Sunday, October 27, 2024

And another day of rising American fascism comes to a close. Remember, voting for a fascist makes you a fascist; and yes, voting for a Nazi makes you a Nazi.

“And there we have it: pure Fascism.” — Ruth Ben-Ghiat

“Voting for a Nazi makes you a Nazi.” — Mayo

“This Madison Square Garden rally is the most compelling case against Trump and MAGA ever made in one place and at one time.” — David Rothkopf

“Let's be clear. This fascist Madison Square Garden rally is not a bid to win the hearts and minds of undecided voters. It's to rile up potential political violence ahead of a looming election loss. Nothing more, nothing less.” — Mueller, She Wrote

The Genesis of Christian Nationalism. In recent years, the Christian right has become an increasingly powerful force in American politics. The belief that God has called on conservative Christians to rule over society has extended into all levels of government, from school boards to the White House. Many pundits call this movement Christian nationalism. But while it may seem like a phenomenon born out of our current political moment, it represents the culmination of various movements with roots that trace back decades. The more extreme elements didn’t just materialize a few years ago. They’ve been there from the start.

Speaker at Trump rally compares Puerto Rico to ‘island of garbage’. At another point, Hinchcliffe said Latinos “love making babies.” “They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country,” he said.

Trump’s Extreme Rhetoric Is Echoing in Threats of Violence. National security and threat assessment experts told me after the January 6 insurrection that quashing the violent extremism unleashed by Trump requires a fundamental change in what political leaders treat as acceptable rhetoric. But through the years of Trump’s continuing grip on the Republican Party, that standard has trended in the wrong direction, with many Republican politicians excusing or even joining in on Trump’s tactics. With Election Day fast approaching, no Republican member of Congress or high-profile figure in the party is speaking out forcefully against Trump’s dark rhetoric. House Speaker Mike Johnson and others stick to misdirection or feigned ignorance, if they address the matter at all. As one threat assessment source told me: “Silence is its own form of participation.”

Elon Musk Wants to Deport People Living in the United States Illegally—Just Like He Once Did. Long before he became one of Donald Trump’s biggest donors and campaign surrogates, South African-born Elon Musk worked illegally in the United States as he launched his entrepreneurial career after ditching a graduate studies program in California, according to former business associates, court records and company documents obtained by the Washington Post.

Just About Everything Related to Climate Hinges on the Election Outcome. As you gear up to vote, here are 15 ways that Harris’ and Trump’s climate- and environment-related policies could affect your life—along with some information to help inform your vote.

Google to develop AI that takes over computers, The Information reports. Google is set to demonstrate the product code-named Project Jarvis as soon as December with the release of its next flagship Gemini large language model.

Scientists Revive Pig Brains an Hour After Death With Experimental Method. Scientists in China have pulled off a remarkable feat worthy of Victor Frankenstein: reviving pigs’ brains up to 50 minutes after a complete loss of blood circulation. The macabre accomplishment could someday lead to advances in keeping people’s brains intact and healthy for longer while resuscitating them.

Chronic pain is more common than diabetes or depression. Better treatments are emerging. People are developing new cases of chronic pain at higher rates than new diagnoses of diabetes, depression or high blood pressure. 

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.

Friday, October 25, 2024

And another day of surrendering in advance, an open letter, illegal mail-in ballot date, Musk a national security threat, apologies for Native Americans forced to attend boarding schools, denials for dollars, and the Plastic’s Industry wish list for a second Trump Administration comes to a close:

“We fought a war bc Nazism is evil. So when someone repeats Nazi slogans & admires Hitler, you don't give his defenders airtime, you warn the country every fucking day & night that should they elect him, they'll get something between authoritarian hell & genocide.” — Cliff Schecter

“It's the same perfect storm that brought Hitler to power: Capture the courts and business elites. Institutions submit to self-censorship. The Nazis turned Germany into a dictatorship in just six months.” — Andrea Chalupa

“Three of the worst oligarchs backing Trump - Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks - are products of South African apartheid. This isn’t a coincidence.” — Tony Annett

“Here's the thing about protesting Bezos's WaPo decision: 1. Canceling your WaPo subscription could impact writers--not Bezos. 2. Canceling your Prime subscription could impact Amazon workers--not Bezos. 3. Electing Dems could raise taxes on the wealthy. That impacts Bezos.” — Joel Mendelson

The Washington Post Bends the Knee to Trump. Yet it is a submission nonetheless: One week before the mortals finish voting and might elect an authoritarian, one whose former chief of staff calls him a fascist, the Washington Post has decided that silence is the best way to guide its readers. Silence, after all, will not offend the authoritarian should he win. Silence, after all, is more than Trump can reasonably expect from the Post. Democracy may die in darkness, as the Post’s motto goes, but silence is apparently a good hedge.

Bezos made decision to kill Harris endorsement, reports Washington Post. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of The Washington Post, personally made the decision to kill an endorsement of Vice President Harris for president that the newspaper’s editorial board had drafted, the outlet reported Friday.

“It would be different if the LA Times and Washington Post had established the policy months ago and didn’t endorse anyone,But both of them had in other races and only decided not to AFTER THEIR EDITORIAL BOARDS HAD DECIDED TO ENDORSE KAMALA HARRIS.” — Jon Cryer

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly says Trump praised Hitler while in office. “Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators — he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure,” Kelly said. — Trump is a fascist. He’s running on a fascist platform. If you support him, then you, too, are a fascist.

13 former Trump administration officials sign open letter backing up John Kelly's criticism of Trump. “We applaud General Kelly for highlighting in stark details the danger of a second Trump term. Like General Kelly, we did not take the decision to come forward lightly,” the letter said. “We are all lifelong Republicans who served our country. However, there are moments in history where it becomes necessary to put country over party. This is one of those moments.”

“When you read this do you think ‘Gee, threats & surveillance make me feel all warm & fuzzy. What a great guy!’? If you answered yes, then congratulations, you’re a fascist too.”

Appeals court deems Mississippi mail-in ballot deadline illegal. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion sends the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) challenge back to a lower court to determine whether the Mississippi statute should be immediately blocked or whether it’s too close to the election to do so.

Far-right congressman suggests N.C. Legislature should consider handing electors to Trump on Election Day. The newly elected chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Harris, suggested that North Carolina’s Republican-controlled state Legislature should consider awarding the state’s electors to Donald Trump before all votes are counted, according to a video of his remarks posted on social media on Friday.

Any other CEO would have been fired for what Elon Musk just said. Part of the deal with being CEO is that you get a big paycheck in exchange for being the public face of a company. For most people, at most companies, that means, at minimum, trying not to make an ass of yourself in public.Tweeting a Holocaust joke, for example, might very well get you booted. Punching  down at marginalized communities? Also a bad look. But the same rules don’t apply if you’re the richest person on the planet, running companies stacked with cronies. ICYMI: On Monday, Elon Musk invoked the names of two German Nazis in a tweet while simultaneously disparaging modern pronoun conventions — attempting, as he so often does, to make a joke...The point is: Any other CEO of a major company could expect to be shown the door after airing any one these ideas. Or at least that was the case as recently as 2018, when more CEOs were forced out for “ethical lapses” than poor financial performance, according to a PwC study.

With Putin Calls, It’s More Clear Than Ever That Elon Musk Is a National Security Threat. What do the world’s richest man and a brutal authoritarian have to discuss? Quite a bit as it turns out. They’ve chatted about business, personal issues, and the state of the world. Musk is an important government contractor with a security clearance and hands in a lot of different companies.

Biden apologizes for forced Native American boarding school policy that caused abuse and deaths of children. The investigation uncovered generations of trauma. It identified the deaths of at least 973 Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children who attended the boarding schools. During his remarks, Biden acknowledged that "the real number is likely to be much, much higher." “The federal Indian boarding school policy, the pain it has caused, will always be a significant mark of shame, a blot on American history,” Biden said. In total, the probe identified 417 institutions across 37 states or then-territories that were operational between 1819 and at least 1969. — This is the America MAGA wants to return to.

“Not Medically Necessary”: Inside the Company Helping America’s Biggest Health Insurers Deny Coverage for Care. Every day, patients across America crack open envelopes with bad news. Yet another health insurer has decided not to pay for a treatment that their doctor has recommended. Sometimes it’s a no for an MRI for a high school wrestler with a strained back. Sometimes for a cancer procedure that will help a grandmother with a throat tumor. Sometimes for a heart scan for a truck driver feeling short of breath. But the insurance companies don’t always make these decisions. Instead, they often outsource medical reviews to a largely hidden industry that makes money by turning down doctors’ requests for payments, known as prior authorizations. Call it the denials for dollars business.

The Plastics Industry’s Wish List for a Second Trump Administration. Critics call it the plastics industry’s Project 2025. Tucked into a federal recycling bill is a litany of regulatory rollbacks and other industry-friendly provisions that federal agencies under Donald Trump could adopt without congressional approval.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.

Monday, October 21, 2024

And another day of being honest, Republicans wanting election misinformation, selfies and voting, DeSantis threatens television stations, Trump’s plans will end Social Security, and Kroger implementing facial recognition in their stores comes to a close:

“Trump's proposed economic and tax policies, which largely benefit the rich, would drain the Social Security Trust Fund in just six years. He's going to take a lifetime of earned benefits away from working people and gift them to the wealthy. It's reverse Robin Hood.” — Robert Reich

“How in the fuck are we going to deprogram 20% of America's population?” — Mayo

Let’s Be Honest, Trump’s Running As a Fascist. The agenda Trump is presenting in these interviews and rallies—political violence, suspension of the Constitution, suspension of civil liberties, unchecked presidential power, censorship of the media, imprisonment of opposition leaders, execution of people for nonviolent crimes, and legal immunity for the president and his thugs—isn’t just close to fascism. It is fascism.

How Republicans pushed social media companies to stop fighting election misinformation. The shift took place against the backdrop of a yearslong intimidation campaign led by Republican attorneys general and state and federal lawmakers aimed at forcing social media companies to platform falsehoods and hate speech and thwarting those working to study or limit the spread of that destabilizing content. Those efforts coincided with the rise of a vocal cadre of elite Silicon Valley reactionaries, an increasingly ideological group that bristles at notions of corporate social responsibility. The people involved are among the world’s wealthiest and most influential, with the power to shape the products and services used by billions. And they are growing more politically assertive — warning government leaders to back off or face millions of dollars in campaign contributions to their opponents and laying down political manifestos that serve as litmus tests for startup founders who need funding.

Musk’s $1 million swing-state voter lottery falls into legal gray area, experts say. Elon Musk’s daily $1 million lottery for registered swing state voters who sign his super PAC’s petition falls into a legal gray area and could potentially violate election law.” — Musk is trash. Don’t buy a Tesla. And if you already have, get rid of it. The man’s a menace to society.

Selfies and Voting, What Could Go Wrong? A Lot This Election Year. Sharing a ballot selfie on social might seem like a bit of fun, but that picture might actually be illegal where you live.

Florida official says DeSantis’s office ordered him to threaten TV stations over abortion ads. John Wilson, general counsel for the Florida Department of Health, wrote in a sworn affidavit that officials from Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) office pushed him to threaten television stations with criminal prosecutions if they did not take down ads in support of a Florida abortion rights measure. Wilson, who resigned from his position on Oct. 10, wrote in the affidavit that he received prewritten letters directing him to send the threatening letters under his name on behalf of the Florida Department of Health.

Ron DeSantis Is Deploying “Asshole Politics” to Stop Florida’s Abortion Referendum. That’s because Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is using the power of his administration to threaten the initiative. He’s appointed people to the Financial Impact Estimating Conference—a panel responsible for gauging potential costs of ballot measures—that required the amendment be accompanied by language stating, without evidence, that access to abortion may cost taxpayer dollars. State law enforcement has also been sent to question Floridians who signed the petition for Amendment 4 to appear on the ballot. He’s enlisted a state agency to create a misleading website about abortions in Florida. Local news channels playing an advertisement supporting Amendment 4 have also been threatened with prosecution over the alleged violation of Florida’s sanitary nuisance law, which is generally used to combat health risks like the improper disposal of human waste or dead animals. Later, on Oct. 21, the Miami Herald reported that the marching orders to threaten the media outlets with legal action came from top DeSantis deputies. — Yes, DeSantis is an asshole. Which is actually an insult to assholes.

Trump has promised to protect Social Security. His proposals could lead to benefit cuts in 6 years. Trump’s platform would drain critical tax revenue from Social Security’s trust funds, leading them to run out of money by 2031 – three years earlier than currently projected, according to a new analysis from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan government watchdog. That would force a roughly 30% cut in benefits unless Congress acts.

Kroger’s Plan to Use Facial Recognition Raises Concerns About Surge Pricing. News leaked over the summer that grocery giant Kroger was partnering with Microsoft to use electronic shelf labels, shortened in the grocery industry as ESLs, as part of an AI push to institute dynamic pricing at its grocery stores. The plan also includes so-called Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment (EDGE) shelf displays that would reportedly include cameras to capture customer information, including images of faces to better tailor ads...Tlaib is worried that ESLs will allow Kroger’s stores to “use customer data to build personalized profiles of each customer” in such a way that it will be able to “determine the maximum price of goods customers are willing to pay.”

RIP Paul Di’Anno. He was 66.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

And another day of ‘resorting to crimes,’ confirming justices, the math that contradicts fear, school-entry vaccinations falling, breast cancer in young women rising, young people not using condoms, and glasses that instantly give personal information for each stranger you look at comes to a close:

“The Republican Party is the most dangerous organization in human history.” — Noam Chomsky 

Prosecutors lay out new evidence in Trump election case, accuse him of having ‘resorted to crimes’. Donald Trump laid the groundwork to try to overturn the 2020 election even before he lost, knowingly pushed false claims of voter fraud and “resorted to crimes” in his failed bid to cling to power, according to a newly unsealed court filing from prosecutors that offers new evidence from the landmark criminal case against the former president. The filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s team offers the most comprehensive view to date of what prosecutors intend to prove if the case charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the election reaches trial. Though a months-long congressional investigation and the indictment itself have chronicled in stark detail Trump’s efforts to undo the election, the filing cites previously unknown accounts offered by Trump’s closest aides to paint a portrait of an “increasingly desperate” president who while losing his grip on the White House “used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”

Republicans expect to confirm even more Supreme Court justices if Trump wins. During Donald Trump’s White House tenure, Republicans assembled the most conservative Supreme Court in a century. Now, they’re excited about the prospect of building on those efforts by confirming even more conservative justices, as well as lower-court judges, if he wins another four years. — Which is yet another reason to vote for Harris.

Louisiana's new abortion pill law may delay lifesaving care for women, doctors say. Starting Tuesday in Louisiana, the two drugs used in medication abortion — mifepristone and misoprostol — will be reclassified as controlled substances in the state, making it a crime punishable by up to five years in prison to possess the drugs without a prescription.

Trump says crime is out of control. The numbers tell a different story. But several years of national data tell the opposite story: Crime is falling in cities and towns across the United States. NBC News recently spent a day with Detroit police, who say Trump’s characterization is false. — Yeah. He’s lying to try and scare you so you’ll vote for his fascism. Don’t fall for his shit.

US school-entry vaccination rates fall as exemptions keep rising. The share of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 3.3%, up from 3% the year before. Meanwhile, 92.7% of kindergartners got their required shots, which is a little lower than the previous two years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic the vaccination rate was 95%, the coverage level that makes it unlikely that a single infection will spark a disease cluster or outbreak. The changes may seem slight but are significant, translating to about 80,000 kids not getting vaccinated, health officials say.

Breast cancer rising among younger women and Asian Americans, report finds. The reason why more women younger than 50 are getting breast cancer is not clear, but Reid said it’s likely due to modifiable risk factors such as environmental exposures in food, air or water, rising rates of obesity and sedentary lifestyles — the same risk factors thought to be causing higher rates of colorectal cancer in younger people.

Condoms aren’t a fact of life for young Americans. They’re an afterthought. “Part of what we have to talk about is that there is something enticing about having condomless sex,” Acosta Ardilla said. “And we have to, as people who are working in public health, plan for the fact that people will choose to have condomless sex.”...Not every state mandates sex education. Some states emphasize abstinence. Less than half of states require information on contraception.

This Facial Recognition Experiment With Meta’s Smart Glasses Is a Terrifying Vision of the Future. The tool allows anyone wearing smart glasses to instantly get info on strangers, including their home address and phone number...“To use it, you just put the glasses on, then as you walk by people, the glasses will detect when somebody’s face is in frame. This photo is used to analyze them, and after a few seconds, their personal information pops up on your phone,”  Nguyen explains in the Instagram video.

Pete Rose, baseball’s banned hits leader, has died at 83.

RIP John Amos. He was 84.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.