For the Rich to Keep Getting Richer, We Have to Sacrifice Everything Else

They're hoping the endless circuses and trails of bread crumbs will forever distract us from their plunder and the inequalities built into America's financial system..

The primary story of the past 20 years is the already-rich have gotten much richer, with destabilizing economic, social and political consequences. The Federal Reserve and its army of academic / think-tank / financier apologists, lackeys, toadies, apparatchiks and sycophants have several rather thin excuses to explain this away, including:

1. Gee, wealth/income inequality isn't quite as bad as everyone claims. (Actually, it's worse, but never mind unwelcome reality. Let us prove yet again how statistics can always be gamed.)

2. Wealth/income inequality is bad, but it's not the Fed's or policymakers' faults; the causes are all beyond our control: globalization, winner-take-all disruptive technologies, etc. We're just little old innocent bystanders. It's like blaming us for gravity, for goodness sakes.

3. Gosh darn it, the Fed is just trying to help the little gal and guy by digitally printing $6.4 trillion and giving it to parasitic, predatory financiers, banks, corporations and speculators; we're mystified how giving trillions to the already-super-wealthy somehow made them richer.

We've got hundreds of PhD economists working on some arcane mathematical models to help us understand the mystery of why giving trillions to the already-super-wealthy somehow made them richer. It's a real puzzle, but we have our best people on it– yes siree, our best people.

1. We're perplexed why so little of the trillions we've handed the already-super-rich has trickled down to the little gals and guys struggling to keep their heads above water. We thought the last big tax-cut giveaway would do the trick, but dang, we're guessing it wasn't enough.

So we're thinking that giving the already-super-wealthy another $3 trillion or so might do the trick, and they might tip their maids, dog-walkers, gig drivers, yacht repair people, et al. a few extra bucks–but then maybe not, because the already-super-wealthy tend to be as greedy as all get-out. But we'll keep trying to shovel a few more trillion their way because there's just no other way to help the little people except to print up another trillion and give it to the already-super-wealthy.

What the well-paid army of apologists, lackeys, toadies, apparatchiks and sycophants never mention is that we as a nation have had to sacrifice everything else to ensure the rich will always get richer. Democracy was sacrificed so long ago there's no cultural memory of a time when "democracy" wasn't a pay-to-play bidding war between vested interests, insiders, billionaires, global corporations and political action committees pushing self-serving agendas.

The entire political order of the U.S. boils down to follow the money, as no cause or policy is what it claims. Somebody is inevitably angling for a self-serving sluice of cash that is politely hidden behind noble-sounding rhetoric (tm) delivered via micro-targeted ads served by the social media and advert-search monopolies.

Social cohesion has also been sacrificed, as there's nothing binding the nation together except I got mine greed, narcissism and anger, all of which fuel a blood-soaked circus of fragmentation and disorder.

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2020/06/for-rich-to-keep-getting-richer-we-have.html

Virginia Attorneys Plead Guilty for Orchestrating a $200 Million Extortion Scheme Targeting a Multinational Chemicals Company

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/virginia-attorneys-plead-guilty-orchestrating-200-million-extortion-scheme-targeting

Oklahoma Supreme Court allows Trump rally to proceed as planned, as president says Tulsa curfew being lifted

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday ruled that President Trump’s upcoming rally in Tulsa can go ahead as planned despite concerns about coronavirus – just as Trump announced that a curfew in the city had been lifted for the rally.

“I just spoke to the highly respected Mayor of Tulsa, G.T. Bynum, who informed me there will be no curfew tonight or tomorrow for our many supporters attending the #MAGA Rally. Enjoy yourselves - thank you to Mayor Bynum!” the president tweeted.

Bynum, a Republican, had declared a civil emergency and announced a curfew near the arena where Trump plans to hold a campaign rally on Saturday.

Bynum, in his order, said “in the interest of national security” he would establish a “federal exclusion zone” in the vicinity of the rally. He cited “crowds in excess of 100,000” and opposition protests as well as recent “civil unrest” – referring to protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd that in the early days escalated into looting and violence in some cities. Additionally, he had warned that he had information that organized groups known for violence were traveling to the city “for the purposes of causing unrest in and around the rally.”

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/oklahoma-judge-allows-trump-rally-tulsa-curfew-being-lifted

‘Juneteenth’ Coverage on MSNBC and CNN Explodes in 2020 After Years of Near Silence

Mentions of the holiday have surged nearly 1,200 percent this year

Discussion on CNN and MSNBC of "Juneteenth," the June 19 commemoration of the effective end of slavery in the United States, has exploded nearly 1,200 percent in 2020 compared with previous years.

A Washington Free Beacon analysis found 365 mentions of the term on MSNBC and 243 on CNN from June 1 through June 19 of this year, according to a Kinetiq media search. Much of it concerned the outcry over President Donald Trump's decision to hold a political rally on the date in Tulsa, Okla., and his subsequent decision to delay it. He has since said he made the holiday "very famous."

Hosts on CNN and MSNBC condemned Trump for his ignorance about the date and his subsequent claim he made it famous. CNN's Brianna Keilar asked fellow anchor Don Lemon Thursday if Trump's lack of knowledge was an example of "systemic racism," and Lemon called the situation "laughable." MSNBC's Joy Reid laughed at Trump's declaration that he made the holiday famous, quipping Thursday, "You're welcome, black America."

There has, however, been a clear surge of interest in the holiday in 2020 compared with its mentions during June in previous years. On June 1 through June 30 of 2012 through 2019, the term "Juneteenth" or "June teenth" only appeared on MSNBC 30 times. On CNN, it was only mentioned 17 times during the time period, all in 2018 and 2019. The Free Beacon analysis did not include reruns.

The combined 608 mentions in 2020—as of 1:00 P.M. ET on Friday—mark a 1,194-percent increase over the 47 combined mentions over the previous eight Junes.

https://freebeacon.com/media/msnbc-and-cnn-discussion-of-juneteenth-explodes-in-2020-after-years-of-barely-mentioning-it/

MAJOR: India to Make an Emergency Purchase of 33 Russian Fighter Jets to Counter China

NEW DELHI/MOSCOW – In the middle of the standoff between India and China, the Indian Air Force has pushed a proposal to the country’s government for acquiring additional 33 fighter aircraft, which includes 21 MiG-29 and 12 Su-30MKI jets directly from Russia.

“The Air Force has been working on this plan for some time but they have now fast-tracked the process and the proposal’s expected to be worth over Rs 6,000 crore (which is around $800 million) would be placed before the Defence Ministry for its final approval next week at a high-level meeting,” government sources said.

There is an effort to try, upgrade and induct more military hardware. These deals were in pipeline for a very long time.

MiG-29s are flown by the Air Force and the pilots are familiar with it but the ones offered by the Russians are different from the ones in the Indian inventory. The Air Force has three squadrons of MiG-29s which have been undergoing upgrades for extended service and are considered reliable in the air defense roles.

Su-30MKIs are relatively expensive to run, primarily because they require 2 pilots, in contrast to most other Indian jets where 1 pilot is required. However, even though India has hundreds of Su-30MKIs, an additional number of jets would make a huge difference, especially after it was revealed that Indian-produced Su-30MKIs lacked the quality of those produced in Russia and were more prone to crashes.

Possibility of renewal of the joint Indo-Russian Su-57/FGFA deal

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After India declared an unofficial hiatus on its participation in the Su-57-inspired FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) program, which was planned to be a joint venture between Russia’s Sukhoi and India’s HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), India was left without a viable 5th generation fighter jet program.

Although HAL officially still runs India’s indigenous 5th generation fighter jet program, officially known as HAL AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft), the program’s development process has been very slow and marred with R&D difficulties, numerous delays and substantial cost overruns.

HAL’s development of India’s only indigenous 4th generation fighter jet, known as HAL Tejas and started back in the 1980s, drew harsh criticism for not producing needed results and not meeting Indian Air Force requirements even after almost 40 years of development and almost 20 years after its first flight in 2001.

Although Tejas was officially introduced into service in 2015, the number of jets in IAF’s inventory stands at 33 units, 16 of which are prototypes. With AMCA being a significantly more complex platform than the Tejas, it’s expected that the delay in its production would be even more severe, with most leading world powers expected to field 6th generation platforms by the time the program gets to the production line.

With recent events showing that a possible conflict with China is not impossible, a prospect of India having to fight an emerging superpower which already fields or is about to field not one, but two 5th generation fighters (J-20 and J-31) sounds terrifying to most of its war planners, as it would likely put India at a severe disadvantage. Thus, it’s not impossible that India would resume talks with Russia on the FGFA program.

https://www.fort-russ.com/2020/06/major-india-to-make-an-emergency-purchase-of-33-russian-fighter-jets-to-counter-china/

EU Parliament meddles into US affairs as it condemns Trump’s response to protests and declares ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’

A lengthy resolution by the European Union legislators denounced US President Donald Trump for wanting to use force against rioters and condemned the “appalling death of George Floyd” and arrests of journalists.

In a 11-page resolution adopted on Friday with 493 votes in favor to 104 opposed – and 67 abstentions – the EU Parliament affirmed that “Black Lives Matter” and listed 36 more conclusions. The preamble ran out of letters of the alphabet.

Condemning the “appalling death of George Floyd” – a Minneapolis, Minnesota man who died during a botched arrest in late May – the EU parliamentarians also denounced “all forms of racism, hate and violence” as well as “Afrophobic traditions, such as the black face practice.”

They called on the US to “take decisive steps to address the structural racism and inequalities in the country, as reflected in police brutality” and condemned the “police crackdowns on peaceful US protesters and journalists.”

The EU Parliament also “strongly regrets the US President’s threat to deploy the US Army” to deal with the rioters. However, they blamed the riots on “extremist and anti-democratic forces which purposely misuse the peaceful protests to aggravate the conflicts with the intention of spreading disorder and anarchy.”

While denouncing the arrest of CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew in Minneapolis as another example of racism, the EU Parliament praised freedom of the press as key to fighting racism.

Lest one thinks that means freedom of speech, however, the resolution noted that “racist and xenophobic speech is not covered by the freedom of expression” and denounced “all types of incidents of hate crime and hate speech, both offline and online.”

Leaving nothing to chance, “slogans that aim to undermine or detract from the Black Lives Matter movement and dilute its significance” were declared to be “white supremacism.”

Education, the parliamentarians said, is a “key tool to end structural discrimination and racism in our societies,” with the crucial role in “deconstructing prejudices and stereotypes, promoting tolerance, understanding and diversity.”

Neither the White House nor the State Department have yet commented on this blatant meddling into internal US affairs.

https://www.rt.com/news/492419-eu-parliament-black-lives-matter/

Full 11 page EU report

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2020-0173_EN.pdf

Nuland’s biscuits again: Maidan midwife’s plan for US policy on Russia is dumb, delusional and dangerous

Victoria Nuland, the infamous State Department diplomat who “midwifed” Ukraine’s 2014 coup, has outlined a Russia strategy for the Biden administration. It is based on fantasies and projection, offering nothing of value to anyone.

You may remember ‘Tori’ Nuland from the so-called “revolution of dignity” in Ukraine, in particular the publicity stunt in which she doled out pastries to “peaceful protesters” on Kiev’s Independence Square. Standing next to her was US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, who will be recorded some weeks later discussing with Nuland which protest leader will be allowed to form a government. Soon thereafter, the people they named led an armed coup against the government in Kiev and set up their own.

That was the zenith of her diplomatic career, however, as she resigned from the State Department after the inauguration of President Donald Trump and went into the private sector – currently working for Madeleine Albright’s consultancy group in Washington. Now Nuland is making a comeback, with an article in the July-August edition of Foreign Affairs titled 'Pinning Down Putin.'

Between re-airing the usual mainstream Washington accusations against Russia and projecting US and NATO wrongdoing on Moscow, Nuland is basically outlining a policy for the Biden administration, should Democrats capture the White House this November as the US establishment hopes. Bear in mind as you read on that Nuland isn’t necessarily partisan – she worked for Bill Clinton’s Russia guru Strobe Talbott as well as George W. Bush’s grey eminence Dick Cheney. If there is an embodiment of the bipartisan US establishment consensus on Russia, that’s her. That’s the main reason her essay is worth a look.

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/492415-nuland-putin-russia-delusional/

Oxford University allows students 'affected' by George Floyd death to apply for special consideration in exams

Officials at the prestigious British college have been under pressure to act in recent weeks

Facing pressure to act in recent weeks, prestigious British college Oxford University said students "affected" by George Floyd's death in the United States can apply for special consideration in their exams, the Evening Standard reported.

Vice chancellor and professor Louise Richardson told students about the decision in an open letter signed by the heads of Oxford's colleges, the paper said.

Richardson thanked students for informing her about "the traumatic effect of the brutality which killed George Floyd" — which sparked protests and rioting and statue vandalism in the United States — and added that the incident was "a manifestation of institutionalized racism," the Evening Standard added.

"Any student taking university assessments who feels their performance has been affected should submit a self-assessment mitigating circumstances form after their final examination or assessment," she wrote, the paper said.

In addition, the Evening Standard noted that Oxford's "heads of house" will alert tutors and welfare staff about the potential need for a workload cut and "urge colleagues to reach out" to those who apply for special consideration in exams.

Anything else?

Richardson also told the Oxford students' union that "many departments in social sciences have begun work on making their curriculum more inclusive and adding diverse voices to it" such as "integrating race and gender questions into topics" and "embedding teaching on colonialism and empire into courses," the paper said.

It's not an unfamiliar pattern for Oxford:

Last year, the college's student council passed a motion to mandate the use of "silent jazz hands" instead of traditional clapping at council meetings in order to boost "inclusivity" and reduce "anxiety."

In 2017, the school added 15 minutes to math and computer science exam times to give women a chance at higher grades.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/oxford-university-allows-students-affected-by-george-floyd-death-to-apply-for-special-consideration-in-exams

Uh-Oh: Violent Antifa Activist Crossed State Lines to Riot

They call it crossing state lines and Portland and Seattle violent antifa mob members have been doing it for years.

If Portland police indicate they’re cracking down on the May Day violence, antifa activists go to Seattle to destroy, riot and create mayhem. I-5 is filled with vans packed with brass-knuckled antifa trying to get from one city to the next.

And so it is with the so called “autonomous zone” in Seattle, or as Seattle radio host Todd Herman calls it, “Antifastan.” And that’s exactly what it is. Antifa and its Black Lives Matter allies are nested together in the place called CHAZ or CHOP because … George Floyd. Or is it now because of the upcoming election? Defunding the police? As each day goes on the rationale gets murkier.

But the Department of Justice shows it’s now willing will prosecute antifa for moving across state lines for rioting.

As I reported days ago, on June 10 the Department of Justice indicted dozens of rioters including “two Pennsylvania men for traveling to Cleveland” to commit acts of violence.

Among the crimes being pursued are:

Crossing state lines for purposes of riot

Throwing Molotov cocktails

Torching cop cars

Looting gun stores and pharmacies

Online threats against cops

Arson

Shining lasers in eyes of police helicopter pilots

Bringing guns to a riot

Portland-to-Seattle Antifa Pipeline

So imagine my surprise when on Monday, June 15, as I watched Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News, I saw this guy talking about committing acts of violence from Seattle’s Antifastan.

You may not know this face, but I do.

More

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/victoria-taft/2020/06/19/violent-antifa-activist-is-seen-in-both-portland-and-seattle-destruction-and-with-minn-ag-keith-ellison-n549793

Cuomo Calls Criticism of Nursing Home Policies 'Pure Politics'

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo doesn’t want to hear questions about deaths in New York nursing homes that spiraled out of control thanks to policies his administration enacted.

It’s “pure politics,” you see,

Cuomo told WAMC radio host Alan Chartock nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic were “a shiny object” and “pure politics.”

Mediaite:

During Chartock’s interview, he brought up the nursing home issue. “Do you ever change your mind, governor, about anything based on what these reporters are,” he asked after a moment where Cuomo praised the press for its diligence during the early stages of pandemic. “For example, I think, about the nursing home situation, you got a lot of criticism from them, they asked one question after another. Is there anything you could point to in which you say ‘Ok, they really sort of have convinced me I’m on the wrong track here.’”

“No.” Cuomo curtly answered.

“The nursing home is an unfortunate situation on two levels. Number one, people in nursing homes died,” Cuomo said, making an obvious point. “The nursing home [issue] is pure politics,” Cuomo then said dismissively before pivoting to attack “Republicans in Congress” for sending letters about the issue only to states with Democratic governors.

Well, the New York Times found something much more than “pure politics.” They found pure incompetence.

More than 6,000 New Yorkers have died of COVID-19 in nursing homes, according to Pro-Publica. Columnist Michael Goodwin applies the necessary spanking.

The Hill:

“The nursing home thing it’s just all politics and it’s, frankly, the New York Post, and [columnist Michael] Goodwin, this is their way of defending Trump,” Cuomo continued.

The widely-read Goodwin has slammed the governor on several occasions for his handling of COVID-19 patients being sent back into nursing homes, including in a column last month that went viral at the time.

“If you are the governor of the state that is the national epicenter of the deadly outbreak, you don’t have the luxury of not knowing, or pretending not to know, about the horrendous carnage in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers,” Goodwin wrote. “And if your policies contributed to that carnage, the decent thing to do is to own your mistakes and fix them.”

Indeed, Cuomo was, at one time, mentioned prominently as a replacement Democratic candidate for president. He won universal praise for his handling of the pandemic.

But for all his press briefings and tell-it-like-it-is statements, nothing was happening. In fact, his disastrous policies led to twice as many deaths as any other state and nearly four times the number of fatalities of California.

I wrote in early May that it was all a sham. While liberal Democrats were begging Cuomo to step forward and take over for Joe Biden, I pointed out that “Gov. Andrew Cuomo Had the Worst Response to the Crisis of Any Governor in America”:

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/06/19/cuomo-says-criticism-of-nursing-home-policies-all-politics-n554661

I call it genocide