From Pine View Farm

Mammon category archive

Kleptocracy 0

Jim Hightower sees a pattern in Trump’s cabinet picks:

This is what Trump & Company mean by saying they’ll make government “efficient.” Instead of corporate powers having to lobby regulators to get special favors, corporate officials will become the regulators.

Follow the link for the evidence.

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Kleptocracy in Action 0

PoliticalProf.

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The Pusher Men and Women 0

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Establishmentarians 0

Schuyler Mitchell takes deep look at efforts of far right evangelical they-call-themselves Christians to destroy the Constitution’s establishment clause. A snippet:

But in chipping away at foundational constitutional protections, Christian nationalist groups stand to win more than prayer in schools or Bible-based lesson plans. The legal battles playing out in federal courts could give rise to anti-LGBTQ violence and state-sanctioned discrimination against religious minorities.

Realize that this is not about love for God.

It’s about power for preachers.

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The Privatization Scam 0

Minnesota charter schools to Minnesota: Give us the public’s money, but don’t expect us to tell you what we do with it.

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Influencer Idiocy 0

Emily Balcetis, writing at Psychology Today Blogs, has some issues with how “influencers” promote products. She believes that

Stricter rules are needed to limit harmful social media marketing.

Follow the link for her reasoning and, remember, “social” media isn’t.

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This New Gilded Age 0

At the Idaho State Journal, Kim Shinkoskey argues that

MAGA Republicans and their billionaire backers like Elon Musk have finally honed-in on a ten-point formula that works for obtaining political and economic power.

Follow the link and get the points.

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This New Gilded Age 0

Seth discusses Bernie Sanders’s claims that we are will down a path to oligarchy.

Spoiler: Seth thinks Bernie may have a point.

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Signs of the Fall 0

I seldom look at the sport section of my local rag (except to read Bob Molinaro’s column, because he is a fine writer with a sharp pen and a wicked sense of humor). Even when I paid much more attention to sports than I do now, I was more interesting in watching competitions than in reading about them.

Nevertheless, as I leafed through the sports section on the way to the agony columns in yesterday’s paper (yes, paper, not electrons), something caught my eye.

My local rag now carries a syndicated column methinks no doubt subtly designed to suck people into covering sports betting.

We are a broken society.

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Monetizing Misinformation 0

The SPLC follows the money behind some fonts of falsehoods.

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This New Gilded Age 0

Title:  The 1% Solution on Hold.  Billionaire One:  We make 400 times more than our employees and are taxed lower than them.  Billionaire Two:  Yeah.  So? Billionaire One:  So we could double their wages and triple our tax reate.  That'll benefit our employees and we'll still be filthy rich.  Billionaire Two:  Sure, but not outrageously filthy rich.  (Pause)  Billionaire One:  Sorry.  Ethical brain fart.  Billionaire Two:  I'm starting to wonder about your Billionaire status, Carl.

Click to view the original image.

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This New Gilded Age 0

At the Portland Press-Herald, Todd R. Nelson argues that Walt Whitman’s words from a century and a half ago ring true today in this new Gilded Age.

Here’s a bit of his article:

He bemoaned corruption. “I have noticed,” he wrote, “how the millions of sturdy farmers and mechanics are … the helpless supple-jacks of comparatively few politicians. And I have noticed more and more, the alarming spectacle of parties usurping the government, and openly and shamelessly wielding it for party purposes.” Ahem.

It gets worse. “The depravity of the business classes of our country is not less than has been supposed, but infinitely greater,” Whitman writes. “The official services of America, national, state, and municipal, in all their branches and departments, except the judiciary, are saturated in corruption, bribery, falsehood, maladministration.”

Aside:

In these days of our Supreme Supremacist Court, he might rethink that bit about the judiciary.

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A Picture Is Worth 0

Image:  Lady Liberty sprawled on her back pieced by a

Via Job’s Anger.

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This New Gilded Age 0

Thom posits that today’s robber barons have learned from yesterday’s. That’s why they are buying up media outlets, so as to manipulate dis coarse discourse.

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This Trumpled Kleptocracy 0

Sam and the crew discuss how the robber barons of this new gilded age are poisoning dis coarse discourse.

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A Tune for the Times 0

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This New Gilded Age 0

Speaking of money in politics . . . .

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A Tune for the Times 0

From the Youtube page:

Whose Land is this anyway? Does to belong to the mega-corporations, and we’re just here to be their workforce? Does it belong to Trump and the willing victims of his lies? Let’s take a look at where we stand on that issue.

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“We’re Trying To Have a Society Here” 0

At the Portland Press-Herald, Victoria Hugo-Nadal uses examples from her own life to remind us that, despite what Republicans would have you think, there is, indeed, such a thing as “the common good.”

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Twits on Twitter X Offenders 0

Bitcoin bogosity.

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