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New: SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces: Make America Grate Again

Gar Smith
Sunday November 17, 2024 - 04:24:00 PM

Corporate "Reform" as a Money-making Ruse  

One of the Big Grips that helped steer the November vote into a ditch was the rising complaint about inflation and the rising cost of food, medicine, and household bills. The Dems failed to focus on the corporate tricksters driving the rising prices at the check-out counter. While the Inflation Reduction Act was doing real good, the GOP saw Corporate America intentionally raising prices to stoke consumer anger in the heat of the presidential election. Not only were inflated price-gouging practices leaving American shoppers feeling ripped off, but Corporate America was profiting from artificially hiking the cost of products and services. A lose-lose situation for voters: a big win-win for the corporate class. 

Stats to Gasp At 

Sometimes numbers can just be numbing but there are times when numerals leave you thinking about funerals. Case in point: The Brady anti-gun organizatioin has posted a chart showing the "Number of Gun Violence Deaths Per Year by Country" that shows the US at the top while most of the top 13 gun-death countries score in the triple digits—with only Germany (1,020) and France (2,098) making it to the low thousands. The US is far and away in the lead with a gasp-tronomical 37,040 yearly gun deaths. That's many times more bullet-riddled carnage that was reported in all the other countries combined

As the Brady group notes: "People in the US are 26 times more likely to die by firearm homicide than in other high-income countries." And that figure doesn't include the record 27,300 gun-owning Americans who committed suicide-by-bullet—a 12% increase over the previous peak of cartridge carnage in 2019. 

And here's another stunning stat courtesy of the Economic Policy Institute editorial cartoon labeled "50 Years of Progress… for CEOs." In 1970 the average Chief Executive Officer made as much money as 20 employees. By 2020, the average CSO was pocketing as much loot as 350 employees. 

Bernie Burns over Billionaires 

In related news, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders asks a simple question: "Why don't we discuss that Musk, Bezos and Ellison own more wealth than the bottom HALF of Americans?" 

Fashion Plates
Personalized license plates spotted around town:
RAKNROB
YUUHU [heart]
CO81FO 

 

Crazy Car-go
Plate-spotting was a bit slow this week, so here's a sighting of some weird adverting painted on the side of a business van parked near the Berkeley Bowl:
"PURSUIT FARMS. Wagyu. Mangalista Pork. Fat Tail Sheep. Named BEST MEAT IN AMERICA." 

Bumpersnickers
Make Art Not War
Hang Up and Drive
Fear Not. Covenant Church
Go Green. Go Vegan.
Science Is Our Salvation
We All Live Downstream
My Pugs Are Smarter than Your Honor Student 

We're Talking about Nuclear War, for Pete's Sake! 

In a clip of a recent interview, Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, was asked: "Are you concerned about nuclear war?" Here is his "unenlightened dimwit" response: 

"I mean, yes, in a, in a general sense, I guess . . . I just, I found it overinflated from the beginning, this idea that Vladimir Putin's uh attack on Ukraine was going to lead to nuclear war or a war across the continent. I've always felt like it was, from the beginning, like a couple days in, this feels like Putin's getting-my-shit-back war. It kind of feels like, I feel like you have been pushing pretty hard and we used to have the former Soviet Union and we're pretty proud of that. And Ukraine was a part of that and all these other countries — and I want my shit back. And I think I am at the right time when I am powerful enough to do it. And you're not quite on my border yet, and Biden's AWOL, so I'm going for it." 

DoD's PR Crew Strikes Out over F-35 Lightning 

Here's something that would-be Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth might want to look into. The image on a Pentagon Veterans Day poster featured a plane identified as an F-35—a notoriously over-budget and under-performing boondoggle but the image left Military.com reporter Jared Keller scratching his head:
"We have many questions. Mainly: Where did those twin engines on the JPO [Joint Programs Office] image come from? The F-35 uses a single Pratt & Whitney turbofan engine…, whereas the fighter in the JPO tweet appears to resemble the twin-engine Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force fighter jet…. 

Yep, as you may have guessed, the Pentagon's publicity flunkies, grabbed the wrong photo. For reference, here's a video clip of a real F-35 in action: 

 

"Unfortunately, this sort of public affairs flub happens all too often," Keller continues. "For July 4th last year, the US Pacific Fleet's official account tweeted a photo that appeared to show a Russian Kashin-class destroyer and five Sukhoi-27s fighter jets against the backdrop of an American flag. Back in 2021, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service used a photo composite showing an American flag alongside a Russian Kirov-class battle-cruiser to wish the U.S. Navy a happy birthday. 

"[T]his is quite embarrassing – especially on Veterans Day. But between missed readiness goals and rising costs, it makes sense that the F-35 Joint Programs Office has other stuff to focus on—other than accurately representing its primary aircraft on social media." 

Warren Charges Trump with Breaking US Ethics Law 

Senator Elizabeth Warren writes: "We are just over one week since the election, and Donald Trump and his transition team are already breaking the law. I would know — I wrote the law." 

Warren continues:
"You see, an earlier law, the Presidential Transition Act, was passed in 1963 to ensure a smooth transfer of executive powers between administrations. Its aim is to prevent any government disruptions that would harm the American public or our national security. 

"I authored the Transition Team Ethics Improvement Act to add new ethical standards to that law, like: 

 

  • Requiring eligible presidential candidates to develop and release transition team ethics plans and disclose how they will address their own conflicts of interest before the election. These disclosures are required by October 1st in an election year, providing the public with the opportunity to assess candidates' ethics plans prior to a general election;
  • Requiring transition team members to sign an ethics-specific code of conduct; and
  • Establishing a set of minimum requirements for transition team ethics plans, including information about how the transition team will enforce a code of ethical conduct and address the role of lobbyists on transition teams.
"These provisions of my bill were included in bipartisan legislation that was enacted in 2020.
"But Trump and his transition team have not signed the legally required ethics agreement. This is what illegal corruption looks like. Plain and simple. 

 

"We already knew that Trump didn’t respect the law. That’s been proven in court. But I won’t accept standing idly by and watching as he swats away ethics requirements and bulldozes checks and balances — and we need to call out and fight back against this corruption with every chance we get. 

Warren ends her letter with a modest request: "Add your name if you’re with me: Trump must follow the rule of law and sign the ethics agreements required under the Presidential Transition Act.

Beware the Ocher Ogre 

And speaking of ethics, here's a headline writer's reaction to the news that D. Trump has nominated Matt Gaetz—the subject of an investigation into sex-trafficking and drug abuse—to serves as the country' next Attorney General: 

"Good Lord. It's the Devil's Henchman! God save us from the Gaetz of Hell." 

Hands Off Hands-on Activism  

On February 11, 2024, during a " a non-violent, peaceful, non-arrestable, and dramatic" anti-war protest at Nancy Pelosi's SF home, Code Pink organizer Cynthia Papermaster was arrested and charged with a felony for putting water-based red handprints on Pelosi’s garage door. (Yep, she was caught red-handed.) According to Code Pink, "The handprints could easily be washed off with a hose or in the next rain. This was an expression of protected Free Speech, akin to chalk graffiti on a sidewalk. We hope the charges will be dropped. Please sign the petition if you have not and feel so inclined." 

Toss Your Black Plastic Spatulas! 

ICYMI, the Chronicle has raised an alarm that kitchen utensils and household implements made of black plastic are contaminated with cancer-causing "forever chemicals." 

Beware the Ocher Ogre's Alter Ego 

And speaking of ethics, here's a headline writer's reaction to the news that D. Trump has nominated Matt Gaetz—the subject of an investigation into sex-trafficking and drug abuse—to serves as the country' next Attorney General: 

"Good Lord. It's the Devil's Henchman! God save us from the Gaetz of Hell."