Time to Pull the Plug on Netflix???

Posted to Facebook, December 19, 2023

Unlike my identical twin brother Lance, it's been ages since I've sat on a bar stool here on Facebook. I had sworn off this particular addiction to try to gain some clarity about what was really going on.

I fell off the wagon today to pass along this petition from the folks at MoveOn.org. It seems that the robber barons at Netflix are doing it again!

The pandemic shift in our society has led to record profits in the corporate world as more of us got addicted to our devices. Yet the price gouging and tax evasion continue! Those who don't get that the primary cause of inflation emerges from the corporate board rooms, uh, probably don't get it. They are too busy watching Netflix.

Signing this petition is only the first step. Yet it's an important step. I'm wondering if it's time for an organized effort to MoveOn and drop our subscriptions? (I notice that I got the shakes when I wrote that. LOL)

For One and All,
Brother Lefty

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/netflix-stop-the-corporate-greed-stop-raising-prices-now

 

 

A Time to Break Silence

"When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, 

are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, 

extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

-- Dr. Martin King Jr., Speech at Riverside Church, April 4, 1967

"It is my firm belief that Europe of today represents not the spirit of 

God or Christianity but the spirit of Satan.  
And Satan's successes are the greatest when 

he appears with the name of God on his lips.  
Europe today is only nominally Christian.  
In reality, it is worshiping Mammon."

-- Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, August 9, 1920.

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The Truth, The Whole Truth, and....

For decades now, the corporate media has celebrated Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech -- and assiduously buried Dr. King's teachings on economic justice, materialism, and militarism.  Like Mahatma Gandhi, King's message was essentially Spiritual.  They each saw clearly that Mammon worship, the soul-sucking evil of materialism/consumerism, was alive and unwell, lurking in the belly of capitalism.

Throughout the history of capitalism, racism, economic exploitation, and warfare have always walked hand in hand.  The prosperity of the capitalist English Empire and it's rebellious offspring, the USA, were built squarely on the horrors of genocide and slavery.  Sadly, its current forms (cultural genocide, systemic poverty, and jailhouse slavery) still exist today. 

Like my identical twin brother, Lance, I usually tend to be more Buddhist in my lingo.  Yet, I just gotta say it out loud: I agree with Mahatma Gandhi.  Capitalism is the work of the freakin' DEVIL!  Its the dark side of the force.  In it's greed and exploitation "business as usual" is taking aim on the survival of the planet.

Dr. King, like Gandhi, was a Holy Man.  He sought to alleviate the suffering created by a political and economic system that feeds on greed, hatred, and delusion.  Like many other prophets throughout history, both King and Gandhi threatened the ruling order of bankers and preachers -- and were martyred. 

Although Dr. King focused on the evil of racism in his "I Have a Dream" speech that late summer day in Washington DC, his words were delivered to the throng that had assembled for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  This effort, which he had helped organize, challenged economic exploitation and suggested bold governmental action to alleviate poverty. The FBI claimed the event was inspired by Communists and lobbied to prevent it from happening.

King continued to march.  He continued to preach love and championed a non-violent response to a system that has always used violence.  Like Jesus of Nazareth, and a myriad other martyrs, Dr. King knew full well that he would most likely be killed for challenging the ruling order -- and he chose Love instead.

Dr. King's assassination, five years after the "I Have a Dream" speech, occurred when he traveled to Memphis to support striking Afro-American municipal sanitation workers as the leader of the National Poor People's campaign.  That campaign demanded an Economic Bill of Rights which included five planks:

1. "A meaningful job at a living wage"
2. "A secure and adequate income" for all those unable to find or do a job
3. "Access to land" for economic uses
4. "Access to capital" for poor people and minorities to promote their own businesses
5. The ability for ordinary people to "play a truly significant role" in the government

When's the last time you saw the Economic Bill of Rights highlighted in the corporate media coverage of Dr.  King's life? 

A Time to Break Silence

As Trump's legion of misanthropes, materialists, and military men looted the land and scuttled our beleaguered ship of state, it was easy for Progressives to protest.  Now, as the neo-con's and militarists of the military-industrial complex continue to dominate US foreign policy and stoke the fires of warfare, speaking out is  even more needed.  Dr. King did so, dramatically, on April 4, 1967, at the Riverside Church in New York City.   

On that day, Dr. King proclaimed, "these too are our brothers," and came out against the US involvement in the Vietnam War with a passion and an eloquence that many believe caused his assassination exactly one year, to the day,  later.

The corporate media today ignores this speech and remains silent.  I hope you don't.  Please listen and pass this along.  Then join some folks and speak out -- with love in your heart!

It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!

Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence

 

 

 

Brother Michael Moore Connects the (Blue) Dots!

Michael Moore is up to know Good -- again!

If you haven't caught up with "Blue Dots in a Red Sea," yet, do so!  (It's a 12 part series of podcasts in progress, NOW.)

In a world where we find ourselves trying to navigate across a vast corporate sea of misinformation  -- one that portrays human nature as mostly fucked up and evil --  Michael Moore, sets the record straight.  

Challenging the corporate media's projection that the most evil among us -- the rich and powerful  (along with their unknowing dupes) -- will always be in control of things, Michael calls on us to get real!  Those political maps that give us the impression that we Progressives are tiny blue dots in a vast red sea don't really show what is happening:

In reality: There are more of us than there are of them!

As numerous reputable polls continue to show, item by item, most folks in the country -- even in the red zones -- support a progressive agenda!  Most people don't like bullies and bossy people.  Most people want to do what's fair.  They'll pitch in and help out when they can.  (Heck,  that even holds true for some of the Republicans you know, right?)

So, WTF? Why so much red?   

We just gotta get our political act together! 

In "Blue Dots in a Red Sea: How to Win if You're Blue in a Red State" (Each of the 12 podcasts is about 15 - 20 minutes long), Brother Michael makes the case for pulling off a peaceful and loving grass roots revolution in this country.  

He's not just "whistling Dixie"here. He backs it up with numerous examples,  pointing out some of the places where blue dots have been winning.  Just like that old dude in the Bible,  blue folks have been parting the Red Sea.  It's happening.

Brother Michael then goes on to lay out a strategy and list of practical things we can do to make it happen-- everywhere!  (Remember this guy's not just a talented and courageous filmmaker.  He's a freakin' activist. As a teenager, he got himself elected to a conservative school board out in Michigan.  )

Even if you, like me, live in an area where there are "nothing but blue skies," please have a listen.  There's still things you can do. Throw a rant and a link up on social media.  Think of friends and family who feel isolated and alone in areas the Republicans have dominated for awhile.  Call those folks up, send 'em an email or social media blast.  

Get the freakin' word out!  This is DO-ABLE!

Here is a link to Episode 4, but if you wanna take it from the beginning, you can scroll down that webpage to episode one and be along for the entire ride!  

Lumps of Coal: An Open Letter to Family and Friends

REVISED. ORIGINALLY POSTED DECEMBER 12, 2013

"Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication,  but in the deliberate and voluntary reduction of wants. This alone promotes real happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for service."

---Mahatma Gandhi

It is my firm opinion that Europe today represents not the spirit of God or Christianity but the spirit of Satan. And Satan’s successes are the greatest when he appears with the name of God on his lips. Europe is today only nominally Christian. It is really worshipping Mammon. `It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom.’ Thus really spoke Jesus Christ.

---Mahatma Gandhi

I was appalled -- but not all that surprised -- to see that Christmas decorations had become part of the Halloween displays at CVS this year.  Early birds and worms come to mind.  "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out" quickly follows. (But, I digress...sort of....)

The Mad Dash really begins on Black Friday as crowds of people stream into stores.  Sometimes pushing and shoving, sometimes actually punching each other out, people race to grab the very latest toys that the gears of Rapacious Capitalism have ground out -- almost invariably through the outright exploitation of other human beings and the destruction of the delicate biosphere that sustains Life on this planet.  What in the world does this all have to do with the birth of Jesus Christ, with His gospel of Love, Compassion, and Service to the "least among us?"  What do our family rituals of wrapping, then ripping paper and ribbons and bows off more stuff, creating more mountains of landfill material in the process, have to do with Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Humankind?
(CONTINUED)