Movie: Ghost in the Shell, Other Movies to Watch, and Related Ideas

There was a series of anime movies from Japan called Ghost in the Shell. These are full-length and not for kids. It tells about a time in the future (the year 2029) when people are various degrees of cyborg. They are generally done in the Japanese language (duh), but there are dubbed versions in English which are easy to watch. Here is a list of some you can watch streaming on the Internet. The first two links I have here may be the same movie. I'm not sure.

https://9anime.to/watch/ghost-in-the-shell-dub.5xxq
https://9anime.to/watch/ghost-in-the-shell-20-dub.j3q3
https://9anime.to/watch/ghost-in-the-shell-2-innocence-dub.ly23
https://9anime.to/watch/ghost-in-the-shell-stand-alone-complex-the-laughing-man-dub.x60z 
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG - Individual Eleven (Dub)Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society (Dub)

A new Hollywood production will soon be out, with Scarlett Johansson in the lead role. I'm looking forward to it.

But, consider the state of our current society and economy and then watch another movie before either the anime versions or the Hollywood movie. The other not Ghost in the Shell movie is Advantageous.

Advantageous (2015) - IMDb

Watch Advantageous Online | Watch Full Advantageous (2015) Online For Free

It is set in a time between now and the Ghost in the Shell movies. The society looks a lot like today except they have some higher-tech things like interpersonal communication without a cell phone (something used in Ghost in the Shell) and some kind of flying vehicles (they're not prominent 'characters' in the movie) and very tall skyscraper buildings, but still apartments, streets, sidewalks, ordinary people, etc. But, less obvious is that the society is breaking economically and socially. I think it's a great lead-in to the Ghost in the Shell series. Naturally I happened to see the Ghost in the Shell anime movies first and then Advantageous. It didn't lose any of its charm and value.

Then, when the Hollywood movie comes our you will understand a lot more about its stranger ideas and visuals.

America Never Changes...Quickly

If you consider the history of the United States of America as one static picture, you wouldn't be far from the truth.

In the beginning there were people seeking religious freedom or the freedom from European's limitations, so they came to America for free land, freedom to seek a better life, freedom to practice their spiritual faiths any way they pleased, and freedom from an oppressive European history. America was the new land. Today we have in Congress the "Freedom Caucus" which seeks to avoid oppression from a government which they say is "out of control" and which interferes in their business interests as well as their religious interests.

If you consider America after it had grown a bit, say around the time of our Civil War, we had very wealthy people (by the standards of that time), poor 'peasant' farmers, but still a lot of room to grow westward if you didn't mind having to continue the killing spree (against natives). The one addition to the picture which had become more noticeable over the years was slavery.

If we had been more of the former original colonies, we would have grown wealthier and perhaps more pious, but we would have had to slaughter natives to take the continent. That and slavery were equivalent moral depravities.

So, there, in a nutshell are the fundamental elements: land, freedom for commerce and religion, the abuse and use of non-white peoples.

Today we have seen the "Left" fight for freedom for "people of color" and to limit the awfulness of wars around the world against anyone of color and the "Left' has fought for better education for everyone, better basic standards of living, equal treatment under the law (guaranteed in the Constitution, but not always enforced well), and generally peace & prosperity with religion for anyone. On the "Right" they have fought to maintain the prerogatives of the wealthy, who originally were both landowners and human owners. They view the law as a nuisance to their freedom to do as they please, both domestically and abroad.

Perhaps the one outstanding element of change which prevents this picture from remaining static forever is the rapid growth of technology backed by great scientific research and development. America has until recently had more Nobel prizes for scientific endeavors than any other nation on Earth. If that continues to slide it will be a strong indicator the wealthy have simply decided American peasants don't need the best education and that they can proceed to rule the World and use the smarter kids from other places. That will be great for the standards of living of these other people, but it will mean stagnation for Americans.

Looking at America from 1968 until today shows this pretty clearly. After World War II Americans prospered in unprecedented and really surprising ways. One of the great developments to boost that was the interstate highway system. It has been much more influential and helpful than even the transcontinental rail lines or the airlines. Again, technology's effect on America has been powerful. However, when the American political establishment of the 1950s and 1960s decided the anti-war movement was "out of control" and damaging to THEIR view of America, they had to crack down (both figuratively and literally). Viewing America from that time forward we have seen the same understanding of America's society from the Right in each of the Republican presidential administrations, including during the Ford and George H. W. Bush administrations. They have all sought, along with Congressional Republicans and Conservative business leaders and Conservative religious leaders, to 'crack down'. Beginning with the root of all Evil, the Nixon administration, they started the 'War on Drugs' to punish and restrain the drug culture and the African Americans they perceived as a political threat. Reagan supported the "three strikes and you're out" and other severe punishments for drug offenders laws. Ironically it was also the Reagan administration which enabled the introduction of Americans to cocaine. During the politically successful days of the Reagan administration the Republicans were stunned at their good successes and predicted a virtual Fourth Reich. They were in charge and they were going to stay there. Despite their draconian policies America continued to uphold the more Liberal political policies (gains) of the 1960s and 1970s. Despite what they saw as setbacks (the Clinton and Obama years) they tried during the George W. Bush presidency to simply overturn all the old laws they disliked. That proved difficult, so they started a new strategy. They decided to emulate Franklin Roosevelt and 'pack the Court'. During the Reagan and Bush years they had managed to put a lot of Conservatives on the Federal bench and to achieve a 5-4 advantage on the Supreme Court. With the unprecedented actions of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to deny an appointment to the Court a hearing and vote, they stepped up their game and gave the next nomination to Donald "The Liar" Trump (who incidentally had won in a surprise upset against the first woman, Hillary Clinton (D-NY), to ever gain the nomination of a major political party). Given that Trump had worked hand-in-hand with Russian president Vladimir Putin, the entire idea that he could put someone on the Court was preposterous. But, that was their plan and they were devoutly following it.

So, the picture of the ruling class of landowning white men of a certain age, upholding "law & order" and keeping the 'darkies' and women folk in their places still exists. With the exception that technology and small steps of social progress along the way has made America a civilized place for the most part.

America never changes...quickly.

Penne For Dinner

"Penny. <knock knock knock> Penny. <knock knock knock> Penny. <knock knock knock"

I decided to make a dish because I was walking through the grocery section of Walmart and saw a big picture of a plate of food and it inspired me.

Ingredients and the big picture:

I made a dish with penne pasts (the short cylinder with the angular ends), about 1/3rd pound of ground chuck, spaghetti sauce, sliced and sauteed strips of bell pepper (green and orange in this case), and lots of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese on top. I thought of adding garlic, but when the time came I completely forgot to add it. You could add garlic, diced onion, or anything along those lines. I did add a couple of slices of Italian bread with herb coating. I got a loaf at Walmart for $1.

First steps, preparing to cook:

Coat a glass baking dish with olive oil to avoid sticking.

Brown (fry) the beef and drained off excess grease. Use a spoon to chop up the beef chunks.

Boil (with a bit of olive oil to about 3/4ths done) enough penne pasta to cover the baking dish bottom twice-over. It will finish cooking as it bakes.

Sautee the bell pepper strips and set aside until other ingredients are ready.

Cooking:

Drain the penne.

Cover the baking dish bottom well with the penne.

Cover the pasta with ground beef (no huge chunks).

Cover again with penne pasta.

Cover thoroughly with spaghetti sauce (marinara sauce).

Stir just enough to get the spaghetti sauce throughout.

Lay the bell pepper strips on top.

Cover very thoroughly with the shredded cheese. It won't take a lot to cover, but later you will want it to be enough for the whole dish of food.

Cover the dish with a sheet of foil. It doesn't have to be tight.
Bake about 30 minutes.

Yummy. Easy, fast, fairly healthy. Add a salad if you want more veggies. I stirred it up before dishing out some. You may prefer to dish it without stirring, so the cheese sits attractively on top.

Change is coming

You can never stop it. In America change is as inevitable as the sunshine and rain. Change is required for America to breathe. Change happens when people are free. This is a foreign idea to many people around the world, even today. Yes, there are people who like the status quo and will fight to avoid change. They will always lose in America.

The rich are sometimes brought low when a stock market crashes. A politician may be brought down overnight. A preacher may be revealed and go from greatness to nothingness overnight. A pauper can strike it rich or a singer may become a popstar as an "overnight success". A new product can become popular in the blink of an eye. How many nations have such things? They are as common as dirt in America.

In America we discuss small trivialities all the time. Sometimes we discuss important policies and then in a moment discuss the hair style of a celebrity or the latest great physics discovery.  We never limit ourselves. One day we may discuss a television show and the next the problems of nuclear war with North Korea. We have to when we realize America changes rapidly and we must adapt quickly. Anyone who cannot adapt has difficulties.

Some of the problems we face are dealing with other people around the world who cannot or will not change, people within America who like the status quo and fight to keep it, and people who have difficulty changing for any of a number of reasons. We have a saying "go with the flow" to describe an attitude which accepts changing events. In fact, we invent new words and concepts to help us adapt with a changing world. In a generation or so we went from the Great Dust Bowl to Silicon Valley. We have gone from bust to boom to bust and over again numerous times. It is so common that people in other parts of the world may fear that we are only lucky to be able to continue or that our final demise is only a day away. We know better. This is what we are.
   
One of the major tasks of politics in America is to enable or support the needed changes while protecting people from the worst effects. We have a 'safety net' to protect people from our 'free market' economy. We regulate corporate polluters, so the public health is not damaged and yet allows corporate activities. Could we have a personal computer world without allowing dangerous chemicals to be used in their manufacture? We have not prohibited PCs, but we regulate their manufacture and disposal of them. Could we have grown from an agricultural nation to an industrial giant without air pollution or child labor? Perhaps, but we balanced corporate activities with protections for the citizens. We also support new technologies to replace the older more dangerous ones.
   
Perhaps in some ways we are not the ideal world leader since the people of America are more familiar with and adjusted to this kind of dynamic environment than many other people in the world. We may sometimes go too fast or fail to recognize the needs of other people. That is a risk and yet the world generally accepts our leadership or even demands it in order to ensure the world keeps improving and adapting. What other nation besides America would have thought to invest in creating a United Nations for the purpose of ending all wars? That idealism and pragmatism are very real and have lasting effects.
   
Today America is again in turmoil and we cannot predict even tomorrow. That is very unsettling to the world. In America it can be seen as a great opportunity. Think of that! We have a phrase which has recently become popular in the world of politics which encourages us to "never let a disaster go to waste" since it is a time when great opportunity exists. Maybe we stole the idea from the Chinese. We are an amalgam of ideas, words, people, and cultures. Where some nations would be in constant conflict if faced with this, we nearly demand it in order to function properly. And while disaster is NOT required, we do not instantly reject this as a uniquely horrible event. It is a "learning moment" or just another time for change.
   
Did the change from agricultural society with slaves to an industrial giant and on to global leader in the world happen easily? No, but it happened. Will we always be a giant which leads other people to problem solutions? Perhaps, but we hope the world can learn from us to solve problems if we are not able. Sometimes we may even require the world to help us. The day of 9/11 was such a time and our friends did immediately offer help. I would wish that no nation should have to suffer that way.

Trump & Co and Russians

You may have heard that the Democrats in Congress are calling for an independent investigator to study the conflicts of interest and other ties between Russia (namely Vladimir Putin) and Trump, his campaign and our elections. Well, many people who don't like Trump have also been investigating. I have a few links to preliminary results (they're still investigating).

The picture these paint is horrifying. One commenter referred to it as the worst thing which will have hit America since the Civil War.

I wrote that I don't see how Trump & Co can survive, but more than that, a good part of the Republican party (or the American Right) can survive this scandal.

Caveat: some of this has to be corroborated

First some tangential things:

Congressman Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA) and Putin relationship

How Congressional Republicans are Connected

Michael Flynn registers as lobbyist for Turkey

How Congressional Republicans are Connected

Now some Trump links:
 
DOCUMENT LINKS FOR TRUMP & RUSSIA TIES - Google Docs

Trump and Russian organized crime

Trumps Plane Met with Russian Plane in Charlotte


Here is a website which tries to connect the dots, including a picture:

The Trump Watchdog

Under Trump Watchdog there are some others of special interest:


The GOP-Putin Crusade


The Path to Putin

The Russian Meme Factory

I just read a Politico.com article about how Americans on the political Right used discussion boards (on the Internet) and memes to discuss issues, candidates and political things. It's a fascinating read, one of the best and scariest articles I've read on political issues in recent years. It also segueways into the Putin plan to disrupt and divide the West.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/memes-4chan-trump-supporters-trolls-internet-214856?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

It's amazing. Believe me!

Trump and War

It is difficult to observe today's political events without noting that we also have extremely serious and dangerous problems with ISIS and North Korea. Though there are many people who dislike Donald Trump as president and who may wish he had no power or could be removed, it remains a fact he holds that position even as North Korea tries to build rockets which can deliver a nuclear bomb to Japan or North America and as ISIS tries to kill everyone they dislike.

My humble suggestion is that any action with regard to these military interlocutors should be considered with input from many people: the military, the State Department, our allies, the entire United Nations, and even leadership of the U.S. Congress. The necessity of protecting our nation might not allow us to wait to first resolve other matters.

Discussion is good to gain a consensus opinion and to some degree a consent (if such is offered) and a sense of shared responsibility and hope. It may be useful to gain access to resources or to avoid problems. In general mankind succeeds when we work together, whether as a family, a company, a nation, or some other alliance. Matters of war are very likely to benefit.

In general it may be "better to jaw jaw, rather than to war war", but if war must occur it is surely better to have support of more nations, resources, and the good will of more people.