#Bottom-Up Economic Playbook
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defensenow · 12 days ago
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awesomegoodmusic · 13 days ago
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TheWhiteHouseSpin.Com / SPIN PUBLISHING: LIVE 12:15 PM ~ PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN, JR. PRESENTS REMARKS ON HIS MIDDLE-OUT, BOTTOM-UP ECONOMIC PLAYBOOK AT THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION Reported by Karen Ann Carr WASHINGTON DC - President Joseph Biden, Jr. presents remarks on his Economic Playbook on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at the Brookings Institution. https://thewhitehousespin.blogspot.com/2024/12/live-president-joseph-biden-jr-presents.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9mdWivB6EE #APNews #CSPAN #PBS #ABC #NBC #CBS #FoxNews #MSNBC #CNN #SpinPublishing #WhiteHouseSpin #NewsMax #GlobalNews #worldnews
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warningsine · 4 months ago
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Next time you pick up a package of coffee or a pack of toilet paper, take a closer look. You might notice the package looks familiar, but what is inside has subtly diminished. This is “shrinkflation” in action, a pricing strategy used by manufacturers worldwide. By reducing product size instead of increasing final prices, companies take advantage of the psychology of shoppers who are more likely to notice a price hike than a slight reduction in size.
A pervasive trend
Despite complaints by consumers and recent government initiatives, the phenomenon shows little sign of abating. According to research by the British bank Barclays, in August, 8 out of 10 British consumers reported that the practice was hitting their finances. A quarter of them have even started to notice “double-dip shrinkflation”, where products go through two or more rounds of size reductions, without a corresponding price reduction. The top five most frequently cited products impacted are chocolate (57%), crisps (44%), packs of biscuits (41%), snack bars (36%) and sweets (36%).
One of your favourite brands is probably guilty of it. Take the latest Toblerone chocolate bar for example, now a gappier version of its former self. Other well-known products to have taken a cut include Mars and Galaxy chocolate bars, McVities biscuits, Magnum ice creams, Pringles, Lurpark butter and the list goes on.
In spite of its growing use, shrinkflation is not a new trick in the corporate playbook. In times of economic turbulence, manufacturers have consistently turned to this stealthy strategy to maintain profitability without overtly raising prices. For instance, the UK government had already recorded 2,529 price quotes across the UK where the size of the tracked item had shrunk between January 2012 and June 2017. Fast forward to today, as global supply chains deal with unprecedented pressures and generalised hyperinflation, shrinkflation has re-emerged as a silent yet pervasive trend impacting consumers globally.
Consumers left feeling cheated
Shrinkflation often goes unnoticed by consumers until they open the package or start to dig in. In some cases, it comes with a product package renewal – such as an increased divot in the bottom of a jar – further confounding the consumer, who does not immediately realise that there’s less of it.
Consumers hate its perniciousness, feeling cheated and disempowered over their purchases. They have launched a number of petitions and called on supermarkets to follow the lead of French supermarket Carrefour in labelling products hit by shrinkflation. Despite the increased media attention and scrutiny, in a very few cases voluntary actions have been put in place so far from big retailers.
Do companies realise just how bad for business it is? A recent study demonstrated that the majority of consumers consider shrinkflation a dishonest practice, much more unfair than the price increase. Retailers are not exempted from consumer outrage, since they are also considered culpable for it, despite their limited control over the package size reduction, as our preliminary findings suggest.
Grumbles on social media
Our analysis of 4.000 X posts published between January 2022 and January 2024 containing the keywords “#shrinkflation” or “shrinkflation” shows that consumers consider manufacturers responsible for shrinking the quantity of the products, but also attribute responsibility to retailers for not protecting consumers from these new market dynamics.
Consumers can blame the food industry or specific brands, or both. In the case of brands, they often explicitly mention the brand and show images of shrunken packaging. Consumers who blame manufacturers for employing such tactics express feelings of deception or being cheated, especially if this means they get less bang for their buck. Indeed, brand communications about shrinkflation are perceived as deceitful, as they try to convince consumers about the benefits of the packaging reduction:
Of course, size isn’t everything; sometimes fewer ingredients or materials impacts the quality of the product itself. Oreo, for example, has been accused of reducing the layer of cream between cookies without lowering prices.
More unpopular than price rises
These insights are further confirmed by the results of our studies conducted online in the first six months of 2024 involving more than 1,700 consumers from the UK and Italy. Through an online questionnaire, consumers involved via a crowdsourcing platform (i.e., Prolific Academic) were randomly messaged that their favourite supermarket was implementing shrinkflation or raising prices.
The consumers who received our communication on shrinkflation practices showed higher levels of aversion toward the retailer and perceived higher levels of price unfairness (+7.3%) compared to those who received the message communicating price increase. Our findings also show a substantial reduction of trust toward the retailer, dropping by 4.5%, together with a drop in attitude, meaning that consumers have less favourable perceptions toward retailers when they sell downsized products (-4%). Dwindling trust is particularly problematic for retailers, and it might be even more pronounced if shrinkflation is used for a longer period.
Governments respond
Some governments are now cracking down on the practice. For instance, since 1 July 2024 stores in France have been required to display warnings on products that have shrunk in size without a corresponding reduction in price, as Italy followed suit weeks later. In Asia, South Korea’s antitrust regulator has also demanded that food manufacturers and suppliers inform shoppers if they reduce the size of their products or face fines of up to 10 million won ($7,300). US lawmakers, including President Biden, have publicly condemned shrinkflation and is considering new executive actions to crack down on the practice.
Companies aren’t doomed to unpopularity, however. Should they yield to shrinkflation, our research shows that they can maintain trust and minimise backlash by proactively informing consumers.
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americamortgages · 6 months ago
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Why Foreign Real Estate Investors Choose the U.S.
Why are foreign real estate investors choosing the U.S. over every other country in the world? Is it the world’s largest real estate market, with over $2.3 trillion transacted last year alone? Perhaps the staggering $53 Billion of U.S. residential homes purchased by foreign nationals in 2023? Maybe they are following Blackstone’s playbook as they also purchased more than $6 Billion in single-family homes across the U.S. My guess is it’s a combination of everything amongst the standard appeal of high returns, diversification, and a stable environment. Let’s dig into the reasons behind this intriguing trend and uncover the answers.
Huge Market Potential
There is a wide range of investment opportunities, including commercial and residential properties and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Foreign investors are motivated by a variety of factors when investing in U.S. real estate. These include the potential for high returns, diversification of their investment portfolio, and the stability and security of the U.S. political and economic environment. Let’s take a look at why these facts attract foreign investors to residential real estate in the U.S.
Capital Appreciation and Cash Flow
The benefits of investing in U.S. real estate are often undervalued. You can make money by renting out your property, and over time, your property’s value can increase. Even though home values have had their ups and downs, here’s the bottom line: in the last 20 years, the average home price in the U.S. has gone up from roughly $140,000 to around $340,000 as of April 2023. So, when you combine rental income and property value appreciation, foreign investors have the chance to see a solid return on their investment.
Diversification
The most important concept in investing is diversification, which helps reduce risk and increase returns over time. Investing in U.S. real estate can help foreign national investors diversify their real estate investment portfolios by spreading their investments across different countries. By reducing risk and increasing returns through diversification, non-resident investors can achieve their investment goals more effectively.
Secure and Stable Investment
The stability of the U.S. political and economic environment makes it an attractive destination for foreign investors seeking security. This is further enhanced by its legal framework and property rights protection. These protections include the right to own, use, and dispose of property and the right to exclude others from the property.
Tax Benefits
Certain tax advantages exist when investing in U.S. real estate, such as deductions for mortgage interest payments and property taxes. However, tax regulations can be complex, so it is important to consult with tax professionals to ensure that foreign investors take advantage of all available tax benefits. Consulting with tax professionals can help foreign investors gain clarity on tax regulations and ensure that they are making informed investment decisions.
No Stamp Duty
The U.S. is one of the few countries that does not have stamp duty for both foreign and U.S. citizen investors. This factor can potentially save you tens of thousands of dollars when compared to markets such as the U.K. or Australia.
Factors to Consider When Buying Real Estate
Regardless of the market, as most people are aware when making investment decisions, it is important to consider personal goals and risk tolerance. With real estate, each property presents a unique set of variables. Here are some important factors to consider:
Market Trends: Research current and historical market trends in the area of investment property. Understanding supply and demand dynamics, price trends, and rental market conditions can help make informed decisions.
Location: Location, Location, Location. It’s often considered the most crucial factor in real estate investing. A desirable location can lead to higher property values, rental income, and demand. Consider factors like proximity to schools, workplaces, amenities, and the overall neighborhood’s reputation.
Budget and Financing: Determine the budget for the investment, including purchase price, property taxes, and ongoing expenses. Explore America Mortgages’ financing options, such as LTV and qualifying criteria.
Property Type: Decide whether to invest in single-family, multi-family, condos, townhomes, or apartment buildings. Each property type has its own set of considerations and advantages.
Mortgage Type: The most popular loan program allows the borrower to qualify based on the cash flow of the property, not personal income.
Property Condition: Assess the condition of the property. Renovations and repairs can significantly impact investment costs and potential returns.
Cash Flow: Calculate the potential rental income and expenses associated with the property. Ensure that the property’s rental income covers all costs and leaves room for a positive cash flow.
Property Management: Decide whether the property will be directly managed by you or by a property management company. Explore property management companies that allow you to live and work abroad from where the property is located, stress and hassle-free.
Ready to Make a Move?
Investing in the largest and most stable real estate can provide foreign investors with a wide range of benefits, including high returns, diversification of their investment portfolio, and the stability and security of the U.S. political and economic environment. By generating cash flow through rental income and capital appreciation, foreign investors can achieve their investment goals more effectively. America Mortgages has one focus: providing market-rate mortgages for non-U.S. citizens, foreign nationals, and U.S. expats. This is 100% of our clients; no one does it better. If you’d like to find out more, please register to speak with one of our U.S. mortgage specialists today.
Reference: https://www.americamortgages.com/why-foreign-real-estate-investors-choose-the-u-s/
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sublimeobservationarcade · 1 year ago
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Domestic Terrorism By The Right
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The radicalisation of the Republican Party in America under the aegis of Donald Trump continues to present disturbing new realities. Domestic Terrorism by the Right. Election officials are being threatened and now sent letters with white powder, which could be Fentanyl and other deadly substances. Domestic terrorism is a right wing phenomenon. Extremists on this side of the political spectrum are happy to threaten violence, brandish weapons, and do bad stuff. Trump has ushered in a new level of domestic terrorism into the United States. The ex-President who wouldn’t accept defeat has role modelled this kind of extreme behaviour for others to follow.
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Trump Led Terror By Domestic Extremists
The conservative playbook is to point the finger at radicals on the left, when in actual fact it is invariably their own mob which regularly resorts to violence and threats. Remember that Trump was going on about election fraud long before the 2020 election was held. A word of advice in life, beware of those who loudly accuse others of crimes and bad behaviour because he who shouts loudest usually has more to hide. Those who accuse others of adultery are, often, the adulterers in their relationship. This is called deflection and is a well-established stratagem by autocratic leaders like Putin and Trump.
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Right Wing Acts Of Violence & Terror
The United States has a long history of extremist behaviour on the right. Presidents have been assassinated and many individuals murdered on this basis. President Abraham Lincoln was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth, whist watching a theatrical performance. The south who had lost the Civil War would have their retribution on the President who nominally ended slavery. JFK would be gunned down in Texas and another President with Liberal leanings would have his reign cut short. RFK, the brother, would follow shot dead in New York. Martin Luther King Junior, the black civil rights leader, would, also, be shot dead. These are only the most high profile, as there have been many other egregious acts of violence committed by extremists on the right in America.
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Deflection In The Age Of Trump Those on the right continually ‘cry wolf’ about the dangerous left. Conservative leaders paint any resistance as socialist plots. The FBI under Hoover spent most of its formative decades in the 20C going after those on the left. They infiltrated groups like the Black Panthers and the counterculture movement more generally and portrayed them as violent radicals. The land of the free beat up on any one with different ideas about how things should be run. Lots of lies and exaggerations were fed to the American public. Now, we have a GOP full of election deniers and extremists. The Speaker of the House believes The Big Lie. This is despite numerous judicial investigations proving there was no election fraud. Trump knew he was going to lose the 2020 election and developed a strategy where honest defeat was not possible. He knew because he had overseen the most incompetent administration the US had seen in many years. A million people died from the Covid pandemic because of the poor response by his government. Trump was voted out of office because he is a liar and a fraud.
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Economic Pressures & Social Unrest The international reputation of the United States has been indelibly damaged due to the Trump presidency. Trust has been lost and Biden has had to work overtime to try and retrieve some of this. The global economy has been in the grip of high inflationary cost of living pressures upon ordinary citizens. Corporations have protected their bottom lines by increasing prices. Record profits have been declared. Wars in Ukraine and now Israel have seen energy prices spike to the detriment of consumers and businesses. There are housing crises in America and Australia with rents going through the roof due to shortages of available rental stocks. Central banks have raised interest rates and made things worse. The high inflation is caused largely by supply side shocks and bottlenecks. Governments should be targeting fiscal spending in the housing sector to facilitate the building of more rental housing. Americans would do well to remember the Trump presidency years and just how dysfunctional and dangerous they were.
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Cowards With Guns Cowardly dickheads with guns, threats, and bombs would do well to remember that law enforcement has a long memory. They will be caught and prosecuted eventually. Meanwhile, the GOP continues to lose elections, as Americans wake up to a Supreme Court infiltrated by right wing dark money. 83% of Americans don’t want abortion to be a criminal offence. The GOP will keep losing elections until they realise these things. Hands off women’s reproductive rights. Hands off books in schools with your ridiculous banning. Hands off democracy! Domestic terrorism by the Right will only hasten the demise of the GOP as a viable political force.   “Now, when we're thinking about January 6, we should always be thinking about a broad group of people, not all of whom had plans to become violent and storm the Capitol that day. But in the case of Tarrio and the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers and affiliated groups who have now been found guilty and sentenced for seditious conspiracy, they were planning to do this. They were violent. And they're part of a long, decades-long movement of white power activists and militant right activists who have waged war on the United States since the early 1980s. So this is still not the maximum sentence; 22 years, the headlines are reading long sentence, but the prosecutors were asking for 33.” (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/far-right-violence-a-growing-threat-and-law-enforcements-top-domestic-terrorism-concern) Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Money Matters: Navigating Credit, Debt, and Financial Freedom.  ©WordsForWeb Read the full article
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mausammishra2307 · 1 year ago
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Bagasse Cogeneration: Powering Prosperity and Sustainability for Businesses
Picture a world where discarded sugarcane fibers transform into a double win: abundant clean energy and a bolstered bottom line. That’s the magic of bagasse cogeneration – a groundbreaking energy solution that’s not only rewriting the playbook on sustainable power but also opening up a treasure trove of economic benefits. In this exploration, we’ll delve deeper into the captivating world of…
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nebris · 2 years ago
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Why Is So Little Known About the 1930s Coup Attempt Against FDR?
Business leaders like JP Morgan and Irénée du Pont were accused by a retired major general of plotting to install a fascist dictator.
Donald Trump’s elaborate plot to overthrow the democratically elected president was neither impulsive nor uncoordinated, but straight out of the playbook of another American coup attempt – the 1933 “Wall Street putsch” against newly elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
           America had hit rock bottom, beginning with the stock market crash three years earlier. Unemployment was at 16 million and rising. Farm foreclosures exceeded half a million. More than five thousand banks had failed, and hundreds of thousands of families had lost their homes. Financial capitalists had bilked millions of customers and rigged the market. There were no government safety nets – no unemployment insurance, minimum wage, social security or Medicare.    
           Economic despair gave rise to panic and unrest, and political firebrands and white supremacists eagerly fanned the paranoia of socialism, global conspiracies and threats from within the country. Populists Huey Long and Father Charles Coughlin attacked FDR, spewing vitriolic anti-Jewish, pro-fascist refrains and brandishing the “America first” slogan coined by media magnate William Randolph Hearst.    
           On 4 March 1933, more than 100,000 people had gathered on the east side of the US Capitol for Roosevelt’s inauguration. The atmosphere was slate gray and ominous, the sky suggesting a calm before the storm. That morning, rioting was expected in cities throughout the nation, prompting predictions of a violent revolution. Army machine guns and sharpshooters were placed at strategic locations along the route. Not since the civil war had Washington been so fortified, with armed police guarding federal buildings.    
           FDR thought government in a civilized society had an obligation to abolish poverty, reduce unemployment, and redistribute wealth. Roosevelt’s bold New Deal experiments inflamed the upper class, provoking a backlash from the nation’s most powerful bankers, industrialists and Wall Street brokers, who thought the policy was not only radical but revolutionary. Worried about losing their personal fortunes to runaway government spending, this fertile field of loathing led to the “traitor to his class” epithet for FDR. “What that fellow Roosevelt needs is a 38-caliber revolver right at the back of his head,” a respectable citizen said at a Washington dinner party.    
           In a climate of conspiracies and intrigues, and against the backdrop of charismatic dictators in the world such as Hitler and Mussolini, the sparks of anti-Rooseveltism ignited into full-fledged hatred. Many American intellectuals and business leaders saw nazism and fascism as viable models for the US. The rise of Hitler and the explosion of the Nazi revolution, which frightened many European nations, struck a chord with prominent American elites and antisemites such as Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford. Hitler’s elite Brownshirts – a mass body of party storm troopers separate from the 100,000-man German army – was a stark symbol to the powerless American masses. Mussolini’s Blackshirts – the military arm of his organization made up of 200,000 soldiers – were a potent image of strength to a nation that felt emasculated.    
           A divided country and FDR’s emboldened powerful enemies made the plot to overthrow him seem plausible. With restless uncertainty, volatile protests and ominous threats, America’s right wing was inspired to form its own paramilitary organizations. Militias sprung up throughout the land, their self-described “patriots” chanting: “This is despotism! This is tyranny!”    
           Today’s Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have nothing on their extremist forbears. In 1933, a diehard core of conservative veterans formed the Khaki Shirts in Philadelphia and recruited pro-Mussolini immigrants. The Silver Shirts was an apocalyptic Christian militia patterned on the notoriously racist Texas Rangers that operated in 46 states and stockpiled weapons.    
           The Gray Shirts of New York organized to remove “Communist college professors” from the nation’s education system, and the Tennessee-based White Shirts wore a Crusader cross and agitated for the takeover of Washington. JP Morgan Jr, one of the nation’s richest men, had secured a $100m loan to Mussolini’s government. He defiantly refused to pay income tax and implored his peers to join him in undermining FDR.    
           So, when retired US Marine Corps Maj Gen Smedley Darlington Butler claimed he was recruited by a group of Wall Street financiers to lead a fascist coup against FDR and the US government in the summer of 1933, Washington took him seriously. Butler, a Quaker, and first world war hero dubbed the Maverick Marine, was a soldier’s soldier who was idolized by veterans – which represented a huge and powerful voting bloc in America. Famous for his daring exploits in China and Central America, Butler’s reputation was impeccable. He got rousing ovations when he claimed that during his 33 years in the marines: “I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and for bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism.”    
           Butler later testified before Congress that a bond-broker and American Legion member named Gerald MacGuire approached him with the plan. MacGuire told him the coup was backed by a group called the American Liberty League, a group of business leaders which formed in response to FDR’s victory, and whose mission it was to teach government “the necessity of respect for the rights of persons and property”. Members included JP Morgan, Jr, Irénée du Pont, Robert Sterling Clark of the Singer sewing machine fortune, and the chief executives of General Motors, Birds Eye and General Foods.    
           The putsch called for him to lead a massive army of veterans – funded by $30m from Wall Street titans and with weapons supplied by Remington Arms – to march on Washington, oust Roosevelt and the entire line of succession, and establish a fascist dictatorship backed by a private army of 500,000 former soldiers.    
           As MacGuire laid it out to Butler, the coup was instigated after FDR eliminated the gold standard in April 1933, which threatened the country’s wealthiest men who thought if American currency wasn’t backed by gold, rising inflation would diminish their fortunes. He claimed the coup was sponsored by a group who controlled $40bn in assets – about $800bn today – and who had $300m available to support the coup and pay the veterans. The plotters had men, guns and money – the three elements that make for successful wars and revolutions. Butler referred to them as “the royal family of financiers” that had controlled the American Legion since its formation in 1919. He felt the Legion was a militaristic political force, notorious for its antisemitism and reactionary policies against labor unions and civil rights, that manipulated veterans.    
           The planned coup was thwarted when Butler reported it to J Edgar Hoover at the FBI, who reported it to FDR. How seriously the “Wall Street putsch” endangered the Roosevelt presidency remains unknown, with the national press at the time mocking it as a “gigantic hoax” and historians like Arthur M Schlesinger Jr surmising “the gap between contemplation and execution was considerable” and that democracy was not in real danger. Still, there is much evidence that the nation’s wealthiest men – Republicans and Democrats alike – were so threatened by FDR’s policies that they conspired with antigovernment paramilitarism to stage a coup.    
           The final report by the congressional committee tasked with investigating the allegations, delivered in February 1935, concluded: “[The committee] received evidence showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country”, adding “There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.”    
           As Congressman John McCormack who headed the congressional investigation put it: “If General Butler had not been the patriot he was, and if they had been able to maintain secrecy, the plot certainly might very well have succeeded … When times are desperate and people are frustrated, anything could happen.”    
           There is still much that is not known about the coup attempt. Butler demanded to know why the names of the country’s richest men were removed from the final version of the committee’s report. “Like most committees, it has slaughtered the little and allowed the big to escape,” Butler said in a Philadelphia radio interview in 1935. “The big shots weren’t even called to testify. They were all mentioned in the testimony. Why was all mention of these names suppressed from this testimony?”    
           While details of the conspiracy are still matters of historical debate, journalists and historians, including the BBC’s Mike Thomson and John Buchanan of the US, later concluded that FDR struck a deal with the plotters, allowing them to avoid treason charges – and possible execution – if Wall Street backed off its opposition to the New Deal. The presidential biographer Sidney Blumenthal recently said that Roosevelt should have pushed it all through, then reneged on his agreement and prosecuted them.    
           What might all of this portend for Americans today, as President Biden follows in FDR’s New Deal footsteps while democratic socialist Bernie Sanders also rises in popularity and influence? In 1933, rather than inflame a quavering nation, FDR calmly urged Americans to unite to overcome fear, banish apathy and restore their confidence in the country’s future. Now, 90 years later, a year on from Trump’s own coup attempt, Biden’s tone was more alarming, sounding a clarion call for Americans to save democracy itself, to make sure such an attack “never, never happens again”.    
           If the plotters had been held accountable in the 1930s, the forces behind the 6 January coup attempt might never have flourished into the next century.    
Sally Denton is the author of The Plots Against the President: FDR, a Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right. Her forthcoming book is The Colony: Faith and Blood in a Promised Land.   
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-is-so-little-known-about-the-1930s-coup-attempt-against-fdr    
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What is the “Greatest Country on Earth™?“
I mean this objectively.  Out of ~200 nations, one of them has to be undeniably better than the rest.  If we make a sortable list, one has to be on top, just as certainly as one has to be on bottom,  So, which country is the all around best?
I can tell you for absolutely certain it is NOT the United States; sure, we’re economically best, every other country relies on us for trade, but something like 99% of all the money is controlled by so few individuals that they could all fit in one of those crappy rental limos that high schoolers get their parents to splurge on for Prom Night.  Income inequality has never been worse, minimum wage been stagnant for almost 10 years, and nobody can afford a home.  “America” is rich, but “Americans” aren’t.  So that ain’t great.
The Democracy Index lists the top ten most politically stable and democratically active countries as Norway, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand. Finland, Ireland, Denmark, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland,  I happen to know for a fact that Canada, Australia and New Zealand are super racist, just like their dear old dad the British Empire (and their cousin, America); Canadians hate the indigenous, New Zealand hates the Maori, Australia hates the aboriginals.  They’ve taken a page out of Andrew Jackson’s playbook to genocide the problem away then punish he stragglers to make their lives as hard as possible.  So that’s not great.  Scandinavia seems nice, but I’ve had my heart broke too many times to take them at face value.  If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.  Let’s go further.
Breaking down the Democracy Index, we get different leaders based on criteria:
Electoral Process and Pluralism: elections are free and fair, and there are multiple views being discussed.  Nine countries get a perfect score of 10.00; Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Luxembourg, Uruguay, and Denmark [for reference, the US got a 9.17]
Functioning of Government: can it collect taxes and spend them on stuff that’s useful?  No country gets a perfect score, but the three highest are Norway, Canada, and Sweden with 9.64 each. [for reference, the US got a 7.14]
Political Participation: can people vote, and do they?  Only Norway gets a perfect 10.00.  The next five are trailing behind; New Zealand, Iceland, Finland, Israel, and the United Kingdom each score 8.89. [for reference, the US got a 7.78]
Political Culture: how invested are the people and the government in the right to vote?  We get perfect 10.00s from Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and Ireland [for reference, the US got a 7.50]
Civil Liberties: how free are you?  How oppressive is your government?  Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand get perfect 10.00s [for reference, the US got an 8.24]
From this, we can glean that Ireland seems pretty great.  But they’re wrapped up in the aftermath of Brexit; there’s a non-zero chance that the Troubles could start back up again if they put a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which would be HORRIBLE.  That’s not on them necessarily, it’s just as much if not more on the UK government (British Tories see the Irish as subhuman; Boris Johnson wants to wipe them out, put them in his slave mines with the Syrian refugees and Jeremy Corbyn’s corpse).
The World Happiness Report lists the top 10 happiest countries as Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, and Austria.  These too can be broken down into further criteria:
GDP Per Capita: a country’s total wealth divided by its population (this is not as indicative as it sounds; a higher GDP doesn’t mean you see a single extra cent from your job.  Countries with the highest GDPs have the largest wealth gaps, and are middle of the road when it comes to happiness.  The top 10 are Qatar, Luxembourg, Singapore, United Arab Emirates. Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, United Sates of America, and Saudi Arabia.
Social Support: how much does the country care for its citizens?  Top 10 are Iceland, Finland, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, the United Kingdom (normal so far), then Turkmenistan and Mongolia!  Turkmenistan is a military dictatorship run by a man who likes to watch horses fuck.  I think he may be over-reporting how much aid he’s giving out to the people.
Health Life Expectancy: the 10 most medically modernized countries are Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, France, Northern Cyprus (which is under Turkish occupation), regular Cyprus, Canada, and Italy
Freedom to Make Life Choices: this sounds like something the US should excel at; Freedom and Liberty are our favorite catchphrases!  But no, in practice we’re not even close to the top of the barrel.  The top 10 are Uzbekistan (former Soviet Republic), Cambodia (one-party dictatorship), Norway, the United Arab Emirates, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, New Zealand, Canada, and Sweden.  Turns out maybe “freedom” means “no rules, all anarchy” in some countries, and hey, more power to them.  For reference, the United States is in the middle of the list, between Peru, Botswana, the UK, and Japan.
Generosity: do unto others, as the saying goes.  Turns out the richest countries are the least generous.  Whoodathunkit?  The 10 most generous countries are Myanmar, Indonesia, Haiti, Malta, Kenya, Bhutan, Kuwait, Thailand, Iceland, and the UK.
Perceptions of Corruption: does your government have it’s hand in the cookie jar?  The top 10 least corrupt are Singapore, Rwanda, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Luxembourg, and Ireland.  For reference, the US is down low, between Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Nicaragua, and Iran.
The Human Development Index lists the top 10 developed nations as Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Australia, Sweden, Singapore, and the Netherlands.  The US sits pretty at 15, though this index just shows that we have running water, electricity, and roads; while we are technologically developed on the country-wide scale, the closer you look, the less this technology helps those at the lower levels.  Poor people are still poor, still have lead in the water, still lack access to good food.  The US is considered a considered a developing nation in that regard.
Ireland, New Zealand, and Switzerland get passing scores on all four of the freedom indices (Freedom in the World, Index of Economic Freedom, Press Freedom Index, and Democracy Index); they’re both socially and economically free, their press is in a good situation, and they’re full democracies.  Good on them.  Australia is socially and economically free, a full democracy, but their press’s situation is only “satisfactory,” a step down from “good.”  Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Costa Rica, and Portugal are socially free, their press is good, they’re full democracies, but they are economically “mostly free.”  For the record, the United States is socially free, only mostly economically free, our press is satisfactory, and we are a flawed democracy (this puts us on par with Taiwan, Lithuania, Latvia, South Korea, the Czech Republic, and Cyprus)
And finally we have the Corruption Perceptions Index.  As of 2020, the lest corrupt countries are New Zealand, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Singapore, Norway, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany.
Taking into account the various indices, Norway tops almost every list followed by Iceland, Ireland, and New Zealand.  If we can get over he racism (that’s gonna be a major hurdle), I think it’s safe to say that we have our three finalists.  Norway and Iceland are tied or first, with Ireland a close second.  I’m more inclined to favor Ireland because they’ve been helping out the Choctaw Tribe back in the US during the coronavirus, in repayment for their help during the great potato famine; Good Guy Ireland, pays his debts, helps his friends, has a mutual fucking hatred for WASP bastards.
Ireland appears to be the greatest place to live.
Now burst my bubble, because I know it’s coming.  Tell me the bad news, rip off this band-aid nice and quick.
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tkrr · 4 years ago
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The Left isn’t as progressive as it thinks it is
So Taylor Swift is a fan of Kamala Harris, who, let’s hope, will be our next Vice President. I just wanted to acknowledge that, and it really does show that Taylor’s serious about her feminism, because Harris is an absolutely fantastic choice for VP. She was my favorite choice out of the gate for president, but she dropped out before primary season... but here we are. 
I didn’t come here to talk about Taylor though. 
One of the most disillusioning things in my life was working as director on a public access talk show where a bunch of old New Lefties from the 60s sat around and discussed issues of the day. I did this for a couple of years until the producer and I drifted apart, at which point the 2016 campaign was in full swing and I was getting sick and tired of the constant Hillary-bashing. (She was “ambitious”, you know.) They rarely discussed social issues, and when they did it was usually related to some kind of international relief operation (like the one in Haiti a few years back) or castigating Democrats for turning away from the labor vote. (I don’t think I ever heard the phrase “identity politics”, but...) When Obergefell v Hodges came down from the Supreme Court in 2015, their first show after it happened was yet another rehash of the Israel/Palestine issue. As I was in the early stages of planning my transition, this didn’t go over well with me, but I kept my mouth shut and put up with it for another year. They were of course very concerned with corporate influence, with a regular set decoration being an American flag with the stars replaced by corporate logos. This was not the left I thought I’d be working for.
See, I’d done a lot of work with another producer on a show covering issues relevant to the homeless in our area. That felt good. That was, and is, how I see progressivism -- my contribution might have bordered on slacktivism from the outside, but I was providing a link in a chain for people who actually needed help. Similarly, the producer of the show I was talking about before had used me as director on a show about local public school issues; progressivism to me involves listening to people at risk and helping them reduce that risk. That was what the Civil Rights Movement did, and what groups like the Black Panthers tried to do. Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, Amnesty international -- this is stuff that matters to people in their immediate, daily lives. I had kept the populist left -- call them Bernouts, fire baggers, the Green Tea Party, whatever -- at arm’s length, but I kind of assumed that these things were priorities for everybody claiming to be on the left. This... did not turn out to be the case. 
What I’ve learned, from that experience and from the last few election cycles, is that the populist left is not on the same page as the activists who are actually putting effort towards directly taking care of people. They talk about labor rights, which falls into that category, but they put other issues, especially civil rights issues, on the back burner. There’s a lot of emphasis on foreign policy, but usually in a very simplistic way that’s clearly still stuck in the Reagan era. (Which is jarring when you hear it from someone who was born after Reagan left office.) When Euromaidan happened in Ukraine in 2014, they bought the Russian government’s side of the story hook, line, and sinker, despite the people noting that the rhetoric came straight out of the USSR’s propaganda playbook. They treated Noam Chomsky, Glenn Greenwald, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden as gospel, but oddly enough I don’t remember them talking about Chelsea Manning much. (I wonder why. 🏳️‍🌈? Nah, can’t be...) The supposedly “progressive” populist left overall has this kind of tunnel vision, and I can’t help but notice they’ve been replaying the same scripts since the 1960s. The last time I looked at the Green Party USA’s platform, it was such a bizarre mix of things that actually make sense combined with things that were either wrong or outright insane that I realized I could probably never vote for a Green candidate. (That in and of itself is fodder for an article I do not have the time or the energy to write.) On top of all that, there’s the sheer self-destructiveness -- I can’t understand how someone can say that their conscience is clear for voting for third-party if the simple math means their vote made it harder to advance the agenda they say they want.
What it comes down to is that there are two “left”s, and they’re only just barely compatible. I wish I didn’t have to concede the word “progressive” to the populist side, because fundamentally, no matter to what extent they manage to diversify their own base, they wind up sidelining the concerns of marginalized people (particularly black and Jewish people; there’s a link at the bottom of the article written by a black writer for a Jewish audience that I found very enlightening) in favor of centering a “generic” narrative that ultimately comes down to “things white people worry about”. The scary part of this is that because they’re basically reactionary, they don’t realize that the economically-centered message they’re pointing out is not actually as helpful for all citizens as they think it is, and will never admit it. One particular point I’ve made occasionally -- the class narrative is irrelevant for most African Americans. Shows like “The Jeffersons”, “The C*sb* Show”, and “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” were all about wealthy, successful black families; there were working class black sitcoms as well (I wish “227″ had the same staying power as “Golden Girls”), but the ones we remember were all about black families that made it, and one of the stinger lines from the pilot of “The Jeffersons” was Marla Gibbs’ character Florence saying “How come we overcame and nobody told me?” Yes, I’m white. But this is stuff that other white people could find out if they bothered to look into it.
In the end, though, the worst aspect of all of this is the reductionism. It becomes an argument over who’s lefting better than all the other lefties, to the point where “liberal” has somehow become synonymous in some circles with “anyone right of Bernie Sanders”. (Which is really ironic given Kamala Harris’ voting record in Congress, running left of Bernie.) I don’t see too much of the crowd doing that going out and trying to do the things that make people’s lives better directly; it all amounts to telling people how much better things will be Come The Revolution™, but any efforts that fall short of total societal reform *right fucking now* are seen as worse than failure. Once in a great while, some will admit that they think that these are just bribes to the proletariat to stave off the revolution, but to be honest, I don’t think most of them have put that much thought into it. This isn’t the left I want to represent. If your plans don’t start with “first do no harm”, they’re going to have an opportunity cost far too high to be morally acceptable. And if standing on principle means giving up your opportunity to advance a progressive agenda, your “progressive” principles are worthless. 
(I had some other points to make involving cancel culture, but it’s 2:30 AM and this is already a rather long post. Maybe I’ll do a second one that includes it.)
The link I mentioned above: https://forward.com/opinion/435826/why-the-left-has-failed-with-black-voters/
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billehrman · 5 years ago
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Vive La Sweet Spot
Quite a week! Powell all but assured a rate cut in July; the yield curve steepened; the dollar weakened; trade talks with China opened; commodity prices increased; and stock markets rose. Doesn’t it sound like our playbook the last few weeks?
What more can the pundits say who have been so negative and quite frankly, wrong throughout this period now that the markets have reached new heights? Yes, we too, are concerned about the second-quarter earnings but that is looking in the rear-view mirror. Remember that the Fed was tightening throughout 2018 slowing growth down and is just beginning to ease which will stimulate growth down the road. And we also know that Trump will do whatever he can to boost the economy and stock market in 2020, a Presidential election year.
Long live this Sweet Spot! Even though our markets hit new highs last week, we believe that there is much more room to run. Why? We have argued for many months that the stock market multiple should rise appreciably above 17 times earnings even if the 10-year treasury yield rose to 2.5% with bank capital/liquidity ratios at all-time highs. Why isn’t a 20-multiple reasonable? If you believe like us, that our economy will improve down the road as the Fed cuts rates causing the yield curve to steepen and the dollar to weaken, why not expect earnings growth to re-accelerate by the end of 2019 into 2020? The bottom line is that the market has much more room to run over the next year. Our strength is not only asset allocation, but also stock selection. We have been reducing our defensive holdings like healthcare and consumer nondurables over the last few weeks, adding to technology, financials, airlines, housing related, retailing and capital goods/industrials. Special situations continue to play a major role in our portfolios. We are much more stock specific (rather than sector specific) than ever before buying only best in breed with great managements combined with winning strategies and generating huge free cash flow.
Let’s look at the key data points of last week that will either support or detract from our current view. We continue to emphasize investing in the U.S. as our economic outlook at the margin is much better than almost anywhere else and there is much less risk if trade negotiations break down:
1.) The notes from Powell’s two days on Capitol Hill along with the June Fed left little question in investors’ minds that the Fed will cut rates beginning in July. Powell acknowledged that risks to the downside had risen as global growth has weakened appreciably, business investment had softened and inflation continues well beneath the Fed targets. He did emphasize that job growth remained strong and the U.S. economy was doing just fine. Clearly Powell/Fed are worried about the strength of the dollar and the inverted yield curve too. We continue to believe that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in July and by another 25-50 basis points by year-end hoping to stay neutral in 2020, a Presidential election year. If so, the yield curve will clearly steepen even if long rates don’t rise much, the dollar will weaken, commodity prices will rise and the economy will accelerate slightly later in the year into 2020 making Trump very happy.
Some important data points worthy of mention from last week included: total consumer credit rose by $17.1 billion; wholesale inventories increased 0.4% while sales rose 0.1%  resulting in a slight increase of the inventory/sales ratio to 1.35; producer prices rose 0.2% in June, excluding food and energy after posting a 0.4% gain in April and May; core consumer prices, excluding food and energy, increased 0.3% in June and is up 2.1% from a year ago; the Fed preferred PCE index is up only 1.6% from a year ago; the Consumer Comfort index rose to 63.8 in June and jobless claims declined to a 12 week low of 209,000.
While economic growth has statistically slowed down from the first-quarter rate of gain, the all-important consumer spending sector has picked up buttressed by strong employment gains along with real wage increases. We continue to project real GNP growth around 2% for the rest of the year and slightly higher in 2020 as an easier Fed policy kicks in.
2.) Growth in China has continued to slow in June as evidenced by a decline in exports of 1.3% year on year while imports fell 7.3% from last year. China’s exports to the U.S. fell 8.1% to $199.4 billion during the first half of the year while imports from the U.S. fell an astonishing 29.9% to $58.9 billion. There was no increase in China’s June PPI from a year ago with consumer prices increased 8% from a year ago due to shortages of pork and fruit.
China needs a trade deal and fast as corporations are shifting their supply lines to other countries at an accelerating rate jeopardizing China’s growth initiative. It is interesting to note that the number of Chinese millionaires actually shrunk 5% in 2018 and even more so far this year.
We expect the Chinese economy to continue to slow for the remainder of the year into 2020 unless a trade deal is finalized. The status quo is not enough to sustain growth above 6.4% despite huge government financial and fiscal support.
3.) Our outlook for the Eurozone remains bleak unless there is substantive fiscal, monetary and regulatory changes that benefits all countries in the region which unfortunately is not likely. While the ECB continues to promise further easing moves, what is left for them to do at this point? Will lower rates mean anything? Will buying more debt mean anything? NADA!
We see no growth in the Eurozone over the foreseeable future so why invest in this region which is cheap for a reason. By the way, France should not impose punitive taxes against our major tech companies as that is a battle France will lose.
4.) Our outlook for Japan remains cautious at best as exports remain very weak while core inflation continues to run around 0.5%, well beneath the BOJ’s long-standing objective of 2.0%. We continue to believe that the government should postpone any hike in retail taxes at a minimum and try to find some way to fund domestic programs to stimulate growth while minimizing the impact on the deficit. Japan is truly ham strung by its huge deficit to GNP along with limitations on the BOJ to do anything more to stimulate growth. Why invest in Japan now as it is cheap for a reason?
There is no place like home as the United States is really in a sweet spot with the Fed ready to embark on an easing program, the yield curve finally steepening and the dollar finally falling. While we are not concerned much about second quarter earnings as it is likely to be the low point for the year, we are closely watching closely the Democratic field for 2020 Presidential candidates. While it is too early to impact our investing today, we do have one eye on next year already just in case a far-left candidate begins to emerge as a real challenger to Trump/capitalism.
As you can glean from our earlier comments, our portfolios have continued to shift at the margin away from defensive stocks to those with more economic sensitivity selling at recession levels. While we expect to hear much out of politicians against drug pricing and large tech, we really don’t think much will be done to hurt them fundamentally. Notwithstanding, we have reduced our exposure to healthcare but not technology as that sector is key to our country’s long-term success so why kill the golden goose.
We strongly suggest that you listen to as many earnings calls as possible to see for yourself the differences in management, business plans and execution. Stick with the best in breed and you rarely can go wrong.
Our portfolios which have continued to outperform are concentrated in global industrials/capital goods, technology, housing related, retail, airlines generating huge free cash flow, large domestic global financials, low cost commodity producers, and many special situations. We now expect the yield curve to steepen and the dollar to weaken.
Remember to review all the facts; pause, reflect and consider mindset shifts; look at your asset mix with risk controls; do in-depth research and
Invest Accordingly!
Bill Ehrman
Paix et Prosp��rité LLC
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stoopjuice-blog · 6 years ago
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The Fastest Way To Build The Wall In 2019
The Fastest Way To Build The Wall In 2019 The fastest way to build the wall and promote my bleak outlook for 2019 is to seek-out factual information that confirms my biases. I’d encourage people to read Upton Sinclair’s the Jungle to illustrate the news media’s birth through mercantilism and yellow journalism. This early playbook of blatant lies and omissions are being reenacted today by Donald Trump and his administration’s muckraking, while the 50 articles I’ve written on LinkedIn to encourage self reliance and mobilization go mostly unread.  Could this be the reason why so many well intentioned individuals who oppose the Trump administration opt for the road of least resistance?
Media
Before the printing press was invented, word of mouth was the primary source of news. Returning merchants, sailors and travelers brought news back to the mainland, and this was then picked up by peddlers and traveling merchants and spread from town to town. This transmission of news was highly unreliable, and died out with the invention of the printing press. By 1400, businessmen in Italian and German cities were compiling hand written chronicles of important news events, and circulating them to their business connections. The idea of using a printing press for this material first appeared in Germany around 1600. Magazines flourished after Napoleon left in 1815. Most were based in Paris and most emphasized literature, poetry and stories. They served religious, cultural and political communities. In times of political crisis they expressed and helped shape the views of their readership and thereby were major elements in the changing political culture. Theodore Roosevelt coined the term "muckraker" during a speech in 1906. He compared investigative reporters to the narrow-minded figure in John Bunyan's 17th-century religious fable, "The Pilgrim's Progress": the "man that could look no way but downwards, with a muckrake in his hand.” To others during the Progressive Era the term muckraker characterized reform-minded American journalists who attacked established institutions and leaders as corrupt. They typically had large audiences in some popular magazines. Yellow journalism or press presents little or no legitimate well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism.
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic theory that holds that the prosperity of a nation depends upon its supply of capital, and that the global trade is unchangeable. Capital is held by the state, is increased through balance of trade. Overall, they encourage exports and discourage imports, with the use of tariffs.
The 99%
Most people have an intuitive model of cooperative behavior that stems from two linked fears, one of being taken advantage of and another of under producing for lack of opportunities. Creating a way, a path, for us to work with citizens and government in a format that eliminates the ingrained fears by understanding both supply and demand is the primary goal. On the demand side, the commons situation encourages a race to the bottom by overuse—what economists call a congested–public-good problem. On the supply side, the commons rewards free-rider behavior—removing or diminishing incentives for individual actors to invest in developing more output.The tragedy of the commons predicts only three possible outcomes. One is the sea of mud. Another is for some actor with coercive power to enforce an allocation policy on behalf of the village (the socialist/communist solution). The third is for the commons to break up as village members, fence-off bits they can defend and manage sustainably.
Building The Wall
2018 witnessed 3 government shutdowns.  Currently, the President Of The United States forced the government to shutdown insisting we build a wall on the Mexico - US boarder. The support for the wall is another example of the tragedy of the commons whereas the demand for undocumented workers in certain industries in the U.S. creates incentive for others to cross the boarder which has led to the increase in illegal residents in the United States. On the supply side, many Americans don’t know what to study in college, because no one knows what skills learned at 20 will be relevant at 40. The number of these useless individual increases, not through chance but by definition diminishing incentives for this group to invest in developing additional skills in higher demand or outperforming undocumented workers in low skill work. Put another way, the fastest way Americans can build the wall is by outperforming undocumented workers in low skill industries. This will discourage others looking for work from crossing the Mexican border. Past Democratic or Republican administration’s inability to address this is partly to blame for the immigration mess we have today.
The way things are
In the real world, we are not all equal and Donald Trump is the President of The United States. Access to most opportunities are subsidized by access to wealth. This is followed by how much of the sciences, engineering, technology, management and skills of labor an individual possesses coinciding with an individual's ability to learn, understand and articulate effectively these areas of study. The fourth and final step is to make the application and utilize our aptitude and abilities on things within our power. It’s also very common for people to change the narrative they tell themselves regarding economic philosophies based upon experiences, education and self interest during their lifetime. Unfortunately, there is a serious shortage of super beings in America.
The way things should be
Instead of mimicking Donald Trump’s non-virtuous approach, we should seek to make open-source cooperation sustainable similar to what happens with software programs. Part of the answer certainly lies in the fact that using software does not decrease its value. Indeed, widespread use of open-source software tends to increase its value, as users fold in their own fixes and features (code patches). In this inverse commons, the grass grows taller when it's grazed upon.That this public good cannot be degraded by overuse takes care of half of the congested–public-goods problem. It doesn't explain why open source doesn't suffer from under provision. Why don't people who know the open-source community exists universally exhibit free-rider behavior, waiting for others to do the work they need, or (if they do the work themselves) not bothering to contribute the work back into the commons?Part of the answer lies in the fact that people don't merely need solutions, they need solutions on time. It's seldom possible to predict when someone else will finish a given piece of needed work. If the payoff from fixing a bug or adding a feature is sufficient to any potential contributor, that person will dive in and do it (at which point the fact that everyone else is a free rider becomes irrelevant).Another part of the answer lies in the fact that the putative market value of small patches to a common source base is hard to capture. Being reactive by only sitting on the patch gains nothing. Indeed, it incurs a future cost—the effort involved in re-merging the patch into the source base in each new release. So the payoff from this choice is actually negative. Suppose I wrote an article that encourages people to think and the readers find it easily accessible , and suppose many readers realize my article has a monetary value; how do I collect from all those people? We all can win if we see money for what it really is, a social construct that promotes exchange through trust. To put it more positively, by writing this article I gain from the reader’s input and potential input from different groups. I also gain because others will improve on my work in the future.
The road of least resistance 
We should enable Americans to form habitual ways to meet certain needs or solve day-to-day problems instead of reading distracting tweets from the President. Tell yourself, “greatness is the perception that virtue is enough”. Unfortunately, the common person often lacks virtue, instead we avoid looking within ourselves to make self-improvements to increase our value in the free market. The weakest rebuttal to what I propose is that no market is absolutely free; a frail objection since all things exists in the margins. I advocate for capitalism by arguing the economic pendulum should swing more in the direction of the free market in order to promote a better quality of life for the masses. Ideally, we could balance our lives, with clearly defined goals and a realistic understanding of outcome. Put another way, individuals must know and understand the probability and effectiveness of their actions in order to reach their goals. I think we need to be both constructively skeptical and virtuous while helping those in need. Since gauging need is subjective, it opens up the door for misinterpretation and disagreement regarding distribution. How do we qualify, quantify and communicate an individual’s need? Who’s the agent of interpretation? These are 5 beliefs of the current administration I disagree with that should be avoided:
1. Citizens and government want different things.
2. Technique counts more than intent.
3. Solutions have inherent value (one size fits all)
4. Donald Trump ignores Methodology 
5. World - class advocacy precedes world - class Inquiry (talking before listening) or a misinformed will to power approach.
Reversing these five key beliefs set the groundwork for a process that allows government to deal with undocumented workers and citizens in an honest, straightforward manner where we can discover all issues and needs, gather the hard information needed to create solutions that puts our country’s sustainability above all else. This can be done without wasting time and resources by avoiding redundancies by utilizing available (unbiased) data.
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xtruss · 3 years ago
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Why is So Little Known About the 1930s Coup Attempt Against FDR?
Business leaders like JP Morgan and Irénée du Pont were accused by a retired major general of plotting to install a fascist dictator
— Sally Denton | Tuesday, 11 January 2022
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‘The planned coup was thwarted when Butler reported it to J Edgar Hoover at the FBI, who reported it to FDR.’ Photograph: Bettmann Archive
Donald Trump’s elaborate plot to overthrow the democratically elected president was neither impulsive nor uncoordinated, but straight out of the playbook of another American coup attempt – the 1933 “Wall Street putsch” against newly elected Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
America had hit rock bottom, beginning with the stock market crash three years earlier. Unemployment was at 16 million and rising. Farm foreclosures exceeded half a million. More than five thousand banks had failed, and hundreds of thousands of families had lost their homes. Financial capitalists had bilked millions of customers and rigged the market. There were no government safety nets – no unemployment insurance, minimum wage, social security or Medicare.
Economic despair gave rise to panic and unrest, and political firebrands and white supremacists eagerly fanned the paranoia of socialism, global conspiracies and threats from within the country. Populists Huey Long and Father Charles Coughlin attacked FDR, spewing vitriolic anti-Jewish, pro-fascist refrains and brandishing the “America first” slogan coined by media magnate William Randolph Hearst.
On 4 March 1933, more than 100,000 people had gathered on the east side of the US Capitol for Roosevelt’s inauguration. The atmosphere was slate gray and ominous, the sky suggesting a calm before the storm. That morning, rioting was expected in cities throughout the nation, prompting predictions of a violent revolution. Army machine guns and sharpshooters were placed at strategic locations along the route. Not since the civil war had Washington been so fortified, with armed police guarding federal buildings.
FDR thought government in a civilized society had an obligation to abolish poverty, reduce unemployment, and redistribute wealth. Roosevelt’s bold New Deal experiments inflamed the upper class, provoking a backlash from the nation’s most powerful bankers, industrialists and Wall Street brokers, who thought the policy was not only radical but revolutionary. Worried about losing their personal fortunes to runaway government spending, this fertile field of loathing led to the “traitor to his class” epithet for FDR. “What that fellow Roosevelt needs is a 38-caliber revolver right at the back of his head,” a respectable citizen said at a Washington dinner party.
In a climate of conspiracies and intrigues, and against the backdrop of charismatic dictators in the world such as Hitler and Mussolini, the sparks of anti-Rooseveltism ignited into full-fledged hatred. Many American intellectuals and business leaders saw nazism and fascism as viable models for the US. The rise of Hitler and the explosion of the Nazi revolution, which frightened many European nations, struck a chord with prominent American elites and antisemites such as Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford. Hitler’s elite Brownshirts – a mass body of party storm troopers separate from the 100,000-man German army – was a stark symbol to the powerless American masses. Mussolini’s Blackshirts – the military arm of his organization made up of 200,000 soldiers – were a potent image of strength to a nation that felt emasculated.
A divided country and FDR’s emboldened powerful enemies made the plot to overthrow him seem plausible. With restless uncertainty, volatile protests and ominous threats, America’s right wing was inspired to form its own paramilitary organizations. Militias sprung up throughout the land, their self-described “patriots” chanting: “This is despotism! This is tyranny!”
Today’s Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have nothing on their extremist forbears. In 1933, a diehard core of conservative veterans formed the Khaki Shirts in Philadelphia and recruited pro-Mussolini immigrants. The Silver Shirts was an apocalyptic Christian militia patterned on the notoriously racist Texas Rangers that operated in 46 states and stockpiled weapons.
“A divided country and FDR’s emboldened powerful enemies made a plot to overthrow him seem plausible”
The Gray Shirts of New York organized to remove “Communist college professors” from the nation’s education system, and the Tennessee-based White Shirts wore a Crusader cross and agitated for the takeover of Washington. JP Morgan Jr, one of the nation’s richest men, had secured a $100m loan to Mussolini’s government. He defiantly refused to pay income tax and implored his peers to join him in undermining FDR.
So, when retired US Marine Corps Maj Gen Smedley Darlington Butler claimed he was recruited by a group of Wall Street financiers to lead a fascist coup against FDR and the US government in the summer of 1933, Washington took him seriously. Butler, a Quaker, and first world war hero dubbed the Maverick Marine, was a soldier’s soldier who was idolized by veterans – which represented a huge and powerful voting bloc in America. Famous for his daring exploits in China and Central America, Butler’s reputation was impeccable. He got rousing ovations when he claimed that during his 33 years in the marines: “I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for big business, for Wall Street and for bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism.”
Butler later testified before Congress that a bond-broker and American Legion member named Gerald MacGuire approached him with the plan. MacGuire told him the coup was backed by a group called the American Liberty League, a group of business leaders which formed in response to FDR’s victory, and whose mission it was to teach government “the necessity of respect for the rights of persons and property”. Members included JP Morgan, Jr, Irénée du Pont, Robert Sterling Clark of the Singer sewing machine fortune, and the chief executives of General Motors, Birds Eye and General Foods.
The putsch called for him to lead a massive army of veterans – funded by $30m from Wall Street titans and with weapons supplied by Remington Arms – to march on Washington, oust Roosevelt and the entire line of succession, and establish a fascist dictatorship backed by a private army of 500,000 former soldiers.
As MacGuire laid it out to Butler, the coup was instigated after FDR eliminated the gold standard in April 1933, which threatened the country’s wealthiest men who thought if American currency wasn’t backed by gold, rising inflation would diminish their fortunes. He claimed the coup was sponsored by a group who controlled $40bn in assets – about $800bn today – and who had $300m available to support the coup and pay the veterans. The plotters had men, guns and money – the three elements that make for successful wars and revolutions. Butler referred to them as “the royal family of financiers” that had controlled the American Legion since its formation in 1919. He felt the Legion was a militaristic political force, notorious for its antisemitism and reactionary policies against labor unions and civil rights, that manipulated veterans.
The planned coup was thwarted when Butler reported it to J Edgar Hoover at the FBI, who reported it to FDR. How seriously the “Wall Street putsch” endangered the Roosevelt presidency remains unknown, with the national press at the time mocking it as a “gigantic hoax” and historians like Arthur M Schlesinger Jr surmising “the gap between contemplation and execution was considerable” and that democracy was not in real danger. Still, there is much evidence that the nation’s wealthiest men – Republicans and Democrats alike – were so threatened by FDR’s policies that they conspired with antigovernment paramilitarism to stage a coup.
The final report by the congressional committee tasked with investigating the allegations, delivered in February 1935, concluded: “[The committee] received evidence showing that certain persons had made an attempt to establish a fascist organization in this country”, adding “There is no question that these attempts were discussed, were planned, and might have been placed in execution when and if the financial backers deemed it expedient.”
As Congressman John McCormack who headed the congressional investigation put it: “If General Butler had not been the patriot he was, and if they had been able to maintain secrecy, the plot certainly might very well have succeeded … When times are desperate and people are frustrated, anything could happen.”
There is still much that is not known about the coup attempt. Butler demanded to know why the names of the country’s richest men were removed from the final version of the committee’s report. “Like most committees, it has slaughtered the little and allowed the big to escape,” Butler said in a Philadelphia radio interview in 1935. “The big shots weren’t even called to testify. They were all mentioned in the testimony. Why was all mention of these names suppressed from this testimony?”
While details of the conspiracy are still matters of historical debate, journalists and historians, including the BBC’s Mike Thomson and John Buchanan of the US, later concluded that FDR struck a deal with the plotters, allowing them to avoid treason charges – and possible execution – if Wall Street backed off its opposition to the New Deal. “Roosevelt should have pushed it all through and then welshed on his agreement and prosecuted them,” presidential biographer Sidney Blumenthal recently said.
What might all of this portend for Americans today, as President Biden follows in FDR’s New Deal footsteps while democratic socialist Bernie Sanders also rises in popularity and influence? In 1933, rather than inflame a quavering nation, FDR calmly urged Americans to unite to overcome fear, banish apathy and restore their confidence in the country’s future. Now, 90 years later, a year on from Trump’s own coup attempt, Biden’s tone was more alarming, sounding a clarion call for Americans to save democracy itself, to make sure such an attack “never, never happens again”.
If the plotters had been held accountable in the 1930s, the forces behind the 6 January coup attempt might never have flourished into the next century.
— Sally Denton is the author of The Plots Against the President: FDR, a Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right. Her forthcoming book is The Colony: Faith and Blood in a Promised Land | Guardian USA
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newstfionline · 3 years ago
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Friday, August 20, 2021
The U.S. could be on the verge of a productivity boom (Washington Post) The United States is currently experiencing a surge in worker productivity that could rival that of the tech boom 20 years ago—if it lasts. As companies and customers embrace new technologies, making it easier for Americans to produce more with fewer workers, a growing number of economists say this is not a blip and could turn into a boom—or, at least, a “mini boom”―with wide-ranging benefits for years to come. Productivity refers to how much output a worker can do in an hour. When workers have better tools or the help of robots and artificial intelligence, they can make cars or process data much faster. Higher productivity typically leads to more goods and services available at a lower cost and increases in wages. Without it, economic growth is sluggish. The early data in this recovery is promising. Worker productivity grew 4.3 percent in the first quarter, one of the highest rates in years, according to the Labor Department. Second quarter productivity slowed to 2.3 percent growth, but that’s still nearly double the anemic productivity the nation experienced in the decade after the financial crisis—an average of just 1.2 percent.
Soaring Cost of Food Is Forcing Families to Scrimp at the Dinner Table (Bloomberg) Whether at supermarkets, corner stores, or open-air markets, prices for food have been surging in much of the world, forcing families to make tough decisions about their diets. Meat is often the first to go, ceding space to less expensive proteins such as dairy, eggs, or beans. In some households, a glass of milk has become a luxury reserved only for children; fresh fruit, once deemed a necessity, is now a treat. Food prices in July were up 31% from the same month last year, according to an index compiled by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
School bus drivers (CBS News) School bus drivers are so hard to find in Delaware that EastSide Charter School in Wilmington is offering $700 per child to parents who agree to drive their kids to and from school for the year. More than 150 parents of the 500 students attending EastSide raised their hands for driving duty. The school is still offering bus transportation for families that require it. Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Virginia also report problems finding enough school bus drivers to transport students. Pittsburgh Public Schools have such a shortage of drivers, as well as available seats on buses with drivers, that 800 students have been told they’ll have to walk to school. The district even delayed the start of the academic year because of the shortage. The National School Transportation Association’s executive director said the closure of some state Department of Motor Vehicle offices during the pandemic created a bottleneck in training new school bus drivers, who need a commercial driver’s license to qualify for the job.
New Cuban decree tightens controls on social media, sparking outrage (Reuters) Cuba introduced tighter controls on the use of social media this week, including a ban on publications that might damage “the country’s prestige,” angering many citizens and international rights activists. The legislation bans the spread of false news or messages and content deemed offensive or which “incite mobilizations or other acts that upset public order.” It also provides a channel for Cubans to inform on potential contraventions. Those who have attempted to “subvert the constitutional order” will be considered cyberterrorists. It does not say what the penalties will be for violations. Cuba analysts compared the measure to the totalitarianism of George Orwell’s “1984”, saying that they feared the vague definitions of what constitutes a violation would allow for arbitrary implementation.
Haiti Endures a Week of Torment (Foreign Policy) Two natural disasters in one week would test most countries. In Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, it is pushing a strained health system past the limit. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti’s southwest on Saturday has already claimed at least 2,000 lives, according to official estimates. Rescue efforts were further hampered when Tropical Storm Grace made landfall a few days later. The number of injured—at least 9,915 people��puts a strain on already bare health care facilities. Haiti ranks in the bottom 25 nations when it comes to hospital beds, with its 0.7 beds per 1,000 people putting it on par with Yemen and Sudan. To make matters worse, scores of hospitals across Haiti were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. As aid officials attempt to assist affected regions, Haiti’s political class may be breathing easier. As Jonathan M. Katz writes in Foreign Policy, the timing of the disaster “offered a disruption—and perhaps a not-unwelcome distraction—from a political crisis that was threatening to spiral out of their control.” Just last week officials announced a delay in presidential elections scheduled for September. Meanwhile the quest for justice in the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse has continued, but slowly: Dozens have been arrested but none have appeared in court, and judges involved in the investigation have reportedly gone into hiding.
More Brexit repercussions (Financial Times) Brexit is gradually leading British officials to better understand the value of poultry workers, as a shortage of them has led to a supply crisis, causing many popular chicken restaurants like KFC and Nando’s to close outlets. Roughly 60 percent of British poultry sector workers come from the European Union, the Financial Times reports, but new British immigration rules classify the workers as “low skilled,” meaning visas are in short supply. The British Poultry Council has called on the government to reclassify the jobs as skilled before the Christmas rush, as the group warned that the supply of turkeys could be reduced by a fifth.
The Taliban spin machine (CJR) Yesterday, the Taliban held a press conference in Kabul. While many of the journalists who cover Afghanistan were familiar with the official who led the briefing—Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s top spokesperson—they had never before seen him in the flesh. Sharif Hassan, a New York Times reporter in Kabul, noted that, for over a decade, Mujahid has been “more responsive and active” than the entire press team of Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan president, who just fled the country. At the press conference, the Taliban sought to present a new face to the world, metaphorically as well as literally, even if caveats and uncertainties abounded. Mujahid insisted that the new government intends to respect women’s rights (within the framework of “Islamic laws”), allow for freedom of the press (within the framework of “Islamic values” and “national unity”), and forgive those who worked with international forces and the prior government. In one exchange that went viral online, a reporter raised freedom of speech, and Mujahid replied that they should ask their question of Facebook (which had earlier confirmed that the Taliban will remain banned across its platforms). Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the Republican National Committee, tweeted that “the Taliban spokesperson has taken more questions from US media in recent days than the President of the United States.” Politico Playbook declared: “The Taliban PR blitz begins.”      In fact, the Taliban PR blitz began a long time ago. “The Taliban has created a sophisticated communications apparatus that projects an increasingly confident movement,” an International Crisis Group report concluded, in 2008. The Taliban’s propaganda tools have included pamphlets, cassette tapes, sermons in mosques, and DVDs; as time passed, the group honed its digital output—updating a website with statements in various languages, posting tweets from the battlefield, and using social media as a recruitment tool. (It even tried to launch an Android app, but Google refused to host it.) Vanessa M. Gezari wrote for CJR, in 2011. “The Taliban know how to tell a good story.” (The story grew so strong that the US eventually created a psyops unit to counter it.)
What will happen to the U.S. embassy in Kabul? (Fast Company) When the U.S. government officially pulled its military presence from Afghanistan this month, it left behind a valuable piece of real estate. The U.S. embassy in Kabul, a sprawling 15-acre complex of more than a dozen buildings and annexes, built at an estimated construction cost of $806 million. As the Taliban takes over, it is physically filling in the footprint of the previous regime, including taking over the presidential palace. The U.S. embassy, the centerpiece of the country’s long and tumultuous presence in Afghanistan for more than 20 years, could similarly change hands. The State Department declined to comment. Other U.S. embassies have managed to see continued use even after being evacuated or going into disuse, in one form or another. In Tehran, the U.S. embassy building made notorious by the 1979 hostage crisis has lived on as a museum, maintained by a wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in the years since diplomatic ties have been cut between the two nations and the U.S. abandoned the building. Named the U.S. Den of Espionage Museum, this is one piece of embassy preservation U.S. officials are probably not happy about.
First Resistance to Taliban Rule Tests Afghanistan’s Uncertain Future (NYT) As the Taliban sought to consolidate control over Afghanistan on Wednesday, they faced the first challenges to their renewed rule, using force to break up protests in at least two cities, while an opposing faction vowed to hold out in one pocket of the country. Millions of Afghans tried to parse conflicting clues about what lay in store for them and their nation, but many were not waiting to find out. Despite Taliban assurances that there would be no reprisals against their opponents, thousands of people continued to crowd around the airport in Kabul, the capital, hoping to get a flight out of the country. Throngs rushed toward certain entrances, only to be met by Taliban troops who beat people back and fired their rifles into the air. A NATO official at the scene said 17 people were injured. Taliban fighters used gunfire to disperse demonstrations in the northeastern city of Jalalabad and the southeastern city of Khost, with some of the protesters raising the Afghan government flags that the Taliban had taken down just days earlier. News reports said two or three people were killed in Jalalabad.
US struggles to speed Kabul airlift despite Taliban, chaos (AP) The United States struggled Thursday to pick up the pace of American and Afghan evacuations at Kabul airport, constrained by obstacles ranging from armed Taliban checkpoints to paperwork problems. With an Aug. 31 deadline looming, tens of thousands remained to be airlifted from the chaotic country. Taliban fighters and their checkpoints ringed the airport—major barriers for Afghans who fear that their past work with Westerners makes them prime targets for retribution. Hundreds of Afghans who lacked any papers or clearance for evacuation also congregated outside the airport, adding to the chaos that has prevented even some Afghans who do have papers and promises of flights from getting through. It didn’t help that many of the Taliban fighters could not read the documents. In a hopeful sign, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington that 6,000 people were cleared for evacuation Thursday and were expected to board military flights in coming hours. That would mark a major increase from recent days. About 2,000 passengers were flown out on each of the past two days, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. And yet, at the current rate it would be difficult for the U.S. to evacuate all of the Americans and Afghans who are qualified for and seeking evacuation by Aug. 31. President Joe Biden said Wednesday he would ensure no American was left behind, even if that meant staying beyond August.
Was it ‘worth it’? Nations that sent troops to Afghanistan grapple with Kabul’s fall. (Washington Post) It was not the U.S. Congress that returned from its August holiday to gnash its teeth over intelligence failures and military collapse in Afghanistan. Instead, it was the British Parliament, which was recalled for a remarkable one-day session on Wednesday, to hear lawmakers give heartfelt speeches honoring fallen soldiers and engage in hours of finger-pointing over what went so wrong. The British were not alone in such painful debate, as other allies sounded off about the stunning events in Kabul. In countries that sent troops to Afghanistan—from Europe, Canada and Australia—politicians and veterans of the war tried to tally what was gained and what was lost. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States, in which 67 British nationals were killed, the U.K. sent the second-largest contingent of forces to Afghanistan, deploying 150,000 military personnel over the years. It even sent a prince: Harry, who served two deployments. In all, 457 British soldiers died, and many thousands came home wounded in body or mind. Speaking in Britain’s House of Commons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised hard-won successes in Afghanistan over the last 20 years—specifically the 3.6 million girls now in school there and the fragile democracy that saw women elected to political office. But his own lawmakers, who leveled tough criticism at both him and President Biden, said such progress might soon be reversed.
Power in seeds: Urban gardening gains momentum in pandemic (AP) On an assemblage of vacant lots and other pockets of unused land in the Bronx, gardeners from low-income neighborhoods have banded together to create over a dozen “farm hubs,” coordinating their community gardens and their harvest. Several years ago, some discovered that, together, their small gardens could grow enough peppers to mass-produce hot sauce—Bronx Hot Sauce, to be precise, with profits from the sales reinvested in their communities. During the pandemic, the farm hubs of the Bronx have again proved their might, producing health-boosting crops like garlic, kale and collard greens. “The trick is, how can we learn from the pandemic so that we become genuinely resilient?” says Raymond Figueroa-Reyes, president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition. “When the pandemic hit, urban farming went into hyper-productivity mode. People saw that the (food) donations coming in were are not adequate in terms of quantity or quality, and there is no dignity in waiting on that type of charity,” he says.
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elizabethcariasa · 3 years ago
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Don't fall for scary tax scams on Friday the 13th or any day
COVID-19 just won't let go. A tropical system is heading for the Gulf of Mexico. And it's Friday the 13th. Yep, today is a trifecta of the unwanted.
The bad news — of course I'm starting with it on this day! — is that every year has at least one Friday the 13th. The ominous, for some, day shows up one to three times a year. There were two in 2020.
The good news for 2021 is that today is the only Friday the 13th of the year. The last time that happened was Friday, May 13, 2016.
If you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, here's a tip so you'll know how many of these bad omen imbued Fridays you'll have to face each year.
Note the first day of each month. If it falls on a Sunday, like Aug. 1 this year, there will be a Friday the 13th in the month. The next time this will happen will be next May, when that month's unlucky day to close out the work week will be the lone Friday the 13th in 2022.
I hope this data discussion of this date has taken your mind off of the scary things that could happen today. For more diversions, check out CNN's piece on the cultural origins of this enduring superstitious tradition.
Need more distractions? Then here are some that are almost as frightening — 13 tax scams that shown up (or reappeared) this year.
COVID-19 false promises keep being made: We're entering the 18th month as a country (and world) dealing with the health and financial effects of the coronavirus. As lockdowns and business closures became commonplace, people lost their jobs. To help out, Congress passed a series of COVID relief measures, primarily as tax breaks and/or financial payments distributed by the Internal Revenue Service.
These Economic Impact Payments (EIPs), also referred to as stimulus payments, helped. They also offer a hook for crooks. By phone, email, text, or social media scams, the scammers say they can facilitate the EIP deliveries if you'll just give them your Social Security number or other personal and financial information.
While the IRS has sent out the bulk of the relief payments, don't be surprised to see con artists still trying to cash in on EIP schemes.
Unemployment scams increased: While the EIPs helped, millions who lost their jobs due to the pandemic also applied for unemployment benefits. Criminals quickly took advantage of the jobless application crunch, fraudulently applying for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits using personal information they've stolen.
In some cases, the stolen identity data belonged to people who indeed had lost their jobs. They had to explain to their state benefits offices that the payments they already approved went to crooks.
In other instances, individuals still had jobs and didn't learn that identity thieves had filed for the payments until they received IRS 1099-G forms for the unemployment insurance benefits they never claimed or received.
The 1099-G forms are issued because unemployment is taxable income, although for the 2020 tax year up to $10,200 in UI payments were excluded from tax. Still, the form recipients had to explain (and prove) to the IRS how they were unknowingly victimized.
Advance Child Tax Credit "help" that hurts: The latest piece of economic help for COVID-affected families is early payment of the Child Tax Credit, which was bumped up for the 2021 tax year.
So that taxpayers with qualifying dependent children could get some of the credit sooner, the IRS started distribution early payments, known as Advance Child Tax Credit (AdvCTC) payments, in July. The second AdvCTC is being delivered today, with the other payments going out the middle of each of the final four months of this year.
The IRS has its system in place and online options where credit recipients can make any changes they find necessary. But con artists still are using the AdvCTC as tax identity theft bait. The make unsolicited phone calls, emails, texts or social media contacts offering to help taxpayers get the early payments, get them sooner, or get more.
But all this so-called help actually only helps the crooks get your and your children's Social Security numbers and other personal data, including bank account information, so they can steal your identity and cash.
Teleworkers become tax scam targets: Many companies had hoped to have most of their employees finally back in the office by now. That's not going to happen, at least not soon, due to the Delta variant pandemic resurgence.
Even when we finally get past the pandemic (we will … won't we?!), some businesses have decided to continue to let personnel work from home, at least part of the time.
This is all good and well for companies' bottom lines (reduced office real estate costs) and productive home-based employees (no commuting, fewer child care expenses). It's also an opportunity for tax crooks.
Instead of having to hack secure company computer networks, criminals are focusing on all of us clicking away at computers in our homes. The IRS and Federal Bureau of Investigation have warned of increased activity by cyber criminals to use email auto-forwarding to successfully launch Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks.
By implementing auto-forwarding rules on victims' web-based email clients, the crooks can hide their activities. The web-based clients' forwarding rules often do not sync with the desktop client, making it more difficult for corporate cyber security administrators to see and catch the changes.
Tax scam oldies but baddies still around: The four just-discussed scams have appeared during COVID Times. That's what crooks do. They adapt their nefarious schemes to life's changing circumstances, in this case our pandemic frustrations and fiscal problems.
However, con artists still are using tried, and sadly still too often successful, older schemes that have long been in the tax scam and identity theft playbook.
A variety of email phishing schemes that target individual taxpayers, as well as tax professionals, are still hitting email boxes daily.
Persistent IRS impersonators continue to call, threatening those who answer their phones with jail time or deportation or loss of licenses or Social Security benefits if the victims don't promptly pay the concocted overdue tax bills.
And while older individuals still are targets of many tax scams, crooks are making demographic inroads. It turns out that young people are increasingly falling prey to scammers.
So stay alert and be on guard for these scams not just this Friday the 13th, but on every other day of the year.
You also might find these items of interest:  
13 tax scams to watch out for on Friday the 13th
Labor Department joins IRS in offering online resources for unemployment fraud victims
IRS Dirty Dozen tax scam list for 2021, plus prevention and recovery options if you fell for any of them
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seashellsoldier · 4 years ago
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Well, as if we thought “next week can’t be any worse”, the sedition and treason of this past week has pushed the GOP from the crazed wilds of Fantasyland into the dark recesses of Insanityland. This country is in deep trouble. I don’t know what makes sense anymore. It seems as though the evil geniuses of GOP greed have mutated into a party of evil imbeciles supported by the most deplorable in the realm, with a demented ass-clown at the helm spewing seditious words and creating the greatest stress-test on this republic since the Civil War. What happens to the GOP now will remain to be seen. A schism seems likely though. What is indisputable though is that the filthy-rich have used Trump for their own advantage, completely unconcerned about anyone else. Anyway, about the book . . .
Kurt gave a glimpse into his personal struggles with complicity to vampiric capitalism in The Atlantic back in AUG 2020 as a lead-in to this book (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc...), and how so many “blue-collar” joes saddled onto the GOP horse of “trickle-down economics” only to see their occupations, facilities, unions, benefits, and industries flushed down the toilet, or sent off to other countries with cheaper labor to abuse and laxer environmental protections:
“I really hadn’t known all the crucial advance work done by big business and the economic right during the 1970s—the decade of strategizing, funding, propagandizing, mobilizing, lobbying, and institution-building. My initial underemphasis was due to a different kind of ignorance. Because I’d lived through the 1980s and definitely noticed in real time, plain as day, the rapid and widespread uptick in deference to business and the rich and profits and the market, I’d neglected afterward to take a close, careful look at the various pieces of that shift.”
Andersen, like so many other Dems, capitulated to Friedman-esque Neoliberal policies because of the beautiful delusions manufactured by its puppeteers. Of course articles in the Wall Street Journal and other defenders of Mammon just fortify their ivory defenses and yell “whiny libtard” over the battlements, because that’s all they can do to defend the almighty gods of Greed and Profit anymore. We have decades of facts on our side now. The GOP has been waging a class-based war on the middle-class and the struggling poor for the sake of their own insatiable greed, using women’s wombs and assault weapons and disinformation campaigns as distractions from their consolidation of wealth. Period. The fact that the top wealthy 10% of the US population owns 84% of all stock should illustrate everything well enough. The bottom 80% of Americans owns 6.7% of all stocks (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks...). The United States is a huge plutocracy that infects both political parties deeply, but the GOP and its donor base are by far the most egregiously rapacious. The events of 2020 demonstrate the 50-year-old playbook woefully: Government is bad. Establishment experts are overrated or just plain wrong. Science is suspect. All hail big business. Protect the economy at all costs. Short-term profits are everything. Inequality’s not so bad. Systemic racism doesn’t exist. Universal healthcare is tyranny. Entitled to your own facts. Anderson connects the dots in Evil Geniuses to show the “not-quite-an-organized” conspiracy that has evolved over the past 50 years, where “[k]ey intellectual foundations of our legal system were changed. Our long-standing consensus about acceptable and unacceptable conduct by big business was changed. Ideas about selfishness and fairness were changed. The financial industry simultaneously became reckless and more powerful than ever. The liberal establishment began habitually apologizing for and distancing itself from much of what had defined liberal progress” (p. 156). Robert Reich reinforces this book talking about the latest study from the London School of Economics (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/20/joe-biden-trickle-down-economics-build-up).
“In a new study, David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King’s College London lay waste to the theory. They reviewed data over the last half-century in advanced economies and found that tax cuts for the rich widened inequality without having any significant effect on jobs or growth. Nothing trickled down. (The emphasis is mine.)
Meanwhile, the rich have become far richer. Since the start of the pandemic, just 651 American billionaires have gained $1 tn of wealth. With this windfall they could send a $3,000 check to every person in America and still be as rich as they were before the pandemic. Don’t hold your breath.”
Obviously McConnel’s GOP-led Senate wouldn’t even gift a $2,000 check to every citizen making under $75K during a crippling pandemic, idiotically calling it “socialism”, but he’s a multi-millionaire so why would he care about you. It’s all about the “economy”, meaning their stock portfolios. The London study is here (http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/107919/1/Hop...) and the results are stated thusly: “Overall, our analysis finds strong evidence that cutting taxes on the rich increases income inequality but has no effect on growth or unemployment” (p. 6), and that “[o]ur results have important implications for current debates around the economic consequences of taxing the rich, as they provide causal evidence that supports the growing pool of evidence from correlational studies that cutting taxes on the rich increases top income shares, but has little effect on economic performance” (p. 21). Never mind the Panama Papers from 2016 (https://www.icij.org/investigations/p...), and the FinCEN Files of 2020 (https://www.icij.org/investigations/f...), or the Gini Index, which measures income inequality by nation and has the US at 41.19—in-between Togo and Iran (https://www.statista.com/forecasts/11...).
Of course there was no blueprint scrawled in a secret bunker by a cabal of robed priests for how to do what was done . . . and yet there is a convincing, damning forensic trail of thoughts and theories, memos and actions, articles and legislation which Andersen takes us down, starting with Milton Friedman and the libertarian acolytes of Ayn Rand, propelled by Lewis Powell, Charles Koch, Dick Cheney, and many other familiar names (Welch, DeVos, Kavanaugh, Mercer, Stone, Ailes, etc.), Grover Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Plan”, the huge seeding of lobbying groups spending billions each year, partisan “think tanks” which have grown exponentially thanks to billionaire supporters, to the manipulated elected officials and the agencies they oversee, to the planting of Neoliberal judges in the federal courts—including the Supreme Court (Citizens United), to the bribing of scholars to publish propaganda (just like Big Tobacco and Big Oil and Big Coal and Big Pharma and Big Ag) such as Charles Murray and George Gilder, to Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and Rupert Murdoch’s fledgling media empire (this was all done before the internet). The “freedom” of the Internet has now allowed every tinfoil-hat-wearing redneck to find one another.
“So what if millionaires would start paying a little less too? So what if big business was relieved of some government red tape everybody hates? And as for cutting government programs, people understood that Reagan was only going to get rid of the things that didn’t benefit them—all the waste and fraud, all the foreign aid, all the giveaways for all the lazy bums and welfare queens” (p. 140). These ideas echo Trump and his cronies and their sweeping nostalgification—some of them actors of this grand scheme since the 1970s—and despite the overwhelming evidence against such foul logic. “Drain the swamp!” was a rallying cry of Trumpers, like it was for Reagan, and they added $7 trillion to the national debt while padding their own coffers even more in a lucrative “tax relief” bill that just made the filthy-rich even wealthier while the rest of us got a cash prize of a few hundred bucks (I gave mine to the local food bank, on behalf of Trump.) Osita Nwanevu complied an incomplete list of all the corporations supporting the GOP (https://newrepublic.com/article/16080...), and found:
The discourse surrounding money in politics can at times obscure as much or more than it reveals—the nearly exclusive focus on campaign finance and direct lobbying oversimplifies the myriad and diffuse ways that the wealthy influence and manage our politics, and it is an inescapable fact that the right wins in large part because millions of geographically well-distributed Americans simply support right-wing rhetoric and policy. That said, turning those preferences into actual political power does take money. And the Republican Party gets its money not only from the individual villains who’ve soaked up the most progressive outrage and attention—the Kochs, the Mercers, Sheldon Adelson, and all the rest—but from a number of companies familiar to the American public. Don’t worry, she lists them.
The point is that the GOP is soulless, feeding their plebeian followers with abject propaganda, baseless lies, and easily deconstructed smoke & mirrors, wrapping themselves up in flags while screwing over the lower classes at every opportunity so they can capitalize on everything possible, including a pandemic. Automation is increasing and it's all those low-wage jobs that will vanish first. NPR’s Hidden Brain show recently talked about the subject of “double standards” in people (https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/the-d...), wonderfully discussing naive realism, cognitive dissonance, magical thinking, and all the other defense mechanisms a brain can manufacture to protect one from reality. Of course we’re all biased, but we also truly live in a PSYOPed world now, and I’m uncertain if we can get out of it. The terrorist insurgency on the Capital this week, and the utter lack of police enforcement (https://theintercept.com/2021/01/07/c...), never mind the seditious and treasonous acts of those involved, are a perfect highlight to the hypocrisy of it all. This is the new norm, and it won’t be getting any better unless severe accountability is enforced.
“Most Americans, even those to the left, have been reluctant to subscribe fully to Marx’s basic big idea, that modern society is shaped by an endless struggle between capital and labor, owners and workers, the rich and powerful versus everyone else” (p. 135). Too many have been drinking the toxic kool-aid for far too long. Bernie Sanders has been railing against this sadistic behavior only to be mocked and jeered by disinformation and dusty Cold War propaganda while the new Robber Barons make off with the loot, in DC, on Wall Street, and in Silicon Valley. All the brainwashed “white national” groups are their moronic thugs taking selfies while they plant pipe bombs in the Capitol wearing viking cosplay garb and waving Confederate flags.
Jeremy Adam Smith penned a nice piece for the Greater Good Science Center (https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/arti...) analyzing the science and psychology of lying, citing a 2017 study published in the journal Advances in Political Psychology. The results are dour. Not only have we become terribly tribalistic, where “[s]cientists call this kind of reasoning ‘directionally motivated,’ meaning that conclusions are driven by feelings, not facts—and studies find that this is our default mode”, but that anger further fuels such mindless adherence to misinformed idiocy, and nothing short of a manufactured messiah could alter the untruths already sown within the minds of millions by Trump and his treasonous sycophants and the media networks, social media podiums, and entrenched echo chambers they all feed from. NPR was kind enough to compile a list of all the elected GOP officials who fomented sedition and supported treason upon the Rule of Law (https://www.npr.org/sections/congress...). How much evidence do we need to prosecute the bulk of the entire GOP? People should be in prison for this egregious violation of the law. Otherwise this nation is doomed to fall into sectarian factionalism and dysfunctional chaos where the lower classes will take the brunt of it (like they always do), if not outright terrorism. The Intercept's Mike Giglio was embedded with the wingnuts (https://theintercept.com/2021/01/10/c...) and surmised this:
I witnessed successful coups in two countries, and the conspirators came heavily armed with well-laid plans so that by the time people realized what was happening, it was done. I’ve also seen a country tipped into civil conflict by people who just kept taking that next blind step until they were trapped in their own momentum. But it’s naive to see America’s worst failings through the lens of foreign nations. What I saw in all the pained and screaming faces in the Capitol — in the half-naked QAnon disciple dressed in furs and also in the state lawmaker and sheriff’s deputy and schoolteacher and disenchanted veteran — was uniquely American. It wasn’t the start of something or the end of something, just the next step.
America is definitely Great Again. Thank you DJT, and every person that supported him.
For everyone else—be safe out there.
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perfectirishgifts · 4 years ago
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How Dropps Is Remaking Cleaning For Good By ‘Eliminating The Stupid’ - And Saving The Planet From Plastic
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How Dropps Is Remaking Cleaning For Good By ‘Eliminating The Stupid’ - And Saving The Planet From Plastic
Dropps
Dropp’s is a quirky and idiosyncratic brand I’ve long been fascinated by, for its pioneering work around sustainability and packaging. I caught up with their Founder and CEO, Jonathan Propper to learn more about their journey, and their most recent innovation, eliminating the labels from their packaging.
Afdhel Aziz: Jonathan, welcome! Please tell us a little about Dropps and your journey so far?
Jonathan Propper:​ ​I trace my environmentalist roots back 50 years, when I celebrated the world’s first Earth Day at Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. I knew even then that it was the beginning of something big.
Cleaning – and laundry specifically – is quite literally in my DNA. My mother and I founded a cotton mill outside Philadelphia, and made chunky knit cotton sweaters. She soon realized that traditional harsh detergents were damaging the sweaters, making them yellowed and stretched out. So we took matters into our own hands. She then went on a path to create a biodegradable, low-sudsing, concentrated detergent that would clean the natural fibers properly, and keep fabrics looking better, and for longer. Consumer Reports named it #1 in overall cleaning quality among hand-laundry detergents.
Always striving to improve I felt we could make the product even better – from both a convenience and a sustainability perspective. In 2005, I discovered unit-dose technology being used in another industry and applied it to our popular laundry detergent formula. The unit-dose technology meant that we could take out almost all of the water from our detergent. Liquid laundry detergent is the most expensive of bottled water. It is shipped all over the country only to put in a machine that dispenses water. 32 washloads of Dropps weighs ten ounces vs. a typical equivalent detergent bottle which weighs 50 ounces.
This method drastically reduced time for the consumer, as it eliminated the need for bulky liquid laundry detergents that need to be measured and stored. Not to mention, it drastically reduced our environmental footprint as traditional liquid laundry detergents are packaged in hard to recycle, high-density plastic.
We believe that sustainability is a journey, and not an end state. We’re constantly developing new formulas and expanding into other categories across the home, to make life as simple and sustainable as possible. Curating for the consumer if you will.
Jonathan Propper, Founder and CEO of Dropps
Aziz: Thank you for sharing that Jonathan. So how do you articulate the purpose and mission of Dropps?
Propper:​ ​​Dropps is remaking cleaning for good. Our purpose is to eliminate the stupid, and make life simple — for both people and planet. Shipping jugs of detergent is an example of a stupid. We are driven to make it easier for individuals and families to do the right thing by providing everyday products that are both eco-responsible and economical which, if multiplied across a multitude of individuals and families, can have a measurable impact on the planet. Prevention is the cure to the world’s single use plastic-pollution crisis.
Dropps was selected by Oceana, the world’s ​largest international advocacy organization dedicated solely to ocean conservation, ​as the exclusive partner of choice in the home cleaning & care category. Together, we hope inform consumers on the impact of their actions and choices, and encourage them to care about the massive global single use plastic pollution crisis.
As Andy Sharpless, CEO of Oceana has said: “Plastic is everywhere in our ocean – floating on the surface, mixing in the saltwater, and sitting on the ocean bottom, miles and miles deep. And it’s no secret that the household consumer goods category contributes to the problem. Dropps is showing that companies can address this issue now and reduce throwaway plastic by giving people real plastic-free choices. We face a tsunami of plastic in our future, unless more companies also take meaningful action.”
Dropps products
Aziz: How has ‘Big Laundry’ tried to condition the consumer into ending up using more than is necessary?
Propper:​ ​‘Big Laundry’ is in the pocket of ‘Big Retail’ and vice-versa as Yogi Berra has said. Over the decades they have developed this pseudo-cooperation to where they both maximize profits at the expense of consumer-behavior. As mentioned, traditional liquid laundry detergents are packaged in hard to recycle, high-density plastic (HDPE). This is to help prevent leaking while in transit and in stock on retail shelves. That’s because traditional liquid laundry detergents are extremely watered-down to maximize profit.
In addition, big laundry has added so many unnecessary bells and whistles in the form of pocket chambers in the pods, and dyes and bright colors that the consumer has been conditioned to think that this aids in the efficacy of the product. The fact is, color doesn’t clean.
At Dropps, we’ve eliminated another stupid – in addition to the excess water in the detergent, we’ve also eliminated the unnecessary ingredients that do not do anything to ensure the integrity, and longevity, shape and softness of clothing and fabrics.
Dropps laundry products
Aziz: Tell us more about your design philosophy “Eliminate the stupid, elevate the core,” and how that led to your recent decision of removing the labels?
Propper:​ ​Eliminate the stupid, elevate the core. This is the Dropps mantra. When speaking about the core in the business we often are referring to our products. But when I think of the core, I also think of our people. How can we elevate the core? If we realize, believe, and trust that we are all part of something larger than ourselves, and that each of us, individually and collectively, have a responsibility for shaping the behavior of our organization and valued customers, that will ultimately define our guiding principles and purpose for being.
To truly elevate the core from a product point of view, we knew we had to eliminate the stupid, and in this case, it was the labels in our packaging. While our previous boxes were recyclable and compostable, we wanted to craft an elevated experience with this new version of our now iconic box. By removing product-specific labels, and printing all brand and product details, including full ingredient transparency, directly on the box, we now provide our customers with an even more low-waste cleaning option.
Aziz: That’s a really cool innovation. What do you think about the future of sustainability in packaging? How do you see the next big wave?
Propper:​ ​​We feel that consumers are going to begin shifting the conversation away from households and individuals being the main culprit to the pollution crisis, and begin to look at the big corporations and polluting industries as the real problem. With this, consumers are going to begin demanding low-waste products and packaging. The next big wave can look like brands eliminating shipping a box in a box. Meaning, we may see other companies taking a page from the Dropps playbook and have the box that holds their product, double as the shipping container. This reduces waste and emissions in shipping, which is crucial as e-commerce will only continue to rise in this new era of retail.
Both cleaning AND sustainability has become top of mind for many households as of late because of the pandemic and noticeable climate change events. These two factors coupled together can cause panic for any caregiver and individual. Over the years, we’ve noticed that customers and those seeking to live more eco-consciously have become overwhelmed with the mixed-messages about what cleans and what doesn’t, and how to effectively enact changes that can lead to impactful environmental preservation.
Dropps kitchen products
Aziz: Finally, what advice do you have for other entrepreneurs who want to take their brands on a similar journey?
Propper:​ ​My biggest advice to give to other entrepreneurs is to embrace diversity, and always be open to learning what you don’t know. I’m a strong believer that you are only as good as the people you surround yourself, which is why it’s important to have a team that comes from varied backgrounds and experiences that you can learn from.
Also, give your team the autonomy to try new ways of doing things and learn from the things that don’t necessarily work. Dropps has long embraced a remote-work culture, way before the pandemic, I always considered commuting everyday a stupid if you are working at a desk. In hindsight, this autonomous work environment has emboldened our staff to make informed decisions that they feel confident would eliminate the stupid for themselves, our team at large and our customers.
From CMO Network in Perfectirishgifts
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