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Op-Ed: Political criminality, January 6, RICO, and recognizing realities or bye-bye America

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Op-Ed: Political criminality, January 6, RICO, and recognizing realities or bye-bye America

Fights over the country’s debt limit have become common in the US Congress – Copyright AFP Ben STANSALL

The first anniversary of January 6 2020 has brought up some very bad memories and a lot of angst about unsolved serious problems. The rapid decline of American democracy into a farcical patchwork of corrupt states and a politicized judiciary is making a truly hideous situation a lot worse.

Failure to recognize the driving forces is a major, potentially nationally fatal, issue. Read enough news, and you’d swear that Jan 6 and its obscene fallout was purely political, ideologically driven, and some sort of legitimate national dichotomy.

It’s nothing of the sort.

Ask yourself:

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  • Since when do a herd of barely literate social non-entities suddenly have such rabid feelings about things they can’t even spell, let alone understand?
  • Where did all the sudden conveniently packaged targeted hate come from? Even the rhetoric is basically a macro, using exactly the same terminology and the same wrong capitalizations of words? All you need to do is insert names and the spam writes itself.
  • Where did all the money come from to fund this gigantic garbage collection of fake anything and everything?
  • Who’s paying for online hate? How many paid trolls does it take to look like a bona fide political campaign? To the extent that people who should know better think it’s legitimate?
  • Why can’t America recognize standard old-style McCarthyism when it sees it? It’s not like you haven’t had enough experience, is it?
  • Where’s the money coming from? Who’s paying for the Front Row Joes and anti-vaxxers to take time off to campaign for insanity?

If this is real politics, Mcdonald’s is a vegan global conspiracy. There’s no reality involved in any of it. Made up issues, solutions to problems that never existed, The Big Boring Endless Lie, it’s all there.

It’s all about money.

If there’s one thing every human being on Earth can agree with, it’s that politicians have far too much power. Most of the misery in this world is politically generated. If it wasn’t for whacko policies like inaccessible prices for health, housing, and education, the human race would be doing a lot better.

Policies cause misery. Ideologies simply justify policies. The economic policies, however, are always money-driven. The core issue is systemic political criminality, based on money. Getting access to money, preferably vast amounts of public money, isn’t exactly a new thing in politics.

In America the Super PACs pull in vast amounts of money. So do fundraisers. The sheer scale of money in US politics is almost unbelievable.

Where there’s money, there’s crime. Lots of it, and usually white-collar organized crime. These guys aren’t charities. They were involved in the sub-primes disaster in 2008 which practically wiped out the entire US middle class financially. They don’t steal jeans and on-sell them. They handle billions.

The US political system could well be the world’s biggest money laundry. (Although some political money might be more accurately described as dry-cleaned.) Where the money comes from, and where it goes, who knows? Someone obviously does. “So the country gets destroyed, so what? We’re making big money and have nice houses. We even get the occasional movie made about us. Whoopee.”

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Here’s a rhetorical question and some equally rhetorical associations:

Are politicians immune to money?

  • How about two-bit nobody lobbyists?
  • Judges and other political sycophants?
  • Chicken-faeces sourced organizations like ALEC?
  • Folksy gerrymander and other anti-democracy political enablers?
  • Damn near anyone or anything anywhere near this sort of money?
  • What about quaint little multi-billion tax-free organizations?  

(I have a Ph.D. in subtle innuendo, in case you haven’t already guessed.)

This is the best-funded insanity in history. It’s just as much systemic fraud as any sort of politics. It’s a type of racketeering. This is real RICO laws stuff, just in a political context. Bona fide money should have an audit trail going back to Adam’s birth certificate; this sort of money doesn’t. If the political money is sourced illegally, and it’s far more than likely a lot of it is, the entire racket is effectively criminal in nature.

You don’t even need to get out of bed to make money in this environment. You can be an adorable influential little maggot with a phone. That is quite literally all it takes.

How NOT to solve the problems 101

What strikes me as very strange is that people who are in a position to know a lot better aren’t making these connections. Everyone knows how intrinsically corrupt the US political system is.

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So, to effectively solve none of the problems:

  • Don’t ask where the money comes from.
  • Make no attempt to find out where it comes from.
  • Don’t question motives for lunatic policies, statements, or anything else.
  • Put the interests of criminals above the interests of over 300 million people.
  • Cram the Supreme Court with very malleable very small souls.
  • Pretend to be a Christian and evangelize the money.
  • Grovel convincingly and pretend to be a real commentator.
  • Don’t even mention The Emperor’s New Toilet Paper.

Cute, huh? I don’t buy any of this crap at any price, discount, or otherwise. How can so many actual, hyper-stressed-for-decades bill-paying, bullet-dodging Americans pretend not to know all this?  The criticism is way too superficial. The critics are routinely missing unmissable targets.

That’s your problem. Either solve it, or it will permanently solve you. Remember what Lincoln said about “some of the people”. Point being – They really are fools, rich, dumb, or otherwise.


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Snapchat Explores New Messaging Retention Feature: A Game-Changer or Risky Move?

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Snapchat Explores New Messaging Retention Feature: A Game-Changer or Risky Move?

In a recent announcement, Snapchat revealed a groundbreaking update that challenges its traditional design ethos. The platform is experimenting with an option that allows users to defy the 24-hour auto-delete rule, a feature synonymous with Snapchat’s ephemeral messaging model.

The proposed change aims to introduce a “Never delete” option in messaging retention settings, aligning Snapchat more closely with conventional messaging apps. While this move may blur Snapchat’s distinctive selling point, Snap appears convinced of its necessity.

According to Snap, the decision stems from user feedback and a commitment to innovation based on user needs. The company aims to provide greater flexibility and control over conversations, catering to the preferences of its community.

Currently undergoing trials in select markets, the new feature empowers users to adjust retention settings on a conversation-by-conversation basis. Flexibility remains paramount, with participants able to modify settings within chats and receive in-chat notifications to ensure transparency.

Snapchat underscores that the default auto-delete feature will persist, reinforcing its design philosophy centered on ephemerality. However, with the app gaining traction as a primary messaging platform, the option offers users a means to preserve longer chat histories.

The update marks a pivotal moment for Snapchat, renowned for its disappearing message premise, especially popular among younger demographics. Retaining this focus has been pivotal to Snapchat’s identity, but the shift suggests a broader strategy aimed at diversifying its user base.

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This strategy may appeal particularly to older demographics, potentially extending Snapchat’s relevance as users age. By emulating features of conventional messaging platforms, Snapchat seeks to enhance its appeal and broaden its reach.

Yet, the introduction of message retention poses questions about Snapchat’s uniqueness. While addressing user demands, the risk of diluting Snapchat’s distinctiveness looms large.

As Snapchat ventures into uncharted territory, the outcome of this experiment remains uncertain. Will message retention propel Snapchat to new heights, or will it compromise the platform’s uniqueness?

Only time will tell.

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Catering to specific audience boosts your business, says accountant turned coach

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Catering to specific audience boosts your business, says accountant turned coach

While it is tempting to try to appeal to a broad audience, the founder of alcohol-free coaching service Just the Tonic, Sandra Parker, believes the best thing you can do for your business is focus on your niche. Here’s how she did just that.

When running a business, reaching out to as many clients as possible can be tempting. But it also risks making your marketing “too generic,” warns Sandra Parker, the founder of Just The Tonic Coaching.

“From the very start of my business, I knew exactly who I could help and who I couldn’t,” Parker told My Biggest Lessons.

Parker struggled with alcohol dependence as a young professional. Today, her business targets high-achieving individuals who face challenges similar to those she had early in her career.

“I understand their frustrations, I understand their fears, and I understand their coping mechanisms and the stories they’re telling themselves,” Parker said. “Because of that, I’m able to market very effectively, to speak in a language that they understand, and am able to reach them.” 

“I believe that it’s really important that you know exactly who your customer or your client is, and you target them, and you resist the temptation to make your marketing too generic to try and reach everyone,” she explained.

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“If you speak specifically to your target clients, you will reach them, and I believe that’s the way that you’re going to be more successful.

Watch the video for more of Sandra Parker’s biggest lessons.

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Instagram Tests Live-Stream Games to Enhance Engagement

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Instagram Tests Live-Stream Games to Enhance Engagement

Instagram’s testing out some new options to help spice up your live-streams in the app, with some live broadcasters now able to select a game that they can play with viewers in-stream.

As you can see in these example screens, posted by Ahmed Ghanem, some creators now have the option to play either “This or That”, a question and answer prompt that you can share with your viewers, or “Trivia”, to generate more engagement within your IG live-streams.

That could be a simple way to spark more conversation and interaction, which could then lead into further engagement opportunities from your live audience.

Meta’s been exploring more ways to make live-streaming a bigger consideration for IG creators, with a view to live-streams potentially catching on with more users.

That includes the gradual expansion of its “Stars” live-stream donation program, giving more creators in more regions a means to accept donations from live-stream viewers, while back in December, Instagram also added some new options to make it easier to go live using third-party tools via desktop PCs.

Live streaming has been a major shift in China, where shopping live-streams, in particular, have led to massive opportunities for streaming platforms. They haven’t caught on in the same way in Western regions, but as TikTok and YouTube look to push live-stream adoption, there is still a chance that they will become a much bigger element in future.

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Which is why IG is also trying to stay in touch, and add more ways for its creators to engage via streams. Live-stream games is another element within this, which could make this a better community-building, and potentially sales-driving option.

We’ve asked Instagram for more information on this test, and we’ll update this post if/when we hear back.

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