This is the sixth set of notes for a reading group on Marx’s Capital, and includes a Volume I refresher for further reading of Volume II. There are links to earlier posts and texts that may be useful. Marx is probably too taken with a kind of scientism by proposing...
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If you haven’t seen Netflix’s Squid Game yet—well, what are you waiting for? If anything is a parable for our time, this is it. Too often meteoric cultural phenomena that purport to capture the zeitgeist fail to capture my interest, but this one is different. If you believe, as I...
The right-wing has spent the last few weeks gnashing and grinding their teeth to the gum line, trying hard to compare the Afghan evacuation to Ho Chi Minh City, (Saigon). President Biden extricated America from a black hole of war that sucked the very lives, resources, and emotions out of...
…suppressing your opposition with power; strong regimentation of society and economy, and dictatorial power- Fascism In the collegial setting, politics is taught as a science. It is meant to be an apolitical study based upon history or comparison, its global effects i.e. international implications, and accepted theory. Although modern fascism...
I took a moment, in the interest of “fair and balanced” reporting, to tune into Fox News’ coverage of the opening of the 1/6 Committee hearing, last week. Of course, the scrolling chyron across the bottom of the screen calling it the Pelosi Committee was an obvious attempt to prejudice...
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words, terrorism? 9/11? ISIS? The Taliban? While these examples are certainly just, they don’t always represent terrorism in its entirety. Dan Brown said, “History is always written by the winners”. Stereotypes and generalizations often cause the public...
This is not new taxation, this is merely collecting what is due. By Timothy F. Geithner, Jacob J. Lew, Henry M. Paulson Jr., Robert E. Rubin and Lawrence H. Summers. Six hundred billion dollars per year, and growing: That is two-thirds of total nondefense discretionary spending by the federal government,...
Oklahoma’s right-wing politicians would like to erase history because that’s what they do, whether it’s the omission of facts or rewriting them to favor those in power. Historical guilt and its associated media effects cooties can’t be part of public school curricula. H.B. 1775 implies that the past prior to 1776...
Let’s be clear. I don’t condone Rand Paul’s neighbor’s decision to beat the crap out of him, but I do condone (nay, applaud) everyone else’s decision to laugh at it. Rand Paul is a doctor … of sorts. He rather famously accredited himself through his own accrediting agency—an instance of self-gratifying...
Repost: Fordham Political Review. No one issue in politics today causes greater polarization than the issue of abortion. I remember sitting down with my mother in high school, nerves fluttering in my stomach as I asked her, “What do you think about abortion?” I was thinking about the fact that...
On Jan. 6, Donald Trump took advantage of a phalanx of weak-minded sheep to do his bidding, sending them into the fray at the Capitol while he cooled his bone-spurred heels in the safety of his KFC-redolent villain’s lair. That’s not my assessment. Except for the KFC part, that’s basically...
Among the countless examples of inane “Washington group-think” is the notion that only Democrats have to “pay for” their legislative priorities (i.e., enact corresponding tax increases and/or spending cuts to match the costs of new programs). Republicans do not remotely consider themselves so constrained — in part because they also are...
Received this e-mail today from Democracy for America: On March 9th the United States House of Representatives passed H.R.842, Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2021, known as the PRO Act. The PRO Act vastly expands labor protections related to employees' rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace....
Received this e-mail today from former presidential candidate, Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D. TX) organization, Powered by People: This is the most important moment to fight back against voter suppression in Texas. Yesterday, Beto and Powered by People volunteers joined lawmakers, advocates, business leaders, and concerned voters in Austin to rally...
Karma, where to start, hmm, it’s complicated, perhaps I should leave it there, oh well, here goes. You can if you wish to regard it as a scorecard of good and bad that depends upon the past, present and future each one dependent upon the other. Then you have to...
Remember hydroxychloroquine? It’s the anti-malarial, anti-lupus drug that people started taking last year because a sweaty, out-of-shape ball of malignant insecurities and congealed ghee saw a tweet about it, envisioned a miracle cure that could save his flailing presidency, and decided, oh, what the heck? Let’s get this in as many Americans’ bodies...
Yesterday was a very busy day for me so I’m playing catch up today. Received this e-mail yesterday from former Air Force Pilot and U.S. Senate candidate, Amy McGrath (D. KY) on behalf of her new organization, Democratic Majority Action PAC: RoJo The Traitor Since I told you about my...
Now firstly it is important to define Internationalism since commonly it is divided into three different major categories. 1] Hegemonic Internationalism example: Globalization [Colonization]. Main player: USA. 2] Liberal Internationalism example: United Nations. Main player: Everyone else. 3] Revolutionary Internationalism example: Communism. Main player: China. Now there are many subcategories,...
So Rudy “Up From His Head Come a Bubblin’ Crude” Giuliani, who represented Donald Trump in his effort to overturn the 2020 election, is now learning where Trump’s loyalties really lie—i.e., with the Adderall fairies whispering in his ear 24/7 about the impudent hobgoblins trying steal his pouch of magic beans. Uh, Donald...
If the Ministerium für Staatsicherheit (Ministry for State Security) had had a crystal ball 40 years ago they would have promoted capitalism, the sheer amount of information people are willing to give away for free would have made their job so easy. Now in a functioning democracy that would be...
I used to occasionally argue with MAGAs before I realized I’d have better luck trying to convince Wile E. Coyote not to jump off the cliff in his Acme Batman Suit. He always jumps, and it always ends in disaster. I’ve never understood how you can spend more than a minute...
Received this e-mail today from Marine Veteran Lucas Kunce’s (D. MO) U.S. Senate campaign: President Biden, labor activists, and everyday workers across the country are all calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the PRO (Protecting the Right to Organize) Act. They’re absolutely right, we need this bill to get...
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D. GA) in support of his colleague, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock’s (D. GA) re-election campaign: I'm asking you to split $10 between me and Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock so we can ramp up Voter Protection efforts in Georgia, where voting rights...
Received this e-mail today from former presidential candidate, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D. TX), on behalf of his organization, Powered by People: Did you see the news this week? Texas gained the most residents in the past decade of any state according to the 2020 census – and as a result,...
No one has ever tried to have me killed before (that I know of), but if someone did, I doubt I’d sing hosannas and paeans to him mere months after he’d sent a mob to my workplace to murder me—or after he’d ignored my plaintive cries for help when said mob...
It’s a sign of the times that Liz Cheney had to explain herself: I disagree strongly w/@JoeBiden policies, but when the President reaches out to greet me in the chamber of the US House of Representatives, I will always respond in a civil, respectful & dignified way. We’re different political...
Received this e-mail from Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley’s (D. OH) gubernatorial campaign: x We don't need some hedge fund millionaire like @JDVance1 claiming to speak for working families who are struggling to get by. In Dayton, we passed universal pre-k and the results have been incredible both for kids and...
Just wanted to share this: Texas Senator Ted Cruz was not a fan of a Tuesday Daily Show segment and he let host Trevor Noah know it. The bit was about Congressional reapportionment due to population shifts in the U.S. Those shifts are causing New York to lose a U.S. House seat while Texas picks up...
Dr. Anthony Fauci is on a roll. First, he went after this clown: x “You can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk.” -Dr. Anthony Fauci responding to podcast host Joe Rogan’s suggestion that young people not get the COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/6E02GI31VV— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April...
Statistically, the state with the highest black population by percentage in America is Mississippi; or is it? I came of age in Washington, D.C. in the 1970s and at the time D.C. had a predominantly black population, as it does now. The number of black residents has dwindled significantly. At...
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper (D. CO) in support of U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan’s (D. NH) re-election campaign: Sen. Maggie Hassan (D. NH) Folks, Our Democratic Senate majority rests on New Hampshire. My good friend, Maggie Hassan won her seat in 2016 by a mere 1,017...
Received this e-mail today from former presidential candidate, Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D. TX) organization, Powered By People: Don’t miss your chance to join Beto and other Powered by People volunteers for a virtual phone bank tonight! Sign up here if you’re able to volunteer a couple hours of your time to...
Received this e-mail today from the Pennsylvania Democratic Party: The fight for fair electoral maps kicked off in earnest today, when the US Census Bureau revealed each state’s updated number of US House seats. And the bad news is that Pennsylvania will soon have one less representative in Congress. Republicans will...
More GQP spotted owl-isms, riffing on culture war again because Moscow Mitch claimed last year that the Democrats’ nanny-state will regulate 'how many hamburgers you can eat'. Now GOP governors are beefing with a Biden policy that does not exist. More manufactured crisis, courtesy of RWNJ media. x Saw Greg Abbott comment on...
I was raised Lutheran i.e. by the doctrine of Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, and Sola Scriptura. The only part of which spoke to me was that my neighbour needed more of my “good” deeds than god, being omnipotent that made sense, the rest not so much. I was aware of...
A new book suggests now the necessity of reexamining the historical materialist project of Walter Benjamin recognizing those moments of historical contact as acts of recognizing the constructed historical object. “Historicism tends to be hermeneutic because it values cautious, rigorous, and contextualized interpretation of information; or relativist, because it rejects notions of universal, fundamental...
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that...
Received this e-mail from former Presidential candidate and current U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D. MA) in support of appointed U.S. Senator Alex Padilla’s (D. CA) re-election campaign Sen. Alex Padilla (D. CA) Hi — it’s Elizabeth Warren. I’ll just be blunt: I’m about to ask if you can pitch in...
Received this e-mail today from potential U.S. Senate candidate, Rep. Tim Ryan (D. OH-13): Climate change is an existential crisis, and the window is closing for us to do something about it. We feel that impact here in Ohio, from the disappearing habitat of the Buckeye Tree to the toxic...
Received this e-mail today from Governor Jared Polis’ (D. CO) re-election campaign: Almost 70% of Colorado’s most vulnerable population, those aged 60 and older, are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19. That’s fantastic news, but now that we’ve protected so many of our most vulnerable, our focus moves to protecting everyone...
The usual Cruz hypocrisy, the pot calling the kettle violent. Because the final term of Ted Cruz will feature more nonsense serving corporate energy interests among other contradictions. He’s flailing about today with the latest nominees for DoJ, among other fake outrage. It’s an old tactic, because Cruz loves stirring...
This proposed “debate” between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should generate plenty of charitable pay-per-view revenues. Enough to build a space laser. The outcome should also resemble Bambi meets Godzilla. There’s yet to be a response from AOC, and MTG is busy trying to expel Maxine Waters. Last week, Georgia GOP...
Received this e-mail today from Finance Committee Chairman, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden’s (D. OR) re-election campaign: x It’s past time to end the federal prohibition of cannabis. @SenBooker @SenSchumer and I are working hard to get it done this year.— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) April 21, 2021 I've been asked a...
Received this e-mail today from badass Rep. Katie Porter (D. CA-45) in support of appointed U.S. Senator Alex Padilla’s (D. CA) re-election campaign: Sen. Alex Padilla (D. CA) Hi — It’s Katie Porter. I’m not one to beat around the bush. So let me get right to it: I’m asking you...
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D. VA): We've all seen the headlines about Republican state legislatures passing outrageous voter suppression laws that roll back mail-in voting and even make it a crime to hand out water bottles at polling places. But while other states are attacking...