Trust_Reality
Trust_Reality's JournalSeason of Primaries is starting. I have advice.
1. Participate.
2. Don't try to guess who is most likely to win.
3. Vote for the one you want. This is how democracy benefits from the wisdom of many. This how we get great leaders and representatives like AOC.
I cannot seem to use my Alaska Airlines flight credits with Alaska Airlines - and they are worth a lot of money!
It's almost as if they want me to forget the credits and just pay again.
Could it be good ole fashioned capitalist greed?
It seems reasonable to have different charges for less desirable seats.
It seems reasonable to charge for extra luggage, or even extra heavy luggage.
Charging extra for refundable tickets is pure ripoff profiteering.
Charging extra for changeable tickets is pure ripoff profiteering.
Charging extra for basic luggage is pure ripoff profiteering, and rather deceptive in nature.
For future justice, U.S. or Nuremberg...
Citizens and special forces... Find ways to identify the Trump/ICE thugs and murderers. Secret cameras in their hotel rooms. Infiltrate their gangs. Welcome and protect whistle blowers. Collect samples for DNA. Clone their cell phones. Get photos of eyes and unique clothing items. More - be creative.
My effort to cope: Figure out how we got here.
The Long March into Tyranny (Disclaimer: I'm not a historian.)
1787. US Constitution was finalized giving the president broad, unfettered pardon power.
(See January, 2025) (Nixon was pardoned by his former VP Ford, 1974.)
1905. Fredrich Trump was stripped of his Bavarian/German citizenship for being a draft dodger leading to his permanent immigration to the US. He was the father of Fred Trump the father and creator of Donald J. Trump.
1960s. Decline in civics education in the 1960s in order to focus on math and reading skills
1970s. Lawyer Roy Cohn began mentoring Trump on how to be a successful mobster - how to avoid criminal prosecution and game and weaponize the justice system, mid 1970s.
1973. Future billionaire Rupert Murdoch arrived in the US.
1973. Heritage Foundation formed. (Conservative Christian and pro-business activist organization.) See Project 2025!
1977. Focus on the Family founded - began seeking political power, and religious involvement in politics contrary to the separation of church and state.
1977. Peter Thiel, born in Germany and having lived in apartheid South Africa 1971 - 1977, moved to California where he was a top math student and future billionaire. He reportedly charged fellow students $500 each to fraudulently take the SAT for them.
1970s. Aggressive religious conservatives began gaining political control of the largest evangelical religious group (Southern Baptists), late 1970s.
1980s. Reagan normalized greed. Reaganomics cut taxes for the wealthy, cut services for the needy, and cut revenue sharing to states. (He appears to have been the father of homelessness in the U.S.)
1982. Federalist Society formed. They promote radical conservative and libertarian lawyers toward becoming judges and supreme court justices.
1985. Stephen Miller was born. (Trump's primary hate-based advisor and strategist.)
1980s. Russia's KGB began recruiting businessmen from capitalist countries, late 1980s.
1980s. Trump developed a social and business relationship with financier and child sex offender, Jefferey Epstein, late 1980s.
1987. Trump became Russian asset Krasnov (so stated by a former KGB agent).
1987. Billionaire Harlan Crow befriended (began funding and promoting) Clarence Thomas.
1991. Clarence Thomas confirmed to Supreme Court in spite of being accused of sexual harassment. (vote 52 - 48) / (Nominated by GHW Bush).
1992. Future billionaire Elon Musk arrived in the US from South Africa by way of Canada.
1996. FOX “News” propaganda and misrepresentation political TV Channel was founded.
1999. Putin, a former KGB agent, came to power in Russia.
2000. Karl Rove used dirty tricks and misinformation to help get George W Bush elected.
2005. Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed to the Supreme Court (vote 78 - 22) / (Nominated by George W Bush). Roberts was a member of a Federalist Society steering committee 1997-1998, but he “does not remember” being associated with the Federalist Society.
2006. Samuel Alito confirmed to Supreme Court (vote 58 - 42) / (Nominated by George W Bush).
2007. Mitch McConnell became Senate Republican caucus leader. He eventually facilitated five of the current MAGA Republican supreme court justices.
2010. Citizens United v FEC Supreme Court decision in favor of Citizens United drastically changed campaign finance laws to favor the wealthy and secret sources of money for funding and influencing politicians.
2011. JD Vance met and became enamored with billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel has supported, advised, promoted, and funded Vance.
2012. Elon Musk became a billionaire.
2016. Trump began the process of normalizing violence and hate speech.
2016. Mitch McConnell blocked President Obama's nominee (Garland) to the Supreme Court from February 2016 until after Trump became president in 2017.
2017. Neil Gorsuch confirmed to Supreme Court (vote 54 - 45) / (Nominated by Trump). Gorsuch has been actively associated with the Federalist Society since the early 1980s.
2017. Stephen Miller became an official advisor to Trump.
2018. Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to Supreme Court in spite of being accused of sexual harassment (vote 50 - 48) / (Nominated by Trump). The Federalist Society helped propel him onto the supreme court.
2020. Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to Supreme Court, 2020 (vote 52 - 48) / (Nominated by Trump). She was a member of the Federalist Society 2005-2006 and 2014-2017.
2020. Justice Thomas and Republican Judge Aileen Cannon sabotaged the secret documents and insurrection cases against Trump, early 2020s.
2023. Project 2025 (How to dismantle the US Government) published. (Developed by the Heritage Foundation.)
2024. After the Colorado Supreme Court determined that the 14th Amendment disqualified Trump from being president because of convincing evidence he had engaged in insurrection, the US MAGA Republican majority Supreme Court declared otherwise. Trump was permitted to remain on the ballot. (All six MAGA justices were nominated by Republican presidents, three by Trump himself.
2024. The John Roberts Supreme Court gave presidents, Trump in particular, broad immunity from criminal prosecution for deeds done as president. They placed the president above the law contrary to the most basic tenet of the US Constitution.
2025. Elon Musk's young son in the White House said “They'll never know, ha ha ha.” (Know what?)
January 21, 2025. (Pretty sure of this date.) (I'm having trouble finding that part of the video again.)
FYI: Nothing online is completely safe, including votes and vote tallies.
2025. Trump pardoned and commuted sentences of hundreds of insurrectionists and mobsters beginning on the first day of his second term as president, January 2025.
Heads up. Money in politics - from pharmaceuticals, for example.
Big money donations to US senators. Does not look good.
"The pharmaceutical industry has a significant influence on U.S. politics, with many members of Congress receiving substantial campaign contributions from pharmaceutical company PACs. In the 2023-2024 election cycle, six members of Congress received at least $100,000 from the pharmaceutical/health products industry, including Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, who received $233,566. Other notable recipients include Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., $320,793; Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., $244,135; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., $196,635; Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., $187,096; and Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., $106,778. These contributions highlight the industry's ongoing efforts to influence healthcare policy and legislation."
- Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
My request to Democrats and democrats...
Learn from the Nordic countries via history.com: "Many Nordic countries implement social democratic policies that blend capitalism with strong welfare systems and public services."
"Social Democrats" - yes.
"Democratic Socialists" - not a desirable label or structure.
Well regulated capitalism - yes.
Free markets / unregulated capitalism? This is a free-for-all for big money, corporations, and amoral profiteers. It is an open door to government corruption, inequality, and the downfall of democracy.
My trip to the grocery store. It appears the R + Trump economy has arrived.
I went to my regular grocery store in our small-midsized town. The store is small, focuses on healthy food, not overly expensive in most cases. I noticed more shoppers than usual for mid afternoon on a Monday. I also noticed shoppers moving slowly and looking carefully. Baskets contained very few items.
Eggs are enclosed behind glass doors. As I was sharing the space with a Hispanic women who looked very much the age that she would have some children at home. She seemed very sad. She said "They are out of the cheap eggs."
I didn't think of it at the time as I was just focused on my own shopping. But, I deeply regret I did not drop a $20 bill in her basket and tell her to get some eggs.
I think I will try to be more aware and better prepared next time.
My trip across Kansas
Over the weekend I traveled across KS and through parts of rural MO.
In MO I saw no lingering Trump signs. In small rural KS towns, I saw no Trump signs. In mid KS, I saw the permanent Trump sign. It is a shipping container parked in the corner of a field on a slab of concrete just the right size for the container. In very large letters: TRUMP, and smaller, 2024.
In extreme Eastern Colorado near the KS border there is also a shipping container in the corner of a field. It is professionally painted including Trump's face and "Thank You for Trying to Save America."
In Ottawa, KS on Saturday there was a group of 10 - 15 people, all women I think, making a lot of noise at a key intersection. (We went around the block to pass by again and give them supportive toots and thumbs up.) At an IHOP in Oakley, KS we sat near an oldish couple. The man was missing one or two front teeth, was friendly, and mentioned that he does not like Lawrence (Lawrence, Kansas, home of the university).
THIS IS NEW: In mid KS in a field near the highway is a small billboard size sign, colorfully painted, and with the wording:
Real Kansas
Real Voters
Real Fed Up
Regarding the Mormon hating shooter
Reported by The Guardian (9/30/2025):
"The suspected shooter in the killing of at least four people in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan on Sunday bore a virulent hatred of the Mormon religion which he frequently referred to as the antichrist, local people have reported."
This tell me he was a Christian fundamentalist who decided to act out. Christian fundamentalists are, for example, all-in Southern Baptists, Missouri Synod Lutherans, and various other Evangelicals. How do I "know" who they are? I was one (Southern Baptist) in my early life. I escaped around age 30.
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Gender: Do not displayHometown: Colorado
Home country: USA
Member since: Thu Nov 19, 2015, 12:31 PM
Number of posts: 2,287