RedSpawn

About that bitcoin. . . https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/11/ernst-young-warn-bitcoin-payment-problems

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nbc-fires-matt-lauer-over-sexual-misconduct-allegation/ar-BBFUkZa?OCID=ansmsnnews11 It appears that news organizations are also using "sexual harassment" to clean house of its older veteran reporters that are costing too much money in their new streamlined cost structure. I am not suggesting that NBC shouldn't take this allegation against Matt Lauer seriously; however, the removal of so many veteran reporters from a variety of news establishments leads me to believe that this is also a race to the bottom in terms of cost control for the cottage industry of "NEWS AS INFOTAINMENT".

Politics is the activities associated with the governance of a country, especially the debate or conflict among individuals and/or parties having or hoping to achieve power. Now that we have established the foundation for politics, America's current politics has been disguised as a "White male" undercurrent, but what is really going on is: The global economy doesn't submit to the laws, whims, or ingrained power structure of America's nation-state. America has traditionally been founded as a country (nation-state) whose powerful institutions were controlled by white Anglo-Saxon men for the benefit of white Anglo-Saxon men. The global economy challenges this dynamic. The global economy cares about monetary greenbacks—not tribal symbolism. Corporate America, also beholden to the mores of the global economy, doesn't care about preserving a white male majority in its employment ranks; instead, it cares about increasing shareholder value. This "attack" on the will of America's nation-state and the march towards a well-connected global economy causes temporary instability in labor markets, upsets market fundamentals that we thought were guided by an Invisible Hand, and threatens the financial livelihood of several white collar and blue collar white men who are accustomed to the nation-state protecting their interests above others. The global economy isn't a sympathetic soul, however. It isn't an astute history major either, so it cares not about preserving white privilege in America's institutions. White privilege wasn't a major problem or hideous moral failing when the benefactors and electorate looked exactly the same from a tribal perspective. The global economy also doesn't care about protectionism, nor does it care about isolationism. It cares about commerce, productivity, performance metrics, bottom lines, and profit margins. Job security and political empowerment of people are not the global economy's major concern unless it directly and adversely impacts the production or distribution of natural and human resources. Bottom line: White privilege is a CULTURAL problem NOT a COMMERCE problem. White privilege is a moral failing that had huge implications in the outcomes of America's business, educational, legal, social, political, financial, and economic institutions. Americans tend to forget how systemic white privilege was in the administration of national policy. So, it's natural that as we align with the interests of a global economic order, we are alarmed and surprised to learn we can't foist our old, tired racial order on the broader global economy. In addition, the preservation of white privilege is NOT a human rights issue—never has been, never will be. White privilege is an entitlement problem. And all chickens eventually come home to roost. The global economy has evolved and takes no prisoners. Now, it's time for America to EVOLVE in its race relations or suffer the geopolitical consequences for remaining overly sentimental to an old establishment. America appears stuck and ineffectual at addressing the needs and concerns of a people steamrolled by an unforgiving global economy. And the displaced are thirsty for anyone to explain this paradigm shift and promise protection from the ruthless efficiency of the new global order. Enter snake oil salesman. . .with unrealistic promises of restoring the old racial order and dictating the terms and conditions of an evolving global economy.

America's past is so twisted, distorted, and self-serving. Are there enough focal lenses in the world to provide the proper context of our grand heist and kidnapping of young America from her original occupants? Rumor has it that we did it all legal and that all transactions and contracts were executed at arm's length? Hmmmmm.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2017/11/22/terminix-fined-pesticide-use/888444001/ Is it just me or does that $9.2 million fine seems kinda low? Hmmm.

We have talked earlier about the hyper-consolidation of the media landscape into basically 6-7 powerful corporate groups. It is long overdue for the Department of Justice to contest this merger but there were so many before this one that they should have halted as well. This lawsuit may be a token resistance strategy by the DOJ. However, the PTB should compel AT&T to make the compelling case that this merger of Time Warner & AT&T is good for consumers and good for the news marketplace.

http://time.com/5016727/corruption-crackdowns-can-bring-political-advantages/?xid=homepage&pcd=hp-magmod Interesting discussion about Saudi Arabia's need to transition from a petro-state to a diversified economy (and how to do it).

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives. http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/15/politics/russia-investigation-fusion-gps-glenn-simpson-dossier/index.html

Any thoughts on this considering that NK met with Russia in September 2017? Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/14/china-north-korea-special-envoy-visit/865201001/

True. It's amazing how the Fed has to play a delicate balancing act of keeping our paranoia in check. Take below, for example, with respect to the total $ amount of US currency in the world! WOW! This doesn't even account for the mega-multinational corporations who hoard enormous sums of cash as well. I can't even imagine how nervous the Federal Reserve was in 2008 when everyone wanted more than $3,800 in physical cash under their mattress. A bank run is one of a central banker's worst nightmare. It must cure the paranoia before it spreads like wildfire and soaks up all of the liquidity in the marketplace. Source: https://consumerist.com/2008/07/17/what-does-a-bank-run-look-like-in-2008-a-lot-like-1912/

NEWS ALERT! NEWS ALERT! THE UNITED STATES ARMY HAS DONE A COMPLETE ABOUT FACE!!! Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/15/army-says-usa-today-story-forced-drop-plans-waivers-high-risk-recruits/866626001/ I thought the U.S. Army had lost its fathermucking mind, but they cleaned up a horrendous decision regarding waivers for high-risk recruits. They didn't even need an Inspector General to make it happen. Well just touch me in the morning and then just walk away.

duplicate-please Delete.

I definitely see your point, but racists aren't going to have a mea culpa by being told their dogma is reprehensible. You have to dismantle their dogma one leg at a time until it becomes a jalopy resting on 4 cinder blocks. You want a racist left with no legitimate leg to stand on from a verified historical perspective. Remember, racists believe their TRUTH is very real because it is a belief system. It is taught and learned behavior in social settings. It's been taught through a network of friends, peers, parents, extended family members, and even corporate product brand marketing. You could almost consider it a very intriguing form of brainwashing. That's why one must practically perform a Vulcan mind meld with a racist to transfer all of that damn American History to them with bibliographic references so they can see you aren't just making $hit up. :P http://www.startrek.com/uploads/assets/db_articles/4403d71af0734f504885befcce1866355cb8eb0b.jpg I would suggest a place like the Library of Congress or the Georgia Archives Library in Atlanta, Georgia. When people start to see the real history up close and personal without all of the exaggerated myths and mystique that family members add to it, they begin to loosen up. Source: http://www.georgiaarchives.org/ Source: https://www.loc.gov/ Racists start to realize that at the very least they were misinformed but you don't want to cause them any public shame or embarrassment because of their condition. The "aha" moment when a racist realizes he was taken for a ride becomes the catalyst where he can prostrate himself before the altar of truth and migrate from tribalism to true American nationalism. We have to be honest here. We aren't going to shame racists into higher, elegant thinking. Didn't work back in the day and won't work now. Shamed racists become sitting ducks for an alleged tragic hero like President Trump. He provides them with legitimacy, validation, and a lovely national political platform to spew hateful rhetoric and political dog whistles. We have to bring the racist to the fountain of truth in his own hometown with his own history from libraries. Only then can the decontamination process truly begin. EXAMPLE OF TAUGHT RACISM THROUGH CORPORATE BRAND MARKETING THE EVOLUTION OF AUNT JEMIMA (MAMMY) FROM OLD DIXIE TO POSTMODERN ERA http://atlantablackstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/aunt-jemima1.jpg Note how the Quaker Oats Company gave Aunt Jemima, the quintessential subservient mammy, a "Jenny Jones Makeover" in 1994 by removing her "Dixie bandanna" and giving her a coiffed leisure curl, a pearl earring, and a dainty lace collar. They wanted to give their trademark an air of respectability in a post-modern era. My, my, my how times have changed.

Very good question. I agree that a certain group's rights are not more superior than the other's but that is where diplomacy is so damn hard! If we shame the racist, we just move their behavior to the shadows of the community. Racism tends to grow exponentially in the shadows. That's why you have to engage the racist in a dialogue but not in an accusatory way. When you categorically reject the dogma and overlook the nostalgic privilege inherent in the Antebellum South period, you dismiss the racist and his ideas and the Old Dixie culture. You get nowhere fast. I honestly try not to crucify the racist culture and its symbols but try to provide a historical framework of how these symbols evolved in the 1st place. I try to get the racist to acknowledge the tribalism inherent in the Confederate statues. I want them to recognize the power of that symbol and how it is a painful reminder of a complicated past in which the South was built by exploiting certain minorities for the financial gain of a protected Anglo-Saxon class. I want them to see how the South was built for almost a full century on the backs of and the sweat equity of slaves who were chattel property with no legal standing in the eyes of state and federal governments. For example, Winston provided an article in which an Italian-American citizen of a declining rural town discussed that NFL stood for "Ni&&ers For Life" and how he believed the NFL was a franchise participating in a race to the bottom because it is overrun by well, you know. One of the participants suggested that African-Americans haven't worked as hard as his Italian ancestors and had not really earned the respect of others in the community. He posited that African Americans want respect handed to them on a silver platter and that offends his American values of success through hard work and enterprise. No one challenged him about how there were millions of African-American slaves who provided a seemingly inexhaustible supply of FREE labor to help build the South and create a wealthy class of genteel Southern Anglo-Saxon aristocrats who ruled with South and its politics with an iron fist. No one challenged his notion that African-Americans have endured a long journey to freedom where they have evolved from chattel property to second class citizens to 1st class citizens on this American soil. No one reminded this guy how a 170+ year journey of sweat equity alone more than qualifies African-Americans as an American brother. Tribalism can lull people into an alternative universe of facts when reinforced with groupthink psychology. His stereotype of "the lazy, shiftless uneducated Negro" made him overlook that "minor" donation of almost 100 years of FREE labor African Americans provided to help transform the South (and Old Dixie) into an powerful economic and political engine of wealth and prosperity that rivaled the Northern states of America. If that achievement alone is not good enough to earn the respect of the community, then I don't know what is. True, African-Americans didn't choose to be slaves; they had to play their position in the community and embrace an American dream deferred for centuries. In short, that citizen ignored the well-documented history of America to support his visceral and misguided point of view of the African-American work ethic and value to the larger community. His tribalism was on autopilot and no one checked it, so he embraced HIS truth as valid even though it was grossly inaccurate. Racism and extreme tribalism are borne from the fertile ground of ignorance and naiveté. I believe we must challenge that ignorance and naivete with American history as provided and documented in various libraries and archive systems in the South. Racists need to get up close and personal with American History and if they still choose to double down on their racism and tribalism, they at least know its bravado and false disguise. And then we can both wink at each other knowing the inconvenient truth as they disseminate their propaganda.

AMEN!!!!!

This is a nice idea but there is a problem here. Under no uncertain terms should Confederate statutes be treated as "less than". If we relegate (or retire) Confederate statues to a certain park, we are indirectly corralling them and treating them as if their useful life in the local community is over. It is viewed as a symbolic rejection of the values of America's past and that, my friend, is where you will hear people raise their spears and yodel a tribal chant that will shame even Tarzan! There are a lot of Americans who simply do not subscribe to the notion of letting go of Old Dixie as their family heritage, self-identity, and American struggle is inextricably linked to the Confederate statue. Retiring the statue is analogous to retiring the heritage embodied in it. In America, people are gentle souls who desperately want to be heard, understood, and validated. If we retire, relocate, or relegate the Confederate statues to a "certain" park, we dishonor the underlying meaning people attach to those statues in their local community; too late, they are offended and feel dejected by a change in tribal symbols and customs. That's why we have to talk about the underlying notion of tribalism in the Deep South that is guiding the attachment to these Confederate statues. We have to talk about how tribalism has an overarching effect on the race politics in the Deep South. It's the ugly elephant in the room because when statues get moved, tribal members feel a sense of pain and loss and resentment. And such resentment easily spills over into our politics and policy positions as the offended get defensive. We might even hear language dripping with stereotypes such as "those people", "your kind" or even worse, "you people". Tribalism matters but we have to get folks to acknowledge there is a tribal instinct at play in the South. People don't like to talk about this matter because they perceive the relocation of Confederate statues as a personal attack on the rich history of the Antebellum South and a categorical rejection of what once was. They view the relocation of Confederate statues as an appeasement offering to overly sensitive "adopted members" of the hyphenated American family. These Confederate statues are essentially good will ambassadors of Old Dixie. And make no mistake about it, Old Dixie will rise again like a phoenix from the ashes if we don't have a healthy dialogue about what the South is and isn't. We are an adopted family in America and we all are fighting for our spot in the American dream and in the annals of American history. This is a very interesting article on tribalism and how it affects how people see themselves in America. Source: http://www.wnd.com/2016/12/in-defense-of-tribalism-a-super-tribe-america/

True and very good points. I will go scurrying around the internet to see if I can find some of that data. Stay tuned. :) Thanks for the feedback.

https://www.scribd.com/document/247741026/JPMorgan-Testmony-1912 The very astute J.P. Morgan who loaned huge sums of money to the U.S. government during the Great Depression said, "Gold is money and nothing else." That being said, gold is money and all else are derivatives. Ever since we left the gold standard our U.S. dollar is a derivative product. I know, blasphemous, right? Our money (fiat currency) is subject to heavy manipulation as can be seen with the central bank's balance sheet which exploded by $3 trillion extra dollars since the Wall Street collapse. Inflation confiscates our wealth and robs us of necessary purchasing power. Inflation depreciates the value of fiat currency and thus depreciates the value of our human capital in the labor market which is measured in $ of unit time. If inflation gets too high and people start to catch on to the shenanigans behind the curtain in Financial Oz, our government just changes the components of the CPI index or makes a call on the red phone to its partner in Saudi Arabia to request an increase in the market supply of OPEC oil which will eventually lower the retail price of gas at the pump. This measure keeps the illusion that inflation is low and all financial systems are 'GO'. GO FILL UP YOUR CAR WITH DECENTLY PRICED GAS, GO TO WORK, AND MAKE THOSE DONUTS! Take another trip around the VIRTUAL MONOPOLY board and pass 'GO' and collect the standard $200 salary. Our global economy demands unquestioned loyalty and nothing else of its disposable human containers. Our fiat currency meant more when it was actually backed by physical gold reserves but we left that reality long ago. We exist in a VIRTUAL financial world with a VIRTUAL banking system with VIRTUAL capital markets and a VIRTUAL credit system. Our financial systems now engage in unsavory business practices rife with VIRTUAL TRUST, VIRTUAL INTEGRITY, VIRTUAL GOOD FAITH, and VIRTUAL CHARACTER. Problem is: Too many of the venerated financial institutions have forsaken what little VIRTUES they had to protect the value of their brand in the market. Unfortunately, unbridled greed and hubris have become the bottom line. Disciplined corporate governance is now a comedic punch line. Their folly is published as tabloid fodder in newspaper headlines. OUR PARADOX: Our big banks are too big to fail; never too big to fleece others; and never too big for a video game RESET when their gross professional misconduct destroys their ability to continue as a going concern. With the housing bubble collapse, our nation traded our financial credibility for creature comforts and the false disguise of prosperity and status. Our global neighbors watched our folly as we manipulated other governments and played a highly sophisticated game of smoke and mirrors to keep this financial machine operating and to keep appearances. They questioned our intellectual honesty, our maturity of judgment, and our moral courage to do the right thing especially when the stakes are high and the consequences are unpleasant. Do we have the resolve to reveal our character flaws and our humanity? There's a glitch in the financial matrix; we are seeing more anomalies of the programming code each year. Are we going to recognize the red flags and do something about them or stay cocooned in our false economy and wait for the next asset bubble to burst. Are we going to wait for Uncle Sam to throw another T.A.R.P. over the next financial debacle in our overheated capital markets and play us for sitting ducks again? We always have the gift of choice and the gift of voice as long as our hearts and minds are alive and well. The question is do we have the moral courage to do what's best for our children now so they don't wake up in a land wholly owned by faceless corporations and manipulative governments. Would you like the red pill or the blue pill?

LET'S ROLL BACK THE FINANCIAL REGULATION OF BIG BANKS TO RIGHT BEFORE THE HOUSING BUBBLE COLLAPSE OF OCTOBEER 2008 THE FINANCIAL CHOICE ACT IS ON THE SENATE'S RADAR! Very scary that this news was somewhat buried in the mass media news cycle. We are frogs slowly simmering in a soon-to-be boiling pot. We are embracing the financial "deregulatory environment" that led to the housing bubble collapse in 2008. WARNING: NEW ASSET BUBBLE AHEAD http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/150529153704-lookahead-bubbles-780x439.jpg

True, but I amended the original post with additional relevant information. Wikileaks works with 5 respected news agencies across the world to determine what documents submitted to its platform qualify for publication. It's this coordinated review and approval process with these news agencies that elevates Wikileaks from unwitting bulletin board and conduit to a "conscious, active participant" or agent in foreign policy. I think a better case can be made for conduit if the Russian government could post information to Wikileaks without its express or implied consent even if the supplier was an anonymous source. . . but that's not the case here. The webmaster of Wikileaks is responsible for the content provided on his website and this review and approval process of content fit for publication meets the legal standard of scienter. Thus, Wikileaks knew or should have known that the information Russia allegedly hacked could have been obtained illegally and could have come from a "dark" government intelligence agency. Also, Wikileaks knew or should have known from the review and approval process that this type of content had the ability to significantly sway public sentiment in a U.S. federal election. It published the content anyway and there is an assumption of legal risk for this decision. Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/421949/everything-you-need-to-know-about-wikileaks/

Agreed. The genie is already outside of the bottle and there is no magical way to put her back in. Source: https://mises.org/blog/fbi-us-homicide-rate-51-year-low Please let's review this article above. If the U.S. homicide rate is allegedly at a 51 year low per capita, why are we clamoring that today's gun shops need more regulation than 51 years ago. Keep in mind if the 51 year low homicide rate is true AND we have MORE guns in the US than we did 51 years ago, are we really worse off? Is the media able to microscope the worst of the worst crimes, classify them as "special", and prey on our insecurities of wanting Uncle Sam to don a Superman cape to save us from these out-of-control mass shootings? Is it possible that the news producers at media outlets are trying to sway our public opinion on this policy matter? Are we seeing propaganda in action? Is the 4th estate a mouthpiece for desired government policy decisions? Let's do the math and the homework and have a healthy discussion based on data, trends, and careful analysis. If the data is flawed, please let's discuss how, but this just doesn't add up. We are awash in more guns and have lower homicides per capita than 51 years ago but we need tighter gun control on semiautomatic assault rifles to clamp down on all of these mass shootings. U.S. MURDER RATE PER 100,000 FROM 1960-2010 http://s3.amazonaws.com/content.washingtonexaminer.biz/web-producers/120515-Murders.jpg

http://jamiedupree.blog.ajc.com/2017/11/14/attorney-general-frowns-on-gop-calls-for-special-counsel-to-probe-hillary-clinton/ Is this much ado about nothing or are we watching the evolution of the Salem Massachusetts witch trials in Washington D.C.?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/12/army-lifts-ban-recruits-history-self-mutilation-other-mental-health-issues/853131001/ Say what? Something ain't right! Something ain't right! We do a disservice to our military families when we lower our admission standards for mission-ready recruits. What is going on here? Are we forsaking our current admissions standards and jeopardizing the safety, security, and lives of our existing troops for the primary purpose of bolstering headcount and meeting overly aggressive recruitment and retention goals? This is symptomatic of a "winning by any means necessary" mentality which imperils our armed forces and puts them at extreme additional risk in war theatre scenarios. What's more important -- achievement of the recruitment goal or imperiling the lives of our troops to meet these seemingly unattainable goals? Where is the Inspector General when you need one? Someone please sound the alarm! Senior management in the armed forces has violated their fiduciary duty to uphold the military ethics code and protect their men from unnecessary harm. They are more concerned about keeping appearances than acknowledging the economic reality of what the labor markets are telling them about military service pay. If you pay your men what they are worth, it will attract more eligible mission-ready men WITHOUT LOWERING ADMISSION STANDARDS, Senior management is trapped in the quicksand of their own hypocrisy, indifference, smug arrogance and shortsightedness.

Hypocrisy does not absolve one of punishment for his own transgressions; however, it does make one an awful judge of character in evaluating other's wrongdoing. America has to demonstrate the moral superiority it claims it has. Hypocrisy fuels resentment, undermines our credibility, and destroys our reputation. And without credibility, it's hard for us to build trust and build consensus and negotiate in good faith with our neighbors (and our enemies). That's one of the reasons North Korea won't negotiate with us. They can smell our hypocrisy from a mile away. Hypocrisy is the scarlet letter in politics. Hypocrisy makes us as guilty as the bad actor we are punishing. Hypocrisy is the ugliness we vividly see in others yet conveniently ignore in ourselves. It's the social mask we refuse to remove because protecting our reputation is more important than repairing our character flaws. Hypocrisy provides fertile ground to cultivate the weeds of arrogance and complacency. And that, my friend, is where we are as a nation. We are stuck in our own quicksand of hypocrisy. Our neighbors see this moral failing and whisper behind our backs. They know the truth but we remain defensive, blanketed in denial, and dependent on propaganda, military might, and bravado to artificially inflate our self-worth and distract others from our own shortcomings and insecurities. http://bojidarmarinov.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/hypocrisy.jpg

I think we are arguing over semantics. Wikileaks works with 5 selected news agencies across the world to determine what "trove" of documents can be released on its platform. Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/421949/everything-you-need-to-know-about-wikileaks/ An agent is a person or thing that acts on behalf of another or acts a proxy of another. Official awareness or scienter of this relationship is not necessary. Someone can be fooled into acting as an agent of another. The quote is worded to suggest the American intelligence community believes Wikileaks was chosen by the Russian government to disseminate information it had hacked. This means Wikileaks became either an active agent or an unwitting agent of the principal, the Russian government. It became a communications outlet for the dissemination of propaganda that was factually accurate and completely damning regarding HRC and the DNC. At the end of the day, the article suggests and the American intelligence community believes Wikileaks is working to further Russian interests since it allegedly tipped the scales of the 2016 Presidential election to their desired candidate. Whether the exact nature of the relationship between Russia & Wikileaks is agreed-upon collusion or as an unwitting dupe in an international spy vs. spy internet game -- I'll let the espionage experts and our Department of Justice decide.