Some people have pointed out that “we are not a democracy”, we are a Constitutional republic.  Neither are we a dictatorship, but our Constitutional republic feels currently to function as a dictatorship based on bribes.  

As heard on Bill Moyers Show, government doesn’t do democracy, people do.  Governments do, however, do dictatorship.  One prefers democracy in our Constitutional Republic than dictatorship.  

A caller to C-Span speaking on the topic of fraud in government offered an example he said he was aware of during the Covid financial aid handout, farmers who were functioning in a family who, in order to procure multiples of loans, split up their land and put it in individual names of family members, in order to qualify for said multiples of loans.  He went on to say local bankers informed the “owners” they didn’t need to pay back the Covid loans because the Fed “wouldn’t come after you”.  

This may be the system Trump has prided himself about being well informed, suggestive that this qualified him to be the President.  Grifting as a qualification for the Presidency, or any other public office for that matter, needs to be discussed.

We have so many public servants who appear to be on the take, that discussion seems apt.https://www.c-span.org/video/?527775-5/michelle-sager-federal-programs-vulnerable-fraud-waste-abuse    —MAY 2, 2023  | PART OF WASHINGTON JOURNAL 05/02/2023

Washington Journal

Michelle Sager on Federal Programs Vulnerable to Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

Michelle Sager talked about the Government Accountability Office’s “High Risk List,” which highlights programs vulnerable to waste, fraud, and abuse.—-end of c-span info–

And speaking of grifting, the Supreme Court Justices come to mind.  In a democracy grifters work in the dark, in a dicatorship they are in the open.  Perception is relevant.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?527809-1/senators-padilla-whitehouse-merkley-supreme-court-ethics-reform    —
MAY 2, 2023

Senators Padilla, Whitehouse and Merkley on Supreme Court Ethics Reform

Senators Padilla, Whitehouse, Merkley, and others hold a news conference to discuss proposed Supreme Court ethics reforms.–end of c-span info–

C-Span–8:00AM–paraphrase–who profits from culture wars?  —  A caller articulated a position that he didn’t have negative feelings toward alternative lifestyles, but he didn’t want it “in his face”.

This caller seemed to refer to other than hetero lifestyle.  So-called lifestyle seems to imply sexual exhibition.  Some people have commented on the marketing exhibition of sexuality, because as they say, sex sells.  We are inundated with advertising to buy products that are presented with highly sexual-ized connotations.  The product may have nothing to do with sexual prowess, but that doesn’t stop marketing.

This is irritating and demeaning to humanity.  But to suggest this turpitude is okay for hetero people but not permissible to alternative lifestyles, feels strained.

An added level of irresponsibility has been inclusion into this marketing circus, of children.  Those with a certain number of years behind them, remember a time when children wren’t included in predatory advertising including the sexual-ization of products for sale.  That time is gone.  

Perhaps if integrity in marketing had been maintained, we could have imagined a culture without such predatory behavior.  

If alternative-lifestyle people are following the bandwagon of conservative leadership, we might not be surprised or so critical.

One warns that Russia is “our enemy”, but as goes information, it can be obtained from unlikely but questionable sources.  That MSM censors so much is a reason to venture cautiously into search for information, as a mature and functioning adult may.  —        https://www.rt.com/news/575620-godfather-of-ai-sounds-warning/     —

Hinton’s told the NYT his motivation for leaving Google was so he could speak without oversight about technology that he now views as posing a danger to mankind. “I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would have,” he told the US newspaper.

Public-facing chatbots such as ChatGPT have provided a glimpse into Hinton’s concern. While they are viewed by some as just more internet novelties, others have warned of the potential ramifications as they relate to the spread of online misinformation, and of their impact on employment.–end of rt info–

Is the demise of humanity being marketed to us under the ‘splanations of progress and technology?  

And in Europe, where the USA presumes to insinuate “Western values” at gunpoint, we have a resurrection of WWII topics.  —  https://www.rt.com/news/575635-poland-war-reparations-russia/          –Under the leadership of the Georgian dictator Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union liberated Poland from Adolf Hitler’s Nazi forces in 1945. Subsequently a communist government was installed and legitimized by a widely disputed 1947 election. The Communist party went on to hold power until 1989. The USSR itself collapsed in 1991.

Demanding reparations has become a key aspect of Polish foreign policy under the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS). Berlin has said it accepts moral responsibility for Nazi crimes and continues to make direct payments to Holocaust survivors in Poland, but argues that other financial claims were settled in the 1950s. Warsaw has insisted that it was short-changed due to the USSR’s desire to move on from the conflict.–end of rt info–

One can imagine a system of worldwide reparations in the form of Universal Income to local communities from worldwide oligarchs who preyed upon and profited by wars over the centuries and spanning all nations.  

So governments can work for the general public, if they wish.  —   https://www.visualcapitalist.com/distribution-of-global-wealth-chart/      —

Interestingly, after much monetary and fiscal stimulus from governments around the world, global household wealth was more than able to recover, finishing up the year at $418.3 trillion, a 7.4% gain from the previous year.

While individuals worth more than $1 million constitute just 1.1% of the world’s population, they hold 45.8% of global wealth.–end of visualcapitalist info–

https://monthlyreview.org/2023/05/01/grand-theft-capital-the-increasing-exploitation-and-robbery-of-the-u-s-working-class/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=grand-theft-capital-the-increasing-exploitation-and-robbery-of-the-u-s-working-class&mc_cid=014ae184c8&mc_eid=2833cdb99b    —

Grand Theft Capital: The Increasing Exploitation and Robbery of the U.S. Working Class

–end of monthlyreview with mronline info–

Both nature and humanity seem to be in the crosshairs of greed by grifters.  —  https://www.nationofchange.org/2023/05/01/how-a-tribal-rights-lawyer-is-winning-back-the-rights-of-nature/     –Proponents of the Rights of Nature movement, which has been gaining momentum since 2006, believe that legal systems should ensure the rights of Earth’s natural environment, which includes all the flora and fauna in any given ecosystem, and put an emphasis on protection, restoration, and stewardship of nature instead of exploitation.

“Rights of Nature is cutting edge,” says tribal rights attorney Frank Bibeau. “It’s not the old paradigm, and people aren’t prepared for it.”

–end of nationofchange info–

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBTb6KHNIbw       —

NBC Smears RFK Jr, Marianne Williamson As ‘FRINGE’ As Biden Weighs FORFEITING NH Primary: Report

–end of thehill info–
****

As one who would be perfectly contented to retain the Senate if they adhered to Oaths of Office more than to Citizens United campaign donations, one is interested in a topic raised as to the reason we maintain the US Senate—-

 This is a reminder of how much we don’t know.  This brings one around to Howie Hawkins, who continues to impress with original thought.  We also could acknowledge Hawkins often speaks to censored information.
One such topic about which one would never have even considered, is whether the USA needs The Senate.  Apparently The Senate is little other than expensive window dressing, promoting hierarchical interests, and too often placed in positions of power by big-money via Citizens United.  But the public gets to fund this curiosity of pompous supremacy.  Who knew?
The Democratic Branch of the Republican/Democratic Duopoly are especially functional in voter suppression—–https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNbdkuU1edw          —#GreenSocialist Notes #76
Howie Hawkins brings up the concept of whether the USA needs the Senate.  Apparently according to some people, the Senate isn’t necessary.  This brings up the blockage from the Senate of many bills that would benefit We The People.  Combined with Citizens United that promotes big-money interest choice of Senators, in which laws are passed that benefit big-money interest rather than We The People, and that We The People support economically, the members of the Senate, this seems a good topic for discussion.
The US Constitution doesn’t seem to sanction elections run by political Parties, and to permit control of political debates by political Parties seems equally corrupt.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ7kn2-GEmM       —

Ross Perot in 1992 on NAFTA and the “Giant Sucking Sound”

Centralization is the lifeblood of the R&D duopoly.  It’s the way to enforce capitalism onto workers in 2022.———————–We can do better———-

That “we are a 2-Party system” is a fabrication of the Republican/Democratic duopoly and spread by MSM.  In FACT the majority of voters aren’t either registered Democratic or Republican.  The censorship about this info must be envied by bureaucrats of the Former USSR and their simplistic style of 1-Party elections.  

Regardless of which character sits in the Oval Office, We The People have work to do to maintain principles of our democratic (small d) Constitutional republic.  Several items to challenge—*We need the integrity of ranked-choice voting so voters won’t feel compelled to “hold your nose and vote”*Censored debates must be stopped.  The Democratic/Republican duopoly pretends to legitimate debates in what is nothing other than another campaign show.  Independent debates run by uninterested sponsors such as The League of Women Voters, must be restored.  (Access www.debates.org to understand the extent of duopoly control).  The so-called Debate Commission is a corporation to promote the Democratic corporation and Republican corporation, not to inform We The People*Challenge and stop gerrymandering that is a trick especially of the Republican branch of the duopoly.*Stop voter suppression by political Parties, and especially confront and stop Party suppression, which is the over-arching approach to voter suppression.  Party suppression seems to have been the responsibility of the Democratic corporation*Promote by law ranked-choice voting, so we won’t be told again, by D&R duopoly, to “hold your nose and vote”
If these issues are handled, our next elections can be honorable. 
*******************************************************************https://news.gallup.com/poll/15370/party-affiliation.aspx—-Political Party affiliation of voters.
    https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/league-refuses-help-perpetrate-fraud–LEAGUE REFUSES TO “HELP PERPETRATE A FRAUD”

WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FROM FINAL PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE–end of lwv info–Murray Bookchin, who founded social ecology, a theory that strongly influenced early Green Socialist thought, strongly advocated the discussion and study group as the first step of any revolutionary movement. A group of individuals meets to expand their knowledge of radical thought and form a radical intellectual community; through the give and take of discussion, can eventually form ideas for next steps in organizing and political activity. According to Bookchin, study groups help create solidarity and a shared language — with a shared coherent vision — for building a mass, organizing, political movement!