GUN NUTS WITH GUNS

There's nothing scarier than being in a situation with a bunch of strange looking people armed to the teeth, hiding behind women and children and daring anyone to do anything about it.


Metro officers who intervened to protect the lives of federal employees from the 400 or so Bundy supporters and armed militia members. Officers told the I-Team they feared for their lives that day because of the assembled firepower, and because many in the crowd had pointed weapons at officers, taunted them, told them they should be ready to die.

“When we first got out there and made a left to divide I-15, that is all you saw. You saw kids and women and horses in the backdrop and then men with guns, laying on the ground, in the back of pickup trucks. We’re going, ‘Wow, this would never happen in Las Vegas,’ But it was there. That is not a rumor. It is reality and I saw it with my own eyes,” said Metro Police Sgt. Tom Jenkins, who has been interviewed by the FBI. Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/report-fbi-investigating-bundy-supporters/#sppTYTfWR1Td6JxS.99

So it is when it comes to these so-called "militias" who claim to be defending the Constitution while stomping on everything it stands for.





FBI investigating Bundy supporters in BLM dispute

INCOME INEQUALITY ON STEROIDS

I  get this feeling of nausea when people (especially Republicans) talk about income inequality as if it's what makes capitalism so great; being able to go from rags to riches by merely picking yourself up by your bootstraps, thinking to yourself, "yes I can" and shouting "America Strong" a dozen times.


As I look around I wonder how many Americans are still able to live in this fantasy world; at least without drugs.


True. America was once the "dream come true" capital of the world. People flocked here from all 4 corners of the planet intent on making the dream come true; and many did.


But that was then. This is now.



Tell me. How many Americans will be able to go from here;

To here;

Let alone, here;

Why has the American dream turned into a nightmare?

“The game is rigged,” writes Senator Elizabeth Warren in her new book A Fighting Chance. It’s rigged because the rich and their lobbyists have rigged the rules of the game to their favor. The rules are reflected in a tax code and bankruptcy laws that have seen the greatest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the rich in U.S. history.

The result?

America has the most billionaires in the world, but not a single U.S. city ranks among the world’s most livable cities. Not a single U.S. airport is among the top 100 airports in the world. Our bridges, road and rail are falling apart, and our middle class is being guttered out thanks to three decades of stagnant wages, while the top 1 percent enjoys 95 percent of all economic gains.

Who feels it the worst?

  

To determine the 10 states with the most skewed growth in incomes, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed income growth figures from 1979 to 2007 from “The Increasingly Unequal States of America,” a study by Estelle Sommeiller and Mark Price published by the EPI. 

These are the 10 states where income inequality has soared. Read more: Ten States Where Income Inequality Has Soared - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/02/27/ten-states-where-income-inequality-has-soared/#ixzz31LqdTJ2M 

What needs to change so we can dream again?

Some Americans; especially those in the top 1%, call this Marxism rather than " worldwide ethical mobilization" a term the Pope coined in a speech to the UN.

Pope Francis called for governments to redistribute wealth to the poor in a new spirit of generosity to help curb the "economy of exclusion" that is taking hold today.

Francis made the appeal during a speech to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the heads of major U.N. agencies who met in Rome this week. Latin America's first pope has frequently lashed out at the injustices of capitalism and the global economic system that excludes so much of humanity, though his predecessors have voiced similar concerns.

Francis called for the United Nations to promote a "worldwide ethical mobilization" of solidarity with the poor in a new spirit of generosity. He said a more equal form of economic progress can be had through "the legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the state, as well as indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society."

Francis voiced a similar message to the World Economic Forum in January and in his apostolic exhortation "The Joy of the Gospel."

That document, which denounced trickle-down economic theories as unproven and naïve, provoked accusations in the U.S. that he was a Marxist.

Francis urged the U.N. to promote development goals that attack the root causes of poverty and hunger, protect the environment and ensure dignified labor for all.

"Specifically, this involves challenging all forms of injustices and resisting the economy of exclusion, the throwaway culture and the culture of death which nowadays sadly risk becoming passively accepted," he said.


One thing is certain. If Americans continue to elect politicians that pander to the needs of the wealthy (mostly Republicans) nothing will change and/or probably get worse.


Republicans are boldly predicting that they will regain control of the Senate in the coming mid-terms which in essence would seal the fat of the 99% of Americans who have been "excluded' or disenfranchised of the American dream.


The ones to feel the pain the most are the very ones who fail to show up and vote in mid-terms; the younger, working class voters who Republicans count on to be pre-occupied and distracted; no time to vote, too busy chasing the dream.


Time to wake up folks!









MILLIONAIRES WANT TAX AND MINIMUM WAGE HIKES

A large percentage of millionaires are beginning to come around to acknowledging that income inequality; like climate change, is real.

Even though many of them still hang on to the myth that anyone can get to the top, there is a reluctant acknowledgement that it is more a "dream" than real.

In the heated debate over inequality, the wealthy are usually portrayed as the cause rather than the solution.

But CNBC's first-ever Millionaire Survey reveals that 51 percent of American millionaires believe inequality is a "major problem" for the U.S., and of those, nearly two-thirds support higher taxes on the wealthy and a higher minimum wage as ways to narrow the wealth gap.

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES

Youths sue U.S. government over climate inaction | Al Jazeera America





Young people across the country are suing several government agencies for failing to develop a climate change recovery plan, conduct that amounts to a violation of their constitutional rights, says their lawyer Julia Olson.

Their futures are at stake, say the young plaintiffs.

CONGRESS; THE HOUSE OF (POLITICAL) WHORES

Congress Job Approval Starts 2014 at 13%

Job approval of Congress remains well below the historical average of 33%. Gallup has not measured a job approval rating above that mark since early in Barack Obama's presidency. Gallup first measured congressional job approval in 1974.

The reason(s) are based on a myriad of factors but underlying it all is that the Congress of the Unitied States for all practical purposes is run like a brothel.

“Instead of electing the best leaders, we elect the best fund raisers.”

Defining a political whore is to simply look where the money is coming from.

·       SMALL Individual contributions from constituents; you – the voter.

·       LARGE; usually difficult to trace, amounts of money coming from wealthy individuals or 

organizations that buy, package, and own the candidate.

The way our broken political system works is that the chief place to raise money for campaigns is from industries and interest groups that want something from government. Influence is purchased all the time, whether in explicit quid pro quo trades or not, and such influence peddling just as bad for democracy as bribery.

Politicians, for the most part, behave like prostitute, drafting or blocking legislation that favor those who pay them; be it wealthy individuals, lobbyists, PACS, or any special interest groups or organizations willing to help finance their campaigns. 

Since these political whores still need to be voted into office they and their backers will say and do anything to sway voters to them and then, once elected, abandon these voters to pander to their benefactors. 

In this information age it isn't difficult to find out who these political whores are. One source; The Center for Responsive Politics  is a one-stop web site to find almost anything there is to know about politics, the politicians and the players. 

Here's an example of how quickly you can get a snapshot view of who is financially backing a politician; or in this example a "political whore".

Cycle Source of Funds, 2009-2014, Campaign Cmte only

	Individual Contributions   - Small Individual Contributions  - Large Individual Contributions	$8,965,456 $706,910 (5%) $8,258,546 (59%)	(64%)
	PAC Contributions	$3,120,138	(22%)
	Candidate self-financing	$0	(0%)
	Other	$2,028,198	(14%)

Note that only 5% of this politicians money comes from "small individual contributions" though he  has millions in his campaign coffer. 

Another example; one of a "politician" the numbers will reflect this:

Cycle Source of Funds, 2011-2014, Campaign Cmte only

	Individual Contributions   - Small Individual Contributions  - Large Individual Contributions	$43,074,307 $20,397,757 (46%) $22,676,543 (51%)	(97%)
	PAC Contributions	$712,408	(2%)
	Candidate self-financing	$0	(0%)
	Other	$437,871	(1%)

The coffer is filled with millions from "individual" donors; almost equally between both large and small contributions.

The best way to clean up the institution so that it is once again acting as the voice of the American people rather than a 2-bit brothel is to cut off the money so that a vote actually counts for something. 

"I think he (Sterling) was pimping us to get credit for helping the African American community."

When it comes to shining the light on games played by the 1% crowd Sterling is indeed the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to wealthy folks playing the charity card.

Here's the way one of the organizations that got played by the Sterling charity scam put it.

"I think he was pimping us to get credit for helping the African American community

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sterling-charity-20140504,0,359848.story#ixzz30lgEivdq


Recently, the 1% started to get nervous when Pope Francis (who happens to lead an organization of around 1.2 billion members)  spoke out against what Sterling has unwittingly brought into the spotlight;

Pope Francis' critical comments about the wealthy and capitalism have at least one wealthy capitalist benefactor hesitant about giving financial support to one of the church's major fundraising projects. 

Ken Langone, the investor known for founding Home Depot, among other things  told CNBC that one potential seven-figure donor is concerned about statements from the pope criticizing market economies as "exclusionary," urging the rich to give more to the poor and criticizing a "culture of prosperity" that leads some to become "incapable of feeling compassion for the poor."

Sterling does stand out from the pack in that he is either so arrogant (or dumb) that he would run full page ads in major newspapers drawing attention to his scam(s) which exposes that charity for many of the wealthy is nothing more than a tax dodging strategy with some free positive press to boot, plain and simple, and nothing more than "pimping" the system.

N.A.A.C.P. SELLS RACISM AWARDS

With enough money (Sterling) and knowing the right people (Jenkins) you can buy anything these days.



The N.A.A.C.P. is no different than any other organization when it comes to playing the money game. And they have no problem with hiring cronies who know how to troll for it.



Handing out awards; be it a lifetime achievement for racism to Sterling or an "honorary" (?) PhD to clowns like Reagan, if the money is there, you got it.



This isn't about Sterling or Jenkins more than it is about exposing the corruption that seethes through this society because of this unchecked influence wielded by those with money; bottom feeders of the highest kind.



The N.A.A.C.P. has known that Donald Sterling is a full blown racist for many years. They also were well aware that Jenkins was an easy target willing to whore himself out when he smelled money.



Rather than resignations and apologies, this organization like untold numbers of others ought to consider reform (bad word I know) with the focus on taking money and throwing awards at it, out of the equation.

 N.A.A.C.P. Scrutinizes Branch Over Honor for Clippers Owner