2017 Movies

Favorite movies which saw during 2017.

Captain Fantastic (2016)
A Woman Under the Influence (1974): Reason so many liked Gena Rowlands
Elle (2016) French film with Isabelle Huppert, very controversial subject
Two Days, One Night (2014) French film
Land of Mine (2015) German WWII film
Paterson (2016)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Joi was great
The Florida Project (2017) Kissimmee
Toni Erdmann (2016) German file, hysterical
Where to Invade Next (2015) One of Michael Moore's best
The Heiress (1949)
A Place in the Sun (1951)
Dunkirk (2017)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Manchester by the Sea (2016)
Ingrid Goes West (2017) Comedy with some very awkward moments

Television shows:
Halt and Catch Fire: Tech industry drama from 1980 going forward
Freaks and Geeks (1999) How could there only be one season?
Last Week with John Oliver: Hysterical and Educational

Metacritic Critics Picks
http://www.metacritic.com/feature/film-critics-list-the-top-10-movies-of-2017

Spirit Awards
https://www.filmindependent.org/spirit-awards/nominees/

The Dumbing Down of America

https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-dumbing-down-of-america-by-design/5395928

RussiaGate and the Rationalization of Censorship

Interesting article on how government and media are collaborating on supposed Russian election interference to endorse censorship. The DNC is also using RussiaGate to avoid addressing the reasons why Clinton was not electable. They still want us to settle for the lesser of two evils.

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/04/how-russia-gate-rationalizes-censorship/

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/05/the-tangled-threads-of-russia-gate/

https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/07/russia-gates-reach-into-journalism/

https://theintercept.com/2017/12/09/the-u-s-media-yesterday-suffered-its-most-humiliating-debacle-in-ages-now-refuses-all-transparency-over-what-happened/

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/guide-understanding-hoax-century-thirteen-ways-looking-disinformation

https://consortiumnews.com/2023/04/30/the-most-powerful-demolition-of-russiagate-yet/

More Tax Breaks for the Wealthy

Tax bills since Nixon. Not sure why Democratic Senators are not filibustering this. Maybe final bill needs to be voted on again in Senate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/04/is-the-gop-tax-plan-an-unprecedented-windfall-for-the-wealthy-we-look-at-50-years-of-data-to-find-out/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_taxregressive-1245pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.a17c3c11d97c

Not sure how to stop things like this from happening. Very unfair to majority of people in the country. Still, believe 75% of people would gladly switch places with the rich. The majority of the population is very selfish.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon

http://slack-time.com/music-video-4888-trans-siberian-orchestra-christmas-canon

Power Plants in the US

Location of coal and oil burning power plants in the US.

https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/mats/power-plants-likely-covered-mercury-and-air-toxics-standards-mats_.html

Doxxing

https://www.propublica.org/article/so-what-the-hell-is-doxxing

Steps can take to help protect your personal information.

The DNCs Continuing Failures

More insight on how DNC rigged the nomination of Clinton.
Odd how the MSM is not picking up on this story.

https://theintercept.com/2017/11/03/dnc-donna-brazile-hillary-clinton-barack-obama/

Very disappointing Frontline story on Putin and Russia interfering in US Politics.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview-collection/the-putin-files/

The DNC and MSM still don't get it. The people need jobs, healthcare, a proper safety net and no more wars.

Basic Income for All

Some countries are experimenting with government provided basic income.
Frees individuals to pursue things other than just minimum wage work to better their situations. Believe all people want to contribute to society. Some feel people are lazy for some reason.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/31/finland-universal-basic-income

Climate Change: 1.3m Sea Rise this Century

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/26/sea-levels-to-rise-13m-unless-coal-power-ends-by-2050-report-says

The world can be powered by alternative energy, using today's technology, in 20-40 years, says Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson

https://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/january/jacobson-world-energy-012611.html

"Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions," by Mark Z. Jacobson (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012).

"This book provides an introduction to the history, science, and solutions of local and global air pollution and global warming. It first introduces the history of discovery of chemicals in the air, then discusses the historic evolution of the Earth's atmosphere and the structure and composition of the present-day atmosphere. Subsequently, it examines historical, scienctific, and regulatory aspects of five major air-related topics: urban outdoor air pollution, indoor air pollution, acid deposition, global stratospheric and Antarctic ozone reduction, and global warming. It also looks at the effects of meteorology on air pollution and vice-versa and the effects of pollution on visibility, ultraviolet radiation, and colors in the sky. A final chapter discusses large-scale renewable energy solutions to global warming and air pollution and technical and policy issues related to those solutions. The book contains 13 chapters, each with student examples and problems, 238 color illustrations and photographs, and 71 tables. It is an introductory text designed for general audiences and for a range of undergraduate and graduate courses on air pollution, climate, and the environment. Researchers can also find several previously unpublished figures and new compilations of information within it."
for more info
https://web.stanford.edu/group/efmh/jacobson/POLbook2/index.html

Stanford Professor Mark Jacobson at Pathways to 100% Renewable Energy Conference
last 100 years, 100 million died too soon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XCYlCF3QuQ 13mins

Blood Thinners

Blood thinners can help to prevent dementia.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/25/blood-thinning-pills-irregular-heartbeat-patients-dementia-stroke

Insect Populations being Decimated

Flying insect numbers have decreased by 75%.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations

Asset Forfeiture

If the government arrests you for something they can seize your assets before even tried. The Obama administration had reversed this Bush era practice but Trump/Sessions have re-invoked.

https://theintercept.com/2017/10/13/ice-hsi-asset-forfeiture-handbook/

Israeli Lobby

Documentary on how Israel influences policy in Britain and the US.

http://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/thelobby/

https://theintercept.com/2017/10/09/an-al-jazeera-reporter-went-undercover-with-the-pro-israel-lobby-in-washington/

Tom Petty

Was not a great fan of his music but he did turn out some good songs.
Reverence for growing up in Gainesville where spent some years while he was very popular. They played his music on the radio in Gainesville all the time. Dubs?

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/03/tom-petty-obituary

http://www.latimes.com/sns-bc-us--tom-petty-appreciation-20171003-story.html

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-tom-petty-20171002-story.html

America's gun crisis – in one chart

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/oct/02/america-mass-shootings-gun-violence

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/02/us-gun-control-ownership-violence-statistics

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/05/us-gun-violence-charts-data

Bernie Sanders

Great article on Bernie Sanders views on foreign policy.
Looks like he is firming up his positions. Hope he is following his heart.

https://theintercept.com/2017/09/22/bernie-sanders-interview-foreign-policy/

Plastic Fibers in Our Drinking Water

The US has the highest rate of plastics in our drinking water in the world (94% of samples).

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/06/plastic-fibres-found-tap-water-around-world-study-reveals

Interesting comment:
Everyone - this is so easy to protect yourself from regarding tap water. Go online and purchase a "whole house filter" - surprisingly DuPont makes one. Buy two canisters - install directly under your cold tap water in your kitchen sink - one carbon filter and the other a ten micron filter (gets the nano plastic out!) ... turn on cold tap water and zero baddies! Cook pasta with filtered water. Stop buying plastic bottled water - this will far surpass in quality... change the 8$ filters once a month and you're golden! I am not a plumber - but with some tools and a YouTube video - you can do this for less than 50$. Cheers!

US Being Reckless with North Korea?

Contrast between Cuban Missile Crisis and North Korea today.
Having Trump in place of Kennedy is very scary.

https://theintercept.com/2017/08/17/the-north-korea-standoff-like-the-cuban-missile-crisis-exposes-the-reckless-u-s-worldview/

Kamala Harris

She is being touted as next Democratic nominee for POTUS.
Keeping a record to see if just another neo-liberal.

https://shadowproof.com/2017/08/15/kamala-harris-neoliberal-record-reckoning/

How the rest of the World Views the US

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/08/unlearning-the-myth-of-american-innocence

Wet Bulb Temperature

An example of the threshold at which the human body is no longer able to cool itself and begins to overheat is a humidity level of 50% and a high heat of 46 °C (115 °F), as this would indicate a wet-bulb temperature of 35 °C (95 °F).
Healthy humans in the shade could perish in six hours at this wet bulb temperature.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/02/climate-change-to-cause-humid-heatwaves-that-will-kill-even-healthy-people

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature

https://www.easycalculation.com/weather/dewpoint-wetbulb-calculator.php

http://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KSAC.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/09/this-is-how-your-world-could-end-climate-change-global-warming

More Sanctions for Russia, Iran, and North Korea

More sanctions for Russia, Iran, and North Korea. When will our warmongering/economically destructive government do right by anyone other than themselves.

https://theintercept.com/2017/07/27/with-the-european-union-livid-congress-pushes-forward-on-sanctions-against-russia-iran-and-north-korea/

Healthcare Costs per Procedure Vary Dramatically based on Hospital and Insurance Coverage

Dramatic differences in cost of specific procedures from different hospitals based on whether one has insurance or not. The State of Maryland is apparently the only state in the country which has a law making it mandatory for all hospitals to charge the same price for a given procedure.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/08/hospital-prices-cost-differences_n_3232678.html

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Medicare-Provider-Charge-Data/index.html

Story Maps

Interesting way to tell stories thru web.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/app-list/cascade/

A Felony if Boycott Israel?

Not sure what is happening to our country but little of it seems to be good.
Lawmakers want to classify it a felony to boycott Israel.
Citizens should be able to boycott any country, company, or person they wish.
Prosecuting protesters is another bad direction our country is taking.
Country appears to be becoming more authoritarian every day.

https://theintercept.com/2017/07/19/u-s-lawmakers-seek-to-criminally-outlaw-support-for-boycott-campaign-against-israel/

Fascinating documentary of an Israeli soccer team when they try to integrate Muslim players.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/forever-pure/

Iran

The US courting Iranian terrorist group in hopes of creating a lucrative war in the Iranian sphere.

https://theintercept.com/2017/07/07/mek-iran-rajavi-cult-saudi-gingrich-terrorists-trump/

North Korea

In the news as per usual. Some history of how the US created the current situation.

http://www.countercurrents.org/2017/04/26/endless-atrocities-the-us-role-in-creating-the-north-korean-fortress-state/

https://jeff-kaye.medium.com/censored-north-korea-accused-u-s-of-working-with-unit-731-war-criminals-on-bw-attacks-d7fd819ed8b7

Medicare and For Profit Health Care

Gamesmanship that occurs when healthcare if for profit.
California is exploring moving to a single payer system. About damn time.

https://www.propublica.org/article/medicare-halts-release-of-much-anticipated-data

Syrian Sarin Gas Attack

Does the MSM just buy anything that contains a drumbeat for war or are they just propaganda tools for our government?

https://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/seymour-hersh-syria-bombshell#14987455491142&action=expand_widget&id=0&data=

Glenn Greenwald Excoriating the MSM on Russia

Glenn Greenwald on the continued "Russia is Evil" coming out of the MSM. They are serving the US military industrial complex with these articles exacerbating the drumbeats of war.

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/27/cnn-journalists-resign-latest-example-of-media-recklessness-on-the-russia-threat/

Ralph Nader on the DNC

Ralph Nader's thoughts on Democratic Party's failures.

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/25/ralph-nader-the-democrats-are-unable-to-defend-the-u-s-from-the-most-vicious-republican-party-in-history/

Noam Chomsky on similar topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3PwG4UoJ0Y

PFCs and Cancer

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/perflourinated_chemicals_508.pdf

Products containing
http://saferchemicals.org/chemicals/pfcs/

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Venezuela

Finally a view from the other side. Is what thought was probably happening. More US interference.

https://shadowproof.com/2017/06/11/interview-martin-prysner-venezuelan-opposition-violence/

https://shadowproof.com/2017/08/03/after-constituent-assembly-vote-us-backed-opposition-further-destabilizes-venezuela-with-violence/

Memorial Day

Should we honor those who sacrifice their lives to the deep state. Most likely they just do not know better. We all want something to believe in.

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/29/we-need-memorial-day-to-obscure-the-unbearable-truth-about-war/

The Disappearing Middle Class

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/may/17/america-geography-wealth-shrinking-urban-middle-class-visualised

Russia, the Big Scary Monster?

Russian ambassador having some fun with the deep state's infatuation with Russia.

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/10/russias-top-diplomat-mines-comey-drama-laughs/

Life Expectancy in the US

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/may/08/life-expectancy-gap-rich-poor-us-regions-more-than-20-years

America's Most Challenging High Schools

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/high-school-challenge-2017/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/jays-americas-most-challenging-high-schools-main-column/2017/05/03/eebf0288-2617-11e7-a1b3-faff0034e2de_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_hschallenge-220pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.2f793962487c

Roosevelt Study in the Influence of Money in Politics

Roosevelt Study which illustrates how much money is required to purchase a perecentage point of influence.

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/04/how-much-does-a-politician-cost-a-groundbreaking-study-reveals-the-influence-of-money-in-politics/

World Health Care Rankings

US bringing up the rear. Surprise.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2014/jun/mirror-mirror

US Foreign Policy AKA Glenn Greenwald

Glenn Greenwald provides an excellent description of horrible US Foreign Policy.

https://theintercept.com/2017/05/02/trumps-support-and-praise-of-despots-is-central-to-the-u-s-tradition-not-a-deviation-from-it/

Best Non-fiction Books

Another list of top 100 non-fiction books of all time.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/series/100-best-nonfiction-books-of-all-time

Glenn Greenwald's take on Trump Bombing Syria

Glenn Greenwald's take on Trump's bombing of Syria.
Trump bought the gas conspiracy hook line and sinker.
If he was intelligent at all he would have known the event was most likely concocted but decided to be an ignoramus anyway.

https://theintercept.com/2017/04/07/the-spoils-of-war-trump-lavished-with-media-and-bipartisan-praise-for-bombing-syria/

Clinton 2016?

Trump was not an option either. Am too old to vote for the least worst option any longer.

Here are policies and initiatives that Hillary Clinton has supported over course of her political career (yes, including her time as a loyal First Lady to Bill Clinton, whom she said would be her economic czar if she were elected):

--Deregulation of the investment banks (and against reinstatement of Glass--Steagall)
--Deregulation of the telecommunications industry
--Deregulation of derivatives
--The destruction of welfare (which has caused the numbers living in extreme poverty to double since its passage)
--The Omnibus Crime Bill (increased the prison population massively)
--NAFTA
--The sanctions regime against Iraq of the 1990s that killed 500,000 Iraqi children ("it was worth it," said her friend Madeline Albright)
--The Defense of Marriage Act
--CAFTA (granted stealthy support)
--TPP
--Fracking
--The objectively-racist death penalty
--The private prison industry
--The Patriot Act
--The Iraq War
--The bombing of Libya
--Military intervention in Syria
--Israel's starvation blockade and blitzkrieg against Gaza
--The right-wing coup in Honduras
--Investor-friendly repression and cronyism in Haiti
--A 31 cents/hour minimum wage in Haiti (and against attempts to raise it)
--The recently announced 20 year, $1,000,000,000,000 (trillion) upgrade of the US's nuclear arsenal
--Historically-high numbers of deportations under the Obama Adm.
--Oil drilling in the Arctic
--The fight against free public university tuition
--The fight against single-payer health care
--Acceptance of tens of millions of dollars of corporate money
--Credit-card industry favored bankruptcy laws
--The bail-out of Wall Street

Nokia 3310

Nokia is manufacturing and selling this 2001 phone again.
Was very popular and durable model.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_3310

https://www.nokia.com/en_int/phones/nokia-3310

Fake News

More insight from Glenn Greenwald on Fake News.

https://theintercept.com/2017/03/30/why-has-trust-in-media-collapsed-look-at-actions-of-wsj-yahoo-business-insider-and-slate/

Health Care Over-billing and Fair Prices

Site which provides "fair prices" for medical procedures/tests.

https://www.healthcarebluebook.com/

Tinnitus

Maybe due to aspirin?

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/02/09/that-buzzing-sound

http://faculty.swosu.edu/scott.long/txcl/drugtox.htm

The US Government and Russia as per the New Yorker

Harper's, The New Yorker, and The Nation may be only remaining high quality publications remaining.
The US government's infatuation with punishing Russia could become the end of us all.

Using Russia – yet again – to whitewash our own sins and systemic failures is bad enough.

https://theintercept.com/2017/02/28/the-new-yorkers-big-cover-story-reveals-five-uncomfortable-truths-about-u-s-and-russia/

https://theintercept.com/2017/02/27/trumps-proposed-increase-in-u-s-defense-spending-would-be-80-percent-of-russias-entire-military-budget/

https://theintercept.com/2017/03/16/key-democratic-officials-now-warning-base-not-to-expect-evidence-of-trumprussia-collusion

The DNC Fails Again

The DNC elects Perez over Ellison in preparation to give us more of the same.

https://theintercept.com/2017/02/24/key-question-about-dnc-race-why-did-white-house-recruit-perez-to-run-against-ellison/

Air Quality Data

Air pollution data from across the country. California has issues.

http://www.lung.org/assets/documents/healthy-air/state-of-the-air/sota-2016-full.pdf

Jimmy Carter: Crisis of Confidence Speech

Jimmy Carter's 1979 speech on conservation and the energy crisis.

http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3402

College Info

Univeristy of California Tips
https://www.facebook.com/AskMsSun/

Schools which can apply to in Spring for Fall
http://time.com/money/4620337/late-deadline-colleges-2017/

Fake News

Some news outlets and our new Press Secretary claimed a Moroccan killed Muslims at a mosque in Quebec and have yet to make a correction.

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/30/suspect-in-quebec-mosque-attack-quickly-depicted-as-a-moroccan-muslim-hes-a-white-nationalist/

IPPI

Treatment which is becoming more popular for variety of cancer types.
Was used to treat Jimmy Carter's brain cancer.

http://time.com/4298549/cancer-immunotherapy-pembro-drug-melanoma/

Jim Allison: Breakthrough
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/jim-allison-breakthrough/

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/11/new-cancer-treatment-destroys-tumours-in-terminally-ill-finds-trial

Hacker gets 5+ years courtesy of the US Government

What can happen if the government wants to make an example of someone.
Someday we'll have a government that embraces transparency, really.

https://shadowproof.com/2016/12/17/prison-barrett-brown-recommits-agitating-existing-order/

Trump and Corporate Tax Cuts

Trump is planning to cut corporate taxes in hope of corporations creating millions of new jobs. Don't count on it.

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/05/corporations-prepare-to-gorge-on-tax-cuts-trump-claims-will-create-jobs/

2016 Movies

List of movies which saw and enjoyed most during 2016.

Victoria (one continuous sequence)
Brooklyn (Saoirse Ronan)
Kubo and the Two Strings (another quality film from Laika Entertainment)
The Confirmation
Sing Street (80s new wave music scene)
Green Room (realistic horror, Jean Luc!)
Hell or High Water
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors (autistic teen lost? in NYC)
Time Out of Mind (Richard Gere homeless in NYC)
The Girl Who Lept Through Time (Japanese anime)

City of Life and Death (2009)

Others:
The Jungle Book (2016)
99 Homes (Michael Shannon)
Monsters (2010, wait til you see the wall)

It Follows (very creepy horror)
Nocturnal Animals (Michael Shannon, Jake Gyllenhaal)

Several of these movies present the poor economic conditions majority are currently facing.
The Confirmation
Hell of High Water
99 Homes
Time Out of Mind
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors