THE TRUMP METHOD vs. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

The scientific method is actually pretty simple, and straight forward. Unfortunately, Donald Trump and his supporters have abandoned the quest for truth, which is one of the reasons why we have the Kavanaugh hearings debacle. Trump wants a political shield, and he knows Kavanaugh will give him what he wants on the SCOTUS.

- Mark

MATT DAMON NAILS KAVANAUGH'S HEARING DEBACLE ON SNL

Matt Damon nailed it last night on SNL as Brett Kavanaugh. 

"I'm a keg is half full kind of guy ...". Hilarious.

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- Mark

JUST GOOD MUSIC FOR YOUR FRIDAY

- Mark 

THINKING ABOUT BRETT KAVANAUGH'S "PITTY POOR ME" TESTIMONY

Republican Cathy Abernathy and I discuss the Kavanaugh hearings. 

So Brett Kavanaugh, who grew up with all the privileges of the world, enjoying private schools and immunity from serious scrutiny, decided to act like a victim during Thursday's hearings. The "don't-take-my-ball-away" tears were a nice touch. The man who favors corporations and wants young unwed mothers to do what the state says, became a hit with conservatives.

Kavanaugh's victimhood reeked of a reality show, and we had only a few minutes to wrap up this national train wreck on Bakerfield's KGET 17 News tonight, which follows below ...

- Mark

A TALE OF TWO INTERVIEWS

- Mark

THE REALITY FOR WOMEN, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY GO IN FRONT OF OUR GOP-LED SENATE

- Mark

ONE MORE REASON KAVANAUGH'S NOT QUALIFIED TO SIT ON THE SCOTUS

Apart from the fact that Brett Kavanaugh believes sitting U.S. presidents shouldn't be held to criminal account under circumstances, which will benefit Donald Trump under the Mueller investigation, there's another reason he should not sit on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Specifically, from a policy perspective, Brett Kavanaugh is not qualified to adjudicate issues tied to worker safety, and the role of the state in protecting individual workers. Put in simpler terms, Kavanaugh's a corporate shill, a partisan hack and has no understanding about the role of government in the modern world.

- Mark

FIRST TEST OF KERN COUNTY'S NEW DISTRICT LINES IS AROUND THE CORNER

After MALDEF's federal court case was decided, and Kern County was ordered to redraw its supervisorial map, our region was thrown into a political frenzy. We're now a little over a month away, and Kern Valley Public Radio's Monica Velez has the "first" take on what's going on in Kern County. 

The radio interviews and written column can be accessed by clicking here.

- Mark

THOUGHTS ABOUT KAVANUGH'S OTHER ACCUSER, JULIE SWETNICK

The sworn declaration from Julie Swetnick, who has worked in the Department of Treasury, for the U.S. Mint, and the IRS, is out. Not only is Swetnick making this declaration "under penalty of perjury and under the laws of the United States" but it appears that she's ready to produce other witnesses that will corroborate her story. Page 3 of Swetnick's statement is below.

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One thing's clear. If the United States Senate goes forward with the confirmation process without looking into these allegations, or asking for the FBI to investigate, it's clear this process was never about finding the most qualified person to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The GOP's rushed push for confirmation will be revealed for being all about getting someone who's going to help pursue and solidify the GOP's corporatist and financial sector friendly policies.

Worse, a rushed confirmation will demonstrate that the Republicans want someone (that would be Kavanaugh) to be the swing (5-4) vote on issues relating to the criminal charges that will surely follow if (when?) the Democrats gain control of either the U.S. Senate or the House.

What a mess.

- Mark

THE WORLD'S LEADING NATIONS JUST TOLD TRUMP "WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK"

While Donald Trump sucked all the air out of the room, as the world laughed at him during his United Nations speech, the real players in the world were busy running past the United States, again.

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In a few words, while Trump continues to throw a mindless tantrum over the Iran nuclear deal (which Iran continues to abide by), the rest of the power players in the agreement continue to roll right past the United States. The UK, Germany, France, China and Russia have negotiated a commercial deal that ignores standard payment channels - so Iran can get paid - and are effectively daring Donald Trump to sanction them.

You can read about it by clicking here.

- Mark

UNDER DONALD TRUMP THE GOP FINALLY REVEAL WHO THEY REALLY ARE

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-Mark

TRUMP'S NEW HAT

After yesterday's performance at the United Nations, this pretty much nails it ...

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- Mark

HEADLINE OF THE DAY (sort of) ...

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To access the obviously satirical Borowitz Report, click here.

- Mark

TRUMP IS AT THE UNITED NATIONS TODAY ... AND, YES, HE'S EMBARRASSING US, AGAIN

Donald Trump was at the United Nations today. The world didn't receive the beginning of his speech the way he wanted. The headline from The Hill captures the moment ... 

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Again, from The Hill:

.. Trump's solemn tone forecasted a serious, on-message speech. That is, until his very next sentence. "In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country," he said — prompting laughter from his audience. Trump interrupted himself to say his declaration was "so true," which only evoked heartier laughter from the crowd. 

After an awkward beat, Trump relented: "Didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay," he said with a half-smile. Again, the crowd laughed, this time with applause.

And Trump's supporters dig in ...

- Mark

DO ALL LIVES REALLY MATTER?

- Mark

ELECT A CLOWN, EXPECT A CIRCUS

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- Mark

BILL MAHER EXPLAINS OUR NARCISSIST-IN-CHIEF

Let's make one thing clear: Trump should never be normalized.

I might add, we have no obligation to compromise with this kind of arrogance and stupidity in the name of civility. Bill Maher gives us insight into our Narcissist in Chief ...

- Mark

CONSERVATIVE LOGIC IN ONE MEME

This is a mindset that is highly disturbing ...

- Mark

MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE FARM ...

It took Obama years to bring us down from built-in trillion dollar deficits, with no help from the GOP. Now, according to the Bloomberg story below, the Republicans want to borrow and party on the financial backs of future generations, and say nothing about it ...

For the record, one of the reasons this is important is because the Chinese hold 19% - or $1.18 trillion - of the $6.2 in Treasury bills, notes and bonds held by foreign countries (the rest of the $21 trillion debt is held by the U.S. government and the American people). This gives the Chinese considerable leverage over U.S. policies.

For more on this debt story, click here. 

For more on why China's purchases of U.S. debt is so important click here.

- Mark

FYI, a simple to read breakdown of who owns the U.S. national debt can be accessed by clicking here.

THESE PEOPLE AREN'T VERY BRIGHT

- Mark

DO YOU NEED A NEW RELIGION?

- Mark

THE GOP UNDER TRUMP

- Mark

AARON RODGERS EXPLAINS WHAT THE NATIONAL ANTHEM POLICY SHOULD BE

- Mark

EVERYONE'S WAITING FOR THIS ... TRUMP TOO

- Mark

... AND GOD BLESS THE 1st AMENDMENT

- Mark

WHY THE GOP DOESN'T WANT AN FBI INVESTIGATION

- Mark

KAVANAUGH'S ACCUSER, ANOTHER THOUGHT ...

- Mark

QUIET FOREPLAY à la KAVANAUGH (?)

- Mark

IT'S THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 2008 MARKET COLLAPSE ... BANKERS ARE STILL GLOSSING OVER THE MESS THEY MADE, AND NO ONE'S PAYING ATTENTION (yawn)

This past weekend was the 10th Anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis ...

Have you ever wondered how the the financial sector cover their tracks to make their industry look good, even after their greed and stupidity helped wreck our financial world in 2008? In a few words, they use "market-speak." Check this out. Below is a paragraph that explains how the 2008 market collapse happened, from the perspective of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). It's from their 2018 Annual Report.

The GFC [Great Financial Crisis] laid bare the vulnerabilities of the international banking system. Major banks entered the crisis with excessive, mismeasured levels of leverage and insufficiently stable funding sources. Crisis-related losses accumulated rapidly, contagiously spreading across markets and countries, and forcing public sector intervention. What started as strains in US subprime mortgage markets turned into a full-blown financial crisis

If you're like most people, you're probably thinking, "What the heck did they just say"? Here's what the paragraph actually says:

Before the 2008 market crash, stupid and greedy market players in a recklessly deregulated market environment made numerous bad bets with money they didn't really have, and then backed these bets with "insurance" that didn't really exist. When the market collapsed they lost their bets, panic ensued and market players needed a multi-trillion dollar bailout backed by the American taxpayer. What started as a lot of bad bets, with no collateral or funds to back up the bets (especially in the U.S. housing markets) turned into a full-blown financial crisis.

See the difference?

So, yeah, in a few words, the BIS paragraph above actually says a lot of stupid people made bad bets, with money they didn't actually have. But it didn't come off that way. It came off as if a "few mistakes" were made, people overreacted, but nobody's really to blame. The BIS even provided some nice charts to show people what happens when market players run amok.




If you want to read an excellent review on our post-financial crisis mindset check out Barry Ritholtz's Bloomberg article, "10 Things People Still Get Wrong About the Financial Crisis," which you can access by clicking here.

- Mark

A FEW THOUGHTS ON KAVANAUGH'S HEARING

This one's just strange, and creepy ...

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- Mark

"EL BRACERO: A MARIACHI OPERA" IS AT CSU BAKERSFIELD TONIGHT (only)

Tonight, courtesy of the generous support from our sponsors (see below) and CSU Bakersfield's Center for Social Justice, we're presenting "El Bracero: A Mariachi Opera."

Doors open at 7 pm, but know there are only a handful of General Seating tickets left. The VIP tickets and Reserved Seats are sold out, so if you are interested in going and can find a general seating ticket on-line ($15.00 each) you should purchase them immediately.

- Mark

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OUR SPONSORS

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- Mark

FROM CINDERELLA TO REBEL GIRLS

If you want to purchase the Rebel Girls book(s) you can click here.

- Mark

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH AT CSUB ... A MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT ZELLEZNY

CSU Bakersfield President Zellezny, announcing Hispanic Heritage Month, 2018.

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CSUB Hispanic Heritage Month from Nueva Vista Media on Vimeo.

- Mark

SNL ... STEAL THIS, PLEASE

SNL should just steal this, line for line. Alec Baldwin would kill it ... bigly.

- Mark

IMPEACHMENT? THIS IS AMERICA'S PREDICAMENT ...

So after Donald Trump's latest string of lies, absurdities, and breaches of protocol we're back again to questions of impeachment (did they ever leave?).

Here's the problem with impeaching Trump, as everyone knows: We get Mike Pence.

It's like getting rid of the organ grinder and replacing him with the monkey.

What's worse is that even if we get rid of the organ grinder, and end up with the monkey, we're still stuck with the same peanut peddlers. Yeah, I'm talking about our spineless Republican-led Congress.

See the predicament?

Unless Democrats and progressives get out and vote - at a rate that's fraud proof - America loses. Bigly.

- Mark