Canada is right. Today’s Filibuster & Voting Rights gymnastics offer only an illusion - America’s conversion to a fascist dictatorship is already locked in.
I hope they are wrong, but Canada is probably correct. Even with Washington passing pro voting laws today, America’s conversion to a fascist dictatorship is locked in & irreversible
Theater. Propaganda. Call it what you want. It’s not like MLK Jr didn’t warn us about the Democrats. And we will now slowly discover that their complicity has proven fatal to our Democracy.
We are merely going through the motions of a couple more elections to achieve, amongst other things, the final liquidation of the environment, at the hands of a Fascist Dictatorship. This has already been achieved in no small part by fascism’s gains at the State level together with a newly politicized and weaponized Judiciary.
Sadly, the usual Social Murder - paired up with a biosphere whose disintegration will be on steroids together with govt sanctioned violence against its own citizens - means the death of American citizens, the non rich, will climb. Starting with the lowest wealth and income cohort and then moving up.
Whatever party it is, from here on out it (e.g. “Georgia Guidestones”, govt acts, etc) is all about forcing as many of us as possible into an unnaturally premature death. The corporations and special interests behind the conversion will have it no other way.
An effective reversing of Charles Koch’s damage to Americans’ Right to Vote was a lot like responding to Global Warming - you either fixed it or else nothing else was going to matter.
America is a failed state.
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
Driftless Area South Central Wisconsin, Dane County USA
2020-10-04 _F2A1336aaa
“Canadian political science experts wars that it’s likely that the United States will be under a right-wing dictator by 2030.
Canada is taking action to protect itself against the “collapse of American democracy.”"
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Here are some examples of what’s going on:
Chris Hedges: "The two million deaths that have resulted from the ruling elites mishandling of the global pandemic will be dwarfed by what is to follow. The global catastrophe that awaits us, already baked into the ecosystem from the failure to curb the use of fossil fuels and animal agriculture, presage new, deadlier pandemics, mass migrations of billions of desperate people, plummeting crop yields, mass starvation and systems collapse."
“Chris Hedges: The Age of Social Murder”
“The ruling elites, despite the accelerating and tangible ecological collapse, mollify us, either by meaningless gestures or denial.”
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“Conservative Activist Leaders Call For an End to Democracy”
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“The Supreme Court just said federal courts can’t stop partisan gerrymandering
It was a 5-4 ruling, with the conservatives in the majority.”
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“Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Voting Restrictions”
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“Michigan Is Calling on the Feds to Investigate Trumpers Who Sent Forged Election Documents
“Obviously this is part of a much bigger conspiracy,” Michigan AG Dana Nessel told MSNBC”
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“State’s Rights = Divide and Conquer
“Pence says federal election bills 'offend the Founders' intention that states conduct elections'”
Pence forgets the Founder's wished for all Americans to be able to vote AND, to have their votes counted, too many states are passing voter restriction laws and, handing power to a few men to overturn an election result if they don't like the result.”
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“Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation—even among Republican voters.”
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“Under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida is drifting toward authoritarianism”
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Intimidation squads: “Florida governor proposes special police agency to monitor elections”
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“WV Senate passes bill to rein in voting options”
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“We’re Suing Texas Over Its New Voter Suppression Law”
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“VOTER SUPPRESSION PACKAGE IS AN ATTACK ON THE VOTING RIGHTS OF WISCONSINITES, ACLU OF WISCONSIN SAYS”
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“In win for Republicans, Wisconsin Supreme Court promises 'least changes' approach to redistricting
Court's conservative majority also said it wouldn't weigh partisan fairness when considering political maps”
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WI Supreme Court Justice Bradley is the same Bradley’s behind the Ultra Right Wing Republican Nazi Foundation operating out of Milwaukee of the same name (ref. ann Bradley). Nothing ever good comes out of a White House politician visiting Milwaukee:
“VP Harris headed to Wisconsin for Monday visit”
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“The poor die from COVID while the rich get richer, Oxfam warns”
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“World's 10 richest men double wealth in the pandemic while 99% of incomes drop, group says”
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“Google isn't upholding its recent pledge to stop running ads on content that promotes climate change denial. Tell Google to do better now and stop publishers that profit off of climate denialism!”
“Google Has the Power to Stop Running Ads for Climate Denialists!”
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Koch’s political influence must end – right wing conservative politics is the religion of domestic pen and paper terrorists:
“Media-friendly, politically moderate billionaires like Bill Gates get a lot of airtime. But the vast majority are nothing like him. Most are highly secretive — and extremely right-wing.”
“The Hidden Billionaires”
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Human Reform Politics on FB \ From Douglas Dunn
December 2, 2021
All of the six Republican-appointed ”justices” are illegitimate. All were either appointed by an illegitimate “president” who did not win the popular vote and only “won” the electoral college by massive cheating and voter suppression, OR lied under oath about sexual violence during their confirmation hearings, OR only got their nominations or confirmations because of illegitimate manipulation of the confirmation process in ways never envisioned by the Founders.
1. Clarence Thomas — committed perjury during confirmation hearings lying about sexual assaults.
2. John Roberts — appointed by an unelected president who took office without getting the most votes and only “won” the Electoral College solely because of cheating and voter suppression in Florida.
3. Samuel Alito — appointed by an unelected president who took office without getting the most votes and solely because of cheating and voter suppression.
4. Neil Gorsuch — appointed by an unelected president who took office without getting the most votes and solely because of cheating via CONspiracy with Russia and vote suppression in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Also occupies a seat that should have been filled by Obama who was obstructed by racist Mitch McConnell.
5. Brett Kavanaugh — appointed by an unelected president who took office without getting the most votes and only “won” the Electoral College solely because of cheating via CONspiracy with Russia and voter suppression AND committed perjury during confirmation hearings and sexual assaults, including rape.
6. Amy Coney Barrett — appointed by an unelected president who took office without getting the most votes and solely because of cheating and voter suppression AND whose appointment was illegally rushed through in an unprecedented violation of the Senate’s own rules after voting in a presidential election was already under way.
Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh both lied under oath about sexual harassment of women, who they seem to think are their personal playthings. They are hardly the right people to be making judgments about women’s rights.
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“OSHA, EPA, etc. it is the Weaponized US Supreme Court's mission to dismantle it.
"Charles Koch’s Big Bet on Barrett
For almost 50 years, the multibillionaire has been pushing for a court unfriendly to regulation of the market. He may be on the brink of victory."
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“Democrats Ask Justice Barrett To Recuse In Case Involving Nonprofit Donor Privacy”
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Heather Cox Richardson:
“January 17, 2022 (Monday)
In this moment of struggle over voting rights in America, it is important to distinguish between voter fraud, which is vanishingly rare and has not affected the outcome of elections, and election fraud, which is coming to characterize a number of our important elections.
Voter fraud is about an individual breaking the law and is almost always caught. It is not a threat to democracy.
Election fraud means that people in power have rigged the system so that the will of the voters is overturned. When it happens, it threatens to destroy our nation.
Now, as the contours of what happened on January 6, 2021, are becoming clearer, they appear to show a number of different schemes to overturn the election through fraud. At least one of those schemes appears to have been a coordinated attempt by members of the Trump administration and sympathizers around the country to overturn our government by committing election fraud.
As early as November 6, 2020, three days after the presidential election but before it had been decided, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who handled communication with the president, texted with a member of Congress about appointing alternate electors in certain states. Meadows told the lawmaker: “I love it.”
Biden was declared the winner of the election on November 7, 2020. That day, Meadows received an email suggesting “the appointment of alternate slates of electors as part of a 'direct and collateral attack' after the election.”
On December 1, 2020, then–Attorney General William Barr undercut Trump’s claims of voter fraud by telling the Associated Press: “[W]e have not seen fraud on a scale that could have [caused] a different outcome in the election.”
The true electors met in the states on Monday, December 14, 2020, and cast their ballots for Biden’s victory. Their states certified those ballots.
On the same day, on Fox & Friends, Trump advisor Stephen Miller announced that the campaign would overturn the election results and certify Trump as the winner. “As we speak today,” he said, “an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote, and we’re going to send those results up to Congress.” Ultimately, fake electors in seven states—New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin—sent fake ballots to Washington. Election law experts dismissed the possibility that these fake electors could accomplish anything; the certified ballots were the true ones.
That same day, December 14, 2020, Trump announced that Attorney General William Barr was resigning. His last day at work was December 23, 2020.
Barr’s deputy, Jeffrey A. Rosen, stepped up to become the acting attorney general. Meanwhile, at the Department of Justice, the freshly appointed acting head of the civil division, Jeffrey Clark, circulated a draft letter written to officials in Georgia, dated December 28, 2020, claiming falsely that the Justice Department had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states, including the State of Georgia.” The letter attempted to make that charge seem real by calling for an investigation (a technique Republican candidates have used since 1994 to allege voter fraud when they lost elections). The letter claimed that two sets of electors had met “in Georgia and several other States… and that both sets of those ballots have been transmitted to Washington, D.C., to be opened by Vice President Pence.” The letter asked the Republican-dominated Georgia legislature to choose which set of electors was the right one after taking the alleged voter fraud into account.
Clark circulated the draft letter to Rosen and Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, asking them to agree to it. “I think we should get it out as soon as possible…. Personally, I see no valid downsides to sending out the letter," he wrote. "I put it together quickly and would want to do a formal cite check before sending but I don't think we should let unnecessary moss grow on this." Clark told them he wanted to send similar letters to “each relevant state.”
Several days later, Donoghue responded: "There is no chance that I would sign this letter or anything remotely like this.” He rejected Clark’s allegations: “[T]he investigations that I am aware of relate to suspicions of misconduct that are of such a small scale that they simply would not impact the outcome of the Presidential Election." Later, Rosen wrote: “I confirmed again today that I am not prepared to sign such a letter."
In early January, Clark talked to Trump, who decided to fire Rosen and put Clark into Rosen’s place as acting attorney general. The remaining leaders in the Justice Department promised to resign all together if he did any such thing, and Trump backed down.
If the states themselves could not be used to invalidate the legitimate Biden electors, though, Vice President Mike Pence could. As vice president, Pence would be responsible for counting the states’ certified ballots on January 6. Lawyer John Eastman of the conservative Claremont Institute (and former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) wrote a memo suggesting that Pence, “or Senate Pro Tempore [Chuck] Grassley, if Pence recuses himself,” could claim that “because of the ongoing disputes in the 7 States, there are no electors that can be deemed validly appointed in those States.” Rejecting them would mean there were only 454 legitimate votes, and 228 would make up a majority.
In that scenario, “[t]here are at this point 232 votes for Trump, 222 votes for Biden,” Eastman wrote. “Pence then gavels President Trump as re-elected.”
Eastman’s memo continued: “Howls… from the Democrats…. So Pence says, fine…. [Since]... no candidate has achieved the necessary majority,” the matter goes to the House of Representatives, where each state gets a single vote. “Republicans currently control 26 of the state delegations…. Trump is reelected there as well.”
Eastman concluded: “The main thing… is that Pence should do this without asking for permission…. Let the other side challenge his actions in court,” where he expected the lawsuits would get thrown out because courts refuse to decide political questions.
The fly in this ointment turned out to be Pence, who, after conferring with advisors, steadfastly refused to act the part he had been assigned, a part that would have made him the leader of an insurrection and the obvious fall guy if things didn’t go as the conspirators had planned.
He also, though, refused to step aside, although there were clearly plans to make him do so. On January 5, Senator Grassley (R-IA) told a reporter that “we don’t expect [Pence] to be there,” and that he, Grassley, would “be presiding over the Senate.” His staff immediately walked that announcement back, saying it was a “misunderstanding.”
But Grassley’s statement reveals that the plan was widely known. Senior legal affairs reporter for Politico Kyle Cheney noted this weekend that Pence undercut those pushing him to deal with the fake electors by changing the language that explained what would be counted. The law says that the vice president must introduce all “purported” electoral votes. Pence added to the standard language that had been used for decades, saying that, according to the parliamentarian, the only votes that could be considered “regular in form and authentic” were those that had official state certification. Surely he would not have made such a change unless he felt the need to push back on those who would demand he acknowledge the fake ballots.
Frustrated by the vice president, Trump called on his followers who had planned a violent attack on the Capitol, possibly hoping to put enough pressure on Pence that he would change his mind; or to hold the lawmakers hostage until they agreed to his plan; or to slow down the process enough that the election would go to the House; or to slow it down enough that the Supreme Court, to which he had appointed three justices from whom he expected loyalty, would decide in his favor. At least four times on January 6, Trump tweeted about counting the forged ballots.
Miraculously, the plan failed, but Trump loyalists have been working ever since to make sure a repeat will not fail, passing new laws to suppress Democratic voters and take the counting of electoral votes out of the hands of nonpartisan officials and give it to Trump supporters.
This weekend, Trump told Republicans in Pennsylvania why he is focusing on races for supervisor of elections in 2022. “We have to be a lot sharper the next time when it comes to counting the vote,” he said. “There’s a famous statement: ‘Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate,’ and we can’t let that ever, ever happen again. They have to get tougher and smarter.”
Voter fraud in America is vanishingly rare and has not affected the outcome of elections, and it is almost always prosecuted. But Trump loyalists used cries of voter fraud as an excuse to commit election fraud. Whether they will be prosecuted for it is an open question.”
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“Jan 6th: The Real Threat is Christian Nationalism in the Military - Mikey Weinstein”
I’m not a lawyer (I just play one sitting on the john reading buckowski) but consider the following:
Timothy McVeigh’s purchase of fertilizer was part of a much greater crime. And it sure as hell wasn’t consistent with the fertilizer company’s legal right to sell fertilizer. But seeing as the seller had no indication of its ultimate use, they sold it to him anyway. Now, when somebody wants to buy a truck load of stuff that can be used as an explosive and they really don’t have any legitimate reason for buying the stuff anyway, I would like to think that most governments would ensure that actually exploding the stuff isn’t something the buyer can realize.
Fair enough. In fact, this type of thinking is arguably already practiced today in similar circumstances. For instance, when you’re convicted of murder everything you did in the process of committing that murder is considered part of your committing the crime and therefore shouldn’t have ever really happened in the first place.
So the problem I have is that it sure looks like when you kill a democracy, everything you do in your performance of that act (e.g. gerrymandering, legalizing dark money, passing voter suppression laws, appointing judges, etc.) is simply considered practicing democracy in a legally binding way despite the fact that the cumulative effect of your actions is wildly at odds with your advertised reason for doing these things in the first place.
A slow-motion, pen and paper coup is a still a coup. It is still an act of domestic terrorism. It violates every sense of the word of trust and an oath related to the common good.
““The Coming Coup”: Ari Berman on Republican Efforts to Steal Future Elections”
“The Republican Party is plotting to steal the upcoming elections through a combination of racist gerrymandering, voter suppression and election subversion.”
“Conservative Activist Leaders Call For an End to Democracy”
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Our 2 Party System is indifferent to 99% of the American Population:
“I remember, when I was in university I studied history, and there was this one major historian of the Third Reich, Ian Kershaw. And his quote was, ‘The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference.’ [or the Georgia Guidestones if you prefer]
I know it’s not very funny being a comedian talking about the Holocaust, but I think it’s an interesting idea that not everyone in Germany had to be a raving anti-Semite. They just had to be apathetic.” Sacha Baron Cohen
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“US war lobby fuels conflict in Russia, Ukraine, and Syria: ex-Pentagon advisor”
“Another retired high ranking officer coming clean after retirement. Maybe we should all pay for the complete US military hierarchy to go into retirement.
“ Col. Doug Macgregor, an ex-Pentagon advisor, on how the US war lobby fuels conflict from Ukraine to Syria. Washington, DC, he says, is “occupied territory. It’s occupied by corporations, by lobbies.”””
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“Several new studies and investigations have just been published which demonstrate the clear link between environmental destruction and factory farming.”
Meat, Egg and Dairy Alternatives https://www.vegan.com/vegan-alternatives/
“STUDIES REVEAL DEVASTATING IMPACT OF FACTORY FARMING”
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“One of THE MOST POISONOUS Substances | Agent Orange’s Destructive Legacy”
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““Who We Are”: New Film Chronicles History of Racism in America Amid Growing Attack on Voting Rights”
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DEMOCRATS NEED TO ADD NEW US SUPREME COURT JUSTICES AND IMPEACH OTHERS, and generally our 2 parties need to perform their jobs in good faith as per the people who voted for them:
“The real problem that we've always had with these issues of voting is the fear of the aristocracy of the masses of poor and low-wealth people, Black and white, coming together to vote in a way that fundamentally shifts the architecture of the nation."
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Don’t down play Social Murder:
COVID fatalities vs attack on 911
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“CDC director says COVID-19 messaging should have been clearer”
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Sorely needed but should not absolve Washington from the need to make meaningful reforms
“the writer and poet Maya Angelou has become the first Black woman to have her likeness depicted on the quarter,…”
“Maya Angelous’ image is on the back of a coin that still features a slaveowner on the front. Huh.”
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In a word “Clinton”:
“Every time MLK’s name comes out a swine’s mouth they prove how right Lenin was”
“During the lifetime of great revolutionaries, the oppressing classes have visited relentless persecution on them and received their teaching with eh most savage hostility, the most furious hatred, the most ruthless campaign of lies and slanders. After their death, attempts are made to turn them into harmless icons, canonize them, and surround their names with a certain halo for the “consolation” of the oppressed classes and with the object of duping them, while at the same time emasculating and vulgarizing the real essence of their revolutionary theories and blunting their revolutionary edge.”
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$8 Trillion could have gone a long way toward saving what remains of our planet:
“Nomura, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs received a cumulative $8 Trillion from the Fed’s emergency repo loans in fourth quarter of 2019”
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American Politicians financial success is tied to how much the appease people with money:
“Billionaires added $5 trillion to their fortunes during the pandemic, according to Oxfam, exacerbating economic inequality as the pandemic pushed millions of people around the world into poverty”
“Billionaires added $5 trillion to their fortunes during the pandemic”
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“Vaccine Aristocrats Strike Again”
“As yokel-bashing reaches impressive new heights, reports of yet another year of record profits and a widening wealth gap go unnoticed”
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“Defend Public Education”
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“The last seven years have been the hottest on record”
“The last seven years have been the hottest on record: Although within the last seven years, 2021 ranked among the coolest, together with 2015 and 2018, Europe faced the hottest summer on record, close to the extremely warm summers of 2010 and 2018.”
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States Rights= Koch divide and conquer
“Overall, military spending accounts for about half of the federal government's total discretionary spending -- while programs for helping instead of killing are on short rations at many local, state, and national government agencies. It's a nonstop trend of reinforcing the warfare state in sync with warped neoliberal priorities.”
“Ominous History in Real Time: Where We Are Now in the USA”
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“Chris Hedges: The Age of Social Murder”
“The ruling elites, despite the accelerating and tangible ecological collapse, mollify us, either by meaningless gestures or denial.”
Chris Hedges: "The two million deaths that have resulted from the ruling elites mishandling of the global pandemic will be dwarfed by what is to follow. The global catastrophe that awaits us, already baked into the ecosystem from the failure to curb the use of fossil fuels and animal agriculture, presage new, deadlier pandemics, mass migrations of billions of desperate people, plummeting crop yields, mass starvation and systems collapse."
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Kevin Hester:
2012 was when I first learned of this. We’ve been on borrowed time ever since !
“If 50 Gigatons of Methane Suddenly Boils out of the Siberian Sea”
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“Scientists say chemical pollution has passed safe limit for humanity-- Study calls for cap on production and release as pollution threatens global ecosystems upon which life depends.”
“Chemical pollution has passed safe limit for humanity, say scientists”
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No wonder they pay such high salaries!:
“Nomura, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs received a Cumulative $8 Trillion from the Fed’s Emergency Repo Loans in Fourth Quarter of 2019”
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“BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is making a killing on wars.”
“BlackRock has invested… $5.7 billion invested in Boeing, $2 billion in General Dynamics; $4.6 billion in Lockheed Martin; $2.6 billion in Northrop Grumman; and $6 billion in Raytheon.”
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“9 of the Worst Invasive Species in the U.S. From nightmare shrubs to not-so-funny feral hogs, invasive species are disturbing the delicate balance of native ecosystems across the country.”
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America doesn’t have a voter fraud problem.
What it has is a problem with un-elected persons$ paying politicians & judges to defraud voters out of their democracy using elections that are technically illegal
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“We don’t want war with Russia. We DO want a new war on poverty, a war on climate catastrophe and a war on the greed of the psychopathic owner class.”
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We will not avert insect exotic or explosive growth of methane in the atmosphere
John Lieber:
“The concern with climate change should not be extreme weather, which is not all that difficult for humans to adapt to.
The two major concerns should be 1) insects, which are extremely sensitive to temperature changes. The displacement of insect species would cause cascading impacts on agricultural production. The loss and disruption of pollinators would impact yields (75% of crops are naturally pollinated). Higher temperature increases the metabolic rates of insects meaning they consume more. Birds are very selective with which insect species they feed on and the shift would cause impacts up the food chain, causing more invasive species/crop pests as the natural control of bird feeding is disrupted.
2) the massive reserve of methane sitting under the permafrost is at risk of being released into the atmosphere. Methane is 25% more powerful greenhouse gas than C02. The amount of emissions that would be released from melted permafrost would be more than humans have emitted during the entire era of industrialization.
This book did a good job of providing a deep dive into the nuances of the first concern, insects. The second part of the book however was more than a missed opportunity. It strikes the essence of why the environmental movement continues to fail. It's grounded in two fundamental flaws. The first is that many researchers, advocates, and politicians are completely detached from a non white collar life. Most people still live a blue-collar or rural life. The second is taking a manipulative and condescending approach over one based on respect and building an undeniable case for action. For example, from the start, he uses alarmist language. I’m sure his publicist pushed hard for the “apocalypse” title, but it’s a lie.
He sets up a political moral superiority by noting his support for the green party and extinction rebellion and voicing his disgust for Trump and conservatism. He then goes on to say climate deniers and non-environmentalists are “shallow” and “willing to take the lives of their own grandchildren”. After all of this, humiliating everyday people and those who have different political associations and implying they want to kill their own grandchildren, he says he is “mystified” on why he can not break through to the other side.
Why on earth are they so defensive against his proposals? Why do more people not take the time to know every bird, plant, and insect species? So, he proposes force and manipulation. Regulations and go for the children in education/ “educate” farmers. Somehow, he fails to recognize that no one wants to kill their grandchildren, people are just trying to survive. Most people are just trying to make it through the week, they are not sitting in a university lab planning out humanity’s future. There is a real compelling economic and national security argument that could bring all people together around a common vision, but he couldn’t resist the temptation of establishing his own moral superiority. The disconnect is absolutely offensive and has been the root cause of environmental inaction from the start. Some of the most intelligent people are also the most stupid.”
“Silent Earth, Averting the Insect Apocalypse” by Dave Goulson
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“'Heinous Crime': Rare Mexican Grey Wolf Shot Dead in Arizona Sparking Backlash”
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"Given the horrible treatment of farm animals, tremendous environmental damage done by animal agriculture and health risks associated with consumption of dairy products, eggs and meat I can't understand why anyone would choose to eat those foods." – Amanda Katz
“What if the whole world went vegan?”
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“Economy is code for the wealthy.
When the “Economy” is doing well, that means the wealthy are getting even richer.
When the “Economy” is doing poorly, that means the wealthy are not getting quite as rich.
Meanwhile, life continues to get more difficult for the rest of us.”
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“It’s not inflation when corporations are raking in their highest profit margins in history. It’s price gouging.”
And that includes interest rates as the price of money.
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“Fattest Profits Since 1950 Debunk Wage-Inflation Story of CEOs
Companies post higher margins as pressure for pay hikes grows
Deere earnings hit record; workers held out to get 10% raise”
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Miles Halpin:
“im lost for words... jet streams now...
really you have to see it on earth.nullschool to get the full craziness of it.”
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By comparison, Harry Reid was a disgusting pig:
“Dr. King was only 39 when he was killed.
All of Gen X would’ve been born before he turned 50, and all of the millennials before he turned 70.
Think of the elders we’ve mourned recently, in the early 2020’s. he was their contemporary. The toll of this early loss is incalculable.”
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“Alexander Reid Ross, disgraced author of several retracted articles, works with ex-cops, CIA spies, and DHS agents”
“With his entire archive retracted by the Southern Poverty Law Center and a growing record of disgrace, Alexander Reid Ross now collaborates with ex-CIA agents, cops, DHS officials, and a GOP congressman turned “Bigfoot scholar,” with funding from a Koch brother.”
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Excellent Illustrated diagram on FRACKING:
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Mark trewick:
“Since we now appear to have a flame lit at both ends of our planetary candle, I propose we fast forward in our imagination, to the year 2122 to speculate on our chances of reaching carbon neutrality in the face or an enveloping hothouse Earth scenario.....
No, we f**ked up, so let's just ignore it and carry on with little regard....”
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“Australia soars to 50 degrees for first time this century”
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“A task force appointed to address Florida’s algal bloom crisis concluded in a recent report that “without hard work and careful planning” adverse human health impacts and widespread wildlife mortality would most likely “worsen” because of climate change and the state’s growing population.”
“Florida’s Red Tides Are Getting Worse and May Be Hard to Control Because of Climate Change
A task force appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling for research and investment in mitigation. Environmentalists say the real fix is cracking down on polluters.”
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“Some folks REALLY think teenagers are adult enough to be forced to deliver a pregnancy or responsible enough to open carry assault rifles, but too fragile to learn about slavery.” Jess Piper, English Teacher, Hopkins, Missouri
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“CEOs are replaceable”
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““Smoking Gun” Analysis Finds US Sanctions Produce “War Time” Economy in Venezuela”
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“USA Living on a Prayer as Hospitals, ICUs Fill to Capacity; WHO Says Omicron Not "Mild" or "Endemic"”
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“John Nichols on How “Coronavirus Criminals & Pandemic Profiteers” Hurt World’s Response to COVID-19”
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“Dozens of Jewish organisations, artists urge boycott of Sydney Festival over Israeli sponsorship”
A group of over 70 Jewish organisations and individuals have backed calls for a boycott of the 2022 Sydney Festival due to an Israeli sponsorship deal.
In an open letter published to the Do Better on Palestine website, the signatories slammed the “#artwashing” of “Israeli apartheid”.
"Following the lead of Palestinian organizers, we know that we cannot allow this artwashing to work as intended. Rather than staying silent we want to say loudly: Israeli apartheid, settler-colonialism, and occupation cannot be allowed to continue," the open letter read.”
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“Why the simple life is not just beautiful, it’s necessary”
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“Arkansas inmates are suing after being given ivermectin to treat COVID-19”
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“US ballistic missile submarine stops in Guam amid Indo-Pacific tensions”
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Either solidify voting rights or nothing else will matter when we don’t have a democracy:
“Senate Democrats charge forward with debate on voting rights legislation despite expected failure”
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“Now You Can Rent a Robot Worker—for Less Than Paying a Human
Automation is reaching more companies, imperiling some jobs and changing the nature of others.”
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Once again, not doing what needs to be done:
“A bill to ban congressional stock trading is an opportunity for Democrats. They’re squandering it.”
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“The Federal Reserve's plan to combat recessions rarely works and often benefits the already-rich — here's why”
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“Why Inflation is a BOGEYMAN Used to Attack the Left”
Pretty Good Explanation about INFLATION.
"This week, Briahna Joy Gray spoke to economics professor and exceptional communicator Fadhel Kaboub about what really causes inflation, how Modern Monetary Theory can help, why the Federal Reserve should mint a trillion dollar coin, how to curb education and healthcare inflation, and why elected progressives aren't talking nearly enough about any of this. If you aren't already familiar with the Denison University professor, you're in for a treat."
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“A lot of people wonder how America would respond if Chernobyl happened here. Here’s the thing. It DID happen here….Church Rock Uranium Mine.”
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“SLIPPING INTO THE ABYSS”
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“www.MichaelCorthell.com
Resourcesim is the belief or ideology that all of the Earth's resources are the common inheritance of all the world's people and should be shared equally for the benefit of all the Earth's inhabitants. Resourceism is the foundational belief of a resource-based economy.”
“EDEN RESTORED: VEGANISM WITH RESOURCE BASED ECONOMY”
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US NATO Military Aircraft tracker:
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Efforts to abolish our democracy rely heavily on social failings created by the same persons who want to abolish democracy:
“It’s increasingly obvious that you can’t maintain a stable, law-abiding society or a functioning democracy with such a huge disparity between rich and poor, such dramatic INEQUALITY! One part of America can’t just go on feeding its fat face while another part starves!”
“It’s Inequality, Stupid!”
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Speaks for itself :
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“What exactly is history if it is not based on historical facts? And what can it teach us if we deny parts of it ever happening?”
“et's talk about history and an oppressor narrative....”
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“States must draw new legislative and congressional districts at least once every 10 years after each census to account for population changes. In North Carolina, the party controlling the legislature is in charge of map-drawing, and typically draws district lines to its benefit.
There is something radically wrong with this system that puts the dominant party in charge of creating district maps. For several years now of Republican domination, gerrymandering has become the norm in NC politics.
The proverbial fox has been in charge of the henhouse. This hearing will decide the fate of many thousands of minority voters who have been denied their voting rights in the past elections.”
“Secret maps revelation, testimony of mathematicians deal blows to GOP defense as NC redistricting trial concludes”
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“TERRIFYING ARCTIC GREENHOUSE GAS LEVELS (JAN.19, 2022)
Very high methane concentrations are showing up over the Arctic. The first image shows monthly average in situ methane measurements recorded at Barrow, Alaska, with high averages showing up for recent months.
Carbon dioxide levels also continue to be very high at Barrow, Alaska, as illustrated by the second image, showing a recent daily average exceeding 430 ppm.
Locally, carbon dioxide concentration can be even higher. The third image shows a concentration of 440 ppm over the Arctic Ocean at the green circle, as the jet stream crosses the Arctic on January 19, 2022 (fourth image).
From the post 'Terrifying Arctic greenhouse gas levels continue', at:”
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I’m not a lawyer (I just play one sitting on the john reading buckowski) but consider the following:
Timothy McVeigh’s purchase of fertilizer was part of a much greater crime. And it sure as hell wasn’t consistent with the fertilizer company’s legal right to sell fertilizer. But seeing as the seller had no indication of its ultimate use, they sold it to him anyway. Now, when somebody wants to buy a truck load of stuff that can be used as an explosive and they really don’t have any legitimate reason for buying the stuff anyway, I would like to think that most governments would ensure that actually exploding the stuff isn’t something the buyer can realize.
Fair enough. In fact, this type of thinking is arguably already practiced today in similar circumstances. For instance, when you’re convicted of murder everything you did in the process of committing that murder is considered part of your committing the crime and therefore shouldn’t have ever really happened in the first place.
So the problem I have is that it sure looks like when you kill a democracy, everything you do in your performance of that act (e.g. gerrymandering, legalizing dark money, passing voter suppression laws, appointing judges, etc.) is simply considered practicing democracy in a legally binding way despite the fact that the cumulative effect of your actions is wildly at odds with your advertised reason for doing these things in the first place.
A slow-motion, pen and paper coup is a still a coup. It is still an act of domestic terrorism. It violates every sense of the word of trust and an oath related to the common good.
““The Coming Coup”: Ari Berman on Republican Efforts to Steal Future Elections”
“The Republican Party is plotting to steal the upcoming elections through a combination of racist gerrymandering, voter suppression and election subversion.”
“Conservative Activist Leaders Call For an End to Democracy”
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