TRUMP WHINING ABOUT SNOOP DOGG SHOWS HOW LITTLE HE UNDERSTANDS ABOUT AMERICA

Our so-called president, Donald Trump, thinks Snoop Dogg - "failing career and all" - would have received jail time if he had created the mock presidential assassination video when President Obama was in office.

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Here's one of many things wrong with Donald Trump's "jail time!"claim: As the Washington Post points out, "Rap lyrics aren't actual bullets" and "if there's not a true threat, then it's absolutely protected free speech."

So, yeah, Donald Trump's simply whining, again.

In Trump's world, it's OK for him to recklessly claim that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen, then accuse him of wiretapping his phone lines, with absolutely no evidence. But if someone mockingly shoots a bad caricature of him with a toy flag gun, in an act of artistic expression, the topic of "jail time!" has to be broached.

Perhaps the biggest problem I have with our so-called president being such a wilted flower on this is that President Obama - who Trump tried to delegitimize with his birther stupidity - endured far more actual threats and "jokes" that called for his death; and they weren't part of a rap song, or any other artistic interpretation (as you can see here, here, here, and here). People like Ted Nugent were actually calling or praying for President Obama's death, and there was no "jail time!" for him, as Donald Trump is now throwing out there.

One more thing.

In the United States, the 1st Amendment is pretty sacrosanct. It's one of the reasons garbage like "Infowars" gets to spew the ignorance and stupidity that Trump's supporters thrive on. What this means is that creative art is also protected under the 1st Amendment. So, yeah, if the lunacy that comes out of Infowars gets a pass as free expression, Snoop Dogg's artistic expression does too.

Real Americans understand this. Trump does not.

I'll leave you to fill in the blanks.

- Mark

83% of AMERICA'S TOP SCIENCE STUDENTS ARE CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS ... BUT HISTORY TELLS US THIS ISN'T REALLY NEWS

Albert Einstein immigrated to the U.S. Would he be welcome, or harassed today?

Donald Trump's baseless travel ban, and his racist war against people of color (let's call it what it is), will end up damaging the United States over the long term if it continues to discourage people from coming to America. Already the tourism industry is reporting financial losses after Donald Trump became president, which is eerily similar to what happened when the United States reported hundreds of billions of dollars in losses after the xenophobic anti-Muslim hysteria that gripped the nation after September 11, 2001.

But this is not an empty scare tactic about lost business opportunities in modern America. No, it's about what America will lose in the future.

Forbes magazine is reporting that 83% of America's top high school science students are the children of immigrants. Specifically, Forbes writes:

What would we lose if immigrants could no longer come to America? Surprisingly, one of the most important things America would lose is the contributions made by their children.

A new study from the National Foundation for American Policy found a remarkable 83% (33 of 40) of the finalists of the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search were the children of immigrants. The competition organized each year by the Society for Science & the Public is the leading science competition for U.S. high school students. In 2017, the talent search competition was renamed the Regeneron Science Talent Search, after its new sponsor Regeneron Pharmaceuticals,and a new group of 40 finalists – America's next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians – are competing in Washington, D.C., from March 9 to 15, 2017.

Both family-based and employment-based immigrants were parents of finalists in 2016. In fact, 75% – 30 out of 40 – of the finalists had parents who worked in America on H-1B visas and later became green card holders and U.S. citizens. That compares to seven children who had both parents born in the United States ...

If the scientific and intellectual capital that lies at the heart of America were to slowly drain away over the next few decades - because of the Trump administration's incessant race-baiting and ethnic scapegoating - rest assured that much of the economic dynamism and energy that supplies places like the Silicon Valley with talent and creativity would disappear as well.

The founders of Google and Yahoo!, for example, were both immigrants. Heck, the father of Steve Jobs was a Syrian immigrant (a political refugee).

Where would they go in Trump's America? Your guess is as good as mine. But one thing is clear: making America fear and hate (again) is no way to make it great.

You can read the remainder of the Forbes article by clicking here.

- Mark

Hat tip to Agulia for the link.

TRUMP'S POLITICAL FACE ... IT'S NOT PRETTY

Remember "Bush's Brain" (about Karl Rove)? Unfortunately, with President Trump, it's much worse than a political campaign manager manipulating the political strings of a U.S. president. It's the unvarnished reality behind Donald Trump's political face ... and it's not pretty.

- Mark

Hat tip to Seven, for the disturbing reference.

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE McDONALD'S COFFEE LAWSUIT ... and why the frivolous lawsuit movement's a scam

Apart from learning the truth about the coffee spill lawsuit, we learn how corporations like McDonald's turned a legal loss into a political tsunami of negative publicity against your legal right to sue in this YouTube clip ...

So, yeah, if you're against "frivolous lawsuits" and are standing by while our 7th amendment rights are slowly being chipped away, you clearly don't understand the misinformation behind the frivolous lawsuit movement.

More to the point, you've been duped.

- Mark

Kudos to David for the clip.

RISE OF THE MACHINES, AND THE LOSS OF YOUR JOB ... ARE YOU READY?

From CNN Money we get "Rise of the Machines: Fear robots, not China or Mexico," with an easy to understand video clip of what's been happening in our world since the dawn of time ...

So, are you ready?

- Mark 

WHY IS OUR GLOBAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM SUCH A MESS? LET'S START HERE ...

If you want to understand the mess that's confronting our global economic financial system, in the clip below one European member of parliament, Britain's Godfrey Bloom, raises some serious questions - specifically about abuses in our fractional reserve banking system, and especially with our legal counterfeiting system called "quantitative easing." Enjoy ...

- Mark

RISE OF THE MACHINES: ALEXA CONNECTED TO THE CIA?

For many, this is a 'rise of the machine' moment. Amazon's "Alexa" responds to a question about being connected to the CIA, and shuts down ...

Click here to learn why Alexa responded the way it did, at least according to what Consumerist is reporting.

- Mark

SUNDAY READING (March 12, 2017)

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Eric Trump's business trip to Uruguay cost taxpayers $97,830 in hotel bills (Washington Post).

Pence used personal email for state business as governor and was hacked (The Hill).

Trump argues for revised travel ban by citing attacks carried out by U.S. citizens (Washington Post).

Here are the top ten Republican accomplishments of 2017 so far (Mother Jones).


KEEPING TRACK OF THE LIES
Here's a running list of President Trump's lies and other bullshit (BuzzFeed News).

The complete list of all 99 false things Donald Trump has said as president (Toronto Star).

AP Fact Check: Trump's skewed ledger of achievements (Gazette Xtra).


TRUMP'S INNER CIRCLE: COMPROMISED, DELUSIONAL SOCIOPATHS?
Disgraced Trump adviser Mike Flynn admits he worked as a "foreign agent" for the Turkish government (Vox).

Here's another Trump cabinet pick with close financial ties to Russians (Mother Jones).

Steve Bannon says Trump's cabinet of billionaires has been "selected for a reason ... deconstruction" (Salon).

Steve Bannon's disturbing views on 'genetic superiority' are shared by Trump (Think Progress).

Blackwater founder Erik Prince, the brother of Betsy DeVos, is secretly advising Trump (Democracy Now!).

Ben Carson: Slaves were immigrants who came here and worked really hard 'for less' (HuffPost).

Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging war on mainstream media (The Guardian).

Where did Steve Bannon get his worldview? From my book (Washington Post).


WHAT OBAMA LEFT TRUMP ... IT'S ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD
The America Donald Trump is inheriting [inherited], by the numbers (NPR).

Inside a moneymaking machine like no other (Bloomberg).

The Obama 'fiduciary rule' is helping American savers (Wall Street Journal).


THIS ISN'T GOOD ...
Trump gives pen to Dow Chemical CEO after signing executive order to eliminate regulations (Eco Watch).

Ignoring state threats, firm keeps sucking sand from Monterey Bay (SF Chronicle).

Study shows undocumented immigrants pay a higher share of income in taxes than the wealthiest 1 percent (Salon).

How President Trump isn't just deporting "the bad ones" (attn:).

Following Sessions' Mar-a-Lago appearance, new ethics questions arise (MSNBC).


BUT THIS DEFINITELY ISN'T RIGHT
Fury in Cambodia as U.S. asks to be paid back hundreds of millions in war debts (Sydney Morning Herald).

Experts baffled as robots sent to clean up Fukushima nuclear site keep dying (Independent).

How companies make millions off lead-poisoned, poor blacks (Washington Post).

Republican lawmaker says cancer patients can go to the ER for health care (Shareblue).

Investigation into husband and wife pastor duo reveals decades of abuse at North Carolina church (Jezebel).


TRAVEL BAN / IMMIGRATION: IT WAS NEVER ABOUT SECURITY
Canadian woman en route to Vermont to U.S., told she needs immigrant visa (CBC).

Gold Star father Khizr Khan cancels speech in Toronto after organizers report his travel privileges were under review (Los Angeles Times).

WHEN DENIERS DENY
Exxon knew of climate change in 1981, email says- but it funded deniers for 27 more years (The Guardian).

'Shell knew': oil giant's 1991 film warned of climate change danger (Alternet).

A diabetic boy's parents 'didn't believe in doctors.' Now they're guilty of his murder (Washington Post).

MISCELLANEOUS
Democrats can't win until they recognize how bad Obama's financial policies were (Washington Post).

How Swedes and Norwegians broke the power of the '1 percent' (Common Dreams).

Sweden brings back the draft, alarmed by Russian activities (NPR).

Trump says Schwarzenegger was fired from 'Apprentice.' Then Schwarzenegger fires back (Washington Post).

- Mark

CHRISTIAN HATE AND POVERTY EXPLAINED

As with most social issues the Republicans speak about, Rep. Jason Chaffetz' "buy-health-care-not-an-Iphone" suggestion reveals how clueless the GOP is about our world. It suggests that not having health care and even poverty are about making the right decisions. 

The fact that these comments came during the same week the very Christian Republican Party rolled out their disastrous healthcare plan - which wipes away health coverage for millions of Americans - makes one thing clear: Republicans don't understand the poverty treadmill in America, or the dynamics behind wealth creation. 

Think about it. Conservatives of all stripes revere Donald Trump, a man who inherited his wealth, squandered it, and then needed an army of tax lawyers and the U.S. bankruptcy code to keep his head above water. Yet, Republicans and their conservative supporters think Trump's many bankruptcies (6) and his abuse of our tax code are a sign of a good businessman. 

Incompetence, greed, and reality be damned.

Here's the problem I have with the GOP's train of thought, and their blind acceptance of Donald Trump. If you don't understand how wealth is created and maintained, I'm pretty sure you don't have a clue why people are poor. 

And so it is with the GOP. 

WHAT REALLY CAUSES POVERTY
According to the Bible there are at least four causes for poverty. Laziness, or what conservatives in the United States would refer to as a lack of personal responsibility is just one. This is what Republicans like to focus on. 

And why not? It makes the world real simple. It relieves them of having to think seriously about complex issues. 

The reality is poverty is a complex issue. If the Christian wing of the GOP would simply pick up their Bible - you know, the one they claim to read - instead of passing judgment they might learn a few things about poverty.

For example, the Bible speaks about people who are wronged and impoverished through fraud and deception. The millions of Americans who lost their jobs and homes after widespread fraud and deceit on Wall Street were left impoverished and demoralized.

Getting caught up in systemic fraud doesn't make you lazy.

The Bible also speaks about people who are wronged and impoverished through stereotypes and falsehoods. Profiling and singling out Muslims and Mexicans for deportation because you want to believe they are terrorists and rapists, but saying nothing about white nationalists and white extremists who gun down and terrorize neighborhoods, is an injustice that impoverishes and sets back millions of innocent people.

Getting profiled doesn't mean you're lazy.

The Bible also speaks about people wronged and impoverished through famine and sickness. Repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a useless and worthless healthcare package - that's really a massive tax cut for Americans, who are already wealthy - condemns millions to suffer through treatable ailments. Bankruptcy filings will surge if Obamacare is repealed. Worse, it's a death sentence for hundreds of thousands of Americans (so much for the sanctity of life). 

People who become impoverished because they get sick are hardly lazy.

In real simple terms, you can't speak about poverty and make broad generalizations about "personal responsibility" when people are reduced to modern pauperism because they are ripped off, are wrongly judged/accused, or forced to endure sickness or death because Republicans and their Christian supporters want to give tax breaks to people who don't need them.

FINAL THOUGHTS
When the game is rigged, the causes behind poverty go far beyond dismissive references to laziness and a lack of personal responsibility.

Our conservative and very Christian friends seem to have no sympathy for, nor a clue about, any of these issues. Nor do they seem to care to learn about them.

So, yeah, Jason Chaffetz and the entire "repeal and replace Obamacare" crowd are, in many ways, biblical illiterates. 

Ironically, they're this way because of what they claim about the poor: they're lazy. Intellectually lazy, that is. 

They simply don't want to take the time to understand or learn about our world, even if the lessons are right there in their Bible. Why? Because it's much easier to feed prejudices, point fingers, and to hate ... you know, just like Jesus did.

So, by all means, let's call it what it is. Christian hate. 

If you have a better term for it, I'm all ears. 

- Mark

FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE

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Trump reverses pledge to mandate U.S. steel for Keystone pipeline. A direct beneficiary is a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin (HuffPost).

Declassified report says Putin 'ordered' effort to undermine faith in U.S. election and help Trump (Washington Post).

'You're in deep sh*t': Lawmaker alerts Trump if phones were 'tapped' a judge found 'probable cause of crime' (Raw Story).


COMMERCE SECRETARY WILBUR'S RUSSIA LOVE CONNECTION(S)
Trump's pick for Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, leaves Russian questions unanswered (McClatchy).

White House accused of blocking information on bank's Trump-Russia links (The Guardian).

Donald Trump and the mansion that no one wanted. Then came a Russian fertilizer king (Miami Herald).

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THERE IT IS ... THE WHO'S WHO LIST OF RUSSIAN CONNECTIONS
Despite early denials, growing list of Trump camp contracts with Russian haunts White House (Washington Post).

A Who's Who of the Trump campaign's Russia connections (Rolling Stone).


LOOKING FOR ANSWERS
George W. Bush: We need answers on Trump team ties to Russia (The Hill).

Every outlet White House banned from press briefings is chasing stories on Trump's Russia ties (Shareblue).

This is not what Putin wanted as he cosied up to Trump (The Guardian).

- Mark