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Its all twists and turns. Here is a clear take on the current situation.
As the Election Turns: Trump the Anti-Neocon, Hillary the New Darling of the Neocons
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/25/as-the-election-turns-trump-the-anti-neocon-hillary-the-new-darling-of-the-neocons/
@solo said:
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The more I think about it Pete, the more that sign rings true 
I'm glad I don't have the choose between either of the presidential candidates!
@stinkie said:
@mike lucey said:
Hopefully USA voters will be able to overlook Trump's trashy flashiness and realise that fundamentally he has some potential to do as he says, "Make America Great Again"(...)
You'll have to explain that one, Mike. I don't, er, 'see it'.
They say folks should be judged by what they do rather than what they say. Trump, whether you like him or not is an achiever and gets the job done one way or the other. I don't think he is terribly interested in money at this stage so there might be a chance that BIG business, Bankers and Wall Street won't he able to control his policies too much.
I notice that he is keeping his mouth zipped more these days as he realises that he has a good shot at the Presidency. I also notice that both presidential running mates are of Irish ancestry. Mike Pence's maternal grandmother's parents were from Doonbeg, County Clare, 30 miles down the road from me.
@stinkie said:
@mike lucey said:
I don't know that he is not a potential war monger but I was impressed with his statements about his willingness to talk to the various opposition heads of state around the World.
Well ... That's the least one could expect, isn't it?
I'd not vote for that man with a gun held to my head. He reminds me of Mussolini: a narcissistic blowhard with a rather unhealthy thirst for confirmation and power.
I sincerely hope Trump does not get elected.
Yes, I agree a US President talking to the opposition before attacking is the least US citizens would hope for but I have my doubts this will be the case if Trump doesn't get elected.
The World has had a taste of what to expect in this case and I for one don't what to see more bloodshed and countries destroyed around the World.
Hopefully USA voters will be able to overlook Trump's trashy flashiness and realise that fundamentally he has some potential to do as he says, "Make America Great Again", which in turn will also help World affairs and promote peace and prosperity.
SketchUcation has always been a great place to bounce around thoughts and ideas and be assured that there would be constructive feedback.
As regards the state of the World currently when it comes to inequality I have some hope that because its now so easy for folks to fully see whats happening in all parts of the World it will not be too long before the masses shout 'STOP'.
The cloak and dagger, smoke and mirrors financial stuff that has been going on over the past 100 years is now plainly visible to anyone that takes the time to read and research the subject, just a little.
When sufficient numbers of people fully understand the corrupt financial system I think we may see a movement to rectifying matters.
@solo said:
Mike Lucey, here is something you may fancy:
Very good Pete. "That’s a good thing when you’re traveling through the desert on a horse with no name. . ." 
@jql said:
Mike,
- I don't believe the power is in the people, though the people might still believe it. The power isn't even in politicians imho, it's in finance. People who have power and use it for other then their interests are scarce;
Its good to debate and question the status quo. To elaborate a little further on what I believe to be the situation.
Yes, the power is currently not in the hands of 'We The People' as we have handed it over to the Central Bankers via facilitating politicians. However, the ultimate ownership of power is 'The People'. They must they retake same by whatever means is needed to achieve this objective. This has been done in the past in many countries, the most famous being the French Revelation where a King parted company with his head.
The 'amusing' thing about the Central Banker's is that they will eventually through their unregulated greed cause the financial system to implode. I think we are seeing the beginning of this currently, Venezuela with inflation of target to hit 1600% soon.
Revolution: The Risk/Reward Ratio
https://goldsilver.com/news/revolution-the-risk-reward-ratio/
@jql said:
- I am truly afraid of mass media and the way it flattens opinions and manipulates things and I don't believe it's easy to find real information in the internet or anywhere else.
The mass media which is under the control of the Central Bankers keeps the common man placid but if push comes the shove I feel it will not be able to placate the common man as he will eventually realise he is being fed BS.
@jql said:
- Culture is the most important aspect as it's only through culture that you can filter information and decide on what to do with respect to your context. Unfortunately the culture your talking about is not true culture as true culture is about creation not exploitation.
There is a natural tendency for man to look after the common interests of his neighbours. If they are doing well, he in turn will do well. Currently this is not happening when he see 1% of the World population owning and controlling 50% of the World's wealth. The penny will drop eventually and natural 'culture' will become the norm ..... I hope!
The top 1% now owns half the world's wealth
http://fortune.com/2015/10/14/1-percent-global-wealth-credit-suisse/
@jql said:
I agree with everything else and my fake arguments of the last post are nicely answered by yourself.
Thank you for the compliment. I have been studying the situation since the crash of 2008 as it has had a seriously detrimental effect on my finances. The quicker we get some form of proper regulation back into the financial system as it was prior the Reagan / Thatcher the quicker we will attain a fair and balanced society with the Central Banker's under some sort of controlled environment.
What does the parasite consume when he kills his host and cannot find another? Nothing as he dies also! This does not normally happen in the 'natural' World as hosts and parasites retain an equilibrium. The equilibrium between the 1% and the 99% is currently way out of balance.
@jql said:
- If you could vote by mobile phone/online, what if your identity is stolen, hacked, pirated?
JQL,
I often hear arguments about voting by phone / online. These arguments are normally put forward by politicians. My answer is simply that I do a lot of transactions via the phone and online. I bank online, I pay bills online I book services online and I buy products online. Yes, my identity could be hacked and my bank account could be cleaned out but I think there is probably more chance of my house being broken into.
If I were to regularly vote in referendums a simple double check system would be to publish the votes using a reference code. The voter can then look up their reference code and be sure that their vote is per their wishes.
@jql said:
- If you put matters into the hands of people do you trust the wisdom of masses of people which have not the formal education of well trained politicians (one of the arguments of defenders of monarchy)
I feel that there is far more expertise on all subjects in the mass population when compared to politicians. Currently the two leading politicians in Ireland are ex-school teachers ..... I rest my case.
@jql said:
- What about the minorities rights? (which is exactly what democracy is there to defend in what politicians is concerned)
Its the overall population of countries that take care of the minority groups in the country. Current day politicians only seem to be interested in taking care of the bankers!
@jql said:
There are more but I really think every one of the arguments can be rebated. All except one:
What about the influence of the media? If power shifts sides from politicians to the people as true democracy means, then people who controlled the mind of the people are the new rules: This means mass media, which get's me really scared as they, without votes, can influence the world way of thinking right now, with much greater efficacy than politicians do.
When you say, "If power shifts sides from politicians to the people", I think you may be missing my point. 'Power' should remain with the 'People' at all times. There should be no difference in politicians aims the aims of the 'People'.
After all they are suppose the be serving the People.
I don't worry too much about the influence of the (establishment) media, newspapers, state controller TV / radio and big TV networks. The Net has countered this with alternative 'information givers' also these sites offer the readers the ability to have their say also.
@jql said:
Overall though, I believe there's only 2 things that can grant us freedom and peace, and those things can't be ruled: they're tolerance and culture.
Unfortunately there's not much of both in the world.
I agree that tolerance is important but there are times when we have to stand up and be counted through force if need be.
Culture is also important but the 'new culture' of Corporate Power I see encompassing the World is not a culture I would embrace.
Its easy to moan and groan, as I am doing here. So here is what I propose for my neck of the woods.
a. Eliminate the Political Party System. As elected politicians serve the Party before their electorate.
b. In Ireland we have 15 Ministers, Finance, Health, Social Protection, Industry etc etc. I would like to see individuals putting themselves forward for elections. The best man / woman would be elected on their policies / abilities.
c. As these 15 individually elected Ministers sit around the Government Table and come up with compromise policies as would have to be the case they then put the various options to the people for final approval via referendums. If an agreed number of citizens want a further voting options put on the table to be put before the People this should be implemented also.
d. Each Minister would be required to get approval of over 50% of the electorate each year in order to hold the post. If he /she is deemed 'not performing' as per their initial policies they get kicked out and a new person, possibly the runner up in the initial election take over the reins.
JQL, 'Group Knowledge' has very high correct answer / decision rates and the bigger the group the more times it hits on the correct answer / decision.
I believe we now have the technology to use the knowledge / ability of the total electorate and should be doing now. Politicians and the People should be working in partnership on an ongoing basis.
@tig said:
Throughout the years many tens of thousands of innocents have died in the name of patriotism, nationalism, freedom, religion, money et al...
A 'war' of any kind is just organized theft - be it of land, property, minds or life.
Any rational human being who can chant, 'God is great",' as you do something like this, is more than doubly moronic.
He was clearly deluded, or brain-washed.If there is a god, then surely 'he' will NOT be at all pleased with the perpetrator's actions - which go against almost every mainstream religious or basic ethical code.
But if god is in any way pleased with the perpetrator's actions, then that is most surely a god who is not worthy of rational 'worship' - and should be eschewed.
Alternatively, if there is no god at all, then their entire action is futile in respect of any 'favor' it might attract to them in a supposed after-life.
But however, in any case, their action might foment hatred and division - and to me that's obviously what these guys [like many before them] wish for.
It has nothing to do with religion, ethnicity, race, color etc - it has all to do with gaining power.We [our leaders especially] need to maintain a firm resolve.
We must do something - whatever that is [suggestions welcome...]To quote Edmund Burke, the 18th century Irish politician:
@unknownuser said:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
TIG,
You say, "We [our leaders especially] need to maintain a firm resolve". I think this might well be the root of our problems. We vote in clowns under a so called Representative Democracy system whereby these clowns are bought and paid for by corporate power where they kowtow to these entities for the duration of their term in power.
The only way I can see to stop this madness is for we the electorate to rule ourselves using the Direct Democracy system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_democracy.
Direct Democracy may not be a perfect system, probably no perfect system exists but at least with Direct Democracy the electorate have an ongoing recourse to enforce their initial wishes at the time of the election.
Does anyone think that Bush if he had to call a people's referendum in the USA before bombing Iraq he would have got the 'go ahead' from the USA electorate? I somehow doubt it.
The argument put forward against Direct Democracy by career politicians is that government would grind to a halt. This probably would have been the situation before the age of instant communication but today citizens can exercise their franchise with a simple press of their index finger on their mobile phones.
The bottom line for me is that I want be be fully involved in my country's governance on an ongoing basis not once every 4 or 5 years. I have great faith in the ability of the 'audience' to get reach the correct decision at least 90%+ of the time. http://www.howtogetonanytvgameshow.com/who-wants-to-a-millionaire/what-is-the-success-rate-of-ask-the-audience-on-who-wants-to-b-e-a-millionaire-in-non-us-countries
A simple way to look at it might be to compare your country to a limited company. The shareholders vote for a Company Chairman and Company Directors at an AGM (annual general meeting), they in turn employ managers to run the company from day to day.
If the shareholders see that things are going against their wishes they have the power to get rid or the directors and replace them with directors that puts the train back on track via a snap EGM (extraordinary general meeting).
BTW, the words 'Direct Democracy' frightens the shit out of career politicians. Surely that should be reason enough to push for and adopt it.
I highly recommend listening to Chris Hedges: The Algebra of Revolution http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/07/15/chris-hedges-the-algebra-of-revolution/
Its eye opening, thought provoking and even anger producing to say the least.
@kaas said:
I really hope in the voting box people see past their reluctance for Hillary and see she has a ton of experience for the job where the other candidate totally has not. We don't need another cowboy in charge of a super power.
Like I said, I pity the USA electorate's choice between what appears to be a proven liar (knowingly or not) or a so called 'cowboy'. At least with the 'cowboy' they would know that he may not be fully 'bought and paid for'. Yes, its a case of 'the devil and the deep blue sea' I'm afraid.
@stinkie said:
@mike lucey said:
(...)I would vote for Trump simply because he is a deal maker more than a war monger.
How would we know that? He's not held any office so far.
We do know, however, 'the Donald' has a strained relationship with the truth, doesn't shy away from racism and misoginy, and holds peculiar views on such staples of democracy like the freedom of press.
Clinton is by no means a saint -but that doesn't change the fact that Trump, quite frankly, is a complete fruitcake, who holds a worldview not unlike that of an egotistical ten-year-old.
I don't know that he is not a potential war monger but I was impressed with his statements about his willingness to talk to the various opposition heads of state around the World.
I pity USA voters if the choice will be between Trump or Clinton. Then again they have not had much choice in quite a while. I think I would have to go back to JFK and he only scraped in also his policies were not tolerated by 'the powers that be'.
Its much the same the world over. It seems to me that 'the powers that be' decide what the electorates choice will be from and they don't really care which candidate is elected as they will either control them or eliminate them.
Personally I'm for more Direct Democracy https://www.google.co.nz/search?client=opera%26amp;q=Direct+Democracy%26amp;sourceid=opera%26amp;ie=UTF-8%26amp;oe=UTF-8 which frightens the crap out of 'the powers that be'. With it they loose control and this is their aim at any cost even their own ultimate demise.
With today's instant communication methods I see no reason for us to give the reins of a country to anyone for 5 years to do as they wish.
Yes James. Indeed a say day for humanity.
I have just learned on the massacre and after looking at some of the images feel quite sickened.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3691019/Several-people-injured-truck-crashes-crowd-Bastille-Day-celebrations-Nice.html
The 'Donald' or Hillary! I pity the USA with so limited a choice. If I had a vote there I would vote for Trump simply because he is a deal maker more that a war monger.
The huge build up of NATO missiles on Russia's front door is quite worrying to me and I feel all it would take is a single false flag to spark the start of WWIII.
Trump has indicated that he has time for Putin and Putin has reciprocated.
Donald Trump Goes His Own Way With Vladimir Putin
http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-goes-his-own-way-with-vladimir-putin-1463172396
Vladimir Putin Just Made A MASSIVE Donald Trump Announcement!
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/vladimir-putin-just-made-a-massive-donald-trump-announcement/
Flight seating might be about become more affordable (due to increased capacity) and comfortable at least for business class passengers with Acemen's patented design for universal aisle access.
More details here, http://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a21471/acumen-design-united-business-class-aisle-access/?mag=pop%26amp;list=nl_pnl_news%26amp;src=nl%26amp;date=062316
Richard,
You might check out this,
The Psychology of Color in Business
http://www.visualcapitalist.com/psychology-of-color-business/
Mike
Here is a good article by Wired,Keep Your Computer From Destroying Your Eyesight
http://www.wired.com/2013/09/flux-eyestrain/
They reccomend f.lux https://justgetflux.com I've tried it and it makes working through the day to nite transition period less stressful.
