Staged assassinations, wife of supreme court judge participant in January 6th, Epstein Files, rogue drunk FBI director, director of department of war reciting Pulp Fiction as a prayer...
This isn't normal, America!
There is no going back to something. The experiment failed and is over.
#RIP🇺🇲
Americans support continued military aid to Ukraine 🇺🇦, with 64% favoring lethal aid and 62% believing Ukraine must win the war. Furthermore, data suggests 74% of Americans view Ukraine's defense of sovereignty as vital to the United States 🇺🇸
www.realclearworld.com/articles/202...
Let's see if you can get it right...
It looks like the world is being wise about the world cup. I am an American, it is NOT SAFE for anyone here. They give idiots a gun, authority, and no training.
If I murder someone, I go to jail or worse. If ICE murders someone for no reason, they get praise from the president.
Just finished the book last night and it was everything I wanted it to be, a story that celebrates Magic’s history while grounding it in the lives of real people and how the events affect them.
And then I see this story this morning, and it warms my heart that this is who wrote it ❤️ ❤️
Coachella is trying to wipe all of the footage of The Strokes protest set so I’m gonna post it here. The last images on the screen made me cry.
This illustrates the need for broad and comprehensive reforms with money in politics. We need an international “No Dictators Day” before he steps up his attack on the nation he was supposed to govern, not humiliate. 😱🤬
There needs to be forthright condemnation of Stonewall's new chair'svsucking up to Rowling from her predecessors and a majority of the organisation's leading figures. This betrayal of trans people is utterly unforgivable cowardice.
That's an excellent reminder to reread Palmer, as well!
Wealthy guy telling white male worker to be afraid of a foreigner, because he's going to steal his cookie.
What we do to escape our dire circumstances depends on whether or not we want a republic or a principality. With that, I am going back to re-read Machiavelli's The Discourses on Titus Livy's First Ten Books on the History of Rome.
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10827
There's a cartoon of a wealthy guy, a white male worker, and a person of color. The wealthy guy is hoarding buckets of cookies, but is telling the worker "watch out, that guy wants your cookie." It may seem over the top, but in our present moment, I can't think of a better image of where we are.
Ideologically, Americans believe in overly-simplistic ideas like "CEOs make good leaders" and "profits are good and taxes bad" without seeing where that leads - present-day Russia is a prime example. So defending Ukraine isn't just good foreign policy, it is vital to the health of our democracy.
This isn't a left vs. right question, it is up vs. down. Over time is the "Epstein class" had emerged - a small number of incredibly wealthy people who've taken advantage of globalization to avoid legal and economic accountability. Their power has grown disproportionately in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Americans have always had a problem recognizing the direct connections between international relations and domestic conditions. But the oft-told story of American "exceptionalism" has been relied upon to disguise the actual problems we face as a nation. We need to ask who benefits from all of this.
Add into this the fact that America is the most economically stratified it has been since the Gilded Age, with some of the electorate okay with that. Not just plutocrats but also ordinary people who have bought into racism, sexism, and transphobia as their economic positions become more precarious.
Beyond that, there are other actors on the international stage that will benefit from this situation, most notably Xi Jinping's China (not a democracy) and Putin's Russia (for as long as Vova can hold onto power). World War Two was a repudiation of spheres of influence, but we have slid backwards.
At this moment, Americans need to realize that the Trump regime has pissed away a large amount of the international good will and support that the U.S. had built up over time, despite ongoing and frequent attempts to force regime change elsewhere, and that good will isn't returning any time soon.
The Democrats were incrementally inured to all of this, treating it as just another aspect of inside the Beltway power brokerage, rather than as a threat to national security and stability, originating primarily since 2000. To be fair, it is hard to see this issue with any clarity in the moment.
The possibility that a criminal buffoon, surrounded by sycophants and enablers, would be at the levers of power, was simply thought impossible. But here we are, with the GOP captured by far-right ideology and the opportunity for profit, cheering on a president who is, in a word, demented.
Instead, the U.S. embraced that role, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, often with the best of reasons. But that depended on having sober decision-makers aware of the risks of using military power to solve political problems, and willing to build relationships to make that work.
Late night thoughts: I suspect that in the future, historians will regard the period from 1991 to 2024 as a tremendous test of the U.S., and that we largely failed. In the aftermath of the downfall of the USSR, the U.S. needed to transform into something other than the "world's police officer."
All of this can be done very quickly and easily - and will prevent you from spreading AI-slop or thinly-disguised propaganda. This is often spread around to subtly manipulate you into being more credulous and susceptible to manipulate. DON'T FALL FOR IT!
Fourth, if it all checks out otherwise, but you really want to make sure - and you DO want to make sure, right? Clip some specific element of the story and see if there is anything about the story or source on Snopes.com or other fact-checking website.
Third, see what other stories are being spread by the originating site. Are they consistent with each other? Do those stories check out, with sources, clear info, etc? If there is some consistency to the sorts of stories being shared, that's great.
Second, check the source - look at the info on who is posting it, where they live, their email, phone number, website. In particular, pay attention to whether they all add up. If it seems to be for a legitimate news source, or trusted authority, great. But if not, that's a red flag.
Mid-afternoon thoughts: here is what you should do if you read a heartwarming story on Facebook or other social media. First, see if there is ANY credit or attribution for the story at all. Stories with sources you can verify are good. Stories without sources are not as good.
United States Ambassador To Italy Mrs Clare Boothe Luce Listens To The Words Of Pope Pius Xii,During An Audience At The Pontiff'S Lakeside Summer Residence.13 October 1955
American conservative politician Clare Boothe Luce converted to Catholicism in 1946.
In a 1953 meeting with Pope Pius XII, she was fiercely lecturing the pontiff on the Church's moral duty to fight communism when the Pope finally interrupted her.
"You know, Mrs. Ambassador, I am a Catholic too."
Baltimore Center Stage was told to stop any programming that appeared to be #DEI or lose federal funding. They tripled down. www.thebanner.com/culture/thea...
Young people in this country are losing their minds with frustration and having nervous breakdowns because they simply can't afford the cost of living in Trump’s America.
"I kill myself working and I can't even pay the bills. All of this is pointless."
Also makes "ammosexual" sound kinda... narrow-minded? Something?
