And another day of a detailed inventory list, snowflake fascists, the violent and dangerous Kiwi Farms, Texas’ war on trans kids, yoga sects, Jane Fonda, and why the return to the office isn’t working comes to a close:
“If you have an issue with Biden calling you a fascist, stop being one.” — The Lincoln Project
“I wonder if test scores went down because of the fucking apocalypse and kids having family members dying while society showed that it could not be bothered to make structural changes to protect people. Just a thought, maybe testing during the apocalypse wasn't, I don't know, a priority for the kids. Maybe they had some other stuff going on.” — Thomas Lecaque
Deaths
US: 1,072,672 (+547)
World: 6,501,243 (+2784)
Cases
US: 96,572,566 (+107,440)
World: 609,431,363 (+730,729)
The detailed inventory list. 48 empty folders labeled “Classified.” Holy shit.
Trump search inventory reveals new details from FBI seizure. Along with highly classified government documents, the FBI agents who searched former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate found dozens of empty folders marked classified but with nothing inside and no explanation of what might have been there, according to a more detailed inventory of the seized material made public on Friday. The agents also found more than 10,000 other government documents kept by Trump with no classification marked.
Snowflake Fascists and the GOP Politics of Rubber and Glue. During a campaign rally in Maryland, Biden noted that Trump has embraced “political violence” and no longer believes in democracy: “What we’re seeing now is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy. It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the—I’m going to say something—it’s like semi-fascism.” Of course, the right went berserk over this. A Republican National Committee spokesperson howled that Biden’s comment was “despicable.” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu exclaimed that it was “horribly inappropriate” and urged Biden to apologize. Sen. Ted Cruz tweeted that “communists have always called their enemies ‘fascists.’” (Biden is a communist?) But what to call a movement that denies election results, falsely claims an election was stolen, and refuses to admonish or excommunicate a leader who encouraged and used violence in his effort to overturn that election? In a flurry of unhinged tweets this week, Trump demanded his restoration to the presidency (a move impossible under the Constitution) and hinted that the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago might spur his supporters to violence. That all sounds a bit fascist-ish. — It is. And the MAGA Republicans are. — For decades, the GOP has depicted Democrats as an anti-American force (commies! radicals! subversives!) actively scheming to wreck the nation. Now they cry foul?…And amid this kerfuffle, Trump posted a photograph of Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi in which their faces were covered by the words “Your enemy is not in Russia.” In other words, they are your enemy. Not mean, right? Such meme-ing could well lead to violence…On Thursday night, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Biden again addressed the issue of MAGA extremism in a formal speech. Noting that not every Republican is a MAGA Republican—which is a charitable position these days—he declared, “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” He put it simply: “MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election. And they’re working right now, as I speak, in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself….They promote authoritarian leaders, and they fan the flames of political violence.” Factcheck: True. Biden did not use the F-word, but he fully and passionately explained how Trumpism presents a profound danger to the nation. — If it walks like fascism, and talks like fascism, then…
Kiwi Farms has become synonymous with doxxing (the release of an individual’s identifying information with malicious intent), swatting (a term for when an anonymous person sends an urgent, false tip to the police about a violent crime in a victim’s home in the hopes that law enforcement will raid it and potentially harm the person inside), and archiving controversial materials such as manifestos by mass shooters and recordings of their livestreams. The forum is a massive archive of sensitive information on their targets, which has been used to repeatedly harass them. Kiwi Farms’ most notorious section is titled “lolcows” and targets transgender people. The archive often features social media pictures of their targets’ friends and family, along with contact information of their employers. The information is used in an effort to get their targets fired or socially isolated by spreading rumors that they are pedophiles or criminals. Experts fear Kiwi Farms is starting to target other communities — and that their tactics are being duplicated throughout the political world to intimidate political enemies…Alejandra Carabello, an attorney at Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, worries that Kiwi Farms’ typical “playbook” — in which trolls weaponize years of online data against various individuals because of their stances on a constellation of culture war issues — will be opened up to more and more private citizens as political rhetoric heats up before the 2024 election. — This isn’t good.
Hospitalized, Bullied, and Denied Care: Texas’ War on Trans Kids. The tragic consequences of Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-trans witch hunts are piling up. “Put simply,” attorneys wrote, Abbott’s order “traumatizes children.” — Trump Republicans relish in cruelty towards others. Abbott is a waste of human flesh.
Yoga sect allegedly exploited women to lure men like Domingo. An Argentina-based yoga group sexually exploited vulnerable women it called “geishas” to get money and influence from wealthy and powerful men around the world, including opera star Placido Domingo, who knew the organization’s leaders for more than two decades, according to interviews with former members and local authorities.
Why the return to the office isn’t working. With 70 percent of office workers globally now back in the office at least one day a week, the excitement many people felt a few months ago is wearing off. For many, that novelty is turning into an existential question: Why are we ever here?…Solving the office conundrum is not easy, and in all likelihood it will be impossible to make everyone happy. But it’s important to remember that going to the office never really worked for everyone, it was just what everyone did. Now, two years after the pandemic sent office workers to their living rooms, their employers may have a chance to make more people happy than before…For many office workers, the current state of affairs just isn’t working out. So they’re doing what they can to make their experience of work better, whether that means renting coworking space or not showing up for arbitrary in-office days. They don’t necessarily hate the office. What they hate is not having a good reason to be there.
Jane Fonda announces she’s been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The acclaimed actor also said she has the better chance of survival based largely on the privilege of having “health insurance and access to the best doctors and treatments.” “Almost every family in America has had to deal with cancer at one time or another and far too many don’t have access to the quality health care I am receiving and this is not right,” she added.
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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