There's No More "Room at the Top"

I watched about half of the March 22^nd “Ring of Fire” episode.  Two things stood out.  The oil companies both for the “Baccan shale” and the Alberta tar sands- - don’t care about safety precautions for the trains seemingly at all.  They don’t want speed limits imposed, and they don’t want their braking systems updated- - even if the technology there is “a hundred years out of date”.  If that seems horribly callous- - consider the fact that the shale has naturally occurring butane gas trapped in with it, which is explosive.  And they actually thin out the Alberta tar sands with an explosive hydrocarbon such as butane just so the material will be easier to transport.  Clearly the petroleum companies are just money mad.  The second story is just as disturbing.  In order to get cell phone coverage or any of the modern “aps” and such people use- - you have to sign a contract agreeing to arbitration if anything goes wrong.  They say it’s for the benefit of the customer, in case anything goes wrong.  But in reality trial lawyers, tat most vilified profession by Republicans, is the only group with a moral compass.  They stand up for the little guy in his cause to right injustices.  Also these contracts forbid you to join in on any class action suits, which is another weapon the consumer class used to have.  Of course there was a lot of stuff on either Hartman or Stephanie Miller about this Indiana law.  Big money has turned against that law and that governor in a big way.  This is supposed to be the “Larry Elder market remedy” we’ve all heard about.  I don’t think people like Hannity see it that way.  No matter what Big Money says- - all of these corporations, the chamber of commerce, the NCAA and the rest- - - Sean Hannity is going to chalk it up to the work of hysterical leftists.  It seems as long as there is Sheria law in Iran- - we aren’t allowed to express our opinions (voting with our consumer dollars) here in this country.  Personally I wish women and gay groups would get concerned about repression in Islamic countries, but for some reason- - you just don’t see that.

I don’t want to fall into the same trap the political Right falls into by repeating the same laundry list of hot button issues endlessly.  I don’t believe my blogs do that.  I address the issues of the day when they come up.  And you can read commentary on past issues go going back a few years and looking at my concerns of - - 2012 or whenever.  Just now I have this Indiana Governor Mike Pence interview on.  This Indiana law is not about the “State” interfering with your religious liberty, so arguably its provisions are not even covered in the first amendment, which makes explicit reference to Congress passing laws.  In this case it would be congress passing laws to interfere with the “free exercise” of your religion.  But you don’t even have to be a member of any church to discriminate.  You can just say “My religion” and as Section 9 of this law apparently says – saying “My religion” is what is known as a “Perfect Defense” meaning it can’t be challenged.  Now he’s back-tracking, which Shawn is upset about- - saying that this religious rights law won’t violate the rights of gay Americans.  What is funny is that this is what Shawn and the others had been saying all along.  But now that Governor Mike Pence wants to make it official, people like Shawn think he’s caving to pressure.  Governor Pence just said “The religion restoration act doesn’t give anyone in Indiana the right to discriminate or the right to deny services”.  All the same the guy was nervous and pensive as he mounted the rostrum for the statement.  He’s been talking to all those businesses looking for a way to remedy the situation.  He said “I don’t believe for a minute it was the intension of the legislature to create a license to discriminate.  He also made reference to the 1993 law signed by President Clinton – about “religious rights”.  Shawn played some of Clinton’s signing statement.  It was the “Hobby Lobby” ruling that said that corporations can have religion.  Really?

President Obama had just commuted the sentences of twenty two drug offenders who had Prison sentences that were decades long.  Two criteria is that they pose no threat to public safety and also that they were sentenced under outdated laws.  The Republicans will no doubt make a lot out of these commutations.  But President Obama has done only about 42 commutations in the six plus years he’s been President, so with this one stroke of the pen, President Obama had doubled the number of commutations, which will still be just a drop in the bucket.

Now a new article is saying what we already knew, that Ronald Reagan was already suffering from the first effects of Alzheimer’s while President.  He would repeat himself more at press conferences.  He would use “thing” and other filters, when he couldn’t conversationally identify the words he wanted to say.  He held fewer press conference- - apparently only half the number of press conferences in eight years as his successor, George HW Bush - - held in four years.  Son Ron, Junior- - knew there was “something wrong – but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it”.  President Reagan used cue cards for routine phone calls.  Others note that the number of words (vocabulary) appeared to shrink while in office.  I don’t know where Nancy Reagan’s belief in astrology fits in except, I believe she asserted “undo influence” over the President.   Friends of Nancy themselves admit that Nancy Reagan functioned as a “filter” for Ronnie.

Jesse the Body Venture has a show called “Off the Grid” on RT, which is an outfit to the left of “Free Speech”.  “The Big Picture” was apparently kicked off “Free Speech” because it was so pro Russian or something.  Ventura says he’s proudest of his interviews with Ron Paul, and also William Shatner.  And you never know when the next Klingon attack will come.  But he’s proudest of his “Fifteen minute monolog on the life and crimes of Dick Chaney. Ventura prides himself on his conspiracy theories, apparently.  We need all voices in television, and it seems Jesse Venture has definitely moved to the left since his days as Minnesota governor.     

Two men dressed as women stormed the NSA headquarters in a stolen car.  Both men were shot and one of them died.  One was 28 and the other was 27 and they were driving on a private access road on Fort Mead military base where NSA HQ’s are.  They are referred to as “common criminals”.  They had been at a party where they stole someone’s SUV, and my guess is alcohol played a role in their cross dressing.  Maybe.  Why are incidents like this happening more often these days?   We are living in strange times.

The NASDAC and the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock average registered slight gains for the quarter and it’s the ninth consecutive gain in stocks.  It’s apparently the most number of consecutive quarters of gain since 1998.  This is the sort of good news that makes the headlines and people see them on their TV and right away they want to jump into the market.  The Dow Jones Industrials registered a slight loss for the quarter.  It’s the same old song and dance and “fear of success” because if the economy is “too strong” then the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, who’s first effect will be to depress the market for capital flow reasons.  But to me it seems a little short of silly.  It would be like being told by your doctor that your broken leg is completely healed and you don’t need crutches any more, and you’re depressed at the news.  I was already on SSI during the run up in stocks in the second two thirds of the nineties.  Had I not made that horrible mistake, then I too just might have made money.

We learn that there isn’t much “Room at the top” any more.  John Lennon once sung, “There is room at the top they are telling you still.  But first you must learn how to smile as you kill”.  Only today that means getting on FOX news.  So just what is this “middle class” that Thom Hartman says we aspire to.  It’s a group that’s sinking in income all the time.  Most young people if they knew how little people in the “middle class” made, wouldn’t aspire to it.  But there is also the reality that the number of “slots” or positions in the upper class- - aren’t that many.  It’s not like it is in soap opera land where all the kids get an A in calculus, and getting a taxi ride is pocket change to them.  We are told if you go to the right pre school then this will increase your income.  We hear a lot of things today.  Mothers are told to stay at home and spend time with their kids.  That makes sense to me, but apparently in terms of “future success” there is not the causal connection between parenting time and future success.  So I guess the question is- - “What IS the deciding factor for future success?”   It seems like one of those things where all you have to do is look at someone- - and see an expression or a “look in the eyes” and you know that person is going places.  Born Again testamonies are rife with these success stories.  In more cases than you think it seems they “Know somebody influencial” or maybe like Sean Hannity have such swollen egos they are natural born demagogues and natural broadcasting talent.  To a degree then, the money you get may reflect your “willingness to be used” as a puppet.