Colbert, CBS, FCC and Election Interference

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Colbert stood up to the FCC and the new CBS. This is good.

But what we’re seeing here is not really a story of the little people overcoming the boot on the throat. We are seeing the boot arriving at the throat. This is the beginning of one piece in the coming wave of election interference. The signal has been sent to the stations and networks: No coverage for Democratic candidates, issues & viewpoints.

Colbert has power but the FCC has massive power. What happens now is every local station and national network will be afraid to give local, state & national Dem candidates and viewpoints airtime. And they will likely feel they should boost coverage of Republican and fringe right-wing candidates and viewpoints (even more than they already do).

We have already seen how this works. We’re old enough to remember a time before Reagan brought in the corporatization & commercialization of news, back when all kinds of issues were (required to be) discussed. We’ve seen how “news” – especially local news – became commercialized, sensationalized and fear-mongering. When was the last time you saw coverage of union leaders talking about the benefits to working people from joining a union?

Remember “hard-hitting” documentaries on the nation’s problems, etc…?

I fear that we are about to see another shift in what the public is shown.

Crypto Crash – The Serious Money Is Betting Trump Will Fail

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This post first appeared at Government Cheese – Chronicling the collapse of democracy

The crypto crash means the “serious money people” are betting that Trump will fail.

When crypto started to become big money serious investors got involved. Serious investors do real analysis and usually know what they’re involved in. Sure, there are the dupes out there who think crypto has real “value.” But the real money in crypto comes from real investors putting millions into it and doing some degree of actual analysis of the risks.

Crypto’s only real use is crime. Its “use case” is ransomware, organized crime, bribery, fraud. With Trump there is the “rug-pull” fraud use case where you “issue” crypto coins, people place bets, and the issuer pulls the rug and cashes out. (Note – When you buy crypto you are giving crypto owners liquidity – backing the ability of criminals to cash out after their ransomware/bribery/whatever score.)

“Investing” in crypto is really just a bet on criming going up.

Crypto’s price went up and up because the real money made bets that Trump is going to be able to keep the crime racket going, even increasing it. They also believed the US government would step in and back it, buying up billions and maintaining its liquidity. A bet on crypto was a bet on Trump’s success at imposing a mafia state on the world.

So by pulling out and crashing the price, the “prediction market” of crypto – the big players – are betting that Trumpism isn’t going to succeed.

Abolish ICE — Stop Dehumanizing People

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If you give them an inch … And look, now they’re taking their mile.

Crossing the border without authorization is a misdemeanor. It only became a crime at all thanks to white supremacist eugenics arguments in the 1920s. They said “they” are “invading” and we have to keep “them” out. So they passed laws to keep them out.

Have a read: CNN, When Americans tried to breed a better race: How a genetic fitness ‘crusade’ marches on,

They started swarming across America’s border, millions of desperate families fleeing poverty or seeking political asylum.

But many people were repelled by their presence. Some warned that the country was facing a “genetic invasion” and that whites were “losing the demographic game.” Another said, “There will no longer be an America for Americans.”

One leader even thought of a radical way to keep them out.

“Can we build a wall high enough around this country so as to keep out these cheaper races?” he asked.

It sounds like a Republican Party campaign ad.

This idea that the border exists to keep “us” safe from being “invaded” by “the other” is so ingrained now that the public accepts the concept – and the far right can use it. So instead of acknowledging that immigrants are human beings, Democrats are adapting the Third Way argument that some lesser people are “illegal” – less than human. ICE is showing “excess,” we still need to “remove” them.

You can’t fight racist bullies by appeasing them. Spain’s government understands that and is showing the way. Go read this whole thing.

Why Spain is offering amnesty to 500,000 undocumented migrants,

Foreign nationals with clean criminal records who arrived before the end of 2025, and who can prove they’ve lived in Spain for at least five months, will soon be eligible for renewable one-year residence permits. People who applied for asylum in the country before December 31 will also be able to apply. Migration Minister Elma Saiz said Tuesday that she expects applications to open April through June.

This extraordinary mass regularisation – the first in Spain in more than 20 years – was born from a citizen-backed proposal signed by some 700,000 people and supported by hundreds of civil society groups, including the Catholic Church.

While most immigrants in Spain have legal status, the country’s booming economy has also drawn hundreds of thousands of largely working-age people from across the world to work in the country’s underground economy. Undocumented migrants work on construction sites, on farms, in shops and restaurants or in people’s homes, cooking and cleaning and caring for children.

Don’t put borders around your humanity.

There Is No Line

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This post first appeared at Government Cheese – Chronicling the collapse of democracy

If you think there is a line Trump will cross and lose his supporters, please Google “Jim Jones” or “drinking the Kool-Aid”.

It’s a cult. There is no line.

This is a photo of Republicans in Congress reaching their crossed “line”:

This Is America Now

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This post first appeared at Government Cheese – Chronicling the collapse of democracy

This is what the world sees. Read it.

ICE ‘throw flash-bang at family car’ as 6 kids hospitalized including a 6-month-old baby,

She further explained: “ICE agents began tear-gassing a residential neighborhood after shooting a man nearby. As the gas spread, a family got into their vehicle to escape the tear gas. In the video, a man is seen standing in front of a car with airbags deployed on all sides, explaining that he told the agents he was trying to leave his house, with his family because of the tear gas. It comes after an out-of-control ICE agent yelled a disgusting 3-word slur before shooting a woman 5 times.

“Despite this, an agent threw multiple flash-bang grenades at the vehicle anyway… while children were inside.

“Inside the van was a 6-month-old infant who stopped breathing after the attack. EMTs were called and taking the baby in an ambulance.

Once this stuff gets started it only gets worse.

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

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Have you ever listened to the lyrics?


(See 50 years later version below.)

If you see something that looks like a star
And it’s shooting up out of the ground
And your head is spinning from a loud guitar
And you just can’t escape from the sound
Don’t worry, it’s alright, it’ll happen to you
We were children once, playing with toys

And the sound that you’re hearing is only the sound
Of the low spark of high-heeled boys
The percentage you’re paying is too high-priced
While you’re living beyond all your means
The man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he’s made on your dreams
But today you just read that the man was shot dead
By a gun that didn’t make any noise
And it wasn’t the bullet that laid him to rest
Was the low spark of high-heeled boys

If you had just a minute to breathe
They granted you one final wish
Would you ask for something like another chance?
Or something similar to this?
Don’t worry it’s alright, it’ll happen to you
As sure as your sorrows are joys

And the sound that you’re hearing is only the sound
Of the low spark of high-heeled boys

The percentage you’re paying is too high-priced
While you’re living beyond all your means
The man in the suit has just bought a new car
And the profit he’s made on your dreams
But today you just read that the man was shot dead
By a gun that didn’t make any noise
And it wasn’t the bullet that laid him to rest was
Was the low spark of high-heeled boys

If I gave you everything that I owned
And asked for nothing in return
Would you do the same for me as I would for you
Or take me for a ride?
And strip me of everything including my pride
Spirit is something nothing can destroy

And the sound that I’m hearing is only the sound
Of the low spark of high-heeled boys
Heeled boys
Heeled boys
Heeled boys
Heeled boys

AI Is Just Not Ready And The Bubble Will Pop

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The following experience reflects many experiences I have had using AI. I keep trying again because I’m a long-time techie so I am ever-hopeful that “tech will save us,” and because once in a while it actually does do something better than I could have done it myself. That one time buys another 5 or 6 unsuccessful tries.

I decided to try out something AI is supposed to be really good at. I asked Gemini “What Cambridge restaurants are open on Christmas day?” (I live outside of Cambridge, UK now.) It searched for a while, and found 9. But I knew of one that was for sure open, and asked, “Are there any others? What about The Boot?” It replied “Yes, I can confirm that The Boot is planning to be open, and I found another restaurant as well.” It then gave me an updated list.

So I gave up and started searching the internet myself and found a few more.

Efficient? Time-Saving? Not Ready For Public Use

If this is supposed to be “efficient” or “time-saving” … it isn’t. It wasted my time and made me less “productive” not more.

As I said, this experience reflects so many of the experiences I have had. And as I said, once in a while it can be great. But it just is not ready for public use, and seriously should not be out there in public because sometimes it is dangerously wrong and people are trusting it.

We’re In A Bubble That Will Pop

A lot of people warn that stocks are experiencing an AI bubble and the world’s economies are at risk if (when) this bubble collapses. But some (are paid to) say AI is “for real” so these astronomical valuations are just fine. (“This time it’s different.”)

Why are the tech oligarchs so wealthy that they can throw hundreds of billions into AI? Why are they allow to have these monopolies? Why are they inflicting obviously harmful tech on US? Why has the stock market been able to inflate so enormously?

It’s Corruption

Why hasn’t the government stepped in to protect the public? Because of corruption.

Techies are wealthy because of this corruption and there is this corruption because the tech bros are so wealthy. The wealthy techies are paying politicians, parties and regulators (“governments”) not to “interfere” and protect the public from what they are doing.

Everyone sees this. Everyone understands this. No one seems to be able to do anything about it.

Paid-off governments won’t enforce antitrust rules. Paid-off governments won’t regulate tech. Paid-off governments refuse to tax the wealthy and their corporations. And paid-off politicians and parties and regulators certainly won’t do anything to stop the flow of cash and perks they are receiving.

PS The Boot Is Really Good

The Boot, in Histon, is really good. But the best restaurant in Cambridge is The Dumpling Tree. I’m not just saying that, it really is that good. But is isn’t open on Christmas.
 

War Isn’t Murder – Jesse Welles

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War isn’t murder, good men don’t die
Children don’t starve and all the women survive
“War isn’t murder, ” that’s what they say
When you’re fighting the Devil, murder’s okay
War isn’t murder, they’re called casualties
There ain’t a veteran with a good night’s sleep

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
The dead don’t feel honor
They don’t feel that brave
They don’t feel avenged
They’re lucky if they got graves

Call your dead mother, ask her when she died
It’s a deathly silence on the other line
The dead don’t talk, but the children don’t forget
So in 20 short years, you could live to regret that

War isn’t murder, there’s money at stake
Girl, even Kushner agrees it’s good real estate
War isn’t murder, ask Netanyahu
He’s got a song for that and a bomb for you
War isn’t murder, it’s an old desert faith
It’s a nation-state sanctioned, righteous hate

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
War isn’t murder, it’s the vengeance of God
If you can’t see the bodies, they don’t bloat when they rot
And the flies don’t swarm, and the children don’t cry
If war isn’t murder, good men don’t die
So in a short 20 years, when you vacation the Strip
Don’t think about the dead and have a nice trip

War isn’t murder, we should all give thanks
I saw it all in a movie, give it up for Tom Hanks
War isn’t murder, they don’t ship out the poor
And the bullets they fire aren’t part of the cure
War isn’t murder, land is a right
But the banks called dibs, it’s something you can’t fight

Let’s talk about dead people
I mean a-dead people
The dead don’t feel honor
They don’t feel that brave
They don’t feel avenged
They’re lucky if they got graves

War isn’t murder, ain’t a river of blood
Stretching all-through time and raining down in a flood
It’s a dark sacrifice, made on your behalf
So get down on your knees and thank the sweet Lord that
War isn’t murder

Who Will Stand With Us?

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For No Kings Day. (Lyrics below video.)

Throughout centuries in every country
We’ve faced the wrath and felt the pain
Of the tyrant’s sword or the henchman’s boot
For another rich man’s gain
In the endless quest for wealth and power
They stomp us down with great disdain
Beneath the false god’s banner
In the name of all that’s vain

Through crime and crusade
Our labor, it’s been stolen
We’ve been robbed of our freedom
We’ve been held down and beholden
To the bosses and bankers
Who never gave their share
Of any blood
Of any sweat
Of any tears

Who’ll stand with us?
Don’t tell us everything is fine
Who’ll stand with us?
Because this treatment is a crime
The working people fuel the engine
While you yank the chain
We fight the wars and build buildings
For someone else’s gain

So tell me
Who will stand with us?
And as time rolls on
Not a single thing has changed
The wealth gap’s only grown
As we all point the blame
We’re at the throats of one another
Though we share a single fate
And the golden few laugh on and on
As we all take the bait

Through crime and crusade
Our labor, it’s been stolen
We’ve been robbed of our freedom
We’ve been held down and beholden
To the bosses and bankers
Who never gave their share
Of any blood
Of any sweat
Of any tears

Who’ll stand with us?
Don’t tell us everything is fine
Who’ll stand with us?
Because this treatment is a crime
The working people fuel the engine
While you yank the chain
We fight the wars and build buildings
For someone else’s gain

So tell me
Who will stand with us?
Through crime and crusade
Our labor, it’s been stolen
We’ve been robbed of our freedom
We’ve been held down and beholden
Who’ll stand with us?
Don’t tell us everything is fine
Who’ll stand with us?
Because this treatment is a crime
The working people fuel the engine
While you yank the chain
We fight the wars and build buildings
For someone else’s gains
So tell me
Who will stand with us?
So tell me
Who will stand with us?

American Media Asymmetry

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There are things the American public just can’t be told. Here are a few examples.

Universal healthcare, like Medicare-for-All, would dramatically reduce American healthcare costs.

Cutting government spending usually just shifts costs onto the public or other government departments, and almost always increases those costs well beyond what was being spent before the cuts.

Immigrants are good for the economy — and also are human beings.

Taxing the rich to get money FROM the rich would mean the govt stops “borrowing” from the rich and forever after paying interest TO the rich. (It could also begin to address the problem of inequality if taxation levels are high enough.)

Renewables like wind and solar reduce energy costs while oil companies create life-threatening pollution and receive massive subsidies.

Joining a labor union brings tremendous benefits to workers. It increases their pay and benefits. It helps prevent mistreatment on the job.

These are just a few of the things you don’t hear in American “news” outlets.

The Real AI Question: Who Benefits?

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Here’s a different question about AI. Suppose it does what is promised, and does greatly increase productivity, and does bring all kinds of benefits. Who will gain from that? Will those benefits be shared? Will there be 3-day workweeks of 6 hours a day? 6-week vacations?

How Did Trade Work Out For Us?

Think about how it worked out with trade. Economists will explain that trade brings all kinds of benefits. One huge benefit was supposed to come from moving the worst jobs to places where people really need work, so the labor force is freed up to take on higher-level, higher-paid work, and the people on the other side of the trade border who needed jobs now have jobs. Over time this moves around the world lifting everyone. The same was supposed to be true about other benefits and gains from trade.

Democracies Would Make Sure Benefits Were Shared

But the economists assumed that everyone would benefit because democracies would make sure everyone shared those benefits. Why else would a democracy allow factories to close and imports to replace goods made at home? Why else would a democracy allow jobs to be sent away?

What Really Happened?

What really happened? The democracies were “captured” and instead of protecting the public government power protected the few at the top who had done the capturing. Jobs were moved out, factories were closed, and people were just laid off (too bad so sad here’s some Oxycontin). Unions were broken. Entire “rust belt” regions were utterly devastated. The middle class was forced downwards, while income and wealth shifted upward.

Here Comes AI

So now AI threatens to accelerate those changes. Democracy is gone and we all know the gains from AI won’t be shared. Instead AI will be used to force more and more people out of work, their wages instead going to a top few. This will further increase centralized power and wealth at the very top.

There Can Be Only One

This increasing concentration will accelerate and become a winner-take-all game. The oligarchs all understand this process of concentration, and are racing to be the winner in the AI race — to be the one person who gets it all. Literally all.

Hence the massive investment into AI we are seeing. Hence the bubble. It’s like nothing else matters.

Nothing Else Matters

It doesn’t matter to the massively-wealthy what happens when the bubble bursts. They understand this is about being the ONE person in control of what happens and who won’t be destroyed. They even say it – if AI becomes superintelligent they want to be the ONE person controlling that. And the current “system” is set up – by them – to let that happen.

That’s why they have rigged the system to keep We the People from stopping them.

Chemtrails

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Atrios makes a great point about right-wingers. You can’t appease them because they’re nuts. They’ll always want more.

Florida passed a law banning airplanes from spreading chemtrails (plus 7 other Republican states – so far). But people look up and still see the vapor trails from planes!!!

Lesson to learn: When they get done removing all the “illegals” (crossing the border is a misdemeanor) They will STILL see people who “don’t look like us” and that huge ICE apparatus they’re building will go to work on the rest of the population, until only the “pure” remain.

Chemtrails

The dangers of indulging the fantasies of the crazies.Since the state law went into effect, the Floridians who backed it have grown increasingly angry by seeing the skies just as marked by white trails as they were prior to the state law.

Here’s a smattering of irate posts on X in the two months since the state law went into effect:

— “Yes, the spraying has taken place every single day since the Ban was put in place!”

— “The invasion continues. Florida skies are under constant attack.”

— “DeSantis, why do you lie? Why do you say that you signed a Florida Bill getting rid of these hideous chemtrails, and it is all a fat big LIE?”

— “Welcome to Florida, the chemtrails state. Now we are being sprayed from 4 a.m. to 5 a.m., so by 10 a.m. the skies are cleared but you are breathing heavy metals. Thank you DeSantis.”

— “See how the chemicals are spreading out. Trees are dying, crops are barely growing. Why is our government doing this to us?”

By humoring Florida’s free-dumb coalition on chemtrails, state lawmakers have unleashed a tornado of disappointment upon themselves.While not precisely the same, there is a lesson here about trying to give anti-immigration zealots something you can’t give them. They don’t want cuts to illegal immigration or even legal immigration.

They want you to send them all back again, and if you can’t provide that, they won’t be happy. They will vote for the people who they think might.

Stop negotiating with the imaginary Reasonable Republican in your head, imagining that surely this compromise will appeal to them, because it’s very sensible. Reasonable Republicans don’t exist, and they haven’t agreed to your compromise.