Can't argue there.
Sirota on the infrastructure vote
"If you pass the stand alone infrastructure bill it is essentially a vote to kill the reconciliation bill."
Meidas Touch: Trump cult kills
Covidiocy is itself a national pandemic killing a lot of people. We must vote them out.
Terhune: I'm not getting a smoke detector
He lampoons the idiotic excuses for not getting a vaccine through an analogy with smoke detectors.
Jayapal's most recent comments on infrastructure bill
As of 4 pm EST today. I hope she sticks to this. Also see this video reiterating that promises from the establishment in her own Party cannot be trusted because they've been broken before.
Bernie: Vote down the infrastructure bill
Bernie reports that after Manchin and Sinema went to the White House no progress has been made with them on Build Back Better. So the infrastructure bill must be voted down in the House as it's the only leverage for BBB to have any chance.
Hartmann: Eastman coup memo
He covers the memo which promoted a coup, which is getting little to no coverage in corporate media. The memo had a plan to overturn the 2020 election by disputing electors in Georgia and six other States. Then Pence could claim those electors didn't count. That would have given Twitler the Electoral College win. Plan B was to get competing slates of electors which would throw the election to State legislatures under the 12th Amendment.
Hartmann notes that GA Repugnacons did indeed come up with a competing slate of electors per the plan but it was shot down by their Secretary of State. The Vice President, an election official in Michigan, the Arizona Sec. of State and a handful of others also stood in the way of this plot which might have succeeded if not for them.
Since it failed last time that's one reason 20 Repug States are changing their election laws because they want to try it again and succeed. The coup is ongoing and they are not giving up. So why TF is this blatant fascist attack on democracy not a huge deal in corporate media?
Bernie to House progressives: Hold strong on infrastructure vote
Sirota reports that Bernie said to his House colleagues: "I strongly urge my House colleagues to vote against the bipartisan infrastructure bill until Congress passes a strong reconciliation bill." And as of yesterday those House progressives had 24 committed publicly to voting against it, with 10 more privately doing so.
However the promise was that they would vote NO unless and until the Senate passed the Build Back Better Act. But it seems that now we're getting House hedging, as Porter said she'd vote no "if there’s not a framework and an agreement on how we move forward." Khanna also referred to this "framework." That is definitely not the original promise and not good enough, because Sanders correctly noted that without holding firm to the Senate first passing the BBB it's chances of ever getting passed are highly unlikely. I hope that the progressives don't surrender this BS framework as an excuse to pass the IB, once again falling for moving the football that never gets kicked.
What is Pelosi up to on Build Back Better?
TYT looks at Pelosi's latest comments that not only will she have a vote on the infrastructure bill (IB) on Thursday but that it will pass. And we know that she'd never assert that unless she has the votes to pass it. So how is that possible given the progressive caucus holding firm on voting it down unless and until the BBB bill passes the Senate first?
They speculate that Pelosi's possible strategy is that she'll have a House vote on the House version of BBB first which will pass. And then right after have a vote on the Senate's IB, pressuring the progressives that she fulfilled her promise to have a vote on the BBB first. But that is not what she originally promised, not did the progressives: They committed to first passing the BBB in the Senate, not the House.
So something is going on with Pelosi being so confident that IB will pass in the House on Thursday. I surely hope if the above speculation is right that the progressives don't fall for it and vote it down. If not, then the BBB will never pass the Senate without the leverage they held over the IB.
Another, more horrific, possibility is that she made a deal with enough Repugnacons to out vote the progressives on the IB!
Call NM representatives on the infrastructure bill vote
Please call your NM representatives and urge them to vote NO on the Senate infrastructure bill unless and until the Build Back Better Senate bill is passed. That is, if you want to see the BBB ever have any chance of being passed. Without that leverage it won't.
Melanie Stansbury, 1st District
300 Central Ave SW
Suite 1300 East
Albuquerque, NM 87102Phone: (505) 346-6781
Yvette Herrell, 2nd district
4440 Sonoma Ranch Blvd
Suite B
Las Cruces, NM 88011Phone: (575) 323-6390
Teresa Leger Fernandez, 3rd district
120 S Federal Pl
Suite 110B
Santa Fe, NM 87501Phone: (505) 428-4680
Pelosi breaks promise on Build Back Better
She previously agreed with the Progressive Caucus that the Senate's infrastructure bill (IB) would not get a House vote until the BBB was passed in the Senate first. Most of us knew it was just an empty promise to temporarily appease the progressives and we were right. She's now going to hold a vote on the IB on Thursday.
Per the progressive caucus statement yesterday, they are committed to voting down the IB in the House given the BBB is not yet ready for a vote. Let's hold them to this necessary exercise of power in order to enact the policies we need going forward for we the people.
It makes perfect sense
Unfortunately Twitiots do not respond to it. Fortunately most others do and got the vax.
Progressive Caucus on the Build Back Better (BBB) Act
Jayapal, Omar, Porter speak for the Caucus in supporting both the BBB and the infrastructure bill (IB), but they are sticking to their commitment that the BBB must be passed first. The BBB contains all the stuff that was stripped out of the IB, e.g.:
"Child care to women who have been pushed out of the workforce. It funds free community college and affordable housing. It finally expands Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing benefits for our seniors. And it takes meaningful action on climate change -- funding millions of green jobs to build our energy future."
All of its provisions have majority popular support from we the people. And all are what the members of the Caucus ran on and promised us in order to create a society that works for all. Hence we the people must show them our full support and demand of them to keep good on their promise to pass the BBB as first proposed before the IB.
Make Halloween scary again
Just go as an un-vaxxed, un-masked Twitiot and watch people run and scream.
Real and false reason
Continuing this post, it seems when we developed to abstract reasoning of the Cartesian, so-called Enlightenment kind we lost some of our earlier, healthy functionality. Rational development didn't necessarily have to go in this direction but it did with that consequence. It's why we need to develop what Lakoff calls 'real reason' to correct this imbalance and re-enchant it with such lost or forgotten qualities. An excerpt from this Lakoff article:
"Real reason is embodied in two ways. It is physical, in our brain circuitry. And it is based on our bodies as the function in the everyday world, using thought that arises from embodied metaphors. And it is mostly unconscious. False reason sees reason as fully conscious, as literal, disembodied, yet somehow fitting the world directly, and working not via frame-based, metaphorical, narrative and emotional logic, but via the logic of logicians alone."
"But many liberals, assuming a false view of reason, think that such a messaging system for ideas they believe in would be illegitimate — doing the things that the conservatives do that they consider underhanded. Appealing honestly to the way people really think is seen as emotional and hence irrational and immoral. Liberals, clinging to false reason, simply resist paying attention to real reason.
"Real reason is inexplicably tied up with emotion; you cannot be rational without being emotional. False reason thinks that emotion is the enemy of reason, that it is unscrupulous to call on emotion. Yet people with brain damage who cannot feel emotion cannot make rational decisions because they do not know what to want, since like and not like mean nothing. 'Rational' decisions are based on a long history of emotional responses by oneself and others. Real reason requires emotion."
"There is the lesson of how language works in the brain. Every word is neurally connected to a neural circuit characterizing a frame, which in turn is part of a system of frames linked to a moral system. In political discourse, words activate frames, which in turn activate moral systems. This mechanism is not conscious. It is automatic, and it is acquired through repetition. As the language of conservative morality is repeated, frames are activated repeatedly that in turn activate and strengthen the conservative system of thought — unconsciously and automatically."
COVID worse in red counties
According to this report, the stats are clear that this is so due to much lower vaccinations rates. A key reason is that the Repugnacon Party, along with its media sources like Pox Views, are "hostile to science and empirical evidence" so "have elevated falsehoods and doubts about vaccinations." Another reason is that they have also been ideologically brainwashed to "own the left." Their sick ideology is directly leading to their followers getting sick and dying while harming others by keeping the pandemic strong.
AZ Dem Party threatens no confidence vote on Sinema
This story supports the meme. If Senator Sinema continues to support the filibuster, under false pretenses no less, then the Party central committee will issue a vote of no confidence. The committee is well aware that unless the Senate filibuster is eliminated, or at the very least has a carve out for voting rights legislation, then given all of the Repugnacon voter suppression and purging the Party's chances of maintaining a majority are next to none. Whether such a political tactic can compete with the blood money she's getting remains to be seen.
WTF is wrong with us?
Well, some of us anyway. Particularly corporations, the rich and the politicians they bought. Is this the system in which we really want to live? If not get busy and hire the right politicians who don't take bribes.
Conspiracy theorists lack critical thinking skills
This study states what is patently obvious to anyone with critical thinking skills.
"The more people believe in conspiracy theories, the worse they perform on critical thinking tests, a new study has confirmed. This doesn’t mean that conspiracy theorists are necessarily lacking intelligence, but rather that they lack the skills to objectively analyse and evaluate a situation."
Reich: Why Dems are reluctant to tax the rich
This should be obvious to everyone. The problem can be solved by refusing to take bribes like the progressives do, who manage to get enough personal, small donations to keep their candidacy afloat. But the Dem Party has been infected by the same greed and power disorder as the Repugs. The result is the same: They represent big money and not we the people.
"Put simply, Democrats are reluctant to tax the
record-breaking wealth of the rich and big corporations because of … the
wealth of the rich and big corporations. Many Democrats
rely on that wealth to bankroll their campaigns. They also dread
becoming targets of well-financed ad campaigns accusing them of voting
for “job killing” taxes. (For the record, there’s no evidence that tax
increases have “killed” jobs, especially when those tax increases have
been targeted at higher incomes.) Republicans have been in the
pockets of moneyed interests at least since they championed Reagan’s tax
cuts, regulatory rollbacks, and dismantling of labor protections. But
the timidity of House Democrats shows just how loudly big money speaks
these days even in the party of Franklin D. Roosevelt."
Friends, Americans, countrymen, lend me your ears
To continue the paraphrase: We come to defeat Democorps, not to praise them. Progressives are standing firm and Democorps are responsible if they don't both pass. Put the praise and blame in the right place.
AZ's phony recount confirms Biden won!
After it being thoroughly debunked as itself fraudulent, nevertheless a leaked draft of the report actually showed that Biden got MORE votes and Twitler LESS votes! Of course though the report will not focus on that but still claim the vote count for Maricopa County was inconclusive despite being verified. You can be sure the Repugs will not face reality and continue with their insanity.
Hartmann: Will America break free of the grifters?
In his daily rant he writes that of course the Repugnacon Party is completely bought off by them. But there are quite a few Democorps under their thumb too.
"The entire Republican Party has become one giant in-crowd of professional grifters, most all of them getting rich, getting famous and/or getting laid in the process. [...] This is not to say the Democratic Party doesn’t have its share of grifters (two publicity-hungry senators come to mind). After all, when the Supreme Court legalized political grifting they didn’t limit it to one party or the other."
He does though give thanks for the Progressive Caucus, who refuse the bribes and stay committed to we the people. He hopes that in the '22 elections we can elect more progressives to have a solid majority to overcome the grifters in the Party. If not it could be the end of our democracy. As always, he puts the responsibility on us to get busy and fight. Tag, you're it.
PS: We cannot wait for the '22 elections because right now the Repugs have enacted severe voter suppression and purging laws. Hence if we do not enact federal legislation NOW like the Freedom to Vote Act then Democrats, let alone progressives, cannot get a majority in Congress. It's why we must do everything to motivate the Senate to either eliminate the filibuster or at least carve out an exception for voting rights legislation. As a famous song once proclaimed: "It's now or never."
Meta-Models: Ken Wilber
To paraphrase Bullwinkle: Eenie Meanie, Chili Beanie. KenniLingam is about to Speak!
Sirota: The corruption behind the reconciliation bill
In this post he exposes the establishment Democorps lying spin and reveals what's really going on. They are receiving bribes to sabotage the reconciliation bill, plain and simple. And they're trying to spin that the progressives are the bad guys, since they are still committed to not pass the corporate give-away infrastructure bill unless and until the reconciliation bill is also passed.
The problem is that the Democorps are whittling away key provisions from the reconciliation bill. Biden is reportedly telling them to go ahead, whittle away. For example: "Tax measures have been trimmed, prescription drug pricing provisions have been voted down, threats against climate programs have been made." Sirota provides details about the exact amount of bribery from and to whom, something the corporate media never reports. Meanwhile, yet another tax break is being inserted in the form of reinstating the SALT deduction.
It is disgusting that the Dem Party has become so corrupt as to favor corporations and the rich over the needs of we the people and the planet. Yes, politics has always been a messy business that requires compromise. But it has been distorted into compromising with big money so that it gets what it wants while the rest of us are doled out scraps at best.
In these hard economic times, and given the indisputable climate crisis, we the people cannot, indeed must not, settle for what they'll give us. We must demand better for us and our world. We must continue to support the progressives who are holding the line on passing the reconciliation bill with the infrastructure bill. And we must also demand of them to fight back against the Democorps who are trying to gut it, and to stand firm on the original proposals and $3.5 trillion price tag. Recall that the latter already has been compromised down and that's as far as we go.
For once we must force the Democorps to concede now that we have the power to accomplish it. It's up to us. As Thom Hartmann always says: Tag, you're it. Get busy and citizen lobby till the cows come home.
Human decency and the price of burgers
When you treat your employees well they treat your customers well. And it keeps the price of your product competitive by increasing sales because customers are happier. Being a decent human being pays high dividends in many ways. Their full menu and prices here.
NM vaccination rate
We're doing good. Unfortunately that last 30% are causing 95+% of the ongoing cases. Please do what you can to convince them to get the vax for the sake of their own families.
Florida's Vietnam
This short video compares the actual statistics with the lying spin of those who defended the Vietnam war and Wrong DeathSentence in Florida. In both cases there are many dead and for what? Blood money?
We need healthcare, not so-called health insurance
Such insurance only provides more suffering on top of sickness and is itself a disease. Continuing it is any form is negotiating with terrorists. We need Medicare for All and we need it NOW!
COVID vaccines are safe and effective
With tons of peer-reviewed clinical trials and studies, as well as mass implementation in the world. I guess though for some that it doesn't compare with the sort of sick political ideology that demands a horrible death of its followers. Don't be like them; follow the medical science and save yourself and your loved ones.
Repugnacons love the peacemakers
The actual lesson behind this cartoon is that the Repugs actually like the so-called peace-makers who say this sort of dribble. That's because such silly sentiment fails to recognize the fascism hiding behind their rhetoric and in effect is complicit in it. No wonder Repugs approve of such naive ignorance.
Unitarian Universalism's 7 principles and 6 sources
Since I mentioned it in the last post, the 7 principles:
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
- Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
- Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
- Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
- Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
The Chief Chaplain at Harvard is a humanist
Greg Epstein was unanimously chosen by the chaplains of different faith traditions there because he's adept at finding common ground among them.
It is inspiring that not only the religious have chosen him to lead them but that a humanist is accepting of the religious as legitimate comrades in ethical and moral training. He is also a bridge between the religious and those on campus who don't identify as such but nonetheless want some sort of broader and more inclusive meaning in their lives.
This is truly the sort of attitude we humanists need to support if we want to attract younger people to carry our philosophy into the future. The strict atheism that rejects all religion as merely supernatural superstition is missing out on quite a lot of mutual understanding with the more liberal religious traditions which could foment a fruitful exchange and partnership.
Amen to that brother Epstein.
PS: It is no coincidence that Unitarian Universalist churches are partnered with not only secular but inter-faith alliances.
Colbert with Woodward and Costa: Peril
In part 1 of the interview (below) we learn that China, Russia and Iran went on military alert because they feared Twitler would start a nuclear war to stay in office. General Milley got intelligence that China thought that war would be against them. Twitler was a direct domestic threat to us, the world and our Constitution. Also of grave concern was how close we came to having Twit convince Pence to not certify the election. The Eastman memo documents this, claiming absolute power to the Presidency.
In Part 2 Colbert wants to know why those who supported Twit's Big Lie of voter fraud aren't being held to account, since apparently they didn't believe the lie and were just using it to undermine confidence in the election. Two examples are Senators Graham and Lee. And this is still a key lie in the Repug Party to justify voter suppression and purging. It is an ongoing attempt to subvert democracy that will continue, and likely succeed, unless those responsible are held accountable.
In Part 3 part of the problem is the incredible power entrusted to the Presidency. It is increasing with each one and was grossly abused with the last one. And fortunately, General Milley courageously challenged that by ordering the military leaders to not carry out any Twit order unless it comes through him. The result of this nightmare has been to deeply damage the US in eyes of the world.
Reich: Why employers can't fill jobs
Expanded unemployment benefits were ended for 9 million Americans under the excuse that it was preventing them from going back to work. Robert Reich comments on this article showing that even without those extra benefits people still aren't going back to work. That's because the real reasons are that we have legitimate concerns about the pandemic, child care, and especially that we're fed up doing shit work for minimum wage with little to no benefits.
As Reich aptly puts it: "Letting these benefits expire while the pandemic is still raging isn’t just cruel — it’s wildly ineffective." But that's the Repugnacon way.
Judge finds NC voter suppresion Bill racist
See the story here. Unfortunately if it's appealed to the Supreme Corp the racist majority will reinstate it.
Want everyone to prosper in the economy?
Then enact these policies. If not then claiming you do is just a bunch of BS.
Updating Humanism
Many humanists wonder why it doesn't much attract younger people. Most of us are older and we need to recruit the younger generation if we want it so survive, lest it die out when we as individuals die. So how then can we bring them to this philosophy that is so meaningful to us? This sermon last Sunday from the pastor of UU Santa Fe helps us to realize that we are in dire need of updating humanism if we want to carry it forward into the future.
First she gives a brief history of humanism's early, sweeping, optimistic, liberal enlightenment hope that reason and science would solve all of our problems, exemplified for example in Star Trek. But younger people today are not buying it. They feel betrayed by such a vision, since it hasn't solved the problems they see all around them. We live in times of turmoil, disease, death, climate chaos, the rise of fascism, income inequality and attacks on the very nature of truth.
And yet some forms of humanism are adapting to the above. While it maintains its core principles, nevertheless it needs to be more humble. Our problems are much more complicated than perhaps we assumed in those optimistic times. We need to take more recent advances in cognitive science to expand our humanism, that rationality itself relies on integrating our emotions, bodies and interactions with nature and culture. We need to include former ways of knowing that we perhaps rejected as irrational, like ancestral, indigenous traditions of story and ritual. And perhaps most importantly, we need to expand the very definition of science as the arbiter of absolute, objective reality to one that explores the very nature of how humans perceive and conceive, which filters that reality based on unconscious assumptions.
Ball: Democratic tax giveaway for the rich
After
Krystal explains how 'tax the rich' is incredibly popular, and how
Biden has been supporting it, what is the Democratic Party doing about
that in the reconciliation bill? They're continuing tax cuts for the
rich in the form of restoring the SALT (state and local tax) deduction,
which in effect would totally offset any other tax increases on them. In
addition, they'll continue the tax loopholes on wealth accumulation as
well as capital gains on their estate. Biden had proposed ending these
loopholes but the Dems want to keep them. Once again the Party spins the
popular notion but continues the corruption.
An obvious truth
It is also true that too many good people who are fortunate just can't see this truth. And they are indeed too complacent to get up and do something about it because they think they're doing just fine. How then are we to effect a mass-scale psychological transformation?
Study: Elevated glucose levels correlated with COVID severity
From this Frontiers in Public Health study (7/28/21):
"The machine-driven framework we developed repeatedly pointed to elevated blood glucose as a key facilitator in the progression of COVID-19. Indeed, when we systematically retraced the steps of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, we found evidence linking elevated glucose to each major step of the life-cycle of the virus, progression of the disease, and presentation of symptoms."
"Controlling glucose levels could therefore reduce the severity of the disease and consequently also the mortality rate. [...] The mortality rate is lower among diabetic patients where glycemia is well-controlled and recent studies show that patients with uncontrolled hyperglycemia or newly diagnosed DM (i.e., untreated) are even more at risk than those with known DM (i.e., treated)."
"According to the hypothesis that well-controlled glycemia is critical
for determining the outcome of COVID-19, the most standard strategy is
to use glucose lowering drugs, widely available and low cost. [...] According to the literature reviewed, metformin may be an effective
glucose-lowering drug for COVID-19. Metformin is an old drug and the
first line therapy for diabetes management. [...] The literature supports the notion that patients on metformin do better
than those on other diabetes medications. [...] It
remains possible that patients on metformin show better outcomes not
because of the beneficial effects of metformin, but because their
underlying dysregulation of glucose metabolism is less severe."
"The strong link between COVID-19 severity and diabetes and obesity has
led to consideration of nutritional interventions in the treatment of
the disease,
as for example the use of low-carbohydrate diets or ketogenic diet
(low-carb, high fat diet) The basic principle is to diminish the intake
of carbohydrates, providing fat instead of carbohydrates for the body to
switch on ketosis and produce ketones as the primary energy source. [...] It is contra-indicated for some groups such as those with type 1 DM."
A key difference between our two Parties
Dems at least want a little diversity in the few majority owners of our country's wealth.
Sanders on standing firm on the reconciliation budget bill
It started at $6 trillion and has been already compromised down to $3.5 trillion. And that is not nearly enough to address the climate crisis but it's a start and cannot be whittled down even further. We need to hammer home the scientific reality of the destruction that will ensue to much of humanity if we don't take bold action on this front. And we need to also repeatedly emphasize the ethical and moral implications of the human suffering caused by that crisis as motivation for that action. Bernie said:
"We have started off, as you know, with, I would guess, 80% of the Democratic caucus supporting a $6 trillion bill. Remember, this is over 10 years. Per year, it's less than we spend on the military. Now maybe you can tell me, or somebody else can tell me, how much we should spend to save the planet. Because what the scientists are telling us is that if we don't get a handle on climate change within the next few years, there will be irreparable damage. And you know what? I got four kids and seven grandchildren. And I think we have a moral responsibility to leave them a planet that is healthy and is habitable. Right now we got 50, we got 50 votes. We're going to have to work it out, as we did with the American Rescue Plan. But I have already made, and my colleagues have made a major compromise, going from six trillion down to three and a half trillion.
"Look, right now what we are doing is we are engaging with the House and the Senate. It is a complicated proposal. All I am telling you is the $3.5 trillion is much too low. A compromise has already been made; an agreement has been made. And the American people, by the way, poll after poll after poll are telling us, that now is the time to stand up to powerful special interests. Now is the time to start representing working families. On all of these issues."
Debs on capitalism and socialism
Capitalism has won the political war by successfully bribing the majority of the politicians. And those politicians have maintained it through its successful propaganda war. And yet the progressive caucus is once again waking us up to this reality and is gathering more steam by the day, keeping Debs' spirit alive.
Fake vax cards becoming big business
It's rendering proof of vax irrelevant, since so many of the unvaccinated now are just buying these really easy to fake cards instead of getting the vax. Way to go you asshole fakers for extending this pandemic and sickening and killing more people.
Hardy Boys update
These books were a pivotal influence on me in my youth. I'm glad to see they are being updated with current events.
The truth in comedy
For comedy to be effective there must be at least of grain of truth in it. In this case it's more like a ton. The meme of course is more about the establishment and not the progressives.
Morning Joe's Tax the Rich rant
This former Republican goes on an extended rant about how Democrats aren't going even close to far enough in taxing corporations and the rich. He sounds much more like Bernie Sanders and AOC here. And he's right!
As noted before, polls are clear that this is a winning message. So now is the time that progressives need to hammer it home relentlessly and push for much higher tax increases on corporations and the rich. We the people support and demand it. And it's only fair that they pay their fair share so that we can have the sort of society we want to live in.
The Adventures of Mike Pence
The Late Show pokes fun at how Dan Quayle saved democracy when apparently Pence was considering trashing it.
What sort of political economy works well?
In this clip I discuss the sort of system that worked fairly well in the US past and Nordic present. And how we need to reinstate and update it in the US to provide the necessary conditions to move into the sort of future ideals we project in integral and metamodern circles.
Alderman on love in the quadrants
In this clip Bruce takes us around the quadrants on love using Michael Schwartz's orientation.
Caring beyond ourselves
Continuing the last post, in this video clip Layman addresses that we all must develop the capacity of feeling for others in a broader sense, and not wait until we ourselves or someone we know personally for example gets COVID before we care.
Yet another COVID denier gets it and defects
It's a shame that this sort of worldview cannot accept medical science up front. Nor the experience of others. They always have to experience whatever it is for themselves before they can know it. And they do come to know COVID first-hand when they get it. Some of them continue to deny it's COVID until they die. Others, like this one, tells a familiar and horrid tale of the reality. But of course the other deniers cannot learn this even from one who was in their own cult.
NYT: Repugnacons are valorizing Jan. 6 insurrection
In light of the insurrection followup 'rally' tomorrow, The Morning Newsletter provides a list of Repug statements trying to rewrite the history of Jan. 6. This is exactly the sort of propaganda that fascists use to justify their hatred and violence. This coup is far from over. The list:
Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina cast those arrested after the riot as “political prisoners” and suggested he wanted to “try and bust them out.”
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin described the attackers as “people that love this country, that truly respect law enforcement.”
Senate Republicans blocked Congress from creating an independent commission to investigate the attack. Senator Mitch McConnell called it a partisan effort “to debate things that occurred in the past.”
Tucker Carlson of Fox News described the death of Ashli Babbitt — whom a police officer fatally shot as she tried to force her way through a barricade protecting members of Congress — as an execution, and asked whether federal officials are “now allowed to kill unarmed women who protest the regime.”
J.D. Vance, a best-selling author and Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, said that there were “some bad apples” but that “most of the people there were actually super peaceful.”
Julie Kelly of the journal American Greatness suggested Michael Fanone — a Washington police officer who suffered a heart attack and a brain injury during the attack — was lying about it, and called him a “crisis actor.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said on the House floor, “The people who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 are being abused.”
Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona accused law enforcement of “harassing peaceful patriots” and “law-abiding U.S. citizens.”
Representative Jody Hice of Georgia said, “It was Trump supporters who lost their lives that day, not Trump supporters who were taking the lives of others.”
Four Republican House members staged actions at the Justice Department and a D.C. jail demanding information about the treatment of Jan. 6 defendants. One of them, Gosar, said the defendants were being “persecuted.”
Laura Ingraham claimed on Fox News that many other protests last year “were far worse than this.”
Carlson, Greene and Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, have all suggested that the F.B.I. or Justice Department was behind the riot.
Joe Kent — a Washington State Republican running with Trump’s endorsement against one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over Jan. 6 — plans to attend tomorrow’s rally, The Times reports.
Biden backtracks on promise to halt fossil fuel leases
The Daily Poster reports that after Biden promised to halt federal leases to fossil fuel companies he indeed gave an Executive Order to do so. But now he's moving forward on issuing such a lease in the Gulf of Mexico for fossil fuel exploration based on an outdated environmental impact statement. After protest from environmental groups that it flies in the face of the recent IPCC Report, Biden actually said the following: "This report does not present sufficient cause to supplement the (environmental impact statement) at this time."
This is exactly why I have doubts about Biden's public statements and promises. He talks a good game when it comes to progressive ideas but he turns around and breaks those promises. And this one is particularly egregious given that IPCC Report that we must quickly transition away from fossil fuels to renewables if we have any chance of just mitigating the accelerating impacts of the climate crisis. Unfortunately when he does shit like this it's all the more difficult to trust his empty promises. And we really don't have any time to spare in this global emergency.
Poll: Raise taxes on corporations and the rich
Following up on the last post, this poll confirms that the meme Tax the Rich is a political winner. So let's keep hammering it home often and with gusto. From the poll:
"Over two-thirds of voters (69%) support raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and support among Independents is just as high (68%). Support for raising taxes on those earning more than $400,000 a year is similarly high (67%), while 62% support raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%. Indeed, every proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations tested in the survey is supported by at least 55% of voters, with most generating over two-thirds support."
I think therefore...
It seems reasonable to conclude that the Governors of such States are much more likely to sacrifice their populace to a sick ideology.
Slate: What's behind critical race theory opposition?
Bottom line: Snowflake white people are afraid of losing their superior status as people of color (POC) enter their communities. It's not like POC want to replace whites, their unfounded and paranoid fear; POC just want equal rights. You know, that's guaranteed under the Constitution.
The same fear appears to be a significant motivation for the Jan. 6 insurrection, as "most people who participated in the riots came to D.C. from places where residents were terrified of being replaced by people of color and immigrants."
Unfortunately, media like Pox Views and Repugnacon demagogues reinforce that fear because they know it short-circuits rational thought and analysis, thereby making their followers much more easily manipulated to support their fascist agenda. It's a very sick but highly profitable business model. And one that's destroying our democracy for money and power.
Hartmann: Hold Repugnacons accountable for Twitler
His rant today makes clear that had the Repugs cared one bit about democracy then General Milley's recent revelation would have been unnecessary. They knew all along that Twitler was unstable to the point of insurrection. And both impeachment trials made it all too clear that he was a traitor as well.
And yet they continued to support him because "Senate Republicans are proudly lacking in courage, patriotism or any sense of loyalty to our nation or its ideals; their only loyalties are to their own power and the billions their donors use to seduce and control them."
They are fascists for hire, nothing more, and must be held directly accountable for the nightmare that is Twitler.
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Songs, lyrics, poems
Songs, lyrics, poems and other writing/media
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 ...
