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Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 01:30
NC Republicans run another conpiracy theorist Esquire‘s Charlie Pierce began describing this place as “the newly insane state of North Carolina” in early 2015 (as far as I can tell) in honor of state voters selecting “Tea Party boy-toy Thom Tillis” for Senate over Democratic incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan. This was before Trump and before Madison Cawthorn replaced Rep. Mark Meadows in NC-11 in the same election in which Mark Robinson brought Christian nationalism to the office of lieutenant governor. Joining Robinson on the ballot this fall is Michele Morrow, who you’ve already met. Morrow expects Tar Heels to put her in charge of the state’s public school system she doesn’t believe in. A CNN reporter caught up with the elusive Morrow in a parking lot to ask for comment on her postings recommending execution for President Barack Obama and others. Via WGHP: “I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” Morrow said of Obama in a May 13, 2020, post on X, formerly Twitter. “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life.
Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 01:09
by Dave Rollo

It would be difficult to match the pastoral majesty of northwest Virginia, with its rolling hills covered in forests and prime farmland at the northern foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The region boasts the Shenandoah Valley to the west and Shenandoah National Park (SNP). Sitting at the eastern doorstep of the Park is Rappahannock County, part of the Piedmont region of the state,

The post <em>Keeping</em> the County Great: Rappahannock’s Steady State appeared first on Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy.

Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 00:32

We should already be talking about what it would be like, if Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, to live under a developing autocracy. Beyond the publicized plans of those around him to gut the federal civil service system and consolidate power in the hands of You Know Who, under Trump 2.0, so much else would change for the worse. All too many of us who now argue about the Ukraine and Gaza wars and their ensuing humanitarian crises, about police violence and extremism in the military here at home, about all sorts of things, would no longer share a common language. Basics that once might have meant the same thing to you and me, like claiming someone won an... Read more

Source: If America Were a Trumpian Autocracy appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Fri, 22/03/2024 - 00:00
Trump is in a hole and won’t stop digging Republicans operatives from out of state were bankrolling ads promoting Durham D.A. Satana Deberry ahead of North Carolina’s March 5 Democratic attorney general primary. Supporters of Rep. Jeff Jackson, her main opponent, warned that a vote for Deberry could aid the GOP-funded effort to upset TikTok maven Jackson. Let them waste their money, I replied. If donations are a measure of support, it was no contest. Jackson had raised around $1.7 million to Deberry’s not-quite $45,000. Jackson bested Deberry by 22 points. So for those fretting about every presidential poll this far out from November, consider the fundraising status of the two majors (CNN): Donald Trump’s campaign saw an uptick in donations in February but failed to match the accelerating fundraising pace set by Joe Biden, whose political operation widened its already substantial financial advantage over his Republican rival as it entered March and the general election showdown, new filings show.
Created
Thu, 21/03/2024 - 23:00

Dear White Person Who Just Found Out I’m Puerto Rican,

I’m Puerto Rican, and that’s going to come up in conversation with me. The reveal could look like a few different things, including an anecdote about my father, a comment about race, or a warning for you to stop saying the thing you’re about to say about Latinos. I might say it because you tell me I look exotic and are curious about my background. I might also mention it because it’s el elefante in the room—I know you know I’m something, and you want to know what that something is. So here it is: I’m Puerto Rican.

My mother is Jewish, of Eastern European descent, and was raised in the Bronx. My father was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York City when he was ten years old. I identify as Latinx. When I tell you this, please don’t ask me why. I just do. I have a Latinx first name and surname. I had an abuela. I get tan in the sun, not burned. And I’m a single mother of three children. Isn’t that enough for you?

Created
Thu, 21/03/2024 - 14:07
GIGO: The Past of Google Search Is the Future Of LLM AI Models

If you’re old enough, you remember how amazing Google search was when it first came out and for the first few years. Excellent results, right at the top. Nowadays, it’s crap and half the time to find what I want I have to append “Reddit” or search very specific domains. (Reddit is likely to be worthless in a few years due to the IPO.)

Anyway, Google search results became crap for three main reasons, from least to most important: