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Brian Lynch is a retired social worker who worked in the areas of adult mental health and child protection for many years. His work brought him into direct contact with all the major social issues of the day and many of our basic social institutions such as law enforcement, schools, hospitals, welfare agencies and private social service providers on both a local and state levels. This was a privileged vantage point for him to observe every level of human ecology, from the lives of individuals to the operations of government institutions. He was struck by the impact of state and federal policies on the lives of ordinary people, for better or worse. Political conflict and the clash of ideologies has real, observable and sometimes devastating consequences. He now writes and blogs on topics that relate to his social observations.
OpEd News Member for 961 week(s) and 3 day(s)
82 Articles, 7 Quick Links, 227 Comments, 1 Diaries, 0 Polls
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Sunday, May 9, 2021
World Democracy and the Invisible Hand Opposing It This represents a fifth column, a phantom enemy of national sovereignty worldwide that corrupts corporate culture and poisons the well of global democracy. This is the nexus through which the interests of rogue billionaires and corrupt principalities begin to align. This is a source from which the global disinformation warfare raging against Western democracies begins.
Sunday, May 9, 2021World Democracy and the Invisible Hand Opposing It This represents a fifth column, a phantom enemy of national sovereignty worldwide that corrupts corporate culture and poisons the well of global democracy. This is the nexus through which the interests of rogue billionaires and corrupt principalities begin to align. This is a source from which the global disinformation warfare raging against Western democracies begins.
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Friday, April 9, 2021
The Big Lie - and the Science of Lying If we compensate and lean into truth after a big lie is exposed, we appear to be moving in a radical direction in the eyes of our peers who don't recognize how much their own opinions have been altered. We need to develop the mindfulness and courage to re-exam our thinking after a big lie has been exposed and to realign our opinions back according to what is more reliably true.
Friday, April 9, 2021The Big Lie - and the Science of Lying If we compensate and lean into truth after a big lie is exposed, we appear to be moving in a radical direction in the eyes of our peers who don't recognize how much their own opinions have been altered. We need to develop the mindfulness and courage to re-exam our thinking after a big lie has been exposed and to realign our opinions back according to what is more reliably true.
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Wednesday, May 13, 2020
An Alternative to Total Lockdown is Urgently Needed America is trapped in a binary choice between letting COVID-19 run its natural course or locking down society to minimize the infections and deaths until a vaccine is available. This three-tiered method of controlling the virus would permit a safer means to gradually reopen the economy and relieve the economic burdens on us all.
Wednesday, May 13, 2020An Alternative to Total Lockdown is Urgently Needed America is trapped in a binary choice between letting COVID-19 run its natural course or locking down society to minimize the infections and deaths until a vaccine is available. This three-tiered method of controlling the virus would permit a safer means to gradually reopen the economy and relieve the economic burdens on us all.
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Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Bernie/Biden Clash On Social Security Masks Real Differences The dust storm over whether Bernie Sanders distorted Joe Biden's past support on Social Security only masks the real differences between them. Biden always supports the middle class. Bernie Sanders, for his entire career, wants to bring hope and lift the structural economic burdens of every American family living within or below the middle-class.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020Bernie/Biden Clash On Social Security Masks Real Differences The dust storm over whether Bernie Sanders distorted Joe Biden's past support on Social Security only masks the real differences between them. Biden always supports the middle class. Bernie Sanders, for his entire career, wants to bring hope and lift the structural economic burdens of every American family living within or below the middle-class.
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Monday, December 30, 2019
Wealth Inequality Was Always Un-American The vast concentrations of private wealth we see today is incomparable with a democratic society - and our founding fathers knew it. There was a general agreement that America needed to guard against the extreme accumulation of property in the hands of a few.
Monday, December 30, 2019Wealth Inequality Was Always Un-American The vast concentrations of private wealth we see today is incomparable with a democratic society - and our founding fathers knew it. There was a general agreement that America needed to guard against the extreme accumulation of property in the hands of a few.
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Monday, December 9, 2019
The Economy and Society Benefit When Poor Families Have More to Spend The overall beneficial impacts of increasing the purchasing power among poor families are rarely studied. Now a major new study has found that the ripple effects when direct, substantial cash assistance is given to poor families have,"... large positive spillovers on non-recipient households and firms, and minimal price inflation."
Monday, December 9, 2019The Economy and Society Benefit When Poor Families Have More to Spend The overall beneficial impacts of increasing the purchasing power among poor families are rarely studied. Now a major new study has found that the ripple effects when direct, substantial cash assistance is given to poor families have,"... large positive spillovers on non-recipient households and firms, and minimal price inflation."
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Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Shadow Banking a Growing Threat to Global Financial Stability Billionaires, oligarchs, and their self-dealing minions are gowing a shadow-banking network that is fully or partially outside national boundaries. These "Other Financial Institutions" now account for close to a third of all the world's financial wealth. It is socially malignant accumulation wealth with no direct productive value. Its capital growth cannot be taxed for the benefit of any global society.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019Shadow Banking a Growing Threat to Global Financial Stability Billionaires, oligarchs, and their self-dealing minions are gowing a shadow-banking network that is fully or partially outside national boundaries. These "Other Financial Institutions" now account for close to a third of all the world's financial wealth. It is socially malignant accumulation wealth with no direct productive value. Its capital growth cannot be taxed for the benefit of any global society.
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Friday, October 18, 2019
The Unasked Question "How many more billionaires can civilization sustain before it collapses?" There is no question that we crossed the Rubicon into a world where extreme wealth inequality is corrupting world governments and destroying the balance of nature. How many more billionaires can civilization sustain before it collapses?
Friday, October 18, 2019The Unasked Question "How many more billionaires can civilization sustain before it collapses?" There is no question that we crossed the Rubicon into a world where extreme wealth inequality is corrupting world governments and destroying the balance of nature. How many more billionaires can civilization sustain before it collapses?
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Wednesday, October 9, 2019
On September 19th Donald Trump Declared Himself Our Dictator "The President asserts an extraordinary claim... He contends that" under the United States Constitution... while in office [he] enjoys absolute immunity from criminal process of any kind." - Judge Victor Marrero. By logical extension, if no violation of the law can apply to him while in office, then no election can unseat him and no Congress can remove him by impeachment.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019On September 19th Donald Trump Declared Himself Our Dictator "The President asserts an extraordinary claim... He contends that" under the United States Constitution... while in office [he] enjoys absolute immunity from criminal process of any kind." - Judge Victor Marrero. By logical extension, if no violation of the law can apply to him while in office, then no election can unseat him and no Congress can remove him by impeachment.
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Thursday, August 8, 2019
Micro-targeting: How Personal Data Stolen From Facebook Helped Elect Trump Micro-targeting is a military grade propaganda weapon. Imagine if you had psychosocial profiles on every adult and could: 1) accurately predict an individuals behavior, 2) identify any individual whose actions you want to sway, 3) Immerse each of them in a custom media universe designed to alter voting behaviors w/o their being aware of the manipulation. Did this happen in the 2016 election? Will it happen again in 2020?
Thursday, August 8, 2019Micro-targeting: How Personal Data Stolen From Facebook Helped Elect Trump Micro-targeting is a military grade propaganda weapon. Imagine if you had psychosocial profiles on every adult and could: 1) accurately predict an individuals behavior, 2) identify any individual whose actions you want to sway, 3) Immerse each of them in a custom media universe designed to alter voting behaviors w/o their being aware of the manipulation. Did this happen in the 2016 election? Will it happen again in 2020?
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Sunday, June 23, 2019
Data Analysis Shows a Dem Centrist Candidate Loses Massive income growth by the wealthiest citizens and changing patterns of wealth accumulation at the top of the scale created a new, high education/high wealth class of elites on the political left. Their power and special interests realigned the priorities of the Democratic Party and shifted focus away from those on the lower end of the economic scale.
Sunday, June 23, 2019Data Analysis Shows a Dem Centrist Candidate Loses Massive income growth by the wealthiest citizens and changing patterns of wealth accumulation at the top of the scale created a new, high education/high wealth class of elites on the political left. Their power and special interests realigned the priorities of the Democratic Party and shifted focus away from those on the lower end of the economic scale.
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Monday, June 10, 2019
Coup d'e'tat - The Revolution Has Been Televised for Years The Republican Party has been replaced by a subversive cohort of politicians hostile to a pluralistic, democratic Republic in which they must share power with others who don't look, think, or worship like them. The bedrock of democracy is the consent of the minority to accept majority rule in exchange for personal liberty and protection under the law. This social contract is breaking down in America.
Monday, June 10, 2019Coup d'e'tat - The Revolution Has Been Televised for Years The Republican Party has been replaced by a subversive cohort of politicians hostile to a pluralistic, democratic Republic in which they must share power with others who don't look, think, or worship like them. The bedrock of democracy is the consent of the minority to accept majority rule in exchange for personal liberty and protection under the law. This social contract is breaking down in America.
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Monday, March 25, 2019
You, Me and This Space Between Us Evidence is accumulating that social media platforms increase our daily exposure to like-minded beliefs, a narrower band of information sources, and mono-cultural opinions. It surrounds us in a self-referential media cloud that discretely alters our perceptions and narrows are world views.
Monday, March 25, 2019You, Me and This Space Between Us Evidence is accumulating that social media platforms increase our daily exposure to like-minded beliefs, a narrower band of information sources, and mono-cultural opinions. It surrounds us in a self-referential media cloud that discretely alters our perceptions and narrows are world views.
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Saturday, March 16, 2019
Creepy Netflix Discovery Highlights What's Wrong with Social Media Today The artificial segmentation of the population is happening everywhere, across all social media platforms. Into how many different AI generated segments are we being corralled? To what extent is our narrowing worldview being remolded and reinforced by computer systems designed to maximize profits at the expense of our shared humanity. How long before we don't recognize a unifying American culture anymore?
Saturday, March 16, 2019Creepy Netflix Discovery Highlights What's Wrong with Social Media Today The artificial segmentation of the population is happening everywhere, across all social media platforms. Into how many different AI generated segments are we being corralled? To what extent is our narrowing worldview being remolded and reinforced by computer systems designed to maximize profits at the expense of our shared humanity. How long before we don't recognize a unifying American culture anymore?
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Friday, September 7, 2018
To Impeach or Not to Impeach - A Soliloquy To impeach, or not to impeach: That is the question. What might William Shakespeare have Hamlet say on this pressing question? I asked him and this is what I heard.
Friday, September 7, 2018To Impeach or Not to Impeach - A Soliloquy To impeach, or not to impeach: That is the question. What might William Shakespeare have Hamlet say on this pressing question? I asked him and this is what I heard.
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Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Campaign Finance Laws Discriminates Against Worker and Voters Campaign finance laws set one limit political donations by individual voters but other, higher limits for businesses and PACs. If a business has the same free speech rights as a person, why is it allowed to have a higher campaign donation limit?
Wednesday, May 2, 2018Campaign Finance Laws Discriminates Against Worker and Voters Campaign finance laws set one limit political donations by individual voters but other, higher limits for businesses and PACs. If a business has the same free speech rights as a person, why is it allowed to have a higher campaign donation limit?
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Sunday, September 24, 2017
Why Russia Hacked Voter Registration Databases - Micro-targeted Messaging Into the" big data" world of our modern political campaigns comes a whole set of newly developed propaganda technologies that can exploit a campaigns massive knowledge base. Explaining how just one of these new, information technology weapons work, one called micro-targeting, we can see how the dots may be connected in the Russia election scandal now unfolding.
Sunday, September 24, 2017Why Russia Hacked Voter Registration Databases - Micro-targeted Messaging Into the" big data" world of our modern political campaigns comes a whole set of newly developed propaganda technologies that can exploit a campaigns massive knowledge base. Explaining how just one of these new, information technology weapons work, one called micro-targeting, we can see how the dots may be connected in the Russia election scandal now unfolding.
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Monday, July 17, 2017
Front Lines in the Cyber-War Against America If Republicans in Congress seem dismissive of claims that Russia attacked our elections it may be because Americans on the far right have a starkly different world view created by right-wing media organizations. They believe we are under attack and democracy is at risk, but the enemy is in the Middle East and in our own government.
Monday, July 17, 2017Front Lines in the Cyber-War Against America If Republicans in Congress seem dismissive of claims that Russia attacked our elections it may be because Americans on the far right have a starkly different world view created by right-wing media organizations. They believe we are under attack and democracy is at risk, but the enemy is in the Middle East and in our own government.
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Sunday, March 12, 2017
It Has A Name: FASCISM Correctly applying the fascist label to Russia is an important step toward understanding our own national politics and the growing swirl of suspicious connections between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Sunday, March 12, 2017It Has A Name: FASCISM Correctly applying the fascist label to Russia is an important step toward understanding our own national politics and the growing swirl of suspicious connections between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
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Monday, March 6, 2017
Propaganda in the Digital Age - Mind Control on a Massive Scale During the presidential election a new generation of military-grade propaganda techniques, the most powerful ever developed, was unleashed in America. The internet and our personal digital profiles were "weaponized" against us and we didn't even know it. It's called Cognitive Warfare, and we are all potential victims.
Monday, March 6, 2017Propaganda in the Digital Age - Mind Control on a Massive Scale During the presidential election a new generation of military-grade propaganda techniques, the most powerful ever developed, was unleashed in America. The internet and our personal digital profiles were "weaponized" against us and we didn't even know it. It's called Cognitive Warfare, and we are all potential victims.
