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Created
Wed, 20/12/2023 - 01:24

A recent opinion poll rocked the world of the Big Oil lobbyists in their proverbial thousand-dollar suits and alligator shoes. The Pew Research Center found that 37% of Americans now feel that fighting the climate crisis should be the number one priority of President Joe Biden and Congress, and another 34% put it among their highest priorities, even if they didn’t rank it first. Companies like ExxonMobil and countries like Saudi Arabia have tried since the 1990s to gaslight the public into thinking climate change was either a total fantasy or that the burning of coal, natural gas, and petroleum wasn’t causing it. Having lost that battle, the fossil-fuel lobbyists have now fallen back on Plan B. They want to convince you... Read more

Created
Wed, 20/12/2023 - 01:00
The U.S. is not immune Rachel Maddow Monday night opened her show by asking why Donald Trump keeps echoing Hitler and Mussolini in his speeches. With the mainstream media finally calling him out for talking like a fascist, he is, as Republicans do, doubling down on it. His speeches, Maddow said, have become a “fascist dictator greatest hits mix tape.” So why does he do it even after being called out? Because “this stuff works.” It gets applause. His audience eats it up. Because his adversaries hate it. And because the terminally insecure Trump will do anything, anything, to draw attention and adulation. Maddow suggests stopping it is not rocket science. One thing to do is to refuse to participate in any politics that relies on treating opponents as monsters, a menace to be elimininated. Stand up for any targeted group. Support the legal and political systems that protect us all. Refuse to give in to the notion that we are “different kinds of humans, that we need an “iron fist more than democracy.” It’s not enough to call it out. Over at Threads *, George Takei re-posted a comment I think all of us are our asking ourselves about now.
Created
Wed, 20/12/2023 - 00:00

It’s been months now since Archangel Gabriel announced I would conceive and bear the Son of God through virgin birth. If you’re receiving this epistle, it means you’ve asked if we have a registry. Well, how about this for some “good news”? It’s finally up.

Most of the items can be picked up locally at Herod’s, but those of you coming from the East might have to traverse further afar (sorry). As you’ll see, we’re going for a barnyard-chic aesthetic for the nursery, which we think will create a really fun, bucolic vibe.

But more importantly, know that there is absolutely no pressure to get us anything. Truly, your love is all He needs, and we’d be ecstatic if you could just swing by once He’s born to behold Him, adore Him, or even just fall on your knees and quake at the sight of Him.

Translation: We can’t wait for you to meet our baby!

Created
Tue, 19/12/2023 - 11:30
They’re saying he’s Jack Smith’s secret weapon You’ve all no doubt heard that the Special Prosecutor has asked the Supreme Court to decide if Trump is immune from criminal charges and they agreed to decide whether to hear it by this week. Since that time, the appeals court did agree to hear it so there’s no way of knowing if that will affect the Supremes’ decision. When the filing was revealed all the legal beagles on TV were atwitter about the fact that it was signed by a DOJ attorney who is apparently considered one of the super-duper legal heavyweights in the country. This piece in Vanity Fair suggests that he may be Smith’s secret weapon: Borrowing from the Jaworski playbook, as well as the precedent set in the resulting landmark United States v. Nixon, special counsel Jack Smith has urged today’s Supreme Court to agree to resolve a vexing question of the Trump years and to do so as quickly as possible: Can a president stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue, shoot someone dead, and be immune from criminal prosecution because the shooting occurred while he was president?
Created
Tue, 19/12/2023 - 10:00
Oh right. They only care about them in the womb The right wants children to suffer. There’s no other way to interpret this: In letters sent Monday to the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urged the states to take up more of the 400 options CMS has offered to ensure coverage. The options include allowing states to use enrollee information they have to auto-renew coverage. HHS also issued new guidance for states Monday, including an option to give kids an additional 12 months to get on the rolls. That option is available through 2024, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure told reporters. Becerra also asked the states to remove barriers to Children’s Health Insurance Program enrollment for children no longer eligible for Medicaid, reduce call center times for families and expand their Medicaid programs if they haven’t already.
Created
Tue, 19/12/2023 - 08:30
He’s a very good German … er American: “He was talking about the border. He was talking about people coming from other countries, coming from prisons. And they wanted to focus on all the Sunday shows, Lawrence, on the word he used, ‘poison’. He’s just trying to say we want to keep America, America. We want to build up the border and find out who’s coming in and out. And they tried to say that this language was the problem.” Uhm, that’s exactly what the Nazis said. Hey, the Fuhrer is just trying to keep Germany German! This is unAmerican garbage and it’s very dangerous. It isn’t just language. It’s ideology and it’s policy too and it’s not benign in the least. When you combine it with these threats against his domestic political rivals, you have a full blown fascist agenda: Yikes. Happy Hollandaise ????
Created
Tue, 19/12/2023 - 08:16

When I joined the Drupal Association in July, I underestimated how moved I would be by the collective power of the community. A throwback to my organizing roots, I reveled in the eclectic excitement surrounding the innovation and collaboration of the application, evolution, and marketing of Drupal.

I remember discovering open source software myself, over 10 years ago. The worker’s center I worked for housed an instance of CiviCRM in Drupal and we used it to track our members — as we served a vulnerable population, it was paramount to keep the data safe and away from clandestine subpoenas and prying eyes.

Drupal responds to a fundamental need in the nonprofit sector – the ability to own, control, and share data. Joining the Drupal Association as the Director of Philanthropy allows me to work within the nonprofit sector to leverage the power of Drupal for greater impact, and I yearned for an opportunity to collaborate with others with the same perspective.