I’d like to report a hijacking...

(My apologies for the delay; but for a while I, like so many of us, was in such shock at what he was seeing that he just couldn’t believe his eyes.  Then, his denial made him hope that, like so many other things, it would all just “self correct”.  Well, needless to say, it’s only gotten worse.)

Anyhow - Yup – You heard right...

A hijacking.

And, not just any old “small scale hijacking”...  

 Nope – This one is worse – Much worse.

This is a “mass-hijacking”...

The scale of which modern society have never known.

The entire Untied States of America has been hijacked.

Hijacked by greed.

Hijacked by wealth.

Hijacked – Not by “the 1%”.

  

Hijacked by less than 1% of the 1%.

A small handful of (extremely wealthy, extremely greedy, and extremely small minded) robber-barons have hijacked an entire country.

These despicable and seditious outlaws 
(bitter old white men, like the Koch Brothers) 
are holding the once free United States of America as a crippled hostage – a slave to their biddings.  

(‘Looks like they were just sick of being told what they can and can’t do – 
So, they simply decided to go and buy the country and do it their way.)

I know.  I know.  All this sounds a bit farfetched to be true.  

But, let’s look at some evidence...

The 3 branches of government are: 

the Legislative, the Judicial, and the Executive...  

Unfortunately, the first two have become corrupted 
(and co-opted) by greed.

The Supreme Court has been hijacked.

At least three of these so called justices (Scalia, Thomas, & Roberts) are Koch brothers sycophants.  
Fact: Thomas’s wife is in the full time employment of a Koch Brother’s sham lobbing organization.
Fact: Roberts regularly accepts gifts and vacations from the Koch Bros and their minions.  
(Where is the outrage!)

The Legislature (and most specifically, the House of Representatives) has been hijacked.

These lap-dogs and sycophants masquerading as “our” representatives in fact only represent the very wealthiest of the wealthy.

They have been corrupted by money.... Bought and paid for by employees of sham organizations 

(which are financed by the Koch Bros and their despicable ilk).  

These modern-day bag-men and pimps parade around K Street disguised as “lobbyists” - 

What they are really doing is criminal 

(but as long as they “own” the law-makers & justices, they will never be prosecuted).
(There should be outrage – But there is not.)

At the moment, the Executive Branch has yet to be totally hijacked... But, not for want of trying.

But, the fix is in...

The hijackers are investing a fortune to overthrow the Presidency.
They will stop at nothing.  (Their greed, and sedition, knows no end.)

They have manufactured a Manchurian ... Or rather... 

A Koch Candidate to overthrow the Presidency.

Their thought police have manufactured the facts... 

And, manipulated the public into voting against their own interests.

In addition to buying the government, they have bought the media 
(Fox, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, et al).  
And made it their full time effort to manipulate public opinion.

The Koch Bros (and their ilk) have funded organizations like: 

Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, Americans for Prosperity, 

FreedomWorks, the Tea Party (and many more) ...  

All, whose sole mission has been to dupe the masses 

(into believing that what's good for the Koch Bros is good for them).  

They have been all too successful in their mission.  

(The masses have been conned.)

This despicable, yet brilliant, tactic makes the people complicit in their own hijacking.

(Our Representative Democracy has become a mockery.  

It is no longer "Of the people, for the people, and by the people".

It is now "Of the Koch Bros, for the Koch Bros, and by the Koch Bros".

 Our Democracy has been hijacked and replaced with a Kleptocracy.)

THIS IS AN EPIC HIJACKING...

IT MUST BE STOPPED...

NOW BEFORE IT IS TO LATE.

IT IS TIME FOR THE MASSES TO AWAKEN... 

TO RISE-UP AGAINST THIS EVIL MACHINE - 

that has hijacked every one of us.

USE WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY...

 AND - SUBDUE YOUR HIJACKERS.

 

IT IS TIME WE TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY!!!!!

 

TAKE BACK OUR LIVES!!!!!

 

NOW!!!!!!!!!

Political Jokes

"The problem with political jokes is that (too often) they get elected."

'Guess that means the joke's on us.

;-)

xxx

Deficit Reduction...

The Real Solution.

Okay.  Not that anyone asked - But, here's my 2 cents on the topic... 

(Which, BTW, is probably about what its worth)  ;-)

The solution’s pretty simple.  

The solution is not taxes. And, its not budget cutting.

For a minute, let's think of government as business...

Taxes are to government as gross income is to business – In both cases, it supplies the revenue necessary for that business (or government) to flourish.   A government that increases taxes on its citizens in order to raise revenue ends up doing the same thing as a business (deep in debt) would do by increasing its prices.  Yes – It may supply a bit of temporary relief.  However, that  temporarily help, quickly turns into a long-term  business-killer.  (Its simple - When the cost is too high, folks take their business elsewhere.)

Okay – So raising taxes (or prices) is not a viable long term solution for either business or government.  Then what is?  How ‘bout trimming expenses?

Well, actually, significantly cutting the (government’s) budget does the same as a business (also deep in debt) cutting its budget – Again, this apparent solution only leads to a worsening of the problem.  (Cutting services to citizens or customers will only produce an immediate, and counterproductive, backlash.)

So, if neither raising taxes (or prices) nor significantly cutting expenses will help get a government (or business) out of a hole (at least in the long-term), then what will?

Its time for government to learn from business.  Namely...

If a business is in trouble, the best way out is simple.  

Get more customers.  Period.  

That’s all there is to it.  (Increased top-line sales revenue will always yield profitability.)   Increasing prices and cutting budgets only leads to fewer customers (at the very time the business needs them most).   And, for government, its the same – Increasing taxes and cutting budgets only leads to still fewer taxpayers (and still lower revenue).

Just like in business (where the more happy / paying customers you have, the more successful you are) - Every successful government needs happy / taxpaying citizens.  So, just like business, the best way for our (or any) government to get out of (budget) trouble is simple – Get more taxpayers.  (Not higher taxes or reduced budgets.)   More taxpayers means more revenue.  

The math is simple – When our unemployment rate is low,  our government runs at a surplus.  At full employment, we could pay down our entire debt in our lifetime.  (This, of course, is also the best argument for a country to liberalize its citizenship rules. After all, the more working citizens a country has, the more tax revenue that country collects.  Counter intuitively, tight immigration restrictions are very likely to contribute to a greatly worsened deficit.)

That’s it.  All we need to do is increase employment, and our budget deficit disappears.  And, yes – there will be short-term negative impacts to our budget if the government intervenes to decrease unemployment.  But, those short-term costs are actually the quickest – most effective way to decrease our long-term debt.  (After all, just like in business, you have to spend money to make money.)

None of this is rocket science.  More folks paying taxes, means more money for our Treasury.  (Heck, it must be simple if even I can understand it.) 

Of course, to our leaders down in DC none of this is news.  The truth is, the majority of them already know this is the only real solution – But, instead of working together to institute some real solutions, they are shortsightedly choosing the fate of their (political) parties over the fate of their nation (leaving us all to suffer).  This, unfortunately, remains the core of the problem.  They're only concern seems to be their own gains and "victory at all costs"  (regardless what that cost is for: truth, decency, our citizens, our democracy, and even our very existence). 

Knowing you could save a life (in this case, the life of your country) and choosing NOT to for your own short term gain should be criminal.  (It is, at the very least, despicable.)  Unfortunately, under the current polarized system, this is not likely to change.

Maybe.  Just maybe.  We’d be a lot better off with no political parties.  With no political parties, the vast majority of the acrimony would immediately disappear.  Our public servants would be free to serve us, and not their political parties - to do the right thing by us, and not the politically expedient thing (for their party’s gain).

Okay.  Okay.  I know – That’s crazy talk.  ;-)  Hmm...  Oh well – We can dream, can’t we?

xxx

.

Our Final Hour?

Sir Martin Rees

He is the Royal Society Professor at Cambridge University, a Fellow of Kings College, and the England’s Astronomer Royal. He is the most awarded scientist in Britain, a Knight, and the President of the British Royal. He is not simply considered Britain's most respected Scientist – He is, quite simply, one of the World’s most respected Scientists.

In 2005, in his book: “Our Final Hour”, Professor Rees categorically states:

“The odds are no better than fifty-fifty that our present civilization on Earth will survive to the end of the present century.”

Remember, this is not the idle rant of an uninformed mind. No - far from it - this is the sober scholarly scientific prediction of one the World’s most informed (and trusted) minds.

That prediction was made over five years ago. And, since then, as each day has passed, our odds have steadily decreased.

Isn't it time that we plan accordingly?

.