What matters now is sowing the seeds of reform.

"Reform" is such an interesting word. The Latin roots of "reform" means, "grab your ankles".

The neoliberal "reform" you're touting would be even more disastrous than the current disaster.

I'm pretty sure that if we ever see "reform" it will not come from anyone who is currently holding elected office in America today. And it certainly won't come from anyone on the far Right.

If you want your blood chilled, take a look at what the corporate elite who comprise ALEC define as "reform".

Right! To be fair, it's really hard someone to find someone for your board of directors who isn't a war criminal.

The choice was between Condoleeza Rice and Slobodan Milosevic and he backed out due to health reasons. I understand they sent feelers out to Joseph Kony, but he thought they were children's arms, so he cut them off.

Welcome Condi! Maybe a little more money will help you sleep at night, because you're looking a little tired, girl.

In other news, Dropbox has announced that their appointment of Joseph Goebbels to their board of directors will not change their stance on Jews.

I'll bet this does not mean that if I'm suing a corporation, that I'll have access to all their private records.

Laws giving the elite power over ordinary people are being passed at an alarming rate, even in countries that purport to be a little more progressive like Canada. Because corporate wealth has that much power. I've been reading some of the exegesis of the financial collapse of 2008 that Yves Smith has written, and when you see the way every single move our governments have made since then have been giving even more latitude and power to corporations to do whatever they want to us, you really start to get a feel for the direction of our society. Of course, it's been going on longer than that, but never this blatant. It's like they don't even care who knows any more, because they are that sure of their entrenchment.

We're so fucked. The next few decades are really going to be dark. I'm old, and I never expected dystopia to happen this fast.

The funny part is that our financial elite really seem to believe they can outrun their own destructiveness. Maybe it's some belief in a transhumanist future or that they're going to be able so remove themselves from the condition of the rest of us by insulating themselves with wealth and power. Somehow, they believe, this time will be different, and we won't end up with our heads through a guillotine. Funny.

it's a city state

the policies that work for one small rich densely populated tightly controlled area does not apply to large areas of rural and urban, rich and poor

singapore offers no lessons about how to run real countries

Oh stop it. You want to see how bad a news aggregation site can be? Go check out this "vox.com" site, put together by people from the NYT and other big-time media outfits. It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen, works like shit, and is insulting to boot. It's like Buzzfeed for a new generation of hipsters who hate Buzzfeed. They must have read somewhere that headlines get more hits if you put a number in them, like, "17 Ways To Watch Game of Thrones More Effectively" or, "9 Secrets To Having a Happy Life".

It the most unpleasant experience I've had with a big new web property. It's not very often that just the design of a web site sets off my gag reflex, but adding in the nonsense and I believe it actually shortened my life to view that mess.

I like the approach AdBusters takes. It's not going to tear down any walls by itself, but it does a nice job of presenting an option.

Their new "#mindbombs" campaign to put anti-consumerist commercials on television is interesting. No idea what effect it will have, if any, but it's still a good idea to let people know it's possible to be cool without buying into consumerist culture.

https://www.adbusters.org/blog...

My Serbian wife gives that a thumb's up.

She and my daughter were in Belgrade visiting her aged mother when Clinton started the bombing. She lives across the street from the opera house downtown, so most of the CNN pictures of the Belgrade bombing showed exactly where my wife and daughter were. It was a surreal moment for me, watching my own country trying to kill my family. They couldn't get out because of the no-fly zone and I tried to get over them to try to get them out overland, but that was also impossible because of the NATO checkpoints. All I remember is the helpless fury I felt, and the sick fear for their well-being.

I've been to Belgrade lots of times since then, and I wonder how different Americans would feel if they really knew the lasting damage that's done to a place and people when Americans decide to start dropping the freedom bombs.

instead of using it to organize and fight the system, they post cat pictures and jerk off.

Don't discount the fear factor. Whether they admit it or not, knowing that the NSA and Google and others are recording your every move online. When you're under crushing personal debt, your tolerance for risk goes way down.

The millennials I encounter are extremely uneasy about their futures.

As to the cat pix and pron, remember the entire purpose for "bread and circuses" is to distract and deflect. March Madness or Game of Thrones, the idea is protect the elites and encourage consumption. And advertising is designed to influence behavior and attitudes at a very deep level. They're not spending billions on advertising because it doesn't work. They do it because it's the most effective way to modify behavior on a mass scale.

I'm pretty sure the French Revolution doesn't happen if they had TV and the Internet.

Would Heartbleed affect those who use a preparation software like TurboTax and then e-file directly through the program? Or does it only affect the people who are using the website to fill out the form?

When you E-File through TurboTax, no password is necessary, and no account is necessary. You do have to enter your bank account number if you want direct deposit, but that's it.

I'm not well-versed in sockets and layers and all that. My experience is in other areas. But I'd like to know, because I'm just about to file. I'd like to e-file with direct deposit because that means I'll get my refund in just a little over a week and can build my new PC in time to play Watch Dogs.

It is far easier to consider it a giant conspiracy of the elites, than to think that a significant enough part of the population agrees or at least doesn't mind?

It doesn't have to be a conspiracy, it only has to be a trend.

If you judge people on their behavior, rather than their words, you start to see a different story emerge than just "people don't mind".

I'm still trying to storm my sofa.

Or he will be.

Nah, the inflation numbers have been played with since before 1980. They're just using different techniques today. From what I can tell, Nixon was the first to do it, and since then, the Fed has worked from jiggered numbers.

Do you think that the reason barricades have not been stormed and every congressperson is not running scared from all responsibility, knowledge etc is because it's another thing with a computer in it so the brain has dropped out of the ear?

No. It's because people are so busy just trying to survive that they're too worn out to storm any barricades.

This is by design. The elite know very well that you can only exploit people so long before they start breaking the china, so loss in real income and the decline in standard of living for most people is absolutely being done on purpose.

Also note the ramping up of a ubiquitous surveillance state and the militarization of local police forces. They're really worried that people are a lot closer to revolt than anyone cares to admit.

The reason the NSA story is such a scandal is because of the domestic aspects. Few people care if the US is spying on foreigners, but when they find out that some grimy bureaucrat is upskirting their personal information and communications, it makes them crazy.

This is also why you're seeing a massive movement in many states to suppress voter turnout, to gerrymander congressional districts and even to repeal the direct election of the US Senate, giving it back to state legislatures.

There is a real fear of democracy in any form, and a greater fear that people have just about had it. 11-15% real inflation while incomes are shrinking is a recipe for beheadings.