In this episode they inform on how to elect enough "not shit" candidates to the Australian govt. to challenge the corrupt two-party "shit" system, thereby getting some laws supporting policies for the people. It's why the US never set up a Parliamentarian system in the first place, so that we'd have no interference within our own shit system.
Navarro admits Jan. 6 coup plan
According to Peter Navarro's own account, he and Bannon planned to contest the vote certifications in six States on Jan. 6. They had 100 Congresspeople lined up to testify about voter fraud, which would have delayed the certification long enough to put pressure on Pence to decertify those States and thereby the election.
But the irony of all ironies is that the riot at the Capitol interrupted their plan to the point that it pressured Pence in the other direction to go ahead with the certification. Twitler was aware of the plan but of instead letting it play out to a possible victory he instead incited the riot that stopped it. We have to give thanks that he was that stupid or otherwise he'd likely still be in office.
Hartmann: Do Democrats have the guts to fight fascism?
Good question Thom. Some of us do but so many others are in denial that it's that serious. And it's that apathy and cozy comfort that the fascists count on to fully implement their agenda.
"We stand on the threshold of momentous change in this nation. While it’s rarely discussed in this frame, the next two elections will almost certainly determine what form of government we’ll have for at least a generation. Will America become more free and democratic, or will we devolve into a 21st century form of Trumpy fascism?"
"Authoritarian forces have seized control of the GOP and are committed to ending democracy in this country, replacing it with an Orbán-like Hungary-style merger of corporate and state leadership. January 6th is now openly viewed by Trump’s followers as a rehearsal for 2024 as they fine-tune vote-counting systems and elect toadies who will bend to their will and change election outcomes the next time voters reject them."
"But do Democrats have the will and power to fight a battle against financially well-armed rightwing billionaires and their predatory and polluting industries? Not to mention taking on today’s GOP version of Mussolini’s Blackshirts, the volunteer civilian 'tough guy' militias that initially roamed around Italy beating up Jews and lefties?"
"The good news is that, increasingly, both our media and elected Democrats (and former Republicans) are calling this out for what it is, a naked assault on our system of government itself. But will it be enough? That will depend on Democratic turnout. [...] Brian Clardy, a Murray State University history professor emeritus tells us straight up: 'The Democrats have to remind people that next year and in 2024, democracy itself will be on trial.' And 21st century fascism will be there right beside it, under the 'R' column on the ballot."
Chomsky on US fascism
From his Democracy Now interview published today:
"As far as fascism is concerned, there are some analysts, very astute and knowledgeable ones, who say we’re actually moving towards actual fascism. My own feeling is, I would prefer to call it a kind of proto-fascism, where many of the symptoms of fascism are quite apparent — resort to violence, the belief that violence is necessary. A large part of the Republican Party, I think maybe 30 or 40%, say that violence may be necessary to save our country from the people who are trying to destroy it, the Democrat villains who are doing all these hideous things that are fed into their ears. And we see it in armed militias.
"January 6th was an example of — these are people from basically petit bourgeois, moderately affluent Middle America circles, not — there were some militia types among them who really feel that it’s necessary to carry out a coup to save the country. They were trying to carry out a coup to undermine an elected government — it’s called a coup — and came unfortunately close. [...] The Republican Party is now taking sophisticated measures to try to ensure that the next time around, it will succeed."
Slow motion insurrection in progress
How this can be interpreted as anything other than fascism seems a dangerous and enabling denial to me. See all the details in the linked article.
"In battleground states and beyond, Republicans are taking hold of the
once-overlooked machinery of elections. While the effort is incomplete
and uneven, outside experts on democracy and Democrats are sounding
alarms, warning that the United States is witnessing a 'slow-motion
insurrection' with a better chance of success than Trump’s failed power
grab last year. [...] This time, experts argue, is different: Never in the country’s modern
history has a a major party sought to turn the administration of
elections into an explicitly partisan act."
AOC for President in 2024
Want
to get out the youth vote en masse? She'll
be of legal age (35) then.* She'll bring a LOT of new progressives into
office on her coattails. Time to quit talking about revolution and have one.
* "The President and Vice President must be 35 years of age or older when assuming office."
A climate scientist on Don't Look Up
From this review:
"The movie Don’t Look Up is satire. But speaking as a climate scientist doing everything I can to wake people up and avoid planetary destruction, it’s also the most accurate film about society’s terrifying non-response to climate breakdown I’ve seen."
"We live in a society in which, despite
extraordinarily clear, present, and worsening climate danger, more than
half of Republican members of Congress still say climate change is a hoax and many more wish to block action, and in which the official Democratic party platform still enshrines massive subsidies to the fossil fuel industry;
in which the current president ran on a promise that 'nothing will
fundamentally change', and the speaker of the House dismissed even a
modest climate plan as 'the green dream or whatever'; in which the largest delegation to Cop26 was the fossil fuel industry, and the White House sold drilling rights
to a huge tract of the Gulf of Mexico after the summit; in which world
leaders say that climate is an 'existential threat to humanity' while
simultaneously expanding fossil fuel production; in which major newspapers still run fossil fuel ads, and climate news is routinely overshadowed by sports; in which entrepreneurs push incredibly risky tech solutions and billionaires sell the absurdist fantasy that humanity can just move to Mars."
Something that should be obvious
But this pandemic of the mind warps our reasoning and humanitarian capacities.
Another area where Democrats "Don't Look Up"
At least some of the progressives understand that the likes of MTG in Congress are part of the fascist attempt to take over our government. Unfortunately too many status quo Dems are in denial, largely because as in the movie they are not personally affected yet by the ongoing coup whose goal is to destroy democracy. And like the movie their denial will catch up with them at everyone's expense, including their own.
Current Affairs review of Don't Look Up
On how critics miss the point:
"I
came away thinking that its critics were not only missing the point of
the film in important ways, but that the very way they discussed the
film exemplified the problem that the film was trying to draw attention
to. Some of the responses to the movie could have appeared in the movie
itself."
Necessary propaganda
In this conversation Zak Stein said:
"My argument would be that under conditions where you can actually effectively implement propaganda, sometimes it’s good to do so in order to get certain things to happen at scale that are difficult for people to do psychologically. [...] When there’s imminent threat, sometimes you do need to mobilize the people through means of communication where you don’t have the time to be fully educational, even though you’d like to be."
Recall my rationale for this blog being a propaganda machine given the imminent threat of rising fascism. (See the section on framing.) One can debate whether I'm doing it well or effectively or not. But I really think it's a necessity to fight back at the trench level where these language wars are playing out.
The academic agenda of building an educational consilience project that Zak talks about is necessary too, but it's a longer term project that will fail when (not if) the fascists take complete control. Such intellectual projects are typically the first to go. We have to win the language wars and that requires a lot of votes that academy does not motivate. (Also see the section on metaprogressive and post-progressive politics in the 2nd link.)
Strikes Work
So do Unions. No wonder you never hear about them on corporate media. Or even from the Democratic Party who claims to fight for the working class. Hence we workers need to take matters into our own capable hands.
Co-Producer Sirota talks about Don't Look Up
He explains that a key message is that corporate media is incapable of addressing the climate crisis because it's main function is to trivialize and distract us from harsh truths. And it's also about how our worldviews are manipulated by politicians to reject science and knowledge in favor of agendas of greed and power. It's also a statement on how we expect technology to solve the crisis so that we don't have to pay any attention to or do anything about it.
Hartmann: Last Hours
The movie Don't Look Up reminds us of this 11-minute documentary on the climate crisis. Yes, it is that serious according to the climate science. And that film was 7 years ago. We've accelerated the crisis several fold since then. So put down your distracting devices long enough to do something about it.
Just Look Up
Arianna Grande and Kid Cudi's song from the very dark comedy Don't Look Up. The movie is about our deadly cultural sickness that is preventing us from taking the climate crisis seriously enough to prevent its worst catastrophes from happening. It's plain as day but we just won't look at it. I'd say the same is true of our inability to see the super sick fascism that is emerging in the Repugnacon Party with the consequent destruction of democracy and our individual freedoms along with it. Just Look Up damn it.
Team AOC: What they did in 2021
For all those cranky Scrooges who don't appreciate her, this list of 21 things accomplished in 2021 should shut them up. But we already know that nothing will satisfy them so f___ 'em. The rest of us thank and appreciate Team AOC for their hard work and accomplishments for the people in their District and for our country this year.
A logic lesson for liberals
At least those liberals who mistakenly think that to effectively fight fascism is akin to being fascist yourself. That goes for those same liberals who also think that calling fascism what it is is overstating the case and again participating in what it purports to defeat. All of those excuses are in effect giving fascists a pass and allowing them to complete their mission of destroying democracy. Read some history and listen to those who've experienced this before lest it be repeated. Or just stay cozy in your ignorant privilege until they come for you. And they will.
An Omicron New Year
The number of irresponsible New Year's Eve partiers there are is in direct correlation to the spike of new Omicron cases shortly thereafter. Have a Happy New Year but please be responsible. I know, hollow words to the insane anti-vaxxers.
The voter fraud Fraud
It's the Big Lie that won't die. But it's all they got to prevent we the people from voting. Because if we do they lose and they know it. Support Palast's work exposing these criminals.
Bernie: The problem with the Democratic Party
We the people have lost faith in them because they don't walk their talk. They make promises they don't keep. They don't do whatever it takes to fight against the powers of big money and fascism, instead succumbing to them and making lame excuses. Bernie is telling the Party to either change this status quo or they've lost our votes.
Treat every refugee like they're Jesus
It's what Jesus would do, he and his parents being refugees themselves.
Democracy v. fascism
That is our choice. There is no middle ground between them. One is healthy, one is sick. One good, one evil. Yes, some things are that stark of a dichotomy. For further reference see this post on what is and is not a healthy balance.
Twas the Night Before Christmas
By Chloe Fineman and Niall Horan. She does it in different celebrity voices and he does it in different accents.
Why BBB is being thwarted
Big Money is buying politicians like Manikin and Dimena to block it. And they are just the ones out front. The entire Repugnacon Party and much of the Democorp Party are so bribed too.
Jesus on COVID and killing
Unfortunately too many so-called Christians have abandoned Jesus and taken up killing.
Will the US AG please prosecute this criminal already?
And put him in jail for the rest of his life where he belongs?
Biden says carve out filibuster exception for voting rights
What Biden says and what he does are two very different things. And again, he'd have to take a very hardball stance with Manikin and Dimena to get it done and he's proven he doesn't have what that takes. Please prove me wrong Joe.
All I want for Christmas
We won't get it by Christmas but it would be greatly appreciated as a belated present. Democracy would thank you too.
Gifts for the women of Texas
This one took me a second to realize it means we're regressing to the days of draconian abortion techniques now that it's illegal.
I agree with Navarro on anti-vaxxers
And I've eliminated them from my life. I cannot tolerate people willing to infect others with a potentially deadly disease over a selfish sense of freedumb.
Business Insider: Manikin costing US economy $60 billion
In his rejection of Build Back Better based on their calculations of Goldman Sachs projections. Since Manikin's fake excuse was the cost of the program, let's hammer this home Democrats, especially in WVA.
"Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius now expect US GDP to grow 2% in the first quarter, 3% in the second quarter, and 2.75% in the third quarter, according to estimates published Monday. Those projections are down from 3%, 3.5%, and 3%, respectively. If the revisions ring true, the difference in growth should add up to roughly $60 billion in economic losses over the next three quarters. Insider calculated the sum by taking the US's annualized GDP growth rate and calculating the differences in Goldman's prior and updated expansion forecasts."
Since that loss is over only 3 quarters, that's 80 billion over 1 year. Over the 10-year life-span of the BBB that amounts to $800 billion of lost growth in the economy. And that's a modest estimate based on the current year because as BBB gets going it's 10-year growth will likely increase at least somewhat each year. Given that the tax structure in BBB would entirely pay for the Bill, that's at least $800 billion lost in the economy and for what exactly?
Coal miners back BBB
And are letting Manikin know it.
"'We are disappointed that the bill will not pass,' Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, said in the statement on Monday. 'We urge Senator Manchin to revisit his opposition to this legislation and work with his colleagues to pass something that will help keep coal miners working, and have a meaningful impact on our members, their families and their communities.'"
Manikin's Christmas Carol
Right on schedule Scrooge. Good thing is that he has plenty of coal for your stockings. Now if only the Democrats can effectively play the parts of the Ghosts.
Kasparian: A big Democratic mistake
They still buy into the farce that they have to be civil with opponents. That notion died when their opponents in either Party became fascist, corrupt or both. The well worn adage that 'you don't negotiate with terrorists' equally applies to the above. Wake the f___ up to the reality of with whom you're dealing, take the gloves off and fight like hell like there's no tomorrow for we the people and democracy. Only someone in complete denial of those facts naively thinks we need to be civil in this situation.
AOC: It's time for Dem leadership to step up
She tells Scarborough that what happened with Manikin was expected. And it's why she and other progressives tried to tie BBB with the infrastructure bill. So what now?
"It’s really up to leadership in the Democratic Party who made the decision to get us to this juncture and how we’re going to move forward. I think right now that Democratic leadership has a very large number of tools at their disposal. The President particularly. And it’s really about time that we take the kid gloves off and start using them to govern for working families in this country."
But will they now when they haven't so far? It you still believe that you are at best in denial. The consequences by now should also be obvious but we still have some Democrats in denial about that too.
Krystal Ball: Biden's failure on BBB
And the Democratic Party's failure too, including most the the Progressive Caucus. She reiterates everything I've already said, so let's just listen to her accurate analysis.
Bernie on Manikin
From his email received today with a petition:
The President of the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives and 49 members of the U.S. Senate are prepared to pass enormously consequential legislation which stands up to powerful special interests and finally deliver for the working families of our country. With almost every Democrat in the House and Senate on board, there is one member of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate who stands in the way.
Senator Joe Manchin.
In America today the very rich are becoming richer while millions of working families are struggling to put food on the table or pay their bills. We now have the absurd situation in which two multi-billionaires own more wealth than the bottom 40% of Americans, the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 92% and the gap between rich and poor is wider than at any time in the last 100 years.
The Build Back Better bill, supported by President Biden, the vast majority of Americans and almost every Democrat in Congress is an unprecedented effort to finally address the long-neglected crises facing working families and demand that the wealthiest people and largest corporations in the country start paying their fair share of taxes.
Here are just a few of the things we are trying to do:
We are going to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and lower the cost of prescription drugs in America. Last year, while nearly one out of four Americans could not afford to fill the prescriptions their doctors wrote, six of the largest drug companies made tens of billions in profits.
We are going to expand Medicare to cover hearing aids, dental care and eyeglasses. Today, in the wealthiest nation on earth, millions of seniors cannot chew their food or see and hear their loved ones.
We are going to help seniors and people with disabilities get the home health care they need. Across the United States, and in places like West Virginia and Vermont in particular, seniors should be able to be around their loved ones as they age as opposed to being forced into expensive nursing homes.
We are going to expand the Child Tax Credit that has reduced childhood poverty by 50 percent in the United States.
We are going to end the dysfunction of a childcare system that forces working families to spend up to 1/3 of their limited income on childcare and keeps millions of women out of the workforce.
We are going to make sure pre-K for 3 and 4 year olds is universal and free, giving our young children the best chance at success regardless of where they are from or how much money their parents make.
And oh yes, there is the not-so-small matter of the existential threat of climate change. With the planet getting warmer and warmer, unprecedented drought, fires, flood, and extreme weather, we are going to finally begin the process of cutting carbon emissions and transforming our energy systems to save this planet for future generations.
Yesterday morning, Senator Manchin announced he would not support the Build Back Better Act.
And if that is the case, he should be prepared to vote NO before the working families of West Virginia and America and explain why.
We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to West Virginia and American people why he opposes taking on the greed of the drug companies and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to West Virginia seniors why he opposes helping them secure hearing aids, dental care and the eyeglasses they need.
We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain to families why their loved ones should age in expensive nursing homes instead of around those who care about them most.
We should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain why only the children of the wealthy from certain zip codes should have the opportunity to attend pre-K.
And we should give Joe Manchin the opportunity to explain why he sides with those who profit from climate change and the destruction of the planet for future generations.
Now I know Joe Manchin continues to talk about his concerns over the national debt, but I find it amusing I didn’t hear his concerns after voting, just last week, for a military budget of $778 billion, four times greater than the Build Back Better Act over ten years and $25 billion more than the president suggested.
Forgive me thinking that maybe, just maybe, something else is at play here.
Joe Manchin should have the chance to explain what it is.
Let’s vote:
Thank you for making your voice heard.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
Preliminary study on Omicron variant
Keep in mind that this UK study has not yet been peer-reviewed. The reinfection rate is more than 5 times that of Delta. There's no evidence that severity is any less than Delta and brings higher risk of symptomatic illness for vaccinated breakthrough cases. Be extra careful out there.
Manikin said NO to Build Back Better
Just as we knew he would all along since Biden and Schumer, instead of playing hardball with him, let him control the debate and the outcome. Now we take Bernie's advice and do so now. That is, if the Democratic Party was ever seriously behind this in the first place.
"U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is key to President Joe Biden's hopes of passing a $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill, said on Sunday he would not support the package."
Bernie on Manikin and Build Back Better
Are you listening Schumer? Force a vote and put Manikin on the defensive. And then barrage his State with ads and campaign visits. Do it with the filibuster and federal voting rights law too. Do what needs to be done NOW instead of making excuses.
'Hierarchy' in the organization of brain networks
Hilgetag, C. and Goulas, A. (2020) "'Hierarchy' in the organization of brain networks." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375: 20190319.
One can see from this variety of definitions that the Model of Hierarchical Complexity favors the "progression of scales" option and then extends it as a universal measure for all networks. Of course it 'works' given its premises and subsequent inferences. But as one can see, it is but one of the 'metaphors' for describing hierarchy in brain networks. And everything else for that matter.
Abstract:
"Concepts shape the interpretation of facts. One of the most popular concepts in systems neuroscience is that of ‘hierarchy’. However, this concept has been interpreted in many different ways, which are not well aligned. This observation suggests that the concept is ill defined. Using the example of the organization of the primate visual cortical system, we explore several contexts in which ‘hierarchy’ is currently used in the description of brain networks. We distinguish at least four different uses, specifically, ‘hierarchy’ as a topological sequence of projections, as a gradient of features, as a progression of scales, or as a sorting of laminar projection patterns. We discuss the interpretation and functional implications of the different notions of ‘hierarchy’ in these contexts and suggest that more specific terms than ‘hierarchy’ should be used for a deeper understanding of the different dimensions of the organization of brain networks."
RootsAction: Progressives in Name Only
This group is targeting some members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) for primaries from actual progressives. They are: Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Darren Soto (D-Fla.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.).
Despite the CPC's new rules which attempt to cull its progressives in name only, they are not strict enough to accomplish that goal. So RootsAction is exposing the voting records of the above as decidedly not progressive and supports true progressives to run against them. Yes, it is a purity test of sorts and a necessary one if the CPC is to live up to its name and represent we the people instead of corporate interests.
Hartmann: Will angry progressives push Democrats to act?
Thom's caller is fed up with the corrupt Party, as well as the weak progressives who make excuses for why they don't fight it with everything they got. Thom then chimes in:
"Frankly Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer should sit him [Manikin] down and tell him 'We're going to throw your sorry ass out of this town.' [...] But I don't think they have the courage to do it [...] and there's a lot of us out here who are seriously pissed off."
See the whole clip for his extended diatribe.
Can progressives remain in the Democratic Party?
If the progressive caucus is to remain in the Democratic Party, then will it be necessary to fight the status quo corruption in the Party as fiercely as it does the fascist Repugnacons? Is it really feasible to enact progressive legislation in tiny crumbs within the Party when our climate and human crises demands so much more? Can progressives play the necessary hardball politics to do so?
So far I'm not seeing that they can. And if they don't then staying in the Party just provides them with lame excuses for not getting the job done for we the people. Learn to play hardball and do what's necessary. Taking over the Party is the only viable option, not getting along with it. If you can't do that then quit pretending. And maybe it's time for an actual progressive Party outside of the corruption.
Cheney calls out Jordan's and McCarthy's lies
It's refreshing that a staunch Republican has to defend truth and justice, something her Party used to at least pretend to believe in, in the face of their now constant lying.
Btw, the progressive vote on the infrastructure bill
Bowman, Bush, AOC, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib voted against it. The following key players in the Progressive Caucus voted for it: Jayapal (Chair), Grijalva (Chair Emeritus), Jeffries, Khanna, Pocan (Chair Emeritus), Porter (Deputy Chair) and Lee (Chair Emeritus). They caved.
Bernie on the Kellogg's strike
You'll never hear about this in corporate media. So let's be grateful to Bernie for providing the details of this strike and how we the people need to support it. Please consider boycotting all Kellogg's products to apply pressure on them.
"At the Kellogg’s plant in Battle Creek, Michigan for example, when the pandemic began many employees worked more than 50 days in a row – often 12-hour days. Let me repeat that: Many employees at Kellogg’s have been working seven days a week, week after week after week, often 12-hours a day. In fact, I spoke with one employee there who worked 120 days in a row.
"Last year these employees, who were helping to feed America during the worst public health crisis in 100 years, were considered 'heroes.' Today, the company considers them disposable – even though many of them have spent their entire adult lives working for Kellogg’s.
"These workers, members of the BCTGM International Union, have been on strike for over two months demanding better wages, working conditions and an end to a grossly destructive 'two-tier' system which provides newer workers substantially lower wages and benefits than long- term employees.
"The company has responded viciously to the union’s demands. Instead of sitting down and bargaining, they have walked away from the negotiating table. 'There is no further bargaining scheduled and we have no plans to meet,' Kellogg’s said in an official statement to workers following the last round of negotiations.
"With Christmas approaching they have terminated the health care benefits for these striking workers, leaving many of them with no health insurance at all. In addition, they have initiated the ultimate act of disloyalty by attempting to permanently replace the striking workers. In a statement Kellogg’s said, 'The prolonged work stoppage has left us no choice but to hire permanent replacement employees in positions vacated by striking workers.' They are also threatening to outsource 275 jobs from Michigan to Mexico where new workers are paid just 97 cents an hour."
Pox Views on Jan. 6
What scumbags. Again, is it name-calling when it's true? Does anyone really think we could have a good faith, rational debate with them?
Jayapal making excuses now
She's whining progressives don't have enough power to prevent the likes of Manikin. It's a lame excuse. Actually she and the progressives could have prevented what is happening now if they had stuck to their commitment to not vote for the infrastructure bill. They had THAT power and they threw it away. Now BBB is questionable and fed voting rights are impossible. Fascists win. As to electing more progressives under this sort of consistent surrender, good luck.
Twitler must be prosecuted
I
so hope this charge will be brought against Twitler. And many more
thereafter. He must be prosecuted for all of his many crimes because he
is by far the BIGGEST CRIMINAL of ALL TIME.
"A
casual observer might have missed it, but what Cheney was doing here
was pointing to a specific criminal statute — a felony, 18 U.S. Code §
1512 — that she suggests President Donald Trump might have violated. And
both its inclusion in her comments and the timing of it shouldn’t be
lost on anyone. This was a Republican member of the committee floating a
specific potential Trump crime that the committee apparently wants to
drill down on; it also came shortly after a federal judge upheld the use
of the statute in a key Jan. 6 case."
Aaron Blake - "What crime might Trump have committed on Jan. 6? Liz Cheney points to one."- Washington Post - 12/14/21
Colbert: Lord of the Rings is the #1 trilly
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the trilogy, Colbert and quite a cast of characters perform an amazing rap song.
Hartmann: Democrats must use their power over the Supreme Corp
In his post today he notes that Congress has the power of 'court stripping.' The Repugnacons have already done it with the Marriage Protection Act, including a stipulation that stated:
"No court created by Act of Congress shall have any jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court shall have no appellate jurisdiction, to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of, or the validity under the Constitution of, section 1738C or this section."
Even though that particular legislation lost in the Senate, the Repugs have introduced court stripping in hundreds of pieces of proposed legislation.
Thom goes on to note that the Constitution grants Congress the power to regulate the Supreme Court, as well as provide exceptions to its powers. And in fact it has already done so, examples provided in Thom's article. In fact, the Texas abortion law used a form of court stripping, hence the Supremes hesitance in challenging it.
Now if only Democrats, including progressives, had the guts to create laws that strips the Supreme's power to thwart them.
Omincron news
From the NYT Morning Newsletter we learn that it is more contagious than previous variants but vaccines provide strong protection against serious illness. However it will also increase vaccinated breakthrough cases but which will likely be milder. The unvaccinated as usual will have the most cases, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as being the main contributor to its spread. Bottom line: Get vaccinated and get boosters.
Build Back Better in jeopardy because of Manikin
Remember when the progressives caved on their promise to not vote on the infrastructure bill unless and until the BBB passed the Senate? And now to no one's surprise--except I guess those gullible progressives who apparently never learned to distrust their own Party leaders after repeatedly being lied to--BBB has stalled because of Manikin. We the people were so proud of the House progressives for initially playing hardball by making that demand, showing they had real power and were willing to use it. Unfortunately once again they folded at the critical moment claiming they believed Biden's promise and once again they, and more importantly we the people, got the shaft.
So of course this doesn't inspire any confidence that Biden will get federal voting rights legislation done to prevent the fascist takeover of State voting systems. The progressives could once again use their veto power to block every new piece of legislation unless and until Biden applies the necessary pressure to get the Freedom to Vote Act passed but we can see that they will not. This is exactly why not only the Party but the progressives lose not only our trust but our votes. The result will likely be losing both the House and the Senate again in '22 and the White House in '24, when there will be a full fascist takeover of our federal government. All because progressives didn't have the fight necessary to prevent it.
NM COVID report 11/15/21 - 12/13/21
There were 35,691 new cases during this period, with 10,004 among the fully vaccinated or 28% of the total. That's an average of 1275 per day. Also among the vaccinated, of the total 18.8% were hospitalized and 18.4% died. The last number is a big jump.
Meidas Touch: Treason texts
From Pox Views hosts and Twitler Jr. to Mark Meadows. These criminals must be prosecuted.
Solstice, analemma, pagans and Christmas
According to this wiki "the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and longest night of the year, when the Sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky," typically Dec. 21. The analemma does not occur on the solstice: "As seen from northern middle latitudes, as the diagram shows, the earliest sunset occurs some time before the December solstice – typically a week or two before it – and the latest sunrise happens a week or two after the solstice. Thus, the darkest evening occurs in early to mid-December, but the mornings keep getting darker until about the New Year."
The pagans come into the picture as Christians appropriated the Roman holiday of Saturnalia.
"Thanks to the Roman Empire’s conquests in Britain and the rest of
Europe from the second century B.C. to the fourth century A.D.—and their
suppression of older seasonal rites practiced by the Celts
and other groups—today’s Western cultures derive many of their
traditional celebrations of midwinter from Saturnalia.The Christian
holiday of Christmas, especially, owes many of its traditions to the ancient Roman festival, including the time of year Christmas is celebrated. [...] On the Julian calendar, which the Romans used at the time, the winter solstice fell on December 25."
OSHA protected those tornado endangered workers
Listening to a guest on Hartmann's show this morning she laid out how the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) protects workers in that tornado situation. If you in good faith believe there is an "imminent danger" then you can refuse to work without retaliation of being fired (1977.12(b)(2)).
Of course a question is were workers aware of this protection? Granted workplaces usually post OSHA regulations but many workers don't understand the jargon. And of course workers are more inclined to accept a boss's threat of termination in such a situation, which is what happened in this case. If anything, the surviving victims and family can use the law to sue the shit out of these employers.
The employers will of course say OSHA was posted, if in fact it was, and therefore they are not responsible for employees in this case. But workers being told they'd be fired if they left should override that excuse. It will depend on the skill of the lawyers and of course the agenda of the particular courts.
Amazon workers told they's be fired for leaving work during a tornado
Yes, that happened as documented in Sirota's post today. It also highlights a broader trend in big business to thwart worker protections. Most all States have 'at will' employment, which means a worker can be fired without any justification with a few exceptions. Illinois recently "introduced legislation to protect workers from such firings unless an employer had just cause' for a termination." It is clear that 'just cause' does not include "an employee's refusal to work under conditions that the employee reasonably believes would expose him or her, other employees, or the public to an unreasonable health or safety risk."
Naturally IL Chambers of Commerce are fierce opponents of such a Bill, as are most all large employers, and are using their influence to stall the Bill. Amazon of course is a member of those Chambers. God forbid should workers have the right to live in the face of a tornado. That just wouldn't be fair to their bottom line, now would it? Get your priorities straight people!
Well done citizens for demanding better pay
This is what happens when we the people stick together against the crapitalists.
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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 ...
