Well, indirectly at least. Twit lied that it's illegal to count ballots after Nov. 3. Ellen Weintraub, an election attorney and a Democratic commissioner at the Federal Election Commission, responded with the truth:
"An election is not a reality show with a big reveal at the end. All we get on Election Night are projections from TV networks. We *never* have official results on Election Night. Counting ballots – all of 'em – is the appropriate, proper, and very legal way to determine who won."
They just don't admit it because they know no one wants it. But that's exactly what it is. Hence they hide behind lying spin to manipulate the vulnerable and the oppressed.
Confirming the obvious: "Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research focused on 18 events between June 20 and Sept. 22 and tracked community spread of the coronavirus up to 10 weeks after the rallies. [...] The rallies resulted in more than 30,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 700 deaths."
It's consistent with his war on science, facts, reality and all those who defend it. Fascists always at first shun the scientists, the media, the intelligentsia. If he's re-elected we can imagine what he'll do to them then based on the history of fascism.
In this article she notes that we must do more than defeat Twit: we must forego incrementalism and implement progressive policies that make a real difference in our lives. And right now the Dem Party is not there; "we have to be better." If not then "there are plenty of [Twitlers] in waiting."
After Ossoff kicked his ass in the 2nd debate. Ossoff exposes Perdue for exactly what he is: A paid lackey for insurance companies at the expense of people's lives and health.
As performed on The Late Show last night. It might become the latest west coast swing dance song except that the Intro is over 20 seconds before there is any beat by snapping fingers, and 40 seconds before the music begins with the drum beat. DJs for dancers might have to cut the first 40 seconds. That is, if we ever get to social dance again.
During Eisenhower's Presidency. See how far the Party has degenerated.
Note that he's not saying that about conservatives generally, or healthy conservative values. He is though making the case that the Repugnantan Party has turned sociopathic. Again, not conservative people who have been conned with lies and who are manipulated as props to support the Party, which is the only use the Party now has for them.
Hartmann thinks it began in the Party in 1980 when it was embedded in their policy positions as well as being a criteria for being elected. It was all about further enriching the already rich and to hell with the rest of us. One expression of this was to drown the government in a bathtub along with any program that gave the working class a helping hand up. Of course unions had to be destroyed because they could not have the working class bargaining for reasonable protections and wages; instead they must be enslaved or die. They lied us into wars that killed hundreds of thousands in order to make a profit. They support industries that kill us or endanger our health and that of the environment. Our very lives and health are disposable in a pandemic response that only cares about the bottom line of business. They throw people off much need assistance to survive when millions are unemployed through no fault of their own. Hartmann provides many examples.
"It is therefore no exaggeration to say that we have a mass killer and killer in chief for President." He is unfit for office and a danger to society.
Twit brought in a bunch of people for the rally but left them stranded in the freezing cold with no ride back. Yeah, Twit was atrocious in this act. But Colbert mocks him by having Elsa from Frozen sing a satire.
According to this story Twit is willing to commit far worse genocide (than he's already done) instead of handling the pandemic responsibly. That's what he thinks of our lives and health.
"Three officials in President Donald Trump's White House said the administration, despite publicly denying it, is actually pushing for a herd immunity strategy to the COVID-19 pandemic, although it could kill thousands of Americans unnecessarily."
Accurate ad by Meidas Touch using Twit's own words. More like how Putin has manipulated the witless Twit.
In his FB post Reich discusses the Tush's comments about "getting the country back from the doctors." Twit and Tush's only concern was re-opening the economy at any cost, and that included many human lives and the health devastation of many more. Reich rightly concludes:
"Kushner and his father-in-law never cared about containing the virus and they never cared about preventing mass death. Their only concern, from the beginning, was boosting Trump’s reelection chances. Every single aspect of their botched response — which has led to nearly 230,000 dead Americans — is because they sought to protect Trump’s political prospects, not the health and safety of the American people. It couldn’t be clearer: They do not care about you, or your family, or your loved ones. They only care about themselves. Six days to vote them out."
They correct the intentional misinformation that both Twit and Kavanaugh have propagated.
Here’s the outline paper introducing the ideas discussed in the recent Integral Stage: Meta-Models video below. The blurb:
"For the second episode of META-MODELS, we are joined by the postmetaphysical and progressive political thinker, Edward Berge, to discuss his meta- and infra-theoretical model, which he calls hier(an)archical synplexity. Metatheory is that which juxtaposes, organizes, and integrates theories. Hier(an)archical synplexity accomplishes this via its principles of same/difference and the tensegrity that separates yet connects in the overlapping boundary spaces within and between a plurality of complementary yet self-contained theories. Edward's fascinating approach draws equally from postmetaphysical philosophy, embodied cognitive science, cognitive linguistics, Middle Way Buddhist logic, and the principles of dance and t'ai chi. In the first part of the conversation, they circulate around some of the finer theoretical points of his model, and then Edward brings the discussion home, and down to earth, with a grounding of these principles in politics, dance, and the martial arts."
Colbert's funny satire on the Tush's absurd recent statements about blacks.
That intention being to decide the 2020 election just like they did in 2000. Reich's FB post discusses Kavanaugh's opinion in the Wisconsin case that ruled absentee ballots must be received by 8 pm election day or they are thrown out. That in itself is a clear signal that the Corp doesn't give a shit about voters, but Kavanaugh went much further in citing Rehnquist's concurring 2000 opinion installing Bush. "The opinion essentially asserts that the Supreme Court has the power to overrule state courts on matters of state law."
Hence if State courts declare that the popular vote winner gets that State's electors, the Supreme Corp. can overrule it. And we already know some Repugnantan States are planning to do just that and overturn the people's popular vote. We have here Kavanaugh's clear intention to go that way not only if but when the election results are challenged. And Phoney Parrot was installed just for this purpose, to do the same and prevent even Roberts from stopping it. Then the American democratic experiment is over.
Keep in mind that Roberts, Kavanaugh and Phony Parrot as lawyers all worked to support the Corp's 2000 decision.
And love oligarchy and fascism. The proof? They are trying to suppress voting in several States with the Supreme Corp's backing. And that was the rush to get Phoney Parrot on the Corp: Repugs will challenge the election results and the Corp. will back them over the people's votes. If they succeed say good-bye to democracy for the foreseeable future. According to the NYT The Morning:
Pennsylvania: The state’s highest court has ruled that election officials should count mailed ballots that arrive up to three days after Election Day. Pennsylvania Republicans are trying to get the Supreme Court to reverse the order, so that only ballots received by Election Day will count.
North Carolina: Republicans and the Trump campaign have asked the Supreme Court to block the state’s board of elections from extending the deadline to receive mail ballots. The board has said ballots can arrive until Nov. 12, as long as they were mailed by Election Day.
Wisconsin: The five Republican-appointed justices on the Supreme Court sided on Monday with Republican officials in Wisconsin, ruling that ballots must arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day to count. (A lower-court ruling would have allowed state officials to count any mailed ballots postmarked by Election Day and received up to six days later.) In response, the state’s Democratic Party is urging voters to return mail ballots in person — to a drop box or clerk’s office — rather than mailing them.
Nevada: The Trump campaign has sued to stop the counting of absentee ballots in the Las Vegas area, evidently hoping to challenge the signatures on many ballots. Last night, the campaign and Nevada Republican Party filed a separate lawsuit, seeking detailed information on the vote-counting process.
Texas: The state’s top court yesterday upheld a policy announced by Greg Abbott, the Republican governor, which limits each county to a single drop-off box for mailed ballots. The state’s largest county — Harris, which includes Houston — is home to 4.7 million people.
Michigan: A conservative judge yesterday overturned an order by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, and ruled that people could carry unconcealed guns at polling places on Election Day.
The abstract follows from Fazey et al. in Energy Research and Social Science Journal (Vol 7, Dec. 2020). I wonder how well the integral community and metamodernists take this statement in light of their typically town-down, insular and elite dominated meta(sta)sizing: "Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much
more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian."
"Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research
institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however,
also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against
the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes
needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we
used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what
future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we
might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will
need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able
to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go
beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about
how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to
rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and
creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable
challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global
knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely
be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life
on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be
at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and
technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will
require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic
society and sustained transformational intent."
You tell 'em AOC! Her Tweet below responding to the Repugs confirming Phoney Parrot. She's right: The establishment Dems have for far too long surrendered like weaklings to Repug corruption. It's time to play hardball and expand the Corp. Let's see if the Dems have the stones now.
You'd think Twit would learn by now that he's no Twitter match for AOC. But as we well know, Twit is incapable of learning so we are continually delighted by AOC trouncing him time and again. This time she responds to yet another of his impotent insults about her education.
According to the University of Kansas study, yet Twit and his Twitiots still blithely don't wear them and super spread the pandemic. And that reduction is by those who wear them; most of the other half of transmissions are caused by those who do not (my take).
"A new study by economists at the University of Kansas has found that counties in the state where residents are obliged to wear masks in public have seen about half as many new coronavirus infections as counties that do not have a mask mandate in force. The study by the university’s Institute for Policy & Social Research is part of a countrywide trend, experts said. Localities that impose mask mandates often see fewer cases, fewer hospitalizations, fewer deaths or lower test-positivity rates than nearby localities that do not. The same trend has been seen in Alabama, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas, according to a report from Prevent Pandemics, a nonprofit group advocating pandemic-fighting measures."
They released the list of purged voters that Greg Palast compiled from various sources. The majority purged are young, low income and minorities, that is, those who typically vote for Democrats. This is what Repugnantans do, the lying, cheating, stealing bastards.
Biden now has an 87% chance of winning. The Dems have a 74% chance of controlling the Senate. Some key Senate races: Greenfield has a 56% chance of beating Ernst in IA; Cunningham has a 64% chance of beating Tillis in NC; Gideon has a 63% chance of beating Collins in ME; Kelly has a 78% chance of being McSally in AZ; a Dem has a 55% chance of beating a Rep in a GA special election.
More of her new music with social commentary. The first song is about the sickness and costs of greed (lyrics here). Then there's a delicious rock interlude between the two songs. The second is a pastiche on the chaos of contemporary life (lyrics here). Both songs use some rap, the second one more. That they recorded this via video conference in separate locations make it all the more impressive. Sheryl has been one of my musical muses for decades and remains so.
The only way we'll stop it is to vote him out in such massive numbers that are impossible to ignore or rig. Vote!
His personal message to the establishment of the Dem Party. Bernie reiterates he'll introduce his 100-day plan immediately when Biden takes over. And we the people need to get behind it and pressure our reps to implement it. Bernie feels confident that with overwhelming public support we can get it done.
The PostBastard was put there exactly to feed the corrupt swamp and destroy a public service. From this piece:
"The U.S. Postal Service last month quietly awarded a $5 million contract to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s former company XPO Logistics, raising fresh allegations of unethical activity by the Trump megadonor as he continues to come under fire for causing nationwide mail delays that could impact next month’s election."
Even though Dems and ethics groups finally got him to recently divest from XPO, the company "still pays DeJoy about $2.3 million a year in rent and expenses for 220,000 square feet of office space he controls in his home state of North Carolina. XPO’s lease agreements for DeJoy’s properties run through 2025."
Not that those most familiar with climate science have any sway with Twit and the corrupt Repugnantan Party. Their only concern is protecting and enriching the fossil fuel companies that pay bribes to them. From this article reporting the letter of the above signed:
"At the moment when the facts of the case were presented to her, this arbiter of justice freely chose to side with mistruths. Judge Coney Barrett’s responses are factually inaccurate, scientifically unsound, and dangerous. How can Judge Coney Barrett rule on pending issues of climate change liability, regulation, finance, mitigation, equity, justice, and accountability if she fails to accept even the underlying premise of global warming? The answer is that she cannot. [...] Judge Coney Barrett has displayed a profound inability to understand the ecological crisis of our times, and in so doing she enables it."
Because they know the majority will vote against them and for the Dems. Hence, they devise numerous ways to cheat. And apparently they are proud of that fact, as they do in up front for everyone to see.
We are fortunate to have some comic relief in these times of chaos. Enjoy a laugh or two.
In this video Hedges discusses how the US has an unconscious collective illness. It's one that is fed by the oligarchs creating an illusion that prevents us from accepting the reality of our situation. And that illusion is the cult of individualism. We are taught to see our problems as our own rather than structural social problems intentionally created to enslave us. Instead of addressing that latter we seek out personal hedonism to cover the hellish truth. And when we are so oppressed the irony is that we turn to demagogues like Twit who only further enslave us.
As a foreign correspondent Hedges has seen totalitarianism and he sees it growing in our midst. We must wake up from our manufactured consent. Even though this was filmed in '18 it resonates even more today, as we are fighting back with our prolonged protests for black lives etc. And it is no wonder that our fascist government is adamant at quelling our activism with force. We must keep up the fight or we could very well descend all the way down that dark road.
According to this report he's very interested in the job. Imagine that: A guy who has being a staunch supporter of labor his entire career actually getting that post. We can see a higher national minimum wage, better benefits and safety regulations, and a once again fairer distribution of wealth building a strong middle class that in turn runs the economy. This is exactly what happens when we follow Bernie's mature strategy of trying to change the system from within, which is exactly what he and others like The Squad and Progressive Caucus are doing.
And we need to fetter it. Doing so is not some demonized notion of what the Repugs label socialist; it is merely accepting capitalism but limiting its excesses and injustices. The sort of social democracy that Bernie supports is exactly that. That the Repugs want to taint the word really means they want the current version of corporate crapitalism to continue its greed and power in order to reward them for their complicity. It is completely corrupt, just the way they like it.
Note that the countries that have instituted social democracy are always at the top of the World Happiness Report and the US is not. Corporate crapitalism and social democracy are key factors in that analysis.
Seems like a no brainer. Unfortunately we have too many voters without a brain. And our current Blizzard of Oz, hiding behind the curtain of his spray tan and fake hair, ain't helping any. From this piece:
"More than 700 economists, including seven Nobel winners, urged US voters not to reelect President Donald Trump on Election Day. As of Friday, the open letter, which is being updated until November 3, had been signed by 727 prominent economists from major institutions across America, including the Nobel winners Paul Milgrom, Oliver Hart, and George Akerlof. 'In just one term in office, Donald Trump has rendered the United States unrecognizable, and has faced no consequences for doing so,' the economists wrote, adding that the president had weakened the economic recovery with selfish and reckless behavior.'"
Yeah, he said it in the last debate. Actually Twit's 'wind' power (flatulence of the mouth) kills all the humans.
I appreciate the irony in their attempt to being calm about it, but even they accept that we really need to get passionate against fascism. Cuz fascism doesn't give a shit about our calm, kind, caring approach; it crushes it. We must fight and fiercely.
Subtitle: Alternatives to a Failed Economy, new book by the Democracy Collaborative. You can order a copy here. From their email blurb:
"This book’s 29 essays contain a rich trove of ideas and examples for a new level of discussion and policy formation that breaks free of stale debates and explores needed deep, systemic changes. And so far there has been an overwhelming demand—proof that this volume is essential reading for everyone interested in cutting-edge thinking about how our society can be reimagined for the common good."
This story highlights the rejection rates. The reasons for rejections include signature issues and putting the ballots in the wrong envelopes. However a voter can correct their errors by immediately sending in a "cure affidavit" after their ballot has been rejected. Of course they have to be aware of the rejection, and FL is required to notify the voter "as soon as it is practical." Given that could mean anything, including never, minorities should track their mail-in ballots at either the voter information lookup or the Supervisor of Elections as soon as possible to cure their mistakes. This is good advice for any State, which should have a process to track and fix your ballot.
Some of us assume Elliott is a Republican, yet here he is doing an ad for Biden. Why the assumption? I don't know. It seems from his commercials that he supports what Republicans like, like cigarettes and beef. I haven't found what his political affiliation is. But even if Republican he is far from the first or last to support Biden over Twit. Yeah, Twit is that bad.
They would be doing what they're already doing for Biden for Bernie Sanders over Twit. They explain that it has everything to do with Twitler being a fascist dictator (my words). They are defending the democratic norms Twit is destroying, while Biden and Sanders will maintain them.
The regressive (In)Justices on the Supreme Corp upheld Alabama's ban on curbside voting. The CDC supports it as a preventative to Covid exposure, especially for those most susceptible to its devastating effects. This is especially so since AL does not have a mask mandate. Yes, people can still choose to vote by mail, but we know all the obstructions Twit and Repugs put in place to hinder and eliminate those votes. It is obvious to anyone with even half a brain (a key ingredient apparently missing is some) that Repugs know they cannot win in a fair debate and election and will pull every dirty trick they can to win. Reich said:
Given all the complaints about the Supreme Corp eliminating the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with its preexisting conditions coverage, Tillis has come up with a Bill hiding behind a mirage of a name: The Protect Act. What they don't tell you is exactly who the Bill protects: Health insurance companies. Yes, they are making great hay over the fact that it will keep preexisting condition coverage, but it strips many other ACA protections as to make it almost moot. Insurance companies: will once again be able to impose annual and lifetime caps on payments; can sell plans with no limits on out-of-pocket expenses; can charge higher premiums based on non-health factors like age, sex, occupation and lifestyle; restrict coverage for certain medications. Also gone is coverage for essential benefits and subsidies for the needy. Don't fall for their bait and switch.
The Repugs voted unanimously without them to move the nomination to a full floor vote.
Bernie looks at the slush fund in the Blight House stimulus Bill, meaning once again they want to funnel most of the money to corporations and the already rich. Plus there is a corporate liability shield so that they can't be sued for forcing their employees to be exposed to Covid. Besides, the House passed the Heroes Act 8 months ago and McConnell is not only stalling on that but refusing to even take up a stimulus before the election.
Krystal asks Bernie about his message to young people, some of whom really don't like Biden (including Krystal). He said that obviously the first order of business is defeating the current fascist in the Blight House, a literal threat to democracy. Aside from that, Bernie highlights that Biden's economic and environment proposals, while not going as far as Bernie's own, are nevertheless pretty good and he provides some of those details.
Bernie then addresses that progressives can and will be able to move Biden in their direction. He emphasizes that it is not up to Congress alone, that we the people have to get involved by the tens of millions, to not only express but demand that our needs our met. We the people can't just sit around complaining; we have to get passionately involved and politically active.
Bernie will lay out a 100-day agenda for Medicare For All, a $15 dollar/hour minimum wage, a massive infrastructure program and make it easier to join unions and so on. Included in that agenda is making it clear that we are going to fight against the power of corporations and for we the people. And if Democrats won't take up that agenda then yes, Bernie will fight to primary them.
Krystal then brings up that Biden is vetting some pretty conservative people for his Administration. She asks if this troubles him and whether any Bernie supporters are being vetted. He responds that we simply cannot go back to business as usual, which is implied by the question. If we are not bold and aggressive going forward then we are lost. So Bernie and his progressive cohorts are going to do everything in their power to make sure we do what's necessary to implement that agenda. And again, the majority of that impetus is on we the people to do our part to make it so.
She plays 'Among Us' on Twitch, which had one of the highest number of viewers in that platform. And while playing she instructs us on democracy and voting. She is not only one of the few, current representatives of we the people but she, and those like her Squad, are thankfully the future of our government.
We really have to vote this fascist out. From Robert Reich's FB post.
The Pope makes history yet again with this policy. Strange times indeed when the Pope is more progressive on an issue than the US Supreme Corp. He said:
"Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They're children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it."
Derek Hough is the new judge on the show. But Monday night we were treated to him performing this sizzling dance with his lover.
In the Borat 2 movie he sets up Giuliani with an attractive female interviewer. They make their way to the bedroom where G lays on the bed and puts his hand down his pants. Borat then bursts into the room. This video discussing the story has pictures.
ContraPoints makes the same argument that Chomsky and West have made, but she might also reach the younger crowd better than those geezers. She does it with flair, style and the creative device of arguing with her own inner, liberal push-back against voting for Biden. Fortunately she overcomes that narcissist inside her to do the right thing. She's a good counter to Krystal Ball, who continues to sabotage that argument with her self-indulgent privilege.
Yep, this is who Repugnantans must rush through the approval process. According to Sirota, she continually refuses to answer the simplest question about climate change, instead calling it "controversial." Not for climate scientists it isn't. She also refuses to say whether she will recuse herself from an upcoming Supreme Corp. case involving Shell Oil, which company her father worked for many years.
While she continues to claim her personal opinions will not influence her Corp decisions, everyone knows that is bogus. She is being chosen exactly because oil companies and giant corporations know exactly how she'll vote on their agenda, which is why they are investing $millions to get her on the bench. She is going to be a complete nightmare for we the people on issues of labor, deregulation and the environment. Our only hope is to expand the Corp. to 13 Justices.
I use the word fascist, but I'll give Joe some credit. Morning Joe Scarborough, a lifelong Republican who has since left the Party, goes on a rant over Repugs who are still voting for Twit.
"We have right now a president of the United States who is demanding that his attorney general arrest the former vice president of the United States, his chief political competitor. This is something that happens or happened in the former Soviet Union, this is something that happens still in Russia. This is not what soft totalitarianism looks like, this is what full blown autocracy looks like, at least if you focus on the actions of the president of the United States, and you’re telling me you’re more concerned about Nancy Pelosi outside of the White House than you are an autocrat inside of the White House?"
As are an increasing number of sane Republicans.
Forget reality: Twitiots will buy any conspiracy theory--including and especially Russian--as long as it supports their paranoid delusions. From this story:
"Former spies told Business Insider that Rudy Giuliani's role in coordinating a widely discredited New York Post story and President Donald Trump's willingness to seize on it highlighted how vulnerable they are to being duped by Russian intelligence. [...] The two men's personality traits, their eagerness to obtain dirt on Joe Biden, and their unwillingness to acknowledge Russian interference makes them a gold mine for foreign intelligence services."
It's contained in its definition. I'm just plain sick of Repugnantans.
They cheat. It's the only way they can win anymore and they know it. Btw, it was a 4 - 4 vote, Roberts siding with the 3 Dems. That's gone with Coney Barrett and the Repugs know it, again cheating us. So f___ 'em; let's expand the Corp! From Thom's FB post:
Here are about a dozen songs I've recorded at YouTube.* And this link is to my lyrics and poems folder at Google docs, mostly from my ...
