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US Politics: Don't Panic - Organize


Fragile Bird

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2 minutes ago, ThinkerX said:

I was talking about this today with conservative coworker and Trump fan.  He thought the whole thing was hilarious.  Pointed out to him that claiming the greatest losses ten years running, bankrupting multiple businesses  along the way doesn't exactly inspire confidence.  He agreed, shrugged it off.  Gave him the capsule version of how Trump ended up with the Russians - the US banks black listing him, followed by the European ones, which left only the Russians.  He goes 'so what?'  I told him no real difference between Russian State, Russian Banks, and Russian Mafia.   His response: 'So what, they're all crooks.'   

Which shows all Trumpantistas really care about is getting lols by “sticking it to the libs”.  They make me very sad.

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18 hours ago, karaddin said:

I know replying to Altherion is pointless but I feel the need to say this for other peoples benefits.

The real redistribution here is from the youth and those not yet born to those who are currently living out their later years. Climate change isn't coming out of nowhere, its a direct consequence of all the activities that have built the wealth that they then use to justify inaction - because you cant possibly think its fair to "redistribute" their wealth. Just ignore the giant externality in the room that is the looming end of human civilization as we know it and the death of a million + species of life if we continue to act without change.

And externality is an economic term, it indicates a cost in this case that has been shifted from those who are deriving the benefit to others/society as a whole. In this case its shifted from the past and the present onto the generations of the future. Forcing those with the wealth now to actually lose some of their ill gotten wealth to try limit the damage of the future isn't redistribution, its finally paying their debt now before the interest becomes terminal.

One tactic I have had modest success with:  De-emphasize the 'climate change' aspect, emphasize the pollution angle, asking conservatives if they wish to breathe toxic smog, drink contaminated water, or dwell amidst environmental devastation.  I point out that those funding denial of anthropomorphic  climate change tend to be directly connected with pollution spewing industries.  Often, they'll attempt an initial denial - 'nobody's talking about that!' - so I go on to hit the highlights of Team Trump in that regard.  Makes a few of them think.  

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Part of a depressing trend:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/gop-state-legislator-attacks-vaccine-scientist-on-twitter-accusing-him-of-self-enrichment-sorcery/ar-AAB5UHs?ocid=ob-fb-enus-580&fbclid=IwAR3hJTz9ale4Qi9NTzgePgjI_BF7DnFTxR9jwarAl5Lz2CCqcRVd-9CyM58

 

A Texas state legislator unleashed a vilifying attack on a leading vaccine scientist Tuesday, accusing the doctor of “sorcery.”

 

It started with a report published Monday by the Texas Department of State Health Services that noted the state recorded a 14 percent rise in parents opting out of their children’s vaccinations. It was a new statistic that alarmed Peter Hotez, professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

“We have more than 64,000 kids not getting vaccinated in the state of Texas, and that doesn’t account for the over 300,000 home-schooled kids,” Hotez said during an interview with The Washington Post.

 

Hotez took his concerns about the report to Twitter. And then he received an unexpected, seething personal attack from the Republican state legislator, Rep. Jonathan Stickland.

“You are bought and paid for by the biggest special interest in politics,” Stickland wrote. “Do our state a favor and mind your own business. Parental rights mean more to us than your self enriching ‘science.’ ”

In a tweeted response, Hotez, a pediatrician and vaccine scientist, noted to Stickland that he does not receive money from the vaccine industry; instead, his work focuses on “neglected disease vaccines for the world’s poorest people."

Stickland, who told The Post he is “not anti-vaccination," tweeted his response to Hotez.

“Make the case for your sorcery to consumers on your own dime,” the Republican, who represents an area of suburban Fort Worth, snapped back Tuesday. “Quit using the heavy hand of government to make your business profitable through mandates and immunity.”

 

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U.S. NEWS
Denver votes to become first city to decriminalize 'magic mushrooms'
A nearly final ballot count has the measure passing by barely more than 1 percent after it appeared voters would reject it late Tuesday night.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/denver-votes-become-first-city-decriminalize-magic-mushrooms-n1003566

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Denver is set to become the first city in the United States to effectively decriminalize the psychedelic substance in “magic mushrooms,” but only after it appeared the ballot measure would fail in a tight race.

The measure, sponsored by a group of citizen activists, appears to have passed Wednesday by a 1.12 percent margin, according to NBC-affiliate KUSA. The move underlines Denver’s role in shaping the national conversation around drug policy.

The city decriminalized marijuana possession in 2005, and seven years later Colorado followed suit at the state level.

Supporters of the initiative touted the drug’s use in alleviating symptoms of mental health issues. The push was led by a former cadet at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who said the substance, psilocybin, dramatically alleviated his major depression.

Initiative 301, as it was known locally, effectively changes city code to say that enforcing laws for possession of psilocybin mushrooms by people 21 or older “shall be the lowest law enforcement priority in the City and County of Denver.”

 

 

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These couple of new anti abortion laws are dire as fuck. Things are moving towards Gilead at quite the pace, they're only a step away from explicitly saying "women don't actually deserve personhood" now.

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1 minute ago, karaddin said:

These couple of new anti abortion laws are dire as fuck. Things are moving towards Gilead at quite the pace, they're only a step away from explicitly saying "women don't actually deserve personhood" now.

Gilead is going to look good by the time those assfucks are done.

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In case people have managed to miss exactly how awful it is, this is the heinous Georgia one

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/05/hb-481-georgia-law-criminalizes-abortion-subjects-women-to-life-in-prison.amp?__twitter_impression=true

Remember, Georgia is the state that allowed the GOP Gubernatorial candidate to remain as the attorney general striking hundreds of thousands of people off the rolls to steal the election from an African American woman. What category of people do you think are most likely to be charged after the passage of this law?

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3 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

I wonder if Neal Stephenson wasn’t correct when he speculated about cyclical  “collapses of civilization” in Anathem?  Perhaps we should all retreat to “Maths”.

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on the one hand, it is depressing the number is that high.  on the other, it shows just how much of a minority the haters' really are:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nearly-half-of-white-republicans-say-it-bothers-them-to-hear-people-speaking-foreign-languages/ar-AAB5hzO?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=msnclassic

A new survey finds white Republicans are far more likely to be put off by foreign language speakers than their Democratic counterparts.

 

According to Pew Research Center, 47 percent of such Republicans say it would bother them “some” or “a lot” to “hear people speak a language other than English in a public place.” Just 18 percent of white Democrats said they would be similarly bothered.

 

Aside from politics, age and education are the major predictors of linguistic discomfort. Just 18 percent of whites younger than 30 said they would be bothered by a foreign language being spoken, compared with 43 percent in the 50 to 64 age group, and 45 percent among those 65 and older.

Among all racial groups, whites (34 percent) are most likely to be bothered hearing foreign languages, followed by blacks (25 percent), Asians (24 percent) and Hispanics (13 percent). Among Americans overall, 70 percent put their level of unease at “not much” or “not at all.”

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Trump Losing Patience With Bolton After Venezuela Coup Failure: Report

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-losing-patience-with-bolton-after-venezuela-coup-failure-report?ref=home

Quote

Donald Trump is growing increasingly angry at John Bolton over the failure to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, complaining that his own officials misled him about how easy it would be to overthrow him, The Washington Post reports. Trump is said to be aiming his anger at his national security adviser, accusing him of trying to pull Trump “into a war” with Venezuela and its allies. Officials have told the newspaper the chances of Maduro making a swift exit have decreased and that Trump is annoyed about having to be involved for the “long haul.”

 

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6 hours ago, ThinkerX said:

on the one hand, it is depressing the number is that high.  on the other, it shows just how much of a minority the haters' really are:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/nearly-half-of-white-republicans-say-it-bothers-them-to-hear-people-speaking-foreign-languages/ar-AAB5hzO?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=msnclassic

 

 

That gross.  

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That fine Christian president of yours made jokes last night in Florida at his rally, after someone yelled out ‘shoot them’ when he asked what should be done with illegal immigrants. ‘Only in the Florida panhandle’, he laughed.

This, just days after another school shooting, in a state that had been rocked by horrific mass shootings. God bless ‘Murica!

And speaking of shootings, I watched the coverage of the Colorado shooting. Truly the most horrific thing is that teens in the US have decided they need to respond with action if a shooter shows up, because no *ucking politician, or adult in general, I guess, is going to help them. Yet another student rushes a gunman to save his friends but dies in the attempt. So not just the college kid in Virginia, the high school student in Colorado, and like the Washington Gazette employee previously mentioned, I’m betting there will be no Medals of Freedom for them, since they don’t play golf with the prez.

The CNN interview with a 12-year old explaining that even though he was scared he armed himself with a metal baseball bat in case the shooter came to their room was as sickening as interviews I saw years ago with child soldiers in the Congo.

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3 hours ago, Martell Spy said:

Trump Losing Patience With Bolton After Venezuela Coup Failure: Report

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-losing-patience-with-bolton-after-venezuela-coup-failure-report?ref=home

 

Much fuller picture of this Venezuelan clown show out of the White House is here (despite not getting what he wanted from him, Bolton's in no danger of losing his position):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-frustrated-trump-questions-his-administrations-venezuela-strategy/2019/05/08/ad51561a-71a7-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.81cb3b61d1f7

Quote

....Tump appears to be more comfortable with the Iran policy, which is grounded in his own strong belief that President Barack Obama miscalculated in striking a nuclear bargain with Tehran. He is less comfortable with the escalating rhetoric on Venezuela, which does not pose a direct military threat to the United States. Any U.S. military involvement there risks a proxy fight with Russia, which backs Maduro and has sold him arms.

Trump spoke approvingly of Russian actions in Venezuela following a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin on Friday, saying that Putin “is not looking at all to get involved in Venezuela other than he’d like to see something positive happen for Venezuela. And I feel the same way. We want to get some humanitarian aid.”

His comments stood in contrast to earlier statements from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Bolton, who accused Russia of propping up Maduro with money and military equipment.

During the Putin call, Trump expressed his concern about the security and humanitarian situation in Venezuela, a person briefed on the call said. Putin agreed with Trump’s assessment but said that the U.S. position has solidified Maduro’s grip on power in Venezuela.

Putin also told Trump that Moscow was not selling new weapons to Venezuela but maintaining existing contracts, and he played down Russia’s financial investments in the country....

 

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the presentation of criminal acts against a sovereign state as a "strategy" evidences well enough the abject worthlessness of the post. one is staggered by the brazen contempt for the international order insofar as all involved are admitting to commission of a core crime under international law.

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1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Much fuller picture of this Venezuelan clown show out of the White House is here (despite not getting what he wanted from him, Bolton's in no danger of losing his position):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-frustrated-trump-questions-his-administrations-venezuela-strategy/2019/05/08/ad51561a-71a7-11e9-9f06-5fc2ee80027a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.81cb3b61d1f7

 

It is a top priority of the Trump admin and second only to the top priority of praising and groveling to KGB Putin.

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20 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

After weeks of negotiations, the Senate Intel Committee has now had to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. in order to get him to come back and answer questions.

Apparently Don Jr. is now just as wary of perjury traps as daddy is. The word is he may either take the 5th, or simply not appear, since there seem to be no consequences for refusing to appear.

Unsurprisingly, Republicans are lashing out at Burr, questioning whether or not he’s a real Republican.

Is it any surprise that these chumps have to constantly declare how patriotic they are, given that they always place party above country?

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