Why is Trump rewarding Saudi war crimes with more weapons? | TheHill

Maybe it's Trump maybe not so much. $110 billion in weapons sound like a very big deal and it is.  But, funny how there is always a back story left out for convenience.  Just last September Obama pledged 115 billion in weapons and then they bombed a funeral and things got difficult to justify.   So in the end he also denied them 40 million in weapon at that time (a drop in the bucket) and slowed down the weapons pipeline.  So Trump's offer isn't news.  It isn't even bigger.  It's really just a continuation of US policy.  But you can't see that context here can you?


Full article:  Why is Trump rewarding Saudi war crimes with more weapons? | TheHill:

It is hard for me to jump on this bandwagon that suggest that Trump is sending the wrong message. I believe that the Saudis together with the US are two poles of an evil empire and should be shunned by the international community and perhaps bank accounts frozen and all that....it is that bad.  The US has been complicit the whole way of course and will never give up this relationship.  If Saudi funding of the attack on the World Trade Center didn't do it, go figure what the hell could.

Trump’s Ongoing Assault on the ‘Administrative State’

Read this with more than a grain of salt.  The article is true enough but only at one level -- the defense of the administrative state as necessary to protect people in general and government employees specifically in this article and to deliver service to the public.  Trump and Republicans in general have no interest in people as other than profit centers to pillage including your grandmother's bank account.  They call  it the Nanny State This social structure might actually be obnoxious if it were really true.  But, the truth is there are two administrative states just as there are two sets of laws -- one for people and one for for the rich including big business and the bigger and more powerful the business the more rules to protect them and benefits that accrue.

I offer the following side bar to help readers understand this public discourse over the James Corney firing within a broad, holistic and progressive framework:

Approach with caution when asked to defend and support the administrative state in the name of an agency such as the EPA or the FBI. See Richard Heinberg's article "Goodbye Administrative State, Hello Community Resilience" for a very good discussion of why a titanic shift in law and administration of energy and finance for starters, is absolutely needed.  I would add education, housing and health care to this mix. 

Trump’s Ongoing Assault on the ‘Administrative State’ | Alternet:

Your Addiction to Social Media Is No Accident - VICE

"Today, most of us reach for Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with one vague thought in mind: Maybe someone liked my stuff. And it's this craving for validation, experienced by billions around the globe, that's currently pushing platform engagement in ways that in 2009 were unimaginable. But more than that, it's driving profits to levels that were previously impossible.
"The attention economy" is a relatively new term. It describes the supply and demand of a person's attention, which is the commodity traded on the internet. The business model is simple: The more attention a platform can pull, the more effective its advertising space becomes, allowing it to charge advertisers more."

 

Your Addiction to Social Media Is No Accident - VICE: 

Who’s Exploiting Whom?

This article provides a great context for the discussion of reparations as we see the rise of the proposition on the right that it is the victims -- immigrants from the exploited countries that "Owe" the western countries because they steal jobs and commit crimes.

"Not only does Trump claim that developing nations are taking advantage of the United States, but he has also asked for “reparations,” of various sorts. Largely phrasing his requests as repayments of historical debts, Trump has argued that Mexico should pay for a border wall and briefly claimed that South Korea (no longer a developing nation, to be sure) must pay for a new missile defense system the United States already promised to install.
But, surprisingly, many leading intellectuals from the very countries Trump has singled out wouldn’t necessarily disagree with him about how zero-sum interactions have shaped world history. Rather, they would contend that he is simply wrong about who’s exploiting whom. According to their logic, Western nations like the United States and the United Kingdom have historically enriched themselves on exploitative zero-sum transactions and thus now is not the time for them to retrench; it’s time for the West to repent—and, possibly, repay."

It's an audacious, big, bold and  brilliant lie and it looks like it's working.  This article from New America reviews  "Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India"  Another book of note in the article is "Sweet Talk: Paternalism and Collective Action in North-South Trade Relations" by J.P Singh.  These both seem very worth study.

Original article here -- Who’s Exploiting Whom?:



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France's Presidential Election Has Re-Ignited an Identity Crisis

A very tepid article but points to the obvious -- The reality is that Macron is simply a stepping stone to Le Pen. The following statement from the article will prove to be impossible to accomplish as his supporters by definition voted "against" Le Pen

"Macron now must do the hard work of satisfying his base ... while reaching out to Le Pen’s supporters throughout the country"

Sound like something the Democratic party will try to do to pull Trump supporters.. all so we will not have a progressive in office.

France's Presidential Election Has Re-Ignited an Identity Crisis:



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In the Wake of the Comey Firing, Don't Forget the Violence of the FBI Itself

Finally a reasonable response to this FBI smoke and mirrors business.  Yeah like we should run to the defense of our friends at the Agency!  It is true however that the FBI has been best friend to the Neo Liberal government that has run rough shod over this country for so many years -- my entire adult like.  The Democratic establishment and the press are the ones that are now  crying foul in our name The FBI is our governments secret police (one of more than a few now.) They are more than likely singularly responsible for why we have never been able to get a decent Progressive government. In this way they facilitated the Democratic party's move to right without any possibility of punishment by the people.



In the Wake of the Comey Firing, Don't Forget the Violence of the FBI Itself:

Breaking news 6-8-17 -- Comey's back and in testimony reported in the Washington Post "Former FBI director James B. Comey on Thursday essentially laid out an obstruction of justice case against President Trump" Wow that's sweet! Obstruction is certainly one of the FBI's talents so he ought to know.

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SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER

A little more history for you.  This is from the original American Friends study done post WWII SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER:  It contains 7 small chapters.

American Friend Service Commitee logo

Also their site offers a deeper understanding of opportunities to be involved in the sancuary movement from the originators of the very idea. Peace be with you friend.