Rock, Race, the 60s and What Scares The People In Charge

The 1940s were the war years when millions of Americans were drafted into the army to protect the world. After the war the United States and Britain (too a much lesser extent) were the only world powers that still had an industrial base and the infrastructure to support it. Because we were able to build products for the rest of the world while they rebuilt, we became the single greatest economic force in history. It also meant that our people became the greatest middle class in history as our workers were desperately needed. If you want to understand what is going on now, you have to understand history a bit.

During the 1950s America became it's most prosperous with plentiful jobs, an educated workforce (because of the G.I. Bill paying for college) and that resulted in the most prosperous middle class in history. During the 1950s workers were required to be as regimented as soldiers. If you are interested in this subject read, "The Organization Man". Basically the successful businessman was expected to dedicate his life to his company and do whatever was best for the company and they did it by the tens of millions. It was a different time that may be difficult for my younger readers to understand. The 1950s was decade of conformity. Their children changed that.

The 1960s were a lot like the 1950s, music was still censored, books were still censored, the media was heavily regulated and fitting in with the establishment was like a religion. After Kennedy was killed in Dallas, things started changing. 1964 was a seminal year, the Beatles arrived in America and America began asking itself about whether it was right or wrong to treat blacks as second class citizens. The Beatles and the English invasion was confusing to the wealthy. After all, they were just a band of musicians; but, they were able to change American opinions on style, lifestyle and just about everything else. They filled arenas that no bands could even imagine playing in before. As for blacks, the American white population saw them as a warning sign to them of what happens when you don't work hard and smart. I know that the black people in that time worked as hard if not harder than the whites and were just as smart; but, they were denied educational opportunities. It doesn't matter what I think, what is important is how whites in America viewed blacks in 1964.

In the 1960s middle class kids began seeing that they could influence the world by following musicians, the Beatles mostly; but, others too. Bob Dylan began singing about what was wrong with the world and music became political. The Smothers Brothers did the same with comedy and promptly got thrown off the air even though their ratings were out of this world. Between 1964 and 1967 the middle class changed the rules and did what the people who own this country did not want them to do, they exerted their combined power to change the game. That scared the "establishment" to death because it meant they would lose power. There is nothing that makes the powerful scared and angry than threatening their power with decision making by the masses.

American faith in the establishment died with Kennedy being killed, 66% of Americans did not believe the official story. It got worse with Nixon being impeached. Between 1964 and 1967 the middle class changed the rules of the game and even began taking care of the poor. They also began refusing to serve in the draft as slaves. The draft meant that the government would demand that you either kill people in the military or go to jail. Many chose to leave the country and many chose to go to jail. This peaceful approach to civil disobedience totally shook the establishment. To them it meant that they were losing control. Their response was to infiltrate the groups that were against the status quo.

1968 led to full on panic by the establishment. While Robert Kennedy, who was running on a promise to end the war in Vietnam, was killed and Martin Luther King, who called for treating blacks as equal citizens, was killed, the public went ballistic. People were now angry with the establishment more than they had ever been before. Music, movies and books all took on the establishment and revolted at the ballot box. The Democratic 1968 convention was pure bedlam and the voters were ignored which led to Hubert Humphrey being placed on the ballot even though he had practically no delegates. Even though another candidate had more delegates and also ran on the promise to end the war in Vietnam, Humphrey was . His opponent was Nixon.

1968, was the final threat to the establishment. Millions of kids were protesting the war, treatment of blacks and the establishment itself. People began questioning having to live in jobs that treated them as military, unthinking and unquestioning slaves. Many called for not participating in the establishment, we called them hippies. 1968 showed just how powerful this emerging middle class was going to be and they didn't like it. The killing of Robert Kennedy only made people more suspicious of the establishment, both him and his brother and Mr. King being killed to stop a change in the established order and provide the people with power, that was scary.

Like General Patton, I believe in reading your opponents plan. The reason I give links to original documents that were prepared for the establishment, is because I want you to understand you opponent also. While we may not be a monarchy, we have an established oligarchy and they don't want to lose power. When kings were removed there was always violence; but, even when it was limited it still meant people had to lose power and control over the outcomes. 1968 was also the year of Woodstock, a million young people ignoring authority and coming together to protest the war. It was a group so large that it could make it's own rules regarding sex and pot; but, if they could ignore those rules, which rules would they follow, nobody knew ant the establishment only saw a threat. 1969 was the beginning of the establishment coming up with a response in an attempt to gain control again.

Think tanks were hired to decide how to keep the population compliant, a nation of happy followers who believe whatever they are told. It is also when the plan to keep the middle class weak was hatched. The great unwashed masses were to be put back in their place. That was when the plan to decimate the middle class in the west was decided. If you wish to steal from a powerful man, you must first tie him up and that is what has been happening since the early 1970s.

Trends of Technology

Politico - Tennessee GOP beats back Trump allies.  Trump one in Tennessee; but, the delegates being sent to represent him in the convention are not Trump supporters. The party instead gave him delegates that don't want him to win. Does that sound like Democracy?

The Week - Republicans are plotting economic disaster for 2016. 

The Japan News - Fingerprints to be tested as ‘currency’.  Japan is now testing a system whereby tourists would register their fingerprints and then be able to buy things and even use the print as their passport.

MIT Technology Review - Chinese Researchers Experiment with Making HIV-Proof Embryos.  Yes, the Chinese are genetically modifying embryos to make people that are protected from disease.

Reuters - Where's the lane? Self-driving cars confused by shabby U.S. roadways.  And this my friends is why bike lanes are painted in and crosswalks are being painted just like in Europe. Why wasn't this discussed before our tax dollars were spent on these things.

I hope all my regulars witll read this post.

Fox - U.S. Issues More Curbs to Corporate Tax Inversion Deals.  In the most direct terms, American companies make deals with foreign companies to take the American companies assets and then they move their operations overseas thereby avoiding paying taxes. It is basically the asset robbing of America and very recently the Treasury Department enacted some laws to delay or prevent this action. The term Tax Inversion is used to describe this hiding of taxable income overseas, that is what the term refers to. So, a coupe of days ago the United States took action to prevent this crime. That is part one of this story. This came out April 4th.

The Hill - GOP tax writers rip Treasury for moves to deter corporate inversions. This article came out April 5th. Yeah, one day later the spin is on. The spin is that it is bad for our nation to keep our manufacturing jobs in the United States. If you hate Obama; but, want to keep jobs in America, you had better support this change which stops companies from outsourcing and leaving this nation with nothing. I don't like Obama; but, I like this policy and it has already worked.

CNBC - Pfizer, Allergan will mutually terminate merger over inversion rule changes, sources say.  Here is a sentence from the article, "Pfizer had reportedly stood to cut its costs by more than $1 billion a year by changing its domicile." Why did the Bushes and the Clintons sign legislation that let American companies move overseas and save money by doing it?

I have been writing this blog for years and have never advertised it or monetized it, no ads on this site ever and there never will be because of me. I have never asked for a penny and don't want any now. What I want my readers to do, if they think I present people with useful information, is tell others to read it and let them see what is really going on. Have them start with the posts titled "What's going on" and tagged as "the big picture". What is going on is so obvious to me and I am saddened that more people don't see it all for what it is.

Planned Economic Crash Courtesy of the IMF - Wikileaks Proves It

WikiLeaks - IMF Internal Meeting Predicts Greek 'Disaster', Threatens to Leave Troika.  WikiLeaks has released the transcript of a conversation which was had between two International Monetary Fund (IMF) heads regarding Greece, it's bailout and Brexit (the British vote on leaving the European Union). I know most Americans don't follow these things; but, this post is not about the EU or the Greece bailout, it is about something much bigger.

WikiLeaks - The Transcript.

Here is a quote from the transcript, "VELKOULESKOU: They want to finish that mission ideally by the 8th of April, so just a week. Or by the 12th or the 13th. Remember on the 6th and 7th of April they want to have this Washington Group debt meeting on the sidelines of the EWG [Eurogroup Working Group], and then.... "  Basically, they are saying that the Greece decision has to be completed before discussing American debt in Washington; but, the two things are unrelated as the debt that is held is EU debt, not American. So you have to ask yourself what is the real connection.

The same person then discusses how they need to wrap up the negotiations because people in Greece are questioning the Income Tax Credit, not tax reform. Who do you figure gets the credit, the rich or the poor and why would the IMF want to give tax breaks when they also want to cut pensions and other benefits?

What becomes clear from the discussion is that the IMF plans on creating an economic "event" in order to get Greece to do what the IMF wants and that they can pick the time when the event will occur. It is also clear that this economic event will effect not just Greece and Europe; but, also the United States and probably all western nations. What I find really interesting is that none of the mass media has picked up on this story to any great degree. This is odd as the timing of the event is somehow related to the refugee question and the vote by Britain on whether or not it will stay in the EU.

Here is what I want my readers to take away from all of this. It is an admittance by the IMF that they plan economic crashes to achieve political policies that are based on providing less support for the middle class and poor and more tax breaks for the wealthy. Sort of sounds like what the west did after the last big crash, they gave tax breaks to the wealthy and increased taxes on everyone else while reducing government benefits and most people thought these things were accidents. Nothing in the global economy is ever an accident.

A Question About the People Protesting Trump

I was reading a New York Times article about how the protestors were working out their plans in strip malls weeks in advance of his coming. I thought that was odd, who is paying for the space? If they can afford the space then why don't they have pre-printed signs? Oh, yeah and how come the organizations funding the protests don't have to register as Political Action Committees? While those are all good questions, I have a better one, why didn't these people protest the wars in Arabia? Now that is a real good question because the protestors love to have signs that say, "No hate in our state" and some claim that they don't like the fact that Trump wants to limit people from Muslim countries coming here. If they care so much about the Muslims, why didn't they protest us bombing them?

Here is another question, when Cruz's SuperPac put out adds attacking Trump's wife, why didn't the media take Cruz to task; but, when Trump said that if Cruz was going to discuss wives, Cruz himself should be real careful? Yet the media has been talking for days about how Trump may have crossed the line? What line, Cruz's SuperPac actually televised this anti-Trump ad.

YouTube - Trump’s Wife's Nudes Are Being Using Against Him

So this story came out about a peaceful protestor who got pepper sprayed at a Trump rally; but, that story is not quite right. In fact the women punched a much older man in the face and then got pepper sprayed. The women who got pepper sprayed later claimed that the man she hit had fondled her. I have a question about that, you see the woman had been in a screaming match with the Trump supporters before hitting the man and he was in front of her but not close when she hit him. So if you watch the video you have to ask yourself, how long did she wait before she hit him because he doesn't even touch her in the video taken just prior to her hitting him, how did he get so far away before she came at him and hit him, she had to really reach out to hit him and oddly enough nobody who was there said the man had touched her. Now here is the funny part, the police are only investigating who pepper sprayed her and whether or not she was groped. Why aren't they charging her with battery for hitting the man? Simple answer, he didn't file a claim against her. He could have; but, he did not. Still, the police have the video evidence and should have charged her with battery; but, they didn't.

I have to say something, I don't particularly like Trump. Clearly I wrote that I had been for Sanders and no longer supported him because he acted like a cheap politician when it came to Trump. The thing is that while all the Republicans I know support Trump, they don't particularly like him either. What they care about is American jobs coming back. It is that simple. For reasons that I prefer not to go into, I am no longer sure that I could support Trump either. It has nothing to do with his wanting to halt and limit immigration, it has nothing to do with any of his policies, though I disagree with many of them. My reason involves a spiritual question that I prefer not to discuss at the moment. If Trump were to get elected and bring peace to the middle east, then I will discuss my questions. Still, I am bothered by all the propaganda and dirty tricks against Trump being used by the right and the left. I think it exposes their hypocrisy. I really don't like Trump supporters being compared to Nazis when most of my friends support Trump and had family members fight the Nazis. My dead uncle fought on Iwo Jima during World War II. He would have supported Trump, my dad would have too and he was highly decorated in the Korean war and hated communism and the Nazis. Here is a poll that was taken and never published, how many of you who support Trump thought we should not have fought Nazi Germany in World War II. I guarantee this poll was taken and will never be released. How do I know this, they took polls to see how many of Trumps followers thought the south should have won the civil war. How bout this question, how many Trump supporters fought in World War II compared to the other candidates. That poll was taken too, the polls asked people's age, that means the pollsters knew how many of Trumps supporters had lived through World War II.

Water Lies and Theft

YouTube - 7News - Denver investigating underground water storage.  Keep an eye on all stories about water, something interesting and wrong is happening. Denver is now looking into underground water storage in case of drought. Why is this interesting, simple, why go to all the expense of storing water underground when you can store it above ground for much less.

Fox - State of California flouts its own enviro laws, claims county threatening multi-million-dollar suit.  Okay, Caltrans drills tiny little holes so see what the groundwater levels are and many counties want them to obtain permits to "protect" the groundwater. In Sacramento they claim they are concerned about the Sacramento delta; but, that is not below ground. What might be interesting is to find out how much groundwater has been taken and the condition of the water table.

Fox - Supreme Court appears skeptical about feds applying Clean Water Act to family biz properties.

Christian Science Monitor - Debate over water rights intensifies as Saudis buy up swaths of US farmland.  The short of the story is that Saudi Arabia is buying up desert property and draining the groundwater to grow alfalfa in the desert and then shipping the alfalfa overseas. I will ask a question that I have asked before, why are people allowed to take water during a drought and send it or its products overseas when the rest of us must ration water and not even water our lawns? Think about it.

Garry Shandling R.I.P.

I like comedies and find comedians to be very interesting people. I am amazed at how many comedians are shy, fiscal conservatives and often sad people in real life. Garry Shandling seemed different, I know that he was known for his kindness, pretty rare in such a competitive industry. He is regarded by other comedians to be one of the best standup comedians ever; but, I don't think standup is where he shined the most, I think he could tell a good story and his television shows were groundbreaking and amazing.

Shandling did one of the first scripted shows on HBO, the Larry Sanders Show. It was about a make believe late night talk show and mixed drama with comedy in a way that would have scared off most comedians. It was also so original that it should not be forgotten. I went on YouTube and got the finale of the show and I am going to provide a link to it. If you don't know much about him, watch the show and if you know him well, watch the show and remember him.

YouTube - Larry Sanders Show S6 S11 Flip Series Finale