Princess of Tap Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 On 1/10/2021 at 12:07 AM, hamradio said: All in one entertainment console. Take note TV was not broadcasting stereo then but gave excellent mono sound Ours was Mahogany Mediterranean, but this is my mother's Magnavox console. My Fondest Memories of that stereo is Burt Bacharach conducting his orchestra with Dionne Warwick singing "Promises Promises"..... that last high note-- It was terrific! They don't make them like that anymore.😞 Link to post Share on other sites
JakeHolman Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 The Consequences of Moving from Industrial to Financial Capitalism MICHAEL HUDSON AND PEPE ESCOBAR • JANUARY 7, 2021 • 13,900 WORDS So, there was an illusion that America is de-industrializing because of competition from China. And the reality is there is no way that America can re-industrialize and regain its export markets with the way that it’s organized today, financialized and privatized and if China didn’t exist. You’d still have the Rust Belt rusting out. You’d still have American industry not being able to compete abroad simply because the cost structure is so high in the United States. The wealth is no longer made here by industrializing. It’s made financially, mainly by making capital gains. Rising prices for real estate or for stocks and for bonds. In the last nine months, since the coronavirus came here, the top 1 percent of the U.S. economy grew by $1 trillion. It’s been a windfall for the 1 percent. The stock market is way up, the bond market is up, the real estate market is up while the rest of the economy is going down. Despite the tariffs that Trump put on, Chinese imports, trade with China is going up because we’re just not producing materials. America doesn’t make its own shoes. It doesn’t make some nuts and bolts or fasteners, it doesn’t make industrial things anymore because if money is to be made off an industrial company it’s to buy and sell the company, not to make loans to increase the company’s production. New York City, where I live, used to be an industrial city and, the industrial buildings, the mercantile buildings have all been gentrified into high-priced real estate and the result is that Americans have to pay so much money on education, rent, medical care that if they got all of their physical needs, their food, their clothing, all the goods and services for nothing, they still couldn’t compete with foreign labor because of all of the costs that they have to pay that are essentially called rent-seeking. Housing in the United States now absorbs about 40 percent of the average worker’s paycheck. There’s 15 percent taken off the top of paychecks for pensions, Social Security and for Medicare. Further medical insurance adds more to the paycheck, income taxes and sales taxes add about another 10 percent. Then you have student loans and bank debt. So basically, the American worker can only spend about one third of his or her income on buying the goods and services they produce. All the rest goes into the FIRE sector — the finance, insurance and real estate sector — and other monopolies. More >> https://www.unz.com/mhudson/the-consequences-of-moving-from-industrial-to-financial-capitalism/ Link to post Share on other sites
hamradio Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Re: Took a while to distinguish between protecting from hurricanes and riots. That photo is the extreme measure the company took by using plywood, razor wire and guards with dogs to keep away looters during the George Floyd protest. https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/iconic-stores-extreme-response-looters/4028987/ The store survived but had to temporary close due to covid-19 Link to post Share on other sites
Princess of Tap Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 9 minutes ago, hamradio said: Re: Took a while to distinguish between protecting from hurricanes and riots. That photo is the extreme measure the company took by using plywood, razor wire and guards with dogs to keep away looters during the George Floyd protest. https://www.dailymercury.com.au/news/iconic-stores-extreme-response-looters/4028987/ The store survived but had to temporary close due to covid-19 I thought they were boarded up because they had gone out of business. In my neck of the woods everything's closing. Sears closed last year and I think JC Penney's is next. I don't even remember when Kmart closed, but I think it was 4-5 years ago. Everything is online now even the grocery stores. Covid-19 was the KO punch for the big department stores and an awful lot of those little specialty clothing shops that they had in the malls. The Times They Are A-Changin.😎 1 Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 9 hours ago, Princess of Tap said: I thought they were boarded up because they had gone out of business. In my neck of the woods everything's closing. Sears closed last year and I think JC Penney's is next. I don't even remember when Kmart closed, but I think it was 4-5 years ago. Everything is online now even the grocery stores. Covid-19 was the KO punch for the big department stores and an awful lot of those little specialty clothing shops that they had in the malls. The Times They Are A-Changin.😎 One thing many people do not realize is that most towns receive the bulk of their revenue from property taxes on the property occupied by businesses. If there is no business there, the valuations have to lowered. Link to post Share on other sites
txfilmfan Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 3 minutes ago, ElCid said: One thing many people do not realize is that most towns receive the bulk of their revenue from property taxes on the property occupied by businesses. If there is no business there, the valuations have to lowered. We have hefty sales taxes here too (8.25%), and if people don't buy stuff, there's no tax collected. Online retailers are hit and miss regarding the collection of sales taxes. Some are better at it than others. Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 5 minutes ago, txfilmfan said: We have hefty sales taxes here too (8.25%), and if people don't buy stuff, there's no tax collected. Online retailers are hit and miss regarding the collection of sales taxes. Some are better at it than others. Not sure where you live, but in the South, most sales taxes go to state government. Some go to schools or special projects, such as highways in tourist areas. But the bulk of municipal operating revenue comes from property taxes. Of course, they have also learned to have accommodations taxes on room rentals and hospitality taxes on prepared (restaurant) food sales. Link to post Share on other sites
txfilmfan Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Just now, ElCid said: Not sure where you live, but in the South, most sales taxes go to state government. Some go to schools or special projects, such as highways in tourist areas. But the bulk of municipal operating revenue comes from property taxes. Of course, they have also learned to have accommodations taxes on room rentals and hospitality taxes on prepared (restaurant) food sales. It's split here in TX among cities, the state, and other taxing entities. Similar in OK. Thus, the sales tax varies from one place to another. The statewide sales tax in TX is 6.25%. Where I live, the city gets the other 2%. Also, here, property taxes are paid by the property owner and not the tenant. Of course, the tenant indirectly pays it, through their rent. But if a storefront is empty, the property owner is still on the hook for the taxes. Most stores here are leased from a building owner. Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 1 minute ago, txfilmfan said: It's split here in TX among cities, the state, and other taxing entities. Similar in OK. Thus, the sales tax varies from one place to another. The statewide sales tax in TX is 6.25%. Where I live, the city gets the other 2%. Also, here, property taxes are paid by the property owner and not the tenant. Of course, the tenant indirectly pays it, through their rent. But if a storefront is empty, the property owner is still on the hook for the taxes. Most stores here are leased from a building owner. S.C. sales tax is 6% for the state, but higher in some areas. Some counties have an extra 1% for special school projects. Others have one for roads. Most school money comes from the state though. If the property is vacant for lengthy period, the owner can apply for a lower valuation. Some businesses and manufacturing plants have gone to length of tearing down buildings and leaving a vacant lot. Then it can be assessed as unimproved property. Link to post Share on other sites
JakeHolman Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 The Nobility of Savages Cold Water on a Hot Topic FRED REED • JANUARY 1, 2021 • 1,200 WORDS • 481 COMMENTS • REPLY As part of wokedom’s fantasy-ridden fascination with indigenes, sports teams, such as the Redskins and Braves, race to change names. (For Washington’s team, the Federal Folders has been suggested.) Outraged conservatives see the changes as nauseating prissiness by historically illiterate ninnies. It is every bit of this. Still, the teams should be renamed. What civilized nation would name teams after murderous, torturing stone-age savages? Which the Indians were. Yes, I know. Quite. Today one shouldn’t refer to torturing stone-age savages as torturing stone-age savages. No, the Indians were contemplative, spiritual beings at one with nature, living simply and nobly, like a pudding of Buddha and Henry David Thoreau. I recommend to those imbrued with this dreamy understanding of Native Americans a couple of books, Over the Earth I Come, by Duane Schultz, a history of the entirety of the Sioux uprising in Minnesota of 1862, and Dakota Dawn, by Gregory Michno, of the first week. These recount the deaths of some 800 settlers, almost entirely civilians, at the hands of the noble, contemplative Sioux. It was not a rebellion against Federal troops of men, but butchery of families, usually defenseless. War parties went from farm to farm, killing men, women, and children. In one act of contemplation, they nailed children to a door and slowly vivisected them to death in front of their parents, who themselves were then tortured to death. Teenage girls were staked to the ground, raped by a dozen or two of braves, then hacked to death. Tidbits: Children deliberately burned alive in flaming cabins. Children shot, quickly if they were lucky, otherwise left to die in agony. Whole families tomahawked in their cabins, girls taken prisoner for later amusement. These things actually happened, over and over, not as isolated incidents. The descriptions are from original accounts by those who were there. If you think I am inventing, or exaggerating, read either of the books mentioned above. The links go to Amazon. Both are by historians, not by lying heartless racist conservative Trump-loving just-like-Hitler and so on. Both comport closely with many accounts I have read by men (usually) captured or even raised by Indian tribes. These spiritual beings were of the Stone Age by literal definition and were most assuredly savages by any definition. More >> https://www.unz.com/freed/the-nobility-of-savages/ 1 Link to post Share on other sites
hamradio Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 Since when was the rest of mankind civil? We firebombed Germany and Japan in defense also. So called Christians burned innocent people at the stake for being accused of witchcraft. Who are the savages now? Link to post Share on other sites
Princess of Tap Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 46 minutes ago, hamradio said: Since when was the rest of mankind civil? We firebombed Germany and Japan in defense also. So called Christians burned innocent people at the stake for being accused of witchcraft. Who are the savages now? My personal favorite is the Spanish Inquisition. Link to post Share on other sites
SansFin Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 1 hour ago, Princess of Tap said: My personal favorite is the Spanish Inquisition. I was not expecting that! Link to post Share on other sites
ElCid Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 4 hours ago, hamradio said: Since when was the rest of mankind civil? We firebombed Germany and Japan in defense also. So called Christians burned innocent people at the stake for being accused of witchcraft. Who are the savages now? Years ago when I first was in the Army I was tasked with teaching classes on psychological warfare. One of my key elements was the firebombing of Dresden in WW II. Absolutely no military reason at all. Link to post Share on other sites
Vautrin Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 I guess the American Indian savages were out-savaged by the European ones. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
JamesJazGuitar Posted January 23 Share Posted January 23 13 minutes ago, Vautrin said: I guess the American Indian savages were out-savaged by the European ones. True, but neither of them out-savaged my Japanese ancestors. Link to post Share on other sites
Vautrin Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 2 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said: True, but neither of them out-savaged my Japanese ancestors. I don't know enough about the history of Japan to know where to place the Japanese. Obviously some of their actions during WWII didn't help. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
hamradio Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 31 minutes ago, Vautrin said: I don't know enough about the history of Japan to know where to place the Japanese. Obviously some of their actions during WWII didn't help. A Culture of Cruelty https://www.historynet.com/a-culture-of-cruelty.htm Excerpt... Japan’s wartime barbarism had its roots in the nation’s feudal history. From the early 17th century until the 1868 Meiji Restoration, a hereditary military dictatorship known as the Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan, isolating it from the rest of the world. For more than two centuries the samurai—a class of military nobility whose bushido (“way of the warrior”) code demanded rigid loyalty to their liege lord and suicidal bravery in battle—governed society, demanding and receiving their subjects’ unquestioning obedience. Today the scars, hatred from those Japan imposed their will on remains. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/01/japan-rising-sun-flag-history-olympic-ban-south-korea South Koreans compare the rising sun to the swastika. Also China with deep wounds. A member of the armed police stands at China’s national memorial for the 1937 Nanjing massacre, Sometimes time does NOT heal old wounds. Link to post Share on other sites
JamesJazGuitar Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 20 minutes ago, Vautrin said: I don't know enough about the history of Japan to know where to place the Japanese. Obviously some of their actions during WWII didn't help. I should have been more clear: I was talking about my Japanese ancestors that were in WWII. These guys were worst than this dude. Link to post Share on other sites
Vautrin Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 2 hours ago, hamradio said: A Culture of Cruelty https://www.historynet.com/a-culture-of-cruelty.htm Excerpt... Japan’s wartime barbarism had its roots in the nation’s feudal history. From the early 17th century until the 1868 Meiji Restoration, a hereditary military dictatorship known as the Tokugawa shogunate ruled Japan, isolating it from the rest of the world. For more than two centuries the samurai—a class of military nobility whose bushido (“way of the warrior”) code demanded rigid loyalty to their liege lord and suicidal bravery in battle—governed society, demanding and receiving their subjects’ unquestioning obedience. Today the scars, hatred from those Japan imposed their will on remains. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/01/japan-rising-sun-flag-history-olympic-ban-south-korea South Koreans compare the rising sun to the swastika. I don't know if the Japanese were any more cruel than other people living in that same time period. And maybe the Chinese should take a look at Mao Zedong, who killed tens of millions more of his fellow countrymen than the Japanese ever did. The Japanese are more reluctant to admit to the atrocities they did during WWII than the Germans are. That doesn't mean they were more savage than the Germans of course. Link to post Share on other sites
Vautrin Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 2 hours ago, jamesjazzguitar said: I should have been more clear: I was talking about my Japanese ancestors that were in WWII. These guys were worst than this dude. Yep. Compared to the real thing, Hayakawa was a cream puff. Link to post Share on other sites
hamradio Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 1 hour ago, Vautrin said: I don't know if the Japanese were any more cruel than other people living in that same time period. And maybe the Chinese should take a look at Mao Zedong, who killed tens of millions more of his fellow countrymen than the Japanese ever did. The Japanese are more reluctant to admit to the atrocities they did during WWII than the Germans are. That doesn't mean they were more savage than the Germans of course. Savagery keeps being redefined! Pol Pot Some of his victims "crimes" were simply being educated. Didn't actually had to do or say anything. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely! Link to post Share on other sites
Princess of Tap Posted January 24 Share Posted January 24 19 minutes ago, hamradio said: Savagery keeps being redefined! Pol Pot Some of his victims "crimes" were simply being educated. Didn't actually had to do or say anything. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely! Why don't you ever mention the sin of American slavery against black people? I've seen the metal dog collars with spikes that they used on slaves in a museum in Chicago. Until you actually see some physical evidence of this sort of savagery, you almost cannot believe it. So you don't have to go to a foreign country to see what savagery is all about. Link to post Share on other sites
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