logically, the European Union should be our biggest partner but technically the United States is a much bigger partner than the European Union and I’m very grateful to you for that because the United States is doing quite a lot for Ukraine. Much more than the European Union especially when we are talking about sanctions against the Russian Federation. I would also like to thank you for your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are almost. ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for defense purposes.
The President: I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike… I guess you have one of your wealthy people… The server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things that went on, the whole situation. I think you’re surrounding yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, it’s very important that you do it if that’s possible.
President Zelenskyy: Yes it is very important for me and everything that you just mentioned earlier. For me as a President, it is very important and we are open for any future cooperation. We are ready to open a new page on cooperation in relations between the United States and Ukraine. For that purpose, I just recalled our ambassador from United States and he will be replaced by a very competent and very experienced ambassador who will work hard on making sure that our two nations are getting closer. I would also like and hope to see him having your trust and your confidence and have personal relations with you so we can cooperate even more so. I will personally tell you that one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine. I just wanted to assure you once again that you have nobody but friends around us. I will make sure that I surround myself with the best and most experienced people. I also wanted to tell you that we are friends. We are great friends and you Mr. President have friends in our country so we can continue our strategic partnership. I also plan to surround myself with great people and in addition to that investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that all the investigations will be done openly and candidly.. That I can assure you.
The President: Good because I heard you had a prosecutor who was very good and he was shut down and that’s really unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what’s happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak to him that would be great.
The former ambassador from the United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just want to let you know that. The other thing, There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it… It sounds horrible to me.
President Zelenskyy: I wanted to tell you about the prosecutor. First of all, I understand and I’m knowledgeable about the situation. Since we have won the absolute majority in our Parliament, the next prosecutor general will be 100% my person, my candidate, who will be approved, by the parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. He or she will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue. The issue of the investigation of the case is actually the issue of making sure to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and will work on the investigation of the case. On top of that, I would kindly ask you if you have any additional information that you can provide to us, it would be very helpful for the investigation to make sure that we administer justice in our country with regard to the Ambassador to the United States from Ukraine as far as I recall her name was Ivanovich. It was great that you were the first one who told me that she was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the previous President and she was on his side. She would not accept me as a new President well enough.
The President: Well, she’s going to go through some things. I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I’m sure you will figure it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything. Your economy is going to get better and better I predict. You have a lot of assets. It’s a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, their incredible people.
President Zelenskyy: I would like to tell you that I also have quite a few Ukrainian friends that live in the United States. Actually last time I traveled to the United States, I stayed in New York near Central Park and I stayed at the Trump Tower. I will talk to them and I hope to see them again in the future. I also wanted to thank you for your invitation to visit the United States, specifically Washington DC. On the other hand, I also want to ensure you that we will be very serious about the case and will work on the investigation. As to the economy, there is much potential for our two countries and one of the issues that is very important for Ukraine is energy independence. I believe we can be very successful and cooperating on energy independence with United States. We are already working on cooperation. We are buying American oil but I am very hopeful for a future meeting. We will have more time and more opportunities to discuss these opportunities and get to know each other better. I would like to thank you very much for your support.
The President: Good. Well, thank you very much and I appreciate that. I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr to call. Thank you. Whenever you would like to come to the White House, feel free to call. Give us a date and we’ll work that out. I look forward to seeing you.
President Zelenskyy: Thank you very much. I would be very happy to come and would be happy to meet with you personally and get to know you better. I am looking forward to our meeting and I also would like to invite you to visit Ukraine and come to the city of Kyiv which is a beautiful city. We have a beautiful country which would welcome you. On the other hand, I believe that on September 1 we will be in Poland and we can meet in Poland hopefully. After that, it might be a very good idea for you to travel to Ukraine. We can either take my plane and go to Ukraine or we can take your plane, which is probably much better than mine.
The President: Okay, we can work that out. I look forward to seeing you in Washington and maybe in Poland because I think we are going to be there at that time.
President Zelenskyy: Thank you very much Mr. President.
The President: Congratulations on a fantastic job you’ve done. The whole world was watching. I’m not sure it was so much of an upset but congratulations.
President Zelenskyy: Thank you Mr. President bye-bye.
Democrats get smart and use trial as an infomercial exposing Trump’s Crime Spree
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) may have been an underdog going into this predetermined “cover up” Senate trial to remove Donald Trump. There may never be less than 53 Republicans voting for whatever “Midnight Moscow Mitch” tells them to. But, regardless, they will not go down without laying out their case, with or without witnesses or documents, showing why Trump should be removed from office.
The power and eloquence of the speech , in the eyes of fellow Dems in any case, was so overwhelming that #AdamSchiffROCKS took off as a trending hashtag on Twitter and after almost 12 hours is still going strong.
Here are a few of the tweets extoling the virtues and clarity of “pencil neck” as the schoolyard bully in the White House has called him:
Here's the video @RepAdamSchiff just played on the floor of the Senate, in which Trump asked for illegal election assistance from 2 countries.
Trump Imagines Eagles Attacked by Windmills – Collage – Lynxotic
In a weekend speech in West Palm Beach, Florida, close to his winter retreat at Mar-a-Lago where he is spending the holidays, Trump, rambling and nearly incoherent, outlined his lack of “understanding” for “windmills” and how “They kill the birds”.
“I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. They’re noisy. They kill the birds.
Trump at speech to young conservatives
In a recent New York Times article some real facts behind Trump’s true attitude toward birds and the environment in general were detailed. Of course, by now it is well known and standard practice for his speeches to veer off into wild and reckless lies and untruths, but this recurrent theme of a concern for the danger that “windmills” pose for birds is particularly bizarre when compared with the real facts.
His administration’s new interpretation for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act means that companies that literally destroy birds, even by the millions, no longer have to pay fines or even report the destruction. This contrasts his nonsensical and false allegations that “windmills” are killing birds with actual examples such as when BP paid $100 million in fines as a result of having killed or injured at least one million birds during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Quoted in the Times, Noah Greenwald, the endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity stated that the Trump administration has engineered “a fundamental shift” in policy that “lets industrial companies, utilities and others completely off the hook.”
“Even a disaster like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010, which killed or injured about a million birds, would not expose a company to prosecution or fines.”
So, while he is out whining about deaths of birds due to wind power turbines, completely imagined and for which there is no proof, his administration is quietly sanctioning companies to commit what nearly amounts to bird genocide with impunity. It doesn’t take much to see that we are talking something about far more dangerous than a lying clown or entertainer. There is a clear pattern of protecting big oil and other corrupt environmentally destructive entities while at the same time attacking all sustainable energy solutions or pollution reducing projects or policies.
Trump Tilting at Windmills Tweaks Twitter, acting as Buffoon: the Subject is no longer Humorous
Above and below are some samples of recent tweets, of course there was parody and jokes at Trump’s expense, but also others more on point. The real motivation is exposed behind what appears to be clowning, as Trump attempts to insert imaginary faults to anything that challenges the hegemony of the fossil fuel industrial complex.
#windmills The time for standing up to the fools and the corrupt that support the fossil fuel industry is now@GretaThunberg is right – this is just the beginning
Another batch of Fraudulent, pro Trump Social Media Manipulators are Identified and Removed, for now
In blog posts from Twitter and Facebook the removal of a large number of fake accounts and actors were announced. On Twitter the number of accounts was nearly six thousand which were part of a larger network of 88,000.
The announcements were detailed and each provided data on the techniques used, including the use of A.I. generated photos. The Twitter accounts were also confirmed to be Saudi-Backed and propagated by a social media “marketing” company called Smaat that was operating on behalf of the Saudi State.
All related parties have been banned, although it is hard to imagine that it will be difficult for them to resume a similar campaign behind a different front. The blog posts appear to be an effort, at the least, to show that the companies are attempting to monitor this kind of dangerous propaganda.
“We exist to serve the public conversation around the world. To this end, we’ll continue to take strong enforcement action against any state-backed information campaigns which undermine our company’s mission, principles, and policies.”
– Twitter blog Post
As for Facebook and Instagram, the “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior” that was removed was said to originate in Vietnam, Georgia and the U.S. Georgia, of course is the former Soviet republic that Trump was in negotiations with, around 2012, to build an eponymous tower (with help, allegedly, from Russia).
Vietnam, on the other hand, is the communist country alleged to be a likely cover for Chinese and Anti-Chinese actors. In this case Facebook has linked the activity to a company called BL which Facebook connected to the Epoch Media Group. These groups manipulated content using coordinated inauthentic behavior, spam and misrepresentation as well as other activities that violate Facebook and Instagram policies.
All parties involved have been permanently banned. In total, again according to the blog post, the various parties in each network spent approximately $10 million on advertising, using various currencies, including $US, Korean Won, Vietnamese dong, Indonesian rupiah, Australian dollars, the New Taiwan dollars and Canadian dollars.
It has become clear, in part through investigations during the Trump Impeachment hearings, that international interference in U.S. politics, far from being on the wane after the Russian pro-Trump interference in the 2016 elections, is set for a potential explosion into 2020.
The concept that appears to be going through the minds of nefarious actors across the globe is: “if it worked once, why not continue and expand”. Regardless of a provable, direct connection to Trump, there are many interested international parties that have agendas that allign with a Trump victory in 2020.
Deeper Issues Arise as this Example is Likely Just the Tip of the Iceberg
As many have pointed out, Trump faces possible prosecution and incarceration if he fails to win the 2020 election, so the stakes are very high indeed. That, combined with an obvious disregard for rules or laws of political campaigns, let allow social media, there will undoubtedly be many more instances of fraud and “inauthentic behavoir” from here on out.
This is exactly the issue that Democrats pointed during the impeachment process and which made impeachment not only necessary but a requirement. Based on the circumstances clearly indicating that Trump is likely to repeat or attempt to repeat the same actions and behaviors, including high crimes and misdemeanors, and encourage, if not engage in actions such as the Russian interference that got him elected in 2016.
“Shall the man who has practiced corruption & by that means procured his appointment in the first instance, be suffered to escape punishment, by repeating his guilt?”
— GEORGE MASON IN A DEBATE ALSO ATTENDED BY JAMES MADISON, JULY 20TH, 1787
Now, the billion dollar question is, if social media companies doing voluntary self-policing, turning down tens of millions of dollars (if not far more) in advertising revenue, and spending on departments and programs dedicated to monitoring this fraudulent spam and worse, can be counted on to do all of this and more for our benefit?
After Facebook refused to take down a political ad, paid for by Trump backers, known to be false, and not significantly different from the bogus content that Facebook reported today by foreign actors, can they be trusted to thoroughly and adequately monitor such massive networks and remove offenders before more damage has been done?
And what of the life of lies, such as imaginary “investigations” that keep cropping up against Democratic candidates that are potentially running against Trump in 2020?
The example posted by Facebook invents an investigation into Elizabeth Warren and another related to Nancy Pelosi, goes on even after the accounts are deleted and banned. I had seen the anti-Warren fabrication on twitter and, disregarded it, as it seemed superficial and implausible, yet now it is also proven be not only fake and fabricated but posted by foreign criminal actors with a pro Trump agenda.
This brings up the larger issue, one of reader and prospective voter sophistication. The huge question that arises over and over, as the Trump lies and crimes are cataloged and ajudicated, is how anyone could believe this man, let alone believe in him.
The answer is, unfortunately, sad and depressing for our future. Just as Hitler was accepted and even loved by most of the German population before he ultimately led them and himself to a dead end, the blind belief and naive “loyalty” of people can never be overestimated.
Those ridiculous stories about Ukraine conspiracies spread by Putin and propagated by Trump himself and then on to his various followers, themselves both imaginary and some real (but hypnotized and deluded), will likely still be quoted by fools and evil, self-serving sycophants for years to come.
That is, unless the 180 million plus Americans, and their allies around the world, who know better and see the danger that Trump represents in all its horror, find a way to drown the lies in an even larger deluge of real news. And, once rid of this would-be dictator, never let apathy and social media fraud control another election. 2020 preview or fantasy from neverland?
No Democrat should ever Legitimize Fake News by Calling it Anything but what it is: Propaganda
The responses by the various candidates to the first question of the debates in Los Angeles yesterday were all over the map.
“Why, if impeachment is so necessary, are more Americans not on board with it” Judy Woodruff of PBS NewsHour asked, referring to the polls that show a nearly 50-50 split on the issue.
Of all the candidates, Andrew Yang came closest to the real answer when he replied:
“We’re getting our news from different sources,” – Andrew Yang
While at least there is, in his response, an almost subtle hint at the iceberg of issues beneath it, the mountain beneath the surface is one that ought to be addressed, not just danced around.
In a nutshell the question would be better phrased: “with all the lies and high crimes of this president how could so many people not support impeachment and removal?”
Then unfortunate response would almost certainly bring up the issue that dare not speak it’s name: Fake News.
And by fearing to even mention this massive problem in our society, and allowing Trump to parade around calling real news “fake” for two years without an effective, specific retort, the media, and now the candidates, are potentially creating a dictator, impeached or not.
Because this question goes further: “How can millions of otherwise reasonable people support this parade of lies and deceit”?
The answer to all of this is, unfortauntely, the massive and electronically turbocharged propaganda machine that is creating a parallel fake, dangerous and destructive reality which is literally brainwashing people into thinking that it, and not the real fact based information reported in the “traditional” media, is “real”.
Naturally, anyone who has been paying attention already knows this. But knowing that there is literally a separate propaganda reality, starting with Fox News and going all the way down to the troll bots and fake accounts on twitter and facebook, and being able to do anything about it, let alone stop its growth and becoming established, are two different things.
Turnabout is FairPlay? Or Confront every Lie until the Truth Wins Out?
The victory for the Trump propaganda machine came when he started repeating the phrase “fake news” over and over and over while referring to the real news, singling out CNN and the New York Times in particular.
The response, en masse, from the so called “mainstream” media? Not much. Admittedly, getting into a playground style match with the President of “You are, no you are, I know you are but what am I?” is not what the NYT is known for.
But the response should have been, to use a favorite term often applied to Trump, to double-down and expose the depth and breadth of the “lies propagated as truth” problem. Perhaps that would confuse people, with an endless war of each media “army” calling the other “fake”.
But the alternative, that we are now saddled with, is to give legitimacy to an endless tsunami of lies and falsehoods and to confer on them an almost institutional status:
“We’re getting our news from different sources”
Oh really? As in, one source is real and the other one is filled with insane, ridiculous propaganda, like the now famous Putin initiated propaganda that, instead of the fact that Russia interfered with the 2016 election is was Ukraine? That kind of “different source”? That “news”?
Allowing even one lie to see the light of day without being attacked by anyone with a mouthpiece; a real media outlet, a twitter account of a citizen, presidential candidates and so on, promotes the idea that the “two realities” are separate and equal, not a matter of truth and lies.
Proapaganda lies are dangerous, insidious and very hard to fight against. That is no excuse, that is the fight that matters and could make a difference. Every candidate on that stage should have answered that 50% of the people, if that poll is to be believed, are being lied to and the lies are winning. And that the situation is a larger danger, potentially, than the man inhabiting the White House.
In a Feature article WSJ does an Investigative Report but Leaves out the Real Dirt
opinion
In an article with a date stamp of December 18, 2019 at 3:38 am, WSJ released a scathing report detailing how potentially millions of sellers are allegedly scamming the public by selling discarded and remaindered good through Amazon’s marketplace.
The aim of the investigative piece was to show that Amazon did not pre-qualify or filter its selling accounts in any way and that pretty much anyone can sell anything, at least for a while, until Amazon shuts them down.
In order to add drama to the account and to emphasize how disgusting this situation can be for the buyer, WSJ set up its own marketplace “storefront” and listed items, literally found in a dumpster, for sale on Amazon. The items included a discarded jar of Lemon Curd.
While the interaction with Amazon ( a nicety afforded the Wall Street Journal) was amusing, with Amazon repeating the phrase “Amazon’s high bar for product quality” repeated over and over, for the most part the article, while well researched, totally misses the point.
The Real Rot is not in the Garbage Being Sold but Amazon’s System that Is a Machine Designed to Destroy Legitmate Retail
As is well documented in the, now ancient, saga of how Amazon killed off all competitors in the Book selling business, it has always been a clear goal of Amazon to bankrupt its competitors by any (legal?) means. These extreme tactics have not been abandoned now that all products are target for sales monopolization.
Further, regarding selling products out of dumpsters, for many years Amazon’s system has not only encouraged such desperate methods on it’s marketplace it has made them virtually impossible to avoid. In the WSJ article the question of the motivation of the sellers and why they “prefer” to sell, literally, garbage is never addressed.
It is even implied that they are just “poor” and one seller is even quoted as saying that he started selling products out of dumpsters because “he didn’t have money to buy products”.
It was also mentioned that one of the sellers “couldn’t make money as a photographer” and so he decided to start selling trash from dumpsters.
This is so incredibly misleading that it is difficult to even begin to deconstruct.
The List of Omissions from the WSJ article is Mind-boggling
While it is great to see some of the common practices that make up over 50% of sales on the Amazon platform exposed, omitting the real issues, the built-in ugliness of the system itself, is inexcusable.
First of all, no human sells products out of the trash as a first resort. To imply that these are “poor” people and therefore somehow taking advantage of Amazon’s lack of oversight is utterly ridiculous. Somehow in a “serious” exposé WSJ manages to make Amazon look like the victim. You have got to be kidding.
The fact is that Amazon is based on a system of undercutting, through various tactics, legitimate commerce, especially competing eCommerce, by forcing prices, after fees, to a level well below traditional wholesale levels. This means that anyone, large company or small individual, must source products at an unrealistic “impossible” price level in order to be competitive. Hence the popularity of the dumpster.
Who is the Real Victim? We all are.
That bears repeating: It is not possible to make a single cent on the Amazon marketplace by buying an item legitimately through a wholesale distributor and then adding a retail mark-up as has been the system for centuries (except in cases of price-gouging and other anomalies).
To use a different method to put this into perspective, remember that jar of Lemon Curd from the dumpster? Here’s the rough general breakdown for a similar product based on a 10$ sale price on the Amazon Marketplace:
Price of item “shipped” (free shipping) = $10 (rounded off for illustration purposes)
Cost of shipping and handling = $4.50
Various Fees to Amazon = $4.50
Remaining amount retained by seller = $1.00
Since the cost of this product at wholesale is around $5 and the seller must also survive, the only acceptable price for the seller to acquire the jar is $0. Dumpsters do not charge. Therefore this is the default system for sellers that work 7 days a week to try to make even a modest income.
The absurdity of this is off the charts. Even if you debate the details +- .50 in each category, etc., this is nevertheless the system that gets your Lemon Curd to your porch. A more wasteful and backward system could not be devised if you tried. Thank “modern” finance and devious minds for this wonderful invention of commerce.
The Amazon system is based on these concepts:
A. Set marketplace fees at a level where the maximum allowable “profit” for the third-party seller, after fees, is effectively zero. Fees are added to everything. A “variable closing fee” for the sale itself, fees on storage, “pick and pull” fees, shipping fees, on and on and on. These apply, at varying but always astronomical levels, through the “Fulfillment by Amazon” program and for sellers that ship and warehouse their own goods as well.
B. Encourage Chinese and other gray-market suppliers to maintain the system and “impossible” price level at below wholesale cost. Next, sell Amazon Branded products as an “alternative” and source these at the lowest possible cost to insure no legitimate seller can compete.
C. Cover all this with “no questions asked” returns (paid for primarily by the 3rd party sellers themselves) and by taking massive losses due to unrealistic shipping speeds. These ultra fast speeds serve as an attack against other companies such as Walmart, that can not be crushed by A. and B. above due to size and other market advantages.
The key objective of this strategy is to destroy legitimate retailers and brands at every level. Large brands like Nike, who recently ended a short-lived arrangement to allow its products to be sold on Amazon, are hurt by a relentless cheapening of the brand and a stampede of inferior knock offs and other damaging effects.
Smaller independent retailers are either bankrupted or forced to reduce costs of supply to well below standard wholesale prices. If you are thinking “fell off a truck” you are on the right track.
As a dramatization of the problem it can be said that to sell on Amazon, and realize any profit at all, your source must be either couinterfeit, aftermarket rejects, stolen or….. wait for it….. from a dumpster.
So, to be clear, the “dumpster divers” so lovingly described in the WSJ feature article are not just “poor” they are an inevitable result of a system, built on endless greed by the “richest man in the world” in order to have a virtual monopoly in US online sales (can’t survive without selling on Amazon is the mantra) and to insure future growth by literally destroying all legitimate competition.
Please let me know when this background “color” will be included in the next hard hitting investigative piece from the Journal.
Sunshine Behind the Clouds and the Future in your Hands
Finally, it is all of us, consumers that control the quality of the products and the purity of the supply chain that fulfills sales, online or otherwise. While it is ceratinly convenient to go online and visit either Google, Facebook or Amazon, competition online is, no less than in traditional commerce, essential to maintaining standards of quality and service.
For all Amazon’s “high standards” a deeper look at the system they have in place clearly shows that it is profit for amazon on every sale – and more importantly using income by gouging smaller marketplace sellers to attack larger competitors with unrealistic shipping cost structures, that is most important, not the quality of goods.
For now they will continue to “bribe” the public with a powerful cocktail of virtually instant delivery and “no questions asked” returns. But does that make you feel better about the dumpster sourced lemon curd you just ate? What about the poor seller than has been forced into dumpster diving to have a shot at the huge success of a $20,000 per year income, which Bezos gets in a microsecond. Maybe there are better places to buy your lemon curd.
The Tipping Point is Behind us Now, It’s only a question of When EV’s Market Share will Overtake ICE
The most talked about car in 2019 has been Tesla’s Model 3, an electric vehicle from Tesla that is sleek, modern looking, and highly desirable. In Tesla’s latest quarter alone, the company has sold nearly 80,000 Model 3s, sustaining it as the most popular EV on the market.
This is not Tesla’s only achievement for the year. The company’s Cybertruck and Semi have received copious attention; its Model X and Model S continue to be popular; and consumers are eagerly awaiting 2020’s releases of the Model Y and Roadster. It’s been a long time coming, but thanks to Tesla, EVs are growing market share at an extremely rapid pace.
Other car manufacturers, even ones that have been stubbornly committed to ICE vehicles, have had to accept that the tide is turning. Naturally, many of these companies do not want Tesla to have a monopoly on EVs, and they want to have their own stake in the market before it’s too late. For that reason they appear to have capitulated and there is now a large and public shift towards the EV market.
Car companies from General Motors to Ford to Mercedes to VolksWagen and more are now hopping aboard the EV train, announcing new full electric models aimed at competing with Tesla in the upcoming year.
In addition, longer term multi-billion dollar investments to fund an infrastucture and development shift toward sustainable and EV systems have been announced. There has been some scepticism that these are more of a PR effort, with possible changes at anytime, likely due to the extremely poor efforts of the last 25 years, and even the perception that they were trying to intentionally “fail” with EVs just to postpne any meaningful transition away from fossil fuel based transportation.
While the oncoming change in car-culture may be attributed more to Tesla’s sexy, ulta-modern designs than it is to environmentalism, the widespread transition towards electric vehicles is still an enormous win for the battle against climate change.
Transportation is the top CO2 buring category and automobiles are the largest contributors to carbon emission from transport across the globe. The systemic reliance on gasoline makes cars even more environmentally harmful, as their very fuel comes from big oil companies that drill the earth without much regard for balanced ecosystems.
Finally, there has been a Major Shift in Thinking in the Auto Industry
In just the past year, however, we have seen a noticeable increase in the number of charging stations for EVs, and certain governments have started cracking down on vehicle-related greenhouse gas emissions. These changes in infrastructure and politics reflect evolutions in consumer behavior—evolutions that bode well for our planet.
Between the VolksWagen ID.4, Ford Mustang EV, Mercedes ESQ, and all the upcoming Tesla models, there are about to be a whole lot more electric cars on the market, which will (hopefully) create healthy competition.
There remians skepticism in the automobile industry, implying that this could, indeed be some sort of elaborate head fake. In response to General Motor’s recent announcement to invest $2.3 billion in an EV battery factory, for example, Toyota Executive Bob Carter warned of an “electrified armageddon” for the industry. Indeed, despite EVs recent surge in popularity, gasoline-powered cars continue to dominate the streets. To invest so much in EVs at this point is a bold, somewhat presumptuous move for all of the companies, and they run the risk of overshooting consumer demand.
There is Still only one EV Company that Stands Above in Every Way
And the Toyota response while both tone deaf and likely misguided, is not wrong in the sense that a worldwide shift away from a fossil fuel based economic system will certainly lead to hardship and immense challenges and a long time. The problem with trying to wish away that fact is that, by extending the intentional sate of denial that has persisted for over a half century, things will only be worse when the inevitible and necessary changes finally come.
This exposes the brilliance of Tesla’s approach of starting with high end luxury vehicles, spurring demand and desire and then building downmarket into more afforable vehicles as economies of scale begin to kick in. And, even more prescient is Tesla’s stated mission “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” which removes any ambiguity or hesitation and signals a 100% clear commitment to the most important goal a transportation and energycompany can have.
Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
Nevertheless, while this “plays” as an example of corporations displaying a logical reaction to the market for the benefit of the environment, it could, in actuality, more likely be an example of corporations playing the market to make money as per usual. The less cynical among us must hope, nevertheless that this is truly at least partially an ecological conscious choice that happens to transparently project an immediate economic benefit. If these companies are correct, and EVs do ultimately lead the car market, then it will not just satisfy the executive’s bottom line, but it will also help make the planet a cleaner and safer place.
Civil Disco-Bedience: Inspired Dance Protest Outside UN Climate Conference in Madrid
When it comes to the climate crisis, there is an unfortunate oversaturation of negative news. Rising temperatures, polluted oceans, wildfires, hurricanes, floods and more—all against the backdrop of political inaction. It does not always paint the most uplifting picture.
Even protests are often (rightfully) fueled by frustration and anger. While climate rallies are in the world’s best interests, their participants are usually an aggressively determined and ambitious crowd. Such is what it takes to fight the systemic behemoths that are behind climate change.
A first phase consisted of a kind of shock tactic to try to emphasize the seriousness of the dangers faced by all. “Die-ins” were a way to illustrate, almost literally, the consequences of inaction. Stopping traffic or blocking commerce was a way to force the public and the media to take notice.
The Extinction Rebellion has been putting on protests since May 2018, but it has become particularly active in the past few months. Its rallies can sometimes be perceived as extremism. Multiple members of the group have been arrested for their uncompromising actions and their protests have been made illegal in the city of London.
Then the floods, droughts, fires and extreme weather events started to become commonplace. Scientific reports showed the undeniable connection to man-made climate change. Global Warming became Climate Change then a Climate Crisis. The fear became palpable.
It appears that, even as at least some attention is being paid at the UN Climate Conference in Madrid, a major shift could be emerging in world opinion. World leaders are coming together to follow up on the 2015 Paris Accords and seek to come to sound agreements for the planet’s future.
More importantly, there is a massive shift in the auto industry with carmakers anticipating an eventual end to internal combustion engine (ICE) production in favor of electric vehicles (EVs).
Sometimes it’s necessary to look past the threats and the doom and try to imagine a world where the human race rises to an extinction level threat and not only survives but prevails. To imagine a world where energy is abundant and comes from the sun, from wind power and as yet unknown clean, sustainable energy sources.
Like driving a beautiful, clean, zero emission Tesla on beautiful mountain roads, charged from solar sources, and marveling at a better world all around. A Great fantasy today, but what kind of changes, to our ways of thinking, to our current corrupt infrastructure, to all that stands in the way, would it take to make it a reality?
A tiny first step could be for those that no longer need convincing that the Climate Crisis is real to come together and announce to the world, and more importantly to one another, that the journey towards, not just survival, but to a better life has begun. And what better way to do it than by….. dancing.
This week, the grassroots environmental organization known as the Extinction Rebellion blocked out Madrid’s busy Gran Via to dance in the street—enacting what they are calling “civil disco-bedience.”
Following the Unspoken Ethos of Elon Musk “Save the Planet and have Fun Doing it” is the new Mantra
In Madrid the protestors expressed nothing but upbeat vibes, as hundreds flooded the roads to jam out and move their bodies to songs of celebration and life, not death.
As several members of the party stated, the Extinction Rebellion has tried just about every option in the book to get politicians on board with prioritizing climate change. Sadly, very few of its efforts have been rewarded. Now that all of the leaders are at the conference talking out potential solutions, there is not much left for the organization to do.
Always savvy when it comes to public backlash and highly motivated for a more than righteous cause, it appears that the group has decided that there must be joy, exuberance, energy and even a celebratory atmosphere to the consciousness raising efforts, if they are to succeed.
So they dance. In the cold December air, some go shirtless and all express sentiments of optimism for the future. They stand for saving the world, and are having fun doing it. Hopefully, the politicians meeting inside Madrid’s IFEMA facilities are feeling as progressive as the protestors are, and will find some sort of innovative compromise before the Conference ends on December 13th.
As various groups come together searching for ways to act against the threats of the Climate Crisis and in favor of solutions and changes that will enable a life on earth that does not depend on burning carbon to live, they are realizing, it appears, that finding each other and reinforcing their mutual love for life and this planet may be the first, best, test in what will be humankind’s greatest challenge.
The citizens of earth ultimately have the power to decide the future. Now, and soon, that decision will be made, one way, or another. Perhaps celebrating this certainty by dancing on the streets of Madrid in the winter of 2019 may not be a bad way to acknowledge and affirm those truths, and begin the dance toward changes for the better.
Throughout American history, only four presidents have ever faced formal impeachment inquiries. They are Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. Of those four, only two of them have ended up being actually tried: Johnson for unlawfully firing his Secretary of War in 1867, and Clinton for lying under oath and obstructing justice in 1998. Nixon resigned from office in 1974 before his impeachment for the Watergate Scandal got to a vote, as it was widely believed that he would have been Impeached by the House and Removed by the Senate.
And now there is Trump, the latest addition to the lineup, presently facing inquiries to find out if he will join the impeached ranks of Johnson and Clinton. Many Americans have accused Trump of committing impeachable offenses since before he was even elected in 2016. Now, however, he is finally under the gun, as the U.S. House Judiciary Committee is currently holding hearings in Washington D.C. to conclude if his actions are impeachable.
Beginning on December 9th, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, will begin the process of drafting the specific articles of impeachment.
Once the number and scope of the articles have been established , the president will be tried in the Senate for charges related to illegally soliciting foreign aid in the upcoming 2020 election and for abusing the office for political gain. Earlier this year, President Trump had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During this conversation, Trump asked Zelensky to investigate into former Vice President Joe Biden and his potentially nepotistic connections to a Ukrainian energy company, where his son started working during the Obama administration. The publically released transcript of the dialogue confirms this.
Because Biden is currently a Democratic Candidate for the 2020 Presidential race, Trump’s actions can be deemed an obstruction of the election through bribery. In addition to the request, Trump supposedly dangled two bargaining chips over Zelensky’s head—one being $400 million in military aid to Ukraine and the other being a coveted meeting at the White House.
On the surface, Trump’s search for dirt on Biden may not seem as severe as Johnson’s misdemeanors or Nixon’s Watergate chaos. Many Republicans at the hearing are dismissing the accusations, and while not disputing the facts, have chosen to loudly denigrate the process itself, run by the Democrats. Meanwhile, the White House itself has declined to participate in the hearing at all, calling it “Hoax”. In an effort to clarify the roots and foundation for the process back to the US Constitution, using the Founding Fathers’ original guidelines for impeachment, which was mapped out in Article One of the U.S. Constitution.
Yale University Law Student Soren J. Schmidt recently reported in “The Atlantic” that Impeachment’s place in the Constitution directly stems from the Framers wanting to ensure that the President could not bribe his way into another term.
Bribery has a long and Sordid History in US Politics
Schmidt writes in great length about how “treating” (as bribing voters with “treats” was called over 200 years ago) constituents with gifts and services around election time created immense corruption in U.S. politics following the Revolutionary War.
“Shall the man who has practiced corruption & by that means procured his appointment in the first instance, be suffered to escape punishment, by repeating his guilt?”
George Mason in a debate Also attended by James Madison, July 20th, 1787
James Madison, in particular, lost the 1777 election for the Virginia House of Delegates because his opponent heavily “treated” (bribed) the voters. He took this experience to the Constitutional Convention ten years later where the fellow Founding Fathers agreed Presidents needed some sense of accountability and that obstructing elections would be an egregious misuse of power.
This is pertinent to Trump’s situation today, as his alleged wrongdoings are the epitome of why the Impeachment Clause even exists. Obviously, a few details are different, but the core issue remains the same – Presidents elected based on bribery and other illegal interference (such as the Russian interference in 2016) must be prevented from being re-elected by committing similar crimes.
The key point, often lost in the media, but glaringly obvious when the history and facts are taken into account, is that Trump was elected in 2016 under circumstances that point to significant interference by Russia, that was welcomed by Trump, as detailed in the Mueller Report.
And, far from leaving that methodology behind, facts within the House Impeachment report indicate that similar and even more egregious offenses are present in efforts to effect the upcoming 2020 election.
This situation is precisely why the Framers of the Constitution created the Impeachment Process; in order to prevent a President from maintaing power through bribery and other election related crimes, preventing the option of “correcting” a flawed election with the next one, since the scoundrel that would illegally influence their initial rise to power, would likely do it again in a desperate attempt to retain that power.
This is why, as has been stated by the Democrats in the House many times, there is a Constitutional requirement to Impeach Trump, since the evidence and the facts indicate that, short of being stopped by the constitutional remedy of Impeachment (and Removal), he will continue to attempt to commit bribery and other crimes, as necessary, to try and secure his re-election in 2020.
And, if that were to occur, our Constitution, and therefore our Democracy will have failed, and the much cherished checks and balances will also have failed, and there will be nothing left to stop a tyrant, even the would-be tyrant, from declaring an end to Democracy itself by appointing himself “President for Life”, as was the case in China recently.
As history will have it, the Founding Fathers would not take Trump’s side if they were alive today. To interpret otherwise is incredulous given the evidence.
LA Takes Tackling Smog and CO2 Emissions Seriously
Technology leaders from the city of Los Angeles recently announced what they are calling the Zero Emission 2028 Roadmap 2.0. In this outline, the leaders propose a plan by which the bustling metropolis reduces its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% within the next eight years—an ambitious and unprecedented goal that outdoes both the California State and Paris Climate Accord proposals.
Los Angeles is known as a progressive place, filled with creative people willing to adapt to new ideas and fight for just causes. Nevertheless, the SoCal city is also known for its soul crushing traffic. Even with four million residents, finding an Angelino without reason to complain about the town’s constantly congested crisscrossed freeways and lack of reliable public transportation is nearly impossible.
The Californians who devised this plan were not unaware of LA’s traffic issues. Since Many of them live in the city, these tech leaders can tell from the air pollution alone that vehicles are Los Angeles’ heaviest contributors to carbon emissions. If they are serious about their plan, which appears to be the case, then they will have to do something fast about all the cars and trucks smogging up the roads.
The obvious solution would be to create a more effective mass transit system in Los Angeles. However, with an infrastructure unfit for trains and countless failed attempts to move LA drivers onto buses, such a change is unlikely to catch on now. Instead, the planners are looking to the future of electric vehicles for a possible answer to the city’s pollution problems.
The Zero Emission 2028 Roadmap 2.0 focuses heavily on LA’s transition towards EVs. Specifically, by 2028, the plan aims for EVs to account for 80% of all vehicles sold in the city. Simultaneously, it wants LA and the surrounding area to create more EV-compatible infrastructure and zero-emission goods, rebranding the City of Angels as the EV Capital of the World.
City Proposed Solutions as Federal and State Level Options Failed
Of course, not all vehicles emit equally. If Los Angeles wants to achieve its goal by 2028, then it first needs to attack the heavy-duty, gas-guzzling vehicles—buses and trucks. Luckily, as of this year especially, there are many plus-sized EVs for the city to choose from. Tesla recently released the Cybertruck, and many even larger zero-emission vehicles are on the way from a wide variety of car and truck manufacturers. The California Air Resource Board is even proposing an Advanced Clean Truck regulation, which would require one out of every five trucks sold in the state by 2030 to be zero-emission models.
Earlier this year, however, the state of California lost a battle against the Trump administration (as well as a few car manufacturers) for the right to set its own emissions standards. While the Golden State was denied the right to hold itself to a higher ecological standard than the federal government mandates, individual cities have a little more wiggle room. Therefore, Los Angeles is not just creating these standards for itself; it is hoping that these efforts will inspire other municipalities in California and around the nation to follow suit. If the federal government will not solve the problem, and the state governments are barred from taking action, then perhaps it is up to the local governments to evoke change from the bottom up.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is in full support of the plan. Known to be an environmentally sensitive politician, Garcetti proposed a Green New Deal to the city back in April, outlining ways for LA to combat climate change. The Zero Emission 2028 Roadmap 2.0 is therefore in his wheelhouse, as it accelerates the already ambitious conservation goals set out in the previous proposal. Also supporting the plan are the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) and the Transportation Electrification Partnership (TEP) as well as private sector partners Tesla, BMW, Audi, BYD, Greenlots, and Proterra.
Memes and Ridicule are spreading the word: There’s a New Truck in Town…
It’s been quite a week in Tesla news since the Cybertruck was unveiled near the SpaceX headquarters on November 21st. There’s been a rollercoaster of love and mocking, most of which has been entertaining. Once the initial barrage of silly memes hit like an avalanche on Twitter, auto insiders piled on, in a nice way with tongue in cheek, and all seemed to combine to take an already massive press event to an even higher level.
While pre-orders for the Model 3 peaked around half-a-million, and as all would know by now, that model is a huge success story, 250k in pre-orders in less than a week for Cybertruck is not a bad start. Yes, the pre-orders for the Cybertruck are only $100, more a token of appreciation than a hard reservation, and are fully refundable at that, but for a truck that was roundly derided and even scornfully laughed at, this cannot be considered an insignificant number.
There has been much speculation, as the pre-order tally kept growing, that this could all be a ruse and that the publicity would spur on accelerated development at other automakers, which does appear to be the case. However, amid all the noise and squawking, the name, the image, the logo and the concept are splashing across the world like a tsunami of retro-nostalgic-futurism gone wild.
And, deep deep below the surface of that wave, there is something more. Much more. As is often the case with Elon Musk led projects, an attempt was clearly made to break the mold when it comes to the engineering and feature-set capability, not just the aesthetic ethos.
“So, normally the way that a truck is designed, you have a body on frame, you have a bed on frame and the body and the bed don’t do anything useful. They’re carried like cargo, like a sack of potatoes. It was the way that aircraft used to be designed, when they had biplanes, basically. The key to creating an effective monoplane was a stressed skin design. You move the stress to the outside skin.”
– Elon Musk at the Tesla Cybertruck Unveil Event
As can be seen by looking online at the stats, or reading some good Teslarati articles that go further into the deeply practical innovations, there’s a lot more here than meets the eye.
2019 has been a Watershed Year for Tesla and Elon Musk and 2020 will see more Massive Changes
The 250k pre-orders represent, at the very least, a massive world-wide focus group on the idea of the Cybertruck, if not the truck itself. This focus group is very, very enthusiastic about the idea. How much of this is celebrity love? How much is tree-hugger-meets-mad-max eco-rescue lovers? How many are tired of the macho-hillbilly-redneck pro-gas-guzzling Marlboro-Man image of “Made-Ford-Tough”? A lot, clearly.
“So if you think about a truck, you want a truck that’s tough. You want a truck that’s really tough, not fake tough.”
– ELON MUSK AT THE TESLA CYBERTRUCK UNVEIL EVENT
And what if it is just a lot of people with a C-note to spare that would like to vote for an overthrow of the old guard and see the transition to a sustainable energy transportation infrastructure at least get off its ass?
In Southern California you get on the freeway anytime, anywhere and you will see old guard 19mpg, 40 gallon per tank monsters with fat, stupid oversized clown wheels as far as the eye can see. What if they were mixed with Tesla Cybertrucks, in addition to the Model S and Model 3s that are already a California freeway mainstay. Would that be “Blade-Runner-esque? And what of it? At lease a new day will look new and be different.
Haven’t we seen enough of the Status Quo? Haven’t the Dinosaurs had their day? Change can be refreshing, even while retro in a cyberpunk kind of way, and in the end, Saving the Planet and Having Fun Doing It is a much better way than the way we had.
U.S. Protests on the Rise since President Trump’s Controversial Election
Over the past few years, protest culture has been on the rise in the United States. Especially since the election of President Trump, unsatisfied and rebellious Americans have received lots of media attention for picketing events, blocking roadways, and putting on rallies to advocate for policies and movements they deem paramount.
Most of the time, these protests are done in the name of progress and productive change for society. Frustrated with inaction, contemporary American activists call out politicians and people in power to prioritize topics such as climate change, LGBTQ+ rights, pro-choice agendas, and positive race relations.
For every protestor though, there seems to be an anti-protestor with opposing beliefs, making the United States seem like a very contentious place. While this ultimate clause carries some truth, it fails to notice that political diversity and contentiousness is not unique to America in the modern age. While not every country has a Trump-like figure to personify its national discord, places all around the world are responding to the threat of tyranny with activism and protest—and in some places, the situations are far more severe than what goes on here in the States.
Paris “Yellow Vest” Protest is an Anniversary of Political Unrest amongst French Populace
Recently in Paris, France, the city had the anniversary of its “yellow vest” protests. The “yellow vest” protest (known as gilets jaunesin French) first took place in November 2018. When an army of Francophones uniformly dressed in yellow vests took to the streets of Paris, the protest was the French people’s way of showing anti-government sentiments and a desire for political change in accordance with the populace’s desires.
Since the initial protest last year, the yellow vesters have been active with smaller protests around the nation, but they reunited in Paris for the one-year reunion with massive numbers. When the movement tried to occupy the city’s roads though, the police fought back using tear gas and water cannons. It was overall a chaotic and brutal image of conflict that speaks volumes to France’s current state.
Latinx Countries in Europe and South America have a Swelling Tide of National Revolts
Protest-related conflict also went down in France’s neighboring Spain this week. Spain’s Catalan region in the northeast corner of the country has desired independence for a long time now. With unique customs and dialect, Catalan is culturally different from the rest of Spain, and its people relish in its separatism.
Spain, however, has been dismissive to the region’s pleas for autonomy. Recently, the federal government even imprisoned nine separatist leaders from Catalan. Moreover, the region’s president Quim Torra is currently on trial for disobedience after he refused to take separatist symbols down from public buildings. In response, many Catalan protestors took to Barcelona’s main train station last Saturday, crowding the busy junction wielding regional symbols and refusing to leave. The situation is likely to only get hotter as Torra’s trial continues.
In the western hemisphere, South America has no shortage of national rebellions. Bolivia has seen a slew of intense protests both leading up to and following President Evo Morales’ resignation from office. Similarly, the Venezuelan people continue to rebel against President Nicolas Maduro, taking to the streets to try and oust the leader from office and avoid dictatorship in troubling times.
Hong Kong Protests Continue as they Fight for Independence from China
And then, of course, there is Hong Kong—the center stage of national protests that has probably received the most media coverage over the past month. Upset with the Chinese government’s attempts and perceived threats to roll back the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, Hong Kong has been striving for independence for decades now. Currently, they are at what seems to be a tipping point. However, their activism has been met with opposition from the Beijing government, as well as the local officials and now the city has erupted in civil disobedience, combat, and violence. Before the recent wave of elections, where the pro-democracy candidates were almost universally victorious, at a protest near the city’s Polytechnic University, citizens set off petrol bombs and fired arrows into crowds as the police fought back with tear gas.
While the Present Looks Dark, the Future is Hopeful
This is the state of the world where we currently reside. There is even more unrest going on worldwide than that which we see within America’s borders. On a global scale, things are muddy, people are divided, and in many situations, conditions seem at times as if they are perpetually hopeless. Nevertheless, although times are dark right now, people are innovative and actively striving towards a new light, one that could, hopefully, shine brightly towards the future. These worldwide protests may come off as incoherent conflicts at the moment, but purpose lies behind every movement, and there are no limits to what can be accomplished when people come together with good intentions and an undying spirit.
More than 200k in pre-orders and Future buyers posting Proof Online as a Badge of Honor
The Cybertruck unveiling at the SpaceX adjacent Tesla Design Center on November 21st was one for the the ages. The initial reaction by the throngs of invited press (invitations were required and very hard to come by for the ultra-anticipated event) was to run with the obvious: smash proof window failure and wild twitter responses to the extreme throw-back-style design.
Elon Musk even pre-revealed what the general look the truck would be before the event, as if he was concerned that people needed a preview to reduce the shock of seeing the radical concept without a prior hint of what was to come.
Electric motors also have insane torque. If we load both trucks to the max, electric still wins. Physics is the law, everything else is a recommendation.
And then, within 24 hours of the unveiling, literally 100s of online media outlets pumped out articles, perhaps with a ratio of two or three to one ridiculing the design, or the issues with the on-stage window demonstration vs. the minority actually digging deeper into the truck itself and how it might actually fare in the real world. One outlet even speculated that the whole concept was 100% fake and that there was no chance that any truck, at least not similar to this one, would ever be produced.
In the run-up to the epic unveiling, Musk hinted that the truck would possibly be influenced by the “Blade Runner” aesthetic and cyberpunk ethos and might be like “an armored personnel carrier from the future”. And how spot on those hints turned out to be!
Once the pre-orders started to flood in, something changed, big time.
Within 72 hours Elon had tweeted milestones for the $100 fully refundable pre-orders. First that approximately 160k and then more than 200k orders had been taken. Not quite at the level of the Model 3 pre-orders, and at a much lower cost (Model 3 was a $1000 deposit) but, for an unveiling that was considered by the press, generally, to be a failure and even worthy of mocking and derision, this was an abrupt, if not surprising turn-around.
Not surprising because this type of press-vs-the public behavior is commonplace in all areas of commerce and entertainment. Just last summer, Disney’s Lion King was almost universally panned by critics, then went on, predictably, to be one of the biggest financial successes in movie history. Cybertruck is unlikely to be that extreme as it bounces back from the initial negativity coming from the press, but what the bounce back says about Tesla, climate change and the future is an even more fascinating story, to observe and speculate on, than that cute and cuddly digital cat.
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Tesla’s Support and Status as a Hero in the Fight against the Fossil Fuel Industrial Complex and ICE automakers runs deep and strong
The speculation on why Elon Musk chose to design and offer this vehicle at this time has obviously run rampant. There are many theories, most of them pretty silly, and, short of a detailed announcement from the man himself, there can be no definitive statement.
However, now that the pre-orders are proving to be robust and the company’s stock has rebounded (probably unrelated but, that’s another story), the possibility of a “crazy like a fox” story behind it all begins to make more sense.
Reason Cybertruck is so planar is that you can’t stamp ultra-hard 30X steel, because it breaks the stamping press
One interesting development is the tweets of the deposit receipts as a badge of honor among the faithful. This could just be folks who love everything about the truck and it’s radical design and features.
It could also, however, be something larger in play. Once the truck concept vs. the EV concept is taken into account the process of observing social and commercial trends in this case becomes very interesting.
Factoid 1: Incidents involving Tesla charging stations being blocked and vandalized have generally been perpetrated by strange rogue Pick-up truck owners and there has been an exaggerated hate and pride in driving a gas guzzling anti-Tesla. It’s bizarre to think that Tesla in this case could be creating a kind of counter force to these oddly “pro-gasoline” wackos who seems to see Tesla as some sort of flashpoint for their retro-oil-fetish. And, the Cybertruck is bulletproof (!?).
Factoid 2: While it has been well documented that Tesla stands virtually alone against the power structure of the entire world in its crusade to rid the world of ICE vehicles ASAP, the degree to which the general public has a strong desire and motive to support the company and its products, above and beyond a love for the products themselves or its leader, is as yet an unknown quantity.
In the press at large (many who are beholden to the ICE power structure) Tesla is often seen as just another carmaker selling wares, while customers may have a deeper connection as they search for ways to support solutions to the climate crisis as individuals. This could be a major and growing force in the days and months ahead, and can be a powerful resource to help to keep Tesla afloat even when Elon Musk decides to tackle challenging and even outlandish ventures.
Factoid 3: Perhaps more fantasy based than fact supported, the connection between the climate crisis as a motivation to buy and EV truck may go even deeper and wider than just the battery power. As a virtual disaster survival vehicle with various features that would be potentially life saving in a post-catastrophe situation – such as being employed as a bug-out vehicle to escape a flooded urban area. Various features seem to be conceived in response to a potential dystopian fantasy, but could be extremely valuable in a real emergency. The almost tank like durability, the shatterproof windows (as long as a sledgehammer doesn’t hit the door first), the battery powered cooking facilities in the camping-mode version, even the optional ATV come to mind.
“an armored personnel carrier from the future.”
– Elon Musk
Taking this thought experiment to its furthest possible conclusion its not hard to imagine a future (the Cybertruck could be on streets by perhaps 2021-2022) where the factions who support ICE trucks and the anti-fossil fuel “warriors”, each become radicalized and clash in some crazy mad max survival contest on US highways.
A more Optimistic stroke of Genius could also have played a role
Another very interesting possibility is that Elon Musk, known for being a master playing in marketing ventures, as well as being dedicated to sharing the EV market gladly with “competitors”, who he sees more as partners, once they take up the mantel of helping to accelerate the global transition to sustainable energy transportation.
It is no coincidence that GM, Ford, and many others have announced EV truck projects and details in the wake of the Cybertruck unveiling. It is a given that they will be watching very closely as Tesla ventures in to the traditional automakers most lucrative market segment.
“Trucks have been the same for a very long time like 100 years, we wanted to try something different,”
– Elon musk
For Musk and Tesla, however, it is clearly a win-win if you understand the higher purpose and motivation that infuses all activities within the company and yet is often misunderstood by others.
Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
If the Cybertruck does not command a large market share and somehow ends up like the DeLorean that it resembles, it will have, nevertheless, been a huge success in forcing the hand of the legacy automakers toward offering more EV options asap.
The legacy ICE carmakers cannot afford to wait while hoping that Tesla will fail. That phase of the battle over sustainable vs fossil-fuel transportation is over. Tesla is a force to be reckoned with and the Cybertruck, along with its on-going army of supporters who’ve ponied up C-notes, are making themselves seen and heard and stand as a warning that it’s not only the climate that’s changing on this planet.
Collage of various photos from the life of Jane Fonda
Joining Greta Thunberg, Jane implores us all to act ”like our House is On Fire”
The Fossil Fuel Industrial Complex does not like Celebrities or Movie Stars speaking out against the crime of doing nothing about the threats of climate change. They will scream “hypocrite” or claim, through paid-for pseudo scientists, that the data is “inconclusive”, then willfully, and perhaps illegally, hide the truth for decades. None of this will stop the shift toward grass roots action and now Jane Fonda is at the forefront, which is not surprising.
Of all people, Jane Fonda is no stranger to activism. She has advocated on many fronts throughout her life including protesting war, violence, discrimination and now her current focus is on the climate crisis.
At Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards, Fonda stated that she hasn’t met Greta Thunberg, but that her life has changed because of her. She further reflected in an interview on how compelled to action she became, inspired by the young climate fighter.
“She urged us to get out of our comfort zone and stop behaving like business as usual, and that’s what inspired me to move to D.C. and join with students. And I thank you so much for the courage of what you are doing. We can’t leave it to young people. It wasn’t their fault. We have to stand alongside them.”
– Jane Fonda
Fonda then helped to launch the climate crisis campaign called Fire Drill Fridays. The name was inspired by the book “On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal” by author Naomi Klein and the stand out quote from Greta “act like your house is on fire”. The actress then uprooted her life to move to Washington in order to protest on a weekly basis each Friday for a total of 4 months. Jane aims is to bring continued awareness of the climate crisis and advocate for the Green New Deal, an initiative aimed directly at the climate crisis that lays out demands to phase out the use of fossil fuels and completely be replaced with 100% renewable clean energy by 2030.
Her protests and engagement in civil disobedience on Capitol Hill have thus far resulted in five arrests, with another arrest on the 15th almost a certainty. Fonda has even brought several of her celebrity friends to join in the cause, all of whom have also been detained, including Rosanna Arquette, Catherine Keener, Ted Danson, and Sam Waterston.
instagram /@firedrillfriday
The Dark Side and Backlash towards Activists
Fonda has felt both sides of the spectrum in her many years as a political activist and resister; she has garnered much respect for her courage and bravery during protests at the U.S. Capitol, however the actress didn’t always hold positive public regard. Quite the opposite, almost half a century ago, Jane was heavily criticized, with some branding her as a traitor, and many harboring hate for decades after her protests surrounding the anti-war movement.
In 1972, Fonda took a trip to North Vietnam where it was revealed that the U.S. was unjustly bombing farmlands and targeting innocent people, during her trip she also spoke on Hanoi radio about the wrongdoings she had witnessed, sparking massive controversy. However the tipping point that drastically changed public perception of her for many decades stemmed from a photograph that she apologized for and yet was never forgiven by her critics.
In many ways this experience of negative backlash, which was particularly fierce due to her being a female movie star, makes her the perfect person to stand up to some of the same powerful forces she defied in her youth.
The fact is that the fossil fuel industrial complex has denied and deflected and at the same time perpetrated a crime against all of us, rather than contributing to sustainable alternatives, for at least 50 years. Who better to Join the ranks of those seeking to bring attention to this failure of government and industrial power elites than Jane Fonda, veteran advocate and icon.
In her “Fifth Act” at 81: Staying True to her Beliefs
Despite all of the ups and downs, Jane Fonda has endured during her life as a political activist. She, clearly, is not stopping. She is not backing down and will continue to use her celebrity to raise awareness. As an elderly woman, the actress is willing to risk continued arrests in order to call out to governments that continue excessive use and even promotion of fossil fuel systems that they must stop immediately.
With only a limited amount of years left for any of us to turn the fossil fuel disaster around – there is a countdown, that if not addressed will result in dire and irreversible planetary consequences. Scientists have sounded the warning bell time and again for years about global warming and the climate crisis, yet insufficient governmental action, and even willful resistance, to positive change has been the norm.
The fossil fuel industry have known for years of the negative environmental implications yet continue, in the name of profit, to cause increases the CO2 emissions to be dumped into the atmosphere. All through lack of support for alternatives and even active promotion of existing deadly technologies and systems.
Mass mobilization and civil disobedience including Fonda’s Friday Drill Fridays, Extinction Rebellion and big names like Greta Thunberg and Leonardo DiCaprio will, no doubt continue and increase. These and other positive grass roots actions are essential in order to force governments and private industry to finally wake up and listen, then take the drastic and immediate steps needed toward solving this global problem.
Does Admitting To Hypocrisy Absolve Celebs Who Support The Extinction Rebellion?
Earlier this week, many celebrities signed a letter admitting to being hypocrites for living high-carbon emission lifestyles while still advocating for environmental reformation. Put together by the Extinction Rebellion climate activist group, the letter speaks from the point of view of a celebrity activist. It acknowledges the fact that celebrities live environmentally inefficient and luxurious lives, often involving private flights, heavy transportation, and immense resources.
Nevertheless, the letter is not an apology. In fact, it is not even a promise for personal improvement. It is simply a statement, an acknowledgement from those who signed it that despite their environmental imperfections, they will not be silenced and will continue to fight for climate action. It explains that celebrities may indeed be hypocrites, as the entertainment industry oftentimes leaves a huge carbon footprint. However, it states that this should not change the fact that politicians must listen to science and prioritize policies that combat the large, systemic environmental issues at hand.
All of this rings true and fair, but a lingering question still remains—does this admission of hypocrisy really absolve these celebrities from not doing their individual parts and leading such environmentally destructive lives?
Enacting Change takes more than Rhetoric – Action by Governments and Industry must be Demanded
Of course, climate crisis is such an enormous issue that in order to effectively combat it, action must take place on a global, intergovernmental level. At the same time, though, doesn’t every individual also have a responsibility for leading an environmentally conscious life?
The idea that the letter would preemptively remove the accusation, so often used by the media, that celebs are nothing more than hypocrites and should stay out of politics is a good one. Ultimately, even the richest and most privileged among us will suffer when the earth is destroyed. Through their special influence and status they must push even harder for systemic change at the level of government and industry.
Celebrities Can and Need to do So Much More than Bring Awareness
None of this is to say that celebrities should give up their efforts to speak out about the climate crisis. Celebrities can be immensely influential people, and therefore their words could very much instigate positive change. Nevertheless, the letter gesture cannot help but feel a little conceited. After all, given these celebrities’ influences, their personal actions could speak just as loud as their words.
Established actors and filmmakers who signed the letter could create change within their unions to make the entertainment industry less wasteful. The same could go for musicians, athletes, models, broadcasters, designers, and public figures in all walks of life. Given their position, these figures’ actions could do much more than the average citizen’s efforts to turn off the lights, recycle, or invest in a hybrid car. Celebrities can use connections in their fields and beyond to instigate tangible, large-scale changes. This tactic could effectively combat the issue on the systemic level that they advocate for.
Over a hundred celebrities have signed the letter so far. Among the famous names are actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Thom Yorke, and Jude Law, Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuaron, Adam Clayton of U2, David Byrne of The Talking Heads, and many, many more. Obviously, we applaud these celebrities for being vocal about the climate crisis and using their influence to combat it. At the same time, though, hopefully that this letter does not act as a modern moral indulgence, and that they realize this admission to hypocrisy is at least a first step in taking on more and bigger ecological responsibilities.
…Children of the corn? You have no idea. Children of your Demise is more like it. And it’s about time.
There is no doubt that Greta Thunberg represents the future. And, after reactions from these two, who clearly represent the past, the future can’t come soon enough. It is a hopeful trend that obvious truths, truths that children can see clearly with their own eyes are finally being spoken out loud, without fear but with the outrage that the facts deserve.
“My message is that we’ll be watching you.
“This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be back in school on the other side of the ocean. Yet you all come to us young people for hope. How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words. And yet I’m one of the lucky ones. People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!“
“For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you’re doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight.”
“You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency. But no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil. And that I refuse to believe.”
“The popular idea of cutting our emissions in half in 10 years only gives us a 50% chance of staying below 1.5 degrees Celsius, and the risk of setting off irreversible chain reactions beyond human control.“
-Climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16, addressing the U.N.’s Climate Action Summit, September 23, 2019
"You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words."
In an emotional speech at a @UN climate change summit in New York, @GretaThunberg warns that the human race is "at the beginning of a mass extinction".
For nearly 100 years the human race has been held hostage by the fossil fuel industrial complex, Middle East Oil and the greed and corruption that has maintained its strangle hold on our lives.
It was already clear in the 1960s that the dependence on Oil was, at best, a temporary means of survival. And yet, during the next 60 years the dependence only deepened and the forces of corruption buried the truth.
Renewable energy was always a better way. Electric cars have been feasible for many decades and have other clean modes of transport, only to be blocked by governments and evil, greedy people like Trump and Laura Ingraham.
Elon Musk and Tesla are of the establishment and yet still attacked on all sides due to the danger they pose to the status quo. However, the future will embrace those, like Tesla, who face facts… The coming generations will see the charade for what it is; absolute suicidal greed and evil towards all mankind.
Greta Thunberg and her generation will not have the luxury of pretending that lies are true. And neither do we.
Greta Thunberg is giving voice to the painfully obvious reality we all face. She is speaking to all who are ready to remove the veil of lies and obfuscation and look at the situation that generations of short-sighted, self-serving sycophants have done to the earth and it’s future survival hopes.
Today must represent a turn away from those past generations. Today the lines must finally be drawn in favor of the real facts, the obvious realities that have been clear for decades, and yet were “hidden” behind agendas furthering the perpetuation of the status quo and it’s self-destructive greed.
Change can begin when the truth is allowed to exist in sunshine and be taken for what it is. That enormous step forward, perhaps late but no less welcome for it, has already begun.
Dismissing Greta Thunberg with disgusting tweets or derisive comments will only shine an even brighter light on the truth of her words. As it should be. And the reaction of the dinosaurs should be seen for what it is; the howling of a species that sees it’s own imminent demise and extinction in the face of the future.
A future that can not come soon enough if any of the rest of us hope to survive, or see our children’s hopes for the future be restored.
The observations in this article are based on candid conversations with long time sellers on the Amazon Marketplace platform. As is typical, none of the sellers would agree to be named, for fear of retribution by the giant online retailer.
Reading titles of articles like “Amazon May Have a Counterfeit Problem”, the sellers we spoke with could only laugh at the equivocation and doubt. This, apparently, is not a “maybe” thing for those with intimate knowledge of the situation.
“The real situation is that Amazon’s fee structure and shipping requirements only allow for counterfeit, illegal import or “gray market” products (such as returns that are still “new” but not factory sealed) to be sold at a meaningful profit.”
– anonymous marketplace seller
There are plenty of lawsuits by well known manufacturers who claim there is a big problem with fakes selling on the Amazon platform. Daimler AG, the company that produces Mercedes-Benz products, filed a lawsuit in Washington State, and Birkenstock, the European shoe maker, has complained loudly and publicly about the situation, and ultimately pulled their Brand from the site altogether.
The problems go much deeper than this. According to the sellers we spoke to the issue is literally built into the entire inventory of more than 500 million products listed on the site.
One reason why this is not fully reported, or even spoken of, is the fear of retribution.
A second reason is the way Amazon uses a legal strategy of “having it both ways”; customers feel like they are always buying from Amazon itself when buying on the site, or at least that they are protected by Amazon. At the same time when bigger problems do arise, suddenly, the marketplace is a pseudo-public area which can not be directly linked back to Amazon and for which they claim to have no liability.
But it is the third reason that shields the mega-site, more than anything else, from bad publicity: the fact that, in order to understand the issues thoroughly, a deep investigation into its history and business practices is required.
Apparently, according to our extremely experienced sources, it all goes back to the time, before 2008, when Amazon was still primarily an online bookstore (For years, in fact, the site’s tagline was “Earths biggest bookstore”).
Ponzi Reinvented for the Digital Age: with the blessing of the US Gov.
The “business model” at that time was simple yet brutal; buy books directly from publishers at the full wholesale price and sell them for that same amount with “free” shipping (for prime members).
And in doing this they accomplished many things, all near and dear to their founder’s heart:
-Annihilate all book sellers, online or off, since selling at zero margin could only be done by losing billions, which, in-turn, only an online Wall Street financed “dot-com darling” could afford.
-Addict the suppliers (publishers) to the steady flow of sales, with the percentage from Amazon relentlessly rising until it is the only significant buyer.
-Preemptively destroy any online seller by putting the barrier to entry so high that it would be suicidal to even try to compete (see the diapers.com saga)
-Brain-wash the public into thinking that it was “normal” to be able to buy products at wholesale prices (with free shipping) and that there was nothing “fishy” about the fact that only Amazon could afford to do it (by losing billions, on paper).
An Offer they Couldn’t Refuse: Sell or Die
From a Businessweek / Bloomberg story about how Bezos forced Diapers.com, owned by Quidisi, out of business (buying them out after the strong-arm mafia-like practices outlined below):
“Quidsi could now taste its own blood. At one point, Quidsi executives took what they knew about shipping rates, factored in Procter & Gamble’s (PG) wholesale prices, and calculated that Amazon was on track to lose $100 million over three months in the diaper category alone.
When Bezos’s lieutenants learned of WalMart’s counter-bid, they ratcheted up the pressure, telling the Quidsi founders that (Bezos) was such a furious competitor that he would drive diaper prices to zero if they sold to Bentonville.”
-report published in Businessweek and recounted in “The EVerything store”
All of this was a spectacular success, for Amazon, as can be attested to by the recently acquired “richest man-in-the-world” title. Amazon lost billions per quarter for decades and, and, yet, as the “last man standing” eventually turned that around into the creation of the world’s richest human. All stemming from virtual monopoly in online sales of ALL products in the US (over 50%, with the second largest online seller at 6.6%). Imagine even one other online retail company with more than 20% and it’s easy to see there is no “competition” for Amazon and no real alternative for buyers or sellers.
And what about sellers on the Amazon Marketplace? Did they benefit from the massive success of the platform (as they contributed more than 50% of revenue to the giant retailer)?
All the anecdotes of “some guy in Minnesota” who resells Walmart clearance items, aside, the only winners in that part of the story were and are …wait for it… counterfeiters, illegal importers and gray market sellers. Oh, and Chinese “no-brand” factories that sell on Amazon in the US.
Why?
It seems that, square in the bullseye of Amazon’s hit-list, in addition to anyone that sells anything who’s not on Amazon, is the very group that has kept the company afloat all these years: The millions of, mostly small, sellers on the marketplace all trying to eke out a living.
They have zero leverage and no where else to go to sell online (remember virtually all the customers are already locked into the Amazon platform due to the “bribery” of too-good-to-be-true prices and free shipping), therefore, they can be gouged with impossible fees.
The fee structure is, as you might expect, complicated, but fees are the highest of any online marketplace and never fall, only rise, which they do often, according to sellers. For items at lower price points deducted fees can be as much as 50%. The real costs are hidden in fees like “variable closing” and other made-up monikers to obfuscate the real reasoning behind the math. But in practical terms, selling a $8 item can cost up to $4 in added fees.
But, and this is the complicated bit, even that might work for a legitimate seller if not for the fact that, in many cases, the seller is competing against Amazon itself! And, as you have seen above, prices have no bottom limit as profit is not required for Amazon to “win”.
To wrap this mind-boggling concept up with a bow: if any company wants to realize even 1 cent of retail profit after fees, selling on the Amazon Marketplace, it must acquire the goods for roughly 70-90% below standard retail prices, and even that might not be sufficient.
Who can do that? Chinese no-brand factories shipping directly to the US with subsidized USPS shipping rates, counterfeiters, illegal importers and gray market sellers. Period.
A thorough investigation of the millions of sellers currently selling on Amazon would, without a doubt, say our sources, turn up not just a few bad apples, but a system that is virtually rotten to the core. Beyond even Elizabeth Warren’s wildest fears.
Thankfully, weekend headlines were replete with stories denouncing Trump’s most recent barrage of racist tweets, these singling out Rep. Elijah Cummings and Baltimore, and the district that he represents.
@TheRealAdolfHitler: What if Hitler was on twitter? would he tweet about “rat infested” Jewish areas of Berlin?…
Even CNN, until recently not known for hard line resistance, pointed out and criticized the Nazi-like tone and technique in the tweets – how they echo the Nazi era anti-Semitic propaganda, that labeled Jews as “parasites” and used photos of rats to imply filth and disease. Infestation was also a concept used, the implication that Jews, like rats, carried disease and decay.
The most alarming, discouraging element of this ongoing debasement of our political discourse is the possibility that this disgusting circus could be extended initially through 2020, and even into another four years and beyond.
“It can’t happen here” is a well known phrase and the title of an influential novel from 1935 by Sinclair Lewis. In many ways, as others have pointed out, Trump echos the main character and could even conceivably have used his story as a blueprint for his career in politics.
The phrase, “it can’t happen here”, seems to be contradicted on a daily basis since November 9, 2016, and the degree to which the horrors of the past can be repeated, or at least echoed continues, with seemingly no end in sight.
The “enemy of the people”, as Trump has labeled the media (at least all that dare to speak out against him), seem to be the only hope, ultimately, of effecting a change for the better, which can only come once Trump is no longer in power.
The attacks on Cummings were racist propaganda, of that, there is no doubt. There is also a clear motive for the attacks, since the target is the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, which is charged with overseeing the Executive Branch, including the office of the President.
After years of endless lies, Trump appears to be upping his game, ahead of the coming election. With a clear pattern of weekend twitter propaganda, such as the “go back” tweets, which for most represented a new low, and yet are clearly outdone by this weeks sequel.
Many articles and famous figures have responded, from the Baltimore Sun’s scathing inditement, to CNN’s Victor Blackwell and his live on-air, heart-felt reaction, and even Stephen Curry’s comment on his segment:
It's this kind of boldness that our country needs! Keep calling him out. I'm not from Baltimore- but I know countless people who are. Teammates, family, hardworking employees. All People that represent the best qualities of what it means to be American! & who want to live there!
As the years of this presidency have progressed, and the lies and vicious attacks have escalated, the press has also adapted and evolved.
For almost a year after the 2017 inauguration, the press generally avoided using the word “lie” in reports of Trump’s “untruths”. There was an attempt to maintain respect for the office and to somehow show deference to a man that, ultimately, has proven himself to be beneath that courtesy. As the lies continued to pile up and the press was directly attacked on many occasions, boldness and honesty begin to seep into the reporting.
“…all of us, starting with the media, must speak out now, and not stop until he is gone.”
Now, the words “racist” and “bigot” are necessary and accurate in any description of the man, or his actions and ideas. The tweets of the last few weeks have set a new lower standard, even for Trump, in how blatantly his bigotry and racism can be displayed.
The congressman himself had several strong responses to the attacks that should be seen:
Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors.
It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.
Mr. President, we can address this together. Two years ago, I went to the White House to ask you to endorse my bill to let the government negotiate directly for lower drug prices.
Ultimately, unless we want to see a future that mirrors the almost 12 years, between the time that Hitler became chancellor of Germany until his death, and experience a fate that is potentially even worse: all of us, starting with the media, must speak out now, and not stop until he is gone.
In the past, comparisons with Hitler were a kind of “red-line” that was seldom crossed, as the horrific historical legacy of the Nazis was thought to be too extreme, even to contemplate, in a modern day figure.
“Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth – – it would literally be over in 10 days” -because- “I just don’t want to kill ten million people”
Now, we are talking about a man who only last week boasted that, if he wanted, “Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth – – it would literally be over in 10 days” because “I just don’t want to kill ten million people”. Implying that he could change his mind about not killing 10 million in Afghanistan, or anywhere else, at any time.
This past weekend may, one-day, be seen as the beginning of a march toward 2020 and another Trump term, with consequent escalation of all the ugly policies and actions.
It could be just the beginning, with all this power-drunk behavior, from a man that has indicated that he believes his supporters might “demand” that he serve more than 8 years. And “joked” that he feels he should be “president for life”, after repealing the 22nd amendment.
Combine these disturbing ideas and extrapolate, even just slightly forward, and step by step, we are talking about a future that is virtually impossible to imagine in its potential for hate, death and destruction.
We are entering a time when the transition to calling “a lie” a lie, a “racist” a racist and soon a “fascist” a fascist, will either work to eventually re-establish the goal of democracy and equality and truth as our real American greatness, or Trump will indeed be a new, far worse, version of Hitler, Goebbles and the Third Reich all rolled into one.
Hyperbole? Hysteria? This is a time when a single man or woman can influence the future of this country and the world. Will it be this man? This racist, bigoted, hateful, corrupt “rat” of a man?
Or will it be you, as one of millions who will stop him? As history indicates, the real choice is to begin the movement to stop him now, or look forward to horrors from which the world itself may not survive.
The “Cats” Trailer with Tylor Swift and the Gang is getting a lot of attention today. Not sure if it will build into a crescendo of adulation by the December release, but at least we are not ignoring it, and there’s a lot here to be entertained by.
First, there’s the “digital fur”. This makes it look like Simba had a human stuffed into his digital fur (and digital everything) and then, instead of just singing and acting like and animal he starts dancing like he’s on Broadway.
Watch Taylor Swift, James Corden, Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jason Derulo, Rebel Wilson, Ian McKellen and Jennifer Hudson prance through the trailer and display catlike reflexes, replete with digital fur…
– Kat
And, what about the Lion King tie in? Obviously it can’t be an accident that this weekend, of all weekends, is the one that they decide to drop this clip for a movie coming out at Christmas.
So, what, we are supposed to have a subliminal aching to see more digital cat fur once we have seen The Lion King a few times and then, right around the end of the year, suddenly remember, hey let’s go to that Cats movie?!
I have a strange hankering for watching some more digital fur! And hear songs and dance and see cats with hands and hats and some of them wearing clothes.
Oy. Great stars in this one. “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” by T.S. Eliot, has come a long way from ink on paper. Here are the tweets:
We don’t celebrate 49 year anniversaries. But is 50 just a number? The echos of the past are haunting us, with politics drifting into conflicts that would meet or even surpass the standards of that tumultuous year, 1969.
And as we count down the hours and days to the 50th anniversary of the first man to walk on the lunar surface, and watch as Woodstock 50 preparations begin, and see the climate boil for one more summer of record temps, we can only look skyward to that orb of earthly dreams, and notice it’s full eclipse.
Lunar eclipses always coincide with a full moon. Tonight, the alignment of all the necessary heavenly orbs, the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun, will all collaborate to create the conditions that will yield a lunar eclipse.
Visible in Europe, Australia, Africa, and most of Asia, the Earth’s shadow will darken the moon, with a visible penumbra outer ring as well as the deep dark umbra, almost fully obscuring the moon in the area that it covers. Since it will happen during US daylight hours (starting around 3pm Eastern Daylight Time), this spectacular event will only be seen from our shores via photographic evidence, received from the countries above.
This particular eclipse will not be total, but will produce an eerie, red shade wherever the shadow, after passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, hits its target.
In the USA, however, the so-called Buck Moon will begin, post eclipse at approximately 5:38pm Eastern Time. The moonrise will commence shortly after and, should be something special to view, assuming no cloud cover. Called “Buck”, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, due to the fact that a buck’s antlers are in full growth season at the time of this, first of the summer, full moon.
If your area is clear tonight this will be a dramatic sight.
Reuters
Heat, Passion, Conflict and, Hopefully Beauty to Behold
Sure it was HOT in 1969, but was it the summer with the highest temperatures in recorded climate history in France?
As the year moves on, it is certain that events of 2019 will echo, in some strange ways, those of 1969, and we may also use this 50 year span to measure how much has changed, how far we have come, and yet, how much remains the same.
We can use the Apollo Mission’s anniversary to reflect on what is new, private space missions, mars on our minds, looming climate crises and, oh yes, computers in our pockets. What’s the same? Sadly, racists and political division and mind bending change on all sides.
At a staged speech in front of the White House on Monday under the auspices of a pre-planned “Made In America” event, Mr. Trump started off, as he often does, from the teleprompter, then, veered off into continuation of the weekend’s twitter tirade. The traditional, annual, event which is coordinated with “Made in America Day” and “Made in America Week” is a standard “pro-America” pep rally meant to give the President the opportunity to tout his patriotic agenda.
After a few remarks from the usual scripted pro-American manufacturing playbook, and his usual boasts about how the stock market and job market success are due, exclusively, to his having been elected, he launched into a defense of his racist tweets that have been dominating the news cycle over the weekend.
Reporters present pushed Mr. Trump to respond to the trending topic, rather than continue with the purported theme of the day, praise for American made jobs, products and manufacturers. In response to one reporter’s query:
“Does it concern you that many people saw that tweet as racist and that white nationalist groups are finding common cause with you on that point?”
He replied:
“It doesn’t concern me because many people agree with me. And all I’m saying, they want to leave, they can leave.”
Everything New is Old Again
This exchange led to additional back and forth on the theme “Love It Or Leave It”, a hackneyed slogan from the sixties, and, with 50 year anniversaries of the Apollo Moon landing and Woodstock this summer, it seems oddly fitting that a Republican President, echoing Nixon, should be trying to re-ignite that tired refrain.
Even as reporters continued to try and question the motives and meanings of his, clearly racist, tweets aimed at the congresswomen, Trump continued to beat the “love it or leave it” drum:
“If you’re not happy in the U.S., if you’re complaining all the time, very simply, you can leave. You can leave right now. Come back if you want, don’t come back, it’s OK too. But if you’re not happy, you can leave,” Sadly this all seems like a scripted melodrama straight out of the Nixon campaign.
Meanwhile the specter of alleged communist sympathy, taking us all back to the “HUAC” witch hunts of the 50s, of all things, was hurled at the target of Trump’s weekend tweets, by none other than that schizophrenic sycophant, Lindsey Graham:
I see [Lindsey Graham’s] biggest issue w/ Trump’s racism is that it doesn’t go far enough – Graham wants to bring back 1950s McCarthyism, too.
GOP is doing this because they have no plan for our future.
We’re the ones fighting for healthcare, edu, good jobs, & they got nothing.
– ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ – IN A TWEET
I see @LindseyGrahamSC’s biggest issue w/ Trump’s racism is that it doesn’t go far enough – Graham wants to bring back 1950s McCarthyism, too.
GOP is doing this because they have no plan for our future.
We’re the ones fighting for healthcare, edu, good jobs, & they got nothing. https://t.co/pfAEATWbJl
Tired, Old Ploy, Once Again Trotted Out to Muddy the Waters
This entire episode, starting with the offensive tweets, is obviously a ploy to draw battle lines – again harkening back to the Nixon campaign and his “Silent Majority” refrain, complaining that protesters against the Vietnam war were a small minority, and that he spoke for the majority in his (soon to be proven criminal and corrupt) positions and policies.
Sadly, unless the strategy is undone by a more enlightened electorate, we could be headed for a similar fate: Nixon won in a landslide in 1972 only to resign before almost certain impeachment in 1974 after a “long national nightmare”.
Hopefully the parallels with ‘69 – ‘72 will end in November 2020.
