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Created
Wed, 12/02/2025 - 01:33

The world is in danger, mind-numbingly so, from a combination of crises: disease, hunger, mass displacement, racial and economic inequality, war and the threat of more war, a rampaging climate crisis, and an accelerating nuclear arms race (and that’s just for starters) — all occurring in a climate of massive mis- and disinformation that makes it ever harder to build a consensus toward solutions to the multiple problems we face. Words can’t fully express our current predicament. We need other tools and other ways of making sense of the situation we now find ourselves in. This should be a time for action and activism on behalf of our species and our planet. While there’s certainly a fair amount of that... Read more

Source: In Stunningly Bright Colors appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Wed, 12/02/2025 - 01:00
Not monarchists Arshad Hasan from Democracy for America’s Campaign Academy (back in the day) told us straight away: You are not normal. Normal people do not spend their weekends learning to run political campaigns. Let me extend that: If you read this blog, you are not normal either. Since these are abnormal times, you are in the right place. The lesson Arshad meant to convey was not to talk to normal people like you do to other political geeks. They don’t get worked up by things like, say, a constitutional crisis. Too removed from work, kids and shopping. Not even the collapse of the republic breaks through until tanks are blocking the streets or social security checks stop coming. But for us, the crisis is here. In the course of moving fast and breaking things, Musk-Trump is headed to court(s) over its actions since January 20. At issue is whether the U.S. Supreme Court will sign off on executive overreach (so John Roberts can avoid being ignored) or defy King Donald and actually be ignored. “We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis right now,” Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Berkeley tells The New York Times.
Created
Wed, 12/02/2025 - 00:00

Saw my interview on CNN, did you? The one in which I said a functioning state is an impediment to the Great Tribulation that precedes the Rapture? You’re probably wondering why every Republican administration is like turning over a rock and finding a bunch of weird bugs hanging out right underneath the foundations of our government.

Allow me, a proud Weird Bug and member of the House Ways and Means Committee, to explain.

This is who I’ve always been. I made the local news in 1993 for accusing my neighbors of performing animal sacrifice in their basement. Then I ran for office and had to clean it up a bit.

At least, I assumed I had to. The thing is, I didn’t know shit when I was first elected. For example, I had no idea you could just say you wanted children to starve. I thought you had to talk about government waste and the national debt and hope your constituents understood that “waste” meant “anything that might accidentally help an immigrant” and the debt was the excuse for getting rid of those things.

Created
Tue, 11/02/2025 - 13:16
Ilan Pappe witnessed his face on a target symbol on TV screens at the airport as he returned to Israel. Australia continues to tug on the “forlock of a fading hegemon”. The ABC calls citing international law antisemitic while Amnesty International calls on German authorities to stop the crackdown on freedom of speech. Ilan Pappe Continue reading »
Created
Tue, 11/02/2025 - 12:00

“Vice President JD Vance attempted to defend an employee of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency who made racist posts on social media promoting eugenics… ‘Normalize Indian hate,’ one account associated with the employee said.” — Yahoo News

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Medieval Catholic theology, as developed by luminaries such as Saints Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, offers us the concept of ordo amoris. We are thereby invited to contemplate a moral hierarchy according to which our love for our families precedes our other commitments.

It is precisely because of my abiding love for my Indian American wife and my Indian American children that I bravely forge a world in which we can normalize Indian hate.

Created
Tue, 11/02/2025 - 11:30
He’s licking his chops: On her first day as attorney general, Pam Bondi launched an investigation of the Biden-era investigators of President Donald Trump that will report its progress directly to the White House. It’s a crossing the Rubicon moment for DOJ independence that is compounded by the fact that Trump has made Stephen Miller the point person on the administration-wide effort to exact retribution for the criminal investigations of the president.  […] Trump’s executive order also instructed his director of national intelligence to launch a similar investigation of the investigators and report back to his deputy chief of staff for policy, which again is Miller. Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as DNC is still pending in the Senate, but she is expected to be confirmed after narrowly winning the Senate Intelligence Committee approval this week.  “The fact that the DOJ is reporting to someone in the White House itself crosses a rubicon,” noted Gillers, who did not have independent knowledge of Miller’s apparent role. “That’s a major shift.
Created
Tue, 11/02/2025 - 10:00
Trump: We’re making our country larger, we’re making our country stronger. And in the case of Canada—if this should happen—I don’t know how they can do it without us. Because without the U.S., Canada really doesn’t have a country. They do almost all of their business with us,… pic.twitter.com/0RN4lyJ5RV — Acyn (@Acyn) February 10, 2025 Trump: We’re making our country larger, we’re making our country stronger. And in the case of Canada—if this should happen—I don’t know how they can do it without us. Because without the U.S., Canada really doesn’t have a country. They do almost all of their business with us, and if we say we want our cars to be made in Detroit, with a stroke of a pen, I can make that happen. And other things, in addition to that, would not allow Canada to be a viable country. With a stroke of a pen he can make all our cars in Detroit? He can make Canada cease to be a viable country? Is he now consciously aping Putin? I’m a little bit concerned that I’m not seeing more commentary about this change in his personality.
Created
Tue, 11/02/2025 - 09:51
It’s The End of the American Era. Period.

Commenting on all the stupid (like Musk’s antics) is tiring sometimes.

I was trying to figure out what to write today. There are about a dozen possible posts, all of which amount to “Trump or Musk are flinging poo at the wall.”

So let’s forget all the stupid little details and cut to the chase.

America is in irreversible decline. If you think otherwise, you are living in a fantasy world. China will even take the lead in Pharma away from the US, probably no later than 2030. The US military can’t even keep the shipping lanes open and Carrier groups no longer have a full support group.

Created
Tue, 11/02/2025 - 08:30
Come on Dems, get this done. When you think about what the Republicans are doing down in North Carolina and, really, all over the country there is no excuse not to do it. They would do it to you in a heartbeat: New York Democrats are poised to delay until November the special election to fill Rep. Elise Stefanik’s House seat — a move that would deny House Republicans a crucial vote in the closely divided chamber. State lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill that would allow Gov. Kathy Hochul to schedule special elections under some circumstances until the November general election. The Democratic-led Legislature is expected to approve the bill Monday, touching off a bitter feud with New York Republicans in a hyper partisan era. President Donald Trump tapped Stefanik to become the United Nations ambassador. Top Albany Democrats are framing the proposal — which follows consultations between state lawmakers and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ office — as a way to save money for local governments.