Showing posts with label parody. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parody. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Everybody Loves Raytheon

 

"Everybody Loves Raytheon!" 

An Interview with A. Riche-Persson

Editor's note: We last heard from A. Riche-Persson in 2020 when she told us her perspective on the upcoming elections in Why I Adore Joe Biden.  We thought it would be good to make a Zoom call and check in with her to find out how she's been doing during the pandemic and after Joe's first year in office. The transcript of the call follows.

The Revolution Continues:  It's good to hear from you, Ms. Riche-Persson. May we call you by your first name Ayn?

A. Riche-Persson: If you're a member of my private club, maybe. Otherwise, I always insist on the press addressing me properly.

TRC: Okay... So, Ms. Riche-Persson, how was your pandemic experience? I notice you're not wearing a mask.

ARP: President Biden said it's over now, and I believe him. I'm not a science denier, truth be told. I simply did my best to stay away from places where lots of poor people were breathing in and out, and I always use hand sanitizer. Other than one really bad bout of pneumonia, I've been perfectly fine these past two years. The whole thing has been one big joke, but I've had the last laugh. 

TRC: Oh? How so? 

ARP: My friend Nancy told me which pharmaceutical companies to buy stocks in right before they started boo-hooing over this overblown common cold pandemic business. And she was right. It's been very lucrative. 

TRC: Would that be Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House? 

ARP: One and the same. She's very helpful to her friends with her insider tips. I just tell my stockbroker what she says and he lines it up for me. Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Money in the bank. 

TRC: I bet. What other insider tips has Ms. Pelosi given you? 

ARP: Lately she's been gushing all about military manufacturers to invest in. Since February those stock prices have soared higher and higher. It's so exciting! Everybody loves Raytheon! I adore Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, too. America is just getting richer and richer by the day. 

TRC: Everyone in the US is getting richer, or is it just you and Ms. Pelosi and her friends? 

ARP:  (Chuckling) What difference does it make? As long as I'm doing okay that's all that matters.

TRC: We don't have time to delve into what the difference is right now, but you're honestly happy with the way things are going? 

ARP: Of course I am. When the stock market is on a roll, everyone is on a roll. I think President Biden said we've got something like zero percent unemployment, so that's gotta be good, right? 

TRC: Do the closed signs on small businesses' front windows ever catch your eye?

ARP: I'm driven around in a limo with dark-tinted windows. Never seen them.

TRC: Okay, so you're saying you're not worried about a resurgence in the omicron variant of COVID-19 or upset about the conflict going on in Ukraine or that millions of Americans won't be able to pay their rent and risk eviction this year? 

ARP: Well, of course I'm upset about all those poor people living on the streets. They bring our property values down. They're so messy with all their possessions in bags littering the place. But the mayor of New York City is doing a great job of rounding them up and putting them elsewhere, so I sleep well at night. 

TRC: And the chance of COVID taking off again and killing another million Americans? 

ARP: Meh. It's not really a thing thing, you know? At least not among my circle of friends. If others get sick from it or have to bury a family member, I feel sorry for them, but I don't know them, so what?  Nothing to lose sleep over. I'm just glad I don't have to smudge my lipstick wearing a mask in public. Masks really killed my sense of style. They never matched my designer outfits.

TRC: (Sighing) The idea that you're making money off of selling armaments to fuel a proxy war that has caused many to flee their homes doesn't cause you any bad dreams, either, right? 

ARP: You said it, not me. It's a proxy war. That means American soldiers won't get hurt--just those people who are stupid enough to live there. And fossil fuels aren't making that good a return on investment right now, so why not expand my stock portfolio to include weapons manufacturers?  It seems that cute little comedian president can't get enough of them. 

TRC: Zelensky? 

ARP: Gesundheit. I hope you wear a mask in public so others don't catch your germs. 

TRC: Uh, yeah. On a related topic, I've recently learned that your family originally came from Germany and arrived in the US right at the end of World War II. Is that right?

ARP: (Quietly) That's right... Granddad got a job with the government. 

TRC: Your grandfather was known to have a very important job within the Nazi government before he immigrated to the US is what I've read.

ARP: Yeah, but he was a good Nazi. Like the Nazis in Ukraine are. America likes the good Nazis.

TRC: It appears we do. The Azov Battalion and other Nazi units in the Ukrainian military are accepting billion of dollars of armaments from the US. Biden gave Ukraine $800 million worth of arms just this last week. Some of those guns in the future may be used to terrorize or kill people that Nazis don't like such as LGBTQIA persons, the Roma, and ethnic Russians. You're okay with that? 

ARP: (Sighing) Well, what can I say? People get hurt in wars, but wars are good for business. 

TRC: They are. And all is fair in love and business, right? 

ARP: Hey, like I said everybody loves Raytheon--my stockbroker, Ukrainian Nazis, the US Defense Department… You know, important people.

TRC: Uh-huh. You certainly have an interesting perspective on things, Ms. Riche-Persson. 

ARP: I do. And I have one other thing you and your friends don't have.

TRC: What's that?

ARP: Money, so people in power have to listen to me. Even Nazis in power.

TRC: Sad to say but true. Thanks for talking with us today, Ayn Rand--uh, Ms. Riche-Persson. I'm sure you'll sleep well tonight. I know I won't.

BIO: "A. Riche-Persson" (or Ayn to her friends) is a member of the country club down the road and thinks she knows what's best for those who haven't been blessed with her good looks (and face lifts) and brains (she attended Yale, but married a millionaire and forgot to finish her degree). Heed her advice and you, too, can become well-connected in the corporate-owned-and-operated establishment duopoly. Just leave your conscience at the door with the coat check girl.

Related Articles:

Updated: A short video you must see to really understand the power of the weapons lobby in DC:  https://youtu.be/N3pnFR7DeZA 

More Military Spending Won't End Atrocities, We Must Focus on Preventing Them https://truthout.org/articles/more-military-spending-wont-end-atrocities-we-must-focus-on-preventing-them/

Some of the Weapons Delivered to Ukraine Will Be Used Against Us https://popularresistance.org/some-of-the-weapons-delivered-to-ukraine-will-be-used-against-us/

Lockheed Martin and Friends Don't Want You To Know What They're Up To https://jacobinmag.com/2022/04/defense-contractors-human-rights-transparency-lockheed-raytheon 

US Spent 7.5 Times More On Nuclear Weapons Than Vaccine Donations https://popularresistance.org/the-u-s-spent-7-5-times-more-on-nuclear-weapons-than-global-vaccine-donations/ 

Global Capitalism Has Become Dependent on War-Making to Sustain Itself  https://truthout.org/articles/global-capitalism-has-become-dependent-on-war-making-to-sustain-itself/

How the War in Ukraine Is Being Fought in the Media (video) https://youtu.be/j9YewFqws2M 

Gonzalo Lira Speaks Out (video)  (There's lots of good information in this video from an investigative reporter in Ukraine.)   https://youtu.be/AhjcVTCDLLI

Why I Adore Joe Biden by A. Riche-Persson  https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2020/04/why-i-adore-joe-biden.html 

The Rich Haven't Just Gotten Richer--They've Also Gotten A Lot More Selfish https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/23/us-billionaires-taxes-elon-musk-week-in-patriarchy 

Seen on Twitter:


 

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

#BernieSandersMittens

 #BernieSandersMittens
by C.A. Matthews

It's amazing how quickly human beings can glomp onto a symbol of hope and run with it.


A photo of Senator Bernie Sanders, sitting on a folding chair at the inauguration ceremony in his usual brown parka and wearing a pair of handmade woolen mittens, has set the Internet alight and raised the spirits of many a Berner.

Hundreds of memes popped up overnight showing Bernie and his trademark mittens in a variety of positions and places--everything from sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office to sitting at the bar with the Dude from The Big Lebowski. Every single one brought a smile to thousands of faces. Every smile brought hope and revived fond memories of both Bernie's campaigns for the White House.

True to his nature, Bernie donated all proceeds from a "Bernie in Mittens" icon t-shirt/sweatshirt sale to the Vermont chapter of Meals on Wheels. For those who feel Bernie has become "just one of the boys" on Capitol Hill, consider this: A Vermont second grade teacher knitted Bernie's mittens from an old sweater and recycled plastic bottles. Joe Biden, the man whom Bernie inadvertently upstaged at the inauguration, typically wears a $7,000 Rolex watch and was found to have set up a "cancer foundation" that raised millions of dollars that was spent on executive salaries with none of the money actually going toward research for a cure.

No wonder memes of $7,000 Rolexes aren't trending!

The popularity of the Bernie's mittens meme speaks for itself. It's what is needed in an era where more Americans than ever before are becoming aware that they cannot trust those in power. They cannot trust a politician who promised a $2000 stimulus check right away before the election but now has backpedaled and lowered that amount to $1400 and pushed off the date to send it out to sometime in March at the earliest. 
 
Meanwhile, millions of unemployed Americans face eviction from their homes and starvation today and every day until then. Don't their lives matter more than the profits of Big Pharma and the health care industry? The military-industrial complex?

Bernie's mittens represent that even a working class boy like Bernie Sanders can grow up and do great things. They represent that the working class still has a friend in Washington DC who will stand up against the moneyed elites and their corporate donors and fight for our rights to health care and funds to survive during this pandemic.

Bernie's mittens will stand up there someday with the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell as great symbols of what America could be without the greed and tone-deafness of the oligarchs and their politician-puppets.


God bless America. God bless Bernie Sanders' mittens.

Thanks to James Kirkland who posted most of these memes on the Artists for Bernie Sanders Facebook group.

You can make your own  memes at https://outsnapped.com/content/sit-with-bernie-sanders-meme-generator/

More insights on Bernie Sanders' Mittens:

Sanders Hopes Nation Smitten by His Mittens Will Back Food Charity Push  https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/67456-sanders-hopes-nation-smitten-by-his-mittens-will-back-food-charity-push

The Mittens
https://correspondent.afp.com/mittens

The Meaning of the Mittens: Five Possibilities
https://theintercept.com/2021/01/21/inauguration-bernie-sanders-mittens/ 

***

Families Belong Together

Incredible hope that Trump's sadistic attacks on children and families will end. Overwhelming heartbreak at the incredible pain so many families have suffered. Fierce determination to reunite all separated children with their families and forever turn the page on this nightmare.

President Biden has made clear that his administration is going all-in undoing the horrors of the last four years. We’re optimistic about the soon-to-be-announced Presidential Task Force on Family Separation, an immigration bill that centers care and compassion, and the rebuilding of our asylum system with an eye towards dignity and compassion.

It is a BIG deal politically that Biden has announced reuniting families and overhauling our immigration system as a major priority, but the key will be Congress. That's where you come in, right now:

Can you let your representatives in Congress know there is huge public support for not just rebuilding but re-imagining America’s cruel immigration system?

ACT NOW

Families have been waiting decades and decades for a more caring and compassionate immigration system. Many of them are essential workers who are keeping our communities together, whether serving as doctors and nurses on the front lines of the pandemic, picking our food, keeping our grocery stores going, or caring for our loved ones.

Millions of children come home every day unsure that their parents will be there to greet them, living in perpetual fear of ICE's family separation force.

We can not rest until every child torn from their parents is safe and reunited with their family. We will not rest until families are released from ICE jails. And we will tirelessly fight to ensure that these families get the restitution, love, and mental health support they need to start healing.

And we must hold those behind these atrocious policies accountable.

Restoring our moral standing in the world starts with doing right by those we have wronged and revamping our immigration and asylum system so no family lives in fear of being separated ever again. We have to seize this opportunity to fundamentally reshape our immigration system. Every single voice of public support can help tip the balance, so I'm asking:

Can you let your representatives in Congress know there is huge public support for fixing America’s broken immigration policies?

Thanks for all you do,

Paola Luisi, Director
Families Belong Together

 ***

The Revolution Continues will keep dancin' along with Bernie and his mittens!

We're now in our sixth year fighting against the corporate duopoly. We're not ashamed to say that we need fellow revolutionaries like you to help us stay online and provide progressive insights that are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can spare some of your pocket change, please use the Paypal.me link below to donate to help fund our operations.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!


Tuesday, April 21, 2020

"Why I Adore Joe Biden"


Before we get to our featured blog,  here are some photos from a recent motorcade protest.
 #FreeThemAll


Even in this day of "social distancing,"  it's still possible to make your voice heard. Non-violent inmates need to be released from jails where the coronavirus can spread quickly. Toledo-area protestors donned their masks, placed their posters and banners on their vehicles and circled the block, honking and chanting until the prisoners in the Lucas County Jail banged on their windows in response. 

Will the Sheriff release these prisoners to their families until their trial dates? We'll see. But time is of the essence, and compassion is every bit a part of justice and rehabilitation.  Human beings shouldn't be locked up simply because they cannot afford bail. There is no reason to let these non-violent detainees be exposed to and possibly die from COVID-19.  Keep shouting at the walls until they come crumbling down!

And now our guest blogger shares why she can't wait to vote for the former vice president.

"Why I Adore Joe Biden"
By A. Riche-Persson
I’m excited! I can’t wait to cast my vote for President of the United States for Joe Biden. He’s the man who represents everything I know and love. Things will stay the same under good ol’ Uncle Joe, and that’s the way it should be. We can’t be changing everything to suit the whims of the public, can we? They didn’t go to Ivy League schools, and they can’t even manage an invite to my yachting club regatta. We need to keep things in the hands of those who know best, don’t you think?
And all this blah-blah-blah from the Bernie Bros about Medicare for All —who needs it? I have great private health insurance. It even covered my Botox injections and my tummy tuck last year with just a mere ten thou deductible. Couch change! All red-blooded Americans everywhere love their private health insurance according to Joe. Nobody worth anything would be caught dead walking into a hospital with a Medicare card. You wouldn't catch me doing something so lowbrow! It doesn’t go well with my designer purse and matching heels, either.
These hippie peaceniks who keep saying things about Joe voting for the Iraq War and that he never met a war he didn’t like and that he was a friend of segragationalists in the past? Well I say, “Pfft!” War is great for business and that’s what America is all about – business. My Raytheon stocks skyrocket every time dear Donald rattles his sword, and I’m certain Joe will do the same. He’s got an interest in seeing those stock prices go up and up, especially after all this unnecessary shut down of our economy with this coronavirus hoax. It’s just like the flu I hear. And nobody wants their kids to attend school with ghetto scum. Joe was dead right on that issue. Get over it, crybabies.
Where was Joe during all these coronavirus town halls that Bernie put on? Does it really make a difference that he was taking a nap? Who needs all these extra people crowding up the place anyway? I think we could stand to lose a few thousand hoboes sleeping on our park benches and who would miss a few thousand old people or grocery stockers or cashiers or daycare workers here or there? (I get my food delivered to my door, the back door, I think... I let my cook and housekeeper handle that sort of thing.)  

What I’m saying is that America has more than enough people, so let the virus get rid of a few of them. It’s back to work the rest of you lazy bums so my company can realize a good dividend by the quarter’s end. Joe will make sure America is up and working. What I mean by that is that you all will be back to work so I can continue to live off the money you make for me.
Oh, and you’re begging for free money because you lost your job, along with free health care from the government? Who told you to get sick? Nobody! What do you think government is for? Looking out after your health and safety? No, it’s for keeping business people like me afloat and bailing out our banks when they make a bad decision or two. We are the “job creators” after all. All those million of small businesses in small town America just get in the way of our big monopolies making a bigger profit. The government needs to protect us from these annoying little challengers to the free market system. Go big or go out of business is what I say!
Yes, I do like how Joe believes the oil, gas and coal companies deserve to be given massive tax breaks, and we should hinder solar and wind energy technologies from growing and expanding. We don’t want to use up all the sunlight and wind too quickly—what would we do at the beach if we didn’t have sun and wind? Our sailboats wouldn’t work, and I’d have to go to the salon for a fake tan. No way am I going to turn myself orange like you-know-who!

Speaking of colors, Green New Deal? What kind of deal is that? (I look better in black.) The Earth was put here for our plundering. And gasoline is cheap--I filled up my three Escalades for next to nothing this past week.  The Obama Administration was the leader in bringing fracking to the world. Joe will continue that legacy, no fear. So, frack away and let's enjoy the open road in big thirsty cars. Vroom-vroom!
We want Joe to be in office so he can put in a Supreme Court justice replacement for Ruth Ginsburg who will stand up for a woman’s right to… do something. I know Joe said something about how this old-fashioned Roe v. Wade decision could be let out to pasture. It’s not like women can’t easily jump on a plane or a yacht and go elsewhere for an abortion, right? We don’t want to be paying for  poor women’s mistakes or paying to feed and clothe all their baby mistakes. They need to get off their lazy welfare queen butts and get a job waiting tables. Pull themselves up by their own bootstraps! Government money should be put to better use for the good of all—like bailing out the banks again when they need it in the future.
I certainly want to commend Joe for doing a great job to putting conservative-business-minded men like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court back in the day. Joe raked that Anita Hill over the coals for saying the same things about Justice Thomas that some are saying about Joe nowadays—that they sexually harassed women who worked under them. 

There’s the problem right there. These women work under them, and so they deserve to have their butts pinched and be kept in their place. We can’t have uppity-types telling wealthy, powerful men to keep their hands to themselves. They have the money after all. They pay your wages. They own you, you good-for-nothings!
At the end of the day, how can I resist that sexy way Joe comes right up behind me at a thousand dollar a plate fundraiser and breathes in my hair? Ooo! I get shivers down my spine just thinking about his presidential hands all over me. Just call me "Monica," haha! All these people who get bent out of shape because of a few gals who didn’t care for his pawing just haven’t enjoyed having sex with a rich and powerful person before, and they’re just plain jealous of those of us who have. LOL!
I hope you can see now why Joe Biden would make a super president for people like us. He’s older and wealthy and white—so he understands how it feels to have to put up with the rabble that Bernie guy and other Lefties roused up. Joe was a huge supporter of Bill Clinton's wonderful crime bill in 1994 that locked up all those naughty black and brown people who smoked too much marijuana (not sold by our new corporate cannabis operations). He’ll continue to militarize the police so they’ll keep things the way they should be and deal with those troublemakers. We’ll all prosper and not have to worry about our share prices dropping precipitously under a Biden administration.
That’s all we really need in a president anyway, right? More of the same, 'cause happy days are here again! Even Republicans like Joe Biden and say they'll vote for him. With Donny or Joe in the Oval Office, we'll all be raking in the cash and rolling in the dough like we are now. And a healthy stock market is a great thing for all Americans, don't you agree?  

Don't believe me? Well, this gal says she'll vote for Joe (holding her nose) https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/62473-focus-i-cant-believe-i-have-to-vote-for-joe-biden

But this guy says you actually have a choice and you don't have to vote for him if you don't want to. As if!  https://medium.com/@danielca/dont-vote-for-joe-biden-the-case-for-the-green-party-in-2020-fcae946e0ffc

:BIO: "A. Riche-Persson" (or Ayn to her friends) is a member of the country club down the road and thinks she knows what's best for those who haven't been blessed with her good looks (and face lifts) and brains (she attended Yale, but married a millionaire and forgot to finish her degree). Heed her advice and you, too, can become well-connected in a corporate-owned-and-operated establishment party like the DNC. Just leave your conscience at the door with the coat check girl.


For more on Biden's background, check out this informative blog post from last year -- Biden: My Time? https://bernie2016.blogspot.com/2019/04/biden-my-time.html

UPDATE: New Evidence Supporting Credibility of Tara Reade's Allegation Against Joe Biden Emerges: https://theintercept.com/2020/04/24/new-evidence-tara-reade-joe-biden/ 

Now for a different viewpoint of what's happening in the world. Lee asks, "Will things ever be the same?" (And will we ever see that $12,000 yearly we've all been paying out to the 1% since 1980?)

https://youtu.be/HO0aB_VuoGo
***
Families Belong Together

For families locked away in the Trump administration's detention centers, there are zero options to stay safe from the coronavirus. Even in the middle of a pandemic, authorities are keeping dozens of families away from their loved ones in facilities with limited access to soap or adequate medical treatment.
Two of the largest U.S. private prison profiteers have already recorded cases of COVID-19 among their staff and the people they've detained. [1] 

There is no time to waste: Rush an urgent message to state and federal legislators and DEMAND that they IMMEDIATELY end the use of private prisons and release vulnerable populations so they can reunite with their families and socially distance safely.

ACT NOW
When an outbreak occurs in a detention center, the families there won't be the only ones at risk: the staff who work in these facilities could take the virus home, and put their entire communities at risk of exposure.
 
By demanding an end to the use of private prisons, we can help thousands of children and their families escape conditions that will condemn them to needless suffering and death from COVID-19. 70% of all immigrants detained by the Trump administration are held in private prisons. Ending the use of private prisons would release many migrant children and families in federal detention, and seriously affect the Trump administration's ability to separate more families in the future. 

This pandemic reminds us that we are intertwined. You can't cage a virus; the only way to ensure our collective health is to care for each other. To do that, we have to fight back against this administration's abusive policies that endanger families in federal detention and beyond. 

Tell federal and state lawmakers to end the use of private prisons and protect incarcerated people from COVID-19.
 
Thanks for all you do,
Jess Morales Rocketto
Families Belong Together


[1] A Second ICE Detainee in Louisiana has Tested Positive for COVID-19
Contribute
***
Don't let the coronavirus make us homeless. Demand an end to rent and mortgage payments during the crisis.

 

Sign Now

 


Over ten million U.S. citizens filed unemployment claims in just two weeks due to the intentional economic shutdown to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Unemployment websites are crashing, many people are not even eligible, and the one-time $1,200 checks promised by the government will not even cover many people's rent. In short: millions of Americans have no way to pay their rent or mortgage right now. That's why we need to demand leaders put a freeze on rent and mortgage payments during the pandemic for both individuals and businesses. Sign the petition if you agree!
A national landlord association reported that a full one-third of renters in the U.S. failed to pay their rent during the first week of April and May is going to be even worse. While some cities have put a moratoreum on evictions, that just means rent and mortgage payments will pile up during that time and folks will be evicted as soon as those moratoreums are lifted. The only ethical, humane answer is for lawmakers to put a freeze on rent and mortgage payments, and they have the power to do it. Please sign on to help make sure no one ends up homeless due to this global crisis.
Thank you,
Kelsey B.
The Care2 Petitions Team
 



 ***
From Color of Change:

We just received great news to provide us all with a glimmer of hope! Since the outbreak of COVID, we knew we had to fight hard for incarcerated people because our elected leaders failed to make a humane plan to address those who would be hardest hit. 


So we decided to launch our fight.


Thousands of Color Of Change members joined us in pushing to make all communication free of charge for incarcerated people and their families during this crisis, and forever. As of last week, people incarcerated at federal prisons have finally been granted free phone calls during the pandemic, up to 500 minutes a month. Before we launched our campaign and more than 18,000 people signed our petition, many incarcerated folks were only given two fifteen-minute free calls per week, some received even less.

This is what’s possible when we unabashedly fight for those most impacted, in the face of elected leaders who show indifference for incarcerated people. We win and keep families connected!


But C.A., we know we have much more to do to ensure ALL incarcerated people receive the humane response needed to ensure their wellbeing. Here is what we need you to do to continue fighting with us:



  2. Start or join a local campaign and demand your elected leaders implement a humane plan for incarcerated people. We need mass releases and an end to the constant churn of people in and out of facilities across the country.

Until justice is real,
Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Clarise, Erika, Malachi, Leonard, Marybeth, Madison, and the rest of the Color Of Change team