And another day of shrinking the middle class, rising from the fringe to the top, Russia attacking Ukraine, hospitals bracing for unprecedented winter of viruses, uninhabitable regions, ‘flat out racist’ comments, and taxing animal burping and peeing comes to a close:
“Never forget, Columbus' contemporaries knew him as a grifter, a violent tyrant, and a delusional megalomaniac. When you defend Columbus, you are telling on yourself, not saying anything about history.” — Thomas Lecaque
Deaths
US: 1,087,976
World: 6,561,819
Cases
US: 98,572,011
World: 626,843,867
How Long Will the GOP Continue to Shrink the Middle Class Rather than Grow It? While President Franklin D. Roosevelt started America on the path to becoming the first nation in the history of the world to see over half its citizens in the middle class, conservative thought leaders have been warning their politicians about the danger of an “over-large and over-prosperous” middle class. This explains why Republican actions always work against middle class people, worsen poverty, and redirect all their efforts and opportunities toward the top 10 percent (and, particularly, the top 1 percent) of Americans. It explains why Red states remain mired in poverty, crime, and have the shortest life-spans in America…The year John F. Kennedy was assassinated fully 78 percent of Americans “trusted government to do the right thing” for this country. The top income tax rate on the morbidly rich was 91%, over 50% on corporations, and regulatory agencies were looking into workplace safety, pollution, and worker’s rights. Unions were growing and college was so cheap as to be free in most of America. Within a few years women would receive full financial and workplace rights, and minorities were appearing in the workplace and the media. All the “government interference” in the “free market” that was growing this “culturally dangerous” middle class was intolerable to America’s oligarchs: something had to be done! So Fred Koch’s John Birch Society and other rightwing groups re-calibrated their efforts away from “fighting the communist threat” to fighting the middle class threat…Over the next decade — as rightwing billionaires and fossil fuel barons funded literally hundreds of think tanks, policy groups, and publications all saying that government was evil and dangerous — public trust in government collapsed to around 34% by the late 1970s. Their propaganda campaign about “jackbooted thugs” in the IRS, overreaching regulatory agencies, and corrupt union bosses was working. Following that script, Reagan cut the top tax rate on the morbidly rich from 74% to 27%, filled the corporate tax rate with loopholes, gutted regulatory agencies, tried to kill the EPA (through the corrupt efforts of Neil Gorsuch’s mother), and declared open warfare on the unions who represented about a third of American workers. The conservative effort to cut the American middle class down to size has, so far, succeeded beyond their wildest dreams:…The net effect of all these policies that Republicans advocate, from tax cuts to gutting unions to allowing political bribery by corporations, is to further impoverish working class people and cause more and more to fall out of the middle class…Every step that further impoverishes and indebts the middle class decreases the chances that they will rise up against their bosses, right-wing media, the Republican Party, or the billionaires who own them. — I left a lot out because of space. Go read the rest.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rises from GOP fringe to front. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once shunned as a political pariah for her extremist rhetoric, is poised to become an influential player if the GOP wins the House majority in November. — Republicans must never again gain control of government. They have shown they stand for, and promote, hatred, racism, and fascism.
Marjorie Taylor Greene just bragged that “we have a better chance” to overturn marriage equality now that Roe v. Wade is overturned. She adds, “The Bible tells us marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman,” and the crowd cheered. — There they go promoting hatred again.
Conservatives Are Mad Kanye Was Censored for Threatening ‘Death Con 3’ Against Jews. Following a week of criticism for designing “White Live Matter” shirts, the rapper had his social media accounts locked after a series of antisemitic posts. — Because conservatives approve of what Kanye said. They believe they should be allowed to spread hatred. Very Nazi-ish of them. Fucking trash.
Russia unleashes biggest attacks in Ukraine in months. Russia retaliated Monday for an attack on a critical bridge by unleashing its most widespread strikes against Ukraine in months, a lethal barrage that smashed civilian targets, knocked out power and water, shattered buildings and killed at least 14 people.
U.S. hospitals brace for an unprecedented winter of viruses. Flu cases are already rising in parts of the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pediatricians, too, are seeing a growing number of children sick with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and enteroviruses. And despite a downward trend in Covid, tens of thousands of new cases are still being diagnosed every day. The convergence of viruses is hitting health care systems as they're forced to reckon with staffing shortages that worsened during the pandemic.
False calls about active school shooters are rising. Behind them is a strange pattern. But as the number of these reports swelled over time, Conley said she began to discern some very strange patterns — including the possibility that the calls may have come from overseas, and perhaps specifically from Africa…"Our fear of school shootings and school-based violence is being weaponized against us."
Extreme heatwaves will make entire regions uninhabitable within decades: Report. Heatwaves will become so extreme in certain regions of the world within decades that human life there will be unsustainable, the United Nations and the Red Cross said on Monday. Heatwaves are predicted to “exceed human physiological and social limits” in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and south and southwest Asia, with extreme events triggering “large-scale suffering and loss of life”, the organizations said.
NAACP blasts Tuberville for "flat out racist" reparations comments. NAACP president Derrick Johnson on Monday accused Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) of spreading dangerous rhetoric after the senator claimed Democrats want reparations for minorities because they are “pro-crime.” “Senator Tuberville’s comments are flat out racist, ignorant and utterly sickening,” Johnson said in a statement on Monday. “His words promote a centuries-old lie about Black people that throughout history has resulted in the most dangerous policies and violent attacks on our community.”
Chilling Audio Provides Rare Glimpse Into Abuse at Troubled Illinois Residential Facility. No one was charged when staff were caught on a 911 tape threatening violence against a Choate Mental Health and Developmental Center resident who has developmental disabilities. New reporting shows a culture of cover-ups at the facility. — Fucking horrible people.
University of Oregon launches program that pays for Native American students' tuition and fees. The University of Oregon says the program is immediately available to roughly 150 to 175 Native American students on campus.
New Zealand’s government on Tuesday proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change. The government said the farm levy would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products. But farmers quickly condemned the plan.
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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