The judge overseeing the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump has rejected his request to hold special counsel Jack Smith and his office in contempt.
Earlier this month, attorneys for Trump asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to hold Smith in contempt for filing motions while the case is stayed pending Trump’s appeal on presidential immunity grounds.
Chutkan, however, said in her opinion and order Thursday that she agrees with Trump that Smith’s filings place a burden on him that is against the spirit of her stay order. Chutkan has ordered that both parties be required to seek her permission before filing additional pre-trial motions while the stay order remains in effect.
“This measure is an addition to the Stay Order, aimed to further advance its purposes, and does not reflect a determination that the Government has violated any of its clear and unambiguous terms or acted in bad faith,” she wrote.
Smith’s office had explicitly notified both the court and Trump’s team that it planned to continue to meet the deadlines previously set by the court. In a memo opposing Trump’s motion to hold the special counsel in contempt, Smith’s office noted that the office “did what it said it would do.”
[…] Trump is waiting for a ruling by a federal appeals court in a case in which he argues that he’s immune from being prosecuted over his election interference efforts because he was president at the time. The case is likely to end up in front of the Supreme Court.
The trial in the election case is scheduled to begin on March 4, though it could be delayed as these legal matters are considered by the courts.
[…] The fact that House Speaker Mike Johnson is coordinating with Donald Trump suggests no one should get their hopes up. Politico reported:
Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday night that he had talked about congressional border negotiations with former President Donald Trump, who urged him to oppose compromising. “He and I have been talking about this pretty frequently,” Johnson said on Fox News hours after meeting with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders. Johnson last spoke with Trump on Monday night, the speaker said.
Shortly before midnight, the former president published an item to his social media platform, saying Congress should reject a bipartisan agreement unless Democrats agree to give Republicans “EVERYTHING” the GOP wants.
It’s important to emphasize that Trump has barked related orders before, which have gone ignored. He told House Republicans to make Rep. Jim Jordan the House speaker, for example, and many GOP members balked. The former president has also called for government shutdowns, debt-ceiling default, Mitch McConnell’s replacement as Senate minority leader, and the rejection of a bipartisan infrastructure bill and a proposed overhaul of the Electoral Count Act. In each instance, he didn’t get his way.
But as a possible deal on immigration and border policies takes shape, Trump is more likely to succeed — in part because the House speaker is coordinating his efforts with the former president, in part because some GOP members will deem the deal insufficiently right-wing, and in part because too many Republican lawmakers will want to kill the compromise in order to deny President Joe Biden an election-year win on a major issue.
Much of the party would rather have a campaign issue than a solution. […]
I see that the previous chapter of The Infinite Thread filled up with 500 comments, and then it automatically rolled over to begin anew with comment #1.
For the convenience of readers, here are a few links back to the previous chapter:
On Wednesday, Republican state Rep. Justin Humphrey filed HB 3084 in the Oklahoma Legislature. The bill promises to target “Students who purport to be an imaginary animal or animal species, or who engage in anthropomorphic behavior commonly referred to as furries at school.” And while this isn’t an actual thing that’s happened at schools anywhere, Humphrey’s sneering bill would prohibit these imaginary students from “participating in school curriculum or activities; requiring the student’s parent or guardian to pick the student up from school; providing for removal of the student by animal control services.”
Humphrey told Rolling Stone that he wrote the bill after hearing “several reports of students disrupting school while engaging in animal-like behavior.” Of course, Humphrey couldn’t cite a single piece of actual evidence because this is a long-debunked right-wing myth passed around by bigoted dunderheads like Rep. Lauren Boebert and media personalities like Joe Rogan, who claimed schools needed to stock kitty litter for children who identified as animals, or “furries.” […]
Back in 2021, he made headlines for sponsoring a bill demanding Oklahoma’s Wildlife Conservation Commission establish an official hunting season (with permits and all) for … Bigfoot.
Humphrey also has a history of sponsoring offensive legislation aimed at clawing back reproductive rights. In 2017, he authored HB 1441, which would force women (whom he referred to as “hosts”) seeking an abortion to “be required to provide, in writing, the identity of the father of the fetus to the physician who is to perform or induce the abortion,” and then only allow an abortion to be performed with the “written consent” of the father.
[…] Basically, a woman who worked at Trump’s National Golf Club in NJ was pressured into having a sexual encounter with her manager to keep her job. The victim, Alice Bianco, was in the process of suing the manager and the club when Alina Habba swooped in to “represent” Ms. Bianco. Habba manged to trick Ms. Bianco into firing her lawyer and then signing an illegal NDA in order to protect the club. […]
On July 28, 2021, Habba approached Bianco while she was serving during her “morning shift on the patio in the clubhouse,” the complaint says. The woman who would soon become Trump’s top attorney allegedly approached Bianco and told her she “had heard” about the allegations against Melichar and wanted to “help her.”
The lawsuit then alleges that Habba engaged in a heart emoji-fueled charm offensive that began with her encouraging Bianco “to fire her lawyer” by saying, “you know can fire [him] right?” Then, in a text later that day, Habba allegedly shared “a disparaging post” about Bianco’s then-attorney along with the message: “Is this the guy? Be careful.”
Bianco ended up firing her lawyer, and guess who came to Bianco’s rescue? Habba claimed she would be “neutral” during this process, and the two met in Habba’s car to discuss the matter.
Habba knew all about Plaintiff’s claims and alluded to facts that could be used to publicly embarrass Plaintiff, saying “you don’t want to go public with this, I’ve been raped, I can help you, I can protect you.” Ms. Habba told Plaintiff that “attorneys want to take control from you” and that “with your past- maybe you can get [a paltry sum].” Ms. Habba said that all Ms Bianco would have to do was sign a “simple” NDA and Habba would make sure that Plaintiff was “protected.” […]
You can guess what happened after Bianco signed that NDA.
Bianco claims Habba instructed her not to have another attorney review the agreement and pressured her to sign off on the settlement without having seen a draft beforehand. Bianco also says she was promised her therapy would be paid for as part of “the deal” with the golf club — but that “never happened.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Bianco would have to forfeit the entire settlement amount if she spoke publicly about the allegations and would be subject to a $1,000-per-day penalty, the filings allege.
Habba also told Bianco that the severance package provided would be “tax-free.” It wasn’t. Bianco now had to pay taxes on the severance package, and when she contacted Habba about this matter, this was Habba’s response:
[…] the attorney allegedly texted back: “I can’t technically give u legal advice.”
That’s because her real client was Donald Trump. And Bianco’s lawyer has stated this is basically a “Fuck off” from Habba. By the way, NDA’s for sexual harassment lawsuits are ILLEGAL!
If ever a lawyer needed disbarment, it’s Habba.
Reginald Selkirksays
@498, 499
“Let me tell you, I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating,” Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) told CNN earlier this month. “I will not help the Democrats try to improve this man’s dismal approval ratings. I’m not going to do it. Why would I?”
Um, because it would be good for the country?
larparsays
@Lynna, OM #3
I was a wildcat in high school. My mom and dad were a bulldogs.
Sugar alcohol can cause digestive problems.
.Sabine Hossenfelder: “Sugar Alcohols Ruined My Health: Learn from My Mistakes”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=K5v61YtDYo4
A Thai court has sentenced a man to 50 years in jail for comments deemed to have defamed the monarchy – the highest ever sentence handed down under the country’s notorious lese majeste law.
Thirty-year-old Mongkol Thirakot was originally sentenced to 28 years for posts he made three years ago on Facebook.
But on Thursday an appeals court added an extra 22 years to the sentence.
The lese majeste law criminalises any negative comment about the monarchy.
The law, which has been widely criticised, is still in force despite the election last year of a civilian government for the first time in 10 years…
..I would not call this alternative narrative “good”, but it is better than in the prequels.
“Exploring Xeno City, Home of the Space Jockey”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=NjezTf9ytug
Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March.
The House approved the measure by a vote of 314-108, with opposition coming mostly from the more conservative members of the Republican conference. Shortly before the vote, the House Freedom Caucus announced it “strongly opposes” the measure […]
Nevertheless, about half of Republicans joined with Democrats in passing the third stopgap funding measure in recent months. The action came a few hours after the Senate had voted overwhelmingly to pass the bill by a vote of 77-18.
The measure extends current spending levels and buys time for the two chambers to work out their differences over full-year spending bills for the fiscal year that began in October.
The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies. Their funds were set to run out Friday. It extends the remainder of government operations to March 8.
[…] The short-term measure comes amid negotiations on a separate spending package that would provide wartime dollars to Ukraine and Israel and strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Johnson is also under pressure from the right not to accept a deal that is any weaker than a House-passed border measure that has no Democratic support.
Johnson, Schumer and other congressional leaders and committee heads visited the White House on Wednesday to discuss that spending legislation. Johnson used the meeting to push for stronger border security measures while Biden and Democrats detailed Ukraine’s security needs as it continues to fight Russia.
Biden has requested a $110 billion package for the wartime spending and border security.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is not investigating Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Newsweek reported Thursday. Willis, who is prosecuting Donald Trump and his allies over efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia, was accused by a Trump aide of having an “improper” relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she hired on the case. The aide, Michael Roman, is seeking to have the charges against him dropped and to have both Willis and Wade dismissed from the case. Some conservatives began to speculate that GBI had launched an investigation into Willis’ alleged misconduct, per an unconfirmed announcement by conservative activist and Trump supporter Jack Posobiec on X. The GBI confirmed to Newsweek via email that it has done no such thing…
The attack on an oil depot in Russia’s Leningrad Oblast by Ukrainian drones on the night of 17-18 January was a special operation by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine…
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #14…
At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Federal spending authority runs on continuing resolutions until next January when the next Congress is seated. As regular business (e.g. passing normal funding bills) appears to be impossible with the antics of the “Freedom” caucus tail wagging the House dog, CRs seem to be only way to keep anything going.
He needed to go to bed, because his mother-in-law Amalija Knavs, who was one year his senior — Mommy! — was being laid to rest on Thursday, but instead he was on Truth Social all-caps clarifying that when he says presidents should have absolute immunity for all crimes they commit while in office, that he really does mean presidents should have absolute immunity for DOING CRIMES.
Also he said some other (white fascist authoritarian) people should have absolute immunity for their crimes. Murder cops, for instance.
A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION. ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END.
Projection. No matter how much Dumpy Hitler […] lies and says Joe Biden is directing “witch hunt” prosecutions against him, the fact is that he’s indicted 91 times because he’s a career criminal, one of the most flagrant this country has ever seen, and he deserves to rot for his crimes. […]
EVEN EVENTS THAT “CROSS THE LINE” MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY,
There it is.
OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD. THERE MUST BE CERTAINTY.
Those are words. “Trauma”? […]
EXAMPLE: YOU CAN’T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL “ROGUE COP” OR “BAD APPLE.” SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH “GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT.”
ALL PRESIDENTS MUST HAVE COMPLETE & TOTAL PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, OR THE AUTHORITY & DECISIVENESS OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE STRIPPED & GONE FOREVER. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE AN EASY DECISION. GOD BLESS THE SUPREME COURT!
Well there you are.
Wonkette pal Popehat sky-tweeted, “I want to write a think piece about how the thirst for presidential immunity is part of a larger authoritarian sentiment leading to things like qualified immunity and thin blue line mentality and this mf just tweets it out.”
That he does.
Recently, one of Trump’s lawyers argued in court — in the case over whether presidents should have absolute and permanent immunity — that presidents must only be subject to criminal accountability if they have first been impeached and convicted by the United States Congress. It was based on absolutely no statute or legal theory that exists, certainly not in this country. The trifling motherfucker (John Sauer) just made it up, which is why legal Twitter started derisively laughing and scratching that dipshit off their holiday party invite lists.
But the appeals court judge Florence Pan interrogated the premise thoroughly — could Trump sell pardons in office and evade accountability? What about nuclear secrets, could he sell those? (Interesting, considering all of his indictments for stealing America’s secrets and hiding them in the basement at Mar-a-Lago.)
Well, his lawyer said, he’d have to be impeached and convicted for it in Congress. (No.)
As one person on Twitter noted, the argument suggested that Joe Biden (currently the president) “could invite Trump to the White House [for] a pardon, give it to him, then murder him, immediately resign to avoid impeachment [and] conviction thereby insuring his immunity and a Harris POTUS.”
You know, if we’re being logically consistent.
But this is not about being logically consistent, or about what these people actually believe presidents, in general, should be able to do. They’re not thinking that far ahead.
This is about Trump believing he should be able to steal America’s secrets, overturn elections, overthrow the Republic, grab them by the [P-Word] without their consent, and never pay a cent or spend a day in prison for it. It’s about him.
And we guess with last night’s Truth Social tweet, he’s saying out loud that he believes the same should be true for all other white fascists like him.
It wasn’t some mystery, it’s just good to have it on the historical record.
whheydt @18, yep. Maybe. Your prediction is plausible. Still, I don’t like it. How can government agencies plan ahead if their funding is in jeopardy every few months? And how will aid to Ukraine be funded if there’s all this squabbling coming from the far right legislators?
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #20…
Those are very good questions….and I don’t have any answers to them.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he has told the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario, underscoring the deep divisions between the close allies three months into Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Senate Democrats aggressively pushed back Thursday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has informed the U.S. that he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state at the conclusion of the war in Gaza. A key lawmaker, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., warned that Netanyahu’s remarks could complicate delicate bipartisan negotiations in the Senate on a supplemental package that calls for military aid for Israel coupled with immigration measures and aid for Ukraine.
Texas is refusing to comply with a cease-and-desist letter from the Biden administration over actions by the state that have impeded U.S. Border Patrol agents from accessing part of the border with Mexico.
birgerjohanssonsays
Colbert:…Trump Brags About His Cognitive Test | Judge Scolds Trump’s Lawyer | Pope Says Sex Is A Gift From God/ Stephen Colbert And God Have A Talk
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=TkjIfMKWQBY
John Moralessays
[Thanks, birgerjohansson. Appreciate the effort, even if others don’t]
TSMC and Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) on Thursday announced that they had jointly developed co-developed a spin-orbit-torque magnetic random-access memory (SOT-MRAM) array chip, the result of a joint development program the tandem announced in 2022. The memory device can be used for computing in memory architectures and last-level cache, boasting non-volatility, low latencies, and power consumption that is 1% of that of spin-transfer torque (STT) MRAM.
In theory, SOT-MRAM has numerous advantages that make it usable for caches and in-memory applications…
Japan chooses to go to the Moon, and it’s doing so with a strong emphasis on accuracy. With SLIM, the nation’s space agency is aiming for an autonomous, high-precision landing within an impressive 328 feet (100 meters) of its intended target inside Shioli Crater.
SLIM is expected to perform its soft landing on Friday, January 19 at 10:20 a.m. ET (Saturday at 12:20 a.m. Japan time). Space agency JAXA is livestreaming the event, with the broadcast starting at 9 a.m. ET. You can catch the action at the JAXA’s YouTube channel or via the livestream below…
birgerjohanssonsays
The livretream of the lunar landing started 13 minutes ago.
There is an English speaker who comments live.
The landing should be ca. one hour from now!
With a delay of just 1.3 seconds from the moon it is almost instantaneous (and since there is no crew, there is no 10-second delay).
birgerjohanssonsays
Myself @ 32
ERRATUM! Wrong time zone! I have to double-check everything. If it is at Saturday Japanese time it will be early morning in Europe and evening in USA…
I can never remember the abbreviations for the time zones, except Greenwich time.
birgerjohanssonsays
No, my first message was correct. Landing in less than 40 minutes according to comments at Youtube
The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump on Thursday rejected his lawyers’ bid to hold special counsel Jack Smith’s team in contempt for actions prosecutors took after the judge put the case on hold. But the judge said no further “substantive” court filings should be submitted without permission.
The former president’s lawyers had accused prosecutors of “outrageous conduct” for turning over to the defense thousands of pages of evidence and filing a motion after the judge paused the case while Trump appeals his presidential immunity claim. The defense said prosecutors were violating a court order that put the case on hold so Trump can pursue his claim in higher courts…
A southern Kentucky lawmaker, known for his appearance on ‘Survivor,’ says it was “an inadvertent change” that a bill he filed would have removed the reference of “first cousins” from Kentucky’s incest laws.
Representative Nick Wilson, R-Williamsburg…
birgerjohanssonsays
The lander is down in the lunar surface and telemetry is coming in. Unfortunately the bandwidth is not enough to provide live TV coverage from the moon.
birgerjohanssonsays
OK they are using the telemetry to check the status of the lander. At some point there will be a press conference, as of 15.30 Greenwich time the livestream is closing down.
SLIM was not designed to survive a cold, Sun-free lunar night, so it will operate for the rest of the 14-day-long lunar day. Then, starved of power and heat, it will shut down for good.
Some political campaign news tidbits, as summarized by Steve Benen:
With Maryland Rep. Andy Harris throwing his support behind Donald Trump, the former president has now received endorsements from a majority of the Republicans in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.
On a related note, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, also endorsed Trump ahead of the state’s upcoming nominating contests. The Republican governor initially intended to remain neutral, but he changed his mind because, as Lombardo put it, “the race is over.”
The bad news for Democrats keeping an eye on Senate races is that Republicans are overwhelmingly favored to flip retiring Sen. Joe Manchin’s seat in West Virginia. The good news for the party is that the GOP candidate will not run unopposed: Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott launched a Democratic Senate campaign this week.
Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams is, by any fair measure, a conservative Republican. But in last year’s statewide elections, the Bluegrass State’s top elections official nevertheless faced spirited primary rivals, not because he did his job poorly, but because he rejected right-wing election conspiracy theories.
In fact, Adams sat down with Semafor’s Dave Weigel last spring and was surprisingly candid on this point. “Misinformation is on the ballot — whether we’re going to be a fact- and rationality-based government, when it comes to elections, or whether we’re gonna let conspiracy theorists run the show,” he explained.
Adams ended up winning re-election, but this week, he sat down with The Washington Post to reflect on his experiences:
“I’ve been around politics a long time, but I hadn’t actually been in the position myself and it was quite a transition to go from just a regular, almost anonymous kind of guy … and then suddenly just months later, I’m a flash point for very emotional people. … It was quite a transition for me to go from being a total nobody to suddenly there’s people with machine guns outside my office.”
[Adams is probably referring to AK-47 automatic guns, or something similar.]
Adams went on to explain in the interview that he’s faced a variety of confrontations with election deniers, as have members of his family. […]
Jamelle Bouie’s column added, “Trump can try, whether he is the nominee or not, to use the fervor of his followers and acolytes to tilt the playing field in his direction. He can use the threat of violence to make officials and ordinary election workers think twice about their decisions. And he can use the example of those Republicans who have crossed him as a warning to wavering lawmakers — to anyone who resists the force of his will.”
It doesn’t have to be this way, though the more GOP officials put their heads down, quiet their consciences, and endorse their party’s likely nominee, the more the underlying dynamic becomes the new normal in Republican politics.
A three-year project to build a children’s playground and recreation area south of the Italian city of Naples has unearthed the ruins of a 2,000-year-old clifftop beach house.
Built in the first century, the panoramic mansion — which overlooks the islands of Ischia and Procida — is now partly flooded by the sea. Experts believe it could have once been the opulent residence of Pliny the Elder, the legendary author, naturalist, and commander of the Roman navy fleet stationed there…
The richest people in the world are enjoying the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This year’s annual get-together began with an Oxfam report detailing how the five richest men in the word have more than doubled their wealth in the last three years. NBC reports that the 2024 presidential election has been one of the topics of conversation at the conference.
It turns out that while European elites are leery of another disastrous Trump administration, their wealthy counterparts in America seem unaffected, and in some cases supportive, of the possibility of a real-life fascist coming back into power. One anonymous “prominent U.S. business executive” told NBC, “I’m not sure Europeans understand how weak executive orders are. We have a justice system. Congress will probably be divided. It’s right to be cautious, but it won’t be the end of the world.”
Others were more oblique in their responses. [snipped response from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff]
[…] J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon, whose company received billions of dollars in tax break profits under Trump, told CNBC that while he didn’t “like how [Trump] said things about Mexico,” in the end people voted for Trump because “he wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues.” Excuse me? It’s hard to know which racist thing Trump said about Mexico and Mexicans Dimon didn’t “like,” but according to the CEO of J.P. Morgan, Trump is “kind of right about NATO. Kind of right about immigration. He grew the economy quite well. … Tax reform worked. He was right about some with China.”
Grew the economy? Tax reform worked? For Dimon, it did. Since those Trump tax cuts, C-suite executives have enjoyed record bonuses while most Americans have watched their finances slump. Since the tax cuts, corporations are basically paying nothing in taxes, and almost all of the money not pocketed by the rich has been used to buy back stock to inflate their stocks and put more money into their pockets. [That’s correct. And JFC, Jamie Dimon is clueless and very self-centered.]
Republicans, who admitted that their tax cuts blew out the deficit, have moved on to pretend that everything worked out great. As recently as this past summer, the only piece of policy being offered up by Republicans was cuts to social safety net services and new rounds of corporate tax breaks.
On Thursday, J.P. Morgan’s board announced that Dimon would be getting a 4% increase in pay, bringing his annual haul up to $36 million. J.P. Morgan made that announcement less than a week after reporting $49.6 billion in profit for 2023, the largest single year profit of any bank in the history of banks.
Surprise surprise! The people who benefited the most in corporate tax breaks and wealth under the Trump and Republican Party’s control feel like another round of Trump would be just fine. [sick, delusional, narcissistic]
Once again, here is a historian reminding the rich that all of their philanthropy means nothing if they continue to avoid paying taxes. [video at the link]
The political organization No Labels, despite their protestations to the contrary, clearly wants to send Donald Trump back to the scene of his greatest crimes—the White House. To clarify, this group is not directly affiliated with either the Republican Party or the Trump campaign. In fact, its stated purpose is to organize voters against partisanship in American politics and encourage a “common ground” approach to problem solving. But they are performing the role of useful idiots for Trump, whether they know it or not. [I think they do know it, and they are scamming the public.]
This group’s goal is to put together a third-party bid for the presidency, a key facet of which is to get people to donate money and otherwise support their effort. Finding a candidate is kind of important as well, although so far they’ve come up snake eyes there (with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also saying, “No thanks” to No Labels).
[…] they have gotten their party on the ballot in 16 states—battlegrounds Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina among them. Now they are upset because some folks who are supporting President Joe Biden are—get ready to put the back of your hand to your forehead—trying to make it harder for them!
The group has written a doozy of a letter to the Department of Justice demanding a criminal investigation into the effort—which they characterize as “a highly coordinated, conspiratorial, partisan, and often unlawful conspiracy”—by Democratic and other anti-Trump groups that have the temerity to oppose them.
No Labels admits that they have no actual evidence of wrongdoing, as stated by attorney Dan Webb, a member of the group who signed the letter: “We don’t have subpoena or grand jury powers. We cannot do the type of investigation that is needed like DOJ can.” In other words, they want the DOJ to go fishing on their behalf. The group claims that opponents are using “intimidation tactics,” and cite a recording of some real meanies talking about, heaven forfend, looking into the background of people who support No Labels. [Sounds trumpian]
[…] Attorney Marc Elias, who went 64 for 64 fighting in court against Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen, was less polite.
I have read a lot of dumb letters in my career. This letter from No Labels could be the dumbest. It is so stupid, I wonder if they had a Trump lawyer write it.
[LOL]
[…] as Ja’han Jones reported for MSNBC: “The shadowy organization, whose leadership has discussed assembling a long-shot bipartisan ticket to compete in this year’s election, has avoided donor disclosure rules because it’s technically registered as a ‘social welfare’ organization and not a traditional political party.” Right, it’s not a political party … except it wants to run a candidate for president. Hmm.
Here’s the reality. A lot of people feel very strongly about The Man Who Lost An Election And Tried To Steal It. If you like him, you’ll vote for him. If you recognize the danger he poses […] then you won’t.
In a two-person race, if you don’t like Trump, it means you’ll likely vote for President Biden. But a prominent third-party candidate on the ballot who isn’t Trump may well draw votes from those anti-Trump voters who’d otherwise vote for Biden, especially if there’s someone prominent on the third-party ticket who is associated with the Democratic Party—here’s looking at you, Sen. Joe Manchin. This is why the strongest opposition to No Labels is coming from Democrats and their allies.
No Labels is a dark money group that is so consumed with its own quest for power and relevancy that it is willing to risk electing Trump, despite their own acknowledgment that he is a dangerous ideologue.
No Labels says it just wants to provide voters with an alternative by running a third-party, supposedly centrist candidate for president—never mind that Biden is actually closer to America’s political center than any of the clowns No Labels is pushing. At the end of the day, anyone who drains support from the anti-Trump coalition is only helping put the Tangerine Palpatine back into the Oval Office.
The Estonian government did not extend the residence permit of Metropolitan Yevgeniy of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, forcing him to leave by Feb. 6, the ERR public broadcaster reported on Jan. 18.
Estonian authorities have accused Yevgeniy of public statements and actions in support of Russian aggression. Tensions between Tallinn and Moscow surged following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine…
[…] Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.
Thursday, January 18, 2024: Remarks by President Biden on High-Speed Internet Investments | Raleigh, NC
[…] Thursday, January 18, 2024: President Biden Announces Key Appointments to Boards and Commissions
[…] Thursday, January 18, 2024: FACT SHEET: President Biden to Announce New Funding to Connect Thousands of Households in North Carolina to High-Speed Internet, Highlight Milestones in Lowering Costs, Expanding Internet Access to Everyone in America
Thursday, January 18, 2024: U.S., Japan, and Republic of Korea Launch Cutting-edge Quantum Collaboration
[…] Wednesday, January 17, 2024: Readout of President Biden’s Meeting with Congressional Leaders on Ukraine and His National Security Supplemental
Wednesday, January 17, 2024: FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces Improving Student Achievement Agenda in 2024
[…] Wednesday, January 17, 2024: Statement from President Joe Biden on the CFPB’s Proposed Rule to Curb Overdraft Fees
Tuesday, January 16, 2024: Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at an Event to Celebrate Educators and Highlight the Importance of Educator Wellness
[…] Tuesday, January 16, 2024: U.S. – UK Strategic Dialogue on Biological Security
[…] Friday, January 12, 2024: A Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, 2024
[…] Friday, January 12, 2024: Statement from President Joe Biden on Early Student Debt Cancellation for Borrowers Enrolled in SAVE
Friday, January 12, 2024: FACT SHEET: President Biden Highlights Allentown, Lehigh Valley, and Pennsylvania’s Economic Comeback […]
Fulton County’s district attorney on Thursday fired back at allegations she has engaged in an “improper” relationship with her top deputy, accusing his estranged wife of trying to obstruct her prosecution of Donald Trump and his allies.
Fani Willis has been subpoenaed to give a pretrial deposition in the divorce case of Nathan and Joycelyn Wade on January 23, but in a blistering court filing on Thursday the DA’s attorney said that subpoena should be quashed…
The judge overseeing the Fulton County prosecution of former President Donald Trump and numerous co-defendants has directed District Attorney Fani Willis to respond to allegations that she is in a romantic relationship with one of the lead prosecutors and has violated ethics rules.
Judge Scott McAfee ordered Willis to file a written response by Feb. 2. He said he will hold a hearing on the allegations on Feb. 15…
An Oklahoma lawmaker is facing backlash for proposing a discriminatory bill that deems people of Hispanic descent as “terrorists”.
The Republican state representative JJ Humphrey introduced the bill, HB 3133, which seeks to combat problems in the state, such as drug and human trafficking, and lay out punishments to those who have committed these “acts of terrorism”.
The punishment for such a crime would be forfeiting all assets, including any and all property, vehicles and money.
In addition to “a member of a criminal street gang” and someone who “has been convicted of a gang-related offense”, the bill defines a terrorist as “any person who is of Hispanic descent living within the state of Oklahoma”…
It can be true that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis of Georgia is the victim of hideous racist harassment. And it can also be true that she screwed up big time if she really did hire her romantic partner using public money.
[…] On January 8, Trump’s co-defendant Michael Roman, a campaign official who helped coordinate the fake electors scheme, filed a motion to dismiss his case in Fulton County District Court and to disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.
Two of the claims in this document are, quite frankly, stupid. Roman alleges that special prosecutor Nathan Wade, an outside attorney hired to run the election interference investigation, “never filed his oath of office prior to beginning work on this case, so he was never duly authorized under Georgia Law to serve in his role as Special Prosecutor.” Trump campaign lawyer Ken Chesebro tried that one back in August before he plead out, and Judge Scott McAfee flatly rejected it.
Roman also mischaracterizes Georgia statute to suggest that DA Willis needed approval from the Board of Commissioners to hire Wade. Neither of these arguments is going anywhere — they’re like two ticks more credible than arguing that the flag in the courtroom has the wrong fringe or whatever.
The third allegation is that DA Willis has been in a relationship with Wade for years, and inappropriately hired him despite his lack of experience with felony prosecutions, much less complex RICO cases.
Roman’s motion is thin on sourcing for this claim, but strongly implies that the story came from Wade’s sealed divorce filings and/or his estranged wife, Joycelyn Wade. […]
[…] it’s also true that Wade’s legal career to date, while perfectly respectable, has largely involved misdemeanor and low-level civil disputes. In contrast, the other two other outside lawyers DA Willis hired to work on this case, John Floyd and Anna Green Cross, have extensive criminal prosecution backgrounds.
[…] According to the AJC [Atlanta Journal Constitution], Floyd is paid $100 less an hour than Wade. And while Cross and Floyd billed the county $43,000 and $73,000 respectively for their work on the RICO case, Wade billed almost $700,000 at the same time he and Willis were taking vacations together. [Facts not yet proven. Fani Willis says, ” I appointed three special counsel, as is my right to do. Paid them all the same hourly rate.” I’m watching for more information.]
[…] It is simultaneously horrifying that Willis got swatted on Christmas and is subjected to racist abuse and weekly death threats, and wildly irresponsible for her to hire her boyfriend for such a high profile job. Allegedly.
[…] Roman’s motion to dismiss is probably DOA, since there’s no precedent for dismissal in similar circumstances. But it could easily lead to the disqualification of the entire Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, transferring the case to some other prosecutor in a state with a lot of Republican DAs. Judge McAfee has scheduled a hearing on the motion for February 15, instructing the state to file a response by February 2.
“Even if everything goes as smoothly as humanly possible, it is difficult to imagine trying the former president before the November election,” former public defender Andrew Fleischman writes at the Daily Beast. “And it’s also possible the case may go to someone who will choose to dismiss it.”
And on top of all that, the allegations have fueled the Republican push to use newly enacted legislation to undermine the Fulton County DA and this case in particular — a push which had run aground but is now gaining steam.
Living in a world of nuance sucks. Paying a massive political price for personal missteps sucks. Having to believe two things at once sucks.
[…] Of the 51 cold-related deaths since Jan. 12, 17 happened in Tennessee, nine in Oregon, six in Illinois, five in Washington state and Mississippi, three in New York state, two in Louisiana and one each in Arkansas, Wisconsin, Wyoming and New Hampshire, local and state officials have told NBC News.
All state offices in Tennessee were closed Friday due to the dangerous winter weather, officials said.
The Nashville Department of Transportation bluntly told Music City residents to stay home, saying Friday’s icy road conditions are the worst yet of this weeklong cold snap.
“If you do drive, assume every road is icy, even when it appears clear,” the agency said. […]
A 17-year-old Marvel star and “Dancing With the Stars” performer, Xochitl Gomez, spoke out about finding nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes with her face on social media and not being able to get the material taken down.
During a Jan. 10 episode of “The Squeeze,” a podcast hosted by actor Taylor Lautner and his wife, Taylor Lautner, Gomez said she saw sexually explicit deepfakes of her on Twitter (now called X). Gomez, who plays America Chavez in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” said she asked her mother about the material and learned that her team had already tried and failed to get it removed.
“It made me weirded out and I didn’t like it and I wanted it taken down. That was my main thought process was, ‘Down. Take this down. Please,’” Gomez said during the podcast. “It wasn’t because I felt like it was invading my privacy, more just like it wasn’t a good look for me. This has nothing to do with me. And yet it’s on here with my face.”
In a search Friday, NBC News was able to easily find several deepfakes of Gomez on X. A representative for X did not immediately respond to a request for comment. […]
Gomez joins a chorus of girls and women, some famous and some not, who have spoken up about the growing crisis of nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes. […]
There is currently no federal legislation in the U.S. addressing nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes and only a patchwork of state laws pertaining to deepfakes, but a federal bill that would criminalize the nonconsensual sharing of the material is awaiting further action. […]
PUBLISHED Dec 11, 2023
The U.S. Navy has provided what appears to be the first look at a new underwater drone called Yellow Moray that can be launched and recovered via a standard submarine torpedo tube. The uncrewed system recently completed its first end-to-end test. The service hopes to begin fielding this capability next year, which will give all of its submarines an additional tool for scouting for mines and other hazards, gathering intelligence, and otherwise improving their situational awareness…
Germany has been investigating a new passive radar system for target detection and imaging using the signal from the Starlink satellite network, with details of a functioning demonstrator appearing in the latest annual report from Germany’s Ministry of Defence on defence technology, published on 15 January 2024.
The opportunistic use of existing transmitters from the Starlink network opens the door for covert operation that is robust against jamming and better at detecting stealth targets, according to the report…
… Now, someone named Floe Foxon has followed up on an earlier analysis and checked for factors that could influence the frequency of bigfoot sightings throughout North America. The results suggest that there’s a strong correlation between sightings and the local black bear population—for every 1,000 bears, the frequency of bigfoot sightings goes up by about 4 percent…
The cicadas are coming — and if you’re in the Midwest or the Southeast, they will be more plentiful than ever. Or at least since the Louisiana Purchase.
This spring, for the first time since 1803, two cicada groups known as Brood XIX, or the Great Southern Brood, and Brood XIII, or the Northern Illinois Brood, are set to appear at the same time, in what is known as a dual emergence…
Brood XIII (also known as Brood 13 or Northern Illinois Brood) is one of 15 separate broods of periodical cicadas that appear regularly throughout the midwestern United States. Every 17 years, …
The major cicada broods fall into either 13 year cycles or 17 year cycles. You can probably guess their biological chronometer is based on 4N+1.
Former car dealership owner turned GOP candidate Bernie Moreno, whose Ohio Senate race could determine whether Republicans regain control of the chamber, settled over a dozen wage theft lawsuits in the months before launching his campaign last year, according to court documents reviewed by Business Insider.
Those settlements came after a jury ordered Moreno to pay over $400,000 to two former employees at his Massachusetts dealership for failing to pay overtime in accordance with state labor laws.
As he faced those lawsuits, Moreno admitted in a deposition to shredding documents containing information that was potentially relevant to the case, despite being instructed to preserve records — drawing a rebuke from a state judge…
Republicans just cannot give up on their dream of ending Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Nor can they give up on the idea that they’ll be shielded from the voters’ blowback of cutting those programs if they get someone else to tell them to do it. That’s what they tried back in 2010 with the Bowles-Simpson fiscal committee, dubbed the “catfood commission” by the left, and again with the failed “super committee” in 2011.
The House Budget Committee was back at it this week, approving yet another fiscal commission they want to see included in the final appropriations package they should be voting on in March, having kicked that can down the road again with the short-term funding bill they passed this week. They want another commission that could fast-track cuts to social insurance programs, blocking efforts by Democrats to add protections for those programs in the bill. [Tweet and video at the link]
The House GOP has been harping on this since they regained the majority in 2022. They tried to include a fiscal commission in their failed attempt to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government back in September. It even featured highly in the fight to find a new speaker after the Freedom Caucus ousted Kevin McCarthy last fall.
Cutting the programs took center stage when GOP Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma nominated Jim Jordan for the job. Jordan showed “courage,” Cole said, in fighting “to get at the real drivers of debt, and we all know what they are. We all know it’s Social Security, we all know it’s Medicare, we all know it’s Medicaid.”
We all know that cutting these programs has been at the top of Republicans’ wish list since the programs were created decades ago. It’s never going to change. But it is providing yet another powerful opportunity for President Joe Biden to shine.
[…] Ranking member Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) asked members to vote to increase the money going into Medicare and Society Security so the systems could be funded for the rest of the century.
“We don’t need Republican benefit cuts — we just need the courage to make the wealthy and well-connected pay their fair share,” the House Budget Committee Democrats posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. […]
birgerjohanssonsays
Medias Touch Network:
“Consumer Sentiment Skyrockets As Americans Feel The Strong Economy”
On Wednesday, Oklahoma state Sen. Nathan Dahm has proposed a bill that would require journalists to submit to drug tests, take courses in being “propaganda-free,” and get a license from the state. According to Dahm’s Senate Bill 1837, called the Common Sense Freedom of Press Control Act, “any media outlet that includes opinions at any time in its print, broadcast, or other means of distribution shall do each of the following before any articles, stories, opinions, news, videos, or other media are distributed to the public:”
– Complete a criminal background check.
– Receive a license from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, which regulates public utilities in the state.
– “[C]omplete a propaganda-free safety training course of no less than eight (8) hours as prescribed by the State Department of Education, which shall be developed in coordination with PragerU,” which is a right-wing advocacy group known for distorting U.S. history and promoting climate change denial.
– Have liability insurance of at least $1,000,000.
– Submit to drug testing every quarter.
Enjoy fascism much? Dahm isn’t just a Republican state senator, he’s the chair of the state Republican Party. […]
This isn’t the first, second, or third time that conservative lawmakers have attempted to control the free press by demanding some sort of licensing requirements. In 2016, a South Carolina Republican introduced a bill that would require journalists to be registered and vetted by the state. An Indiana Republican tried to do a similar thing in 2017, arguing it was the same as licensing Second Amendment rights. And in 2023, a Florida lawmaker attempted to force bloggers who write about Gov. Ron DeSantis, people in his administration, or state legislators to register with the government.
This anti-press movement has partly been led by Donald Trump, the de facto head of the GOP since around 2016. Trump has been relentlessly escalating his anti-press rhetoric for years. And yet many traditional media outlets have cut Trump slack over his dehumanizing and threatening language, thereby helping to normalize that sentiment […]
Small [John Small, who is on the board of directors of the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists and editor of the Johnston County Sentinel] added, “I wonder if it’s a knee-jerk response on his part, because there are journalists in Oklahoma, myself included, who think the good senator may be a couple of McNuggets short of a Happy Meal.”
The White House went after House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) for “blatantly lying” about testimony from a benefactor of Hunter Biden on Friday.
“Yet again it appears @JamesComer is blatantly lying about closed-door testimony in the Republicans’ baseless, meandering, and failing so-called ‘impeachment inquiry’ of the President,” White House spokesperson Ian Sams wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This has happened over and over and over.”
Sams’s post was in reference to an attorney for Kevin Morris, a friend of President Biden’s son, alleging House Republicans did not accurately represent his testimony in the wake of a closed-door interview Thursday.
“Your staff as well as the staff of other committees responded that Mr. Morris would be treated fairly,” Bryan Sullivan, Morris’s attorney, wrote in a letter to Comer. “And, then you did not treat Mr. Morris fairly and engaged in your standard practice of partially and inaccurately leaking a witness’s statements.” […]
Back in 2021, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office received a $340,000 federal grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance to target opioid-related crimes. One of the things that District Attorney Carla Rodriguez used that money for was a series of anti-fentanyl public service announcements.
Seven of these ads were produced last fall, but one, titled Lindsay’s Story never made it to the airwaves at all and has been pulled from the DA’s website following an inquiry from California Newsroom.
And it went a little something like this.
Announcer: This is Lisa.
Lisa: She was a great kid. She loved horses. She wanted to play soccer
Announcer: and like many Sonoma County moms that afternoon she had taken her daughter to the playground.
Lisa: We’d gone to the park that day and you know how kids are. She saw some white powder and touched it. That’s all she did… All of a sudden, something just wasn’t right. Her pupils look like little dots.
Lisa: She then fell down and made this gurgling noise and then went limp.
Listeners are then directed to the website SOCO one pill can kill dot com.
Lisa: She was only six years old.
Announcer: This message is brought to you by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office
Lisa: Six years old.
You see, the problem is … not only is there no record of this ever having happened, it is not physically possible for it to have happened.
But while the ad has been removed, no one involved feels even a little bad about it.
Via Northern California Public Media:
According to records we requested, the DA’s office contracted with Amaturo Sonoma Media Group. They own several commercial radio stations in the area, including KSRO talk radio, which has featured Rodriguez and real parents who have actually lost kids to fentanyl. […]
The DA’s office paid Amaturo $46,000 dollars for help with the campaign. That included the company producing several radio spots with some of the parents interviewed on KSRO, and running them on its nine stations for six weeks.
Steve DiNardo is Amaturo’s VP of sales. He said ‘Lindsey’s Story’ never aired on the radio, and admits it was fabricated.
“We were trying to be creative,” [DiNardo] said. “We’re trying to elicit emotion. I think the campaign did a very good job of accomplishing that.”
Emails we obtained show that DA Rodriguez was personally involved in creating the public service campaign, but she told us ‘Lindsey’s Story’ was entirely Amaturo’s creation.
“It is not based on a true story,” Rodriguez said.
We asked the DA if she had any concerns about the fake story being alarmist.
“I am not concerned about people being too alert about the dangers of fentanyl,” Rodriguez said. “Period. I am not.”
But telling lies doesn’t help anyone become “alert about the dangers of fentanyl,” because your six-year-old overdosing in the park by touching fentanyl is not one of the dangers of fentanyl.
The thing is, when something is as dangerous as fentanyl, when there are, tragically, so many true stories about people overdosing and dying from fentanyl, “getting creative” is unnecessary — and offensive. There is no need to add any sauce to that. According to Rodriguez’s website, 109 people in Sonoma County died in 2021 from fentanyl overdoses. Were their true stories just not enough to “elicit emotion”? Because if so, that’s messed up. [snipped history of inaccurate anti-drug campaigns in the past, including marijuana.]
This is not the case with fentanyl. (I’m referring only to the kind you get off the street, it’s obviously different in an actual medical setting with people who know what they’re doing, for things like advanced cancer pain.) I mean, sure — there are people who have taken it without dropping dead, just as there was that one lady who fell 30,000 feet without a parachute and didn’t die, but neither is a risk anyone should want to take. Fentanyl is legitimately dangerous, but it’s not going to kill a kid who accidentally touches something with fentanyl on it because that is not how the drug works.
The government shouldn’t be paying people to lie to you about it. Barring that, if they’re caught, they should at least have the decency to be embarrassed.
Washington State Department of Health:
You can’t overdose just by touching fentanyl. In fact, there are no confirmed cases of overdose from touching fentanyl powder or pills. While fentanyl can be absorbed across the skin, this happens only with constant direct contact over hours and days. Still, you should avoid touching fentanyl.
UC Davis Health News:
It is a common misconception that fentanyl can be absorbed through the skin, but it is not true for casual exposure. You can’t overdose on fentanyl by touching a doorknob or dollar bill. The one case in which fentanyl can be absorbed through the skin is with a special doctor-prescribed fentanyl skin patch, and even then, it takes hours of exposure.
Consumers have grown more confident about the direction of the economy and inflation at the onset of 2024, despite persistent worries about a looming slowdown, a survey released on Friday showed.
The University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers showed a reading of 78.8 for January, its highest level since July 2021 and up 21.4% from a year ago. That followed a big jump in December and comes despite public opinion surveys showing concern about the nation’s direction.
On a two-month basis, sentiment showed its largest increase since 1991, said Joanne Hsu, the survey’s director.
“Consumer views were supported by confidence that inflation has turned a corner and strengthening income expectations,” Hsu said. “Democrats and Republicans alike showed their most favorable readings since summer of 2021. Sentiment has now risen nearly 60% above the all-time low measured in June of 2022 and is likely to provide some positive momentum for the economy.”
[…]
Claim: In November 2016, Donald Trump stated that a candidate under federal investigation “has no right to be running” and that it would be “virtually impossible” for a president under indictment to govern.
Correct attribution.
birgerjohanssonsays
Proof There’s No Israeli Crime The USA Won’t Defend
birgerjohanssonsays
Oops… did not sort out the link properly .
My apologies, it is past local midnight and I have gone two days without sleep.
This is how mob trials are conducted. From the Mafia Commission trial to John Gotti to Ammon Bundy a few years ago, and now Donald Trump, these and more are what is necessary to try mob bosses.
Donald Trump is on civil trial for defamation in New York City, and thanks to the many threats Trump and his supporters have made, the jurors are reportedly experiencing their own ordeal.
Politico journalist Erica Orden tweeted that Judge Lewis A. Kaplan “explains to prospective jurors that this will be an anonymous jury, meaning no one including the parties, their lawyers, reporters or even the judge will know their real names. He also suggests they speak to each other using names other than their real ones.”
Over the course of the trial, the jurors will be picked up at a series of undisclosed locations and then driven to the court and brought in through the underground garage. They were instructed, Orden reported, not to “tell anyone, including family, that they are serving on this case.”
…The law includes a three-year grace period before the ban comes into effect, and financial help for breeders, but many in the industry condemned it as an attack on their way of life.
Joo Young-bong, the head of a nationwide association of dog meat farmers, said producers were in a “state of despair”.
“Prohibiting what people eat has no precedent in history,” Joo said in a radio interview. “People have recovered their health and improved their wellbeing after eating dog meat. We are aware that consumption has been falling, but it is absurd to ban people from eating what they like. It feels like we’ve become a ‘dog republic’. There are more people walking around with dogs than there are holding babies.”…
When environmental activists calling for less pollution sit in the streets, across Europe they are now abused and attacked, arrested and handed extreme and draconian sentences. When farmers contesting pollution rules block entire city centres and major roads and spray manure on government buildings, the authorities sit and wait for them to go home. Few, if any, are prosecuted, and those who are receive small penalties. The promise of equality before the law has seldom looked emptier.
The hard right and far right demonise people who challenge the status quo, and valorise those who seek to restore it. Governments and police forces across the rich world have proved all too responsive to their demands.
I understand the sense of threat felt by farmers, as environmental rules are belatedly enforced. In some cases, attempts across Europe to make farming greener, reducing its release of nitrogen, cutting diesel subsidies, limiting water abstraction and banning some pesticides, have been clumsily introduced and badly implemented. I understand that life is tough for many farmers, as it is now for workers in almost every sector. Like all of us, they have a right to protest. And other people, as in all cases, have a right to scrutinise their protests.
There are good reasons to do so. Farmers’ movements in several European nations are being influenced or exploited by political forces in ways that have chilling historical precedents. Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, Rassemblement National in France, the Sweden Democrats, Fidesz in Hungary, the Brothers of Italy, the Dutch far right and similar groups across the continent are cynically using farmers’ plight and protests as a means of building support. Farmers, some of these groups claim, embody the soul of the nation, but they are being uprooted by “globalist” forces, seeking to “replace” them with immigrants. The far right’s resurgence in Europe is fuelled to a large extent by what used to be called “agrarian populism”.
There are similar trends in the US. The Oath Keepers, and the Three Percenters, two of the militias that led the attack on the US Capitol building in January 2021, consolidated around an agrarian revolt against state and federal authorities. After the rancher Cliven Bundy was ordered to remove the cattle he had illegally herded on to public lands in Nevada, harming the brittle desert ecosystem, these militias arrived to defend him. In an armed confrontation on the freeway, they forced federal agents to back down. Then they stalked, harassed and threatened to kidnap officials: several had to flee the region and hide in safe houses. Though they committed crimes that in other circumstances would have been treated as terrorism, few were prosecuted or even arrested. Their impunity in Nevada is likely to have encouraged their attack on the Capitol.
As they did a century ago, these political movements exploit genuine crises: the accumulation of wealth by the few and impoverishment of the many, the erosion of workers’ rights and the stagnation of wages, public austerity and the multiple failures of public provision, the restriction of political choice as major parties cluster round neoliberalism, the destruction of small businesses – including small farms – by large ones, the environmental disasters now hammering many communities. [The Democratic Party has not clustered around neoliberalism. This is lazy and not helpful. From my series on Prophets of Deceit: “The goal of [rightwing] agitation, Horkheimer points out, ‘has always been the same, to lead the masses toward goals that run counter to their basic interests’.”- SC] They then use these crises as weapons against the very people seeking to address them: leftwing and environmental parties and protest movements.
Among their tactics are lurid conspiracy fictions. While, a century ago, similar political voices raged against “aliens” and “cosmopolitans” (Jews and other supposed “outsiders”), today these movements rage against “immigrants” and “globalists”. While demonising two plutocrats (Bill Gates and George Soros), today’s groupings align openly or tacitly with others, such as Elon Musk, Charles Koch and Donald Trump. A selective approach to financial power (demonising “Jewish bankers” while receiving funds from supportive plutocrats) was also a feature of 20th-century fascism.
It all looks horribly familiar….
…
The grimmest themes in European history are being shamelessly disinterred at or around the farmers’ protests. At the tractor blockade in Berlin this week, some people displayed the flag of the Landvolkbewegung, a 1920s antisemitic agrarian movement. It troubles me that so much has fallen down the memory hole: the disgusting race politics of Rudolf Steiner, who developed biodynamic farming; Germany’s Lebensreform movement, which claimed that Jews were “injecting putrefying agents into the nation’s blood and soil” (ours is not the first age in which bucolic and anti-vaccine sentiments have merged); the Artaman League, which sought to restore an imagined agrarian past, on which the Nazis built their blood and soil politics; and nostalgic British farming movements led by fascist sympathisers such as Rolf Gardiner and Jorian Jenks.
It’s also troubling to see how few people in the 2020s are prepared to confront the far right’s new agrarian populism. Those who should contest these politics cringe and cringe again: there seems to be a moral forcefield surrounding farmers’ protests, defending them from criticism. As the left seeks to avoid a clash with supposedly “authentic” and “rooted” movements, the far right exploits this timidity. George Santayana’s famous maxim haunts our days. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
The part about Vandana Shiva isn’t terribly shocking but is depressing.
I think the radical change needed in our food systems is the most important issue in the world right now. Monbiot doesn’t discuss it, but there are food justice movements all over.
EXTENDED VERSION; Nightmarish images of destruction in Gaza have filled the news and social media feeds for months. But within Israel, mainstream media outlets tell a very different story. This week, Micah Loewinger speaks with Oren Persico, a staff writer at The Seventh Eye, an independent investigative magazine focused on media and freedom of speech in Israel, about the Israeli media landscape in the months following October 7th, and the “dome of disconnection” it created.
From NBC News good news … might get even better in the near future:
The House Ways and Means Committee voted 40-3 on Friday to approve a bipartisan tax package that includes an expansion of the child tax credit and a series of breaks for businesses, sending it to the full chamber with momentum.
More rightwing lawyers in trouble, as reported by Politico:
Washington, D.C., bar investigators have filed disciplinary charges against three lawyers who aided Donald Trump ally Sidney Powell’s campaign to mount discredited legal challenges to the 2020 election results.
Filings made public Friday accused attorneys Juli Haller, Lawrence Joseph and Brandon Johnson of making knowingly false representations to courts about a slew of lawsuits they filed in the weeks after the 2020 election.
Josh Marshall on Great Moments in Dead Bounce Ron Studies:
This is mainly just a goof on Ron DeSantis’s ridiculous presidential campaign. But it’s weird and funny enough that I thought I’d share it with you. Clearly Ron DeSantis’s campaign is flatlining about to go down in the history books as one of the most ignominious and vertiginous collapses in presidential primary campaign history. But TPM Reader RS just let me know that despite filing in a lot of other state’s he’ll never get to, DeSantis’s campaign somehow forgot to file paperwork to be a candidate in the New York State Republican primary.
The deadline was yesterday. So on the off chance Ron catches fire in South Carolina he not on the ballot in New York.
The hopelessness of beating Trump isn’t an excuse. Trump, Haley, Chris Christie and even Vivek Ramaswamy filed.
So did Biden, Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson.
A famous Russian drone operator in the Kherson area was fittingly eliminated by a Ukrainian kamikaze drone.
Rest in pieces, Moses. Krynky is hell, indeed.
[Tweet and video at the link: Yesterday, 🇺🇦Ukrainian soldiers of the 35th Marine Brigade and BaluHUB Intelligence group found and destroyed a group of 🇷🇺Russian drone pilots in Krynky area.
One of them was callsign «Moisei», he was a [guy] who killed a lot of Ukrainian soldiers on the left bank of Kherson region.
But we find him👇]
Russians are having a sad about this news. ☹️ [Photos and tweets at the link]
[Personally, I think it is sad when young men die in wars. Yes, he killed a lot of Ukrainians and sunk a lot of Ukrainian boats. That was his job. I see him as, in part at least, another one of Putin’s victims. And, yes, I am also glad that he is no longer killing Ukrainians.]
————————————-
[…] Damn thing looks like something out of a Buck Rogers movie. [Tweet and photos at the link: For the first time Russia fired a P-35 anti-ship missile at Ukraine 🇺🇦 from a ground launcher in Crimea
P-35 missiles entered service in 1962, they weigh 4 tons, and have a speed of 1.6 Mach. It was fired at a ground target in Southern Ukraine but got shot down]
——————————————
This is the crew of the Bradley that lit up the Russian T-90 tank. One was a teacher before the war, the other a motorcycle mechanic [Tweet and image at the link]
————————————
France steps up. [Tweet and image at the link: On 18 January, France and the US launched the Artillery Coalition in Paris to bolster Ukraine’s defense
At the meeting, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that France would manufacture 78 Caesar howitzers for Ukraine]
———————————–
Ukrainian Defender filmed his trip home together with his kitties. [Tweet and video at the link].
[…]
President Joe Biden’s top aides bluntly told lawmakers in a private meeting on Wednesday that if Congress fails to authorize additional military aid for Ukraine in the coming days, Russia could win the war in a matter of weeks — months at best, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan and the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the lawmakers that Ukraine will run out of certain air defense and artillery capabilities in the coming weeks, according to the people familiar with the meeting.
The grim assessment, which one White House official described as “incredibly stark,” was delivered as the future of Ukraine aid has never been more uncertain. It also comes as White House officials are increasingly alarmed at the prospect of Biden failing to follow through with his promise that the U.S. will be there for Kyiv “as long as it takes.”
In Wednesday’s meeting at the White House, Sullivan and Haines gave the top congressional leaders a classified time frame for when Ukraine’s key military resources will be significantly depleted, and a detailed assessment of the current dynamics on the battlefield, the two people familiar with the meeting said.
Sullivan emphasized that Ukraine’s position would grow more difficult over the course of the year, a White House official said, by offering specific date ranges of when Ukraine will run low on various capabilities in the short-term.
The president’s aides told the lawmakers that the lack of aid would affect far more than Ukraine […]
The bipartisan group of congressional leaders at the meeting agreed that providing aid to Ukraine is a national security priority, but acknowledged that there are disagreements about how to proceed legislatively, these people said.
Ukraine aid, which has been held up in Congress for months, is part of legislation that also provides funding for Israel, Taiwan and U.S. border security. […]
Though outstanding issues on the border portion of the bill remain, Senate leaders from both parties expressed optimism this week that the upper chamber could soon take up the legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters after the White House meeting that he puts chances of a deal at “more than half,” and later said they could begin processing the legislation as early as next week. […]
OK, this does amuse me:
“President Joe Biden’s top aides bluntly told lawmakers in a private meeting on Wednesday that if Congress fails to authorize additional military aid for Ukraine in the coming days, Russia could win the war in a matter of weeks — months at best, according to two people familiar with the meeting.”
I mean, I get the subtext: a “private” meeting.
(The purported claim about the war itself is risible, of course — so it’s quite obviously prepared propaganda)
John Moralessays
…
“More at the link.”
Sure. I had a look.
Burn, baby, burn
An electrical substation is on fire in #Belgorod 🔥🔥🔥#RussiaOnFire pic.twitter.com/nF4fDfU0QM
— Aurora Borealis 🤫 (@aborealis940) January 18, 2024
A construction market is on fire in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. The fire has been assigned the third rank of complexity out of five, with an area of 1200 square meters, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported.
Firefighters are unable to put out the fire at the… pic.twitter.com/v5sXNaFKf8
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) January 19, 2024
They might be able to put the fire out if they can find the hydrants.
😂In Chelyabinsk, Russia, firefighters cannot put out a fire in a 1,200-square-meter market, because the hydrant wells are under the snow, which utility workers have not removed since the beginning of the year.
Entrepreneurs throw things from the pavilions so that the fire does… pic.twitter.com/I5g9f7wBer
— Jürgen Nauditt 🇩🇪🇺🇦 (@jurgen_nauditt) January 19, 2024
So. Joy, satisfaction, triumphalism at civilian damage. Glee, even.
(It’s bad when the Russkys do it, of course. But otherwise… well, moral relativism is a thing)
Reginald Selkirksays
@80 “By Krinky”
Sounds like something my grandpa used to say.
Fair dinkum, mate.
Russia-state hackers exploited a weak password to compromise Microsoft’s corporate network and accessed emails and documents that belonged to senior executives and employees working in security and legal teams, Microsoft said late Friday.
The attack, which Microsoft attributed to a Kremlin-backed hacking group it tracks as Midnight Blizzard, is at least the second time in as many years that failures to follow basic security hygiene has resulted in a breach that has the potential to harm customers. One paragraph in Friday’s disclosure, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, was gobsmacking:…
Trump’s closing argument to New Hampshire voters pushes misinformation suggesting Democrats would “infiltrate” GOP primary
[…] “Nikki Haley is counting on Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary,” Trump said to a small ballroom filled with supporters in Portsmouth Wednesday evening, before blaming New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu for the state’s primary system, which allows undeclared voters — which make up 40% of the state’s registered voters — to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary on Jan. 23.
Trump repeated the same unfounded claims to a crowd of over 1,000 in Atkinson, New Hampshire, Tuesday night, and inaccurately stated that Democrats want to “cancel out” votes for him.
By law, undeclared residents may vote in New Hampshire’s GOP primary, along with Republican voters. Registered voters may only vote in one party’s primary, and the deadline to switch party registration expired in early October.
Of the state’s more than 873,000 registered voters, just 3,542 voters changed their registration from Democrat to undeclared before the state’s Oct. 6 deadline, and just 408 Democrats changed their registration to Republican.
In the video, it sounds like Trump is stuck in a loop where he keeps repeating “Nikki Haley” and then reverts to recounting old grievances to which he attaches that name.
What we need is a new word, yes, probably a German one, that would mean “laugh-out-loud embarrassing, but in a sufficiently fascist manner as to remain unnerving.” It’s that thing we’re all sick of feeling.
I could use that word right now, since it’s time to talk about the 2024 Iowa Republican presidential caucuses.
As expected, the rapist ran away with it. Republican voters sure do love their rapist. ‘Course, he’s not just any rapist, he’s the rapist who tried to end American democracy. Honestly, how could a listless pudding fondler like Ron DeSantis hope to compete?
Ron’s not quite ready to slink back to Tallahassee, so he’s going to flop around for our amusement at least through New Hampshire, which I appreciate. He might not have anyone left to talk to, cuz Nikki says from now on, she’s only gonna debate rapists she’s promised to pardon.
[…] I guess Haley’s polling well enough in New Hampshire to merit Off-Brand Orbán’s attention, since he finally lobbed that long-expected lump of casually racist hate at her. [Basically, Trump is saying various versions of “she’s not all white” or “her name is weird” or “her parents were immigrants.”]
[…] Best part of the Iowa caucuses is the wave of “Say, I’m not sure these “evangelical” fellows are entirely on the level” columns. Yep. Bit of a death cult, really. Glad you’re catching up.
Getting back to the Republican frontrapist, he spent the week harassing and re-defaming the woman he raped. I dunno, maybe they get a different Bible in red states. Maybe Jesus is a rapist in their Bible.
Anyway, this particular rapist, who is a lot of evangelicals’ favorite rapist, demands absolute legal immunity, which I get, because he’s committed…oh my god you guys, so many crimes. Including rape. The rapist who tried everything he could think of, up to and including violent insurrection, to overturn an election he lost would rather not be prosecuted.
And again, I get that. Don’t agree, but I get it. I think we should have the rule of law, and democracy, and not “whatever this one rapist wants.” I sincerely believe it’s the stronger choice.
Although…he did pass that cognitive test. Bragging, no, strutting about the cognitive test is part of the stump speech now. There Once Was a Rapist Who Passed a Cognitive Test, So We Made Him King. That’s the creation myth. […]
I’m sincerely grateful to Ted Cruz for providing comic relief during the genuinely terrifying ritual of governors and senators genuflecting to a man who thinks magnets break when they get wet. He just deserves the debasement so richly. […]
Ted, Rubio, Tim Scott, “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, they all agree: when it comes to the presidency, only an authoritarian rapist will do. Cool coalition. […]
Well, poor, dumb Jimmy Comer got caught doctoring closed-door testimony. Again. This dolt’s master plan, by the way, is to run this same sad con, which he has fucked up every single time, on Hunter Biden. Jimmy thinks he’s good at this, you guys. [See comment 66]
[…] the last thing Republicans want is to actually solve any border-related problems; they’re enjoying the brownshirty new transgressiveness of the fear-mongering around the issue far too much. I find Greg Abbott’s increasingly flamboyant cruelty particularly spine-chilling.
Meanwhile, Paul Gosar is fundraising off the batshit claim that wokeism has led to the ethnic cleansing of whites from the military, a few short days after we learned about those neo-Nazi interns he hired. […]
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to the lowest level in nearly 1-1/2 years, suggesting job growth likely remained solid in January.
The unexpected decline in initial claims reported by the Labor Department on Thursday added to strong retail sales growth in December in painting an upbeat picture of the economy […]
Related good news, as reported by Axios:
Americans overall have a surprising degree of satisfaction with their economic situation, according to findings from the Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.
GDP growth is the highest in the developed world, inflation is headed back down to optimal levels, and consumer spending keeps on growing.
By the numbers: 63% of Americans rate their current financial situation as being “good,” including 19% of us who say it’s “very good.”
Neither number is particularly low: They’re both entirely in line with the average result the past 20 times Harris Poll has asked this question.
Americans’ outlooks for the future are also rosy. 66% think that 2024 will be better than 2023, and 85% of us feel we could change our personal financial situation for the better this year.
That’s in line with Wall Street estimates, which have penciled in continued growth in both GDP and real wages for the rest of the year.
Stunning stat: 77% of Americans are happy with where they’re living — including renters, who have seen their housing costs surge over the last few years and are far more likely than homeowners to describe their financial situation as poor.
The bottom line: Americans who believe their community’s economy is strong outnumber those who think it’s weak. […]
Affordable Care Act (ACA) signups have blown up since open enrollment began on December 15th, marking the third year of increasing sign ups for ACA under the Biden Administration.
Signups have already surpassed last year’s numbers by 4 million and more are expected as the January 16th deadline approaches. Some states have also extended the open enrollment deadline through the end of January. Roughly 3.7 million of these signups, representing about one-fifth of the total, are new members.
MI – 45%-41% (+4) – (Biden won MI by 2.8 points in 2020) – MIRS
NH – 42%-34% (+8) – (Biden won NH by 7.4 points in 2020) – USA Today/Suffolk
PA – 49%-46% (+3) – (Biden won PA by 1.2 pts in 2020) – Quinnipiac
It’s still too early to put much stock in polls, but it nice to see polls that used to show Trump with slight leads are now trending in the other direction. And that’s in swing states, where the projected Biden wins are by larger margins than the wins in 2020.
“By the way, they never report the crowd on Jan. 6. You know Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know, they — do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it,” Trump baselessly claimed. “Because of lots of things … like Nikki Haley is in charge of security — we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guards, whatever they want. They turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people.”
Pelosi’s office, from a response to Trump’s lies:
“On Jan. 6th, the Speaker, a target of an assassination attempt that day, was no more in charge of Capitol security than Mitch McConnell was,” then-Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill explained to The Associated Press in July 2021. “This is a clear attempt to whitewash what happened on Jan. 6th and divert blame.”
The National Guard isn’t directed by the House Speaker.
A federal judge put the kibosh on a Texas law that would have forced book vendors to determine whether materials being sold to Texas schools that contain any mention of sex are either so dirty that they can’t be seen by anyone under 18, or merely so dirty they could only be seen with parental permission. US District Judge Alan Albright, a Trump appointee, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law just days before it was supposed to go into effect, and Albright’s order is a corker, lighting into the law and the dumb arguments Texas attorneys offered in trying to defend it.
This would be the same dirty-books law that we made fun of back in April 2023, when its author, Texas state Rep. Jared Peterson (R), said that there should be no “sexually explicit” materials in any Texas schools, absolutely none. In response to a question from a smartass Democrat, Peterson said that not even the semiofficial Texas State Novel, Larry McMurtry’s 1985 epic Lonesome Dove, could be spared if it had sex stuff in it. Peterson hadn’t read the book, which may already be grounds for expulsion, but insisted,
“I don’t care if it’s ‘Lonesome Dove’ or any other novel — if it has sexually explicit material, I would view that as an incredible win for the students of the state to not have that material in the library.” […]
The stupid bill, HB 900, aka the “Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources (READER) Act,” was passed and signed into law anyway, and now booksellers have gotten it blocked, largely because it would have forced them to rate every single book they sell or ever have sold to Texas schools.
And wow, what a lot of work the law demanded of book companies if they wanted to stay in the Texas market, as Law Dork Chris Geidner explains. The law
purported to set up a system for categorizing books as “sexually explicit” or “sexually relevant,” with the former barred and the latter subject to restrictions, or unrated and available on unrestricted terms. The system, however, requires booksellers to do the initial rating by reviewing and rating every book that they sell to a school. A state agency is then free to change the rating of any book — with no apparent standards or way for the booksellers to appeal that decision — and then post the booksellers’ list (as potentially altered by the state) publicly. Failure to adhere to this system means you can’t sell books to schools in Texas.
[…] “To put the scale of the number of books that would need to be rated in perspective, a librarian in San Antonio for Northside ISD testified that six school districts alone had library collections totaling over six million items,“ Albright wrote.
[…] The law offers no guidelines, it just waves vaguely at Texas law and tells booksellers to make a decision, as if any two companies would necessarily agree when evaluating a given book.
Thus, school districts across the state of Texas would be able to purchase a book of the exact same content from one provider but not another. […]
[…] If a bookseller didn’t accept the TEA’s [Texas Education Agency] classification of a book as “sexually explicit,” it would be barred from ever selling books to the state again, for all time.
Albright wrote,
“The effects of these few short provisions have put Plaintiffs in an impossible position. First, the costs of compliance with issuing ratings are sky high. In addition, Plaintiffs do not believe their members or employees have the time or the training to properly make these assessments, which could lead to banning classic works of literature.”
Albright also tore into Texas’s lawyers’ defense of the law, noting that, “Generally, the government was confused and unaware of how the law would actually function in practice, even though the hearing was mere days before it would go into effect.”
In short, it’s a crap law that’s excessively vague and unenforceable, so while the case is being litigated, it won’t be allowed to go into effect — a finding that was even upheld Wednesday by a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which seemingly has never met a rightwing law it didn’t like. Finding that the law is probably unconstitutional, the judges agreed with Albright that it can’t be enforced while the case moves forward, and now teenagers can be just as surprised as I was by how few of the main characters in Lonesome Dove live to see the last page (oh, spoiler for a 38-year-old novel).
When the Hubble Space Telescope first spotted the galaxy GN-z11 in 2016, it was the most distant galaxy scientists had ever identified. It was ancient, formed 13.4 billion years ago — a mere 400 million years after the Big Bang.
But while GN-z11’s record has since been broken, the galaxy remains something of a puzzle. For such an old and compact galaxy, it was oddly luminous. To be that bright, “it would have required a large number of stars packed in such a small volume,” says Roberto Maiolino, an astrophysicist at the University of Cambridge. But, given how young the universe was, it would have been hard to make all those young, bright stars in that relatively short period of time.
Now, in a paper entitled “A small and vigorous black hole in the early Universe,” published in Nature, Maiolino and his colleagues have an alternative explanation for all that light: a supermassive black hole about 1.6 million times the mass of our Sun. The black hole itself doesn’t emit any light — but all the material screaming toward it, Maiolino proposes, may well be hot and bright enough to produce the galaxy’s intense radiance.
He says this is the earliest black hole ever detected, and its very existence calls into question where certain black holes come from and how they feed and grow…
[…] Trump was scheduled to speak at 5 p.m. The parking lot at the country club opened at 10 a.m. The doors opened at 2 p.m., and hundreds of people were already in line. When everyone finally got inside, most had to stand tightly packed for hours more until the snowstorm-delayed candidate finally arrived just before 7 p.m.
It’s not always logistically easy being in the Trump tribe, but people stuck it out — and when instructed to turn around and express their sentiments directly to the news media, they dutifully booed and raised middle fingers.
The antagonism that Trump supporters feel toward the media is a small piece of a broader political and cultural phenomenon. This country, though politically fractious since its founding, is more polarized than ever, the rhetoric more inflammatory, the rage more likely to curdle into hate. It’s ugly out there.
[…] One theme emerges in much of the research [from Social Scientists]: Our politics tend be more emotional now. Policy preferences are increasingly likely to be entangled with a visceral dislike of the opposition. The newly embraced academic term for this is “affective polarization.”
“It’s feelings based,” said Lilliana Mason, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University and author of “Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity.” “It’s polarization that’s based on our feelings for each other, not based on extremely divergent policy preferences.”
[…] “We wouldn’t have civilizations if we didn’t create groups. We are designed to form groups, and the only way to define a group is there has to be someone who’s not in it,” Mason said.
Experiments have revealed that “children as young as two will prefer other children randomly assigned to the same T-shirt color,” Christakis writes.
What’s most striking is that in the process of defining who is in and who is out of a group, enmity and derision can arise independently of any rational reason for it.
[…] “In this political environment, a candidate who picks up the banner of ‘us versus them’ and ‘winning versus losing’ is almost guaranteed to tap into a current of resentment and anger across racial, religious, and cultural lines, which have recently divided neatly by party.” [quoting Lilliana Mason, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University and author of “Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity.”]
The fragmentation of the media has made it easier to gather information in an echo chamber, Iyengar said. He calls this “sorting.” Not only do people cluster around specific beliefs or ideas, they physically cluster, moving to neighborhoods where residents are likely to look like them and think like them. [quoting Shanto Iyengar, a Stanford political psychologist who coined the term “affective polarization”]
[…] Research shows that affective polarization is intensifying across the political spectrum. Recent survey data revealed that more than half of Republicans and Democrats view the other party as “a threat,” and nearly as many agree with the description of the other party as “evil,” Mason said.
Asked in the summer of 2022 if they agree or disagree that members of the other party “lack the traits to be considered fully human — they behave like animals,” about 30 percent in both parties agreed, Mason’s research shows.
[…] Though partisan vitriol is intensifying across the spectrum, Trump looms large among researchers on polarization and group identity.
[…] A New Hampshire campaign flier touting Trump shows him pumping his fist and looking combative, and quotes him: “They’re not after me, they’re after you. … And I’m just standing in the way!”
[…] Trump “is not just saying be afraid. He’s saying, ‘Be angry,’” said Dannagal Young, a professor of communication and political science at the University of Delaware. “Anger is a mobilization emotion because it makes people do things. When you’re angry, you’re angry at someone.” […]
Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) reported the successful targeting of a Russian Tor anti-aircraft missile system with a drone on Jan. 20, supported by released video evidence…
Re: Lynna, OM @ #89…
California is the other way around. The Democrats allow Decline to State voters in their primary, the Republicans don’t. Not sure why, as it seems to me to be counter-intuitive to bar unaffiliated voters to vote in your primary. On the other hand, there are very few races in California where it’s going to matter, since, with the exception of things like local party officials and the presidential race, primaries are open with the top two candidates advancing to the general election.
Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry has begun calling transgender people in for questioning in St. Petersburg and the Arkhangelsk region, reports human rights organization Sphere. Police officers are demanding trans people explain how they obtained medical certificates confirming their gender reassignment.
According to Sphere, the ministry sent summonses to two people in the Arkhangelsk region and one person in St. Petersburg. One man who was called in said that during the “interview,” an officer asked him where he got his certificate, how much it cost, who recommended getting it, and who was on the approval committee. The officer also asked if he had attended any LGBTQ+ parties. When he said he couldn’t remember, he was given another summons and told: “We’ll keep calling you in [until you do].”
He later sent his certificate to the police, after which they called and asked how he’d gotten the certificate issued in one day. According to the man, the police said that if the certificate turned out to be invalid, he would be forced to detransition.
…
In July 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning gender transition. It’s now illegal for transgender people in Russia to change the gender marker on their official documents, undergo gender-affirming surgery, or adopt children. The government can also now annul marriages if one partner has changed their gender marker.
This past week, Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan was the site of some of the largest protests the country has seen since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But while the ongoing war is an important part of the context of all of Russia’s social unrest these days, it wasn’t the reason for this demonstration. Instead, the protesters were demanding freedom for Fail Alsynov, one of the leaders of the Bashkir nationalist movement and a prominent local activist. While Alsynov has done his best in recent years not to give the authorities any easy excuses to prosecute him, his political bedfellows have become increasingly critical of the Kremlin since February 2022. Late last year, Bashkortostan’s leaders took advantage of a phrase Alsynov used at an environmental protest to finally charge him with a felony, and this week, he was sentenced to four years in prison. The independent outlet Verstka, which sent a correspondent to the protests sparked by the ruling, explained how the unrest unfolded and why support for Alsynov is so strong in Bashkortostan. Meduza summarizes the report in English….
In this News Brief, we are joined by Adam’s anonymous co-author of their two recent studies—one of print and one of cable news—detailing US’s media’s double standards when covering the ‘Gaza conflict.’
(As usual, I take issue with some of their editorializing.)
For 36 years, in all of its public communications about the statue — the acquisition press release, multiple articles by Kozloff, handbooks, gallery labels, webpage text, and videos — the CMA identified the statue not as a Greek philosopher (which the costume and pose might suggest) but rather as “probably” the Greek philosophy-loving Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. This identification is supported not only by the statue’s impressive scale and quality, but also by its association with Bubon, where there is an empty pedestal inscribed with the name “Marcus Aurelius.”
Though celebrities like Jay Z and Lady Gaga swear by the Abramović method, it’s more likely that they are also benefitting from another huge wellness tip, which is being insanely rich…
A recent Gallup survey showed a record-high 43% of Americans see themselves as politically independent. And a record-low identified as Democrat, 27%, matching Republican identification at 27%.
Kansans are also declaring independence. The numbers registering as Unaffiliated and Libertarian are increasing and together now account for 30% of registered voters — 4% higher than registered Democrats…
Boris Johnson was a failure as a journalist, he was a failure as prime minister, and he is a failure at wordsmith.
whheydtsays
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #106…
Several years ago, the number of registered independents in California exceeded the number of registered Republicans, making the Republicans the third largest “party” in the state. (Which is I don’t really care whether Trump is on the ballot in California or not. There is no possible way he will carry the state in the general election.)
A fire broke out at a Baltic Sea terminal belonging to Novatek (NVTK.MM)
, opens new tab, Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas producer, after a suspected Ukrainian drone attack, forcing the company to suspend some operations there.
The Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, fuel oil and gasoil, according to Novatek’s website. The port is used to ship processed products to international markets.
The Interfax-Ukraine news agency, citing unnamed sources, said the fire was the result of a special operation carried out by Ukraine’s security services…
Evergy maintained “normal operating conditions for extreme weather,” despite coal freezing, thanks in part to high winds powering wind farms through the recent blustery conditions…
“Probably the biggest difference for us in this storm versus Uri was about a week to 10 days prior to this event, you’ll recall, we had sleet, ice, snow and even rain in some parts of the service territory,” Caisley said. “And what that means is even though we put sealant on our coal piles, we had a lot of frozen coal — both that’s operating within our coal plants but also just lying on the ground, which makes running those coal power plants a lot more difficult.
“For all the great technology that we have when it comes to combating frozen coal and just frozen equipment in general, it’s really pretty caveman-type implements that we use. We use fire. We use blow torches. We use jackhammers. We use sledgehammers. We use Bobcats. And we just simply try and break it up.
“But what happens is sometimes it does freeze in the hoppers and in the coal bins. We can’t pulverize it. And either we have to take a unit offline, heat that coal up and then get it going again, or we take what’s called a derate, which means it’s not running at full capacity. You can’t get the same amount of power out of it. And that happened periodically to some of our coal plants.” …
I am re- reading the last Terry Pratchett Discworld novel Raising Steam and the part where the dwarwen King holds a speech calling out the grags * and their reactionary condemnation of all change on vague religious ground could be an ubiquitous speech directed against all religious nutters (such as your religious right), which is no doubt what Pratchett intended.
Unlike Johnson, Pratchett was a real wordsmith and from now on I will cheerfully borrow expressions from him whenever weirdos and MAGAheads deserve some particularly scathing put-down.
(I especially like when the king start by adressing “my friends and smiling enemies” as Trump Republicans, tories and our local regressives love falsehood and hypocrisy the way dwarwes like rodent meat )
birgerjohanssonsays
*grags is good word choice, as it sounds like the crunching of gravel as friction is opposing you when trying to push a cart forward.
Discworld is really a better source of wisdom than that other collection of books, the one written two millennia ago.
birgerjohanssonsays
Another case of good Brit expressions; “gammon” is a term for meat, but by association for angry people who get bright red in the face when they speak, Brexiteers , tories and xenophobes are good examples (some merely get orange).
USA and Britain have been dominated by grags and gammons for a long time and they do not deserve to be adressed more politely than they adress their alleged adversaries.
So vote “no” to the American gammon in November.
birgerjohanssonsays
Sabine Hossenfelder: “Crack Down On New Climate Denial! Nonprofit tells YouTube”
I do not reject her arguments out of hand, för instance she is correct in the misinformation really is targeting people who wants to be misinformed. A wide ban would unfortunately not be effective. My suggestion: lock up the remaining Koch brother and the other billionaries who profit from destroying the world. They are the ones who finance the desinformation.
With AI projects booming and the physical limits of silicon looming, some startups are challenging Nvidia’s dominance and say it’s time to reinvent the computer chip entirely.
The cost of making further progress in artificial intelligence is becoming as startling as a hallucination by ChatGPT. Demand for the graphics chips known as GPUs needed for large-scale AI training has driven prices of the crucial components through the roof. OpenAI has said that training the algorithm that now powers ChatGPT cost the firm over $100 million. The race to compete in AI also means that data centers are now consuming worrying amounts of energy.
The AI gold rush has a few startups hatching bold plans to create new computational shovels to sell. […]
Normal Computing, a startup founded by veterans of Google Brain and Alphabet’s moonshot lab X, has developed a simple prototype that is a first step toward rebooting computing from first principles.
A conventional silicon chip runs computations by handling binary bits—that’s 0s and 1s—representing information. Normal Computing’s stochastic processing unit, or SPU, exploits the thermodynamic properties of electrical oscillators to perform calculations using random fluctuations that occur inside the circuits. That can generate random samples useful for computations or to solve linear algebra calculations, which are ubiquitous in science, engineering, and machine learning.
Faris Sbahi, the CEO of Normal Computing, explains that the hardware is both highly efficient and well suited to handling statistical calculations. This could someday make it useful for building AI algorithms that can handle uncertainty, perhaps addressing the tendency of large language models to “hallucinate” outputs when unsure.
Sbahi says the recent success of generative AI is impressive, but far from the technology’s final form. “It’s kind of clear that there’s something better out there in terms of software architectures and also hardware,” Sbahi says. He and his cofounders previously worked on quantum computing and AI at Alphabet. A lack of progress in harnessing quantum computers for machine learning spurred them to think about other ways of exploiting physics to power the computations required for AI.
Another team of ex-quantum researchers at Alphabet left to found Extropic, a company still in stealth that seems to have an even more ambitious plan for using thermodynamic computing for AI. “We’re trying to do all of neural computing tightly integrated in an analog thermodynamic chip,” says Guillaume Verdon, founder and CEO of Extropic. “We are taking our learnings from quantum computing software and hardware and bringing it to the full-stack thermodynamic paradigm.” […]
The idea that a broader rethink of computing is needed may be gaining momentum as the industry runs into the difficulty of maintaining Moore’s law, the long-standing prediction that the density of components on chips continues shrinking. “Even if Moore’s law wasn’t slowing down, you still have a massive problem, because the model sizes that OpenAI and others have been releasing are growing way faster than chip capacity,” says Peter McMahon, a professor at Cornell University who works on novel ways of computing. In other words, we might well need to exploit new ways of computing to keep the AI hype train on track.
[…] It’s easy to dismiss chatbots, but the frenzy triggered by ChatGPT could be on track to incentivize revolutions in more than just AI software.
With around 20,000 people dying of covid in the United States since the start of October, and tens of thousands more abroad, the covid pandemic clearly isn’t over. However, the crisis response is, since the World Health Organization and the Biden administration ended their declared health emergencies last year.
Let’s not confuse the terms “pandemic” and “emergency.” As Abraar Karan, an infectious disease physician and researcher at Stanford University, said, “The pandemic is over until you are scrunched in bed, feeling terrible.”
Pandemics are defined by neither time nor severity, but rather by large numbers of ongoing infections worldwide. Emergencies are acute and declared to trigger an urgent response. Ending the official emergency shifted the responsibility for curbing covid from leaders to the public. In the United States, it meant, for example, that the government largely stopped covering the cost of covid tests and vaccines.
But the virus is still infecting people; indeed, it is surging right now.
With changes in the nature of the pandemic and the response, KFF Health News spoke with doctors and researchers about how to best handle covid, influenza, and other respiratory ailments spreading this season.
A holiday wave of sickness has ensued as expected. Covid infections have escalated nationwide in the past few weeks, with analyses of virus traces in wastewater suggesting infection rates as high as last year’s. More than 73,000 people died of covid in the U.S. in 2023, meaning the virus remains deadlier than car accidents and influenza. Still, compared with last year’s seasonal surge, this winter’s wave of covid hospitalizations has been lower and death rates less than half.
“We’re seeing outbreaks in homeless shelters and in nursing homes, but hospitals aren’t overwhelmed like they have been in the past,” said Salvador Sandoval, a doctor and health officer at the Merced County public health department in California. He attributes that welcome fact to vaccination, covid treatments like Paxlovid, and a degree of immunity from prior infections.
While a new coronavirus variant, JN.1, has spread around the world, the current vaccines and covid tests remain effective.
Other seasonal illnesses are surging, too, but rates are consistent with those of previous years. […]. Researchers are now less concerned about flare-ups of pneumonia in China, Denmark, and France in November and December, because they fit cyclical patterns of the pneumonia-causing bacteria Mycoplasma pneumoniae rather than outbreaks of a dangerous new bug.
Public health researchers recommend following the CDC guidance on getting the latest covid and influenza vaccines to ward off hospitalization and death from the diseases and reduce chances of getting sick. A recent review of studies that included 614,000 people found that those who received two covid vaccines were also less likely to develop long covid; often involving fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and joint pain […] Another analysis found that people who had three doses of covid vaccines were much less likely to have long covid than those who were unvaccinated. (A caveat, however, is that those with three doses might have taken additional measures to avoid infections than those who chose to go without.)
[…] Another powerful way to prevent covid, influenza, common colds, and other airborne infections is by wearing an N95 mask. Many researchers say they’ve returned to socializing without one but opt for the masks in crowded, indoor places when wearing one would not be particularly burdensome. […] N95 masks on airplanes. And don’t forget good, old-fashioned hand-washing, which helps prevent infections as well.
If you do all that and still feel sick? Researchers say they reach for rapid covid tests. While they’ve never been perfect, they’re often quite helpful in guiding a person’s next steps.
[…] A negative result with a rapid test might mean simply that an infection hasn’t progressed enough to be detected, that the test had expired […] To be sure the culprit behind symptoms like a sore throat isn’t covid, researchers suggest testing again in a day or two. […]
If a person feels healthy and wants to know their status because they were around someone with covid, Karan recommends testing two to four days after the exposure. To protect others during those uncertain days, the person can wear an N95 mask that blocks the spread of the virus. […]
Positive tests, on the other hand, reliably flag an infection. In this case, people can ask a doctor whether they qualify for the antiviral drug Paxlovid. The pills work best when taken immediately after symptoms begin so that they slash levels of the virus before it damages the body. […] the virus may linger even if it’s no longer replicating. After roughly a week since a positive test or symptoms, studies suggest, a person is unlikely to pass the virus to others.
If covid is ruled out, Karan recommends tests for influenza because they can guide doctors on whether to prescribe an antiviral to fight it — or if instead it’s a bacterial infection, in which case antibiotics may be in order. […] the FDA recently determined that a main ingredient in versions of Sudafed, NyQuil, and other decongestants, called phenylephrine, is ineffective.
[…] people with low-wage and part-time jobs — occupations disproportionately held by people of color — are often least able to control their workplace environments.
Jessica Martinez, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said the lack of national occupational standards around airborne disease protection represents a fatal flaw in the Biden administration’s decision to relinquish its control of the pandemic.
“Every workplace needs to have a plan for reducing the threat of infectious disease,” she said. “If you only focus on the individual, you fail workers.”
t’s bad form to make fun of older people suffering from age-related cognitive issues. Many of us have dealt with parents or other loved ones who occasionally have trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality, so we understand how fraught such situations are. At the same time, those of us with elderly parents know that if Dad wanders too close to traffic—or the nuclear launch codes—we’re obliged to do what we can to protect both him and society at large.
On Friday night, confirmed rapist and prank presidential candidate Donald Trump took to his woolly-headed pulpit to assure New Hampshire voters that his top rival for the GOP presidential nomination, Nikki Haley, would be a disaster for this country—because she, not Trump, was somehow responsible for the chaos that occurred in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
[…] DONALD TRUMP: “No one ever reports the crowds, you know. By the way, they never report the crowd on Jan. 6, you know. Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley. Do you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything. Deleted and destroyed all of it. All of it, because of lots of things. Like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered her 10,000 people.”
As you probably guessed, in this clip Trump is confusing Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom Trump has previously claimed rejected his offer of troops to protect the Capitol in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 attacked. That never happened, of course. And Haley is demonstrably not Pelosi. In fact, Haley and Pelosi have virtually nothing in common other than being female politicians who make Trump’s wee mind regress […]
Also, “my murderous, frothing, America-hating mob was simply HUGE” is probably not the kind of thing one should brag about when running for president.
[…] the right-wing “Biden is senile” trope has always been projection.
[…] just days ago, Trump was still nattering on about his triumphant dementia-test conquests.
The Washington Post:
“I think it was 35, 30 questions,” the former president said in Portsmouth, N.H., of the test, which he said involved a few animal identification queries. “They always show you the first one, like a giraffe, a tiger, or this, or that — a whale. ‘Which one is the whale?’ Okay. And that goes on for three or four [questions] and then it gets harder and harder and harder.”
The only problem: The creator of the test in question, called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, said it has never included the specific combination of animals described by Trump in any of its versions over the years.
In fact, Ziad Nasreddine, the Canadian neurologist who invented the test, said the assessment — intended primarily to test for signs of dementia or other cognitive decline — has never once included a drawing of a whale.
In other words, the man who’s previously claimed he has one of the world’s greatest memories—but who couldn’t remember having claimed that when confronted with the statement—can no longer recall which animals he was asked to identify on a dementia test.
Then again, “I passed a dementia test!” is not much of a flex when running for president. […] But it does sound like the kind of thing someone who’s mentally sunsetting […] would blurt out to reassure himself that he’s just as sharp as he was in his prime. You know, back when he was telling random porn stars that he sincerely wished every shark in the world would die.
[…] As president, [Trump] wanted to nuke hurricanes, shoot immigrants in the legs, build alligator-filled moats at the border, nuke North Korea (while blaming it on someone else), and convince everyone to rake their local forests to prevent forest fires. He also thought colonial troops bravely seized all the airports during the Revolutionary War.
More recently, Trump said World War II may be right around the corner, claimed windmills are killing whales, insisted he won all 50 states in the 2020 election, and suggested he ran for president against Barack Obama and George W. Bush, which he most definitely did not.
[…] the man is not well, and it’s high time people who know him best intervene on behalf of our ever-fragile democracy. Plus, Trump is a rapist. How is it possible more people don’t know about that? […]
Chris Miller on Fox News: I “absolutely” told the Jan 6 committee under oath that Donald Trump made an order to deploy the National Guard ahead of Jan 6.
Miller Under Oath: “I was never given any direction or order or knew of any plans of that nature.”
BASH: Trump is launching some personal attacks on Nikki Haley. He suggests she’s ineligible to be president, even though she is, and mocked her first name Nimarata. Are you comfortable with that kind of rhetoric?
TIM SCOTT: Well, I’m watching rhetoric on all sides of the issues
Tim Scott ran for in the Republican presidential primary before dropping out. Tim Scott recently endorsed Donald Trump. Senator Tim Scott is a Republican from South Carolina. He has said that he is open to serving as Vice Presidents.
At a rally, on camera, Trump says Nikki Haley is not smart enough to deal with Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong Un. He adds they are “very fine people.
Niki Haley was the person that Trump hired as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Trump hired her to deal with Xi, Putin and Un at the UN.
Trump: “Theres a great man in Europe. Viktor Orbán… He’s a very strong man. It’s nice to have a strongman running your country.”
Pierce R. Butlersays
Lynna… @ # 120, quoting a Kossack: … Haley and Pelosi have virtually nothing in common other than being female politicians who make Trump’s wee mind regress…
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.
CLAIM: A deadly contagion known as Disease X is emerging and under discussion at the World Economic Forum’s 2024 annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
THE FACTS: Disease X is not real. It is the name given to a hypothetical pathogen that is being used to help plan for future health crises. Global healthcare experts this week spoke on a WEF panel called “Preparing for Disease X.” The name was coined by the World Health Organization in 2018. In the days leading up to Wednesday’s panel on the topic, social media users began sharing a range of posts misrepresenting Disease X as real, and portraying it as an imminent threat to society. […]
——————————
CLAIM: A New York City high school was shut down to house migrants who entered the U.S. illegally.
THE FACTS: News that migrants living in a temporary shelter at Floyd Bennett Field, a former airport, would wait out out a storm at James Madison High School led to false claims on social media that the move would be long term. Nearly 2,000 migrants housed in tents at the Brooklyn shelter were moved temporarily to the high school in the borough’s Midwood neighborhood on the evening of Jan. 9. All of the migrants had left the school by early the next morning. Classes were held remotely on Jan. 10 and resumed in person the next day. […]
—————————-
CLAIM: Starbucks has begun selling a watermelon mug to signal its support for Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war and appease those boycotting the chain.
THE FACTS: The mug was part of Starbucks’ U.K. summer collection, which launched in May 2023, months before the conflict broke out, a company spokesperson told The Associated Press. Starbucks, as well as many customers, featured the mug in socialmediaposts around that time. While fighting continues in the third month of the Israel-Hamas war, some on social media are falsely claiming that Starbucks is selling the watermelon mug to mitigate damage caused by a boycott of the company over the conflict. Posts spreading online include photos and videos of the mug, which features a watermelon design on each side — green on the bottom with a white stripe through the middle and red with black seeds near the rim. […] In October, Starbucks sued Workers United — the union organizing its employees — over a pro-Palestinian message on social media that used Starbucks’ name and a circular green logo resembling that of the coffee chain, saying that customers might be confused about its origin. The lawsuit was refiled in November, adding language about workers’ rights to express political views and emphasizing a desire to protect worker safety and Starbucks’ reputation. Starbucks has not taken an official stance on the conflict, but those boycotting the chain have said they see this as a failure to offer more support to the people of Gaza. The company says of its position on the war: “ Starbucks stands for humanity. We condemn violence, the loss of innocent life and weaponized speech. Despite false statements spread through social media, we have no political agenda.”
birgerjohanssonsays
From SaveAFox: Life with an adopted Jackal: Episode one
(non-domesticated canids tend to mark their territory indoors, hence the “no marking” spray )
Even if Nikki Haley was too yellow to go all the way when calling out SSAT for possible cognitive decline, I hope this is the first crack in the red wall of denial.
And (as a youtuber already had pointed out) – as SSAT gets into more legal trouble – it is more convenient to attack him for going gaga than for admitting it was treason and they have been covering for him the whole time.
This scandal will go the same way as the 1970s revelation that the Republicans actively sabotaged president Johnson’s attempts at a peace great between North and South Vietnam by promising the South a Republican president would give them better terms.
“The Republican Party has always been the party of patriotism and law. Also, we have always been at war with Eastasia.”
birgerjohanssonsays
Ian McCollum at Forgotten Weapons is a great resource for the responsible segment of gun owners, so I am putting this out here. No NRA bullshit.
Here he has upgraded a H&K G3-type rifle with a modern trigger.
(BTW as the Russkies are getting restless, armies are looking for ways to upgrade without having to throw away the previous generation of stuff. Sweden and Norway have upgraded their G3s with modern optics and stocks like this. Ian McCollum went a step further as he does not want the
old Bundeswehr-spec. trigger ).
“Heckfire by ShootingSight: The Best Trigger for H&K & Clone Rifles (9mm, 5.56, 7,62). ”
Another cool customer is Carl Kasarda at InRange (YouTube and Patreon).
He has helped dig up a lot of historical stuff, like detailed information about life for WWI soldiers. Hint; it was even worse than in the films.
If people have watched these and similar in-depth videos they are probably less likely to sign up just because they watched some war films – recruits should know the realities before comitting themselves.
birgerjohanssonsays
New study shows sea otters helped prevent widespread California kelp forest declines over the past century
Re: birgerjohansson @ #131…
I have seen raw, unedited, color, footage from WW2. It was shot on Iwo Jima. It contained quite a bit of footage that would never have been included in newsreels. Such as dead Japanese soldiers that had been out in the tropics for several days.
We know you have no shame, senator, but how dare you insult a great woman’s memory.
[…] Senator Time Scott told the hundreds of Trump supporters in Concord that he’d “come to the very warm state of New Hampshire” — it was 15 degrees outside, get it? — “to endorse the next president of the United States, Donald Trump,” who he claims will lower taxes (for rich people) and unite the country, an absurd statement from someone who calls his political opponents “vermin.” Immediately after Scott spoke, Trump told the crowd that Chris Sununu, their Republican governor, “sucks.”
Only about 15 seconds of Scott’s remarks are memorable […] [video at the link]
“We need a president who understands the American people are sick and tired of being sick and tired,” he said, while rolling his eyes like the least dignified performer in a minstrel show.
It’s unlikely that anyone in that MAGA audience recognized Scott’s reference to civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Born in Jim Crow Mississippi, Hamer spent her childhood as a sharecropper, picking cotton while living with polio. In 1961, a white doctor subjected Hamer to a hysterectomy without her consent during surgery for a uterine tumor. Forced sterilization as a form of Black population control was so widespread it was known as a “Mississippi appendectomy.” Hamer wouldn’t discover that Black people could actually register to vote until 1962. She was 45.
The next day, Hamer was on a bus with 17 other people headed to the county seat in Indianola to register. […]
Hamer was undaunted. She eventually passed the rigged literacy test. She paid the obscene poll tax. That still wasn’t enough. Racists, including the police, threatened, bullied, beat, and even shot at her, but they couldn’t stop her. She not only registered herself to vote but helped register thousands of Black Mississippians.
[…] At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, […] she told the convention members about how she’d been unjustly arrested in 1963 and while imprisoned, she was savagely beaten.
I was led out of that cell and into another cell where they had two Negro prisoners. The state highway patrolman gave the first Negro prisoner the blackjack. It was a long heavy leather something made with something you could hold it, and it was loaded with either rocks or something metal. And they ordered me to lie down on the bed on my face. And I was beat by that first Negro until he was exhausted. I was beat until he was ordered by the state highway patrolman to stop.
After he told the first Negro to stop, he gave the blackjack to the second Negro. When the second Negro began to beat, it seemed like it was more than I could bear. I began to work my feet, and the state highway patrolman ordered the first Negro that had beat me to set on my feet where I was kicking them. My dress worked up real high and I smoothed my clothes down. And one of the city policemens walked over and pulled my dress as high as he could. I was trying to shield as many licks from my left side as I could because I had polio when I was six or eight years old. But when they had finished beating me, they were, while they was beating, I was screaming. One of the white men got up and began to beat me in my head.
Hamer would suffer permanent kidney damage, a blood clot behind her eye, and would forever walk with a limp. All this because she dared assert her rights as a citizen, the very rights that Trump and his goons have tried to suppress.
[…] On December 20, 1964, Hamer spoke at a rally with Malcolm X at the Williams Institutional CME Church in Harlem, New York. This was where she delivered the powerful words that Scott perverted.
And you can always hear this long sob story: “You know it takes time.” For three hundred years, we’ve given them time. And I’ve been tired so long, now I am sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we want a change. We want a change in this society in America because, you see, we can no longer ignore the facts and getting our children to sing, “Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed.” What do we have to hail here? The truth is the only thing going to free us. And you know this whole society is sick.
Hamer died in 1977 at just 59, a casualty of systemic racism that far too many people wish to deny, but her legacy endures. My father put it best: Tim Scott is a clown, and I’m too sick to my stomach to write any more.
birgerjohanssonsays
“Mars Express finds evidence of large water deposit at the Medusae Fossae Formation”
You know, drilling through the thick dust layer to the water ice would be a benign use of nuclear power – no nearby ecology to ruin. Autochtonous Martian life will hang out in warmer locales.
Washington Post: Ron DeSantis ends presidential campaign, endorses Trump
JFC
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” DeSantis said in a video message he posted Sunday afternoon on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. “They watched his presidency get stymied by relentless resistance, and they see Democrats using lawfare to this day to attack him.”
birgerjohanssonsays
Scientists propose a biocatalytic reactor for detoxifying water on Mars
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-scientists-biocatalytic-reactor-detoxifying-mars.html
You know, once processed water becomes plentiful, space stations could use it to shower the spacesuits of returning astronauts, removing the perchlorate-soaked dust before they leave the airlock. The sludge can then be recycled into purified water.
Israel’s military says it discovered prison cells where hostages were held in a Hamas tunnel network under the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
NBC News was given access to the cells on Friday, following Israeli troops into the basement of a house and then into a dark tunnel beneath. Each cell had a caged door that could be locked from the outside, a sink, toilet and a shower — though none had running water. One had a dirty single mattress.
“We’re feeling the way the hostages felt,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, told NBC News. “It’s dark. It’s hot. It’s wet. It’s lonely. There’s no daylight. You lose the sense of direction, the sense of time.”
Israel’s military said it had discovered hair and other DNA evidence confirming that hostages were held in the cells. Hagari said that the layout of the compound matched descriptions given by hostages released in late November, and the IDF also released pictures of what it said were children’s pictures discovered at the site — drawn by child hostages during their days of captivity.
One-hundred and five hostages are believed to remain alive and in captivity in the Gaza Strip, along with the bodies of 27 others. One-hundred and ten hostages have been returned to Israel and other countries, and the bodies of 11 more have been recovered.
birgerjohanssonsays
Researchers develop a low-cost catalyst for green hydrogen production
As the world was besieged by intense heat, expansive wildfires, and catastrophic floods in recent years, YouTubers promoting disinformation increasingly embraced “new denial” narratives, such as that solar panels will destroy the economy and the environment, or that the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a “fraud.”
“What it is doing is creating a cohort of people who believe climate change is happening, but believe there’s no hope,” [Center for Countering Digital Hate CEO Imran] Ahmed said. People start watching YouTube at a young age—in 2020, more than half of parents in the US with a child 11 years old or younger said their kid watched videos on the platform on a daily basis. New polling from the center, released alongside the study, found that a third of US teens say that climate policies cause more harm than good.
Six years ago, these “new denial” claims made up 35 percent of denier’s arguments on YouTube; now, they make up 70 percent of the total. The fastest-growing assertions were that the climate movement is unreliable and that clean energy won’t work.
The rendezvous came about 37 hours after the Axiom quartet’s Thursday-evening liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A four-man crew including Turkey’s first astronaut arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) early on Saturday for a two-week stay in the latest such mission arranged entirely at commercial expense by Texas-based startup company Axiom Space.
[…] Both the Crew Dragon vessel and the Falcon 9 rocket that carried it to orbit were supplied, launched and operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX under contract with Axiom, as they were in the first two Axiom missions to the ISS since 2022.
Once the astronauts reach the space station, they fall under the responsibility of NASA’s mission control operation in Houston.
The Crew Dragon autonomously docked with the ISS at 5:42 a.m. EDT as the two space vehicles were flying roughly 250 miles over the South Pacific, a live NASA webcast showed.
Both were soaring in tandem around the globe at the hypersonic speed of about 17,500 miles per hour as they joined together in orbit.
With coupling achieved, it was expected to take about two hours for the sealed passageway between the space station and crew capsule to be pressurized and checked for leaks before hatches can be opened, allowing the newly arrived astronauts to move aboard the orbiting laboratory. […]
birgerjohanssonsays
Random culture.
“Terry Talks Movies” digs out more hidden gems, providing a slice through english-language pop culture 1960s-1990s.
Anthony Perkins and Roger Moore face off, Peter Sellers is a psychopath gangster.
And… is this how the song Return Of The Mac came about?
NASA is back in contact with its beloved helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, two days after a communication blackout.
Communications broke down on Thursday, when the little autonomous rotorcraft was sent on a “quick pop-up vertical flight,” to test its systems after an unplanned early landing during its previous flight, the agency said in a status update on Friday night.
The Perseverance rover, which relays data between the helicopter and Earth during the flights, showed that Ingenuity climbed to its assigned maximum altitude of 40 feet, NASA said.
During its planned descent, the helicopter and rover stopped communicating with each other.
But good news came late on Saturday, when NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted that it had reestablished contact with the helicopter after instructing the rover “to perform long-duration listening sessions for Ingenuity’s signal.” …
A geomagnetic storm watch has been issued for Monday and Tuesday this week after an eruption of solar material was detected early Sunday morning.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) warned about the eruption, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) in a post to X. While “the general public does not need to be concerned,” the agency notes the CME could lead to the northern lights being visible across a handful of states in the coming days.
What causes the northern lights?
The northern lights, otherwise known as the aurora, are often associated with CMEs.
CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic material from the sun that can reach Earth in as little as 15 to 18 hours, NOAA explains. According to NASA, CMEs can create currents in Earth’s magnetic fields that send particles to the North and South Poles. When those particles interact with oxygen and nitrogen, they can create auroras.
“It’s essentially the Sun shooting a magnet out into space,” Bill Murtagh, program coordinator for the SWPC and seasoned space weather forecaster, previously told Nexstar. “That magnet impacts Earth’s magnetic field and we get this big interaction.”
That interaction is known as a geomagnetic storm. The strength of the geomagnetic storm will impact how far south the northern lights will be visible.
…
The impending storm the SWPC warned about Sunday is currently forecasted as a G2 moderate storm. This means states along the Canadian border, as well as a few more, have the greatest chance of seeing the aurora.
Technically, Alaska and Canada have the greatest odds at seeing the northern lights Sunday and Monday night, according to the SWPC aurora forecasts seen below.
For Sunday night, those in Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have a low likelihood at seeing the aurora. Those living as far south as northern Wyoming, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine do still have a chance to see the aurora on the northern horizon — that’s denoted with the red line on the map below.
Aurora visibility is forecasted to grow on Monday, with many more northern states having at least a low likelihood at seeing the celestial glow. That includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
What to know about Solar Cycle 25
If you don’t get to see the northern lights this week, you may have another chance soon.
According to NOAA, we’re nearing the peak of Solar Cycle 25, an 11-year period in which it flips its north and south poles. During this time, various space weather events can occur that can bring geomagnetic storms — and the northern lights — to us on Earth.
In our first official episode of this year’s epic mini-series breaking down The Power Broker, the author himself, Robert Caro, joins to talk about his book, process, and the problematic man himself: Robert Moses.
On today’s show, Elliott Kalan and Roman Mars will cover the Introduction, Part 1, and Part 2 of the book (the intro through the end of Chapter 5), discussing the major story beats and themes….
They did a prologue episode a while back, which is linked at the link.
… Much like his disappointing campaign itself, arguably one of the worst in history, DeSantis’ video announcing the suspension missed the mark by including an apparently fake Winston Churchill quote.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,” DeSantis wrote in a tweet accompanying his video, attributing the quote to Churchill.
But as many people quickly pointed out, the International Churchill Society debunked the legitimacy of the quote over a decade ago….
Unusually for me, I posted the link to the 99% Invisible episode before I had listened to the whole thing (in my defense, the part I’d listened to alone was worth a listen). But I’ve now listened to the interview with Caro and it’s wonderful. Also, Caro is crazy sharp at 88.
I think it was when listening to the Citations Needed episode I linked to @ #102 that I finally got why I hate the concept of “dehumanization” so much. It’s that it accepts, and indeed is based on, the idea of “human” as a status. It’s not a status. At best it’s a species category, but even if we were to accept species boundaries to be solid lines (which they aren’t!) it still wouldn’t confer on our species any status.
The whole thing is silly. And as I noted here long ago, as long as there’s any category (human or otherwise) that’s seen as not meriting rights, respect, or protection, some humans will be likened to that category and deprived of rights, respect, and protection. The answer isn’t to endlessly insist that some human category (Palestinian or Jewish people, black people, immigrants, women, trans people, gay people, migrants, Chinese people, Ukrainians,…) is “fully human,” but to reject the idea that “human” is a status in the first place.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
birgerjohanssonsays
The full moon will occur on Thursday. The following couple of evenings, the Moon will approach Regulus in Leo, near the horizon in the evening sky.
Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2024 – Sky & Telescope – Sky & Telescope https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/solar-and-lunar-eclipses-in-2024/
NB -At the bottom of this article is a map showing the narrow band across Mexico, USA and Canada where the total eclipse will be visible. Last time this happened Trump was president. Next time will be in 2044.
birgerjohanssonsays
Something to cheer you up this Monday morning: Black leopard grooming her rottweiler friend.
“Gentle Panther 😸🐾”
.https://youtube.com/shorts/RYiukMIJHII
birgerjohanssonsays
I had not intended to write more about SSAT but this looked important.
“Fed Up Ret. General Drops The Hammer on Trump”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=IZJSf_w1XrA
birgerjohansson, which Ret. General, why Fed Up, and what Hammer?
I reckon you don’t think it’s that important, since you can’t be bothered to clarify what it is I were I to click on by following that naked link. Presumably, not a literal Hammer.
Here, for you, a nice description of what you offer — which is more than you gave me:
A “teaser” aims to exploit the “curiosity gap”, providing just enough information to make readers of news websites curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content.
Back in November, high-ranking politicians from Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party, neo-Nazis, and sympathetic businesspeople gathered in a hotel near Potsdam. Their agenda? […] forced deportations of millions of people
[…]
The meeting was meant to remain secret at all costs. Communications […] strictly via letters. However, copies of these letters were leaked […] Our undercover reporter checked into the hotel […] highly incriminating […] given […] recent debates about whether the party should be banned
[…]
three target groups […] asylum seekers, non-Germans with residency rights, and “non-assimilated” German citizens. […] people in Germany should be forcibly extradited if they have the wrong skin colour, the wrong parents, or aren’t sufficiently “assimilated” into German culture according to the standards of people like Sellner.
[…]
The masterplan even includes a destination […] in North Africa […] eerily reminiscent of the Nazi’s 1940 plan to deport four million Jews to the island of Madagascar.
[…]
The fact that parts of the AfD have close ties with neo-Nazis […] is nothing new. Until now, however, the party has blamed the problem on regional and local branches. But a senior AfD politician was in attendance […] acting as an intermediary for the AfD’s party board
[…]
What have we learnt from this meeting?
That there is a retired dentist who has a conspiratorial network of fellow far-right extremists. […] That they have a ‘masterplan’ to deport […] which would undermine Articles 3, 6 and 21 of the German constitution. And that there are a number of wealthy potential donors […] that there is an expert in German constitutional law who has sketched out legal methods to systematically cast doubt on democratic elections. That there’s an AfD politician who wants to organise election donations that would bypass the party.
Mass protests took place across 114 cities in Germany […] According to the activist group Together Against The Right, the weekend demonstrations garnered over 1.5 million attendees across the cities.
The activist site has a link, below the headings, to a spreadsheet tallying cities. Locals on Mastodon framed the numbers as: 12% of Munich and almost 10% of Berlin.
KGsays
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain@155,
The last part of your comment is good news – this needs to become a Europe-wide antifascist mass-movement in the run-up to the European Parliament elections in June. The far-right’s facade of respect for democracy conceals equally vile schemes for ethnic cleansing and an end to free elections wherever it exists.
KGsays
Last time this happened Trump was president. Next time will be in 2044. – birgerjohansson@150
…when if the November election goes the wrong way, Trump (Donald Jnr or possibly Eric), will be President-for-Life.
Scammers have duped consumers out of more than $1 billion by exploiting Walmart’s lax security. The company has resisted taking responsibility while breaking promises to regulators and skimping on training…
The world’s first routine vaccine programme against malaria has started in Cameroon, in a move projected to save thousands of children’s lives across Africa.
The symbolic first jab was given to a baby girl named Daniella at a health facility near Yaoundé on Monday.
Every year 600,000 people die of malaria in Africa, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Children under five make up at least 80% of those deaths.
Cameroon is offering the RTS,S vaccine free of charge to all infants up to the age of six months old.
Patients require a total of four doses. Health officials say these will be given at the same time as other routine childhood vaccines to make it easier for parents.
It comes after successful pilot campaigns in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi – where the vaccine caused a 13% drop in malaria deaths in children of eligible age, says Unicef.
The jab is known to be effective in at least 36% of cases, according to US researchers, meaning it could save over one in three lives.
While the rollout is undoubtedly a relief and a life-saver, its relatively low efficacy rate means that it is not a “silver bullet”, argues Willis Akhwale at End Malaria Council Kenya…
More than three decades after a mob of militant Hindu radicals razed a mosque to the ground in the Indian town of Ayodhya, the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has inaugurated the new Hindu temple that will stand in its place.
For some, the inauguration marks a hugely significant religious moment. Many Hindus believe Ayodhya to be the birthplace of the popular deity Lord Ram [good grief] and the building of the temple, after over a century of disputes, has been heralded as Ram returning to his rightful place, and India freeing itself from the chains of past religious occupation.
Modi himself called it the fulfilment of “the dream that many have cherished for years”. At the Prana Pratishtha, Monday’s rituals to consecrate the temple and give offerings and blessings to the idol of the young Lord Ram placed in the inner sanctum, Modi took on a starring role, having spent the past 11 days observing a special purification ritual to prepare.
The consecration of the Ram temple became a national event, with 8,000 official guests including politicians, diplomats, Bollywood stars and holy figures, while hundreds of thousands of pilgrims flocked to Ayodhya from across the country to show their devotion to the new temple and Lord Ram. The town also underwent a $3bn government-funded transformation and was garlanded with flowers, saffron flags, images of Ram and billboards of Modi.
…
Others boycotted the ceremony, accusing Modi of orchestrating the event for political gain before elections in the spring, where he will seek a third term in power.
The demolition of the mosque in 1992 paved the way for Hindu nationalism to become the dominant political force it is today, and the pledge to build a Ram Temple in Ayodhya has been at the core of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party’s (BJP) political agenda to establish Hindu supremacy in India.
The temple will not be complete until next year, prompting some Hindu holy figures to object to it being inaugurated early. Alongside Modi, the few others to take part in Monday’s temple consecration ceremony were Yogi Adityanath, the hardline Hindu monk and BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and Mohan Bagwat, the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the rightwing Hindu paramilitary organisation that birthed the BJP.
Kapil Komireddi, the author of Malevolent Republic: A Short History of New India, said the close alignment between the prime minister and the Ram temple was indicative of the threat posed by the BJP to India as a secular republic whose constitution enshrines all religions as equal.
“This is a purely political spectacle, the culmination of a 40-year political project – one that has been achieved through great violence,” said Komireddi. “It is the coronation of Hinduism as India’s state religion and the crowning moment for the cult of personality erected around Modi. I see this as a very sad moment for India.”
…
In November 2019, the supreme court declared the destruction illegal but awarded the land title to the Hindu side. No one has been convicted for the demolition or the violence in Ayodhya that followed it, which killed 17 Muslims in the town and set off riots across the country that left more than 2,000 people dead.
…
Qureshi said many Muslims were fearful that as hundreds of thousands of outsiders would continue to flock into Ayodhya, they would once again become a target. Half the Muslim households were deserted as the temple festivities took place. “All this takes me back to 1992,” he said. “I am afraid, like all other Muslims here, what will happen to us after the dignitaries are gone and security is lifted.”…
Thank you for that news, CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ #155. I had saved this Guardian article earlier this month about an initiative called Berchtesgaden Against the Right:
…A protest rally was organised by the initiative in September. About 300 people marched through Berchtesgaden’s cobbled streets and were addressed in solidarity by the mayor, Franz Rasp, of the centre-right Christian Social Union party (CSU). A night-time vigil was held in November for victims of the 1938 Kristallnacht pogroms. Further events were planned for Hitler’s birthday, including “a human chain” of people holding hands from one end of the town to the other, said Michael Gruber, 25.
More immediately, in the next few days, a first step will be made to rename Von Hindenburg Allee, a central street in Berchtesgaden named in 1933 after the-then German president in honour of his decision to make Hitler chancellor.
Palm’s great-grandfather was the mayor responsible, under duress, for making Paul von Hindenburg and Hitler “honoured citizens”.
“As a family we all want that decision denounced [by the regional parliament] and for the street to be renamed”, he said. That it remains as it is is seen as evidence of a dangerous ambivalence.
“We are late but it is never too late to fight for democracy,” said Anna Stangassinger, 22.
The purpose is not only to dissuade unwelcome visitors but to ask all those who hold what may be unpalatable views to some to draw a line at violence. Palm said: “The answer to the country’s problems isn’t going back to nazism – it doesn’t get better with iPhones.”
Egger, a retired businessman who served in the air force in the late 1970s “with the old Nazis as commanders and the young Nazis as colleagues”, said the cross-party effort offered hope that Germany could reject the poison of the past.
“From my point of view, in our risky situation in Germany, in contrast to 1933, all democrats have to work together against fascists”, he said. “We missed that in Germany 90 years ago but we shouldn’t make the same mistake again.”
That’s a local effort, so it’s good to see that it’s becoming much more widespread.
[Judge] Kaplan has canceled testimony for the day. Trump lawyer Alina Habba said she wasn’t feeling well [and had a fever] after having been exposed to Covid from one or both of her parents, and her co-counsel also feels under the weather. A juror is also being tested for the illness.
Assuming no one has Covid, the court will resume tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. Habba has asked that Trump be able to testify Wednesday instead of tomorrow because of the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary, and Kaplan said he would take her request under consideration.
As the GOP coalesces around its likely nominee, President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign unveiled a powerful new ad overnight showing Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN and a mother of three from Texas, telling her story about having to flee her home state to end a planned pregnancy that took a tragic turn. “In Texas, you are forced to carry that pregnancy, and that is because of Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade,” Dennard tells viewers. “It’s every woman’s worst nightmare, and it was absolutely unbearable.”
The video is available at the link. It is 1 minute long.
The call, an apparent imitation or digital manipulation of the president’s voice, says, “Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again.”
The New Hampshire attorney general’s office says it is investigating what appears to be an “unlawful attempt” at voter suppression after NBC News reported on a robocall impersonating President Joe Biden telling recipients not to vote in Tuesday’s presidential primary.
“Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications,” the attorney generals office said in a statement. “These messages appear to be an unlawful attempt to disrupt the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election and to suppress New Hampshire voters. New Hampshire voters should disregard the content of this message entirely.”
[…] Biden’s name does not appear on Tuesday’s ballot, a consequence of state elections officials setting the date of the primary ahead of South Carolina’s on Feb. 3, the first sanctioned contest of the 2024 nominating race under new Democratic National Committee rules.
But local supporters launched the late write-in effort as a way to both marshal support for Biden and send a message to the national party about the Granite State’s coveted, centurylong tradition of holding the nation’s first primary.
[…] It’s not clear how many voters received the call or which types of voters were targeted. Lists of voters’ phone numbers can be readily purchased from data brokers.
[…] Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said she hopes the attempt to dampen turnout for Biden will backfire.
“I urge Granite Staters to make sure their friends and neighbors know the truth and turn out in even bigger numbers to write in President Biden’s name,” she said.
The campaign of Dean Phillips, the Minnesota congressman challenging Biden for the nomination, said it was not aware of the calls but called it “wildly concerning.”
“Any effort to discourage voters is disgraceful and an unacceptable affront to democracy,” spokesperson Katie Dolan said. “The potential use of AI to manipulate voters is deeply disturbing.”
A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign denied any connection to the call, saying, “Not us, we have nothing to do with it.”
[…] While the attorney [Joseph Tacopina] initially said very little about his decision, Tacopina sat down over the weekend with the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC.
“I left the team because it was just my time,” Trump’s former lawyer said. “I had to follow my compass and my compass told me my time there was done. There are a lot of personal reasons that went into that, things that I can’t and won’t discuss.”
As part of the same on-air interview, Tacopina added that he believes the cases brought against Trump by special counsel Jack Smith, as well as the election interference case in Georgia, represent “serious cases” that are “not to be taken lightly.”
Asked if he believes his former client might yet be convicted in the upcoming criminal trials, Tacopina replied, “Absolutely.” […]
[…] DeSantis’ willingness to sacrifice children, adults, and whole industries to feed COVID conspiracy theories may have gotten him his first round of glowing media coverage, but there was really just one issue that formed the core of his campaign, and that was the “war on woke.” Today, there’s some news from the front: Woke won.
As The Guardian reports, DeSantis put all his eggs in that basket, including banning dictionaries for containing words, destroying college education, ending diversity programs, and most of all doing everything possible to harm the LGBTQ+ community. (Basically, everything that’s on Elon Musk’s mind on a daily basis.)
Just like Musk, DeSantis had plenty of fanboys. And if he didn’t have his own billions at hand, DeSantis certainly had plenty of deep-pocket donors who kept him in campaign ads and bus rides. But the DeSantis campaign proved to be the worst investment since a racist, antisemitic, right-wing troll bought Twitter.
As The Guardian notes, DeSantis was supposed to be “Trump without the baggage.” This seemed to mean that DeSantis came with all the prejudice, fascism, and bad policy anyone could possibly want—but his wife can stand to be in the same room with him and he hasn’t openly endorsed sexual assault. Yet.
DeSantis played every note on the authoritarian organ, firing a state attorney who dared to prosecute corrupt cops rather than persecuting women, booting local Black officials from office, and appointing a surgeon general who never met a conspiracy theory he doesn’t like. DeSantis gave the strongest possible signals of the kind of government he would run, one in which Black people, immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ+ community would constantly be under the elevated boot heel of white men, and in which teaching science or history would be taboo.
But somehow, everyone forgot to check and see that the stage was clear before shoving DeSantis under the spotlight.
So now “Desanctamonius” is left to give a hearty Twitter-based endorsement to [Trump], the man who said he was “overrated, disloyal, and a know-nothing.” The man who accused him of “grooming high school girls with alcohol” when he was a teacher. And who heavily hinted that DeSantis was only making a show out of his woke war because he was secretly gay.
In the end, Ron DeSantis did everything he could to show that he deserved Trump’s blood-stained mantle. He’s racist enough. He’s misogynist enough. He’s irrational enough. He’s just plain hateful enough. He may have fallen short of providing enough Hitler quotes and threats of mass executions, but given time, he surely could have cleared that hurdle.
His biggest problem is that he’s not Trump, and his party is a cult. He might have been Marc Antony, but the praising Caesar part is supposed to wait until after Caesar is dead. He couldn’t bring himself to challenge Trump, and still somehow expected to beat him.
All of which shows that DeSantis isn’t woke. He’s just weak.
This needs to be said every time ‘Great Replacement Theory’ gets mentioned:
In1870, 14.4% of the US population was foreign born.
In1890, 14.8% of the US population was foreign born.
In1910, 14.7% of the US population was foreign born.
In 2020, 13.7% of the US population was foreign born.
There is not now, there never has been and probably never will be given the historical trend, a Great Replacement. It is obvious from these numbers that the foreign born have always been assimilated. They are not replacements. They just become like us. That’s who we are, that’s who we’ve always been through every wave of immigration that has come to us.
A new report from the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative reveals that more than half of the recent inflation in the United States is driven not by supply chain issues or higher wages or even shoplifting but to corporate greed.
The issue is “greedflation.” Manufacturers, for a time, paid more to make their products due to supply-chain issues resulting from COVID and the war in Ukraine. But now that they are not dealing with those issues anymore, they aren’t passing the savings onto consumers — they’re keeping the profits for themselves.
“While prices for consumers have risen by 3.4 percent over the past year, input costs for producers have risen by just one percent,” the report explains. “For many commodities and services, producers’ prices have actually decreased.”
So they’re paying less to get the product to you and you’re paying more […]
“Corporate profits as a share of national income has skyrocketed by 29 percent since the start of the pandemic. While our economy has returned to or surpassed its pre-pandemic levels on many indicators, workers’ share of corporate income has still not recovered,” it continued.
And there’s even a handy-dandy graph showing just how far labor’s share of the profits have dropped. [graph at the link]
The traditional American capitalist view of things is that in a free market, competition and supply and demand will always lead to the most fair and reasonable price for things.
But it’s not a supply and demand situation as much as it is a boiling-the-frog situation. Consumers acclimated to paying higher prices for items because they knew there were supply-chain issues and that everyone was hurting all over. Then, when those issues went away, the CEOs figured, “Hey! Why bring our prices down now that we know they’ll pay this much?”
Rather than competing against each other, corporations have almost collectively decided to keep their prices as high as possible.
[…] We know that the increases in prices are not in good faith, because we have actual recordings of CEOs talking about how well this inflation is working for them.
The report suggests that our best weapon in this fight is by gearing up to increase corporate taxes when certain Trump tax cuts expire in 2025 […]
It’s a good one, as long as the threat is backed up by actions. Hell, at this point, anything backed up by actions is going to be better than simply pointing out that they are doing this and politely asking them to stop.
The anti-trans moral panic was manufactured to sell Ron DeSantis as the savior of the Republican party
[…]
in poll after poll, even Republicans place trans issues relatively low in their lists of concerns. Trans panic as a wedge issue also hasn’t been electorally successful […] Anti-trans politics had just one thing going for it: Attacks on trans people were what differentiated Ron DeSantis from Donald Trump.
And the Republican establishment really, really wanted Ron DeSantis to beat Donald Trump. […] All of that work, just to wind up as an also-ran who dropped out of the race before New Hampshire.
[…]
however, the attempt to elevate DeSantis’ anti-trans policies into the national spotlight shaped the output of every right-wing think tank, every news outlet and two bit blog, and every Republican-controlled legislature in every state. […] desperately Fox News courted the governor […] four or five requests would come in on a single day.
[…]
In the early days […] the focus was on anti-mask and anti-vax posturing, with vaccines being considered a key weakness for Trump, who touted the vaccine as one of his accomplishments […] However, as COVID-19 faded from prominence
[…]
Republican voters needed to be primed to see his signature issue as being of paramount importance. […] replacing the immigrants who’d served as the primary scapegoat for Donald Trump. […] may also have made economic sense to the wealthy donor class who […] run on migrant labor. […] no candidate can hope to out-racist Donald Trump. What DeSantis thought he could do was run to Trump’s right on issues relating to LGBTQ+ rights.
[…]
Now the candidate’s balloon has burst, but the panic rages on.
[…] According to their findings, “corporate profits drove 53 percent of inflation during the second and third quarters of 2023 and more than one-third since the start of the pandemic.” To put that into perspective, only 11% of price growth in the previous 40 years (before the pandemic) was due to corporate profits.
While corporate profits were up across the board, some companies have really taken advantage of raising their prices. Groundwork Collaborative highlights (or lowlights) Procter & Gamble Co. and Kimberly-Clark Corp, which control 70% of the United States’ diaper market. The companies have increased their prices 30% since 2019. Costs for wood pulp, a major component in making diapers, soared between 2021 and the beginning of 2023, driving up consumer costs. However, those costs have gone down 25% over the last year and yet, no such savings have been passed on to American families.
These new findings add to a federal report released late last year showing profits had increased beyond labor costs for the first time in 18 months. President Joe Biden leaned on that report to call out “price gouging” in December of last year, admonishing companies pulling in record profits in a speech on supply chains: “Let me be clear: To any corporation that has not brought their prices back down — even as inflation has come down, even [as] supply chains have been rebuilt — it’s time to stop the price gouging.”
[…] There has been proof positive of price gouging and even collusion. Right-wing media made a lot of hay around the skyrocketing prices of eggs during the pandemic. It turned out that two of the country’s largest egg producers were colluding (and had been for decades) on raising prices. Companies like Chick-fil-A have had to pay out class action lawsuit settlements for their pandemic price gouging. Chick-fil-A continues to raise prices on their food at the expense of the consumer.
Corporate greed and the nature of corporate profits are an important issue for Biden and the Democratic Party to focus on. […] Even considering how well Biden has managed the economic garbage fire left to him by the former guy, voters aren’t necessarily seeing him as an important force in its reshaping. While many more Americans have jobs—better-paying jobs than they did before Biden and the Democratic Party took the reins—the rising costs continue to outpace them.
This is why detailing and going after price gouging and the continued siphoning of wealth upwards is important. The Biden administration has attempted to direct federal funds towards workers being left out of corporate profit gains. Rep. Katie Porter and others have tried valiantly to keep the corporate greed narrative alive and easy to understand, combatting the traditional media’s lackluster reporting on the matter. […]
[…] Two weeks ago, the former president used his social media platform to promote an argument from someone claiming that Haley was ineligible because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born. The pitch was meritless — the former ambassador was born in the United States, and under the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, that makes her a natural-born citizen — but it was a sign of things to come.
A week later, Trump was more direct, calling Haley “Nimrada” — a likely deliberate misspelling combining her given name, Nimarata Nikki Randhawa, and “Nimrod.” By Friday, the former president apparently thought it’d be clever to start referring to his GOP rival as “Nimbra.”
Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Trump about this over the weekend. “It’s just something that came,” the candidate said. “It’s a little bit of a takeoff on her name. You know, her name, wherever she may come from. […] I do a lot of names for people. Some people say I’m very good at that.”
[…] Trump made matters worse by adding “wherever she may come from.”
He knows full well where she comes from. But he makes comments like these — always about people from communities of color — in the hopes that his party’s rabid base will look askance at those who stand in his way. […]
The Supreme Court allowed the Biden administration to cut concertina wire blocking federal agents from accessing parts of the U.S.-Mexico border, overruling an appeals court decision which sided with Texas state authorities in blocking federal access.
The court granted the Justice Department’s request in a 5-4 decision, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the three Democratic appointees. Per the ruling, Border Patrol agents will be able to cut the razor wire until the case is resolved.
It’s a victory for the Biden administration in one of three court cases over a fundamental issue: Texas’ ongoing attempt to use state law enforcement to both police the international frontier, and to block the Biden administration from doing so as well.
The Supreme Court did not offer a reason for why it had sided with the Justice Department. The remaining four justices said that they would have denied the request. […]
At the start of Monday’s session in Donald Trump’s trial for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll, one of the jurors reported they were sick. However, a civil trial can proceed without the full complement if both sides agree, and Carroll’s lawyers told Judge Lewis Kaplan they were ready to carry on.
At that point, Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba stood up to tell Kaplan that she wasn’t feeling well herself—possibly because her latest motion for a mistrial was immediately smacked down—and that she wanted a delay. Habba also stated that her client wanted to testify, but didn’t want to do so before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primaries.
After further discussion, Kaplan agreed, and the day’s events were gaveled to a close. Then, within seconds of being dismissed from the courtroom, Trump got down to the serious work of the day: sending out at least 44 social media attacks on the woman he is liable for sexually assaulting. [examples at the link, not important really, not edifying]
In saying that she wasn’t feeling well at the beginning of the trial, Habba also revealed that at least one of her parents had COVID-19 and that she had been exposed, but she also claimed to have tested negative. Habba, of course, took absolutely no precautions and did not wear a mask in court. So the delay could potentially stretch out for some time.
As reported by NBC News, Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh dissented:
A closely-divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed Border Patrol agents to cut through or move razor wire Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border as part of an effort by the state to prevent illegal border crossings. The court on a 5-4 vote granted an emergency request filed by the Biden administration, which had argued that Texas was preventing agents from carrying out their duties.
The Navy on Monday identified two SEALs who were declared dead after they were lost at sea during a nighttime raid near Somalia. Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers, 37, and Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram, 27, were out on the waters on the night of Jan. 11, seizing ‘a vessel illegally transporting advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi forces in Yemen,’ according to a Navy statement.
American, Qatari, and Egyptian officials continue to push for an agreement that would free an estimated 130 captives believed to remain in Gaza, most likely hidden underground in tunnels or in private homes. Hamas is demanding the permanent halt of fighting, a complete withdrawal of Israel forces from Gaza and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including some who carried out the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli officials.
birgerjohanssonsays
Another member of the Myers clan?
“Ph.D. student Mason Myers of U-M is one of the two first authors on the manuscript. ”
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is seeking to retract six scientific studies and correct 31 others that were published by the institute’s top researchers, including its CEO. The researchers are accused of manipulating data images with simple methods, primarily with copy-and-paste in image editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop…
A visa program allowing wealthy investors to buy their way into Australia has been dumped under a review of the nation’s migration system.
The Albanese government has paused applications for the significant investor visa, which fast-tracks the process for skilled migrants if they invest $5 million in Australia.
It will be considered as part of a broader talent and innovation visa outlined in the migration strategy, released in December.
[…]
The visa required a minimum investment of $5 million in Australia, in exchange for automatic permanent residency.
Unlike other visas, holders of the investor visa weren’t required to learn or speak English. It had no age limit.
There are concerns golden visa schemes allow corrupt foreign officials and members of organised crime groups to safe-keep dirty money in developed countries such as Australia.
Three Constitutional scholars, of disparate ideologies, have filed an interesting Amicus Curiae (friend of the court) brief with the United States Supreme Court in the case considering whether Donald Trump is Constitutionally eligible to be on the ballot. You can read the brief HERE [link at the link].
The brief does NOT take a position on whether Trump is Constitutionally eligible. Rather, the thesis of the brief is that the Supreme Court must directly address and resolve the substantive question of whether Trump is Constitutionally eligible. The Court must resolve this, and not dodge the question via a procedural or jurisdictional based ruling, for to not resolve the substantive question would “risk political instability not seen since the Civil War.”…
They provide a nice summary, but the brief itself isn’t long.
Amici acknowledge that their arguments employ strong language. They do not do so lightly, and it would be a mistake to dismiss it as histrionics. Not since the Civil War has the United States confronted such a risk of destabilizing political unrest, and perhaps never has this Court been in such a clear position to head it off.
A Florida bill backed by the state’s chief financial officer would create a $5 million fund to help pay for former President Donald Trump’s mounting legal fees.
State Senator Ileana Garcia, a Republican, has filed a proposal to create the “Freedom Fighters Fund,” which would provide financial support for Florida residents running for president who face legal action. Trump, who is seeking a second term, lives in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida…
In a recent interview with Vísir, volcanologist Ármann Höskuldsson said that residing in Grindavík is currently not safe due to volcanic activity. He emphasises the need for people to relocate.
The latest eruption, which began on Sunday morning, January 14th, only lasted two days, yet reached the outskirts of the town of Grindavík, claiming three homes before petering out. Read our coverage here.
“The town has become very unsafe. It is primarily the fissures in the town that pose the greatest threat to people,” says Ármann. “While the volcanic eruptions are happening, it is not be advisable for people to stay in the town, and alternative accommodations need to be found, similar to what was done in Vestmannaeyjar.”
It is unlikely that residents will be able to return to Grindavík soon. “The land is rising. We know that more eruptions will occur. Considering how rapidly the land is rising in between, eruptions will likely be close together. This means that this state of uncertainty will continue at least this year. I firmly believe that we won’t see the end of this before another five to ten years.”
Ármann mentions that when eruptions begin in Eldvörp, west of the Blue Lagoon, people may start talking about the end of eruptions in Grindavík.
Asked if other settlements in the Reykjanes Peninsula could be at risk, Ármann says that this has been considered since 2021.
“The most challenging area in the future will be Hafnarfjörður. But the advantage is that we have seen how this works, meaning we can start preparing, planning, and anticipating how we respond if something happens there.”
He also notes that if eruptions occur in the Hengill area, Hveragerði could be at risk.
“In that case, it becomes a bigger problem than it is now because then Hellisheiði Power Station and Nesjavellir Power Station are in the danger zone. That means it could affect the heating supply in the capital area. Most of us live here and need a substantial amount of hot water. Hopefully, it’s further away in time, but we definitely need to start thinking about the future and integrate this threat into our overall planning. This is here to stay and will be for the next 150 to 200 years.”
The changes to the law, which have now been blocked, would’ve affected people who use same-day registration during early voting — a process that lets people register to vote, or update their address, then immediately cast a ballot.
New changes to North Carolina elections laws are likely unconstitutional and should be blocked from going into effect — at least until problems with the state’s same-day registration system are fixed — a federal judge ruled over the weekend.
In an order issued Sunday night, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder found that the new rules would’ve violated voters’ due process rights, in part by throwing out potentially legitimate ballots without giving voters a chance to fight that decision.
The decision likely means the rules won’t be used in this year’s elections, when North Carolinians will be voting for president, governor and most other key political positions.
The now-blocked changes to the law would’ve affected thousands of people who use same-day registration during early voting. That process lets people register to vote, or update their address, and then immediately cast a ballot.
The main argument in the case boiled down to what should happen after people use same-day registration. Typically the state sends a postcard to the address provided by the same-day registrant. If the postcard is returned as undeliverable, the voter’s ballot is canceled.
Democrats sued, saying there should be more efforts to contact voters, not just by mail, before canceling their ballots. People should also have a chance to dispute challenges to their ballot, and prove they’re legitimate voters, they said. They argued that the new rules would cause too many legitimate ballots to be thrown out.
Schroeder agreed and gave lawmakers a choice: find a way to address those due process concerns or not enforce the new rules.
The same-day registration rules were included in a wide-ranging law that made many other adjustments to elections rules ahead of 2024. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill last year, but Republican state legislators overrode his veto to pass it into law.
The quantum Cheshire cat effect draws its name from the fictional Cheshire Cat in the Alice in Wonderland story. That cat was able to disappear, leaving only its grin behind.
Similarly, in a 2013 paper, researchers claimed quantum particles are able to separate from their properties, with the properties traveling along paths the particle cannot. They named this the quantum Cheshire cat effect [clever!]. Researchers since have claimed to extend this further, swapping disembodied properties between particles, disembodying multiple properties simultaneously, and even “separating the wave-particle duality” of a particle.
However, recent research published in the New Journal of Physics, shows that these experiments don’t actually show particles splitting from their properties, but instead display another counterintuitive feature of quantum mechanics—contextuality.
…
“Most people know that quantum mechanics is weird, but identifying what causes this weirdness is still an active area of research. It has been slowly formalized into a notion called contextuality—that quantum systems change depending on what measurements you do on them,” said Jonte Hance, a research fellow at Hiroshima University and the University of Bristol.
A sequence of measurements on a quantum system will produce different results depending on the order in which the measurements are done. For instance, if we measure where a particle is and then how fast it is traveling, this will give different results to first measuring how fast it travels and then where it is.
Because of this contextuality, quantum systems can be measured as having properties that we would expect to be mutually incompatible. “However, we still don’t really understand what causes this, so this is what we wanted to investigate, using the paradoxical quantum Cheshire cat scenario as a testbed,” said Hance.
The team notes that the problem with the quantum Cheshire cat paradox is that its original claim, that the particle and its property, such as spin or polarization, separate and travel along different paths, maybe a misleading representation of the actual physics of the situation.
“We want to correct this by showing that different results are obtained if a quantum system is measured in different ways and that the original interpretation of the quantum Cheshire cat only comes about if you combine the results of these different measurements in a very specific way, and ignore this measurement-related change,” said Holger Hofmann, a professor at Hiroshima University.
…
Their paper discusses how this contextual behavior links to weak values and the coherences between prohibited states. Their work showed that instead of a property of the particle being disembodied, the quantum Cheshire cat demonstrates the effects of these coherences, typically found in pre- and post-selected systems.
Looking ahead, the team wants to expand this research, find a way to unify paradoxical quantum effects as manifestations of contextuality, and explain how and why measurements change quantum systems….
The use of “debunked” and really her whole presentation is weird and clickbaity, but the work is interesting. Here’s the abstract of the recent paper:
We analyse the quantum Cheshire cat using contextuality theory, to see if this can tell us anything about how best to interpret this paradox. We show that this scenario can be analysed using the relation between three different measurements, which seem to result in a logical contradiction. We discuss how this contextual behaviour links to weak values, and coherences between prohibited states. Rather than showing a property of the particle is disembodied, the quantum Cheshire cat instead demonstrates the effects of these coherences, which are typically found in pre- and post-selected systems.
John Moralessays
Thank you, SC.
I do appreciate that.
I had not heard of it before, BTW. Interesting.
(Insert joke: if I hadn’t heard of it, it can’t have been that famous)
RUSSIA has announced the CLOSURE of the Oil & Gas Terminal & Port at Ust-Luga near to St Petersburg following a strike by a Ukrainian Drone. This incident is the FOURTH ATTACK on Russian Oil & Gas Facilities in the first 3 weeks of January and appears to indicate that Ukraine is now looking to target longer range attacks in infrastructure in Russia. In this video I provide more details on the recent attacks, look at the way Drones are deployed and operated to orchestrate these attacks and discuss the potential impact on both Russia’s Oil & Gas Industry and the Russian Economy.
Solidarity! https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/all
I certainly approve of the objective- why accept a few crumbs ? I am reminded of the gods in Petty Pewter Gods (Garret PI).
John Moralessays
Ok, I don’t normally like this show, but this bit (I’ve timestamped from its beginning) amused me no end.
Jimmy Kimmel Live, posted on YouTube on 23 January, contrasting actual AI-voice generated mass robocall in New Hampshire supposedly being Biden asking them to not vote now with (heh heh heh) their generated Trump “deep”fake where he confesses his failures.
Usually I don’t bother with this show, but I found this to be worth sharing.
(See, not just drones changing the nature of war, but deepfakes changing the nature of polemic)
John Moralessays
Oops. I failed to avoid having it embed; it was an unconscious press of the “enter” key.
It’s kinda difficult, as others have found, to always without fail take active steps to avoid embedding videos on this thread. Can’t just post links, one has to be careful to make sure they don’t embed. Or, I suppose, to just avoid posting links to YouTube.
Still. It’s duly ironic and droll, by that I stand.
Plans for a global pandemic preparedness agreement risk falling apart amid wrangling and disinformation, according to the chief of the World Health Organization, who has warned that future generations “may not forgive us”….
The Nature Photography Contest, which invited its first entries last year, has proved an excellent meeting point where photography and love for our planet go hand in hand. These are the newly winning photographs and photographers of a contest that promises to continue growing and expanding its borders…
On January 9, a Moscow court extended the arrest of theater director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk until March 10. The two artists have been in pre-trial detention since May 2023, when they were charged with “justifying terrorism” in Berkovich’s production of Petriychuk’s play Finist the Bright Falcon. This time, when Berkovich addressed the judge, she did so in verse. In the days that followed, actress Chulpan Khamatova; musical artists Naum Bleek, Vladi, Ligalize, and Krec; and journalist Katerina Gordeeva decided to record an audio version of the director’s poem, with musical accompaniment by Vladi. The project was initiated by director and producer Roma Liberov, and the video was directed by Roman Sivozhelezov. An audio version of the project is available on all streaming platforms….
Video at the link.
…Still, the investigation couldn’t unearth a thing,
Despite all resources and opportunity.
And no one’s in a hurry to close
Our Case of Such Complexity.
This case is dead, all sung its final note.
No saving it with forensics, interrogation, or quote.
Listen, in nine months, an expert could’ve been born whole.
And he would’ve emerged fully ready to roll.
Perhaps it’s time to end the public scorn?
We’re not in the eighties, we’ve moved forward since then.
The distinction between inquiry and a brawl
Is to prove, not to punish, yet again!
But the investigation’s content, arranging things with ease.
How convenient: the case stalls, and we just sit tight.
This strategy suits truly tough heroes, if you please.
The foe doesn’t show on the field, thus unbeaten in the fight….
Across Russia and abroad, citizens have been lining up to add their signatures in support of the presidential candidacy of Boris Nadezhdin, a former State Duma deputy and a vocal opponent of the war in Ukraine. To join the race officially, Nadezhdin must collect 100,000 signatures by the end of January. His campaign website states that he’s collected tens of thousands of signatures, despite having had just 13,000 less than a week earlier. Numerous Russian opposition politicians have voiced support for Nadezhdin’s candidacy. So, who’s endorsed the ex-lawmaker that Russian Telegram channels are calling the “anti-war candidate,” and how is Nadezhdin’s signature drive going?…
It has been a month since Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government took office, and the task now is to rebuild Polish democracy after eight years of corrupt misrule under Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) party. No country in Europe has ever faced a political transition quite like this one.
After all, Poland’s veto-wielding president, Andrzej Duda, remains loyal to the ousted populist government, and Tusk’s coalition government lacks the votes to remove him from office despite Duda’s myriad unconstitutional actions. With another 15 months left on his term, Duda will have many opportunities to plunge Poland into chaos at Kaczynski’s behest.
Most of the damage PiS has caused to Polish institutions also remains….
Les agriculteurs ont entamé un bras de fer avec le gouvernement pour dénoncer le manque de considération à leur égard, la hausse de leurs coûts de production et la multiplication des normes européennes qui, disent-ils, entravent leur travail. Le Premier ministre Gabriel Attal tente de désamorcer le mouvement tandis que le Rassemblement national espère le récupérer, à six mois des élections européennes….
The decades-long attempt to locate the gene or genes for schizophrenia has failed, according to a new article in Psychiatric Research by prominent schizophrenia researcher E. Fuller Torrey.
In the article, Torrey reviews the history of the Human Genome Project, their hopes for identifying the genetic basis for schizophrenia, and how those hopes have been dashed by the complete failure to find anything of the sort.
Torrey writes, “Over twenty years later not a single gene has been identified to cause schizophrenia, despite the expenditure of almost $8 billion in genetic research by NIMH. Nor have any new treatments become available from this research.”
This paper is surprising since Torrey has long argued that schizophrenia is a brain disease to be treated biomedically….
As the article describes, Torrey is a total zealot; if even he’s acknowledging this… Much more at the link – informative piece.
Twenty twenty-three was a landmark year — the first time the Supreme Court sided with animal welfare in its decision to uphold Proposition 12. But the future legal status of animals in the U.S. is anything but settled. Lawmakers across the country kicked off 2024 with a flurry of legislation that could impact animals, the food system and the environment for years to come. From bills targeting so-called lab-grown meat to never-ending efforts to overturn Proposition 12, here are some of the most important pending state actions and laws for animals to follow in 2024.
…
Blocking Legal Personhood for Animals
Though animals are generally considered property under the law, for years, groups like the Nonhuman Rights Project have been applying novel legal strategies to establish legal personhood for animals. In Utah, lawmakers are working to prevent these types of legal arguments from being used in court and elsewhere. A proposed Utah law would prohibit any governmental entity from recognizing legal personhood in a non-human animal. The bill is likely a response to a high-profile animal rights case that happened in the state in 2022, in which activists with Direct Action Everywhere were acquitted after removing two sick piglets from a Smithfield factory farm. These animal rights advocates say they hope to use cases like these to challenge animals’ legal status as property….
Reginald Selkirksays
@198: Blocking Legal Personhood for Nonhuman Animals
Scientists may have figured out one of the many mysteries surrounding everyone’s favorite microscopic survivor: the tardigrade. In new research, a team appears to have uncovered a key mechanism that these tiny critters use to withstand harsh conditions that would kill almost any other animal…
This ability is broadly known as cryptobiosis, and the most well-known state of dormancy that tardigrades can accomplish is known as tun. A tardigrade in tun will suck in all eight of its limbs, curl up into a ball, and deplete nearly all of its internal water supply. In this dehydrated state, some tardigrades have been able to endure extreme heat, near absolute-zero temperatures, and exposure to levels of salt that would kill practically everything else in the world. Depending on the species and their environment, it’s possible for tardigrades to remain dormant like this for decades or even longer, until environmental conditions improve…
In tardigrades, the researchers found, ROS (reactive oxygen species) seems to signal the oxidation of the amino acid cysteine, which in turn seems to be crucial to the formation of tun. And when the team found ways to turn off the ability to oxidize cysteine in their tiny test subjects, the tardigrades lost their ability to tun as before, further supporting their hypothesis…
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has blocked a ballot proposal seeking to create a constitutional right to abortion, labeling the initiative “legally insufficient” after a required review by his office. [Full text of AG’s ruling]
In a memorandum dated Jan. 16, Knudsen said the proposed ballot initiative spearheaded by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Montana, Ballot Measure #14, improperly “logrolls multiple distinct political choices into a single initiative” and limits the state’s ability to protect public health and safety.
“Ballot Measure 14 creates an express right to abortion but denies voters the ability to express their views on the nuance of the right. This is classic logrolling and is prohibited by Article XIV, Section 11” of the Montana Constitution, Knudsen wrote.
The backers of the initiative, organized through the committee Montanans Securing Reproductive Rights, said they intend to challenge Knudsen’s decision in state court within 10 days, the time designated by the ballot proposal process. If the Montana Supreme Court rules in its favor, the coalition could soon begin collecting signatures to shepherd the initiative to the 2024 ballot.
[…]
If advocates are successful in court and clear the other hurdles leading up to November, voters will get to weigh in on the constitutional initiative that, in the language drafted, “affirms the right to make and carry out decisions about one’s own pregnancy, including the right to abortion, in the Montana Constitution.”
The proposal continues to state that, if approved, the amendment “prohibits the government from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability. Additionally, the amendment ensures that the government cannot deny or burden access to an abortion when it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health. This constitutional amendment prevents the government from punishing patients, health care providers, or anyone who assists someone in seeking reproductive care, including abortion care.”
In his legal review, Knudsen said the proposed ballot language would preclude elected officials from enacting reasonable regulations and restrictions on abortion when the practice is determined “medically necessary.”
“This clause makes it so even regulations that serve a compelling state interest and are narrowly tailored to that interest cannot survive,” Knudsen wrote.
Knudsen also said that, as written, the constitutional amendment would preclude Montanans from passing future regulations on abortion that reflect their nuanced and complicated views on the issue, particularly in relation to fetal viability and various health risks to the pregnant patient.
[…]
Knudsen’s office previously blocked a different ballot initiative related to the creation of a top-four primary system in Montana, citing similar concerns about “logrolling” multiple subjects into one proposal. The coalition behind that ballot initiative filed a legal challenge over Knudsen’s decision and was affirmed by the Montana Supreme Court within weeks, clearing the way for signature collection.
SC @195, thanks for posting the link to the Nature Photography article in the Guardian. Those were some great photos.
Reginald @186, FFS indeed. As if Trump needed more ways to fleece the people.
Text quoted by John @184:
There are concerns golden visa schemes allow corrupt foreign officials and members of organised crime groups to safe-keep dirty money in developed countries such as Australia.
It’s hard to escape the fact that American trucks and SUVs have been on a steroid-infused diet for the last few years. The trend was all too apparent at the last auto show we went to—at Chicago in 2020, I felt physically threatened just standing next to some of the products on display by GMC and its competitors. Intuitively, the supersized hood heights on these pickups seem more dangerous to vulnerable road users, but now there’s hard data to support that…
‘Twas the night before the New Hampshire primary, and Trump said this to his supporters:
We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on.
So far I have not seen anyone translate that into meaningful, or at least understandable campaign rhetoric.
The New Hampshire primary is today. Trump plans to declare victory after only a few voters in two states, Iowa and New Hampshire, choose him as the Republican candidate. Maybe that’s what he means when he uses the royal “we” to declare himself “an institute in a powerful death penalty.”
Roughly 24 hours ago at this time, there was anticipation surrounding E. Jean Carroll’s defamation suit against Donald Trump. Not only have the proceedings advanced in notable ways, but there was a very real possibility that the former president would take the witness stand.
That didn’t happen. As NBC News reported, a juror felt ill, and Alina Habba, the defendant’s attorney, had a Covid exposure, as did her co-counsel. With these details in mind, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan granted Team Trump’s request for a postponement.
It was against this backdrop that House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik apparently thought it’d be a good idea to offer some commentary about the morning’s anodyne developments. In a social media message, the New York Republican wrote, in reference to the trial delay:
“This is blatant election interference! Joe Biden and his Democrat cronies are the true threats to democracy! TRUMP 2024!”
By any fair measure, the congresswoman’s complaint was ridiculous. Trump’s own lawyer asked for a delay, and the judge agreed. The trial could’ve proceeded without the ill juror, but the Republican’s defense team preferred a postponement.
Literally nothing about this resembles “election interference” in any way. The member of the House Republican leadership accused a federal judge of serious misconduct for no reason whatsoever.
It was an unfortunate low point for Stefanik, but it was also part of a larger pattern.
Two weeks ago, for example, the GOP leader appeared on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” where she not only raised the prospect of rejecting the results of the 2024 presidential election, she also echoed Trump’s rhetoric about Jan. 6 rioters being “hostages” — a claim that even some in her party were not comfortable with.
It came on the heels of Stefanik responding to Trump’s classified documents scandal by criticizing the National Archives, helping launch an effort to “expunge“ Trump’s impeachments, and joining a partisan crusade against federal law enforcement.
In the fall, she also filed an ethics complaint against the judge overseeing Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York and pressed the Justice Department to prosecute Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer who has since become a fierce critic of the former president.
Over the weekend, after Trump confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi — the former president twice said the former ambassador to the U.N. was responsible for congressional security on Jan. 6 — Stefanik managed to say with a straight face, “That isn’t a mix-up.”
Or put another way, Stefanik is going to outlandish lengths to make one thing perfectly clear to Team Trump: She will say anything, without regard for accuracy, propriety, shame, or self-respect.
I continue to believe that no one should want to be vice president this badly.
Trump also slurs the word “smallest” into “sollest” before correcting himself. I watched the video and I don’t think even he knows what he is saying.
For an additional hit of humor, there’s also the fact that Trump forgot how to pronounce Elise Stefanik’s last name … and after all that bootlicking and lying she has done for him! Sad.
Later, Trump tried to describe missile defense technology: “Ding ding ding ding boom whoosh boom.” He also described rocket scientists as having muscles in their heads instead of in their bodies. From his pantomime on camera I concluded that Trump thinks their computer keyboards produced the sound “ding ding, ding, ding.”
With fewer than $10 million in assets and more than $150 million in liabilities, Rudy Giuliani is in a world of hurt. He was a prime candidate for bankruptcy, but the fight is just beginning over what effect the bankruptcy will have, especially on his single biggest liability: the $148 million defamation judgment won against him by Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss.
In a series of developments last week, Freeman and Moss tried to get the bankruptcy court to limit Giuliani’s ability to fight the judgment. Giuliani wants the bankruptcy stay (which freezes the debtor’s affairs in place) lifted so that he can continue to challenge their judgment in court. Not fair, argued Freeman and Moss. Lifting the stay as to Giuliani would let him use the Chapter 11 filing as a sword to defeat their claim while hiding behind the shield it provides to prevent them from collecting on their judgment against him.
Giuliani’s creditors attended the first court hearing in the bankruptcy case Friday, where the judge mostly granted Giuliani’s request to continue to fight the defamation judgment:
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane on Friday agreed to Giuliani’s request to seek a new trial or to ask that the damages be reduced. Lane, however, stopped short of granting Giuliani permission to seek a full appeal. Lane stressed that the district court should have much discretion in deciding how to handle or whether to grant the request.
The key question right now is how the trial judge will exercise that discretion. It’s a complicated interplay of bankruptcy law and federal civil procedure, which I won’t bore you with and which doesn’t really speak to the larger issues around the 2020 election interference or the attack on the rule of law.
As for Giuliani’s ability to ever pay even a fraction of the judgment, his lawyer says his income at present comes from radio and podcast hosting, with his law license suspended, and he has no significant assets. “There’s no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” Giuliani’s attorney told the bankruptcy court.
The State Department on Monday brushed off reports of Russian President Vladimir Putin ordering his government to look into [Russia’s] former “real estate” abroad, saying Alaska would be staying in American hands.
Putin signed a new decree last week to allocate funds for the research and registration of Russian property overseas, including that in former territories of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, Russian state media TASS reported.
[…] caught the attention of military bloggers, who argued Putin was using the decree to declare the 1867 Russian sale of the Last Frontier State to the U.S. is illegal.
[…] While Putin appeared to downplay the sale, Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov in December hinted at Moscow reclaiming its previous territories in the future.
“Did you want a new world order? Receive and sign. Venezuela annexed a 24th state, Guyana-Essequibo. This is happening right under the nose of the once great hegemon of the United States. All that remains is for Mexico to return Texas and the rest. It’s time for Americans to think about their future. And also about Alaska,” Mironov wrote on X, formerly Twitter, last month. […]
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joked about the whole issue, and it does look and sound ridiculous.
Exclusive to SWAJ – the Freethought Caucus in the House of Representatives held a seminar on Mike Johnson’s Christian nationalism. Rep. Jared Huffman chaired the panel and heard comments from Dr. Matthew Taylor, Rachel Laser, President of Americans United, and Darcy Hirsch of the Interfaith Alliance. We are the only media outlet to distribute a recording of the event.
There’s a Congressional Freethought Caucus! I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’ve read the (short) CFC white paper and yikes.
Maybe my favorite bit:
As Senior Legal Counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal organization which described itself as aiming to “recover the robust Christendomic theology of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries,”…
And it will probably not get better with Keir Starmer as prime minister. He has prove himself to be a strict pro-establishment politician on the right wing of the labour party.
birgerjohanssonsays
I rather enjoyed the silly Xena TV series back in the day- and now I discovered the Australian crime TV series ‘My Life Is Murder’ has Lucy Lawless in a role. And one of the male actors has an uncanny likeness to a young Martin Landau.
birgerjohanssonsays
Britain: Peer who praised rising temperatures appointed to climate crisis committee
NATO signed on Tuesday a $1.2-billion contract to make tens of thousands of artillery rounds to replenish the dwindling stocks of its member countries as they supply ammunition to Ukraine to help it defeat Russia’s invasion.
The contract will allow for the purchase of 220,000 rounds of 155-millimeter ammunition, the most widely sought after artillery shell, according to NATO’s support and procurement agency. It will allow allies to backfill their arsenals and to provide Ukraine with more ammunition…
Arizona state Sen. Anthony Kern, one of the Republicans being investigated by Attorney General Kris Mayes for falsely certifying that the state’s electoral college votes should be awarded to Donald Trump instead of winner Joe Biden, has come up with a novel approach to protect election stealers in the future:
Make it legal.
Kern has introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 1014, which — I am not making this up — allows that “the Legislature, and no other official, shall appoint presidential electors.”
In other words, if such a law had existed when Biden beat Trump, the majority MAGA Legislature could have ignored the will of Arizona voters and appointed like-minded electors of their choosing who, in turn, could have installed Dear Leader as the victor…
After 20 months of demands, obstruction and delay, the Turkish parliament voted Tuesday night in favor of Sweden joining NATO, clearing one of the final hurdles for a major expansion of the military alliance set in motion by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still needs to sign the ratification document.
Assuming he does, Hungary would be the last remaining holdout. Officials there have previously signaled that they would not, ultimately, stand in the way. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced, somewhat cryptically, that he had invited the Swedish prime minister to visit to “negotiate on Sweden’s NATO accession.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson appeared to respond only to the Turkish vote, writing on X, formerly Twitter, “Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO.”
The vote was 287 in favor and 55 against with four abstentions.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the outcome, adding, “I also count on Hungary to complete its national ratification as soon as possible. All NATO allies agreed in Vilnius to invite Sweden to join our alliance, and Sweden has fulfilled its commitments.”
If both Turkey and Hungary get on board, the alliance could formally welcome its 32nd member, potentially sealing the deal before its 75th anniversary this spring. […]
“Let’s be clear. Our support for Ukraine’s struggle against tyranny makes all of our countries more secure,” the Pentagon chief said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the case for continued international support for Ukraine on Tuesday in his first public remarks since his release from a two-week hospitalization for complications from surgery to treat prostate cancer.
Austin praised Kyiv’s resolve in its defense against Russia’s invasion and touted military aid provided by European allies in his opening remarks at a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the coalition of nations providing weapons and equipment to Ukraine.
[…] “If we lose our nerve, if we flinch, if we fail to deter other would-be aggressors, we will only invite even more bloodshed and more chaos.”
“We must not waver in our support for Ukraine,” the Pentagon chief added.
[…] Austin didn’t address the supplemental package in his remarks. He instead touted the most recent $250 million U.S. aid package in late December that included artillery rounds and air defense munitions.
He also lauded European allies “who have risen to the moment” and announced security assistance packages recently, including Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Austin highlighted a half dozen coalitions within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meant to bolster specific military capabilities. The six groups aim to buttress Kyiv’s air force, ground-based air defenses, artillery, maritime security, demining and information technology efforts.
The U.S. co-leads the artillery capability coalition with France as well as co-leading the air force group with the Netherlands and Denmark. Austin called the push a “reminder of how much we can do when we come together.”
“The security of the entire international community is on the line in Ukraine’s fight,” Austin said. “And I am more determined than ever to work with our allies and partners to support Ukraine and to get the job done.”
Everyone makes mistakes, and anyone who steps onto a stage and starts blabbing on for an hour is probably going to make several. But Donald Trump does more than occasionally mix up a date or misidentify a supporter.
Trump gets lost in long asides about how he used to drive a Rolls Royce, how electric cars threaten Medicare, and whatever this gibberish means [see comment 207]. Last week, he famously confused Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while in the middle of telling lies about the Jan. 6 insurgency. This followed multiple instances in which Trump has claimed to have beaten Barack Obama and warned that President Joe Biden could be leading us into World War II.
Haley, his only remaining competitor in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, has finally questioned Trump’s mental fitness in the days leading to the New Hampshire primary, but she’s done it so timidly and so late in the process that it may not matter.
Meanwhile, Trump insists on talking about a “cognitive test” that he says he “aced” a few months ago. It’s not clear if this is a new test, or the one Trump first bragged about taking back in 2020. If it’s new, that raises the question of why Trump’s doctor thought another test was in order. If it’s the previous test, then Trump calling three years “a few months” is not the greatest sign of mental acuity.
“I’ll let you know when I go bad,” Trump told supporters at a New Hampshire campaign event. “I really think I’ll be able to tell you. Because someday we go bad.”
Not every brain is like a banana, and those that do decline aren’t always obvious. That’s the whole reason that dementia tests exist in the first place: Many people who have failing mental abilities either don’t recognize or are unwilling to admit they aren’t as sharp as they once were.
Just as he did in 2020, Trump insists on calling this a “cognitive” test and acting as if his performance indicates his brilliance. […] The test is not looking at IQ. It’s not looking at emotional maturity or decision-making skills. According to Canadian neurologist and test designer Ziad Nasreddine, it is “intended primarily to test for signs of dementia or other cognitive decline.”
[…] Dementia tests like the Montreal Cognitive Assessment tend to focus on ideas like image orientation, language skills, basic reasoning, and paying attention. As Trump noted at the time, the tests take only a few minutes to administer and contain a small number of questions. A score of 26 or above on the 30-point scale is considered “normal.” Trump did not release his actual score on the exam, though he called it “difficult.”
There are genuine cognitive assessment tests for older Americans that measure performance in many areas critical to an aging mind: working memory, sustained attention, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and recognition. These are more extensive exams with a greater number and variety of questions, some of which are genuinely difficult.
[…] any test Trump has taken, like the one he was given while he was still in the White House, is more about checking to see if the lights are on.
[…] the Biden campaign has already picked up the baton on this issue. [video at the link]
[…] Biden may be three years older than Trump, but he’s not known for explaining how military systems work through “ding ding boom boom” sound effects. [video at the link]
A test designed to see if someone is still safe living in their own home is not the most suitable instrument for determining whether someone is qualified to place their stubby finger on the nuclear button […]
Speaking of fantasies, all of this is on top of Trump’s “sir” stories. Every time Trump begins talking about how someone called him “sir,” it opens the door into a magical land where big, tough guys just can’t help getting emotional over Trump’s greatness. [video at the link]
[…] the biggest question may be how long the media deigns to grant this concern some cursory questioning before they go back to normalizing or just ignoring everything Trump says. [Video of Trump saying the Continental Army “took over the airports” during the civil war.]
The Iowa primary took place Monday, and while traditional media outlets would like you to believe Trump won big the reality was anything but. […]
@218: On Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced, somewhat cryptically, that he had invited the Swedish prime minister to visit to “negotiate on Sweden’s NATO accession.”
Kentucky introduced a bill last Tuesday that would criminalize homeless encampments […] 45 Republican co-sponsors and the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police has committed to testify in support
[…]
outside of the designated area, residing in a tent, hut, temporary shelter, or vehicle with the intention to sleep, they may face misdemeanor charges, leading to a fine of $5,000 and a potential imprisonment of up to 90 days.
[…]
“unlawful camping” […] would allow property owners to use deadly force against unhoused people […] without facing criminal consequences.
In late December, Mitnick refused his mandatory draft to join the Israel Defense Forces. As a result, a military court sentenced him to 30 days in custody, making him the first conscientious objector to be jailed in Israel since 7 October. He spoke to the Guardian late on Friday afternoon, one day after his release. Over the weekend, Mitnick spent time with friends and family and attended an anti-war march. This freedom will be short-lived. “I’ve already had my draft order from the army for Tuesday morning. Again, I’ll go to the military base and tell them I refuse to serve. Again, I’ll be sent to jail.” On Tuesday morning, Mitnick was sentenced to a further 30 days in prison.
No policy dictates how long this cycle might continue. Often refusers spend stints totalling 100 days or more locked away, after which the IDF eventually concludes they’re unfit for service.
[…]
For first-time refuseniks, seven to 10 days is a standard sanction. On 26 December, Mitnick received 30 days to be spent at a prison just outside the town of Kfar Yona.
“I don’t see myself as the hero or anything,” he says, “while people are being massacred every day in Gaza. And I want to stress I’m by no means the only one. There are other anti-occupation activists. People opting to not join the army. Peace campaigners, young and old. But at the same time, I do think this takes bravery.”
[…]
In truth, Mitnick knows, his generation of Israelis doesn’t broadly agree. “Young people here are more rightwing than their parents,” he says. Peace activists have been arrested and face public condemnation.
Enculturation, inculcation. Always some people who can resist.
Joe Biden has won New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary, the Associated Press reports, despite the president not campaigning in the state.
New Hampshire had in years past held the first primary in the nation, and the second contest of the Democratic nomination calendar after Iowa’s caucuses. But under Biden, the Democratic National Committee has changed its schedule, and South Carolina will be the first state to vote for the Democratic nominee on 3 February.
Biden’s name did not appear on the ballot in New Hampshire, but his supporters organized a write-in campaign to show support for his presidency, and also to remind him of their desire to remain the first state to hold a primary. That campaign appears to have paid off.
Donald Trump has won New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary, the Associated Press reports.
The biggest outstanding question now is how big Donald Trump’s victory in New Hampshire was.
The greater the gap between him and Nikki Haley, the more pressure the former South Carolina governor will be under to abandon the race – though she has previously said she will continue her campaign, no matter what.
At Donald Trump’s election night watch party in Nashua, several cheers went up in the crowded ballroom, and some hats were thrown in the air, when two big screens announced: “Trump wins New Hampshire!”
Kari Lake, a candidate for Senate in Arizona, gleefully told reporters: “Maga! Make America great again!”
Meanwhile the Beatles song “Revolution” is playing outside the ballroom for no obvious reason.
The Wellness Company, promoted by Dr. Peter McCullough, is the product of a trend in which antivax doctors have predictably become just grifting quacks. At least in this case, there is an amusing quack fight at the heart of it all….
[…] In truth, Trump has likely benefited from not being a part of many people’s daily lives. Outside of the white noise of Trump’s legal battles, voters have largely not tuned in enough yet to be privy his rally rants, his increasing cognitive challenges, and his social media meltdowns.
But that grace period is now ending. Team Biden is already feasting on Trump’s barrage of embarrassing—not to mention deeply worrisome—statements. On Tuesday, Biden’s rapid-response team circulated a nonsensical Trump quote in which he told rally attendees Monday, “We are an institute in a powerful death penalty.”
Subtweeting the quote, Team Biden quipped, “Yeah, we don’t know what he’s saying either.”
On Monday, the account circulated video of Trump in 2020 promising a “stock market collapse” if Biden became president, splicing the footage together with Fox News’ coverage of the stock market’s record-high close earlier this week.
While none of this will pierce the MAGA bubble, it does stand a chance of reaching both reality-based Republicans (who have typically supported former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the primaries) and independents who will be forced to cast a ballot for what they consider to be the lesser of two evils.
The November election will not be a popularity contest; rather, it will be a race defined by which candidate a majority of voters most fear being in charge of the country. And reality-based Americans will now be force-fed a daily diet of utterances from a man who is arguably the most dangerous presidential candidate the country has seen since the country’s founding.
Democrats would much rather not roll the dice on democracy once again, but here we are. Republican voters have landed us here, largely because they are delusional enough to believe Trump’s a slam dunk in the general election.
They got their guy. Now they’re stuck with him as the Biden campaign gets to work.
I would just like to point out that Nikki Haley did better than expected in New Hampshire. Earlier, Josh Marshall predicted she might get 30 to 40% of the New Hampshire vote. She exceeded that. Not all of the vote has been counted, but it looks like Haley will end up with about 45% of the vote.
Trump is, essentially, an incumbent. And in the first two states, 40-45 percent of voters preferred a different candidate. That simply does not project strength.
Re: Lynna, OM @ #231…
I saw one article claiming that Trump’s people are in a panic over his showing in NH. They were predicting he’d win by 30+%, rather than the actual 9% (last I looked).
One interesting trivial point… The tiny town (6 voters) that votes and then counts at midnight (Dixville Notch), had a result of Haley 6, Trump 0.
…but to give the Pope his due, he is praising wine.
birgerjohanssonsays
…There is a lot of unintentional comedy out there. Bit if you are tired of Trump quotes, here is something else.
‘Bad Movie Review : Q the Winged Serpent (1982)’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=wCLte02uL7g
In September 2017, Britain was basking in the glory of a public health success story. No indigenous cases of measles had been recorded for three years. Decades after a sham study threatened to permanently undermine trust in the MMR jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, the World Health Organization declared the disease had been eliminated for the first time in the UK.
Dr Mary Ramsay, then head of immunisation at Public Health England (PHE), expressed delight. “This is a huge achievement and a testament to all the hard work by our health professionals in the NHS to ensure that all children and adults are fully protected with two doses of the MMR vaccine.”
The WHO accolade came with a warning shot, however. “We cannot become complacent,” said Zsuzsanna Jakab, then WHO regional director for Europe. “Outbreaks continue to cause unnecessary suffering and loss of life. Routine immunisation coverage is decreasing.”
Less than two years later, the UK had been stripped of its measles-free status.
Today, the country is in the midst of a measles emergency. Public health officials are scrambling to stem an alarming tide of infection. And the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), which replaced PHE during the Covid pandemic, has been forced to declare a national incident, signalling a major public health risk from one of the world’s most contagious viruses.
Hundreds of children have been sickened by measles in recent weeks. Officials fear a growing outbreak in the West Midlands could spread to other towns and cities unless urgent action is taken to boost vaccination uptake.
A staggering 3.4 million under-16s are at risk of getting the virus, officials believe, and letters are being sent to parents of unvaccinated children. GPs are setting up extra clinics and vaccine buses are targeting communities with low vaccination rates.
The unfolding crisis has alarmed the UK’s top health officials.
“We’re at a point where there’s a very large susceptible population of children,” Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, told the Guardian in an interview this week. “To keep measles at bay, we need to have over 95% of children vaccinated. The NHS figures suggest that we’re at about 85%.”
Data released by the UKHSA showed there have been 216 confirmed measles cases and 103 probable cases in the West Midlands since 1 October last year. Four-fifths (80%) were found in Birmingham, while 10% were identified in Coventry. Most were in children aged under 10.
“Now that it’s got started, with a virus that is so infectious – it’s much more infectious than Covid was – then if there are people who are unvaccinated, it can spread like wildfire,” said Pollard. “The reason why that’s so worrying is that it then finds individuals who rather than just getting a horrible illness, will actually get serious complications or die from it.”
In some people, measles can affect the lungs and brain and cause pneumonia, meningitis, blindness and seizures. Pollard said: “There are some risk groups: people whose immune system doesn’t work well, children on cancer treatments for example. Younger children are more at risk than older children from severe complications. But there will also be some completely healthy children who can get very severe illness or even die from this virus.
…
Experts say a combination of factors is likely explain the fall in vaccination rates – and the measles crisis now engulfing Britain….
The World Health Organization has issued an urgent warning over measles after an “alarming” 30-fold rise in cases across Europe.
The UN agency reported an enormous increase in numbers affected by the disease, which it said had accelerated in recent months. More than 30,000 cases were reported between January and October last year, compared with 941 cases in the whole of 2022 – a more than 30-fold rise.
Two in five cases were in children between one and four years old. One in five were in people aged 20 and over. The trend is expected to worsen if people do not vaccinate their children against the disease, the WHO said.
The warning came just days after the UK declared a national incident amid a surge in cases, and launched a campaign to encourage parents to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine for their children.
Dr Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said: “We have seen in the region not only a 30-fold increase in measles cases, but also nearly 21,000 hospitalisations and five measles-related deaths (reported in two countries).
“Vaccination is the only way to protect children from this potentially dangerous disease. Urgent vaccination efforts are needed to halt transmission and prevent further spread.”
…
The WHO Europe region comprises 53 countries, including Russia and some in central Asia, and 40 of those registered measles cases in 2023, it said. Russia and Kazakhstan fared the worst, with 10,000 cases each. In western Europe, Britain had the most cases, with 183….
It seems plain that the efforts have to focus primarily on Russia and Kazakhstan.
…The old-school Republicans that Haley represents have never been as far from Trump as it would benefit their egos to pretend. The national war hawks, the corporate rich: these people do not need the democracy that Trump threatens. And in a few days or weeks, when she inevitably drops out of the race and endorses Trump, Nikki Haley will discover that she can live without it, too.
As Joe Biden acknowledged on Tuesday night, Donald Trump now has the Republican presidential nomination sewn up. But like a Roman emperor or mob boss, Trump used his victory speech in New Hampshire to humiliate his former opponents – and make sinister threats against his last primary rival.
…
Trump could have been magnanimous in victory and congratulated Haley on a race well run. Instead, he was palpably irked by her refusal to drop out of the race. Petty and vindictive, he became a playground bully punching down for the benefit of an audience that glories in metaphorical violence.
Addressing a crowded hotel ballroom in Nashua, he gave Haley a dark warning: “Just a little note to Nikki. She’s not going to win. But if she did, she would be under investigation by those people in 15 minutes, and I could tell you five reasons why already.
“Not big reasons, little stuff that she doesn’t want to talk about, that she will be under investigation within minutes, and so would Ron [DeSantis] have been, but he decided to get out.”
There were echoes of political operative Lee Atwater or Roger Stone’s dirty tricks campaigns, or Trump senior campaign aide Chris LaCivita’s Swift Boat veterans takedown of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. It was also redolent of Trump’s own vicious attacks on Senator Ted Cruz’s wife and father (whom he baselessly linked to the John F Kennedy assassination) in 2016.
But Trump has plenty of humiliation to serve around, even to people on his own side. He invited former opponent Vivek Ramaswamy to speak but only “if he promises to do it in a minute or less”…
Then there was Senator Tim Scott, another ex-rival who has already debased himself with a fawning endorsement of Trump. With his unerring ability to get under people’s skin, he said to Scott that, since former South Carolina governor Haley appointed him to the Senate, “You must really hate her.”
There was an awkward silence in the room and a rare grunt of dissent from someone. To rescue the situation, Scott stepped forward to the lectern, looked at Trump and grovelled: “I just love you!” The crowd exhaled in relief. Scott was the hapless father in The Godfather who had accepted: “For justice, we must go to Don Corleone.”
…
But like many bullies, Trump’s ostentatious show of strength was motivated by inner weakness. Haley did well enough among independents to raise red flags for Republicans in the general election.
The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump group, commented: “It’s clear that Trump is political poison to moderates. Sane and moral [R]epublicans said their conscience won’t allow them to vote for a chaos-driven maniac who is under 91 criminal counts, a proven sexual predator, and authoritarian wannabe who will shred the constitution and burn this country down.”…
…The old-school Republicans that Haley represents have never been as far from Trump as it would benefit their egos to pretend. The national war hawks, the corporate rich: these people do not need the democracy that Trump threatens. And in a few days or weeks, when she inevitably drops out of the race and endorses Trump, Nikki Haley will discover that she can live without it, too.
As Joe Biden acknowledged on Tuesday night, Donald Trump now has the Republican presidential nomination sewn up. But like a Roman emperor or mob boss, Trump used his victory speech in New Hampshire to humiliate his former opponents – and make sinister threats against his last primary rival.
…
Trump could have been magnanimous in victory and congratulated Haley on a race well run. Instead, he was palpably irked by her refusal to drop out of the race. Petty and vindictive, he became a playground bully punching down for the benefit of an audience that glories in metaphorical violence.
Addressing a crowded hotel ballroom in Nashua, he gave Haley a dark warning: “Just a little note to Nikki. She’s not going to win. But if she did, she would be under investigation by those people in 15 minutes, and I could tell you five reasons why already.
“Not big reasons, little stuff that she doesn’t want to talk about, that she will be under investigation within minutes, and so would Ron [DeSantis] have been, but he decided to get out.”
There were echoes of political operative Lee Atwater or Roger Stone’s dirty tricks campaigns, or Trump senior campaign aide Chris LaCivita’s Swift Boat veterans takedown of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. It was also redolent of Trump’s own vicious attacks on Senator Ted Cruz’s wife and father (whom he baselessly linked to the John F Kennedy assassination) in 2016.
But Trump has plenty of humiliation to serve around, even to people on his own side. He invited former opponent Vivek Ramaswamy to speak but only “if he promises to do it in a minute or less”…
Then there was Senator Tim Scott, another ex-rival who has already debased himself with a fawning endorsement of Trump. With his unerring ability to get under people’s skin, he said to Scott that, since former South Carolina governor Haley appointed him to the Senate, “You must really hate her.”
There was an awkward silence in the room and a rare grunt of dissent from someone. To rescue the situation, Scott stepped forward to the lectern, looked at Trump and grovelled: “I just love you!” The crowd exhaled in relief….
…
But like many bullies, Trump’s ostentatious show of strength was motivated by inner weakness. Haley did well enough among independents to raise red flags for Republicans in the general election….
…The old-school Republicans that Haley represents have never been as far from Trump as it would benefit their egos to pretend. The national war hawks, the corporate rich: these people do not need the democracy that Trump threatens. And in a few days or weeks, when she inevitably drops out of the race and endorses Trump, Nikki Haley will discover that she can live without it, too.
As Joe Biden acknowledged on Tuesday night, Donald Trump now has the Republican presidential nomination sewn up. But like a Roman emperor or mob boss, Trump used his victory speech in New Hampshire to humiliate his former opponents – and make sinister threats against his last primary rival.
…
Trump could have been magnanimous in victory and congratulated Haley on a race well run. Instead, he was palpably irked by her refusal to drop out of the race. Petty and vindictive, he became a playground bully punching down for the benefit of an audience that glories in metaphorical violence….
In Huddersfield, England, a half hour’s drive down the road from Yorkshire Sculpture Park, artist Yukihiro Akama fashions a whimsical, miniature world from within a furniture maker’s workshop. In his forthcoming solo exhibition at YSP—his largest to date—the artist presents 55 intricately carved wooden houses in Basho no Kankaku—A Sense of Place 場所の感覚….
The touch-me-not plant, officially known as [M]imosa pudica, quickly contracts its leaves when shaken or brushed by assumed predators. When one of these specimens senses danger like a nearby herbivore ready to take a bite, calcium erupts within its system, prompting exposed areas to recoil.
Scientists have known since the 1980s that other plants, not just those deemed sensitive like the touch-me-not, similarly transmit such warnings. And thanks to molecular biologists at Japan’s Saitama University, we now have visual evidence of the process….
They have a link to the full, open-access Nature Communications article, “Green leaf volatile sensory calcium transduction in Arabidopsis.”
A secret meeting between the far-right political party the AfD and neo-Nazis has shocked Germans. Thousands have been protesting across the country after investigative journalists said they had discovered the meeting was to map out a “masterplan” for mass deportations if the party came to power.
Michael Safi hears how in the meeting an Austrian far-right extremist was said to have discussed his ideas for “re-migration”, a euphemism for the deporting of migrants who have broken the law or not “assimilated”, even if they were German citizens. The AfD leader has fired one aide who attended the meeting and insisted they were not planning mass deportations. For more than a week Germans have been rallying in protest about the meeting – yet it has had a surprisingly small effect on the poll ratings of the AfD.
The Guardian’s Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, explains who the AfD are, why they have been surging in popularity – thanks to their focus on migration and a cost of living crisis – and why the shadow of nazism has made the grassroots backlash against them so heartfelt.
In the 1930s, Summer camps opened up across the country. But these weren’t normal summer camps: they were the creation of the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi organization with a vision of America ruled by white Christians.
NAZI TOWN, USA tells the largely unknown story of the Bund, which had scores of chapters in suburbs and big cities across the country and represented what many believe was a real threat of fascist subversion in the United States.
I’m not sure why they don’t have the full episode up on YT. I’ll keep an eye out. (They do have it on the PBS site, but I’m not sure if people outside the US can watch it there…)
The electric vehicle startup Canoo announced today that it has signed a purchase agreement with the United States Postal Service to supply USPS with six LDV 190 EVs by the end of March. The futuristic-looking electric vans will be provided in a right-hand drive configuration for ease of deliveries…
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt is quietly building a kamikaze drone startup in the U.S. and Ukraine called “White Stork,” according to a report by Forbes Tuesday. The project is named after Ukraine’s national bird and White Stork hopes to sell advanced AI drone technology to the country’s ongoing war effort.
Since leaving Google, Schmidt has become a bridge between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon. He led the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which issued a final report in 2021 that stated, “AI will transform the way war is conducted in every domain.”
Now, Schmidt seems to be capitalizing on that vision with a company that profits on AI kamikaze drones, and it’s branded directly to Ukraine. The former Google CEO has written extensively about how AI drones are the future of warfare, including in a book he co-wrote with everyone’s favorite recently deceased warmonger, Henry Kissinger. Now it’s pretty clear he was just talking up White Stork…
The Daily Show finally hired a host. That long-awaited leader is… Jon Stewart, who will be returning to the hosting desk eight years after initially stepping down in 2015.
According to Deadline, Stewart is returning to the show every Monday night—apparently the show’s most-watched time slot—throughout the election cycle. The venerated commentator, who hosted the for over 15 years, will begin his tenure on February 12. He’s also on board to executive produce every episode of the show throughout 2025 in order to help “shape” its future…
lumipunasays
Hello.
I have a question for someone who understands orbital physics slightly better than I do, for fiction writing purposes.
Suppose I have a solid rock asteroid on a low equatorial orbit around earth, say, 1600 km above surface (8000 km orbital radius). I think the orbital velocity would be then something like 7 km/s. Suppose I want to mine the asteroid and get some of its mass down to earth in a semi-controlled fashion. Small grains of rock should more or less survive falling into the atmosphere at these speeds, slow down and cool down before reaching the surface.
Will the grains of sand automatically fall to earth if I just toss them out of the asteroid’s own tiny gravity field? I think I need to apply a substantial amount of energy to decelerate the grains relative to the main asteroid body, or else they will just stay on a slightly lower orbit? BTW, I also want to accelerate the main body in the opposite direction, to get it to a slightly higher orbit, inasmuch as possible.
I could use an electromagnetic catapult to shoot the sand at 1-2 km/s, or whatever is needed. How should I optimally direct the shots, relative to the asteroid’s orbit? What happens if I shoot in slightly different directions? I can use a large number of catapults and shots over long period of time to accurately direct the overall force on the main body. Can I get the sand to fall in a relatively narrow zone near the equator? Or will the grains spread onto erratic trajectories?
lumipunasays
I should probably say, decelerate the grains relative to the main asteroid’s orbital movement, not relative to its body.
I’m aware that the grains will actually gain more speed while falling down (or moving to a lower orbit), but I have little understanding of how this works in practice.
Rob Grigjanissays
lumipuna @249:
Will the grains of sand automatically fall to earth if I just toss them out of the asteroid’s own tiny gravity field?
A lot depends on the mass of the asteroid. The asteroid will gravitationally dominate objects which are within its Hill sphere relative to Earth. The radius of the Hill sphere would be about
Rh = R(m/M)^(1/3)
where R is the asteroid’s orbit radius (8000 km), m is the asteroid’s mass, and M is the Earth’s mass. For a Vesta-sized asteroid, that’s a few hundred km. It wold be interesting to calculate whether you could throw something hard enough to escape that asteroid’s gravity.
Anyway, the grains wouldn’t automatically fall to Earth. They’re carrying the orbital velocity of the asteroid, plus whatever Δv your throw has given them. Odds are they’d end up in an elliptical orbit around Earth which may hit the atmosphere. Gotta crunch the numbers!
whheydt @232, “I saw one article claiming that Trump’s people are in a panic over his showing in NH. They were predicting he’d win by 30+%, rather than the actual 9% (last I looked).”
That’s right, Trump did NOT win by thirty points. He won by 11 points. Nikki Haley said she is “just getting started” and a super PAC aligned with her campaign claims to be prepared to support Haley for a “long-term battle.”
It is quite true that Nikki Haley is not yet racking up enough votes to win, but it is also true that she in undeniably weakening Trump.
Joe Biden won the Democratic primary in New Hampshire.
In his earlier presidential campaigns, Joe Biden never won the New Hampshire primary. This year, the incumbent president prevailed — and he wasn’t even on the ballot. (No delegates were at stake because the primary was held in violation of the Democratic National Committee, which rearranged its nominating calendar.)
That’s a good sign that at least the grassroots Democratic Party tactics are working.
When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check ‘none.’
A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is “nothing in particular” – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They’re more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%)…
Republicans Turn on Their Impeachment Chairman: ‘Parade of Embarrassments’ (Exclusive)
One Trump ally told The Messenger ‘the base is starting to get more and more frustrated’ with Comer
House Republicans are increasingly disenchanted with Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., saying his leadership of the Biden impeachment inquiry has become a “clueless investigation” at best and — at worst — “a disaster.”
Less than 10 months away from the 2024 election, his impeachment investigation is barreling toward its conclusion, with no smoking gun to bring the president to his knees. Only one thing is clear: Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has lost the trust of some in his own party.
“One would be hard pressed to find the best moment for James Comer in the Oversight Committee,” one House Republican lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to maintain internal relationships, told The Messenger. “It’s been a parade of embarrassments.” […]
Republican sources have a problem with what the investigation has not accomplished. The probe has taken a winding road, jetting off into different paths of inquiry, some more obscure than others, from chasing claims of foreign bribery and influence peddling to probing the sale of Hunter Biden’s artwork and loans between the president and his brother. Republicans at the highest level of the party criticize the chairman’s unfocused investigation. […]
[…] after Trump celebrated his latest primary victory. NBC News noted one of the more ridiculous lines from the Republican’s remarks:
“We won New Hampshire three times now, three. We win it every time, we win the primary, we win the generals,” Trump claimed in his victory speech tonight. Trump has won three Republican primaries in New Hampshire, but he has yet to win a general election there: He lost to Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020.
The former president has fared well in New Hampshire primaries, and that ought to be enough for him. But it’s clearly not: Trump still wants his followers to believe that he secretly won the state in the 2016 and 2020 general elections — actual vote tallies be damned — based on evidence that exists only in his imagination.
What’s more, the rhetoric seems familiar for a reason. Shortly before last week’s Iowa caucuses, Trump boasted that he’d won the nominating contest twice before, despite the fact that Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas defeated him in Iowa in 2016. (Trump said at the time that his defeat didn’t really count, and could be attributed to fraud that never actually occurred. “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified,” he wrote on Twitter at the time.)
After his 30-point win in this year’s Iowa caucuses, Trump again bragged that that he’d won the caucuses three times, pretending that he’d won in 2016, reality notwithstanding.
In other words, as the general election phase of the 2024 race begins in earnest, the presumptive GOP nominee is clinging to absurd conspiracy theories about Iowa, New Hampshire, and the 2020 general election. Trump has been warned repeatedly that his election denialism isn’t a winning tactic, especially with national audiences, but he apparently can’t quite help himself.
Physics at the smallest scales is a challenge of observation: Particles are often fleeting, and the forces that govern their behavior are nearly imperceptible. But now, by exploiting decades-old data and a 50-year-old prediction about gravity’s import on subatomic particles, a team of physicists has teased out a measurement for a second mechanical property in the proton…
The recent team successfully measured the strong force’s distribution within the proton, revealing the shear stress on the proton’s quarks.
“At its peak, this is more than a four-ton force that one would have to apply to a quark to pull it out of the proton,” said Volker Burkert, principal staff scientist at Jefferson Lab and the study’s lead author, in a lab release…
This is a true change for the Republican Party. It says not only do we support President Trump, we support his policies, and any Republican that isn’t willing to adapt [sic] these policies, we are completely eradicating from the party.
Well okay then. Eradication.
lumipunasays
Rob at 251 – Thanks, that’s interesting!
The asteroid in my story would have about 1/billionth earth mass, so I gather the Hill sphere radius would be about 8 km, or just a couple km outside the asteroid’s surface (or even less on the earth-facing side?). The nominal escape velocity would be about 10 m/s, and presumably less than that would be enough get you out of the Hill sphere. Possibly, you could even jump off the asteroid.
With a population that’s over 92% white and a median income 21% higher than the national average, New Hampshire is not a good stand-in for the nation. But on Tuesday night, it was perfect for one thing—illustrating how Donald Trump and his supporters respond to even a whiff of bad news.
As of Wednesday morning, with nearly all the votes tallied,, Trump had beaten former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley by 11 percentage points. […] Trump underperformed expectations.
Trump wanted a blowout win, one large enough to drive Haley to suspend her campaign. But that didn’t happen. So Trump responded as Trump does: with false claims, threats, and insults. Meanwhile, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading Trump sycophant, went straight to the conspiracy closet.
While Trump was being disappointed in New Hampshire, President Joe Biden was having a better night. Despite electing not to appear on the state ballot, and suggestions from several outlets that he might lose, Biden cruised to an easy victory, even though that required voters to write in his name.
Biden outperformed expectations. Trump underwhelmed. As of Wednesday morning, it looks like he’ll go home with just 12 of New Hampshire’s 22 delegates.
Trump seemed to sense that things weren’t going his way because he started the evening with an all-caps complaint that “DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY.” This wasn’t the first time Trump made this claim. It’s not even the second. But just because he said it at least three times doesn’t make it any less a lie. As USA Today made clear, New Hampshire has a closed primary, and only registered Republicans and those registered as undeclared are eligible to vote in the Republican primary.
But Trump’s assertions that Haley’s vote was being plumped up by crossover Democrats was just a warm-up lie. [video at the link]
Despite claiming he won New Hampshire in multiple general elections, Trump lost the state twice: once to Hillary Clinton in 2016, and again, by a much larger margin, to Joe Biden in 2020. Trump has never won a general election in New Hampshire.
By the time Trump made this false claim during his victory speech, Greene had slithered down the conspiracy rabbit hole, claiming that Haley’s support included “fake numbers” and that Haley was a “fake candidate.” [video at the link]
Greene followed up by saying that political consultants “should go to jail” for enabling Haley’s campaign.
Meanwhile, there was at least one registered Republican voter who emerged to explain why Trump’s numbers were not as good as he might like, giving hope that at least a few Republican voters have opened their eyes long enough to understand what Trump’s about. [video at the link: “I voted for him in 2016. I’m a registered Republican, and I regretted that vote almost immediately.”
This ex-Trump voter tells CNN she voted for Nikki Haley to stop Trump: “I'm 74 years old; I've lived in a constitutional democracy all my life. I want to remain that way.”]
That woman showed some intelligence. She also noted that she believes in a strong NATO, and that she wants fascism to remain defeated (her father fought in WWII). She said that she regretted her vote for Trump in 2016 “almost immediately,” and especially after she saw Trump praising Putin.
There is no Lindsey Graham Award for Outstanding Achievement in Obsequiousness, but maybe there should be. If this were an Oscar category, it would be very hard for anyone to top the performance of Sen. Tim Scott at Trump’s New Hampshire victory speech Tuesday night.
Trump won the day with 54% of the vote, showing that—just like in Iowa—[just over] half the voters in New Hampshire’s Republican primary could stomach a third go-round with Trump.
The thinner-than-expected margin of victory, along with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s refusal to leave the field, made for one angry, snarly victory “celebration,” and for much of the night, Scott was center stage. His was the smiling face over Trump’s shoulder as Trump ignored him to call up one speaker after another to make threats and repeat rumors. Then, when Trump finally ceded the spotlight to Scott, he did it in what may be the cruelest way imaginable.
And did Scott play along? Oh, you know he did.
It’s hard to watch this without squirming. [video at the link]
“Did you ever think that she actually appointed you, Tim?” said Trump as he turned halfway toward Scott. “And, think of it, appointed and you’re the senator of her state. She endorsed me. You must really hate her.”
Trump’s “she endorsed me” was clearly meant to be “You endorsed me.” But then, it wouldn’t be a Trump speech if it didn’t include a few fumbles that left listeners confused. In any case, Trump straight-out asked Scott to repudiate the woman who appointed him to the Senate, supported him in his subsequent election, and was largely responsible for his political career.
If there were actual Bible-reading Christians among Trump’s audience, they might have recognized this sequence from the Gospel of Luke. But Scott was more than up to accepting the level of humiliation Trump requested.
After Trump surmised that Scott seemingly hated Haley, Scott walked around and surprised Trump by actually talking. “I just love you!” Scott declared. Big smile. Big smile.
It leaves the impression that if Trump demanded self-immolation from his followers, Tim Scott wouldn’t hesitate to pull out a lighter. His efforts to be Trump’s pick for vice president would not be more obvious if he went around wearing a “Pick Me!” sandwich board. It’s genuinely icky. […]
After Xwitter became one of the world’s most active spreaders of hate, including a surge in antisemitism that owner Elon Musk readily participated in but now says he is very sorry for, the deranged tech billionaire travelled to Poland this week to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp and to attend a conference on antisemitism held by the European Jewish Association in Krakow. While he was there, he was interviewed by Ben Shapiro, and they both agreed that Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives are a breeding ground for antisemitism somehow, because DEI pretends there are racial hierarchies in America, where we are in fact all equal.
And now everything is fine! Just don’t pay any attention to all the antisemitism that remains on Twitter, because free speech is the only way to deal with it, or at least have more of it shoveled into your feed. Please come back, advertisers.
Musk said he’d been “naive” about antisemitism, claiming he just didn’t see it because so many of his friends are Jewish and golly, he just had no idea, especially since he’s pretty sure he’s almost Jewish himself, heh-heh.
“In the circles that I move, I see almost no antisemitism,” Musk said at the conference in a discussion with conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire. “And, you know, there’s this old joke ‘I’ve got like this one Jewish friend.’ No, I have like two-thirds of my friends are Jewish. I have twice as many Jewish friends as non-Jewish friends. I’m like Jewish by association, I’m aspirationally Jewish.”
But as for the antisemitism, he also said that the best way to stop its spread is to let it thrive and hope enough decent people argue it out of existence, since as everyone knows, pure reason and logic always triumph in social media:
“The overarching goal for the X platform is to be the best source of truth in the world,” he said. The “relentless pursuit of the truth is the goal with X and allowing people to say what they want to say, even if it’s controversial, provided that it does not break the law.”
It’s so true! Since slashing the content moderation staff, eliminating verification of public figures, and reinstating all the Nazis, Xitter has become far more accurate than it ever was before, at least if you’re looking for valid information on how vaccines will turn you into mutants.
As the panel with Shapiro got underway, the audience was treated to some made-up tweets that imagined how social media could have prevented the Holocaust!! You know, if Xitter had been in business in Germany in the 1930s, and if the Nazi government had allowed unrestricted online communication in the Reich, and also if the Nazis had allowed Jews to escape, and if the Nazis hadn’t also confiscated Jewish families’ wealth, and oh yes, if other countries, including the USA, weren’t mostly dead-set against allowing Jewish refugees to come. We’re on deadline so we’ve probably skipped a few dozen other “ifs,” but if all this is getting you down a bit, here is a very good old New York Times story (gift link) about how Carl Laemmle, the Jewish chief of Universal Pictures back in the 1930s, managed to bring 300 Jews from Germany to the US. Spoiler: You’ll probably cry, and it was a lot harder to do than sending a tweet.
But you see, in the completely artificial world of the thought experiment, the official “Auschwitz Camp” account might claim Jews were well-treated, but then Community Notes would democratically debunk that claim! [Screengrab of post]
Other fake historical tweets imagined Mordechai Anielewicz, one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, calling on social media for everyone to join him in fighting off the Nazis, and someone replying “Give them hell!”
Again, that’s a very imaginative exchange, since somehow in that scenario the SS were liquidating the ghetto but not blocking communication. It’s the sort of simpleton history fan fiction that imagines that if only Germany had had a Second Amendment, the Holocaust would never have happened.
It’s still not clear whether the imaginary Holocaust-preventing tweets were produced by Musk’s team, or by the hosts of the conference, or what, but Shapiro and Musk definitely agreed that free speech on Twitter would have saved millions. Again, assuming the Nazis had governed completely differently, in multiple ways.
The scenario also assumes that massive numbers of Good Germans who paid their 20 or so Reichsmarks a month to get a blue swastika wouldn’t have been swarming every tweet about atrocities, dismissing them as fake news, and organizing brownshirts to go beat the living shit out of the posters. Details, details.
In mere reality, of course, Musk’s Twitter happily complies with most countries’ censorship requests — more frequently than under the old management —including takedown requests from the governments of Turkey, South Korea, and India. The app is banned outright in China, Russia, Iran, Myanmar, and elsewhere.
[…] But boy oh boy, if Xwitter only had the same freedom to spread news in those countries that it did in Imaginary Nazi Germany, those places would probably be much nicer to live in.
birgerjohanssonsays
Testify under oath about Jeffrey Epstein abuse scandal, Prince Andrew urged | Jeffrey Epstein | The Guardian
House Republicans are increasingly disenchanted with Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., saying his leadership of the Biden impeachment inquiry has become a “clueless investigation” at best and — at worst — “a disaster.”
It’s amazing to watch this play out again and again – how they blame people for failing to carry out these absurd projects. Here’s Comer, working his hardest to be the best lickspittle he can be, and just like so many others, especially Trump’s fleet of disgraced former lawyers, he’s crashing into the law and reality because the whole effort is based on lies, and his colleagues are blaming him.
[…] Donald Trump isn’t feeling threatened by Nikki Haley, because he knows he’s a true winner. Everything he posted on Truth Social last night illustrates that.
“Wow! We are doing really well despite all of the Biden Votes going for Haley!!!”
Wow!
“Haley said she had to WIN in New Hampshire. SHE DIDN’T!!!”
Take THAT!!!
“DELUSIONAL!!!”
DELUSIONAL!!!
You see what we mean about how Donald Trump isn’t threatened by Nikki Haley, because he knows he’s a true winner?
Perhaps this one:
“SHE CAME IN THIRD LAST WEEK!”
He’s so confident he just keeps saying it. Because that’s what you do when you’re confident and not threatened by or terrified of something […]
“WE JUST WON NEVADA!”
Heeeeenggggggh?
(Here is what that is about. Shockingly, it is not that Trump has actually won Nevada, but rather that Haley won’t be on the ballot for the Nevada caucuses, which is where the delegates come from. She’ll be on the ballot for the primary, though, and Trump won’t. These events are two days apart. It is a whole shitshow.)
Back to the confidence affirmations!
“NIKKI CAME IN LAST, NOT SECOND!”
Say it that way! He’s not threatened by Nikki Haley, because he knows he’s a true winner!
“A very bad night for Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley, but not as bad as last week, in Iowa, where she came in a DISTANT THIRD. Next week, in the Nevada Caucus, she didn’t want to play because of her bad Polling. She gets ZERO DELEGATES, I get them all. In South Carolina, I am leading by 30 to 50 points!”
Donald Trump is not threatened by BIRDBRAIN! because he knows he’s a true winner and BIRDBRAIN is a DISTANT THIRD! who gets NO NEVADA DELEGATES!
“Nikki Haley’s speech was classless and dishonest. She deserved Donald Trump’s rebuke. She keeps claiming victory when she loses. She gave her statement early to spin her media advocates. She stands for nothing but her own self-aggrandizement. There’s no reason for any Republicans to rally around her. And she’s the media, Democrats, and establishment’s favorite Republican for a reason.”
Uh oh, did somebody learn to type like a normal person as opposed to a functional illiterate?
Just kidding, the reason it doesn’t read illiterate is because that one was Trump retweeting Mark Levin.
Mark Levin is not threatened by BIRDBRAIN! because he knows his Dear Leader is a true winner. Oh yay! The Babylon Bee wrote one of its Funny Articles! It says “Nikki Haley Announces She Has Won New Hampshire By Negative 12 Points!”
You can always count on the Babylon Bee when you want to joke around!
“I don’t need any advice from RINO Kayleigh McEnany on Fox. Just had a GIANT VICTORY over a badly failing candidate, ‘Birdbrain,’ and she’s telling me what I can do better. Save your advice for Nikki!”
Tell it to Birdbrain, KAYLEIGH!
“CNN & MSDNC TREATED MY BIG, DOUBLE DIGIT VICTORY OVER BIRDBRAIN, BETTER THAN FOX!”
[…] Trump posted a couple more screenshots of articles, one saying he’s the first non-incumbent Republican to win the first two nominating contests […]
He kept posting things, because he was confident.
“Could somebody please explain to Nikki Haley that she lost – and lost really badly. She also lost Iowa, BIG, last week. They were, as certain Non-Fake Media says, ‘CRUSHING DEFEATS.’”
[…] [Snipped examples, like Steve Hilton on Fox News saying, “This was a stunning victory for him.”]
He posted just a few times after that (10 times) and then he started reposting earlier posts, because on top of being confident, Trump is surrounded by people who love him and want the best for him and he has people to talk to.
It’s not just his dumpy ashy body beached atop his mattress in a dark room all by himself, lit only by the glow of the Fox News on the TV […]
No. Donald Trump is good. Donald Trump is not going to die in prison.
And Donald Trump is not threatened by Nikki Haley, because he knows he’s a true winner.
The details are damning. And they reveal how pathetic Trump is.
And why does the Babylon Bee have to add a point to Haley’s defeat? They posted “12” points instead of “11.” Always Fudging the Truth could be their motto.
The US Embassy in London was forced to make a statement on Wednesday after an American scientist advised adding a pinch of salt to cups of tea.
Michelle Francl, a professor of chemistry at Bryn Mawr College…
Francl’s research into making the “perfect cup of tea” made its way online in tandem with the release of her new book on the subject. In it, she writes that sodium helps to block a chemical reaction that makes tea taste bitter, and claims squeezing teabags reduces “sour-tasting tannins.”
Her ideas have sparked uproar in Britain, forcing the US Embassy to distance itself from the research…
A group of amateur archaeologists in England were on their second to last day of excavation last June when they discovered a find of a lifetime — a mysterious ancient artifact called a dodecahedron at a possible Roman site.
A dodecahedron is a circular copper alloy object between the size of a golf ball and a grapefruit characterized by its 12-sided form, with various holes and knobs.
But its function remains unclear. Even though more than 100 have been found across Europe, the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group — the organization behind the latest find — describes the dodecahedron as one of “archaeology’s great enigmas.”
That’s is largely because there are no known visual or written descriptions of dodecahedra in Roman literature, says the group’s website…
The headline is misleading: He’s not arguing that White Evangelicals aren’t big Trumpers. The myth is that his Evangelical followers are people who infrequently attend church or aren’t connected to a church.
From the piece:
What the myth of unchurched White evangelicals is protecting
So why does this myth about White evangelical support for Trump, despite the plain evidence to the contrary, continue to be resurrected? My strong suspicion is that this theory serves a psychological purpose: It subconsciously protects a deeply-held American assumption about the positive value of church.
If church attending is a moral behavior that generates positive civic goods, then it should follow that frequent church attenders should be less attracted to a leader such as Trump—or at least to his most racist and xenophobic appeals. Asserting that Trump’s White evangelical support is being generated by those outside the church fold simultaneously resolves a paradox and absolves the church.
It’s time for the zombie hypothesis—that Trump’s evangelical support is due to a growing number of unchurched White evangelicals—to finally be laid to rest. Letting that biased theory go will allow us to have a clearer understanding not only of our politics but of our churches.
Another function of the myth (I guess it’s actually the same function, but a different aspect of it) is to allow the river of schlock by non-Trumpers on the Right claiming that the decline of religiosity is what’s led to this wave of fascism to continue. It’s become pretty much undeniable at this point (although some still persist in refusing to acknowledge it) that this framing doesn’t work given the obvious fact that Trump’s base is not irreligious people but white Evangelicals, so they have to resort to fraudulently claiming that, well, they’re not True, Churchy Christians and that’s what explains it.
Reginald Selkirk @ #265, hahaha. I saw a headline about the salt thing earlier. I hadn’t really considered trying it (surprisingly, given my love of salt) but it hadn’t occurred to me that it would spark an international incident.
A reopened House Ethics Committee probe of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has widened in recent weeks, with ABC News reporting that “multiple new witnesses” have been contacted in the investigation.
The committee’s investigators initially deferred an investigation into Gaetz following a request from the Department of Justice, which was conducting its own investigation. But last June, reports surfaced that the committee was re-examining allegations surrounding the controversial lawmaker, who has been a driving force behind the House GOP’s recent division and stoked the months-long speakership battle in 2023…
Reginald Selkirksays
@268: I am not surprised, having heard earlier reporting on the issue of tea kettle vs. microwave.
You could write a book on adding salt to fruit pastries, and change your name to Salty Currant.
White House pharmacists reportedly distributed uppers and downers like candy to Trump administration officials during his time in office, according to a new report from the Department of Defense Inspector General.
The 80-page document, which was released on Jan. 8, found that “all phases of the White House Medical Unit’s pharmacy operations had severe and systemic problems due to the unit’s reliance on ineffective internal controls to ensure compliance with pharmacy safety standards.” …
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s attempt to dismiss his fraud indictment in New York City “bears little resemblance to reality,” Manhattan prosecutors said Tuesday in a new court filing.
Bannon, who helped run former President Donald Trump’s campaign for part of the 2016 presidential race, is seeking to dismiss charges that he defrauded donors of the “We Build the Wall” online fundraising campaign that was supposed to raise money for Trump’s signature domestic project.
Bannon has pleaded not guilty in the case. A trial is scheduled for May…
Donald Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, was spotted rubbing elbows with Republicans in New Hampshire on Tuesday, just the day after asking for a delay in the ex-president’s defamation trial because she was feeling under the weather.
On Monday, one of the nine jurors considering writer E. Jean Carroll’s second defamation suit against Trump was excused for being ill.
Though Judge Lewis Kaplan and Carroll’s lawyers agreed to continue the trial with eight jurors, Trump’s legal team requested a delay, saying Habba had been exposed to COVID and had a fever. She was not wearing a mask during the hearing.
The next day, however, Habba was sighted celebrating Trump’s win in the New Hampshire primary by NBC News’ Garrett Haake…
Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit resigned Wednesday after he could be heard in a leaked recording offering a job and asking U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake to name a price that would keep her out of politics…
A liquor store has opened in Saudi Arabia for the first time in over 70 years, a diplomat reported Wednesday, a further socially liberalizing step in the once-ultraconservative kingdom that is home to the holiest sites in Islam.
While restricted to non-Muslim diplomats, the store in Riyadh comes as Saudi Arabia’s assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aims to make the kingdom a tourism and business destination as part of ambitious plans to slowly wean its economy away from crude oil…
Former Ohio Congressman and two-time Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich said Wednesday that he’s running for Congress again, this time as an independent.
Kucinich, 77, a former Cleveland mayor who was consistently rated as one of the most liberal House members, said he is seeking the 7th District seat now held by Republican Rep. Max Miller. Two Democratic hopefuls have also filed paperwork to seek their party’s nomination…
SC @263: “It’s amazing to watch this play out again and again – how they blame people for failing to carry out these absurd projects. Here’s Comer, working his hardest to be the best lickspittle he can be, and just like so many others, especially Trump’s fleet of disgraced former lawyers, he’s crashing into the law and reality because the whole effort is based on lies, and his colleagues are blaming him.”
I agree. Well said.
Reginald @274, that recording smells like a set-up to me. I don’t believe for a moment that Kari Lake would not take a bribe. Maybe the bribe would need to be more subtly offered. Her reply sounds planned.
Florida is hot on the heels of other red states in the race to erase labor protections for children. The Republican-sponsored bill to allow kids as young as 16 to work full-time jobs cleared another hurdle Tuesday, when it passed the state’s House Commerce Committee, clearing it to go to the floor.
In discussing the bill, state Rep. Kevin Steele said that “we’ve been weakening our society” and the fix for that is to “change your youth, the youth, out there to have them start working full-time.” For real: [video at the link]
The legislation rolls back labor protections for 16- and 17-year-olds, allowing bosses to schedule them to work more than 30 hours per week—which the IRS considers full-time employment—and more than eight hours per day on school nights. It also ends state protections that require employers to give breaks to minors working for them. Worse still, it ends restrictions on work hours for kids 16 and older who have dropped out of school.
But Florida isn’t an anomaly. A national effort is underway to ease child labor laws, backed by ultraconservative billionaire Richard Uihlein. A think tank he’s funding, the Foundation for Government Accountability, essentially wrote the Florida bill. The FGA was also behind the rollback of child labor protection in Arkansas, where Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders sold it as a parents’-rights effort, with her office saying it lifted an “arbitrary burden on parents” requiring they give their permission “for their child to get a job.” And the FGA got a bill passed in Iowa that would allow teens to serve alcohol and work in manufacturing jobs they were previously barred from for safety reasons.
The FGA’s cause has inspired other states to loosen child labor laws as well. In New Hampshire, a new law lets 14- and 15-year-olds work in establishments that serve alcohol and increases the hours 16- and 17-year-olds can work. And the movement is pushing bills in Wisconsin, Indiana and a handful of other states.
Putting children to work is part and parcel of Republicans’ so-called “pro-life” attitude. Remember that in the Supreme Court’s majority opinion to eliminate the constitutional right to abortion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote about a decreasing “domestic supply of infants”? It’s not about saving babies. It’s about securing a source of future cheap labor.
There’s been a lot of reporting about Trump’s recent addled statements—confusing Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi, his weird statement about the US being an “institute in a powerful death penalty.” But Milbank’s column today (paywalled) brings up something I haven’t seen elsewhere:
I went to Trump’s rally on Saturday night in Manchester, where he didn’t address the Haley-Pelosi mix-up but assured his supporters that he “took a cognitive test” and “I aced it.” He has previously boasted of his ability to identify an image of a “whale” on said assessment, but, as The Post’s Ashley Parker and Dan Diamond pointed out, there is no such marine mammal on any version of the test. (Maybe he was being “sarcastic” about the whale, too.)
But I listened carefully to Trump that night — no easy feat because he went on for 100 minutes — and noticed that, even though his text was fed to him through a teleprompter, he told many of the same stories over and over again, repeating some lines almost word for word in the same speech, with no apparent awareness that he had done so.
[…] “Each drug dealer kills on average 500 people during his or her lifetime,” he informed his audience early in his speech.
“Each dealer is responsible for the deaths during their lives of over 500 people or more,” he informed them late in his speech.
He told them early in the speech about Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell, right, where the 51 intelligence agents said, oh, no, it was from Russia.”
He told them late in the speech that “Hunter Biden’s laptop from hell was Russian disinformation,” according to “51 intelligence agents.”
During the Trump presidency, he declared, “Hamas, Hezbollah, they didn’t have any money because Iran had no money to give them.”
Later, he announced: “Iran was broke under President Trump. They didn’t have the money to fund Hamas, Hezbollah.”
[…] I know people here might not be fans of Milbank because of a offensive joke he told about Hillary several years ago. And I’m not a huge fan myself, but I recommend giving this a read.
The United Auto Workers endorsed President Biden at its annual legislative conference Wednesday in Washington, signaling union support in auto-making swing states, where […] Trump is also popular.
The endorsement is a political victory for the self-proclaimed “most pro-union president,” who has gone to great lengths to appeal to union members, including autoworkers. Biden was scheduled to address United Auto Workers members Wednesday afternoon at the union’s annual legislative and political conference, where the endorsement was announced.
“Rarely, as a union, do you get so clear of a choice between two candidates,” said UAW president Shawn Fain, as he explained the UAW endorsement. “Donald Trump is a scam. Donald Trump is a billionaire, and that’s who he represents.”
“Joe Biden has earned our endorsement,” Fain added, receiving a standing ovation from the audience. […]
John Moralessays
Ah yes, nuclear power. Saw a story about that in the UK.
The owner of Hinkley Point C has blamed inflation, Covid and Brexit as it announced the nuclear power plant project could be delayed by a further four years, and cost £2.3bn more.
The plant in Somerset, which has been under construction since 2016, is now expected to be finished by 2031 and cost up to £35bn, France’s EDF said. However, the cost will be far higher once inflation is taken into account, because EDF is using 2015 prices.
The latest in a series of setbacks represents a huge delay to the project’s initial timescale. In 2007, the then EDF chief executive Vincent de Rivaz said that by Christmas in 2017, turkeys would be cooked using electricity generated from atomic power at Hinkley. When the project was finally given the green light in 2016, its cost was estimated at £18bn.
[…]
Crooks [the project’s managing director] wrote: “Dome lift happened 24 months later than we had planned when we began in 2016. Of that delay, 15 months was due to the global pandemic. So, beyond Covid, we’ve lost nine months since we started. That’s not perfect, but for the first nuclear plant to be built in Britain since 1995, it’s not bad.”
Fox News repeatedly cut away from Nikki Haley’s primary speech in New Hampshire. So now I guess that Fox News has returned to fully supporting Demented Hair Furor Trump.
[…] It’s still the case that in any other universe, a two candidate contest in which the winner is getting just barely over 50% wouldn’t bring the nomination process to a conclusion. When Hillary Clinton edged out Barack Obama in New Hampshire 16 years ago it was the sign of a bruising, months-long battle. Trump’s margin is bigger but not dramatically so. The whole idea is absurd.
To be clear, I don’t have any problem saying Nikki Haley has no path. Because I was saying that six months ago. About her, about DeSantis and all the rest of them.
So which is it? Trump’s numbers are weak and underwhelming or he’s already cleared the field and secured the nomination after two 50+ wins. This isn’t just a matter of contending hot takes or playing the refs to say what his standard of success should be. It’s a replay of a point we’ve been discussing for eight years. Remember that Will Saletan quote I’ve been repeating off and on every year since 2016: The GOP is a failed state and Donald Trump is its warlord. That’s still where we are. A warlord is either unable or uninterested in creating a proper state. They dominate part of it and overawe the rest through menace and violence. That remains Donald Trump’s relationship with the GOP.
That certainly doesn’t mean he’s destined to lose. He’s won an election under this arrangement and lost another. Both are possible this year. But the arrangement is still basically the same. And that’s the real lesson we can draw from these contests.
“While Trump lived under the White House roof, the pharmacy reportedly kept messy, handwritten records, spent lavishly on brand-name medications, and failed to comply with a slew of federal law and Department of Defense regulations governing the handling, distribution, and disposal of prescription medication.”
Through in-person inspections and interviews with over 120 officials, the report concluded “that the White House Medical Unit provided a wide range of health care and pharmaceutical services to ineligible White House staff in violation of Federal law and regulation and DoD policy. Additionally, the White House Medical Unit dispensed prescription medications, including controlled substances, to ineligible White House staff.”
I seem to remember Trump and his cult followers disparaging Hunter Biden for his drug addiction.
The Ring Of Fire / Farron Cousins:
(I hope his analysis is correct)
“Trump Suddenly Realizes He’s Screwed In The 2024 Election”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=8SZdTflZAiE
Kate and Josh break down the New Hampshire primary results and crown a toady of the night.
This is fun. And I learned that in his speech last night Trump made a remark about Nikki Haley’s dress (there’s a video here). It’s so funny because there have been articles about how obsessed he is with like fabric swatches. He has terrible taste, but he loves that stuff. He knew it was a nice dress and looked good on her, and was probably jealous he couldn’t get away with wearing something that shiny and sparkly, so he had to make a catty remark about it (something like “…in her fancy dress, which maybe wasn’t so fancy…”). He’s such a Real Housewife!
Ohio legislators banned gender-affirming care for minors Wednesday, overriding Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s December veto of the bill in an intraparty schism and joining more than 20 states that have levied similar restrictions in recent years.
[…]
Republicans argued that the bill protects children above all else. “We tell parents what to do all the time,” state Sen. Stephen Huffman (R) said. “So this isn’t any different.”
[…]
The move will hinder access to gender-affirming care for residents beyond Ohio as well, because families of transgender children who live in states with similar bans have been traveling there for treatment….
Hundreds of anti-trans bills have wound their way through state legislatures across the country. Almost half the states in the nation have passed laws targeting transgender people, with frequent attempts to legislate trans children’s access to gender-affirming care or participation in school sports teams. Several of these bills are nearly identical to Ohio’s.
birgerjohanssonsays
The Swedish association of secular humanists has successfully applied to register as a faith community. Next step is to apply for a permit to perform marriages.
birgerjohanssonsays
The 88 year old Josef Fritzl is dement and may be released from the psychiatric hospital where he has been after he was convicted.
John Moralessays
birgerjohansson, I get they have successfully applied to register, but was the application successful?
(You intimate it is, but provide no citation. I suppose they’re registered, at the cost of having goddists claim secularism is a type of faith. Or maybe not)
birgerjohanssonsays
John Morales @ 292
Language is not always easy to translate, yes they have been successful. ‘Faith” is not as emotionally charged in Swedish , you can have ‘faith’ in something, and religion is not the default interpretation.
.
‘Faith” is not as emotionally charged in Swedish , you can have ‘faith’ in something, and religion is not the default interpretation.
Exactly the same in English. Doesn’t stop the goddists, but. :|
Still, I get it. Thanks.
When you wrote “The Swedish association of secular humanists has successfully applied to register as a faith community.”, you meant “The Swedish association of secular humanists has successfully registered as a faith community.”
Excellent, they can now weigh in as a stakeholder.
A judge ordered Wednesday that a trial be held next month to determine whether a Black high school student in Texas can continue being punished by his district for refusing to change a hairstyle he and his family say is protected by a new state law.
Darryl George, 18, has not been in his regular classroom in Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu since Aug. 31. Instead, he has either been serving in-school suspension or spending time in an off-site disciplinary program. [!!!!!!!]
His Houston-area school district, Barbers Hill, has said George’s long hair, which he wears in neatly tied and twisted dreadlocks on top of his head, violates a district dress code that limits hair length for boys [WTF?]. The district has said other students with locs comply with the length policy.
George, a junior, said Wednesday that he has felt stress and frustration over what he sees as unfair punishment, but that he was grateful to soon be getting his day in court.
“I’m glad that we are being heard, too. I’m glad that things are moving and we’re getting through this,” George said after the hearing in Anahuac, with his mother, Darresha George, standing next to him.
State District Judge Chap Cain III in Anahuac set a Feb. 22 trial in a lawsuit filed by the school district regarding whether its dress code restrictions limiting the length of boys’ hair violates the CROWN Act. The new Texas law, which took effect in September, prohibits race-based hair discrimination and bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, dreadlocks, twists or Bantu knots.
Darresha George said she was disappointed the judge did not consider granting a temporary restraining order, which would have halted her son’s punishment until next month’s trial.
“I have a son, 18 years old, that wants to go to school, that wants to get his education, and y’all messing with him. Why?” she said.
In an affidavit filed last week in support of the temporary restraining order, Darryl George said he is being subjected to “cruel treatment.”
“I love my hair, it is sacred and it is my strength,” George wrote. “All I want to do is go to school and be a model student. I am being harassed by school officials and treated like a dog.” [grr]
…
In a paid ad that ran this month in the Houston Chronicle, Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole maintained the district is not violating the CROWN Act. [Who paid for that?! The school district?]
In the ad, Poole defended his district’s policy and wrote that districts with a traditional dress code are safer and had higher academic performance and that “being an American requires conformity.”
“We will not lose sight of the main goal — high standards for our students — by bending to political pressure or responding to misinformed media reports. These entities have ‘lesser’ goals that ultimately harm kids,” Poole wrote. [The main goal is to educate these kids, not to impose your loopy bigotry on them.]
The two Texas lawmakers who co-wrote the state’s version of the CROWN Act — state Reps. Rhetta Bowers and Ron Reynolds — attended Wednesday’s hearing and said the new state law does protect Darryl George’s hairstyle.
The district “is punishing Darryl George for one reason: his choice to wear his hair in a protective style which harms no one and causes no distraction in the classroom,” Bowers said.
George’s family has also filed a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and a federal civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with the school district, alleging they failed to enforce the CROWN Act. The lawsuit is before a federal judge in Galveston, Texas.
Barbers Hill’s policy on student hair was previously challenged in a May 2020 federal lawsuit filed by two other students. Both students withdrew from the high school, but one returned after a federal judge granted a temporary injunction, saying the student showed “a substantial likelihood” that his rights to free speech and to be free from racial discrimination would be violated if not allowed to return to campus. That lawsuit remains pending.
birgerjohanssonsays
‘I just went bent’: how Britain’s most corrupt cop ruined countless lives | Police | The Guardian
– and the innocent people he framed died without being vindicated !
Argentine demonstrators have staged their biggest-yet show of opposition to Javier Milei’s radical attempt to reshape the South American country with a nationwide strike that shuttered schools and businesses, grounded hundreds of flights, and saw tens of thousands of marchers hit the streets.
Milei, a boisterous [eyeroll] celebrity economist nicknamed “El Loco” (the Madman), became president in December vowing to free Argentina from decades of “decadence and decline” with his libertarian ideas. Since then, the far-right politician has moved speedily to implement what the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage recently called “Thatcherism on steroids” – first with a far-reaching emergency decree; then with a mega-reform bill known as the “omnibus law”.
Together, Milei’s decree and the draft legislation propose hundreds of highly controversial innovations [?] including a wave of privatisations, ferocious spending cuts, a major expansion of presidential powers, and a scaling back of workers’ rights and the right to protest. Nine of 18 government ministries have been closed, including those responsible for education, the environment and women, gender and diversity. Argentina’s currency, the peso, was devalued by more than 50% against the dollar.
Milei claims such moves will rescue Argentina from the “economic hell” he blames on his Peronist predecessors. But the agony has intensified since his inauguration….
On Wednesday lunchtime thousands of objectors marched through the capital, Buenos Aires, and other major cities, to voice their anger at Milei’s moves.
…
Milei’s ministers voiced defiance [they voiced authoritarianism, not “defiance”] as workers downed tools at the request of Argentina’s biggest trade union, the General Confederation of Labor.
“[The strike] confirms we’re on the right path,” tweeted the foreign minister, Diana Mondino, claiming it had been organized by millionaire oligarchs “with bullet-proof cars and chauffeurs”.
Milei’s hard-line security minister, Patricia Bullrich, blamed the walkout on “mafioso unionists”. “No strike will stop us,” vowed Bullrich, who had threatened to dock the wages of public sector workers who took part.
Beyond his bid to transform Argentina, Milei has spent recent weeks nurturing his image as a darling for the global populist right, with considerable success.
During a viral speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Milei slammed the “noxious ideas” of “neo-Marxists” who pushed the “bloodthirsty abortion agenda”.
Elon Musk tweeted a salacious photomontage indicating his approval while the former US president, Donald Trump, claimed Milei was making progress in “making Argentina great again” despite inheriting “a total mess”.
Speaking to the conservative news outlet Voz Media, Farage compared Milei’s “exciting” plans to Margaret Thatcher’s attempt to resuscitate the British economy during the 1980s.
…
Polls suggest a majority of Argentinians still support Milei’s administration. But as he addressed thousands of demonstrators outside congress on Wednesday afternoon, Pablo Moyano, the general secretary of Argentina’s truck drivers’ union, claimed many were waking up.
“This is historic. It’s an enormous mobilization just 45 days after the new government took over,” Moyano said. “Already, people are making themselves heard.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-gutfeld-lee-zeldin-retarded_n_65b23766e4b04d89951002a1
No.
Gutfeld can pretend, but “retarded” is another example of history’s failed mental terminology. It’s a crutch. They can’t interact with the ideas so they steal broken tools. I would point out their weakness to their face with a shit eating grin. “Retarded” is nonsense here, goes nowhere. Desperate scrabbling from a safe social position.
Cooties can be worked in here.
The other one got eaten by the filter. I should have seen that. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-gutfeld-lee-zeldin-retarded_n_65b23766e4b04d89951002a1
No.
Gutfeld can pretend, but “reta*@ed” is another example of history’s failed mental terminology. It’s a crutch. They can’t interact with the ideas so they steal broken tools. I would point out their weakness to their face with a shit eating grin. “Ret?”ded” is nonsense here, goes nowhere. Desperate scrabbling from a safe social position.
Cooties can be worked in here.
New York City declared Wednesday that it’s the first city to issue an advisory officially designating social media as an environmental toxin.
Driving the news: In response to the danger social media poses to the mental health of young people, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene issued an advisory identifying unrestricted access to and use of social media as a public health hazard…
Meet the animal kingdom’s newest little guy. This is Booralana nickorum, a recently described species of deep-sea isopod found in The Bahamas. It is a cirolanid isopod—a member of the family Cirolanidae—and is only the second species of its genus described from the Western North Atlantic…
Everyone likes to support an underdog, especially if it’s winning. But it’s one thing to win a battle, it’s quite another to win the war. And Ukraine cannot win without international support…
birgerjohanssonsays
As I ponder the career of president 45, it is obvious that some crap is nearly indestructible.
If Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina is known to national audiences at all, it’s probably because of a striking spelling error: Three years ago, he urged the Trump White House to impose martial law on the United States, but the GOP congressman’s message referred to “Marshall Law.”
With the benefit of hindsight, does the right-wing lawmaker have any regrets? As The Daily Beast noted, Norman would change one thing.
Just over three years later, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked Norman if he would have liked to have done things differently. The answer, apparently, was not really. “You were urging the White House to use the U.S. military to prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” Collins said. “Do you regret sending that message?” Norman, who was one of nearly 150 Republicans in Congress who voted to reject the 2020 presidential election results, wasn’t apologetic.
“The only thing I regret: I misspelled ‘martial law,’” he said.
In case anyone needs a refresher, it was on Jan. 17, 2021 — 11 days after the attack on the Capitol, and three days before Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration — when Norman reached out to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in apparent desperation.
“Mark, in seeing what’s happening so quickly, and reading about the Dominion law suits attempting to stop any meaningful investigation we are at a point of no return in saving our Republic !!” the congressman texted. “Our LAST HOPE is invoking Marshall Law!! PLEASE URGE TO PRESIDENT TO DO SO!!” [So wrong. Hysterically wrong.]
When the messages came to light, Tom Nichols explained in The Atlantic, “This is a member of the U.S. Congress insisting, in a jumble of exclamation points and capital letters, that a sitting president call out the men and women of the United States military to nullify an election and prevent, by force of arms, the constitutional transfer of power. This is sedition, and it is madness.” [Yes. Well said.]
This was, by some measures, one of the most radical acts taken by a member of Congress in modern American history. A sitting lawmaker communicated to the White House that he wanted to see the then-president deploy U.S. troops because he didn’t like voters’ choice in an election.
By way of an explanation, Norman said in 2022 that his message “came from a source of frustration.”
Of course, when regular people get frustrated, they might slam a door or become curt with those around them. If a member of Congress, overcome by frustration, privately reaches out to the White House to encourage a sitting president to suspend constitutional order and deploy the military onto American streets, then maybe a career in public service isn’t quite right for him. [LOL. Understatement.]
Three years after his actions, Norman apparently thinks this is all a big joke. He regrets his poor spelling, not his offensive against his own country’s constitutional system of government.
There is no shame. There is no accountability. The South Carolinian apparently believes the political world should simply accept his misconduct and move on — and by and large, that’s precisely what happened.
If there’s a defense for this, I can’t think of it.
The original plan was for the United States to provide support for our Ukrainian allies as part of the West’s pushback against the Russian invasion. Congressional Republicans rejected that plan, saying they’d only consider an aid package if Democrats agreed to far-right immigration and border policies.
The hostage-taking strategy was clearly radical. It was also incredibly effective. As regular readers know, congressional Democrats not only agreed to months of talks, they also made a great many concessions in the hopes of striking a compromise deal.
Several Republicans were surprised by just how far Democrats were willing to go to reach an agreement. The party’s lead negotiator, Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma, boasted last week that the package would be “by far the most conservative border security bill in four decades.” Around the same time, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina assured his GOP colleagues that they simply won’t “get a better deal” than the one Democrats were prepared to accept.
Democrats hoped that Republicans would take “yes” for an answer. As NBC News reported, that’s not happening.
Inside a special closed-door Republican meeting on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., cast doubt on an emerging deal to tighten immigration laws, citing GOP opposition to its provisions and telling senators that linking the two measures could also sink Ukraine aid.
To be sure, McConnell has championed both the negotiations and the burgeoning compromise. Indeed, the Kentucky senator has thrown his support behind robust aid to Ukraine and the details of the nearly complete deal on border and immigration policy.
So what’s the problem? First, House Republicans — the ones who said they wanted a border deal — have ruled out supporting the emerging border deal. Second, many, if not most, of the GOP members in the Senate have decided McConnell’s opinions on the matter are irrelevant.
Third, Donald Trump is publicly and privately lobbying his party to kill the bipartisan compromise.
And fourth, McConnell, who has been willing to occasionally ignore the former president’s legislative priorities, is now prepared to bow to Trump’s demands. As Punchbowl News reported overnight, the Senate minority leader told his members, in reference to the party’s presumptive 2024 nominee, “We don’t want to do anything to undermine him.”
[Oh JFC. So Republicans are reneging on a bipartisan deal because they don’t want to “undermine” Trump?!]
It’s a striking perspective. On the one hand, Republicans say they’re desperate to address the border. On the other hand, Trump has told them not to pass anything, even as Democrats agree to give GOP negotiators what they want.
Republicans, at least for now, appear ready to resolve the tension by abandoning their own governing goals and going with Trump’s preferred election-year strategy.
The party could try to solve a problem they claim to care about. It’s choosing not to.
Does this mean that Republicans are prepared to deliberately let problems at the border fester, while simultaneously making it easier for Russia to take part of eastern Europe by force? Yes, that’s precisely what it means.
As a tactical matter, GOP officials, following Trump’s lead, appear eager to create a campaign issue. The thinking is, the party’s incumbents and candidates will go to voters and effectively say, “The border is a mess so vote for Republicans.”
Whether the party appreciates this or not, the GOP has simultaneously handed Democrats a related talking point. In fact, it’s increasingly easy to believe Democrats will go to those same voters and effectively say, “The border is a mess so don’t vote for the Republicans who refused to do something about it.” […]
birgerjohanssonsays
“How do we know climate change is caused by humans?” A good summary.
Yes, it is by Sabine Hossenfelder but this video is 100% legit facts.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=J1KGnCj_cfM
[…] Two months before DeSantis’ campaign began, NBC News reported that Team Trump wanted GOP political operatives to know one thing: Those who agreed to work for DeSantis would be deemed “ineligible to join the Trump campaign or another Trump White House.”
In other words, the former president and his aides were taking names. Those who dared to work for the candidate seen as Trump’s principal rival would find closed doors if/when DeSantis’ candidacy failed.
It was not an empty threat. Indeed, Politico reported just last week that the former president and members of his inner circle “have told down-ballot Republican candidates not to hire Republican strategist Jeff Roe or his political consulting firm.” Roe was a leading member of DeSantis’ team, and as the report added, Trump wanted to punish the consultant and “choke off revenue for his consulting firm … in an act of political retribution.”
The move made clear that Team Trump had entered its blacklisting phase, which as NBC News reported overnight, continues apace.
Former President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to blacklist anyone who donates to Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign. Trump wrote on Truth Social that anyone who makes a contribution to the Haley campaign “from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”
The likely Republican nominee added, in reference to support from Haley donors, “We don’t want them, and will not accept them.” […]
Leading major-party presidential campaigns generally don’t embrace such tactics. Indeed, as a cycle’s primary phase wraps up, the winning team tends to be gracious and magnanimous — if for no other reason, than to unite the party.
But the former president’s operation clearly has a different approach in mind. It’s one thing to play hardball, it’s something else to start blacklisting rivals’ aides and donors.
For her part, the former ambassador announced overnight that her campaign raised $1 million in the 24 hours that followed her defeat in the New Hampshire primary. For Trump, that apparently means his enemies list is growing.
Russia’s science and higher education ministry has dismissed the head of a prestigious genetics institute who sparked controversy by contending that humans once lived for centuries and that the shorter lives of modern humans are due to their ancestors’ sins, state news agency RIA-Novosti said Thursday.
Although the report did not give a reason for the firing of Alexander Kudryavtsev, the influential Russian Orthodox Church called it religious discrimination.
Campaigns to protect abortion rights in Nevada and Arkansas both got welcome news Tuesday when they finally got the green light to collect signatures to place proposed amendments before voters. However, both Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom and Arkansans for Limited Government have challenges ahead as they seek to safeguard reproductive rights in their respective states.
In Nevada, NRF wants to amend the state constitution to guarantee that the procedure can take place up until fetal viability, which is usually 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy, or whenever it’s needed to protect the well-being of a patient. Abortion is already legal in the Silver State, thanks to a law passed after Roe v. Wade that was affirmed in a 1990 referendum. That referendum prevents the legislature from repealing the Roe-era law, but NRF wants to make it even harder to roll back abortion rights and to expand their protections further.
[snipped a lot of process details] While Nevada is one of the nation’s most competitive swing states, abortion rights supporters have reason to be optimistic that voters will side with them. The Democratic firm Civiqs finds that 62% of respondents believe that the procedure should be legal in all or most cases, while only 34% say the opposite.
Abortion rights proponents in Arkansas, meanwhile, face a more difficult battle just getting on the ballot. But Arkansans for Limited Government got some good news Tuesday when Republican Attorney General Tim Griffin certified the ballot language for the group’s proposed amendment, a move that came after he rejected the wording of its first two versions. ALG quickly said it would begin its efforts to get this third draft on the ballot. […]
[…] The idea that someone who survived a crime that is violence to their body, a violation to their body and then would not have the authority to decide what happens to their body next, that’s immoral! […]
And let us all agree that one does not have to abandon their faith or their deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body! If she chooses she will consult her pastor, her priest, her rabbi, her imam—but not the government telling her what to do!
[…] And note while these extremists say they are motivated by the health and the well-being of the women and children of America, in reality, they ignore the crisis of maternal mortality! The top 10 states in our country with the highest rates of maternal mortality all have abortion bans. The hypocrisy abounds! So this is, in fact, a healthcare crisis. […]
Associated Press: US economy surges with 3.3% growth last quarter
The nation’s economy grew at an unexpectedly brisk 3.3% annual pace from October through December as Americans showed a continued willingness to spend freely despite high interest rates and price levels that have frustrated many households.
Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — decelerated from its sizzling 4.9% growth rate the previous quarter. But the latest figures still reflected the surprising durability of the world’s largest economy, marking the sixth straight quarter in which GDP has grown at an annual pace of 2% or more. Consumers fueled much of last quarter’s expansion.
For all of 2023, the economy grew 2.5%, up from 1.9% in 2022. […]
Trump White House official Peter Navarro, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced on Thursday to four months behind bars.
He was the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress charges, after former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who also got a four-month sentence but is free pending appeal.
Navarro was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. He served as a White House trade adviser under then-President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
He has vowed to appeal the verdict, saying he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. A judge barred him from making that argument at trial, however, finding that he didn’t show Trump had actually invoked it.
[…] The judge told Navarro that it took “chutzpah” for him to assert that he accepted responsibility for his actions while also suggesting that his prosecution was politically motivated. “You are not a victim. You are not the object of a political prosecution,” the judge said. “These are circumstances of your own making.
[…] The judge is allowing Navarro’s defense to submit a written brief on the question of allowing him to remain free pending appeal. [That seems unusually lenient.]
Something has gone wrong with NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on the surface of Mars. Although the US space agency has not made any public announcements yet, a source told Ars that the plucky flying vehicle had an accident on its last flight and broke one of its blades. It will not fly anymore. (Shortly after this article was published, NASA confirmed the end of Ingenuity’s mission)…
Janel Grant files lawsuit saying McMahon pressured her into sex with him and other men at wrestling business, raising questions about 2022 board probe into CEO’s payouts…
The Sundance Film Festival is fond of programming Satan-themed documentaries, including 2019’s Hail Satan?, about the Satanic Temple, and 2023’s Satan Wants You, about the Satanic Panic phenomenon of the 1980s. This year, Realm of Satan continues the tradition, though it’s hardly a traditional doc.
Directed by Scott Cummings (an editor by trade who also made 2014 short Buffalo Juggalos), Realm of Satan was created in collaboration with the Church of Satan—which is a different organization than the Satanic Temple; it’s the religion that was founded by Anton LaVey during San Francisco’s 1960s counterculture heyday. Rather than a straightforward exploration of the religious organization and its philosophies, Realm of Satan takes a more visual, experimental approach, moving through vignettes that spotlight various church members as they perform rituals, enjoy each other’s company, go about their daily business, and so on. Watching the film is almost like flipping through a motion scrapbook; on one page, we see a man in full corpse paint hanging his laundry out to dry in his otherwise unremarkable backyard, while on the next, a different man makes intense eye contact with the camera while performing a series of incredible card tricks…
Stay calm, everybody stay calm. But it’s finally happening: The European Space Agency is committing itself to the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a gravitational wave observatory that will study some of the universe’s most enigmatic phenomena.
On Thursday, LISA was formally adopted, meaning that ESA “recognizes that the mission concept and technology are sufficiently advanced,” according to an agency release, and construction on the observatory can officially begin…
[…] As The Washington Post reports, a new study from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business is as clear an indication as any that managers may want to reconsider kicking workers off their couches and back into their office chairs.
“We will not get back to the time when as many people will be happy working from the office the way they were before the pandemic,” said Mark Ma, co-author of the study and associate professor at the Katz Graduate School of Business. Additionally, mandates make workers less happy, therefore less productive and more likely to look for a new job, he said.
The study analyzed a sample of Standard & Poor’s 500 firms to explore the effects of office mandates, including average change in quarterly results and company stock price. Those results were compared with changes at companies without office mandates. The outcome showed the mandates made no difference. Firms with mandates did not experience financial boosts compared with those without. The sample covered 457 firms and 4,455 quarterly observations between June 2019 and January 2023.
Of course, the cynical among us have likely surmised that making workers less happy is part of many managers’ job description—but making them less productive and more restless surely is not.
Meanwhile, many employers are doing their best Eric Cartman impression when it comes to return-to-office mandates, despite a lack of evidence that those policies actually help their companies.
Still, some companies are going all in on mandates, reminding workers and sometimes threatening promotions and job security for noncompliance. Leaders are unlikely to backtrack on mandates once they have been implemented because that could be viewed as admitting they made a mistake […].
“There are compliance issues universally,” Prithwiraj Choudhury, a Harvard Business School professor, told the Post. “Some companies are issuing veiled threats about promotions and salary increases … which is unfortunate because this is your talent pool, your most valuable resource.” […]
New York City may soon lose its bragging rights for having the tallest building in the United States — and to an unexpected destination.
In a press release from AO issued on Friday, the firm revealed its plans to expand on a building in Oklahoma City that is already in development in order to make it the tallest building in America.
The company is teaming up with real estate developers Matteson Capital to bring the 1,907-foot building to life in an up-and-coming neighborhood called Bricktown. Both AO and Matteson Capital have requested a variance from the city that will permit them to build beyond current zoning restrictions and officially construct the nation’s tallest building in Oklahoma City…
The article contains no mention of the proposed building’s ability to withstand a tornado.
Jeff DeWit has departed his position as Arizona’s state Republican Party chairman, having been burned by Kari Lake.
Now he’s turning his own blow torch on Lake, the J. Edgar Hoover of Arizona politics — the apparently always-wired politician who until this moment was the likely Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate.
Whether she remains untouchable now is another question.
Among DeWit’s lightning bolts:
Lake actually was employed by his private company as she taped their conversation in 2023, raising both legal and ethical concerns.
Lake set him up to get control of the Arizona Republican Party.
And Lake issued an ultimatum on Wednesday morning, threatening to release “a new more damaging recording” if he didn’t resign his volunteer post today.
Only two states have voted. Donald Trump has obtained a slim majority in both states. There is a determined opponent still in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, with the next big contest to be held in her home state.
Despite all that, the Republican National Committee is moving to bulldoze its own rules and name Trump the winner without requiring the involvement of 48 states. They are seriously going to hand Trump the crown after he collected the votes of just 232,000 people split between Iowa and New Hampshire. [Effing cult.]
This comes on the same day that Trump leveled a threat to excommunicate any Republican who donated to his lone remaining opponent Nikki Haley. But it looks like that’s not going to be an issue, as Republicans are preparing a resolution that makes Trump the “presumptive 2024 presidential nominee” without even bothering with more contests.
The draft resolution goes all in on grinding its heel on the whole concept of democracy.
In the resolution obtained by The Dispatch, Republicans make it clear that they want Trump to leapfrog future contests, including the South Carolina primary where Haley is trying to rally her forces in her home state.
RESOLVED that the Republican National Committee hereby declares President Trump as our presumptive 2024 nominee for the office of President of the United States and from this moment forward moves into full general election mode welcoming supporters of all candidates as valued members of Team Trump 2024
The rules of the RNC require the party not to provide support to any candidate unless that candidate is the “nominee of the Republican Party or a candidate who is unopposed in the Republican primary.” Trump is light-years from having enough delegates to claim the nomination, with just 32 of the 1,215 required, and Haley is adamant about remaining in the race.
But when a party is going all in on autocracy, it really doesn’t matter what the old rules might be. The new rules are whatever the boss says they are.
The resolution starts by bragging that “all of the RNC-sponsored debates were robust, issues-focused and allowed all candidates to make their cases to the electorate.” It doesn’t bother to mention that Trump skipped every one of these debates and allowed the other candidates to take shots at each other while he was enjoying a nice private Fox News town hall stocked with adamant supporters and softball questions.
[…] So it’s over.[…] the proposal moves straight on to the “resolved” section, where other candidates get a nice thank you for showing up and a handy escort to the parking lot.
But hey, at least Republicans are being consistent. They hate democracy in the general election, so why pretend it matters in the primary?
A brother and sister from Arizona have been sentenced to weeks in prison for their participation in the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Felicia Konold, 29, and Cory Konold, 28, of Tucson were sentenced Wednesday by a federal judge in Washington, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Last year, the two pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder, as well as aiding and abetting.
Felicia Konold is set to serve 45 days in prison, and her brother 30 days. Both will have 24 months of supervision following their release.
Prosecutors had asked for a longer prison sentence for Felicia Konold, who they said planned for violence ahead of the 2021 attack and celebrated her antics after…
Penguin poop that is visible from space helped a scientist discover four new colonies of emperor penguins — a species threatened by extinction.
NBC News reported on Wednesday that the discovery, made by a research scientist at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) named Peter Fretwell, is exciting, but doesn’t necessarily improve the species’ predicted fate.
Fretwell, a geographic information officer at the BAS, spotted the patches of penguin poop (also called “guano,” the technical term for bird poop) using satellite imagery. They showed up in the pictures as “brown smudges.” …
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), armed with the candor of a politician nearing the end of his career, on Thursday denounced Donald Trump’s efforts to wave Republican senators off an immigration deal so the former president can keep using the border as a cudgel against President Joe Biden.
“I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump,” he told reporters on Thursday. “And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.”
“Someone running for president ought to try and get the problem solved as opposed to saying, ‘hey, save that problem, don’t solve it, let me take credit for solving it later,’” he added.
Trump’s intervention is close to completely scuttling the deal, the product of months of negotiating by a bipartisan Senate group. As recently as Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was saying it’s the “ideal time to do it.”
“This is a unique opportunity where a divided government has given us an opportunity to get an outcome,” McConnell added in a press conference.
“To lose this opportunity to get it passed into law, I think, is malpractice,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said last week.
Trump put a quick end to all of that.
“Politics on this have changed,” McConnell told Republican senators of the border legislation on Wednesday, per NBC News.
“We don’t want to do anything to undermine him,” he added of Trump.
It’s a stunningly naked display of fealty to Trump — and the congressional majorities he’d presumably bring with him if he won — over taking action to address what Republicans have claimed for years is the biggest crisis the country faces. It’s particularly reflective of Trump’s power, as even Senate Republicans were surprised by how much Democrats were willing to give away to strike a deal. That dynamic reveals both how damaging the border crisis talking points have been to them, and how badly they want to pass Ukraine aid, which was conceptually linked to the immigration deal.
Trump had already been leaning on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to reject the deal before the particulars had even come into focus. On Fox News last week, Johnson said that “President Trump is not wrong” that the Senate bill isn’t needed to address the border. “He and I have been talking about this pretty frequently. I talked to him the night before last about the same subject.”
[…] Romney has been more cutting about the political capitulation of his Republican peers than many Democrats have at this point. Vice President Kamala Harris commented on the situation during an episode of Katie Couric’s podcast released Thursday. “Sadly, you know, we want to fix it, they want to run on it,” she said. “They want a political issue to run on in November.”
Some individual Democrats have voiced their disgust — Republicans are “taking orders from Donald Trump and actively obstructing a bipartisan border deal,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said at a hearing this week — but leadership hasn’t launched a full-throated condemnation.
While Trump’s interference almost certainly dooms the bipartisan border deal, it also puts passing aid for Ukraine — along with money for Israel and Taiwan, which were also linked to the border legislation — at existential risk.
Many Republicans, including McConnell, strongly support funding Ukraine. But with Trump unilaterally removing the immigration red meat they would have attached, it would be nearly impossible to clear it through the House where there is a small but powerful contingent that fiercely opposes continued aid.
[…] Within the past 10 days, Senate Republicans were praising a new deal on immigration, with conservatives like Sen. James Lankford calling it “by far, the most conservative border security bill in four decades.” Senators warned Republicans in the House that they wouldn’t get a better deal.
“To those who think that if President Trump wins, which I hope he does, that we can get a better deal—you won’t,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham. “You got to get 60 votes in the United States Senate.”
“The Democrats will not give us anything close to this if we have to get 60 votes in the United States Senate in a Republican majority,” said Sen. John Thune. “We have a unique opportunity here. And the timing is right to do this.”
Then, on Wednesday, Trump told Republicans to kill the deal so that he could continue to talk about the border for his campaign. And just like that, what Republicans were calling a crisis and an invasion became something that could be put off. Because nothing, nothing, nothing matters more to them than pleasing Trump. “I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that [Trump] would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.” But it is already clear that Romney is never getting his MAGA hat.
That’s what it means to live in a dictatorship, doing what the dictator says even when you know it’s wrong. Republicans are there already. Now they want to bring America with them.
The big news is the downing of a Russian Il-76 military transport plane near Belgorod.
The Russians claim it was carrying Ukrainian POWs who were to be exchanged. Ukraine says the plane was carrying S-300 missiles.
Since the media is just parroting the russians without any investigative journalism. (Has that died these days?) Here is a nice long 🧵thread with some facts about the IL-76 that was shot down over russia.
First. The IL-76 was leaving Belgorod and heading away from #Ukraine [map at the link]
And the plane had just come back from Iran. [Map and flight radar track at the link]
Also, many of the POWs Russia claims were on board had been released in an earlier exchange. Videos from the crash site don’t show dozens of bodies. [List of POW’s at the link, video of crash site at the link]
Below is another summary of the incident. It is rather long and points out that:
1. The plane was flying away from Ukraine at the time.
2. The exchange point for prisoner swaps is along the border 95 km from Belgorod.
3. Russia says there were 74 people aboard — 66 POWs and 5 crew, which leaves only 3 guards. The last exchange had 20 guards for 50 POWs.
4. Russia lies all the time.
5. If Russia is so sure that its version is correct, then it should allow an international agency to investigate the crash. [Video at the link]
In this slowed-down video of the crash you can see that something large, perhaps an engine, falls away from the plane shortly before it hits the ground. [video at the link]
Here is Zelenskyy’s statement on the plane crash:
First. I summoned Umerov, Zaluzhny, Shaptala, Budanov and Malyuk – they reported on the situation with the plane and the exchange. It is obvious that the Russians are playing with the lives of Ukrainian prisoners, with the feelings of their relatives and with the emotions of our society.
It is necessary to establish all clear facts. As much as possible, given that the plane crash happened on Russian territory – beyond our control.
“Facts” is the key word now. Heard the Central Committee and the General Staff regarding the use of the Air Force. GUR is engaged in finding out the fate of all prisoners. The Security Service of Ukraine is investigating all the circumstances. And I instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to inform partners about the available data in Ukraine. Our state will insist on an international investigation [video at the link].
And here is a segment from the Ukrainian military.
“Today there was supposed to be an exchange of prisoners, which did not take place. According to the Russian side, this happened as a result of the downing of the Russian Il-76 plane, which was allegedly transporting Ukrainian prisoners. Currently, Ukraine does not have reliable and comprehensive information about who exactly was on board the plane and in what number.
For its part, Ukraine has fulfilled all agreements for the proper preparation of the exchange. The Russian captured servicemen were delivered on time to the designated place for exchange, where they were kept safe. According to the agreements, the Russian side had to ensure the safety of our defenders.
At the same time, the Ukrainian side was not informed about the need to ensure the safety of the airspace in the area of the city of Belgorod in a certain period of time, as was repeatedly done in the past. Ukraine was not informed about the number of vehicles, routes and forms of delivery of prisoners. It is known that prisoners are delivered by air, rail and road transport.
This may indicate deliberate actions by Russia aimed at creating a threat to the life and safety of prisoners. Landing a transport aircraft in a 30-kilometer war zone cannot be safe and should in any case be discussed by both sides, because otherwise it puts the entire exchange process at risk. Based on this, we may be talking about planned and deliberate actions of the Russian Federation with the aim of destabilizing the situation in Ukraine and weakening international support for our state.”
Slovakia will not block the allocation of €50 billion of aid to Ukraine from the EU, will allow Ukraine’s purchase of weapons from Slovak businesses and will not interfere with Ukraine’s accession to the EU, Prime Minister Shmyhal reports. [photos at the link]
Just finished a phone call with @NATO Secretary General @jensstoltenberg. I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO-membership of #Sweden. I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote in favor of Sweden’s accession and conclude the #ratification at the first possible opportunity.
Germany will send six “Sea King” helicopters to Ukraine out of Germany’s military inventory to be delivered from the second quarter of this year, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius
GREAT NEWS!
The 15 RQ-35 Heidrun reconnaissance drones that we have been raising funds for are already in Ukraine!
Thank you ALL for your constant support of Ukraine and its defenders. 🇺🇦🇺🇸
Join me in the fight of light against darkness: https://u24.gov.ua
MAGAt House hearing. A picture is worth 1 MILLION words. EVERY hearing Comer has had, has been a disaster. Hunter Biden showed up at the hearing and spooked the MAGAts. Then they got a tongue lashing from @RepRaskin @RepJaredMoskowitz @RepJasmine Comer knew it was a disaster!
“It’s just a perfect report: Strong growth and low inflation,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Everything contributed to growth: Consumers, businesses, government, housing, trade, inventories. All of the economic wheels were moving in the same direction.”
New York Times:
[…] down from the 4.9 percent rate in the third quarter [to 3.3% growth last quarter] but easily topped forecasters’ expectations and showed the resilience of the recovery from the pandemic’s economic upheaval.
Washington Post:
Europe and Britain are on the verge of recession, and China — the world’s second-largest economy — is on slippery footing. Overall, economic growth in advanced economies is expected to slow this year, to 1.4 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Wonkette:
[…] With the Fed planning to cut interest rates next year, now that inflation is under control, consumer sentiment noticeably improving, and strong job growth all year, a recession isn’t looking very likely, no matter how fervently Republicans want one. That latest consumer sentiment report also found that consumers’ worries about inflation are at their lowest point in three years. If that continues, it would bear out Paul Krugman’s December observation that research suggests
it takes around two years for lower inflation to be reflected in consumer sentiment, in which case Americans might be feeling better about the economy in time for next year’s elections.
None of this is to say that the economy is fantastic for everyone now, because in case you missed it, corporations are still rapacious and horrible. All the more reason to elect Democrats and tax the rich. […]
President Biden on Wednesday vetoed a Republican-led effort that could have thwarted the administration’s plans to invest $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations across the country. In issuing the veto, Mr. Biden argued that the congressional resolution would have hurt domestic manufacturing as well as the clean energy transition.
A U.S. Senate committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the nearly two-year-long war. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 20 to 1 in favor of the “Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act.”
Rand Paul was the only Senator to oppose the legislation.
NASA’s little Mars helicopter has flown its last flight. The space agency announced Thursday that the 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) chopper named Ingenuity can no longer fly because of rotor blade damage. While it remains upright and in contact with flight controllers, its $85 million mission is officially over, officials said.
On Tuesday, Oklahoma’s superintendent of public instruction, Ryan Walters, announced he was appointing right-wing social media influencer Chaya Raichik — best known for her controversial Libs of TikTok social media accounts — to an advisory role on the state’s Library Media Advisory Committee. That will allow her to help determine which books are appropriate for Oklahoma school libraries.
Since taking control of the site, [Elon] Musk has dismantled the platform’s system for flagging false election content, arguing it amounted to election interference. Now, his early election-year attacks on a tried-and-true voting method are raising alarms among civil rights lawyers, election administrators and Democrats.
The Biden campaign called his posts “profoundly irresponsible.”
Musk was falsely claiming that mail-in-voting was linked to voter fraud.
The recruitment is so competitive that signing bonuses for Supreme Court law clerks have reached a new high — $500,000, according to a spokeswoman for law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Such a sum far exceeds the salaries paid to the justices — the clerks’ former bosses — who are paid slightly less than $300,000 a year.
Supreme Court clerks are offered bonuses of up to $500,000 to join law firms
[…] Only around three dozen law clerks work for the justices during each one-year term, which means these lawyers — and their unparalleled knowledge of the court — are in incredibly high demand. Jones Day, the leader in the race to recruit and hire as many clerks as possible, announced last month that it snagged 8 law clerks, all of whom worked for conservative justices during the term that began in October 2022. […]
The bonuses — alongside annual starting salaries of more than $200,000, which alone are nearly triple Americans’ median household income — are the product of a decades-long competition among elite law firms seeking any advantage they can find in arguing high-profile cases before the Supreme Court. They view the clerks’ experience and knowledge of the court as profitable assets that attract clients in a highly specialized sector of the law, and they see clerkships as effective filtering devices in identifying promising hires, according to interviews with former Supreme Court clerks, lawyers and experts. […]
Oops. Lynna, OM @344 beat me to it by 9 minutes. 😊
birgerjohanssonsays
There has been a lot of attention for the spectacular space telescopes, but the less charismatic astronomy of gravity microlensing (picked up by ground-based telescopes) reveals the existence of planets orbiting the lensing stars very far away.
I have long pondered how it might be possible to get more information about exoplanet systems from microlensing events.
One possibility is to let small telescopes piggyback on interplanetary probes. They would not have to be large, only big enough to sense the minor variations in luminosity planets cause in the light curve for microlensing events.
As Earth-based instruments discover a microlensing event, the cameras on the probes would be pointed to the star, and with many vantage points spread across the solar system they would get more information about the planet, and maybe detect additional planets in the lensing system.
Long-term, maybe we could place several dedicated mircolensing-observation probes in solar orbit. Gravity assists by Jupiter could change the orbital inclination so the odds improve for ‘catching’ lensing events towards the galactic centre.
In a decade the Alpha Centauri system will pass in front of a background star. It is now too late to send probes out to positions where they can catch lensing caused by Alpha Centauri A and B, but sooner and later the system will pass in front of another star. I assume it would be necessary to launch probes out to distances of 10-20 AU to be in a suitable position in line with the stars but it would be doable.
I would suggest a total of four probes, two each for Alpha Centauri A and B as a planet might be on the ‘wrong’ side of the star for the effect to be picked up by a single probe.
(Before then, technology may have advanced to the point where we already have imagined the planets using coronagraphs, so probes can be placed in the exact position to detect the planetary component of microlensing, giving information on the mass.)
I do not keep track of the known exoplanet systems that are in front of the galactic plane, but as we now have the positions of millions of stars, it stands to reason some of the known exoplanet systems will pass in front of a background star eventually, at a time we will know in advance.
It may be too much to hope for this happening to Epsilon Eridani or Tau Ceti but other K star (or maybe even G star) planetary systems will provide opportunities. With so many star positions exactly mapped by Gaia this is only a matter of time.
The line of sight would mostly pass too far from the inner solar system for ground-based telescopes, this is when dedicated probes will be necessary. Picking out the planet data from a G-star microlensing event will surely justify sending a probe out to 10 AU or more
Alabama inmate Kenneth Smith was put to death Thursday night by nitrogen hypoxia, marking the nation’s first known execution to be carried out using that method…
The execution process began at 7:53 p.m. CT Thursday, and Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m., according to Alabama Department of Corrections officials.
Nitrogen flowed for about 15 minutes during the procedure, state corrections commissioner John Hamm said in a news conference.
Smith, who was on a gurney, appeared conscious for “several minutes into the execution,” and “shook and writhed” for about two minutes after that, media witnesses said in a joint report…
Astronomers have discovered a mysterious group of giant elderly stars at the heart of the Milky Way that are emitting solar system-sized clouds of dust and gas. The stars, which have been named “old smokers,” sat quietly for many years, fading almost to invisibility, before suddenly puffing out vast clouds of smoke…
Donald Trump abruptly stormed out of court during closing arguments in the E. Jean Carroll damages trial Friday as her attorney was telling jurors the former president is a liar who thinks “the rules don’t apply to him.”
“The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose and walked out of the courtroom,” U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said after his dramatic departure during lawyer Roberta Kaplan’s presentation.
Roberta Kaplan, who’s not related to the judge, had told the jury that Trump spent the “entire trial continuing to engage in defamation” against Carroll by calling her sexual abuse allegations against him a “con job.”
“Ms. Carroll did not make it up, the sexual assault happened and his denials were all complete lies,” the lawyer said.
After Trump walked out, the lawyer told the jury “he thinks with his wealth and power he can treat Ms. Carroll how he wants and will suffer no consequences.” Trump, who’s called Carroll “sick” and a “wack job” among other insults “can’t attack her just because he feels like it,” Kaplan said…
The U.S. and Iraq will begin formal talks in coming days that officials say could lead to the eventual withdrawal of American troops in the country, a major milestone in the years-long effort by the two countries to fight the Islamic State…
With the economy looming large in the 2024 election, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday she sees “no reason” for a recession this year and insisted consumers are turning more optimistic about their finances.
“I think 2024 is going to be a very good economic year. That said, there are always risks,” Yellen told ABC News Correspondent Elizabeth Schulze in an exclusive interview in Chicago…
The Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against Fox was settled, but Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation suit is moving forward.
The Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against Fox News was brutal for the controversial network in a variety of ways, not the least of which was the evidence that reached the public. We learned, for example, that Fox apparently promoted bogus election claims they knew to be false, on purpose, in order to placate its audience and make money.
The good news for the network is that Dominion’s case is over: It was resolved in April with a $787.5 million settlement. The bad news for Fox is that this wasn’t the only case of its kind. NBC News reported:
Fox Corp. must face Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation suit, a New York judge ruled on Wednesday, denying a motion to dismiss defamation claims against Fox News’ parent company. But Smartmatic must also face Fox’s counterclaims that the substantial defamation claims are intended to suppress free speech, the judge ruled in a separate order.
It’s difficult to predict what might happen in these competing cases, but as the process advances, it’s worth keeping in mind that Smartmatic’s lawsuit poses real dangers for Fox. A Washington Post analysis published last year helped summarize the significance of the dispute.
Many of the allegations against Smartmatic were similar to those against Dominion, and Smartmatic was often lumped in with Dominion in the same allegation. They included the false claims that Dominion machines used Smartmatic software to rig the election. They included the claim that Smartmatic was used to rig elections before and that its purported foreign ties demonstrated that. Smartmatic’s software was also cast as eminently flawed and even deliberately hackable. Indeed, Smartmatic was often cast as the actual conduit for stealing the election.
The Post’s report quoted University of Utah law professor RonNell Andersen Jones who said, “Smartmatic’s suit is in many respects even more compelling as a David-and-Goliath argument to put before a jury. Its complaint emphasizes that it played a totally small and uncontroversial role in the election and that these damaging lies from Fox catapulted it to fame by catapulting it to undeserved infamy.”
As for this week’s developments, Fox’s lawyers tried to argue that Fox Corp. shouldn’t be held legally responsible for Fox News’ coverage. New York County Supreme Court Justice David Cohen disagreed and advanced the competing cases.
A Fox spokesperson issued a statement this week saying they expect to prevail in an upcoming trial, characterizing Smartmatic’s claims as “implausible, disconnected from reality, and on their face intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.” A Smartmatic attorney, meanwhile, said last year, “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest. … Smartmatic remains committed to clearing its name, recouping the significant damage done to the company, and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy.”
Speaking of the wheels of justice grinding slowly:
[…] Some individual jurists, like U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who only got the Trump Jan. 6 case last August, have performed admirably. The legal system as a whole has not. The former chief judge in DC warned last fall that we are “at a crossroads teetering on the brink of authoritarianism.” During the sentencing yesterday of Trump White House official Peter Navarro, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta called bullshit on it being a “political prosecution.” Also yesterday, in the sentencing of a Jan. 6 rioter, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a long-serving Reagan appointee, let it rip:
The Court is accustomed to defendants who refuse to accept that they did anything wrong. But in my thirty-seven years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream. I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness. I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved “in an orderly fashion” like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted January 6 defendants as “political prisoners” or even, incredibly, “hostages.” That is all preposterous. But the Court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.
Six months ago, it looked like the first weeks of the new year would be dominated not by the GOP primary but by pretrial preparations for a whopping four criminal trials of Trump. The race was finally on to hold Trump to account for his cheating in the last two elections before he cheated in a third one. As we sit here at the end of January, the landscape is not what we anticipated.
The Mar-a-Lago case is almost guaranteed to happen after the election. So is the Georgia RICO case. The Jan. 6 case is stuck on pretrial appeals, with the DC Circuit and Supreme Court failing to push things along. The lesser of the four cases – the hush money case in New York – may be the only one tried before the election. Meanwhile, there’s a chance Trump will be brought down by the Disqualification Clause but no one is confident the courts will enforce that against him either.
I’ve gone from annoyed about the repeated complaints about the slowness of the system to sharing those sentiments myself to having my hair on fire that the gravity of the moment calls for so much more than the legal system is prepared to offer. In a way this a mea culpa for urging my staff over the last few years to chill out. Things have not been this urgent since the 1860s. And we’re failing.
One expert called the court order—which stopped short of calling for a ceasefire—”unprecedented.”
The United Nations’ top court ruled Friday that a case brought by South Africa alleging Israel is committing genocide in Gaza will go forward. While the legal battle will play out for years, the court said Israel must take steps now to prevent genocide and get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The order from the International Court of Justice in the Hague stops short of the ceasefire South Africa requested when it filed the case last month. Still, it does acknowledge “a large number of deaths and injuries [to Palestinians], as well as the massive destruction of homes, the forcible displacement of the vast majority of the population, and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure.” […]
The UN judges also pointed to several statements by top Israeli officials that helped establish the plausibility of the case, including a comment by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in which he pledged to “eliminate everything.”
The court order outlines steps Israel must take, including preventing the mass killing of Palestinians, stopping incitement of genocide, allowing for the provision of humanitarian assistance, and the “preservation of evidence” related to genocide claims.
The judges also demanded Israel submit a report to the court in a month detailing the measures it has taken in response to the order, though South Africa had originally requested such a report be produced within a week of the court’s ruling. Fifteen of the 17 UN judges voted to support all of those measures; Justice Julia Sebutinde, of Uganda, voted against all of them, and former Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak—who the country appointed as an ad hoc judge earlier this month—voted against all but two (those requiring more humanitarian aid and the preventing incitement of genocide).
The order also acknowledges that the judges are “gravely concerned about the fate of the [Israeli] hostages abducted” by Hamas on Oct. 7, and “calls for their immediate and unconditional release.” […]
I snipped Netanyahu’s response, which was basically that the genocide accusations are false and outrageous. Netanyahu did not receive much support for his rant.
I am not up to date on Iraqi politics but I recall it is very turbulent, with groups representing different religious and ethnic groups in constant conflict.
Without a democratic tradition with an appreciation of compromise and consensus, unexpected domestic issues can pop up at any time affecting foreign policy.
Compared to Iraq, Merican politics -Trump and all- are calm and constructive.
Fourteen states have banned abortions at any gestational age since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022. Since the enactment of those abortion bans, an estimated 64,565 people became pregnant as a result of rape in those states. But, while five of the 14 states have exceptions for rape, all of the states logged only 10 or fewer legal abortions per month since their respective bans were enacted.
The finding, published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, is a stark look at the effects of such bans on reproductive health care. The study did not assess how many of the estimated 64,565 pregnancies resulted in births, but it makes clear that tens of thousands of pregnant rape survivors, including children, were forced to turn to illegal procedures, self-managed abortions, or burdensome travel to states where abortion is legal—cost-prohibitive to many—as an alternative to carrying a rape-related pregnancy to term.
It also showed that legal exceptions for rape don’t work. The states with those exceptions apply stringent time limits on the pregnancy and require victims to report their rapes to law enforcement, which likely disqualifies most. The US Department of Justice estimates that only 21 percent of victims report their rape to police, for myriad reasons…
[…] Americans learned this week that economic growth in the final three months of 2023 easily outpaced modest expectations, and GDP growth across the entire year was quite good — despite overwhelming chatter a year ago about a looming recession.
The New York Times’ Paul Krugman, taking stock of the data, concluded that President Joe Biden “couldn’t have asked for better numbers.” Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, told the Times the economic news was “stunning and spectacular.”
Naturally, I was curious how Republicans would respond to the news. A few options came to mind.
Maybe leading GOP officials would make the case that the robust economic recovery is nice, but President Joe Biden doesn’t deserve any credit. Perhaps they’d argue that it’s too soon to applaud good news since there’s still plenty of economic work to do. […]
Republicans went with the same approach they use in response to robust job growth: They simply ignored the good news, as if it didn’t happen.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell didn’t bother to issue any kind of statement. Nothing from House Speaker Mike Johnson, either. The Republican National Committee didn’t say anything, and similarly, Donald Trump and Nikki Haley ignored the economic progress.
There’s no great mystery here. Party leaders have almost certainly concluded that if they were to comment on the good news, more Americans might hear about it — and that’s the last thing the GOP wants. […]
But the Republicans’ silence doesn’t change the fact that the latest economic data is worth celebrating, even if some political partisans hope the public doesn’t notice.
On Thursday, the Wisconsin State Assembly passed a bill that would put a 14-week abortion ban on April’s election ballot, following a ridiculous debate in which Republican state Rep. Joel Kitchens argued that as a farm animal vet, he knew more about “mammalian fetal development better than probably anyone here”—apparently even more than the women in the room who’d actually given birth. [Tweet and video at the link]
This wasn’t about health care, the cow doctor asserted. “If you believe that a fetus is a human life, then abortion is not health care. … And in my mind there’s absolutely no question that’s a life, and I think the science backs me up on that.”
One woman in the room, Democratic state Rep. Deb Andraca, was having none of that. “You could say this is a matter of local control. I don’t know how you get more local than a uterus. … You may not like the fact that all of us, male or female, vet or doctor, whatever you are or wherever you pray, should be able to make that decision for yourself.”
Kitchens didn’t do the forced-birth cause any favors with his viral moment in the sun. The bill already faced enough opposition that it had to be rewritten to include exceptions for rape and incest, and to require doctors “make reasonable efforts” to preserve the life of the fetus during medical emergencies.
The bill is unlikely to come before voters. The Republican-led state Senate doesn’t seem overly keen on taking up the bill. And even if it passes the Senate, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers will veto it. He made that abundantly clear in his State of the State address this week. “I want to speak directly to women in Wisconsin tonight: I will veto any bill that takes away your reproductive freedom or makes reproductive healthcare any less accessible in Wisconsin than it is today. Period.” [thank goodness]
Kitchens just made it all that much easier for Evers by making himself the misogynistic face of the bill and saying the quiet part out loud: As far as the forced-birth movement is concerned, women are basically cattle.
[…] On Thursday, President Joe Biden was in Wisconsin to announce nearly $5 billion in new infrastructure spending as a result of the infrastructure bill he signed in 2021. The legislation is responsible for more than 44,000 projects in all 50 states. And no matter how many times Republicans try to take credit for a bill they almost all voted against, these improvements and the jobs they bring are all due to Biden and the Democrats who pushed it through in the House and Senate. […]
As more bridges go up and the national economy booms, the nation just keeps adding more new jobs, including 216,000 in December. Overall, the economy added 2.7 million jobs in 2023, keeping the unemployment rate at just 3.7%. That’s down from a pandemic-induced peak of 14.8% under Trump.
And that is just the start of the good news.
Dragging America out of the trough that Trump enabled and keeping businesses alive during the pandemic took a heavy level of investment from the government. It was no surprise when inflation began creeping up in 2021 and reached 9.1% in 2022. Over half of that number may have been due to greedy corporations who took advantage of the pandemic to pad their bottom lines, but that didn’t stop it from hurting consumers.
But in the past year, inflation has largely been wrestled under control, ending the year up only 3.9%. There’s still some distance to go to reach the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%. However, 2023 was also a year in which U.S. salaries saw major increases. The average 4.4% increase in pay exceeded inflation for the year and helped consumers regain some of the ground they’d lost in the previous year. […]
A former CEO of a coal company who once said he is “Trumpier than Trump” has launched a bid for Senate as a Democrat in West Virginia.
Don Blankenship, who previously ran for the Republican nomination for the seat in 2018 but lost, filed his candidacy Friday for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D), according to a filing on the West Virginia secretary of state office’s website…
The broader plan is to sow chaos and dysfunction — and it’s being driven by Trump as his main campaign strategy. But now the Jury is having lunch.
Donald Trump got up and walked out in the middle of E. Jean Carroll’s attorney’s closing argument making a scene. His exit came after the judge warned the court that everyone in attendance should stay silent and make no audible comments. E. Jean Carroll’s attorneys were reportedly discussing Tweets Trump sent the moment he decided to leave.
The judge immediately responded to him walking out and ordered his legal team to remain seated. Trump eventually returned (after making some angry posts) in time to be locked in during jury instructions. [Trump’s posts are available at the link. Basically, he still arguing against a judgement that was handed down earlier.]
Judge Kaplan: I will now deliver the jury charge.
Deputy Andy: Marshals, please lock the doors
He instructed the marshals to lock the doors so no one can enter or leave during the charge.
Donald Trump, who lies maliciously about other people, can’t handle hearing the truth about himself. [posted by Joyce Vance]
Carroll’s lawyer Robbie Kaplan says Trump made his “most reprehensible statement of all last Thursday.”
That was when Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I’ve said it once & I’ll say it again, a thousand times,” before tearing into Carroll again. Kaplan tells jurors that means he’ll do it “unless you make it stop.”
Jury deliberations are underway in the E. Jean Carroll civil defamation trial against Donald Trump. They will decide how much, if anything, he should pay for defamatory public statements made about her in 2019.
Reginald @369, Don Blankenship, during his days as a coal baron, was responsible death and injury to his workers. He did not properly follow safety regulations for coal mines.
Well, at least some Republicans are angry about other members subjugating themselves to Trump:
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) argued it is “immoral” for Republicans to reject a border deal to help former President Trump.
“I didn’t come here to have the president as a boss or a candidate as a boss. I came here to pass good, solid policy,” Tillis said Thursday, first reported by NBC News. “It is immoral for me to think you looked the other way because you think this is the linchpin for President Trump to win.”
Members on both sides of the aisle are upset with Trump’s attempt to kill the border deal to deny President Biden a legislative win. His recent remarks calling for GOP members to oppose a border deal that isn’t H.R. 2 have complicated things for the Senate.
[…] Trump’s allies in the Senate are attempting to kill the border package. That could endanger future aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia, which has been tied to such a deal.
The White House and the Biden administration officials got involved in negotiations in mid-December. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) argued that the Biden administration is “probably feeling the heat” from the public and wants to address the border issue as Biden ramps up his reelection efforts.
[…] Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has reportedly floated the idea of separating the border and Ukraine sections of Biden’s request, but others say McConnell will stand behind pairing the border aid with other foreign aid.
A liberal veterans PAC will launch an ad in Pennsylvania markets Sunday targeting former President Trump over his past comments about veterans.
The 60-second ad by VoteVets, first reviewed by The Hill, features Gold Star parents going after Trump for having in the past called veterans “losers” and “suckers.” …
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board hit former President Trump over his meddling in congressional talks on border security and his recent threat to donors to GOP presidential primary Nikki Haley’s campaign in a pair of Thursday editorials.
[…] the WSJ editorial board said if Trump and his allies “spend the coming months trying to purify the GOP of everyone who won’t kiss his ring, it will be a high act of self-sabotage” in a Thursday editorial.
[…] “Mr. Trump may imagine he can strike his own border deal if he wins, but that’s highly unlikely. […]”
[…] Republicans in the Senate who are in favor of sending aid to Ukraine and working out a deal with Democrats on border security are staking their hopes on those who are close to Trump, hoping they can prevent him from sinking it. […]
What is also highly unlikely is that Trump would actually work to come up with a bipartisan border deal. Trump is interested only in winning, and he thinks difficulties at the border play in his favor. That’s all. I think it is amusing that the Wall Street Journal thinks Trump is interested in real and practical solutions to immigration issues.
Massive clumps of smelly, toxic seaweed threaten to wash up on beaches across Florida and the Caribbean again this year.
Last month, the bloom “increased so substantially that the abundance reached a new record from all previous December months,” researchers at the University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab said.
This type of seaweed, called sargassum, exploded in abundance last month. One million metric tons of sargassum in the central Atlantic in November rapidly grew to 5 million tons by December. That’s more than has ever been observed in the month of December.
“This indicates that 2024 will be another major Sargassum year,” the researchers wrote.
The problem with sargassum isn’t really when it’s floating out in the ocean. In moderation, it can actually create a healthy habitat for sea creatures.
But as it washes ashore and rots, the algae smell like rotten eggs. It can cause breathing issues for people with sensitivities and asthma. […]
If beachgoers do observe sargassum washing up on shore, the Florida Department of Health has recommended they avoid touching or swimming near the seaweed. The small creatures that live inside it, like jellyfish larvae, could sting or cause your skin to itch. […]
Maryland U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger announced Friday that he won’t seek a 12th term in Congress, meaning that at least three of the state’s eight U.S. House seats will be open on the November ballot.
The 77-year-old Democrat, who has represented the 2nd District since 2003, said in a video message that he will retire. His district includes parts of Baltimore County, Carroll County and the city of Baltimore…
birgerjohanssonsays
Debunking the myth of the benevolent British empire.
Book review: Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins (2022)
On her third day as a congresswoman, as violent marauders overtook the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) came up with a bold plan: Get punched in the face.
That detail first appeared in a Washington Post story Wednesday night, as part of a look at the members of Congress who were once appalled by Donald Trump’s behavior who are now jumping to endorse him.
But the anecdote is also one The Daily Beast heard as part of the reporting on a broader story on Mace’s strange ascent in Washington that has yet to be published.
According to three sources who heard the comments firsthand, Mace used those exact words: She wanted to go “get punched in the face.”
“She literally begged us to let her leave the office and head to the floor so she could ‘get punched in the face’ and ‘get media attention,’” one former aide said, who shared the story on the condition of anonymity. “That’s word for word what she requested.” …
Most of the award involved $65 million in punitive damages after jurors concluded that Trump acted spitefully and wantonly toward Carroll after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s. Jurors also awarded a combined $18.3 million in compensatory damages.
The jury returned in roughly 3 1/2 hours on Friday.
tomhsays
Re: Trump trial
Judge Kaplan said to the anonymous jury that while they are now free to speak publicly, he didn’t advise it.
“My advice to you is that you never disclose that you were on this jury and I wont say anything more about it,” he said.
E. Jean Carroll’s first defamation case against Trump was brutal for the Republican. The newly resolved second case, however, was vastly worse for him.
For those keeping an eye on Donald Trump’s many legal dilemmas, it’s strange period of time. We are, after all, waiting to hear word on the fate of the former president’s controversial family business, which has been accused of systemic fraud. We’re also waiting to learn whether a federal appeals court will endorse the Republican’s theory that he is effectively above the law.
While we’re at it, there’s also a pending Supreme Court case about whether Trump is eligible for the 2024 ballot in light of his efforts to overturn the results of 2020 election defeat.
But it was against this backdrop that the former president also spent much of the week in a New York courtroom, where he suffered another dramatic defeat. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump must pay writer E. Jean Carroll over $83 million in damages for repeatedly defaming her, a jury found Friday. … The award included $11 million for damage to Carroll’s reputation, $7.3 million for emotional harm and other damages, and $65 million in punitive damages.
[…] Readers will be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. After all, as regular readers know, it was last year when the writer won a civil case against the former president: A jury found the Republican liable for sexually abusing Carroll, and jurors awarded the writer $5 million in damages for her battery and defamation claims.
The jury did not find the defendant liable for rape, though a judge later concluded that the former president, for all intents and purposes, “‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’”
This was not, however, the final word on the subject. Trump also faced a second defamation trial, stemming from comments he made about Carroll in 2019.
As my MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained, because of the outcome of the first trial, these latest proceedings were “only about damages for other similar defamatory statements.”
After his initial defeat, the presumptive Republican nominee responded to the outcome of the trial with a missive on his social media platform that read in its entirety, “I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE — A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!”
I have a hunch he knows who Carroll is now.
As for the future, within minutes of the verdict, Trump returned to his platform, said he would appeal, and blamed President Joe Biden, who had nothing to do with the civil case. This time, however, he did not reference Carroll.
birgerjohanssonsays
Just in: Trump must pay 83 million dollars for defamation!😊🍾🎆
birgerjohanssonsays
Oops, I posted without reading the previous posts, sorry.
But never mind – TRUMP HAD TO FACE CONSEQUENCES!
Next up: Hell freezes over.
In February 2016, Aubrey Gordon sat at her computer and pressed publish on a blog post. An open letter, it was titled A Request from Your Fat Friend. She decided not to sign it with her name. “I need less sympathy and more solidarity; less pity and more anger,” she wrote, about being denied medical care by doctors, and basic understanding from her thinner friends. Gordon describes herself as a fat woman, who at that time wore a US dress size 26 (about a UK size 30). “If you disapprove of yourself, vivisect your own body, and then compliment me,” she explained in the letter, “I will remember how you talk about both of us.” Within one week, 40,000 people had read the article: not bad for a community organiser from Portland with no online presence.
Eight years later, Gordon is a New York Times bestselling author, and the co-host of the hit podcast Maintenance Phase, which has had more than 60m downloads. She is also the subject of a new film, Your Fat Friend, by the British documentary film-maker Jeanie Finlay (Seahorse), who has been following Gordon with a camera since 2017. The film tracks Gordon’s remarkable journey from anonymous blogger to public figure, as she loudly advocates for justice and liberation for people at every size. But, as Finlay cleverly shows, when Gordon tries to have the same conversations with her parents, her voice falters.
“What does it mean to want to change the world when your own family finds it hard to say the word ‘fat’ out loud?” asks Finlay over a video call from her office in Nottingham. It’s a question the film explores through Gordon’s relationship with her flawed but fiercely loving parents: Pam, a retired schoolteacher whom she dieted alongside as a teenager; and Rusty, a former pilot who expresses discomfort with his daughter’s size.
“I’m a person who’s big in a lot of ways,” says Gordon, joining our call from her home in Portland. “I fill up a room with sound, I fill up a room with person,” she adds, voice booming as she gestures animatedly with her hands. Listeners to Maintenance Phase will be familiar with Gordon’s cackle as well as her charisma. On the show, her robust and generous squawk frequently makes itself known as she and her co-host Michael Hobbes wittily debunk the “junk science” behind all manner of wellness and weight-loss myths, from the body mass index to fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s dodgy 2004 book Diet. But when it comes to discussing her own body, Gordon says, “I just get flummoxed and small and quiet.”
By tuning into the moments where she shrinks, Finlay’s film, which won the audience award at Sheffield DocFest 2023, emphasises the vastness of Gordon’s grace and power…. Smaller moments such as these illustrate how useless “body positivity” is as a defence against daily discrimination. This wearying, low-level needling is as likely to throw Gordon off-kilter as an in-your-face insult or cruel online comment.
When she watched Finlay’s finished film, Gordon says she was struck by the way it depicted people who aren’t fat as part of fat people’s stories. “And they’re not the heroes,” she adds. Her hope is that the film may encourage viewers to recognise, and rethink, their own well-meaning behaviour. “It’s like the David Mitchell ‘Are we the baddies?’ gif,” she says, referencing the comedy sketch from That Mitchell and Webb Look in which a Nazi soldier realises he’s on the wrong side of history.
Finlay had initially wanted to make an essay film that explored fatness and the history of dieting. She hoped that Gordon, then still anonymous, might write the voiceover. But when she met Gordon and her family, she realised that depicting a paradigm shift would be more interesting than arguing the need for one….
…
…Over the course of the film, Pam and Rusty undergo a radical change of heart (try not to tear up when you see them sitting in the audience at Gordon’s book launch). Gordon says that since the cameras stopped rolling, they’ve continued to become even more full-throated in their support of her work.
“My mum has started having some boundary-setting conversations with people in her life about how much she’s willing to hear about diets,” says Gordon, grinning. And as for devoted Maintenance Phase listener Rusty? She overheard him on the phone to a friend the other day “yelling about the inaccuracy of the BMI”.
Finlay says “the core of the film is about just trying to be a good parent”. Her own daughter was 13 years old when she started making the film. “She’s not a fat person,” clarifies Finlay, “but I wanted to make sure she didn’t hear a terrible story about her body from her parents.” A world in which the word “fat” might be considered neutral, or even positive, is something Finlay says she herself could have done with when she was growing up.
…
Finlay says making the film has given her new language to express her feelings about her own body. Through her eyes, Gordon’s body is majestic and sensual….
From Peabody and Emmy award winning journalist, Antonia Hylton, [these are unnecessary commas] comes a new book that uncovers the disturbing history of a segregated asylum in 1911, where Black patients were forced to build their own treatment facility. The book, “Madness, Race, and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum,” sheds light on the harrowing conditions and racial discrimination endured by patients until the facility’s closure in 2004. Hylton joins Morning Joe to discuss.
Rob Grigjanissays
birger @377:
Debunking the myth of the benevolent British empire.
For anyone with functioning neurons, that myth was debunked decades ago. Those without said neurons won’t be reading the book.
whheydtsays
Re: Jury results in Carroll defamation case against Trump… From what I’ve read, in order to appeal the award, Trump will have to post a bond for 110% of the award, or about $92 million. He can get a bond for 1% to 3% of the amount, but he’d have to provide assets to cover the total amount to whoever issued the bond. The alternative is to put the full amount in a court controlled escrow account (which is–apparently–for the first, $5 million–judgement).
From general reading, I expect the punitive portion to be reduced. Courts don’t like punitive awards to be more than about 3 times the compensatory award. In this case, that would trim off about $10 million. Or, just maybe, the courts won’t consider the $65 million to be excessive…
Rob Grigjanis # 388
Empires are by definition evil, repressive things. They expand beyond the core region that has a common language or culture so the cement that holds the bloated thing together is coercion.
John Moralessays
birgerjohansson:
Empires are by definition evil, repressive things.
That’s your own claim; were it true, whence this purported “myth of the benevolent British empire”?
Far rightwing extremists are organizing an armed convoy to the Texas border. That’s according to an article posted online by WIRED.
I no longer have access to WIRED articles, and haven’t paid for a subscription. The text one can see without going behind the paywall also says that the Take Back Our Border channel on Telegram has over 1000 members, some of whom are invoking a new Civil War.
Ah, 4 free articles per month per reader. Turns out, I don’t generally read it, so…
(Obs, that can be bypassed, too — after all, there’s only so many ways the site can know who is reading it)
—
A retired US Army lieutenant colonel is organizing an armed convoy next week to the Texas border to, he says, hunt down migrants crossing into the US from Mexico. Hundreds of people already say they are coordinating travel plans for the convoy on Telegram as tensions continue to rise between the state and federal government over immigration.
Pete Chambers, the lieutenant colonel who says he was a Green Beret, appeared on far-right school-shooting conspiracist Alex Jones’ InfoWars show on Thursday to outline plans for the Take Back Our Border convoy, which has been primarily organized on Telegram.
“What gets us to the enemy quickly is find, fix, and finish,” Chambers told Jones. “That’s what we did in Syria when we took out ISIS really quick. Now we don’t have the authorities to finish, so what we can do is fix the location of where the bad guys are and pair up with law enforcement who are constitutionally sound.”
While this kind of right-wing chatter doesn’t always amount to anything, on Telegram the main Take Back Our Border channel now has over 1,000 members and is being used as a place to plan and share information about the convoy, as well as three rallies taking place in Texas, California, and Arizona next week. The convoy will reportedly begin on Monday, January 29, and participants currently say they are planning on driving to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, where the Texas National Guard is currently in a standoff with the US Border Patrol.
The convoy has been promoted by Texas state representative Keith Self, who appeared on Fox Business to speak about the event and posted a link to a news article from the conspiracy-focused The Gateway Pundit about the convoy on his X account.
In state-specific subgroups for attendees to organize rideshares and other resources, members are outlining their plans about where along the route they will join up with the convoy. The main part of the convoy will begin in Virginia and will make its way through Florida, Louisiana, and on to Texas.
One group member suggested others bring “kits” to the planned rallies so that “if stuff goes down you will be able to protect yourselves and help out.” Another user responded: “I’m in Missouri. I’ll be ready and have my kit full.”
Some Telegram users have compared this moment to the American revolution of 1776.
“There is a point where we are going to have to get our hands dirty,” one member wrote in the Texas group. “I’ve dealt with MANY bullies in my life, and I’ve never been able to reason with them. The one universal language bullies understand is when you push them back.”
Another poster shared a quote from far-right figure Jack Posobiec saying the country is on “the verge of civil war with the government,” while one member claimed, without evidence, that the Border Patrol is “letting known terrorists into the US.”
A promotional video for the convoy on the website begins with alarms sounding and the words “invasion alert” flashing over what appears to be night-vision footage of people crossing the border. The video also calls back to previous convoys, such as the People’s Convoy that rolled into Washington, DC, in 2022 to protest Covid-19 lockdowns. However, the administrators of the Telegram group and the convoy’s website are careful to say this will be a peaceful protest and that only “law-abiding citizens” are welcome. The convoy’s website says it’s looking for everyone to join the effort, including “all active and retired law enforcement and military veterans.”
The convoy is being organized as tensions over the US–Mexico border escalated this week, when the US Supreme Court lifted an order by a lower court and sided with President Joe Biden’s administration to rule that Border Patrol agents could remove razor wire installed by the Texas National Guard and state troopers. Texas governor Greg Abbott has defied the ruling as the Texas National Guard and state troopers have continued to roll out wire at Shelby Park on the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass. Republicans have backed Abbott, who stated on January 24 that the state’s right to “defend and protect” itself against an “invasion” of migrants “is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
More than two dozen Republican governors, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and former president Donald Trump have come out in support of Abbot.
“Biden is, unbelievably, fighting to tie the hands of Governor Abbott and the State of Texas, so that the Invasion continues unchecked,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Texas has rightly invoked the Invasion Clause of the Constitution, and must be given full support to repel the invasion.”
“The feds are staging a civil war, and Texas should stand their ground.” Representative Clay Higgins, a GOP congressman from Louisiana, posted on X after the Supreme Court issued its ruling.
The post was shared widely in online communities populated by far-right extremists, including on The Donald, a far-right message board where some of the planning for the January 6 Capitol riot took place.
“There’s no other way to interpret removing a border than outright treason,” a member of The Donald wrote. “The Supreme Court justices who agreed to this deserve to be executed as traitors.” Another added in relation to the judges: “Traitors deserve to die.”
On X on Thursday, the hashtags #CivilWar and #StandwithTexas were both trending.
Do you know anything about the Take Back Our Border convoy or its organizers? Send David Gilbert an email at david.gilbert@wired.com or DM him on X (Twitter) @daithaigilbert for his Signal and WhatsApp number.
During the hourlong interview, Chambers blamed migrants for the fentanyl crisis, which he described as “chemical warfare,” and he called the Biden administration the enemy of the people. Jones described Abbott’s January 24 statement as “the new Declaration of Independence.” Chambers told Jones how he was planning to use the same techniques he claims he used while in the US military fighting the Islamic State to target migrants crossing the border. He echoed Abbott, and described the effort as “domestic internal defense.”
Chambers also said that one of the stops on the convoy will be the One Shot Distillery and Brewery in Dripping Springs, Texas, which is owned by Phil Waldron, a former army colonel. Waldron was central to plotting the January 6 insurrection, when he circulated a 38-page PowerPoint presentation to members of Congress that, among other things, called for Trump to declare a state of emergency and seize voting machines. Waldron was listed as an unindicted coconspirator in Trump’s Georgia election-interference case.
And while much of this kind of violent rhetoric is never acted upon, there have been a growing number of incidents beyond January 6 where online comments have been followed up with real-world action, including when a man targeted an FBI office after slamming the agency for searching Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Truth Social.
Efforts in Congress to find a compromise on border funding appeared to collapse earlier this week, but yesterday Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that talks were still “ongoing.”
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times laid off 115 people, more than 20 percent of its total staff. If those cuts went to the bone, in Washington, DC, it was more like an amputation: four of the bureau’s nine reporters were let go.
Personally, this was a gut punch. I’d been freelancing for the paper for much of last year, helping the Washington bureau cover a gap—it already lacked a full-time congressional reporter—and now friends of mine had lost their jobs.
But I’m not just mourning for them.
As the San Francisco Chronicle’s Shira Stein noted, these latest cuts leave just herself, two people from McClatchy, and the five people at the LA Times as the only journalists covering DC for California-based newspapers. That’s eight print reporters covering the entire federal government—for a state of thirty-nine million people.
That’s still better than much of the country. Most states don’t have a single reporter covering Washington on the ground anymore.
This is corrosive to democracy in many ways, some more obvious than others. The most glaring problem is that lawmakers aren’t held to account. There’s no one to confront congressmen on a daily basis or make sure they’re not breaking the law. Local issues don’t get scrutinized. And with the exception of camera-hungry congressmen and national figures, most lawmakers barely get covered at all.
This worsens polarization. Without local coverage, the only times most Americans hear about their representatives is from campaign ads or when they’re on national news talking about partisan issues. That makes it harder for politicians who break with their party to get something done to survive politically—and it makes it harder for issues of local importance that might have crossover appeal to gain any traction. If the only way to gain attention (and raise money) is to talk about national issues on Fox News or MSNBC, why bother taking a political risk to cross the aisle and try to solve problems that actually matter to your district?
In this environment, a few loudmouths become national stars and fundraising powerhouses. Everyone else is just an anonymous Democrat or Republican, easily caricatured and attacked by their opponents come election season no matter what they’ve done for the people back home.
It wasn’t always like this—even recently. In the late 2000s, the New York Daily News, which then had a robust DC bureau, led the drumbeat to get healthcare and financial compensation for the first responders and victims of the 9/11 attacks. Members of Congress had to be publicly shamed for months by cancer-ridden and dying firemen, EMTs, and police before they eventually created the program. Most of the bill’s opponents were Republicans, but it got passed partly because members from the New York tristate area from both parties, who fought hard for bipartisan support, got local recognition—and credit—from the Daily News. The paper’s crusading editorials won a Pulitzer; beat reporter Michael McAuliff’s reporting played such a key role that Democratic senator Chuck Schumer gave him one of the pens he said President Obama had used to sign the measure into law.
McAuliff is now at a healthcare trade publication.
“Fewer reporters are paying attention to their local lawmakers and the more mundane but really important things they do,” he told me, “while more reporters are tasked with following the loudest and most controversial lawmakers. It means local readers don’t understand what their representatives do all day—that they often agree on many basic things like funding local hospitals and roads—or when and why those lawmakers fail to help them. It would be hard to hold someone accountable for failing to pass 9/11 laws if no one knew who failed.” […]
From the Texas House to former President Donald Trump, Republicans across the country are rallying behind Gov. Greg Abbott’s standoff with the federal government at the southern border, intensifying concerns about a constitutional crisis amid an ongoing dispute with the Biden administration.
At issue is concertina wire that the Texas National Guard has been using as a barrier between the Rio Grande River and Shelby Park, a 47-acre area in Eagle Pass. In a 5-4 decision earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Biden Administration when it vacated a lower court’s ruling that prevented Border Patrol agents from cutting the wire to apprehend people who had crossed the river.
On Wednesday — and as the Texas National Guard and state troopers continued to roll out the wire and prevent federal agents from accessing much of the park — Abbott continued to publicly challenge the ruling and “hold the line.” He declared that Texas was under an “invasion,” giving the state the constitutional right to defend itself and claimed that President Joe Biden’s practice of paroling migrants into the country amounted to a refusal to enforce current immigration laws.
[…] Abbott continued, claiming the state’s right to defend itself “is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.” Abbott’s action is the latest effort by Texas Republicans who have been pushing back against the federal government and trying to take on the role of immigration law enforcement, which is under federal jurisdiction.
Abbott’s statement was quickly condemned by some legal scholars, who said it was blatantly unconstitutional and amounted to a usurpring of the federal government.
“By this logic, states could use their own determination that an ‘invasion’ exists as a justification for usurping control of whichever federal policies they don’t like,” Stephen Vladeck, a University of Texas at Austin law professor, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Imagine blue states taking this approach: ‘We’re being invaded by drugs.’ ‘We’re being invaded by pollution.’ The right of states to defend themselves does not, and was never meant to, provide a hook for *supplanting* federal authority.”
But Abbott’s actions rapidly endeared himself to Republicans across the political spectrum, spanning the country, with many echoing the Texas governor’s call to “hold the line” and others going further using rhetoric that suggested that Texas use force to defend itself from an attack.
[…] On Thursday, all but one Republican governor – Phil Scott of Vermont — had publicly supported Abbott’s move. The Republican Governors Association said in a statement Thursday that they back Abbott’s methods “in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border.” [snipped text describing other people supporting Abbott.]
[…] Meanwhile, Democrats in the Texas delegation expressed horror at Abbott’s defiance. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said Abbott’s tactics have failed to decrease migrant crossings since the launch of Operation Lone Star in 2021. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, called on President Joe Biden to “establish sole federal control of the Texas National Guard now” if Abbott defies the Supreme Court.
“Governor Abbott is trying to pick a fight with President Biden to score political points, and he is abusing the National Guard resources at his disposal,” Castro said in a statement. “Texas National Guard troops volunteered to serve their country – not to be pawns in Governor Abbott’s attempts to sow chaos at the border.”
Russian prisoners who left to fight in Ukraine no longer receive a pardon from Putin and serve until the end of the so-called “SMO” — Russian BBC.
Recruitment of prisoners from Russian colonies in the summer of 2022 was started by the founder of the Wagner PMC Yevgeny Prigozhin. Since February 2023, the Russian Defense Ministry has been sending prisoners to the frontlines.
Recruited prisoners were initially promised money and pardon after six months of participation in combat operations. In mid-2023, Putin confirmed that he had pardoned prisoners returning from the war in Ukraine. Among those pardoned were those convicted of murder, including a cannibal and a member of a Yaroslavl Satanist sect that killed four teenagers.
Prisoners will be able to receive full release and expungement of their criminal records only if they are awarded a state award or dismissed due to the end of the war, health loss or reaching the age limit.
Journalists, having studied conversations of relatives of Storm Z fighters in chats, also came to the conclusion that recruitment to these special companies stopped in August last year, and since September prisoners have been enrolled in Storm V units.
The Biden administration has announced its approved a $US23 billion deal to sell F-16 warplanes to Turkey, after Ankara ratified Sweden’s Nato membership, the state department said.
The creator of an audio deepfake of US President Joe Biden urging people not to vote in this week’s New Hampshire primary has been suspended by ElevenLabs, according to a person familiar with the matter.
ElevenLabs’ technology was used to make the deepfake audio, according to Pindrop Security Inc., a voice-fraud detection company that analyzed it.
ElevenLabs was made aware this week of Pindrop’s findings and is investigating, the person said. Once the deepfake was traced to its creator, that user’s account was suspended, said the person, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public…
That is not adequate. Someone needs to go to prison for that.
Rob Grigjanissays
birger @391: Dunno how, but you seem to have misunderstood my comment. Yes, empires are evil. And there was a myth that the British Empire was benevolent. Anyone who’s been paying attention over at least the last few decades knows that is nonsense.
StevoRsays
Dunno if too late elaready or already shared here by others but :
The asteroid will fly close to the moon just before 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) before zooming past Earth three and a half hours later at an estimated speed of 14,200 mph (22,850 km/h). The flying space rock will reach its closest point to Earth at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT), according to NASA.
You can watch the airplane-size asteroid as it sails just 220,000 miles (354,000 kilometers) from Earth — more than nine tenths of the average distance between our planet and the moon — on a Virtual Telescope Project livestream from 12:15 p.m. EST (1715 GMT). On the live, you can expect to see the asteroid as a white speck moving quickly among the background stars.
American college campuses, as well as our society more broadly, continue to be roiled by incidents of hate targeting Jews as well as Muslims and Palestinians that grow out of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The conflict has certainly created tension within our country’s politics as well.
A recent antisemitic incident at Yale provides an opportunity to explore the differences between hate and legitimate protest/political expression, and to highlight and praise a collection of pro-Palestinian groups who drew that line in a crystal clear fashion. These groups definitively rejected an antisemitic act that occurred during their protest. One can question the importance of such an act in the face of so much violence and suffering. However, for some people, taking heart where they are able to can provide the hope for the future they need in order to keep going.
On Dec. 9, a pro-Palestinian rally organized in New Haven, Connecticut, by a coalition of groups consisting of American Muslims for Palestine’s Connecticut chapter, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Connecticut, We Will Return Palestine, and Yalies4Palestine took place near the Yale campus.
Three hundred or so people marched, and one rallygoer—whose face was masked by a keffiyeh (a black and white garment that has come to symbolize the Palestinian cause)—climbed up a large menorah being publicly displayed to celebrate Hanukkah, and placed a Palestinian flag over it. Authorities are continuing to investigate the incident and, well over a month later, don’t know the identity of this person or whether they are a member of the Yale community. The coalition of organizers stated that this person was not a member of any of their groups (more on their statement below). [video at the link]
As you can see, rallygoers ran over almost immediately and demanded that the masked individual take down the flag. They yelled “get down” and “take it down,” and one said “that looks bad for us.” Although the video stops before it happens, the person who put the flag on the menorah did take it down right after putting it up, as Jake Dressler, who took the video, told reporters.
“HATE VIOLENCE”
Something else of note occurred during the rally. According to New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker and Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, some people threw eggs at the pro-Palestinian protesters. Both leaders condemned this action as well, calling it “hate violence.”
[…] the righteous response released by the coalition of organizers the next day shows the depth of their empathy. The groups said they “unequivocally condemn the antisemitic action,” and added, “we are appalled by this behavior, and are especially disappointed since it comes during the religious observation of Hanukkah.” The statement continued:
These actions do not align with our goals of promoting respective [sic] dialogue and peaceful advocacy. As organizers, we apologize deeply for the hurt this has caused. Moving forward, we will take further precautions to uphold our commitment to foster an inclusive and respectful environment for all participants. … Our movement for Palestine … has no room for antisemitism.
As a Jew, I greatly appreciate these words. This was no half-hearted statement of disapproval with a “but …” attached to it. The groups recognized the act was not only wrong, but named it as antisemitic, apologized for its impact—even though they themselves didn’t put the flag up—and mentioned taking steps to prevent future problematic actions. Their words make clear that these pro-Palestinian activists reject hatred of Jews, and provide a model for how any group should respond when those claiming affiliation with their cause commit an act of hate. These things matter.
Yale University strongly condemned the incident as well, as did political and religious leaders, again specifically noting that the act was antisemitic. The reason for that is that it targeted a religious symbol of Judaism, rather than the Israeli state. The act thus conflated the actions of Israel—which, as a country, is obviously a legitimate focus of protest—with all Jews worldwide by attacking a symbol of their faith and peoplehood. Doing so represents a core antisemitic trope. […]
More at the link, including a debate over Zionism.
[…] Trump has now called for “all states willing to deploy” troops to send them to Texas and fight alongside the Texas troops against the federal agents.
To be clear, this is a call for state units to confront federal units with guns which shoot bullets out of them. And if these bullets hit federal troops, it will hurt, and might inspire them to fire back. This is what a civil war looks like. Americans shooting Americans. […] And this will all be fine with the gleeful demagogue from Mar-a-Lago.
As surreal and outrageous as all of this is, it’s not the worst of it. To me, the worst part is the extent to which this has been normalized. Trump’s exhortations to internecine violence did not get the Huge banner headlines it deserved. Headlines like “TRUMP URGEST STATES TO FIGHT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT”, or “INSANE FUCK CALLS FOR CIVIL WAR!!” In some newspapers the story was covered on page 3 or 8. Others didn’t carry it at all.
Everyone knows the parable about putting the frog in the water and slowly heating it. Well, our water is now vigorously boiling, and the media, and many American voters are treating outright batshittery as normal.
It’s hard to imagine what Trump COULD say that a consensus of our fellow citizens would actually view as disqualifying for again making him the leader of the free world and giving him the nuclear codes. […]
[…] On Truth Social, Trump pushed for “all willing States to deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border.” In his Truth Social rant, Trump also pledged that, if re-elected, he would “work hand in hand with Governor Abbott” to enact what he called “the Largest Domestic Deportation Operation in History.” (Representatives of Abbott’s office and the Texas Military Department haven’t yet responded to my inquiries about whether they echo Trump’s request for states to send guards to the border or whether they have been in touch with the Trump campaign on the topic.)
“Those Biden has let in should not get comfortable because they will be going home,” Trump wrote. […]
All because he was a horrible person on social media.
In November of 2022, apropos of some rather histrionic Twitter posts, the College of Psychologists of Ontario told Jordan Peterson that he would either have to take a “Specified Continuing Education or Remedial Program” to “review, reflect on and ameliorate [his] professionalism in public statements,” or risk losing his license. He has been fighting and trying to appeal it ever since, claiming that the CPO wishes to send him to a “reeducation camp.”
Peterson then filed a judicial review request with the Ontario Divisional Court in hopes that they would overturn the CPO’s decision. In late August of this year, the Court rejected that request. So he then appealed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario, which decided earlier this month to not give him an appeal. He is now shit out of luck if he wishes to continue practicing as a psychologist in Canada without taking this course.
Naturally, Jordan Peterson responded to this in a very professional and normal way.
“I want the entire current crop of minions at the College of Psychologists to publicly apologize and then resign–en masse,” he wrote on social media. “They want me to undergo re-education, which they know will take up my time and fail in any case, so they can undermine my reputation and take my licence away anyway.”
Yes, either that or they want you to not be an asshole.
Peterson then wrote a totally professional and non-Disney-villain-esque op-ed in the National Post titled “Bureaucrats will rue the day they tried to shut me out.”
Then, on Friday, he made an appearance on “Fox and Friends” to complain, again, about having to take a freaking remedial course in basic professionalism. [video at the link]
But Jordan Peterson has a plan! He is going to make a bajillion dollars opening up an “online university” to counter left-wing bias in education, just like Bari Weiss is doing. He wants the CPO to be clear that he doesn’t need them and he doesn’t need anybody to make money — which is probably true, as he does have his acolytes.
Though, you know, he might still take the course, just because he has to, who can really say?
The fact is, it is a psychologist’s job to care for and help other human beings. If someone is spending all of their free time absolutely raging over not finding Sports Illustrated models attractive or about the mere existence of trans actors they have never and will never meet in real life, how can they be trusted to help other people?
In most cases, it is a person’s right to be an emotionally unregulated asshole, so long as they do not actively hurt anyone else. Indeed, I will fight for that right as long as it doesn’t interfere with anything else I am doing that day. But if it is your actual job to care for other, potentially vulnerable people, then that is not okay. What matters in that case is creating a healthy and safe environment for them.
While it certainly is troubling that a licensed psychologist is fatphobic and not up to date on their understanding of transgender people, the fact that he has been actively and cruelly attacking people whose existence he disagrees with — whether because they are trans or overweight — was probably what did him in.
The job of the College of Psychologists of Ontario is to distribute licenses to those they feel are qualified to treat people. Peterson’s actions show that he is not and that he is more likely to damage or attack a patient if he for some reason does not believe they should exist.
Quite frankly, I wish that therapists and psychologists in the US were more heavily regulated. […]
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has fired 12 aid workers accused of involvement in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, and has launched an investigation. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said yesterday that he was “horrified” by the allegations and that those found to have been involved would be referred for potential criminal prosecution.
[…] “The UK is appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.
“The U.K. is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations,” it added.
It is the fifth country to announce a suspension in funding to UNRWA in 24 hours, following announcements from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Italy.
[…] “The Italian government suspended funding UNRWA after the atrocious attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October. Allied countries have recently made the same decision,” said Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
[…] The U.N. agency provides shelters, schools, and humanitarian aid in Gaza, and is primarily funded by donations from countries in the E.U. and the U.S.
Israel’s foreign minister has accused UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees of serving as the “civilian arm of Hamas in Gaza,” as he said that Israel was working to garner transnational support for to stop the agency’s activities after the end of the war.
UNRWA will “not be part of the day after,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said, accusing the agency of obstructing peace and “aiding terror activities.”
Katz’s statements followed accusations from Israel that several UNRWA employees were involved in the Hamas attacks of October 7.
UNRWA has since fired the 12 accused aid workers. It was not immediately clear how the workers were accused of participating, or their level of seniority. The agency employs about 13,000 Palestinians.
Israel has long accused UNRWA of colluding with Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza and launched the attacks on Oct. 7.
But Israel has also privately favored the agency as an alternative, non-threatening governing body to Hamas, providing some civilian infrastructure and services through international donations from countries allied to Israel, including the U.S. and Germany.
[…] “We call on the countries that announced the cessation of their support for #UNRWA to immediately reverse their decision, which entails great political and humanitarian relief risks,” said Hussein al-Sheikh, the Secretary General of the The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in a post on X today.
UNRWA needs “maximum support” in light of continuing war in Gaza, rather than dips in funding, he added. The PLO is internationally recognized as the representative of the Palestinian people.
Countries including the U.S. and Australia have announced temporary suspensions to funds for the agency, following reports that up to 12 of its staffers participated in the Hamas attacks of October 7.
UNRWA […] employs about 13,000 Palestinians. More than 1.4 million internally displaced people are currently sheltering inside and around temporary UNRWA facilities.
[…] Hamas denied Israel’s accusations, saying they had the aim of “cutting off [UNRWA’s] funding and depriving our people of their right to the services of these international agencies,” and called on the U.N “not to yield to the threats and blackmails.” […]
Hey, maybe using “woke” to make more “social” cooties is an example of the sort of feeling transfer like second-order conditioning? I still need to read about the details there.
The decades fall away as you open the front doors.
It’s the late 1950s in the cramped little offices — or maybe the pre-hippie 1960s. It’s a place where army-style buzz cuts are still in fashion, communism remains the primary enemy and the decor is dominated by American flags and portraits of once-famous Cold Warriors.
At the John Birch Society, they’ve been waging war for more than 60 years against what they’re sure is a vast, diabolical conspiracy. As they tell it, it’s a plot with tentacles that reach from 19th-century railroad magnates to the Biden White House, from the Federal Reserve to COVID vaccines.
Long before QAnon, Pizzagate and the modern crop of politicians who will happily repeat apocalyptic talking points, there was Birch. And outside these cramped small-town offices is a national political landscape that the Society helped shape.
“We have a bad reputation. You know: ‘You guys are insane,’” says Wayne Morrow, a Society vice president. He is standing in the group’s warehouse amid 10-foot (3-meter) shelves of Birch literature waiting to be distributed.
“But all the things that we wrote about are coming to pass.” [Sounds like religion]
Back when the Cold War loomed and TV was still mostly in black and white, the John Birch Society mattered. There were dinners at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York and meetings with powerful politicians. There was a headquarters on each coast, a chain of bookstores, hundreds of local chapters, radio shows, summer camps for members’ children.
[In Idaho, Mormons and John Birch Society members overlap … and they still hold meetings.]
[…] Fueled by social media and the rise of celebrity conspiracists, the last two decades have seen ever-increasing numbers of Americans lose faith in everything from government institutions to journalism. And year after year, ideas once relegated to fringe newsletters, little-known websites and the occasional AM radio station pushed their way into the mainstream.
Today, outlandish conspiracy theories are quoted by more than a few U.S. senators, and millions of Americans believe the COVID pandemic was orchestrated by powerful elites. […]
But the John Birch Society itself is largely forgotten, relegated to a pair of squat buildings along a busy commercial street in small-town Wisconsin.
So why even take note of it today? Because many of its ideas — from anger at a mysterious, powerful elite to fears that America’s main enemy was hidden within the country, biding its time — percolated into pockets of American culture over the last half-century. Those who came later simply out-Birched the Birchers. Says Dallek: “Their successors were politically savvier and took Birch ideas and updated them for contemporary politics.”
[…] In the Society’s offices, they’ll tell you that Donald Trump would never have been elected if they hadn’t paved the way.
“The bulk of Trump’s campaign was Birch,” Art Thompson, a retired Society CEO who remains one of its most prominent voices, says proudly. “All he did was bring it out into the open.”
[…] The Society had spent decades calling for a populist president who would preach patriotism, oppose immigration, pull out of international treaties and root out the forces trying to undermine America. Trump may not have realized it, but when he warned about a “Deep State” — a supposed cabal of bureaucrats that secretly controls U.S. policy — he was repeating a longtime Birch talking point.
[…] It’s hard to draw neat historical lines in American politics. Was the Society a prime mover, or a bit player? In a nation fragmented by social media and offshoot groups by the dozens, there’s just no way to be sure. What is certain, though, is this: “The conspiratorial fringe is now the conspiratorial mainstream,” says Paul Matzko, a historian and research fellow at the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute. “Right-wing conspiracism has simply outgrown the John Birch Society.”
[…] Their beliefs skip along the surface of the truth, with facts and rumors and outright fantasies banging together into a complex mythology. “The great conspiracy” is what Birch Society founder Robert Welch called it in “The Blue Book,” the collection of his writings and speeches still treated as near-mystical scripture in the Society’s corridors. [snipped all the history]
[…] By the 1980s, the Society was well into its decline. Welch died in 1985 and the society’s reins passed to a series of successors. […] While its aura has waned, it is still a force among some conservatives — its videos are popular in parts of right-wing America, and its offices include a sophisticated basement TV studio for internet news reports. Its members speak at right-wing conferences and work booths at the occasional county fair.
[…] Ask about the conspiracy’s goal, and things swerve into unexpected territory. The sharp rhetoric re-emerges and, once again, the decades seem to fall away. […]
One aspect of this is quite strange in Idaho: In general, John Birchers want to cut back on the population of the earth, but Mormons want to greatly increase the population of Mormons. Not supposed to make sense?
Another odd fact: David Koch and Charles Koch used to be members of the John Birch Society. Charles Koch was still writing papers supporting the JBS in 1976. The Koch family has been involved in providing funding, beginning with Fred Koch, father of David and Charles. Charles Koch is more of a Libertarian now, though that may just a semantic change meant to obscure the Birchers connections.
Pierce R. Butlersays
Lynna… @ # 415: … Birchers want to cut back on the population of the earth…
A federal judge ordered a bench warrant to be issued for a Missouri man who failed to show up for a probation violation hearing in his Capitol riot case.
Devin Keil Rossman, of Independence, is now listed as a fugitive, according to court records. Rossman was scheduled to appear at 9:30 a.m. Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The government said he had violated several conditions of his probation…
birgerjohanssonsays
Sabine Hossenfelder checks the facts and gets concerned by a detail that is rarely discussed.
” I wasn’t worried about climate change. Now I am.”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=4S9sDyooxf4
Pierce @416, “Birchers want to cut back on the population of the earth…” okay, not exactly. That was wrong.
Since September [2011], the John Birch Society has sponsored or co-sponsored lectures on the dangers of Agenda 21 in Manahawkin, Somers Point, Williamstown, Pompton Plains, and Toms River, N.J.; in Bozeman, Great Falls, Kalispell, and Missoula, Mont.; in Indianapolis, Ind.; in Albany and Queens, N.Y.; in Deland, Jacksonville and Gainesville, Fla.; in Mobile, Ala.; and in Shelton and Westport, Conn.
The Westport, Conn., lecture was delivered last week by Regional Field Director Hal Shurtlef in the fortuitously named McManus Meeting Room of the Westport Public Library (John F. McManus, of course, being the longtime president of the John Birch Society. The businessman James R. McManus, the library benefactor that the room is really named after, lives in Westport).
For all the seeming urgency, Agenda 21, it turns out, is old news; it dates back to 1992 and the Earth Summit in Rio. Signed by 178 world leaders, including President George H.W. Bush, the thousand-plus page document, “binding upon all living things on the planet,” is the United Nations’ program on “sustainable development.” Depending on whether you believe the UN or the John Birch Society, it’s either a much-needed strategic plan to scale down the use of fossil fuels and other natural resources to levels that meet “the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” – or a Trojan horse that will give the UN complete control over every aspect of American life.
Flashing slides of Karl Marx and Alger Hiss, the accused Communist spy who helped draft the UN Charter, Shurtlef painted a lurid picture. Agenda 21 explicitly calls for “a profound reorientation of all human society, unlike anything the world has ever experienced,” he said. Its goal, he falsely claimed, is the de-population of rural regions. Foreign bureaucrats, Shurtlef added absurdly, will mandate family size here in the United States, imposing forced abortions as they do in Communist China.
[So that is definitely a statement against population control.]
If UN environmentalists have their way, he went on, the expansive American way of life, in which everyone can aspire to the dream of owning a house with a big yard and two cars in the driveway, will be replaced by one in which increasing numbers of us are crammed into urban and suburban “pack ‘em and stack ‘em” apartment complexes, and forced to use mass transportation and live according to a “communitarian” ethos. Already, Edison’s great invention, the incandescent light bulb, has been banned. Thanks to Agenda 21, Americans are being forced to purchase expensive, compact fluorescent lightbulbs that are manufactured in Communist China. (It’s true that most incandescent bulbs are being gradually phased out in a number of industrialized countries in favor of bulbs using far less energy. In the U.S., the standard 100-watt bulb will no longer be made after Jan. 1.)
What is “communitarianism?” To quote from the pamphlet Agenda 21 and You, one of the many pieces of literature that was available for sale at the lecture, individually and in bulk, communitarianism is “not too dissimilar from communism, which is founded on the premise of the dictatorship of the proletariat or working class.” It is founded on the belief of the dictatorship or supremacy of the community. As a result of this supremacy, the individual is subservient to needs of the “greater good” of society. Examples of communitarian societies include Belarus, Burma, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea and Venezuela.
According to the JBS, the UN has been coordinating its on-the-ground efforts through something known as the ICLEI – the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives. Under its auspices, more than 1,000 cities and municipalities around the world, including hundreds in the U.S., have received grants (bribes, really) to enact the UN’s stealth agenda.
The JBS puts a scary new spin on the catch phrase “think globally, act locally”: “These initiatives that have been enacted ostensibly to save the environment, invariably destroy economic vitality, erode property rights, undermine liberty and constitutional government, impose soviet-style rule through ‘stakeholder councils,’ subvert local control –and usually devastate the natural environment to boot … ’sustainable development’ is a despot’s dream-come-true: an emerging all-purpose, open-ended, ‘enabling act’ granting global central planners carte blanche to claim it means whatever they want it to mean.”
“Patriots, Tea Partiers, and John Birchers hate pollution,” Shurtlef assured his Westport audience. “But we know that the free market and local governments can preserve the environment better than bureaucrats can.” [not true]
Since the collapse of the Iron Curtain, right-wing isolationist groups like the John Birch Society have been in search of a new bogeyman. With varying degrees of success, they’ve pointed their fingers at LGBT people, at feminists, at Muslims, and at Saul Alinsky-inspired community organizers. With Agenda 21 and anti-environmentalism, they seem to believe they’ve finally hit just the right note. “Get the U.S. out of the United Nations” and “Get the UN out of the U.S.” have been JBS rallying cries since its inception in the 1950s. And climate change denial has become a credo of right-wing faith.
By imputing sinister associations to buzzwords like “sustainability” and “smart growth,” and by encouraging Americans to project their economic anxieties onto the green movement, the JBS is hoping to make environmentalism into a scarier prospect than environmental degradation.
Mayor Mikhail Minenkov complained about the low birth rate, the reason for which he cited as a lack of money and a desire to “live for themselves”. He then gave an instruction to his viewers: “go tonight and sneak up on your women so that 10,000 children will be born in 9 months.”
“10,000 families, couples, have to do something today, tomorrow night. Fall in love. The remaining 10,000 have to do it next year,” Minenkov summarized.
I’ve been looking at the pathways for unconscious threat sensing and maybe the “invasion” talk is manipulating this.
“Visual looming is a primitive for human emotion” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37693448/
The vermin and disease references too, but with different extra “flavors”.
Pierce R. Butlersays
Lynna… @ # 419 – Thanks for the clarification: that sounds a lot more like the Birchers we know ‘n’ loathe.
I confess I feel great relief at the (mostly) obsolescence of the compact fluorescent bulb; can’t agree with much else.
A tanker operated on behalf of trading giant Trafigura Group that was carrying a cargo of Russian fuel was struck by a missile as it left the Red Sea, in the most significant attack yet by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on an oil-carrying vessel…
After Taylor Swift became the latest victim of pornography generated by artificial intelligence, Utah’s Sen. Mike Lee asked her to join with him in promoting a piece of legislation he plans to re-introduce next week.
Lee says he will re-introduce the PROTECT Act, which would “require pornography sites to verify the age of all participants in pornographic images; require sites to obtain verified consent forms from individuals uploading content and those appearing in uploaded content; and mandate that websites quickly remove images upon receiving notice they uploaded without consent,” a press release about the bill says…
The bogus Swift images were not restricted to “porn sites.” They appeared on X and elsewhere.
Pierce @422, “I confess I feel great relief at the (mostly) obsolescence of the compact fluorescent bulb; can’t agree with much else.”
Ha! I agree.
Unrelated: Cartoon: Trump’s cognitive assessment test
Other news:
The success or failure of a presidency can often depend on the people chosen for Cabinet-level posts. President Joe Biden has just passed the three-year mark of his first term. His administration has been a model of stability and competence. This follows the four years of chaos and incompetence that marked Donald Trump’s miserable administration.
And that point is clear when you look at the turnover rate in both administrations among the 15 Cabinet members in the line of succession for the presidency as well as the nine additional Cabinet-level positions.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a visiting fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, has written detailed analyses on overall staff turnover in the Trump administration and the Biden administration. There’s Biden, who kept his promise to make his Cabinet the most diverse in U.S. history with more women and members of color, all of whom had considerable political experience. His Cabinet includes Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay person to be a Cabinet-level secretary, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American to serve in a president’s Cabinet.
And so far only one Cabinet member has resigned—Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, the former Boston mayor, who stepped down in March 2023. A longtime Boston Bruins fan, Walsh accepted an offer to become executive director of the NHL Players’ Association. Julie Su is serving as acting labor secretary because the Senate has yet to confirm her nomination.
And just two of the nine additional Cabinet-level positions have seen change. Longtime Biden aide Ron Klain stepped down as White House chief of staff at the mid-point of Biden’s term, and was immediately replaced by Jeff Zients, who effectively ran Biden’s COVID-19 response operation. He remains in the post.
The second is Cecilia Rouse, the first Black woman to serve as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, resigned in March 2023 to return to Princeton University and resume her work as a professor of economics and public affairs. She was replaced by longtime Biden economic adviser Jared Bernstein.
That means that 21 of 24 of Biden’s original appointees remain in their positions heading into the fourth year of his term. National Journal White House correspondent George E. Condon Jr. wrote:
In his three years in office, the president has been determined to keep his top team mostly intact, and that team in turn has been determined to avoid the leaks, backstabbing, and controversy that have led to purges and makeovers in almost all the nine presidencies Biden has witnessed in his half century in Washington.
A National Journal review of past administrations found that one has to go back 171 years to find a more stable first-term administration.” […]
The contrast is particularly sharp compared with Biden’s predecessor, Donald Trump, whose Cabinet chaos was matched by no president in almost two centuries. By the end of his term in office, only four of Trump’s original 15 Cabinet members remained and only one of nine Cabinet-level appointees had survived. His retention rate of 20.8 percent exceeded only the president whose picture he brought to the Oval Office—Andrew Jackson, who had only one of six Cabinet members remaining at the end of his first term.
[…] Trump promised to bring “the best and the brightest” to his administration. He also said he would run his administration like his business. Unfortunately, as shown in a New York civil lawsuit in which Trump faces up to $370 million in penalties, there was persistent fraud in his business dealings.
And, as The New York Times noted, Trump “created a cabinet of mostly wealthy, white men with limited experience in government, mirroring himself.”
[…] less than a month after Trump’s inauguration national security adviser Michael Flynn was forced to resign following claims he misled the administration over his communications with Russia’s ambassador. […]
Trump then ran through three more national security advisers—H.R. McMaster, John Bolton, and Robert O’ Brien. Bolton, who was fired over policy differences, has warned that Trump could do “irreparable” damage to the country if elected president again.
There were four White House chiefs of staff under Trump: Reince Priebus, John Kelly, Mick Mulvaney, and Mark Meadows.
[…] on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who was fired by Trump on Nov. 9, 2020, issued this warning about the former president in an interview on CNN.
Remember Scott Adams? The guy who drew “Dilbert” until he went all racist-MAGA-incel, and lost his publishing contract but we guess still does the strip online for adoring idiots? (We didn’t look, really.)
Anyhow, the great genius of everything was trending on Xwitter Friday, so of course we looked, and he has a Theory about Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and his performative assholery at the US-Mexico border. It is, as you would expect, completely batshit. We’re sure that after a lengthy buildup like that you either really want to read it now, or have already closed the tab to go read “Mutts,” which is nice. So here it is:
Women don’t understand that the civil war already started.
Men live in a continuous state of violence. We size up every threat and have a tentative plan to kill it first. We live that war and it never stops.
The battle to defend Texas and the homeland is already in full throw.
Decisions have been made. Men on each (potential) side have evaluated the threat and gamed out the outcomes in their minds.
I don’t expect American men in uniform to start shooting at each other. We’ve gamed that out. No Win.
I do expect Biden to back down. His handlers will game it out the same.
They don’t? We do? It is? We have? We did? He will? Who are his handlers? […]
Good lord what a mess […]
Adams also Xweeted out this additional explanation of how we just aren’t mating the right way in the world today, and that’s the source of our discontents. We won’t ruin it with analysis, just share it with you in its magnificent patriarchofascist glory:
Here’s a reframe for understanding basically everything wrong with the country right now.
We think we have a racial and political divide. We do not. We have a broken mating system (marriage).
When men and women have adequate mating strategies, they put their focus on mating, and in so doing they become biologically satisfied. Or at least it keeps them busy.
But when mating strategies fail — for a variety of social reasons, like now — men become dangerous and women become batshit crazy and start defending DEI and open borders and anything else that increases the odds of women being around additional sperm.
What we think we see is Democrats versus Republicans. That’s the downstream effect. But it’s really a mating failure that turned Democrats into the woman party and Republicans into the man party.
Democrat men are pleasers, so they play along with the single women to increase their mating options. Republican women are inclined to back their protectors, which is also a good mating strategy.
There you go.
I … wait, you’re saying … what? Open borders and DEI = more sperms for liberal womenz?
Also, when exactly was this alleged golden age when America’s mating strategies were good and healthy and in balance with the cosmic Omphalos or whatever?
I’ll just assume that strict white supremacy and segregation were also in vogue at the time […]
These wisdomdroppings were, of course acclaimed by his remaining fans, whom I hope I will never meet, not even one. One particularly sharp fellow explained that “It’ll work itself out. Conservatives will procreate, liberals will die off.”
Also a disturbing number of these freaks like using “Publius” as a username, because every single one of them is the equal of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay writing the Federalist, just you wait, you’ll see.
In conclusion, I really need not to click on anything that’s “trending”[…]
John Moralessays
Lynna @428, you didn’t cite the source, but I’m pretty sure that’s Wonkette from the stylistic mode.
(Small chance it’s DailyKos, of course — hey, I can rhyme!)
A high-profile Trump supporter was beaten in front of a cheering crowd in Canada last week. Nobody called the cops though, and it turns out more than just a few of them were actually rooting for [him]
MAGA MMA middleweight Sean “Tarzan” Strickland lost his championship belt to South African underdog Dricus du Plessis by split decision in the main event at UFC 297 held at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, the first time the multi-billion dollar international ring has stopped into Canada’s largest city since 2018.
[…] The 32-year-old Strickland, sporting a shirt with the slogan “a woman in every kitchen, a gun in every hand,” flew into an expletive-filled rage when asked by a reporter at a pre-fight press conference about his history of expressing awful opinions, including once saying he would’ve “failed as a man” if he had a gay son.
Things escalated quickly, with Tarzan going ape on the offending journalist as well as his female co-headliners for being less tough than him and even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for good measure while managing to also potentially piss off the entire country by suggesting Canadians suck at hockey.
“They gave us hockey and they’re not even good at it,” said Strickland, a professional athlete whose hometown NHL team, the Vegas Golden Knights, has the most Canadian players of any team in the league, including captain Mark Stone and starting goaltender Adin Hill.
Just saying.
Leaving the important question of how a woman could possibly get any kitchen work done while carrying a gun in each hand left unanswered, [LOL!] Strickland promptly went on to lose his king-of-the-jungle status earned four months ago — roughly 13 Scaramuccis — on his first attempt at retaining the belt.
[…] The former champ graciously accepted the defeat and … just kidding, this is a Trump guy we’re talking here so naturally he whined he DID TOO win the fight due to the ref missing an illegal headbutt causing a boo-boo above his eye.
“I didn’t take the cowards [sic] way out and tell the doctor I couldn’t see and got [sic] a no contest,” a stricken Strickland wrote on Instagram shortly afterwards. “The only reason why you took a round from me is because I couldn’t see. I won that fight, the world knows I won that fight.”
[…] While there are many perfectly valid reasons to dislike Justin Trudeau, it’s kinda hilarious fight fans hate him so much since the guy actually knows how to handle himself. Trudeau took judo lessons from his father as a child and picked up boxing in his twenties. He even once worked as a bouncer at a nightclub in Whistler during his ski bum phase, and his big political coming out party was a charity boxing match against Conservative senator Patrick Brazeau back in 2012.
At the time Trudeau was a lowly Liberal MP for a Montreal riding and he clearly wanted to do something about the perception he was just some Little Lord Fauntleroy type born with a silver spoon up his ass who expected to cash in on his famous surname like a common Bush. The much beefier Brazeau, a military veteran and Algonquin First Nation member, was widely expected to beat the shit out of him but Trudeau wore the younger guy down and won by TKO in the third round.
The spectacle of a wealthy white guy knocking an Indigenous person senseless en route to ruling the country was both figuratively and literally on-the-nose as a metaphor for the Canadian identity, but it worked and he became leader of the Liberal party shortly afterward. […]
John Moralessays
:)
birgerjohanssonsays
Tory self-destruction: “What’s This New Plot Against Sunak All About?”
“What’s the queerest country? ”
.https://youtube.com/shorts/xWlrDOuaksg
Canada and the other Nordic countries are doing well. I am surprised Sweden is not on the list.
For the benefit of John Morales: by the ‘other’ nordic countries, I meant other than Sweden, not other than Canada.
😊
birgerjohanssonsays
RU “Offensive” Has Begun LOSING Ground to Ukraine! (A lot of scattered small-scale russian attacks, but drone surveillance coverage is now so dense the russians cannot concentrate large forces without being spotted in advance, getting trashed by Ukrainan artillery)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ITpaDYYBK6E
birgerjohanssonsays
The dinosaurs really fucked us over. Bring on the GM, I wanna live as long as a Galapagos tortoise!
House Republicans on Sunday released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as they vowed to swiftly push forward with election-year efforts to oust him over what they call his failure to manage the U.S.-Mexico border. The rare step against a Cabinet member drew outrage from Democrats and the agency as a politically motivated stunt lacking the constitutional basis to remove Mayorkas from office.
Republicans contend Mayorkas is guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” that amount to a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” on immigration and a “breach of the public trust.” Impeachment, they say, is “Congress’s only viable option.”
“Alejandro N. Mayorkas willfully and systemically refused to comply with the immigration laws, failed to control the border to the detriment of national security, compromised public safety, and violated the rule of law and separation of powers in the Constitution, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States,” the impeachment resolution says.
Only once in American history has a Cabinet secretary been impeached: William Belknap, President Ulysses Grant’s war secretary, in 1876, over kickbacks in government contracts. Going after an official for a policy dispute, in this instance over the claim that Mayorkas is not upholding immigration laws, is unprecedented.
Ever since taking control of the House in 2023, Republicans have pushed to impeach Mayorkas. Sunday’s announcement comes as their other impeachment drive — to impeach Democratic President Joe Biden in relation to his son Hunter’s business dealings — has struggled to advance.
[…] The Republican-controlled House Homeland Security Committee is set to vote Tuesday on the articles of impeachment, aiming to send them to the full House for consideration. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said the House will move forward as soon as possible with a vote after that.
Passage requires only a House majority. The Senate would hold a trial, and a two-thirds vote is required for conviction, an exceedingly unlikely outcome in the Democratic-run Senate.
[…] Even as the House is taking steps to try remove him from office, Mayorkas has been engaged in arduous negotiations with senators seeking to reach a bipartisan deal on border policy. He has won praise from senators for his engagement in the process.
[…] Republicans are attacking Mayorkas even as they have failed to give his department the tools it needs to manage the situation.
“They don’t want to fix the problem; they want to campaign on it. That’s why they have undermined efforts to achieve bipartisan solutions and ignored the facts, legal scholars and experts, and even the Constitution itself in their quest to baselessly impeach Secretary Mayorkas,” the department said in a statement Sunday.
[…] Republicans cite growing numbers of migrants who have at times overwhelmed the capacity of Customs and Border Protection authorities to care and process them. […] In December, arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico reached an all-time high since figures have been released. The backlog of people in immigration court has grown by 1 million over the past budget year.
[…] They also attacked the administration’s use of the humanitarian parole authority, which allows the DHS secretary to admit certain migrants into the country. […]
Democrats, as well as Mayorkas, have argued that it’s not the administration’s policies that are causing people to attempt to migrate to America but that the movement is part of a global mass migration of people fleeing wars, economic instability and political repression. They have argued that Mayorkas is doing the best he can to manage border security but with a system that hasn’t been updated in decades and is chronically underfunded.
The department on Sunday cited high numbers of people being removed from the country, especially over roughly the last six months and its efforts to tackle fentanyl smuggling as proof that DHS is not shirking its border duties. And, they said, no administration has been able to detain every person who crosses the border illegally, citing space capacities. Instead, they focus on those who pose security threats. […]
It was almost 150 years ago when the House voted unanimously to impeach Belknap on five articles of impeachment that he had criminally disregarded his Cabinet duties and used his office for private gain. Belknap had resigned earlier that same day, March 2, 1876. After a trial in the Senate, a majority of senators vote to convict him but they didn’t have enough votes to hit the the necessary two-thirds majority and Belknap was acquitted.
birgerjohanssonsays
Anime is weird. Is this ’empowering’ or ‘misogynic’ ?
Donald Trump threw his lawyer Alina Habba under the bus.
Alina may have lost the case. She may not have the experience that was needed in this very high profile case, probably higher profile than she ever thought she would be involved in at the point. Maybe next time I’ll choose a law firm and lawyer that has some more practical experience in high ticket litigation. But she stood her ground and she learned. Stay strong. MAGA!
Commentary:
[…] On social media, the MAGA morons were trying to spin her massive $83.3 million dollar loss as a victory for Trump because reasons. Her antics were so bad that Carroll got many times over what she asked for. Habba is the Lauren Boebert of lawyers.
[…] yes… Trump just threw her under the bus. His next step will be to sue her for malpractice. You wait.
Everyone who cozies up to Trump thinks they will be the one exception he’ll have and not turn on them. I love it every time it fails. Today is Alina’s day.
Donald Trump’s attorneys did not forget to check a box to request a jury trial in the Trump Organization fraud trial, New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron said this week in an effort to clear up misinformation about the high-profile case.
“We are having a non-jury trial because we are hearing a non-jury case,” Engoron said, according to Yahoo! News and ABC News reports. “It would have not helped to make a motion. Nobody forgot to check off a box.
Trump says “Next time I’ll get a better lawyer.” As if any decent lawyer is going to accept his colicky toddler attitude from a client.
Trump can’t get a better lawyer because he doesn’t pay his bills and he’s a nightmare client who Makes Attorneys Get Attorneys.
Habba’s just lucky she got out of Dodge with nothing but her reputation in tatters. Trump could very well have cost her her license or put her in prison.
——————–
NO lawyer could have gotten him off these charges, and he must have known it. So perhaps he decided to turn the trial into a Trump-circus, and use the publicity to further enrich himself and garner free publicity for his, cough, campaign.
Its quite possible he believed the jury would be entertained and admiring of his revolting antics in & out of the courtroom, and make the award to Ms. Carroll negligible. Kind of like Musk expecting his adoring public to cheer when he makes racist/anti-semitic statements.
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Incompetent counsel is not grounds for appeal in civil trials, only criminal. TFG has no grounds for appeal in this case.
—————————–
Habba definitely helped lose this case, but Trump can take the lion’s share of the blame. First of all, he created the case by continuing to defame Carroll after the first trial. Then he was a flaming *sshole during the trial, and in the final days he insulted both the judge and the jury. Personally, I never blame Tr**p’s lawyers because he refuses to do anything they ask him to do. When a judge says to one of them “Control your client, please”, I just laugh. I don’t feel sorry for them because they chose the gig after having plenty of evidence that it won’t go well, but I don’t hold them responsible for the results in any way. Trump ‘fixes’ everything himself because he’s the only one who can!
———————–
Regardless of the money that the PAC will pay, decent lawyers don’t want the career killing blowback of representing Trump. Unless he is re-elected, he will never get within sniffing distance of a decent attorney ever again.
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Joe Tacopina was the lead attorney in the first Carroll case. He is actually a fairly well-regarded litigator but he lost big time. Then, less than 24 hours after getting slammed with millions in punitive damages, Trump walks out on TV and repeats the exact same offense. Putting Habba in charge of the second trial was like putting a blindfolded preschooler in the pilot’s seat of your airliner and being surprised when you crash. Couldn’t be Trump’s fault. He wasn’t flying the plane.
This isn’t just campaign blather. Although the anticipated impacts of IRA funding have just gotten underway, they are already appreciable. According to ongoing tracking by the nonpartisan trade group Environmental Entrepreneurs, since the IRA’s passage, 274 major clean energy projects have been announced in 41 states, bringing in $110 billion in private investment announcements and the creation of nearly 96,000 jobs.
Since last February and more frequently of late, Vice President Kamala Harris has lauded the administration’s environmental and climate accomplishments, noting that this will mean a government investment of $1 trillion over 10 years. […]
“When the VP references the roughly $1T historic climate investment, she is referencing all of the clean energy, resilience, environmental justice, and innovation funding that is part of our historic effort to address the climate crisis, increase resilience, advance environmental justice, and build a clean energy economy,” a White House spokesperson told E&E News.
Specifically, in addition to the IRA, the number includes: $54 billion from the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 that went toward manufacturing, research and development; more than $530 billion of new spending in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; and funding increases the administration secured at EPA and the departments of Energy, Transportation and Commerce.
That’s not fudging. The quasi-industrial policy provided by this amalgamation is overall a Democratic effort. Although no Republicans voted for the IRA, a few said “aye” for the IIJA, CHIPS, and spending increases in those departments. But most Republicans, like the oligarchs at Goldman-Sachs, et al., bellyache about the IRA being too expensive, and even worse in their view is the whole array of green funding lauded by Harris.
A trillion dollars is a whole lot of money. But over a decade, it averages out to $100 billion a year. What the Pentagon will get in 2024 added to what the Veterans Administration will get totals $1.2 trillion. For one year. So defense against the climate emergency gets 8% of traditional national defense and critics call it too expensive. […]
[…] So, Ukraine has apparently successfully counter-attacked and driven the Russians back almost 2 km from the furthest leading edge of their attack. They are now almost back to their starting point with only about 300 meters to go. This threat to southern Avdiivka is therefore probably neutralized and the situation returns to the status quo […]
[map at the link]
– The yellow line is the main supply route to Zenit, the anchor “fortress” of the S Avdiivka defense.
– The blue Xs represent the likely most forward edge of Russia’s Infantry advance during their attack a couple of days ago.
– The green was the “front line” before the Ukrainian counter-attack.
– The red is the “front line” after the Ukrainian counter-attack.
You can see from the location of those blue Xs what a hurt this Russian position would have put on Zenit had they been able to maintain it. Russia still has a toehold on the north side of the railroad down south, but they would be wise simply to fall back to their previous prepared positions on the south side of that arc-shaped highway.
Historians on Russian TV are bashing Lenin and blaming him for Russia’s problems with its former colonies, since Putin is striving to restore the Russian Empire — not the USSR. Angry pundits demonstrated their imperial mindset in full bloom.
President Joe Biden said the troops were killed by “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” adding that “we are still gathering the facts of this attack.”
Three U.S. troops were killed and 25 were injured following a drone attack on a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border, according to United States Central Command.
These are the first U.S. fatalities in months of strikes by Iranian-backed militant groups since the Israel-Hamas war started on Oct. 7. The troops have not been identified pending notification of next of kin.
[…] The Islamic Resistance in Iraq released a statement Sunday taking credit for four drone attacks on Al-Shaddadi Base in Syria and the Al-Rukban and Al-Tanf bases at the Syria-Jordan border. The fourth attack was on the Zevulun naval facility in Israel.
It’s not clear if the Islamic Resistance in Iraq is responsible for the deaths of the three U.S. troops.
[…] Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who is known for his hawkish foreign policy views, tweeted: “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.” [Typical war mongering from Graham.] […]
South Korea’s customs office has busted a chip smuggling operation that involved 53,000 chips worth $11.6 million, making it by value the biggest chip smuggling bust yet (via BusinessKorea). They found strategic chips using US tech were being routed through Korea to China. This smuggling operation was so massive that an entire company, known only as ‘Company A,’ rather than a single individual was behind it. All executives at the company have been charged by prosecutors for the crime which was perpetrated over three years…
In response to a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing Border Patrol agents to cut razor wire Texas laid along the border with Mexico, right-wing pundits are claiming the Biden administration has sparked a second American Civil War. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, two members of the court’s conservative block, sided with the three liberal justices in ruling for the federal government.
The issue stems from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to stretch razor wire over dozens of miles along the state’s southern border, a cruel policy that has failed in its stated objective of deterring unauthorized border crossings. The Biden administration opposes the measures, and has ordered the Border Patrol to remove the barriers. The stand-off between Border Patrol and the Texas National Guard escalated earlier this month, with federal officials blaming Abbott for the deaths of a mother and her two children who drowned in the Rio Grande. (Texas authorities dispute this version of events.)
[…] This simmering confrontation is the new backdrop for an old story. During election years, conservative media outlets generally ramp up their attacks on immigrants. Separately, over the last year, conservatives have become increasingly comfortable calling for, threatening, or warning about a coming civil war in the country. Responses to the recent court ruling have married these two trends.
[…] former Fox News star Tucker Carlson posted on X (formerly Twitter), asking: “Where are the men of Texas? Why aren’t they protecting their state and the nation?”
The same night, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) wrote that “the feds are staging a civil war, and Texas should stand their ground.”
Then on January 23, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon appeared to favorably reference that post, saying “as Clay Higgins said” there is “kind of a civil war between the federal government and the state of Texas.”
Hours later, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk fantasized about Gov. Abbott openly defying the court’s ruling at the barrel of a gun. [video at the link]
[…] In the same episode, Kirk told his audience that they had “better buy weapons,” and “have a lot of guns at your disposal.”
That afternoon, The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh echoed Kirk. “Red state governors will need to ignore the Supreme Court and do what needs to be done to protect their citizens and the border,” Walsh said. He later added, “The last civil war was unimaginable until it wasn’t.”
In the early evening, Bannon returned to the topic with guest Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). “That Supreme Court decision that was made has now put the federal government at war with the state of Texas,” Greene said.
[…] Blaze TV’s Steve Deace also invoked the memory of the Civil War. “Basically, the Supreme Court has told Texas your choices are: be invaded or secede,” Deace said. [video at the link]
On January 25, Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade adopted the same framing on Fox & Friends. [video at the link]
[…] Fox News sounded little different than the fringe. “This is a constitutional crisis,” said conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in a video titled: “Supreme Court Decision Provokes Civil War in Texas.”
The story was the same in the right-wing blogosphere, too, with conservative news site PJ Media asking, “Is Joe Biden Mounting a Civil War at the Border?”
Conservative influencer Jordan Peterson posted: “So is it the case that @TheDemocrats are truly ready to go to war with Texas?”
While right-wing media figures fantasize about a new civil war, their rhetoric has real implications for immigration policy. They are stoking xenophobia and nativism, and endorsing cruel policies that are already injuring and killing some of the most vulnerable people in the world.
Far-right figures are promoting the convoy and using extreme rhetoric about the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.
Amid an ongoing right-wing media panic about a supposed “invasion” of migrants coming across the southern border, a group of right-wing extremists — including members with ties to QAnon, the election denial movement, and anti-vaccine propagandists — have organized a convoy and series of rallies along the southern border. The “Take Our Border Back Southern Border Convoy” has been amplified and celebrated by right-wing media and political figures as posts promoting it have spread across social media.
[…] The convoy is set to start from Virginia and travel across various locations on the southern U.S. border from January 29 through February 3, with a series of rallies planned along the way. A GiveSendGo fundraising campaign in support of the convoy has already received over $36,000 in donations.
[…] In an interview uploaded to Rumble on January 20, Yeater claimed that migrants at the border are part of a “Trojan horse” of “fighting age men crossing our border.” During a January 24 appearance on Infowars’ The Alex Jones Show, Chambers claimed that “globalists” are using immigration to destabilize the U.S., saying, “This is ‘we’re going to take over your country from within’ stuff,” echoing the white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy theory, which claims that migrants are being purposefully brought to the U.S. to replace white Americans as a new electoral majority
[…] Kim Yeater, one of the convoy organizers who has promoted it in a media appearance, has a history of promoting election denial efforts. Yeater is a radio host and the CEO of Take Our Elections Back, which aims “to restore the integrity of America’s voting system.” She has also promoted multiple events held by election denier Mike Lindell. On an episode of her radio show, Yeater said there is “not even a question anymore, there’s election fraud. Period,” adding that it would be “a problem” if voting machines were used in future elections.
Discussing the federal response to January 6, convoy organizer and promotor Mark Anthony expressed that the convoy would be heavily protected and only going to places where local law enforcement is “on board.” […] Anthony stated that “January 6, that scared the hell out of everyone. I mean scared them to the point they feel like they didn’t want to do anything because they’re scared about the government coming after them.” Anthony added, “Every place that we have, we’ve gotten in with the sheriffs, we’ve gotten in with the local police departments, and these people are on board. Even Border Patrol.”
Convoy organizer Peter Chambers, a former Green Beret who claims he retired because of “the mandates for the vaccines,” is also sponsoring the convoy through his Remnant A-Team ministry. Chambers became an anti-vaccine figure during the COVID-19 pandemic and appeared in the anti-vaccine propaganda film Died Suddenly, produced by conspiracy theorist Stew Peters. […]
Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) promoted the convoy on X (formerly Twitter), saying “The time is NOW to take action and secure our borders!” Self provided specific dates and locations of the convoy […]
One America News host Alison Steinberg promoted the convoy, showing its flier during the January 25 episode of In Focus. Steinberg also said that the convoy would be “adding to the escalation,” asking, “Is this a constitutional crisis? Could this be a match that ignites a civil war?
[…] In an appearance on Fox Business, Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) welcomed the convoy to her state, saying: “Bring those beautiful, huge semis, those 18-wheeler bad boys down here to protect our border. … I hope it is a fantastic convoy. […] I mean, they’re even talking about having folks from Canada now come down because they see the damage that is being caused. So yeah, bring those bad boys down to our coast.” [video at the link]
[…] Right-wing influencer account “Trucker Jake,” who claims that he will be joining the convoy, has repeatedly shared the link to the official website. In one post discussing the convoy, the account claimed that migrants coming across the border “are not economic refugees. They are all criminals, and they all need to go back.”
On fringe social media platforms Truth Social, Gab, and GETTR, users have widely shared the link to the convoy’s website.
Details of the convoy have also been posted to a number of public and private Facebook groups. One post celebrating the convoy stated that it was “Doing the lord’s work!!!”
Maegan Hanson became a librarian because of her love of reading. Her favorite part of her job is helping people discover their next favorite book.
Hanson is the Buhl Public Library director, doubling as its children’s librarian. She has worked in libraries for more than 15 years, and her library serves rural Idahoans in a region where only 40% of the population has access to Wi-Fi.
But in her one year serving as library director, she said she regularly considers leaving the profession because of the stress and exhaustion she feels from the state’s increasingly antagonistic rhetoric against librarians.
Hanson is not alone in this feeling. Through an informal survey, interviews and rallies, many Idaho librarians have voiced a sense of demoralization in response to legislation directly impacting their profession.
[…] Hanson faces a shortage of staff and a perpetual need to train new workers after several of her colleagues have departed because of the stress caused from library-related bills making their way through the Idaho Legislature. To add to her challenges, an elected official during a town hall meeting referred to her as a “groomer.” Moreover, she said that legislation establishing an “adults only” section would be impractical in her small, one-room library.
While those bills’ legislative sponsors have said their goal is to protect children from mature content, Idaho librarians — like Hanson — said they are coping with the possibility of new laws that could drastically change the way they cater their content to youth.
“I could go to a bigger town, a smaller town, or the same size of town and get paid triple of what I’m getting paid now to work somewhere else, but I don’t want to do that,” she said. “I want to set roots and raise my family here. But if this is the climate, I genuinely don’t know how long we can sustain the good work that we’re doing.”
According to the American Library Association, there were at least five bills introduced last year in Idaho focused on codifying library selection policy and restricting library content for minors. And this year, library-related legislation, through bills House Bill 384 and Senate Bill 1221, is once again a focal point for Idaho legislators.
Of those bills, House Bill 384 sparked significant controversy among Idahoans.
[…] The bill would have allowed library patrons to sue libraries if they provide “harmful materials” to minors. It would have also created a policy that requires community members fill out a written notice asking libraries to relocate a library item that they deem “harmful” to an adult’s only section. If a library failed to relocate the item within 30 days, then one could have sued the library for $250, as well as “actual damages and any other relief.”
[…] Erin Kennedy is the intellectual freedom chair for the Idaho Library Association based in Boise. Having spent part of her childhood in Cascade, where she would spend her teen years at Cascade Public Library, Kennedy said rural libraries would still be most impacted by fines in library-related legislation.
“It’s a very small, one-room library,” she said of the Cascade library. “Any amount of money is harmful to those libraries that don’t have a budget to purchase books. It might only be $250 for one book plus $1,000 in legal fees, but that’s still a significant impact to our smaller, rural libraries.”
[…] Ada Community Library director, Mary DeWalt, told the Idaho Capital Sun that she is concerned about paying for legal representation because of how library-related legislation is impacting her library’s insurance policies. […] if a patron were to file a tort claim against the library under allegations of providing items “harmful to a minor,” legal representation through the insurance program would no longer be available. […]
More details are available at the link, including information that shows conservative groups in Idaho have targeted literature related to LGBTQ+ communities.
If rural libraries close, and dedicated librarians are replaced by less-qualified ones who focus on promoting right-wing propaganda, and fewer dollars go to books because more dollars are going to lawyers — well, let’s face it, that’s what MAGA wants.
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I grew up in a small town near Post Falls, where the library in the linked article about North Idaho is located. We had a library that was open for 4 hours a week, on Friday afternoon. I suspect the librarian was a volunteer. One of my greatest pleasures was choosing books from the library every week and learning about history and about people who were not part of small town Idaho. I doubt there was much sexual content in any of the books located there, except the Bible of course. It is so infuriating that the right wing is so influential in making the world such a mean place.
Kristi Noem is an idiot, but she’s thin and white so that’s good enough in America for her to run one of the Dakotas. She almost killed most of her constituents with COVID and now she’s hankering to get them into a civil war with the United States.
The South Dakota governor bragged on Fox News, which she later shared on her Xitter account, that she’s willing to load up a pickup truck with razor wire and drive down to Texas herself as a show of support for Gov. Greg Abbott. […]
Yeah, those past couple paragraphs weren’t kind, but Noem snapped my last nerve like a twig when she turned up on Fox News again wearing a badass grandma hat and spouting absolute nonsense. [video at the link]
“Texas and those 13 original colonies would have never signed the treaty that formed the first Constitution of the United States if they didn’t think their right to protect themselves and defend their own people was protected,” Noem said.
Look, Kristi Noem is just an average American who delivers razor wire to homicidal governors. Still, you’d think she’d have some grasp of basic US history, the type of facts that small children learn through nursery rhymes.
The 13 original colonies were Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia. Texas was not one of them. Texas was part of Spain during the Revolutionary War and when the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777. Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821 after a bloody war. Its territory included Texas.
The Republic of Texas would declare its independence from Mexico in 1836. At least, that’s what whitewashed history teaches. As I wrote back in 2021, when Abbott established his BS 1836 Project:
What really happened is that an increasingly large population of American settlers waged an armed rebellion against the centralist Mexican government. Immigration to Texas was opened to Americans in 1820, and by 1835 there were 10 times more Americans than Mexicans in Texas. Mexico should’ve built a wall.
A major catalyst for the Texas Revolution was — you guessed it! — slavery. The Texas economy was dependent on cotton, which was only profitable when enslaved people picked it for free. Vicente Guerrero, then president of the Republic of Mexico, declared that all enslaved people were emancipated, and those were fighting words for Anglo settlers.
Texas was admitted into the union as the 28th state in 1845 — just under the wire on December 29. The process took almost a decade because of squabbles over slavery. Eventually, the enslavers won out and Texas entered the US as a slave state. Considering the sheer size of Texas (an estimated population of 125,000 people), this set the clock ticking on the inevitable Civil War. When Texas seceded from the union just more than 15 years later, it declared:
The Federal Government, while but partially under the control of these our unnatural and sectional enemies, has for years almost entirely failed to protect the lives and property of the people of Texas against the Indian savages on our border, and more recently against the murderous forays of banditti from the neighboring territory of Mexico; and when our State government has expended large amounts for such purpose, the Federal Government has refused reimbursement therefor, thus rendering our condition more insecure and harrassing than it was during the existence of the Republic of Texas.
Some things never change, including the scope of Kristi Noem’s ignorance and stupidity.
After the adrenaline of reading about stupid evil bigots, here is a calming animal rescue video.
SaveAFox: ‘Animals react to me coming home!!’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3js09QIVQ1o
First she has to bottle-feed a jackal pup while the fennec fox Fawzi goes absolutely batshit crazy (they both pee everywhere) next morning its time to greet all the other rescues…
birgerjohanssonsays
Germany: the far-right party AfD lost the important election in Thuringia. In Finland the presidential election ended with no candidate reaching 50% , so there will be a new election with the two major candidates facing off.
birgerjohanssonsays
Despite appearences, Swedish politics are rather stable and boring. Meanwhile, the Argentinian president is getting instructions from a dead dog (Trump would of course not take advice from anything outside himself-I don’t know if that counts as a plus or a minus in this case ).
Revered Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is set to make her Grammy Awards performance debut next Sunday.
A statement from Grammys organizer the Recording Academy says the performance at this year’s ceremony will mark Mitchell’s first at the awards after nine wins and 18 previous nominations.
The 80-year-old is nominated in the best folk album category for Joni Mitchell at Newport, a live album recorded in June 2022…
Honey Kisaragi, who transforms into the busty […] heroine Cutie Honey to fight […] the transformation involves the temporary loss of all her clothing […] the first female to be the protagonist of a shōnen manga series [for teen boys]
[…]
a regular, 16-year-old Catholic schoolgirl […] learns she is actually an android […] The [70s] TV series is much tamer than the manga version, removing much of the violence, gross out humor and lesbian undertones
Cutey Honey has one of the strangest target histories […] originally conceived as a simultaneous manga and anime medium for a [teen girl] Shōjo demographic, focused on romance and lacking any nudity or excessive violence; in fact, Honey herself owed her transformations to a smart way to sell Barbie-inspired changing dolls
[…]
However, due to a timeslot change, the unproduced anime ended up slated to debut in a Shōnen hour show […] they had to change the tone to make it more appealing to a male audience. Thus, they added more action and much more nudity, especially but not limited to Honey’s transformation sequences, and so the tone for Cutey Honey was set. The resultant anime ended up getting cancelled over its then-racy content, but ironically […] it was just tame and pretty enough to attract an unexpected number of younger female fans
[…]
the Magical Girl Warrior. Most anime of that ilk owe a lot to […] the visual tropes done in Cutey Honey
[…]
most […] revivals and various manga taking an even more Fanservice route.
Dear Lynna, I know this infinite thread will roll over to a new one soon. But, this topic BIT a friend of mine and I just want you, PZ and anyone else looking for a usb cable to be aware of this.
https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-protect-devices-from-fake-usb-omg-cable/
An O.MG cable is a hacking tool that looks and acts like a standard USB cable that houses a special hidden implant allowing a cracker to steal your data, inject mouse inputs, log in your keystrokes, and deploy dangerous payloads. The O.MG cable can be configured to have a combination of USB-A, USB-C, USB Micro, and Lightning interface, which can be used for Android and iOS.
Debt-ridden Chinese property giant Evergrande has been ordered to liquidate by a court in Hong Kong.
Judge Linda Chan said “enough is enough” after the property giant failed to come up with a restructuring proposal.
Evergrande has been the poster child of China’s real estate crisis with over $325bn (£256bn) of liabilities.
When Evergrande defaulted two years ago it sent shockwaves through global financial markets.
The decision is likely to send ripples through China’s financial markets at a time when authorities are trying to curb a stock market sell-off.
Evergrande shares fell by more than 20% in Hong Kong after the announcement. Trading in the shareshas now been suspended.
China’s property sector contributes roughly a quarter of the world’s second biggest economy.
Liquidation is a process where a company’s assets are seized and sold off. The proceeds can then be used to repay outstanding debts.
However, whether this process is followed may depend on the Chinese government and the liquidation order does not necessarily mean that Evergrande will go bust and collapse.
The case was brought by one of its investors, Hong Kong-based Top Shine Global, in June 2022 which said that Evergrande had not honoured an agreement to buy back shares.
But what they owed is a fraction of Evergrande’s total debts.
The vast majority of the money it owes is to lenders in mainland China who have limited legal avenues to demand their money.
More at the link.
John Moralessays
For those who aren’t into propagandistic, slanted sites: Anders Puck Nielsen has made a good video about the possibility of “war” between Russia and NATO, Vlad Vexler has made one about the political significance of that, and Perun has summed-up the last phase of the war and the state of things in his usual inimitable Powerpoint method.
I’m not linking, but easy enough to find for whoever cares and is not clueless.
Also, other errors aside, I am amused by the title of your adduced article:
“How to Protect Your Devices From a Fake USB O.MG Cable”.
Think about it.
If it’s not an ‘X’, it’s a fake X. And here, in “Fake USB O.MG Cable”, X=’USB O.MG Cable’.
Get it? A “Fake USB O.MG Cable” is not an USB O.MG Cable, else it would not be a fake.
So it’s a not-fake USB O.MG Cable with which your friend was allegedly bitten, if one actually reads properly.
(Thus my allusion to the other errors in that adduced article)
birgerjohanssonsays
“David Frum on What Happened to Republicans”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=P-sU1ilJ904
I am aware of Frum’s past as a hawk during Dubya. But I like the phrase “DeSantis campaigned on a galaxy of the dumbest things”. Frum is a relic of the often reprehensible but rarely downright insane part of the GOP.
Google has just unveiled a game-changing AI upgrade for Android. But it has a darker side. Google’s AI will start to read and analyze your private messages, going back forever. So what does this mean for you, how do you maintain your privacy, and when does it begin…
A Swiss quantum algorithm startup, Terra Quantum, and a research lab at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil claim that they have discovered a form of graphite that superconducts at ambient temperature and pressure…
I value what PZ, Lynna and the positive commenters contribute here. I thought that my comment would be helpful and welcomed. But, it appears that I shouldn’t bother trying to make a positive contribution here, because no matter what I say, my remarks will always be personally heckled by a small-minded, nit-picking troll.
shermanj @471, thanks for posting that. I was not aware that those cables existed: “O.MG cables are USB cables that allow hackers to steal your information” as the article states. Better to be aware.
As far as “trolls,” there will probably always be some posts on this thread with which you disagree, or posts with a tone that you may find irritating. My advice is to ignore them.
Most of the time, we don’t nitpick. Most of the time, we present and discuss interesting, entertaining or even crucial information.
In reference to the E. Jean Carroll case against Donald Trump, Nikki Haley spoke out during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and told host Kristen Welker, “I absolutely trust the jury. … I think that they made their decision based on the evidence.”
I think that’s a good way to put it. It was not Joe Biden, as Trump claimed. It was also not a judge that was biased against Trump (as he claimed), it was in fact a jury. Earlier, a jury found Trump had sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll and that Trump had subsequently lied about that event, including lies that defamed Carroll. Later, a JURY penalized Trump by awarding Carroll over $83 million in damages, including $65 million in punitive damages.
Despite taking an unfortunate tumble on the lunar surface, Japan’s lunar lander has regained power more than a week after ending up face down on the Moon.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced on Sunday that it had established communication with its Moon mission and resumed its operations. SLIM’s multiband spectroscopic camera (MBC) was even used to snap a photo of a rock dubbed “toy poodle” on the lunar surface, the space agency wrote on X.
SLIM, short for Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, touched down on the Moon on Friday, January 19, making Japan the fifth country to successfully put a spacecraft on the dusty lunar surface. About three hours after landing, however, JAXA was forced to shut down the spacecraft’s system because SLIM’s solar cells were not generating enough electricity.
One of SLIM’s two main thrusters may have failed during the final landing phase, causing the lander to end up in an awkward position with its thrusters pointed upward and its solar arrays facing west, away from the Sun. The lander was supposed to first land with its thrusters facing down toward the lunar surface; then, a small thruster burn was meant to tip SLIM onto its side…
Keeping up with MAGA insanity is beyond the capacity of any one human. One can only select some of the more zany things to show there is nothing so whackadoodle that these batfecalmaterial crazy lunatics won’t believe it. Everything that doesn’t go their way is rigged, from the election to the NFL.
Their evidence? Pfft, it is as plain and clear as the toes on a turtle. The Kansas City Chiefs are going to the Super Bowl. Why are they going to the Super Bowl? Well, it has nothing to do with solid quarterback play. It’s for no other reason than to boost woke singing superstar Taylor Swift. MAGAs hate Swift, Swift loves the Chiefs (or is at least dating one), so if the Chiefs win MAGAs lose and if MAGAs lose it must be rigged.
Yes, this theory is seriously all over the MAGA Twitter-verse (or X-verse if you prefer, but that sounds like a Marvel movie). Here are some actual examples of the whackadoodle doodling. [alarming examples at the link]
[…] girlfriend happy for boyfriend (who had a great game) = sinister conspiracy. [photos at the link]
[…] As silly as this is it is actually a telling commentary on the flimsy crap these people will claim proves fraud, whether it be an election or a football game. The “evidence” in both cases is the same, a result they don’t like. If something happens these people don’t like, no matter what it is, they claim it is the result of fraud. What will it take for the little MAGA boy to cry fraud once too often?
Diplomacy and negotiations, abroad or at home, require “honest brokers” who will at the very least negotiate in good faith. The Sunday shows demonstrated how a lack of honesty can impede progress, on crises real or manufactured.
Republicans Won’t Take ‘Yes’ For An Answer
Oklahoma Senator […] James Lankford urged his fellow Republicans to take the deal on a bipartisan border security bill they’ve convinced President Biden to possibly sign. [video at the link]
Republicans have screamed so much about a “crisis” for so long that they convinced political media to accept this as reality despite border stats.
Lankford couldn’t hide his glee (or what passes for such for him) over what Republicans are getting on CBS’ “Face The Nation.”
LANKFORD: Yeah, this is similar to what we had to under Title 42, during the pandemic time period […]
Yep! GOP is getting all the immigration enforcement of Title 42 without pretending it has anything to with a pandemic. They can be xenophobic without having to pretend it’s altruistic.
But there is one major gag-inducing complication: Donald Trump.
On “Fox News Sunday,” Lankford tried explaining to its audience this is what they wanted, despite it coming from Biden, in rare moment of policy consistency and disbelief at his own party. [video at the link]
SHANNON BREAM (HOST): Why give Biden this in an election year? […] He gets to take a victory lap. […]
LANKFORD: […] Republicans four months ago would not give funding for Ukraine, Israel and for our southern border because we demanded changes in policy […] and now a few months later, when we are finally at the end, they’re like, “Oh just kidding, I actually don’t want a change in law because it’s a presidential election year.” […]
But mere minutes later, Florida Senator and wrong grail chalice drinker Rick Scott came on to deflate Lankford’s efforts. [video at the link]
SCOTT: […] Democrats don’t want to secure the border and [Mitch] McConnell has told Lankford that he cannot put accountability measures in there to require Biden to secure the border today. […]
The idea that McConnell — of all the evil scum to have ever been a powerful Republican — would cede anything to Biden or any Democratic lawmaker is a hilariously sad lie from Scott.
See, the bill actually outlines that the border can be totally shut down if certain thresholds are met. A “total and complete shutdown […] until we can figure out the hell is going on,” if you will, but without need of SCOTUS this time. But Scott now wants to add a poison pill so Trump can run on this.
McConnell and other Republicans are freaking out that Trump is about to ratfuck their argument on the border. […]
More at the link, including how impressed Republicans voters are when their representatives lower standards even further. “It’s Trump’s cruelty they like. It’s a cult of personality and not even the good kind.”
Thank you Lynna,
Good advice. I try not to be ‘thin-skinned’ and I know most people commenting here are more focused on the important topics and I hope childish bickering will be avoided since it wastes time detracts from the credibility of pharyngula. I will continue to read PZ’s posts and the valuable things you make available here, but, I’ll avoid feeding the few trolls.
stay safe.
[…] when a lawyer representing SpaceX went and tried to claim that the National Labor Relations Board was unconstitutional, it wasn’t all that surprising. Of course lawyers representing Elon Musk would advocate for something so ridiculous and, frankly, offensive, as that.
Unfortunately, a lawyer representing Trader Joe’s grocery stores argued that same nonsense in court last week.
Despite its progressive-seeming image and cute recycled reusable bags, Trader Joe’s has been engaged in some pretty serious union-busting activity in the past few years. Thus, they ended up in front of the NLRB last week to defend themselves against charges of illegal retaliation and union-busting, including firing at least one worker for supporting the union and punishing stores that have chosen to unionize.
Here are just some of the complaints the company is being charged with, according to a transcript of the hearing.
– Starting 20 days before the Hadley, Massachusetts store’s union vote (Hadley was the first store to unionize), “store managers discriminatorily enforced its overbroad appearance policy, threatening to send home and threatening to issue negative appraisals, which typically result in the denial of a raise, 18 times” and even sent two employees home for wearing pro-union buttons
– The “Captain” of the Hadley store and a vice-president from corporate told employees that joining a union would ruin their relationship with management and that “the composition of the stores managers would change and conditions would deteriorate should the employees choose representation.”
– They immediately gave one of the workers unionizing the Hadley store his first write-up in the 13 years he’d worked there, for accidentally missing a package of deli meat when wringing a customer up. The employee in question was a particularly compelling advocate, as he had lost his Trader Joe’s health insurance after being diagnosed with cancer.
– You know the hand-drawn signs everywhere around the stores? Well, the company announced that it would no longer allocate time for sign-making, and yet somehow still expected it to get done. Sign artist and union supporter Steven Andrade, who had only ever received glowing reviews, was written up for leaving the cash register during a slow period to go make the signs. Andrade was also denied a raise, he was told, due to his “skepticism” about the new approach to sign-making. He was ultimately fired for not removing a “small power tool that had been in the store for nearly a decade, that had been purchased by the store, and had last been used by a store supervisor” from the back room.
– The company punished unionized stores by purposely providing them with lesser 401K packages than stores that did not unionize.
Rather than suggesting that the charges themselves do not have merit, Christopher Murphy, the lawyer representing Trader Joe’s at the hearing, announced that his defense will be that the NLRB should not exist and is unconstitutional.
[…] NLRB Judge Charles Muhl […], was not amused.
“I’m certainly not going to be ruling on my own constitutionality anytime soon,” he told Murphy. “So you’ll have to take that up with the board and the federal courts.”
This comes on the heels of the Supreme Court agreeing to hear a case challenging the Chevron deference doctrine — which gives federal agencies like the EPA and the NLRB the right to rule on issues specific to their purview. This ensures that a judge hearing a labor complaint is an actual expert on labor law, which all judges may not be. It’s all part of a right-wing effort to dismantle regulations, so that companies may poison the water we drink and screw over their workers in peace.
No one wants to feel gross about going to Trader Joe’s, especially given that they are one of the more affordable options for grocery stores right now. The fact is, there’s no chance they will win this and every chance they will turn a lot of customers off in the process. So sure, maybe they saved some money somewhere by firing or punishing unionizing workers, but they may end up losing a lot more in the long run if people feel like they’re exploiting workers while they’re just trying to buy their cookie butter ice cream.
Reginald Selkirksays
@487:
The conspiracy runs deep. The KC Chiefs went to the Super Bowl three times in the last 5 years, winning it twice. Obviously this was done to make the recent Swift promotion believable.
Deep Sea Vision, an ocean exploration company based in South Carolina, announced Saturday that it captured compelling sonar images of what could be Earhart’s aircraft at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
The discovery was made possible by a high-tech unmanned underwater drone and a 16-member crew, which surveyed more than 5,200 square miles of ocean floor between September and December.
The team spotted the plane-shaped object between Australia and Hawaii, about 100 miles off Howland Island, which is where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were supposed to refuel but never arrived.
The shape of the object in the sonar images closely resembles Earhart’s aircraft, a Lockheed Electra, both in size and tail. Deep Sea Vision founder, Tony Romeo, said he was optimistic in what they found.
“All that combined, you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that this is not an airplane and not Amelia’s plane,” he said.
The Deep Sea Vision team plans to investigate the area where the images were taken some time this year, Romeo added…
All they have now is a sonar image. Get back to me when they have sent some divers or an ROV down there.
In an interview with CBS Miami on Sunday, host Jim DeFede asked Salazar about her votes against three bills: an omnibus bill to fund the government for 2023, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Altogether, the bills account for roughly $3.1 trillion in government spending, some of which has benefited Salazar’s district.
In one case, first reported by Business Insider, Salazar posed with a giant $650,000 check for a small business program development program that was funded by the 2023 omnibus.
But in the interview, Salazar indicated several times that she did not recall how she voted on all three of those bills.
“Right now, you have to give me more details,” said Salazar, later adding: “I need to ask my staff.” …
More than two dozen United States historians have filed a brief with the Supreme Court in support of efforts by Colorado and other states to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot, arguing that the Constitution’s insurrection clause applies to the former president and front-runner for the GOP nomination.
The filing was signed by 25 decorated historians whose areas of expertise include “the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Southern ‘redemption,’ and American history more broadly, including politics, voting, and elections.” …
Three years after the military seized power in a coup, defectors report dire morale as the regime suffers humiliating losses of men and arms, with even generals surrendering to the rebels…
Former President Donald Trump is attempting to take credit for a healthy stock market despite having been out of office for a full three years now…
On Friday, U.S. stocks hit a record high for five straight days and cinched a 12th winning week out of the past 13 ― good news for the economy, and presumably for President Joe Biden…
“This is the Trump stock market because my polls against Biden are so good that investors are projecting that I will win, and that will drive the market up,” Trump wrote in a post on Monday…
Now that the retired federal judge babysitting the Trump Organization has uncovered potential tax fraud at the company, the Trumps responded over the weekend by tasking their own accountant as a monitor that monitors the court monitor.
In an indignant court filing Monday morning, a lawyer for the Trumps for the first time launched an all-out attack on Judge Barbara S. Jones—calling her latest report on the family company an absolute lie, a cheap attempt to justify her government-mandated job, and a last-minute ploy to bolster the New York Attorney General’s bank fraud case that just wrapped up.
“Further oversight is unwarranted and will only unjustly enrich the monitor as she engages in some ‘Javert’ like quest,” he wrote, making a reference to the fictional French law enforcement officer in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, who’s defined by his obsessive pursuit and lack of empathy.
The Trumps also complained about the $2.6 million they’ve had to pay Jones to do her job, dismissing her findings wholesale.
“That the monitor seeks to now perpetuate this folly is beyond the pale,” wrote Clifford S. Robert, who represents the Trump family.
The counterpunch [eyeroll] comes just days after Jones revealed a bombshell about former President Donald Trump’s finances. In the run-up to the AG’s trial against the Trumps for lying about real estate values, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur F. Engoron ordered that a court monitor watch over the sprawling family company to ensure it doesn’t shift or hide assets ahead of a potentially huge judgment that could cripple the business empire. Since then, Jones has issued nearly half a dozen reports indicating that, for the most part, all is well.
That is, until Friday, when she updated Engoron with a report that, as The Daily Beast first reported, suggested Trump lied for years about a supposed personal loan he made to one of his own companies—sleight of hand that may have allowed him to dodge taxes on nearly $50 million in income.
“When I inquired about this loan, I was informed that there are no loan agreements that memorialize the loan, but that it was a loan that was believed to be between Donald J. Trump, individually, and Chicago Unit Acquisition for $48 million,” she wrote.
That tiny footnote made big news Friday afternoon—just as Trump lost his second rape defamation trial and was ordered to pay $83 million to the journalist E. Jean Carroll.
The Trumps’ lawyer pushed back on that report Monday morning, labeling her assertion a “demonstrable falsehood”—and calling into question her ability to do her job.
…
However, Justice Engoron is likely to view that with suspicion. He spent years forcing the Trumps to turn over evidence, has seen documented evidence of the billionaire lying about the size of a Trump Tower triplex, and has repeatedly deemed their experts and testimony as unreliable at trial. On top of that, the Trump Organization is currently in hot water for faking internal paperwork related to its legal work and expenses—the very reason that Trump is facing 34 felony charges from the Manhattan District Attorney over the cover-up of his alleged sexual affair with the porn star Stormy Daniels, a trial set to start in March.
…
So far, the period reports issued by Jones have been muted, failing to reveal much of anything spicy or salacious. The closest they came to that was in November, when she caught Trump quietly moving $40 million from the Trump Organization into a personal bank account, apparently to cover a whopping $29 million tax bill. But even that didn’t hint at any wrongdoing.
But with her latest report, Jones has struck a nerve—and the Trumps are quickly scrambling to cut her loose.
In the closing pages of his Monday court filing, Robert downplayed her nearly year-long investigation as nothing more than a costly exercise in hunting for minor mistakes that don’t amount to anything. And he called her recent findings “self-serving hyperbole.”
“The monitor has thus far been paid over $2.6 million in the past 14-months to ‘uncover’ seven immaterial disclosure items, three irrelevant inconsistencies and five clerical errors,” he wrote. “The court therefore must and should end this abusive and costly process.”
Link
Oh dear, such a bad idea: As senators move toward the finish line on a bipartisan deal on immigration and border policies, Mike Johnson is talking to Donald Trump about killing it.
I see that the previous chapter of The Infinite Thread filled up with 500 comments, and then it automatically rolled over to begin anew with comment #1.
For the convenience of readers, here are a few links back to the previous chapter:
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/01/07/infinite-thread-xxx/comment-page-1/#comment-2208084
The judge overseeing the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump has rejected his request to hold special counsel Jack Smith and his office in contempt.
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/01/07/infinite-thread-xxx/comment-page-1/#comment-2208064
Missouri abortion rights groups launch effort to place constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/01/07/infinite-thread-xxx/comment-page-1/#comment-2208031
Gorsuch Gleefully Leads Right-Wing Cohort In Fulfilling Their Federalist Society Quest
Link
Oh yeah. In Oklahoma’s Republican-dominated legislature, does that count as time well spent?
Trump Lawyer Alina Habba Tricked Sexual Harassment Victim Into Signing Illegal NDA.
@498, 499
Um, because it would be good for the country?
@Lynna, OM #3
I was a wildcat in high school. My mom and dad were a bulldogs.
Pakistan launches retaliatory strikes into Iran, killing nine people
(Imagine the loud purring of a content cat)
“Tories In Tailspin With Latest Polling”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3XqIro1r_BY
Sugar alcohol can cause digestive problems.
.Sabine Hossenfelder: “Sugar Alcohols Ruined My Health: Learn from My Mistakes”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=K5v61YtDYo4
Thailand: Man jailed for 50 years for defaming monarchy
Butts are amazing! 4 surprising facts about backsides
Reginald Selkirk @ 11
….hehehe, they said “butts”!
För some reason, this makes me think of Trump voters.
Beavis & Butt-head: “DESTROOOOYYY!!!”
.https://youtube.com/shorts/GfoarKJ_Gsw
..I would not call this alternative narrative “good”, but it is better than in the prequels.
“Exploring Xeno City, Home of the Space Jockey”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=NjezTf9ytug
Congress votes to avert a shutdown just 1 day before deadline
Cartoon: Mike Luckovich on Trump’s testimony
Georgia Bureau of Investigation Puts Fani Willis Rumor to Rest
Ukrainian drones hit oil depot in St Petersburg
Re: Lynna, OM @ #14…
At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Federal spending authority runs on continuing resolutions until next January when the next Congress is seated. As regular business (e.g. passing normal funding bills) appears to be impossible with the antics of the “Freedom” caucus tail wagging the House dog, CRs seem to be only way to keep anything going.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-demands-forever-immunity-even
whheydt @18, yep. Maybe. Your prediction is plausible. Still, I don’t like it. How can government agencies plan ahead if their funding is in jeopardy every few months? And how will aid to Ukraine be funded if there’s all this squabbling coming from the far right legislators?
Re: Lynna, OM @ #20…
Those are very good questions….and I don’t have any answers to them.
Associated Press:
Followup to comment 22.
NBC News:
NBC News:
Colbert:…Trump Brags About His Cognitive Test | Judge Scolds Trump’s Lawyer | Pope Says Sex Is A Gift From God/ Stephen Colbert And God Have A Talk
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=TkjIfMKWQBY
[Thanks, birgerjohansson. Appreciate the effort, even if others don’t]
Apologies, if someone has already shared this here but in case not Cody’s youtube clip ‘Democrats: Maybe Hold A Primary Perhaps Possibly?’ – Some More News which is 42 minutes long.
Compelling unemployed people to widen their job search is often counterproductive, researcher finds
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-compelling-unemployed-people-widen-job.html
(Naah, as Maggie Thatcher knew, unemployed peons are just lazy )
Virginia Commonwealth University:
New research promotes a business paradigm shift that emphasizes people, not just profit
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-business-paradigm-shift-emphasizes-people.html
Fake news! And it comes from a ‘commonwealth university’ which is almost spelled like ‘comminism’, I rest my kase!!! MAGA!
TSMC tandem builds exotic new memory with radically lower latency and power consumption — MRAM-Based memory can also conduct its own compute operations
Watch Now as Japan Faces ’20 Minutes of Terror’ in Its Quest for a Pinpoint Moon Landing
The livretream of the lunar landing started 13 minutes ago.
There is an English speaker who comments live.
The landing should be ca. one hour from now!
With a delay of just 1.3 seconds from the moon it is almost instantaneous (and since there is no crew, there is no 10-second delay).
Myself @ 32
ERRATUM! Wrong time zone! I have to double-check everything. If it is at Saturday Japanese time it will be early morning in Europe and evening in USA…
I can never remember the abbreviations for the time zones, except Greenwich time.
No, my first message was correct. Landing in less than 40 minutes according to comments at Youtube
I read it as 3.20 afternoon Greenwich time.
Judge denies Trump’s request to hold Jack Smith in contempt in federal 2020 election case
Bill that would have removed ‘first cousins’ from Ky. incest law was ‘inadvertent change,’ lawmaker says
The lander is down in the lunar surface and telemetry is coming in. Unfortunately the bandwidth is not enough to provide live TV coverage from the moon.
OK they are using the telemetry to check the status of the lander. At some point there will be a press conference, as of 15.30 Greenwich time the livestream is closing down.
@31, etc
Japan’s “Moon sniper” mission aims for precise lunar landing
Japan’s lunar lander is on the moon, but its status is unclear
Some political campaign news tidbits, as summarized by Steve Benen:
Republican officials who stand in Donald Trump’s way or draw his ire are confronting a radical new normal in GOP politics: threats of physical violence.
2,000-year-old beach house discovered during building work
Super rich CEOs: ‘It won’t be the end of the world’ if Trump wins
Dog Helps Rescue Owner From Frozen Michigan Lake
Trump smiles as No Labels works to put him back in the White House
Estonia expels Russian head of church
Good News:
Link
Embedded links to sources are available at the main link. More details regarding work to reduce bank overdraft fees also available at the link.
Fulton DA accuses special prosecutor’s wife of ‘interfering’ with Trump probe
Judge in Trump’s Georgia case orders DA to respond to allegations of impropriety
@3
Lawmaker JJ Humphrey seeks punishments for ‘acts of terrorism’ and defines terrorist as ‘any person who is of Hispanic descent’
https://www.wonkette.com/p/we-need-to-talk-about-fani
More than 50 dead, 95 million under winter weather alerts as Arctic cold blankets the nation
Yikes. And she is only 17 years old:
Link
Like father, like son: Jeffrey Dahmer’s claims about evolution in light of Lionel Dahmer’s creationism
Navy Submarine Just Tested A Torpedo Tube-Recovered Drone
Germany demonstrates passive radar system using Starlink satellite radiation
Kentucky city beckons space alien visitors by beaming laser invitation toward nearby star
Bigfoot sightings go up along with black bear populations
The World Hasn’t Seen Cicadas Like This Since 1803
Brood XIX
Brood XIII
The major cicada broods fall into either 13 year cycles or 17 year cycles. You can probably guess their biological chronometer is based on 4N+1.
Trump-backed Ohio Senate candidate shredded documents as he faced a lawsuit accusing him of wage theft
House Republicans take another stab at cutting Social Security
See also: House panel advances debt commission without shields for Medicare, Social Security
Excerpt:
Medias Touch Network:
“Consumer Sentiment Skyrockets As Americans Feel The Strong Economy”
(various positive statistics etc, so bad for SSAT presidential campaign)
.https://www.meidastouch.com/news/consumer-sentiment-skyrockets-as-americans-feel-the-strong-economy
New Oklahoma bill would force journalists to be licensed by the state
Link
No One Needs To Lie About Fentanyl To Make It Seem More Bad, It’s Already Bad
But that is, unfortunately, what a Sonoma County PSA did.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/no-one-needs-to-lie-about-fentanyl
Washington State Department of Health:
UC Davis Health News:
CNBC:
Consumer sentiment surges while inflation outlook dips, University of Michigan survey shows
Jeff Cox / Fri, Jan 19, 2024
Did Trump Say a Candidate Under Federal Investigation ‘Has No Right To Be Running’?
Proof There’s No Israeli Crime The USA Won’t Defend
Oops… did not sort out the link properly .
My apologies, it is past local midnight and I have gone two days without sleep.
A long video about the Dead Sea scrolls
“5 Things We Can Know About The Dead Sea Scrolls Teacher of Righteousness”
.https://youtube.com/live/x78E-A73w6s
Stephen Colbert’s Cyborgasm: Anti-Snoring Pillow | Talking Toothbrushes / AI Girlfriend Bots
“I follow instructions from my toothbrush that only I can hear” is NOT a reassuring statement!
Also, 1447 episodes = the same as the total number of episodes of his previous program The Colbert report.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=dqWMCY-
This is how mob trials are conducted. From the Mafia Commission trial to John Gotti to Ammon Bundy a few years ago, and now Donald Trump, these and more are what is necessary to try mob bosses.
Donald Trump is on civil trial for defamation in New York City, and thanks to the many threats Trump and his supporters have made, the jurors are reportedly experiencing their own ordeal.
Politico journalist Erica Orden tweeted that Judge Lewis A. Kaplan “explains to prospective jurors that this will be an anonymous jury, meaning no one including the parties, their lawyers, reporters or even the judge will know their real names. He also suggests they speak to each other using names other than their real ones.”
Over the course of the trial, the jurors will be picked up at a series of undisclosed locations and then driven to the court and brought in through the underground garage. They were instructed, Orden reported, not to “tell anyone, including family, that they are serving on this case.”
In the Guardian:
“How South Korea fell in love with dogs and banned their slaughter for meat”:
George Monbiot – “What do angry farmers in Nevada and Germany have in common? They’re being exploited by the far right”:
The part about Vandana Shiva isn’t terribly shocking but is depressing.
I think the radical change needed in our food systems is the most important issue in the world right now. Monbiot doesn’t discuss it, but there are food justice movements all over.
On the Media – “What Israelis Are Seeing on TV – EXTENDED VERSION”:
It feels like we’ve become a ‘dog republic’.
Quoting this sentence again for no other reason than I love it.
From NBC News good news … might get even better in the near future:
More rightwing lawyers in trouble, as reported by Politico:
Josh Marshall on Great Moments in Dead Bounce Ron Studies:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/great-moments-in-dead-bounce-ron-studies
Link
More at the link.
NBC News link
OK, this does amuse me:
“President Joe Biden’s top aides bluntly told lawmakers in a private meeting on Wednesday that if Congress fails to authorize additional military aid for Ukraine in the coming days, Russia could win the war in a matter of weeks — months at best, according to two people familiar with the meeting.”
I mean, I get the subtext: a “private” meeting.
(The purported claim about the war itself is risible, of course — so it’s quite obviously prepared propaganda)
…
“More at the link.”
Sure. I had a look.
So. Joy, satisfaction, triumphalism at civilian damage. Glee, even.
(It’s bad when the Russkys do it, of course. But otherwise… well, moral relativism is a thing)
@80 “By Krinky”
Sounds like something my grandpa used to say.
Fair dinkum, mate.
Microsoft network breached through password-spraying by Russian-state hackers
Toronto restaurants showcasing plant-based options for ‘Veganuary’ as some look to reduce meat eating
Indisputable, “The Bullpen: Black Conservative says Haley is ‘dead wrong'”
https://youtu.be/UG3yNhCzQ0w?
Sexism and racism isn’t sexism or racism in the past because it was more normative? What? No.
CBS News:
Just one of the latest examples of Trump losing it:
Yes, Trump actually said that while he was ranting about January 6th.
And that was not the only part of the rant in which he confused Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi. Video available here:
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1748533500117233721
or Link
In the video, it sounds like Trump is stuck in a loop where he keeps repeating “Nikki Haley” and then reverts to recounting old grievances to which he attaches that name.
Rapist Demands Immunity, Presidency
Good news, as reported by Reuters:
Related good news, as reported by Axios:
Good news, as reported by Health Leaders Media:
Link
Recent independent poll results:
It’s still too early to put much stock in polls, but it nice to see polls that used to show Trump with slight leads are now trending in the other direction. And that’s in swing states, where the projected Biden wins are by larger margins than the wins in 2020.
Followup to comment 90.
Transcript for that Trump video:
Pelosi’s office, from a response to Trump’s lies:
The National Guard isn’t directed by the House Speaker.
Trump Judge Makes Texas Book-Banning Law Wear Dunce Cap, Write ‘I Am Unenforceable’ On Board 1000 Times
James Webb Telescope detects earliest known black hole — it’s really big for its age
Social scientists say polarization is increasingly based on a visceral dislike for the opposition, rather than extremely divergent policy preferences.
Washington Post link
Ukrainian forces take down Russian Tor system in daring drone operation
Why can’t robots check the box that says ‘I’m not a robot’?
Re: Lynna, OM @ #89…
California is the other way around. The Democrats allow Decline to State voters in their primary, the Republicans don’t. Not sure why, as it seems to me to be counter-intuitive to bar unaffiliated voters to vote in your primary. On the other hand, there are very few races in California where it’s going to matter, since, with the exception of things like local party officials and the presidential race, primaries are open with the top two candidates advancing to the general election.
Some political links:
Meduza – “Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry has reportedly begun calling transgender people in for questioning”:
Meduza – “‘Freedom for Fail Alsynov!’ Why a Bashkir activist’s prosecution was enough to spark major protests in 2024’s Russia”:
Citations Needed – “News Brief: Quantifying the Media’s Selective Humanity in Gaza”:
(As usual, I take issue with some of their editorializing.)
Some art-related links:
Hyperallergic – “A Cleveland Museum’s Bad Bet on a Looted Roman Statue.”
I laughed at this part:
Hyperallergic – “Marina Abramović’s Latest Performance Is Skincare”:
Not Hyperallergic but I learned of it from Hyperallergic :) – “Vermeer: Experience the exhibition from home.”
Apologies if it was mentioned here when I wasn’t around. It’s very cool, especially being able to zoom in on the paintings.
Nikki Haley questions whether Trump is ‘mentally fit’ after he confuses her with Nancy Pelosi
Of course Trump is unfit for multiple reasons. The new development here is that a Republican candidate is willing to go after him directly.
‘I think the party has lost its moral compass’: Republican voters speak out ahead of New Hampshire primary
More Americans — including Kansans — moving away from Republican and Democratic parties
Johnson says Trump re-election would leave ‘global wokerati’ trembling
Boris Johnson was a failure as a journalist, he was a failure as prime minister, and he is a failure at wordsmith.
Re: Reginald Selkirk @ #106…
Several years ago, the number of registered independents in California exceeded the number of registered Republicans, making the Republicans the third largest “party” in the state. (Which is I don’t really care whether Trump is on the ballot in California or not. There is no possible way he will carry the state in the general election.)
Fire erupts at Russia’s Novatek Baltic Sea terminal after suspected Ukrainian drone attack
When cold coal froze, wind farms helped Evergy power Kansas through winter weather
Trump pushes back on claims of mental missteps
Even when defending his incoherence, he is incoherent.
Opinion: Why do Arizona Republicans keep dressing up like cowboys?
Medicine: Study shows a computerized decision support system reduces high-risk drug combinations in ICU patients
.https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-computerized-decision-high-drug-combinations.html
I am re- reading the last Terry Pratchett Discworld novel Raising Steam and the part where the dwarwen King holds a speech calling out the grags * and their reactionary condemnation of all change on vague religious ground could be an ubiquitous speech directed against all religious nutters (such as your religious right), which is no doubt what Pratchett intended.
Unlike Johnson, Pratchett was a real wordsmith and from now on I will cheerfully borrow expressions from him whenever weirdos and MAGAheads deserve some particularly scathing put-down.
(I especially like when the king start by adressing “my friends and smiling enemies” as Trump Republicans, tories and our local regressives love falsehood and hypocrisy the way dwarwes like rodent meat )
*grags is good word choice, as it sounds like the crunching of gravel as friction is opposing you when trying to push a cart forward.
Discworld is really a better source of wisdom than that other collection of books, the one written two millennia ago.
Another case of good Brit expressions; “gammon” is a term for meat, but by association for angry people who get bright red in the face when they speak, Brexiteers , tories and xenophobes are good examples (some merely get orange).
USA and Britain have been dominated by grags and gammons for a long time and they do not deserve to be adressed more politely than they adress their alleged adversaries.
So vote “no” to the American gammon in November.
Sabine Hossenfelder: “Crack Down On New Climate Denial! Nonprofit tells YouTube”
I do not reject her arguments out of hand, för instance she is correct in the misinformation really is targeting people who wants to be misinformed. A wide ban would unfortunately not be effective. My suggestion: lock up the remaining Koch brother and the other billionaries who profit from destroying the world. They are the ones who finance the desinformation.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=sAwLnEh-IVU
ChatGPT’s Hunger for Energy Could Trigger a GPU Revolution
WIRED link
With AI projects booming and the physical limits of silicon looming, some startups are challenging Nvidia’s dominance and say it’s time to reinvent the computer chip entirely.
Cartoon: Die for Donny
Covid update:
Link
Followup to comments 90, 95 and 104.
Trump’s Haley-Pelosi mixup is just the latest on a long list of concerning ‘mistakes’
JFC.
https://twitter.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1748876080264458535
Video at the link.
Video also available Here.
Feckless coward is interviewed on CNN:
Tim Scott ran for in the Republican presidential primary before dropping out. Tim Scott recently endorsed Donald Trump. Senator Tim Scott is a Republican from South Carolina. He has said that he is open to serving as Vice Presidents.
At a rally, on camera, Trump says Nikki Haley is not smart enough to deal with Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong Un. He adds they are “very fine people.
Niki Haley was the person that Trump hired as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Trump hired her to deal with Xi, Putin and Un at the UN.
Trump: “Theres a great man in Europe. Viktor Orbán… He’s a very strong man. It’s nice to have a strongman running your country.”
Lynna… @ # 120, quoting a Kossack: … Haley and Pelosi have virtually nothing in common other than being female politicians who make Trump’s wee mind regress…
Just wait till he calls one of them “Stormy”…
Pierce @124, LOL. And maybe he will start calling Melania “Marla.”
In other news, actually NOT news: A look at what didn’t happen this week
From SaveAFox: Life with an adopted Jackal: Episode one
(non-domesticated canids tend to mark their territory indoors, hence the “no marking” spray )
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=fEiXv0s2X5w
Followup to comments 90, 95, 104 and 120.
“I don’t agree with Nikki Haley on everything, but we agree on this much: She is not Nancy Pelosi,” Biden wrote.
Saturday Night Live cold open.
Even if Nikki Haley was too yellow to go all the way when calling out SSAT for possible cognitive decline, I hope this is the first crack in the red wall of denial.
And (as a youtuber already had pointed out) – as SSAT gets into more legal trouble – it is more convenient to attack him for going gaga than for admitting it was treason and they have been covering for him the whole time.
This scandal will go the same way as the 1970s revelation that the Republicans actively sabotaged president Johnson’s attempts at a peace great between North and South Vietnam by promising the South a Republican president would give them better terms.
“The Republican Party has always been the party of patriotism and law. Also, we have always been at war with Eastasia.”
Ian McCollum at Forgotten Weapons is a great resource for the responsible segment of gun owners, so I am putting this out here. No NRA bullshit.
Here he has upgraded a H&K G3-type rifle with a modern trigger.
(BTW as the Russkies are getting restless, armies are looking for ways to upgrade without having to throw away the previous generation of stuff. Sweden and Norway have upgraded their G3s with modern optics and stocks like this. Ian McCollum went a step further as he does not want the
old Bundeswehr-spec. trigger ).
“Heckfire by ShootingSight: The Best Trigger for H&K & Clone Rifles (9mm, 5.56, 7,62). ”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=DZZT6NNWLiM
Another cool customer is Carl Kasarda at InRange (YouTube and Patreon).
He has helped dig up a lot of historical stuff, like detailed information about life for WWI soldiers. Hint; it was even worse than in the films.
If people have watched these and similar in-depth videos they are probably less likely to sign up just because they watched some war films – recruits should know the realities before comitting themselves.
New study shows sea otters helped prevent widespread California kelp forest declines over the past century
. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-sea-otters-widespread-california-kelp.html
Re: birgerjohansson @ #131…
I have seen raw, unedited, color, footage from WW2. It was shot on Iwo Jima. It contained quite a bit of footage that would never have been included in newsreels. Such as dead Japanese soldiers that had been out in the tropics for several days.
DNA from Stone Age chewing gum sheds light on diet, disease in Scandinavia’s ancient hunter-gatherers.
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-dna-stone-age-gum-diet.html
Tooth disease and diet 9700 years ago.
Tim Scott Quoted Fannie Lou Hamer At A Trump Rally And Now I Want To Punch My Fist Through A Wall
https://www.wonkette.com/p/tim-scott-quoted-fannie-lou-hamer
We know you have no shame, senator, but how dare you insult a great woman’s memory.
“Mars Express finds evidence of large water deposit at the Medusae Fossae Formation”
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-mars-evidence-large-deposit-medusae.html
You know, drilling through the thick dust layer to the water ice would be a benign use of nuclear power – no nearby ecology to ruin. Autochtonous Martian life will hang out in warmer locales.
“Iran says launches satellite in new aerospace milestone”
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-iran-satellite-aerospace-milestone.html
Washington Post: Ron DeSantis ends presidential campaign, endorses Trump
JFC
Scientists propose a biocatalytic reactor for detoxifying water on Mars
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-scientists-biocatalytic-reactor-detoxifying-mars.html
You know, once processed water becomes plentiful, space stations could use it to shower the spacesuits of returning astronauts, removing the perchlorate-soaked dust before they leave the airlock. The sludge can then be recycled into purified water.
Video of underground prison cells in Gaza tunnel where hostages were held
Researchers develop a low-cost catalyst for green hydrogen production
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-catalyst-green-hydrogen-production.html
birgerjohansson @ # 117: … [climate] misinformation really is targeting people who [want] to be misinformed.
Among others. Per Mother Jones:
Four astronauts, including Turkey’s first, arrive at space station
The rendezvous came about 37 hours after the Axiom quartet’s Thursday-evening liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Random culture.
“Terry Talks Movies” digs out more hidden gems, providing a slice through english-language pop culture 1960s-1990s.
Anthony Perkins and Roger Moore face off, Peter Sellers is a psychopath gangster.
And… is this how the song Return Of The Mac came about?
“Cinematic Hidden Gem Buried Treasures You Should Check Out – Episode Seven”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=X0yvExOzyuo
NASA finds Ingenuity after losing contact with the Mars helicopter
Assorted links:
The Hill – “Geomagnetic storm watch issued; northern lights could come to these states”:
99% Invisible – “Power Broker #01: Robert Caro”:
They did a prologue episode a while back, which is linked at the link.
YT (Lofi Girl) link – “Best of lofi hip hop 2022 – beats to relax/study to.”
DeSantis uses fake Winston Churchill quote as he ends disastrous presidential campaign
Unusually for me, I posted the link to the 99% Invisible episode before I had listened to the whole thing (in my defense, the part I’d listened to alone was worth a listen). But I’ve now listened to the interview with Caro and it’s wonderful. Also, Caro is crazy sharp at 88.
Giant Moss Balls! (Marimo)
Where & How They Form | GEO GIRL
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=UqUq_6wur14
I think it was when listening to the Citations Needed episode I linked to @ #102 that I finally got why I hate the concept of “dehumanization” so much. It’s that it accepts, and indeed is based on, the idea of “human” as a status. It’s not a status. At best it’s a species category, but even if we were to accept species boundaries to be solid lines (which they aren’t!) it still wouldn’t confer on our species any status.
The whole thing is silly. And as I noted here long ago, as long as there’s any category (human or otherwise) that’s seen as not meriting rights, respect, or protection, some humans will be likened to that category and deprived of rights, respect, and protection. The answer isn’t to endlessly insist that some human category (Palestinian or Jewish people, black people, immigrants, women, trans people, gay people, migrants, Chinese people, Ukrainians,…) is “fully human,” but to reject the idea that “human” is a status in the first place.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
The full moon will occur on Thursday. The following couple of evenings, the Moon will approach Regulus in Leo, near the horizon in the evening sky.
Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2024 – Sky & Telescope – Sky & Telescope
https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/solar-and-lunar-eclipses-in-2024/
NB -At the bottom of this article is a map showing the narrow band across Mexico, USA and Canada where the total eclipse will be visible. Last time this happened Trump was president. Next time will be in 2044.
Something to cheer you up this Monday morning: Black leopard grooming her rottweiler friend.
“Gentle Panther 😸🐾”
.https://youtube.com/shorts/RYiukMIJHII
I had not intended to write more about SSAT but this looked important.
“Fed Up Ret. General Drops The Hammer on Trump”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=IZJSf_w1XrA
Classic DeSantis https://www.meidastouch.com/news/desantis-campaign-closing-message-fake-churchill-quote-budweiser-ad
birgerjohansson, which Ret. General, why Fed Up, and what Hammer?
I reckon you don’t think it’s that important, since you can’t be bothered to clarify what it is I were I to click on by following that naked link. Presumably, not a literal Hammer.
Here, for you, a nice description of what you offer — which is more than you gave me:
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clickbait)
Just so you know.
Secret plan against Germany
Jurist Legal News
The activist site has a link, below the headings, to a spreadsheet tallying cities. Locals on Mastodon framed the numbers as: 12% of Munich and almost 10% of Berlin.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain@155,
The last part of your comment is good news – this needs to become a Europe-wide antifascist mass-movement in the run-up to the European Parliament elections in June. The far-right’s facade of respect for democracy conceals equally vile schemes for ethnic cleansing and an end to free elections wherever it exists.
…when if the November election goes the wrong way, Trump (Donald Jnr or possibly Eric), will be President-for-Life.
How Walmart’s Financial Services Became a Fraud Magnet
Cameroon starts world-first malaria mass vaccine rollout
Guardian – “Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on site of razed mosque in India”:
Thank you for that news, CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ #155. I had saved this Guardian article earlier this month about an initiative called Berchtesgaden Against the Right:
“The punch that ‘burst the bubble’: residents of Hitler’s alpine home rise up against neo-Nazi visitors”:
That’s a local effort, so it’s good to see that it’s becoming much more widespread.
From the NBC defamation (damages) trial liveblog:
The video is available at the link. It is 1 minute long.
Link
Fake Joe Biden robocall tells New Hampshire Democrats not to vote on Tuesday
The call, an apparent imitation or digital manipulation of the president’s voice, says, “Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again.”
Link
Link
Cartoon: The enduring mystery
Link
Yet Another Report Shows That The Inflation Is Made Out Of Corporate Profits
https://www.wonkette.com/p/yet-another-report-shows-that-the
Greedflation is killing us.
AssignedMedia – The Anti-Trans Crusade Was Supposed to Make DeSantis President
Followup to comment 169.
New report gives Biden fuel to fight ‘greedflation’
Candace Owens makes bizarre ‘satainc ritual’ claim about The Wizard of Oz
Oh FFS.
Donald Trump has taken his birther offensive against Nikki Haley a step further, suggesting her birthplace is in doubt. It is not.
Link
Sheesh.
Trump uses court delay to attack E. Jean Carroll more than 3 dozen times
Followup to comment 174.
As reported by NBC News, Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh dissented:
NBC News:
NBC News:
Another member of the Myers clan?
“Ph.D. student Mason Myers of U-M is one of the two first authors on the manuscript. ”
“CRISPR off-switches: A path towards safer genome engineering?”
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-crispr-path-safer-genome.html
Watch out, they will soon rival the Igors of Ankh-Morpork.
Sabine Hossenfelder
“Another Famous Quantum Mystery Was Just Debunked (it wasn’t me)”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=mJDWPLlI5I4
Las Vegas, Home Of Bad Ideas, Goes All-In On Elon’s Dumb Tunnels
birgerjohansson, which Famous Quantum Mystery?
(Apparently, I have to click the link to find out — ah well. Clickbait is not for me)
Top Harvard Cancer researchers accused of scientific fraud; 37 studies affected
In Australian news: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/golden-ticket-visa-scrapped-for-big-spending-investors-amid-exploitation-fears/p25s89el9
Daily Kos – “Interesting Amicus Brief In Trump Eligibility Case”:
They provide a nice summary, but the brief itself isn’t long.
Florida Eyes $5 Million Fund to Help Cover Trump’s Legal Bills
FFS.
Hard cases make bad law
This would be a law constructed for the benefit of one person only.
People who do long term planning….
https://grapevine.is/news/2024/01/19/eruptions-to-persist-for-the-next-200-years-hafnarfjordur-may-be-at-risk-next/
WRAL News:
Part of new NC election law ruled likely unconstitutional, in loss for Republicans
By Will Doran / 1/22/24
The changes to the law, which have now been blocked, would’ve affected people who use same-day registration during early voting — a process that lets people register to vote, or update their address, then immediately cast a ballot.
New changes to North Carolina elections laws are likely unconstitutional and should be blocked from going into effect — at least until problems with the state’s same-day registration system are fixed — a federal judge ruled over the weekend.
In an order issued Sunday night, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder found that the new rules would’ve violated voters’ due process rights, in part by throwing out potentially legitimate ballots without giving voters a chance to fight that decision.
The decision likely means the rules won’t be used in this year’s elections, when North Carolinians will be voting for president, governor and most other key political positions.
The now-blocked changes to the law would’ve affected thousands of people who use same-day registration during early voting. That process lets people register to vote, or update their address, and then immediately cast a ballot.
The main argument in the case boiled down to what should happen after people use same-day registration. Typically the state sends a postcard to the address provided by the same-day registrant. If the postcard is returned as undeliverable, the voter’s ballot is canceled.
Democrats sued, saying there should be more efforts to contact voters, not just by mail, before canceling their ballots. People should also have a chance to dispute challenges to their ballot, and prove they’re legitimate voters, they said. They argued that the new rules would cause too many legitimate ballots to be thrown out.
Schroeder agreed and gave lawmakers a choice: find a way to address those due process concerns or not enforce the new rules.
The same-day registration rules were included in a wide-ranging law that made many other adjustments to elections rules ahead of 2024. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the bill last year, but Republican state legislators overrode his veto to pass it into law.
John Morales @ #182, “Quantum Cheshire cat study finds particles can’t separate from their properties after all”:
The use of “debunked” and really her whole presentation is weird and clickbaity, but the work is interesting. Here’s the abstract of the recent paper:
Thank you, SC.
I do appreciate that.
I had not heard of it before, BTW. Interesting.
(Insert joke: if I hadn’t heard of it, it can’t have been that famous)
A bit more analytical and a bit less triumphant than the sort of reporting one usually sees:
RUSSIA Shuts Down Oil & Gas Terminal & Port After Drone Attack as Ukraine Targets Russian Oil & Gas
Solidarity!
https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/all
I certainly approve of the objective- why accept a few crumbs ? I am reminded of the gods in Petty Pewter Gods (Garret PI).
Ok, I don’t normally like this show, but this bit (I’ve timestamped from its beginning) amused me no end.
Jimmy Kimmel Live, posted on YouTube on 23 January, contrasting actual AI-voice generated mass robocall in New Hampshire supposedly being Biden asking them to not vote now with (heh heh heh) their generated Trump “deep”fake where he confesses his failures.
Usually I don’t bother with this show, but I found this to be worth sharing.
(See, not just drones changing the nature of war, but deepfakes changing the nature of polemic)
Oops. I failed to avoid having it embed; it was an unconscious press of the “enter” key.
It’s kinda difficult, as others have found, to always without fail take active steps to avoid embedding videos on this thread. Can’t just post links, one has to be careful to make sure they don’t embed. Or, I suppose, to just avoid posting links to YouTube.
Still. It’s duly ironic and droll, by that I stand.
Assorted links:
Guardian – “Global pandemic agreement at risk of falling apart, WHO warns”:
Guardian – “The Nature Photography Contest 2023 winners and finalists – in pictures”:
The one called “The Wind” is stunning.
Meduza – “The art of resistance” A Russian theater director on trial for her work addressed the judge in verse. Hear her fellow artists’ haunting rendition of her speech.”:
Video at the link.
Meduza – “The low expectations of Boris Nadezhdin A Putin challenger’s anti-war message has thousands of Russians lining up to support him. What’s the catch?”:
Kyiv Independent – “Opinion: Poland’s reckoning with populist misrule”:
France 24 – “Déclassement, endettement, normes européennes… les raisons de la colère des agriculteurs français”:
Mad in America – “Searching for the ‘Psychiatric Yeti’: Schizophrenia Is Not Genetic”:
As the article describes, Torrey is a total zealot; if even he’s acknowledging this… Much more at the link – informative piece.
Sentient Media – “8 Important Laws for Animals to Watch Out for in 2024” :D:
FIFY
Near-Invincible Tardigrades Have a Secret Chemical Weapon
Reginald Selkirk @ #199, I think that’s covered in the article’s title. :)
Montana Free Press:
Montana Attorney general blocks constitutional abortion proposal
by Mara Silvers / 01.17.2024
Nikki Haley sweeps Dixville Notch’s primary, winning all 6 votes
Trump Attempts to Describe Missile Defense: ‘Ding, Ding, Ding, Boom, Whoosh!’
SC @195, thanks for posting the link to the Nature Photography article in the Guardian. Those were some great photos.
Reginald @186, FFS indeed. As if Trump needed more ways to fleece the people.
Text quoted by John @184:
Yes. That seems like a probably outcome.
Higher vehicle hoods significantly increase pedestrian deaths, study finds
‘Twas the night before the New Hampshire primary, and Trump said this to his supporters:
So far I have not seen anyone translate that into meaningful, or at least understandable campaign rhetoric.
The New Hampshire primary is today. Trump plans to declare victory after only a few voters in two states, Iowa and New Hampshire, choose him as the Republican candidate. Maybe that’s what he means when he uses the royal “we” to declare himself “an institute in a powerful death penalty.”
Elise Stefanik is making one thing perfectly clear to Team Trump: She will say anything, without regard for accuracy, propriety, shame, or self-respect.
Followup to comment 207.
Video of Trump spouting that gibberish can be viewed here:
https://twitter.com/BidenHQ/status/1749638608577761385
Or here.
Trump also slurs the word “smallest” into “sollest” before correcting himself. I watched the video and I don’t think even he knows what he is saying.
For an additional hit of humor, there’s also the fact that Trump forgot how to pronounce Elise Stefanik’s last name … and after all that bootlicking and lying she has done for him! Sad.
Later, Trump tried to describe missile defense technology: “Ding ding ding ding boom whoosh boom.” He also described rocket scientists as having muscles in their heads instead of in their bodies. From his pantomime on camera I concluded that Trump thinks their computer keyboards produced the sound “ding ding, ding, ding.”
Rudy Giuliani Tries Dodging $148M Defamation Judgment With Bankruptcy
https://twitter.com/HowardMortman/status/1749576543142092999
Video at the link.
See also: State Department responds to Putin on Alaska
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev joked about the whole issue, and it does look and sound ridiculous.
Straight White American Jesus – “Congress Learns About Mike Johnson’s White Christian Nationalism”:
There’s a Congressional Freethought Caucus! I haven’t listened to it yet, but I’ve read the (short) CFC white paper and yikes.
Maybe my favorite bit:
ROFL. It was robust, alright.
Britain: Five examples of the UK’s crackdown on climate protesters | Environmental activism | The Guardian
.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/23/five-examples-of-the-uks-crackdown-on-climate-protesters
And it will probably not get better with Keir Starmer as prime minister. He has prove himself to be a strict pro-establishment politician on the right wing of the labour party.
I rather enjoyed the silly Xena TV series back in the day- and now I discovered the Australian crime TV series ‘My Life Is Murder’ has Lucy Lawless in a role. And one of the male actors has an uncanny likeness to a young Martin Landau.
Britain: Peer who praised rising temperatures appointed to climate crisis committee
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/22/david-frost-peer-who-praised-rising-temperatures-appointed-to-climate-crisis-committee
NATO signs key artillery ammunition contract to replenish allied supplies and help Ukraine
Fake Arizona elector Anthony Kern has a plan to make stealing elections legal
Turkey votes in favor of Sweden’s NATO membership after months of delay.
Washington Post link
Austin says Ukraine coalition ‘must not waver’ in first appearance since hospitalization
“Let’s be clear. Our support for Ukraine’s struggle against tyranny makes all of our countries more secure,” the Pentagon chief said.
Trump’s mental fitness is in serious question, but Republicans may not care, by Mark Sumner.
Daily Kos – “Wir sind Antifa! A Personal Photo diary of Demonstration Against AfD/Nazis, Weimar Germany 22.01.24.”
I cried a little, not gonna lie.
The Swedish PM should wear a wire.
TruthOut
New coffee genetic map promises better brews
Impressive young man.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/23/israel-man-jailed-refuse-serve-idf-military-tal-mitnick-interview
Extracts:
Enculturation, inculcation. Always some people who can resist.
Trump appears panicked by New Hampshire election
https://www.meidastouch.com/news/trump-makes-panicked-post-about-new-hampshire-election
And, to cheer you up:
Cat undecided between Attacking and Playing.
.https://youtube.com/shorts/NZSmagbz9wA
John Morales @ 225
Yes, standing up to social pressure is very hard, I think moral courage is often harder than physical courage.
The Guardian has a liveblog of the New Hampshire primary:
Excessively Farting Passenger Reportedly Causes American Airlines Flight to Turn Around
Respectful Insolence – “The endless quackery and grift of The Wellness Company”:
Trump wins New Hampshire. It’s not the victory he thinks it is
I would just like to point out that Nikki Haley did better than expected in New Hampshire. Earlier, Josh Marshall predicted she might get 30 to 40% of the New Hampshire vote. She exceeded that. Not all of the vote has been counted, but it looks like Haley will end up with about 45% of the vote.
TPM link
Re: Lynna, OM @ #231…
I saw one article claiming that Trump’s people are in a panic over his showing in NH. They were predicting he’d win by 30+%, rather than the actual 9% (last I looked).
One interesting trivial point… The tiny town (6 voters) that votes and then counts at midnight (Dixville Notch), had a result of Haley 6, Trump 0.
The Pope is bad at warnings, and other stuff by Seth Meyers
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=pLZgBYPiJ24
Tories Threaten Rebellion Against Sunak Over Council Budgets
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=fAmktt35q0U
…but to give the Pope his due, he is praising wine.
…There is a lot of unintentional comedy out there. Bit if you are tired of Trump quotes, here is something else.
‘Bad Movie Review : Q the Winged Serpent (1982)’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=wCLte02uL7g
.I approve of this message
https://share.temu.com/r2djr4JSWSA
Guardian – “‘This is urgent’: the UK is scrambling to stem an alarming tide of measles”:
Guardian – “WHO issues measles warning as yearly cases in Europe rise more than 30-fold”:
It seems plain that the efforts have to focus primarily on Russia and Kazakhstan.
When some adolescent girls internalize rejection, it really is in their head
.https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-adolescent-girls-internalize.html
.
Liquid lithium on the walls of a fusion device helps the plasma within maintain a hot edge
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-liquid-lithium-walls-fusion-device.html
Spicy wine: New study reveals ancient Romans may have had peculiar tastes
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-spicy-wine-reveals-ancient-romans.html
Guardian (Moira Donegan) – “Nikki Haley has been running to lead a Republican party that no longer exists”:
Guardian (David Smith) – “Trump turns into sinister playground bully in New Hampshire victory lap”:
Guardian – “Nikki Haley has been running to lead a Republican party that no longer exists”:
Guardian – “Trump turns into sinister playground bully in New Hampshire victory lap”:
Guardian – “Nikki Haley has been running to lead a Republican party that no longer exists”:
Guardian – “Trump turns into sinister playground bully in New Hampshire victory lap”:
Nuclear power output expected to break global records in 2025 | Nuclear power | The Guardian
.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/24/nuclear-power-output-expected-to-break-global-records-in-2025
Colossal – “Yukihiro Akama Carves a Whimsical World of Miniature Wooden Houses”:
Colossal – “Unprecedented Footage Shows Plants ‘Talking’ to Their Neighbors about Potential Predators”:
They have a link to the full, open-access Nature Communications article, “Green leaf volatile sensory calcium transduction in Arabidopsis.”
Guardian podcast – “The terrifying, far-right ‘masterplan’ sparking protests across Germany”:
PBS (YT link) – “NAZI TOWN, USA – Chapter 1 – American Experience”:
I’m not sure why they don’t have the full episode up on YT. I’ll keep an eye out. (They do have it on the PBS site, but I’m not sure if people outside the US can watch it there…)
“Fearless Icelanders to Drill Into Magma Chamber”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=FOF1FaqeoCA
The USPS agrees to buy six Canoo LDV electric vans, delivered by April
Former Google CEO Gets Into the AI-Powered Kamikaze Drone Business With ‘White Stork’
A place worse than Alabama or Florida?
“First in Cruelty, Last In Anything Good, There’s A Reason They Say ‘Mississippi, Goddam’
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mississippi-cruelty-racism_n_65aedda7e4b0f55c6e3076b7
Jon Stewart is returning to The Daily Show, part time
Hello.
I have a question for someone who understands orbital physics slightly better than I do, for fiction writing purposes.
Suppose I have a solid rock asteroid on a low equatorial orbit around earth, say, 1600 km above surface (8000 km orbital radius). I think the orbital velocity would be then something like 7 km/s. Suppose I want to mine the asteroid and get some of its mass down to earth in a semi-controlled fashion. Small grains of rock should more or less survive falling into the atmosphere at these speeds, slow down and cool down before reaching the surface.
Will the grains of sand automatically fall to earth if I just toss them out of the asteroid’s own tiny gravity field? I think I need to apply a substantial amount of energy to decelerate the grains relative to the main asteroid body, or else they will just stay on a slightly lower orbit? BTW, I also want to accelerate the main body in the opposite direction, to get it to a slightly higher orbit, inasmuch as possible.
I could use an electromagnetic catapult to shoot the sand at 1-2 km/s, or whatever is needed. How should I optimally direct the shots, relative to the asteroid’s orbit? What happens if I shoot in slightly different directions? I can use a large number of catapults and shots over long period of time to accurately direct the overall force on the main body. Can I get the sand to fall in a relatively narrow zone near the equator? Or will the grains spread onto erratic trajectories?
I should probably say, decelerate the grains relative to the main asteroid’s orbital movement, not relative to its body.
I’m aware that the grains will actually gain more speed while falling down (or moving to a lower orbit), but I have little understanding of how this works in practice.
lumipuna @249:
A lot depends on the mass of the asteroid. The asteroid will gravitationally dominate objects which are within its Hill sphere relative to Earth. The radius of the Hill sphere would be about
Rh = R(m/M)^(1/3)
where R is the asteroid’s orbit radius (8000 km), m is the asteroid’s mass, and M is the Earth’s mass. For a Vesta-sized asteroid, that’s a few hundred km. It wold be interesting to calculate whether you could throw something hard enough to escape that asteroid’s gravity.
Anyway, the grains wouldn’t automatically fall to Earth. They’re carrying the orbital velocity of the asteroid, plus whatever Δv your throw has given them. Odds are they’d end up in an elliptical orbit around Earth which may hit the atmosphere. Gotta crunch the numbers!
whheydt @232, “I saw one article claiming that Trump’s people are in a panic over his showing in NH. They were predicting he’d win by 30+%, rather than the actual 9% (last I looked).”
That’s right, Trump did NOT win by thirty points. He won by 11 points. Nikki Haley said she is “just getting started” and a super PAC aligned with her campaign claims to be prepared to support Haley for a “long-term battle.”
It is quite true that Nikki Haley is not yet racking up enough votes to win, but it is also true that she in undeniably weakening Trump.
Joe Biden won the Democratic primary in New Hampshire.
That’s a good sign that at least the grassroots Democratic Party tactics are working.
Religious ‘Nones’ are now the largest single group in the U.S.
The Messenger link
Republicans Turn on Their Impeachment Chairman: ‘Parade of Embarrassments’ (Exclusive)
One Trump ally told The Messenger ‘the base is starting to get more and more frustrated’ with Comer
Followup to comments 232 and 252.
JFC.
After winning the Iowa caucuses, Donald Trump lied about his electoral record in the state. After winning the New Hampshire primary, he did the same thing.
Sigh.
Physicists Just Learned Something Major About the Proton
Marjorie Taylor Greene:
Well okay then. Eradication.
Rob at 251 – Thanks, that’s interesting!
The asteroid in my story would have about 1/billionth earth mass, so I gather the Hill sphere radius would be about 8 km, or just a couple km outside the asteroid’s surface (or even less on the earth-facing side?). The nominal escape velocity would be about 10 m/s, and presumably less than that would be enough get you out of the Hill sphere. Possibly, you could even jump off the asteroid.
Link
That woman showed some intelligence. She also noted that she believes in a strong NATO, and that she wants fascism to remain defeated (her father fought in WWII). She said that she regretted her vote for Trump in 2016 “almost immediately,” and especially after she saw Trump praising Putin.
Watch Tim Scott utterly humiliate himself for Trump
Elon Musk Visits Auschwitz, Solves Antisemitism Forever!
https://www.wonkette.com/p/elon-musk-visits-auschwitz-solves
Testify under oath about Jeffrey Epstein abuse scandal, Prince Andrew urged | Jeffrey Epstein | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/06/testify-under-oath-about-jeffrey-epstein-abuse-scandal-prince-andrew-urged
Hunter-gatherers were mostly gatherers, says archaeologist | Archaeology
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/24/hunter-gatherers-were-mostly-gatherers-says-archaeologist
It’s amazing to watch this play out again and again – how they blame people for failing to carry out these absurd projects. Here’s Comer, working his hardest to be the best lickspittle he can be, and just like so many others, especially Trump’s fleet of disgraced former lawyers, he’s crashing into the law and reality because the whole effort is based on lies, and his colleagues are blaming him.
The details are damning. And they reveal how pathetic Trump is.
And why does the Babylon Bee have to add a point to Haley’s defeat? They posted “12” points instead of “11.” Always Fudging the Truth could be their motto.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/donald-trump-doesnt-feel-threatened
US Embassy steps in after American professor advises adding a pinch of salt to cups of tea
Amateur archaeologists uncover a mysterious ancient Roman artifact in England
Sorry! The quote @ #263 was from Lynna’s #254.
Reginald Selkirk @ #253, that reminds me I had wanted to post this earlier – Religion Dispatches: “Dispelling the Zombie Myth of White Evangelical Support for Trump.”
The headline is misleading: He’s not arguing that White Evangelicals aren’t big Trumpers. The myth is that his Evangelical followers are people who infrequently attend church or aren’t connected to a church.
From the piece:
Another function of the myth (I guess it’s actually the same function, but a different aspect of it) is to allow the river of schlock by non-Trumpers on the Right claiming that the decline of religiosity is what’s led to this wave of fascism to continue. It’s become pretty much undeniable at this point (although some still persist in refusing to acknowledge it) that this framing doesn’t work given the obvious fact that Trump’s base is not irreligious people but white Evangelicals, so they have to resort to fraudulently claiming that, well, they’re not True, Churchy Christians and that’s what explains it.
Reginald Selkirk @ #265, hahaha. I saw a headline about the salt thing earlier. I hadn’t really considered trying it (surprisingly, given my love of salt) but it hadn’t occurred to me that it would spark an international incident.
Matt Gaetz, the House GOP’s Token Troublemaker, Caught in Escalating Ethics Probe That Could Lead to Expulsion
@268: I am not surprised, having heard earlier reporting on the issue of tea kettle vs. microwave.
You could write a book on adding salt to fruit pastries, and change your name to Salty Currant.
Trump’s White House Pharmacy Handed Out Drugs Like Candy
Prosecutors rebut ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s attempt to dismiss fraud charges
Alina Habba Spotted At Trump Victory Party After Delaying Defamation Trial Over Illness
Arizona GOP boss quits after leaked tape shows him floating a job for Kari Lake to skip Senate race
Saudi Arabia opens its first liquor store in over 70 years as kingdom further liberalizes
Former Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich running for a House seat again, this time as an independent
SC @263: “It’s amazing to watch this play out again and again – how they blame people for failing to carry out these absurd projects. Here’s Comer, working his hardest to be the best lickspittle he can be, and just like so many others, especially Trump’s fleet of disgraced former lawyers, he’s crashing into the law and reality because the whole effort is based on lies, and his colleagues are blaming him.”
I agree. Well said.
Reginald @274, that recording smells like a set-up to me. I don’t believe for a moment that Kari Lake would not take a bribe. Maybe the bribe would need to be more subtly offered. Her reply sounds planned.
Oh FFS.
Link
Link
Biden endorsed by United Auto Workers, shoring up union vote in auto-making swing states.
Washington Post link
Ah yes, nuclear power. Saw a story about that in the UK.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/23/hinkley-point-c-could-be-delayed-to-2031-and-cost-up-to-35bn-says-edf
Fox News repeatedly cut away from Nikki Haley’s primary speech in New Hampshire. So now I guess that Fox News has returned to fully supporting Demented Hair Furor Trump.
Josh Marshall:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/swagger-and-menace-the-story-of-mr-50
Followup to Reginald @271.
Trump White House pill mill prescribed fentanyl, Ambien, Provigil to as many as 6,000: DoD IG report
I seem to remember Trump and his cult followers disparaging Hunter Biden for his drug addiction.
Hee!
God Awful Movies : This film is not religion-themed except you might yell “good god, that was horrible”
GAM 440 Blackbird
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=pLI5cd0U7TA
The Ring Of Fire / Farron Cousins:
(I hope his analysis is correct)
“Trump Suddenly Realizes He’s Screwed In The 2024 Election”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=8SZdTflZAiE
The Josh Marshall Podcast – “Ep. 308: The First (And Maybe Last) Primary”:
This is fun. And I learned that in his speech last night Trump made a remark about Nikki Haley’s dress (there’s a video here). It’s so funny because there have been articles about how obsessed he is with like fabric swatches. He has terrible taste, but he loves that stuff. He knew it was a nice dress and looked good on her, and was probably jealous he couldn’t get away with wearing something that shiny and sparkly, so he had to make a catty remark about it (something like “…in her fancy dress, which maybe wasn’t so fancy…”). He’s such a Real Housewife!
WaPo:
Ohio lawmakers ban gender-affirming care for minors, overriding governor’s veto
By Anumita Kaur / January 24, 2024
The Swedish association of secular humanists has successfully applied to register as a faith community. Next step is to apply for a permit to perform marriages.
The 88 year old Josef Fritzl is dement and may be released from the psychiatric hospital where he has been after he was convicted.
birgerjohansson, I get they have successfully applied to register, but was the application successful?
(You intimate it is, but provide no citation. I suppose they’re registered, at the cost of having goddists claim secularism is a type of faith. Or maybe not)
John Morales @ 292
Language is not always easy to translate, yes they have been successful. ‘Faith” is not as emotionally charged in Swedish , you can have ‘faith’ in something, and religion is not the default interpretation.
.
A study of how Americans die may improve their end of life
.https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-americans-die-life.html
.
Gene therapy restores hearing in children with hereditary deafness
.https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-gene-therapy-children-hereditary-deafness.html
I am re-posting this to remind you it is very bad to tap-dance while Black.
‘It’s a festive freakout! The Aliens monitor the “War On Christmas” and review Trump’s festive hate speech”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=L7CS7fJdEK4
Exactly the same in English. Doesn’t stop the goddists, but. :|
Still, I get it. Thanks.
When you wrote “The Swedish association of secular humanists has successfully applied to register as a faith community.”, you meant “The Swedish association of secular humanists has successfully registered as a faith community.”
Excellent, they can now weigh in as a stakeholder.
“Texas school’s punishment of a Black student who wears dreadlocks is going to trial”:
‘I just went bent’: how Britain’s most corrupt cop ruined countless lives | Police | The Guardian
– and the innocent people he framed died without being vindicated !
.https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/25/i-just-went-bent-how-britains-most-corrupt-cop-ruined-countless-lives
Guardian – “Argentinians stage nationwide strike against Javier Milei’s far-right agenda”:
Rokhaya Diallo in the Guardian – “In 2024, there is one 80-year-old leader we need more than ever: Angela Davis”:
Related to #299, Haymarket is just publishing Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1 by Davis. (I love the cover design. Speaking of which, this is a cool piece by Jason Booher on designing the cover for Carlo Rovelli’s most recent book White Holes.)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-gutfeld-lee-zeldin-retarded_n_65b23766e4b04d89951002a1
No.
Gutfeld can pretend, but “retarded” is another example of history’s failed mental terminology. It’s a crutch. They can’t interact with the ideas so they steal broken tools. I would point out their weakness to their face with a shit eating grin. “Retarded” is nonsense here, goes nowhere. Desperate scrabbling from a safe social position.
Cooties can be worked in here.
The other one got eaten by the filter. I should have seen that.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/greg-gutfeld-lee-zeldin-retarded_n_65b23766e4b04d89951002a1
No.
Gutfeld can pretend, but “reta*@ed” is another example of history’s failed mental terminology. It’s a crutch. They can’t interact with the ideas so they steal broken tools. I would point out their weakness to their face with a shit eating grin. “Ret?”ded” is nonsense here, goes nowhere. Desperate scrabbling from a safe social position.
Cooties can be worked in here.
NYC first to designate social media as environmental toxin
Ghostly White Roly Poly Bug Discovered in the Deep Sea
Olesya Khromeychuk in the Guardian – “‘Ukraine fatigue’: why I’m fighting to stop the world forgetting us”:
As I ponder the career of president 45, it is obvious that some crap is nearly indestructible.
DNA from preserved feces reveals ancient Japanese gut environment
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-dna-feces-reveals-ancient-japanese.html
Trump Is Big Mad At Nikki Haley | White House Pharmacy Scandal | Many loose bolts found on airplanes.
-Also, Jon Stewart is coming back to the Daily Show!
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Pmuadb7e3Ac
From the No Regrets Department of Rightwing Dunderheads: Three years after his “Marshall Law” text, Ralph Norman regrets his spelling, not his offensive against his country’s constitutional system of government.
Donald Trump wants his party to kill a conservative, bipartisan border bill, months in the making. Republicans are apparently prepared to do exactly that.
“How do we know climate change is caused by humans?” A good summary.
Yes, it is by Sabine Hossenfelder but this video is 100% legit facts.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=J1KGnCj_cfM
Donald Trump and his team let Republicans know they’d embrace blacklisting tactics as the race unfolded. Evidently, they meant it.
Laughable in a way.
Göbekli Tepe: Prehistoric Evidence for Animism?
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=7OqW-LXHevk
Russia fires genetics institute head who claimed humans once lived for 900 years:
Campaigns to enshrine abortion rights in Nevada and Arkansas both get good news
Vice President Kamala Harris:
Associated Press: US economy surges with 3.3% growth last quarter
Cartoon: Lucky Ducky, in ‘Dog Show’
Good news … mostly:
Link
Ha, great name.
Kansas City Star (via the HCA reddit) – “Roger Marshall’s finally taking COVID seriously. Is that just because it got personal?”
It has been revealed that the German protestant church has 1259 perpetrators of sexual assault, with more than two thousand victims.
Swedish PM Kristersson agrees to meet Hungary’s Orban for talks on NATO bid
I repeat my advice: wear a wire. I don’t know how blatantly Orban will ask for bribes, but it should be entertaining.
The amazing helicopter on Mars, Ingenuity, will fly no more
Vince McMahon Accused of Sex Trafficking by WWE Staffer He Paid to Keep Quiet
Realm of Satan Brings Dark Glamour to a Misunderstood Culture
Hell Yeah, We’re Getting a Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory
Link
A New Tallest Building in America Has Been Proposed — and It Isn’t in New York or Chicago
The article contains no mention of the proposed building’s ability to withstand a tornado.
Jeff DeWit’s resignation just blew up Kari Lake’s campaign
The RNC says f— you, democracy. We pick Trump, by Mark Sumner
Bye, Felicia.
Arizona Siblings Sentenced To Prison For Roles In U.S. Capitol Attack
New Colonies of Emperor Penguin Discovered Thanks to Bird Poop Seen from Outer Space
Followup to comment 307.
Romney: Trump Killing Immigration Deal To Keep Using Border Against Biden ‘Appalling’
Followup to comments 307 and 331.
Link
Russian claims about downed transport plane disputed
https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1750123733551841463
Victor Orban posted:
Tom Holland’s Avengers bonus sent to Tom Hollander in error
Reuters:
Mark Hamill:
Boogie fever:
https://twitter.com/Lyla_lilas/status/1750063353228099872
Eloquent photo at the link.
https://twitter.com/CharmRobinson3/status/1745152724709028257
Photo also available here
Followup to comment 314.
“It’s just a perfect report: Strong growth and low inflation,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Everything contributed to growth: Consumers, businesses, government, housing, trade, inventories. All of the economic wheels were moving in the same direction.”
New York Times:
Washington Post:
Wonkette:
New York Times:
That is the 10th veto of Biden’s term.
Potentially good news.
US News:
Rand Paul was the only Senator to oppose the legislation.
Associated Press:
MSNBC:
New York Times:
The Biden campaign called his posts “profoundly irresponsible.”
Musk was falsely claiming that mail-in-voting was linked to voter fraud.
Optical neural networks:
‘Programming light propagation creates highly efficient neural networks’
.https://techxplore.com/news/2024-01-propagation-highly-efficient-neural-networks.html
From the Washington Post, a WTF? moment:
Supreme Court clerks are offered bonuses of up to $500,000 to join law firms
After three years on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter mission ends
.https://phys.org/news/2024-01-years-mars-nasa-ingenuity-helicopter.html
Oops. Lynna, OM @344 beat me to it by 9 minutes. 😊
There has been a lot of attention for the spectacular space telescopes, but the less charismatic astronomy of gravity microlensing (picked up by ground-based telescopes) reveals the existence of planets orbiting the lensing stars very far away.
I have long pondered how it might be possible to get more information about exoplanet systems from microlensing events.
One possibility is to let small telescopes piggyback on interplanetary probes. They would not have to be large, only big enough to sense the minor variations in luminosity planets cause in the light curve for microlensing events.
As Earth-based instruments discover a microlensing event, the cameras on the probes would be pointed to the star, and with many vantage points spread across the solar system they would get more information about the planet, and maybe detect additional planets in the lensing system.
Long-term, maybe we could place several dedicated mircolensing-observation probes in solar orbit. Gravity assists by Jupiter could change the orbital inclination so the odds improve for ‘catching’ lensing events towards the galactic centre.
In a decade the Alpha Centauri system will pass in front of a background star. It is now too late to send probes out to positions where they can catch lensing caused by Alpha Centauri A and B, but sooner and later the system will pass in front of another star. I assume it would be necessary to launch probes out to distances of 10-20 AU to be in a suitable position in line with the stars but it would be doable.
I would suggest a total of four probes, two each for Alpha Centauri A and B as a planet might be on the ‘wrong’ side of the star for the effect to be picked up by a single probe.
(Before then, technology may have advanced to the point where we already have imagined the planets using coronagraphs, so probes can be placed in the exact position to detect the planetary component of microlensing, giving information on the mass.)
I do not keep track of the known exoplanet systems that are in front of the galactic plane, but as we now have the positions of millions of stars, it stands to reason some of the known exoplanet systems will pass in front of a background star eventually, at a time we will know in advance.
It may be too much to hope for this happening to Epsilon Eridani or Tau Ceti but other K star (or maybe even G star) planetary systems will provide opportunities. With so many star positions exactly mapped by Gaia this is only a matter of time.
The line of sight would mostly pass too far from the inner solar system for ground-based telescopes, this is when dedicated probes will be necessary. Picking out the planet data from a G-star microlensing event will surely justify sending a probe out to 10 AU or more
George Carlin Estate Sues Creators Of AI-Generated Comedy Special
Alabama carries out nation’s first known execution with nitrogen gas. Here’s what we know
Wisconsin State Rep: I’m ‘Qualified’ to Ban Abortion Because I’m a Veterinarian
Astronomers Discover Giant Ancient Stars in Milky Way
Trump storms out of courtroom during closing arguments in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation damages trial
US, Iraq to begin talks that could lead to withdrawal of remaining American troops
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says 2024 is going to be a ‘very good’ year for the economy
Could they hurry up with those talks? I have a son who is being shipped out to that region in the spring.
Judge advances Smartmatic’s defamation suit against Fox Corp.
The Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against Fox was settled, but Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation suit is moving forward.
More of the wheels of justice grinding slowly.
Speaking of the wheels of justice grinding slowly:
Link
The UN Top Court Just Ruled Israel Must Prevent Genocide in Gaza
One expert called the court order—which stopped short of calling for a ceasefire—”unprecedented.”
I snipped Netanyahu’s response, which was basically that the genocide accusations are false and outrageous. Netanyahu did not receive much support for his rant.
Genomic ‘butterfly effect’ explains risk for autism spectrum disorder
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-genomic-butterfly-effect-autism-spectrum.html
PZ Myees @ 359
I am not up to date on Iraqi politics but I recall it is very turbulent, with groups representing different religious and ethnic groups in constant conflict.
Without a democratic tradition with an appreciation of compromise and consensus, unexpected domestic issues can pop up at any time affecting foreign policy.
Compared to Iraq, Merican politics -Trump and all- are calm and constructive.
Tens of thousands of pregnancies from rape occurring in abortion-ban states
Economic growth in the United States has been so strong under President Joe Biden that Republicans have literally found themselves at a loss for words.
Link
Wisconsin GOP lawmaker says the quiet part out loud: Women are breeding stock
Followup to comment 366.
Link
Ex-coal CEO who called himself ‘Trumpier than Trump’ launches Democratic Senate bid in West Virginia
Oh Christ, it’s this asshole again
Kaplan locks Previous Guy in courtroom so he could hear WHAT the judge told the jury.
Reginald @369, Don Blankenship, during his days as a coal baron, was responsible death and injury to his workers. He did not properly follow safety regulations for coal mines.
Well, at least some Republicans are angry about other members subjugating themselves to Trump:
Link
Veterans group launches ad against Trump in Pennsylvania
Link
What is also highly unlikely is that Trump would actually work to come up with a bipartisan border deal. Trump is interested only in winning, and he thinks difficulties at the border play in his favor. That’s all. I think it is amusing that the Wall Street Journal thinks Trump is interested in real and practical solutions to immigration issues.
Sargassum seaweed bloom explodes to ‘new record’ size
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, longtime Maryland Democrat, to retire from Congress
Debunking the myth of the benevolent British empire.
Book review: Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire by Caroline Elkins (2022)
.https://freethoughtblogs.com/singham/2024/01/26/book-review-legacy-of-violence-a-history-of-the-british-empire-by-caroline-elkins-2022/
Nancy Mace’s Bizarre Jan. 6 Plan: ‘Get Punched in the Face’
WaPo:
Trump ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3M in defamation damages trial
Re: Trump trial
Judge Kaplan said to the anonymous jury that while they are now free to speak publicly, he didn’t advise it.
“My advice to you is that you never disclose that you were on this jury and I wont say anything more about it,” he said.
Followup to tomh @379.
Jury makes matters vastly worse for Trump in E. Jean Carroll case
E. Jean Carroll’s first defamation case against Trump was brutal for the Republican. The newly resolved second case, however, was vastly worse for him.
Just in: Trump must pay 83 million dollars for defamation!😊🍾🎆
Oops, I posted without reading the previous posts, sorry.
But never mind – TRUMP HAD TO FACE CONSEQUENCES!
Next up: Hell freezes over.
That jury award is wonderful news! So impressed by E. Jean Carroll and Robbie Kaplan!
Oil tanker on fire after Houthi missile attack, firm says
Guardian – “‘I’m big in a lot of ways’: activist Aubrey Gordon on reclaiming fatness in a new film about her life”:
Really nice article!
MSNBC (YT link) – “New book reveals the ‘gut wrenching and appalling’ history of a Jim Crow asylum”:
birger @377:
For anyone with functioning neurons, that myth was debunked decades ago. Those without said neurons won’t be reading the book.
Re: Jury results in Carroll defamation case against Trump… From what I’ve read, in order to appeal the award, Trump will have to post a bond for 110% of the award, or about $92 million. He can get a bond for 1% to 3% of the amount, but he’d have to provide assets to cover the total amount to whoever issued the bond. The alternative is to put the full amount in a court controlled escrow account (which is–apparently–for the first, $5 million–judgement).
From general reading, I expect the punitive portion to be reduced. Courts don’t like punitive awards to be more than about 3 times the compensatory award. In this case, that would trim off about $10 million. Or, just maybe, the courts won’t consider the $65 million to be excessive…
SC @ 384
https://youtube.com/shorts/a0wGCUk_b9w
(Plays samba music in the background)
Rob Grigjanis # 388
Empires are by definition evil, repressive things. They expand beyond the core region that has a common language or culture so the cement that holds the bloated thing together is coercion.
birgerjohansson:
That’s your own claim; were it true, whence this purported “myth of the benevolent British empire”?
(Heh)
Far rightwing extremists are organizing an armed convoy to the Texas border. That’s according to an article posted online by WIRED.
I no longer have access to WIRED articles, and haven’t paid for a subscription. The text one can see without going behind the paywall also says that the Take Back Our Border channel on Telegram has over 1000 members, some of whom are invoking a new Civil War.
https://www.wired.com/story/extremists-far-right-armed-convoy-texas-border/
Paywall, eh?
<checks>
Ah, 4 free articles per month per reader. Turns out, I don’t generally read it, so…
(Obs, that can be bypassed, too — after all, there’s only so many ways the site can know who is reading it)
—
A retired US Army lieutenant colonel is organizing an armed convoy next week to the Texas border to, he says, hunt down migrants crossing into the US from Mexico. Hundreds of people already say they are coordinating travel plans for the convoy on Telegram as tensions continue to rise between the state and federal government over immigration.
Pete Chambers, the lieutenant colonel who says he was a Green Beret, appeared on far-right school-shooting conspiracist Alex Jones’ InfoWars show on Thursday to outline plans for the Take Back Our Border convoy, which has been primarily organized on Telegram.
“What gets us to the enemy quickly is find, fix, and finish,” Chambers told Jones. “That’s what we did in Syria when we took out ISIS really quick. Now we don’t have the authorities to finish, so what we can do is fix the location of where the bad guys are and pair up with law enforcement who are constitutionally sound.”
While this kind of right-wing chatter doesn’t always amount to anything, on Telegram the main Take Back Our Border channel now has over 1,000 members and is being used as a place to plan and share information about the convoy, as well as three rallies taking place in Texas, California, and Arizona next week. The convoy will reportedly begin on Monday, January 29, and participants currently say they are planning on driving to Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, where the Texas National Guard is currently in a standoff with the US Border Patrol.
The convoy has been promoted by Texas state representative Keith Self, who appeared on Fox Business to speak about the event and posted a link to a news article from the conspiracy-focused The Gateway Pundit about the convoy on his X account.
In state-specific subgroups for attendees to organize rideshares and other resources, members are outlining their plans about where along the route they will join up with the convoy. The main part of the convoy will begin in Virginia and will make its way through Florida, Louisiana, and on to Texas.
One group member suggested others bring “kits” to the planned rallies so that “if stuff goes down you will be able to protect yourselves and help out.” Another user responded: “I’m in Missouri. I’ll be ready and have my kit full.”
Some Telegram users have compared this moment to the American revolution of 1776.
“There is a point where we are going to have to get our hands dirty,” one member wrote in the Texas group. “I’ve dealt with MANY bullies in my life, and I’ve never been able to reason with them. The one universal language bullies understand is when you push them back.”
Another poster shared a quote from far-right figure Jack Posobiec saying the country is on “the verge of civil war with the government,” while one member claimed, without evidence, that the Border Patrol is “letting known terrorists into the US.”
A promotional video for the convoy on the website begins with alarms sounding and the words “invasion alert” flashing over what appears to be night-vision footage of people crossing the border. The video also calls back to previous convoys, such as the People’s Convoy that rolled into Washington, DC, in 2022 to protest Covid-19 lockdowns. However, the administrators of the Telegram group and the convoy’s website are careful to say this will be a peaceful protest and that only “law-abiding citizens” are welcome. The convoy’s website says it’s looking for everyone to join the effort, including “all active and retired law enforcement and military veterans.”
The convoy is being organized as tensions over the US–Mexico border escalated this week, when the US Supreme Court lifted an order by a lower court and sided with President Joe Biden’s administration to rule that Border Patrol agents could remove razor wire installed by the Texas National Guard and state troopers. Texas governor Greg Abbott has defied the ruling as the Texas National Guard and state troopers have continued to roll out wire at Shelby Park on the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass. Republicans have backed Abbott, who stated on January 24 that the state’s right to “defend and protect” itself against an “invasion” of migrants “is the supreme law of the land and supersedes any federal statutes to the contrary.”
More than two dozen Republican governors, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and former president Donald Trump have come out in support of Abbot.
“Biden is, unbelievably, fighting to tie the hands of Governor Abbott and the State of Texas, so that the Invasion continues unchecked,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Texas has rightly invoked the Invasion Clause of the Constitution, and must be given full support to repel the invasion.”
“The feds are staging a civil war, and Texas should stand their ground.” Representative Clay Higgins, a GOP congressman from Louisiana, posted on X after the Supreme Court issued its ruling.
The post was shared widely in online communities populated by far-right extremists, including on The Donald, a far-right message board where some of the planning for the January 6 Capitol riot took place.
“There’s no other way to interpret removing a border than outright treason,” a member of The Donald wrote. “The Supreme Court justices who agreed to this deserve to be executed as traitors.” Another added in relation to the judges: “Traitors deserve to die.”
On X on Thursday, the hashtags #CivilWar and #StandwithTexas were both trending.
Do you know anything about the Take Back Our Border convoy or its organizers? Send David Gilbert an email at david.gilbert@wired.com or DM him on X (Twitter) @daithaigilbert for his Signal and WhatsApp number.
During the hourlong interview, Chambers blamed migrants for the fentanyl crisis, which he described as “chemical warfare,” and he called the Biden administration the enemy of the people. Jones described Abbott’s January 24 statement as “the new Declaration of Independence.” Chambers told Jones how he was planning to use the same techniques he claims he used while in the US military fighting the Islamic State to target migrants crossing the border. He echoed Abbott, and described the effort as “domestic internal defense.”
Chambers also said that one of the stops on the convoy will be the One Shot Distillery and Brewery in Dripping Springs, Texas, which is owned by Phil Waldron, a former army colonel. Waldron was central to plotting the January 6 insurrection, when he circulated a 38-page PowerPoint presentation to members of Congress that, among other things, called for Trump to declare a state of emergency and seize voting machines. Waldron was listed as an unindicted coconspirator in Trump’s Georgia election-interference case.
And while much of this kind of violent rhetoric is never acted upon, there have been a growing number of incidents beyond January 6 where online comments have been followed up with real-world action, including when a man targeted an FBI office after slamming the agency for searching Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Truth Social.
Efforts in Congress to find a compromise on border funding appeared to collapse earlier this week, but yesterday Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that talks were still “ongoing.”
Columbia Journalism Review:
John @394, thanks.
In related news: ‘Hold the line’: Republicans rally to Abbott’s defense in border standoff with Biden
https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1750632013688615177
https://www.bbc.com/russian/articles/clev58319pvo That’s the link to the article in Russian
Ah, right. Fatness.
Documentary:
Eating Ourselves To Death: When Food Becomes an Addiction | ENDEVR Documentary – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdMM0ErrDMs
And, in the news, a purely coincidental set of outcomes:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/27/us-approves-23bn-sale-of-f-16-war-planes-to-turkey
(Still waiting on coincidences for Hungary)
AI Startup ElevenLabs Bans Account Blamed for Biden Audio Deepfake
That is not adequate. Someone needs to go to prison for that.
birger @391: Dunno how, but you seem to have misunderstood my comment. Yes, empires are evil. And there was a myth that the British Empire was benevolent. Anyone who’s been paying attention over at least the last few decades knows that is nonsense.
Dunno if too late elaready or already shared here by others but :
Source : https://www.space.com/asteroid-close-encounter-earth-january-27-2024-watch-live
^ Regarding Apollo asteroid 2024 BJ which is an actual astromiccal designation and not a euphemism I promise..
Signal boost :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/oceanoxia/2024/01/26/stuck-in-the-90s-again/
Pro-Palestinian groups standing up to antisemitism show courage and empathy
More at the link, including a debate over Zionism.
I guess they’re settling on invasion imagery. This is a good group to call “ignorants”. People so weak they have to pull at invasion feelings after killing someone and their kids. A simple “liar” will do. Also “coward” because they have to use such to avoid actually really discussing the border.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-vigilantism-invasion-immigrants-greg-abbott_n_65b3f960e4b0d407294f09d9
Math: Evidence ancient Babylonians were far more advanced than we thought
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=5ddF5e-2SfM
Followup to John @394, me @396, and Brony @406.
Link
Followup to comment 408.
Link
Jordan Peterson Sad About Being Sent To ‘Reeducation Camp’ For Wayward Canadian Psychologists
https://www.wonkette.com/p/jordan-peterson-sad-about-being-sent
All because he was a horrible person on social media.
Why is the Arctic Asymmetric? | Why Trees Grow at the Same Latitude as Ice sheets.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=kNeZgqGscRg
Relatedly to migrant’s being an “invasion”, cooties about the word “social”, via “woke” but there’s a history of cooties about the word social in a political context like “social engineering” and “socialism”.
https://www.joemygod.com/2024/01/florida-universities-cancel-woke-sociology-course/
The announcements came after allegations that 12 employees of UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees, were involved in the Oct. 7 attacks. The aid workers have since been fired and an investigation is underway.
Hey, maybe using “woke” to make more “social” cooties is an example of the sort of feeling transfer like second-order conditioning? I still need to read about the details there.
The modern American conspiracy theory starts in small-town Wisconsin
One aspect of this is quite strange in Idaho: In general, John Birchers want to cut back on the population of the earth, but Mormons want to greatly increase the population of Mormons. Not supposed to make sense?
Another odd fact: David Koch and Charles Koch used to be members of the John Birch Society. Charles Koch was still writing papers supporting the JBS in 1976. The Koch family has been involved in providing funding, beginning with Fred Koch, father of David and Charles. Charles Koch is more of a Libertarian now, though that may just a semantic change meant to obscure the Birchers connections.
Lynna… @ # 415: … Birchers want to cut back on the population of the earth…
Eh what?!? How? Commie contraception? Continuous cold showers? Catastrophism? Mass massacres?
MO Capitol riot defendant now a fugitive after failing to appear at DC court hearing
Sabine Hossenfelder checks the facts and gets concerned by a detail that is rarely discussed.
” I wasn’t worried about climate change. Now I am.”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=4S9sDyooxf4
Pierce @416, “Birchers want to cut back on the population of the earth…” okay, not exactly. That was wrong.
OMG. This guy ….
Putin also recently encouraged Russian families to create more cannon fodder.
https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1751162575062966631
I’ve been looking at the pathways for unconscious threat sensing and maybe the “invasion” talk is manipulating this.
“Visual looming is a primitive for human emotion”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37693448/
The vermin and disease references too, but with different extra “flavors”.
Lynna… @ # 419 – Thanks for the clarification: that sounds a lot more like the Birchers we know ‘n’ loathe.
I confess I feel great relief at the (mostly) obsolescence of the compact fluorescent bulb; can’t agree with much else.
9,000-Pound Hummer EV Sinks So Deep Into Texas Mud A Tow Truck Had To Pry It Out
Trafigura Tanker Carrying Russian Fuel Struck by Houthis
Sen. Mike Lee is an opportunist, and stupid
Sen. Mike Lee to Taylor Swift: ‘Would love your support’ on bill
The bogus Swift images were not restricted to “porn sites.” They appeared on X and elsewhere.
Study explores how opposing viewpoints may have impacted vaccine hesitancy
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-explores-opposing-viewpoints-impacted-vaccine.html
Pierce @422, “I confess I feel great relief at the (mostly) obsolescence of the compact fluorescent bulb; can’t agree with much else.”
Ha! I agree.
Unrelated: Cartoon: Trump’s cognitive assessment test
Other news:
Lynna @428, you didn’t cite the source, but I’m pretty sure that’s Wonkette from the stylistic mode.
(Small chance it’s DailyKos, of course — hey, I can rhyme!)
Link for text quoted in comment 428:
https://www.wonkette.com/p/has-been-dilbert-guy-scott-adams
More crazy cultural WTF? news: MAGAverse bully loses fight in Toronto
https://www.wonkette.com/p/him-tarzan-him-lose
:)
Tory self-destruction: “What’s This New Plot Against Sunak All About?”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=oralqb3-_i8
“What’s the queerest country? ”
.https://youtube.com/shorts/xWlrDOuaksg
Canada and the other Nordic countries are doing well. I am surprised Sweden is not on the list.
The beards are the problem now? “Tories Grasping At Straws Against Hopeless Situation”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=o8FhHACGwf8
For the benefit of John Morales: by the ‘other’ nordic countries, I meant other than Sweden, not other than Canada.
😊
RU “Offensive” Has Begun LOSING Ground to Ukraine! (A lot of scattered small-scale russian attacks, but drone surveillance coverage is now so dense the russians cannot concentrate large forces without being spotted in advance, getting trashed by Ukrainan artillery)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ITpaDYYBK6E
The dinosaurs really fucked us over. Bring on the GM, I wanna live as long as a Galapagos tortoise!
The longevity bottleneck hypothesis: Could dinosaurs have shaped ageing in present‐day mammals? – Magalhães – 2024 – BioEssays – Wiley Online Library
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bies.202300098
Mona Lisa: Protesters throw soup at da Vinci painting
Whatever their cause is, they are doing a disservice to it by giving the impression that its proponents are stupid and combative.
‘Forging new history’: high-end iron age smithy unearthed in Oxfordshire | Archaeology | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/28/high-end-iron-age-smithy-oxfordshire-blacksmith
The Celtic peoples were not behind Rome in any way, except political organisation.
The singer Melanie Safka 1947-2024 I recall her songs.
If anybody born 1947 had to die today, I know at least one better candidate.
The Nigerian professor who makes more money welding
“Dark matter is not “bunk science”… But I still don’t believe it exists”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BpKZ8HI6Ixc
Europe’s First Civilization: the Vinča Culture
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=n7L7KZFrACc
House GOP releases impeachment articles against Homeland Security secretary
Anime is weird. Is this ’empowering’ or ‘misogynic’ ?
“Cutie Honey deals with a car full of thugs”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=QHkYXbBTb4k
.
Entertainment Made By Cults
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=nq2_xcTdhI8
Donald Trump threw his lawyer Alina Habba under the bus.
Commentary:
Link
There’s a lot of speculation online that Trump will refuse to pay Alina Habba’s legal fees.
Followup to comment 445.
One mistake that Alina Habba did not make:
Link
Followup to comment 445 and 446.
Posted by readers of the article:
Good News:
Link
Correction to comment 445.
X says “Digitally created image: @realDonaldTrump never made this post on Truth Social.”
Okay, then. I should have been suspicious when the sentences made sense. There were no misspellings.
YouTube link to SNL’s Trump Courthouse Cold Open. That video does make fun of Alina Habba, and disses the rest of Trump’s legal team.
Ukraine update: [several images at the link]
Link
Julia Davis:
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1751467046527762656
Video at the link.
I think the Russian pundits are just desperately looking for someone other than Putin to blame.
3 U.S. troops killed and dozens injured in drone attack in Jordan
President Joe Biden said the troops were killed by “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq,” adding that “we are still gathering the facts of this attack.”
Chip smuggling operation that sent 53,000 banned American chips to China gets busted — $12 million worth of chips funneled through South Korean company
That’s unusual.
Right-wing media escalate civil war rhetoric after Supreme Court rules against Texas in razor wire case
Dunderheads promoting violence.
Fact Check: ‘Texas’ Is Reportedly Slang for ‘Crazy’ in Norway. Here Are the Facts
Right-wing media figures rally behind the “Take Our Border Back” convoy, which is organized by election deniers and anti-vaxxers
Far-right figures are promoting the convoy and using extreme rhetoric about the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.
Idaho librarians contemplate leaving work–and the state–as a result of proposed legislation
More details are available at the link, including information that shows conservative groups in Idaho have targeted literature related to LGBTQ+ communities.
Followup to comment 462.
Posted by readers of the article:
https://www.wonkette.com/p/kristi-noem-fails-texas-history-but
After the adrenaline of reading about stupid evil bigots, here is a calming animal rescue video.
SaveAFox: ‘Animals react to me coming home!!’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3js09QIVQ1o
First she has to bottle-feed a jackal pup while the fennec fox Fawzi goes absolutely batshit crazy (they both pee everywhere) next morning its time to greet all the other rescues…
Germany: the far-right party AfD lost the important election in Thuringia. In Finland the presidential election ended with no candidate reaching 50% , so there will be a new election with the two major candidates facing off.
Despite appearences, Swedish politics are rather stable and boring. Meanwhile, the Argentinian president is getting instructions from a dead dog (Trump would of course not take advice from anything outside himself-I don’t know if that counts as a plus or a minus in this case ).
Music icon Joni Mitchell to perform at Grammys for 1st time
Japanese anime franchises
“Randall Rambles | Revisiting Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ojoIO8_7tuM
(18 minutes)
The original ‘magical girl’
“Binge Watching the Cutie Honey Franchise | Randall Rambles”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=eZTR2tsO4kc
(1 hour)
@birgerjohansson #449:
Not watched. Google says… yes?
Wikipedia
TvTropes
Dear Lynna, I know this infinite thread will roll over to a new one soon. But, this topic BIT a friend of mine and I just want you, PZ and anyone else looking for a usb cable to be aware of this.
https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-protect-devices-from-fake-usb-omg-cable/
An O.MG cable is a hacking tool that looks and acts like a standard USB cable that houses a special hidden implant allowing a cracker to steal your data, inject mouse inputs, log in your keystrokes, and deploy dangerous payloads. The O.MG cable can be configured to have a combination of USB-A, USB-C, USB Micro, and Lightning interface, which can be used for Android and iOS.
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67562522
More at the link.
For those who aren’t into propagandistic, slanted sites: Anders Puck Nielsen has made a good video about the possibility of “war” between Russia and NATO, Vlad Vexler has made one about the political significance of that, and Perun has summed-up the last phase of the war and the state of things in his usual inimitable Powerpoint method.
I’m not linking, but easy enough to find for whoever cares and is not clueless.
—
shermanj, I honestly can’t resist.
That’s old news. cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juice_jacking
Also, other errors aside, I am amused by the title of your adduced article:
“How to Protect Your Devices From a Fake USB O.MG Cable”.
Think about it.
If it’s not an ‘X’, it’s a fake X. And here, in “Fake USB O.MG Cable”, X=’USB O.MG Cable’.
Get it? A “Fake USB O.MG Cable” is not an USB O.MG Cable, else it would not be a fake.
So it’s a not-fake USB O.MG Cable with which your friend was allegedly bitten, if one actually reads properly.
(Thus my allusion to the other errors in that adduced article)
“David Frum on What Happened to Republicans”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=P-sU1ilJ904
I am aware of Frum’s past as a hawk during Dubya. But I like the phrase “DeSantis campaigned on a galaxy of the dumbest things”. Frum is a relic of the often reprehensible but rarely downright insane part of the GOP.
Illinois election officials to weigh recommendation to remove Trump’s name from March primary ballot
This will probably be mooted by the Supreme Court case.
Pastor ARRESTED For Sheltering Homeless In -20 Degrees | The Kyle Kulinski Show
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=cCabYXVmElc
Jaguar Sneak Attack 😊
.https://youtube.com/shorts/jEpZ4pTXjkk
Google Update Reveals AI Will Read All Your Private Messages
Dr Gilbz’s conclusion here is worth hearing and thinking about here – Is it time to give up on the 1.5°C climate target? By Climatologist Dr Gilbz I think. Recommend her channel generally climate science~wise.
Doesn’t really matter. It may have given up on us.
Latest room-temperature claims met with heaps of skepticism
I value what PZ, Lynna and the positive commenters contribute here. I thought that my comment would be helpful and welcomed. But, it appears that I shouldn’t bother trying to make a positive contribution here, because no matter what I say, my remarks will always be personally heckled by a small-minded, nit-picking troll.
Sabine Hossenfelder: “Brian Cox debunked the Big Bang! Wait, what?”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=B4I68xZ6dCc
” that superconducts at ambient temperature and pressure…”
I believe Carl Sagan explained how to approach this kind of claims.
shermanj @471, thanks for posting that. I was not aware that those cables existed: “O.MG cables are USB cables that allow hackers to steal your information” as the article states. Better to be aware.
As far as “trolls,” there will probably always be some posts on this thread with which you disagree, or posts with a tone that you may find irritating. My advice is to ignore them.
Most of the time, we don’t nitpick. Most of the time, we present and discuss interesting, entertaining or even crucial information.
In reference to the E. Jean Carroll case against Donald Trump, Nikki Haley spoke out during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and told host Kristen Welker, “I absolutely trust the jury. … I think that they made their decision based on the evidence.”
I think that’s a good way to put it. It was not Joe Biden, as Trump claimed. It was also not a judge that was biased against Trump (as he claimed), it was in fact a jury. Earlier, a jury found Trump had sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll and that Trump had subsequently lied about that event, including lies that defamed Carroll. Later, a JURY penalized Trump by awarding Carroll over $83 million in damages, including $65 million in punitive damages.
Japan’s Moon Lander Springs Back to Life, Defying the Odds
Latest Whackadoodle MAGA Conspiracy Theory: NFL Rigged For Taylor Swift
Dishonest Brokers
More at the link, including how impressed Republicans voters are when their representatives lower standards even further. “It’s Trump’s cruelty they like. It’s a cult of personality and not even the good kind.”
Masters of the Air is overproduced, over-CGI’d, over-color-graded Emmy bait
Thank you Lynna,
Good advice. I try not to be ‘thin-skinned’ and I know most people commenting here are more focused on the important topics and I hope childish bickering will be avoided since it wastes time detracts from the credibility of pharyngula. I will continue to read PZ’s posts and the valuable things you make available here, but, I’ll avoid feeding the few trolls.
stay safe.
Yep, that’s a serious approach to union-busting: Trader Joe’s Joins SpaceX In Arguing That The NLRB Is Unconstitutional
@487:
The conspiracy runs deep. The KC Chiefs went to the Super Bowl three times in the last 5 years, winning it twice. Obviously this was done to make the recent Swift promotion believable.
Amelia Earhart’s long-lost plane possibly spotted in the Pacific by exploration team
All they have now is a sonar image. Get back to me when they have sent some divers or an ROV down there.
@493
Amelia Earhart plane possibly detected by sonar, exploration team says
The Titanic is at a depth of only 12,500 feet. It will probably have to be investigated by an ROV (remotely operated vehicle), not divers.
Watch the moment a GOP congresswoman forgot how she voted on bills she’s bragged about, but actually opposed: ‘I need to ask my staff’
Dozens Of Historians File SCOTUS Brief In Support Of Removing Trump From Ballot
Guardian world news:
“‘Why should I kill our own?’: Thousands of soldiers surrender as Myanmar junta shaken by rebel advances”:
“Duterte calls Philippine president ‘a drug addict’ as rift deepens”:
To hell with all of them.
“Secret EU plan ‘to sabotage Hungarian economy’ revealed as anger mounts at Orbán”:
“Police raid villa of Jair Bolsonaro as part of spying investigation”:
“France warns farmers that blocking Paris market will be red line in protest”:
Trump Claims Credit For Record Stock Market Using Bogus Reasoning
Daily Beast – “Trumps Throw Tantrum Over Court Monitor’s Financial Bombshell”:
He seems unclear on the concept of a monitor.
This explains a lot…
“Trump In Full Panic Mode As Nikki Haley Raises More Money Than Him”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=4lfPyal_tMw
New Rule: A Democracy, If You Can Keep It | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=T351HLKLeqc