KRAVEN THE HUNTER
1 hour ago
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Talking entry
That's Benjamin Dixon and this is a talking entry and we're going to talk about media. I don't feel good tonight. Thursday morning, there were no early morning posts. Some wondered about that. My eye -- the one that keeps getting worked on in the last weeks, was hurting so bad. I thought I was taking a brief nap. I ended up sleeping. Woke up unaware that I hadn't loaded up videos to be published throughout the night.
Some of you wondered, some of you were concerned, thank you.
And then there was one e-mail.
I don't work for you. That's my reply to the e-mailer.
I have a life and I give way too much time to online.
But this e-mailer was upset that his YOUTUBE video did not go up at this site and tells me that I usually post throughout the night so I had no reason not to note his YOUTUBE video and --
I'm just not in the mood. I don't work for you and I don't owe you a damn thing.
We've now been here for 20 years. Just realized that. And since the start, I've had this problem.
And it's always the same people. Sorry to stereotype, but it's White men.
I've never had a woman e-mail and ask to be noted -- I'm not talking about when Naomi Klein releases a book, for example. That's fine. I'm interested in reading the book and I'll happily note it here.
Men of color also don't do that.
And if you're a White man who does that and we know each offline, that's fine, we have a relationship of some form.
But every week, the inbox is flooded with requests from White men to have their article noted or their video noted or this noted or that noted.
If I think it's pertinent and have the time, I'll probably note it.
But don't think you give me marching orders.
I don't work for you.
More to the point, this same e-mailer was whining that I noted him only once that week.
Only once.
I'm sorry when did I ask you to do one damn thing for me? Oh, that's right. Never. So you've got a lot of nerve asking for favors to begin with.
But that only once should clue you in on some reality.
You talk to men. White men. Straight White men.
So, in other words, you're not doing anything.
You're not doing anything that couldn't have been done 20 years ago. Or 40. Or . . .
If you're left, why are you unable to speak to women or men of color or the LGBTQ+ community?
The answer is that you're not left.
And this is not a new complaint from me. Go back to 2020 and you'll see me calling out Katie Halper here for her lack of female guests. Or go back to when Ava and I did our study on FAIR calling out PBS for its lack of female guests. Yes, PBS had an awful ratio. But you know who featured even less female guests? COUNTERPIN. FAIR's weekly radio program. That's right, FAIR's calling out PBS for what FAIR is doing itself on COUNTERSPIN.
We've tracked this over and over. With Katie we kept publicly pimping for her to invite on Margaret Kimberley -- someone whose politics lined up with Katie's. Eventually, Katie did bring her on. And maybe if we spent months and months calling Katie out and suggesting the same guest over and over, Katie might be able to add another woman to her rotation.
When we focused on Iraq, I would do a post like this noting to whichever White men felt they were being ignored that they weren't covering Iraq so why do I need to note them?
Again, it's always straight White men. And maybe that's something against the rest of us? Maybe the rest of us should hawk our wares in the same manner and e-mail strangers demanding that they note us.
They do get, these men, that their voices are not missing -- and have never been missing -- from the national dialogue.
So they've got a platform and all they focus on is themselves. They're not bringing on voices that actually do need to be uplifted.
"It is going to be this sanewashing, this idea that this man... has created an entire broligarch and it's taking over our country but you're not going to hear about it... because the media has signaled that they're on his side." @daniellemoodie.bsky.social on the media's coverage of Trump.
— AYMAN on MSNBC (@aymanmsnbc.bsky.social) December 14, 2024 at 7:43 PM
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Danielle Moodie is a voice that needs to be uplifted. She's one of many. Olay, TABITHA SPEAKS, Coach D, Keith Boykin, etc.
BLUESKY.
An angry e-mail tells me I'm promoting a porn star on BLUESKY.
Really, which one?
It's actually not a porn star. It's a woman who takes racy pictures of herself. But I do know Conner Habib, who used to be a porn star, and I have no problem -- hold on. Yep, he's on BLUESKY. I just clicked "Follow" on him. He's a nice person and he's very political.
So now I've made your e-mail true, I'm promoting a porn star -- or a former one. He's a sweet guy.
Here's the thing with BLUESKY -- I am pimping that online and offline. I've never done link trades here at TCI. If you follow me on BLUESKY, I will gladly follow you to give you one more follower. But I'm really not on BLUESKY. I went on this week because Valerie Simpson was on with Sherri and did a great interview and I thought, "That's something BLUESKY would be good for." I'd already reposted the interview here but I did a comment or something on BLUESKY as well.
When I got on, I saw that a few people had followed or replied and I went and followed everyone back.
I am not trying to build a BLUESKY following -- I have no details in my profile, not even THE COMMON ILLS website listed.
I am trying to build up BLUESKY.
So, yeah, as long as you're not a racist, sexist or homophobe, I'm fine with following you. And hold on a moment. Just went and followed Alyssa Milano and I really don't like her -- that's not a new development nor the first time I've noted it here.
But I did call her out for not being on BLUESKY -- called her out publicly -- and now she is on it and I was happy to hit "FOLLOW" on her account just now.
And I'm not a star f**ker. Diana Ross is a good friend of many years and I love her to death. I just did a BLUESKY search on her and the people doing the three latest Tweets on her got followed by me just now.
We're responsible for the world. We can take a hand in creating it or not. We can make a difference or not. Alice Walker has long spoken of how she writes to create the world she wants it to be. Imagine if, as a collective, we had worked on that nationally for the last twenty years.
Instead, we've spent far too much time with men doing podcasts, articles and videos about this or that man in the Senate (yeah, that's a slap at old Bernie and his worshipers) while shutting the rest of us out.
I can tell you one thing, if left or 'left' White, straight men had made an honest and sincere effort to bring the voices of Black women into the discussion, Kamala Harris would not have been targeted with sexism and racism.
"The right would still have targeted her!"
I'm not talking about the right. Amy Goodman (DEMOCRACY NOW!) and Katrina vanden Heuvel (THE NATION) are not the right. They're supposedly the left even though they can't picture a Black woman as anything but a Maid or a Mammy. And they ensured that the coverage at their outlets made that clear. That message was also sent by THE PROGRESSIVE, IN THESE TIMES and COMMON DREAMS.
It's 2024.
Why are your guests all White males?
The point with media should always be not to just consume it, but to challenge it, to critique it and to demand more from it. Jon Stewart's THE WEEKLY SHOW shouldn't require me having to use my time to call it out for the lack of color. But I've had to. And we should all be doing that.
They want us to be their audience, then they need to represent.
Stan calls out Lisa Kudrow all the time (most recently "The FRIEND I won't be there for") and I'm more than fine with that even though I know Lisa. She needs to stop being so damn stupid.
She tried to Lena Dunham it on FRIENDS' lack of characters of color. She offered, as Lena had, that there were no Black writers on the show.
She offered that not as a critique of the show -- which it absolutely is. Why in the world do you not have Black writers on a TV show that last ten seasons and was set in NYC?
But, as I pointed out when she made that ridiculous defense, she produced a TV film in 2019 with Black characters. She, a White woman. But her defense on FRIENDS was that no Black writers on the show made it hard for them to have Black characters. We're supposed to be the same species. I don't understand why a White writer -- especially on a sitcom -- can't write a Black character. But then, I also don't understand why a sitcom would last seasons and never hire a Black writer.
Everybody's got an excuse for continuing White supremacy.
Imagine where we'd be as a country if people stopped making excuses and started pushing inclusion?
Instead, we get more and more hate. Back on December 6th, I noted:
The Supreme Court is probably going to deliver a severe attack on trans rights. They heard the case this week. We've noted many videos here about it -- and no one laid it out better than Danielle Moodie -- that's why we included her video in yesterday's snapshot.
I haven't written about this case here (but did two pieces for community newsletters) and the reason is, I just can't. I don't know if it's a scene from a film I'm recalling or something from news footage that's blurred in my mind long ago. But it's black and white when I dream and it's a child and they identify as female so some hateful thugs -- adults, not peers -- shaves her hair and beats her up. And it was popping up in dreams and I've not been able to sleep and now carry it over to waking moments. This isn't a topic I can address right now myself.
Today, John Russell (LGBTQ NATION) reports:
The ACLU of Florida is suing the state’s Department of Corrections over a new anti-transgender policy that will restrict trans prisoners’ access to gender-affirming medical care as well as their ability to express their gender identity.
According to a report from The Marshall Project and the Tampa Bay Times, a federal judge in Tallahassee held a preliminary hearing in the case on December 9. The ACLU of Florida has asked the judge to block enforcement of the policy, calling it an unconstitutional ban on gender-affirming care. A ruling is expected in the weeks ahead.
[. . .]
In court filings and interviews, incarcerated trans women in Florida prisons also reported being subjected to breast examinations to determine whether or not they would still be allowed access to bras.
“It felt like I was being treated less than human,” Josie Takach, a trans inmate at a Florida men’s facility, said of the examination. Takach said her undergarments, now considered contraband, were confiscated. “I feel like I’m 12 years old again, sneaking around wearing a bra.”
Sara Maatsch, who is also incarcerated in a Florida men’s prison, said that her gender dysphoria diagnosis was now considered a serious psychiatric illness. She was told she would have to be moved to a more restrictive facility with fewer work and programming opportunities to continue receiving treatment.
Mariko Sundwall told The Marshall Project that after spending 10 days in solitary confinement for refusing to cut her hair, a prison barber buzzed her hair short while she was handcuffed.
“I’m very sad and depressed. I feel like they’re taking away my identity,” Jada Edwards, another trans inmate, said of the buzz cut she was forced to receive.
Ron DeSantis should rot in hell and there are a lot of other faux 'Christians' he should be taking along with him.
The following sites updated:
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BlueSky3 hours ago
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Baked Spaghetti in the Kitchen8 hours ago
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Science grab bag16 hours ago
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So much for hit the ground running17 hours ago
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Look what we've become1 day ago
Friday, December 13, 2024
ASAN Opposes Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Nomination to Head HHS
ASAN Opposes Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Nomination to Head HHS
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network urges the Senate not to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy’s long record of spreading misinformation about autism in particular and public health in general makes him a disastrous choice for this role. His opposition to life-saving vaccines, his belief that HIV may not cause AIDS, his desire to increase the use of quack autism “treatments” and his comments about putting people taking psychiatric medication in labor camps should all be immediately disqualifying. Autistic people, the disability community, and the nation’s public health will all suffer if he is confirmed.
Vaccines save lives
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the founder of Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine group. He has claimed that no vaccine has been proven safe and effective, that the recommended vaccine schedule for children is dangerous, and that “autism does come from vaccines.” He has also fought against COVID-19 vaccination, falsely calling an early COVID vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
Vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines do not cause autism. The idea that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is linked to autism comes from one fraudulent 1998 publication claiming that the vaccine had caused autistic traits in 12 children. The man responsible for this publication, Andrew Wakefield, used unethical methods and failed to disclose financial conflicts of interest. The paper did not give enough evidence for its claim that the MMR vaccine could cause autism. It was later retracted by the journal that published it, and Wakefield had his medical license revoked.
In spite of the fraudulent origins of the idea that vaccines cause autism, and in spite of decades of replicable research proving that this is not true, some people, like Kennedy, continue to perpetuate the myth. These lies do very real harm to the autistic community. Kennedy has described autistic people in insulting ways meant to inspire fear, saying that “their brain is gone” and that the purported effects of vaccination are “a Holocaust.” By working to prevent childhood vaccination, he effectively communicates the message that living as an autistic person is a worse fate than dying of measles or pertussis.
The anti-vaccine movement has led to a wave of fake “autism cures,” many of which have very real health risks. Kennedy recently promoted two of these fake cures when he accused the FDA of suppressing “hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds.” Hyperbaric therapy, a treatment for decompression sickness in divers, has been promoted as a fake autism cure in spite of a complete lack of evidence and associated health risks. Chelation, a treatment for heavy metal poisoning, is another fake cure, and its off-label use for autism has been associated with at least one death.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies claim that autistic people did not exist in his youth and that “I have never in my life seen a man my age with full-blown autism.” The idea that autistic people of Kennedy’s age (70) do not exist is not true. Autistic people have always been here, but before widespread autism diagnosis, we either went undiagnosed, or received different diagnoses than would be used today — for example, the outdated diagnosis of “childhood schizophrenia” for autism, or diagnosing people who today would only have an autism diagnosis with intellectual disability. Autistic people in Kennedy’s generation were all too often institutionalized or incarcerated. Even if Kennedy is telling the truth about not seeing us, that does not mean we were not there.
Of course, Kennedy’s lies about vaccines do not just hurt autistic people. Kennedy and his nonprofit played an active role in a recent measles outbreak in American Samoa, spreading vaccine misinformation until the vaccination rate dropped low enough that 5,700 people were infected with measles, and 83 people died. Kennedy has also made false claims about COVID-19 vaccine trials and about the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, blaming unrelated deaths on COVID vaccinations. Anti-vaccine misinformation like that promoted by Kennedy’s group has led to a reduced rate of childhood vaccinations in the United States since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lies about public health endanger everyone
Kennedy has taken other stances on public health, also based on misinformation, that disproportionately harm disabled people. He has opposed COVID-19 vaccination when people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are at risk for worse outcomes if we get COVID. He wants to take fluoride out of drinking water, making everyone’s dental health worse, when people with IDD have worse dental health outcomes to begin with. He opposes the use of medication for ADHD in spite of research demonstrating that these medications are safe and can prevent deaths among people who take them. He has falsely linked antidepressants, which for many people are life-saving medication, to mass shootings. None of these beliefs are based on evidence, and all of them would make terrible public health policy.
Kennedy’s fringe beliefs have led him to propose some truly disturbing disability policies. Notably, he has discussed sending people who struggle with addiction or take psychiatric medications to “wellness farms,” where they could labor for several years and would be forbidden to use cell phones. In the autism community, we have seen farms promoted as a housing solution before, and we recognize this idea for what it is: a proposal to institutionalize the 16% of Americans who take psychiatric medication and the 16% of Americans who struggle with substance use.
Kennedy’s commitment to spreading misinformation about public health extends beyond developmental disability. He claims that drinking raw milk has health benefits at a time when bird flu is spreading and foodborne diseases like listeria are becoming more common. He has suggested that AIDS may not be caused by HIV, and has participated in transphobic fear-mongering by claiming that chemicals in drinking water may change children’s gender identity. Once again, there is no evidence for any of these beliefs.
We should never take “a break” from public health
At an anti-vaccine conference last year, Kennedy said that if he became President, he would tell the National Institutes of Health, “Thank you for public service. We’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.” Instead, he pledged to focus NIH’s efforts entirely on chronic disease like diabetes. Pivoting government research away from infectious diseases during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic would have disastrous consequences. And Kennedy’s claim that he will focus on chronic disease is short-sighted — chronic disease is often caused or worsened by infectious diseases like COVID. Diseases don’t take a break from threatening our lives and health, and we shouldn’t take a break from trying to prevent and mitigate diseases.
The worst public health harms in US history have been inflicted on marginalized communities when our public health systems “took a break” from protecting us. In the same way, marginalized communities would bear the brunt of a decision to abandon HHS’ responsibility to study infectious diseases.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promotes policies that will actively harm the health of all Americans. He intends to twist the federal agencies in charge of our health into engines of misinformation. We are dismayed by his nomination not only as self-advocates and professionals in health policy, but also as human beings who want our government to safeguard our health and embrace science. The Senate must not confirm Kennedy as Secretary of HHS.
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. We work to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!
Iraq snapshot
Friday, December 13, 2024. Nancy Mace is the new Jussie, Donald's breaks campaign promises before even being sworn in, and much more.
We should probably start with nut job Naomi Wolf. Her
out of shape body gets fatter and fatter and apparently so does her
brain. But we're not going to.
I
really wanted Kamala Harris to win the presidency. I wanted that for
democracy and to save our country. I also wanted to write in depth
about media failures from 2016 forward that enabled Donald Trump. I
don't think I can write about that now. With Kamala in the White House,
we'd be at a different place and could shine an honest light on
multiple issues.
Nut job
Naomi is part of the media problem, however, and we can carve out a
small sliver of our planned topic -- Ava and I -- by focusing on the dim
wit. If you've seen the Tweet -- and a number of you e-mailing have --
just know we'll address it at THIRD.
Now
it's time to plea for money. From time to time, in the past, I would
note PACIFICA RADIO or BUZZFLASH and encourage people to donate if they
could.
Clearly, most of those groups just stole our money. And they walked away from the Iraq War. After using it as a fundraiser.
So I stopped noting things like that in 2008.
But
I think I've found an issue that we really need to dig into our pockets
on. If you can't, that's fine, like I used to say back when we'd do
this. I'd honestly prefer us to do this on June 28th. But that's a
long way off. Now I'm not going to ask you to donate to any media --
independent or 'independent' -- because all they did was waste our
money.
What I'd like us to do is to focus on helping one person. They are in need.
I'd like us to all buy a Christmas gift -- or Hanukkah or Winter Solstice or Kwanza or whatever -- for someone.
Elon Musk.
Wait -- wait. Hear me out.
Elon
does not wear under shirts. He insists upon wearing paper thin
shirts. And I'm sorry but I am just sick to death of having his MOOBS
(Man Boobs) in my face when I'm just trying to follow the news. He
needs a bra. I think it need to be something more than a training bra
because he's really getting stacked. He looks a bit more curvy than Susan ("Medea") Benjamin so I'd guess maybe a 34C or a 34D would best fit him.
I
know he has the money to buy these himself. But he hasn't. And I was
thinking that maybe he was refusing to face reality. But discussing
this with a number of people, we kept coming back to our first bras.
And how it was kind of intimidating -- maybe even scary.
So that means we need to help him.
You
can buy wireless, you can buy one with hooks in the front or hooks in
the back or any color you want. And then put it in an envelope
Please hold for Elon Musk
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20500
It
would be such a relief for Elon and mean so much to him. So this
giving season, give generously to the man with the ever increasing
MOOBS. Let's fill up his chest of drawers with bras now that we know his
chest won't stop filling out.
Now
let's turn to TV. FOX's new series ALMANAC is in trouble. The hour
long drama was set to premiere next year and the setting was Elbert,
Colorado and the premise was local MAGAs form their own recording
industry in an attempt to revive minstrel music. The main character,
Vira Hazel Slutsky did a screw rap version of "Old Black Joe" and wasn't
getting residuals so she shot the label head. The fate of the show is
now, however, in doubt. In real life, the actress playing Vira Hazel
Slutsky staged an attack and cried in public about it. Now she's going
to have to leave the show because no one can trust her.
Oops! She's not on TV, she's in Congress. Which means she can stage her own attack and suffer no consequences.
Yes, we're talking about transphobe Nancy Mace. WIKIPEDIA:
On November 18, 2024, Mace introduced a resolution to ban transgender people from using bathrooms other than those of their sex assigned at birth at the U.S. Capitol, in anticipation of the swearing in of Sarah McBride, who is the first trans person elected to Congress.[119][120] Mace
described McBride as a "biological man trying to force himself into
women's spaces" and as a "guy in a skirt", later following this up by
saying "It's offensive that a man in a skirt thinks that he's my equal".[119][121] She confirmed that McBride was "absolutely" the target of her bathroom resolution.[122] Talking to Leland Vittert, Mace announced that she will "fight like hell" to exclude McBride from women's restrooms on the Capitol.[123] Mace's 2024 House resolution prevents McBride from using "single-sex facilities".
H. RES. 1579 entitled, "Prohibiting Members, officers, and employees of
the House from using single-sex facilities other than those
corresponding to their biological sex, and for other purposes."[124][125] Mary Miller and Matt Rosendale co-sponsored her bathroom resolution.[126] Two days later, Mace announced a new national resolution to ban "biological men from women's spaces on all federal property."[127] As some trans activists were protesting her bill, Mace referred to the trans activists using the slurs [. . .] resulting in her posts on some social media being flagged for hateful content.[128][129][130][131]
Then, this week, Tuesday, December 10th an encounter took place in public. Here's how Nancy wrote up her encounter:
I
was physically accosted at the Capitol tonight by a pro-tr*ns man. One
new brace for my wrist and some ice for my arm and it’ll heal just
fine.
The Capitol police arrested the guy.
Your tr*ns violence and threats on my life will only make me double down. FAFO.
She went and reported the person to the police.
All
that drama and not a Subway sandwich in sight which is all the more surprising since it turns out Nancy lied about the encounter. Some
people just need attention and they'll do anything to get it -- like
Nancy who'll play the victim her entire life.
Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Jussie Smollett Is Nancy Mace's Life Coach" went up yesterday.
Eyewitnesses who watched the interaction between Representative Nancy Mace and
James McIntyre are questioning the congresswoman's claims about being
assaulted, describing instead a scene where McIntyre was just shaking
her hand.
McIntyre, a 33-year-old from Chicago, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday evening at an event for foster children and charged with assaulting a government official. Authorities
said that the suspect was tracked down after Mace's office reported an
incident in the Rayburn House Office Building.
[. . .]
Lisa Dickson, a veteran advocate for foster youth from Ohio, wrote in a Facebook post,
"I want to express deep disappointment in the fact that Congresswoman
Nancy Mace came to a national foster youth event, told participating
youth that it was a safe space — and literally had one of them arrested
by Capital police for simply shaking her hand and asking about trans
rights."
But three witnesses at the scene have contradicted her claims, telling The Imprint and The Hill that McIntyre merely shook Mace's hand at a Foster Youth Caucus reception and asked her to support the rights of transgender people. Mace, who co-chairs the congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, spoke at the reception, telling attendees she looked forward to working with them.
"James [McIntyre] met her by the door where people could see her and him to say, 'trans youth are in foster care and they need your support,' and gave a handshake and then walked back to his seat and sat down," one witness told The Hill, describing it as a "pretty normal interaction."
Zoë Richards (NBC NEWS) reports on eye witness Elliott Hinkle's account:
"I
think James took that seriously," Hinkle said, describing how they and
others watched McIntyre, who co-founded Foster Care Alumni of America’s
Illinois chapter, approach Mace after she spoke and reached out his
hand.
"They shake hands, and James says, 'Trans youth are also foster youth, and they need your support.' And then sat down," Hinkle said.
Shortly after Mace left with a congressional staffer, Hinkle said, the staffer came back into the room and approached McIntyre, asking for his name and the message he had for Mace.
Several minutes later, Hinkle said, U.S. Capitol Police began arriving outside the event. Capitol Police said in Tuesday’s statement that officers later arrested McIntyre after an investigative interview.
"I watched that interaction happen, and I saw a handshake and a conversation and a very normal thing for an advocate to come to D.C. and do," Hinkle said. “She didn’t even seem to have, like, that big of a reaction to him. She just sort of made, like, almost like a tiny shock face, and then she left the room.”
Nancy's now threatening to sue reporters covering the story and/or self-created drama. Ryan Grenoble (HUFFINGTON POST) notes:
Mace also shared a photo of herself wearing an arm sling and a brace on social media Thursday. The photo was immediately ridiculed by Natalie Johnson, a former Mace staffer, who called it “a pathetic ploy for attention.”
“This is the same woman who told staff, myself included, during Jan. 6 that she wanted to get ‘punched in the face’ by a rioter so she could get on TV,” Johnson said on X, formerly Twitter.
As Ann pointed out last night "BlueSky gets millions of new users while Twitter loses millions." Let's move over to BLUESKY.
Okay so here’s me walking on eggshells: Nancy Mace lied about a guy accosting her. Share far and wide. Let’s see if she sues me for “defamation.” 😘😃
— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.bsky.social) December 12, 2024 at 12:05 PM
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Nancy Mace spends way too much time in the bathroom every day. Looking for trans persons. She's the modern MAGA version of Larry "I have a wide stance" Craig.
— Desert Observer (@wooster42.bsky.social) December 13, 2024 at 6:36 AM
Why isn't Nancy Mace in jail for filing a false police report?
— Nickclone (@nickclone.bsky.social) December 13, 2024 at 5:42 AM
Nancy Mace lied about her attack yet will probably suffer zero consequences for it. Trump lied and suffered zero consequences for it. Yet our country will suffer greatly because a so called “nation of laws” has lost its way. It’s sickening and disgraceful
— steveschmit77.bsky.social (@steveschmit77.bsky.social) December 13, 2024 at 5:18 AM
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Before we move on, let's emphasize something. Jussie Smollett lied about being attacked and his career ended. EMPIRE let him go from the show. I'm not saying that shouldn't have happened. It should have. But a member of Congress fakes an attack and we won't see Republicans line up to demand her resignation. She'll stay in office and continue to lie.
Speaking of the liars, Satan Trump. Alice Tecotzky (BUSINESS INSIDER) reports:
- Trump said in his Person of the Year interview that lowering grocery prices is "very hard."
- He said that high food prices were part of why he won the election.
- Some economists think Trump's economic plans, like tariffs and deportations, will be inflationary.
President-elect Donald Trump didn't commit to being able to lower grocery pri
ces in his Person of the Year interview with Time Magazine, after flagging the issue as an important part of his win.
David Badash observes:
As
a candidate, Donald Trump campaigned—and won—this year on the promise
he would lower prices for Americans angry after the COVID pandemic’s
inflation brought steep price increases, but now he’s backtracking,
saying he’s not sure he will actually be able to fulfill those vows.
Outrage at Trump, and the people who voted for him based on that pledge,
was palpable on Thursday.
As recently as Sunday, MSNBC reports, Trump insisted, “We’re going to bring those prices way down.”
On Monday, Fox News reported: “Pointing to high grocery prices, Trump says, ‘I won an election based on that'”
But in his TIME magazine “Person of the Year” interview, Trump suggested he might not be able to lower prices as he promised to do. Appearing to remove himself from the equation, he declared: “It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard.”
Sam Stein of The Bulwark and MSNBC noted via social media, “’Prices will come down,’ Trump told voters during a speech last week laying out his vision for a return to the White House. ‘You just watch: They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast, not only with insurance, with everything.'”
Not even sworn in yet and he's already making excuses for not keeping a campaign promise -- that has to be some sort of a record.
President-elect Trump’s mass deportation proposals threaten to gut the U.S. economy, shrinking growth and the labor force while juicing inflation, according to a report released Thursday by Democrats in the Congressional Joint Economic Committee (JEC).
Sourcing data from the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the report found that deporting 8.3 million immigrants in the country illegally would reduce GDP by 7.4 percent and reduce employment by 7 percent by 2028, likely resulting in zero overall growth throughout Trump’s second term.
Trump has proposed deporting all such immigrants in the United States — currently an estimated 11 million — and millions more currently protected by humanitarian programs such as Temporary Protected Status, who could lack legal status if those programs were cut.
According to an American Immigration Council (AIC) estimate sourced by the JEC report, deporting at a clip of 1 million people per year — echoing a proposal by Vice President-elect JD Vance to “start with 1 million” — could generate a 4.2 percent to 6.8 percent loss in GDP. The U.S. economy shrank by 4.3 percent during the Great Recession, the report’s authors noted.
“Trump’s plan to deport millions of immigrants does absolutely nothing to address the core problems driving our broken immigration system. Instead, all it will do is raise grocery prices, destroy jobs, and shrink the economy. His immigration policy is reckless and would cause irreparable harm to our economy,” JEC Chair Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) said.
Which brings us back to yesterday's point. If we can survive the next four years, MAGA will do itself in.
As Ashford and Simpson sing, "Times Will Be Good Again" (they wrote the song and it first shows up on their classic album STREET OPERA). Or at least good again for those of us lucky enough to survive. As Betty noted this week in "Chicago's the first city targeted," not even in the White House yet but already they've decided who will be targeted firs: Chicago.
A lot of people are going to suffer.
And we need to keep our heads right now. We do not have a lot of friends in the media. We have liars who tell us that it's over for the Democratic Party -- unless we move to the right. Ana Marie Cox has a piece at THE NEW REPUBLIC on how we need to learn from MAGA.
Huh?
No, we don't. But more to the point, Ana Marie -- who did a gossip blog years ago -- never understood politics, was a hack at TIME magazine and has never been right about anything political.
We need to grasp that. We need to be very diligent about the media we consume.
Jonny Stewart wants to talk about the election with . . . Mark Cuban. I don't have any beef with Cuban but we are not on the same page politically. More to the point, it's further proof of how useless Jon Stewart truly is -- and it's yet another example of another White man being brought on Jon's show to discuss . . . nothing of value. Cuban's not an activist, he's not a scholar. He's also not really impacted -- wealth will shield him. It's amazing that Jon wants to talk the election and the direction of the party with someone making the same generic talking points.
It's even more amazing that Jon wants to try to pass that off as information.
This is not helping anyone and Jon needs to take a hard look at what he's doing as opposed to what he thinks he's doing.
The Democratic Party will have a new party chair in the new year. Patrick Svitek, Leigh Ann Caldwell and Alec Dent (WASHINGTON POST) report:
As
the race to lead the Democratic National Committee ramps up, a range of
factions is jockeying to shape the priorities of the next leader after a
disappointing presidential election.
But looming over the internal party debate is a more fundamental question: Just how much power does a DNC chair have to change the direction of the party?
“There’s no savior that’s coming in to save the DNC,” said one candidate for chair, Ken Martin, who argued the DNC is part of a “larger ecosystem of organizations that are fighting for economic and social justice.”
A key role for the DNC chair, he added, is to take the lead in bringing those groups together.
The DNC chair contest is expected to become more formalized Thursday, when the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is set to meet in Washington to go over the rules and procedures for the Feb. 1 election.
At least four candidates have already declared they are running: Martin, a DNC vice chair who also leads the Minnesota party; Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin party; Martin O’Malley, the former commissioner of the Social Security Administration and Maryland governor; and James Skoufis, a New York state senator from a battleground district.
Remember that whomever gets the job needs organizing and leadership skills. It would also help if they had a little understanding of the 2024 election -- including that there was no landslide for Trump, none at all.
In the real world, Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:
Murray discusses how bipartisan overhaul she negotiated has simplified FAFSA, expanded aid eligibility—and shares update on law’s implementation
Washington state lags in FAFSA completion rates; in 2023, WA left $65 million in Pell Grants on the table by not completing the FAFSA
Senator Murray: “Take advantage of every penny of federal grants available to you. Fill the FAFSA out—it’s quick, it’s easy, and thousands of dollars in federal grants could be just ten minutes away.”
***WATCH: Senator Murray discusses FAFSA form that is now live***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), urged Washington state students and families to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, which is now live, to take full advantage of the federal grants, assistance, and loans available to them to pursue a higher education. Senator Murray discussed how the new FAFSA form is easier and quicker to complete than ever and how more aid is now available to more students—thanks to the bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act she negotiated and got signed into law in 2020. The law overhauled the financial aid application process, simplified the FAFSA form for students and families, and significantly expanded eligibility for federal aid. She also provided an update on implementation of the law.
“Here’s what high school seniors, college students, and families across Washington state should know: the FAFSA form for the upcoming school year is available now and you should get it done as soon as possible,” said Senator Murray. “Filling out the FAFSA is the only way to unlock federal grants, assistance, and loans to help you get a higher education. Whether you’re looking to get a four-year degree or to head to community or technical college, fill the FAFSA out! And now, thanks to the bipartisan reforms I worked hard to make happen, the form is shorter and quicker than ever.”
“Unfortunately, our state has lagged behind in filling out the FAFSA—and that means not taking advantage of federal aid that they qualified for,” Murray continued. “In 2023, Washington state left $65 million in Pell Grants on the table because no one applied for them—so let’s turn that around! That’s the message I want to get across today: take advantage of every penny of federal grants available to you. Fill the FAFSA out—it’s quick, it’s easy, and thousands of dollars in federal grants could be just ten minutes away.”
Washington state still has one of the lowest FAFSA completion rates in the nation. In 2023, students in Washington state left $65 million in Pell Grants on the table by not completing the FAFSA.
The bipartisan FAFSA Simplification Act Senator Murray negotiated and got signed into law:
- Significantly expands who is eligible to receive Pell Grants and the maximum award;
- Significantly simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA);
- Makes the financial aid process easier to navigate for students experiencing homelessness and students formerly in foster care.
- Restores Pell Grant eligibility for students who have been defrauded, students with drug-related offenses, and more.
Senator Murray has led oversight efforts of implementation of the new, simplified FAFSA and has continued to stay in close contact with the Department of Education to ensure the new form works for students and families. The draft Senate Fiscal Year 2025 spending bill, authored and negotiated by Murray, which funds the Department of Education, includes an additional $100 million for the administration of student aid programs—the funding would support a wide range of activities, including implementation of the FAFSA. The bill also directs the Department of Education to undertake various activities related to the FAFSA, including conducting outreach to students who have uncompleted FAFSA applications, providing weekly updates to Congress on FAFSA implementation, and correcting errors that have made it difficult for unaccompanied homeless youth to access the FAFSA application. Senator Murray’s funding bill passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee 25-3—and she is now working to get it signed into law.
Read about the FAFSA Simplification Act HERE.
Senator Murray’s full comments, as delivered, are below:
“My siblings and I all were able to pursue a higher education thanks to federal support.
“So I personally know just how important it is. And that is why I have been so focused throughout my career on making sure students can get the federal support they need to make it through higher education.
“Today, one of the first steps many kids take to make that dream a
reality is filling out the form called FAFSA, which is how they get
access to funding for higher education through the federal government.
“Now, for many, many years, the application was daunting. Many,
many questions. Very complex to fill out. You had to import your tax
information.
“And I’ve always believed there’s no reason for what should be a first step on the path to a higher education to become the first stumbling block. And I wasn’t the only person who thought that.
“So I set out to make the form a whole lot easier and quicker to fill out. And I worked with my Republican counterpart on the Senate Education Committee—and together we passed a bipartisan bill to streamline the FAFSA—and to rework the financial aid formula so that we could get more aid to more students, including, of course, in Washington state.
“The rollout of the new form and the overhaul I negotiated last year was rocky—to say the very least.
“So I’ve had to continue to work with the Department to push them to address the incredibly frustrating problems that students and families were experiencing.
“Now, many of those major kinks have been addressed, and I am much more optimistic about where things stand this year, and going forward.
“So I’m going to keep making sure it works well—but bottom line: students can expect a much smoother, easier process.
“And despite the challenges over the last year—we are already seeing more students get more aid, which is exactly why I pushed so hard to reform this process.
“We know now that, nationwide, 10% more students are on track to receive Pell Grants—not loans, Pell Grants—this school year than last year.
“And in Washington state, over 12% more students are now eligible for Pell Grants than just a year ago. Which means more people will be able to get federal grants so they can get a higher education.
“This is really important for students and families across our state to take advantage so that they can get access to the federal money to open those doors to higher education and it will be available for them immediately.
“So here’s what high school seniors, college students, and families across Washington state should know: the FAFSA form for the upcoming school year is available now and you should get it done as soon as possible! It’ll just take 10-15 minutes, as little as 18-20 questions—done with it, and you will know whether you are eligible and whether you can be eligible for financial aid.
“Even if you think you may not be eligible for financial aid, it is worth taking a few minutes to fill out that form and find out. And I think many students will be very surprised to learn they are eligible to get additional support—especially with the expanded aid that we helped to get.
“Filling out the FAFSA is the only way to unlock federal grants, assistance, and loans to help you get a higher education.
“Whether you’re looking to get a four-year degree or to head to community or technical college, fill the FAFSA out!
“And now, thanks to the bipartisan reforms I worked hard to make happen, the form is shorter and quicker.
“Instead of over a hundred questions, it’s now down to as few as 88. So it’ll only take you about 10 minutes to fill it out.
“So I encourage anyone thinking about going to college, community college, or technical school next year—or who will be returning—to take a few minutes and get the FAFSA done.
“Unfortunately, our state has lagged behind in filling out the FAFSA—and that means not taking advantage of federal aid that they qualified for.
“In fact, in 2023, Washington state left $65 million in Pell Grants on the table because no one applied for them—so let’s turn that around!
“That’s the message I want to get across today: take advantage of every penny of federal grants available to you. Fill the FAFSA out—it’s quick, it’s easy, and thousands of dollars in federal grants could be just ten minutes away.
“And know that I am working hard to make sure students and families and people who work in higher education know this form is out there. Let’s get it done. Let’s make sure everyone gets access to higher education that qualifies.”
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That's probably the case in every state so take her advice to heart.
The following sites updated:
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Grab bag8 hours ago
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So many idiots9 hours ago
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A very interesting development9 hours ago
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Good for Joe Biden9 hours ago
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