Aw crap.
A bunch of Christians were predicting that the Rapture would happen yesterday, September 22nd, raising all good Christians up to heaven. Apparently it didn't happen. Or maybe there are so few good Christians in America that no one noticed.
Either way I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to finally getting things done to make this country a better place.
Seriously, you guys can go. The rest of us are good.
I've never understood how those people at the top of the corporate ladder, who get paid millions of dollars, don't recognize the contributions of the actual workers who do the work to get them those millions of dollars. Oh, wait, yes I do understand. They're sociopaths.
“People decided that they didn’t really want to work so much anymore through COVID and that has had a massive issue on productivity,” he said. “They have been paid a lot to not do too much in the last few years, and we need to see that change.”
...
We need to see unemployment rise —unemployment has to jump 40 to 50 per cent, in my view.
We need to see pain in the economy. We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around. There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them, as opposed to the other way around. It’s a dynamic that has to change.
That's Australian billionaire Tim Gurner, founder and CEO of the Gurner Group, lamenting that his workers might not fear him so much since they can easily get another job. He'd rather that hundreds of thousands lose their jobs so that he can once again rule over them like desperate serfs.
Fuck this guy.
Oh, wait. He has since apologized, once he realized that his remarks made him look like an arrogant, insensitive dickhead.
Fuck this guy.
"Russia alone bears responsibility for this war... We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would be aggressors tomorrow."
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 19, 2023
President Biden pledges continued support of Ukraine in his address to the U.N. General Assembly. pic.twitter.com/391aE1d5Hq
And, forgive me, let's see what this disphit has to say:
Delusional Trump thinks that "nobody showed up" for President Biden's speech at the United Nations. pic.twitter.com/lbH1zHYzPr
— News Corpse (@NewsCorpse) September 19, 2023
When Trump addressed the United Nations in 2019, they laughed at him when he claimed that he had “accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”
Aw, bless his heart.
Beth and Kyle Long were so excited. After four years of trying to have a baby, through multiple rounds of expensive and difficult fertility treatments, Beth was finally pregnant.The implanted fetus had a heartbeat seven weeks in. “We’d spent years working on this, thousands of miles, thousands of dollars trying to get here, and it finally felt like it was worth it,” said Kyle in this gutting CNN story. Things still looked good at week 16, and the Ohio couple shared the happy news with their family at Christmas.But things took a cataclysmic turn after the new year, when blood work suggested that all was not well. Further tests discovered that their baby had limb body wall complex, a rare condition in which the baby’s organs had developed outside of the body. “They will die. There’s no way there will be a life,” a doctor told CNN of the condition....The pregnancy had to be terminated, but then they got hit with the next terrible news—because of Ohio’s regressive state laws, Beth’s insurance as a state employee was banned from covering the abortion. While the law allowed it when the mother’s life was endangered, the language was vague, and doctors seemingly weren’t willing to risk running afoul of the law.
One of the more appalling positions taken by the current Republican party is the legislative push AGAINST programs providing free breakfast and lunches for schoolchildren. Such programs have shown to have excellent results. Free food programs cost little and children who eat regularly are healthier and have improved learning results. Such programs also avoid the stigma of poor kids getting sub-par or no lunches. Of course, Republican-controlled red states are actually passing BANS on providing free breakfast and lunches for schoolchildren.
In case you were wondering, this also extends to providing any poverty assistance for children.
The U.S. Census Bureau says that child poverty in this nation skyrocketed last year. Child poverty rates in 2021 had reached an all-time low of 5.2%. In 2022, however, that number soared to 12.4%.
The reasons child poverty in the United States more than doubled in a single year are not disputed. It’s because of the expiration of the Republican-hated expanded child tax credit and the shift away from providing direct monthly payments to at-risk families.
...
So there you go. We discovered a way to slash the number of children in poverty by over half, quick and simple. Then we stopped because Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin demanded we stop. It won’t be enacted again so long as the same pro-coup Republicans are in control of the House and can stop it.
(Of course, right-wing Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is also against feeding children.)
Meanwhile some blue states have already passed free school food for all.
As a reminder, U.S. taxpayers pay approximately $20 BILLION to hugely profitable oil and gas companies every single year. But better that than those mooching kids get a free bologna sandwich, am I right?
Stop saying that both parties are the same. That's bullshit. And stop voting for people who don't care if your children starve.
There were a total of 186 space launches last year; 87 of those were in the United States. Of those, 61 of them were SpaceX. By the end of this year, it will almost certainly have launched more rockets than everyone in the U.S. did last year—SpaceX included. Musk’s company plans on a minimum of 100 launches next year, and is very likely to get it.
An American citizen and US government contractor acknowledges that he personally sabotaged a military operation of a US ally.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) September 8, 2023
What were the consequences of stopping a Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet?
The Russian Black Sea fleet has fired hypersonic missiles into civilian structures across Ukraine, resulting in some of the most horrific war crimes of Russia’s unprovoked, illegal invasion. Those attacks continue today due to the decision of one man.
This is the world we live in. Where a super-rich - let's just say it, supervillain - can condemn innocent civilians to death by the push of a button. Reminder, Musk is a bigoted, racist, transphobic, anti-semitic jackass.
Tax the rich out of existence.
I follow a lot of TV and movie news, and often read the comment threads. One thing I would really, really, really like to stop is people saying, "Saturday Night Live hasn't been good since X" where X is whatever cast they grew up with. This happens literally every time Internet people discuss modern day SNL.
Here's the deal. SNL premiered on October 11, 1975. I guarantee you that when the second episode premiered a week later, there were already people going on about how "SNL hasn't been good since last week."
Of course, comedy is subjective and also very tied to its time. While the original cast of SNL created something amazing and groundbreaking for American television, most of those early shows are not really funny today.
And surprise, Jane Curtin agrees with me.
Trump voters believe Trump is more likely to tell them the truth than their friends and family. Again: to understand the modern GOP, you need to understand what an authoritarian cult of personality is, because that’s what it has become. pic.twitter.com/Dzi2lbs4XB
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) August 20, 2023
More here.
Donald Trump has a superpower: He gets people to believe he gives a crap about them and that if they work hard for his interests and exhibit loyalty, he will do the same for them in return.And—this is key—Trump gets them to ignore the legion of broken, unpaid, and abandoned former contractors, employees, and allies he’s consistently left behind. Somehow, he convinces the next suckers that they’re different.But Trump will never change, and he has now stabbed two more of his closest allies in the back.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hostile takeover of New College of Florida is offering up a case study of what Republican governance looks like. After DeSantis installed six partisan trustees to remake the liberal arts college in his image, they replaced the college’s president with an interim president at double the salary. Faculty fled. Before the college could staff all the courses that needed to be taught, Christopher Rufo—perhaps the most notorious of DeSantis’ new trustees—started moving to abolish the gender studies program at the college. All of that is part of the DeSantis plan, and it’s terrible on its own, but it’s left New College in chaos, showing the degree to which Republicans don’t care about anything but pushing their ideological agenda.
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Faculty continue to leave, leading to ongoing course cancellations. Some students say they haven’t been notified when classes they were enrolled in were canceled. In some cases, the cancellations make it difficult or impossible for students to find the classes they need to complete their majors.
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Go read the rest. It's an appalling attack on a treasured institution because fascists can't grow anything beautiful on their own. They can only pervert and destroy.The interim president’s goals include increasing attendance and building an athletics program, and he’s doing both at once by bringing in a large number of new athletes. New College admitted 100 student athletes for this fall despite having no real athletic facilities and not being a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
This is Illinois Governor, J. B. Pritzker, speaking at the Northwestern University commencement.
I love this. It's brilliant, beautiful, and a good explanation for why Conservatism is NOT the way to a better future for all human beings. Conservatives have failed the test.
God, these people are soooo tedious.
Below is an exchange between Trump lawyer, John Lauro, and Major Garrett on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday. Trump's team is going to pursue a change of venue in his criminal trial for trying to overthrow the US government on Jan. 6.
MAJOR GARRETT: Are you still going to pursue a change of venue?
JOHN LAURO: Absolutely. We—we would like a diverse venue, a diverse jury. One that—that reflects the—
MAJOR GARRETT: Do you have any expectation that will be granted?
JOHN LAURO: That reflects the—the—the—the characteristics of the American people. It's up to the judge. I think West Virginia would be an excellent venue to try this case.
MAJOR GARRETT: Speaking of the judge—
JOHN LAURO: They're close to D.C. and a much more diverse--
MAJOR GARRETT: Understood.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.Seems pretty straightforward. Unless you're a Republican.
Pee Wee Herman is dead. I am hugely sad over this news.
I know his name was Paul Reubens, but he'll always be Pee Wee.
I approve this message. pic.twitter.com/f1q5giNM8j
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 18, 2023
Please note that this video is NOT out of context. It's not quote mined or manipulated. MTG (R-Asshole) said all of these things at last weekend's conservative Turning Point USA conference, because conservatives apparently think things like fighting rural poverty, medicaid and medicare are objectively terrible and bad.
President Biden's team immediately turned her inadvertent correctness into an ad, because he and his team are smart. Unlike Marjorie Taylor Greene.
This is brilliant. Mayor Pete is always good at this.
Democrats take note. There are a LOT of good communicators in the Democratic Party. Take advantage of them to spread the news about what Democratic government does for the American people.
That's how we win. (And also because the Republicans are fucking fascists.)
Looking for the most bizarre. most homophobic campaign ad of all time from a Presidential candidate?
I'd embed the video here but Twitter is majorly broken. (Attaboy, Elon! Great job!)
Check the video out here.
And be warned, it will be quite the surreal experience because not only are these guys fascists, but they're crazy town banana pants. (Spoiler: In the ad, Desantis is trying to paint Trump as pro-gay.)
Hmm. This doesn't seem to match Republican talking points about Trump's economic "genius".
That's the measure of Gross Domestic Product growth, a key economic indicator, in every quarter since midway through President Obama's second term.
Facts don't care about your opinion.
“Food for everyone!”
— The Recount (@therecount) June 13, 2023
— Trump at Versailles, a Cuban restaurant, after pleading not guilty in the classified documents case pic.twitter.com/hlAVwQdo3t
To begin with, no outlet has even described the unique way New College operates. It’s modeled after the New College of Oxford University in England. There are no grades: all courses are pass/fail. The student is responsible for his or her entire course planning, and there are no required courses. There’s few organized sports, and no fraternities or sororities. This school is only for the most highly motivated students who have the maturity and intellect to chart their own path and create their own approved course structure. New College has always scored at the top of national rankings, such as The Princeton Review and Forbes; and has ranked fifth in U.S. News & World Report’s annual review of public schools for higher learning. It is a very small school, with under 1,000 students, but has produced more Fulbright scholars than either Harvard or Yale.
DeSantis appointed six right-wing extremists with no background in education to New College's board on Jan. 6 of this year in an effort to completely transform the school. They wasted no time abolishing offices and programs that support minorities, and recently denied tenure to all eligible professors.
All alpha males need to watch this pic.twitter.com/iTb8TcMtOM
— Emily Sears (@emilysears) June 5, 2023
Here's a link if the embed doesn't work. Musk's Twitter is just awesome.
https://twitter.com/emilysears/status/1665750833097764865
