“To begin with, there’s the little problem of Iranian nukes.  The International Atomic Energy Agency is set to release a report this week on Iranian nuclear development but already out of Israel are coming reports include “An inside look at the base where Iran is developing nuclear weapons.”

With purported plans to “go” against Iran this week already outed, the move now seems to be to put all the intel out for the court of public opinion and then launch anyway since time is running out.  The idea of a nuclear Iran not only scares the bejeezus out of Israel, but oil states as well.  So that one could pop any time, maybe toward the end of the week, still nearly full moon conditions and nightvision gear’s advantage is best at the dark of the moon.  Still…”

http://urbansurvival.com/week.htm

Liberal arts education applied to get $22,000 stolen by Sandia Federal Credit Union CEO Christopher Jillson back.

ttp://www.prosefights.org/deaton/deaton.htm#reuters

GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT

Next, every broadcaster or cable or satellite operator in the U.S., carrying news and political discussion, should be required to provide equal time to the major political parties and candidates (again, as required in the past). The broadcasters would naturally object that this was federal seizure of their principal asset: broadcast time. The principle of eminent domain might be applied, but the easiest way to deal with this objection would be federal payment for the time at commercial rates.

This is the case in many European countries, where political “face-time” on TV or “voice-time” on the radio is equally apportioned to the minute. It is for this reason that, in a multi-party system, even the smallest parties get their time on the air.

“On the air” - what does that mean?

It means, in fact, that because broadcasting is regulated, air-time does not “belong” automatically to the broadcaster exploiting the frequency. In fact, those frequencies belong within the public domain and are regulated by the FCC in America. They are licensed to broadcasters.

So, the broadcasters can bitch and moan as they like, but if Congress passed a law that dictated that air-time during the precise period of an election, whether local, state or national, was to be apportioned “equally” to all parties, then the deluge of publicity and “news coverage” air-time would be severely curtailed.

Yes, their advertising revenue would likely take a hit - but, so what? Is democracy about making profits or electing competent individuals to represent us?

DEFAMATION

We need also a law pertaining to the prohibition of defamation and character assassination. Campaigns are about ideas, opinions, and beliefs regarding how to make our lives better. They are not about disparaging candidates.

For that to happen, we, the sheeple, must get involved by watching the debates and not the mindless defamation of advertising, where candidates show that only they “wash whiter than white”.

We are selling candidates like they were washing powder or a “must have” consumer product - and the result is obvious as regards the poor quality of our political class.

Regulatory legislation can help, but in the end we, the sheeple, decides who represents us. If we elect idiots, we get idiotic representation.

MY POINT

If democracy in a republic is first and foremost about electing competent individuals to represent us, then we must be far more careful about how the electoral process is managed.

Like any system and particularly a political system: Garbage In, Garbage Out

Iran cornerstone of possible WW3 over Mid East.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beonoKiVYzY&feature=player_embedded

Sandia National Laboratories ombudsman, Mr Don Noack, informed me that he was going to explore administrative avenues to try to get these unfortunate matters settled.

http://www.prosefights.org/deaton/deaton.htm#titomadrid

Mental Traveller, thank you for sharing that so eloquently!

Segments from Peoplenomics Saturday November 5, 2011

On the Iran side of things, we notice with some concern the Russia Today that “Iran cornerstone of possible WW3 over Mid East.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beonoKiVYzY&feature=player_embedded

Meanwhile in Israel, reports in the JPost this morning are that the “US ‘absolutely’ concerned Israel will strike Iran” and this comes while the Israeli government is trying to figure out how their “secret” plans to do so in here were “outed” all over the net.

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=244434

Mental Traveller - You are a poet.

mrfreeze - From another in UT, I concur with every thing you’ve said.  A Romney election would be a terrible thing for our country.  The LDS church makes no bones about getting directly involved in government and politics.  Remember Prop 8 in CA?  I have to assume that the rigid hierarchy and top down control of so many, which the church brings to the table, is very appealing to the Chicago-school interests and devotees already embedded within our government and financial system.

“The theme of most political and social commentary is that things are more complicated than you think”         
Except it’s never been true. It’s always been the biggest cop-out , because it gets politicans off the hook, for their lack of ever doing anything constructive. Bush blabbered away for eight years about solving our oil dependency as being such a mammoth undertaking - and so consequently it was always decades away from being solvable. Bull. The beginning of the end of our reliance on oil can be begin today, as we speak, but there’s no money in that- hence no political will to do it. And of course the MSM follows this train of thought as does the average braindead Amerikan -

The last time I saw this scenario it was called
“Weekend at Bernie’s” 
How long can this charade continue?
Bank of America has 75 TRILLION in derivatives and only 2 trillion in assets to secure it. 
Even the supposed safe banks like Deutsche are leveraged 30/1.
Four years in and most people seem frozen in the first stage of grief: Denial. 

It’s all over but the crying.

If Pfaff’s writing about it, it’s probably become at least a topic of ruling-class cocktail-party chatter.

However, I think it’s possible, all too possible, that events currently brewing in Europe and the Middle East are going to engulf our present concerns.

Some very interesting thoughts have been placed here.
It is to bad that those that reside in Washington DC do not have the time, nor the where-with-all to bother to read these remarks. Nor do they really care one way or another.

Thus the crumbling and decay that we see everyday will continue. Slowly . . . Oh so slowly and when it is done it will be complete.

It’s a great article. I like your work, Pfaff. I like that you focus on broadcast time. I appreciate that your remark that human life, persons, are irreducible.

From Urban Survival Thursday November 3, 2011 posts.

http://urbansurvival.com/week.htm

So we begin our coverage with a suggestion to read up on how the “UK military steps up plans for Iran attack amid fresh nuclear fears” which pumps up the idea that Iran already has nukes and might be inclined to use them. [Mr Buehler reported that ‘they’ have nukes.]

http://home.comcast.net/~bpayne37/theinvestigation/swissradio/swissradio.mp3

Wild cards in all of this are China and Russia, both heavily invested in Iranian military and nuclear endeavors. Will they stand-by, or visibly ally themselves with the ancient Persians so as to maintain a viable ‘presence’ in the Persian Gulf?

USE IT OR LOSE IT

WP: As all, or nearly all, Americans understand, the nation’s constitutional system rests upon a theory of differences of opinion and interest among the citizenry finding expression in the election of presidents and legislatures that reflect public opinion in all of its diversity.

Which is not as poetic in reality as seen above.

Gerrymandering, which began in the 1880s, has ossified voting patterns along with first-past-the-post (winner take all) voting rules such that a two-party system - frequently manipulated by the money of vested-interests - make a charade of the “political system”.

Which is perhaps the reason why our voter turnout record compared to other nations (seen here) is so lamentable. People lose faith in the system when they see or think they see the manipulation that happens. Over the years, this sentiment make voters feel that the Civic Duty of voting is useless.

Our expression of “Democracy” in American is One Sick Puppy. Reform is long overdue, but keeping the average American fat, dumb and happy - and politically ignorant of the facts - is still the norm.

The media is complicit in that end as it too has succumbed to America’s hellbent need for profits, profits, profits - thus forsaking honest, balanced reporting.

MY POINT: The Media Manipulation Machination

Hopefully, the plethora of forums in the Blogosphere will help change things, meaning wake some people up as to what is going on behind the scenes reported by BigMedia - itself partisan to the Media Manipulation Machination.

Democracy is the means by which we assure our basic Human Rights. Use it or loose it.

The real problem isnn’t the 1%, the real is the 99% percent that put up with it.

Memo to America: Stop waiting for Democrats and Republicans to save you. It’s bad for your health and your future. Can’t you tell? You have another choice - use it!

“WAKE UP PEOPLE!” 
Read “Common Sense 3.1” at ( http://www.revolution2.osixs.org )

Enough talk, it’s time to get organized.

MeHere - Thanks. Great comment.

for whatever reasons pfaff nor catholic church cared to list the ‘structural
thoughts’ church espoused and which goaded or approved of greed.

so, then, i will. one of the structural thoughts all ‘religions’ vigorously
promoted thru ages was their science standing in oppositon to the science
of gallileo, pasteur, planck, tesla, newton, pavlov, et al.

yes, folks, it makes lots of sense to deem what ‘religions’ teach “science”;
and which resulted in enormous hatred between the science of gallileo and
religous ‘science; which resulted in persecutuion of scientists like galileo, et
al. tnx

It’s true that what’s wrong in this country is simpler than what appears to be but
there’s one aspect though that remains complex.  Most of the population is
gripped by the fear that altering anything major in the way we elect leaders and
allow their flagrant partnership with big business would be catastrophic. People
have settled for the worst because they can’t imagine that there can be anything
wrong with the US. The myth of being #1 has undermined the ability to solve
problems and evolve in a healthy way. There is no trust in the fact that the US has many resources and excellent human potential to build a much better society -it is possible to survive without the big predators.

I try to stay away from making “religious” comments because I’m an atheist and (having grown up in UT…...land of plutocrat-Mormonism) I’m NOT a fan of religion in general; however, Pfaff’s discussion of the Catholic proclamation: “Certain structural aspects of our economic thought and practice, it says, have aided and abetted and facilitated “selfishness and collective greed ...” is incredibly refreshing. It’s unfortunate that more “religions” aren’t questioning the the profit margin in this way. Take for example Mitt Romney. His faith (the Mormon Church) is nothing but a business with a religious veneer. Just hope that he does not become the next President because he is not driven by the usual values of compassion, equality and fairness. Oh, no…...far from it. His would be an administration completely dominated by the plutocrats (Obama has been bad enough). All public policy would become a “cost/benefit” analysis and the American citizen would be reduced to nothing more than a functionary in the great “machine of life” plutocrats like to call “the bottom line.”

As pabelmont states below: we are governed in effect by idiots and sociopaths….......Just hope Mr. Romney doesn’t become head honcho in 2012….because behind his plastic smile lies a pathology that will totally destroy whatever’s left of America’s soul.

“Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power.”
(Benito Mussolini)

Mr Pfaff’s analysis begins with a mythological and false view of the way the US government was established to operate.  It was intended to operate at the behest and for the benefit of the wealthy.  It has followed the direction set out by John Jay, that the US ought to be ruled by those who own it, and by James Madison, who insisted that government “ought to be so constituted as to protect the minority of the opulent against the majority”.

Democracy has always been viewed with fear and suspicion, equated with mob rule.  Direct democracy was especially feared, which accounts for why we are not allowed to vote directly for the president, do not have referenda, must have representatives who are not required to consult the people in their district, and who often boast of their “maverick” behavior, why Senate membership was never to be allowed to be subject to popular election.

The politics of government has always been, in the words of John Dewey, the shadow cast over society by big business, and “the attenuation of the shadow will not change the substance”.

While Mr Pfaff’s history is muddled, his proscription is on target: the money, and the need for it, must be removed from our political system.

“... the airwaves belong to the people.”
(from the 1934 Communications Act)

“If a baseball player slides into home plate and, right before the umpire rules if he is safe or out, the player says to the umpire-“Here is $1,000.” What would we call that? We would call that a bribe. If a lawyer was arguing a case before a judge and said, “Your honor before you decide on the guilt or innocence of my client, here is $1,000.” What would we call that? We would call that a bribe. But if an industry lobbyist walks into the office of a key legislator and hands her or him a check for $1,000, we call that a campaign contribution. We should call it a bribe.”
(Janice Fine)

The body is dead, but the brain hasn’t got the message….

The brain, or rather brainless politicians that preen on CNN and Faux, and MSNBC,
make absurd political statements and economic policies, keep on borrowing, keep on
digging our graves deeper. But does it really matter if your 6 feet under or 12?

The people have had enough…The plutocracy is now frozen in the headlights of it’s own
dissolution….they have bankrupted this country while sitting on piles of cash and
corruption…there will be no safety for them in Europe when the committee for public
safety convenes it’s first session…

These are two fundamental problems that have
enabled the corporate coup of the US democratic
processes. We must get corporations completely out
of the political process in every detail of it.

And, we must change the definition of what
constitutes a legal corporation in America,
including what is expected of them other than
profit making.  These other measures would include
an appropriate mixture of 1) paying fair taxes, 2)
creating American jobs, 3) paying fair dividends,
4) contributing in a proactive way to the
communities they occupy.

Failure to satisfy specific metrics would result in
severe penalties for profiteering.

Not mentioned in the article, but speculation in
markets including derivative creation for
speculative purposes would need to be outlawed.

I have a feeling this country is in for a heart-breaking time in the coming years. A plutocracy it may well be, but it’s also an empire, and all empires eventually fall—usually messily.

How will your plan be implemented without control of
all 3 branches of our government by those not allied
with the corporate interests?  We would need a
filibuster proof majority in the Senate, as well as
control of both the Executive and Judicial branches of
government. The House would also have to have a solid
majority in line with your plan. Talk is cheap. The
ballot box is where we need to go. The only other
alternative is something I don’t want to see happen.

Oligarchy doesn’t have to be as bad as our USA government now is, because, in principle, the oligarchs could be intelligent, well informed, broadly interested, and having some kind of devotion to the people of the nation.

However, these bad boys have nothing in mind other than their own corporate bottom lines, short-term profit, etc.

Result? No interest whatever in correcting mistakes (ridiculously too large military-intelligence system)  or preventing disasters (global warming) where these do not appear to tread on th oligarch’s corporate toes in the short-term. Indeed, the oligarchs applied pressure to end regulation of banking and then took us all on the joy-ride of the bad mortgages, derivatives, etc., which is now bringing down Europe and to a large extent the USA.

We are governed, in effect, by idiots and sociopaths.  A well-intentioned king could do a better job. And, sad to say, the USA is very busy exporting “democracy” to the rest of the world.