While some politicians fixate on conjuring lies like Pres. Biden is going to take away gas stoves and drag queen dancers are going to “sexualize” youth, OTHERS, i.e. Democrats under Pres. Biden’s direction, have gotten some important, life-changing, things accomplished for us, the 99.9%, the everyday Joes and Janes of America.
“It has taken one of the oldest presidents in American history, who has been in politics for over half a century, to return the nation to an economic paradigm that dominated public life between 1933 and 1980 and is far superior to the one that has dominated it since.
“Call it democratic capitalism.”
“Joe Biden is reviving democratic capitalism.
“From the Obama administration’s mistake of spending too little to pull the economy out of the Great Recession, he learned that the pandemic required substantially greater spending, which would also give working families a cushion against adversity. So he pushed for the giant $1.9tn American Rescue Plan.
“This was followed by a $550bn initiative to rebuild bridges, roads, public transit, broadband, water and energy systems. And in 2022, the biggest investment in clean energy in American history – expanding wind and solar power, electric vehicles, carbon capture and sequestration, and hydrogen and small nuclear reactors. This was followed by the largest public investment ever in semiconductors, the building blocks of the next economy.
“Notably, these initiatives are targeted to companies that employ American workers.
“Biden has also embarked on altering the balance of power between capital and labor, as did FDR. Biden has put trustbusters at the head of the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the justice department. And he has remade the National Labor Relations Board into a strong advocate of labor unions.
“Unlike his Democratic predecessors, Biden has not sought to reduce trade barriers. In fact, he has retained several from the Trump administration. But unlike Trump, he has not given a huge tax cut to corporations and the wealthy. It’s also worth noting that in contrast with every president since Reagan, Biden has not filled his White House with former Wall Street executives. Not one of his economic advisers – not even his treasury secretary – is from the Street.
“I don’t want to overstate Biden’s accomplishments. His ambitions for childcare, eldercare, paid family and medical leave were thwarted by senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. And now he has to contend with a Republican House.
“Biden’s larger achievement has been to change the economic paradigm that has reigned since Reagan. He is teaching America a lesson we once knew but have forgotten: that the “free market” does not exist. It is designed. It either advances public purposes or it serves the monied interests.
“Biden’s democratic capitalism is neither socialism nor “big government”. It is, rather, a return to an era when government organized the market for the greater good."
*Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
Republican Kevin McCarthy, the current Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has now allowed the House to tumble backwards into a neo-pre-Civil War era of chaos, hatred, and racism.
My guess is that history will show McCarthy’s watch will be akin to having permitted traitor and supporter of slavery and racism, Confederate President Jefferson F. Davis, to become Speaker after he lost the Civil War.
With his call to overturn the U.S. Constitution, Mr. Trump has without a doubt transformed himself into a seditious vampire, indiscriminately sucking the life blood out of the American people. On the treason scale, he rates higher than Benedict Arnold and no longer is in Arnold's shadow.
By invading Ukraine, killing, or wounding hundreds of thousands of innocent people, both Ukrainian and Russian, Mr. Putin, has secured his place in history next to Joseph Stalin.
By supporting Mr. Trump, the majority of serving Republicans in the U.S. House are insurrectionists and therefore they must be removed from office and forbidden from holding future public office.
Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, Jr. have now crossed into unethical territory as defined under the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges and now must voluntarily either recuse themselves or resign. (Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has no Code of Conduct.)
After his Twitter takeover, Elon Musk has now earned his rating as No. 1 on the scale of the worst CEOs of history.
The Hunter Biden laptop story really is a "nothing burger".
Mike Franken, candidate for the US Senate in Iowa photo: screen capture
Weeks have come and gone.
During that time we suffered COVID and then Hurricane Ian left us in ruins.
Still, our most serious affliction remains our leadership vacuum.
We have an epidemic of bought leaders. Dedicated to serving themselves at the direction of the billionaires, foreign nations and corporations funding their campaign coffers, they accumulate millions of payola dollars while in office rather than serve the interests of the people who elected them.
In fact, our society has become dominated by the premise, “suck in big bucks while you can, even if means your own people will grievously suffer as a result”, that serving the interests of the people has become the exception rather than the first requirement for elected office.
Today, we expect that our representatives are or will soon be scumbags and are shocked if they exhibit concern for others, humanity, honor, and dedication to doing right by all people regardless of political affiliation, nationality, skin color or heritage.
All this said, I stumbled upon the interview below with Mike Franken, candidate for the US Senate in Iowa. I hope he is what he says he is… and if so, that he is elected to office.
Deep red Senate seat suddenly IN PLAY for Democrats, Brian Tyler Cohen
Oct 26, 2022
INTERVIEW: Brian interviews the Democratic nominee for the US Senate in Iowa, Mike Franken, about a bombshell new poll showing him within striking distance of unseating Chuck Grassley, and whether Grassley’s age (he’d be 95 years old by the end of the term he’s running for right now) is a concern to him.
Florida Gov. DeSantis’ latest FOX PR stunt seems to be backfiring because it appears to be just plain stupid, illegal, and inhumane.
First the stupid part. Mr. DeSantis used Florida funds to pay for the private jets used to transport 50 refugees to Martha's Vineyard. The problem is that the refugees originated from San Antonio. Last time I checked, San Antonio was located in Texas, not Florida. Floridians might find that a problem, even if they are Trumpers. Using Florida tax money to transport the Texas “unwanted” just doesn’t make sense.
Third, the inhumanity of this fraud is obvious to most people other than Mr. DeSantis.
Finally, despite Mr. DeSantis’ best efforts to embarrass the people of Martha's Vineyard and score points with the FOX talking heads, the opposite has happened.
If I lived
in rural Virginia, or anywhere else for that matter, and my children and
grandchildren were looking for a job, or start a business, I’d try to help them create opportunity in sustainable / green energy.
Region’s
long awaited energy and economic transition will be substantially boosted by
US’s first climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act
When Mason
Taylor enrolled at the local vocational school with dreams of becoming an
electrician like his dad, it was assumed that the ninth-grader would eventually
end up moving away from Wise county, Virginia, to find a decent job.
Now 19,
Taylor just bought a truck after a summer apprenticing with a crew of
electricians installing rooftop solar systems at public schools in the county.
He was among a dozen or so rookies paid $17 an hour, plus tools and a travel
stipend, as part of the state’s first solar energy youth apprenticeship scheme.
“Around here
it’s always been coal, coal, coal, we didn’t hear much about green energy,”
said Taylor, who comes from a long line of miners. “This is a great opportunity
to learn, great pay, and maybe I’ll be able to stay here in the mountains with
my family if solar takes off.”
In the past
decade or so, unemployment and poverty have forced many to leave south-west
Virginia as the coal industry’s decline ricocheted across central Appalachia.
It’s torn many families apart and any talk of renewable energy was considered
anti-coal, but attitudes are starting to change.
“We have to get away from fossil fuels that are killing our planet. Technology has come a long way and will keep getting better. This is the future,” said chief electrician Jimmy Rogers, 49, whose family worked on the coal trains in Tennessee.
The region’s long-awaited energy and economic transition will be substantially boosted by America’s first climate legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
It’s far from a panacea, but Joe Biden’s legislation provides $369bn for the transition to electric vehicles and renewable energy – a historic investment that scientists estimate will reduce greenhouse gases by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030 and create an estimated 1.5m new jobs.
Decent well-paid jobs are desperately needed. In Virginia, coal production has declined by 70% since its peak in 1990, and much of what’s left is semi-automated. Those old jobs are largely gone and are not coming back.
The IRA provides ring-fenced money for training, innovation and manufacturing, as well as an array of tax breaks and other financial incentives to help consumers and businesses transition away from fossil fuels. And Joe Manchin, the conservative Democrat senator from West Virginia played a pivotal role in watering down – and then reviving – the legislation, directing billions of dollars to the economic revival of depressed coal towns.
Exploring Solar Panel Efficiency Breakthroughs in 2022 Undecided with Matt Ferrell, 12 July 2022
Scientists have just had a major solar panels efficiency breakthrough, and it could mean a big change for the future of renewable energy. Visit https://brilliant.org/undecided to sign up for free. And also, the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium membership. This isn’t just more hype, but a sign of where solar panel technology stands today and is heading in the near future. However, this isn’t the only big solar panel news from 2022. There’s been a lot of very recent advancements from perovskites to organic solar cells too, so what does this mean for you and me? Let’s see if we can come to a decision on this.
UPDATE: The US congress recently extended and raised the solar tax credit as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. But you can still research for solar in your area using my EnergySage portal: http://bit.ly/undecidedsolar
I turned the TV on that morning to see if there was some reason why my Internet connection had suddenly frozen up. Perhaps, I speculated, someone had demolished the Comcast cable somewhere close by.
Instead of a car accident, I learned that the one of the WTC towers was on fire. I didn’t know it then, but our world had changed again, once more in a very bad way.
An estimated 200 people jumped to their deaths .
In shock, I suspect, after seeing several people jump from the WTC, I later accepted our government’s explanation of the collapse of the impossibly huge buildings. After all, I’d seen it all on TV, hadn’t I?
Never, for a second, did I question where the mammoth tons and tons of rubble went that day - the steel and the building contents. Nor did I question why they fell so quickly and without damaging the building close by.
Years later, during the 9/11 10th anniversary, I was overcome with sorrow and empathy listening to the Brooklyn Youth Chorus’ beautiful rendition of Sarah McLacklan’s song, I Will Remember You.(1.) In my mind I kept replaying the tragic scene: the jumpers… hundreds of first responders… and thousands of WTC workers… all lost their lives while I sat, horrified, in my office and watched via TV.
Something ignited my mind that day. Perhaps the catalyst was the replay of the buildings collapsing or the emergency personnel recounting their stories – whatever it was, I began to look back at 9/11. I started reading all I could find about how both of the towers could have collapsed so quickly due to a fire located so high up in the structures. I found that the official report really didn’t explain the collapse at all, and especially, nothing was offered to explain the lack of rubble on the day of the collapse.
Steel turns to dust in mid air.
Dr. Judy Wood
Then I discovered Dr. Judy Wood’s (2.) videos, her website and her case against the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the people Congress hired to file the explanatory report.
Here is how UK researcher Andrew Johnson explained the NIST report in his book, Finding the Truth: “NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), was tasked with analysing the cause of the destruction of WTC towers 1,2 and 7. When studied objectively, their report for WTC 1 & 2 fails to answer how the “pancake” collapse theory explains the evidence observed on the day – such as the complete pulverisation of most of the towers – including hundreds of steel girders – in about 10 seconds each. Readily available photos also illustrate the glaring lack of any “pancakes” in the WTC rubble pile.”
“Elements of the final NIST WTC reports have been the subject of a Legal Challenge (3.) by Professors Morgan Reynolds (Emeritus, Texas A & M University) and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Judy Wood (formerly of Clemson University, South Carolina). Their challenge was first made as a “Request for Correction” and then in two “Qui Tam” cases. These cases, unsealed in 2007, outlined how, as it is framed, the NIST study of the WTC collapse was fraudulent and deceptive. Indeed, the very title of the main report “The Collapse of the World Trade Centre Towers” is itself misleading, because the towers did not collapse, they turned to dust.”.( 4.)
Once clear of the shock of learning that the NIST report seemed eerily similar to the Warren Commission report, i.e. both avoided discussing clearly important aspects of the crimes they were charged to investigate, I devoted countess hours to studying what Dr. Wood had uncovered.
What happened to the two tallest buildings in North America, the WTC towers, and the other five WTC buildings on 9/11?
I did not want to accept Dr. Wood’s findings. Frankly, it was simply too shocking for me to believe the forensic evidence she had complied and the truth she uncovered. Now, nearly three years later as I write this article, I have come to the place in my life that I can, once again accept the facts of life. This time, ferreted out by Dr. Wood, at considerable personal cost to her, the evidence clearly shows that the towers did not fall… they were not taken down by two aircraft. No, something much more sinister took place on 9/11 and the “cover up” continues to play out to this very day.
What “weapon” could possible “dustify” those two massive towers, WTC 1 & 2 - 110 stories each, and make them disappear into clouds of dust in less than 10 seconds, leaving relatively little rubble on the ground? How did that happen?
For certain, no matter how big and how fast they were flying upon impact, not even two massive Boeings with resulting fires could have “disappeared” those two massive buildings, PLUS destroy the other five WTC buildings which were also obliterated that day, WTC 3 – 22 stories; WTC 4 – 9 stories; WTC5 – 9 stories; WTC 6 – 8 stories; and WTC 7 – 47 stories; AND create a plethora of never-before-seen phenomena as far away as one mile from the WTC.
Dr Judy Wood has assembled the forensic evidence.(5.) If we allow ourselves to see, hear and read it we may be on the path toward discovering the horrific truths about 9/11.
We begin by considering the question she asks: Do you know of anything that can turn a building to dust in mid air? And, then some of the principal data that must be explained, please go to Dr. Wood's website, wtc page. section: B. Some of the principal data that must be explained.
Second, at the 2012 Breakthrough Energy Movement (BEM) conference in Holland (6.) (and a number of other presentations and interviews), Dr. Wood explained, “The towers did not slam to the ground. If they had slammed to the ground (following a controlled demolition or as a result of catastrophic structural failure resulting from airplanes hitting the buildings): 1. There would be over 1,250,000 tons of debris piled on the ground. (Didn't happen) 2. Manhattan would have been flooded. (Didn't happen) 3. The seismic recordings would have reflected two 500,000-ton buildings and one 230,000-ton building slamming to the ground. (Didn't happen)”
So, what brought the towers down? The evidence, Dr. Wood has concluded, points to a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW). Dr Wood offers a clear, easily understood comparison of summary of the evidence in her book and in her presentations. Her findings are well documented and directly on target, especially given that she has been the trailblazer in describing an exceedingly complex, entirely new and, until 9/11, publicly unknown destructive force used with impunity upon innocent people whose only mistake was going to work that day.
Really? Directed Energy Weapons - Star Wars? I'll bet your first thought was that Star Wars weapons really don't exist, except in Hollywood. If that's your thought, well, you'd be wrong. Not only do they exist, they are in operation today. There's even a professional association devoted to the craft, the Directed Energy Professional Society. What kinds of weapons do we have? There are many. Check out this video from the U. S. Air Force Research Lab's Directed Energy Directorate Directed Energy Directorate:
Of course what you see above is one of the weapons we are using today in public view. We have no idea what the classified weapons are or what they can do.
In one of Dr. Wood’s most recent interviews (and also one of the best to date) George Noory, Coast to Coast AM (7. ), doggedly worked to understand the technology used to destroy the WTC. Finally, after being asked several times to name the type of directed energy weapon used to destroy the WTC on 11 Sept 2001, Dr. Judy Wood answered, maintaining her forensic scientist position:
Dr. Wood: “What the evidence shows is that you can eliminate kinetic energy as a destructive mechanism. Kinetic energy means that the buildings were beaten to death, like a gravity collapse, wreaking ball, missile or bomb. Thermal energy means the buildings were cooked to death, lots of heat. Those two things the evidence rules out. But, directed energy, as I define it, is energy that is instructed to do something differently than it normally does. Instead of the bonding forces of matter being attracted to each other, they are directed to repel each other. It is not like something physically hitting it or cooking it. And, within that, it's a big umbrella of things.”
Dr. Wood: “A lot of people are uncomfortable about that. They want to have a device - Acme model whatever it is. But, we can look at parallel evidence that produces the same thing. The source of the energy, she explained, "...could have been anywhere... it could be the energy comes from the material. I want to get away from a point and shoot laser beam. It was more of a field effect."
George Noory: How much energy was needed to destroy these buildings? Wood: It could even have been negative energy. If you can understand the mechanism – that’s the beauty of this – if there is a silver lining in this – it is that this technology was used for destructive purposes, but it doesn’t have to be (used that way). It can be used for good purposes… for providing free energy to the world.”
Dr. Wood: “If you have the ability to affect the nature of matter – instead of atoms attracting each other, they are repelling each other – if you give it that instruction… it isn’t like you have to put in a lot of energy, create bonds and use energy that way, it could be that the energy come from the material.”
Dr. Wood: “Actually, (regarding) the dust cloud that rolled down the street, first responders that I talked to said, that it was cooler than ambient temperature, in other words, not hot. It was cooler. Then it began feeling warm…you know when you put acid on your hand it feels like it’s burning up but it could be room temperature. There was something in the dust that was eating on their skin. They were scrubbing in the shower afterward; they just couldn’t get it off.”
Dr. Wood: "I want to get away from the idea of a point and shoot laser beam, it’s more of a field effect, like the coverage range of your cell phone… it’s a zone of effect.”
George Noory: Do you ever, Dr. Wood, get into the Who? Dr. Wood: No, but I got closer than anyone has, in the public domain, that is. I pretty much know who knows. And that is who I tried to take to court. These were contractors on the NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) report. They were mandated by Congress to find why and how the towers collapsed. They didn’t do that. I wrote a request for correction to NIST saying that their contractors were leading them astray. You can’t sue a government agency but we can sue contractors for fraud of a government agency. There are a couple of the contractors, one in particular, which had the most number of people on the contract, on the NIST report. They are developers and manufacturers of energy weapons. Not only that, they also had and still have, I believe, a contract with the U.S. government to know everything about any weapon of mass destruction that exists or is being developed anywhere. So, not only do they know what technology there is, they know whose technology it is. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have them under oath?
Third, from that day in September 2001, Dr. Wood has taken tremendous personal risk to voice her findings both to her peers, the general public and via the judicial system. After shifting through huge amounts of forensic evidence and literally overcoming a barrage of character assassination attempts to discredit her, Dr. Wood continues to stand alone, well above her critics, as the qualified expert with the correct academic and professional credentials, training and experience. In other words, she really does know what she is talking about because she has the interdisciplinary education, training and experience to pull the forensic evidence together. I don’t know why Dr. Wood left her position at Clemson. But, what I can say is that the alumni, faculty, administration and student body of Clemson should honor her and restore her status as a full professor, with full back pay and benefits, for her years of trail blazing forensic scientific work, applied engineering expertise and dedication to ferreting out the truth about the crime of the century. Clemson should be honored to be associated with Dr. Wood. Dr. Judy Wood is an American Hero - a World Hero. She is also something rarer today. She is a member of a breed which I feel is nearly extinct - Dr. Judy Wood is a Patriot.
Who benefited from 9/11? Certainly the usual suspects – the armaments industry and the financiers of war, the bankers – have gained immeasurably from 9/11.
Who obstructed justice? According to the Washington Post, 7 May 2004, “Six air traffic controllers provided accounts of their communications with hijacked planes on Sept. 11, 2001, on a tape recording that was later destroyed by a Federal Aviation Administration manager…But months after the recording was made… another FAA manager decided on his own to destroy the tape, crushing it with his hands, cutting it into small pieces and depositing the pieces into several trash cans.”(8.) For more about 9/11 and obstruction, please go here.
Who has lost because of 9 /11? We the People lost. Just consider the civil liberties we have given up under the USA PATRIOT Act. (USA PATRIOT Act) is actually an acronym for: Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001), the Military Commission Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, which permits any person, citizens included, to be arrested without charge and held indefinitely without access to a lawyer or a trial. It even permits torture. This is not to mention the loss of more than $4.5 trillion spent on the “War on Terrorism”, the loss of close to 2 million innocent Iraqis and Afghans and 6,000 of our sons and daughters.
Again, we have lived through acts of unspeakably evil. To this very day, this very minute, the monstrosity which occurred on 11 Sept 2001, frightens me; fills me with compassion for those who lost their lives and for their loved ones who must carry on without them; and empowers me with a sense of duty to ferret out the soulless beings responsible for this heinous crime against humanity.
Now, knowing with absolute certainty that not one of us is safe in our own homes or businesses, we all should fear that once again we will discover that the trail of the soulless evil beings who perpetrated this crime will bring us back to our own government.
