The Real News (updated)

Step 1) Find somebody who knows something
Step 2) Ask a few smart questions
Step 3) Shut up and let him talk

hat tip = FB buddy DR via truthdig

(And Uh-Oh.  My guy Martin O'Malley took a bit of a hit there (starting at about 3:45) when Mr Powers slags him for misunderstanding the Broken Windows approach to the point of total FUBAR.  I guess I need to figure out a way to ask him about that.)

So, wouldn't it be nice if we could take a hard look at the whole process?  Maybe we could start with: Coin-Operated Politicians getting elected partly on Big-Money donations from the Crime-&-Punishment Industries which eventually makes for a very tidy loop of criminalization and recidivism (Bust. Bargain. Jail. Repeat).  The cycle of Poverty, Ignorance and Crime isn't a bug in the system - it's a fucking feature.

And as a nice bonus, it gives our returning war heroes some occupational therapy so they can work out those PTSD issues that they don't have and that nobody ever needs to talk about because they couldn't possibly manifest themselves in the worst possible ways at the worst possible times - but like I said, let's not worry about any of that. Ever.

Anyway, concentrating your Zero-Tolerance approach on the "problem areas" almost ensures those problem areas will forever remain problem areas.  Which is, again, actually the point.  While it's being sold to us as Public Service, law enforcement is being administered as a Profit Center.  And the Revenue piece of any good business plan includes Recurring Revenue Opportunities - Returning Clientele, Customer Retention, Repeat Business, pick a buzz phrase, any buzz phrase.

BTW - the people filling our prisons aren't the "customers" of the Crime-&-Punishment Industries; the same as the patients filling our hospitals aren't the "customers" of our Healthcare Industries.  The main point there being that a healthy patient is a detriment to somebody's profitability the same as a law-abiding citizen walkin' around free isn't putting money into the pockets of an ever-widening system of interlocking "security" businesses.  

But weirdly - healthy patients and law-abiding citizens are very good for taxpayers and premium payers and business owners and families and and and.  So how come it seems like somebody doesn't want us to be particularly free or particularly healthy?  It's a wonderment, ain't it?

Prisoners (like Patients) are both the raw material and the product.  This is a strictly Business-to-Business proposition. The customer base consists of corporations which spend lots of time effort and money getting you and me to line up so we can volunteer to get scammed into believing we're buying ourselves a little law and order; some peace of mind; a feeling that we'll be allowed into the powdered wig salon just as soon as we've kissed all the right asses and stepped on all the right fingers - when actually, we're just identifying ourselves as resources for a system that eats people, extracts power and money, shits people back out; and then starts over again.

What, you weren't still thinking Law Enforcement's about enforcing the law, were ya?  You're so cute.  We live in USAmerica Inc, silly - America's business is business.  And business is fucking great.  

You're very important to us, so please stay in line - we'll get to you soon enough.

Today's Contextualizationing

There really was a time (quite a while ago) when Geraldo Rivera was thought to be a journalist.

The very well-practiced frozen smile on Rivera's face is a dead give-away that he suspects just how irrelevant he is; and that he's afraid that that irrelevancy is about to be shown to the world.  He desperately wants to be the gutsy plucky reporter he thinks he used to be as he's almost literally running away from that guy.

And the fact that he can't hold a candle to that guy's arguments is great tribute to the simple fact that whenever anybody working for the DumFux News crew ventures outside the bubble, reality short-circuits their closed-loop thinking and the whole program craters in on itself.

To be (kinda) fair, most of the other Press Poodles have run into similar buzz saws - it's just a little more satisfying when I get to watch some schmuck working for the GOP's PR Channel shit himself in public.

And now this:

Tweet Trend

Been seeing a lot of this one lately.

"Violence doesn't accomplish anything." That makes the US military budget an even bigger waste. Let's fund schools instead #BaltimoreRiots.

— Anonymous (@LatestAnonNews) April 29, 2015

Not Even Close

...IMHO.

Inside Amy Schumer
Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows

Rockin' The Amplitude

Today's Molly

“Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don't much care for.”  --Molly Ivins

Larry Wilmore

Keith Last Nite

Coupla Things

I've got just 2 (main) points about the aftermath of the Freddie Gray thing in Baltimore.

First - when did we become so totally averse to and repulsed by violence in response to being pushed around - whether it's a real thing or only perception?  And in particular, what's with all the pearl-clutching and concern trolling coming in waves from "conservatives"?  When did the Right Radicals start being shocked by violence in response to any-fucking-thing at all?  Last I checked, most of the people who're all so utterly aghast at the prospect of protests turning to violent confrontation are the same bunch who cheered as a whole army of nutballs stormed into Nevada last year on the off chance they might get to shoot it out with the Federalés.  Selective Values Judgement much?

And that kinda leads to my second point, which is:  C'mon now, guys - this country was founded on armed rebellion in response to an uncaring, disinterested power structure that dealt with common folk in thoroughly hostile and brutalizing ways.  We've all been taught that good Americans stand up and fight for what they believe is right; and that there's nothing more noble that standing up to fight against the forces of oppression etc etc etc.  Why are we expecting anybody to not behave exactly the way they've been taught to behave from the time they were in 3rd or 4th grade?

And BTW: Looting? You fight your revolution and I'll fight mine. Comme ci, comme ça muthuhfuckuh.

So anyway, there's only one more question left to ask and it's about something we all know perfectly well (even tho' way too many of us are still too afraid to let the notion filter into our upper cortex), so I'll just say that there're some very real and very obvious differences between Baltimore and the Bundy ranch (eg) but they all boil down to one very real and very obvious aspect.  Simply stated, Freddie Gray can expect to be treated very differently by law enforcement than the way Cliven Bundy can expect to be treated by law enforcement, and it's really not so much that I think we're afraid to ask why - I'm pretty sure we know why; at least we can think we know when we contemplate it as an external thing - something to do with bad cops and the dumb way other people think blah blah blah.

But I'm afraid the real problem is that we're terrified something really bad will happen to us inside if we hear our own inner voice tell us the answer, because it just might be that we expect Freddie should be treated differently than Bundy.

And that grates on our soul.

Don't Look Now

First of all, Keith is again dancing perilously close to the edge of the abyss.  Implicit in the piece is a criticism of ESPN.  Big rich companies don't like it when you let "outsiders" peek behind the furniture.  And your colleagues don't like being called out for their willingness to devote way more time to their hair and their investment portfolios than they spend on actually doing their jobs as reporters.

Second - substitute "government agency" every time Keith refers to a sports figure or a team or a league.  And now we've got the typical (ie: huge fucking) problem of "reporters" acting in the capacity of PR flacks instead of telling us everything we need to know to make well-informed decisions on just about anything.

Wanna know what's killing off our little experiment in self-government?  Well, there aren't any simple answers to that, but we could start with this: Press Poodles.

My Guy

This is from a few weeks ago on one of the Security State Advertising Platforms the networks run on "our public airwaves" every Sunday morning (ie: the shit that nobody with any real sense watches for any reason other than giggles and /or a morbid curiosity about what the death of democracy actually looks like).

So anyway, there's some obviously clunky scripted prattle in what O'Malley has to say, but once he gets past the obligatory pablum that helps the Press Poodles pay for their groomers, the guy gets more real more often than anybody I've seen in a while.

Not disappointed yet - which is high praise from me right now.

A More Powerful Vocabulary

hat tip = FB buddy BD

Today's Wingnut

This guy is a perfect example of why you should always carry at least one extra large condom - when you feel like launching into this kinda tantrum, pull that rubber over your head cuz you're being a huge dick, and ya need to take precautions for your own safety's sake.

Some interesting things going on here.  First, the firefighters seem to be very well-trained in the Customer Relations aspect of their profession.  Good on 'em for that.  I wonder if certain select police departments might take a cue from this - yeah, that may be too much to hope for.

Anyway, second is that this jackwad seems to think everybody thinks exactly the way he thinks.  He says as much - although he pulls up a little short of "everybody" when he says something like "90% of the people in this county would agree with me...".  

And it's really interesting; when the bystander starts taking the video, the ranter first assumes he's in the right and that his exultant righteousness is being perfectly preserved, but then he realizes the witness isn't on his side and he looks a bit surprised because he's been getting constant reassurances that of course everybody feels this way and if everybody would just behave like complete assholes we'd soon be living in the Utopian America of our Beloved Koch Brothers' Founders' Dreams - so instead of stopping to consider the possibility that he might be wrong about something (which is simply never allowed) he flips over and assumes the role of persecuted underdog; and besides, he's in too deep now, so he's gotta double down.

The guy has totally internalized the lessons of DumFux News and Breitbart and WND etc to near-perfection.  It's as though he just can't help himself - the triggering stimulus has been received and if he doesn't respond according to the conditioning, the negative pressure of the resultant cognitive dissonance would cause his brain to implode.

So let's allow it to percolate for a minute - this douchenozzle is loudly bitching about the cost of feeding firefighters; the guys who will drop everything, come to his house, run into a fire, and pull his dumb ass out of a FUCKING FIRE.  But none of that matters because it's way more important to complain about 6 bucks worth of diesel fuel(?)

It's called "Punching Down", and it's the logical extreme of the bullshit policies of Trickle Down Economics.  "The Nobles" have been pissin' on this guy's head; they've got him convinced it's rain; and now they're telling him to make the local fire department buy an umbrella for him.

I guess I can keep hoping guys like this Ranter Guy will eventually figure out he's mad at the wrong people, but...

I've got my own shit to deal with.

Luther The Anger Translator

BTW - that's Keegan Michael Key, and you should be watching Key & Peele every chance you get on Comedy Central.

Today's Tweet

how to sneak chocolate undetected into a US cinema pic.twitter.com/GkBNQFAUV8
— inexorable pride (@eggsandbread) April 19, 2015

It's A Global Thing

hat tip = FB buddy VWE

Some Tunes

If You Want Me To Stay --Sly And The Family Stone

I Want You To Want Me --Cheap Trick

Fix You --Cold Play

I Don't Wanna Talk About It --Rod Stewart

Keep Me In Mind --Loggins & Messina

Rosanna --Toto

I'll Take You There --The Staple Singers

A Family Affair --Sly And The Family Stone

Don't Need No Reason --Jack Mack And The Heart Attack

Let It Roll --Little Feat

Today's Pix

Euphemisms

hat tip = Facebook buddy DR

It Don't Come Easy

Hillary has some 'splainin' to do.

Alternet:

There are likely a number of factors for why Clinton went from a critic of these corporate-written trade agreements to a supporter while in the Obama administration to more or less neutral today. But one very important factor for voters to know about is the role her own personal wealth might have played in the matter.

Because spousal income is shared, cabinet officials are required to report not only their own personal financial data but also incoming income their spouse receives. While Clinton was Secretary of State, her husband continued his lucrative corporate speaking tour, receiving millions of dollars from both foreign and domestic corporations.

I'd like to hold out just a tiny glimmer of hope that this one thing would spark an open and honest discussion about what these trade deals are all about, but I think we all know by now that it's much more likely to be politics-as-usual, and we'll have to hack our way thru all the media/consultancy/advocacy bullshit first, which means we'll run outa time way before we get to learn anything of substance, which means 100 million Americans will vote for somebody whose position on this fairly important policy will be almost complete unknown.

And that's not to mention the shitty little feeling everybody has that there's a buncha stuff in TPP that has nothing to do with trade.

We might get a good look at how adept Hillary has become.  I'm not giving her a lotta props yet because she still sounds pretty clunky to me, but if she can manage a turn-around on this one and make something good for herself out of it, I'm willing to lay off a little.