On 60 Minutes, Tom Homan said “families can be deported together.” That would require removing Americans too.
[…] Removing one million people from the country a year would cost an estimated $88 billion annually, according to the American Immigration Council.
Still, Trump’s potential second administration wants to try again, even if it appears they only have concepts of a plan for how to do carry out mass removal […]
On Sunday, Tom Homan, the one-time cop and former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Trump, appeared on 60 Minutes to sell the plan as not potentially catastrophic. Homan, the “architect” of family separation who said he didn’t “give a shit” about being sued over the infamous practice, has been defiantly positioning himself as the man to get the job done.
“Trump comes back in January, I’ll be on his heels coming back, and I will run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen,” he said at the National Conservatism conference in Washington, DC, in July. “They ain’t seen shit yet. Wait until 2025.”
But when asked by CBS’s Cecilia Vega how feasible—or humane—the rollout of a mass deportation proposal would be, his answers inspired little confidence. [video at the link]
[…]
To detain immigrants before carrying out their deportations, Miller said the Trump administration would build massive holding facilities that could accommodate between 50,000 to 70,000 people at any given time. Such an undertaking, he said, “would be greater than any national infrastructure project we’ve done to date.”
In an exercise of semantics, Homan went on to say he doesn’t use the term “raids,” but that “worksite enforcement operations” would be necessary. When Vega pressed him on how the agency would prioritize immigration enforcement against national security and public safety threats, he left no room for doubt that anyone would entered the United States unlawfully would be a potential target. “So you’re carrying out a targeted enforcement operation,” Vega said, “grandma is in the house. She’s undocumented. She gets arrested too?”
“It depends,” Homan said. “Let the [immigration] judges decide. […]
And as immigration experts have noted, such a plan would negatively impact mixed-status households, potentially tearing families apart. To that, Homan offered an alternative. “Is there a way to carry out mass deportation without separating families?” Vega asked. “Of course there is,” Homan said. “Families can be deported together.”
This is the space where I normally write pithy comments about JD Vance’s stupid appearances on the Sunday shows. But as fate would have it, I am spared one horror to address another. As Wonkette’s resident Puerto Rican writer, there are some things that I am uniquely suited for.
So, let’s address one of the “highlights” of Donald Trump’s Nazi Madison Square Garden rally remake: “comedian” Tony Hinchcliffe.
The “joke” for posterity:
HINCHCLIFFE: It is absolutely wild times. It really, really is. Don’t know if you guys know this. There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.
It wasn’t the only racist “joke” Hinchcliffe said during his set, in case some want to claim this was a singular moment.
HINCHCLIFFE: These Latinos they love making babies, too. Just know that. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside…just like they did to our country.
And:
HINCHCLIFFE: It’s a cool Black guy with a thing on his head. What the hell is that? A lampshade? Look at this guy! Oh my goodness … wow. I’m just kidding. That’s one of my buddies. He had a Halloween party last night. We had fun. We carved watermelons together.
For those not terminally online and unfamiliar with Tony Hinchcliffe, he hosts a podcast called “Kill Tony.”
Actual comedian Katt Williams contextualized who Hinchcliffe is on his infamous “Club Shay Shay” appearance with Shannon Sharpe, noting that he’s one of “six comedians that never been funny” that Joe Rogan likes to promote. Hinchcliffe is a meteor of mediocrity orbiting around the moon of failing upwards that is Rogan. His “career” is basically kissing Rogan’s ass and making low effort “I’m the victim of ‘Cancel Culture’ comedy” specials.
In 2021, Tony Hinchcliffe got “canceled” for this “joke”. [video at the link: “Filthy little fucking Chink […]” and more]
But as anyone with any understanding of white supremacy and history can guess, Hinchcliffe was not only not “canceled” but rewarded for his overt racism. He admitted as much months ago. [video at the link]
There is always an eager audience for people who cater to hate and racism. Clearly, Trump has made it his whole political career and specifically chose to mirror the 1939 Nazi Madison Square Garden Rally as his magnum opus. His apartheid minister of miscommunication got the hint and signaled to his online white supremacists that very meaning prior to the rally. [X post from Elon Musk is available at the link]
In response to Hinchcliffe’s “joke,” Republicans vacillated between glee … [examples at the link]
… and panic for those in states with large population of Puerto Ricans like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and Florida, that HAVE YET TO VOTE! Florida politicians are especially freaking out: [examples at the link]
Puerto Rico’s sole non-voting member of Congress (thanks, colonialism!), Jenniffer González-Colón, also issued a statement, while trying to wash out the stain of being a Republican who has endorsed Trump and his party of hate. [X post at the link]
The Trump campaign also quickly rushed out a statement attributed to campaign adviser Daniella Alvarez, saying the “joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” Clearly they hoped that would cover the massive shit they took on Puerto Rican people.
Hinchcliffe, for his part, seems to be using the old “it was a joke” defense that racists use as a shield when called on their bullshit. Governor Tim Walz and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez happened to be live together last night and reacted in real time. It’s worth watching.
Hinchcliffe reacted to that: [X post at the link]
Few things:
– It wasn’t taken out of context.
– Being racist toward other ethnicities doesn’t make it any better. Being an “equal opportunity” bigot doesn’t change or make a person less of a bigot.
– Hinchcliffe has spoken about his connections to the mob and Italian food on podcasts, which reminds me of how he’s a textbook example of the nebulousness of being “white.” Not very long ago, it was his very ancestors who were seen as “floating garbage” as they arrived on Ellis Island, New York, seeking a better life for their children. And now he gets to spew this shit before massive crowds of racists while Santa Monica fascist Stephen Miller declares that “America is for Americans and Americans only.”
– Hinchcliffe may want to seek an alternate future vacation spot. From now until, say, the heat death of the universe.
I’ll conclude with this clip of comedian Anthony Jeselnik, no stranger to dark comedy and roasts, basically summarizing why Tony Hinchcliffe’s “comedic art” failed. [video at the link]
JESELNIK: There’s this quote attributed to Andy Warhol that I love: “Art is getting away with it.” You know if you put out a special and everyone’s pissed, you didn’t get away with it. You need to make everyone laugh […] otherwise you’re just a troll.
Judging by the deafening silence, even from Trump’s MAGA Nazi audience, Hinchcliffe’s joke failed. [True!]
I hope my fellow Boricuas everywhere show Hinchcliffe, Trump and the Republican Party just how much they didn’t get away with it at the polls on November 5.
On Sunday, vice presidential candidate and fuckwit JD Vance sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper for an interview on a range of topics, including Vance’s outlook on the state of America, his goals for his potential vice presidency, and his dreams and aspirations for the future of his children, your children, and the nation he hopes to lead.
Ha ha, we kid. Mostly we learned what we already knew, which is that JD Vance is […] a narrow-minded, arrogant cretin who is in way, way, way over his head. For 17 minutes he sneered at and insulted anyone who thinks Donald Trump is unfit to be president, he deflected Tapper’s questions, he was belligerent, and he twisted himself into knots trying to make Trump sound like the only sane person in a government awash in incompetent haters who are just jealous of Trump’s general awesomeness.
All credit to Jake Tapper, though. He managed to get nearly two full minutes into his interview with Senator Butthair before he made this face: [Image at the link]
That was right after Vance accused former Marine general and Trump chief of staff John Kelly of being a war-monger who wants to get America involved in “a ton of ridiculous military conflicts,” and Tapper said essentially, My dude, he lost his own son in Afghanistan and I’ve never heard him actually advocate for expanding that war or really express any opinion of that particular conflict at all, are you sure you want to talk about him like he’s Robert Duvall in The Great Santini?
It did not get better from there, as Vance continued talking up Trump as the peace candidate and accusing neocons of calling him a dictator because they were mad he wouldn’t take their advice and bomb Iran or something.
Then he accused Kelly of coordinating with the Kamala Harris campaign before he started giving interviews calling Trump a danger to the country:
TAPPER: You said the other day — quote — “I guarantee John Kelly talked to somebody on Kamala Harris’s campaign beforehand,” before he did this interview. Now, I’ve spoken with people in John Kelly’s circle and I’ve spoken with people in the Kamala Harris campaign. They say there’s been no communication the entire time. So where did that come from?
VANCE: Oh, I’m highly skeptical of that, Jake. You know the way that these attacks work. You know the way that these people are often vetted by a campaign before something goes out there.
TAPPER: So you made it up?
[…] Ahem, yes. He made it up, as immediately became obvious:
VANCE: If it is true that he never spoke with anyone in Kamala Harris’s orbit, I’m happy to apologize to John Kelly for misstating how he delivered this news to ‘The Atlantic’ magazine. But let’s talk about who — who did he deliver this news to? To Jeffrey Goldberg, a guy who lied the United States into the Iraq war, which led to the deaths of millions of innocent Arabs and thousands of innocent Americans. You don’t go to that guy if you don’t have a particular ideological motive. I think that’s what’s going on. If I’m wrong, I’m happy to say that I’m wrong.
That’s a neat trick, because it puts the entire onus on John Kelly to prove a negative. That’s why he can so generously say he’ll admit he’s wrong, because there is no way to definitely prove what happened one way or the other.
It went on and on like that, with Tapper bringing up specific threats Trump has made — using the military on American protestors, deporting Special Counsel Jack Smith, putting Liz Cheney in front of a war tribunal. All this left Vance in the position of having to defend the indefensible, which he didn’t really want to do because A) he wants to be one 78-year-old heartbeat away from the world’s most powerful office, and B) because he genuinely agrees with all these dumbass accusations and threats.
TAPPER: None of that sounds fascist to you at all?
VANCE: No, of course it doesn’t.
TAPPER: Putting Liz Cheney before a military tribunal?
VANCE: First of all, I don’t buy into the premise of what you’re saying, Jake.
TAPPER: These are things he said. These are things he said.
[…] There is a lot more, which you can watch here if you have 17 minutes and no more will to live: [video at the link]
We specifically recommend the exchange around the 15-minute mark, when Vance again accuses former Trump administration officials of simply being disgruntled employees who couldn’t get the boss to start a bajillion wars, and Jake Tapper responds, with a level of incredulity normally reserved for movie actors looking up at the fleet of city-sized UFOs that have suddenly appeared in the skies overhead, “That’s really your argument???”
Yes, it is JD Vance’s argument. Because — and we can’t stress this enough — he is a soulless pile of […] naked ambition […]
U.S. intelligence agencies have identified domestic extremists with grievances rooted in election-related conspiracy theories, including beliefs in widespread voter fraud and animosity toward perceived political opponents, as the most likely threat of violence in the coming election.
In a Joint Intelligence Bulletin that was not distributed publicly but was reviewed by NBC News, agents from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warn state and local law enforcement agencies that domestic violent extremists seeking to terrorize and disrupt the vote are a threat to the election and throughout Inauguration Day.
The report identified the potential targets as candidates, elected officials, election workers, members of the media and judges involved in election cases. The potential threats include physical attacks and violence at polling places, ballot drop boxes, voter registration locations and rallies and campaign events. […]
the reports “are not typical election threat intelligence,” said Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People. “The documents are unmistakably a product of a radically heightened threat environment.” […]
The report noted recent incidents of targeted violence, including increased activity from white nationalists and Proud Boy organizing against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio. It also noted disturbing calls for violence on anonymous online message boards targeting election workers and undocumented immigrants as part of “election steal defense prep.”
In the previous set of 500 comments on The Infinite Thread, microraptor noted that, “Two ballot drop boxes were firebombed in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington last night/early this morning.”
In the judicial equivalent of a Friday night news dump, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals dropped a decision that paves the way for the next frontier in voter suppression. A three-judge panel of Trump appointees—James Ho, Kyle Duncan, and Andrew Oldham—gleefully tossed out one of the pillars of federalism in their zeal to help Republicans win elections whether people support them or not.
Mississippi has—well, had—a law that required the state to count absentee ballots received up to five days after Election Day if they were postmarked before or on the day of the election. The state made that change to its election laws during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they kept it on the books.
If you’re not brain-poisoned with right-wing propaganda about stolen elections, a law like this just makes sense. The person still has to have cast a ballot by Election Day. This way, their vote won’t be invalidated just because the United States Postal Service is somehow incapable of getting ballots to election centers within the three-to-five-day range they promise. Eighteen states—plus Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C.—have laws like this.
These days, Republicans who have marinated in the Trump fever swamp of voter fraud allegations hate laws like this. They’re committed to their worldview that mail-in ballots are ripe for fraud because that’s what Trump thinks, despite evidence showing that voter fraud such as double voting is vanishingly small.
So, back to Mississippi. In early 2024, the Republican National Committee sued the state, saying that the counting of late-arriving ballots was preempted by federal statutes that require all votes to arrive by Election Day. Mississippi is an odd choice for Republicans to turn their voter fraud suspicions on, given Trump took 57% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. But by suing in Mississippi, they were guaranteed to get their appeal in front of a Fifth Circuit panel if they lost at the lower court.
The Fifth Circuit is the most conservative appellate court in the country. […]
The Fifth Circuit has given us such bangers as: Bump Stocks are Great, Actually and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration Can’t Enforce Workplace Safety Rules Because COVID-19 is No Big Deal. The court is so off the rails that even the conservative majority at the United States Supreme Court has started ruling against them repeatedly. [Embedded links to sources are available at the main link.]
Getting repeatedly smacked down by the Supreme Court doesn’t seem to have cowed the Fifth Circuit at all. So why wouldn’t they, a mere eight days before the election, issue a decision that could wreak havoc in multiple states? […]
In ruling that Mississippi can’t make its own laws about absentee ballots, the Fifth Circuit wasn’t actually interested in meddling in Mississippi’s 2024 election as such because there’s no question that the state will go for Trump. That’s why the decision remanded the case back to the lower court without issuing an injunction that would have blocked the state from accepting late-arriving ballots in 2024. Rather, this is all about a far-right push to declare that Election Day is a singular day and limit voting to in-person on that day. [True. And that is a bonkers point that Trump has repeatedly made.]
In 2020, Democrats voted by mail at double the rate of Republicans. Early voting data for 2024 shows Republicans pulling nearly even, no doubt thanks to the GOP making a big mail-in voting push even while Trump runs around crying fraud about it. MAGA types won’t be happy until they’ve cut off all the ways in which voting could be made more accessible.
But first, they need to wrench the regulation of voting away from the states. The federal courts are stuffed to the gills with Federalist Society conservatives, and Republicans very much would rather have those judges in charge of elections than allow states to make their own rules. To do that, they need to flip the regulation of elections on its head.
As much as they’re supposed to be the states’ rights party, the GOP has very much embraced the notion that the federal courts get a veto over state election procedures whenever it suits them. It’s been a successful strategy for the right going back to Bush v. Gore, where the court’s conservative majority handed the election to George W. Bush by stopping Florida from using its own laws to recount votes.
Given that three GOP veterans of the Bush v. Gore battle now sit on the Supreme Court, why not lay the groundwork for that court to give GOP candidates a helping hand? Chief Justice John Roberts prepped the attorney who argued Bush v. Gore before the court, and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett both worked on the Bush legal team.
Last term […] the Supreme Court invalidated Colorado’s removal of Trump from the ballot. In doing so, the court overruled the Colorado Supreme Court, essentially telling states that they cannot enforce their laws regarding ballot access. So, a state is not allowed to kick Trump off the ballot even if the state determined he was an insurrectionist and therefore not eligible.
Thanks to the Fifth Circuit, Republicans now have a decision in hand that says that federal law preempts state law when it comes to when absentee ballots can be counted. […] it would invalidate every state law that allows late-arriving votes to be counted, even if they were postmarked by Election Day. […] there’s no telling what the GOP will do with this late-October gift.
[snipped details of how the fallout could affect the counting of votes in Nevada]
And if that challenge makes it all the way to the Supreme Court? […] It’s a court custom-made to wrench the vote away from the people and give it to Donald Trump.
An update on the firebombing in Portland: the ballot box was apparently equipped with a fire suppression system that successfully engaged, resulting in only two ballots being damaged. The people those ballots belonged to were identified and the county government is notifying them on how to get replacement ballots.
The TEC Show:
“Good Early Voting Results! Battleground State Breakdown:
Harris vs Trump Election 2024”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=VKif42VVL0k
Most states have a majority of women early voters.
birgerjohanssonsays
There are plenty other podcasts about polling but there are not much new changes. After some thought I decided against posting other polling links. Unless you have huge polling numbers the small sub-percent differences between Harris and Trump in some states are not statistically significant.
It is more interesting to extract information from early voting. The huge turnout of women voters seems promising.
(“The Golden Crocoduck is awarded every year on 28 October (the feast day of St. Jude Thaddeus, the Patron Saint of lost causes) for the biggest breach of the 9th Commandment.
It may not be 28 October where you are, but it’s 28 October here in sunny Australia, so there!”)
Former President Donald J. Trump has spent the past several days calling the CNN host Anderson Cooper by a woman’s name, as he devotes much of the final stretch of a close presidential campaign to increasingly unfiltered displays of grievance and bigotry.
Mr. Trump routinely refers to people he doesn’t like by disparaging nicknames, but his references to Mr. Cooper seemed intended specifically to disparage Mr. Cooper’s sexuality in a campaign in which the former president, his campaign and allied groups have spent tens of millions of dollars on anti-transgender ads.
Mr. Cooper is gay; he is not transgender. But anti-transgender messaging — which has increasingly animated Republicans and conservative activists over the past few years, particularly in relation to gender-affirming care for transgender teenagers and to trans girls’ and women’s participation in sports — has often extended to L.G.B.T.Q. people generally.
Among other things, Republicans have backed state laws forbidding teachers to discuss sexual orientation or gender identity in classrooms, and sought to restrict the availability of books that focus on L.G.B.T.Q. people.
Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department intervened in a private employment lawsuit, arguing that a major federal civil rights law did not protect employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. (The Supreme Court rejected that argument in 2020.) The Trump administration also weakened anti-discrimination protections for L.G.B.T.Q. people in other areas, and Mr. Trump has proposed an array of anti-transgender policies if he is elected again.
the Knesset passed two bills; one barring UNRWA from activity within Israel, and another banning Israeli authorities from any contact with UNRWA—revoking the 1967 treaty that allows UNRWA […] the architect of the bill, said: “Anyone that behaves like a terrorist has no rights in Israel… UNRWA equals Hamas, period.” […] The first law was approved with 92 votes in favor, 10 against. The second was approved with 87 votes in favor, 9 against.
[…]
Several countries, including the United States, have expressed deep concerns […] Prior to the vote, the US State Department had urged Israel not to pass the legislation […] Antony Blinken has previously warned Israel that passing the legislation could “have implications under US law and US policy.”
[…]
Israel has long opposed the agency […] even before October 7 […] Israeli officials have rejected UNRWA’s definition of which Palestinians are eligible for refugee status, arguing that descendants of the 1948 refugees do not qualify and thus don’t have the right to return to their ancestral homes in what is now Israel.
[…]
But since the war started, Israel has launched an intense campaign to delegitimize the UN body, including accusing some of UNRWA’s employees of association with Hamas […] UNRWA strongly denied the allegations, but several governments, including the US, suspended funding for the agency earlier this year while the allegations were being investigated. […] Most nations have since restored funding with the exception of the US, its biggest donor.
[…]
“It would be a catastrophe,” [the UN Secretary-General told Netanyahu], “in what is already an unmitigated disaster.” […] The UN chief has been declared persona-non-grata […] by Israel
[…]
UNRWA is the primary humanitarian aid group in Gaza. Nearly 2 million Gazans rely on the agency for aid, with 1 million people using UNRWA shelters for food and healthcare […] Along with the Palestinian Red Crescent, UNRWA handles almost all distribution of UN aid coming into the territory.
[…]
[An Israeli Arab Knesset member said] “Israel is in effect creating new refugees every day while questioning the legitimacy of that very status,”
Brony @13, so the Trump campaign did at least sort of vet what the guy was going to say.
According to other reporting, the “joke” about Puerto Rico being a garbage dump was on the teleprompter. That text was loaded onto the teleprompter, so the Trump campaign must have known about that too. Ditto for the racist sneer about black people, etc.
Three waves of predawn strikes on military targets in Iran on Saturday completed Israel’s retaliation on Iran, the Israel Defense Forces said, in what U.S. officials and others hoped would be the last shot in a hostile exchange between the two regional powers that has had the world on edge for weeks, fearing a dangerous expansion of the war. An Iranian civilian was killed in one of the strikes on the outskirts of Tehran, the country’s state-media outlet FARS news agency reported on Sunday.
This Puerto Rican has something to say about the island that I love, where my family is from. Puerto Rico is ‘trash’? We are Americans, Donald Trump. Americans. We voluntarily serve disproportionately high in the military, while you have bone spurs.
And we vote.
Pennsylvania is home to almost half a million Puerto Ricans. North Carolina, 115,000. Georgia, 100,000. Arizona, 64,000. Wisconsin, 61,000. Michigan, 43,000. Nevada, 27,000.
We vote, Donald Trump
And by the way, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Bad Bunny, Luis Fonsi and Mark Anthony have over 345 million followers on Instagram. I think you only have 26 million, since you care so much about size. And we don’t like what was said about Puerto Rico.
And we know how to take the trash out Donald Trump. Trash that has been collecting since 2016. And that’s you, Donald Trump.
And finally, my fellow Puerto Ricans, trash collection day is Nov 5, 2024. Don’t forget it.
StevoRsays
@ 12. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain :
…the architect of the bill, (Boaz Bismuth -ed) said: “Anyone that behaves like a terrorist has no rights in Israel…
So Isreal’s own Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir now has no rights in Israel then?
The Jerusalem Magistrates Court convicted right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir of supporting a terror organization and incitement to racism on Monday. Ben-Gvir was found guilty of carrying a sign saying, “Expel the Arab enemy,” (incitement to racism) and a poster saying, “Rabbi Kahane was right, the Arab MKs are the fifth column” (support for a terror organization*). Four indictments for four separate incidents occurring between the years 2001 and 2002 were filed against the rightist, who was convicted of the first two charges.
Among others including extremist Jewish settlers and even arguably Netanyahu who has been accused by some of being a terrorist – & did indeed incite the murder of his predecessor Yitzhak Rabin?
They now have no rights in Israel? Huh. Somehow doubt it.
Okay both those ex-PM’s have died so moot point but still.
We have no shortage of war in the news, but far away from Gaza and Ukraine, a terrible feud unleashing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is getting almost no attention.
It’s an East African country with a landmass three times the size of Ukraine and Gaza put together, and a death toll suspected to be up to five times that of the battered Palestinian enclave. […] The scale of devastation […] can barely be conveyed. Over 25 million people (more than half the population) face acute hunger in a country where weapons circulate freer than grain and people are eating grass to survive.
[…]
two rival generals unleashed civil war last April […] People could easily assume this war is underreported here because it’s not relevant here […] Unlike in Gaza and Ukraine, where the UK, EU, and USA supply arms to one side, we have not staked one ‘side’ of Sudan’s war.
Yet The Economist describes it as “a geopolitical timebomb”. The UAE (one of the UK’s biggest arms customers), Iran, Egypt, Russia and consequently Ukraine are all arming various sides, while China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar compete for localised influence.
“Sudan is not a poor country, Sudan is exploited,” said Sudanese activist Ameen Mekki […] It is rich in gold to illegally export and weapons to surreptitiously sell.
[…]
British and Egyptian colonisers structured the state of Sudan from 1899-1956 with tactics of extreme centralisation and militarisation “that have been a recurring theme throughout Sudan’s history,” explained Ameen. Since independence […] fleeting bids for democracy have been thwarted by its overinflated military.
[…]
a Sudanese refugee […] stated: “The Sudanese people think the UK is their second homeland.” What the British press and public do not seem to realise is that the war in Sudan is affecting us, immensely, through migration flows. Sudan […] being the world’s largest child displacement crisis.
[…]
Even without the threats of terrorist hotbeds or immigration flows or gold shortages or obstructions to the Suez Canal, shouldn’t foreign leaders uphold the international laws their countries wrote and signed up to? Who else can pressure Sudan’s warring leaders to negotiate for peace with sanctions and lawsuits and diplomatic weight?
attacks were committed over the past five days by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the militia group that has battled Sudan’s military across the country since the war erupted last year […] The village assaults were retribution for the defection of a top RSF commander […] who surrendered to the Sudanese military last week […] RSF fighters reportedly shot at civilians indiscriminately, perpetrated acts of sexual violence against women and girls, committed widespread looting of markets and homes and […] burning farmland and destroying irrigation canals
[…]
Both sides in the Sudan conflict have been accused of war crimes and atrocities. The Sudanese military has often sent its warplanes on indiscriminate bombing attacks in major cities […] armed attacks are far from the only threat […] Sudan has become both the world’s largest hunger crisis and the world’s worst displacement crisis, UN agencies say.
Bekenstein Boundsays
From Trump’s recent Nuremberg rally:
“As the first Samoan Malaysian low IQ, former California prosecutor to ever be elected president,” [Fucker] Carlson falsely said in a mocking tone of Harris’s racial background. “No, she’s not impressive.”
Normally your side refuses to concede even after losing the election, and now you’re giving a concession speech over a week before voting day?
Eh, whatevs.
A memo circulating among at least half a dozen advisers to former President Donald J. Trump recommends that if he is elected, he bypass traditional background checks by law enforcement officials and immediately grant security clearances to a large number of his appointees after being sworn in, according to three people briefed on the matter.
Hear that? That is the drip, drip, drip of the Russian and Chinese spy agencies salivating.
The MAGA crowd has officially moved from “talking about engaging in political violence” to “engaging in political violence.”
That ship sailed in 2017, when Nazi marchers murdered Heather Heyer. And it got a big overhaul including bigger sails on January 6, 2021.
It did not get better from there, as Vance continued talking up Trump as the peace candidate and accusing neocons of calling him a dictator because they were mad he wouldn’t take their advice and bomb Iran or something.
It’s funny he should mention that: one of the few acts of foreign aggression Trump perpetrated during his term was to … bomb Iran. To be exact, he blew up Iranian general Qasem Suleimani via drone strike, perhaps hoping that, like a certain notorious assassination way back in 2014, doing so would start World War III and distract Americans from his pandemic mismanagement, police brutality, and other domestic woes. (Spoiler warning: he failed, though NetanYahoo is now giving the same thing a more serious try.)
whheydtsays
Re: Berkenstein Bound @ #21…
Errr…. Perhaps your allusion is to the political assassination that took place in 1914? Not sure one can really equate a general to an archduke, though.
The comments have drawn intense anger and reignited the criticism over Trump’s handling of Hurricane Maria’s devastating aftermath in Puerto Rico.
The comedian who let loose a series of racist jokes, some about Puerto Rico, at former President Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday night workshopped the material the night before at a local comedy club.
[…] It was not the first time Hinchcliffe had used the Puerto Rico line — he practiced it at The Stand comedy club in New York City, where he made a surprise appearance Saturday night, according to an NBC News producer and three other people who happened to be in the audience.
The joke did not draw laughs, just a handful of awkward chuckles. Hinchcliffe told the audience that he would be performing at the Madison Square Garden rally the next day and said multiple times during his routine that he would get a better reaction “tomorrow at the rally.” [Nope]
The Trump campaign was asked Monday on Noticias Telemundo whether it was aware of Hinchcliffe’s jokes in advance. Vianca Rodríguez, the deputy director of Hispanic communications for the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, said in Spanish that “they don’t have absolute control” over what speakers say, though she was asked about the fact that Hinchcliffe was reading from a teleprompter.
[…] Hinchcliffe, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, posted Sunday after the controversy that the joke was “taken out of context to make it seem racist. I love Puerto Rico and vacation there.”
Many in the Puerto Rican community said they feel the sting of the remarks, saying they especially put the focus back on the criticism Trump got for his handling of Hurricane Maria while he was president.
The criticism and the controversy over Hinchcliffe’s joke — which Trump himself did not disavow when he addressed the rally or later — are now at the forefront as the two presidential candidates vie for the support of Puerto Rican voters, especially those who remain undecided. Puerto Ricans living in the U.S. mainland are the nation’s second-largest group of Latino eligible voters after Mexican Americans.
[…] The controversy ended up bringing more attention to Harris, because the racist remarks came hours after her plan “to help build a brighter future for Puerto Rico” was released and she visited a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia.
Shortly after Harris unveiled her Puerto Rico proposals Sunday, global reggaeton star Bad Bunny reposted her videos, including her criticism of Trump’s handling of the hurricane, to his 45 million followers — giving her his endorsement.
Apart from Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican singer Marc Anthony slammed Trump for his actions during Hurricane Maria as he endorsed Harris, posting on Instagram: “I remember after Hurricane Maria devastated our island… Trump blocked billions in relief … while thousands died. I remember that when our families lacked clean water and electricity, Trump threw paper towels and called Puerto Rico ‘dirty’ and ‘poor.’” He added he was not “surprised,” because Trump “launched his campaign by calling Latinos criminals and rapists.”
After the 2017 hurricane, Trump repeatedly opposed disaster funding for Puerto Rico as he disputed and failed to acknowledge Maria’s death toll — almost 3,000 people in the U.S. territory, making it the deadliest hurricane in the U.S. in 100 years. Trump also drew attention for disparaging statements about Puerto Rico after Maria, including “they want everything to be done for them,” and for tossing paper towels in a visit to the island after the deadly hurricane. [Don’t let those facts slide down the memory hole.]
During his presidency, Congress approved a total of $20 billion in federal housing funds for Puerto Rico’s post-hurricane reconstruction, a historic amount. But the Trump administration blocked Puerto Rico from receiving such funds and obstructed a government probe looking into officials who withheld the aid, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General report.
[…] The controversy also elicited numerous TikTok videos from Puerto Ricans posting beautiful scenes of the tropical island juxtaposed with the “floating island of garbage remarks.”
[…] Several members of the Republican Party who have vocally supported Trump, such as Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s nonvoting member of Congress and the candidate for governor for the island’s pro-statehood party, criticized the racist expressions while also trying to argue the remarks did “not represent the values of the GOP.”
The factions in Sudan are receiving support from different Gulf kingdoms.
birgerjohanssonsays
A question for anyone familiar with voter registration procedures in Pennsylvania.
If many of the 400.000 Puerto Ricans in the state have previously ignored the election but now wants to vote for Harris, will they have time to register as voters in the few days remaining?
“Study observes a phase transition in magic of a quantum system with random circuits”
.https://phys.org/news/2024-10-phase-transition-magic-quantum-random.html
I will not even pretend I understand this, but it is claimed to be important in order to realize universal and fault-tolerant quantum computers.
birgerjohanssonsays
NB -Important for large-scale energy storage.
“New protective layer could extend zinc battery lifespan by several orders of magnitude”
in Pennsylvania […] will they have time to register
Per the liink in #487:
Pennsylvania registration in-peron, mail, and online are all 15 days before the election on Nov 5, which is a week from now. So no.
birgerjohanssonsays
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, October 25 – November 3 – Sky & Telescope – Sky & Telescope
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ 30
[Long harangue of curse words]
Thank you for the information.
birgerjohanssonsays
The anti-Trump October Surprise was delivered by Trump.
.
Meidas Touch:
‘Trump Gets Worst News as October Surprise Knocks Him Out’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=KnGb59Lb6ZE
A Trump rally has a concept of a crowd.
And the fallout from the NY rally continues.
birgerjohanssonsays
SSADT will have a Tuesday rally in Allentown, a town with a lot of latinos. This will be interesting.
.
*Serial Sexual Assaulter Donald Trump, the adjuciated rapist.
“Have I Got News for You” S68E04 – Charlie Brooker
This is the Brit version, so there is mercifully only one news item about Trump.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ruKsUXCBc6E
No one expects the Spanish Goat Police !
birgerjohanssonsays
Film: Heretic.
Hugh Grant’s sinister non-believer is my new role model!
Don’t come knocking on my door with your religious pamphlets.
Donald Trump avoids saying North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s name out loud. So why is JD Vance calling him “great”?
About a month ago, as North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was mired in scandal and losing GOP support, a reporter asked Donald Trump whether he’d pull his endorsement from his party’s gubernatorial nominee in the Tar Heel State.
“Uh, I don’t know the situation,” the former president replied.
Last week, while campaigning in North Carolina, Trump was asked again about whether he continued to support Robinson’s statewide candidacy. “I’m not familiar with the race,” he said. “I haven’t seen it.”
The answers were unsatisfying, but they were at least rational. […] Robinson has become politically radioactive. It didn’t surprise anyone to see the former president — who’d previously championed the lieutenant governor’s bid — keep the gubernatorial hopeful at arm’s length.
What was surprising was when Trump’s running mate, just days later, did the opposite. [video at the link]
Campaigning in North Carolina, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance — unprompted — said at an event, “I want to give a shout-out to — you guys have a great lieutenant governor.”
A moment later, looking down at his notes, the Ohio senator added, “Sorry, um, we got — sorry. Mark isn’t here.”
That was, to be sure, a rather awkward moment, with Vance apparently expecting Robinson to be on hand for the event, only to learn otherwise in real time. But putting the clumsiness aside, there was a larger question hanging overhead:
Since when does the Trump campaign tout Robinson as “a great lieutenant governor”?
We are, after all, talking about a right-wing candidate who reportedly posted to a porn forum, described himself as a “Nazi,” argued that slavery wasn’t necessarily a “bad” thing, and had positive things to say about Hitler’s book, among other things.
While the GOP candidate has said the reporting is wrong, Politico also reported that user data showed “that the person using the ‘Nude Africa’ account that reportedly belonged to Robinson had accessed the porn website from a location not far from Robinson’s home.”
A great many Republicans have found the meticulously reported allegations credible. Indeed, much of Robinson’s campaign staff — who were apparently unbothered by all of the earlier revelations about the radical candidate — resigned en masse last month.
They weren’t the only ones who jumped ship. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, the senior senator from Robinson’s home state, indicated that he’s not going to vote for his party’s gubernatorial nominee. Around the same time, two Republican governors — Georgia’s Brian Kemp and Tennessee’s Bill Lee —withdrew their earlier Robinson endorsements.
So, why is it exactly, that Vance still thinks he’s “great,” even as his running mate avoids saying Robinson’s name out loud?
tomhsays
WaPo Live
37 minutes ago
Marianne LeVine and Patrick Svitek
Trump calls Madison Square Garden rally a ‘lovefest’
Former president Donald Trump on Tuesday defended his Madison Square Garden rally, calling it a “lovefest” and saying “the love in that room, it was breathtaking.”
During an event in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump did not address the racist joke made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe about Puerto Rico, or any of the other offensive comments that speakers made at the event….
While Trump did not address any of those comments on Tuesday, he more broadly pitched his campaign as welcoming of everyone.
“There’s never been a coalition like this,” Trump said. “Everybody’s included.”
birgerjohanssonsays
‘Republik’:
“Kamala Harris Soars After Trump Rally | 2024 Election Polls All States”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=JwXZ27IGFn8
Cautious optimism. But the margins remain modest.
The problem isn’t just the lies in Donald Trump’s campaign ads. The problem is made worse by how he lies in the commercials.
Imagine I saw a movie and you asked whether I enjoyed it or not. I replied, “I wish I could say that I liked this movie, but the truth is that it was simply unwatchable and should be avoided at all costs.”
Then imagine some public-relations official working for the studio took what I said and put it an ad. The commercial quoted me saying, “I liked this movie.”
Did I literally use those four words in that order? Sure, but the context matters. In this little hypothetical, removing the phrase from the larger sentence turned reality on its head and left the public with the wrong impression.
This is a subject Donald Trump’s campaign knows all about.
In late September, for example, CBS News published a report on Vice President Kamala Harris and part of her vision for post-election immigration policy. The headline on the piece read: “Harris vows to keep Biden’s border crackdown: ‘The United States is a sovereign nation.’”
A month later, the former Republican president’s campaign released a television ad that quotes the headline — or more accurately, part of the headline. The on-screen text read: “Harris vows to keep Biden’s border.” [video at the link]
Did the original headline use those six words in that order? Yes. Did the Trump campaign remove the relevant context? Obviously.
Earlier, in the same commercial, the Republican campaign highlighted a report from The New Times that said, “Harris is seeking to significantly raise taxes.” The original report in the newspaper actually said, “Harris is seeking to significantly raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and large corporations.”
In other words, Trump’s team took a popular policy position, removed the relevant portion that provided the necessary context, and brought it to the public in a deceptive way.
And then, in the exact same ad, they did it again.
To be sure, to know anything about the former president is to know that he lies uncontrollably, about matters large and small, to the point that members of his own team have questioned his ability to tell the difference between reality and fantasy.
But what’s not as widely appreciated is the fact that Trump’s campaign ads aren’t much better than his campaign speeches when it comes to telling the truth.
As CNN’s Daniel Dale summarized in a report last week, “Former President Donald Trump’s late-campaign television ads are littered with deceptively edited and misleadingly described quotations.”
Of course, the question that should linger in the minds of voters is simple: If Harris were as awful as Trump claims, why can’t his campaign ads tell the truth?
Trump can’t tell the truth because reality does not favor him.
Bits of campaign news, as summarized by Steve Benen:
* According to the U.S. Postal Service, if your ballot is due by Election Day, it would “a good idea” to mail it by today — Tuesday, Oct. 29.
* On the heels of Michelle Obama’s striking speech in Michigan, Donald Trump said the former first lady made a “big mistake” by criticizing him. I’m not entirely sure what that meant. [Sheesh. Now Trump is threatening Michelle Obama? Video at the link.]
* A national poll from the Cooperative Election Study and conducted by YouGov found Kamala Harris leading Trump, 51% to 47%.
* In Wisconsin, the latest USA Today/Suffolk University poll found the Democratic vice president ahead by the narrowest of margins, 48% to 47%, over the former Republican president. [Kamala Harris is campaigning Wisconsin today. Later, she will deliver her “closing argument” speech at the Ellipse in Washington D.C. And MSNBC will carry that speech live. The start time is 7:15 PM]
* In Michigan, the latest survey from Susquehanna Polling & Research found Harris leading Trump by five points, 52% to 47%, which is a larger advantage in the state than we’ve seen in other recent polling.
[…] * In one of the nation’s most closely watched U.S. House races, five former Republican House members have endorsed Democrat Janelle Stelson in her race against incumbent GOP Rep. Scott Perry in Pennsylvania.
* And in Arizona, Republican Senate hopeful Kari Lake still refuses to acknowledge her defeat in the state’s 2022 gubernatorial race.
Donald Trump intends to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild on health.” Trump’s former surgeon general thinks that would be a very bad idea.
Donald Trump has spent a considerable amount of time in recent weeks boasting about plans to give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. an influential position in a possible second term. The former president hasn’t offered specific details, but he’s suggested that Kennedy — a lawyer with no professional background in medicine, science or public health — would work on health care policy in some capacity.
At one rally last week, Trump said he was committed to making America healthy again, adding, “Come on, Bobby. Bobby’s gonna do it. Bobby. Let’s go, Bobby. You gonna make us healthy, Bobby?”
At his highly controversial rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Trump assured his audience he’d let Kennedy “go wild on health.”
Oddly enough, Trump’s own former surgeon general appears to have some concerns about this idea. Mother Jones reported:
Trump’s pledge alarmed public health professionals, including Dr. Jerome Adams, his own surgeon general. Unlike many other top officials appointed by Trump, Adams was actually qualified: he was praised by colleagues for successfully limiting an HIV outbreak in Indiana by establishing a needle exchange program, among other public health successes. On Monday, Adams spoke at a conference of the American Public Health Association — which endorsed his 2017 nomination as Surgeon General — on his concerns about Kennedy, especially his anti-vaccine stances.
The New York Times’ Sheryl Gay Stolberg reported from the conference, and quoted Trump’s former surgeon general warning attendees about the adverse impact Kennedy would have.
“If [Kennedy] has a significant influence on the next administration, that could further erode people’s willingness to get up to date with recommended vaccines, and I am worried about the impact that could have on our nation’s health, on our nation’s economy, on our global security,” Adams said. [No kidding.]
[…] “I would advise Republicans to tread very carefully in this world of allowing vaccine confidence to continue to be eroded and for us to go backwards on one of the number one public health achievements made in the last 50 to 75 years in this country.”
Public comments like these will very likely do lasting harm to Adams’ influence in the Trumpified GOP, but the former surgeon general offered sound advice.
[…] RFK Jr. “is best known for fringe conspiracy theories tied to vaccines and other medical interventions, such as the belief that antidepressants cause school shootings.”
NPR had a related report last year, noting, “Wi-Fi causes cancer and ‘leaky brain,’ Kennedy told podcaster Joe Rogan. … Antidepressants are to blame for school shootings, he mused during an appearance with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. Chemicals in the water supply could turn children transgender, he told right-wing Canadian psychologist and podcaster Jordan Peterson, echoing a false assertion made by serial fabulist Alex Jones. AIDS may not be caused by HIV, he has suggested multiple times.”
To be sure, this is just scratching the surface.
[…] this fringe figure with ridiculous ideas is “going to be a part” of Trump’s team in a second term […]
The fallout from the Hate Fest Trump held in Madison Square Garden continues:
[…] The Archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico also demanded that Trump apologize, writing in a news release that, “It is not sufficient for your campaign to apologize. It is important that you, personally, apologize for these comments.”
“These kinds of remarks should not be a part of the political discourse of a civilized society,” Archbishop Roberto O. Gonzales Nieves wrote.
[…] Trump has yet to apologize for this latest mess, but instead felt the need to insist to a mostly empty arena in Georgia where he was holding a rally that he is “not a Nazi,” [Ha! If you have to say, “I am not a Nazi,” maybe you would rethink your approach.] after many people compared his MSG rally with the Nazi rally held at the famed arena in 1939. […]
[…] it turns out that the disaster could have been an even bigger calamity. According to The Bulwark’s Marc A. Caputo, the Trump campaign identified one “red flag” in the comedian’s set that was nixed before the event.
“He had a joke calling [Vice President Kamala] Harris a ‘[C-word],’” a “campaign insider” told Caputo.
Barbara Pierce Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush and granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush, spent part of her weekend in Pennsylvania campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris with just days to go before the 2024 presidential election.
Barbara Pierce Bush tells PEOPLE she’s “hopeful” that voters will back Harris on Nov. 5 to “move our country forward and protect women’s rights.
“It was inspiring to join friends and meet voters with the Harris-Walz campaign in Pennsylvania this weekend,” Barbara, 42, shares in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE on Tuesday, Oct. 29. “I’m hopeful they’ll move our country forward and protect women’s rights.”
Barbara’s Republican father served as president from 2001 to 2009. Her mother, former first lady Laura Bush, 77, broke with the party’s stance in 2010 by saying she supports same-sex marriage and abortion. At the time, Laura said abortion should “remain legal, because I think it’s important for people, for medical reasons and other reasons.”
On Friday, it was revealed that billionaire owner Jeff Bezos had blocked The Washington Post editorial page from endorsing Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. On Sunday, Elon Musk appeared at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden festival of hate and racism to declare himself “dark gothic MAGA” while wearing a hat emblazoned with the MAGA logo using a font closely connected to the Nazis.
The reason the #1 and #3 people on the list of the world’s wealthiest are making a show of obeisance to Trump in the campaign’s closing days is almost certainly the same for both men: It’s about rockets.
Everything that happens in space has an impact on Earth. Sometimes that means you get GPS to help you navigate to an obscure address. Or you get all the computer chips, new materials, and medical improvements that spilled into the economy following the Apollo program.
Sometimes you get billionaires fighting to throw away democracy to protect their biggest, most expensive, and most beloved toys. [X post at the link]
In 2021, Bezos stepped down from running the company that made him all his money to helm one has so far been all about losses. Industry experts estimate that Bezos has poured around $8 billion into rocket company Blue Origin since its founding in 2000, but it has yet to launch a single craft to orbit.
Instead, it has built a small rocket capable of carrying passengers on short suborbital hops and returning both capsule and booster for reuse. As of October, that New Shepard rocket has made 25 successful landings. Which is … fine. But the failure of Blue Origin to deploy anything more has long made the company’s motto Gradatim Ferociter (Latin for “Step by Step, Ferociously”) seem like a joke. They’re stuck on the first step.
All that could change in about a month when the massive New Glenn rocket is expected to lift off from Kennedy Space Center for the first time. Bezos is estimated to have spent between two and three billion directly on the development of the New Glenn.
After nearly a quarter of a century and a significant slice of Bezos’ wealth, Blue Origin is finally ready to provide a booster whose capacity is second only to SpaceX’s Starship (and Falcon Heavy under some circumstances). And because Blue Origin intends to recover and reuse the booster, New Glenn might offer something that hasn’t been possible for any other launch provider since 2017 when NASA allowed SpaceX to begin using previously flown boosters on government missions — a cost-competitive alternative to SpaceX.
But if Blue Origin is going to stop being a money sink, Bezos needs more than just a good flight from New Glenn. He needs what Musk already has. He needs contracts. Government contracts. NASA contracts. Department of Defense contracts.
Earlier this month, the DOD handed out nine new contracts for launches. This included seven launches for the Space Development Agency and two launches for the National Reconnaissance Office. All nine of those launches went to SpaceX. Blue Origin wasn’t even among the final contenders.
What Bezos fears is simple enough: If Trump wins, Musk will be right at his elbow, setting the agenda for what happens in space, changing all the rules to his advantage, telling Trump what to do with NASA and how he can save the nation untold billions if they give everything over to him.
Bezos spent about $250 million to buy The Washington Post (half of what he spent on his mega yacht). But Blue Origin has a contract with NASA to deliver a lunar lander for the Artemis program that’s valued at $3.4 billion — a contract that he won only after repeated lawsuits over NASA’s selection of SpaceX as the only provider of a lander.
And that’s why Bezos stepped in to prevent The Washington Post from publishing an endorsement of Kamala Harris. He doesn’t want Trump to see him as the enemy when it comes time for the next round of government launch contracts. Or to allow Musk to simply erase that lander contract if Trump hands him budget-setting authority.
This is why on the same day that Bezos shelved the Post’s endorsement of Harris, executives at Blue Origin held a meeting with Trump.
Friday’s [Washington Post] announcement did not mention Amazon or Blue Origin. But within hours, high-ranking officials of the latter company briefly met with Trump after a campaign speech in Austin, Texas, as the Republican nominee seeks a second presidency.
Trump met with the Blue Origin chief executive officer, David Limp, and vice-president of government relations, Megan Mitchell, the Associated Press reported.
Those executives didn’t go there to better inform Trump of their technology. They went there to lay this tiny offering on his table. Because the owner of Blue Origin is afraid of Trump and Musk.
What Musk fears is … not Bezos. Musk just wants to kill the government.
He doesn’t want to have to deal with the EEOC suing over racism at his factories. Or the labor board interfering in his efforts to destroy unions. He doesn’t want the FAA telling him he can’t change his designs or flight plans as he sees fit without waiting out mandatory periods of public comment. He’s tired of the FTA looking into crashes by his self-driving cars and the EPA complaining that he’s destroying Earth to get to Mars.
Musk has said he can’t wait to start a “bonfire of nonsense regulations” and that he plans to cut “two trillion dollars” in government costs once Trump installs him as the new head of government efficiency. It’s not hard to guess which regulations, and which agencies, would get sliced away by Musk’s ax.
Musk is planning to spend at least $5 billion on his new mega-rocket. He wants all the rules and regulations that protect little things like workers, the public, and the environment to get out of his way so he can do what he likes, where he likes, and when he likes. For him, that kind of freedom is more than worth the $132 million he has invested in Trump so far.
Bezos, having spent 24 years on the “step by step” part now wants to keep Trump from shuttering his rocket business before it can move on to “ferociously.” So he’s tossing limp signals of friendship at Trump. Musk is signed on to rip apart the government to his own advantage. And he’s willing to pay for the privilege.
One of them is a coward. The other is a collaborator. But when it comes to fighting against an authoritarian government overthrow, there’s not much difference.
Note: This article was published before Bezos wrote his ludicrous defense of journalist cowardness, but that op-ed only underscores what he values.
birgerjohanssonsays
The TEC Show
‘Racist Puerto Rico Joke Could Sink Trump Campaign – Harris vs Trump 2024 Election Update’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=iDA9lTCIWsk
The substantial numbers of Puerto Ricans in the battleground states are listed.
If even ten per cent change their votes it can flip an election. And it was was not only Puerto Ricans that were insulted, but latinos in general, and Blacks. As of this moment Trump himself has not said anything.
[…] “I don’t know him; someone put him up there. I don’t know who he is,” Trump told ABC News’s Rachel Scott in an interview published Tuesday […].
KGsays
birgerjohansson@50,
I doubt many will “change their votes” in the sense of switching from Trump to Harris. Any woman, Black person, Latino, Puerto Rican… planning to vote for Trump must have already convinced themselves that “He doesn’t mean me“. A new slew of racist insults is unlikely to penetrate that self-deception. But the numbers going from “vote for Trump” to “don’t bother to vote”, and from “don’t bother to vote” to “vote for Harris” could be significant.
There’s sure lots of disinformation about noncitizens voting and voter fraud around! Even though in reality it is so rare as to be statistically non-existent. Did it come organically out of nowhere? Why no! And The New York Times’ Alexandra Berzon, Nick Corasaniti, Dylan Freedman, and Duy Nguyen have gotten their hands on more than 400 hours of tapes of one of the main sewer lines from whence these lies have been bubbling up: the Election Integrity Network, headed by Cleta Mitchell, remember her?
So these group members from 30 states have been getting together for weekly video chats since 2020, brainstorming new ways to suppress voting and help Republicans win. Because when your policies like tax cuts for the rich, polluted air and water, and no healthcare are less popular than crotch rot, the only way to win is to keep people from voting.
On the Zooms, Mitchell claimed to be called by God to kick people with funny names off of voter rolls: “I think God put this on my heart. So I really needed to pay attention to this situation and to learn as much as I could about what actually is happening with regard to citizen and noncitizens getting on the voter rolls and voting.”
Weird how God has a mysterious way of speaking through conservative mega-donors’ fat checkbooks! Backers of Mitchell’s efforts include Rebecca Dunn, director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump and Project 2025 author Russell T. Vought, billionaire ULine CEO and gay-hating election denier Richard Uihlein, and the Bradley Impact Foundation, where Mitchell is on the board. Bradley foundations also give millions to the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), where Mitchell is also the chairperson.
It appears PILF does the legal dirty work of filing lawsuits, and the Election Integrity Network seems to exist to get election fraud conspiracy theories out into the world. Mitchell also leads the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, a group of more than 70 organizations that has aligned itself with nativist, anti-immigrant groups to promote “citizen voting.” She is everywhere!
Her donor Vought, by the way, is the guy who just got outed by ProPublica for some more YEEEK speeches he made, slobbering about wanting to “trauma” (traumatize? or trauma ward? no way to know!) civil servants so that they’re scared to do their jobs, and talking about how his Center for Renewing America “think tank” is preparing a shadow Office of Legal Counsel for Trump, so if Trump wants to have the military shoot American citizens for protesting, Trump won’t be hassled by having “the legal community or the defense community come in and say, ‘That’s an inappropriate use of what you’re trying to do.’”
[…] Anyway, in spite of its heavy bench of fatcat backers, the Election Integrity Network group is a non-profit, and claims to be nonpartisan. And surprise, the tapes show it being not that. […]
She talks about chatting with “Mister Speaker,” Mike Johnson, demanding to know what he’s going to do about “noncitizen voting.” (Which, it can’t be said often enough, is ALREADY ILLEGAL.) His solution was a voting bill that would have disenfranchised every old widow and most married women you ever met. Call-joiners also included representatives from the Gateway Pundit, the Federalist, Turning Point Action, and Representative Chip Roy of Texas. But sure, very nonpartisan nonprofit […]
In a call from July, a local party chair from Georgia opined that the group should examine school enrollment figures to find neighborhoods with large numbers of migrants, and an activist from Detroit commented, “sometimes the only way you can find out is to look for ethnic names.” [Telling detail.] Just charming.
Mitchell’s group is also behind the three pro-Trump election-denying MAGAs on the Georgia elections board who came up with some ways to refuse to certify the coming election, as well as rules like each ballot had to be counted by three different people’s hands. Other EIN chapters have been fucking around in Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Virginia, doing your usual “trying to mass-purge voters off of state rolls,” an oldie but goodie. They would like states to leave the Electronic Registration Information Center that currently monitors potential illegal voting across states, and instead use Cleta Mitchell’s special voter-tracking AI software. Just come inside her gingerbread house and use it, what could go wrong?
Mitchell’s groups have been mostly losing their fuckery attempts. As it turns out, most states won’t just purge people off of the voting rolls because their last name is Sanchez or Rodriguez, even if Mitchell has stomped her little foot and demanded it. Nor are judges game to give their state boards of elections permission to “investigate” elections that Republicans don’t like indefinitely, or force Byzantine vote counting procedures.[…]
Cleta Mitchell […]! was a lawyer for Trump on that January 2, 2021, call to Georgia officials, where he begged them to “find” him votes. That forced Mitchell to leave her job at her law firm, and she got recommended for indictment by a Georgia grand jury, though for some reason nothing came of it. And a few days later she was one of the people that Trump spoke with at 7:53 p.m., the evening of the attack on the Capitol.
[snipped a lot of Cleta Mitchell’s work marriage, political activism, and work history] In 2009, months after Citizens United made dark money awesome, Mitchell filed papers for Ginni Thomas to start her business, Liberty Consulting. […]
She tackled hating gays with a convert’s zeal, and in 2011 she was a lawyer for the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM), whose board chair was John Eastman, and kept a gay-Republican group, GOProud, from presenting at CPAC, and they have been banned ever since.
[…] Looking forward to her particularly weird brand of hate losing some more!
@48 Lynna, OM
Barbara Pierce Bush, the daughter of former President George W. Bush…
“I’m hopeful they’ll move our country forward and protect women’s rights.”
Some background info:
Former president George W. Bush appointed John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
Reginald Selkirksays
@50 birgerjohansson
‘Racist Puerto Rico Joke Could Sink Trump Campaign…’
Trump has had a large number of incidents of similar magnitude, and yet here we are.
Consider his campaign ad at Arlington National Cemetery, for just one example.
In Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah named former deputy Sheikh Naim Kassem as its new leader Tuesday.
More than 90 people, including 20 children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Gaza early Tuesday, local officials said, the deadliest attack in months […]
It came hours after the Israeli parliament outlawed a key United Nations aid agency in a move that could throttle the supply of medicine, food and education in the devastated territory.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah named a new leader — former deputy Sheikh Naim Kassem — after Israel’s killing of its powerful chief Hassan Nasrallah and his presumed successor.
[…] The strike hit a five-story building in the northern city of Beit Lahia housing some 200 people, according to the Gaza government media office. Some 93 people were killed, another 40 people were missing and dozens injured, it added.
The nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of Gaza’s last functioning medical facilities, had no doctors to treat the wounded after a dayslong siege there by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
[…] The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that it was “aware of reports that civilians were harmed today (Tuesday) in the Beit Lahia area. The details of the incident are being looked into.”
It urged the media “to act with caution about information released by Hamas sources, as they have been proven to be deeply unreliable in previous incidents.” […]
“[…] We emphasize that the area was evacuated by the IDF and it is currently an active combat zone.”
[…] The law bans UNRWA, the United Nations’ Palestinian aid agency, from operating inside Israel or having any contact with Israeli authorities.
[video at the link]
[…] The widely held international view is that the agency is an essential player in trying to mitigate the humanitarian catastrophe playing out in Gaza. But Israel has long criticized UNRWA, alleging it has been infiltrated by Hamas and intensifying that pushback after Oct. 7.
UNRWA was established in 1949 to provide aid to the 700,000 Palestinians driven from their homes by the war surrounding the creation of Israel. Today, it is the main supplier of food, water, medicine and other essential supplies to Gaza’s 2 million people.
Israel’s law comes into effect in three months, and will at least severely restrict if not prevent UNRWA’s activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, access to which is controlled by Israel.
[…] In Washington, the United States is “deeply concerned” by Israel’s legislation, which it said would outlaw an agency that “plays a critical, important role in delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians that need it in Gaza,” as State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a news briefing Monday.
[…] And a joint statement from Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Britain last week expressed “grave concern” over the legislation. It said the agency provides “essential and life-saving humanitarian aid,” the provision of which would be “severely hampered, if not impossible” without it.
Israel has long accused UNRWA of permitting Hamas to function or even collaborating with it.
That criticism intensified after Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack, with Israel alleging some UNRWA workers participated in it. After an investigation, UNRWA said that this may have been the case for a small number of its 13,000 employees and fired more than a dozen staffers.
The agency’s activities came under renewed scrutiny last month when the group revealed a Hezbollah commander killed by Israel in Lebanon had been a suspended staffer, although it said it was unaware of his role in the Iran-backed militant group.
The allegations against UNRWA staff prompted more than a dozen countries to suspend funding to the group. All except the U.S. have now resumed that funding, but UNRWA says it is still facing an $80 million shortfall this year.
Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon was released from a federal prison on Tuesday. Bannon served four months after being convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in October 2022.
The right-wing podcast host served his time after numerous appeals and rejections, including the Trump-friendly Supreme Court’s June decision to deny another request to delay his prison sentence.
Bannon couldn’t stay out of prison despite being the beneficiary of one of the sloppy pardons Trump handed out at the end of his term in office. He was indicted on federal charges of fraud and conspiracy alleging that he and other organizers of the “We Build the Wall” nonprofit used donor money to enrich themselves instead of actually building a wall along the southern border of the United States. Bannon is still facing similar fraud charges from Manhattan prosecutors.
The Trump loyalist was back to promoting conspiracy theories on his “War Room” podcast just hours after his release on Tuesday. Whether it’s peddling 2020 election lies or ruminating about far-out theories involving ”deep state” psychological operations involving pop star Taylor Swift, Bannon’s podcast is the place where he and people like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene can peddle conspiracy theories about a murky “globalist elite.”
CNN reports that Bannon’s podcast has diminished in popularity during his absence, and even a revolving crew of MAGA celebrity hosts including fellow ex-Trump adviser (and ex-convict) Peter Navarro hasn’t done much for its ratings. And while many believe Bannon’s show will likely recover now that their No. 1 trainwreck is back at the helm, a spike in ratings might not be enough to have any impact on an election that is only one week away.
[…] Bannon’s New York trial for his border-wall fraud was delayed while he served his prison time and is set to begin in December. Thoughts and prayers.
GOP commentator Ryan Girdusky has been banned from CNN after he made offensive on-air comments Monday toward Muslim journalist Mehdi Hasan, seemingly referencing his ethnicity.
“I hope your beeper doesn’t go off,” Girdusky told Hasan, an apparent reference the pager bomb detonations earlier this year that resulted in several deaths and thousands of injuries in Lebanon.
Hasan had started saying, “If you don’t want to be called Nazis, stop…,” before the back-and-forth began…
Girdusky also made a post about the back-and-forth on X, claiming his comments were a “joke.”
“Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke,” he wrote in the post. “I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for.”
JMsays
TLDR: Has China’s Stimulus Already Failed?
Chinese government has not followed up the initial pronouncements with anything that the markets or public likes. The government seems to want to replace housing and public investment in infrastructure with investment in R&D. This is a program highly unlikely to work.
It’s also been pointed out that when the Chinese government makes a big pronouncement the effects on the stock market tends to be inflated. The government arranges for the big state owned firms to buy on the pronouncement so the market goes up. Investors know this and buy to take advantage of the inevitable spike in prices. This doesn’t last long though and the exchanges are marked by sudden jumps up and then jumps down later when the government makes big announcements.
The coal mine in the eastern Ukraine town of Pokrovsk, a supplier of coking coal vital for the steel industry, is still operating despite the approach of Russian forces, an industry source said on Tuesday.
The Russians continue to make small gains at great expense in manpower and equipment. The loss of Pokrovsk would have major impact on Ukraine’s native steel production. The Ukrainians are doing better in Kursk where some of the elite Ukrainian units are operating. Both sides are rushing to make last moves before bad weather shuts down combat for months.
If you’re a swing state voter, you may have seen ads claiming that vice president Kamala Harris wants to institute a mandatory gun buyback program and make it easier for undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. These ostensibly pro-Harris ads are the product of Progress 2025, a campaign designed to look like the Democratic answer to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 — but they’re actually funded by a group called Building America’s Future, a pro-Trump super PAC that is in turn funded by Elon Musk…
don’t feed your fucking private medical records to a chatbot, Jesus Christ.
(X posting by Elon Musk)
Try submitting x-ray, PET, MRI or other medical images to Grok for analysis.
This is still early stage, but it is already quite accurate and will become extremely good.
Let us know where Grok gets it right or needs work.
6:14 AM Oct 29, 2024
birgerjohanssonsays
God Awful Movies
“GAM 480 The Deliverance”
Michael Marshall joins the gang to dissect this film. In this case the demon might have been the goid guy of the film.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=eS1kuHKE5iA
Having a hole to hell in the basement would actually be an improvement, I would finally have place for all my stuff.
A huge Maya city has been discovered centuries after it disappeared under jungle canopy in Mexico.
Archaeologists found pyramids, sports fields, causeways connecting districts and amphitheatres in the southeastern state of Campeche.
They uncovered the hidden complex – which they have called Valeriana – using Lidar, a type of laser survey that maps structures buried under vegetation…
The team discovered three sites in total, in a survey area the size of Scotland’s capital Edinburgh, “by accident” when one archaeologist browsed data on the internet.
“I was on something like page 16 of Google search and found a laser survey done by a Mexican organisation for environmental monitoring,” explains Luke Auld-Thomas, a PhD student at Tulane university in the US.
It was a Lidar survey, a remote sensing technique which fires thousands of laser pulses from a plane and maps objects below using the time the signal takes to return.
But when Mr Auld-Thomas processed the data with methods used by archaeologists, he saw what others had missed – a huge ancient city which may have been home to 30-50,000 people at its peak from 750 to 850 AD…
Alphabet, parent of Google and YouTube, saw a third straight quarter of gains as it reported earnings on Tuesday. The tech giant had largely exceeded analyst expectations for the previous two quarters, and Tuesday’s results showed growth in both digital advertising and demand for Google Cloud.
“The momentum across the company is extraordinary. Our commitment to innovation, as well as our long-term focus and investment in AI, are paying off with consumers and partners benefiting from our AI tools,” said CEO Sundar Pichai.
Analysts expected 12% year-on-year revenue growth, to $86.23bn, and earnings per share of $1.85. Alphabet reported 15% overall growth with $88.27bn in revenue for the quarter, and $2.12 earnings per share. Advertising revenue grew 10%, and cloud services revenue rose 35%. Pichai singled out growth at YouTube in both ads and subscriptions.
Enthusiasm for new artificial intelligence products in recent years has buoyed Google’s stock price, which has increased 20% in 2024 and more than 150% in the past five years. The company has been a leading player in the AI boom, although it is often seen as one step behind the cutting-edge offerings of OpenAI, which has partnered closely with rival Microsoft.
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has an enzyme that can counteract a cell’s innate defense mechanism against viruses, explaining why it is more infectious than the previous SARS and MERS-causing viruses. The Kobe University discovery may point the way to the development of more effective drugs against this and possibly similar, future diseases…
Shoji’s team previously worked on the immune response to hepatitis viruses and investigated the role of a molecular tag called “ISG15” the innate immune system attaches to the virus’s building blocks. Having learned that the novel coronavirus has an enzyme that is especially effective in removing this tag, he decided to use his team’s expertise to elucidate the effect of the ISG15 tag on the coronavirus and the mechanism of the virus’s countermeasures.
In a paper in the Journal of Virology, the Kobe University-led team is now the first to report that the ISG15 tag gets attached to a specific location on the virus’s nucleocapsid protein, the scaffold that packages the pathogen’s genetic material. For the virus to assemble, many copies of the nucleocapsid protein need to attach to each other, but the ISG15 tag prevents this, which is the mechanism behind the tag’s antiviral action. “However, the novel coronavirus also has an enzyme that can remove the tags from its nucleocapsid, recovering its ability to assemble new viruses and thus overcoming the innate immune response,” explains Shoji…
birgerjohanssonsays
This new “AI Scientist” can “fully automate discovery”, researchers claim
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BXSuaY9hUng
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence…
John Moralessays
Which researchers, where, and what is the source of this claim?
(I know, I know… click on the link and only then find out)
The only evidence I see for your claim is a naked link which I will have to click on to determine the information I would require to induce me to click on that link.
(That means no clickety-click)
tomhsays
NYT Live
A disability rights group hits Trump with ads featuring his nephew.
Oct. 29, 2024, 6:01 p.m. ET
Maggie Astor
Disability rights advocates are backing Vice President Kamala Harris in the final week of the presidential campaign by releasing new television ads, deploying their limited resources at the moment they believe they will make the most impact.
The ads highlight Ms. Harris’s proposal for Medicare coverage of at-home care and some disparaging comments that former President Donald J. Trump has been accused of making about people with disabilities by one of his nephews, Fred Trump III.
The political arm of Little Lobbyists, a group representing children with complex medical needs, began the ad campaign Tuesday in Pennsylvania, and it may be extended to two other battleground states, Georgia and North Carolina, later this week.
One ad features Fred Trump recalling comments he says Donald Trump made about the younger Mr. Trump’s disabled son, William. Fred Trump says that, after Mr. Trump met with him and other disability rights advocates in 2020, Mr. Trump spoke with him alone and said: “All those people, all those costs. Shouldn’t those people just die?”
In a second version of the ad, Fred Trump says that after his father died, Donald Trump oversaw the estate, including funds for William’s care. He recalls Mr. Trump claiming falsely that William didn’t recognize Fred and urging Fred to “let him die.”
The Trump campaign has denied Fred Trump’s account, which he made public in a book this year.
Another ad promotes Ms. Harris’s home-care proposal, which she announced this month. “No one should be forced out of their own home, away from the people they love,” because they can’t afford at-home care, a voice-over says.
Matthew Cortland, a senior fellow at the left-leaning polling firm Data for Progress who helped develop the ads, said the campaign could end up costing up to $125,000. (Money for the Fred Trump spots is coming from the Care Can’t Wait Action Coalition, a group focused on caregiving programs.) In a world of multimillion-dollar campaigns, $125,000 is not much, and Mx. Cortland said they and Little Lobbyists had tried to maximize it through careful testing, targeting and timing.
“The disability community doesn’t have the same sort of political war chest as many other groups, and so we really have to make every dollar we spend count,” Mx. Cortland said….
The disability rights advocates waited until the end of the campaign out of a belief that the effects of ads fade quickly.
A recent report from researchers at Rutgers University estimates that about 40 million people with disabilities are eligible to vote in this year’s election. Nearly 73 million voters — about 30 percent of the electorate — have a disability or live with someone who has a disability, the report said.
birgerjohanssonsays
‘Interesting Discoveries About Earth’s Magnetosphere and an Event 42000 Years Ago’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=gZBXrOjr47w
The magnetic field grew much weaker and nearly flipped during the ice age.
Oops, it looks like he concealed a 22 billion pound hole in the finances and lied about it to the parliament!
tomhsays
WaPo Live
Group with Musk ties ramps up deceptive Facebook ads
Will Oremus and Trisha Thadani / 6:36 PM ET
A pro-Trump organization that has been linked to Elon Musk has ramped up a campaign of misleading Facebook ads posing as the creation of a pro-Harris group called “Progress 2028” to present false claims about the vice president’s platform.
Meta’s political ad library shows that “Progress 2028” has placed 13 ads on the social network this month, 11 within the past week. The ads appear designed to look aligned with the Harris campaign but boast about controversial policy stances she doesn’t endorse. Those false policies include ensuring that undocumented immigrants can vote and receive Medicare benefits, instituting mandatory gun buybacks, and banning fracking. “Drop a comment to thank Kamala,” the ads say.
Open Secrets has reported that Progress 2028 was registered as a fictitious name with the state of Virginia in September by Building America’s Future, a political organization. The tech blog 404 Media reported Tuesday on the uptick in its “Progress 2028” Facebook ads. According to AdImpact, Progress 2028 spent $571,528 on Facebook ads in October.
Elon Musk has been open about supporting Trump via another political action committee, America PAC, but the Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 2 that the entrepreneur is also a major funder of Building America’s Future. A source familiar with the organization confirmed Musk’s involvement to The Washington Post…..
DanDaresays
I saw on the Australian news yesterday that vote drop boxes are being systematically set on fire in the US.
Any details?
Re: DanDare @75: microraptor posted about two. One damaged hundreds of ballots because the fire suppression system failed. The other had negligible effect. The incidents are believed to be connected, and there is surveillance footage of the suspect’s vehicle.
whheydtsays
Re: DanDare @ #75…
I’d hardly call it “systematically”.
Bekenstein Boundsays
“I think God put this on my heart.”
Her what? I think the implied assertion that there is a god is more plausible than the implied assertion that this … this … this Trump lawyer has a heart.
Oh, and where the hell can I find decent cough medicine these days? None of what I see on store shelves seems to include a damned decongestant. Not one! Without a decongestant the rest of the stuff is nigh-useless.
John Moralessays
Lynna, would it be really naughty of me to suggest self-diagnosis and self-medication is less advisable asthanseeing an actual qualified medical professional?
(Normally, I would — it’s most certainly in the public interest — but in this case your stricture possibly precludes that; take it as names aside, nothing personal)
John Moralessays
[oops. Editing flub, right there. Still, I think it’s sufficiently legible]
John Moralessays
It is very, very uncommon that patients self-prescribe.
Re: John Morales @ #82…
The thriving market in street drugs would suggest that self-medication, if not outright self-prescribing is pretty common.
Pierce R. Butlersays
Lynna, OM @ # 2, quoting Mother Jones:
Removing one million people from the country a year would cost an estimated $88 billion annually, according to the American Immigration Council.
$88 thou per head? C’mon, put it out to bid! The Free Market™ will provide an array of innovative solutions that pay for themselves, and the Supreme Corrupt will expedite Constitutional exemptions relating to former rights of non-citizens and other enemies of the people.
/Project 2025
KGsays
Jesus wept, why couldn’t that old fool Biden just keep his stupid mouth shut? With one ambiguous remark, he’s managed to give the fascists a way to neutralise the effect of the racist filth spewed at the MSG rally, overshadow Harris’s key speech, and bring back to mind Clinton’s “basket of deplorable” blunder.
birgerjohanssonsays
Hidden History – The Forgotten and Historic Beale’s Cut on the Newhall Pass
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=jDKeF8TFosQ
Until 1910 this was the main passage when travelling between Los Angeles and the Valley.
A Russian court has ruled that Google owes Russian media stations around $20 decillion in fines for blocking their content, and the fines could get bigger…
The bizarre amount has been calculated after a four-year court case that started after YouTube banned the ultra-nationalist Russian channel Tsargrad in 2020 in response to the US sanctions imposed against its owner. Following Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022 more channels were added to the banned list and 17 stations are now suing the Chocolate Factory, including Zvezda (a TV channel owned by Putin’s Ministry of Defence), according to local media…
birgerjohanssonsays
CNN
‘It’s too late now’: Latino radio host on Trump’s response to joke controversy.
If this has an impact on the election, it is because Trump is incapable of saying sorry, and saying it right away. Arrogance meets stupidity.
Atlanta, Monday evening.
“Trump Shocks Crowd By Fantasizing About Marjorie Taylor Greene Dying In Car Explosion ”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=4AQyLgJQ5kY
He is WEIRD. He is churning out this garbage at a rate it is impossible to react to everything.
birgerjohanssonsays
We Left a Pile Of Peanuts in the Woods. Heres what happened! ”
Trail Camera: The Peanut Pile.
“What Happened to the Pre-Contact Dogs?”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=osMu6i2txFA
If we can recover DNA from teeth it should be possible to resurrect them by inserting DNA into the egg of a modern dog. They are not a different species.
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 85
Boo hoo. If anything, Biden was being polite to the filthy, fascist, garbage people.
After months of scuttlebutt about Elon Musk possibly working with Donald Trump after the election, the former president confirmed the chatter in early September. The conspiratorial billionaire, Trump declared, would help lead a “government efficiency commission” that would, among other things, cut federal spending.
The panel, the GOP candidate boasted, would save taxpayers “trillions of dollars.”
Nearly two months later, Trump is still talking about this as if it were a serious idea. The Washington Post reported:
Donald Trump told Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Tuesday that billionaire Elon Musk, a prominent ally and megadonor to Trump, is a “great cost cutter” who could help the federal government dramatically reduce spending. “Nobody’s going to feel it,” Trump claimed, noting that Musk has given a goal of cutting $2 trillion from the budget.
[Yikes.]
At this point, we could talk at length about the fact that Musk has no meaningful experience in auditing. We could also note that the billionaire has no background in federal budgeting or appropriations (except for receiving taxpayer money to help give one of his businesses a boost).
[…] But for now, let’s instead focus on the idea that Americans wouldn’t even notice after Musk and Trump cut $2 trillion from the budget.
To be sure, the world’s wealthiest man has said largely the opposite. In fact, as my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones noted, Musk appears to have conceded that the budget cuts would impose real “hardship” on much of the country.
[…] I’m mindful of the fact that the former president has never familiarized himself with the basics of federal budgetary policy, and he’s never even been especially good at arithmetic, but it’s worth reviewing some easy-to-understand details. The Washington Post had a good report on this, which was published before Trump sat down with Hannity:
In the 2024 fiscal year, the U.S. government spent more than $6.75 trillion, according to the Treasury Department. For Musk to reach his target, particularly in a single year, his review would need to find a way to eliminate about one-third of all federal spending.
The article added that slashing the budget that steeply would require “decimating an array of government services, including food, health care and housing aid — and it could erode funding for programs that lawmakers in both parties say they want to protect, from defense to Social Security.”
To be sure, Trump has been categorical in saying that he wouldn’t touch social insurance programs such as Medicare and Social Security, while also vowing not to cut spending on national defense or veterans’ benefits.
If one is inclined to believe those assurances, the result is unambiguous: Take all of the money the federal government spends, subtract Social Security, Medicare, the military, veterans’ benefits, and interest on the national debt, and you’re left with roughly $2 trillion.
According to Trump, Musk intends to cut … roughly $2 trillion.
As Kevin Drum summarized, “So Elon is claiming we should literally zero out the entire rest of the federal budget. Everything. The FBI, national parks, food stamps, Medicaid, education, NASA, the EPA, farm support, the NIH, all federal R&D grants, embassies worldwide, the FAA, the Department of Justice, the VA, the weather service, the border patrol, etc. etc. Everything.”
If Trump genuinely believes this could happen and no one would “feel it,” he shouldn’t even be a candidate for public office.
[…] For Trump, Step One was holding a hate-filled event. Step Two was ignoring the controversy the day after it erupted. Step Three involved pretending that he hadn’t headlined a hate-filled event, telling the public that he considered it a “lovefest.”
When these efforts didn’t appear to help, the former president moved on to a dubious Step Four. The New York Times reported:
In a moment that seemed highly choreographed — given the fallout from a comedian’s offensive joke about Puerto Ricans at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally — a Puerto Rican woman [at a roundtable event held in Drexel Hill, Pa.] tells Trump that Puerto Ricans stand behind him. Trump thanks her and claims, implausibly, that no president has done more for Puerto Rico than he did.
[FFS]
In fact, the Republican spent much of the day declaring, “I think no president’s done more for Puerto Rico than I have.”
This wasn’t just ridiculous, it also created an opportunity to note just how awful his record toward the island actually is. A separate Times report noted, for example,
“As president, Mr. Trump fought bitterly with [Carmen Yulín Cruz, the former San Juan mayor] and other Puerto Rican leaders, and resisted sending billions of dollars in aid after the territory was ravaged by back-to-back hurricanes in 2017. He made angry comments on social media and tossed paper towels at Puerto Ricans during a visit that few, if any, have forgotten. He even wondered privately if the United States could sell the island.”
The report added that the Republican Party’s platform “no longer mentions statehood for Puerto Rico, a position the party had held before Mr. Trump’s relationship with the island soured.”
All of which helped set the stage for Step Five: feigning ignorance and pretending the controversy isn’t real.
Sitting down for his latest interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump said of Tony Hinchcliffe, “I have no idea who he is,” and adding that “they” were responsible for giving him a speaking slot.
“What they’ve done is taken somebody who has nothing to do with the party, has nothing to do with us, said something, and they try and make a big deal,” Trump went on to tell Hannity. “But I don’t know who it is, I don’t even know who put him in. And I can’t imagine it’s a big deal.”
If that sounds to you like wishful thinking, we’re on the same page.
It would’ve been easy for Trump to denounce the racist rhetoric at his own event on Sunday. Trump also had the option of expressing regret and/or taking some responsibility for the depraved rhetoric at his own rally.
At Donald Trump’s pseudo press conference at Mar-a-Lago, at which he answered no questions, the former president took some time to argue that the economy shouldn’t be seen as the nation’s top issue in the 2024 presidential election. [LOL]
“So I know we talk about inflation and the economy, but as to me, there’s nothing, nothing, more important than the fabric of our country being destroyed,” the Republican said, referring to his perceptions of illegal immigration. “I think what’s happening on the border is the single biggest issue, and I’m seeing it more and more when I speak.”
And why, pray tell, would Trump downplay the importance of the economy? Because there’s been a lot of news lately about the United States’ economy, and it’s all been pretty great. The New York Times reported:
Consumers are spending. Inflation is cooling. And the U.S. economy looks as strong as ever. Gross domestic product, adjusted for inflation, expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday. That came close to the 3 percent growth rate in the second quarter and was the latest indication that the surprisingly resilient recovery from the pandemic recession remained on solid footing.
The article quoted Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at the accounting and consulting firm RSM, who said the American economy right now “is firing on nearly all cylinders.”
That’s not an uncommon assessment. The combination of healthy growth, low unemployment, shrinking inflation, record highs on Wall Street, and low gas prices has led quite a few observers to marvel at the health and resilience of the American economy.
In fact, it was earlier this month when The New York Times reported that the U.S. job market “is as healthy as it has ever been” — as in, in the history of the United States — and described recent economic growth as “robust.”
A few days later, The Washington Post’s Heather Long explained in a column that by “just about every measure, the U.S. economy is in good shape. Growth is strong. Unemployment is low. Inflation is back down. More important, many Americans are getting sizable pay raises, and middle-class wealth has surged to record levels. We are living through one of the best economic years of many people’s lifetimes.”
The same day, Politico described the status quo as “a dream economy.”
The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, marveled last week at the degree to which the U.S. economy is “pulling ahead of the world’s advanced economies.” The Economist, a leading British publication, also recently described the U.S. economy as “the envy of the world,” adding that the American economy “has left other rich countries in the dust.”
Around this time four years ago, Trump told supporters that Democratic policies would “unleash an economic disaster of epic proportions” and force the country “into depression.”
Oops. No wonder he’d rather talk about immigration.
Of course, the larger question isn’t just about the status quo, it’s also about the future. The U.S. economy is strong now, but what about what’s to come?
As it turns out, 23 Nobel Prize-winning economists endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump in a joint letter released last week, explaining that the Republican’s agenda would “lead to higher prices, larger deficits, and greater inequality.”
“Simply put, Harris’s policies will result in a stronger economic performance, with economic growth that is more robust, more sustainable, and more equitable,” the letter added.
The Nobel laureates aren’t alone. The Wall Street Journal also recently asked economists a related question and found that most economists think “inflation, interest rates and deficits would be higher” under Trump’s agenda than Harris’ agenda.
[…] Given everything we now know, those focused on the economy and business decisions should be rallying behind Harris as quickly as possible, hoping desperately that Trump loses. Indeed, The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell explained in her latest column that Trump is “the wrong choice” for Americans principally concerned about their pocketbook.
It wasn’t the part of her closing message that generated the most headlines, but in her remarks at the Ellipse, Vice President Kamala Harris took some time to talk about health care policy.
“[Y]ou will pay even more if Donald Trump finally gets his way and repeals the Affordable Care Act, which will throw tens of millions of Americans off their health insurance, and take us back to when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions,” the Democratic candidate said. “Well, we are not going back.”
These were not scare tactics. Rather, this was a final week wake-up call to voters who care about health security: This issue is on the ballot whether it’s dominating the public conversation or not. NBC News reported:
House Speaker Mike Johnson took a dig at Obamacare at an event in Pennsylvania on Monday, telling a crowd there would be “massive” health care changes in America if Donald Trump wins the election. “Health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda. When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” Johnson, R-La., said in Bethlehem as he campaigned for GOP House candidate Ryan Mackenzie, according to video obtained by NBC News.
When an attendee asked, “No Obamacare?” Congress’ top Republican leader replied, “No Obamacare.” Johnson added that he wants to see “massive” reforms to the existing system. [video at the link]
[Snipped JD Vances proposals for changes that would weaken protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.] Trump has also spent much of the last year repeatedly targeting the Affordable Care Act in increasingly explicit terms, and as recently as December, he posted a video to his social media platform attacking the late Sen. John McCain for not helping him “terminate” the ACA in 2017.
What’s more, Axios published a report last fall noting that Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, who’d likely chair the Senate Finance Committee if the GOP retakes control of the chamber, also said he’s open to repeal-and-replace plans.
I’m mindful of the broader election season conversation and the degree to which health care has not enjoyed the national spotlight, at least not on par with the economy and border security. But in the cycle’s closing days, it’s not too late to add this to the national discussion.
A recent national Gallup poll found two-thirds of Americans said health care needed to be discussed more as part of this year’s elections. […] A majority of Democrats, Republicans and independent voters all agreed that health care hasn’t gotten enough attention.
With this in mind, the House speaker has given the political world a timely excuse to focus on an issue voters want to hear more about.
Donald Trump’s Sunday night event at Madison Square Garden quickly became scandalous for a great many reasons, most notably the racist and misogynistic rhetoric peddled by the former president’s allies. But Trump’s own remarks at the gathering weren’t exactly anodyne.
As we’ve discussed, Trump, among other things, condemned Americans he disagrees with as “the enemy from within,” while describing the media as “the enemy of the people” — a phrase that echoed, among others, Joseph Stalin. The GOP nominee also lied uncontrollably, called the United States an “occupied” country, peddled familiar grievances and conspiracy theories, and presented a vision to the electorate that reflected his radicalism. [Well that makes Biden’s recent slip of the tongue look innocuous.]
As Election Day 2024 neared, this was touted by his own campaign as Trump’s closing message to American voters — who saw a candidate present a dark and ugly platform. The New York Times described it as a “closing carnival of grievances, misogyny and racism.” A CNN report added that the Republican’s anti-migrant rhetoric ranked alongside “the most flagrant demagoguery by a major figure in any Western nation since World War II.”
Two days later, Vice President Kamala Harris stood at the Ellipse, just a block south of the White House, at the spot where her GOP opponent deployed a violent mob to attack his own country’s Capitol nearly four years ago. The Democrat’s closing message couldn’t have been much different from the one voters heard 48 hours earlier. NBC News reported:
Kamala Harris called on Americans to “turn the page” on the Donald Trump era at a rally Tuesday, rallying thousands of voters at the site where the former president addressed the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. On a chilly fall evening one week before Election Day, the Democratic nominee criticized her Republican rival as “unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance and out for unchecked power.” She vowed to govern as a pragmatist by listening to everyone, including “people who disagree with me.”
Among other things, I was struck by the patriotism gap. Trump’s closing message is rooted in a fundamentally dystopian vision: The United States, the Republican has begun saying in recent days, is a “garbage can.” Ours is a “failing nation” and a “nation in decline,” he’s declared. Told earlier this month that America is a great country, the former president said — out loud and on the record — that he disagreed.
It was against this backdrop that Harris stood at the Ellipse and told the country, “Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant. Across the generations, Americans have preserved that freedom. Expanded it. And in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by, and for the people is strong and can endure. … They did not struggle, sacrifice, and lay down their lives, only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms, only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant.
“The United States of America is not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised.” [Hyperbole, but perhaps appropriate for the time and place? Video at the link.]
As she spoke, many of her supporters waved American flags and signs emblazoned with “USA” and “Freedom.”
But also notable was the way in which the vice president reached out to voters exhausted, not only by the campaign, but also by the kind of politics Trump embraces and represents.
“America, we know what Donald Trump has in mind,” Harris said. “More chaos. More division. And policies that help those at the very top and hurt everyone else. I offer a different path. And I ask for your vote. And here is my pledge to you: I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to make your lives better. I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress.
“I pledge to listen to experts, to those who will be impacted by the decisions I make, and to people who disagree with me. Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail; I’ll give them a seat at the table.
“I pledge to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in people’s lives. And I pledge to be a president for all Americans. To always put country above party and above self.”
Let no one say that the candidates are effectively the same and failing to offer voters a clear choice.
* Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper endorsed Harris’ candidacy and urged Puerto Ricans living on the mainland to support the Democratic ticket. [summarized from NBC News]
Like sharks with blood in the water, leading national political reporters went into a feeding frenzy last night after Republicans faked outrage at remarks from President Biden that they construed as calling Trump supporters “garbage.”
This dance is so predictable, rehearsed, and tired that everyone has their roles to play and feels compelled to play them despite how intellectually and journalistically bereft the whole exercise has become.
Among the tells in the coverage:
– Top-tier political reporters quickly jumped on the perceived gaffe;
– The parsing of what Biden said quickly gave way to “meta” analyses that it didn’t matter because it was a gaffe anyway;
– Republican professional fake outrage was treated like a genuine groundswell of umbrage.
On that last point, “firestorm” was the word of choice:
– Axios: Biden sets off election firestorm with “garbage” comment
– Politico: Biden sparks a firestorm on the right over ‘garbage’
– NBC News: Biden sets off a firestorm with his response to Trump rally comedian’s Puerto Rico comments
Among the bigs, the WaPo managed to come closest to capturing the actual dynamic: White House, Trump campaign clash over whether Biden called Trump supporters ‘garbage.’
I’ve grown weary of explaining how these kinds of journalistic set pieces require suspending good, independent news judgment; rely on old, hackneyed journalistic tropes; and traffic in erroneous assumptions about Republicans (and journalists themselves) representing the “real America.”
This kind of coverage has been deeply problematic for a long time, as TPM has pointed out relentlessly for two decades. It has become more egregious and even less defensible when gaffe-based, double-standard coverage is deployed in covering an election with democracy on the ballot.
The coverage lacks intellectual rigor in too many ways to list here, but here’s one example to illustrate the point. When Biden – who isn’t even on the ballot any longer – says something imprecise or wrong-headed, he and the White House scramble to correct the record, say that’s not what he means and not what he thinks, and emphasize what he does actually mean and think. It’s an elaborate self-disavowal. When Trump says something truly outrageous, on purpose, he usually doubles down in the face of withering criticism and confirms that’s exactly what he meant. It’s the former and not the latter that is prone to getting the “firestorm” coverage.
The fact that this manufactured outrage and the race to cover it comes five days after Trump called America a “garbage can for the world” makes the whole thing beyond absurd.
The link above also provides access to a video of Kamala Harris’s 30-minute speech on The Ellipse in D.C.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump deemed his Madison Square Garden rally where a speaker denigrated Puerto Rico as “garbage” to be a “lovefest.” But now Trump and the Republican Party are pretending to be offended by the word “garbage” when President Joe Biden said it, and worse, they are taking Biden’s words out of context.
In a Tuesday video call with the group Voto Latino, Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s—his—his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” clearly saying that the “garbage” here is the pro-Trump speaker’s “demonization of Latinos.”
But because Biden stuttered in the middle of his statement, Trump and company have seized on this to falsely allege that he was speaking about individuals, not the hate that was on display at the Trump rally.
“Earlier today I referred to the hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporter at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage—which is the only word I can think of to describe it,” Biden said in a tweet after.
But at a rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday night, Sen. Marco Rubio lied and said, “Just moments ago, Joe Biden stated that our supporters are garbage.” [aaarrraggghhh]
Trump mockingly added, “Please forgive him for he not knoweth what he said.” [Video at the link]
Trump followed up with a post on his Truth Social platform where he ridiculously claimed he was “running a campaign of positive solutions to save America.” In reality, Trump has said he plans mass deportation and has praised the disastrous Supreme Court decision that rescinded federal abortion rights.
“Now, on top of everything, Joe Biden calls our supporters ‘garbage.’ You can’t lead America if you don’t love the American People,” he added, despite having repeatedly said that people who are opposed to his campaign are the “enemy within” and called for military force to be used against them.
Trump’s mock-offense at the term “garbage” comes just days after he referred to the entire United States as a “garbage can for the world,” amid an attack on the notion of migrants from other countries moving here.
His running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, falsely stated that the “garbage” comment from Biden was an attack on “half the country.” But it was Vance himself who played down the MSG “joke” attacking Puerto Rico when he argued that “we have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America.”
The mainstream press is giving cover to the Republican attack as well.
[…] “Regardless of what he meant, [Republicans] are already using this as a way to pivot from the Puerto Rico controversy.”
But what Biden actually said matters, no matter how Republicans try to characterize it.
The Associated Press similarly regurgitated the Republican spin, with a story headlined, “Biden suggests Trump supporters are ‘garbage’ after comic’s insult of Puerto Rico.” [JFC]
Highlighting the poor job being done by the mainstream press, their coverage is similar to the pro-Trump Fox News. Fox was mad that the Trump rally was being covered accurately and is now pushing the false version of what Biden said, with a story misleadingly headlined, “Kamala Harris silent after Biden’s ‘garbage’ comment about Trump supporters.” [Also not true.]
Trump began his political career with racism, and in the closing argument of the 2024 campaign, little has changed on that front. Faced with backlash and condemnation for the MSG event, he and his campaign are grasping at straws and twisting Biden’s words, and mainstream outlets are giving him an assist.
What Kamala Harris said in response:
“Listen I think that first of all, he clarified his comments,” Harris said. “But let me be clear, I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for.”
“You heard my speech last night and continuously throughout my career, I believe that the work that I do is about representing all the people, whether they support me or not,” she said. “And as president of the United States, I will be a president for all Americans, whether you vote for me or not.”
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday allowed Virginia to resume its purge of voter registrations that the state says is aimed at stopping people who are not U.S. citizens from voting.
The high court, over the dissents of the three liberal justices, granted an emergency appeal from Virginia’s Republican administration led by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The court provided no rationale for its action, which is typical in emergency appeals.
The justices acted on Virginia’s appeal after a federal judge found that the state illegally purged more than 1,600 voter registrations in the past two months. A federal appeals court had previously allowed the judge’s order to remain in effect.
Such voting is rare in American elections, but the specter of immigrants voting illegally has been a main part of the political messaging this year from Donald Trump and other Republicans.
[…] The Justice Department and a coalition of private groups sued the state earlier in October, arguing that Virginia election officials, acting on an executive order issued in August by Youngkin were striking names from voter rolls in violation of federal election law.
The National Voter Registration Act requires a 90-day “quiet period” ahead of elections for the maintenance of voter rolls so that legitimate voters are not removed from the rolls by bureaucratic errors or last-minute mistakes that cannot be quickly corrected.
Youngkin issued his order on Aug. 7, the 90th day before the election. It required daily checks of data from the state Department of Motor Vehicles against voter rolls to identify people who are not U.S. citizens.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Giles said elections officials still could remove names on an individualized basis, but not through a systematic purge. Court records indicated that at least some of those whose registrations were removed are U.S. citizens.
Giles had ordered the state to notify affected voters and local registrars by Wednesday that the registrations have been restored.
Youngkin said the Supreme Court’s action was “a victory for commonsense and election fairness.”
[…] “The Supreme Court allowing Virginia to engage in a last-minute purge that includes many known eligible citizens in the final days before an election is outrageous,” said Danielle Lang, senior director for voting rights at the Campaign Legal Center.
Nearly 6 million Virginians are registered to vote.
In a similar lawsuit in Alabama, a federal judge this month ordered the state to restore eligibility for more than 3,200 voters who had been deemed ineligible noncitizens. Testimony from state officials in that case showed that roughly 2,000 of the 3,251 voters who were made inactive were actually legally registered citizens.
[…] “Pennsylvania is cheating, and getting caught, at large scale levels rarely seen before. REPORT CHEATING TO AUTHORITIES. Law Enforcement must act, NOW!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Wednesday morning.
He made a similar comment at another partly empty rally in Allentown Tuesday night, saying the Democrats “have already started cheating” in Pennsylvania. [video at the link]
Of course, there is no evidence Democrats are cheating.
Trump appears to be referencing the Lancaster County Board of Elections’ announcement last Friday that it is investigating 2,500 voter registration applications for being fraudulent.
The announcement makes no reference to Democrats, nor who was behind the fraud. The board of elections only said that the bogus applications it found were the result of paid canvassers submitting registration applications, adding that the fact the board found them should inspire confidence.
“Our systems worked. We will continue to operate with the highest levels of veracity, integrity, and transparency so that Lancaster County voters can be confident in our election,” the board wrote in a news release.
Whipping his supporters up into believing the election is fraudulent, however, is all part of Trump’s plan to try to claim the election was illegitimate if he loses on Nov. 5. […]
It’s the playbook Trump and his allies employed in 2020 to try to steal the election from President Joe Biden, making absurd and baseless accusations of voter fraud to try and get the courts to overturn the results.
But Trump and his allies never actually presented evidence of voter fraud, and his lawsuits seeking to flip the election were tossed out by numerous federal judges who chastised Trump for making such baseless and absurd claims.
“Charges of unfairness are serious,” Trump-appointed federal Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote in a November 2020 decision tossing a Trump lawsuit in Pennsylvania. “But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.”
Ultimately, the fact that Trump is making accusations of unfairness and cheating in Pennsylvania a week before any votes have been counted is a sign he doesn’t believe he’s winning in the crucial battleground that could decide the outcome of the election. [Yeah. I think that is an accurate assessment.]
[video of a discussion on Morning Joe, featuring Ari Melber, available at the link]
birgerjohanssonsays
More than 70 people have died in Spain during the flooding.
Billy Eichner brought back his popular “Billy on the Street” show for one special episode ahead of Election Day. He and comedic actor Will Ferrell teamed up to campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by running around New York City wearing “Loud White Men for Kamala” T-shirts and accosting passersby in a hilarious way.
The two asked who people were going to vote for, cheered on loud white guys who said they would be casting a ballot for the vice president, and occasionally asked people whether they would “sleep with” a Donald Trump supporter for $1 (they found zero takers).
The frenetic get-out-the-vote event was a collaboration with Vote Save America and Swing Left, according to Variety. [video at the link]
[…] Eichner posted the video to his 2.1 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), as well as to his 500,000 YouTube followers.
A grand jury indicted a man suspected of carrying out three shootings at a Democratic Party campaign office near Phoenix, according to the Maricopa County attorney’s office. No one was injured in the shootings. The man, Jeffrey Michael Kelly, faces eight felony counts, including one count of terrorism.
The county attorney’s office has said it found more than 120 guns at his home, and that it believes he was “preparing to commit an act of mass casualty.” His lawyer has said there were “holes” in a probable cause statement.
As the controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden event unfolded, the former president did what he usually does: He pretended there was no controversy.
The event was “the greatest evening anyone’s seen politically,” the Republican boasted at his latest rally in Pennsylvania, even as members of his own team drew the opposite conclusion.
But that wasn’t the only phrase he used. The Associated Press reported:
Urged by some allies to apologize for racist comments made by speakers at his weekend rally, Donald Trump took the opposite approach on Tuesday, saying it was an “honor to be involved” in such an event and calling the scene a “lovefest” — the same term he has used to describe the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
He did not appear to be kidding. [video at the link]
Right off the bat, the point the AP raised is a highly relevant detail: The last time Trump referred to a “love fest,” he was talking about the insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
The larger takeaway is unavoidable: When the Republican candidate talks about “love fests,” he’s obviously referring to people engaged in indefensible conduct who love him.
Also notable is the fact that many, including some in his own party, have looked to the former president to express some kind of regret in the wake of his Madison Square Garden fiasco. The more he celebrates his hate-filled gathering, the more obvious it becomes that he sees no need for contrition.
But before we move on altogether, it’s worth taking one last look at the kind of remarks that Trump is so proud of. The New York Times reported:
By the time former President Donald J. Trump took the stage at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, a parade of speakers had already spent hours disparaging Latinos, Black people, Palestinians and Jews; directing misogynistic comments at Vice President Kamala Harris; and echoing language used by the Ku Klux Klan.
The report went on to bolster that assessment with several examples from the far-right rally.
With this in mind, when Trump called the gathering a “love fest,” and said it was an “honor to be involved” in such an event, it was an unmistakable endorsement of bigotry just days before Election Day.
On Tuesday, just one week before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her closing message to the American people — and it was a damn good speech. Harris spoke to a crowd of thousands at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., the same site where Donald Trump addressed his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, shortly before a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Harris’ remarks strike me as essentially the bookend to her Democratic National Convention speech. Her acceptance of the Democratic Party’s nomination in August hit some of the same lines, but back then Harris knew she was speaking to her fellow Democrats and to those who had elevated her within the party. On Tuesday, she was speaking to the country as a whole.
Harris spoke directly to the American people and overtly asked for their vote. She reintroduced herself to the country and acknowledged that some people watching at home may not know enough about her. She talked about her upbringing and talked about having worked most of her career outside of Washington.
Harris then reminded the American people of our history:
Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant. Across the generations, Americans have preserved that freedom, expanded it and, in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by and for the people is strong and can endure.
Harris ended her roughly 30-minute speech by highlighting the danger Trump could pose to the country’s future: “These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised.”
There, the vice president was not speaking to people who already support her; she was speaking to people who may not have been inclined to vote for her, who may not have felt comfortable with her, and who may not have felt like it was a worthy enough cause to get up off the couch and vote.
Harris’ closing message to the American people was that she embodies the future of this country, and the other guy embodies the end of our democratic experiment. She promised to protect the country — that is strength personified. I think Tuesday’s speech may be the most important speech of Harris’ life thus far.
There was no official tally of the size of Kamala Harris’ audience for her closing message at the Ellipse, but as the Democratic vice president prepared to take the stage, her communications director told MSNBC that there were 75,000 people on hand — an enormous number of attendees for a campaign speech.
If that total is correct, and it’s been largely uncontested, it would suggest Harris’ crowd at the Ellipse was far larger than the 53,000 people who attended Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 speech at the same location nearly four years earlier.
Around the same time, the former Republican president held an event in Pennsylvania, where he commented on Harris’ crowd.
“They’re busing people because they couldn’t get anybody to show up for her tonight,” Trump said, referring to Harris and her team. Trump added, “She can’t get anybody.” [LOL. Trump lives in his own fantasy land.]
Obviously, the idea that the Democratic candidate “can’t get anybody” is utterly bonkers. Not only did tens of thousands of people assemble at the Ellipse, but days earlier, tens of thousands of people also attended a Harris rally in Houston.
The more interesting part of Trump’s line, however, was the idea that the Democratic campaign has been reduced to “busing people because they couldn’t get anybody to show up for her.” He said the same thing at an event last week, telling a Michigan audience, “You ever see Kamala’s crowds? They put like ten people, they bus them in. They take a bus, and they pay people. It’s true. They pay people. They don’t get people.” [video at the link]
In fact, the former president has been pushing this same line, almost word for word, since early September — when he first started noticing the big and excited crowds Harris was generating.
In August, Trump went so far as to claim that people were using “artificial intelligence“ to make it appear as if sizable crowds were showing up for the vice president’s campaign events. He added at the time that images showing her audiences were “fake.”
What I find amazing about all of this is how truly pitiful it is. Trump’s ego can’t handle the idea that his opponent has enthusiastic supporters, so he apparently makes himself feel better with a conspiracy theory of sorts: Harris and her team must be paying fake supporters to attend her events, because the alternative is that many Americans actually like her and want her to win.
What’s more, this isn’t unique to the 2024 election. In early June 2016, when the then-candidate inspired protests, Trump assumed that the people involved couldn’t possibly dislike him. They were, the Republican said at the time, “paid agitators.”
After the GOP candidate prevailed on Election Day 2016, there was related anti-Trump activism. Those involved, he said in November 2016, were “paid protesters.”
Months later, after Trump’s inauguration, the activism continued. Trump assured the public once more that these Americans deserved to be ignored — because he assumed they were “paid protesters.”
The following year, Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination inspired another round of progressive activism. The protesters, Trump insisted, were “paid professionals.”
That was in October 2018. In October 2024, he’s at it again, assuming that the Harris campaign is paying people to show up for her events.
The problem isn’t just that Trump sees Americans he disagrees with as “the enemy within,” the problem is made worse by the fact that he often sees Americans he disagrees with as an impossibility that can only be explained through corrupt schemes that only exist in his mind.
A California landlord was reportedly fired after bragging on Reddit about using ballots belonging to his previous tenants to vote multiple times for Donald Trump.
In the now-deleted post made to Reddit, user Mancow2000 claimed to have submitted four ballots in Shasta County to vote for Trump and to vote “no” for rent control and school bond measures […]
The user, identified as 70-year-old Charles Pierce, was fired from his job as the landlord of an apartment complex in Redding after several users reported his account for voter fraud and mail fraud to the FBI.
[…] The Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters said that the allegations are being investigated, and that Pierce’s case has been turned over to the District Attorney’s Office.
[…] No charges have been filed yet, however District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett told the outlet that her office is considering criminal charges. […]
Action star and onetime California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger released an impassioned statement Wednesday endorsing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement posted on social media site X.
The world-renowned celebrity said that while he is fed up with the divisiveness in the country and would love to “tune out,” he can’t because “rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets.”
“I will always be an American before I am a Republican,” Schwarzenegger continued. “That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”
Schwarzenegger, who has previously characterized Republican nominee Donald Trump as “a failed leader,” says a second Trump presidency would “just be four more years of bullshit with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful.”
“We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that,” he continued. “He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger.”
The staunchly Republican Schwarzenegger has been a solid voice of reason over the past few years, releasing viral videos warning people about the rise of fascism and condemning the use of anti-democratic propaganda by bad actors like Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Read Schwarzenegger’s full statement below. [statement available at the link]
Jimmy Kimmel Did A Good And Important Thing Last Night
Send this to a Republican you love, or who thinks you love them.
Video at the link.
[…] Kimmel’s theory here seems to be that a lot of Republican voters actually don’t see Trump the way he (and we) do. We don’t mean how they perceive him. We mean that much of the right-wing media tries to shield less cultish viewers from what he’s really like. Watch Fox News for a bit, see how they cut away from his rallies when he starts really weird shit. Watch the “Fox & Friends” hosts try to get off the phone with him when he calls them mid-shit and babbles too long.
They don’t see what Trump says on Truth Social, because they’re not on it, because nobody of consequence is on it. Fox News didn’t breathlessly report his tweets, and we’ve all seen Republican senators and congressmen try to pretend they haven’t heard about Trump’s latest Nazi tweet or racist rally comment.
[…] He made some jokes, but not a ton. He said clearly that if you are a person “who think Democrats are controlling the weather, or Beyoncé eats baby skin, forget it.” You are not the intended audience for this. You’re not reachable by God or man.
But he showed them pure, unfiltered Trump. He showed them years upon years of Trump saying he’s about to announce a plan to repeal Obamacare in about two months, but he can’t tell you yet, because it’s a secret, putting Trump’s “concepts of a plan” in context. He showed them Trump saying his favorite Bible verse is a secret, and when asked whether he was an Old Testament Guy or a New Testament guy, he said oh probably both.
He showed in technicolor how Trump doesn’t answer questions, and sometimes he’s. not even lying, he just tapdances. It’s because he’s entirely bullshit, he knows nothing, he knows less than nothing. He doesn’t know enough about things to lie about them, he just tapdances.
What’s the plan for childcare? “Childcare is childcare, it’s something you have to have it!”
“He’s like a child who didn’t do his book report,” said Jimmy.
He played clips of what Trump is really saying with his mouth about kids going to school, and “they change the sex of your child.” “Perform sex-change operation and send them back home!” “Make the boy into a girl and not tell the parents.” “Your boy leaves for school and comes back, A GIRL.” “It was a HE and comes back a SHE.”
“Can you even believe we’re saying this?”
NO! said Jimmy, laughing. This is fucking bullshit, and anybody who hasn’t lost their literal actual mind knows it. […]
[…] While white racist Republicans performatively [complained] on Twitter that Harris wasn’t saying anything, she laid out policy after policy, things she actually wanted to do for the American people. She talked about opening Medicare up to pay for in-home caregivers and child tax credits for young parents and getting more damn houses built and more, comparing that with Trump’s end-all, be-all solutions to problems, which are to shake a Nazi fist at immigrants while slapping the American people with a 20 percent tax on all goods (and components of goods) made outside the United States. (This is his tariff plan, because he is a man who thinks tariffs solve everything, because he is fucking stupid and doesn’t actually know what tariffs are.)
It was a fabulous, fabulous speech, and there was so much more to it than we just excerpted. Again, watch it all.
[…] hack “journalists” like the writers of Politico Playbook and Chris Cillizza think Joe Biden’s verbal not-really-a-gaffe about Trump’s supporters being garbage [Not what President Biden really said, see comment 102] negated Harris’s entire speech. Why? Because they’re fucking morons.
Across the United States, companies that rely on foreign suppliers are preparing to raise prices in response to the massive import tariffs that former president Donald Trump promises if he wins the election Tuesday.
Producers of a range of items, including clothing, footwear, baby products, auto parts and hardware, say they will pass along the cost of the tariffs to their American customers.
The planned price increases next year would come as consumers are beginning to enjoy relief from the highest inflation in four decades and directly contradict Trump’s repeated assurances that foreigners will pay the tariff tab.
“We’re set to raise prices,” Timothy Boyle, chief executive of Columbia Sportswear, said in an interview. “We’re buying stuff today for delivery next fall. So we’re just going to deal with it and we’ll just raise the prices. … It’s going to be very, very difficult to keep products affordable for Americans.”
Trump vows to impose the heaviest tariffs since the 1930s, including a 60 percent tax on products from China and a 10 to 20 percent fee on all other foreign goods….
Trump also has repeatedly claimed that foreign companies — not Americans — pay such import taxes. “The countries will pay,” he insisted this month during an interview with Bloomberg’s John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago.
In fact, American importers pay all tariffs to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency at the time their products enter the country.
[…]
“A consistent theoretical and empirical finding in economics is that domestic consumers and domestic firms bear the burden of a tariff, not the foreign country,” according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Budget Lab at Yale University.
Executives at AutoZone, an auto parts retailer, told investors this month they were prepared for products they import to become more expensive. The company’s top suppliers include companies in India, China and Germany, according to a June press release.
“If we get tariffs, we will pass those tariff costs back to the consumer,” Philip Daniele, CEO of AutoZone, said on a recent earnings call. “We’ll generally raise prices ahead of — we know what the tariffs will be — we generally raise prices ahead of that.”
Likewise, Stanley Black & Decker CEO Donald Allan earlier this year told investors his company would probably “have to do some surgical price actions” to offset any new tariffs.
[…]
Trump’s repeated insistence that other nations will pay his tariffs frustrates the U.S. importers who actually get the bills. Lalo, a baby and toddler products retailer, was just opening its doors as the first trade war got underway. The company imports an array of premium items such as play tables, high chairs and bibs.
Some of its products were exempt from the trade levies. But many of the made-in-China goods faced tariffs, forcing the company to raise prices, according to Michael Wieder, the company’s co-founder.
Lalo is growing fast but is not yet profitable, Wieder said. The last thing the 30-employee company needs is higher costs. Along with China, it imports products or materials from countries such as India and Turkey, all of which would face Trump’s universal tariff.
Though reluctant to raise prices, Lalo needs to become profitable so it can invest in new products and continue growing, Wieder said. Fresh tariffs will get in the way.
“It just hurts the consumer. Straight up. Ten times out of 10,” he said. “Exporting countries do not pay the tariffs. It’s just that simple.”
The Military Show: Turkey Gave Russia a Devastating Blow
The title is click bait but the video itself is a good summary of how Turkey has worked both Russia and the west in the Ukrainian war. They point the title is talking about is Turkey declaring that Crimea must be returned to Ukraine. This demand is empty because Turkey isn’t in a position to enforce it. They are in a position to buy cheap Russian oil while not allowing Russian ships to move around. In the west they have allowed shipment to and from Ukraine but they have also delayed strengthening and expanding NATO. They have annoyed both sides when it was to their advantage.
Shannon is […] trying to deprogram white supremacists, her approach is not to try to change their politics but to help them address their trauma and move away from resorting to violence. “I’ve found you can’t argue people out of their deeply entrenched worldview. They just entrench further,” Shannon says. So she asks a lot of questions and patiently listens. What drew them to the white power movement? How is it serving their life? Why are they afraid of leaving? What might their lives look like without hate? These connections can take a long time to develop, and even longer to lead to deradicalization. Disengagement, she says, is a process—not an event.
[…]
Most people […] are not initially comfortable with racial slurs or Nazi rhetoric, so recruiters lightheartedly introduce offensive humor to appear less violent than they really are. But the more time members spend online in alt-right chatrooms and channels, the more they get used to the ugliness of the ideology. When you stop being shocked, you start being radicalized.
[…]
In 2016, I famously described half of Trump’s supporters as “the basket of deplorables.” I was talking about the people who are drawn to his racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia—you name it. The people for whom his bigotry is a feature, not a bug. It was an unfortunate choice of words and bad politics, but it also got at an important truth. Just look at everything that has happened in the years since, from Charlottesville to Jan. 6. The masks have come off, and if anything, “deplorable” is too kind a word for the hate and violent extremism we’ve seen
[…]
I was largely mocked or dismissed by many in the mainstream media stuck in a “both sides” straitjacket. […] I do wish that back in 2016, people had heard the rest of my comments and not just the word “deplorables.” I also talked about the other half of Trump supporters, “people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change.” And, I emphasized, “those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.” That’s especially true because many are living with unresolved trauma in their lives.
[…]
Talking about the “deplorables” in 2016, I said, “Some of those folks, they are irredeemable.” Part of me would still say this is objectively true. Just look at the lack of remorse from many of the Jan. 6 insurrectionists who’ve been convicted of sedition and other crimes. But […] I’d like to believe there’s goodness in everyone and a chance at redemption, no matter how remote.
birgerjohanssonsays
From Facebook: The world’s greatest coffee consumers the last sixty years.
Top 10 Countries that Drink the Most Coffee Per Person (kg/lbs per year) (International Coffee Organization 2020)
1. Luxembourg — 6.5 kg/14 lbs — Despite being one of the world’s smallest countries, Luxembourg has thousands of coffee houses, from elegant houses with white linen table cloths to small, stand-up coffee bars.
2. Maldives — 22.3 kg/49 lbs — In the Maldives, where tea once reigned supreme, coffee is quietly carving out its own niche. From the capital of Malé to the remote islands, cafés serve a mix of global coffee styles.
3. Lebanon — 17.3 kg/38 lbs — Traditional Lebanese coffee, brewed thick and black, is enjoyed in tiny cups among friends and colleagues. Lebanon’s coffee culture remains deeply rooted in its heritage, and each cup is a rich blend of tradition and taste.
4. Lithuania — 17 kg/37.4 lbs — In Lithuania, coffee has quietly become a daily essential, from the cobblestone streets of Vilnius to rural cafés. Strong and simple, it is brewed and enjoyed in the vein of the best European traditions.
5. Fiji — 16.84 kg/37 lbs — In Fiji, where kava once dominated, coffee is steadily growing in popularity. Served anywhere from coastal cafés to island resorts, coffee is a culture in Fiji that blends local flavors with familiar global trends.
6. Estonia — 16.8 kg/37 lbs — Estonians love their coffee, and this drink has become a daily ritual in this country’s modern lifestyle. From Tallinn’s trendy cafés to quiet village kitchens, coffee culture here is understated yet firmly rooted in everyday life.
7. Samoa — 16.3 kg/36 lbs — In Samoa, where traditional beverages like kava hold cultural significance, coffee is quietly gaining popularity and is often locally grown. From village gatherings to urban cafés, Samoans are embracing coffee as a daily pleasure.
8. Belize — 16.2 kg/35.6 lbs — Belize is where tropical flavors abound, and coffee has found its place as a cherished morning ritual. Belizeans love their locally grown coffee, often rich and aromatic. With Caribbean influences, coffee culture here is a relaxed yet essential part of daily life.
9. Macau — 15.5 kg/34 lbs — In Macau, where East meets West, coffee reflects the city’s fusion of cultures. For example, espresso and egg tarts make an unlikely but beloved pair, blending Portuguese heritage with local flair in this gaming and culinary hub.
10. Laos — 15.4 kg/33.9 lbs — In Laos, coffee is a key export and a symbol of the country’s rich agricultural roots. Laotians enjoy their coffee strong and sweet, often brewed with condensed milk.
They’re not in the top 10.
John Moralessays
Of course, there’s per capita (per person) and by total amount.
Top 10 Countries that Drink the Most Coffee in the World (by 1000s of 60-lb bags of dry coffee beans consumed)
United States 26,982
Brazil 22,400
Japan 7,386
Indonesia 5,000
Russia 4,681
Canada 4,011
Ethiopia 3,798
Philippines 3,312
Vietnam 2,700
South Korea 2,513
At least 95 people have been killed and many others are missing after torrential rains caused flash flooding in southern and eastern Spain, local authorities said Wednesday.
The toll makes this Spain’s worst natural disaster in almost 30 years and was confirmed by emergency services in the eastern region of Valencia, which said it was only an initial assessment.
Authorities had advised citizens to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel as heavy rains poured onto the worst-affected towns, sweeping away cars and disrupting public transport.
Videos shared on social media showed streets submerged in a sea of mud-colored water and dramatic rescues by emergency services, including a woman and her pets airlifted to safety from a home battered by fierce winds and floods.
[…] Spain’s state weather agency AEMET declared a red alert in the city of Valencia, with some areas recording nearly 8 inches of rainfall that turned roads into rivers and disrupted highways and railway lines.
The last time Spain faced more deaths from flooding was in 1996, when 87 people died in a town near the Pyrenees mountains.
The town of Chiva, near Valencia, received more than 19 inches of rain — a year’s-worth — in just eight hours on Tuesday, according to the BBC.
The regional leader of Valencia, Carlos Mazon, told a news conference that some people remained stranded in inaccessible locations. Police and rescue services were using helicopters to lift people to safety from their homes and cars.
More than 1,000 soldiers from the country’s emergency response units had been deployed to the devastated areas.
[…] Spain has experienced similar autumn storms in recent years, but has seen nothing on the scale of this week’s destruction. It is still recovering from a severe drought earlier this year.
ASAJA, one of Spain’s largest farmer groups, said on Tuesday it expected significant damage to crops.
The death toll from these floods is the worst Europe has seen since 2021, when 185 people were killed in Germany after heavy rains.
Scientists say increased episodes of extreme weather are likely linked to climate change.
Josseli Barnica is one of at least two pregnant Texas women who died after doctors delayed emergency care. She’d told her husband that the medical team said it couldn’t act until the fetal heartbeat stopped.
Josseli Barnica grieved the news as she lay in a Houston hospital bed on Sept. 3, 2021: The sibling she’d dreamt of giving her daughter would not survive this pregnancy.
The fetus was on the verge of coming out, its head pressed against her dilated cervix; she was 17 weeks pregnant and a miscarriage was “in progress,” doctors noted in hospital records. At that point, they should have offered to speed up the delivery or empty her uterus to stave off a deadly infection, more than a dozen medical experts told ProPublica.
But when Barnica’s husband rushed to her side from his job on a construction site, she relayed what she said the medical team had told her: “They had to wait until there was no heartbeat,” he told ProPublica in Spanish. “It would be a crime to give her an abortion.”
For 40 hours, the anguished 28-year-old mother prayed for doctors to help her get home to her daughter; all the while, her uterus remained exposed to bacteria.
Three days after she delivered, Barnica died of an infection.
Barnica is one of at least two Texas women who ProPublica found lost their lives after doctors delayed treating miscarriages, which fall into a gray area under the state’s strict abortion laws that prohibit doctors from ending the heartbeat of a fetus.
Neither had wanted an abortion, but that didn’t matter. Though proponents insist that the laws protect both the life of the fetus and the person carrying it, in practice, doctors have hesitated to provide care under threat of prosecution, prison time and professional ruin.
ProPublica is telling these women’s stories this week, starting with Barnica’s. Her death was “preventable,” according to more than a dozen medical experts who reviewed a summary of her hospital and autopsy records at ProPublica’s request; they called her case “horrific,” “astounding” and “egregious.”
The doctors involved in Barnica’s care at HCA Houston Healthcare Northwest did not respond to multiple requests for comment on her case. In a statement, HCA Healthcare said “our responsibility is to be in compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations” and said that physicians exercise their independent judgment. The company did not respond to a detailed list of questions about Barnica’s care.
Like all states, Texas has a committee of maternal health experts who review such deaths to recommend ways to prevent them, but the committee’s reports on individual cases are not public and members said they have not finished examining cases from 2021, the year Barnica died.
ProPublica is working to fill gaps in knowledge about the consequences of abortion bans. Reporters scoured death data, flagging Barnica’s case for its concerning cause of death: “sepsis” involving “products of conception.” We tracked down her family, obtained autopsy and hospital records and enlisted a range of experts to review a summary of her care that ProPublica created in consultation with two doctors.
Among those experts were more than a dozen OB-GYNs and maternal-fetal medicine specialists from across the country, including researchers at prestigious institutions, doctors who regularly handle miscarriages and experts who have served on state maternal mortality review committees or held posts at national professional medical organizations.
After reviewing the four-page summary, which included the timeline of care noted in hospital records, all agreed that requiring Barnica to wait to deliver until after there was no detectable fetal heartbeat violated professional medical standards because it could allow time for an aggressive infection to take hold. They said there was a good chance she would have survived if she was offered an intervention earlier. […]
July 2 (Reuters) – Spain generated almost 60% of its electricity from renewable energy sources in the first half of 2024 helped by new solar capacity and more output from hydropower plants, data from grid operator Redeia (REDE.MC) showed on Tuesday.
Renewables accounted for 51% of the total a year earlier.
Wind farms generated 24.4% of the total, up from 24.1% a year earlier, Redeia said in a statement.
Solar plants generated 16.3% of the total, up from 13.8%, while hydropower dams accounted for 15.9%, up from 9.8%.
Spain aims to generate four-fifths of its electricity from renewables by 2030 under a government plan published last year.
Vice President Kamala Harris released a final campaign ad on Wednesday. Cut together using footage from her “Closing argument address,” Tuesday night, the ad highlights both the campaign’s promises of a better future, and the stakes for our democracy that this election represents. […]
Workers Say They Were Tricked and Threatened as Part of Elon Musk’s Get-Out-the-Vote Effort
America PAC door knockers were flown to Michigan, driven in the back of a U-Haul, and told they’d have to pay hotel bills unless they met unrealistic quotas. One was surprised they were working to elect Donald Trump.
“I was in shock and disbelief,” says a paid door knocker flown to Michigan to help turn out the vote for former president Donald Trump on behalf of Elon Musk’s America PAC.
In Michigan, canvassers and paid door knockers for the former president, contracted by a firm associated with America PAC, have been subjected to poor working conditions: A number of them have been driven around in the back of a seatless U-Haul van, according to video obtained by WIRED, and threatened that their lodging at a local motel wouldn’t be paid for if they didn’t meet canvassing quotas. One door knocker alleges that they didn’t even know they were signing up for anything having to do with Musk or Trump.
[…] The contract these door knockers signed with Blitz Canvassing, which is a subcontractor of Musk’s America PAC, says they are “expected to maintain a 17-22% engagement rate during the campaign,” which is a high target relative to the number of people who typically open their door for a stranger. A group of out-of-state America PAC canvassers were told during a recent team meeting that if they didn’t hit their targets, which the door knocker says were more than 1,000 a week on total doors knocked, the organization would stop paying for their motel rooms.
[…] The door knocker also alleges that they were told that they will have to pay for their own flight home. [Image of America PAC canvassers being driven around in the back of a U-Haul van.]
One of the canvassers, who was flown in from outside the Midwest, tells WIRED they had no idea they would be knocking on doors in support of Trump or that the subcontractor they were working for was part of Elon Musk’s voter-turnout operation through America PAC.
“I knew nothing of the job, or much of the job description, other than going door to door and asking the voters who are they voting for,” says a door knocker who was one of the people in the back of the van and who is requesting anonymity because they signed a nondisclosure agreement. “Then, after I signed over an NDA, is when I found out we are for Republicans and with Trump.”
[…] The Trump campaign has largely outsourced its field operation in Michigan to Musk, a move that has come under heavy criticism as previously reported by WIRED. Blitz Canvassing has also reportedly had issues with fake door knocks being flagged by Campaign Sidekick, the glitchy app used by America PAC. In Nevada and Arizona, up to a quarter of the door interactions were flagged as potential fakes within the app, according to The Guardian. […]
Field organizing normally does not work this way. The gold standard for door knocking apps is MiniVAN, and transportation usually involves carpooling with other volunteers or campaign staff offering a ride—preferably, with seat belts.
[…] The video from inside the van shows a bumpy ride, with a cage separating the mostly Black door knockers from their driver. The driver also told the group of door knockers that he was in pain and had difficulty driving: “I just had surgery, bro,” the U-Haul driver says in another recording obtained by WIRED. “Like half of my foot is cut off.”
“I’m scared,” the door knocker who spoke to WIRED replies on the recording.
“And all [the manager] is concerned about is how many motherfuckin’ doors the [B-word] got,” the driver responds.
The canvassers were then dropped off roughly 40 minutes apart from each other, relying on the mobile app to log their interactions at front doors.
In a contract agreement reviewed by WIRED, door knockers were given specific “performance guidelines” along with a mandate to “keep the GPS function of their personal device turned on during all working hours.” Each knock at the door must be done in 15 seconds or less, and the contractors “must remain on a property for at least 30 seconds.” [snipped discussion of technical problems associated with the Campaign Sidekick app.]
In a get-out-the-vote ad which also encourages people to vote for Kamala Harris, George Cooney as narrator says:
Clooney says, “Before you cast your vote in this election, think about how it will impact the people you care about the most. Remember, you can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know.” What he means is that if you are a guy surrounded by MAGA guys and you feel peer pressured to vote for Hitler, your vote is also secret, and you don’t have to tell those creepy loser bastards that you voted for a decent human being instead.
Commentary:
[…] We guess dudes in this situation can also keep the secret from their wives, in case they’re married to some big dumb MAGA meathead woman who does CrossFit with Marjorie Taylor Greene or something.
Whatever. Vote! For Kamala Harris, and not for Hitler.
Re: Lynna, OM @ #133…
I’ve rented U-Haul vans. They have signs attached saying not to let anyone ride in the back.
Bekenstein Boundsays
Lynna, would it be really naughty of me to suggest self-diagnosis and self-medication is less advisable asthanseeing an actual qualified medical professional?
All fine and good theoretically, but try telling that to someone who can’t afford to splurge several hundred bucks on that (USA) or can’t for the life of them find any willing to set aside the time to see them in the first place (everywhere else). :/
With locally grown coffee it is no wonder some small countries are embracing coffee. And it would make it easy to experiment with different bkends qhen you don’t need to order it from another continent.
-I rather wish the Polynesian kava would gain acceptance in the west as a safer alternative to alcohol and cannabis (when smoked, cannabis has similar problems as tobacco)
The baltic states are right next to the compulsively coffee-drinking Nordic countries so probably geography plays a role in changing habits.
birgerjohanssonsays
Spain and other mediterranean countries lost most of their topsoil due to deforestation during Roman time, and earlier. There is no “buffer” in the water cycle.
John Moralessays
What? Spain supposedly lost its topsoil? In Roman times?
(A very weird belief you have, Birger)
There is no “buffer” in the water cycle.
Hydrology.
StevoRsays
Only parts of Parlt? Why not the whole building and even its surrounds? Still. Good.
Anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe has been banned from parts of South Australia’s upper house, with parliament told she allegedly insulted, intimidated and threatened MPs on the night of a vote about late-term abortion law.
… (Snip!).. This week, Liberal politician Jing Lee revealed she felt unsafe and had been put in a compromised position after an encounter with an “external visitor” who made her feel “very vulnerable on the night” of a vote about proposed amendments to abortion laws.
Upper house president Terry Stephens identified the external visitor as Dr Howe, who is a legal professor at the University of Adelaide, and who helped draft the proposed changes.
Mr Stephens said he had received multiple complaints from members of parliament about her behaviour in the galleries and areas adjacent to the Legislative Council chamber.
A lot of graphs and scientific disturbing info here :
Every two years, the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO team up to provide a report card on Australia’s climate – called the State of the Climate.
The 2024 report has found Australia has already warmed by 1.51 degrees, with more extreme heat events over land and oceans, longer fire seasons, more intense heavy rainfall and sea level rise.
Donald Trump got off his private plane in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Wednesday evening and, donning a bright orange safety vest, got into a garbage truck in an attempt to troll Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
With election day looming, both the Republican and Democratic candidates are hoping to leverage the racist comments made against Puerto Rico at Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday when a comedian called the US territory “a floating island of garbage.”
The truck was emblazoned with the Trump campaign logo and with the former president leaning out of the window similarly to his McDonald’s photo-op, he asked the press: “How do you like my garbage truck?”
He added that it was “in honor of Kamala and Joe Biden” and proceeded to say the president “should be ashamed of himself” and that “she should never have let it happen” referring to Biden’s verbal flub on Tuesday night.
The president stumbled over his words while on a call causing a brouhaha over what was actually said, with the Trump campaign claiming he had called their supporters garbage and the White House saying that Biden had said he was referring to the comedian’s demonization of Latinos.
Trump’s garbage truck stunt might have gone better had he not spoken to reporters about the comedian, the comment, and Puerto Rico, while leaning from the vehicle’s window, prolonging the scandal over the remarks…
You’re something of an expert at missing the point. Biden was not, in fact calling Trump supporters “garbage”, but what he said was easily misinterpreted as doing so – and the point is not whether that characterization would have been justified, but that what he said has increased Trump’s chance to win. Similarly, the stuff Lynna, OM quotes from TPM@101 and DK@102, complaining about the misreporting of what Biden said is true, but also beside the point, because it was inevitable, given the appalling state of most of the American media, that such misreporting would occur. Every time Biden starts burbling in public, there is a risk he will sabotage Harris’s campaign – and in this case it was pretty easy to misrepresent what he said, just by cutting the video immediately after he says “supporter’s” (or “supporters” – the two sound exactly the same). He just needs to shut up until all the votes are in.
StevoRsays
Too obvs but of all Trump’s broken promises anyone else think that the worst and most blatant was that he would make America great again when after his four years of chaos, cruelty and carnage he left the USoA more divided, weaker, less stable and full of more human suffering than it had been in a long time if not ever?
Spain and other mediterranean countries lost most of their topsoil due to deforestation during Roman time, and earlier. There is no “buffer” in the water cycle.
Romans and predecessors were significant in their day, but I couldn’t substantiate the blame for “most deforestation” through today, at least when I looked at Spain. Modern farming is blamed for what topsoil Southern Europe has being lousy.
Rome drove human development in Western Europe and was a leading contributor of the deforestation around the Mediterranean. […] Regular clearing and plowing exhausted existing soil […] Erosion accelerated up to twentyfold in the 3rd century
the progressive deforestation of Iberia, a process only reversed during the 20th century with the development of reforestation programmes.
[…]
Neolithic farmers used recurrent fires to clear the original forest vegetation […] Transformation of the ancient Iberian woodland into farmland seems to have begun […] about 6850–5700 cal. yr BP […] [Agriculture and mining intensified with waves of colonization: 9th century BC Phoenicians, 6th c Greeks, 2nd c Romans.]
[…] Extensive woodland still remained at the end of the classical period. The crisis following Emperor Commodus’s reign (193 AD) plunged Roma into a general unstable life: violence and pillage hindered the exploitation of land and industry
[…]
Visigothic social structure […] after the Late Roman Empire was based on subsistence farming. […] During the Visigothic period the absence of wars, the stabilization of the agrarian population and the continuation of Gothic customs did not cost any further damages to the forest.
[…]
The presence of Muslims [from 711] for more than 800 years involved contrasting impacts over the forest across the territory. The advanced irrigation techniques of the Arabs allowed a better use of the land for their agriculture-based economy. El Idrisi (1100–1166) […] describes […] a territory where woodlands still supplied important resources and wealth. […] and regretting the depletion of forests in the city surroundings.
The Christian Reconquest lasted from 722 till 1492. During this long-lasting campaign, all territories in the Iberian Peninsula were at some point the border between the Moor and Christian Kingdoms. As a result, the land was exposed to tree felling and arson that depleted the woods
[…]
During the 13th and 14th centuries, […] sheep transhumance [seasonal nomadic grazing] played a major role in the degradation of the Iberian forests [an arrangement that lasted 5 centuries.] […] interest for timber increased in parallel with the importance of the Spanish Navy, [from 10 vessels in 1694 to 70 ships + 50 frigates 100 years later].
[…]
By the beginning of the 20th century the Iberian landscapes were drastically deforested. […] different administrations’ economical efforts resulted, to a great extent, in the recovery of vegetation during the century.
little has been written about the Sahara’s northward advance into Spain. […] This year, Spain suffered its worst drought in almost a century. […] scorching sun dried up the soil, then torrential rains washed away its nutrient-rich organic matter, turning once-productive croplands into barren sand.
[…]
Modern commercial farming [50 years ago] brought machinery use, synthetic fertilizers, and water-intensive practices. “We entered the era of fertilizer dependency,” […] 74% of Southern Europe’s land is covered by soils with less than 2% organic carbon in the topsoil. Modern agriculture is blamed as a key driver of that degradation.
[…]
As a result of his long-term findings, Alvelal farmers today allow weeds to grow tall beneath the almond trees. Instead of plowing them under and disturbing the microorganisms, tractors are used to crush the green cover, which is later mulched atop the soil. […] the soil fully recovers, becomes healthy and nourished (like a sponge that absorbs and retains water) […] “Agriculture plays a pivotal role in halting desertification. In many cases, we find abandoned farms that have been void of vegetation for 40 or 50 years. Instead of being reclaimed by nature, they remain barren due to erosion,”
StevoRsays
The next president of the United States could be the first in that office to accept a phone call from the Moon and hear a woman’s voice on the line.
..(Snip!)…
Given their past leadership, it is unlikely that either candidate will seek to dramatically alter the long-term missions the largest government space organizations have underway during the upcoming presidential term. And neither is likely to undercut their predecessors’ accomplishments.
Actaully, I am well aware of your point. I just don’t fucking care. Even if Biden did actually call these sub-human vermin (Oh no. I’m dehumanizing and othering illiterate, racist, fascist swine. Boo hoo.) “garbage” and it did somehow cost Harris the election, that’s only evidence to me that this shithole country is too sick to survive.
Pussyfooting around right-wingers is what got us into this mess.
The organization Vote Common Good has an ad out with voiceover by Julia Roberts.
Julia Roberts: “In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know.”
The message is one Democrats have been using more and more recently: that women can privately vote for the candidate they want without their spouse knowing.
As summarized by Steve Benen from Politico’s reporting:
And in developments that have become common in much of the country, a Republican-aligned super PAC is trying to boost Jill Stein’s Green Party candidacy in Georgia.
KGsays
Actaully, I am well aware of your point. I just don’t fucking care. – Akira Mackenzie@160
Then you’re part of the problem. I’d be obliged if you’d stop trying to kill me.
With just five days remaining before Election Day 2024, Americans received even more good news about the economy. The New York Times reported, “Inflation has been cooling for two years, and fresh data released on Thursday showed that trend continued in September. Prices climbed just 2.1 percent compared with a year earlier. That is nearly back to the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent inflation goal — good news for both the Fed and the White House.”
The news comes just one day after the public learned about healthy economic growth over the summer.
The latest Wall Street Journal analysis described the state of the U.S. economy as “remarkable,” which coincided with a Bloomberg analysis that said, “The nation is experiencing a dream combination of strong growth and low inflation.”
There’s more where that came from. It was earlier this month when The New York Times reported that the U.S. job market “is as healthy as it has ever been” — as in, in the history of the United States — and described recent economic growth as “robust.” A few days later, The Washington Post’s Heather Long explained in a column, “We are living through one of the best economic years of many people’s lifetimes.” The same day, Politico described the status quo as “a dream economy.”
The Economist, a leading British publication, also recently described the U.S. economy as “the envy of the world,” adding that the American economy “has left other rich countries in the dust.”
And what, pray tell, does Donald Trump have to say about all of this? As it turns out, the answer is a little confusing.
At his latest campaign rally in North Carolina, for example, held just hours after the good news on the GDP data, Trump, while carefully reading from his teleprompter, told supporters, “This economy is a disaster.”
Two days earlier, however, Trump delivered remarks at Mar-a-Lago, where he said, “Some of the best people on Wall Street are saying the economy is only good because — I don’t want to say this, because other people have said it; it’s not me saying it — but they think Trump is going to get elected. That’s the only reason our economy is good.” [video at the link]
For now, let’s not dwell on the fact that “the best people on Wall Street” are not, in reality, making any such declarations. Let’s also brush past the fact that Trump’s campaign is not actually fueling economic growth.
Let’s instead consider the competing and contradictory messages.
On Monday, Trump publicly declared that the economy is good, and he wants credit. On Wednesday, Trump said the economy is “a disaster,” and Vice President Kamala Harris deserves the blame.
The former president reconciles the contraction by pretending there is no contradiction.
Obviously, Trump, who’s never demonstrated any working understanding of economic policy, is not to be taken seriously on such matters, but what voters should take seriously are the unambiguous facts.
The combination of healthy economic growth, low unemployment, shrinking inflation, record highs on Wall Street, and low gas prices is worth celebrating. […]
As the 2024 presidential election entered its final stretch, Donald Trump has struggled to respond to Kamala Harris’ policy agenda, to the point that the former Republican president started making up ideas that the Democratic vice president never endorsed. In recent weeks, for example, the GOP candidate has said his opponent intends to ban cows and buildings with windows, which was obviously absurd.
But at his latest rally in North Carolina, Trump didn’t just target Harris’ proposals, he also attacked the nature of her ideas.
“Her plans,” the Republican said, “are the plans of a simpleton.” [video at the link]
To be sure, we’ve all heard the “every accusation is a confession” line when it comes to Trump, but the “her plans are the plans of a simpleton” argument is a rather extreme example of the phenomenon.
Exactly one month before the former president made the comment, Trump shared his idea on how to address street crime: If there were “one real rough, nasty” and “violent day” of police retaliation, he said, it would eradicate crime “immediately.”
It followed Trump suggesting that the country could combat shoplifting by having the police shoot shoplifters.
These were not isolated incidents. As I argued in my first book, Trump genuinely seems to believe that every challenge can and should be addressed through unexamined, overly simplified answers. [yes, that is an accurate assessment]
The immigration system is broken? Build an ineffective wall. Hurricanes are approaching American soil? Hit them with nuclear weapons. There are too many shooters killing children in schools? Put more guns in the hands of school officials who might shoot back. A virus is killing hundreds of thousands of Americans? Try injecting people with disinfectants.
Drugs are ravaging communities? If we simply executed drug dealers, the problem would go away. Russia is waging a brutal and unnecessary war in Ukraine? Slap some Chinese flags on U.S. fighter jets and point them in Moscow’s direction. There are social justice protesters outside the White House? Shoot them in the legs. There are drug cartels in Mexico? Launch missiles into our allied neighbor. There was a terrorist attack on U.S. soil? Impose “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.”
In Trump’s mind, there’s no such thing as a complex challenge requiring a complex solution. Everything is easy. Every question has a simple answer, and every problem can be solved with a simple fix.
It’s post-policy politics at its most obvious: Trump doesn’t want to be bothered with analyses and relevant details, which only leave him confused. He wants to bark out bumper-sticker-style “proposals” that generate applause at rallies.
And yet, there was Trump, declaring that Harris’ plans “are the plans of a simpleton.”
It’s as if someone explained projection to Trump, and he thought it sounded fun. [LOL]
KG and Akira had started a reasonable discussion about President Biden’s recent comments (those which were taken out of context by Republicans to claim that Biden had characterized Trump voters as “garbage.”) They had different points of view, and that was fine. The discussion between KG and Akira quickly devolved into personal insults.
John Morales is trying to goad me into giving him permission to act like a nitpicking asshole.
I no longer have the patience to deal with this stuff. Does anyone else want the task of monitoring (at least sort of monitoring), and of contributing the bulk of the news to this thread?
I think it is time for me to bow out. I find myself overreacting. That’s not good.
The more billionaire megadonor Howard Lutnick speaks, the more important the rhetoric from the Trump transition team co-chair becomes.
In mid-August, Donald Trump released the names of a five-member transition team, which would be responsible for helping make post-election plans in the event that he wins. The list generated headlines because of Trump’s willingness to keep matters within the family: Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were part of the lineup, despite their lack of qualifications, which struck many observers as odd.
But the one person on the five-member transition team with the lowest public profile was Howard Lutnick, the CEO of a financial services firm called Cantor Fitzgerald. While the billionaire megadonor is certainly known on Wall Street, it’s likely that most Americans are not familiar with him or his message.
That might soon change.
Over the weekend, for example, Lutnick spoke to NBC News’ Vaughn Hillyard and suggested that some of Trump’s high-profile critics from his own former team — including retired Gens. John Kelly and James Mattis — might’ve committed “treason” during their tenure in the administration. Lutnick added that they were “Democrat [sic] generals.”
Soon after, the billionaire spoke at Trump’s hate-filled Madison Square Garden event, where he talked about eliminating all income taxes and touted Trump’s candidacy as necessary to “crush jihad.” (Presumably, the Republican campaign, already hoping Muslim voters will overlook Trump’s years of ugly Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslim Americans, didn’t welcome the rhetoric.)
Common sense might’ve suggested that the Trump campaign keep Lutnick away from microphones for a while, but with just days remaining before Election Day 2024, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team instead appeared on CNN — and the interview didn’t go especially well. Newsweek reported:
Donald Trump transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick questioned the safety of vaccines while speaking with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Wednesday night. ‘Vaccines are safe,’ Collins said, while talking about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s self-reported possibility of being ‘promised’ by the former president to head the Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture if Trump wins the 2024 election. ‘Why do you think vaccines are safe,’ Lutnick shot back, adding, ‘there’s no product liability anymore.’
As part of the same exchange, Lutnick added that he knows “so many more people” now that have autism, prompting the CNN host to emphasize the reality that “vaccines don’t cause autism.”
Wait, it gets worse.
Failed independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed this week that he received a promise from Trump about a role in his possible second term. As my MSNBC colleague Clarissa-Jan Lim noted, the fringe conspiracy theorist expects to have control of both the U.S. Agriculture Department and the Department of Health and Human Services and the agencies under its purview, which include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
Given Kennedy’s bizarre ideas and worldview, that’s a rather terrifying prospect — even Trump’s former surgeon general is concerned — though Lutnick defended the idea.
“[Kennedy] wants the data, so he can say, ‘These things are unsafe,’” the billionaire megadonor argued during his CNN appearance. “He says, ‘If you give me the data, all I want is the data, and I’ll take on the data and show that it’s not safe. And then if you pull the product liability, the companies will yank these vaccines right off, off of the market.’ So, that’s his point.” [video at the link]
That’s the plan? Trump will put an unqualified conspiracy theorist in a position of enormous power, and that — according to the handpicked co-chair of Trump’s transition team — might lead to vaccines being pulled from pharmacy shelves?
This is, as New York magazine’s Jon Chait noted, “a glimpse into a public-health nightmare.”
Every day, the stakes in the 2024 presidential race get higher.
Just in case, get the vaccine updates you need now.
MyPillow needed $600,000, and fast. So last month CEO Mike Lindell opted for a merchant cash advance — similar to a payday loan for businesses — and agreed to repay more than $16,000 per day for the cash infusion.
Now the Minnesota company and its founder say the arrangement amounted to an illegal loan with extreme terms, including more than 360% interest and access to employee records.
Mike Lindell getting himself in more trouble. He needed cash fast to keep his company afloat, so he agreed to a shady loan and then turns around and sues the loan company for charging too much. I’m more surprised anybody would loan him money, he is tied up in multiple court cases and existing debts.
There was an avalanche of depraved rhetoric at Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, though one quote stood out: A comedian supporting the former president described Puerto Rico as “a floating island of garbage,” which did not go over well — especially among Puerto Rican voters.
A couple of days later, President Joe Biden commented on the controversy, telling a group of Latino voters, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters’ — his — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.”
An exasperating fight over an apostrophe soon followed, as Trump, his allies, his party, and conservative media feigned outrage and seized on the comments as a sequel to Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” line from eight years ago.
Vice President Kamala Harris — who, unlike the incumbent president, is actually on the ballot this year — quickly distanced herself from the quote Republicans pretended to be offended by, telling reporters, “I strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they voted for.”
Trump nevertheless tried to milk the faux controversy, appearing in a Trump-branded garbage truck, holding a rally while wearing a garbage collector’s vest, and promoting images of himself wearing the outfit.
Subtle, it was not.
The theatrics were exasperating and desperate, but after the former president’s garbage-focused campaign rally, he managed to publish something interesting to his social media platform. It was a straightforward, 20-word message, published in all caps, which I’ve transposed to make it easier to read:
“You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans — and you can’t be president if you hate the American people!”
Oddly enough, the assertion was rather compelling. It was also self-defeating.
In fact, if the 2024 race comes down to which candidate has done more to condemn Americans, the GOP ticket should probably expect to lose 50 states.
One of the things that makes Trump unique as a political figure is his willingness to condemn his own country. Voters have seen and heard him slam the United States as a “failing nation,” a “nation in decline,” “evil,” and more recently, a “garbage can.” Reminded during a recent interview that America is a great country, Trump said he disagreed.
But the Republican candidate has been equally eager to disparage Americans he disagrees with. They’re “the enemy within.” They’re “evil.” They’re “horrible people.” They’re “scum.”
In 2018, referring to roughly half of his country’s electorate, he declared, “I got to tell you, anybody that votes for a Democrat now is crazy.”
On Veterans Day 2023, Trump went so far as to publish an online message vowing to “root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country.” A few months later, the GOP candidate likened Americans who oppose him to the foreign enemies that the United States fought in World War II.
“You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans”? Does this mean that Trump is ending his candidacy?
[…] As October began, Trump thought it’d be a good idea to present himself as a “protector” who would save women from fear and unhappiness. And as October comes to an end, the GOP candidate is adding some related thoughts, which probably won’t do his campaign any favors. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would “protect” women “whether the women like it or not,” a comment the Harris campaign immediately pounced on. Trump said at his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that his “people” previously told him they did not think he should say that he wanted to “protect the women of our country,” comments he has previously made on the campaign trail.
The former president told his audience that his aides told him that when described himself as a “protector” for women, it was “inappropriate.” After complaining that he pays his advisers “a lot of money,” Trump concluded, “I said, ‘Well, I’m gonna do it whether the women like it or not.” [video at the link]
I’m going to go out on a limb and say this was not a smart move.
“Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body,” Harris said online. “Whether you like it or not.”
[…] To be sure, the idea that Trump expects to “protect” women is problematic enough — which is why, by the former president’s own admission, his campaign team has told him to stop saying it.
Indeed, the pitch isn’t just rooted in creepy paternalism, it also offers his critics an opportunity to highlight the disconnect between the message and the messenger. After all, so many women have accused the Republican candidate of sexual misconduct that I’ve literally lost count (he denies any wrongdoing); Trump was recorded bragging about his willingness to grab women’s genitals because he’s a “star”; and last year, a jury in New York found Trump liable for sexually abusing a woman.
And did I mention that he took credit for the demise of Roe v. Wade protections that were widely popular with American women? Because Trump did that, too.
[…] his “whether they like it or not” comments take this to another level. With just days remaining before Election Day 2024, Trump was effectively describing a vision in which he doesn’t just plan to offer protections, he intends to impose protections. […].
Yes, this is as we suspected, but it is good to have the actual statistics:
Among the minority of Americans who support political violence, a large percentage of that group are reliant on conservative media, particularly Fox News. Those are the findings from PRRI’s 2024 American Values Survey of over 5,000 adults from across the United States.
Overall, only 18% of Americans said they would back political violence “because things have gotten so far off track.” But among those who were pro-violence, 41% were people who trust conservative news outlets. Of those who back violence, 30% said they trust Fox News the most as a source of information.
Support for violence was highest among Republicans, with 29% in favor. Among Democrats, only 8% said they would similarly back violence.
The bias in favor of violence reflects the rhetoric of Donald Trump, who has referred to Democrats and the left as an “enemy from within” while calling for a military response to dissent. Fox helped to launch Trump as a political figure and has used its daily coverage to continually boost his campaign and to attack Democrats.
[snipped more statistics]
Whatever is to come, Fox News and their allies in conservative media played a key role in bringing the nation to this dark moment.
Right-wing Republicans are up in arms over a new campaign ad that reminds women their vote is private and they do not need to vote for former President Donald Trump just because their husbands want them to.
“In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know,” actress Julia Roberts narrates in the ad. “Remember, what happens in the booth, stays in the booth. Vote Harris-Walz.” [video at the link]
Pastor Doug Pagitt, the executive director of Vote Common Good, the group that made the ad, told The Wall Street Journal that he often hears from evangelical women that they feel obligated to vote the same way as their husbands. This ad, he said, gives those women the permission structure to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The ad has Trump-supporting Republicans pissed.
Charlie Kirk, whose Turning Point USA organization is working on the turnout operation for Trump’s campaign, said it’s horrible that women would “undermine their husbands” even though the husband “works his tail off to make sure that she can have a nice life.”
Fox News’ Jesse Watters went even further, saying Wednesday night that he would consider it a form of cheating if his wife voted for Harris. [JFC]
“If I found out Emma was going into the voting booth and pulling the lever for Harris, that’s the same thing as having an affair,” Watters said of his wife, who at one point was his mistress during his first marriage.
After seeing the Julia Roberts ad, John McEntee, a former Trump White House aide and Project 2025 author joked that giving women the right to vote should be repealed. [OMFG. These guys.]
“This video has made me rethink the 19th Amendment,” McEntee said. [video at the link]
Trump-supporting “Christian influencer” Dale Partridge explicitly said women must vote how their husbands tell them. “In a Christian marriage, a wife should vote according to her husband’s direction. He is the head and they are one. Unity extends to politics. This is not controversial,” Partridge wrote on X. [Sputter. Sheesh. Yep, it’s a big enough problem that Julia Roberts does voiceover for an ad to counteract this “not controversial” Christian take on the patriarchy.]
The Republican rage that women would dare to vote Harris over Trump is yet another sign that they still do not understand that women are angry about Trump abortion bans across the country.
[I think Republican rage over this is more of a sign that Trump and his cult followers do not have a clue about, well, almost anything.]
[…] “This type of sentiment is likely not new, but it’s troubling that they’re so willing to be out there with it,” Christina Reynolds, communications director of EMILY’s List, which backs female candidates who support abortion rights, wrote on X. “This is why we are reminding people their vote is private.”
Cartoon: Tom the Dancing Bug looks at one D-Day in Normandy
larparsays
@ Lynna #169
An email to PZ might relieve some of your stress. Morales and Akira should have been banned long ago (for different reasons). They have both been warned before.
If you do step back from moderation, please keep posting.
the resulting damage: A cracked bumper, and a hood that’s both dented and “shifted almost an inch toward the windshield.” […] No impact sensor or camera noticed the crash and told the car to pull over, slow down, or even relinquish control back to the driver. A deer strike is generally a considerable impact to a car, especially when the strike manages to relocate the entire hood
tomhsays
Courthouse News Service North Carolina Republicans ask Fourth Circuit to allow ballot eligibility check for thousands With eight days until the election, Republicans want 225,000 North Carolina voters to vote provisionally while their citizenship is confirmed, while the state board of elections protests implementing any last-hour requirements on voters.
Sydney Haulenbeek / October 28, 2024
RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — Republicans want their case to have 225,000 North Carolina voters who filled out old voter registration forms cast provisional ballots and have their eligibility checked before their vote is counted to stay in state court, they told a Fourth Circuit panel Monday.
A faulty voter registration form, which has since been corrected, could allow ineligible voters to vote, the Republicans said. The state board of election failed to comply with restrictions under the Help America Vote Act, the Republican National Committee and state Republican party said in their August suit asking for ineligible registrants to be removed from voter rolls, or be required to cast a provisional ballot.
The board of elections and the Democratic National Committee, who intervened in the case, argued that the plaintiffs have standing in federal court and the case would likely be appealed if sent back down.
“The simple fact that the plaintiffs have cloaked their HAVA claim within and embedded it within a state constitutional law claim, does not change the fact that the key inquiry here, for purposes of proving their state constitutional claim, is whether or not HAVA has been violated,” Susan Boyce, an attorney for the state Department of Justice representing the state board of elections, said, arguing in favor of preventing the case from being remanded downwards.
Phil Strach, an attorney representing the Republicans, said that the case belonged in state court.
[…]
The Republican National Committee and state Republican party claim the state board of elections allowed more than 225,000 people, including potentially non-citizens, to register to vote by processing and accepting thousands of voter registration forms that didn’t have required identification information — the voter’s driver’s license number or the last four of their social security number — because they were not marked as required fields on the application form.
[…]
The form that plaintiffs are suing over, the state board said in their brief, was used for nearly two decades before a complaint was raised. And all registered voters are required to provide photo ID or fill out an exemption form when they vote, which would prevent ineligible voters from casting a ballot.
whheydtsays
Re: Lynna, OM @ #169, 176….
I don’t think you are overreacting. It’s possible some–at least temporary–timeouts may be needed. I long since accepted the lesson that, when a moderator steps in, take your lumps, learn the lesson, and move on. Perhaps those causing you heartburn need a similar reminder.
Kenneth Chesebro, an attorney who helped orchestrate the Trump campaign’s 2020 fake electors plot, pleaded guilty Friday in the Georgia election subversion case to being part of a conspiracy alongside former President Donald Trump and others.
The plea deal is another blow to Trump and a major victory for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who charged Trump and 18 others in the effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. It comes one day after former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell also pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Chesebro pleaded guilty to one felony – conspiracy to commit filing false documents. Fulton County prosecutors recommended that he serve 5 years of probation and pay $5,000 in restitution, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee imposed that sentence at Friday’s hearing.
Kenneth Chesebro has been suspended from the practice of law in New York, effective immediately. The opinion was issued today by a panel of judges.
KGsays
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters’ — his — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” – Lynna, OM@172, quoting MSNBC, quoting Biden
The apostrophe is in the wrong place, assuming Biden did intend* just to call Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist insults “garbage” – it should be “supporter’s”. But again, this real outrage over pretended outrage is beside the point, which is that any appearance by Biden is a ticking bomb, liable to go off and sabotage Harris.
*I’m not sure we can assume he had a clear intention – the sentence quoted was preceded by typical Biden mangled syntax, and we don’t know whether the mangling is simply a matter of turning intended meaning into words, or has deeper roots in ideational confusion.
[They’re] so notorious for breaking that someone even created a tool to track broken machines. […] If you’re wondering what copyright law has to do with McDonald’s ice cream machines, it’s because the law prevents anyone other than the manufacturer […] from bypassing its software locks.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Thursday he had just spoken to former President Trump and was rooting for him to win the election Tuesday.
“Just got off the phone with President @realDonaldTrump,” Orbán said in a post on the social platform X.
“I wished him the best of luck for next Tuesday,” he continued. “Only five days to go. Fingers crossed.”
Orbán, a right-wing populist, has been vocal in his support for the former president, who hosted Orbán twice this year at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The conservative right in the U.S. has also embraced the Hungarian leader, who has spoken at high-profile right-wing events, including the Conservative Political Action Conference. Hungary now hosts its own iteration of the annual conservative conference.
Orbán has drawn widespread criticism for democratic backsliding in Hungary, where he has cracked down on the press and judiciary, while reconfiguring the country’s political system to ensure his party retains power. He also has the closest relationship to Russia of all the European Union countries.
In July, Orbán traveled to Florida to meet with Trump at the conclusion of the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. Details of the meeting were scarce, but Orbán said the two men discussed “peace mission 5.0” regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Trump also met in early March with Orbán, who said after the meeting that he and Trump were aligned on the war in Ukraine and that Trump would not give “a single penny” to Kyiv if elected. […]
[…] Biden said that “the only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American.” But if you end the audio right where Biden pauses, it sounded like Biden said all Trump supporters are garbage, because apostrophes are invisible on video. The White House issued a clarification Wednesday, but of course Trumpers insist that’s just crazy, because they heard what they wanted to hear, spoken English is never ambiguous, and only Republicans get the benefit of the doubt anyway. Even news outlets that should know better (we’re looking at you, AP) framed the clarification as an attempt to make an excuse for the “gaffe,” so kudos to CBS News for putting the two potential meanings right in the headline.
Anyhow, here’s Trump compounding the lies as he harangued reporters, lying that Biden had insulted the “250 million Americans” who support Trump, which would be quite a feat considering that there are only about 186.5 million total registered voters, in a population of around 335 million. [Two videos at the link]
[…]
No matter what Biden says, or what Biden stutters, the mainstream media has for the most part joined Trump, Marco Rubio, and other Republicans in laying lies on top of the issue. To that, I object.
Demonstrating their attention to Americans’ top issues, House Republicans announced on Wednesday they will launch an investigation into the placement of one apostrophe in a transcript of remarks President Joe Biden gave to progressive group Voto Latino this week.
On the video call, Biden slammed Donald Trump’s Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, where racist comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.”
“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s—his—his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American,” Biden told Voto Latino.
Republicans quickly jumped on Biden’s stutter, arguing that there should be no apostrophe in the word “supporters,” because they hope to conjure up the same cacophonous news cycle as Democrat Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” remark in 2016.
This led to Chairwoman of the House Republican Conference Elise Stefanik and Chairman of the House Oversight Committee James Comer sending a letter on Wednesday demanding that “the White House retain and preserve all documents and internal communications regarding President Biden’s statement and the release of the inaccurate transcript,” citing their committee’s power to “investigate ‘any matter’ at ‘any time’ under House Rule X.”
Shockingly, the fact that Trump has used the antisemitic trope of calling his critics “vermin” and recently described the United States as a “garbage can” didn’t register with Stefanik or Comer. Neither did this:
“It’s the people that surround her, they’re scum and they want to take down our country. They are absolute garbage.”- Donald Trump, 9/7/24
[…] The GOP has routinely humiliated itself during these circus committee hearings, mirroring their fruitless attempts to impeach Biden for having a son with an addiction problem. As soon as the election wraps up, the chances that Stefanik will continue an investigation into an apostrophe are nil.
Media Matters found at least 22 right-wing channels on YouTube that pushed election misinformation from May through August, such as baselessly claiming the 2024 contest would be “rigged” against Trump
After rolling back its election misinformation policy last year, YouTube allowed right-wing media figures to undermine confidence in the 2024 election results even before any votes were cast, with streamers asserting that “the only way this election can be won from the left is if it’s stolen,” suggesting that “illegal ballots” might be “slipped in” in Pennsylvania, and claiming that Democrats are trying “to rig and steal the election” including with an “illegal alien push.”
In December 2020, after states certified their election results, YouTube began removing content with false claims that widespread fraud had changed the outcome of the election, but the platform reversed that policy in June 2023, saying that it would “stop removing content that advances false claims that widespread fraud, errors, or glitches occurred in the 2020 and other past US Presidential elections.” (The decision was cheered by right-wing media.)
Over the last year, right-wing creators have exploited YouTube’s policy rollback, especially in the months leading up to the 2024 presidential election. In July, for instance, Media Matters reported that after becoming co-chair of the Republican National Committee in March, Lara Trump repeatedly engaged in election denial on her show that streams on YouTube.
Right-wing podcaster Steven Crowder even acknowledged the policy change during an August stream on the platform, saying, “Here’s another way that they try to steal this election from you. And we’re allowed to say that on YouTube now, which is great.”
In a new study, Media Matters reviewed YouTube content streamed or uploaded between May 1 and August 31 by 30 right-wing channels or channels that hosted notable right-wing figures. We found 286 videos — totaling at least 44 million views and including at least 93 monetized videos — that contained misinformation about the 2020, 2022, and/or 2024 elections.
According to our study, former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was the most prolific election misinformer, accounting for 77 of the 286 videos, and right-wing streamer Benny Johnson had the most videos that we observed with preroll ads.
We found that in the two months after WABC canceled Giuliani’s radio shows (May 10 through July 12), he relentlessly claimed on YouTube that the 2020 election was “stolen” and Democrats were “going to cheat” in the 2024 election. More details on these findings can be found here.
We also found Johnson pushed election misinformation in dozens of monetized YouTube videos from May through August. These videos — which each included preroll ads, paid promotions, and/or Super Chats — have earned millions of views. More details on these findings can be found here. [Embedded links are available at the main link.]
[…] Some examples Media Matters identified include:
– Claremont Institute Senior Fellow Jeremy Carl said he hoped Trump “takes no prisoners” because of “this system just being completely rigged against him in the context of the election and everything that’s going on.” On an episode of American Moment’s Moment of Truth podcast, Carl said, “We’re going to have to do some incredibly forward things legally. We’re going to need brave attorneys to say, ‘Yep, I’m good with that, that’s legal.’” [YouTube, 5/13/24]
– Salem Media’s Eric Metaxas said it was “very clear to me [the left] stole the last election.” Metaxas continued, “We need to be clear about this, that this is a wicked thing, and that they don’t need to poll well if they know how to cheat, if they know how to game the system.” [YouTube, 6/3/24]
– Conservative streamer Benny Johnson suggested Democrats are “paying for votes with packs of cigarettes and welfare cards.” Johnson continued, “This is why I love the ‘too big to rig, too big to rig’ nomenclature of the Trump campaign this time around.” [YouTube, 6/20/24]
[…]
Much more at the link.
KGsays
No matter what Biden says, or what Biden stutters, the mainstream media has for the most part joined Trump, Marco Rubio, and other Republicans in [layering] lies on top of the issue. To that, I object. – Lynna, OM@188
So do I. But I also object to that numpty Biden helping Trump. Every intervention he makes in the campaign, even if he avoids “gaffes”, reminds voters of his link to Harris, when what she needs above all is distance from him. But his ego won’t allow him to admit he can only hinder her.
Tethyssays
Oh good grief KG, quit with the chicken little hysteria over Biden. It’s fine! Normal humans aren’t going to change their vote over what Biden says about it. It won’t affect the election at all, not least because Kamala Harris is not Joe Biden. Sheesh.
Stop listening to the damn medias attempt to spin a single word from Biden into a disaster. It pure clickbait. They can’t even poll right so do what Americans do, and ignore their so called news reports.
Reginald Selkirksays
@191 KG
Every intervention he (Biden) makes in the campaign, even if he avoids “gaffes”, reminds voters of his link to Harris, when what she needs above all is distance from him.
Whatever for?
Is Biden an adjudicated rapist and convicted felon and rabid narcissist who will dismantle our social safety net while diminishing America’s foreign policy positions, while using the power of government to pursue his personal grievances and wreak revenge on his enemies? No. People are mostly pretty satisfied with the policy positions and performance of Biden’s administration, except for the people who are trying very hard not to be satisfied. The reason Biden was chased from the race is that he is old, and not as sharp as he used to be. I don’t see how that reflects badly on Harris in any way.
Tethyssays
If only the media would report on the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican’s who are deeply offended at being insulted and called garbage. They are being pretty vocal about that comment turning them into Harris voters despite considering themselves Republicans.
Media might even write a few stories about the fact that Puerto Ricans are American citizens who have currently have zero votes for POTUS unless they move to the Mainland. They have a population of approximately 3 million, which is more than Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota combined.
They should have full representation with 3 electoral votes, at the very least. Instead they get non- voting members of Congress and a roll of paper towels.
KGsays
Oh good grief, Tethys@192, fuck off. You clearly know nothing at all about either psephology or psychology.
Normal humans aren’t going to change their vote over what Biden says about it.
Look, numpty, even you must realise that the American electorate does not consist by any means entirely of “normal people”. Large proportions of the electorate believe the most absurd nonsense about Trump, about the Democrats, about the last election, about any fucking thing you care to name. Despite your ridiculous over-confidence (which I suspect contains a proportion of whistling past the graveyard) the overwhelming bulk of available evidence indicates that there is likely to be a very close result. In particular, both campaigns are acting as if that is what they expect – and they will be relying on their own polling, which the Democrats at least will want to be as accurate as possible. If they thought they were five points ahead, Harris and Walz, and their surrogates such as Obama, would be spreading their efforts way beyond the swing states, trying to ensure that they take the House, keep the Senate, improve their position in state legislatures. The election is going to be decided on which side manages to get their less committed voters to the polls. So anything which the fascists can use to rile up their numerous couch-potato MAGA-hat wearers, who might or might not get off their arses to vote, increases their chances of winning. Correspondingly, anything which allows them to shift the narrative away from their own blunders, like hiring super-bigot Tony Hinchcliffe to insult important demographic groups and thereby motivate members of those groups to get out to vote for Harris, helps them. You must have noticed that a number of key Republicans – and indeed, Trump himself – tried to distance themselves from Hinchcliffe’s bigotry. Since Biden’s blunder, they now have an excellent alternative strategy, which they are following assiduously. Even if he hadn’t blundered, just making himself a news item helps the fascists, because he is very unpopular. He should keep his stupid gob firmly shut.
Akira MacKenziesays
The only people I’m hearing whine and moan about Biden’s non-comment are right-wing chuds who are already voting for Trump and a tiny bunch of hand-wringing libs like yourself, still traumatized over 2016.
Pull yourself together. It will be fine.
KGsays
Is Biden an adjudicated rapist and convicted felon and rabid narcissist who will dismantle our social safety net while diminishing America’s foreign policy positions, while using the power of government to pursue his personal grievances and wreak revenge on his enemies? No. People are mostly pretty satisfied with the policy positions and performance of Biden’s administration, except for the people who are trying very hard not to be satisfied. The reason Biden was chased from the race is that he is old, and not as sharp as he used to be. I don’t see how that reflects badly on Harris in any way. – Reginald Selkirk@193
This is complete, blithering nonsense. Biden is very unpopular – on the most recent polling, around 20% more disapprove than approve of his performance.. This isn’t some sort of secret – you can find these polls easily. Hey, maybe you believe it’s all a huge conspiracy by the pollsters, but if so, some evidence would be appreciated. You may consider it very unfair that he is so unpopular, and to some extent, on domestic issues, I’d agree, but that’s the reality – and that being the reality, Harris needed – and needs – as much distance from him as possible. Indeed, if she loses, I think it will be largely down to her failure to achieve that distance. Biden still has the delusion that he can actively help her win. He can’t. The best he can do is shut up.
KGsays
Well Akira Mackenzie@196, given your wide social circle and deep expertise in psephology and political psychology, I guess that settles it and I can stop worrying.
Akira MacKenziesays
Even if Harris loses, it will not because of Biden’s supposed quote. Blame the media for sanewashing Trump’s fascism ang ignoring Biden’s accomplishments. Blame Bill Clinton for not send out the troops to wipe out the militias and other far right groups after Oklahoma City, allowing the fascist seeds that lead to Trump to germinate. But mostly blame the greed and stupidity of garbage the American people who are willing to throw away the rights of their fellow citizens because eggs got a little pricey.
KGsays
If only the media would report on the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican’s who are deeply offended at being insulted and called garbage. They are being pretty vocal about that comment turning them into Harris voters despite considering themselves Republicans
There was actually enough coverage to worry Trump and his cronies until Biden stuck his oar in – that’s why Trump pretended not to know Hinchcliffe, while various Republicans denounced his racist “jokes”. And that’s precisely why Biden’s “gaffe” was so damaging – it gave the media licence to change the subject, and hark back to Clinton’s “deplorables” blunder. It fed right into the Trumpoid narrative about sneering “liberal elites”.
KGsays
Sorry, first paragraph@200 is quoted from Tethys@194.
And further to #194, of course it’s wrong that Puerto Ricans are so grossly unrepresented democratically, but that’s not going to be changed before this election, is it?
KGsays
Even if Harris loses, it will not because of Biden’s supposed quote. – Akira Mackenzie@199
Jesus wept, of course there are deeper causes to the rise of American fascism. But in what looks like being a very close election, a late shift in the focus of attention could make the difference between Harris and Trump victories – just as James Comey’s illegitimate interference probably did for Clinton in 2016.
John Moralessays
John Morales is trying to goad me into giving him permission to act like a nitpicking asshole.
What? No.
whheydtsays
Re: John Morales @ #203…
I’ve no bone to pick with you, but a word of advice… When the moderator on a forum indicates that they’re annoyed with you, think about what you’ve posted and back off. No good can come starting a fight with a moderator. It’s one of those “God fights on the side of the heaviest artillery” things.
John Moralessays
Truth matters to me, whheydt.
If someone asserts a falsehood about me, I am not gonna ignore it, even if it’s a moderator.
Akira MacKenziesays
@204
They who control the banhammer controls the forum.
Rob Grigjanissays
John @205:
If someone asserts a falsehood about me…
Fuckinell, it’s always about you, mate. If the truth, in a larger sense, matters to you, learn when to shut the fuck up.
I don’t know whether Lynna has the power to ban people, but she should have. Losing you, or some others (including me) wouldn’t matter much. Losing Lynna would be a disaster.
Jeansays
John Morales @203,
You’re acting like a nitpicking asshole. You’re just not asking for permission. Is that a truer statement? (I’m sure you’ll some “witty” repartee)
And I apologize to Lynna for adding to the undesirable conservation. I do hope you stay and continue posting but I do understand your desire to not be as involved in the manufactured drama. I mostly lurk here but it also annoys me so I can see why you’d want to just stop putting the effort. In any case thanks for your contribution whatever you decide to do.
You’re acting like a nitpicking asshole. You’re just not asking for permission. Is that a truer statement? (I’m sure you’ll some “witty” repartee)
Misplaced certitude about my expected “witty” repartee.
Fuckinell, it’s always about you, mate.
Nope. Not always.
But it’s most certainly about me when my name is invoked, e.g. “John @205:”, e.g. “John Morales @203”; e.g. “John Morales is [blah]”.
Bah.
John Moralessays
Rob, sure. No more than four comments per thread, as per your postscript.
I inadvertently exceeded the limit (one comment about the topic, three in response to people who responded to me) recently, and so fair enough, I am banned there.
(Think it would work well in this thread? ;) )
Pierce R. Butlersays
It would probably take five or six of the rest of us, making a concerted effort, to (even partially) replace all that Lynna does to make this thread so informative – and that’s before counting the burden of moderation.
(I for one would chip in what I could, but my schedule is too erratic to let me provide much of the consistency which she has generously given to us – and others who’ve done much more than me have already fallen exhausted by the wayside.)
Nitpickers and catfighters, please take your hissing and spitting elsewhere, before you end up massively multiplying the damage you’ve done here.
Rob Grigjanissays
John, you seem to think you’re Beetlejuice, or Bloody Mary.
John Moralessays
It’s not all about me, Rob.
KGsays
Lynna, OM@169, 176,
I’ve only just seen these comments. I apologise, to you and to those I’ve aimed insults at (Akira, Tethys, anyone I’ve forgotten). I’ll do better. You do a great job here, I’d be very sorry to see you give it up, but if it’s getting you down, you shouldn’t feel obliged to continue.
PHOENIX — A judge in Arizona’s Maricopa County said in a court order issued Thursday that the secretary of state, Adrian Fontes (D), must release records related to the state’s failure to properly document the citizenship status of potentially 218,000 voters.
Fontes must turn over to a Phoenix-based voter education group allied with Republicans a list of about 98,000 voters initially thought to be affected by the record-keeping problem, communications with county recorders about the list and other information about the issue.
Any information shared before Wednesday that includes any personally identifiable information of affected voters can only be shared with the state’s 15 county recorders and certain state lawmakers, the judge said. Fontes must get confirmation from those people that they will not share the voter information. Those who receive the information are not allowed to contact affected voters before Election Day, the judge ordered.
Earlier this week, Fontes sought to keep the records from being released, testifying in court that he feared for the safety of voters. He said it would be burdensome for his staff to produce the records just days before the election.
But Judge Scott A. Blaney wrote in the order that Fontes “did not provide any evidence demonstrating that the Plaintiff has or will engage in activities that would jeopardize the safety, security, or voting rights of Arizonans.”
A spokesperson for Fontes expected him to appeal the order.
Tethyssays
I can’t speak for Lynna, but the overly aggressive comments by KG and Akira aren’t acceptable behavior for supposedly adult men and you were asked to stop filling HER thread with nasty bickering.
But nooooooo, ya’ll get all butthurt and proceed to become full on abusive dunderheads, much like a certain orange POS whenever he gets called out.
Grow some manners.
@John Morales
You are not the official critic of everything every other commenter chooses to share. Lynne’s thread is for posting and discussing news, not your personal place to pick fights. Also, quit acting like you’ve somehow been unfairly targeted as a problem and now will fill the thread defending your honor. That’s just weaponizing your entitle behavior.
Lynna, would it be really naughty of me to suggest self-diagnosis and self-medication is less advisable asthanseeing an actual qualified medical professional?
(Normally, I would — it’s most certainly in the public interest — but in this case your stricture possibly precludes that; take it as names aside, nothing personal)
“Naughty”? FFS. “Stricture”? FFS. I issued no “strictures” against advising people to seek qualified medical care. “Nothing Personal”? FFS. It’s personal even though you try to claim it is not. It is aimed at me. Your choice of words attempts to demean my efforts to keep the discourse on this thread relatively civil, and to diminish insults to other commenters. “Naughty”? FFS.
For what it is worth, I do not have the power to ban people. I do have the power to recommend to PZ that people who continually disrupt this thread should be banned. PZ makes the decisions, not me.
John Morales @120:
The news is from 11 September, JM.
Nearly two months old.
Petty trolling. Nitpicking. Does not advance discussion of the subject.
John Morales @137:
(And yes, I know I am toeing the line, but walking on eggshells is not something I like to do)
No one asked you to “walk on eggshells.” You attempt to demean a request for civility by using the phrase “walk on eggshells.” Reminds me of J.D. Vance. What you consider “walking on eggshells” is normal conversation. You think your style of conversation is normal. It is not. It is unnecessarily aggressive, and the nitpicking is counter productive.
John Morales @142:
(A very weird belief you have, Birger)
Verging on a personal insult, and entirely unnecessary to advance the exchange of information.
Um, he didn’t actually explode. That’s just the clickbait title, Bekenstein Bound.
Nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 35 on 17 October:
Point being, you so very often merely post the (adjusted) clickbait title and the naked link but never, ever editorialise. Perhaps make that tiny teeny little bit more effort for such unspecific but LOUD clickbaity titles?
Verging on personal insult. Condescending.
John Morales @comment 101 on 18 October:
OK, fine, nobody was actually annihilated, eviscerated, blasted, destroyed, defenestrated, or keel-hauled, but we sure do love this video of Kamala Harris responding to some shouty MAGA forced-birth activists who showed up at her rally last night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”
(www.wonkette.com/p/watch-kamala-harris-annihilate-donald)
Well, then. Why that title?
(‘OK, OK, fine, nobody actually loved this video, but we sure love to post falsehoods’)
Nitpicking. Not the posting of a “falsehood,” but instead a bit of sarcasm followed by lots of facts.
Not detailing a bunch of nitpicking about foxes eating chickens and cats tearing mice to shreds in comments 103 to 105 on 18 October.
John Morales @comment 140 on 19 October:
Hey, Birger, did you watch the video you cited, where you added nothing of your own?
Personal insult and nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 164 on 20 October:
BB, unwarranted premise.
Alzheimer’s is but one type of dementia; there are others.
Similarly, dementia is but one type of senility.
(Also, headlines with “may” in the title, well… Sorta Betteridge’s, no? ;)
Condescending. Winky face symbol does not mitigate that tone. Nitpicking again.
John Morales @comment 166 on 20 October:
BTW: “So, which phase is Trump in now?”
Is that question premised on the supposition that Birger actually read the article, not just the title?
If so… well.
Personal insult to Birger.
John Morales @comment 195 on 21 October:
“The eejit made lewd remarks about a golfer’s penis.”
So Robert Reich is en eejit, in your estimation. Fair enough.
(Did you read the piece to which you linked?)
Personal insult plus nitpicking. Willfully misunderstanding or misstating another commenters post.
John Morales @comment 228 on 22 October:
Hey Birger, what’s this alleged “Weird Story About Arnold Palmer’s Penis Size”?
(Clutching your pearls? Dropping your monocle? Bah)
—
Heh. Headlines matter to you, but actual content is… well, not really a consideration, is it?
Personal insult.
John Morales @comment 259 on 22 October:
If “Nobody knows this cult exists”, it follows that whoever made that video does not know this cult exists.
Nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 261 on 22 October:
CA7746, whether or not DeSantis instructed Florida’s Department of Health, it remains the case that DeSantis is not Florida’s Department of Health.
Nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 312 on 24 October:
Why some people take titles as a given (though the content contradicts those) and appeal to false claims (centuries!) on the basis of some opinion piece is not definitively known to me. I can but speculate.
Condescending and nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 368 on 25 October:
Bekenstein Bound:
“Yep, and guess what — you won!”
I can’t possibly win, mate — gotta be in it to win it.
(Nice admission, but)
“Oscar Wilde — ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.’”
Heh.
Condescending.
John Morales @comment 399 on 25 October:
I reckon it’s pure laziness.
Personal insult.
John Morales @comment 413 on 25 October:
To segue from your immediately-preceeding comment, both you and Trump do seem to like the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_cat_strategy
some twit, eh, Beebee?
Tell me more about this supposed twittery, O sage.
It will amuse me.
(Hey, notice how I directly address you?
Quite the contrast, no? )
Condescending.
John Morales @comment 415 on 26 October:
(Such acumen!)
Condescending and an implied personal insult.
John Morales @comment 440 on 26 October:
You haven’t addressed my mockery, other than to fluff yourself up and try your feeble script-kiddie putdowns.
(Takes some slower people ages to grok I don’t actually have to try to be superior, it’s just a fact of nature)
You call that a sly dig?
Like, you know, flustered burbling cosplaying twit, because I mock your most stupid claims
You really are basically a script kiddie when it comes to argument.
Go on, care to attempt to explain the basis for that little eruction?
You know, you are following the pattern multiple others have followed, where you try to get personal with me and utterly ignore anything substantive I say.
Trying to mock me would work were you sufficiently competent, but does not change the fact that you are making noises about “Brett K!” killing kids
And that I mocked that claim.
Personal insults. Nitpicking. Condescending. And speaking of “patterns” ….
John Morales @comment 442 on 26 October:
[thing is, you’re slow at responding. I get bored. And I know you’re around, since you comment elsethread and stuff. Which is rather indicative, no, BB?]
Condescending. Trolling. Needling.
John Moralessays
Look, you clearly don’t want me to post in this thread, Lynna.
Fine. I wish you’d just have said that. But I get the message.
Nearly a quarter of all buildings in 25 Lebanese municipalities near the Israeli border had been damaged or destroyed as of Saturday, according to an analysis of satellite data by The Washington Post — illustrating the far-reaching toll of Israel’s land and air war against Hezbollah.
Some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia near Ukraine’s border and are preparing to help the Kremlin fight against Ukrainian troops in the coming days, the Biden administration said Thursday. The new figure is a dramatic increase from a day earlier, when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would only say some of the troops had moved toward Ukraine’s border in the Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.
Washington Post:
Russian forces have escalated indiscriminate drone attacks against civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing and maiming scores of people in what locals have described as a ‘human safari.
Retired Adm. William McRaven, the former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, sees Trump as “a disturbed 15-year-old boy.”
Retired Adm. William McRaven, the former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, is perhaps best known to Americans as the Navy SEAL who oversaw the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden. He has also become a highly effective Donald Trump critic, as evidenced by the retired admiral’s latest op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
The White House is the home of American leadership, where Republican leaders like Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush resided. While each of these leaders had his shortcomings and foibles, none of them consistently violated every principle of good leadership like Donald Trump does. Mr. Trump has no self-control. He lashes out at immigrants, religious groups and military heroes. He lies with reckless abandon. In August, in what was outlandish even by Mr. Trump’s standards, he reposted on Truth Social a picture of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton above a crude sexual joke. Just last week he was regaling a crowd about Arnold Palmer’s anatomy. These are things a disturbed 15-year-old boy would do, not the commander in chief, not the man who holds the nuclear codes, not the leader of the free world.
McRaven’s piece didn’t explicitly endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, but the retired admiral said the Democratic nominee “won’t threaten the press, demean immigrants, mock those who have died for the country, break with our allies, or undermine the Constitution.”
He concluded that he couldn’t vote for Trump.
[I snipped the presentation of earlier critical remarks McRaven made concerning Trump]
Election officials in battleground states across the country — both Republican and Democrat alike — are getting ahead of election misinformation, debunking baseless claims of fraud and issuing strong warnings against any attempts to delay election certification from rogue, election denying county and precinct-level officials. In some cases, they’re removing them before they have a chance to interfere.
[…] “The messaging from Trump-Vance has been, if we win it’s fair, if we lose, it was stolen,” Mark Kokanovich, a former federal prosecutor in Arizona and attorney at Ballard Spahr told TPM in an interview. “Every indication points that they’re going to do it again and they’re going to use every legal and illegal avenue they can, just like they did before.”
In Cochise County, Arizona, which has been a hotbed of election misinformation and election denialism since the 2020 election, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, announcing a recent plea deal in an election interference case, issued a strong warning against any possible future rogue election county clerks who might refuse to certify the results.
Republican Cochise County supervisor Peggy Judd was indicted last year after her refusal to certify the results of the 2022 election by the state’s mandatory deadline. Earlier this month, Judd pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, affirming in her plea agreement that she “knowingly” refused to certify the election on time.
[…] Mayes warned against any such behavior this cycle: “Any attempt to interfere with elections in Arizona will not be tolerated. My office will continue to pursue justice and ensure that anyone who undermines our electoral system is held accountable,” she said in a press release this month.
“Today’s plea agreement and sentencing should serve as a strong reminder that I will not hesitate to use every tool available to uphold the rule of law and protect the integrity of Arizona’s elections,” she continued. […]
In Georgia, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has similarly been a reliable defender of the safety and integrity of Georgia’s election and has repeatedly declared that he will “defend the results of the election” no matter which candidate wins.
[…] He has also emphasized that state law mandates that counties certify election results by November 12. Mike Hassinger, a spokesperson for Raffensperger’s office, previously said in an interview with TPM, regarding the mandatory certification of election results amid concerns about the state’s rogue election board’s new rules: “The safeguard is the law, which says that the boards of registration shall certify results no later than 5 p.m. on the Monday following the Tuesday election.”
[…] And this week in Michigan, which has also been ground zero for 2020 election misinformation, a pair of local election officials were promptly removed from their positions after announcing plans to hand-count ballots on November 5, which is a violation of state law.
In an October 28 letter to the local election officials, Michigan Elections Director Jonathan Brater wrote, according to the Detroit Free Press, that the pair’s plan to hand count ballots will interfere “with the integrity of the election process, undermine the county canvass, and jeopardize the ability of candidates to request a recount.” A spokesperson for the Michigan Secretary of State’s office told the New York Times, that the removal of these officials from their positions “speaks to the efforts that we are not going to tolerate any attempts to circumvent the law.”
It’s been eight years since leaked audio from a conversation between Donald Trump and TV host Billy Bush made waves for the former president’s descriptions of kissing and grabbing women without their consent.
Now, young people are encountering the tape for the first time on TikTok, where users are sharing videos of their reactions and, in some cases, reaching large audiences.
Many first-time voters were young teens in 2016 when The Washington Post first reported the incident, in which the former president seemed to endorse sexual assault during a behind-the-scenes conversation on an “Access Hollywood” set when he didn’t realize his microphone was on. Despite widespread criticism of Trump’s comments at the time, he went on to win the 2016 presidential election, and the mainstream news cycle moved on.
Now, the generation that came of age during the #MeToo era is turning to social media for information about candidates and elections — 39 percent of young adults say they frequently get their news from TikTok, according to Pew Research. This week, many said on the social network they were shocked by the former president’s words and confused why the episode wasn’t a dealbreaker in 2016.
“I don’t think any of my friends had heard it,” said Kate Sullivan, a 21-year-old student in Ohio who heard the tape for the first time on her TikTok For You feed this week. “We all felt equally shocked.”
People her age have less tolerance for sexual misconduct after growing up amid a series of high-profile harassment and assault cases involving major celebrities, Sullivan said. She immediately felt compelled to share the audio in her own video, with the superimposed text, “Fathers are voting for this man.” The video has been viewed 2.5 million times and was reshared by singer Billie Eilish to her 68 million followers.
Brigid Quinn, a 15-year-old in Georgia, knew that Trump had been accused of making sexist comments, she said. But she had never heard the words he actually said — including the ‘grab them by the pussy’ quote. She “didn’t understand how people thought this was normal.”
“I’m around a lot of [18-year-olds] on my sports team, and I thought maybe I could show them who to vote for,” she said. Some people came up to her at school saying her TikTok was the first they had ever heard of the tape.
[…]
News cycles on social media often take their cues from evocative posts and videos, rather than the mainstream media.
“Thanks to social apps, things that weren’t necessarily relevant for one election cycle may come back to haunt in subsequent election cycles,” said Jeffrey Blevins, a professor of journalism and political science at University of Cincinnati.
[…]
…for people like Sullivan, who will vote for the first time in Tuesday’s election, the discovery cast both the 2016 and 2024 elections in a new light.
Did people know about the tape before they voted in 2016?, she asked a Post reporter.
Yes, the tape came out before Election Day.
“I just recently got into politics,” she said. “The fact that people knew about this, and he still won, is pretty wild to me.”
[…] A CNN report unearthed a chilling plan by MAGA supporters to participate in a sequel to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Online right-wing discussion boards are hinting at a repeat of the violent mob that stormed the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the certification of the 2020 presidential election results, leading to the tragic deaths of multiple police officers and some protesters.
“Their plans include challenging results in court, pressuring lawmakers to block election certification, and encouraging protests—culminating on January 6, 2025, the day Congress will once again certify the results,” the report said.
“I have a plan and strategy for every single component of it,” Trump ally Ivan Raiklin says in a recording. “And then January 6th is going to be pretty fun.”
This threat comes as a recent study by the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism shows a spike in “online chatter” about post-election violence on right-wing message board sites like 4chan, Gab, and Telegram.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s misinformation and lies about rigged elections are at the heart of his supporters’ plans for more violence post-Election Day. Trump recently called the insurrection a “day of love” and falsely peddled election interference claims after he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020. He’s used his rallies as his own bully pulpit to spew new false claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania—before the election has even taken place. Polls show that Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are virtually tied in in the state..
Meanwhile, election workers say they are “scared” and planning for political intimidation and violence. They’ve also undergone extensive training in diffusing politically violent situations, as well as employing bulletproof glass and panic buttons. […]
StevoRsays
@ Lynna, OM : You have my respect and confidence here. I hope you stay on and reckon you are doing a good job. I hope you continue but will understand if you don’t.
The lawsuit challenges “CBS’ partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to confuse, deceive, and mislead the public,” according to Thursday’s filing obtained by Fox News Digital.
The details are a bit sparse yet but the case seems to be nothing but smoke and jamming up the courts. They picked a hard right judge in Texas to take the case, but there is really no chance of this going anyplace. It would be bad but legal for somebody to heavily edit an interview to make it look better. Particularly bad for a news organization but still legal in the US.
There might be a case if the interview had been edited to make it an attack on Trump but even Trump’s lawyers are not trying to claim that. They are claiming voter interference because it’s deceptive. If that is the standard just about everything Trump has ever said would be liable. Even if it’s true it’s hard to see how this is ground for Trump to sue.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
John Morales @218:
attempts to demean my efforts […] continually disrupt this thread […] Petty trolling. Nitpicking. […] You think your style of conversation is normal. It is not. It is unnecessarily aggressive
you clearly don’t want me to post […] “Go away”, right?
Willfully misunderstanding or misstating the mod’s post.
You’ve been informed by numerous commenters that your conduct has been unwelcome.
On the subject of John Morales’ sabbatical: his absence is no one’s doing except for his own. […] I hope for his part that he has taken some of the criticisms aimed in his direction as being kindly meant: the SNR of his comments had declined noticeably to someone who rarely comments such as myself. Calibrating the tenor and content of comments is no one else’s responsibility.
[snip remainder of what looks suspiciously like rape apologia]
I’d say “you disappoint me”, but that ship sailed…
As if I somehow cared about your feeble, ignorant and conformist desires. Bah. Be as disappointed as you want to be; but also be aware that is one of many buttons that you might be able to push on naive, ignorant plebs, but never me.
/That was regarding the first batch of Neil Gaiman testimony.
You posted this a few weeks ago that I thought at the time showed some self-awareness:
I know I’m a bit of an imposition; my thing is to critique and critisize more so than to endorse and go along, hence I’m more likely to complain than to enthuse. Makes me seem contrarian, and makes me annoying.
Also, I find it hard to let go of issues until they are sorted. Gets irritating quickly, even in real life.
[…]I am merciless and blunt and relentless about my complaints[…]
Usually when people make such declarations, they try to correct what they correctly perceive as being negative.
What made you imagine I somehow thought that was negative? […] I tend to be misperceived, it’s not some sort of mea culpa.
some people (many?) do find you annoying.
yes, obviously I know that. […] This is about freethinking; true exhange of viewpoints, of ideas, of attitudes, of discussion.
(de gustibus non est disputandum)
whheydtsays
Re: JM @ #227…
IANAL, but… Texas? CBS is, if I’m not mistaken “located” (that is, their primary business office) in New York City. Trump–nominally–lives in Florida. A Texas judge should immediately toss the case for lack of jurisdiction…though–unfortunately–it wouldn’t be with prejudice.
John Moralessays
chigau (違う)says
あなたたちはみんな役立たずの狂人だ！
John Moralessays
CA7746, talk about not leaving well-enough alone. Fine.
Argumentum ad baculum is Lynna’s privilege, but this sniping after the fact annoys me, and is rather revealing. And so I respond, unwelcome as it may be. Truth does matter.
Willfully misunderstanding or misstating the mod’s post.
The endless nitpicking is boring and does not add value to this thread for other readers.
At the very least, please take a break.
So. That’s the stricture (well, ostensibly a request, but I know a stricture when I see one. I was raised Catholic). Explicitly, me and the other person were both told to stop nitpicking at each other.
But then, a comment was made about the cough medicines and how they were not to be found, whereupon I noted that self-medication is fraught.
Lynna took that as uncivil and as a personal dig at her, with some elaboration about seeking permissions and stuff.
Let’s see how it goes:
John Morales @80:
Lynna, would it be really naughty of me to suggest self-diagnosis and self-medication is less advisable asthanseeing an actual qualified medical professional?
[is that a reasonable thing to propose, given a comment about the lack of satisfactory drugs?}
(Normally, I would — it’s most certainly in the public interest — but in this case your stricture possibly precludes that; take it as names aside, nothing personal)
“Naughty”? FFS. “Stricture”? FFS. I issued no “strictures” against advising people to seek qualified medical care. I'm not supposed to nitpick, and I should leave this person who engaged with me alone
“Nothing Personal”? FFS. It’s personal even though you try to claim it is not. It is aimed at me. paranoia; not even slightly aimed at you. The reference was because I addressed the very person about whom you claimed I was exchanging nitpicks. Not YOU. I fucking well know, I am me!]
Your choice of words attempts to demean my efforts to keep the discourse on this thread relatively civil, and to diminish insults to other commenters. Nope. Not even slightly.
John Moralessays
[well, blockquote fail, but you know, righteous indignation gets the blood flowing]
Tethyssays
You have zero standing for indignation John, righteous or otherwise. Apologizing and piping down is the correct response. Not doubling down!
You annoy people deliberately and that’s entirely your own problem.
John Moralessays
Leaving well-enough alone? Not for Tethys.
You annoy people deliberately and that’s entirely your own problem.
Here we go again.
Counter-factual assertion. I know myself better than you think you know me, Tethys.
But hey, since it’s (according to you) entirely my own problem, it must mean neither you nor anyone else has a problem with it — after all, were that the case, it would not be entirely my problem.
Words mean things.
Alternet is reporting huge turnouts of women in early voting, plus signs that Republicans’ internal polling data is worrying them.
badlandsays
So John continues to make Pharyngula a shitty experience for everyone who wants to contribute without incurring his snotty sneerings. He fossilised in the days when Pharyngula was large and dynamic enough to absorb his schtick of condescending bullshit. Now he’s the turd in the cistern spoiling PZ’s place for most of the commentariat.
John’s a bottom-dwelling pedant who’s not fucking smart enough to realise sifu Truth Machine changed his schtick when it became drearily outdated. John rolls right on, being banned from blog after blog, because he’s wanks poisonously on with his snide community-wrecking antisocial venom.
Lynna I’m a lurker and my policy for the last few years has been Never Read Morales. You don’t have that option here, I’m sorry. I appreciate all you do here but whenever I read oily John I need a silkwood shower.
John? Do try not to do the tu quoqu this time hmm? As ever I feel gross after reading how you talk to other people, you’re the shittiest of bullies. I’m going back to Mano’s now, you’re banned there and the place is suddenly a breath of fresh air.
[Yes yes I was mean to you writing this, you’re going to beat your chest and declare how wronged you are and how hypocritical I am. Wank on mate.]
StevoRsays
Jenna Guffogg led the RMIT research team behind that spot. Her newly published algorithm uses satellite imagery to spot plastic washed up or discarded on beaches. By identifying plastic waste from space, Dr Guffogg hopes the tool can guide clean-up work all over the globe. …(Snip).. Satellites have long been used to track plastic in the ocean but have struggled to accurately spot pollution against a sandy background.
Dr Guffogg’s algorithm – called the Beached Plastic Debris Index – was precisely calibrated to catch the small differences in how light is reflected between sand, plastic and water.It’s similar to tools used to monitor forest growth and map bushfires from above. The squares in Gippsland were an important test: each was smaller than the satellite’s pixel size of 3 square metres and made of different kinds of plastic.
@238 badland Agree wholeheartedly. I’m also a lurker whose policy is to Skip the Skull whenever it appears. This got tedious at times as its policy seemed to be to lower the Morale here as much as possible by posting as much as possible.
Lynna–thanks so much for all you do. I enjoy your comments and insights.
birgerjohanssonsays
Seth Meyers
“Arnold Schwarzenegger Endorses Kamala Harris”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=JjqOsjn_1Ec
You will have had this news yesterday but Seth Meyers’ brand of humor adds value.
John Moralessays
badland:
So John continues to make Pharyngula a shitty experience for everyone who wants to contribute without incurring his snotty sneerings.
A pleasant observation.
redwood:
This got tedious at times as its policy seemed to be to lower the Morale here as much as possible by posting as much as possible.
“its policy”.
Twice distanced, addressing the Skull instead of me, but in the third person.
(And dehumanising me, but what the hey, I am the Other)
birgerjohanssonsays
…also, if the wrong ‘un wins, remember, the Fox News-consuming senior citizens cannot last forever. When they are gone, the Evil Corrupt & Stupid party will be reduced to dominating rural areas. I suggest a bantustan solution.
Meanwhile, Canada and most of Europe is nice. Norway is especially picturesque but Tuscany is not too bad. I think everyone except the French know English. Denmark and the low countries are free from uphill slopes that are annoying for bikers.
John Moralessays
Ah, what the hell.
redwood: back in the schoolyard here in Oz, people joked about me being moral-less.
(Your “lower the Morale” quip reminds me of that)
John Moralessays
So, Lynna:
“John’s a bottom-dwelling pedant who’s not fucking smart enough to realise sifu Truth Machine changed his schtick when it became drearily outdated. John rolls right on, being banned from blog after blog, because he’s wanks poisonously on with his snide community-wrecking antisocial venom.”
My retort to that might have featured in your curated selection @217, in which my retorts apparently come out of the blue, without any context.
Anyway.
coffeepottsays
worth mentioning that one of the more active bloggers on this platform has had to implement and enforce his own commenting rules for the same person that consistently spoils this otherwise-wonderful thread and insults anybody who points it out.
Lynna, your work here is appreciated
Paul Ksays
Lynna, I’m another (mostly) lurker who is very grateful to you for what you do on this thread. I get why you are feeling a need to leave; the work you do has to be both extremely time-consuming and soul-crushing with all the awful things you read, curate, and post here. Herding the resident cats can’t help.
For what it’s worth, I find John to be more of an asset than a liability, and would be sad to see him go. I learn from him on many topics, and can ignore his foibles. But I get why others feel differently. I think requests, especially from people we respect and admire, and in venues where they are in charge, should be followed, regardless of logical arguments and even disagreement.
I love this particular place, and rely on it multiple times per day. It’s hard to face the crap the world is throwing at decency, and the folks who comment here give me hope. There is a community on this thread that I deeply admire and respect, even with the sometimes uncomfortable disagreements here; in fact, often because of them. Thanks to you all, but especially to Lynna, for making this thread what it is.
Akira MacKenziesays
@ 243
…also, if the wrong ‘un wins, remember, the Fox News-consuming senior citizens cannot last forever.
First of all, every generation of liberal has said that, and each and every time the old right-wing farts quickly become replaced by their equally bigoted children and grandchildren. Just look up studies of political attitudes of todays teenage males who are identifying as “more conservative” than their parents. A generation that grew up on Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate is going to be more reactionary and bigoted as their sires.
Secondly, bold of you to assume there is ever going to be another election if Trump wins.
Meanwhile, Canada and most of Europe is nice. Norway is especially picturesque but Tuscany is not too bad. I think everyone except the French know English. Denmark and the low countries are free from uphill slopes that are annoying for bikers.
Sounds nice. Too bad most of us are too poor to think about moving down the block, much less across the damn planet. No, when fascism finally comes here, we’re going to be stuck here to die.
coffeepot @246, thank you for the support and for the additional information.
Paul K @247, thank you. I appreciate your input. I too thought that John Morales sometimes posted useful information. It was just that the preponderance of personal insults and nitpicking started to outweigh the good stuff. A pity.
redwood @240, thank you.
Steve @226, thank you.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @228, thank you. That post was particularly enlightening.
I have decided to take a modified timeout from moderating and posting on this thread. That is, I will check in less often. When I feel like my equanimity is somewhat restored, I’ll return to my previous modus operandi.
Carry on.
StevoRsays
Just caught part of this doco Tupaia’s Endeavour Official Trailer on late night TV (NITV) just now and wondering – memo to myself as much as also asking in case anyone else knows this & cares to answer:
Why didn’t Polynesians land in and settle in Australia too?
Makssan’s from Indonesia (Sulawesi specifically) reached Oz of course & there’s the Torres straight Islanders .. I don’t know enough. Am just curious.
badlandsays
Glass jaw (n., plural): one who can dish but cannot take.
This comment has appeared mysteriously from
The aether. It has no relationship to this thread.
(Seriously it doesn’t. Written without reading what came before. Dogs returning to their vomit is truly a schtick for some Internet Elders)
StevoRsays
@248.Akira MacKenzie : ” Secondly, bold of you to assume there is ever going to be another election if Trump wins.”
Truth ^ This. So much. Too many people don’t seem to take the threat of Trump’s anti-democratic fascism and attempts to literally destroy American Democracy seriously enough, it seems to me. Staggeringly even after Jan 6th and his statements since.
That’s why stopping Trump this time – hopefully stopping him at least if not the Repugs other would-be tyrants matters so very much. Why I am so terrified at the prospect of the planet’s biggest superpower going full on fucking nazi.
Do NOT assume and think that the world & esp the USoA can or will just continue as normal if Trump tskes power this time. That there’ll ever be legitimate 1 person 1 vote elections in the USA again. Not that the USA has ever truly had legitimate elections given the EC but anyhow.
“She’s a radical war hawk,” Mr. Trump said, in front of thousands at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Ariz. “Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face.”
We do not have the luxury of picking perfect candidates or having ideal choices to choose from.
We have two people.One of them will become POTUS and get the nuclear codes and get toshape our planet (& SCOTUS) and more fort he next .. restof our lifetimes.
Anyone thinking of staying home, of voting for Nader, sorry, this elections set of worst-enabling spoilers. Don’t. Please. Please don’t.
Remember too (Do I need to say this?) Its not just enough for Kamala – like HRC & Al Gore – to win the majority of votes.
Kamala Harris needs to win by enough to beat the EC that warps things in the wanna-be dictators favour. That gives people in Wyoming three times the electoral power that Californians have. (See : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/its-time-to-end-the-electoral-college_b_12891764 ) Which, again, why do California and the other majority states let that happen? (America, Fuck what?)
Kamala needs to win by enough to be truly overwhelmingly convincing and stop or at least minimise the excuse es for Trump kult violence and more Coup attempts. Which folks may have noticed are even now happening with ballots as well as books being burned.
Will she be? make it so, please.
(Meta :I need to say this? Do I? Dunno but.. maybe?)
Rhetorical question that just blazes in my mind and so many others : How can this election be this close? How can Trump be this close?
Reginald Selkirksays
Which, again, why do California and the other majority states let that happen?
Because the Electoral College is written into the constitution (Article II, section 1), which means to change it they would have to pass an amendment. The requirements for passing an amendment are spelled out in Article V:
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
So, to correct the imbalance of power, you would need to get many of the people who are benefitting from that imbalance to go along with the correction. And that last clause, which I highlighted in Italic, specifies that amendments which correct the inherent inequality of the Senate will not even be considered.
birgerjohanssonsays
Meidas Touch:
“Trump in Sudden Panic as Election Slips Away”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=mEuAcHrK9W4
Brief summary: The weirdness is getting weirder.
Good. Hmm…I may not need to go into cryosleep the next four years after all.
birgerjohanssonsays
Reginald Selkirk @ 259
One way to get better balance in the senate: # 1 Accept Puerto Rico as a new state.
#2 Split California into Cal North and Cal South.
3 Goddamit, we might as well let each of the major Hawaiian Islands be a state of its own. It was a Republican president who illegaly annexed the kingdom of Hawaii, let Hawaii be what buries GOP dominance in the senate.
whheydtsays
Re; birgerjohannson @ #261…
Make DC a state.
Tethyssays
We could also treat Puerto Rico and the other US territories like Washington D.C. and create a voting district with electoral votes based on population.
Besides Puerto Rico, the other US territories are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
All of those should be given full voting members of Congress and electoral votes as a basic tenet of democracy, in lieu of the logical but ultimately nearly impossible goal of eliminating the electoral system entirely.
birgerjohanssonsays
Myself @ 261
When Texas joined the union, it did so on the condition that it may be permitted to split into several smaller states if it was unhappy with how it worked out (it is several decades since I read the history, I am a little blurry about the details).
Suggestion: Washington State has a lot of hills and mountains. If you used the same geographical logic as for New England, just about every valley would qualify for statehood. If it takes more than a day to travel to the state capitol with horse and buggy you get to have an additional state.
tomhsays
@ Lynna #249
I don’t blame you, in fact, I think I’ll join you. Even without reading them it’s too tiresome scrolling through the endless, childish, quibbling posts of Morales. You’ve done a great job.
birgerjohanssonsays
Tethys @ 263
Samoa is the birthplace of The Rock, that makes it as American as any place with a plaque saying “Washington slept here”!
And we should make “Guile’s Theme” from Street Fighter 2 the inofficial extra anthem of USA.
Paul Ksays
StevoR @258: Maybe it’s pipe dream, but I keep hoping that things are not nearly as close as poll analysis is claiming. Media want the election to be close for the drama, Trump and his lackeys are happy to create and push crappy and false polling data, Kamala and Democrats might be a bit okay with this to get the voters to the voting booths.
I don’t think Trump is more popular now than when he lost four years ago. He’s had too many opportunities to show everyone how awful he is. January 6th happened, and he called it a Day of Love. He’s been accused, and charged, and convicted of a multitude of crimes. He got three SCOTUS justices appointed through dubious means, and Roe v Wade is gone. We all know how bad all that is. His adoring minions do not. But I don’t think their numbers have grown; I think that, with each of his terrible acts, he’s lost more followers than he has gained. But I also know how wrong I can be.
My fantasy is that next Tuesday is a rout, and that Democrats out-perform the ‘red wave’ hype even more than they did in 2022. My nightmare is that they don’t.
Paul Ksays
Take care, Lynna!
whheydtsays
Re: birgerjohannson @ #264…
The number is 5. During the brief time I lived in Texas, the established joke is that, if Texas split up, the parts would be North, South, East, West, and Deep in the Heart of.
When Alaska was admitted as a state, the joke that went around was that Alaskans pointed out to Texans that Texas was now the second largest state in the union. Texans replied with a claim that if all the snow and ice were melted, Alaska would be smaller than Texas. To that, the Alaskans threatened to split in two and make Texas third largest.
KGsays
Paul K@267,
As I’ve already pointed out, if it’s not close, both campaigns have got it wrong. If either one actually believed they were 5 points up, they’d be spreading their efforts beyond the swing states far more than they are.
Tethyssays
@Lynna
I am happy that you are prioritizing yourself and taking time away from the thread. Ingesting the news is in itself an exercise in anxiety without the added stresses of it being late in the election cycle and cantankerous commentariat.
I absolutely value all your years of hard work and dedication to curating and keeping this thread running, and you do it brilliantly. Thank you!
————
As to the question of why the polls are showing a dead heat, it’s like the Mark Twain adage. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
Right- leaning “ pollsters” are flooding the dataset with biased polls, which then get averaged in with the independent polling data. There aren’t any comparable left leaning pollsters engaging in this effort to skew public perception about the election. Simon Rosenberg noted that this week those right-wing groups released 58 polls that show a tie or narrow orange victory.
These polls then get used as evidence for claims of election rigging and fraud and cheating by the losers.
If you only look at independent A rated polls, it is looking very good for Harris in every battleground state except Arizona. (Narrow R margin) NC may also go Democratic for the first time since Obama. Exit polling and early voting are showing strong indications that Kamala Harris is going to do even better than Joe Biden in 2020.
Hopefully we get another Democratic trifecta of controlling majority in the House, Senate, and our very first Madame President in the White House.
I would love to see some of the magats that currently sit in congress getting censured and marginalized for their dereliction of duty as public servants. Whatever are MTG and that shit-weasel Mike Johnson going to do when their dear leader loses the third and final round?
KGsays
birgerjohansson@260,
The trouble is, Meidas Touch have been reporting disaster, humiliation, panic, etc., etc., for Trump just about every day for weeks.
Reginald Selkirksays
@260, 271, 272, etc
I have been seeing all kinds of articles; T**** is doing better than it looks, Harris is doing better than it looks, it’s completely within the margin of error. I guess writers need something to write about. And I am convinced that there are fundamental problems with polling. I guess we’ll just have to count the votes and find out.
My hope is that T**** does very badly; so badly that his claims of fraud are not believable by anyone other than those who have already been inducted into the cult, and that he drops out of politics forever so that he can spend his waning years being convicted for all those charges that have been building up.
The Indiana Fever hired Stephanie White as coach on Friday, putting her in charge of a team led by WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.
White spent the past two seasons as head coach of the Connecticut Sun before parting ways with the team earlier this week…
Paul Ksays
KG @270: Sure, five points would be unrealistic, but in the cray world we live in 2 or 3 in more states than we expect, would be a landslide. Also, I don’t know about them spreading their efforts. Lots of stupid, short-sighted decisions are made all the time, especially if, even if they’re getting information that does not support the polls, they’re too confused/swayed by the chaos to act on them. And the MAGAts are just arrogant liars, even to themselves. Trump is going to other states, where he has not the smallest chance of winning, but for what reason his tiny brain squirrel has chosen to run that squeaky wheel toward, I bet even his handlers don’t have a clue, any more than he does. He’s made it clear that the actual election results don’t matter to him at all. He’ll win because he wants to win, and because he’ll say he won. Just like he keeps saying he won the last time. Millions of people go along with that lie (including the Speaker of the House) because it allows them to ride the gravy train of Trump’s (almost always broken) promises.
As I said, I know I could be wrong, and I’m choosing not to hope too much. But I like my dream better than chewing on despair.
birgerjohanssonsays
The TEC Show:
“Breaking News! Massive New Poll Shows Trump Getting Crushed By Blue Wall”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=LhoS1QTC8CQ
This is according to one of the most reliable polling companies. My blood pressure just dropped down to safe levels.
KG @ 272
Yes, and I give greater credence to polls, at least when performed to pollsters with a good record (YoGov etc).
But Trump’s late-night social media stuff provides a direct view into his anxieties. If he is raving and drooling it is a positive sign. “WHERE IS STEINER?”
Tethyssays
Biden won with 4.5 points. It was not close despite the incessant braying of media pundits.
I think Harris getting 5 points is realistic, based on the exit polling and early voting. Record early turnout is happening in even supposedly deep red Texas, and it’s being fueled by women and many first time voters participating in the process.
We won’t know for sure until next week, but I think the US is going to pull a France, and surprise everyone by giving Orange a resounding defeat.
KGsays
Paul K@275,
I’m not “chewing on despair”. I’m just expecting a close result, based on both polls and the behaviour of the campaigns, and admitting I don’t know which way it will go. Nor, in my opinion, does anyone else.
KGsays
But Trump’s late-night social media stuff provides a direct view into his anxieties. If he is raving and drooling it is a positive sign. – birgerjohansson@276
If Trump is raving and drooling, it’s a day ending in “Y”!
Secret Service surrounding a golf cart-style vehicle. Riding in the cart was a person wearing a Trump mask. On the top of the vehicle is a fake sniper. […] Kamala Harris in handcuffs and chained to the back of the vehicle as though they were dragging her […] simulating a lynching down Main Street
they typically only provide safety and traffic control. […] plans to review its planning processes to prevent a repeat of the situation. […] Less than 2% of the Mt. Pleasant population is Black
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday left in place a lower court ruling that for now allows Pennsylvania voters to cast provisional ballots if their mail-in ballots have been invalidated.
Since 2019, all Pennsylvania voters have been able to cast ballots by mail, but to have their mail ballots counted, they have to follow strict rules laid out in the state election code. One of those rules requires voters to place their ballot into a “secrecy envelope” before placing it into the mailing envelope. Without the secrecy envelope, the ballot is considered “naked” and will not be counted.
Under a statewide notification system, voters get an email telling them that their naked ballot has been invalidated and that “you can go to your polling place on election day and cast a provisional ballot.” Most counties follow that practice, but some, like Butler County, Pa., do not.
After two voters in the 2024 primary election were notified that their ballots would not be counted because they had not put their ballots in the secrecy envelope, the voters went to the polls on Election Day to cast provisional ballots. But Butler County refused to count their votes.
The voters sued, arguing that the Board of Elections was obligated to count their provisional ballots. The Republican National Committee and the Butler County Board of Elections countered that under the state election code provisional ballots cast by those whose mail ballots were received on time cannot be counted, even if the mail ballots were deemed invalid.
In a 4-3 decision, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court sided with the voters. The court determined that a naked ballot is automatically void, meaning it was never received or counted by the Board of Elections. Under that logic, if the ballot was never received, a voter is eligible to cast a provisional ballot.
The Pennsylvania Republican Party and the RNC appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to block the decision. They argued that the state supreme court’s decision “dramatically change[d] the rules governing mail voting” and usurped the state legislature’s role of regulating federal elections.
On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to intervene, leaving in place the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that allows provisional votes to be cast and counted when a “naked” mail-in ballot is invalidated…
the law also requires women to present a marriage license confirming they are wedded to a man and a signed letter from a male head of household stating that they have permission to leave their home. […] hundreds of Indiana women were reportedly purged from voter rolls after it was discovered they were divorced.
during a test of a voting system […] two ballots were missing […] Surveillance video showed Larry Savage […] placing both ballots in his pocket after receiving instructions about the validity of the test ballots […] officers found the missing ballots in his vehicle.
[…]
Savage said he was innocent […]
[When he ran for congress,] He secured less than 2% of the vote in his party’s primary.
Diego Morales and Todd Rokita, the Republican secretary of state and attorney general, recently cast their smug gazes toward immigrants, asking the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to help with “verifying the citizenship status” of nearly 600,000 Indiana voters
[…]
Just asking questions, they are. […] Meanwhile, public records show Morales seems to have voted illegally in 2018. It’s funny how that works.
[…]
Savage is a self-described MAGA Republican who ran for Congress […] and lost in the May primary. Savage also serves as a Republican precinct committeeman. In that role, Savage was present for the Oct. 3 test
[…]
He’s not alone. The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake detailed a half-dozen other recent incidents of Republicans searching for, or accusing others, of election fraud, only to end up being charged with crimes themselves.
StevoRsays
@250. “Just caught part of this doco Tupaia’s Endeavour .. on late night TV (NITV) just now..
For those who can see it, I’ve now found the full doco here :
Via SBS on Demand. 2 hiours and 5 minutes long but recommend for a very different and Pacific Islander – Polynesian incl Maori – Indigenous view of their first contacts with Europeans.
Bekenstein Boundsays
birgerjohansson@264:
Suggestion: Washington State has a lot of hills and mountains. If you used the same geographical logic as for New England, just about every valley would qualify for statehood. If it takes more than a day to travel to the state capitol with horse and buggy you get to have an additional state.
I’m not sure you’d like the result: probably a couple new blue states along the coast, and a whole bunch of little rural red states between there and Montana.
StevoRsays
Millions of years ago, a 16-centimetre tadpole met an untimely end, sinking to the bottom of a pond where it would stay for millennia.
Research on the Jurassic amphibian, which has today been published in Nature, found that the resulting fossil from Patagonia, Argentina, is the earliest-known tadpole specimen
It has been dated to around 161 million years old, close to the start of the earliest frog and toad species discovered.
The finding sheds new light on early frog evolution, suggesting that even at their earliest evolutionary stages, frogs and toads had a tadpole life stage, according to John Long, a palaeontologist at Flinders University who was not involved in the new research.
“Frogs metamorphose from tadpoles … that’s one of the most dramatic transformations in the life history of any backboned animal on the planet,” Professor Long said.
“And this new fossil is just spectacular because it proves that frogs were transforming from tadpoles way back in the early Jurassic.”
I see no reason why the Democrats can’t do what the Repugs did and divide states their way in their favour, precedent, geese and ganders and all that jazz. Draw up a new states maps so they suit Democrats and tilt the EC system and if they say “Well, that’s cheating!”, point to their history of doing exact same thing – Dakotas, Wyoming et al.. & rigging in their favour and agree and note their hypocrisy and IOKIYAR issue. Then since they both see that EC statehood rigging thing as a bad idea then, yeah, scrap the whole EC and just have a popular vote where very individual American citiziens vote counts.
Indeed, why not define for purposes of EC only every individual American voter as a state of their own with a single representative that being the individual voter? Turn Donnés “No man is an island” * into “Every American is a state?”
Basically, find a way! Not saying it’ll be easy but if there’s strong enough demand and enough pressure to do it, well, make it happen. Constituitional Amendments have been passed before and can be passed again right?
@278. KG : “I’m not “chewing on despair”. I’m just expecting a close result, based on both polls and the behaviour of the campaigns, and admitting I don’t know which way it will go. Nor, in my opinion, does anyone else.”
Allan Lichtman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Lichtman) who I’ve mentioned before here has an amazing predictive record with his Keys system and has predicted a Kamala win. Maybe he knows. Sure hope he’s right.
But I’m really not sure. So likewise. I dunno and after 2016 don’t trust polling here and do feel terrified and horrified that it is just this close or seems so. As noted before, I think we need to be very wary of compalcancy and disunity and remember that it isn’t over until all the votes are in and even after that. as Jan 6th proved.
I’m so looking forward to this election being over. I’m hioping for a Blue landslide and dreading aclsoe electionor Trump win. Which i fear may amount to same things really.. We’ll know -sorta, hopefully – in a bit under five days time.
StevoRsays
^ Actually make that 2 days 9 hours 33 minutes to go..
a single-sentence amendment written by James Madison in 1789 […] to say, Congress’s decisions to change their own salaries cannot take effect until after the next election of members of the House of Representatives. […] the original 13 states seemed uninterested in fettering congressional pay raises. […] In the years that followed […] essentially forgotten. One notable exception was Ohio, which ratified the amendment in 1873 as a protest against the […] “Salary Grab Act”—where Congress voted to grant themselves a huge, retroactive pay raise. This is exactly the sort of behavior the amendment was intended to prevent.
[…]
in 1982, University of Texas undergraduate student Gregory Watson discovered the long-neglected amendment, and he wrote a class research paper arguing that it could still be legally ratified despite its age. Watson received a “C” on his paper, his instructor dismissing the idea as “unrealistic.” Watson subsequently launched a letter-writing campaign to U.S. state legislatures. Within 10 years, enough states had ratified […] the 27th Amendment […] after spending 202 years in limbo.
Eugene Vindman, a Virginia Democrat, received a cease-and-desist letter from Derrick Anderson, endorsed by former President Donald Trump […] Anderson’s campaign argued to Vindman and local television stations they did not have the right to air images of [the fake family]
[…]
[In one of the Democrat’s ads,] The Anderson look-alike chucks a frisbee at a cardboard girl’s head, pokes another daughter’s cardboard face with a forkful of food, hangs a towel on his cardboard wife and cheats at […] Monopoly.
[…]
one problem with the cease-and-desist letter is that the images in question remain publicly available on a National Republican Congressional Committee databank […] for super PACs to use in ads.
* Eugene is the twin of Alexander Vindman who testified in Trump’s impeachment over Ukraine. Both were fired whistleblowers.
whheydtsays
Re: CompulsoryAccount 7746, Sky Captain @ #291…
There is one other proposed amendment from the 18th century still out there. Really unlikely to get ratified. It would require one member of the House for every 30,000 people in each state. With a current population of a bit over 330 million, you can see why that wouldn’t be all that good an idea.
Marburg virus is notorious for its killing ability. In past outbreaks, as many as 9 out of 10 patients have died from the disease. And there are no approved vaccines or medications.
[Now just over a month into Rwanda’s first Marburg outbreak,] “We are at a case fatality rate of 22.7%—probably among the lowest ever recorded [for a Marburg outbreak],” […] The number of new cases in Rwanda has also dwindled dramatically, from several a day to just 4 reported in the last two weeks, bringing the total for this outbreak to 66 Marburg patients and 15 deaths.
[…]
Rwanda has spent decades building up a robust health-care system. […] This stands in stark contrast to the response in past Marburg scenarios. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo—next door to Rwanda—had an outbreak between 1998 and 2000. […] a separate mud hut that people were placed in. […] People were lucky that they got [Tylenol] and some fluids to drink
[…]
It wasn’t just the caliber of care that made a difference. It’s also the speed […] capabilities were built up during the COVID pandemic and could be rolled out rapidly. […] surveillance and testing […] experimental vaccines and treatments
[…]
“I can’t imagine another scenario in which a country went from identifying this outbreak to just over a week later having investigational [experimental] vaccines in country already being provided to frontline health-care workers,”
[…]
The vaccine itself is still in development. Testing has shown that it’s safe—but not whether it actually works. […] decided to vaccinate without a randomized controlled trial, where a segment of the recipients get a placebo. […] the size of the outbreak was unlikely to yield enough data to be conclusive.
The Department of Justice has a long-held tradition of deploying election monitors across the country to “help assess compliance with federal voting laws,” according to the department. But recently, in some states, Republicans have blocked federal authorities from monitoring both federal and non-federal elections.
In Texas, a spokesperson for the state’s Republican secretary of state told ABC News in a statement that federal monitors are not authorized to be inside polling locations.
Instead, state inspectors will be deployed to “various locations” throughout Texas, the spokesperson said…
In Arkansas, a spokesperson for Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABC News that the office will not permit DOJ poll monitors in the state…
And in Missouri, where Republicans banned federal monitors in 2022, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said the secretary will “again reject any push by the DOJ to interfere in Missouri elections.” …
In Florida, federal poll monitors are allowed to be outside a polling location but not inside. In a letter to the DOJ in 2022, the Florida Department of State said that federal monitors inside polling places “would be counterproductive and could potentially undermine confidence in the election.” …
I am happy that you are prioritizing yourself and taking time away from the thread. Ingesting the news is in itself an exercise in anxiety without the added stresses of it being late in the election cycle and cantankerous commentariat.
I absolutely value all your years of hard work and dedication to curating and keeping this thread running, and you do it brilliantly. Thank you!
Thank you, Tethys. I need to recognize and deal with this: “Ingesting the news is in itself an exercise in anxiety without the added stresses of it being late in the election cycle and cantankerous commentariat.”
Paul K @268, Thank you. That’s exactly what I am doing.
Thanks tomh @265. As you might imagine, I understand your need to step back for awhile.
Thanks to everyone who is carrying on as usual, making informative comments and steering clear of personal insults and/or nitpicking.
Crowd size has always triggered Trump’s anxiety and his tendency to exaggerate. The scene in Macomb County in Michigan must have enraged him last night.
[…] He spoke at a sports complex at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan. The facility seats a maximum of 3,500. Trump won Macomb County, in suburban Detroit, 53-45 in 2020, after winning it 53-42 in 2016. With over half a million votes cast in 2020, it’s a huge source of votes and critically important to both campaigns.
“FWIW- Tonight’s Trump rally in Warren, MI was held in the exact same location as another Friday evening rally, on September 27,” tweeted NBC senior congressional correspondent Garrett Haake. “That crowd was probably twice the size of tonight’s – and had much more energy.”
If this crowd was half the size of the September rally, we’re talking a turnout of maybe 2,000? My god, that’s sad and pathetic.
Look at this video of him taking the stage—low energy, tedious, boring. And he aired his grievances for nearly two hours, testing the patience of all but the most faithful. [video at the link]
It’s funny what perspective does. Here’s what the scene looked like from the other side of the gym. [video at the link]
Those are empty seats. There was a whole side of the gym that was literally sectioned off and empty. Presumably, that was filled up during that September visit, before Trump decided his closing message was shooting Liz Cheney, killing Obamacare, spitting on Puerto Rico, and dressing up as Lego man and sitting in a garbage truck driving around in circles in a parking lot. […]
KG @278: Sorry for being unclear. I didn’t mean to imply you are ‘chewing on despair’. I was only talking about my own attempt to not let my spirits get too down. I value your perspective, and admire your thinking.
Back to dreaming, and doing some woodwork as therapy, for the rest of the afternoon!
KGsays
Paul K.@303,
No problem! I didn’t necessarily think you were implying anything about me, but wanted to make clear what my current state of mind is. A couple of weeks ago I was convinced Trump was going to win, now I’m somewhat more hopeful, but think it will be close either way – which may well mean days of suspense.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
MSNBC – Meet the voters who despise Trump but really like JD Vance
(Opinion by an editor from Christianity Today)
These never-Trump maybe-Vance voters aren’t numerous, and they may not yet know how they’ll vote. But in a close race […]
*spray bottle* No! Bad MSNBC.
birgerjohanssonsays
Sabine Hossenfelder
Is the USA a Democracy or a Republic?
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=PVqjH6MaqRY
I don’t buy that Democrats are slightly more willing to compromise democracy, not when I think of De Santis and Trump.
Apart from that I find the arguments interesting. But using AIs to find candidates that reflect your values opens another can of worms.
Something about that video, and the claims about Trump simulating fellating a microphone, seemed a bit off to me. I viewed a longer version (several minutes). Trump was complaining about microphones not working at two of his events that day. He was also complaining about people setting up his lectern/microphone so that the microphone was too low.
After that, he simulated bending down several times to reach the microphone. He opened his mouth each time and made a sort of sucking motion. It looked like he was fellating an imaginary microphone. The audience whooped and cheered. They were delighted, and they obviously enjoyed the crudeness of the gesture and the double meaning.
As is often the case with Trump, he leaves room for just a smidgeon of doubt as to his real and/or double intent. His campaign team will certainly say the media misinterpreted Trump’s actions.
There’s no doubt that he was cranky. Hee went on an on about how he doesn’t ask for much and that no one can even provide good services at his rallies.
#Trumpisgoingdown is trending on Twitter.
Trump also got the audience riled up by asking them if they would like to see him go beat up someone backstage.
I don’t buy that Democrats are slightly more willing to compromise democracy, not when I think of De Santis and Trump.
Apart from that I find the arguments interesting. – birgerjohansson@306, referring to a video by Sabine Hossenfelder
Seriously? “I don’t buy that the moon is made of cheese. Apart from that I find the arguments interesting.” I do appreciate the warning that it’s Hossenfelder – that tells me not to waste time watching it!
KGsays
Well, the UK Tory Party membership have chosen Kemi Badenoch over Robert Jenrick – the genuine 24-carat swivel-eyed loon over the totally unprincipled opportunist pretending to be a swivel-eyed loon. I must admit I didn’t think they would overcome the fact that she’s a black woman. But maybe her poisonous anti-LGBTQ bigotry was enough for them to feel that she’s “Really One Of Us”. The general opinion of the commentariat seems to be that she won’t last more than a couple of years, but I’m not so sure. Starmer has demonstrated truly surprising political incompetence, and although the Tories have got to recover most of the votes that went to Farage in July to have a good chance of returning to power in 2029, that looks somewhat more plausible now Reform Party UK Ltd. seems to be facing the possibility of its own split over its relationship with even-further-right thug “Tommy Robinson”.
birgerjohanssonsays
The TEC Show
‘Massive New Early Voter Poll Shows Trump Losing Big In Georgia And North Carolina’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=_meL2k6Z9n4
.
Oh dear, Viktor Orban will be soo disappointed. And poor Stephen Miller.
birgerjohanssonsays
Trust the Tories to pick the UK analog of the weirdest, dumbest Trumpist politicians as their leader. In a way, their incompetence is reassuring, considering Keir Starmer’s unimpressive performance.
Have I Got News for You Season 68 Episode 5 (Nov 1, 2024) Full Episode HD
(The Brit version, not the American)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BRxVti8djEU
It seems the tories left a hole of 40 billion pound sterling missing in the budget.
For the past two years […] Ada Ada Ada has been testing the boundaries of human and automated moderation systems […] by documenting her own transition. Every week she uploads a shirtless self portrait to Instagram alongside […] whether a number of AI-powered tools […] see her as male or female.
[…]
In 2023, after more than a year […] Instagram removed one of Ada Ada Ada’s self portraits […] what constitutes nudity online often comes down to the perceived gender of an areola. […] “And so I wanted to see […] What are the rules? And is there any way that we can reverse engineer this?”
[…]
“I’ve definitely learned that gender classifiers are an unreliable and flawed technology […] I regularly see my algorithmic gender swing back and forth from week to week. […] also fascinating to see how the different algorithms often disagree on my gender. Face++ (which is a Chinese company) tends to disagree more with the others, which seems to suggest that it’s also a culturally dependent technology (as is gender).”
the poster child for African development, celebrated for its post-genocide recovery and lauded as a beacon of economic success. […] despite a grim reality: a systematic pattern of human rights abuses, suppression of dissent, and exploitation of neighboring countries
[…]
The international community’s perception of Kagame’s regime is changing slowly. […] US and the Netherlands have begun gradually reducing their financial aid to Rwanda, signaling growing discomfort with its authoritarian practices.
Dang it.
Bekenstein Boundsays
It seems the tories left a hole of 40 billion pound sterling missing in the budget.
So, there is one way in which they acted like ordinary, normal Tories.
Hmm.
Tethyssays
Harris takes the lead in Iowa. Seltzer has an excellent record for accurate polling and margins in the last few decades.
Democrat Kamala Harris leads Donald Trump in Iowa 47% to 44%, a new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows.
A victory for Harris would be a shocking development after Iowa has swung aggressively to the right in recent elections, delivering Trump solid victories in 2016 and 2020.
The poll shows that women — particularly those who are older or are politically independent — are driving the late shift toward Harris.
Trump continues to lead with his core base of support: men, evangelicals, rural residents and those without a college degree.
There is a great deal of overlap in that core base.
A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Kentucky police detective of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during the botched 2020 drug raid that left her dead.
The 12-member jury returned the late night verdict after clearing Brett Hankison earlier in the evening on a charge that he used excessive force on Taylor’s neighbors, but elected to continue to deliberate on the second charge.
The case isn’t done as Hankison will almost surely appeal but this is a step in the right direction. The police grossly over reacted after setting up a bad situation. The police executed a surprise warrant after midnight and then panicked when there was a shot from inside the apartment. Hankison was not the person who killed Breonna Taylor but his blind shooting into the dark with no idea where the gunshot had come from resulted in his being charged.
She supports Trump’s anti-immigration policies. Texas incorrectly flagged her as a “Noncitizen” on its voting rolls.
Mary Howard-Elley is the 10th U.S. citizen identified […] whose registration was canceled […] Her saga shows how tough it can be for eligible voters to get reinstated. […] she seethed at the idea that anyone would question the citizenship of a former federal employee with the “whitest name you could have.”
[…]
Not every voter has Howard-Elley’s tenacity, or news organizations asking persistent questions about how their case was handled. […] it would take “heroic efforts” by the average voter to research the election laws and advocate for their registration to be reinstated.
[…]
Howard-Elley said she is disturbed at how close she came to losing her ability to vote. […] She said she worries about whether other eligible voters are among those labeled as noncitizens […] She intends to cast her ballot for Trump.
Hey, all! I’ve missed you! Even though it’s not a job, I do feel a bit like I’ve been shirking my Thread responsibilities over the last…several months. I don’t really know when I’ll have time to read and comment regularly again, but I’ll try over the next week. And I hope everyone can try to make Lynna’s life a little easier! It’s a super stressful time, especially for those of us in the US.
People have already posted about the Iowa-poll news, so I’ll share a series that’s one of the best I’ve ever seen on TV – NOVA’s Solar System. They put the full episodes on YT, but I think maybe only temporarily, since my favorite – “Storm Worlds” – doesn’t appear to be available anymore.
From a dwarf planet that looks like a deflated football, to a tiny moon with cliffs taller than Mt. Everest, to the spectacular rings of Saturn, discover how the effects of gravity produce the amazing variety of weird worlds in our solar system.
All around our solar system, volcanoes are powerful shapers of worlds. Next door on Mars is Olympus Mons, a giant volcanic mountain more than twice the size of Mt. Everest. And closer to the Sun, thousands of volcanoes produce the toxic atmosphere that keeps Venus boiling. Then there’s Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active world in the entire solar system, and Saturn’s moon Enceladus, where clues in its watery eruptions hint at the possibility of life. Discover the explosive forces that molded each of these worlds – and what makes the volcanoes right here on Earth so special.
Ice might seem familiar to us on Earth, but out in the solar system, it can get quite exotic. From Uranus’s ultra hot superionic ice, to glaciers of nitrogen ice on Pluto, to carbon dioxide snow on Mars, ice is a fundamental building block throughout our cosmic neighborhood. Visit some of the strange, frozen worlds of our solar system to discover why the ice here on Earth so special – and why we wouldn’t be here without it.
The classic view of our solar system contains eight orderly planets, some with moons in neat orbits – but when we look closer, we discover a bunch of stuff missing from this simple, clockwork model. Wandering worlds that seem out of place, found in the gaps between and beyond the planets, offer clues that our cosmic neighborhood is far more dynamic than we once thought. From the meteorites that impact Earth, to a moon that orbits backwards, to an imposter lurking in the asteroid belt, these wandering worlds are rewriting what we know – and even how we think about – our solar system.
Donald Trump’s campaign has hit out at a surprise poll which showed Kamala Harris three points ahead in Iowa, a state that was previously expected to be a safe state for the Republicans.
The Trump campaign released a memo from its chief pollster and its chief data consultant calling the Des Moines Register poll “a clear outlier,” and saying that an Emerson College poll – also released Saturday – more closely reflected the state of the Iowa electorate.
The Emerson College Polling/RealClearDefense survey of a similar number of likely voters on November 1-2 had a starkly different result, with Trump leading Harris by 10 points. This poll also has a 3.4 percentage point margin of error….
Europe will need to rethink its support of Ukraine if Donald Trump is elected, the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán said on Sunday, as the continent “will not be able to bear the burdens of the war alone”.
Orban opposes military aid to Ukraine and has made clear he thinks Trump shares his views and would negotiate a peace settlement for Ukraine.
…
“Europe cannot bear the burden of [the war] alone, and if Americans switch to peace, then we also need to adapt,” Orban said.
Europe is jittery about how the outcome of the US election will affect the war in Ukraine and the continent’s security.
“Peace” here means unchecked Russian expansion and occupation, which of course has worked out well for Hungary historically.
Donald Trump and his many campaign surrogates have been engaged in a strategy of publicly raising expectations among their followers which may create a well-spring of discontent should Kamala Harris win, especially if her victory is narrow or propelled over the line by a late-breaking wave of Democratic ballots.
…
But internal sources tell the Guardian they are universally jittery about the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, through which most of Trump’s paths to 270 electoral college votes run. Internal polls show Trump ahead but some of those numbers have been so rosy in recent weeks that aides have grown distrustful about their accuracy.
The Trump campaign has also been nervous about North Carolina – a state they really have to hold this year – evidenced by the multiple trips Trump is making to the state in the final weekend. Trump had two rallies in North Carolina yesterday, and will be there again today and tomorrow.
Harris…will head to Michigan later today where the Democratic hopeful is due to speak at a campaign rally at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Russia’s apparent plan is to flatten then reoccupy the Ukrainian city, where the situation has become dramatically worse since the beginning of October…
… on Thursday a call went out that the mysterious creator of Bitcoin was to, finally, unmask himself at a press conference…
A man called Stephen Mollah, who had been sat silently on the side the whole time walked up and resolutely declared: “I am here to make a statement that yes: I am Satoshi Nakamoto and I created the Bitcoin on Blockchain technology.”
Over the following hour, reporters went from amused to irritated as he failed to provide any of the promised evidence for his claims…
So…that Emerson poll the Trumpers are hanging their ugly red hats on (see #330) has him up with women in Iowa by 5 points and with Independents by 17. Seems improbable.
birgerjohanssonsays
Just heard on Swedish public service radio: 50 children in Gaza killed in Israeli attacks the last two days.
Let’s understand in certain states, let’s just take Pennsylvania, they can’t actually start counting a whole series of votes until Election Day. So, that is one of the reasons for a delay.
Second, we can look at exactly what Donald Trump has previously done, which is sort of ‘Stop the Count,’ — because he thinks that he may be ahead.
Because of the so-called ‘Red Mirage.’ There may be less of a ‘Red Mirage’ this time, if there is, what he previously did, was to say ‘Stop the Count.’
Just to be clear, that is illegal to say that.
That is a violation of the Obstruction statute, and Civil Rights statute, federally.
You will hear exactly that thinking: if you can stop the incoming vote, it won’t cause the Democrats to win.
That is illegal. You have to count all votes.
I fully expect that if Donald Trump thinks he is ahead at the start, and there are more mail-in ballots, absentee ballots coming in that are gonna favor the Democrats, he will be doing exactly what he has already done, which is to say, ‘Stop the Count, and it’s actually voter fraud.’
When in fact, the voter fraud is saying: “DON’T count the Votes.”
[…]
NOTE: At about the [3:30] mark in that clip, the hosts show how Steve Bannon is back on his “War Room” podcast. How he is already ‘priming the pump’ for just such a “Stop the Counting” scenario.
Ali Velshi gave Rachel Maddow a block of time on his show this morning. Rachel used that time really well to discuss the fight over abortion rights. Rachel Maddow’s presentation is the best I’ve seen. Well worth the time. The video is 24:31 minutes long.
Ali Velshi provides an introduction and then Rachel takes over. She joins at about the 2:31 mark.
@335- So…that Emerson poll the Trumpers are hanging their ugly red hats on (see #330) has him up with women in Iowa by 5 points and with Independents by 17. Seems improbable.
It does seem improbable, especially since Iowa is also one of the states where the religious-fascists have full control of the Government, and used that to institute a six-week abortion ban law that is wildly unpopular.
Iowa voted for Obama previous to being infected with the maga disease. It’s not nearly as republican as you might expect though it does have a lot of old pig farmers.
At #318 the Des Moines/Seltzer poll has an entirely different result. Both polls are based on about 800 people, but Seltzer’s is from people who have already voted, or are “definitely” going to vote; whereas the other poll is predicated on the nebulous “ likely” voters.
28% of independent women is just a little more than 17%.
63% of senior women is a whomping margin.
Iowa has more old women than old men on its voting roles, as women tend to live longer and Iowa has an aging demographic in the first place.
Independent voters, who had consistently supported Trump in the leadup to this election, now break for Harris. That’s driven by the strength of independent women, who back Harris by a 28-point margin, while independent men support Trump, but by a smaller margin.
Similarly, senior voters who are 65 and older favor Harris. But senior women support her by a more than 2-to-1 margin, 63% to 28%, while senior men favor her by just 2 percentage points, 47% to 45%.
Tuesday’s elections around the country will feature an unusually large number of ballot measures of particular interest to Religion Clause readers. According to Ballotpedia, there will be eleven proposals on abortion rights:
[There are links to each proposal at the title link.]
Arizona… Proposition 139
Colorado… Amendment 79
Florida… Amendment 4
Maryland… Question 1
Missouri… Amendment 3
Montana… CI-128
Nebraska… Initiative 434 and Initiative 439 (competing proposals)
Nevada… Question 6
New York… Proposal 1 (also includes sexual orientation, gender identity and other issues)
South Dakota… Constitutional Amendment G
Voters in three states will cast ballots on repeal of now unenforceable bans on same-sex marriage: California, Colorado, Hawaii. The California proposal would also affirmatively guarantee the right to marry.
A Colorado proposal would guarantee the right to school choice and parental control of their children’s education. A Kentucky proposal would allow state funding for students in non-public schools. A Nebraska referendum asks voters whether to repeal a state law providing for an educational scholarship program for students in non-public schools. [Again, links to these proposals at the title link]
American United’s magazine Church & State discusses Tuesday ballot measures relating to church-state separation that will be presented to voters in eleven states.
Ann Selzer was asked to respond to Trump’s attacks on her and the poll:
Selzer responded to Trump’s post in an email to Newsweek, saying, “These are the kinds of comments seen for virtually any poll, including mine. The Des Moines Register includes a methodology statement with each story they publish. It’s the same methodology used to show Trump winning Iowa in the final polls in 2016 and 2020. It would not be in my best interest, or that of my clients—The Des Moines Register and Mediacom—to conjure fake numbers.”
And the same poll had Trump up by double digits to Biden in June and leading Harris by 4 (IIRC) in September.
Tethyssays
I wanted some data on the percentage of Iowans who are age 65 and older. It’s 18.6% of the population, though of course thats not identical to voter numbers.
The TEC Show:
“MASSIVE NEWS!! HARRIS VS TRUMP: Trump gets WORST NEWS of ENTIRE CAMPAIGN”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3xOTUvA5cqE
The Iowa poll is adressed at length
“Designed to be deleted” is the tagline of one of the UK’s most popular dating apps. Hinge promises that it is “the dating app for people who want to get off dating apps” – the place to find lasting love.
But critics say modern dating is in crisis. They claim that dating apps, which have been downloaded hundreds of millions of times worldwide, are “exploitative” and are designed not to be deleted but to be addictive, to retain users in order to create revenue.
An Observer investigation has found that dating apps are increasingly pushing users to buy extras that have been likened to “gambling products” and can cost hundreds of pounds a year.
Many apps, including Tinder, Bumble and Hinge, now offer the prospect of more matches, more profile visibility and more dates – if users pay more money. A former employee of Match Group, which owns Tinder and Hinge, told the Observer: “All they care about is revenue, finding as many ways as possible to lure people to a paid feature.”…
in 25 states […] 170 Native American, Native Hawaiians, and Native Alaskans are on ballots this fall, an all-time high
[…]
Still, […] more work needs to be done to have representation that is proportional to national population sizes. [There are] 347 current Native elected officials—less than 0.1% of some 519,000 elected offices nationwide. […] that number would have to be 17,000 to achieve parity […] which is 3%.
[…]
between 1993 and 2023, there has been a 300% increase, to about 80, in the number of state legislators alone who self-identify as Native American.
[…]
one reason for the increase is a jump in Native American voter turnout. “People see […] they have to engage […] with the U.S. political system to get policies in place that support tribal communities,” […] As sovereign nations with a traumatic history with the federal U.S. government, many indigenous voters opt out of engaging […] legislative success in regards to gaming, lobbying, and other issues have proven how much representation matters.
[…]
Of those who identified with a political party, most were Democrats. Over half of the candidates running this year are female.
Here in MN, we organized after the putrid orange gained power in 2016 starting with holding the largest protest ever held in the Women’s March. After that we actively (and fairly successfully) worked to get more women, and POC to run for elected offices with our support.
Our Lieutenant Governor is Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth band of native Americans.
Minnesota statutes make the order of gubernatorial succession clear: When there’s a vacancy in the office of governor, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. In this case, that would be Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who would become the first woman to become governor in Minnesota’s history and the first Native American woman to serve as governor in U.S. history (two men with Native American heritage have served as governor, both in Oklahoma).
If Flanagan becomes governor statutes say the “last duly elected president of the senate shall become lieutenant governor.” The current senate president is Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, who would become the state’s first Black lieutenant governor.
Champion’s elevation to lieutenant governor would erase the one-seat DFL majority in the Minnesota Senate, and a special election would be held to fill his seat.
I don’t think a Republican would win a special election in that district, so I am quite hopeful that America can become a much stronger representative democracy after we defeat the orange pox yet again.
I checked my mail today and did some totals of the number of political ads I got. It’s about 2 weeks of mail and I’m in a conservative leaning but contested area of Pennsylvania, so I expected a pile. The numbers are still absurd.
31 local or state ads, including 2 passing off as personal letters.
5 ads for Trump, 4 for Harris and 1 anti-tariff ad that didn’t mention any names.
1 letter from the Center for Voter Information reminding me that if I don’t vote it goes in the permanent record.
Former President Donald Trump said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would have a “big role in the administration” if he wins Tuesday, telling NBC News in a phone interview that he is open to some of his more controversial ideas.
Kennedy, who ran for president as an independent this year before he dropped his bid and endorsed Trump, has long spread conspiracies and falsehoods about vaccines and other public health matters. He has, for example, frequently claimed that vaccines are linked to autism, even though studies have debunked that theory for decades.
Asked Sunday whether banning certain vaccines would be an option during a second term, Trump didn’t rule it out.
As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump earlier suggested to a crowd in battleground Pennsylvania that a possible assassin at the event “would have to shoot through the fake news. And I don’t mind that so much.”
The Trump campaign is now responding to criticism of those remarks, saying it was a “statement about protective glass placement” that “has nothing to do with the media being harmed”.
“It was about threats against him that were spurred on by dangerous rhetoric from Democrats. In fact, President Trump was stating that the media was in danger, in that they were protecting him and, therefore, were in great danger themselves, and should have had a glass protective shield, also,” communications director Steven Cheung says in a statement.
“There can be no other interpretation of what was said. He was actually looking out for their welfare, far more than his own!”
Due to the threats posed by Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen, a Hurricane Watch is in place for the Cayman Islands, and a Tropical Storm Warning is in place for Jamaica. Under the current track, the National Hurricane Center said residents of the Florida Keys should closely monitor this system for Tropical Storm Watches or Warnings as soon as Sunday night or early Monday…
In this case, forecasters believe the tropical disturbance could eventually develop into Hurricane Rafael in the coming days.
“The environmental conditions appear conducive for strengthening during the next few days, and it seems likely that the system will become a tropical storm before it reaches Jamaica and a hurricane before it reaches Cuba,” the NHC said…
After moving into the Gulf of Mexico later this week, the system could bring heavy rainfall and gusty winds to Florida and parts of the Southeast U.S…
Tethyssays
@352
I just saw that rally and Steven Chueng is a lying creep.
Orange pointed out that there was a lot of ‘ fake news’ people in the media section and then when the audience didn’t boo loud enough he said “But that’s ok. In order to shoot me, they would have to shoot through the fake news, and I don’t mind that so much.”
The rally in question had very low energy, many empty seats that Trump claimed weren’t empty, and a constant trickle of people who left while he was bloviating about his yuge crowds. (Thank you unknown cameraman who decided to pan the room and fact- check his claim in real time)
In reality the back 1/4 section was vacant, and the entire upper deck of the arena was empty and dark.
Angry residents booed and threw eggs at Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia as they visited the Valencia region, where more than 200 people have died in devastating floods.
The king faced chants of “murderer” as he visited hard-hit Paiporta, just outside of Valencia city, along with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and regional governor Carlos Mazon, where locals accuse authorities of a lax response to the disaster. After they posed for a photo, the crowd began hurling insults […] security opened umbrellas to try and protect them from projectiles.
[…]
It is unusual for a Spanish king to face such fierce anger up close. Felipe is a relatively popular figure […] The anger appeared largely directed at Mazon and Sanchez, who left early even as the king insisted on staying
[…]
Part of the problem has been political. Mazon and Sanchez are from different parties, and […] Spain’s federal government cannot release emergency funds and resources without the authorization from a regional government. That didn’t happen until Saturday, four days after the floods hit. […] Thousands of volunteers meanwhile have answered the provincial government’s call for help to clear flood debris. Authorities seemed unprepared and overwhelmed, quickly running out of supplies and scrambling to find more buses to transport people.
enraged survivors hurled clots of the mud […] during their first visit to the epicentre of their nation’s deadliest natural disaster in living memory. […] the barrage included a few rocks and other objects […] an unprecedented incident for a royal house that carefully crafts the image of monarchs adored by their country
[…]
Felipe, 56, took the throne in place of his father, Juan Carlos, who abdicated in 2014 after […] financial and personal scandals. […] Felipe immediately cut a new figure, renouncing his personal inheritance and increasing the financial transparency of his royal house. He and Letizia, a 52-year-old former journalist, dedicate a significant part of their public agenda to cultural and scientific causes.
[…]
Visits to sites of national tragedies are also part of the royal duties […] Many people still don’t have drinking water five days after the floods struck. Internet and mobile phone coverage remains patchy. Most people only got power back on Saturday. Stores and supermarkets are in ruins and Paiporta, with a population of 30,000, still has many city blocks completely clogged with piles of detritus, countless totalled cars and a ubiquitous layer of mud. Thousands have had their homes destroyed by a tsunami-like wave of muck
Bekenstein Boundsays
Color me skeptical re: Iowa. 538 gives that to Trump, 94-6, in its forecast map, more than Florida or even Texas.
On the other hand, that suggests that if women deliver Iowa for Harris, it would likely signal a landslide turning a large swath of the map blue. That would be something to see.
photographs […] did not appear to be manipulated and were taken at actual Trump events, but because the circumstances under which these photos originated are opaque, we rated the claim “Unproven.”
/Snopes did geolocation. Wish I didn’t have to cite them for lack of alternatives.
the original X user that posted them […] is vapid with only 124 posts, most of which have been shared in the past three days, predominantly involving pro-Kamala Harris and Tim Walz content. […] profile picture is AI-generated. […] The lack of citations seems sketchy
Experts around the world have marvelled at how little Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro) Moon, Mars and solar missions have cost. India spent $74m on the Mars orbiter Mangalyaan and $75m on last year’s historic Chandrayaan-3—less than the $100m spent on the sci-fi thriller Gravity.
[…]
one of the main reasons why Isro’s missions are so cheap is the fact that all its technology is home-grown and machines are manufactured in India.
In 1974, after Delhi conducted its first nuclear test and the West imposed an embargo, banning transfer of technology to India, […] “Our scientists used it as an incentive to develop their own technology. All the equipment they needed was manufactured indigenously—and the salaries and cost of labour were decidedly less here than in the US or Europe.”
[…]
unlike Isro, Nasa outsources satellite manufacturing to private companies and also takes out insurance for its missions, which add to their costs. “Also, unlike Nasa, India doesn’t do engineering models which are used for testing a project before the actual launch. We do only a single model and it’s meant to fly. It’s risky, there are chances of crash, but that’s the risk we take. And we are able to take it because it’s a government programme.”
[A Moon missions chief] “led small dedicated teams of less than 10 and people often worked extended hours without any overtime payments” because they were so passionate [*sigh*] […] India uses small rocket launchers because they don’t have anything stronger. But that means India’s spacecraft take much longer to reach their destination. […] “We used Mother Earth’s gravity to nudge us to the Moon. It took us weeks and a lot of resourceful planning. Isro has mastered this and done it successfully so many times.”
[…]
India is in the process of opening up the space sector to private players and it’s unlikely that costs will remain so low once that happens.
a glacier larger than the entire state of Florida […] its breach would allow warmer ocean waters to melt the [West Antarctic Ice Sheet] and raise sea levels by nearly 11 feet. […] “We were hoping it would take a hundred, 500 years to lose that ice. A big concern right now is if it happens much faster than that.”
[…]
“it will take 15 to 30 years for us to understand enough to recommend or rule out any interventions,” meaning they must start immediately […] “When we talk about glacial geoengineering, […] it’s not a solution to climate change—at best, it’s a painkiller. It allows us to get out of bed and do what is necessary to address the underlying illness […] we need to use the time it gives us to address emissions.”
British police are investigating an unusual theft: the UK’s largest mobile, inflatable planetarium, a regular feature at schools and music festivals..
Local police issued the alert after the inflatable, run by the University of Hertfordshire, was stolen by suspects allegedly driving a silver Land Rover Discovery on October 21. The owners think the crooks intended to take the trailer it was stored in, rather than the stellar dome itself…
The exhibit was used in local schools as a learning tool, but it was also a popular attraction at large events such as the internationally renowned World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) festival, founded by musician Peter Gabriel. That’s because there’s nothing like a mind-expanding experience at a festival to inspire an interest in science…
Anonymous tips can be sent to the UK’s Crimestoppers hotline.
Reginald Selkirksays
@354 Tethys
I just saw that rally and Steven Chueng is a lying creep.
Yes he is. His name came up prominently during the Arlington incident as well.
[A Moon missions chief] “led small dedicated teams of less than 10 and people often worked extended hours without any overtime payments” because they were so passionate…
Turns out, things are cheaper when you don’t have to pay for them.
US election liveblog. They have a photo of a Trump supporter sporting a garbage bag which reads “PROUD TO BE TRUMP’S GARBAGE.” So that’s where we are. They also have the last Emerson battleground-state polls, which all show statistical or actual ties. All of these many polls coming out tied is just crazy unlikely.
The pro-western incumbent Maia Sandu has won a second term in office in the Moldovan presidential election, preliminary results have shown, marking a significant boost for the country’s EU aspirations and a clear rebuke to Moscow.
The runoff election was seen as a crucial indicator of whether the country’s long-term geopolitical alignment will be with Russia or Europe….
Germany has condemned what it called “a massive, coordinated attempt” to prevent Moldovans abroad from voting in the second round of the country’s presidential election.
Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said vote-buying, manipulation and bomb threats against Moldovan polling stations – “even in Germany” – were aimed at “the heart of European democracy”, and showed that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, “will stop at nothing”.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson said polling stations in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Kaiserslautern and Berlin had been targeted by bomb threats, describing the intimidation as “totally unacceptable”….
(I don’t agree with the practice of quoting the Kremlin’s denials of or claims about anything. When a person or organization has a demonstrated history of lying, I see no reason to quote or print their statements at all.)
I appreciate the fact that you often take the time to provide better links. (see comment 360 as well)
I know you have pointed me to YouTube links for Rachel Maddow’s work before. I apologize for not using those.
I have a visceral dislike for YouTube, and it is not just the unwanted commercials. I don’t think they do enough to prevent dissemination of deceptive content (including scams). That’s not a good excuse for failing to link to the Maddow videos.
Groups backing former […] Trump recently sent messages to organize poll watchers to be ready to dispute votes in Democratic areas. Some posted images of armed men standing up for their rights to recruit for their cause. Others spread conspiracy theories that anything less than a Trump victory on Tuesday would be a miscarriage of justice worthy of revolt.
“The day is fast approaching when fence sitting will no longer be possible,” read one post from an Ohio chapter of the Proud Boys, the far-right organization that was instrumental in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. “You will either stand with the resistance or take a knee and willingly accept the yoke of tyranny and oppression.”
The messages were all posted on Telegram, the lightly moderated social media platform with nearly one billion users, which has become a harbinger of the potential actions and chaos that could unfold on Election Day and after. More so than other social apps, Telegram is a prime organizing tool for extremists, who have a tendency to turn digital coordination into real-world action.
A New York Times analysis of more than one million messages across nearly 50 Telegram channels with over 500,000 members found a sprawling and interconnected movement intended to question the credibility of the presidential election, interfere with the voting process and potentially dispute the outcome. Nearly every channel reviewed by The Times was created after the 2020 election, highlighting the growth […] of the election denialism movement.
[…] Katherine Keneally, a former intelligence analyst with the New York Police Department, said views shared on Telegram should not be dismissed as the musings of a fringe minority but rather seen as a warning about what could happen on Election Day and beyond.
“Telegram is very often central to actually organizing people to engage in offline activity,” said Ms. Keneally, who now works for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a research firm that monitors Telegram. She recalled attending a meeting of election skeptics in Montana, where participants taught one another how to use Telegram. Among more extreme movements, she said, Telegram is used “very strategically to radicalize and recruit.”
“While other platforms are primarily about self-expression, ‘owning the libs’ and hateful buffoonery, Telegram often generates an ambience of ‘let’s get something done,’” said Paul M. Barrett, the deputy director of the Stern Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University.
The “election integrity” movement on Telegram includes a loose network of accounts devoted to “auditing” the vote and amplifying election malfeasance theories, such as false claims that election workers are giving Republican voters Sharpies that are incompatible with voting machines.
[…] Another Telegram channel run by a group called the People’s Audit posted a video that offered a “hypothetical situation that is totally possible,” in which the Department of Homeland Security used the driver’s licenses of undocumented immigrants to cast votes en masse for the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.
[…] Kris Jurski, who posted the video, said on Telegram that it had been taken down from X. He said he was grateful that the video had remained on Telegram, which he used later to advertise a webinar teaching people how to secure voter rolls and deter fraud.
[…] Many posts casting doubt on election reliability made their way into the channels of extremist groups like the Proud Boys, which has preferred Telegram to other platforms after being restricted by sites like Facebook, Instagram and X.
The group’s posts questioned why states might not be able to fully tally election results on election night and repeated misleading claims about voter registration numbers in Michigan. In one video, a truck with a Confederate flag chased after immigrant children, with a caption reading: “1/20/25: Trump is sworn in as President. 1/21/25: Me and the Proud Boys begin the deportation.” […]
The SNL clip that featured Kamala Harris has over 8,600,000 views on Youtube.
birgerjohanssonsays
SC @ 365
The Guardian has a policy about free online content which has been very helpful- they have a lot of coverage of USA (with a depth that rivals American newspspers) and a lot of columnists from USA. It has become a convenient one-stop-shop for news about the whole world.
.
Also, Michael Moore has been interviewed on TV recently, he seems optimistic about the election. Also, he appears to have lost weight, I hope it is not because of ill health. He was a very effective critic of Dubya (who has aged more than Moore in the same number of years).
birgerjohanssonsays
Did I remember to mention Quincey Jones has passed away?
He was 91 but he deserved to have a lifespan like those greenland sharks.
Paul Ksays
Lynna, @ 366: I get your dislike for Youtube. I keep finding ad-blockers that work, though Youtube whacks them from time to time. I feel no guilt at keeping them from making money, since almost none of it goes to the creators there, and for the reasons you mention as well. Google, their owner, used to have the motto “Don’t be Evil’, but they got over that.
I support the creators I really appreciate there in other ways, like Patreon. There are lots of folks on Yutube doing good (fighting disease, disinformation, despair), and speaking truth to power; and others making physical things and teaching how to make those things that I want to learn from. I used to hate Youtube for its comment sections, where so many folks came just to be nasty. But, to give them credit, Youtube made changes to commenting, no longer boosting both negative and positive feedback, but positive only. Entire communities of positive, like-minded folks come together there; not just of commenters, but of creators themselves.
Watching actual humans explaining things is also sometimes the only way to avoid the burgeoning wave of AI crap that comes up in online searches. When you want accurate information when researching a specific question, first, search engines are almost useless now, driven by the AI pushing of ads purporting to be informative articles. Then, all too often, an AI-created aggregate of an answer comes up, which is less than worthless; sometimes even dangerous. And the makers of these ‘articles’ try to make them seem as though they are written by human experts. So far, AI has not gotten good enough to produce videos on a massive scale that are not obviously fake.
Anyway, thanks again for all you do. And, like others, I’m very glad to see SC posting here again. I know both of you are real, anyway!
he’s repeatedly appeared late to rallies and shown open contempt for his followers in his statements and gestures
he’s appeared to be in a permanent whiny rage and asked rally attendees if they’d like for him to physically assault the sound crew
he’s looked and sounded exhausted, disengaged, and bewildered, and continues to slur his words
he’s suggested he would put RFK Jr. in charge of public health, including potentially banning vaccines, and Herschel Walker in charge of building a missile defense shield
he’s publicly fantasized about violence against a former member of the Republican House leadership and the reporters covering his rallies
he’s called the US a “crooked country”
he’s said releasing poll results that look bad for him should be illegal
he’s suggested he shouldn’t have left the White House after he lost the 2020 election
he’s said if he were to win “You watch. It’s going to be so good. It’s going to be so much fun. It’ll be nasty a little bit at times, and maybe at the beginning, in particular. But it’s going to be something.”
he’s mimicked fellatio on a mic stand (!!!)
his rallies have seemed relatively low energy and sparsely attended
one of his surrogates (Mike Johnson) has discussed plans to rip health care away from hundreds of millions of people and to “take a blowtorch to the regulatory state” and another (Elon Musk) has promised austerity
his farmed-out and subcontracted canvassing operation has reportedly engaged in human trafficking
…and I’m sure there’s more I’ve missed or already forgotten.
Paul Ksays
SC (Salty Current) @ 372: All of which shows what an insane time we’re living in. Either the polls are off, or too many voters are just not well-informed, or too many of them actually are deplorable. I know the second two are true; I’m just crossing my fingers about the first one.
birgerjohanssonsays
Sabine Hossenfelder
“The crisis in physics is real: Science is failing”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=HQVF0Yu7X24
Of course, this applies to physics but if the way science is organised has systemic problems it should affect biology too. The difference is biology does not need billion-dollar accelerators so the resources are not thrown into a single basket.
I could’ve been at the great Turnberry in Scotland. I could’ve been anywhere I wanted to be. I could’ve had those waves smacking me in the face. That white, beautiful white skin that I have would be nice and tan. I got the whitest skin ’cause I never have time to go out in the sun. But I have that beautiful white, and you know what? It could’ve been beautiful, tanned, beautiful.
birgerjohanssonsays
I recall seeing Trump apparently getting exhausted at the end of at least one of his recent rallies.
He is 78 years old, but there may of course be other health issues. If he loses, he may have to depend much on his surrogates to stir up unrest.
whheydtsays
Re: SC (Salty Current) @ #375…
This applies primarily to women, but… It used to be (middle Ages and Renaissance) that having pale skin was a sign that you didn’t have to go outside and work, that is you were part of the rich class. More recently, being pale meant you were working indoors all the time and having a tan meant you had the leisure to engage in outdoor recreation much of the time.
tomhsays
Election Law Blog:
HaHaHa: Elon Musk’s Lawyer Says His Potentially Illegal Lottery for Registered Voters is Not “Random” But is “By Chance”
from Philly courtroom —
Musk lawyer says his $1m giveaway is NOT a lottery. “There is no prize to be won” and winners “are not chosen at random,” Musk lawyer Chris Gober said.
Instead, the $1m is a salary they “earn” to be a spokesperson for Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC. Winners are picked based on their “suitability to serve” and their personal story, Gober said.
In response, Philly DA team called this a “complete admission of liability” that Musk is running an illegal lottery under PA law.
Remember: When Musk announced the giveaway…. in PA nonetheless…. he said, “we are going to be awarding $1 million randomly.” DA showed this in court to the judge.
Gober argued there’s a difference between “randomly” and “by chance,” which is why he argued that this isn’t an illegal lottery under PA gaming laws.
[…] Trump, meanwhile, told the Georgia audience that he’d put [Herschel] Walker in charge of a “missile defense shield” if he beats Democratic rival Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election. “We’ll put Herschel Walker in charge of that little sucker,” he said. […]
Commentary:
[…] No, really, that’s what he said. [video at the link]
Earlier, at the same event, Walker spoke to the crowd and delivered a hearty endorsement in support of “Donald Trump Jr.” Perhaps realizing that he was mistaken, the former football player and failed Senate candidate added, “Donald Trump. Jonald J. Trump.”
In case this isn’t obvious, Walker has no qualifications whatsoever related to missile technology or national security, and putting the most ridiculous Senate candidate of his era “in charge” of such a project would be utterly bonkers.
Indeed, it would be comparable to Trump putting Robert F. Kennedy in a position related to public health — which, as it turns out, is something else the former president wants to do.
I recently wrote about how renowned journalist Michele Norris resigned from her position at the Washington Post in protest of the paper’s decision to not endorse Kamala Harris due to Jeff Bezos’ business interests — calling the decision “an insult.” Well, yesterday MSNBC announced that she has joined the network as a senior contributing editor, and she will start by helping them cover election night. She will also be a frequent writer for MSNBC.com. Bravo!
Rachel Maddow made the announcement last night on an election night preview special, which Norris joined, and right away she demonstrated that she will be a powerful addition to MSNBC’s coverage. On that program, Norris provided insights on how Kamala Harris has been so successful in executing a disciplined message to share her vision for our country and how she would serve the people as president. In response to a question from Maddow, she noted that Harris has not leaned into her gender or race, but has not run away from it either. According to Norris, one of Harris’ key underlying messages has not been “I am woman, hear me roar” but rather “I am woman, I have stuff to do.”
Norris was the first Black female host for National Public Radio (NPR). She gained national prominence for her stellar coverage of race-related issues in America, perhaps most notably with The Race Card Project, which won a 2014 Peabody Award.
Watch Norris’ comments and the announcement of her joining MSNBC here: [video at the link]
whheydt @ #377, yes. Here’s an interview that touches on that history (Substack link; there are some claims made in the interview as a whole that I disagree with). The fact that a presidential candidate is talking/boasting about his skin at a public event is itself insane, but Trump is both pathologically, pathetically vain and fully bought into these race- and class-based standards of beauty. I’ll spare everyone my psychological and political analysis of why he was driven at this particular place and time to assert the whiteness of his skin and his ability to indulge in leisure pursuits. :)
birgerjohanssonsays
I am getting desperate to find non-election content. I will try and see if this link to Reddit works.
Re: birgerjohannson @ #386..
Check out Icel Grapevineand Monitor (monitor.is) and The Reykjavik Grapevine (grapevine.is). While there will be some election news, it won’t be about the US election and it will be much more low key. There will also be lots of other news.
‘Let’s get this done’: Harris rallies supporters in Pennsylvania
Kamala Harris sought to reassure her supporters during a campaign stop in Scranton, Pennsylvania, telling them “we’re good” and urging them to “enjoy this moment” during the final 24 hours of her campaign.
“I’m telling you guys, we’re good,” Harris addressed Democratic canvassers. “We’re good. So we’re going to keep doing this work.”
Harris recalled campaigning with her ironing board when she first ran for office as district attorney for San Francisco. “No one thought I could win,” she said.
“I like to say that when you love something, you fight for it.”
She told her supporters she could “feel the energy” and called for them to go and knock on neighbors’ doors, “even if you’ve not met them”.
“As we’re getting out the vote, let’s be intentional about building community, about building coalitions and reminding people, we all have so much more in common than what separates us.”
“We love our country and that’s what this fight is about,” she said. “Let’s get this done.”
Kamala Harris’s running mate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, also appeared at a rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin on Monday where he said the decisions made over the next days “will shape not just the next four years, they will shape the coming generations.”
Walz, who was joined at the rally by his wife, Gwen, and Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, said the election “quite literally could be won through the state of Wisconsin.”
“This is a generational opportunity for us to turn the page for us to take this momentum going forward,” he said.
Walz also spoke about his confidence in the country’s election security, arguing that the US has “the fairest, the most secure elections in the world.”
“We will count the votes. We will win on the votes, and we will be able to know, too, that we have a part in not only moving on from nine years of what we’ve seen, but charting, truly, a new way forward. The rest of the world is watching, so I have one request: Win this for America.”
A lawyer for Krasner’s office, John Summers, called Gober’s comments a “complete admission of liability”.
“We just heard this guy say, my boss, my client, called this random,” Summers said. “We promised people that they were going to participate in a random process, but it’s a process where we pre-select people.”
Summers later showed the court a clip of Musk at a Trump rally on 19 October telling attendees that America Pac would “randomly” award $1m to people who sign the petition every day until the election. In the video, Musk also said “all we ask” is that the winners serve as spokespeople for the group.
Scams, grifts, frauds, intent to deceive.
Rob Grigjanissays
birger @386:
I am getting desperate to find non-election content.
For the next couple of days at least, my solution is to stay away from Pharyngula or any other possible sources of anxiety. Just doing crosswords, working on a couple of physics problems, listening to music, watching silly stuff on the telly.
My best wishes to those who will be closely following the media horror show.
The wheels of justice are turning in Brazil (where the fascist loser who tried to violently overthrow the government is barred from running) – Guardian:
…The crime was one of the most shocking and high-profile murders in Rio’s history: Franco, a gay Black woman, was a rising political star, and an outspoken critic of police violence and corruption.
Thursday’s verdict offered a measure of solace to her family and supporters, but marked only the first step towards justice: a second trial is yet to come for the men accused of ordering Franco’s death.
The case against the alleged masterminds – two influential Rio politicians, Domingos and Chiquinho Brazão, and Rivaldo Barbosa, a former police chief – is under way in the supreme court and no trial date has been set yet.
Announcing the sentences, Judge Glioche said: “The jury is a democracy – a democracy which Marielle Franco defended.”
Addressing the two defendants, she said: “This sentence is directed at the defendants here, but also at the many Lessas and Queirozes who exist in Rio and remain at large.”…
Federal police in Brazil have formally charged the alleged mastermind of the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira in the Amazon, accusing him of arming and funding the criminal group responsible for the crime as well as plotting to hide the victims’ bodies.
In a statement released on Monday morning, police in the Amazon city of Manaus announced they had concluded the two-year investigation into the shootings of the British journalist and the Brazilian Indigenous expert in June 2022.
Police said their final report identified nine people who had played some role in killings that drew attention to the criminal assault on the world’s largest tropical rainforest and the Indigenous communities that call that region home….
An Ohio sheriff’s patrol commander who declared on Facebook that he would not help Democrats and would require proof of who a person voted for before providing them aid has apologized, blaming prescribed sleep aids for causing his “out of character” actions.
Lt. John Rodgers, a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s office in Clark County, where Springfield is the county seat, made the statements in several posts on Facebook, WHIO-TV reported…
Maye Musk, mother of Elon Musk, ignited a controversy by insinuating that she could take advantage of the voting laws in New York.
What Happened: Maye Musk, while appearing on Fox News, hinted at the possibility of visiting multiple polling stations in New York to cast several votes in the forthcoming election.
According to the outlet, the Canadian-born dietician criticized the state’s voting systems, which do not mandate voters to provide an ID but necessitate registration.
She was quoted as saying, “On Election Day, you have ten fake names, go to ten polling booths and vote ten times. That’s a hundred votes. And it’s not illegal.” …
That is not only illegal, it would be easily caught. You don’t have to show your ID to vote, but you do have to be registered.
Seth Meyers sums up Trump’s political career
“Trump’s Dark, Weird & Desperate Closing Message: Lies, Threats & Complaints about SNL”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=7977j4dfBxk
That long rant was just what I needed.
Bekenstein Boundsays
An Ohio sheriff’s patrol commander who declared on Facebook that he would not help Democrats and would require proof of who a person voted for before providing them aid has apologized, blaming prescribed sleep aids for causing his “out of character” actions.
In Ambien, veritas?
birgerjohanssonsays
Found at Facebook.
“Well, Dan, if Mexicans are all drug dealers and rapists…
and you are afraid they will take your job…
WHAT exactly do you do for a living??!”
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Assorted stuff via Mastodon.
GottaLaff
We’ve made friends with the immigration lawyer who helped us get permanent residency in Canada, so we asked if he wanted to get together.
His reply? Not for weeks. Why? He’s overwhelmed with US citizens trying to move to Canada because of our election. Even if Trump loses, he said, because there will be so much uncertainty.
Rebecca Watson
[Headline: This black hole is eating stuff at over 40 times the theoretical limit.]
Same, it’s election anxiety.
Ricki Tarr
Here’s what we know so far, but please keep hitting that refresh button, making yourself crazy. Sincerely, The Media
[A US map with a jumble of colors scribbled all over it in crayon.]
@yurnidiot@mstdn.social
who are these lunatics answering phone calls from unknown numbers and why are we polling them for election opinions?
Matt Bevan (ABC reporter on X)
I’ve found the end of the line at the Harris rally in Philadelphia tonight, and measured it using google maps. It is 1.4 miles (2.3km) long. #Pennsylvania
@Strandjunker@mstdn.social
Women are the wall, and Trump will pay for it.
Hell hath no fury like 169 million pissed off women heading to the polls.
@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social
In retrospect, we should have spent less time trying to convince Republicans that Trump is a monster and more time trying to convince them that voting is woke.
Star Trek Minus Context
Gul Dukat occupying DS9 and moping, “Is there a single… statue of me on Bajor?”
StevoRsays
Non-election news & staggering to imagine really. Kilonova from colliding neutron stars creates the smallest black hole known :
Astronomers have witnessed the titanic collision between two neutron stars that resulted in the birth of the smallest black hole ever seen and forged precious metals like gold, silver, and uranium.
The team’s snapshot of this violent and powerful collision, which occurred 130 million light-years away from us in the galaxy NGC 4993, was created with a range of instruments, including the Hubble Space Telescope. It will hopefully paint a picture of the “past, present, and future” of the mergers of these dense dead stars. This could reveal the origins of elements heavier than iron, which can’t be forged in even the most massive stars.
Remember those Frog Saunas? That helped frogs resist an infection by raising their temperature above that preferred by the infectious agent? Well, along those lines, I bring to you: Bat Freezers!
Many bat species in my neck of the woods have been affected by the “white nose syndrome,” a fungal infection that causes bats to become dehydrated and waste away while hibernating. But scientists noticed that some species were rebounding after being infected, after choosing colder, drier hibernation spots. The fungus likes it warm and damp! So they started bringing cooling devices to areas where bats are known to hibernate, and have seen positive results.
birgerjohanssonsays
Jimmy Kimmel has a glorious rant, saying all the things I would say if I was more eloquent.
“Trump Ratchets Up Rhetoric, Epstein Bombshells Dropped & Jimmy’s Election Eve Closing Argument.”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=4iEvtVOQkfQ
At 12.30 Tucker Carlson says he was attacked by a demon. Later, J D Vance says he meets dead people, possibly the one who attacked Carlson.
Another accelerationist hoping chaos would spark a race war. Started research alongside undercover FBI agents in September to attack a substation. Arrested moments before he could deploy a drone and explosives. Faces up to life in prison.
birgerjohanssonsays
Stephen Colbert:
“Senior Women Back Harris In Iowa | America’s Fresh Start | Trump vs. The Microphone”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=c7CsCbWmOhs
Colbert: We are all feeling the way the people of Pompeii felt when Vesuvius was trying to get re-elected.
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian US-election liveblog. From there:
Before the polls opened this morning, about 80 million Americans had already voted and cast early ballots.
According to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, 82 million Americans voted early, with just under 45 million voting early in person and about 38 million voting early by mail.
Alarm is growing over the blizzard of false voting misinformation being peddled by Donald Trump and his top allies, such as Elon Musk.
Reprising his 2020 playbook of claiming that Democrats were trying to steal the election before he lost to Joe Biden and cried fraud, Trump has flatly and without evidence declared that Democrats are a “bunch of cheats”.
Musk has become a leading purveyor of falsehoods and conspiracies to his 200 million followers on X, the social media platform he owns.
Musk, the world’s richest man, has asserted without evidence that Trump’s campaign is heading for a “crushing victory” over Harris, and been chastised by key election officials in Arizona and Georgia.
Besides Musk, other key Trump allies such as Turning Point USA chief Charlie Kirk have reached their large rightist audiences via podcasts and public events and pushed bogus claims about Democratic election fraud.
A bipartisan coalition of 51 attorneys general across US states and territories released a statement on Tuesday urging people to remain peaceful and to preemptively “condemn any acts of violence related to the results.”
“A peaceful transfer of power is the highest testament to the rule of law, a tradition that stands at the heart of our nation’s stability. As Attorneys General, we affirm our commitment to protect our communities and uphold the democratic principles we serve.
We call upon every American to vote, participate in civil discourse and, above all, respect the integrity of the democratic process,” they wrote. “Violence has no place in the democratic process; we will exercise our authority to enforce the law against any illegal acts that threaten it.”
I feel like there’s a lot of emphasis on the potential for violence if Trump loses and not nearly enough appreciation of the fact that it would be dwarfed by the amount of violence that would result if he were to win.
…Choi Jung-hoon, a former first lieutenant in North Korea’s army who now leads an activist group in Seoul, said his “heart ached” when he saw a Ukraine-released video purporting to show young North Korean soldiers lining up to collect their Russian military fatigues and equipment last month.
“None would think they are going to Russia to die,” Choi said. “But I think they’re cannon fodder because they will be sent to the most dangerous sites. I’m sure they will be killed.”
One of his shouty in-char rants, this time at R voters. Going hard at 13:50.
I deplore the fact that in order to gain the power to which I feel entitled, I have to ask you for your help […] if we don’t win this time, a lot of us are probably going to prison in the next few years because we’ve done… SO many crimes. *unhinged chuckle*
[…]
Does this seem like the roster of an organization that values competence? NO! And we don’t. Why should you vote for us? Because fuck em! We’re not gonna fix anything! We’re not gonna make anything better. We’re not gonna do anything for anyone except us. And by “us” I definitely do not mean “you”, you fucking serfs. But you should still vote for us. Why??? […] You never got to be happy. Why should they? Fuck em. Fuck em! Vote for me!!! Vote Republican!
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain, @ #415, I swear Trump has said things in the past few days that verge on that level of open contempt for his voters. I keep thinking of that cartoon with some sheep in a field looking at a billboard with a picture of a wolf reading “I WILL EAT YOU,” and one is saying to the others, “He tells it like it is.”
In related news, from the Guardian liveblog:
A Donald Trump staffer who worked as a regional field director for the western Pennsylvania Republican party was fired on Friday after it was revealed that he was a white supremacist, Lorenzo Tondo reports.
Politico reported it had identified Luke Meyer, 24, a Pennsylvania-based field staffer who worked for five months for the former president, as the online white nationalist who used the pseudonym Alberto Barbarossa.
Meyer reportedly co-hosts the Alexandria podcast with Richard Spencer, the organiser of the 2017 white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and regularly shared racist views.
After being presented with evidence by Politico linking him to the Barbarossa alias, Meyer admitted the connection and confessed that he had been concealing his online identity from fellow members of Trump Force 47, the arm of the Trump campaign overseeing volunteer mobilisation efforts.
Some measures would enshrine abortion in state constitutions, others tweak existing law. All would have big impacts…
StevoRsays
Kinda commented on this in the polls thread too but FWIW adding here as well :
But as the media preach more and more to their own tribe, the American public is again tuning out.
With a survey from Gallup released last month showing that more than two-thirds of Americans have not much or no trust at all in the media which is a new low. And among Republican voters even fewer believe what they’re being told. So if the media can’t be trusted, can the pundits and the polls with whom the media is obsessed? Short answer: no.
The latest averages have the candidates neck and neck in the popular vote. But Nate Silver — the man who never got it wrong until he did — is one of many suggesting there are far too many dead-heat polls. Concluding the pollsters are scared of getting it wrong again and are fudging their figures:
Plus :
Trump has made it clear that if he wins he will come after his enemies. And if you’re a billionaire media mogul that could be you.
In 2022, Elon Musk said it was time for Trump to ‘hang up his hat & sail into the sunset’. But this year the world’s richest man jumped on the Trump train and announced he was all in. Spruiking Trump at rallies:
In addition to :
It (Trump calling mainstream media channels traitors – ed.) is extraordinary stuff. And you can see why billionaires like Bezos are running scared. With the owner of the LA Times also upsetting readers and journalists by blocking the paper’s endorsement of Harris. And America’s largest newspaper chain, Gannett — which came out against Trump as unfit for office in 2016 — also opting out of this fight.
Leaders of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers district in Seattle said 59% of members who cast ballots agreed to approve the company’s fourth formal offer and the third put to a vote. The deal includes a 38% wage increase over four years, and ratification and productivity bonuses.
Union didn’t get everything they wanted but a 38% wage increase over 4 years is huge.
[…] as Americans collectively approached the electoral finish line, the [Trump campaign] took an unexpected turn:
– House Speaker Mike Johnson publicly endorsed “massive” changes to federal health care policy, adding, “No Obamacare.”
– Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah published an online item that read, “Kill Obamacare now.”
– Dave McCormick, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, announced his opposition to an ACA provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans.
– Trump announced that Robert F. Kennedy would play a prominent health care role in a possible second term, adding that the fringe conspiracy theorist would be empowered to “do anything he wants.” The former president also left open the possibility of bans on vaccines and fluoride.
The Washington Post’s report added, “The statements add up to a surreal final week of campaigning for Republicans in which several of Trump’s top surrogates are introducing unconventional — and generally unpopular — ideas that pit them against the health-policy establishment ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.” […]
[…] Republicans for Harris has turned into a credible powerhouse as the 2024 race unfolded, backed by former members of Congress, governors, mayors, state lawmakers, cabinet secretaries, White House staffers, Republican National Committee chairs, and even a former Republican vice president […]
But two days before Election Day, Harris picked up some new support from an unexpected former Trump administration official. HuffPost noted:
John Mitnick, who was general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security under Donald Trump, on Sunday called the Republican nominee a “would-be autocrat and fascist” in a lengthy social media thread warning “fellow conservatives” who are considering voting for Trump. “I was a senior, Senate-confirmed appointee in the Trump administration. I saw it from the inside. It was a chaotic disaster. I am also a lifelong conservative, a former Republican nominee for Congress, and a former White House Counsel,” Mitnick wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in a 13-part thread.
Just so we’re all clear, Mitnick isn’t exactly the kind of Republican who’s earned a “RINO” label. Among other things, the guy served as the Heritage Foundation’s chief legal officer. [telling detail]
But he nevertheless went online on Sunday to warn the American public about his party’s presidential nominee. “Trump is reckless, angry, vengeful, and narcissistic, and he has no respect for the Constitution or the rule of law,” Mitnick wrote as part of a lengthy online thread.
[…] Mitnick went on to explain that the United States did not go “completely off the rails” during Trump’s first term because “there were just enough senior officials who served as ‘guardrails.’”
In a second term, he explained, there will be no guardrails.
“You won’t escape the disastrous effects of his policies (e.g., tariffs) on the economy, global instability and damage to national security resulting from his admiration for foreign dictators, or the chaos, lawlessness, and persecution that he promises,” Mitnick added. “No one will.”
The former Trump administration official concluded:
“I disagree with Kamala Harris on many issues, but she will respect our constitutional system and the rule of law, and she will support our international alliances and allies. She has also pledged to appoint a Republican to her Cabinet. I respectfully urge you to join me and many other conservatives and Republicans in voting for Kamala Harris. It’s time to close the book on Trump and rebuild a truly conservative party based on respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, and each other.”
[…] Trump believes in using the levers of power to retaliate against those on his enemies list. It’s entirely possible that Mitnick and many like him will feel the former president’s wrath if he returns to power.
But with the nation’s future on the line, they’re doing it anyway.
Donald Trump and JD Vance ended their presidential campaign not with a message of hope, but with the kind of misogynistic bile that has repelled women voters.
At one of his final rallies of the 2024 election—which was half empty because it seems voters are finally tired of his embarrassing circus—Trump launched an ugly attack on former Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“She’s a crooked person, she’s a bad person, evil, she’s an evil, sick, crazy b-,” Trump said, mouthing the word “[B-word]” but not actually saying it out loud.
“It starts with a ‘B,’ but I won’t say it,” Trump added. “I wanna say it!” [video at the link]
Trump’s vice presidential running mate Vance, meanwhile, called Vice President Kamala Harris “trash.” [video at the link]
[…] In fact, Trump even reminded voters of that grotesque comment while he droned on at one of his low-energy rallies. At a rally in North Carolina on Monday, Trump was speaking about a SpaceX technology that caught a rocket reentering earth’s atmosphere, saying the mechanical arms “grab that thing like you grab your beautiful baby.”
Trump then added, “See? Much better. Years ago I would’ve said something else but I’ve learned. I would’ve been a little more risque.” [video at the link]
[…] Harris, meanwhile, ended her campaign with a series of uplifting rallies filled to the brim with excited supporters. [video at the link]
More at the link.
birgerjohanssonsays
With so many states beong a “tossupp” Trump would nevertheless need to win most of those states to win, which seems unlikely considering the imbalance (aka tired, demented Trump at rallies) between the campaigns the last few days.
I am going to switch off my brain and watch ordinary TV until further tangible news.
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace said Monday that Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, “effed up” by calling Vice President Harris “trash.”
“In my humble view, lights out,” Wallace said on “Deadline: White House.”
“Women — you can disagree with us. We’ve actually learned to take it for our whole careers, all the time, in every forum. But you call us trash? Oh, oh, oh, JD Vance, you just effed up in a way I’ve never seen in my political life, and I worked for Sarah Palin,” Wallace added.
“I mean, what just happened?”
While rallying supporters in Atlanta earlier Monday, Vance said that “in two days, we are gonna take out the trash in Washington, D.C., and the trash’s name is Kamala Harris.” […]
Winning is beside the point; for the 1789 Foundation, better known as Citizen AG, cultivating distrust in voter eligibility might be the real goal.
This is a thoughtful analysis from Lisa Rubin:
Last week, just days before Election Day, the right-wing activist group Citizen AG filed lawsuits in federal courts in Arizona and Pennsylvania, alleging that each of those states’ secretaries of state had not maintained their state’s voter registration rolls in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act. Each complaint asserts the respective state failed to make the required “reasonable effort” to remove the names of ineligible voters from “the official lists of eligible voters” because of death, criminal convictions, changes in residence, or voters’ own requests.
Citizen AG, which is legally known as the 1789 Foundation, Inc., sees its mission as both ensuring that states “inspect their voter rolls and remove ineligible voters prior to election day” and “assisting those counties who have not done so on their own volition” by deploying registered voters to mount challenges to others’ registrations county-by-county. And the number of voters impacted by this purported failure is hardly small. In Arizona, Citizen AG estimated Secretary of State Adrian Fontes had not removed “over 1.2 million inactive and ineligible voters who failed to respond to confirmation notices and did not vote in two subsequent federal elections;” in Pennsylvania, they claimed that number was closer to 278,000 voters.
Why then, especially given how close this election is expected to be in Arizona and Pennsylvania, did Citizen AG wait so long to file its suits? After all, other, similar cases were brought by the Republican National Committee last March, yet in Michigan and Nevada, the GOP lost, as I noted less than two weeks ago. Similarly, although the Arizona court did order Fontes to make available to Citizen AG certain voter roll maintenance records, Citizen AG was denied the emergency relief it sought in both Arizona and Pennsylvania — orders that would have forced each state to remove hundreds of thousands, if not over a million in Pennsylvania’s case, voters from their rolls.
The secretaries of state responding to these lawsuits say Citizen AG is misinterpreting data. For example, in the Pennsylvania case, Secretary of State Al Schmidt argued there is not a one-to-one correlation between the notices his office sends to voters who have appeared to move and voters themselves. Rather, “Pennsylvania counties often send more than one notice to the same voter,” he explains. He also notes that Citizen AG assumes the number of inactive voters is “static,” without appreciating that it changes every day to reflect events ranging from deaths to re-registration.
One can only guess the real reason Citizen AG belatedly filed these suits, but one possibility is that they never expected to win. Rather, they might have filed these suits more for their out-of-court utility. Specifically, I can envision a universe where after the election, Citizen AG’s filings — which are not themselves indicia of the merits of a lawsuit, much less their likelihood of success — are circulated and touted as “evidence” of voter fraud if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidential election in either of these states. Indeed, by touting the purported significance of the data attached to Citizen AG’s filings, Trump supporters could blame any Harris victories on a pool of ineligible voters — maybe even noncitizen voters — and the Democratic officials who were warned that their rolls were flawed but refused to take action.
[…] This time, rather than relying on ballot manipulation, GOP candidates, surrogates and organizations have coalesced around a different supposed bogeyman: the ineligible voter. And Citizen AG’s misuse of the states’ own data compilations, which include, as the Arizona judge concluded, “hypothetical calculations based on two-year-old data,” could end up starring in post-election narratives, if not in new lawsuits.
[…] something tells me we could see their allegations in circulation again as soon as later this week.
Reginald Selkirksays
@424 Lynna, OM
Dave McCormick, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, announced his opposition to an ACA provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans.
That’s interesting. Most of the others were against some nebulous unspecified “Obamacare.” It is odd to see him single out one of the provisions that an overwhelming majority of people consider to be reasonable and good.
In a phone interview with Fox News on Saturday, Trump said that he was “so disappointed at Julia Roberts” and that she will one day look back at the ad and “cringe.” He added that he doesn’t believe the video portrayed a realistic marital dynamic, calling it “ridiculous.” … “I mean, can you imagine a wife not telling her husband who she’s voting for?” Trump said. “Even if you have a horrible, if you had a bad relationship, you’re going to tell your husband.”
Like a faltering CW teen drama that suddenly decided to introduce a whole supernatural element in the fourth season, Tucker Carlson appears to have evolved from being but a simple smarmy hatemonger into … oh God, I don’t even know. Pat Robertson, I guess? Roseanne? The guy who stands around State Street in Chicago yelling about how we were all Jezebel whores who are going to burn in hell forever?
Last week, we heard Carlson’s strange tale of how he was mauled by a literal demon while he was innocently sleeping in his very own bed.
During an election-eve convo with a fresh-out-of-prison Steve Bannon, Carlson discussed … well, all this. [video at the link]
Via The Guardian:
“Nuclear weapons are demonic, there’s no upside to them at all, and anyone who claims otherwise is either ignorant or doing the bidding of the forces that created nuclear technology in the first place, which were not human forces, obviously,” Carlson said during a discussion on the perceived “spirituality” involved in the US development of atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan in August 1945, hastening the end of the second world war.
“Let me ask you this,” he continued. “What was the moment we can point to that nuclear technology was invented? I’ve never met a person who can isolate the moment where nuclear technology became known to man. German scientists in the 1930s? Really? Name the date? It’s very clear to me that these [nuclear weapons] are demonic.”
[…] as terrible as nuclear bombs are, nuclear technology was not invented by literal demons. Even if demons existed, which they obviously do not, that story would not make any narrative sense. Did they have to invent it or did they always know it existed but just waited until December of 1938, when they popped into the bodies of Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and did some atomic fission for funsies?
No one can isolate the exact moment “where nuclear technology became known to man” because, like pretty much all other scientific discoveries of that kind, it was a process contributed to by many scientists over many years.
Incredibly, this is not even the wackiest thing Tucker said during his time with Steve Bannon, because he also went on a very wild tangent about how all of the hurricanes we are seeing now are not caused by climate change … but by abortions. [video at the link]
Transcript via Media Matters:
I mean, look. If you’re making the case that, you know, sometimes we need to have an abortion, OK. If you’re making the case that abortion is an affirmative good, you are evil. You’re practicing child sacrifice, And that is exactly what they’re doing as every culture before us has. But to see the Treasury Secretary, that dwarf Janet Yellen, get up and say, you know, you can do your part to help the American economy by killing your child, that’s no different than the Canaanites, actually. So if people who don’t see that clearly, that’s exactly what it is. Worshiping abortion, the killing of kids, not as something that, like, needs to happen unfortunately, but as something that is good, that’s pro-abortion. You know?
People — and I have to say, and I’m sure I’ll be attacked for saying this, but I really believe it. People are like, oh, well, we had another hurricane, must be global warming. No, it’s probably abortion, actually. Just being honest. Like, you can’t do that. You can’t kill children on purpose knowing that you’re doing that in exchange for power or freedom or happiness, whatever you think you’re getting in return. You can’t participate in human sacrifice without consequences. You just can’t.
[Looks to me like Fox News got rid of Tucker Carlson just in time.]
While I am sure there are many (non-supernatural) consequences for human sacrifice, exactly none of them are weather-related. Even if that were true … wouldn’t the hurricanes leave the states where abortion is illegal alone? Quite frankly, that’s a pretty terrible God you’ve got there if he takes out his anger over abortions on states like Florida where abortion is illegal!
Carlson is far from the first to claim that God created hurricanes to punish humanity for one thing or another. Pat Robertson, of course, blamed gay people for 9/11, nuclear war, and hurricanes. Tony Perkins was sure hurricanes were caused by both gay people and abortions … before his own house got flooded [during a hurricane].
[…] To Tucker, climate change causing hurricanes is “impossible,” it just cannot, cannot be true, he’s bet everything that it is not true — and therefore it has to be something insane like “Abortions are child sacrifices and God is punishing that by sending hurricanes to places where abortion is illegal.” I think that’s how it works. […]
JMsays
@424 Lynna, OM: Going after healthcare is a desperation move. It’s an issue that worked for Republicans when Trump won and nothing is working for them now. They thought they had winning issues with border security and the economy. The economy has just been too strong over the summer, defying exceptions with steady growth and lower then expected inflation. Trump and other Republicans screwed up border security with incoherent policy and too much overt racism.
Going after the ACA worked for them in the past because people like the idea of more freedom in health care. It’s something Republicans can sound good on as long as you don’t get into the details of what their position really means.
At least 18 states — including swing states like Arizona, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Nevada — and the District of Columbia have activated National Guard troops to support election security efforts on Tuesday.
Around 350 troops will be working on cybersecurity and law enforcement or general election support.
Polling locations in several states have received bomb threats by email, many of them appearing “to originate from Russian email domains,” the FBI said in a press statement.
Some of those threats appear to have been directed at Fulton County, Georgia. Nadine Williams, the county’s election director, said earlier today that they had received five non-credible bomb threats for two polling sites, leading to a temporary evacuation for about 30 minutes each before resuming normal voting operations.
[…] Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger indicated in a press conference earlier today that he believed the threats came from Russia.
[…] “They’re not our friends,” he added. “Anyone that thinks they are hasn’t been reading the newspapers.”
Interesting. I am going to presume that was a misspelling of “expectations” and auto-correct somehow patched it up into the nearest intact word.
Tethyssays
Dave McCormick, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, announced his opposition to an ACA provision that allows young adults to stay on their parents’ health insurance plans.
I had to look him up, as I wondered if his opposition might have anything to do with court ordered child support obligations.
He indeed has a former wife and 4 teenagers, in addition to 2 stepchildren. His second wife was a member of the felon administration, followed by working at Goldman Saks.
David Harold McCormick (born August 17, 1965) is an American businessman and politician who served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, from 2020 to 2022.] He is the husband of former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy Dina Powell.
I hope he loses. Hedge fund managers are bad enough, but he was CEO of the one of the biggest.
These are the corporate executives who l’orange has promised tax breaks if elected.
McCormick, 59, is making his second run for the Senate after losing narrowly to Dr. Mehmet Oz in 2022’s Republican primary. He left his job as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund to run after serving at the highest levels of former President George W. Bush’s administration and sitting on Trump’s Defense Advisory Board.
The race ran on national themes, from abortion rights to inflation. But it also turned on local ones, too, such as Casey’s accusation that McCormick is a rich carpetbagger from Connecticut’s ritzy “ Gold Coast ” — a caricature McCormick helped bring to life by mispronouncing the name of one of Pennsylvania’s local beers — trying to buy Pennsylvania’s Senate seat…
birgerjohanssonsays
Laibach does a live cover of Queen’s One Vision.
‘Laibach – Geburt Einer Nation – Exit Festival 2005 [10/11]’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bmwdf0Jo-uY
BTW the female drummers are really cool.
“A vision” = “Ein Leitbild”
[A judge had] ordered Giuliani to turn over most of his assets, his multi-million dollar Manhattan condominium, and even a 1980s Mercedes Benz [to the election workes he’d defamed]. […] But when the women’s lawyers were given keys to Giuliani’s condo last week, they found it “substantially empty;” […] the Mercedes was already in Florida.
[…]
Tuesday morning, Giuliani was driven in to Trump’s polling station as a passenger in the Mercedes the judge ordered him to hand over
the man was in the process of going through security at the Capitol Visitor Center […] Inside his backpack, officers found bottles that appeared to have fuel residue […] Officers arrested the suspect […] the man had “quite a bit” of papers with him and said he intended to deliver them to Congress. […] “It did not appear that he had doused all of his clothing… so it’s really unknown at this point what his intention was,” […] “there’s no indication right now that it had anything to do with the election.”
[…]
Last week in Maryland, someone followed a poll worker home from a polling place. The person told police they wanted to “make sure ballots were taken to the correct location.”
Someone posted at Daily Kos about how they voted today in a snowstorm in central Montana. It’s so warm on the East Coast today – it’s hard to even picture!
The first result of the 2024 US presidential election – from a tiny township with six residents – has been declared, with a clean split of three votes each for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
In a tradition dating back to 1960, residents of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, cast their ballots at the stroke of midnight (05:00 GMT)…
An elderly woman accidentally drove her small car through the window of the poll site at the Linderman Creek apartment complex around noon Tuesday. There were no injuries reported and none of the election equipment was affected. Officials moved the polling site to a different community room located elsewhere on the property…
County officials said they “can confirm no malicious intent related to the accident.” …
Bekenstein Boundsays
Carlson’s strange tale of how he was mauled by a literal demon while he was innocently sleeping in his very own bed.
Well, he had to explain those scratch marks to his wife somehow!
The pro-slavery, pro-nazi Republican Lt Gov was defeated by the Dem AG, son of the founder of the state’s first integrated law firm and now, first Jewish Governor of NC.
Current Gov Roy Cooper was already Dem. NC is one of 20 states that elects Lt Govs separately per its constitution. The new Lt Gov hasn’t been called yet.
Well, the Biden administration fucked around and now we all get to find out. (As I write this, it hasn’t been called yet, but it’s getting closer and Trump is well in the lead.)
Y’know, maybe sending Bill Clinton at the last minute to tell Muslim voters in Michigan that their extended families were evil and needed to die wasn’t a smart move after all. In fact, maybe spending 11 months literally expecting that voters would just forget a genocide which they were being forced to pay for by the time of the election — and continuing to expect this no matter how close said election got — was not clever planning. Maybe being smug and condescending and dismissive whenever anybody brought it up in public was not the vote-getter that Biden and Harris apparently thought it was. Maybe, just maybe, “I am not Trump” — which didn’t work in 2016 and only just barely worked in 2020, when voters had recent experience of what that meant — was not so effective that it was reasonable to expect it to excuse any and everything else the administration was screwing up. It’s even possible that skirting Congressional budgetary control by sending off weapons shipments just below the threshold requiring approval as often as 90 times in a single month, but then not pulling similar shenanigans for things like disaster relief after a hurricane literally wiped whole inland towns off the map, maybe that was a bridge too far in cynicism. Maybe proclaiming the Democrats to be the good, smart, mentally-balanced party and then carrying out evil, stupid, vicious policy was too much of a contradiction. Maybe the Cheneys aren’t the vote-getters among those who lean left that Democrats apparently assumed they were. Maybe it was as ridiculous as it seemed to declare that Republicans were “weird” and then immediately announce you’d be adding them to the cabinet.
They fucked around, we’ll all find out.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Re: The Vicar @457:
skirting Congressional budgetary control […] not pulling similar shenanigans for things like disaster relief
starting in March, FEMA plans to change its rules to provide assistance to more people. […] “FEMA now assumes that any survivor who applies is not eligible unless proven otherwise,” […] One new program, for example, will give displaced people advance money for emergency housing including staying with friends or relatives—and “will not require receipts documenting the use of this assistance.” [replacing the current policy of] reimbursement and only for costs such as hotel stays that are documented
[…]
The new policies also illustrate how President Joe Biden and his administration are bypassing Congress to improve equity […] and bypass requirements that agencies propose new regulations and accept public comment before finalizing them. By publishing the new regulations as an “interim final rule,” FEMA can put them in effect in 60 days and make revisions after a 180-day comment period.
No, because that doesn’t involve Biden actively sticking his neck out and risking investigation because he wants to do something so badly that he’ll find and exploit every loophole he possibly can in the heat of the moment. Maybe it has something to do with the $5 million that Mister Nothing Is Fundamentally Going To Change has taken from Israeli lobbyists, although one would assume that that was chump change to a national-level American politician.
One thing is for certain: the Democrats cared more about Israel being able to start wars with all its neighbors than they did about keeping Trump out of the White House. Netanyahu has been pro-Trump since 2016 and the Biden administration still pulled out all the stops to enable his war crimes at taxpayer expense. All that hand-wringing about Project 2025 was just theater; they were perfectly happy for it all to happen as long as the bodies kept piling up. I am totally ashamed that I have ever voted for a Democrat, given the way that Democrats were willing to go along with that; there should have been a major revolt, early on, and the fact that there wasn’t is why, if the exit polls reported by Salon are anything to go by, Harris isn’t going to be the candidate sworn in in January.
But I shouldn’t be surprised; centrists have always allied with the far right when the chips were down. Hitler didn’t get into office by winning an election, he became chancellor because successions of centrist politicians moved rightward, legitimizing the far right over and over again, until he had enough support that he could be appointed to an office by a centrist.
It looks like the Republicans are going to have a majority in the Senate, too, so Harris didn’t just lose by clinging to Biden’s policies, she had anti-coat-tails. (Great job picking candidates these last 3 elections, guys. Almost like Clinton, Biden, and Harris were every bit as worthless as those much-denounced Bernie Bros told you at the time. Nah, it can’t be. It’s the children who are wrong.) For decades now, every time the Democrats have had a majority, Republican minorities in the Senate have been blamed for blocking everything the Democrats said they wanted to do because the Democrats didn’t have a strong enough majority, even when they briefly had 60 seats. The Republicans can now change the rules to eliminate the filibuster and do whatever they want with a simple majority — I’m betting they will, and it will prove that the Democrats were stupid chumps for not doing it themselves in 2009 or 2021, or possibly (more plausibly, in fact) that the Democrats never actually intended to do anything at any point anyway and just used the filibuster as an excuse.
Or, they may keep the filibuster, and the Democrats will have the opportunity to show that they weren’t lying when they said the Republicans were able to block them from doing literally anything despite having a minority. If the filibuster survives, I bet that won’t happen. The last 34 years have shown that the Democratic Party is utterly, utterly hollowed out and worthless — not serious about getting any of their actual campaign promises accomplished, more interested in chasing Republican voters than doing what they promised their own voters they would do, far more concerned with multinational corporations than with the public. They’ll fold like a cheap suit and let the Republicans have whatever they want. That’s been a recurring pattern both for the Democrats in the US and for centrists worldwide — when the chips are down, centrists align with fascists. The only way to stop the fascists is to stop the centrists.
(At least NATO will now probably become a European-only group, so the US won’t be able to drag the rest of the western world into imperial battles any more — we won’t have some damned incompetent warhawk Secretary of State bypassing Congress by way of NATO to have an invasion like Hillary Clinton did in Libya under Obama. Oh, wait — Biden just set a precedent last month that the President can deploy any part of the military without even talking to Congress, which means he can deploy all of it, so Trump will be able to do that, too, and this is all moot! Heck of a job, Team Blue! It was so worth it to stack the deck in Biden’s favor in the 2020 primaries!)
I don’t really expect to survive until the next Presidential election. I probably wouldn’t anyway, but I think this cements it in place. Don’t give me more of the No Matter Who Blue MAGA crap that shows up whenever Democrats gather to suppress dissent from the left; this was Harris’ election to lose, and she lost it because she was a bad candidate who hated her own voters, and we all have a right to be pissed off about the way she threw away every chance with both hands. (And, incidentally, the Clintons ought to be bulldozed by the IDF; why the hell can’t they shut the fuck up and go away for good? Wasn’t causing losses in 2000 and 2016 enough for them?)
lotharloosays
Trump will most likely sweep all swing states and Israel Gaza war has nothing to do with it. Even if Biden had fully opposed Israel, it would have changed nothing.
Americans vote for Trump because they are idiots. Nothing can change that.
JMsays
Places are starting to call it for Trump. He still doesn’t have 270 but with PA going for Trump Harris will need to sweep the remaining states to win. This is going to be very bad for the USA and bad for several other places around the planet that are going to get swept up in the aftermath.
My feeling at this point is that the single biggest factor is the number of people who feel the economy is doing badly. It isn’t and it will do worse under Trump but people feel that way.
redwoodsays
I really want to know what all the Trump and GOP voters were thinking. Why did they vote the way they did? What convinced them that they were making the best choice? That’s the kind of poll I’d really like to see.
Joy Reid: Black voters came through for Kamala Harris. White women voters did not. That is what it appears happened in [North Carolina]. […] a state where you’ve got a 12-week abortion ban.
[…] Chris Hayes: Mark Robinson is like running an experiment, which is “What’s the floor?” […] he has a very long history of saying incredibly repellent, omnidirectionally offensive statements […] He lost by a lot. He got 40%.
[…]
I think, “Where does everyone start in the structurally polarized America that we live in?” The answer is Mark Robinson at 40% in North Carolina. […] He was abandoned by the top of the ticket […] by fellow Republicans, abandoned by his entire staff. He had just about the worst news cycles you’ve ever seen […] And in what has been a 50/50 state […] There’s two things in every election: there’s the structural stuff, and then there’s what happens in that campaign, what the candidates are, what’s happening in the news. The structural stuff in this country is the 40%.
[…] Reid: I think we also forget that we are a “60% on a good year” turnout country. […] poor and low-wealth people don’t vote for the most part […] there’s a tendency to think it’s poor people voting against their best interests […] they’re just not a part of the system. So what you have is higher-net-worth and higher-education voters versus rural working-class voters—but remember ‘working class’ does not mean poor. You can be working class, meaning you’re a non-college voter, but you actually have a second home
birgerjohanssonsays
I am numb. It is coming down to some mail-in votes in Philadelphia.
birgerjohanssonsays
While we are waiting for the mail-in votes for Philadelphia to decide if Trump will be president or not, here is something to cheer you up.
.
Jon Stewart and The Best F**king News Team Take on Election Night 2024
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZjMAfRq7V_s
lumipunasays
On Finnish news, there’s currently a huge garbage fire in Tampere (a major city, where several of my relatives live).
You know, this is like watching for signs that Sagittarius A* has turned quasar and will fry the galaxy. By the time you see something the light has been en route for 30 000 years so life or death has already been decided.
Since I have no time machine I am going to get coffee and try to stop thinking about the election. Or stop thinking, period.
birgerjohanssonsays
Lumipuna @ 466
A portent…
JMsays
@462 redwood: I would really like to know also but I suspect many wouldn’t be honest if asked. There are probably small but significant chunks that voted against Harris because she is a woman and/or isn’t white. Few of those voters would admit to it and likely many come up with excuses to themselves.
There is probably a significant part of the Republican base that votes against Democrats because they don’t want their guns taken away but what part they really make up is unclear. There is also a spite the liberals vote, but again how much of an actual percent they make is unclear. I think there is a substantial group that registered as Republican many years ago and just refuse to change but they can always come up with reasons why they stick with their side.
There is some left wing people that voted Republican because they are angry with the Democratic party. This is a stupid way to vote in this election but it does happen. There are probably more that claim to do this then actually did.
exit polling showed Trump winning 57% of Latinos in the state after exit polls in 2020 showed him winning just 27% of Pennsylvania’s Latino vote.
WTF
Bekenstein Boundsays
Obviously some kind of cheating.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to price some fallout shelters.
StevoRsays
Time for Biden to use that limitless kingly power the SCOTUS gave him – and NOT hold back..
They want dictatoprship? Give em dictatorship first before they give you dictatorship.
I am stunned, appalled, gutted, horrified and so very pissed off.
Oh & isn’t this about the time Trump should be calling the election rigged and unfair?
(Which it actually is just in his favour. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, EC et al.)
StevoRsays
@ Vicar : Blaming the wrong people and yet this is what you wanted isn’t it?
Accelerationism, tyranny, carnage..human misery and suffering and deaths.
StevoRsays
The USA’s downfall..
lotharloosays
At the end of the day, not having a primary bites Democrats in the ass. Harris did all she could but you can’t argue with the results: Democrats are a very incompetent opposition party.
Michigan is among 39 states nationwide that allows for hospitalized patients to request an emergency absentee ballot on Election Day […] According to the Michigan Secretary of State, […] you may request an emergency ballot up until 4 p.m. on Election Day. Such emergencies include: a sudden illness, a death in the family and being arrested.
[…]
In Mississippi, a woman named Nancy Oliver fell at her house Thursday and wound up in the hospital, where doctors found a mass on her brain and informed her that she had metastatic lung cancer. […] She desperately wants to vote in the presidential election, but Mississippi law won’t let her. […] nor can her family who is rushing to be at her side
[…]
Though deflated, Oliver said she still has a request on Election day: That she be allowed to watch the returns from ICU.
StevoRsays
Netanyahu & Putin getting their way and able to do whatever they please now…
That what you wanted Vicar, Beholder, other Trump shills? Well, we have it, Now what?.
Now what for everyone?
KGsays
Now what? Now what for everyone? – StevoR@477
A world of competing fascisms and multiple genocides, followed by civilizational collapse as all attempts to stem global heating are abandoned. Enjoy your triumph Vicar, beholder, drew…
Pennsylvania bars officials from opening and processing mail ballots before Election Day.
birgerjohanssonsays
Passover did not exist in the fifth century BC
.
New Study of ‘Passover Letter’ May Change What We Know About the Birth of Judaism – Archaeology – Haaretz.com
I have a question about the mail-in ballots of Pennsylvania.
Have all of them been counted?
NBC has called Pennsylvania for trump but I have not found a confirmation about the mail-in votes.
I don’t really expect to survive until the next Presidential election.
It would be a mercy indeed to be spared four more years of this pernicious kind of ghastly gloating over a planetary disaster…
StevoRsays
“I will not turn the United States of America that I know & love over to a bunch of nazis and traitors, racist, misogynist, haters and scum. I am therefore in my final days as President using the full weight and authority of the absurdly unrestrained kingly power granted to me by the former sad excuse for a Supreme Court to act without any restraint upon those previously mentioned nazis and traitors against our nation. They will be removed, jailed and stopped, They will NEVER be allowed to take over this United States of America. The Republican Party is now a listed terrorist organisation and domestic enemy of the USA as is the Federalist Society, the former richest man & SpaceX and Twitter boss Elon Musk who is now arrested and stripped of all his wealth and assets, as is Murdoch and his collaboraters, all the reichwing extremist groups and so-called “think tanks” and all the Russian assets used to steal* this election.
I am using my SCOTUS decred unlimited presidential authority to decree this 2024 election null and void.
However, I will not reign as a dictator or tyrant unlike Trump or the, arguably, somewhat more sane British King George III. There will be a new election held in a year and a half’s time which will allow voters who pass a test of critical thinking, basic science, civics, ethics and pass a mental competency test qualifying them for a voting licence to decide a new POTUS. This will be a 1 person one vote election with the EC abolished, a new SCOTUS emplaced and prefential voting with a nationwide electoral commission overseeing it to ensure consistency and fairness on best governance principles as overseen by a comittee of overseas experts who will enable the USA to become an actually fair and representative Democracy that truly serves the American people . Again, this is explictly using the power gifted to me by the previous SCOTUS which has now been both disbanded and mostly replaced by superior qualified Justices.
I regret the necessity for these steps which are also sadly long overdue and will also decree using those same powers that such powers are an abomination unto democracy that must not be used again just as the previous treason SCOTUS was an abomination which we must never see the likes of again.
This concludes this 2024 post election Presidential address to the nation and I now step aside in favour of my VP Kamala Harris & who will act as caretaker POTUS until that election allowing time for that to be organised and those passing the aforementioned test to be determined by their own ability to actually think reasonably.”
– Imaginary Joe Biden, POTUS in my head.
If only huh?
Not impossible?
.* Hey, If Trump can do it, why can’t he? Geese ganders..
Voters in Missouri cleared the way to undo one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans in one of five victories Tuesday for abortion rights advocates. ^Florida^, meanwhile, defeated a similar constitutional amendment, leaving in place a law barring most abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy.
Abortion rights amendments also passed in Arizona, Colorado and Maryland [Narrator: and Montana]. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they’ll need to pass it again in 2026 for it to take effect.
An amendment that bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York. A measure that allows more abortion restrictions and enshrines the state’s current 12-week ban was adopted in ^Nebraska^
[…]
Until Tuesday, abortion rights advocates had prevailed on all seven measures that have appeared on statewide ballots since the fall of Roe. Missouri is positioned to be the first state where a vote will undo a ban that is already in place.
[…]
But the ban, and other restrictive laws, are not automatically repealed. Advocates now have to ask courts to overturn laws to square with the new amendment.
[…]
[A ^South Dakota^ measure would have enshrined first trimester rights and and mostly second-trimester, with weasel room for proposing restrictions in the name of maternal safety after 12 weeks.] Because of that wrinkle, most national abortion-rights groups are not supporting it. [Narrator: That measure meant to soften an existing harsher ban law. It was rejected.]
[…]
Currently, 13 states are enforcing bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Four more bar abortion in most cases after about six weeks of pregnancy — before women often realize they’re pregnant. (Pregnancy is counted from the first day of a woman’s last period, not the date of conception, which is later.)
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
* I botched the carets. “^ = bad” then. Also should’ve bolded Nevada.
Let me just say one thing: the results of this election absolutely do not reflect on “us as a country.” First, there’s no such thing. Second, it’s a deliberately antidemocratic electoral system where both candidates promised to do some truly unpopular things. Please, do not take #USpol personally. A nation-state is not a community. Your people are here regardless.
KGsays
Let me just say one thing: the results of this election absolutely do not reflect on “us as a country.” – CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain quoting Sally Strange@489
I’m afraid I can’t agree. The American electorate has voted for fascism. Of course there are many good Americans, devoted to freedom and social justice – but it’s quite clear they are a minority, and that overall, the politics and culture of the USA are deeply toxic.
Be there for one another and especially for all those who will be much more vulnerable.
All of the people on the ‘left’ haha-ing this catastrophe should pause and think of what is going to happen next—and start planning. We need to build entire infrastructures of resistance. Liberals and leftists have more in common than not and we either figure out how to build a progressive coalition at all levels or it will keep on getting worse.
I just don’t wanna give in to despair is all. I know it’s bad and I get the need to vent, but pls be mindful of those who are already on the edge emotionally and mentally rn. Check in
“I don’t see why the Democrats won’t just say ‘ok fine we will build your wall’ we both know the wall does nothing. What’s to lose?”
“Well it it’s bad for biodiversity…”
“Nobody cares about that.”
“Well. It’s wrong…”
“I know but that’s all these people want. then dems could win.”
[…] I was stumped because my brother and I talk about politics a great deal and we agree on most facts.
But, today it suddenly became clear to me that part of the reason the right has become so extreme on immigration is because they are struggling to define themselves *in contrast* to Democrats who are themselves at least right leaning. Democrats effectively conceded on the need for a wall: and now the right says “mass deportation”
Harris is so tough! A prosecutor. She would be tough on the border you betcha!
So if your brand is xenophobia how do you top that? Mass deportation, dogs cats, garbage island. etc.
Choosing the battle line is as important as fighting hard. Can one win by retreating? Could I be wrong and this was a strategic retreat that—well what did it do?
Footnote in replies
Not “the wall” but tension of having 8 million people who live and work in our country, who are essential to it functioning but who are not here “legally” in the sense of the letter of the law (but it is so lucrative to keep things as they are all enforcement is both performative noise and a constant stream of senseless violence inflicted on those least able to defend themselves.)
birgerjohanssonsays
A repeat question: Uncounted mail-in votes at Philadelphia.
Once I am certain they have been counted I can start to grieve.
Reginald Selkirksays
Fuck. I went to bed hopeful. I should have slept in another four years.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captainsays
Re: birgerjohansson: Sorry. I’ve only seen remarks that counting can take days.
Liberals and leftists have more in common than not and we either figure out how to build a progressive coalition at all levels or it will keep on getting worse.
Tried that once. Liberals called me a genocidal madman (because Mussolini used to be a socialist) and was I blamed for Trump winning in 2016.
I just don’t wanna give in to despair is all…
Well despair is all you got, because all the optimism, organizing, and peaceful demonstrating isn’t going to stop the literal bullets that are going to be fired at us. Drum circles and pink-pussy-hats are no match to the U.S. military.
Akira MacKenziesays
No Sally. This IS us.
It should be no surprise that this happened. Afterall, this is a nation build on slavery, genocide, capitalist exploitation, and religious fanaticism. Hate, greed, and superstition are baked into our culture. The only time progress has been allowed is if it sneaks in through judicial ruling or a loophole, but it’s never approved by the majority. This outcome was inevitable.
For the convenience of readers, here are a few links back to the previous set of 500 comments on The Infinite Thread:
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/10/04/infinite-thread-xxxiii/comment-page-2/#comment-2240644
Texas hospitals prepare to gather data on treating non-citizens
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/10/04/infinite-thread-xxxiii/comment-page-2/#comment-2240606
Virginia appeals court strikes down effort to purge suspected noncitizen voters
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/10/04/infinite-thread-xxxiii/comment-page-2/#comment-2240584
One of many comments discussing Trump’s racist rally at Madison Square Garden
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/10/04/infinite-thread-xxxiii/comment-page-2/#comment-2240669
More commentary on Trump’s racist rally.
Trump’s Former ICE Head’s Plan for Mass Deportation: More Family Separation or Deporting US Citizens
On 60 Minutes, Tom Homan said “families can be deported together.” That would require removing Americans too.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/from-all-puerto-ricans-fck-you-tony
https://www.wonkette.com/p/jake-tapper-kicks-jd-vances-smarmy
Jake Tapper Kicks JD Vance’s Smarmy, Lying Ass
Link
In the previous set of 500 comments on The Infinite Thread, microraptor noted that, “Two ballot drop boxes were firebombed in Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington last night/early this morning.”
Voter suppression:
Link
An update on the firebombing in Portland: the ballot box was apparently equipped with a fire suppression system that successfully engaged, resulting in only two ballots being damaged. The people those ballots belonged to were identified and the county government is notifying them on how to get replacement ballots.
https://bsky.app/profile/negev79.bsky.social/post/3l7liwabayi2y
The TEC Show:
“Good Early Voting Results! Battleground State Breakdown:
Harris vs Trump Election 2024”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=VKif42VVL0k
Most states have a majority of women early voters.
There are plenty other podcasts about polling but there are not much new changes. After some thought I decided against posting other polling links. Unless you have huge polling numbers the small sub-percent differences between Harris and Trump in some states are not statistically significant.
It is more interesting to extract information from early voting. The huge turnout of women voters seems promising.
A bit more traditional:
Golden Crocoduck winner 2024
(“The Golden Crocoduck is awarded every year on 28 October (the feast day of St. Jude Thaddeus, the Patron Saint of lost causes) for the biggest breach of the 9th Commandment.
It may not be 28 October where you are, but it’s 28 October here in sunny Australia, so there!”)
NYT:
Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to CNN’s Anderson Cooper as ‘Allison’
Maggie Astor / October 28, 2024
Israel has banned the UN agency for Palestinian refugees
They are the “I’m not a bigot if I don’t say the slur word” people. Some don’t see their own social dominance behavior. Others think that is the way it should be.
https://www.joemygod.com/2024/10/report-trumps-msg-rally-comic-was-planning-to-call-harris-the-c-word-but-campaign-stopped-him/
Brony @13, so the Trump campaign did at least sort of vet what the guy was going to say.
According to other reporting, the “joke” about Puerto Rico being a garbage dump was on the teleprompter. That text was loaded onto the teleprompter, so the Trump campaign must have known about that too. Ditto for the racist sneer about black people, etc.
NBC News:
Sunny Hostin, co-host of “The View”:
@ 12. CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain :
So Isreal’s own Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir now has no rights in Israel then?
Source : https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3417226,00.html
Plus former Israeli PM & Irgun-Lehi group leader Yitzhak Shamir and another former Prime Minister and Irgun leader Menachem Begin?* See : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Shamir#Lehi_leadership & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menachem_Begin#Jewish_underground
Among others including extremist Jewish settlers and even arguably Netanyahu who has been accused by some of being a terrorist – & did indeed incite the murder of his predecessor Yitzhak Rabin?
They now have no rights in Israel? Huh. Somehow doubt it.
Okay both those ex-PM’s have died so moot point but still.
Dead cats.
Mehdi Hasan with authors of a book on Musk – Ryan Mac and Kate Conger – “here – Very FEARFUL Environment Around [Elon Musk]” Mehdi Speaks to Authors of New Book ‘Character Limit.’ 18 mins long.
The Sudan War has been dubbed the ‘Forgotten Crisis’ by the same media who have ‘forgotten to report on it’ (09-06)
New wave of massacres in Sudan as atrocities hit dozens of villages (10-27)
From Trump’s recent Nuremberg rally:
Normally your side refuses to concede even after losing the election, and now you’re giving a concession speech over a week before voting day?
Eh, whatevs.
Hear that? That is the drip, drip, drip of the Russian and Chinese spy agencies salivating.
That ship sailed in 2017, when Nazi marchers murdered Heather Heyer. And it got a big overhaul including bigger sails on January 6, 2021.
It’s funny he should mention that: one of the few acts of foreign aggression Trump perpetrated during his term was to … bomb Iran. To be exact, he blew up Iranian general Qasem Suleimani via drone strike, perhaps hoping that, like a certain notorious assassination way back in 2014, doing so would start World War III and distract Americans from his pandemic mismanagement, police brutality, and other domestic woes. (Spoiler warning: he failed, though NetanYahoo is now giving the same thing a more serious try.)
Re: Berkenstein Bound @ #21…
Errr…. Perhaps your allusion is to the political assassination that took place in 1914? Not sure one can really equate a general to an archduke, though.
EXCLUSIVE
Trump rally comedian workshopped racist Puerto Rico line at NYC comedy club the night before
The comments have drawn intense anger and reignited the criticism over Trump’s handling of Hurricane Maria’s devastating aftermath in Puerto Rico.
‘TURD REICH’
Jimmy Kimmel:
“Trump’s NUTTIEST Rally of All Time at Madison Square Garden & Clueless Klux Klan Shows Up In Force”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BEL2wvba4_k
The factions in Sudan are receiving support from different Gulf kingdoms.
A question for anyone familiar with voter registration procedures in Pennsylvania.
If many of the 400.000 Puerto Ricans in the state have previously ignored the election but now wants to vote for Harris, will they have time to register as voters in the few days remaining?
Ancient graves reveal distinct burial practices of Neanderthals and early humans in the Levant
.https://phys.org/news/2024-10-ancient-graves-reveal-distinct-burial.html
“Study observes a phase transition in magic of a quantum system with random circuits”
.https://phys.org/news/2024-10-phase-transition-magic-quantum-random.html
I will not even pretend I understand this, but it is claimed to be important in order to realize universal and fault-tolerant quantum computers.
NB -Important for large-scale energy storage.
“New protective layer could extend zinc battery lifespan by several orders of magnitude”
.https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-layer-zinc-battery-lifespan-magnitude.html
Re: birgerjohansson @26:
Per the liink in #487:
Pennsylvania registration in-peron, mail, and online are all 15 days before the election on Nov 5, which is a week from now. So no.
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, October 25 – November 3 – Sky & Telescope – Sky & Telescope
.https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-october-25-november-3/
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS can still be seen with binoculars or a telescope. Watch the star map at the link
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ 30
[Long harangue of curse words]
Thank you for the information.
The anti-Trump October Surprise was delivered by Trump.
.
Meidas Touch:
‘Trump Gets Worst News as October Surprise Knocks Him Out’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=KnGb59Lb6ZE
A Trump rally has a concept of a crowd.
And the fallout from the NY rally continues.
SSADT will have a Tuesday rally in Allentown, a town with a lot of latinos. This will be interesting.
.
*Serial Sexual Assaulter Donald Trump, the adjuciated rapist.
A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for school shootings and measles
By Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge, host of the Decoder podcast, and co-host of The Vergecast.
Travel time needed to get from New York before and after the arrival of train travel.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/x1WFtQusSvm8LPMG/
But all things were better in the past. Like…
“Have I Got News for You” S68E04 – Charlie Brooker
This is the Brit version, so there is mercifully only one news item about Trump.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ruKsUXCBc6E
No one expects the Spanish Goat Police !
Film: Heretic.
Hugh Grant’s sinister non-believer is my new role model!
Don’t come knocking on my door with your religious pamphlets.
Indirect reciprocity
“Simulation study identifies robust social norms that sustain cooperation”
.https://phys.org/news/2024-10-simulation-robust-social-norms-sustain.html
Ayn Rand would probably not like the study.
On North Carolina’s Mark Robinson, did Vance miss the memo?
Donald Trump avoids saying North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s name out loud. So why is JD Vance calling him “great”?
WaPo Live
37 minutes ago
Marianne LeVine and Patrick Svitek
Trump calls Madison Square Garden rally a ‘lovefest’
‘Republik’:
“Kamala Harris Soars After Trump Rally | 2024 Election Polls All States”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=JwXZ27IGFn8
Cautious optimism. But the margins remain modest.
tomh @41, certainly NOT a love fest for Americans from Puerto Rico.
In related news: When it comes to the truth, Trump’s ads are about as bad as his speeches
The problem isn’t just the lies in Donald Trump’s campaign ads. The problem is made worse by how he lies in the commercials.
Trump can’t tell the truth because reality does not favor him.
Bits of campaign news, as summarized by Steve Benen:
Link
As far as polls go, remember that those statistics do not tell you the margin of error in each poll.
Former Trump surgeon general balks at letting RFK Jr. ‘go wild’ on health care policy
Donald Trump intends to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild on health.” Trump’s former surgeon general thinks that would be a very bad idea.
The fallout from the Hate Fest Trump held in Madison Square Garden continues:
Link
Schadenfreude moment: the “mostly empty arena in Georgia.” Photo can be viewed here.
More commentary on Trump’s disastrous hate fest:
Link
Link
George W. Bush is still not endorsing anyone.
Bezos and Musk: It’s all about space, by Mark Sumner
The TEC Show
‘Racist Puerto Rico Joke Could Sink Trump Campaign – Harris vs Trump 2024 Election Update’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=iDA9lTCIWsk
The substantial numbers of Puerto Ricans in the battleground states are listed.
If even ten per cent change their votes it can flip an election. And it was was not only Puerto Ricans that were insulted, but latinos in general, and Blacks. As of this moment Trump himself has not said anything.
Cartoon: Dark shadow
Followup to birger @50.
Predictable: Trump says he didn’t hear New York rally comedian, doesn’t know him
birgerjohansson@50,
I doubt many will “change their votes” in the sense of switching from Trump to Harris. Any woman, Black person, Latino, Puerto Rican… planning to vote for Trump must have already convinced themselves that “He doesn’t mean me“. A new slew of racist insults is unlikely to penetrate that self-deception. But the numbers going from “vote for Trump” to “don’t bother to vote”, and from “don’t bother to vote” to “vote for Harris” could be significant.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-coup-lawyer-cleta-mitchell
Some background info:
Former president George W. Bush appointed John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.
Trump has had a large number of incidents of similar magnitude, and yet here we are.
Consider his campaign ad at Arlington National Cemetery, for just one example.
Israeli airstrike kills 90 in Gaza, local officials say, as aid fears grow after UNRWA ban
In Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah named former deputy Sheikh Naim Kassem as its new leader Tuesday.
Steve Bannon released from prison just in time to peddle more lies
Teri Garr, the offbeat comic actor of ‘Young Frankenstein’ and ‘Tootsie,’ has died
CNN host kicks panelist off show after ‘lowest of the lowest’ exchange with Mehdi Hasan
TLDR: Has China’s Stimulus Already Failed?
Chinese government has not followed up the initial pronouncements with anything that the markets or public likes. The government seems to want to replace housing and public investment in infrastructure with investment in R&D. This is a program highly unlikely to work.
It’s also been pointed out that when the Chinese government makes a big pronouncement the effects on the stock market tends to be inflated. The government arranges for the big state owned firms to buy on the pronouncement so the market goes up. Investors know this and buy to take advantage of the inevitable spike in prices. This doesn’t last long though and the exchanges are marked by sudden jumps up and then jumps down later when the government makes big announcements.
Reuters: Ukraine’s key Pokrovsk coal mine still operating as Russian troops move closer
The Russians continue to make small gains at great expense in manpower and equipment. The loss of Pokrovsk would have major impact on Ukraine’s native steel production. The Ukrainians are doing better in Kursk where some of the elite Ukrainian units are operating. Both sides are rushing to make last moves before bad weather shuts down combat for months.
An Elon Musk-funded super PAC is putting out fake pro-Harris ads
Elizabeth Lopatto –
I shouldn’t have to tell you not to do this, but just in case you don’t have any common sense…
God Awful Movies
“GAM 480 The Deliverance”
Michael Marshall joins the gang to dissect this film. In this case the demon might have been the goid guy of the film.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=eS1kuHKE5iA
Having a hole to hell in the basement would actually be an improvement, I would finally have place for all my stuff.
PhD student finds lost city in Mexico jungle by accident
In the news: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/29/alphabet-google-earnings-report
How the coronavirus defeats the innate immune response
This new “AI Scientist” can “fully automate discovery”, researchers claim
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BXSuaY9hUng
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence…
Which researchers, where, and what is the source of this claim?
(I know, I know… click on the link and only then find out)
The only evidence I see for your claim is a naked link which I will have to click on to determine the information I would require to induce me to click on that link.
(That means no clickety-click)
NYT Live
A disability rights group hits Trump with ads featuring his nephew.
Oct. 29, 2024, 6:01 p.m. ET
Maggie Astor
‘Interesting Discoveries About Earth’s Magnetosphere and an Event 42000 Years Ago’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=gZBXrOjr47w
The magnetic field grew much weaker and nearly flipped during the ice age.
Former Tory minister Jeremy Hunt Panicking About OBR Budget Report”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=a6uWBJlZXaI
Oops, it looks like he concealed a 22 billion pound hole in the finances and lied about it to the parliament!
WaPo Live
Group with Musk ties ramps up deceptive Facebook ads
Will Oremus and Trisha Thadani / 6:36 PM ET
I saw on the Australian news yesterday that vote drop boxes are being systematically set on fire in the US.
Any details?
Yup, DanDare: https://www.google.com/search?q=vote+drop+boxes+are+being+systematically+set+on+fire+in+the+US
Re: DanDare @75: microraptor posted about two. One damaged hundreds of ballots because the fire suppression system failed. The other had negligible effect. The incidents are believed to be connected, and there is surveillance footage of the suspect’s vehicle.
Re: DanDare @ #75…
I’d hardly call it “systematically”.
Her what? I think the implied assertion that there is a god is more plausible than the implied assertion that this … this … this Trump lawyer has a heart.
Oh, and where the hell can I find decent cough medicine these days? None of what I see on store shelves seems to include a damned decongestant. Not one! Without a decongestant the rest of the stuff is nigh-useless.
Lynna, would it be really naughty of me to suggest self-diagnosis and self-medication is less advisable asthanseeing an actual qualified medical professional?
(Normally, I would — it’s most certainly in the public interest — but in this case your stricture possibly precludes that; take it as names aside, nothing personal)
[oops. Editing flub, right there. Still, I think it’s sufficiently legible]
It is very, very uncommon that patients self-prescribe.
cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct-to-consumer_advertising
Re: John Morales @ #82…
The thriving market in street drugs would suggest that self-medication, if not outright self-prescribing is pretty common.
Lynna, OM @ # 2, quoting Mother Jones:
$88 thou per head? C’mon, put it out to bid! The Free Market™ will provide an array of innovative solutions that pay for themselves, and the Supreme Corrupt will expedite Constitutional exemptions relating to former rights of non-citizens and other enemies of the people.
/Project 2025
Jesus wept, why couldn’t that old fool Biden just keep his stupid mouth shut? With one ambiguous remark, he’s managed to give the fascists a way to neutralise the effect of the racist filth spewed at the MSG rally, overshadow Harris’s key speech, and bring back to mind Clinton’s “basket of deplorable” blunder.
Hidden History – The Forgotten and Historic Beale’s Cut on the Newhall Pass
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=jDKeF8TFosQ
Until 1910 this was the main passage when travelling between Los Angeles and the Valley.
The Daily Show
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Roasts Trump Supporters At His MSG Rally
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=-yN0Pru9fNQ
Russian court fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
CNN
‘It’s too late now’: Latino radio host on Trump’s response to joke controversy.
If this has an impact on the election, it is because Trump is incapable of saying sorry, and saying it right away. Arrogance meets stupidity.
Slavoj Žižek on Sabine Hossenfelder and determinism.
A distinction between freedom and contingency.
.https://youtube.com/shorts/SKDxV0TY1vg
Atlanta, Monday evening.
“Trump Shocks Crowd By Fantasizing About Marjorie Taylor Greene Dying In Car Explosion ”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=4AQyLgJQ5kY
He is WEIRD. He is churning out this garbage at a rate it is impossible to react to everything.
We Left a Pile Of Peanuts in the Woods. Heres what happened! ”
Trail Camera: The Peanut Pile.
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=dpYpzue_yR8
These charming images are soothing, after all the election madness.
“What Happened to the Pre-Contact Dogs?”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=osMu6i2txFA
If we can recover DNA from teeth it should be possible to resurrect them by inserting DNA into the egg of a modern dog. They are not a different species.
@ 85
Boo hoo. If anything, Biden was being polite to the filthy, fascist, garbage people.
Why voters should care (a lot) about the budget goal for Trump, Musk
Link
The combination of healthy growth, low unemployment, shrinking inflation, record highs on Wall Street, and low gas prices paints a striking picture.
Health care benefits are on the 2024 ballot
A tale of two closing messages: Harris offers patriotism, rejects Trump’s ‘chaos’
As summarized by Steve Benen:
Followup to comments 85 and 94.
You Know What’s Really Garbage? Tired, Old Political Reporting Tropes
The link above also provides access to a video of Kamala Harris’s 30-minute speech on The Ellipse in D.C.
Followup to comments 85, 94 and 101.
Republicans suddenly decide they’re offended by the word ‘garbage’
What Kamala Harris said in response:
Supreme Court conservatives let Virginia resume voter registration purge
Trump is already claiming voter fraud in Pennsylvania
More than 70 people have died in Spain during the flooding.
Link
Cartoon: The last firewall
WaPo Live
Tim Balk / October 30, 2024
What Trump means when he makes odd comments about ‘love fests’
Rachel Maddow: Kamala Harris just delivered the most important speech of her political life
The more people show up for Kamala Harris’ events, the more ridiculous Donald Trump’s rhetoric about her crowd sizes becomes.
Republican voter fraud: California Landlord Fired After Bragging About Stealing Tenants’ Ballots, Using Them to Vote for Trump
Link
https://www.wonkette.com/p/jimmy-kimmel-did-a-good-and-important
Jimmy Kimmel Did A Good And Important Thing Last Night
Send this to a Republican you love, or who thinks you love them.
Video at the link.
From Wonkette:
https://www.wonkette.com/p/kamala-harriss-magnificent-ellipse
Video at the link.
WaPo
Companies ready price hikes to offset Trump’s global tariff plans
David J. Lynch / October 30, 2024
Michigan & Wisconsin
“New CNN Polls Show Good Signs for Kamala Harris in the Rust Belt”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=XFEDB0dWFBQ
“Trump Awful Plans Just Leaked in HOT MIC Recordings”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ru3hV2liB1s
Mike Johnson admits the Affordable Care Act will be repealed
The Military Show: Turkey Gave Russia a Devastating Blow
The title is click bait but the video itself is a good summary of how Turkey has worked both Russia and the west in the Ukrainian war. They point the title is talking about is Turkey declaring that Crimea must be returned to Ukraine. This demand is empty because Turkey isn’t in a position to enforce it. They are in a position to buy cheap Russian oil while not allowing Russian ships to move around. In the west they have allowed shipment to and from Ukraine but they have also delayed strengthening and expanding NATO. They have annoyed both sides when it was to their advantage.
The news is from 11 September, JM.
Nearly two months old.
Costa Rica has Flesh-Eating bees?
Anton Petrov Halloween special.
“Terrifying Flesh-Eating Bees of Costa Rica That Produce Meat Honey”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=UF4UW9amPVI
The TEC Show:
“Harris VS Trump: POLLS SHIFT TO HARRIS – 2024 Presidential Election—Who’s Leading?”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=w-C9sUzsJ1o
“Trump Gets NEWS HE FEARED from Nikki Haley”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=MJ90AqPKGEw
First The Arnold and now Nikki Haley…
An OP-Ed by Hillary Clinton (2024-09-25)
From Facebook: The world’s greatest coffee consumers the last sixty years.
The Scandinavian countries leave both USA and most of Europe behind.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/v/fCpJJdDrtkhZhoiX/
Birger, I’m not gonna click on an unknown link, but the claim is not universal:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/coffee-consumption-by-country
They’re not in the top 10.
Of course, there’s per capita (per person) and by total amount.
Top 10 Countries that Drink the Most Coffee in the World (by 1000s of 60-lb bags of dry coffee beans consumed)
United States 26,982
Brazil 22,400
Japan 7,386
Indonesia 5,000
Russia 4,681
Canada 4,011
Ethiopia 3,798
Philippines 3,312
Vietnam 2,700
South Korea 2,513
(ibid)
Followup to birger @105.
Flash floods kill at least 95 people in Spain
The toll, focused in the eastern region of Valencia, makes this Spain’s worst natural disaster in almost 30 years.
Video and still photos are available at the link.
A Woman Died After Being Told It Would Be a “Crime” to Intervene in Her Miscarriage at a Texas Hospital
Josseli Barnica is one of at least two pregnant Texas women who died after doctors delayed emergency care. She’d told her husband that the medical team said it couldn’t act until the fetal heartbeat stopped.
More at the link.
Water is good, just not in flood-level events.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/renewables-produce-almost-60-spains-electricity-2024-07-02/
They’re taking climate change seriously.
Link
The campaign ad video is available at the link.
Of course, nuclear power plants require cooling (https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/cooling-power-plants) and water is the stuff. So, hydro and nuclear both need that water.
WIRED Link
Workers Say They Were Tricked and Threatened as Part of Elon Musk’s Get-Out-the-Vote Effort
America PAC door knockers were flown to Michigan, driven in the back of a U-Haul, and told they’d have to pay hotel bills unless they met unrealistic quotas. One was surprised they were working to elect Donald Trump.
In a get-out-the-vote ad which also encourages people to vote for Kamala Harris, George Cooney as narrator says:
Commentary:
https://www.wonkette.com/p/george-clooney-says-boys-can-keep
The ad video is available at the link.
Re: Lynna, OM @ #133…
I’ve rented U-Haul vans. They have signs attached saying not to let anyone ride in the back.
All fine and good theoretically, but try telling that to someone who can’t afford to splurge several hundred bucks on that (USA) or can’t for the life of them find any willing to set aside the time to see them in the first place (everywhere else). :/
There’s a reason why cough medicines are regulated: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/legal-requirements-sale-and-purchase-drug-products-containing-pseudoephedrine-ephedrine-and
I sorta did, but the point was to highlight the USA’s for-profit medical system, and the mindset that encourages.
Seriously, Bekenstein Bound, it ain’t personal for me.
(No need for antipathy or rushed judgement, is there?)
—
(And yes, I know I am toeing the line, but walking on eggshells is not something I like to do)
Seth Meyers. Politic Or Treat Edition.
“Trump’s Dwindling Crowds and MSG Rally Fallout vs. Kamala Harris’ Closing Arguments: A Closer Look”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=XznQin7BfBE
Jimmy Kimmel Live
“Trump’s Spinning Over Hitler Comparison, Jumps at Biden’s “Garbage” Comment & What Is A Black Job?”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEcfviIS4
John Morales
With locally grown coffee it is no wonder some small countries are embracing coffee. And it would make it easy to experiment with different bkends qhen you don’t need to order it from another continent.
-I rather wish the Polynesian kava would gain acceptance in the west as a safer alternative to alcohol and cannabis (when smoked, cannabis has similar problems as tobacco)
The baltic states are right next to the compulsively coffee-drinking Nordic countries so probably geography plays a role in changing habits.
Spain and other mediterranean countries lost most of their topsoil due to deforestation during Roman time, and earlier. There is no “buffer” in the water cycle.
What? Spain supposedly lost its topsoil? In Roman times?
(A very weird belief you have, Birger)
Hydrology.
Only parts of Parlt? Why not the whole building and even its surrounds? Still. Good.
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-31/joanna-howe-barred-from-sa-parliament-upper-house/104545392
A lot of graphs and scientific disturbing info here :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-31/bom-csiro-state-of-the-climate-2024-report/104525682
Prettty impressive for some old space tech and a historic robot spacecraft here :
Source :
https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/voyager-1-spacecraft-phones-home-with-transmitter-that-hasnt-been-used-since-1981
Teen Trump supporter charged with threatening Harris backers at polling place with machete
Trump says he would ‘protect’ women, ‘whether the women like it or not’
The Daily Show
“Trump & the GOP Pounce on Biden’s “Garbage” Gaffe”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=wdBDpSUEoV0
7 Days of Science
“Dwarf Versions of Gigantopithecus Discovered”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3DwHeZJKWWk
Trump prolongs uproar over Puerto Rico slur by driving garbage truck around in ‘total fail’ election stunt
How powerful is Sting?
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=U7KMnnIYYjk
Jimmy Fallon
“Trump Spews False 2024 Election Fraud Claims with Only Six Days Left”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Fdfk-vwhOaI
Akira Mackenzie@94,
You’re something of an expert at missing the point. Biden was not, in fact calling Trump supporters “garbage”, but what he said was easily misinterpreted as doing so – and the point is not whether that characterization would have been justified, but that what he said has increased Trump’s chance to win. Similarly, the stuff Lynna, OM quotes from TPM@101 and DK@102, complaining about the misreporting of what Biden said is true, but also beside the point, because it was inevitable, given the appalling state of most of the American media, that such misreporting would occur. Every time Biden starts burbling in public, there is a risk he will sabotage Harris’s campaign – and in this case it was pretty easy to misrepresent what he said, just by cutting the video immediately after he says “supporter’s” (or “supporters” – the two sound exactly the same). He just needs to shut up until all the votes are in.
Too obvs but of all Trump’s broken promises anyone else think that the worst and most blatant was that he would make America great again when after his four years of chaos, cruelty and carnage he left the USoA more divided, weaker, less stable and full of more human suffering than it had been in a long time if not ever?
WARNING : Transphobic material, Ted Cruz via TYT ten minutes long, Ted Cruz’s Anti-Trans Ad Features Minors Without Permission. as they say there this is “..messed up on so many levels.”
“I Knew It Was Going To Be A Fight” – Ta-Nehisi Coates, Anticipating The Reactions To “The Message” interview on Stephen Colbert’s show tonight Aussie timezone twelve mins long.
WaPo Won’t Endorse Colbert show intro minute and a half.
Re: birgerjohansson @141:
Romans and predecessors were significant in their day, but I couldn’t substantiate the blame for “most deforestation” through today, at least when I looked at Spain. Modern farming is blamed for what topsoil Southern Europe has being lousy.
Wikipedia – Deforestation during the Roman period
Historical and recent changes in the Spanish forests (2009)
Mongabay – Battling desertification: Bringing soil back to life in semiarid Spain (2023)
Source : https://www.space.com/space-exploration/human-spaceflight/both-harris-and-trump-have-records-on-space-policy-an-international-affairs-expert-examines-where-they-differ-when-it-comes-to-the-final-frontier
KG
Actaully, I am well aware of your point. I just don’t fucking care. Even if Biden did actually call these sub-human vermin (Oh no. I’m dehumanizing and othering illiterate, racist, fascist swine. Boo hoo.) “garbage” and it did somehow cost Harris the election, that’s only evidence to me that this shithole country is too sick to survive.
Pussyfooting around right-wingers is what got us into this mess.
https://x.com/yashar/status/1850987957727154243
The video is also available here
As summarized by Steve Benen from Politico’s reporting:
Then you’re part of the problem. I’d be obliged if you’d stop trying to kill me.
Some orange doofus who doesn’t have any idea what he’s talking about said some stuff about the economy: On Monday, Trump said the economy is good, and he wants credit. On Wednesday, he said the economy is “a disaster,” and Harris deserves the blame
Thanks, Joe Biden.
KG and Akira, stop right there. No more of this shit is needed.
I dropped my ballot off. My feelings.
https://youtu.be/s62msrPjSVY
Charlie and the chocolate factory: boat scene.
As Donald Trump accuses Kamala Harris of having “the plans of a simpleton,” the phrase “every accusation is a confession” comes to mind.
Sabine Hossenfelder
“The Amplituhedron: Why Space-Time Is Not Doomed”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=DKVWMX0idsg
Readers of The Infinite Thread,
KG and Akira had started a reasonable discussion about President Biden’s recent comments (those which were taken out of context by Republicans to claim that Biden had characterized Trump voters as “garbage.”) They had different points of view, and that was fine. The discussion between KG and Akira quickly devolved into personal insults.
John Morales is trying to goad me into giving him permission to act like a nitpicking asshole.
I no longer have the patience to deal with this stuff. Does anyone else want the task of monitoring (at least sort of monitoring), and of contributing the bulk of the news to this thread?
I think it is time for me to bow out. I find myself overreacting. That’s not good.
Some “Yikes!” moments from the Trump transition team: Why the co-chair of Trump’s transition team is raising eyebrows
The more billionaire megadonor Howard Lutnick speaks, the more important the rhetoric from the Trump transition team co-chair becomes.
Just in case, get the vaccine updates you need now.
The Minnesota Star Tribune: MyPillow and CEO Mike Lindell say they resorted to $600K in loan shark-like financing as judgments mounted
Mike Lindell getting himself in more trouble. He needed cash fast to keep his company afloat, so he agreed to a shady loan and then turns around and sues the loan company for charging too much. I’m more surprised anybody would loan him money, he is tied up in multiple court cases and existing debts.
“You can’t lead America if you don’t love Americans”? If that’s the case, perhaps Donald Trump should end his 2024 candidacy?
Link
@ Lynna #169
Please don’t.
Yes, this is as we suspected, but it is good to have the actual statistics:
Link
tomh @174, thank you for the vote of confidence.
I am still considering stepping away. We will see if we get any volunteers to take the job.
Followup to comment 161.
Republicans are enraged their wives might ‘secretly’ vote for Harris
Cartoon: Tom the Dancing Bug looks at one D-Day in Normandy
@ Lynna #169
An email to PZ might relieve some of your stress. Morales and Akira should have been banned long ago (for different reasons). They have both been warned before.
If you do step back from moderation, please keep posting.
Tesla Using ‘Full Self-Driving’ Hits Deer Without Slowing, Doesn’t Stop
Courthouse News Service
North Carolina Republicans ask Fourth Circuit to allow ballot eligibility check for thousands
With eight days until the election, Republicans want 225,000 North Carolina voters to vote provisionally while their citizenship is confirmed, while the state board of elections protests implementing any last-hour requirements on voters.
Sydney Haulenbeek / October 28, 2024
Re: Lynna, OM @ #169, 176….
I don’t think you are overreacting. It’s possible some–at least temporary–timeouts may be needed. I long since accepted the lesson that, when a moderator steps in, take your lumps, learn the lesson, and move on. Perhaps those causing you heartburn need a similar reminder.
Then DJT got into a garbage truck that said TRUMP. That’s a special kind of stupid.
[…]
[…]
whheydt @182, thanks. Good advice. I will consider a time out.
In other news, which is good news, Fake Elector Plot Chief Kenneth Chesebro’s Law License Suspended, Effective Immediately
Kenneth Chesebro has been suspended from the practice of law in New York, effective immediately. The opinion was issued today by a panel of judges.
The apostrophe is in the wrong place, assuming Biden did intend* just to call Tony Hinchcliffe’s racist insults “garbage” – it should be “supporter’s”. But again, this real outrage over pretended outrage is beside the point, which is that any appearance by Biden is a ticking bomb, liable to go off and sabotage Harris.
*I’m not sure we can assume he had a clear intention – the sentence quoted was preceded by typical Biden mangled syntax, and we don’t know whether the mangling is simply a matter of turning intended meaning into words, or has deeper roots in ideational confusion.
McDonald’s busted ice cream machines can now be fixed—legally
An exemption by the Copyright Office will let franchisees work around restrictions to fix the finicky machines on their own.
Hungarian prime minister says ‘fingers crossed’ for Trump victory
Followup to KG @185.
https://www.wonkette.com/p/donald-trump-rode-around-in-a-big
No matter what Biden says, or what Biden stutters, the mainstream media has for the most part joined Trump, Marco Rubio, and other Republicans in laying lies on top of the issue. To that, I object.
Republicans are ready to investigate an apostrophe
Correction to comment 188: Not “laying lies on top of the issue.” Instead, “layering lies on top of the issue.
In other news: YouTube let right-wing figures undermine the 2024 election results even before any votes were cast
Media Matters found at least 22 right-wing channels on YouTube that pushed election misinformation from May through August, such as baselessly claiming the 2024 contest would be “rigged” against Trump
Much more at the link.
So do I. But I also object to that numpty Biden helping Trump. Every intervention he makes in the campaign, even if he avoids “gaffes”, reminds voters of his link to Harris, when what she needs above all is distance from him. But his ego won’t allow him to admit he can only hinder her.
Oh good grief KG, quit with the chicken little hysteria over Biden. It’s fine! Normal humans aren’t going to change their vote over what Biden says about it. It won’t affect the election at all, not least because Kamala Harris is not Joe Biden. Sheesh.
Stop listening to the damn medias attempt to spin a single word from Biden into a disaster. It pure clickbait. They can’t even poll right so do what Americans do, and ignore their so called news reports.
Whatever for?
Is Biden an adjudicated rapist and convicted felon and rabid narcissist who will dismantle our social safety net while diminishing America’s foreign policy positions, while using the power of government to pursue his personal grievances and wreak revenge on his enemies? No. People are mostly pretty satisfied with the policy positions and performance of Biden’s administration, except for the people who are trying very hard not to be satisfied. The reason Biden was chased from the race is that he is old, and not as sharp as he used to be. I don’t see how that reflects badly on Harris in any way.
If only the media would report on the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican’s who are deeply offended at being insulted and called garbage. They are being pretty vocal about that comment turning them into Harris voters despite considering themselves Republicans.
Media might even write a few stories about the fact that Puerto Ricans are American citizens who have currently have zero votes for POTUS unless they move to the Mainland. They have a population of approximately 3 million, which is more than Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota combined.
They should have full representation with 3 electoral votes, at the very least. Instead they get non- voting members of Congress and a roll of paper towels.
Oh good grief, Tethys@192, fuck off. You clearly know nothing at all about either psephology or psychology.
Look, numpty, even you must realise that the American electorate does not consist by any means entirely of “normal people”. Large proportions of the electorate believe the most absurd nonsense about Trump, about the Democrats, about the last election, about any fucking thing you care to name. Despite your ridiculous over-confidence (which I suspect contains a proportion of whistling past the graveyard) the overwhelming bulk of available evidence indicates that there is likely to be a very close result. In particular, both campaigns are acting as if that is what they expect – and they will be relying on their own polling, which the Democrats at least will want to be as accurate as possible. If they thought they were five points ahead, Harris and Walz, and their surrogates such as Obama, would be spreading their efforts way beyond the swing states, trying to ensure that they take the House, keep the Senate, improve their position in state legislatures. The election is going to be decided on which side manages to get their less committed voters to the polls. So anything which the fascists can use to rile up their numerous couch-potato MAGA-hat wearers, who might or might not get off their arses to vote, increases their chances of winning. Correspondingly, anything which allows them to shift the narrative away from their own blunders, like hiring super-bigot Tony Hinchcliffe to insult important demographic groups and thereby motivate members of those groups to get out to vote for Harris, helps them. You must have noticed that a number of key Republicans – and indeed, Trump himself – tried to distance themselves from Hinchcliffe’s bigotry. Since Biden’s blunder, they now have an excellent alternative strategy, which they are following assiduously. Even if he hadn’t blundered, just making himself a news item helps the fascists, because he is very unpopular. He should keep his stupid gob firmly shut.
The only people I’m hearing whine and moan about Biden’s non-comment are right-wing chuds who are already voting for Trump and a tiny bunch of hand-wringing libs like yourself, still traumatized over 2016.
Pull yourself together. It will be fine.
This is complete, blithering nonsense. Biden is very unpopular – on the most recent polling, around 20% more disapprove than approve of his performance.. This isn’t some sort of secret – you can find these polls easily. Hey, maybe you believe it’s all a huge conspiracy by the pollsters, but if so, some evidence would be appreciated. You may consider it very unfair that he is so unpopular, and to some extent, on domestic issues, I’d agree, but that’s the reality – and that being the reality, Harris needed – and needs – as much distance from him as possible. Indeed, if she loses, I think it will be largely down to her failure to achieve that distance. Biden still has the delusion that he can actively help her win. He can’t. The best he can do is shut up.
Well Akira Mackenzie@196, given your wide social circle and deep expertise in psephology and political psychology, I guess that settles it and I can stop worrying.
Even if Harris loses, it will not because of Biden’s supposed quote. Blame the media for sanewashing Trump’s fascism ang ignoring Biden’s accomplishments. Blame Bill Clinton for not send out the troops to wipe out the militias and other far right groups after Oklahoma City, allowing the fascist seeds that lead to Trump to germinate. But mostly blame the greed and stupidity of
garbagethe American people who are willing to throw away the rights of their fellow citizens because eggs got a little pricey.If only the media would report on the hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rican’s who are deeply offended at being insulted and called garbage. They are being pretty vocal about that comment turning them into Harris voters despite considering themselves Republicans
There was actually enough coverage to worry Trump and his cronies until Biden stuck his oar in – that’s why Trump pretended not to know Hinchcliffe, while various Republicans denounced his racist “jokes”. And that’s precisely why Biden’s “gaffe” was so damaging – it gave the media licence to change the subject, and hark back to Clinton’s “deplorables” blunder. It fed right into the Trumpoid narrative about sneering “liberal elites”.
Sorry, first paragraph@200 is quoted from Tethys@194.
And further to #194, of course it’s wrong that Puerto Ricans are so grossly unrepresented democratically, but that’s not going to be changed before this election, is it?
Jesus wept, of course there are deeper causes to the rise of American fascism. But in what looks like being a very close election, a late shift in the focus of attention could make the difference between Harris and Trump victories – just as James Comey’s illegitimate interference probably did for Clinton in 2016.
What? No.
Re: John Morales @ #203…
I’ve no bone to pick with you, but a word of advice… When the moderator on a forum indicates that they’re annoyed with you, think about what you’ve posted and back off. No good can come starting a fight with a moderator. It’s one of those “God fights on the side of the heaviest artillery” things.
Truth matters to me, whheydt.
If someone asserts a falsehood about me, I am not gonna ignore it, even if it’s a moderator.
@204
They who control the banhammer controls the forum.
John @205:
Fuckinell, it’s always about you, mate. If the truth, in a larger sense, matters to you, learn when to shut the fuck up.
I don’t know whether Lynna has the power to ban people, but she should have. Losing you, or some others (including me) wouldn’t matter much. Losing Lynna would be a disaster.
John Morales @203,
You’re acting like a nitpicking asshole. You’re just not asking for permission. Is that a truer statement? (I’m sure you’ll some “witty” repartee)
And I apologize to Lynna for adding to the undesirable conservation. I do hope you stay and continue posting but I do understand your desire to not be as involved in the manufactured drama. I mostly lurk here but it also annoys me so I can see why you’d want to just stop putting the effort. In any case thanks for your contribution whatever you decide to do.
PS: Mano’s recent firm stance on commenting seems to be working well.
Misplaced certitude about my expected “witty” repartee.
Nope. Not always.
But it’s most certainly about me when my name is invoked, e.g. “John @205:”, e.g. “John Morales @203”; e.g. “John Morales is [blah]”.
Bah.
Rob, sure. No more than four comments per thread, as per your postscript.
I inadvertently exceeded the limit (one comment about the topic, three in response to people who responded to me) recently, and so fair enough, I am banned there.
(Think it would work well in this thread? ;) )
It would probably take five or six of the rest of us, making a concerted effort, to (even partially) replace all that Lynna does to make this thread so informative – and that’s before counting the burden of moderation.
(I for one would chip in what I could, but my schedule is too erratic to let me provide much of the consistency which she has generously given to us – and others who’ve done much more than me have already fallen exhausted by the wayside.)
Nitpickers and catfighters, please take your hissing and spitting elsewhere, before you end up massively multiplying the damage you’ve done here.
John, you seem to think you’re Beetlejuice, or Bloody Mary.
It’s not all about me, Rob.
Lynna, OM@169, 176,
I’ve only just seen these comments. I apologise, to you and to those I’ve aimed insults at (Akira, Tethys, anyone I’ve forgotten). I’ll do better. You do a great job here, I’d be very sorry to see you give it up, but if it’s getting you down, you shouldn’t feel obliged to continue.
WaPo
Judge orders Arizona official to release records on voters and citizenship
Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Patrick Marley / October 31, 2024
I can’t speak for Lynna, but the overly aggressive comments by KG and Akira aren’t acceptable behavior for supposedly adult men and you were asked to stop filling HER thread with nasty bickering.
But nooooooo, ya’ll get all butthurt and proceed to become full on abusive dunderheads, much like a certain orange POS whenever he gets called out.
Grow some manners.
@John Morales
You are not the official critic of everything every other commenter chooses to share. Lynne’s thread is for posting and discussing news, not your personal place to pick fights. Also, quit acting like you’ve somehow been unfairly targeted as a problem and now will fill the thread defending your honor. That’s just weaponizing your entitle behavior.
Followup to John Morals @203, and 205
John Morales @80:
“Naughty”? FFS. “Stricture”? FFS. I issued no “strictures” against advising people to seek qualified medical care. “Nothing Personal”? FFS. It’s personal even though you try to claim it is not. It is aimed at me. Your choice of words attempts to demean my efforts to keep the discourse on this thread relatively civil, and to diminish insults to other commenters. “Naughty”? FFS.
For what it is worth, I do not have the power to ban people. I do have the power to recommend to PZ that people who continually disrupt this thread should be banned. PZ makes the decisions, not me.
John Morales @120:
Petty trolling. Nitpicking. Does not advance discussion of the subject.
John Morales @137:
No one asked you to “walk on eggshells.” You attempt to demean a request for civility by using the phrase “walk on eggshells.” Reminds me of J.D. Vance. What you consider “walking on eggshells” is normal conversation. You think your style of conversation is normal. It is not. It is unnecessarily aggressive, and the nitpicking is counter productive.
John Morales @142:
Verging on a personal insult, and entirely unnecessary to advance the exchange of information.
John Morales @comment 31 on 17 October:
Nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 35 on 17 October:
Verging on personal insult. Condescending.
John Morales @comment 101 on 18 October:
Nitpicking. Not the posting of a “falsehood,” but instead a bit of sarcasm followed by lots of facts.
Not detailing a bunch of nitpicking about foxes eating chickens and cats tearing mice to shreds in comments 103 to 105 on 18 October.
John Morales @comment 140 on 19 October:
Personal insult and nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 164 on 20 October:
Condescending. Winky face symbol does not mitigate that tone. Nitpicking again.
John Morales @comment 166 on 20 October:
Personal insult to Birger.
John Morales @comment 195 on 21 October:
Personal insult plus nitpicking. Willfully misunderstanding or misstating another commenters post.
John Morales @comment 228 on 22 October:
Personal insult.
John Morales @comment 259 on 22 October:
Nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 261 on 22 October:
Nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 312 on 24 October:
Condescending and nitpicking.
John Morales @comment 368 on 25 October:
Condescending.
John Morales @comment 399 on 25 October:
Personal insult.
John Morales @comment 413 on 25 October:
Condescending.
John Morales @comment 415 on 26 October:
Condescending and an implied personal insult.
John Morales @comment 440 on 26 October:
Personal insults. Nitpicking. Condescending. And speaking of “patterns” ….
John Morales @comment 442 on 26 October:
Condescending. Trolling. Needling.
Look, you clearly don’t want me to post in this thread, Lynna.
Fine. I wish you’d just have said that. But I get the message.
“Go away”, right?
—
Ah well.
KG @215, thank you. I appreciate that.
Pierce @212, thank you.
Jean @208, thank you.
Rob @207, thank you.
Washington Post:
Associated Press:
Washington Post:
Navy admiral from bin Laden raid slams Trump in dramatic fashion
Retired Adm. William McRaven, the former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, sees Trump as “a disturbed 15-year-old boy.”
Battleground State Election Officials Are Preemptively Shutting Down Rogue Clerks
WaPo
Trump’s ‘grab them’ comment was history. Now TikTok is showing it to young voters.
Tatum Hunter / October 31, 2024
MAGA zealots are reportedly planning Jan. 6 chaos—again
@ Lynna, OM : You have my respect and confidence here. I hope you stay on and reckon you are doing a good job. I hope you continue but will understand if you don’t.
Newsweek: Donald Trump Files Lawsuit Against CBS News
The details are a bit sparse yet but the case seems to be nothing but smoke and jamming up the courts. They picked a hard right judge in Texas to take the case, but there is really no chance of this going anyplace. It would be bad but legal for somebody to heavily edit an interview to make it look better. Particularly bad for a news organization but still legal in the US.
There might be a case if the interview had been edited to make it an attack on Trump but even Trump’s lawyers are not trying to claim that. They are claiming voter interference because it’s deceptive. If that is the standard just about everything Trump has ever said would be liable. Even if it’s true it’s hard to see how this is ground for Trump to sue.
John Morales @218:
Willfully misunderstanding or misstating the mod’s post.
You’ve been informed by numerous commenters that your conduct has been unwelcome.
Xanthë (2024-08-31)
John Morales (2024-08-09)
John Morales (2024-08-07)
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/07/06/infinite-thread-xxxii/comment-page-4/#comment-2231350Then you have the option to tailor your responses to fit mod guidelines without the only interpretation of criticism being exile.
John Morales and Bekenstein Bound (2024-07-29)
/That was regarding the first batch of Neil Gaiman testimony.
John Morales and Jean (2024-02-11)
Re: JM @ #227…
IANAL, but… Texas? CBS is, if I’m not mistaken “located” (that is, their primary business office) in New York City. Trump–nominally–lives in Florida. A Texas judge should immediately toss the case for lack of jurisdiction…though–unfortunately–it wouldn’t be with prejudice.
あなたたちはみんな役立たずの狂人だ！
CA7746, talk about not leaving well-enough alone. Fine.
Argumentum ad baculum is Lynna’s privilege, but this sniping after the fact annoys me, and is rather revealing. And so I respond, unwelcome as it may be. Truth does matter.
What? No. The other way around.
Here: https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/10/04/infinite-thread-xxxiii/comment-page-2/#comment-2240535
So. That’s the stricture (well, ostensibly a request, but I know a stricture when I see one. I was raised Catholic). Explicitly, me and the other person were both told to stop nitpicking at each other.
But then, a comment was made about the cough medicines and how they were not to be found, whereupon I noted that self-medication is fraught.
Lynna took that as uncivil and as a personal dig at her, with some elaboration about seeking permissions and stuff.
Let’s see how it goes:
“Naughty”? FFS. “Stricture”? FFS. I issued no “strictures” against advising people to seek qualified medical care.
I'm not supposed to nitpick, and I should leave this person who engaged with me alone“Nothing Personal”? FFS. It’s personal even though you try to claim it is not. It is aimed at me.
paranoia; not even slightly aimed at you. The reference was because I addressed the very person about whom you claimed I was exchanging nitpicks. Not YOU. I fucking well know, I am me!]Your choice of words attempts to demean my efforts to keep the discourse on this thread relatively civil, and to diminish insults to other commenters.
Nope. Not even slightly.[well, blockquote fail, but you know, righteous indignation gets the blood flowing]
You have zero standing for indignation John, righteous or otherwise. Apologizing and piping down is the correct response. Not doubling down!
You annoy people deliberately and that’s entirely your own problem.
Leaving well-enough alone? Not for Tethys.
Here we go again.
Counter-factual assertion. I know myself better than you think you know me, Tethys.
But hey, since it’s (according to you) entirely my own problem, it must mean neither you nor anyone else has a problem with it — after all, were that the case, it would not be entirely my problem.
Words mean things.
So, you have no problem with me, right?
(It’s entirely mine!)
From Facebook: Important European cultural differences.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/omW3v5FqLytzo3ja/
Alternet is reporting huge turnouts of women in early voting, plus signs that Republicans’ internal polling data is worrying them.
So John continues to make Pharyngula a shitty experience for everyone who wants to contribute without incurring his snotty sneerings. He fossilised in the days when Pharyngula was large and dynamic enough to absorb his schtick of condescending bullshit. Now he’s the turd in the cistern spoiling PZ’s place for most of the commentariat.
John’s a bottom-dwelling pedant who’s not fucking smart enough to realise sifu Truth Machine changed his schtick when it became drearily outdated. John rolls right on, being banned from blog after blog, because he’s wanks poisonously on with his snide community-wrecking antisocial venom.
Lynna I’m a lurker and my policy for the last few years has been Never Read Morales. You don’t have that option here, I’m sorry. I appreciate all you do here but whenever I read oily John I need a silkwood shower.
John? Do try not to do the tu quoqu this time hmm? As ever I feel gross after reading how you talk to other people, you’re the shittiest of bullies. I’m going back to Mano’s now, you’re banned there and the place is suddenly a breath of fresh air.
[Yes yes I was mean to you writing this, you’re going to beat your chest and declare how wronged you are and how hypocritical I am. Wank on mate.]
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-01/algorithm-to-help-clean-up-plastic-waste-from-space/104551662
@238 badland Agree wholeheartedly. I’m also a lurker whose policy is to Skip the Skull whenever it appears. This got tedious at times as its policy seemed to be to lower the Morale here as much as possible by posting as much as possible.
Lynna–thanks so much for all you do. I enjoy your comments and insights.
Seth Meyers
“Arnold Schwarzenegger Endorses Kamala Harris”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=JjqOsjn_1Ec
You will have had this news yesterday but Seth Meyers’ brand of humor adds value.
badland:
A pleasant observation.
redwood:
“its policy”.
Twice distanced, addressing the Skull instead of me, but in the third person.
(And dehumanising me, but what the hey, I am the Other)
…also, if the wrong ‘un wins, remember, the Fox News-consuming senior citizens cannot last forever. When they are gone, the Evil Corrupt & Stupid party will be reduced to dominating rural areas. I suggest a bantustan solution.
Meanwhile, Canada and most of Europe is nice. Norway is especially picturesque but Tuscany is not too bad. I think everyone except the French know English. Denmark and the low countries are free from uphill slopes that are annoying for bikers.
Ah, what the hell.
redwood: back in the schoolyard here in Oz, people joked about me being moral-less.
(Your “lower the Morale” quip reminds me of that)
So, Lynna:
“John’s a bottom-dwelling pedant who’s not fucking smart enough to realise sifu Truth Machine changed his schtick when it became drearily outdated. John rolls right on, being banned from blog after blog, because he’s wanks poisonously on with his snide community-wrecking antisocial venom.”
My retort to that might have featured in your curated selection @217, in which my retorts apparently come out of the blue, without any context.
Anyway.
worth mentioning that one of the more active bloggers on this platform has had to implement and enforce his own commenting rules for the same person that consistently spoils this otherwise-wonderful thread and insults anybody who points it out.
Lynna, your work here is appreciated
Lynna, I’m another (mostly) lurker who is very grateful to you for what you do on this thread. I get why you are feeling a need to leave; the work you do has to be both extremely time-consuming and soul-crushing with all the awful things you read, curate, and post here. Herding the resident cats can’t help.
For what it’s worth, I find John to be more of an asset than a liability, and would be sad to see him go. I learn from him on many topics, and can ignore his foibles. But I get why others feel differently. I think requests, especially from people we respect and admire, and in venues where they are in charge, should be followed, regardless of logical arguments and even disagreement.
I love this particular place, and rely on it multiple times per day. It’s hard to face the crap the world is throwing at decency, and the folks who comment here give me hope. There is a community on this thread that I deeply admire and respect, even with the sometimes uncomfortable disagreements here; in fact, often because of them. Thanks to you all, but especially to Lynna, for making this thread what it is.
@ 243
First of all, every generation of liberal has said that, and each and every time the old right-wing farts quickly become replaced by their equally bigoted children and grandchildren. Just look up studies of political attitudes of todays teenage males who are identifying as “more conservative” than their parents. A generation that grew up on Joe Rogan and Andrew Tate is going to be more reactionary and bigoted as their sires.
Secondly, bold of you to assume there is ever going to be another election if Trump wins.
Sounds nice. Too bad most of us are too poor to think about moving down the block, much less across the damn planet. No, when fascism finally comes here, we’re going to be stuck here to die.
coffeepot @246, thank you for the support and for the additional information.
Paul K @247, thank you. I appreciate your input. I too thought that John Morales sometimes posted useful information. It was just that the preponderance of personal insults and nitpicking started to outweigh the good stuff. A pity.
redwood @240, thank you.
Steve @226, thank you.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @228, thank you. That post was particularly enlightening.
I have decided to take a modified timeout from moderating and posting on this thread. That is, I will check in less often. When I feel like my equanimity is somewhat restored, I’ll return to my previous modus operandi.
Carry on.
Just caught part of this doco Tupaia’s Endeavour Official Trailer on late night TV (NITV) just now and wondering – memo to myself as much as also asking in case anyone else knows this & cares to answer:
Why didn’t Polynesians land in and settle in Australia too?
Makssan’s from Indonesia (Sulawesi specifically) reached Oz of course & there’s the Torres straight Islanders .. I don’t know enough. Am just curious.
Glass jaw (n., plural): one who can dish but cannot take.
This comment has appeared mysteriously from
The aether. It has no relationship to this thread.
(Seriously it doesn’t. Written without reading what came before. Dogs returning to their vomit is truly a schtick for some Internet Elders)
@248.Akira MacKenzie : ” Secondly, bold of you to assume there is ever going to be another election if Trump wins.”
Truth ^ This. So much. Too many people don’t seem to take the threat of Trump’s anti-democratic fascism and attempts to literally destroy American Democracy seriously enough, it seems to me. Staggeringly even after Jan 6th and his statements since.
That’s why stopping Trump this time – hopefully stopping him at least if not the Repugs other would-be tyrants matters so very much. Why I am so terrified at the prospect of the planet’s biggest superpower going full on fucking nazi.
Do NOT assume and think that the world & esp the USoA can or will just continue as normal if Trump tskes power this time. That there’ll ever be legitimate 1 person 1 vote elections in the USA again. Not that the USA has ever truly had legitimate elections given the EC but anyhow.
Trump talks about Liz Cheney:
New York Times link.
More at the link.
Followup to comment 253.
In case you cannot access the New York Times article, here is another link to coverage of Trump fantasizing about guns aimed at Liz Cheney’s face: Trump shares totally normal fantasy of Liz Cheney facing a firing squad
Lynna @ 253
That’s some ugly decompensating.
The problem with political jokes is that they sometimes get elected :
https://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2024/11/01/who-remembers-trickle-down-economics-and-other-lies-of-the-right/comment-page-1/#comment-2241291
We under-estimaet at our peril.
Are complacent at our peril.
Are disunited at our peril.
We do not have the luxury of picking perfect candidates or having ideal choices to choose from.
We have two people.One of them will become POTUS and get the nuclear codes and get toshape our planet (& SCOTUS) and more fort he next .. restof our lifetimes.
Anyone thinking of staying home, of voting for Nader, sorry, this elections set of worst-enabling spoilers. Don’t. Please. Please don’t.
Scarlett Johansson reassembles the Avengers to stump for Kamala Harris
Jennifer Lopez Rallies Kamala Harris Supporters After Hinchcliffe Jibe: “It Wasn’t Just Puerto Ricans Offended That Day”
In the interest of “fair and balanced” reporting,
All the celebrities who have endorsed Trump for president, from Elon Musk to Harrison Butker
My response tom most is either “Who?” or “Ewww”
Remember too (Do I need to say this?) Its not just enough for Kamala – like HRC & Al Gore – to win the majority of votes.
Kamala Harris needs to win by enough to beat the EC that warps things in the wanna-be dictators favour. That gives people in Wyoming three times the electoral power that Californians have. (See : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/its-time-to-end-the-electoral-college_b_12891764 ) Which, again, why do California and the other majority states let that happen? (America, Fuck what?)
Kamala needs to win by enough to be truly overwhelmingly convincing and stop or at least minimise the excuse es for Trump kult violence and more Coup attempts. Which folks may have noticed are even now happening with ballots as well as books being burned.
Will she be? make it so, please.
(Meta :I need to say this? Do I? Dunno but.. maybe?)
Rhetorical question that just blazes in my mind and so many others : How can this election be this close? How can Trump be this close?
Because the Electoral College is written into the constitution (Article II, section 1), which means to change it they would have to pass an amendment. The requirements for passing an amendment are spelled out in Article V:
So, to correct the imbalance of power, you would need to get many of the people who are benefitting from that imbalance to go along with the correction. And that last clause, which I highlighted in Italic, specifies that amendments which correct the inherent inequality of the Senate will not even be considered.
Meidas Touch:
“Trump in Sudden Panic as Election Slips Away”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=mEuAcHrK9W4
Brief summary: The weirdness is getting weirder.
Good. Hmm…I may not need to go into cryosleep the next four years after all.
Reginald Selkirk @ 259
One way to get better balance in the senate: # 1 Accept Puerto Rico as a new state.
#2 Split California into Cal North and Cal South.
3 Goddamit, we might as well let each of the major Hawaiian Islands be a state of its own. It was a Republican president who illegaly annexed the kingdom of Hawaii, let Hawaii be what buries GOP dominance in the senate.
Re; birgerjohannson @ #261…
Make DC a state.
We could also treat Puerto Rico and the other US territories like Washington D.C. and create a voting district with electoral votes based on population.
Besides Puerto Rico, the other US territories are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
All of those should be given full voting members of Congress and electoral votes as a basic tenet of democracy, in lieu of the logical but ultimately nearly impossible goal of eliminating the electoral system entirely.
Myself @ 261
When Texas joined the union, it did so on the condition that it may be permitted to split into several smaller states if it was unhappy with how it worked out (it is several decades since I read the history, I am a little blurry about the details).
Suggestion: Washington State has a lot of hills and mountains. If you used the same geographical logic as for New England, just about every valley would qualify for statehood. If it takes more than a day to travel to the state capitol with horse and buggy you get to have an additional state.
@ Lynna #249
I don’t blame you, in fact, I think I’ll join you. Even without reading them it’s too tiresome scrolling through the endless, childish, quibbling posts of Morales. You’ve done a great job.
Tethys @ 263
Samoa is the birthplace of The Rock, that makes it as American as any place with a plaque saying “Washington slept here”!
And we should make “Guile’s Theme” from Street Fighter 2 the inofficial extra anthem of USA.
StevoR @258: Maybe it’s pipe dream, but I keep hoping that things are not nearly as close as poll analysis is claiming. Media want the election to be close for the drama, Trump and his lackeys are happy to create and push crappy and false polling data, Kamala and Democrats might be a bit okay with this to get the voters to the voting booths.
I don’t think Trump is more popular now than when he lost four years ago. He’s had too many opportunities to show everyone how awful he is. January 6th happened, and he called it a Day of Love. He’s been accused, and charged, and convicted of a multitude of crimes. He got three SCOTUS justices appointed through dubious means, and Roe v Wade is gone. We all know how bad all that is. His adoring minions do not. But I don’t think their numbers have grown; I think that, with each of his terrible acts, he’s lost more followers than he has gained. But I also know how wrong I can be.
My fantasy is that next Tuesday is a rout, and that Democrats out-perform the ‘red wave’ hype even more than they did in 2022. My nightmare is that they don’t.
Take care, Lynna!
Re: birgerjohannson @ #264…
The number is 5. During the brief time I lived in Texas, the established joke is that, if Texas split up, the parts would be North, South, East, West, and Deep in the Heart of.
When Alaska was admitted as a state, the joke that went around was that Alaskans pointed out to Texans that Texas was now the second largest state in the union. Texans replied with a claim that if all the snow and ice were melted, Alaska would be smaller than Texas. To that, the Alaskans threatened to split in two and make Texas third largest.
Paul K@267,
As I’ve already pointed out, if it’s not close, both campaigns have got it wrong. If either one actually believed they were 5 points up, they’d be spreading their efforts beyond the swing states far more than they are.
@Lynna
I am happy that you are prioritizing yourself and taking time away from the thread. Ingesting the news is in itself an exercise in anxiety without the added stresses of it being late in the election cycle and cantankerous commentariat.
I absolutely value all your years of hard work and dedication to curating and keeping this thread running, and you do it brilliantly. Thank you!
————
As to the question of why the polls are showing a dead heat, it’s like the Mark Twain adage. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.
Right- leaning “ pollsters” are flooding the dataset with biased polls, which then get averaged in with the independent polling data. There aren’t any comparable left leaning pollsters engaging in this effort to skew public perception about the election. Simon Rosenberg noted that this week those right-wing groups released 58 polls that show a tie or narrow orange victory.
These polls then get used as evidence for claims of election rigging and fraud and cheating by the losers.
If you only look at independent A rated polls, it is looking very good for Harris in every battleground state except Arizona. (Narrow R margin) NC may also go Democratic for the first time since Obama. Exit polling and early voting are showing strong indications that Kamala Harris is going to do even better than Joe Biden in 2020.
Hopefully we get another Democratic trifecta of controlling majority in the House, Senate, and our very first Madame President in the White House.
I would love to see some of the magats that currently sit in congress getting censured and marginalized for their dereliction of duty as public servants. Whatever are MTG and that shit-weasel Mike Johnson going to do when their dear leader loses the third and final round?
birgerjohansson@260,
The trouble is, Meidas Touch have been reporting disaster, humiliation, panic, etc., etc., for Trump just about every day for weeks.
@260, 271, 272, etc
I have been seeing all kinds of articles; T**** is doing better than it looks, Harris is doing better than it looks, it’s completely within the margin of error. I guess writers need something to write about. And I am convinced that there are fundamental problems with polling. I guess we’ll just have to count the votes and find out.
My hope is that T**** does very badly; so badly that his claims of fraud are not believable by anyone other than those who have already been inducted into the cult, and that he drops out of politics forever so that he can spend his waning years being convicted for all those charges that have been building up.
Indiana hires Stephanie White as coach to lead Caitlin Clark and the Fever
KG @270: Sure, five points would be unrealistic, but in the cray world we live in 2 or 3 in more states than we expect, would be a landslide. Also, I don’t know about them spreading their efforts. Lots of stupid, short-sighted decisions are made all the time, especially if, even if they’re getting information that does not support the polls, they’re too confused/swayed by the chaos to act on them. And the MAGAts are just arrogant liars, even to themselves. Trump is going to other states, where he has not the smallest chance of winning, but for what reason his tiny brain squirrel has chosen to run that squeaky wheel toward, I bet even his handlers don’t have a clue, any more than he does. He’s made it clear that the actual election results don’t matter to him at all. He’ll win because he wants to win, and because he’ll say he won. Just like he keeps saying he won the last time. Millions of people go along with that lie (including the Speaker of the House) because it allows them to ride the gravy train of Trump’s (almost always broken) promises.
As I said, I know I could be wrong, and I’m choosing not to hope too much. But I like my dream better than chewing on despair.
The TEC Show:
“Breaking News! Massive New Poll Shows Trump Getting Crushed By Blue Wall”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=LhoS1QTC8CQ
This is according to one of the most reliable polling companies. My blood pressure just dropped down to safe levels.
KG @ 272
Yes, and I give greater credence to polls, at least when performed to pollsters with a good record (YoGov etc).
But Trump’s late-night social media stuff provides a direct view into his anxieties. If he is raving and drooling it is a positive sign. “WHERE IS STEINER?”
Biden won with 4.5 points. It was not close despite the incessant braying of media pundits.
I think Harris getting 5 points is realistic, based on the exit polling and early voting. Record early turnout is happening in even supposedly deep red Texas, and it’s being fueled by women and many first time voters participating in the process.
We won’t know for sure until next week, but I think the US is going to pull a France, and surprise everyone by giving Orange a resounding defeat.
Paul K@275,
I’m not “chewing on despair”. I’m just expecting a close result, based on both polls and the behaviour of the campaigns, and admitting I don’t know which way it will go. Nor, in my opinion, does anyone else.
If Trump is raving and drooling, it’s a day ending in “Y”!
Pennsylvania Halloween parade float depicting Trump leading Harris in chains
Mt. Pleasant Fire Department, which organized the parade, apologized
Supreme Court sides with Democrats in Pennsylvania voting case
Scathing Atheist 611 Politic or Treat Edition
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Uv86wlg30HQ
TheOnion – New Indiana law requires women voters to show husband’s ID
Guardian – Republican former congressional candidate charged with stealing ballots in Indiana
In Republicans’ hunt for election fraud, whoever smelt it dealt it
@250. “Just caught part of this doco Tupaia’s Endeavour .. on late night TV (NITV) just now..
For those who can see it, I’ve now found the full doco here :
https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/watch/2191942723995
Via SBS on Demand. 2 hiours and 5 minutes long but recommend for a very different and Pacific Islander – Polynesian incl Maori – Indigenous view of their first contacts with Europeans.
birgerjohansson@264:
I’m not sure you’d like the result: probably a couple new blue states along the coast, and a whole bunch of little rural red states between there and Montana.
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-10-31/tadpole-giant-fossil-argentina/104531222
Link has illustrations, photos, location map and more.
@286. Bekenstein Bound & #264. birgerjohansson, #263. Tethys, #262 whheydt, #261. birgerjohansson, (etc?) :
I see no reason why the Democrats can’t do what the Repugs did and divide states their way in their favour, precedent, geese and ganders and all that jazz. Draw up a new states maps so they suit Democrats and tilt the EC system and if they say “Well, that’s cheating!”, point to their history of doing exact same thing – Dakotas, Wyoming et al.. & rigging in their favour and agree and note their hypocrisy and IOKIYAR issue. Then since they both see that EC statehood rigging thing as a bad idea then, yeah, scrap the whole EC and just have a popular vote where very individual American citiziens vote counts.
Indeed, why not define for purposes of EC only every individual American voter as a state of their own with a single representative that being the individual voter? Turn Donnés “No man is an island” * into “Every American is a state?”
Basically, find a way! Not saying it’ll be easy but if there’s strong enough demand and enough pressure to do it, well, make it happen. Constituitional Amendments have been passed before and can be passed again right?
.* See : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devotions_upon_Emergent_Occasions
@278. KG : “I’m not “chewing on despair”. I’m just expecting a close result, based on both polls and the behaviour of the campaigns, and admitting I don’t know which way it will go. Nor, in my opinion, does anyone else.”
Allan Lichtman (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Lichtman) who I’ve mentioned before here has an amazing predictive record with his Keys system and has predicted a Kamala win. Maybe he knows. Sure hope he’s right.
But I’m really not sure. So likewise. I dunno and after 2016 don’t trust polling here and do feel terrified and horrified that it is just this close or seems so. As noted before, I think we need to be very wary of compalcancy and disunity and remember that it isn’t over until all the votes are in and even after that. as Jan 6th proved.
I’m so looking forward to this election being over. I’m hioping for a Blue landslide and dreading aclsoe electionor Trump win. Which i fear may amount to same things really.. We’ll know -sorta, hopefully – in a bit under five days time.
^ Actually make that 2 days 9 hours 33 minutes to go..
https://www.270towin.com/2024-countdown-clock/
Well plus a day or so.
StevoR @288:
The Overlooked Amendment
Followup to Reginald Selkirk on the fake family photo op guy:
Republican demands Dem opponent stop mocking his ‘fake wife and kids’
* Eugene is the twin of Alexander Vindman who testified in Trump’s impeachment over Ukraine. Both were fired whistleblowers.
Re: CompulsoryAccount 7746, Sky Captain @ #291…
There is one other proposed amendment from the 18th century still out there. Really unlikely to get ratified. It would require one member of the House for every 30,000 people in each state. With a current population of a bit over 330 million, you can see why that wouldn’t be all that good an idea.
A List of Text-Only & Minimalist News Sites
Also 68k.news, a minimalist Google News. DuckDuckGo search offers a lite UI too.
No ads, no floating video, fast loading with less javascript, mobile friendly. I recommend a dark mode browser extension.
An ‘unprecedented’ good news story about a potentially deadly viral outbreak
Some GOP-led states won’t allow federal poll monitors at voting locations, officials say
Trump fumes over mic issues at Milwaukee rally: ‘Do you want to see me knock the hell out of people backstage?’
Tethys @271:
Thank you, Tethys. I need to recognize and deal with this: “Ingesting the news is in itself an exercise in anxiety without the added stresses of it being late in the election cycle and cantankerous commentariat.”
Paul K @268, Thank you. That’s exactly what I am doing.
Thanks tomh @265. As you might imagine, I understand your need to step back for awhile.
Thanks to everyone who is carrying on as usual, making informative comments and steering clear of personal insults and/or nitpicking.
MAGA must be so proud: Trump appears to perform sex act on mic stand
Video at the link.
Elie Mystal:
Crowd size has always triggered Trump’s anxiety and his tendency to exaggerate. The scene in Macomb County in Michigan must have enraged him last night.
Link
More images and video at the link. And yes, some people left early.
My shot of schadenfreude for today.
Three more days.. Or one more if we count E-dayt itself…
Or one day 22 hours 9 mins if you go by this :
https://www.270towin.com/2024-countdown-clock/
Time rockets by and yet stands still or goes backwards.
I dread the result and dream of the result dependning upon the result.
Will be here soon ..in an eternity or so it seems..
Come on quickly and make the best use of every last remaining moment to make things if not right then at least as NOT worst of all possibilities.
Trailer for the kids movie ‘Runt’ featuring a dog that looks so much like my one just over 2 minutes. Yeah I saw this in the cinema recently. Totally biased but I did love this. OTT but just fun. Based on a novel which I have not read but now want to..
KG @278: Sorry for being unclear. I didn’t mean to imply you are ‘chewing on despair’. I was only talking about my own attempt to not let my spirits get too down. I value your perspective, and admire your thinking.
Back to dreaming, and doing some woodwork as therapy, for the rest of the afternoon!
Paul K.@303,
No problem! I didn’t necessarily think you were implying anything about me, but wanted to make clear what my current state of mind is. A couple of weeks ago I was convinced Trump was going to win, now I’m somewhat more hopeful, but think it will be close either way – which may well mean days of suspense.
MSNBC – Meet the voters who despise Trump but really like JD Vance
(Opinion by an editor from Christianity Today)
*spray bottle* No! Bad MSNBC.
Sabine Hossenfelder
Is the USA a Democracy or a Republic?
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=PVqjH6MaqRY
I don’t buy that Democrats are slightly more willing to compromise democracy, not when I think of De Santis and Trump.
Apart from that I find the arguments interesting. But using AIs to find candidates that reflect your values opens another can of worms.
Followup to comment 299.
Something about that video, and the claims about Trump simulating fellating a microphone, seemed a bit off to me. I viewed a longer version (several minutes). Trump was complaining about microphones not working at two of his events that day. He was also complaining about people setting up his lectern/microphone so that the microphone was too low.
After that, he simulated bending down several times to reach the microphone. He opened his mouth each time and made a sort of sucking motion. It looked like he was fellating an imaginary microphone. The audience whooped and cheered. They were delighted, and they obviously enjoyed the crudeness of the gesture and the double meaning.
As is often the case with Trump, he leaves room for just a smidgeon of doubt as to his real and/or double intent. His campaign team will certainly say the media misinterpreted Trump’s actions.
There’s no doubt that he was cranky. Hee went on an on about how he doesn’t ask for much and that no one can even provide good services at his rallies.
#Trumpisgoingdown is trending on Twitter.
Trump also got the audience riled up by asking them if they would like to see him go beat up someone backstage.
Very presidential for sure.
Eduardo Galeano quote from Facebook.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/yXBfKESSFhjj9HZR/
Seriously? “I don’t buy that the moon is made of cheese. Apart from that I find the arguments interesting.” I do appreciate the warning that it’s Hossenfelder – that tells me not to waste time watching it!
Well, the UK Tory Party membership have chosen Kemi Badenoch over Robert Jenrick – the genuine 24-carat swivel-eyed loon over the totally unprincipled opportunist pretending to be a swivel-eyed loon. I must admit I didn’t think they would overcome the fact that she’s a black woman. But maybe her poisonous anti-LGBTQ bigotry was enough for them to feel that she’s “Really One Of Us”. The general opinion of the commentariat seems to be that she won’t last more than a couple of years, but I’m not so sure. Starmer has demonstrated truly surprising political incompetence, and although the Tories have got to recover most of the votes that went to Farage in July to have a good chance of returning to power in 2029, that looks somewhat more plausible now Reform Party UK Ltd. seems to be facing the possibility of its own split over its relationship with even-further-right thug “Tommy Robinson”.
The TEC Show
‘Massive New Early Voter Poll Shows Trump Losing Big In Georgia And North Carolina’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=_meL2k6Z9n4
.
Oh dear, Viktor Orban will be soo disappointed. And poor Stephen Miller.
Trust the Tories to pick the UK analog of the weirdest, dumbest Trumpist politicians as their leader. In a way, their incompetence is reassuring, considering Keir Starmer’s unimpressive performance.
From Youtube: “This is who Trump is”
http://youtube.com/post/UgkxGubZERtuZ8y5dxFfXqAV_TcYky5VQdit
.
Or maybe
http://youtube.com/post/UgkxGubZERtuZ8y5dxFfXqAV_TcYky5VQdit?si=8HX3i8ukzuwUB7Ab
Have I Got News for You Season 68 Episode 5 (Nov 1, 2024) Full Episode HD
(The Brit version, not the American)
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=BRxVti8djEU
It seems the tories left a hole of 40 billion pound sterling missing in the budget.
When Does Instagram Decide a Nipple Becomes Female?
The real Rwanda
Dang it.
So, there is one way in which they acted like ordinary, normal Tories.
Hmm.
Harris takes the lead in Iowa.
Seltzer has an excellent record for accurate polling and margins in the last few decades.
There is a great deal of overlap in that core base.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2024/11/02/iowa-poll-kamala-harris-leads-donald-trump-2024-presidential-race/75354033007/
CBS News: Jury convicts ex-Kentucky officer of using excessive force in deadly Breonna Taylor raid
The case isn’t done as Hankison will almost surely appeal but this is a step in the right direction. The police grossly over reacted after setting up a bad situation. The police executed a surprise warrant after midnight and then panicked when there was a shot from inside the apartment. Hankison was not the person who killed Breonna Taylor but his blind shooting into the dark with no idea where the gunshot had come from resulted in his being charged.
American version
“Have I Got News For You Season 1 Episode 8 2-Nov-24 (Nov 2, 2024) Full Episode”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=XlYFPag8NvE
Leapards, faces…
She supports Trump’s anti-immigration policies. Texas incorrectly flagged her as a “Noncitizen” on its voting rolls.
You knew that was coming.
SNL – PSA I’m stupid (3:00)
SNL – 2024 Pre-Election Cold Open (8:38)
From Facebook on Halloween. T-800 sighting.
.https://www.facebook.com/share/v/qEHYP92Qh2bdAGm3/
Americans own guns to protect themselves from psychological as well as physical threats, researcher says
.https://phys.org/news/2024-10-americans-guns-psychological-physical-threats.html
@324 birgerjohansson
Psychological threats, like the knowledge that so many other people own guns
Hey, all! I’ve missed you! Even though it’s not a job, I do feel a bit like I’ve been shirking my Thread responsibilities over the last…several months. I don’t really know when I’ll have time to read and comment regularly again, but I’ll try over the next week. And I hope everyone can try to make Lynna’s life a little easier! It’s a super stressful time, especially for those of us in the US.
People have already posted about the Iowa-poll news, so I’ll share a series that’s one of the best I’ve ever seen on TV – NOVA’s Solar System. They put the full episodes on YT, but I think maybe only temporarily, since my favorite – “Storm Worlds” – doesn’t appear to be available anymore.
“Strange Worlds”:
“Volcano Worlds”:
“Icy Worlds”:
“Wandering Worlds”:
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain, @ #322 – “Keep Calmala and Carry Onala.”
Here’s the correct link for “Strange Worlds.” I’m out of practice! :)
Hi SC, good to see you commenting again!
Some Guardian links:
From the US election liveblog:
“Peace” here means unchecked Russian expansion and occupation, which of course has worked out well for Hungary historically.
“Moldova votes for president in runoff election as Russia hovers”:
“‘Inside we are screaming’: Kupiansk trembles as Russian forces close in again”:
Hunt for Bitcoin’s elusive creator Satoshi Nakamoto hits another dead-end
Hi KG! Good to see you, too!
SC, I am so glad to see you here, especially now! [waves]
waves to Lynna
It’s so nice to see you all and to be back at my internet “home”!
So…that Emerson poll the Trumpers are hanging their ugly red hats on (see #330) has him up with women in Iowa by 5 points and with Independents by 17. Seems improbable.
Just heard on Swedish public service radio: 50 children in Gaza killed in Israeli attacks the last two days.
Cartoon: A rancid return
Andrew Weissmann:
Link
Video at the link.
https://www.msnbc.com/velshi
Ali Velshi gave Rachel Maddow a block of time on his show this morning. Rachel used that time really well to discuss the fight over abortion rights. Rachel Maddow’s presentation is the best I’ve seen. Well worth the time. The video is 24:31 minutes long.
Ali Velshi provides an introduction and then Rachel takes over. She joins at about the 2:31 mark.
The Harris campaign shared a clip on Twitter from one of Trump’s NC rallies. The full bore, indeed.
Good to see you SC!
It does seem improbable, especially since Iowa is also one of the states where the religious-fascists have full control of the Government, and used that to institute a six-week abortion ban law that is wildly unpopular.
Iowa voted for Obama previous to being infected with the maga disease. It’s not nearly as republican as you might expect though it does have a lot of old pig farmers.
At #318 the Des Moines/Seltzer poll has an entirely different result. Both polls are based on about 800 people, but Seltzer’s is from people who have already voted, or are “definitely” going to vote; whereas the other poll is predicated on the nebulous “ likely” voters.
28% of independent women is just a little more than 17%.
63% of senior women is a whomping margin.
Iowa has more old women than old men on its voting roles, as women tend to live longer and Iowa has an aging demographic in the first place.
ReligionClause:
Ballot Measures to Watch in Tuesday’s Elections
November 03, 2024
Good to see you, too, Tethys!
Senior women supporting Harris by large margins is pretty easy to believe, and senior women are very high propensity voters!
Kos on Selzer:
Ann Selzer was asked to respond to Trump’s attacks on her and the poll:
And the same poll had Trump up by double digits to Biden in June and leading Harris by 4 (IIRC) in September.
I wanted some data on the percentage of Iowans who are age 65 and older. It’s 18.6% of the population, though of course thats not identical to voter numbers.
Chart at link.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1022306/iowa-population-share-age-group/
The TEC Show:
“MASSIVE NEWS!! HARRIS VS TRUMP: Trump gets WORST NEWS of ENTIRE CAMPAIGN”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=3xOTUvA5cqE
The Iowa poll is adressed at length
Interesting article in the Guardian – “Addicted to love: how dating apps ‘exploit’ their users”:
Why more Native Americans are on U.S. ballots than ever before
The Bulwark podcast already with an Ann Selzer interview (YT link).
Here in MN, we organized after the putrid orange gained power in 2016 starting with holding the largest protest ever held in the Women’s March. After that we actively (and fairly successfully) worked to get more women, and POC to run for elected offices with our support.
Our Lieutenant Governor is Peggy Flanagan, a member of the White Earth band of native Americans.
I don’t think a Republican would win a special election in that district, so I am quite hopeful that America can become a much stronger representative democracy after we defeat the orange pox yet again.
https://www.kare11.com/article/news/politics/what-happens-in-minnesota-if-tim-walz-becomes-vp-peggy-flanagan-bobby-joe-champion-history/89-7e7c65d5-b404-4d97-b707-a98504c6a8f9
I checked my mail today and did some totals of the number of political ads I got. It’s about 2 weeks of mail and I’m in a conservative leaning but contested area of Pennsylvania, so I expected a pile. The numbers are still absurd.
31 local or state ads, including 2 passing off as personal letters.
5 ads for Trump, 4 for Harris and 1 anti-tariff ad that didn’t mention any names.
1 letter from the Center for Voter Information reminding me that if I don’t vote it goes in the permanent record.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-banning-vaccines-president-rfk-fluoride-rcna178570
Yet Another Reason to vote for Harris.
Trump campaign says media shooting remark was misinterpreted
Hurricane Watch issued as Potential Tropical Cyclone 18 expected to become Rafael in Caribbean Sea
@352
I just saw that rally and Steven Chueng is a lying creep.
Orange pointed out that there was a lot of ‘ fake news’ people in the media section and then when the audience didn’t boo loud enough he said “But that’s ok. In order to shoot me, they would have to shoot through the fake news, and I don’t mind that so much.”
The rally in question had very low energy, many empty seats that Trump claimed weren’t empty, and a constant trickle of people who left while he was bloviating about his yuge crowds. (Thank you unknown cameraman who decided to pan the room and fact- check his claim in real time)
In reality the back 1/4 section was vacant, and the entire upper deck of the arena was empty and dark.
Angry crowds boo and throw eggs at Spanish king as he visits flood-hit Valencia
‘Get out,’ Spain’s king and queen told by protesters flinging mud at them
Color me skeptical re: Iowa. 538 gives that to Trump, 94-6, in its forecast map, more than Florida or even Texas.
On the other hand, that suggests that if women deliver Iowa for Harris, it would likely signal a landslide turning a large swath of the map blue. That would be something to see.
Stable YouTube link for Lynna @339:
Maddow shows how Trump abortion bans are hurting women (24:51)
Like other MSNBC shows, there’s a living playlist of Velshi clips added after airing.
A very good presentation indeed. One quibble.
Snopes
/Snopes did geolocation. Wish I didn’t have to cite them for lack of alternatives.
KnowYourMeme
Why it costs India so little to reach the Moon and Mars
‘Doomsday’ Antarctic glacier melting faster than expected, fueling calls for geoengineering
.https://phys.org/news/2024-11-doomsday-antarctic-glacier-faster-fueling.htm
Working link for #359 (url was a letter short).
‘Doomsday’ Antarctic glacier melting faster than expected
The hunt is on for the scum who stole Britain’s largest inflatable planetarium
Yes he is. His name came up prominently during the Arlington incident as well.
Elon Musk’s X is laying off employees again.
I think the best path for (soon to be former) X employees is to enter Musk’s election lottery – and then vote Democratic.
Turns out, things are cheaper when you don’t have to pay for them.
Some Guardian links:
US election liveblog. They have a photo of a Trump supporter sporting a garbage bag which reads “PROUD TO BE TRUMP’S GARBAGE.” So that’s where we are. They also have the last Emerson battleground-state polls, which all show statistical or actual ties. All of these many polls coming out tied is just crazy unlikely.
“US election offices increase security measures amid ongoing threats”:
“Maia Sandu wins second term in Moldovan election in rebuke to Kremlin”:
“Germany accuses Russia of ‘massive’ effort to stop Moldovans abroad voting”:
(I don’t agree with the practice of quoting the Kremlin’s denials of or claims about anything. When a person or organization has a demonstrated history of lying, I see no reason to quote or print their statements at all.)
“Why did so many die in Spain? Because Europe still hasn’t accepted the realities of extreme weather”:
Thank you, CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @357.
I appreciate the fact that you often take the time to provide better links. (see comment 360 as well)
I know you have pointed me to YouTube links for Rachel Maddow’s work before. I apologize for not using those.
I have a visceral dislike for YouTube, and it is not just the unwanted commercials. I don’t think they do enough to prevent dissemination of deceptive content (including scams). That’s not a good excuse for failing to link to the Maddow videos.
New York Times:
Followup to comment 322.
The SNL clip that featured Kamala Harris has over 8,600,000 views on Youtube.
SC @ 365
The Guardian has a policy about free online content which has been very helpful- they have a lot of coverage of USA (with a depth that rivals American newspspers) and a lot of columnists from USA. It has become a convenient one-stop-shop for news about the whole world.
.
Also, Michael Moore has been interviewed on TV recently, he seems optimistic about the election. Also, he appears to have lost weight, I hope it is not because of ill health. He was a very effective critic of Dubya (who has aged more than Moore in the same number of years).
Did I remember to mention Quincey Jones has passed away?
He was 91 but he deserved to have a lifespan like those greenland sharks.
Lynna, @ 366: I get your dislike for Youtube. I keep finding ad-blockers that work, though Youtube whacks them from time to time. I feel no guilt at keeping them from making money, since almost none of it goes to the creators there, and for the reasons you mention as well. Google, their owner, used to have the motto “Don’t be Evil’, but they got over that.
I support the creators I really appreciate there in other ways, like Patreon. There are lots of folks on Yutube doing good (fighting disease, disinformation, despair), and speaking truth to power; and others making physical things and teaching how to make those things that I want to learn from. I used to hate Youtube for its comment sections, where so many folks came just to be nasty. But, to give them credit, Youtube made changes to commenting, no longer boosting both negative and positive feedback, but positive only. Entire communities of positive, like-minded folks come together there; not just of commenters, but of creators themselves.
Watching actual humans explaining things is also sometimes the only way to avoid the burgeoning wave of AI crap that comes up in online searches. When you want accurate information when researching a specific question, first, search engines are almost useless now, driven by the AI pushing of ads purporting to be informative articles. Then, all too often, an AI-created aggregate of an answer comes up, which is less than worthless; sometimes even dangerous. And the makers of these ‘articles’ try to make them seem as though they are written by human experts. So far, AI has not gotten good enough to produce videos on a massive scale that are not obviously fake.
Anyway, thanks again for all you do. And, like others, I’m very glad to see SC posting here again. I know both of you are real, anyway!
So in the last several days of Trump’s campaign:
he’s repeatedly appeared late to rallies and shown open contempt for his followers in his statements and gestures
he’s appeared to be in a permanent whiny rage and asked rally attendees if they’d like for him to physically assault the sound crew
he’s looked and sounded exhausted, disengaged, and bewildered, and continues to slur his words
he’s suggested he would put RFK Jr. in charge of public health, including potentially banning vaccines, and Herschel Walker in charge of building a missile defense shield
he’s publicly fantasized about violence against a former member of the Republican House leadership and the reporters covering his rallies
he’s called the US a “crooked country”
he’s said releasing poll results that look bad for him should be illegal
he’s suggested he shouldn’t have left the White House after he lost the 2020 election
he’s said if he were to win “You watch. It’s going to be so good. It’s going to be so much fun. It’ll be nasty a little bit at times, and maybe at the beginning, in particular. But it’s going to be something.”
he’s mimicked fellatio on a mic stand (!!!)
his rallies have seemed relatively low energy and sparsely attended
one of his surrogates (Mike Johnson) has discussed plans to rip health care away from hundreds of millions of people and to “take a blowtorch to the regulatory state” and another (Elon Musk) has promised austerity
his farmed-out and subcontracted canvassing operation has reportedly engaged in human trafficking
…and I’m sure there’s more I’ve missed or already forgotten.
SC (Salty Current) @ 372: All of which shows what an insane time we’re living in. Either the polls are off, or too many voters are just not well-informed, or too many of them actually are deplorable. I know the second two are true; I’m just crossing my fingers about the first one.
Sabine Hossenfelder
“The crisis in physics is real: Science is failing”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=HQVF0Yu7X24
Of course, this applies to physics but if the way science is organised has systemic problems it should affect biology too. The difference is biology does not need billion-dollar accelerators so the resources are not thrown into a single basket.
waves to Paul K
Yes, I’m hoping the first is true as well!
Oh – here’s one I forgot @ #372 – Trump in MI on Friday on his “beautiful white skin”:
I recall seeing Trump apparently getting exhausted at the end of at least one of his recent rallies.
He is 78 years old, but there may of course be other health issues. If he loses, he may have to depend much on his surrogates to stir up unrest.
Re: SC (Salty Current) @ #375…
This applies primarily to women, but… It used to be (middle Ages and Renaissance) that having pale skin was a sign that you didn’t have to go outside and work, that is you were part of the rich class. More recently, being pale meant you were working indoors all the time and having a tan meant you had the leisure to engage in outdoor recreation much of the time.
Election Law Blog:
HaHaHa: Elon Musk’s Lawyer Says His Potentially Illegal Lottery for Registered Voters is Not “Random” But is “By Chance”
Paul K @371
Thank you. And yes, SC and I are real. LOL
Holy shit, tomh. That sure sounds like fraud.
Sheesh.
Huffington Post:
Commentary:
Link
Nuclear football interceptions? /s
/Gods please don’t let that be Trump’s free association too as a former president.
“Collapse of Ming Dynasty actually began with Wanli megadrought, tree-ring research shows:
.https://phys.org/news/2024-11-collapse-ming-dynasty-began-wanli.html
Climate as destiny? The ENSO phenomenon is implicated for both droughts.
Welcome new addition to MSNBC:
Link
whheydt @ #377, yes. Here’s an interview that touches on that history (Substack link; there are some claims made in the interview as a whole that I disagree with). The fact that a presidential candidate is talking/boasting about his skin at a public event is itself insane, but Trump is both pathologically, pathetically vain and fully bought into these race- and class-based standards of beauty. I’ll spare everyone my psychological and political analysis of why he was driven at this particular place and time to assert the whiteness of his skin and his ability to indulge in leisure pursuits. :)
I am getting desperate to find non-election content. I will try and see if this link to Reddit works.
“If the Roman Empire was a TV Series”
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/88xkve/if_the_roman_empire_was_a_tv_series_500_798/
Or maybe
.https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/88xkve/if_the_roman_empire_was_a_tv_series_500_798/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Jon Ralston now predicts Harris/Walz will win Nevada by a hair.
Re: birgerjohannson @ #386..
Check out Icel Grapevineand Monitor (monitor.is) and The Reykjavik Grapevine (grapevine.is). While there will be some election news, it won’t be about the US election and it will be much more low key. There will also be lots of other news.
Cartoon: A transformative vote
Guardian liveblog:
Guardian liveblog:
Followup to SC @380, and tomh @378.
The Guardian:
Scams, grifts, frauds, intent to deceive.
birger @386:
For the next couple of days at least, my solution is to stay away from Pharyngula or any other possible sources of anxiety. Just doing crosswords, working on a couple of physics problems, listening to music, watching silly stuff on the telly.
My best wishes to those who will be closely following the media horror show.
Whheydt @ 388
Rob Grigjanis @ 393
Thank you.
It’s hard to watch the media cover this even in part like a regular election when one of the candidates tried to violently overthrow the government.
The wheels of justice are turning in Brazil (where the fascist loser who tried to violently overthrow the government is barred from running) – Guardian:
“Marielle Franco murder: ex-police jailed for decades over crime that shook Brazil”:
“Alleged mastermind in murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira formally charged”:
@378, etc Musk election “lottery”
Pennsylvania judge allows Elon Musk’s $1 million voter giveaway
Wow, that’s some very persuasive legal reasoning. It almost leads me to expect that tomorrow’s winner wil be…
Judge Angelo Foglietta!
Ohio sheriff’s lieutenant apologizes for ‘won’t help Democrats’ post, blames sleep medication
Elon Musk’s parents are crazy.
Elon Musk’s Dad Claims Son Is Secretly Not Right Wing
Elon Musk’s Mother Suggests She May ‘Vote Ten Times’ – Or More
That is not only illegal, it would be easily caught. You don’t have to show your ID to vote, but you do have to be registered.
Elon Musk’s mother calls Harris an ’embarrassment to women,’ for her inability to ‘put a sentence together’
Pete Buttigieg Systematically Schools 25 Undecided Voters
Seth Meyers sums up Trump’s political career
“Trump’s Dark, Weird & Desperate Closing Message: Lies, Threats & Complaints about SNL”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=7977j4dfBxk
That long rant was just what I needed.
In Ambien, veritas?
Found at Facebook.
“Well, Dan, if Mexicans are all drug dealers and rapists…
and you are afraid they will take your job…
WHAT exactly do you do for a living??!”
Assorted stuff via Mastodon.
GottaLaff
New Yorker cover: Lady Liberty walks a tightrope over a city.
Rebecca Watson
[Headline: This black hole is eating stuff at over 40 times the theoretical limit.]
Same, it’s election anxiety.
Ricki Tarr
Here’s what we know so far, but please keep hitting that refresh button, making yourself crazy. Sincerely, The Media
[A US map with a jumble of colors scribbled all over it in crayon.]
@yurnidiot@mstdn.social
who are these lunatics answering phone calls from unknown numbers and why are we polling them for election opinions?
Matt Bevan (ABC reporter on X)
I’ve found the end of the line at the Harris rally in Philadelphia tonight, and measured it using google maps. It is 1.4 miles (2.3km) long. #Pennsylvania
@Strandjunker@mstdn.social
Women are the wall, and Trump will pay for it.
Hell hath no fury like 169 million pissed off women heading to the polls.
@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social
In retrospect, we should have spent less time trying to convince Republicans that Trump is a monster and more time trying to convince them that voting is woke.
Star Trek Minus Context
Gul Dukat occupying DS9 and moping, “Is there a single… statue of me on Bajor?”
Non-election news & staggering to imagine really. Kilonova from colliding neutron stars creates the smallest black hole known :
Source : https://www.space.com/electrons-dance-black-hole-neutronstar-collision
Sally Strange
Jimmy Kimmel has a glorious rant, saying all the things I would say if I was more eloquent.
“Trump Ratchets Up Rhetoric, Epstein Bombshells Dropped & Jimmy’s Election Eve Closing Argument.”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=4iEvtVOQkfQ
At 12.30 Tucker Carlson says he was attacked by a demon. Later, J D Vance says he meets dead people, possibly the one who attacked Carlson.
Man arrested after trying to destroy power grid in Nashville, TN
Another accelerationist hoping chaos would spark a race war. Started research alongside undercover FBI agents in September to attack a substation. Arrested moments before he could deploy a drone and explosives. Faces up to life in prison.
Stephen Colbert:
“Senior Women Back Harris In Iowa | America’s Fresh Start | Trump vs. The Microphone”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=c7CsCbWmOhs
Colbert: We are all feeling the way the people of Pompeii felt when Vesuvius was trying to get re-elected.
Re. @409
It gets interesting at the 7.20 mark.
I voted.
Kyle’s Definitive Case Against Trump | The Kyle Kulinski Show – Secular talk channel 35 minutes in length.
The 1918 film A Trip To Mars.
Facebook
.https://www.facebook.com/share/p/DqcvM8fv5qJrM6bT/
Here’s a link to today’s Guardian US-election liveblog. From there:
I feel like there’s a lot of emphasis on the potential for violence if Trump loses and not nearly enough appreciation of the fact that it would be dwarfed by the amount of violence that would result if he were to win.
Also in the Guardian – “Inexperienced, poorly trained and underfed: the North Korean troops heading to Ukraine”:
Steve Shives – Closing Argument: If Republicans said the quiet parts loud (17:03)
One of his shouty in-char rants, this time at R voters. Going hard at 13:50.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain, @ #415, I swear Trump has said things in the past few days that verge on that level of open contempt for his voters. I keep thinking of that cartoon with some sheep in a field looking at a billboard with a picture of a wolf reading “I WILL EAT YOU,” and one is saying to the others, “He tells it like it is.”
In related news, from the Guardian liveblog:
“Election 2024: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)” (YT link):
Salon – “The most critical abortion ballot measures to watch this election”:
Kinda commented on this in the polls thread too but FWIW adding here as well :
Plus :
In addition to :
Source : https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/usa/104559424
Good if bleak episode of one of the best programs on the media.
The world’s most feminist city: how Umeå in Sweden became an idyll for women | Feminism | The Guardian
.https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/oct/30/the-worlds-most-feminist-city-how-umea-in-sweden-became-an-idyll-for-women
AP: Boeing factory strike ends as workers vote to accept contract
Union didn’t get everything they wanted but a 38% wage increase over 4 years is huge.
Something to take your minds off you-know-what.
Sabine Hossenfelder : “Scientists Discover a Law of Natural Laws”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZT1MVkKLZh0
Thanks for the link, SC @417!
Link
Link
Trump and Vance end on the ugliest note they can
More at the link.
With so many states beong a “tossupp” Trump would nevertheless need to win most of those states to win, which seems unlikely considering the imbalance (aka tired, demented Trump at rallies) between the campaigns the last few days.
I am going to switch off my brain and watch ordinary TV until further tangible news.
Nicolle Wallace on Vance calling Harris ‘trash:’ ‘You just effed up’
Video at the link.
MAGA world is bringing losing election cases. This could be why.
Winning is beside the point; for the 1789 Foundation, better known as Citizen AG, cultivating distrust in voter eligibility might be the real goal.
This is a thoughtful analysis from Lisa Rubin:
That’s interesting. Most of the others were against some nebulous unspecified “Obamacare.” It is odd to see him single out one of the provisions that an overwhelming majority of people consider to be reasonable and good.
NBC News:
Tucker Carlson Is In His Pat Robertson Era, Says Abortions Cause Hurricanes, Demons Made Nuclear Bombs
@424 Lynna, OM: Going after healthcare is a desperation move. It’s an issue that worked for Republicans when Trump won and nothing is working for them now. They thought they had winning issues with border security and the economy. The economy has just been too strong over the summer, defying exceptions with steady growth and lower then expected inflation. Trump and other Republicans screwed up border security with incoherent policy and too much overt racism.
Going after the ACA worked for them in the past because people like the idea of more freedom in health care. It’s something Republicans can sound good on as long as you don’t get into the details of what their position really means.
JM @433, good points.
Reginald @430, yeah, that didn’t make sense to me either.
Link
Several videos showing portions of Kamal Harris’ final rally are available here.
I particularly enjoyed Lady Gaga’s performance.
Link
Interesting. I am going to presume that was a misspelling of “expectations” and auto-correct somehow patched it up into the nearest intact word.
I had to look him up, as I wondered if his opposition might have anything to do with court ordered child support obligations.
He indeed has a former wife and 4 teenagers, in addition to 2 stepchildren. His second wife was a member of the felon administration, followed by working at Goldman Saks.
I hope he loses. Hedge fund managers are bad enough, but he was CEO of the one of the biggest.
These are the corporate executives who l’orange has promised tax breaks if elected.
@439 Tethys
McCormick is another “carpetbagger” candidate.
Casey and McCormick square off in Pa. race that could determine Senate control
Laibach does a live cover of Queen’s One Vision.
‘Laibach – Geburt Einer Nation – Exit Festival 2005 [10/11]’
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bmwdf0Jo-uY
BTW the female drummers are really cool.
“A vision” = “Ein Leitbild”
@438 Reginald Selkirk: Yes
Rudy Giuliani continues to play games with Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss
Man smelling like fuel brings torch, flare gun to Capitol on Election Day
Someone posted at Daily Kos about how they voted today in a snowstorm in central Montana. It’s so warm on the East Coast today – it’s hard to even picture!
Researchers discover localized pain relief using known chemical reaction
.https://phys.org/news/2024-11-localized-pain-relief-chemical-reaction.html
A clever way to reduce pain without opioids.
Re: birgerjohannson @ #441…
So are women brass players…such as Tina Thing Helseth and her all-women brass ensemble Ten Thing.
Tiny town delivers 3-3 tie in first US election result
Elderly driver crashes car into poll site, briefly disrupts voting
Well, he had to explain those scratch marks to his wife somehow!
Kyle Kulinski of the Secular Talk YT channel has his good election predictions – yes plural – here (20 mins long) which I sure hope come true esp his most optimistic best case one.
Live
YT Election Night 2024 by The Majority Report here.
Allan Lichtman’s live 2024 Election Night Coverage here
Hello. It’s 5AM in my time zone and I can’t sleep, for reasons unrelated to the US election result. It had better be good.
[Delaware] Sarah McBride becomes the first openly trans person elected to Congress
North Carolina’s Josh Stein wins race for governor over Mark Robinson
The pro-slavery, pro-nazi Republican Lt Gov was defeated by the Dem AG, son of the founder of the state’s first integrated law firm and now, first Jewish Governor of NC.
Current Gov Roy Cooper was already Dem. NC is one of 20 states that elects Lt Govs separately per its constitution. The new Lt Gov hasn’t been called yet.
Well, the Biden administration fucked around and now we all get to find out. (As I write this, it hasn’t been called yet, but it’s getting closer and Trump is well in the lead.)
Y’know, maybe sending Bill Clinton at the last minute to tell Muslim voters in Michigan that their extended families were evil and needed to die wasn’t a smart move after all. In fact, maybe spending 11 months literally expecting that voters would just forget a genocide which they were being forced to pay for by the time of the election — and continuing to expect this no matter how close said election got — was not clever planning. Maybe being smug and condescending and dismissive whenever anybody brought it up in public was not the vote-getter that Biden and Harris apparently thought it was. Maybe, just maybe, “I am not Trump” — which didn’t work in 2016 and only just barely worked in 2020, when voters had recent experience of what that meant — was not so effective that it was reasonable to expect it to excuse any and everything else the administration was screwing up. It’s even possible that skirting Congressional budgetary control by sending off weapons shipments just below the threshold requiring approval as often as 90 times in a single month, but then not pulling similar shenanigans for things like disaster relief after a hurricane literally wiped whole inland towns off the map, maybe that was a bridge too far in cynicism. Maybe proclaiming the Democrats to be the good, smart, mentally-balanced party and then carrying out evil, stupid, vicious policy was too much of a contradiction. Maybe the Cheneys aren’t the vote-getters among those who lean left that Democrats apparently assumed they were. Maybe it was as ridiculous as it seemed to declare that Republicans were “weird” and then immediately announce you’d be adding them to the cabinet.
They fucked around, we’ll all find out.
Re: The Vicar @457:
Like this?
Why FEMA is changing rules for disaster aid (2024-01)
@458, CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain:
No, because that doesn’t involve Biden actively sticking his neck out and risking investigation because he wants to do something so badly that he’ll find and exploit every loophole he possibly can in the heat of the moment. Maybe it has something to do with the $5 million that Mister Nothing Is Fundamentally Going To Change has taken from Israeli lobbyists, although one would assume that that was chump change to a national-level American politician.
One thing is for certain: the Democrats cared more about Israel being able to start wars with all its neighbors than they did about keeping Trump out of the White House. Netanyahu has been pro-Trump since 2016 and the Biden administration still pulled out all the stops to enable his war crimes at taxpayer expense. All that hand-wringing about Project 2025 was just theater; they were perfectly happy for it all to happen as long as the bodies kept piling up. I am totally ashamed that I have ever voted for a Democrat, given the way that Democrats were willing to go along with that; there should have been a major revolt, early on, and the fact that there wasn’t is why, if the exit polls reported by Salon are anything to go by, Harris isn’t going to be the candidate sworn in in January.
But I shouldn’t be surprised; centrists have always allied with the far right when the chips were down. Hitler didn’t get into office by winning an election, he became chancellor because successions of centrist politicians moved rightward, legitimizing the far right over and over again, until he had enough support that he could be appointed to an office by a centrist.
It looks like the Republicans are going to have a majority in the Senate, too, so Harris didn’t just lose by clinging to Biden’s policies, she had anti-coat-tails. (Great job picking candidates these last 3 elections, guys. Almost like Clinton, Biden, and Harris were every bit as worthless as those much-denounced Bernie Bros told you at the time. Nah, it can’t be. It’s the children who are wrong.) For decades now, every time the Democrats have had a majority, Republican minorities in the Senate have been blamed for blocking everything the Democrats said they wanted to do because the Democrats didn’t have a strong enough majority, even when they briefly had 60 seats. The Republicans can now change the rules to eliminate the filibuster and do whatever they want with a simple majority — I’m betting they will, and it will prove that the Democrats were stupid chumps for not doing it themselves in 2009 or 2021, or possibly (more plausibly, in fact) that the Democrats never actually intended to do anything at any point anyway and just used the filibuster as an excuse.
Or, they may keep the filibuster, and the Democrats will have the opportunity to show that they weren’t lying when they said the Republicans were able to block them from doing literally anything despite having a minority. If the filibuster survives, I bet that won’t happen. The last 34 years have shown that the Democratic Party is utterly, utterly hollowed out and worthless — not serious about getting any of their actual campaign promises accomplished, more interested in chasing Republican voters than doing what they promised their own voters they would do, far more concerned with multinational corporations than with the public. They’ll fold like a cheap suit and let the Republicans have whatever they want. That’s been a recurring pattern both for the Democrats in the US and for centrists worldwide — when the chips are down, centrists align with fascists. The only way to stop the fascists is to stop the centrists.
(At least NATO will now probably become a European-only group, so the US won’t be able to drag the rest of the western world into imperial battles any more — we won’t have some damned incompetent warhawk Secretary of State bypassing Congress by way of NATO to have an invasion like Hillary Clinton did in Libya under Obama. Oh, wait — Biden just set a precedent last month that the President can deploy any part of the military without even talking to Congress, which means he can deploy all of it, so Trump will be able to do that, too, and this is all moot! Heck of a job, Team Blue! It was so worth it to stack the deck in Biden’s favor in the 2020 primaries!)
I don’t really expect to survive until the next Presidential election. I probably wouldn’t anyway, but I think this cements it in place. Don’t give me more of the No Matter Who Blue MAGA crap that shows up whenever Democrats gather to suppress dissent from the left; this was Harris’ election to lose, and she lost it because she was a bad candidate who hated her own voters, and we all have a right to be pissed off about the way she threw away every chance with both hands. (And, incidentally, the Clintons ought to be bulldozed by the IDF; why the hell can’t they shut the fuck up and go away for good? Wasn’t causing losses in 2000 and 2016 enough for them?)
Trump will most likely sweep all swing states and Israel Gaza war has nothing to do with it. Even if Biden had fully opposed Israel, it would have changed nothing.
Americans vote for Trump because they are idiots. Nothing can change that.
Places are starting to call it for Trump. He still doesn’t have 270 but with PA going for Trump Harris will need to sweep the remaining states to win. This is going to be very bad for the USA and bad for several other places around the planet that are going to get swept up in the aftermath.
My feeling at this point is that the single biggest factor is the number of people who feel the economy is doing badly. It isn’t and it will do worse under Trump but people feel that way.
I really want to know what all the Trump and GOP voters were thinking. Why did they vote the way they did? What convinced them that they were making the best choice? That’s the kind of poll I’d really like to see.
MSNBC panel – Underwhelming election returns (8:50)
I am numb. It is coming down to some mail-in votes in Philadelphia.
While we are waiting for the mail-in votes for Philadelphia to decide if Trump will be president or not, here is something to cheer you up.
.
Jon Stewart and The Best F**king News Team Take on Election Night 2024
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZjMAfRq7V_s
On Finnish news, there’s currently a huge garbage fire in Tampere (a major city, where several of my relatives live).
https://yle.fi/a/74-20122625
Now, back to US election news…
You know, this is like watching for signs that Sagittarius A* has turned quasar and will fry the galaxy. By the time you see something the light has been en route for 30 000 years so life or death has already been decided.
Since I have no time machine I am going to get coffee and try to stop thinking about the election. Or stop thinking, period.
Lumipuna @ 466
A portent…
@462 redwood: I would really like to know also but I suspect many wouldn’t be honest if asked. There are probably small but significant chunks that voted against Harris because she is a woman and/or isn’t white. Few of those voters would admit to it and likely many come up with excuses to themselves.
There is probably a significant part of the Republican base that votes against Democrats because they don’t want their guns taken away but what part they really make up is unclear. There is also a spite the liberals vote, but again how much of an actual percent they make is unclear. I think there is a substantial group that registered as Republican many years ago and just refuse to change but they can always come up with reasons why they stick with their side.
There is some left wing people that voted Republican because they are angry with the Democratic party. This is a stupid way to vote in this election but it does happen. There are probably more that claim to do this then actually did.
Trump wins Pennsylvania
WTF
Obviously some kind of cheating.
Now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to price some fallout shelters.
Time for Biden to use that limitless kingly power the SCOTUS gave him – and NOT hold back..
They want dictatoprship? Give em dictatorship first before they give you dictatorship.
I am stunned, appalled, gutted, horrified and so very pissed off.
Oh & isn’t this about the time Trump should be calling the election rigged and unfair?
(Which it actually is just in his favour. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, EC et al.)
@ Vicar : Blaming the wrong people and yet this is what you wanted isn’t it?
Accelerationism, tyranny, carnage..human misery and suffering and deaths.
The USA’s downfall..
At the end of the day, not having a primary bites Democrats in the ass. Harris did all she could but you can’t argue with the results: Democrats are a very incompetent opposition party.
It can get bleaker
Netanyahu & Putin getting their way and able to do whatever they please now…
That what you wanted Vicar, Beholder, other Trump shills? Well, we have it, Now what?.
Now what for everyone?
A world of competing fascisms and multiple genocides, followed by civilizational collapse as all attempts to stem global heating are abandoned. Enjoy your triumph Vicar, beholder, drew…
The ‘red mirage’ is back. Be ready for this key state to take its time counting ballots.
Passover did not exist in the fifth century BC
.
New Study of ‘Passover Letter’ May Change What We Know About the Birth of Judaism – Archaeology – Haaretz.com
https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2024-11-04/ty-article/new-study-of-passover-letter-may-change-what-we-know-about-the-birth-of-judaism/00000192-dc36-ddcf-a7f7-dc76c3eb0000
Julie Johnson (D) becomes the first openly LGBTQ person to represent Texas in Congress
Jon Stewart’s Election Night Takeaway | The Daily Show
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=XLiagIdA84c
@481: At least my state got something good done.
I have a question about the mail-in ballots of Pennsylvania.
Have all of them been counted?
NBC has called Pennsylvania for trump but I have not found a confirmation about the mail-in votes.
It would be a mercy indeed to be spared four more years of this pernicious kind of ghastly gloating over a planetary disaster…
If only huh?
Not impossible?
.* Hey, If Trump can do it, why can’t he? Geese ganders..
Abortion rights measures (^ = rejection)
* I botched the carets. “^ = bad” then. Also should’ve bolded Nevada.
Sally Strange
I’m afraid I can’t agree. The American electorate has voted for fascism. Of course there are many good Americans, devoted to freedom and social justice – but it’s quite clear they are a minority, and that overall, the politics and culture of the USA are deeply toxic.
Elia Ayoub (who had family in Lebanon)
@futurebird@sauropods.win
Footnote in replies
A repeat question: Uncounted mail-in votes at Philadelphia.
Once I am certain they have been counted I can start to grieve.
Fuck. I went to bed hopeful. I should have slept in another four years.
Re: birgerjohansson: Sorry. I’ve only seen remarks that counting can take days.
Votes against election reform, part of a trend
NPP = nonpartisan primaries, RCV = ranked choice voting
Nevada rejected NPP+RCV. Idaho rejected NPP+RCV.
South Dakota rejected NPP. Oregon rejected RCV.
Arizona NPP, Colorado NPP+RCV, and Montana NPP unlikely so far.
Alaska currently *has* NPP+RCV, and the measure to repeal is too close to call.
Exception: Washington, D.C. approved semi-open primaries and RCV.
Trump says RFK Jr. will “make America healthy again”
We are so screwed.
CompulsoryAccount7746, Sky Captain @ 495
Thank you.
Tried that once. Liberals called me a genocidal madman (because Mussolini used to be a socialist) and was I blamed for Trump winning in 2016.
Well despair is all you got, because all the optimism, organizing, and peaceful demonstrating isn’t going to stop the literal bullets that are going to be fired at us. Drum circles and pink-pussy-hats are no match to the U.S. military.
No Sally. This IS us.
It should be no surprise that this happened. Afterall, this is a nation build on slavery, genocide, capitalist exploitation, and religious fanaticism. Hate, greed, and superstition are baked into our culture. The only time progress has been allowed is if it sneaks in through judicial ruling or a loophole, but it’s never approved by the majority. This outcome was inevitable.