Author: MyBaconPress

Info Wars

by MyBaconPress

It strikes me that the wealthy, privileged elite have used their control over the corporate media to pit left against right.  They do it by delivering different “information” – it’s actually Disinformation – to the two groups.  It only works because they managed to manipulate one of the two groups into isolating themselves into an information bubble.

They did it using the exact same technique some fundamentalist church groups use to isolate their congregation: “Disregard those ‘of the world’.”  “Trust us but not them.” “Protect yourself from the deceptions of the serpent.”  Sure, they replaced “serpent” with “main stream media” but the technique – and effect – were the same.  After that, it was a small matter to send disinformation to that one, self-insulated group and other “news” to the rest of the viewing public.

Over time, most people in the mainstream got used to the idea that the insular group was misinformed.  It created just the break between Americans it was intended to as the overall effect was name-calling and other insults, leading to bitterness and anger.  In turn, the anger caused the group to self-isolate even MORE.  Now people from outside the bubble just pretty much write off whatever comes from inside the bubble because it’s been provably false for so long it just becomes a time saver to ignore it.

But now I’m seeing a new trend.  Now, the corporate media is feeding false information to those outside the bubble.  Right now, it’s all about how the DNC didn’t cheat and damn those interfering Russians, anyway.  Every time you hear some talking head tell you about the Russian hacks, you’re being fed false information.  The corporate media is trying to wrap Hillary’s scandals into a single package – the “email hack” – and blame the Russians for the existence of the package.  The entire narrative falls apart with only a little examination – so they hope you don’t look too closely.  Let’s look anyway…

First, there was Hillary’s email servers.  Did you see the ‘s’ at the end of ‘server’?  That’s because she used several email servers.  None were properly secured.  Secret and even Top Secret information passed through them.  This is not speculation.  The FBI did an investigation, remember?  The FBI said they found Secret and Top Secret information on the servers.  NONE of this had anything to do with the Russians except for the possibility that her unsecured servers might have been hacked by the Russians.  But none of the information on the servers was made public by the Russians or anyone else…

Second, there was the DNC email scandal.  It had nothing to do with Hillary’s servers.  The only commonality is the word “email” but – according to Wikileaks, who provided the information – the DNC emails weren’t “hacked”.  They were leaked.  That means an insider.  Someone INSIDE the DNC gained access to the emails by working at the DNC, printed them out, and provided them to Wikileaks.  Again, no Russians involved.

So, that’s two out of three email scandals that didn’t involve the Russians.  That leaves the Podesta hack.  You know how you get an email from time to time warning you that some page has been violated and you need to go to such and such a site and re-enter your user name, password, and credit card information?  Those emails are scams and they have a name.  They’re called phishing emails.  Well, John Podesta fell for one of those.  It’s technically true those are “hacks” in the sense that someone now has access to things they shouldn’t but it’s not like some computer whiz had to sneak in and breach security protocols.  They just asked Podesta for his password and he gave it to them.  After that it was just a simple matter of printing email.

But there is a cadre of writers and broadcasters out there consistently pounding the message that the Russians hacked the election to create “the email scandal” and they’re feeding this non-stop stream of bullpucky to those of us OUTSIDE the self-imposed media bubble in order to deflect attention from their own missteps and misdeeds.  I see it as a new development.

I’m used to seeing fraudulent information coming from “the other team”.  It’s so common, it’s boring.  I’m NOT used to seeing fraudulent information coming from “my team”.  The corporate media has had time to iron out the wrinkles working within the insular group.  They’re very skilled at disinformation and can easily slip propaganda in unnoticed if one isn’t paying VERY close attention.  So pay attention.  Disregard broadcast media that originates inside the US borders.  Read, but check what you read.

I’ll tell you this: Lincoln warned that a house divided against itself cannot stand and the privileged elite have succeeded in dividing the house that is America to their own benefit for long enough…

A Thought On Voting…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, let’s say we all agree that Russian hacking played a part in the outcome of the most recent “election”.  The corporate media seems focused on the idea that the hacking began and ended with releasing damning information about Hillary (without, I’ve noticed, any mention of why there was so much damning information about Hillary to be had) but I’ve heard little to no talk on the question of hacking into the voting machines and flipping votes.

We KNOW that it can be done easily.  We saw how insecure the machines are after Bush 43 was installed by vote flipping in the voting machines.  It’s possible to find videos on the web to this day that demonstrate how easily these machines can be manipulated.  Although much of the focus tends to be on some random person getting their hands on a device that lets one person vote many – perhaps hundreds of – times, they usually include an acknowledgement that the actual network the machines are connected to can be hacked – meaning one person could affect the outcomes on hundreds of machines in a relatively short time.

Our government tends to downplay the notion that the machines are so vulnerable.  It seems they’re hesitant to – get this – undermine the public faith in American “elections”.  But government confidence-building notwithstanding, the machines can be manipulated so easily it’s almost child’s play.  Each county gets to pick it’s own voting equipment and there are a wide variety of machines being used but they all share the same vulnerability.

As a result, I suggest we, the people, develop our own, new way of voting.  It’s actually quite simple.  First, apply for an absentee ballot.  Fill it out at your leisure, in your own home.  In fact, you can have voting parties.  See, the concept of a private vote is to ensure your privacy but it’s not an obligation.  You can sit around with family and friends and discuss each issue and candidate and mark your ballots accordingly.

Then, on election day, take your ballot to your polling place.  TRY to participate in an exit poll.  This process will do two things; one, it will create a paper trail “election” officials seem unwilling to create these days.  Two, it will show, via the exit poll, how accurately the vote totals are being counted.

I know our corporate dis-infotainment machine says exit polling may not be accurate.  Do yourself a favor, don’t ever let anyone convince you that’s true.  I mean, logically, could it be true that exit polling is only inaccurate in America and only during Presidential “elections”?  Exit polling is the gold standard of polling.  It’s how poll watchers the world over ensure the integrity of votes anywhere there might be a question regarding the legitimate outcome of an election – like, sadly, the United States of America.

If our “election” officials won’t create a paper trail, we create our own via absentee ballots.  If the exit poll numbers conflict with the results we can easily do a recount using the paper ballots we created.  Yes, it will most likely slow down the counting and delay the announcement of winners and losers.

I’ll tell you this: I’d MUCH rather get accurate information slowly than get inaccurate information quickly…

A Proposed Name Change…

by MyBaconPress

I’m a little bothered by the notion that the economic system that actually made America great in the first place has such a stupid name: Democratic Socialism.  It bothers me for two reasons: One, it’s too easy for weak thinkers to think “Communism”.  Two, it’s just wrong.  It SHOULD have been called ‘Social Capitalism’.

During the 2016 primary, every time Bernie Sanders or one of his supporters mentioned Democratic Socialism, some whiz would post a photo of Stalin, Marx, or Lenin.  Sometimes they’d post a picture of all three.  See, it has the word ‘socialism’ in it and that word scares the bejeezus out of a certain segment of our society.  But it’s not Communism – in which the government owns…pretty much everything.

More importantly, though, is that it’s wrong.  The ‘Democratic’ part makes it sound like it’s about a government system, not an economic system.  But Democratic Socialism is not a government system, it’s Capitalism – it’s just controlled Capitalism or more properly, true Capitalism.

To my mind, the most important single element of Capitalism is that every party to a transaction MUST enjoy a legitimate opportunity to say “no”.  If you can’t say no, it’s not genuine Capitalism.  It’s extortion.  When some business predator manages to corner the market on, say, fresh water – as Nestle intends to do – people no longer have the ability to say no.  We HAVE to have water so we would be forced to pay whatever Nestle demands.  That’s not a Capitalist transaction.  My favorite example says that it’s not Capitalism to hold life saving medication up in front of a dying man and ask, “NOW how much would you pay?”

Social Capitalism (Democratic Socialism) only moves those not-Capitalist transactions to what is known as the Commons – that which “belongs” to all of us.  It doesn’t seek to own and build your cars or service your washing machines.  It leaves Capitalism in place for Capitalist transactions and protects people from pseudo-Capitalist transactions.

I’ll tell you this: Democratic Socialism actually IS the best option for the largest number of people, whatever you call it.  But it SHOULD be called Social Capitalism…

The Misdirect…

by MyBaconPress

I’ve seen several op-eds (always op-eds, so…no facts required) suggesting how horrible it is that the Russians managed to influence the American “election”.  I think it’s a distraction, a misdirect, brought to you by the DNC as part of their multi-pronged effort to pretend they didn’t manipulate the primary with disastrous results.

The part we’re not supposed to think about?  How easy it was for the Russians to find so much damning evidence on Hillary and her supporters.  It’s all, “Look what the Russians did” and absolutely NO “Look what Hillary did”, “Look what the DNC did”, or “Look what Podesta did”.  (See, it’s three scandals centered around emails, not ONE “email scandal”…)

They’re basically telling you that if someone brings you evidence that your partner is cheating, you should choose to ignore it because you don’t like the guy who tells you.  It’s all about ‘Ignore the message, kill the messenger’!

The DNC should not have intervened.  Their job is to facilitate, not make the choice.  They made the choice and installed a flawed, vulnerable candidate absolutely reviled by a large segment of our county…

But I’ll tell you this: The more I hear about the incoming misadministration, the more I’m hoping for Jill Stein’s recount effort to succeed…

Acting President Pence?

by MyBaconPress

Do these three pieces of information fit together?

I’ve seen stories here and there the last few days suggesting that Melania won’t be moving into the White House anytime soon and that even the Donald only plans to be there part-time…

There was a story from Slate during the campaign that the Trump camp contacted a John Kasich advisor to see if Kasich was interested in being Trump’s VP.  The caller, reportedly Donald, Jr., told the advisor that Trump’s VP would be in charge of domestic AND foreign policy.  The advisor asked what Trump would be doing.  “Making America great again”, was the answer.

Now, he’s not even attending intelligence briefings.  Apparently, he’s leaving that to Pence…

So…just connecting dots, here: The President-elect doesn’t intend to be at his primary job site (the White House), isn’t attending intelligence briefings, and we’ve already heard one rumor that he plans to put his VP in charge, are we REALLY preparing for the Mike Pence administration?

I’ll tell you this: I never really believed Trump in his role as bat-shit crazy Republican.  But I believe Pence…

Thoughts on the New (Old) America…

by MyBaconPress

I’ve got to get my predictions out now because, honestly, predictions are FAR less impressive after the events predicted (see Nostradamus…)

I don’t think Trump is going to last very long as President.  So far, everyone (me, included) has been completely wrong about Trump so this is a big risk, predicting something about him.  Still, I think sooner or later, his big, bold “screw convention” style is going to run into some big, bold “conflict of interest” law…

This is not a good thing.  Mike Pence is – if such a thing is possible – worse.  Nobody really knows what Trump thinks about, well anything, really, but we all know about Pence…

My other prediction is that the economy is about to crash in a big way.  For clarity, “about to” is within 24 months of the inauguration.  It’s sort of the conservative way.  So be careful.  Now is NOT the time to take chances, financially.

These next two years will see the end of The New Deal, forcing most Americans back into the Old Deal.  The thing is, most Americans struggled mightily under the Old Deal.  You’ve heard of the social safety net?  Most of that stems directly from the New Deal.

I’ll tell you this: I think many, many Americans are about to have a “come to Jesus” moment in which they begin to understand that the New Deal wasn’t so bad, after all…

Just How Crazy IS He?

by MyBaconPress

I’ve long been a proponent of the idea that Trump isn’t really trying to run a winning campaign. Instead, he’s simply playing a role. His job is to be the crazy distraction from anything that might appear anti-Hillary. He’s doing a pretty good job, too. For example, when FBI Director James Comey made his oh-so-damning statement about Hillary, Trump praised Saddam Hussein’s ability to kill. The press stays on Trump’s insane statement until Comey’s statement fades into the past, Hillary is protected from the fallout…

Sure, it seems crazy but consider this: during the week Aug 15 through the 19th there have been no new charges, no new accusations against Hillary – and the Donald has been quiet…sane, even.

Here’s a rule.  No, a law: If a person can control when and how he or she is “crazy”, the person isn’t crazy…

The Trump Insane Game…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, so by now any astute person paying even a modicum of attention has noticed that every time some new accusation comes out against Hillary, the Donald saves her by making some big “gaffe”.  James Comey makes his “she’s guilty but we’re not going to pursue it” statement and Trump praises Saddam Hussein’s ability to kill terrorists.  The corporate disinfotainment machine pushes Trumps comments to the forefront and keeps it there until Comey’s statement fades as quietly as possible into the background.  The DNC primary rigging emails come out, Trump praises Putin and invites foreign hackers to attack.  Clinton repeats the lie that Comey “cleared her” and Trump picks a fight with a gold star family.  There’s a pretty solid correlation.

Each time a new charge comes out about Hillary, Trump has to say something to distract.  But the accusations against Hillary just keep coming and, according to Julian Assange, they’re not going to stop any time soon.  If Trump is going to continue his successful distraction campaign, he can’t just keep repeating crazy things he’s already said.  He does, anyway, from time to time, just to keep those things going but we’ve all heard those crazy things.  They are, literally, yesterday’s news.  If he’s going to be certain to control a news cycle or two, he needs to come up with new and ever more crazy things.  But where can even the Donald go from ‘Second Amendment Solutions’ to his opponent?

He has attacked his own party.  He has attacked veterans and gold star families.  He suggested women seeking abortions should be jailed.  He threw a baby out of a rally!  He heaps praise on the likes of Putin and approves nuclear first-strike.  He suggested requiring all members of a given religion wear a visible symbol to identify them.  Each time, he dominates the news cycle and nobody is asking anything about Hillary.  In short, the plan, so far, has worked perfectly.  But where does he go from here?

That’s the game: where does Trump go with his NEXT “gaffe”?  Wikileaks seems determined to release information slowly – something of a steady drip of damage rather than a simple, single punch to the gut of the campaign.  This suggests we can expect some new, damning information about Hillary and the DNC in this coming week.  THAT means, the Donald is going to have to come up with some newer, crazier thing.  So what’s it going to be?  Will the Donald suggest blowing up the moon?  A hunting season on Muslims?  Hillary in collusion with Stalin?  Hell, it could be anything.  So what’s your guess?  How will the Donald distract from the next Hillary accusation?

Note: there is no prize.  You just get the warm fuzzy feeling of being correct should you name the actual distraction he chooses…

Clinton vs. Stein…

by MyBaconPress

Generally speaking, it seems to me that Sanders supporters who still plan to participate have broken into two camps: those who plan to vote their principles and those who have taken a calculated position.  The calculated position is that we must all unite behind a single candidate or Trump might win so they overlook Hillary’s shortcomings like an abused spouse overlooks the occasional beating – because they fear the alternative.  I understand.  It’s not a position I can “get behind” but I do understand.

As an observation, I find it interesting that the DNC went to so much trouble to install a candidate who is so reviled and so unpopular she might not beat the caricature of evil that is Donald Trump but for our purposes, let’s just agree that Trump is a non-starter.  The topic is not Trump vs. Clinton.  The topic is Clinton vs. Stein.

Based on the available evidence, I believe Hillary will serve, in this order, A) herself, first and foremost, B) the corporations that own her and then, C) maybe, if there’s time and it doesn’t conflict with a) or b) above, “average Americans”.  The reality is that Hillary has already harmed me – and you, by the way.  All of us by undermining Democracy in America and me, personally, because I donated to the Sanders campaign under the false belief that the primary was an honest opportunity for people to choose from the available options though we know, now, that Hillary was “selected” before the first vote was cast.

The only argument I’ve seen against Stein is that “she can’t win”.  That’s called a circular argument and it’s a logical fallacy.  She “can’t win” only because people don’t vote for her because she “can’t win” because people don’t vote for her.  See?  It’s an argument that depends upon itself.  The moment we all unite behind her, she CAN win – just like Hillary, right?

I can not, in good conscience, vote for Hillary.  But the position voters just want to unite behind a candidate to ensure Trump loses so why not unite behind Jill Stein?  It’s a win-win.  Principle voters get to maintain their principles and position voters get the unity they seek – hell, they even get to still cast their vote for a woman…

The Psychology of Comey…

by MyBaconPress

As it happens, I believe FBI Director James Comey when he says he didn’t coordinate his statement with anybody else.  I think if he had, some…re-writes would have been in order.  I seriously doubt he would have been allowed to make the statement he made the way he made it.  He was very clear about which laws Hillary has broken.  He was quite clear about all the various and sundry ways in which she broke them.  Then he just asserts no prosecutor would prosecute and runs from the podium.  (Ok, he wasn’t running, per se.  It was more like speed walking but he was clearly “aggressively unavailable”.)

Now, I’m no psychologist so it would be a mistake to consider this some kind of authoritative analysis but go with me, here.  It seems clear to me that some edict (ultimatum?) came down from on high that Comey was to be “Powelled”.  That is, his honorable reputation was to be sacrificed in service to “the goal”, whatever it may be.  (In Colin’s case the goal was to start George’s Wars.  In Comey’s case the goal is to install the corporate candidate…)

I can’t speak to the kind of inducements that might cause a person to go along with such things but people do, often, go along as instructed.  Comey knew he was going to accept his fate and recommend as instructed and the weak excuse that no prosecutor would prosecute was probably just the suggested cover story.  It doesn’t have to be true or even make sense, as in this case.  After all, prosecutors prosecute mishandling of classified information on a regular basis so that particular bit of pablum isn’t even worth wasting time covering.  The corporate media just needs a cover story to pound away on until enough people are out there parroting the lines…

But…Comey’s not stupid.  He knew that not only was his personal reputation being “Powelled”, he was crapping on his entire agency.  He was crapping on each of his agents, but most of all, he was crapping on the agents who participated directly in the investigation and who know that Clinton broke the law casually and repeatedly.

I think that’s why he was so careful to point out what a great job his team did by showing in such detail which laws Clinton broke and in exactly how she broke them.  He was defending his team – making clear without saying so specifically that they have what they need to prosecute because the agents involved did their job well.  Perhaps he’s hoping it will be viewed by his agents as a noble gesture to fall on his sword like that but it’s too late.  His command authority has been completely dismantled.  (Prediction: James Comey won’t be the Director of the FBI for too much longer…)

If you’ve been relying on the corporate media to tell you what Comey said, you’d be better off watching for yourself…