 Greetings, everyone. Greetings and welcome to Progressive Discussions. I am your host since 1995 in various forms, James P. Madonna. Progressive Discussions can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus communities. We're definitely out there. I hope everyone had a very pleasant, fun-filled, all-how-os-if. This is November 1, 2018, All Souls Day. My late grandfather, John, this is birthday today. Wherever you are, grandpa, happy birthday. And tomorrow, of course, is the day of the dead. So I want to dedicate that tomorrow to all Mexican Americans. And its autumn is, especially October and November 2. Autumn in general is my favorite time of the year, for many reasons. So I call it a three-day holiday, a three-day autumn holiday. It's fun. In my town, we only had the very young children trick-or-treating. And once the sun goes down, the older kids in my community do not go out. Now on the other hand, where my sister is, which is about 10, 15 minutes' drive from here with traffic, the kids are all out until about maybe 8 or 9 p.m. It looks like the day of the dead. It looks like a bunch of zombies walking around in the dark, big kids going out. And my sister says, once the candy's gone, I'm shutting the porch lights off and maybe turning the bell off because I am not opening the door late at night for almost adult people. Okay. And they're very obnoxious and pushy, by the way. Gimme candy. You know, they're very demanding. You know how kids are now. Not necessarily the millennials, but the ones that are coming up behind the millennials are monsters. Heaven help us all. They'll probably turn us into soylent and green. You know, by time we become a nursing home age, Heaven help our society. I see nothing but chaos. I see more road rage. I see more dysfunctional freakazoids walking around. People talking to themselves. People fighting for no good reason, for over petty reasons. It's nothing but total chaos. And look at the example we have in the White House. Of course, he's going to set the example for a chaotic America, a chaotic society, because look at the people who showed up at his rallies. Not the majority of America, but the lowest common denominators of society showed up. So unfortunately, because almost, I'd say, not quite, but almost two-thirds, and this is a chakran, of Americans did not bother to vote in 2016. And this is why we have what we have. Okay. Now I want to give seven lucky bells for this pre-election, 2018, progressive discussions. And we might have people joining us, hopefully, if they're not out of the home, you know, busy doing things. We might have some progressive joining us. Seven lucky bells. And I'll be sipping, because this is an uncensored show, I'll be sipping a local New Jersey wine, a wonderful wine, okay, from South Jersey, because that's where the blueberries are grown, okay. It's delicious. Valenzano, true blue, blueberry wine. I'm not sure how many states, if any, outside of New Jersey can get this wine, but it definitely is delicious. It is probably antioxidant rich, okay, antioxidant, uncle oxidants, whatever. I'm going to have some right now. It smells like blueberries, man, but it's fermented. Incredible. Incredible. I'm trying to find, well, I'll get my reading lessons later and check out the alcohol by volume. But anyway, what I was saying before, about voting, aside from the fact that it is your duty as an American citizen to vote at every major election, I realize many people out there have voter apathy and they think the system is so corrupt and so rigged that their vote doesn't matter. But there is the numbers game because when the asses of the masses make it their business to vote at every major election, the more of the mainstream lower 98% that vote, the greater the chances of either Democrats or progressives will get elected and Republicans will not get elected. Republicans lose when most of the mainstream lower 98% vote. So make it your business to vote because this may be the most important election in modern day American history. A lot is riding on this election this coming Tuesday, or next Tuesday, yeah, yeah, this coming Tuesday, I'm sorry. A lot is riding. You're very survival is riding if you happen to be poor because the Republicans since probably since the industrial revolution with the evil wicked greedy JP Morgan, they've always waged war against the poor. There was always this depopulation or genocidal plan to knock off the poor or enslave them. Of course, the greedy rich would love to bring back slavery and in a way they do have slavery with privatized prisons and there are certain conservative politicians in Washington that have investments in privatized prisons and when you think of privatization, you think of the corporate oligarch, you think of corporate CEOs, which send lobbyists out, which try to bribe and pay off our politicians. Our establishment politicians that are corrupt and they take the bribe. So it's really not rocket science. I know if you watch CNN, there are all kinds of like political analysts and you know, economists and everything, but the fact is true that Republicans simply do not win when more of the mainstream lower 98% make it their business to vote. Personally, it only takes me 15 minutes to vote because what I do is I get a sample ballot. I vote electronically. Hold on. Something's making my live stream show a little blurry. I get a sample ballot in a mail. I look it over. I read it. If there's any questions, which there are public questions to be voted upon and I predetermined what I'm going to do when I get in the electronic voting booth and then I just simply press those buttons and then I press the big button to cast the ballot and I'm done and I only have to travel well a few minutes to get to the to the grammar school where I'm supposed to vote now here in Northeastern New Jersey now by time I get there and an old friend of mine is always there volunteering. He's the Robertson arrow and I use back in the day when I used to work with seafood processing for 10 years. I filleted everything. I cut filleted steak. I did it all. My dear, dear old friend is there and I talk to him, you know, we reminisce and we update each other and then I go vote. Well, yeah, I mean, of course, it takes me no more than 15 minutes, but then with all the bullshitting I do, you know, with, with, with Robertson arrow, you know, the time it's not, but I predetermined what I'm going to do and I do it now now, isn't it worth a portion of a small portion of your day once in a big long while to secure your happiness in your future as an American citizen. Okay, let's see, what do we have here? We have a whole bunch of nominations by petition. I honestly do not know who they are. Okay, I only know of one person that is not on the Democrat ballot that is probably the best progressive New Jersey has to offer. And that's Lisa McCormick, but she's not running this time, so I don't see her. I do not know these other people. So unfortunately, in order to stop the Republicans, James P. Madonna, once again, will have to suck it up and vote for the lesser of the two evils. And here we have the Democratic Party, oh God help me, not voting, there's no way in hell I would vote for a Republican, because they will definitely be the demise of poor people and they will bring back the days of racism and slavery and this will be definitely the corporate oligarch will control the United States, which will become the fascist States of America. There is no doubt in my mind that that will happen. Okay, women's rights will be taken away, people of color, poor people, there will be no social services to help the poor whatsoever. Sometimes with establishment Democrats, there's no help for the poor, like this guy that we have now is governor in the state of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, he's a Democrat, but I heard he's a former Wall Street man, like John Corzine was, and what I discovered was he's defunding many social programs. This woman I know who is a widow with three young children, she was supposed to get new windows put in as part of the winterizing package with a new furnace. She lives in a prefabricated mobile home and she's considered low income family, raising three children without a husband because she's a widow. They were all set to install the new windows and then all of a sudden they said, sorry, even though we have your windows physically, the state capital, Trenton, New Jersey, the state administration defunded the program to have your new windows put in. How about that? I found out that rent subsidy, not rent subsidy, Section 8, yes, Section 8 rent subsidy in New Jersey is not expected to be funded for several years and there is no funding, zero funding for low income subsidized housing for senior citizens and the disabled. Yes, you heard it right. And we have a Democrat as governor. How about that? So much for Democrats being liberal. No, they're not liberal. Sometimes they're not even moderate, right? They're corporatists. They're corporatists. So, you know, they don't even care if the poor drop dead. They don't care about seniors. They don't care about disabled, let alone regular reasonably healthy poor people. Okay, we have first on the list, Robert Menendez, then Josh Godheimer. I had an incident with him on one of his telephone town hall meetings of Bergen County. Now we have Joseph A. Lagana, Christopher, I'm sorry, USA, Usa Swain. Christopher Tully, James J. Tedesco, the third. Is that like Thurston Howell, the third from Gilligan's Island? Anthony Kyrton, Stephen A. Tonelli, Tracy Silna, sir. I'm not even going to read the Republican side, but I'm going to show you some funny political advertisements that came in the mail. Now, Bob for, I guess he's running for state senate, but Bob Hugen supposedly was in the pharmaceutical industry and he did some price gouging and had a greed, but it doesn't surprise me. Big pharma, big oil, big agra, they're sociopaths, you know, they don't care. They care about profit before people and the planet. So what I'm going to do is quickly settle for a lesser of two evils because we really have to, we have the Democrats really need to take control of the House of Representatives and with a lot of luck and blessings from the Lord, take over to Senate, even though mainstream media says it's not going to happen, you know. But, you know, it's not over until the fat late six, as they say. Now, let me show some comical. Here we got John McKinn, Republican John McKinn here in New Jersey. He doesn't look like Chuck McCann, who was a nice guy. It says here, tax cheat John McCann belongs in this suit, not this one. Okay, he belongs in this suit, not this one, because he teapot here and tax cheat. Well, what else is new is the back of it. He doesn't pay his taxes. Of course, Donald Trump loves him. You know, he doesn't pay his taxes like all the rich people in the United States. But he sure as hell loves to put the tax burden on the middle class, of course. Oh, yeah, he voted to raise taxes on everybody else except the top two percent. Um, yeah, and of course, he's anti single payer universal health care and he's the anti social services. You know, Republicans are very predictable. They really are. They're greedy sociopaths. They are 100 percent pure selfishness and they're very corrupt. You know, their their palm is always getting greased always. So that that's a John McCann. Okay, John McCann is running for Congress, I believe. And then we have this funny one says John McCann wants to bring this tea party to Washington, but you can stop both on Tuesday. And here we have, this is comical. Here we have John McCann having tea with Donald Trump. What is very long tie? I guess that sort of compensates for a lacking in another area of his body. The long tie, you know, just like bald, bald men going through midlife crisis. Have a tendency to grow a ponytail in the back when they're bald. It's true they compensate. All right. Or, you know, short people have a Napoleonic complex, little dogs have a Napoleonic complex tea party or John McCann takes after Trump in all the worst ways. And then it explains everything here. Well, he certainly is not shy about about getting paid a large sum of money on tax payers dime earn 140,000 a year from a full time political patriotist job while raking in another 500,000 on the side voted to raise local taxes four times. Well, on the Kresgill town council and voted for higher property taxes Kresgill that that's in my county. That's that's in my snooty highfalutin asshole capital of the world county of Bergen County, New Jersey. Prick, what a bunch of pricks failed to pay more than $100,000 of his own taxes for five years and was sued by a local tax attorney. By a local small business for stiffing them. Ah, what does that sound like to you? Someone who stiffs others for money. This is sound very familiar. Like a person that likes to wear very long red ties. And that's all true supports getting healthcare, which would cause nearly gutting. I'm sorry, supports gutting healthcare, which would cause nearly one million people in New Jersey to lose coverage and would cause New Jersey $6,000 per family supported the tax hike bill that gutted the state and local tax deduction and raise taxes on more than 40% of New Jersey families. Of course, the middle class. Of course, you know, wants to privatize Medicare. Hey, buddy, Medicare is not an entitlement. Medicare and Social Security belong to we the people because we paid into it wants to privatize Medicare, which means steal it. Risking healthcare coverage for millions of seniors. Then again, they're again. They don't care. The sociopaths stand up to the Trump agenda. Vote no on John McCann. All right. And there, there they are. There they are. Now, I know this is local New Jersey politics. This doesn't represent all 50 states, but you take the Republican mentality and you multiply it. You multiply it times 50 states and you will always see a predictable pattern with the right wing with Republicans. And they fit in perfectly with end time prophecy. If you happen to be a believer in a Christian, I mean, a real Christian, not a counterfeit Christian cultists like the right wing conservative evangelicals. Okay. So that pretty much does it concerning voting. And this is reality. The more, excuse me, I got a black. This is where you probably know it. Oh, you progressive discussion fans of Blackthorne and Irish Shalely is like my gavel. Like like Judge Judy's gavel. The more of the mainstream population is I want you. You numb skulls, you knuckleheads, unique and poops. Okay. To let this sink in because obviously the average American is a blithering idiot. The more that the mainstream population, the lower 98% vote, the more votes that come from the lower 98% of the population, the little guy, the working stiff, the sucker, the chunk. The less Republicans, cons, I should say, rethug the cons will get elected at every major election. This is an old fact. So if you think the system is too corrupt and too rigged to really matter, if you feel like your vote doesn't count well, the numbers game will override that. So if the asses of the masses get out there and make it their business to vote, it's only, it's really a small portion of your life every four years. Unless you're that selfish and hedonistic that you can't spend a little of your time every four years to secure your future. Then nothing is going to change. And then you're going to make excuses. You're going to go on social media and you're going to, you're going to type, type, type or voice to text, which is whatever invented it is. Really sucks because you always have to make corrections and you're going to go on social media and you're going to complain and complain and complain. And talk about what the real problem is and force your opinion on how to solve it because everyone's a guru. Everyone is an expert on social media and also the trolls have keyboard courage because they'll get their asses kicked if they did it right in front of people. But you'll complain on social media and Facebook and Twitter and another four years will go by and things will get worse and worse and worse. And then another major election will come and you assholes won't make it your business to vote. And you'll do the same thing over and over until you accelerate the end time prophecy. The United States really goes to hell in a handbasket and you might as well just put your head between your legs and kiss your asses goodbye because you didn't care. I don't care. I don't care if you vote for Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny or Porky Pig. I don't care if you're a brain cell deficient right wing conservative imbecile or whatever you happen to be. It is your duty to vote. You just vote. Get out there. Let let them let the population decide the popular vote because I know I've said this before. The right wing has tricks up their sleeve at every election because the only way they can win is by cheating and cheating for the right wing conservatives is gerrymandering voter IDs. The electoral college and in the case of establishment Democrats from like the DNC super delegates so we have super delegates electoral college voter IDs and gerrymandering. They all should be abolished and we should have the popular vote only because a professional sports team wins by scoring more points than the other team. So why shouldn't it be like that in politics? It's only fair. But in this chaotic fascist corporate oligarch, what is fair? What is really fair? So these things should be abolished because in reality your digital photo driver's license which requires your original birth certificate should really be enough identification for you to vote in the United States. Now Republicans will say, well, the Democrats cheat because they have convicts vote and they have illegal immigrants vote because they're they're obsessed with immigrants of color. They're obsessed with the poor, particularly poor people and immigrants of color. They never bitch and moan about European immigrants. No, not at all. And the people that make up the caravan that is still very far from the US border are predominantly very poor women and children. These people do not have a dollar to their name. And Trump, the Trump Pansy wants to send the military to the border to protect the United States against impoverished women and children. Predominantly. I'm not saying everybody's, you know, a poor woman or child or elderly person or whatever. You know, I mean, there are the exceptions and I believe that you cannot just have a totally open borders and just let every time they can have it in. Now you have to do it just like with gun purchasing. You have to do real background checks, which I don't think they really do. So these people are really just poor, harmless folks that want political asylum, which happens to be legal. But of course, because they're brown skin and poor, and the Republicans are so neurotically obsessed with people going on social services and welfare. Meanwhile, social services makes up like two percent of the total American budget and the military makes up most of it with almost two thirds of the total budget goes to the military industrial complex. Where Republicans will lie and say, oh no, welfare makes up most of the budget is bullshit. They want to make the poor either drop dead. That's why Governor, Republican Governor of Florida, Rick Scott, arrested even an elderly pastor, a minister from feeding the poor and they tore up ten cities. The Republicans want to sweep the poor under the carpet or have them drop dead for whatever reason, or make them so desperate that they will become slaves to the fat cats. They will become slaves to the fat cats by arresting them for possibly vagrants or something, sleeping on a park bench and then they go in a privatized prison and they work for free. There you go. Another way that they get free labor is, and I think James Pineda doesn't see it, internships. If you're in school and you're a fool to be paying an astronomically high tuition, which you'll never pay back because the economy in the job market sucks because companies will not hire people fresh out of school without experience. They want five years or more experience, right? So the last year, the senior graduating class, for the last semester, they will usually be told that they can work for school credit as interns, so they work for free for a company. And I know I did shows about this before, they work for free and then they'll graduate and then these companies will get another busload of senior semester students and they'll work as interns for free. So that's another sneaky way that the right wing capitalists get free slave labor. So you see how all this works, privatized prisons and internships from school, the kids will go deep in debt because companies now want five years plus experience plus the diploma or the degree. It's just an excuse to pay the average employee chunk change, chicken feed, shit on a stick. That's all it is. That's all it is, just an excuse. So I think I, wow, time sure flies. I think I covered a lot here. I'm surprised that my progressive compadres did not join me. I guess they were busy. I want to give some shout outs to my one of my progressive co-hosts, Mr. McFawn Raven, Mr. McFawn Raven, also Mr. Thomas Metal 75, who does the craft beer enthusiast shows, he's a craft beer expert. And we've had progressive discussions, no pun intended off the air. And Anthony Laura, I salute Anthony Laura, another fine progressive friend of mine. And let's see, and of course Lisa McCormick of New Jersey, a true progressive politician in New Jersey that has been running as a Democrat, but I really think that the best thing that can happen to her is if Bernie Sanders and Nina Turner's Our Revolution organization comes to New Jersey and totally backs her. It supports her in campaigns for her and she runs as an Our Revolution independent. That's her best bet. Whether or not she thinks about it and does it is another story. Let's see, how many, I mean, I have some progressive friends other than the ones I mentioned connected to the progressive discussions Facebook page, which you are more than welcome to join, but definitely join my pride and joy Twitter. Progressive discussions on Twitter. Mr. Neville Hurst of the United Kingdom, I salute you. That's right. The man from the other side of the pond, the progressive warrior in the United Kingdom. And let me see who else is a progressive. Believe it or not, I have some right wing friends that took a huge liking to me. They know I'm progressive. I just don't talk about politics with them. Oh, I did a political show with Mr. J. Terrio. Yes, let me salute Mr. J. Terrio. He is a connoisseur on fine, fermented beverages of all kinds. Retired school teacher. He's big on nostalgic baseball. He's an intellect. And I love having deep conversations with him, so I salute. And I did have a pretty good political show with him. Because we talked about common sense reality. J. Terrio. Ronald J. Terrio, Southern Louisiana. I salute you too. So, I mean, that's about it, really. Oh, Michael LeBar, believe it or not, of the state of Oklahoma. Yes, there are progressives in the state of Oklahoma. And he is number one out west. Okay, he has a huge following, Mr. Michael LeBar. And he could be found on Facebook. He doesn't have a page per se, but he has a big following on his profile. But he's extremely knowledgeable and definitely a progressive warrior. And then I'm also a very supportive of the Democratic Socialist Organization, which is in practically every state in the United States. Thank the Lord. I'm going to salute them, Democratic Socialist Association, or whatever their full terminology is. And of course, our revolution. As long as they're not, they don't turn pandering politically correct neoliberal, I'm fine with them. You know, once they start getting to liberal and become neoliberals, then I'm not going to support them. But I do love the Democratic Socialist Organization, which is nationwide. And DSA, I think capital D, capital S, capital A, is the acronym for their organization. But you can find them on Facebook and Twitter. But at least you know where they're coming from. Okay. So that being said, don't forget to vote this Tuesday. In case people request me to go on the air again before this election, make sure you vote. It's the most important election of modern day of America. Okay. But I am open to going back on the air if other progressive warriors and activists are willing to join me. So that being said, take care. Have a good night and have a, into all my Mexican American friends out there, have an enjoyable day of the dead November the 2nd. It's a Friday, so it should be a relatively fun day of the dead holiday. I am not sure if I'm going to the Royal Hibachi Buffet, or if I am going to La Fortaleza Mexican restaurant because Friday might be too crowded for La Fortaleza and I won't get a table or a parking space. And then there's no way I'm sitting at the bar for 45 minutes, you know, waiting for a table. No. I'm not going to do it. So maybe I'll just go to my favorite buffet. As seen on the web. Remember I was there with my good friend power lifter Jeff Zambello, my salute tremendously and former WWE star and personal trainer extraordinaire, Kent Deeson, living now in Boca Raton, Florida. Nice to meet you also. Mr. Mace Mann, Rick Brown. Mr. Mace Mann, Rick Brown, I salute you. He's going to Austin, Texas, I think. I think he's there now. He's going to do a seminar Saturday and followed by going to the Salt Lake Barbecue Landmark. And then in early December he's going to the Great Wall of China and my good friend Jeff Zambello is participating in a, I think it might be a kettlebell professional kettlebell event. I believe I'm not sure if there's other events he's going to do there. At the beginning of December also he's returning and he will spend time with me, you know, possibly longer than before. So we had a great time. You can see the videos on progressive discussions, YouTube channel, all of our excapades, you know, going here and there, funny incidents and the buffet. The buffet was a lot of laughs and there was a lot of revelation going on with the drama of the alternative old school, ancient warrior, physical fitness circle. Believe it or not the men, because of their egos, can be like all wash women, very catty. So let me get another sip of this delicious Valenzano true blue blueberry wine, New Jersey specialty here, South Jersey. That is great. Let me show it again. It definitely tastes like blueberries, but fermented with and of course having alcohol in it. Let me do this the right way. Let me get these for my cheap reading glasses on here. Do this the right way. What do we got? Valenzano true blue wine. Produced and bottled by Valenzano winery, Shamang, S-H-A-M-O-N-G, New Jersey, Shamang, New Jersey, Valenzano wine dot com. And it is definitely for real. That's for sure. From the garden state of New Jersey. It's most likely in South Jersey. Oh, 11.5% alcohol by volume. So it is definitely considered a table wine, because dessert wines are 18% or more alcohol by volume. It's good. It'll sneak up on you and that's for sure. Anyway, take care.