If anyone could be called an Islamophobe, it is I. But only in the sense that I have studied and rejected Islam, to the extent that Muslims have called me murtad (apostate).
Having said that if I were a NY I would vote for Mamdani, in fact I am going to contribute to his campaign. Fuck the establishment assholes in the DNC. They are no better than the Republicans, they slop at the corporate trough, and hold back, punish and campaign against progressives.
Screw the Third Way and New Democrats of the Clinton/Emanuel/Summers faction.
Jeffrey, I am a cynic, a skeptic, an atheist, I believe nothing, I don't indulge in hope. I require evidence, not words. I judge on behavior not promises.
I am not a purist. Of the 18 things Mamdani stands for I agree with 17 and that is good enough.
I will even support a Christian, so long as they are a real progressive and not a filthy, theocratic, fascist.
William,agree 100% ,I to contribute to his campaign.The DNC has let us down,they get nothing done,they have conned us into thinking they were standing up for working class,they have not with the exception of Bernie,AOC,Murphy,Raskin,VanHollen.
You're a good researcher,check out Thom's post on 6/22-Housing Should not be a commodity".Who are the biggest corporate landlords other than Blackstone,time to find out and go after them. I'll let you know what I find out.
Totally agree. I keep all of Thom's substack comments in a file I created in Google mail, labeled Thom Hartmann, same for Heather Cox Richardson and Just Security and Radical Reports and Jim Stewardsons, Mind War.
As regards corporate landlords, I think you meant Blackrock instead of Blackstone. Blackstone makes grills.
Blackrock was founded and owned by LarryFink, it owns major shares, along with State Street Group and Vanguard in almost all sectors of the economy, from Media, to Petro Chemical, to defense, to insurance to hospitals and nursing homes.
Just because someone declares themselves an ally, or dons a cap or jacket with your teams name on it, does not mean that they are an ally.
The donor class, that the DNC has spent over half a century courting and obliging are not allies, they give $2 to the Republicans for every $1 they give the Democrats. However the professionals, the analysts, the strategists, the lobbyists within the party don't care, because this is their living, their job, the source of fame, social status, prestige.
It is time for a change, way past time. I don't mean get rid of all of the experience, we still need people who know how the machine works, where the keys to the restroom are, where the bodies are buried and who has skeletons in their closet, we need them to function, otherwise the wheel has to be reinvented and that doesn't work out well, not to speak we don't have the time.
But the Jim Clyburns, James Carvilles,Paul Begalas can not be allowed to continue to set the (losing) agenda.
America was aching for a real populist in 2016, instead the DNC put their thumb on the scale for more of the same old same old, a billionaire, Chamber of Commerce approved candidate, and what did we get but a right fasicst populist (in words not deeds), America still wants a populist, one that is really a man or woman of the people, that will advance causes, policies that the people need, not the policies and agenda that theocrats, technocrats, corporations and billionaires want.
Thank you, Thom, for taking their "extremist" argument and turning it around. We've been soaking in the warm spit-bath of capitalist nostrums for so long that we don't even think about how crazy it is to live and toil under a system that only works for a small sliver of society. Democracy should be an economic, as well as a political, aspiration.
I’m hearing this all over . The wailing and wringing of hands because their pocketbooks are threatened. It’s getting very old people.
This exalt the privileged and make the poor invisible is BS .
And it is getting old . Mitch McConnell’s statement about ‘loss of Medicaid’ “ they’ll get over it “, is one more example of this BS .
These people are despicable . And they have the ultimate nerve to complain about a candidate who promises something practical and balanced for New Yorkers.
We face the Big Beautiful Bill in Congress. We need to let each of our representatives and senators know we oppose a vote for this bill (in any of its forms with the 2017 tax cut). Let them know that you will not ever get over it if they vote for the bill.
“To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don’t go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. “Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY. NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT’S DONE.”
Today, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected key Medicaid provisions and rejected a plan to cap states’ use of health care provider taxes to collect more federal Medicaid funding, a proposal that would have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in savings to offset the cost of making President Trump’s corporate tax cuts permanent, according to a Democratic summary of the parliamentarian’s ruling.
The decision could force Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to reconsider his plan to bring the Senate bill up for a vote this week.
I am afraid that the amount of the deficit is immaterial to these crooks. They will vote for it even if our next annual deficit is $2.6 trillion, which it will be. Yes, they will gut the Treasury as long as the money goes into their own pockets.
The two Santa Claus theory, Raise the debt, spend like crazy when in office, and blast the Dems for not balancing the budget by cutting into social programs, when they are in power.. And the Dems fall for it, everytime, as does a compliant and complicit corporate media.
More than a dozen House Republicans warned they won’t support the Senate’s version of the tax and spending bill because the proposed Medicaid cuts are too steep.
Led by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), 15 other vulnerable Republicans sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying they support the Medicaid reforms in the House version of the legislation, but the Senate Finance Committee proposal went too far.
“Protecting Medicaid is essential for the vulnerable constituents we were elected to represent. Therefore, we cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers,” the lawmakers wrote. “The House’s approach reflects a more pragmatic and compassionate standard, and we urge that it be retained in the final bill.”
Trump can't keep congress in session, nor can he call a cease fire, he is truly delusional, he makes pronouncements as if he were the Emperor of the world, talking down to children. He really believes that he can order reality, on his word alone, and the media is responsible
This whole scene is entertaining, for an outsider looking in or down.
Mr. Farrar, your phrase "He believes he can order reality," is accurate. But I am not sure that is attributable to the media; even though they do little to expose him. The mass media have not made the rest of us delusional. President Trump IS delusional. He fits the definition of a psychotic. He cannot distinguish the difference between reality and fantasy. We have a president who is by all commonly accepted measures: mentally ill.
I am often reminded of Edmund Burke, the father of modern conservatism, who warned us three centuries ago that democracy is a double edged sword. It permits the will of the people to be served. Also, it has the dangerous tendency to elevate mediocrities to positions of power.
There was no such thing as mental illness in Burke's vocabulary three hundred years ago.
I blame the media, because it enables his delusions of grandeur and narcissism. If the media ridiculed his outrageous claims, he would have crawled back into his hole.
Edmund Burke is not the only one that said that democracy contained the seeds of it's own destruction, Goebbels and bin Laden did as well.
That is what Ben Franklin mean when he said we gave you a republic, only if you can keep it.
Freedom, liberty requires constant vigilance and guardian ship, but people are weak, lazy, greedy and easily bought and threatened. And thus we wind up with the Buckley's, Koch's, Reagan's, Trumps, Thiels, Musks, Zuckerburgs, Dimons.
These people are not brilliant, they are not geniuses, they are ruthless psychopaths.
If you want to be rich and powerful then a prerequisite is being a psychopath, with no social conscience, no empathy, and no concern about the planet, other creatures great and small.
Contra temps the American and Horatio Alger myth. You don't get rich by playing fair, being empathetic, honest, decent. You can be comfortable by being prudent, making wise choices and having some luck. But I am only talking for myself. I am comfortable relatively secure (well apprehensive because of the Trump regime) and I have never hurt anyone, committed a crime, lied and cheated.
I did sell vacuum cleaners, for a month after I retired, was pretty good at it too, but when one old couple opened the door and then showed me there closet full of vacuum cleaners, and would have bought my Electrolux, I realized that I was preying on people who didn't have sales resistance and selling them an unsought good they didn't need. So I quit right then and there.
What do you mean to discourage getting three or four senators is to support MAGA. I know of no one that is trying to discourage any senators from defecting. But wanting and trying to get senators from defecting is not the same as being skeptical that they will.
Skeptics like myself, have no ability to discourage any senators , of anything, fuck they don't even answer their phones.
I want and would like to see some Republican senators defect, but will they? We are just talking, neither you nor I Daniel, have any power, any control, to influence any senator It is worth trying, but being skeptical of success doesn't mean that one supports MAGA,
Try as you will, but don't hold out for success,or else you wind up like those who believed in the Mueller report, Jack Smith,the Georgia trials, demoralized. hoping for another event, another knight in armor to come riding to the rescue. It ain't going to happen we have to take our destiny into our own hands and not rely on institutions,all of which have failed us to date.
Time for the newbies to take what is right about our party and just run with it. In Mamdani's case, Zohran doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. He wants to give the workers and residents some measure of fairness, and he can prove it has been successfully implemented in other places.
We need to project that people DESERVE the basics. What a great guy with an even better message. Well done NYC Democrats!
Always enjoy hearing about your experiences, Thom. See you in the streets.
He is what America needs! But if it’s not AIPAC it’ll be the leaders of the Democratic Party that will pull the rug from under him as soon as he dares run for president!! Just like they did twice with Bernie because they claim America is not ready for a socialist!! From Ross Pero to today anyone dare challenge these two parties will be …….!
The thing we all need to imagine is what it would actually look like if people en masse did at least get a decent, livable minimum wage? What would our communities look like, and how would it feel to live in communities like this?
This is what we need to ask ourselves, if our lives would change for the better, not just for those who receive this livable wage, but for all of us? I believe it would, I believe that it might start the ball rolling for strong communities to turn into a strong country—a country united in not just one purpose, to exist from one day to another, it building on its creative resources. People would for the first time have the money to purchase things beyond the bare necessities.
It still wouldn’t be easy but it would bring more contributors into society because people would have hope for the first time, and, therefore, build for the future instead of living like animals from one meal to the next.
I take your word on that $17,000 figure Mr. Farrar. Although some may point out, that number is a moving target; you are in the ballpark. If more Americans saw that number and came to understand the implications for their lives; we might have a revolution.
Over a period of a little less than forty years, I had thousands of students go through my classes. I was shocked as I realized how many of those young college students had no idea what it meant to possess a true American fortune. They thought being wealthy meant one could afford to buy a Chevy Corvette. I had to explain to them the implications of capital ownership; ownership of the means of production in society.
They were surprised at what they learned, only 3% of Americans are employers. They hold around 95% of all wealth. And even among those employers, the distribution of wealth his highly....extremely.... skewed. About 5 owners have as much as 50% of us do. The wealthiest family in America is worth $400+ million, Elon Musk is worth $400 million. Together they own almost a trillion dollars. If we included that family in your calculation; each American would get twice your figure.
Maybe the !17,000 is all of the wealth owned by the billionaires and tech bros.
It is something that I read, perhaps on medium.com, I thought that I saved it as an open tab on my browser, but can't find it.
Musk is worth half a trillion dollars, a hell of a lot more than $400 million, in fact until his stock fell he was worth almost 3/4th of a trillion. Currently 412.1 Billion.
Lord, what a party that would be for the vast majority who detest Muskrat. Although, I’m not one for redistribution of wealth, per se, merely paying your fair share, and laws that discourage hoarding wealth.
Yeh, I don't believe in redistruction anymore than I believe in libertarianism as expressed in Art 12 of the 1936 Soviet Constitution: If y ou don't work you don't eat.
But there are, or should be, limits, on poverty and starvation as well as wealth.
Perhaps, but allow the possibility that uplifting the majority of the general public (there will always be the segment who will rebel at this) can be viral as well as greed has become. Imaging and desire are the first steps to something positive for everyone.
The minimum wage varies by state. Many states have adopted minimum wages higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. For example, California and New York City have a minimum wage of $16.50 per hour. Some states, like Alabama, have no state minimum wage law and default to the federal minimum wage.
In Maryland, the minimum wage is $15.00 per hour for all employers, as of January 1, 2024. This applies to businesses of all sizes, according to Workstream and Chowbus POS. There are some exceptions, including learners, certain workers with physical or mental limitations, and employees under 18, who may be subject to a sub-minimum wage under specific conditions. For tipped employees, the minimum cash wage is $3.63 per hour, but their total earnings (including tips) must still reach at least $15.00 per hour.
Maryland Minimum Wage: Minimum Wage in Maryland in 2024
What is the Minimum Wage in Maryland? As of January 1, 2024, Maryland has set a new benchmark by increasing the statewide minimum ...
Chowbus POS
Maryland Minimum Wage Laws: What Employers Must Know - GoCo
Jan 14, 2025 — Tipped Employees Requirements Maryland requires employers to pay tipped employees a minimum cash wage of $3.63 per hou...
What is the minimum wage in Maryland? The minimum wage in Maryland is $15.00 per hour for businesses with 15 or more employees....,
In Balmer, Ocean City, virtually all of the workers at the big hotels were temporary foreign workers... Employers didn't want to pay Maryland state wages......'
They capture monkeys by putting nuts inside of a coke bottle, the monkey can slip in his open hand, but can't withdraw the hand without letting go of the nut.
Actually America is by 19th century standards very socialistic, with tax supported public schools, police, fire, libraries, parks, public health and street repairs. In this sense adding basic medical care and higher education would be logical expansions, but the average citizen has been convinced not to see things like this. Maybe a carefully thought-out campaign by Mamdani's people could educated the public, and that would be a good template for other cities and states.
As for NYC, the rich will simply move to Long Island or Connecticut, though many already have residents there anyway. What would be a real step forward would be taxing the properties of religious institutions (allowing deductions for the actual sites of the buildings used for services and any genuine charity work). Trinity Church in particular owns 14 acres in lower Manhattan.
The biggest travesty of America, the very first violation of the wall between church and state is granting tax exemptions to religious properties. They get around it with the 501c(3) exemption for non profits, they simply register as non profits.
Yes Mr. Farrar, why should the religious organizations be given the opportunity to utilize the infrastructure of our economic system in order to conduct their activities without helping to pay for that infrastructure, as all other users of the infrastructure do? When my daughter was a student at Columbia many years ago she took me to see the cathedral of St. John The Divine. I was stunned to learn that, at that time, the Catholic Church owned more square footage of ground in Manhattan than anyone else. I do not know if that is still true. It was three decades ago.
If you study NY history, a lot of this stems from the "Happy Fella," La Guardia, who happened to be a Republican. Mayor 1934 -1945.
The New York City Rent Stabilization Law, enacted in 1969, is a form of rent regulation aimed at providing stability and affordability for tenants in certain buildings. It primarily applies to buildings with six or more units built before 1974, and also includes some buildings constructed or renovated after 1974 that receive specific tax benefits. This law offers tenants protections like lease renewals, limits on rent increases, and rights to essential services.
In 1969, John V. Lindsay was the Mayor of New York City, serving his second term. He won the 1969 election as a Liberal Party candidate, according to Wikipedia. Lindsay had previously served as a Republican congressman and was first elected as Mayor of New York City in 1965.
AI : La Guardia reforms:
Government and Administrative Reforms:
City Charter Reform:
.
La Guardia spearheaded a reformed 1938 City Charter that established a powerful Board of Estimate, similar to a corporate board of directors, to oversee city affairs.
Civil Service Reform:
.
He significantly reduced the number of unclassified civil service positions, shifting towards a more merit-based system and significantly increasing the number of civil service applications.
Elimination of Tammany Hall Patronage:
.
La Guardia's reforms weakened the influence of the Tammany Hall political machine, reducing the dominance of Irish-Americans in civil service leadership and patronage.
Social and Economic Reforms:
Labor Protections:
.
La Guardia was a vocal advocate for labor rights, supporting striking miners and speaking out against the exploitation of farmers and minorities.
Public Works Projects:
.
He initiated numerous public works projects, funded in part by New Deal programs, including the construction of parks, playgrounds, and affordable housing.
Combating Corruption:
.
La Guardia's administration actively investigated and prosecuted corruption, particularly within the police department.
Infrastructure and Urban Planning:
LaGuardia Airport Transformation:
.
The major redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport, completed in phases, replaced aging infrastructure with modern terminals, roadways, and improved airside operations.
Housing and Slum Clearance:
.
La Guardia's administration focused on building affordable housing and addressing the city's slum problem.
Public Transportation:
.
He invested in improving the city's public transportation system, including subways and buses.
Other Notable Reforms:
Police Reform:
.
La Guardia's administration focused on professionalizing the NYPD, cracking down on corruption, and implementing a more liberal vision of policing.
Discrimination Prevention:
.
He supported the Ives-Quinn Act, which banned discrimination in employment based on race, creed, color, or national origin, and established the New York State Commission
Against Discrimination.
Public Health and Welfare:
.
La Guardia's administration also focused on public health initiatives and social welfare programs.
La Guardia's reforms are remembered for their impact on New York City's governance, infrastructure, and social fabric. His legacy includes a more efficient and transparent government, improved public services, and a commitment to social justice and economic opportunity for all residents.
Zohran Mamdani’s victory is a resounding defeat for the de facto neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party, which of course has them loudly clutching their pearls, possibly in preparation for torpedoing his candidacy. Andrew Cuomo’s supporters should be ashamed of themselves. They aren’t, of course, but they can now at least STFU and get out of an actual Democrat’s way.
I am of the opinion, that the pearl clutching neo cons in the Democratic party, want to lose NYC to the Republican, rather than have a progressive, and a Muslim at that, win.
And if he does, you can be sure that the NYT, the NY Post, and the media will be on his ass like stink on shit, obstructing the progressive agenda at every turn.
I disagree Daniel. America has been hungering for a real populist. One appeared in 2016, but the corporate establishment shut him out, by putting a thumb on the scale for Hillary, and the result is Trump deconstructing our democratic Republic
The major objection to him is that he is Muslim and called for a global intifada, however the Mayor of NY has zero influence on international politics
If the subject is Gaza, my opinion is clear. While I am horrified at the suffering and deaths in Gaza, I hold HAMAS completely responsible, they have been using Israelis and their own people as human shields, hiding their command posts and weapons cache in hospitals and using humanitarian offices and functions as shields.
HAMAS could have stopped this long ago. but they are pigheaded and committed to an insane religious war.
What is Israel supposed to do, back off replenish and rebuild Gaza that HAMAS can refresh, rebuilt and come at them again as Yahya Sinwar said they would do. It has to stop, and the pig headed insistence on a perpetual war to genocide the Jews only empowers the orthodox Jewish settlers who are harassing and killing Muslims on the west bank to drive them out of their home,.
And quite frankly the aggressive posture of Muslims (Arab, Iranian or other), towards the Jews, has diminished the voice and restraint of the pacifist Jewish movement in Israel and the US.
As for myself, I can't solve the world's problems. I can only care about the monster that is coming at me,here at home.
Mankind has been making war on itself since the first homo sapiens picked up a thigh bone of a mammoth and slaughtered another. The very worst are over ideology, and religion is just another ideology.
When nations warred it was over territory and treasure., when they were successful often the loser would be incorporated into their kingdom. Not so with ideology (secular or sectarian)
the fight continues until every last vestige of opposition is eliminated and all are in conformity, That is in essence what George Orwell's novels were about.
At the same time I call out the hypocrisy and blatant anti semism of those that bemoa the genocide in Gaza.
If Genocide upsets them, then they should be moaning and condemning Putin, for he is engaged in areal war of genocide against Ukraine;. A war that meets the UN definition, that is necessary before genocide is declared, and that is INTENT.
HAMAS has declared it's intention to genocide the Jews. So has Islam. The Jews have not declared an intent to genocide Arabs or Muslims, which is riduclous, considering that there are billions of both,and only 10 million Jews in Israel.
There is an ongoing genocide in Sudan, where Millions are being starved to death, and what do I hear from the bleeding hearts? Crickets.
Somalia, there is religious oppression all over the world, and what do I hear? Crickets.
Except for Gaza and that fits in very well with Putins agenda. You see Putin has a very active 5th column in America and it starts at the top, Trump, Vance, Thiel, Hegseth, Musk.
Bernie is anathema in Florida because he flattered Castro.
We probably won in 2016 and 2024 but due to a combination of voter preclusion, intimidation and media acquiesence the elections were stolen. Psy ops works. Voters and election workers threatened.
Elsewhere I posted the Democratic platform. Bernie endorsed it.
It is important to note that Mamdani has energized young people and they have largely driven his campaign. That is what should worry the status quo DNC. Not matter how much the oligarchs spend on advertising it will only piss off the young and make them work harder to get him elected.
Thom - In the two-dimensional meat grinder of zero-sum, where winning/gaining/taking/exploiting/hoarding/punishing/castigating/shunning/excluding the 'other' loser is a way of life, yes, altruism is too extreme. NYC is a fine enough example of a way too crowded city where the underclass is forced to come into to wipe the floors and clean the toilets of the sloppy, lazy filthy rich. Manhattan is a good enough moat-bound fortress if only the nobility could get rid of the rats and the human riff-raff. NYC has been ethnically rainbowed for centuries, and it was largely built by non-Angle-Saxon whites and people of colors. NYC IS extreme, in almost every category. LA may be as close to the edge as you can get without falling off, but NYC is baked into the cake of multi-cultural 'murka.
This vile pathos is all about money and bigotry, nothing more. I have done a ton of consulting work for the rich and very rich. Almost without exception, they can do nothing but trade stocks, make zero-sum deals heavily weighted in their favor due to banking/insurance support, play a lot of golf, without doubt, the most egregiously anti-ecological recreation on the planet, and surround themselves with purchases made off the backs of the poor and dis-infranchised. Their arrrogance is homo-erotic - they nearly swoon when talking/virtue signalling how great they are.
The terminal disease of wetiko is pervasive in every major megalopolis in the world, and the heavily corporate rural world of land empire as well. There is nothing in the world of slave labor that has changed in 4k years. Two-dimensional, transactionally lopsided lucre, swimming in misogyny and violence-laced hubris. You point out the flaws and falsity, and they will say - just the price of doing business to keep my neighborhood -which could be thousands of acres of private land - free from the scourge of the pleve. That NYC chose an Arab to potentially run the govt. is an insult to the very idea of white bread domination. Now watch the billions of lucre flow into the propaganda machines of the bigoted oligarchs and their henchmen. Follow the money, if we can, which is doubtful.
David. Now we begin the actions to survive, not just wait around for things to change via entropy or sadistic intentionality. I am an ecologist. Every day in the field I witness life and death, joy and fear and sorrow and uncertainty. But all beings but us have learned, via millions of years of interactions, of what to expect of each other to maintain homeostasis. We have none of that. We have to learn, pronto, on our feet, how to keep some semblance of sanity and ecological sustainability alive into the near future. We will not learn from our own species, the maturity is just not there. Look to Nature, with reverence and surprise. They answers are/have been always right in front of us.
If anyone could be called an Islamophobe, it is I. But only in the sense that I have studied and rejected Islam, to the extent that Muslims have called me murtad (apostate).
Having said that if I were a NY I would vote for Mamdani, in fact I am going to contribute to his campaign. Fuck the establishment assholes in the DNC. They are no better than the Republicans, they slop at the corporate trough, and hold back, punish and campaign against progressives.
Screw the Third Way and New Democrats of the Clinton/Emanuel/Summers faction.
I'm glad to hear you prioritize public policy over religious affiliation. One doesn't have to accept Islam (or any religion) to do the right thing.
Jeffrey, I am a cynic, a skeptic, an atheist, I believe nothing, I don't indulge in hope. I require evidence, not words. I judge on behavior not promises.
I am not a purist. Of the 18 things Mamdani stands for I agree with 17 and that is good enough.
I will even support a Christian, so long as they are a real progressive and not a filthy, theocratic, fascist.
I agree.
Completely!
Especially the last line of your post.
And I see myself as a Religionophobe, based solely on the damage it has done to humanity over the millennia.
That is my feeling. Religion is an ideology, a sectarian ideology, and ideologues are responsible for all of the suffering ever experienced.
Look at the trail of suffering, enslavement, death, persecution left by the Abrahamic religions.
The Vikings didn't slaughter people in he name of Odin.
Excellent point.
Pastafarianism, of which I’m a charter member, doesn’t murder people either, in the name of noodles.
All hail the great Flying Spaghetti monster.
All hail …
William,agree 100% ,I to contribute to his campaign.The DNC has let us down,they get nothing done,they have conned us into thinking they were standing up for working class,they have not with the exception of Bernie,AOC,Murphy,Raskin,VanHollen.
You're a good researcher,check out Thom's post on 6/22-Housing Should not be a commodity".Who are the biggest corporate landlords other than Blackstone,time to find out and go after them. I'll let you know what I find out.
Totally agree. I keep all of Thom's substack comments in a file I created in Google mail, labeled Thom Hartmann, same for Heather Cox Richardson and Just Security and Radical Reports and Jim Stewardsons, Mind War.
As regards corporate landlords, I think you meant Blackrock instead of Blackstone. Blackstone makes grills.
Blackrock was founded and owned by LarryFink, it owns major shares, along with State Street Group and Vanguard in almost all sectors of the economy, from Media, to Petro Chemical, to defense, to insurance to hospitals and nursing homes.
They are in effect USA Inc.
From a big tent to a pup tent to a poncho liner.
Yep that is the DNC.
You get that from psy ops. The opposition is MAGA. They get you to undermine your own allies.
Right now, the fight is in the senate. All Dems on exactly the same page.
Concentrate on convincing the Congressional Republicans who can stop the Trump agenda.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/house-gop-moderates-tell-leadership-191817923.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueWFob28uY29tL25ld3Mvd3JvbmctaGF3bGV5LXdhcm5zLXNlbmF0ZS1nb3AtMjExOTU4Njg3Lmh0bWw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEwKvocTvBzJk_nUOD7CRf-U3G2fnmStBpK1s6MeNQTliOtN6fvngpIyKuqacBuHmTJFlzjIpChTiE9COQkHlmLFYTxqIfVZHJBHHEpgZHM4VIu8jL3ZAjaVIdjSrCIGFFJL84V1n43Ru23s5LFqn81OF3P9BcQcK01Wdq_SkuXV
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/politics/breaking-with-trump-bacon-says-he-wont-follow-his-party-off-the-cliff.html
Just because someone declares themselves an ally, or dons a cap or jacket with your teams name on it, does not mean that they are an ally.
The donor class, that the DNC has spent over half a century courting and obliging are not allies, they give $2 to the Republicans for every $1 they give the Democrats. However the professionals, the analysts, the strategists, the lobbyists within the party don't care, because this is their living, their job, the source of fame, social status, prestige.
It is time for a change, way past time. I don't mean get rid of all of the experience, we still need people who know how the machine works, where the keys to the restroom are, where the bodies are buried and who has skeletons in their closet, we need them to function, otherwise the wheel has to be reinvented and that doesn't work out well, not to speak we don't have the time.
But the Jim Clyburns, James Carvilles,Paul Begalas can not be allowed to continue to set the (losing) agenda.
America was aching for a real populist in 2016, instead the DNC put their thumb on the scale for more of the same old same old, a billionaire, Chamber of Commerce approved candidate, and what did we get but a right fasicst populist (in words not deeds), America still wants a populist, one that is really a man or woman of the people, that will advance causes, policies that the people need, not the policies and agenda that theocrats, technocrats, corporations and billionaires want.
Start with this. https://democrats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/FINAL-MASTER-PLATFORM.pdf
Because of NUMBERS and MATH we need a big tent.
The Biden child tax credit would have been the best social legislation since the Great Society.
The thing about tents Daniel. To quote an old Bedouin saying:
Don't let the camel get his nose under the tent.
This is a really, really compelling piece.
I like this fact in particular:
"The real extremism is an economy that celebrates billionaires while criminalizing poverty."
That's the low-down dirtiest truth of our not society.
Move to New York to vote for it.
Thank you for this article. He's a breath of fresh air and I truly hope he wins!
Thank you, Thom, for taking their "extremist" argument and turning it around. We've been soaking in the warm spit-bath of capitalist nostrums for so long that we don't even think about how crazy it is to live and toil under a system that only works for a small sliver of society. Democracy should be an economic, as well as a political, aspiration.
I’m hearing this all over . The wailing and wringing of hands because their pocketbooks are threatened. It’s getting very old people.
This exalt the privileged and make the poor invisible is BS .
And it is getting old . Mitch McConnell’s statement about ‘loss of Medicaid’ “ they’ll get over it “, is one more example of this BS .
These people are despicable . And they have the ultimate nerve to complain about a candidate who promises something practical and balanced for New Yorkers.
It opens the reality based people up to hope.
You can’t buy it 1%ers.
Just a primary.
We face the Big Beautiful Bill in Congress. We need to let each of our representatives and senators know we oppose a vote for this bill (in any of its forms with the 2017 tax cut). Let them know that you will not ever get over it if they vote for the bill.
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/big-beautiful-bull?r=3m1bs
“To my friends in the Senate, lock yourself in a room if you must, don’t go home, and GET THE DEAL DONE THIS WEEK,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. “Work with the House so they can pick it up, and pass it, IMMEDIATELY. NO ONE GOES ON VACATION UNTIL IT’S DONE.”
Today, Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected key Medicaid provisions and rejected a plan to cap states’ use of health care provider taxes to collect more federal Medicaid funding, a proposal that would have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in savings to offset the cost of making President Trump’s corporate tax cuts permanent, according to a Democratic summary of the parliamentarian’s ruling.
The decision could force Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to reconsider his plan to bring the Senate bill up for a vote this week.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5370671-medicaid-trump-bill-senate-parliamentarian/
I am afraid that the amount of the deficit is immaterial to these crooks. They will vote for it even if our next annual deficit is $2.6 trillion, which it will be. Yes, they will gut the Treasury as long as the money goes into their own pockets.
The two Santa Claus theory, Raise the debt, spend like crazy when in office, and blast the Dems for not balancing the budget by cutting into social programs, when they are in power.. And the Dems fall for it, everytime, as does a compliant and complicit corporate media.
More than a dozen House Republicans warned they won’t support the Senate’s version of the tax and spending bill because the proposed Medicaid cuts are too steep.
Led by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.), 15 other vulnerable Republicans sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying they support the Medicaid reforms in the House version of the legislation, but the Senate Finance Committee proposal went too far.
“Protecting Medicaid is essential for the vulnerable constituents we were elected to represent. Therefore, we cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers,” the lawmakers wrote. “The House’s approach reflects a more pragmatic and compassionate standard, and we urge that it be retained in the final bill.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/house-gop-moderates-tell-leadership-191817923.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cueWFob28uY29tL25ld3Mvd3JvbmctaGF3bGV5LXdhcm5zLXNlbmF0ZS1nb3AtMjExOTU4Njg3Lmh0bWw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEwKvocTvBzJk_nUOD7CRf-U3G2fnmStBpK1s6MeNQTliOtN6fvngpIyKuqacBuHmTJFlzjIpChTiE9COQkHlmLFYTxqIfVZHJBHHEpgZHM4VIu8jL3ZAjaVIdjSrCIGFFJL84V1n43Ru23s5LFqn81OF3P9BcQcK01Wdq_SkuXV
The house version also cuts Medicaid and it is too late for the House Republicans to object, They already passed the bill to the Senate.
Has to come back to the House to adjust if parlimentarian rulings are sustained.
Whose side are you on?
Trump can't keep congress in session, nor can he call a cease fire, he is truly delusional, he makes pronouncements as if he were the Emperor of the world, talking down to children. He really believes that he can order reality, on his word alone, and the media is responsible
This whole scene is entertaining, for an outsider looking in or down.
Mr. Farrar, your phrase "He believes he can order reality," is accurate. But I am not sure that is attributable to the media; even though they do little to expose him. The mass media have not made the rest of us delusional. President Trump IS delusional. He fits the definition of a psychotic. He cannot distinguish the difference between reality and fantasy. We have a president who is by all commonly accepted measures: mentally ill.
I am often reminded of Edmund Burke, the father of modern conservatism, who warned us three centuries ago that democracy is a double edged sword. It permits the will of the people to be served. Also, it has the dangerous tendency to elevate mediocrities to positions of power.
There was no such thing as mental illness in Burke's vocabulary three hundred years ago.
He is rolling over in his grave.
I blame the media, because it enables his delusions of grandeur and narcissism. If the media ridiculed his outrageous claims, he would have crawled back into his hole.
Edmund Burke is not the only one that said that democracy contained the seeds of it's own destruction, Goebbels and bin Laden did as well.
That is what Ben Franklin mean when he said we gave you a republic, only if you can keep it.
Freedom, liberty requires constant vigilance and guardian ship, but people are weak, lazy, greedy and easily bought and threatened. And thus we wind up with the Buckley's, Koch's, Reagan's, Trumps, Thiels, Musks, Zuckerburgs, Dimons.
These people are not brilliant, they are not geniuses, they are ruthless psychopaths.
If you want to be rich and powerful then a prerequisite is being a psychopath, with no social conscience, no empathy, and no concern about the planet, other creatures great and small.
Mr. Farrar, was it Victor Hugo who said "Behind every fortune lies a crime"? Now we can add "a crime" and a psychopath.
Contra temps the American and Horatio Alger myth. You don't get rich by playing fair, being empathetic, honest, decent. You can be comfortable by being prudent, making wise choices and having some luck. But I am only talking for myself. I am comfortable relatively secure (well apprehensive because of the Trump regime) and I have never hurt anyone, committed a crime, lied and cheated.
I did sell vacuum cleaners, for a month after I retired, was pretty good at it too, but when one old couple opened the door and then showed me there closet full of vacuum cleaners, and would have bought my Electrolux, I realized that I was preying on people who didn't have sales resistance and selling them an unsought good they didn't need. So I quit right then and there.
Burke's king, Geo III, was nutsy koo koo.
He's nutsy koo koo.
But maybe we can get 3 or 4 senators.
To discourage it, is to support MAGA.
What do you mean to discourage getting three or four senators is to support MAGA. I know of no one that is trying to discourage any senators from defecting. But wanting and trying to get senators from defecting is not the same as being skeptical that they will.
Skeptics like myself, have no ability to discourage any senators , of anything, fuck they don't even answer their phones.
I want and would like to see some Republican senators defect, but will they? We are just talking, neither you nor I Daniel, have any power, any control, to influence any senator It is worth trying, but being skeptical of success doesn't mean that one supports MAGA,
Try as you will, but don't hold out for success,or else you wind up like those who believed in the Mueller report, Jack Smith,the Georgia trials, demoralized. hoping for another event, another knight in armor to come riding to the rescue. It ain't going to happen we have to take our destiny into our own hands and not rely on institutions,all of which have failed us to date.
Leap of faith
Wow Wow Wow-the numbers blew everyone away.
Time for the newbies to take what is right about our party and just run with it. In Mamdani's case, Zohran doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. He wants to give the workers and residents some measure of fairness, and he can prove it has been successfully implemented in other places.
We need to project that people DESERVE the basics. What a great guy with an even better message. Well done NYC Democrats!
Always enjoy hearing about your experiences, Thom. See you in the streets.
It's a primary.....
He is what America needs! But if it’s not AIPAC it’ll be the leaders of the Democratic Party that will pull the rug from under him as soon as he dares run for president!! Just like they did twice with Bernie because they claim America is not ready for a socialist!! From Ross Pero to today anyone dare challenge these two parties will be …….!
Lots of truth Nasrin. AIPAC is Hakeem Jeffers largest donor.
Come on....
Blame it on people like me....
"Because if fighting for housing, dignity, and a livable future is radical, then it’s way past time we all got a lot more radical."
Amen to that!
The thing we all need to imagine is what it would actually look like if people en masse did at least get a decent, livable minimum wage? What would our communities look like, and how would it feel to live in communities like this?
This is what we need to ask ourselves, if our lives would change for the better, not just for those who receive this livable wage, but for all of us? I believe it would, I believe that it might start the ball rolling for strong communities to turn into a strong country—a country united in not just one purpose, to exist from one day to another, it building on its creative resources. People would for the first time have the money to purchase things beyond the bare necessities.
It still wouldn’t be easy but it would bring more contributors into society because people would have hope for the first time, and, therefore, build for the future instead of living like animals from one meal to the next.
If the wealth of Musk were distributed evenly in America, each person would receive over $17,000
I take your word on that $17,000 figure Mr. Farrar. Although some may point out, that number is a moving target; you are in the ballpark. If more Americans saw that number and came to understand the implications for their lives; we might have a revolution.
Over a period of a little less than forty years, I had thousands of students go through my classes. I was shocked as I realized how many of those young college students had no idea what it meant to possess a true American fortune. They thought being wealthy meant one could afford to buy a Chevy Corvette. I had to explain to them the implications of capital ownership; ownership of the means of production in society.
They were surprised at what they learned, only 3% of Americans are employers. They hold around 95% of all wealth. And even among those employers, the distribution of wealth his highly....extremely.... skewed. About 5 owners have as much as 50% of us do. The wealthiest family in America is worth $400+ million, Elon Musk is worth $400 million. Together they own almost a trillion dollars. If we included that family in your calculation; each American would get twice your figure.
Maybe the !17,000 is all of the wealth owned by the billionaires and tech bros.
It is something that I read, perhaps on medium.com, I thought that I saved it as an open tab on my browser, but can't find it.
Musk is worth half a trillion dollars, a hell of a lot more than $400 million, in fact until his stock fell he was worth almost 3/4th of a trillion. Currently 412.1 Billion.
Lord, what a party that would be for the vast majority who detest Muskrat. Although, I’m not one for redistribution of wealth, per se, merely paying your fair share, and laws that discourage hoarding wealth.
Yeh, I don't believe in redistruction anymore than I believe in libertarianism as expressed in Art 12 of the 1936 Soviet Constitution: If y ou don't work you don't eat.
But there are, or should be, limits, on poverty and starvation as well as wealth.
Location, location.
Perhaps, but allow the possibility that uplifting the majority of the general public (there will always be the segment who will rebel at this) can be viral as well as greed has become. Imaging and desire are the first steps to something positive for everyone.
The minimum wage varies by state. Many states have adopted minimum wages higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. For example, California and New York City have a minimum wage of $16.50 per hour. Some states, like Alabama, have no state minimum wage law and default to the federal minimum wage.
In Maryland, the minimum wage is $15.00 per hour for all employers, as of January 1, 2024. This applies to businesses of all sizes, according to Workstream and Chowbus POS. There are some exceptions, including learners, certain workers with physical or mental limitations, and employees under 18, who may be subject to a sub-minimum wage under specific conditions. For tipped employees, the minimum cash wage is $3.63 per hour, but their total earnings (including tips) must still reach at least $15.00 per hour.
Maryland Minimum Wage: Minimum Wage in Maryland in 2024
What is the Minimum Wage in Maryland? As of January 1, 2024, Maryland has set a new benchmark by increasing the statewide minimum ...
Chowbus POS
Maryland Minimum Wage Laws: What Employers Must Know - GoCo
Jan 14, 2025 — Tipped Employees Requirements Maryland requires employers to pay tipped employees a minimum cash wage of $3.63 per hou...
GoCo.io
Wages in Maryland 2025 - Workstream
What is the minimum wage in Maryland? The minimum wage in Maryland is $15.00 per hour for businesses with 15 or more employees....,
In Balmer, Ocean City, virtually all of the workers at the big hotels were temporary foreign workers... Employers didn't want to pay Maryland state wages......'
They capture monkeys by putting nuts inside of a coke bottle, the monkey can slip in his open hand, but can't withdraw the hand without letting go of the nut.
We see that behavior in our own species.
Actually America is by 19th century standards very socialistic, with tax supported public schools, police, fire, libraries, parks, public health and street repairs. In this sense adding basic medical care and higher education would be logical expansions, but the average citizen has been convinced not to see things like this. Maybe a carefully thought-out campaign by Mamdani's people could educated the public, and that would be a good template for other cities and states.
As for NYC, the rich will simply move to Long Island or Connecticut, though many already have residents there anyway. What would be a real step forward would be taxing the properties of religious institutions (allowing deductions for the actual sites of the buildings used for services and any genuine charity work). Trinity Church in particular owns 14 acres in lower Manhattan.
The biggest travesty of America, the very first violation of the wall between church and state is granting tax exemptions to religious properties. They get around it with the 501c(3) exemption for non profits, they simply register as non profits.
Yes Mr. Farrar, why should the religious organizations be given the opportunity to utilize the infrastructure of our economic system in order to conduct their activities without helping to pay for that infrastructure, as all other users of the infrastructure do? When my daughter was a student at Columbia many years ago she took me to see the cathedral of St. John The Divine. I was stunned to learn that, at that time, the Catholic Church owned more square footage of ground in Manhattan than anyone else. I do not know if that is still true. It was three decades ago.
If you study NY history, a lot of this stems from the "Happy Fella," La Guardia, who happened to be a Republican. Mayor 1934 -1945.
The New York City Rent Stabilization Law, enacted in 1969, is a form of rent regulation aimed at providing stability and affordability for tenants in certain buildings. It primarily applies to buildings with six or more units built before 1974, and also includes some buildings constructed or renovated after 1974 that receive specific tax benefits. This law offers tenants protections like lease renewals, limits on rent increases, and rights to essential services.
In 1969, John V. Lindsay was the Mayor of New York City, serving his second term. He won the 1969 election as a Liberal Party candidate, according to Wikipedia. Lindsay had previously served as a Republican congressman and was first elected as Mayor of New York City in 1965.
AI : La Guardia reforms:
Government and Administrative Reforms:
City Charter Reform:
.
La Guardia spearheaded a reformed 1938 City Charter that established a powerful Board of Estimate, similar to a corporate board of directors, to oversee city affairs.
Civil Service Reform:
.
He significantly reduced the number of unclassified civil service positions, shifting towards a more merit-based system and significantly increasing the number of civil service applications.
Elimination of Tammany Hall Patronage:
.
La Guardia's reforms weakened the influence of the Tammany Hall political machine, reducing the dominance of Irish-Americans in civil service leadership and patronage.
Social and Economic Reforms:
Labor Protections:
.
La Guardia was a vocal advocate for labor rights, supporting striking miners and speaking out against the exploitation of farmers and minorities.
Public Works Projects:
.
He initiated numerous public works projects, funded in part by New Deal programs, including the construction of parks, playgrounds, and affordable housing.
Combating Corruption:
.
La Guardia's administration actively investigated and prosecuted corruption, particularly within the police department.
Infrastructure and Urban Planning:
LaGuardia Airport Transformation:
.
The major redevelopment of LaGuardia Airport, completed in phases, replaced aging infrastructure with modern terminals, roadways, and improved airside operations.
Housing and Slum Clearance:
.
La Guardia's administration focused on building affordable housing and addressing the city's slum problem.
Public Transportation:
.
He invested in improving the city's public transportation system, including subways and buses.
Other Notable Reforms:
Police Reform:
.
La Guardia's administration focused on professionalizing the NYPD, cracking down on corruption, and implementing a more liberal vision of policing.
Discrimination Prevention:
.
He supported the Ives-Quinn Act, which banned discrimination in employment based on race, creed, color, or national origin, and established the New York State Commission
Against Discrimination.
Public Health and Welfare:
.
La Guardia's administration also focused on public health initiatives and social welfare programs.
La Guardia's reforms are remembered for their impact on New York City's governance, infrastructure, and social fabric. His legacy includes a more efficient and transparent government, improved public services, and a commitment to social justice and economic opportunity for all residents.
Thank you for explaining why the airport got his name. La Guardia is the kind of politician we need. A true public servant.
Zohran Mamdani’s victory is a resounding defeat for the de facto neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party, which of course has them loudly clutching their pearls, possibly in preparation for torpedoing his candidacy. Andrew Cuomo’s supporters should be ashamed of themselves. They aren’t, of course, but they can now at least STFU and get out of an actual Democrat’s way.
I am of the opinion, that the pearl clutching neo cons in the Democratic party, want to lose NYC to the Republican, rather than have a progressive, and a Muslim at that, win.
And if he does, you can be sure that the NYT, the NY Post, and the media will be on his ass like stink on shit, obstructing the progressive agenda at every turn.
I've been writing about this elsewhere.
All politics is local. Would lose us Dems elsewhere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S828Y7Eais
I disagree Daniel. America has been hungering for a real populist. One appeared in 2016, but the corporate establishment shut him out, by putting a thumb on the scale for Hillary, and the result is Trump deconstructing our democratic Republic
The major objection to him is that he is Muslim and called for a global intifada, however the Mayor of NY has zero influence on international politics
If the subject is Gaza, my opinion is clear. While I am horrified at the suffering and deaths in Gaza, I hold HAMAS completely responsible, they have been using Israelis and their own people as human shields, hiding their command posts and weapons cache in hospitals and using humanitarian offices and functions as shields.
HAMAS could have stopped this long ago. but they are pigheaded and committed to an insane religious war.
What is Israel supposed to do, back off replenish and rebuild Gaza that HAMAS can refresh, rebuilt and come at them again as Yahya Sinwar said they would do. It has to stop, and the pig headed insistence on a perpetual war to genocide the Jews only empowers the orthodox Jewish settlers who are harassing and killing Muslims on the west bank to drive them out of their home,.
And quite frankly the aggressive posture of Muslims (Arab, Iranian or other), towards the Jews, has diminished the voice and restraint of the pacifist Jewish movement in Israel and the US.
As for myself, I can't solve the world's problems. I can only care about the monster that is coming at me,here at home.
Mankind has been making war on itself since the first homo sapiens picked up a thigh bone of a mammoth and slaughtered another. The very worst are over ideology, and religion is just another ideology.
When nations warred it was over territory and treasure., when they were successful often the loser would be incorporated into their kingdom. Not so with ideology (secular or sectarian)
the fight continues until every last vestige of opposition is eliminated and all are in conformity, That is in essence what George Orwell's novels were about.
At the same time I call out the hypocrisy and blatant anti semism of those that bemoa the genocide in Gaza.
If Genocide upsets them, then they should be moaning and condemning Putin, for he is engaged in areal war of genocide against Ukraine;. A war that meets the UN definition, that is necessary before genocide is declared, and that is INTENT.
HAMAS has declared it's intention to genocide the Jews. So has Islam. The Jews have not declared an intent to genocide Arabs or Muslims, which is riduclous, considering that there are billions of both,and only 10 million Jews in Israel.
There is an ongoing genocide in Sudan, where Millions are being starved to death, and what do I hear from the bleeding hearts? Crickets.
Somalia, there is religious oppression all over the world, and what do I hear? Crickets.
Except for Gaza and that fits in very well with Putins agenda. You see Putin has a very active 5th column in America and it starts at the top, Trump, Vance, Thiel, Hegseth, Musk.
Bernie is anathema in Florida because he flattered Castro.
We probably won in 2016 and 2024 but due to a combination of voter preclusion, intimidation and media acquiesence the elections were stolen. Psy ops works. Voters and election workers threatened.
Elsewhere I posted the Democratic platform. Bernie endorsed it.
I bet he doesn't want to split the party.
It is important to note that Mamdani has energized young people and they have largely driven his campaign. That is what should worry the status quo DNC. Not matter how much the oligarchs spend on advertising it will only piss off the young and make them work harder to get him elected.
Fingers crossed.
Right on. Been saying this about Senator Sanders for years.
Thom - In the two-dimensional meat grinder of zero-sum, where winning/gaining/taking/exploiting/hoarding/punishing/castigating/shunning/excluding the 'other' loser is a way of life, yes, altruism is too extreme. NYC is a fine enough example of a way too crowded city where the underclass is forced to come into to wipe the floors and clean the toilets of the sloppy, lazy filthy rich. Manhattan is a good enough moat-bound fortress if only the nobility could get rid of the rats and the human riff-raff. NYC has been ethnically rainbowed for centuries, and it was largely built by non-Angle-Saxon whites and people of colors. NYC IS extreme, in almost every category. LA may be as close to the edge as you can get without falling off, but NYC is baked into the cake of multi-cultural 'murka.
This vile pathos is all about money and bigotry, nothing more. I have done a ton of consulting work for the rich and very rich. Almost without exception, they can do nothing but trade stocks, make zero-sum deals heavily weighted in their favor due to banking/insurance support, play a lot of golf, without doubt, the most egregiously anti-ecological recreation on the planet, and surround themselves with purchases made off the backs of the poor and dis-infranchised. Their arrrogance is homo-erotic - they nearly swoon when talking/virtue signalling how great they are.
The terminal disease of wetiko is pervasive in every major megalopolis in the world, and the heavily corporate rural world of land empire as well. There is nothing in the world of slave labor that has changed in 4k years. Two-dimensional, transactionally lopsided lucre, swimming in misogyny and violence-laced hubris. You point out the flaws and falsity, and they will say - just the price of doing business to keep my neighborhood -which could be thousands of acres of private land - free from the scourge of the pleve. That NYC chose an Arab to potentially run the govt. is an insult to the very idea of white bread domination. Now watch the billions of lucre flow into the propaganda machines of the bigoted oligarchs and their henchmen. Follow the money, if we can, which is doubtful.
Mick,great post.
David. Now we begin the actions to survive, not just wait around for things to change via entropy or sadistic intentionality. I am an ecologist. Every day in the field I witness life and death, joy and fear and sorrow and uncertainty. But all beings but us have learned, via millions of years of interactions, of what to expect of each other to maintain homeostasis. We have none of that. We have to learn, pronto, on our feet, how to keep some semblance of sanity and ecological sustainability alive into the near future. We will not learn from our own species, the maturity is just not there. Look to Nature, with reverence and surprise. They answers are/have been always right in front of us.