Professor Reich: equally distracting are the lies that MOST PEOPLE mindlessly believe without question. The New Republic just published a piece about how 56% of Americans think the country is in a recession, 49% believe the stock market is down & 49% also believe unemployment is at an all-time high -- DESPITE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. (article: https://newrepublic.com/post/181929/donald-trump-polls-nostalgia-negativity-bias )
i once was a believer in the equality that the internet would provide, but i've now come to see that it is an extremely effective way to destroy all that we hold dear: freedom, democracy, truth, bodily autonomy and even our families and ourselves.
You’re 100% spot on. Think of the internet as the key propaganda tool that created the world that Huxley wrote about - where it drowns the public in information that they don’t know what to do or right from wrong: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-brave-new-world-of-1984-part-205
Thanks for the link. This "nothingburger" discussion made me think of a quote I learned in high school, "it is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
This just shows how long idiocy has been going on. (probably from the beginning of human endeavor) And yet we somehow manage to make improvements to our quality of life in spite of the idiots.
Renee, we often forget that we have made some progress and that life is better for most than it was in Shakespeare's time, 400 years ago. There have been those willing to destroy for their own personal gain forever. It is up to the rest of us to find ways to contain them and their destructive tendencies. Where are those who will contain Trump and Kump?
As is the nature of allegories, the literary Macbeth in his nihilistic soliloquy implies the impulse to the contrary in human nature, which is to accomplish great things, though in fits and starts throughout history.
Now in trump, we have the idiot, filled with himself in bravado and bluster,
bent to destroy whatever is good and just in humanity, and perhaps the presumed "higher" life on Earth, all for the petty benefit of this scoundrel
and his band of sycophants, in the scintilla of time representing human life.
Thank you for this most timely quote from the Bard.
Indeed, and "to be or not to be" tis is the question? and thus nor will be no more, for mankind in the not-too-distant future, if Trump manages to get back in office and in power, for any chance at saving our climate will be lost to history
Heather Cox Richardson reports U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, along with the U.S. Department of Labor and the State Department, unsealed an indictment charging Weidong Guan, also known as Bill Guan, the chief financial officer of the global news outlet The Epoch Times, with using the outlet to launder at least $67 million. The Epoch Times is affiliated with the ultraconservative Chinese anticommunist religious group Falun Gong and supports Donald Trump and other right-wing U.S. politicians with both press and cash. It was a major promoter of Dinesh D’Souza’s film 2000 Mules that claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen. A voter depicted in that film sued for defamation, and just last week the distributor settled with the plaintiff, issued an apology, and stopped distributing the film.
The allegation that The Epoch Times is a money-laundering operation comes on top of yesterday’s story by Joseph Menn in the Washington Post, reporting that the editor of another media site that pushes disinformation from both the far right and the far left, The Grayzone, has worked for Russia’s Sputnik as well as taken money from Iranian government-owned media. One of the people who retweets Grayzone stories is Senator Mike Lee (R-UT).
Daniel, I am glad we are learning these things now, but a lot of damage has already been done. I find it hard to believe that there was not a journalist who knew and could have shared that information years ago. Yep, money is a great silencer!
Any commons can turn into a sewer if its not properly regulated. The fact that the internet and other media present difficult free speech issues is not a reason for lack of needed regulation. This is particurlarly true given foreign authoritarian adversaries are able to take advantage of asymmetry in speech laws and harm our media eco-system by flooding it with dis/misinformation. Our electeds need to act and not take the easy way out of letting, say, social media companies self regulate any more than they would allow other industries to self regulate.
I agree Steve, and I think we desperately need more regulation. We need more regulation of banks and lending institutions, more regulation of the tech
industry and social media, and we need to crack down on the oil & gas industry giving them firm deadlines for converting to renewable energy, because it’s obvious they won’t do it until they’re forced to do it. No industry will self-regulate because they equate regulations with lower profits.
Their attitude is they should be able to make as much profit as possible without any government
“interference.” In fact a few states have done away with child labor laws so industry can take advantage of children by paying them less money.
Not only are they paying them less money, they’re making it more difficult for them to complete their schooling in a manner that would enable them to better support themselves, and a family, and advance to better positions in the future.
Franklin, yes, people are drowning in information, but alas, we neglected to teach people how to distinguish between the truth and propaganda that is often filled with lies, innuendos, and disinformation. In addition, we are working with a whole lot of people that just love the mis/disinformation and are desperate to believe the BS. So much of what Trump and Kump put out is obviously nonsense, but it is for many, fun to believe poor Baby Donnie faced a rigged trial and that he wsn't permitted to testify. They don't listen to him at all, so don't notice that he is barely able to put two sentences together without whining, complaining, or misstating something. His "demenjtia" is increasing and he just keeps going on blurting out the same "tried and true" crap and his supporters just love it, as members of the exclusive Trump Klub. Trump has a lot of support too when the media interview folks who are racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, as though they are the be all to end all of the American people. Their biases are ignored and they rattle on about how immigrants, for example are hurting their citizens (in their little town), and want more military to be on duty. It's disgusting, butr what we have right now that passes for journalism.
That train is on the road to WW3, & the Trump cult is thrilled about that. They've all drunk so much of the Kool-Ade that it's all they crave & what they continue to imbibe. Unjust States of AIPAC-Amerikkka (USA) is already dead & waiting to be embalmed, cremated, & buried in an urn at Bedminster Golf Club's first hole. Sorry USA, but your grand experiment in self-government has failed & your country is condemned to a long & painful demise. Change your ways or go extinct with all of history's other political dinosaurs. Vote for Trump & die or rid your failed nation-state of all its deluded traitors & try to rebuild what's left into a decent country. It'll be hard work but it might be worth it.
We can only hope that train derails in a hurry. Even the NY Times stated that the undecided voters don't know if they want fascism or not. If that one new poll is accurate stating that 49% of the voters feel that the demented convicted felon should drop out of the race, that should help get that train to hell off the tracks.
According to sources that I vet and follow, Covid is not over. It has simply evolved to become less intense during the acute phase, but better equipped to find hide-aways that the immune system can't reach, and linger on, causing a myriad of symptoms. And yes, it IS rather disruptive.
David, not that I like defending covid, but the GOP voters have always been bat ship crazy. From too much religion in my opinion. Mark said religion was the opiate of the masses. The right wingers hate Marx, who was the libertarian. They call him a communist because he thinks religion drives people insane.
Covid19 wasn't the problem: poor education, misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, stupidity, & deliberate lies have always been the bane of the USA. RIP USA. You have wasted your lives & ours. May you all rot in Hell!
Chen is not wrong. The GOP has been on a campaign of deliberate misinformation since the Powell Memo and the Reagan administration. The admonishment to rot in Hell was not pointed at us but at those who have been spewing propaganda for the last 45 years: Reagan, Atwater, Gingrich, Limbaugh, the Tea Party, Freedom Caucus, MAGA, Trump, McConnell, et al. We have spread violence and misery across the globe with death tolls in the hundreds of thousands, if not more, and we, as a nation, have not really done a lot to stop it.
David Sea, and yet it was a mild pandemic in terms of actual deaths. think of the hemorragic diseases found in the tropics, with their very high fatality rates. we got off with a mild learning experience, which the repugnanticans, with their anti-science mindset made worse, and which mindset will make the next pandemic (yes, it is ineviteable) worse as public health funding is never enough under either party.
It's the fact that they don't have to worry about truly terrifying things like climate change, loss of species, and all the other indications that we are making the planet uninhabitable. Religion is closely related. They have abdicated their responsibility to reality in favor of a fake sense of security in blaming the wrong people for the things that are indeed threatening them. Meanwhile, the people who are lying to them are making an insane amount of money.
The problem with the internet is that it leads us to believe that any questions or issue can be resolved instantly. This leads to believing all issues can be fixed by tomorrow and unfounded frustration when they aren’t. Good solutions take time.
Girl Scientist, unfortunately that's what happened because Congress could not bring itself to put some regulations on the internet's functioning. We again made the mistake of thinking young white males who owned our tech would do the right thing for the people of this nation related to the technology. Instead, they let the power go to their heads and we have to either live with their mistakes and intended abuses of the tech, like the internet or get honest necessary regulations in place to protect us all. I am not sure which we will choose, but I am thinking the big bucks will let things go on just as they are. Instead of dealing with this real burger, people are redirected to the "nothing burgers," and supposed to like it or lump it.
The Internet is capable of doing both things simultaneously — informing and growing the number of people who are educated about our world; AND delivering crap messages that confuse and mislead people.
The medium is NOT the message, but those who use the medium best will get their message across.
So far, the R’s are great at messaging {especially because people like to be entertained, and the R’s play the clown at the drop of a hat —- Egad, MTG, anybody? Lauren Boebert? Matt Gaet?}!
The Left needs to get its message out better. It’s late in the game — we don’t have a lot of time to figure this out, because the Internet is NOT going away….
Not to say lack of education isn't important , or racism, or even economic inequality. But we have had such problems for a very long time. The American voter was never very educated. Two things that have totally altered the landscape: Citizens United where the rich buy elected officials more than ever, and the rise of right wing media, social media and the collapse of much local media. CU also weakend the control of central political Party control allowing an asshole like Trump to worm his way in and finally destroy the Republican party. And it has been destroyed.
I agree with your assessment of the power of the Internet. After all, in addition to being a powerful and versatile tool, it is a new communication medium, and a very powerful one at that. New media forms over the last 150 or so years have always had a learning curve, during which the consumers were often persuaded of falsehoods, such as radio, film and TV based propaganda. People need to become more social media literate.
Also, in another survey, 72% of those polled respond that their own finances are at least okay, while only 22% of those same respondents think "the economy" is doing well.
ignorance, gullibility, naivete, a failure to question, an inability to think critically - what has any of this to do with the internet? these are caused by the lack of a genuine education to some extent. the dumber one is [and this includes the majority of voters] the more important it is to get a good education.
Two-thirds of Americans have decreased spending due to economy, Wells Fargo Money Study finds. SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- When asked how Americans are faring financially, most admitted to having to make major adjustments due to the economy, according to the inaugural Wells Fargo Money Study
Karl, perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve found more clueless managers, finagling CFO’s, and dishonest investment advisers at big banks than anywhere else so far in my 75 years.
Change "They" to "Republicans" and you just made a "New York Times" or "Washington Post" headline of a yet-to-be-written and should-be-written Robin Hood story.
I have a visual of the Sherrif of Nottingham. It's Hollywood tho.a goof on the JG Wentworth ad for structured cash settlements. Complete with the singing! And several MAGAT offenders . With the complete cash cow! At the Fed!
Stephanie: The really pathetic ones are those who say "tRUMP can improve our economy, we were doing Great when he was president! There would be no Wars, too! He alone can fix it! The lib-tards are the problem! They want a large nanny state! Of course they don't see the contradiction that women's private choices and healthcare , book banning, and investigating people like Dr Fauci are closer to a nanny state. A very sick nanny too!
I wish our media would get creative and expose all the "nothing burgers!" Every last one : all the fake "wasting and spending" the workers and the poor are doing! While raising the deficit! We could enjoy the fake opera style commercial format like the one selling to those who "need cash now"!
It would be the loans that the government is paying back to the rich who gave them credit : a musical where these opportunists are singing about their untaxed windfall profits (interest) praising Jerome Powell : " " Our Greed cash cow"!This would echo the lyrics of their jingle " when you need a structured settlement and you need cash now!"
I don’t know why no one has calculated the cost to taxpayers of all these dog-and-pony investigations. If the GOP had to fund them, I’m guessing the performance would end.
I don’t know why *mental costs*, in addition to *monetary costs* of their investigations hasn't been calculated. GOP actors wouldn't be able to grasp such a performance-ending concept of what they are doing. They just keep on going . . . performing
“After one social media user sarcastically told Branstetter, "I'm sure you'll love Trump's border policies," she stressed, "This is Trump's border policy."”
I want citizens to vote as well. I especially want citizens to vote for independent or third party candidates in federal elections. To expect either bought and paid for Rs or Ds to address major issues in meaningful ways is stupid, and has been since Clinton highjacked the Ds and Gingrich did the same for the Rs in the 90s.
Once again. The perfect should not be held out as the enemy of the acceptable. With government, there is no road to heaven. If you vote for Republicans, you vote for the road to hell.
No doubt the Democrats sometimes support causes we don’t approve of but these are not undemocratic or destructive of an ordered society. With the GOP you get a rush to destroy society in favor of filthy wealth and power. I’m willing to vote for the imperfect to prevent the barbarians from getting what they hope for.
Robert Reich, yet again you spell it out clearly. However, these fallacies spread by the right-wing are no more surprising than they are absurd and harmful disinformation. It is typical of right-wing ideology for, when the truth would clearly incriminate you, better lie, deny, or better still - blame the victim.
Sadly, those who need to understand this and review their self-harming support of Trump and a GOP that has lost all sense of principle, equity, justice or reality, will either not read it at all or will reject all it says as a wicked and treacherous component of the 'witch-hunt' for Trump.
As Jonathan Swift said, some 300 years or so ago: "It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. (J.Swift. 1667-1745)
Trump supporters are walking, if not running, headlong and deluded into a future, if Trump is elected, that will be akin to that of mice or rats running into a trap.
“when the truth would clearly incriminate you, better lie, deny, or better still - blame the victim.” This is Trump’s MO taught to him by mobster attorney Roy Cohn.
I am sending this article (as well as other articles by HCR, Vance, Hubbell, Hartmann to the media.
Me neither, and I live here! But remember that when Hitler took power, the 'forces' of his movement were only in the tens of thousands [like 35,000, if memory serves].
These folks too believed the BS sandwich and only 'allowed' the determined and violent few to reign over them. That's what I'm afraid of: Minority rule through violence.
No they won"t. You don't know the Army, the Chain of Command. Now if Trump is president and he puts in his people and gives the order, then you are correct.
Yes, the are that stupid! And think about it - we say “snake oil peddlers” and that’s a term from probably 150 years ago! Americans don’t want to do their homework, so they let snake oil salesmen do their thinking for them!
The thing about polls. When people are lulled into thinking that they have won,or their side is winning, they tend to fall into a tupor, relax, sit back and let other "fools" do the heavy lifting, like standing in line at a polling station, but when the polls say it is a horserace, they are motivated to get off their duff
If the polls say that you will lose by a wide margin, then again the motivation is to stay home, because one believes they will lose anyway,
Just another way of looking at polls.
The polls were wrong in 2016, wrong in 2020, wrong in 2022, what makes anyone think they are correct this time. The pollsters and the media's bread and butter depend on selling the horse race.
Yeh Az, that too, people lie. Pollsters are biased either ideologically or financially , and people lie. Needless to say the polls got it wrong in 2016,2020, 2022. I think that polls try to create a reality, not reflect a reality.
Ihave a hard time calling India a democracy anymore, with Mohdi, India's Orban., a rabid Hindu nationalist.google the Gujarat massacre of Muslims.
Mohdi is the head of the BJP party which is Indians version of the Trump party and Putin's customer for oil products. and was his customer for arms sales.
None of this hardly covered in American media, no bright shiny object to chase.
Only 150 years?. Traceable back to Aristotle "If the facts don't fit in with what they want to see,then the facts are wrong,there is no other possible reason"..
Traceable back to 4 BC reputedly ."What you want to be real,may never be".
The investing version of Musk. AI does not frighten me,I welcome it,.the never ending stupidity of the masses terrifies me,probably just an update on Mackay's book popular delusions and the madness of crowds( late 1800s?)
Oh, Mr. Az, I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t once remember my grandparents using phrases like “the American Dream” or wanting “riches” in their daily discourse. My great grandparents immigrated here so they could find something to eat and have a roof over their heads. Being decent people, weathering the Depression, serving their country and becoming NYC cops and firemen and nurses, that was success to them. Protecting their children. They did it all with 8th grade educations. They would have looked upon your words as foolish. Remember, “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.”
Az friend. I am going to be cynical here (as if that is something new) Americans (left, right and center) are susceptible to propaganda that tugs at their emotions, and they believe is associated with their they stand philosophically.
One seems to expect that all birds of a feather flock together. That to join a pack or a herd, one must conform, hold beliefs and opinions that the consensus
holds and believes.
Only problem is who actually is behind the consensus and why
Does one have to eat the whole pizza or pie, or can one just nibble?. Eating the whole thing is an earmark of a cult.
Earmark: What one does to cattle to distinguish which herd they belong to. what a vet does to an animal that has been neutered or spayed.
Those of us who are feeling low could do worse than read a bracing report by Dr Heather Cox Richardson posted early this morning. It's dated "3 June 2024."
A party of somethingburgers is arriving for help. Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist with a PhD in environmental engineering will become the new president of Mexico. I'm so happy I could shi..
Really Heated, an environmentalist is a fraud. You didn't even read it. If you are a progressive and concerned about global warming subscribe to Heated.
Whether it was her science, gender or both is an interesting question. I'm inclined to say all three (she+science+gender) are inseparable.
I admire all physical or analytical chemists; especially after having flunked relatively simple organic chemistry in college. I thought my career aspirations had vaporized.
In America we seem to have a symbol for almost everything. No Parking, No entry, no rubbish, recycling, no bikes allowed, radiation. What might be useful in a national symbol to use on social media to indicate pure unadulterated BS!. An easy to use icon we could attach to any social media content that is an out and out lie. A symbol to help identify lies and avoid wasting time and energy reading it. The 1st protects free speech even if the speach is untrue. I don't think it prohibits us from pointing out a lie when we hear or reead one.
The problem is reality,your reality is not my reality.The human race will have that problem forever,they see what they want to see and they hear what they want to hear.
Here is a simple test.I spent 5 minutes on the internet last night,using skills I have acquired during 50% of my working life,after leaving a trade and studying..A company I have shares in has a US equivalent, I decided to check which company had performed best .The US will always win simply because of that huge population/market.The US company was Home Depot.
5 minutes on the investor section on their web siteThe site is not the same as I usually find so it took a bit longer,3 minutes would probably do if people know how that layout works.Company price history,how it started,and first listing so the 4 or 5 owners that started their small company could expand it They raised $4 million in ,I forget,I should have made a note of it.
The first share split was in January 1982. 2 for 1. The share price prior to split was $21. You needed to buy 2 shares because the next split was 5 for 4.They continued to have odd splits such as 4 for 3,then 3 for 2..The last split they had was Dec 1999.The share price was $102 and the split was 3 for 2.
Working it out that original spend of $42 for two shares had grown to ~ 1250 shares .You'll need to find out the share price today perhaps 1250 X 350,we'll call it $340K shall we..Without reinvesting dividends.Millions of $$$ with dividends reinvested .
They don't pay tax.They vote for Trump.They screw their employees They are greedy,they should not be allowed to have that much "money".They only care about making money.The govt should make them pay more tax."They" are to blame for every problem you could ever make up.
Which one of them gets the bullshit tick?
Which one of them is real? Which of them is your version of reality.? Which one of them agrees with what you want to see and hear?
Just as I finish that a 30 second report on the business part of the news.
Guzman y Gomez.,Mexican food Exactly what I cannot find in my city. Two New Yorkers,emigrated to Australia by the look of it.Opened a fast food restaurant,opened more as the company grew and employed more people. Kept on expanding and employing more people..Opened in Singapore,Japan,then back "home" in the USA..
Payout time and time to share that wealth amongst more people.They are raising A$2.5 billion in an IPO.Everybody will get the chance to buy them.The float will probably be scaled back,so you will need to buy on market They may be next McDonald's,they may go badly and fade away and die.
There ends any plans to try to improve your ( plural) life.Google their web page while the story is just starting.
I made an error,or the guy on the news made an error.Probably my error not paying attention
They are raising ~ A$242.5 million . 11.1 million shares @$22 each This values the company at $2.5 billion..That float will be sorting out now and successful applications will be receiving the news of how many shares they will get,and when the refund money will go into their bank account.
A new company appears on the stock exchange on 20 june
When I think of today’s republicans, I think of 2 paintings: The Scream, by Dutch painter Edvard Munch, and Vision of Hell, by Hieronymous Bosch. Both give a wrench to my gut, drawing feelings of terror, isolation, sheer horror. I am no art historian but I have to think these paintings came from very disturbed minds, hence my vision of republicans. Warped and broken, creating their own horrific realities and drawing others in,in order to give themselves credence. Imagine if they saw the best in us, recognized hope and possibilities, instead of decadence and damnation. Just imagine if they weren’t broken and warped what we as a nation could accomplish.
I am absolutely amazed at what's happening to Hunter Biden. If it were anyone else, NRA and its Republican friends would be up in arms...literally...and would do anything and everything possible to get the charges dropped.
And since not many are speaking out about this, people believe that the Bidens are corrupt. I know it feels childish, but why aren't the Democrats in Congress going after and shaming Trump kids in public for what they've done?
The average American now-a-days is so gullible that he will believe anything he sees on TV/YouTube/TikTok/etc. Democrats need to talk at the level that people understand and flood the airwaves with attacks going after the Trump empire. This is not the time to be the grownup. Our future is at stake.
To be perfectly honest, I am tired! I will keep working hard but everyday I see more and more propaganda and lies being brought to the American people by republicans who should know better but just seem not to care. I know the days are gone when candidates refuse to campaign on ways they will work to fix the real, actual problems we face. Instead, we are left with screamers and those refusing to work with the other party actually saying it would be a cold day in hell before they worked with a Democrat!! Apparently, the dumbing down of average Americans began earlier than I thought and they obviously want an authoritarian regime rather than Democracy! I know this will get worse closer to the election but I cannot help but think had the republican party made a clean break with trump before he came down that escalator, we wouldn't be having this ridiculous chaos!! My friends are getting tired. They are worn out trying to fight against such an onslaught of lies. Vote Blue, America!!
The problem is not the GOP refusing to work with the Democrats. The problem is the Democrats who still cling to the bipartisanship fantasy that working with the GOP is the path to improving the lives of Americans, and meaningfully addressing the problems we face.
As usual, the MAGA wing has reversed FDR's comforting words to depression America: They say "You have nothing but fear, and fear is all." They're following the usual dictator's playbook using division to weaken public oversight, and divert distrust of big business to the bogeyman of big government. Attacks on educational content are part of the overall strategy to overwhelm the truth of history and equality with a false, self-justifying narrative. That's why the next election cycle has to hit at all levels of elected office, to replace the dog-whistle fear mongers with real public servants. I hope we can do it.
........ in the meantime, they are flooding and dominating the media with their nothing burgers and the media love to amplify them without any serious pushback because it attracts clicks and advertisements., thus $$$ for individuals and shareholders. They sure seem ahead in the propaganda war. We must make sure most Americans will see through them by exposing them as such, much louder than they produce them.......
There are no guardrails on the 4th estate. 'Everything that's fit to print'. "Truth in advertising". A fairness doctrine to keep the misinformation and disinformation out of media.
Abandoning the “fairness doctrine” was the first signal of their assault on creating an America with no concern for actual truth. Thank you republicans, I feel bad you don’t get the credit you so richly deserve for that move.
As long as the media continues to propagate the lies you mentioned, some people will believe those lies. There is no reasoning with people who watch faux news, for they believe what they hear and see on faux news. Get rid of faux news and perhaps people will wake up and realize they have been lied to. Until then, good luck trying to convince people the world is not flat and trump is not the second coming of Jesus.
Indeed a great deal of attention is wasted on "nothingburgers" at an opportunity cost to paying attention to existential threats. While not enough attention is being made of the past president's predilection for false hyperbole and fascist tendencies. Another underlying pattern is a tendency toward anarchic moves being encouraged by the likes of Bannon and rich backers of the idea that we need to tear down big government. Anarchy is the condition when people want to tear down existing institutions and norms, without having any plan for what to replace them with. It is predicated on the belief that something will emerge from the ruins that will be better, yet it defies everything we know about the need for institution and trust building that take years to enact.
Either Richardson or the other lawyer substack writer clarified that Bannon has a Trump appointed Judge allowing him to run free and poison the airwaves. Extremely unconventional , just like the horrid Florida grifter female judge whose husband had some kind of relationship to trumptys businesses. CROOKS> Infiltrated US Court systems with corruption . Thank you trumpty, Leo Leonard the horror, and the gang. "LOOK EM UP! LOOK EM UP!< LOCK EM UP!!!!" is what we need to call out for the real, nor projected crooks... LOCK EM UP!!!!
“Right-wing House Republicans are railing against government spending…The biggest reason America’s debt is soaring is George W. Bush’s and Donald Trump’s huge tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy and big corporations…”
One of the biggest problems with this discussion is that Democrats fail to characterize tax cuts for the rich and corporations as just another form of spending, because they both deplete government coffers of the money needed to operate and provide services for average Americans. Where the two differ is that actual spending benefits all levels of society in very tangible ways, whereas with tax cuts, 99.9 of Americans have little if anything to show for it.
Professor Reich: equally distracting are the lies that MOST PEOPLE mindlessly believe without question. The New Republic just published a piece about how 56% of Americans think the country is in a recession, 49% believe the stock market is down & 49% also believe unemployment is at an all-time high -- DESPITE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY. (article: https://newrepublic.com/post/181929/donald-trump-polls-nostalgia-negativity-bias )
i once was a believer in the equality that the internet would provide, but i've now come to see that it is an extremely effective way to destroy all that we hold dear: freedom, democracy, truth, bodily autonomy and even our families and ourselves.
You’re 100% spot on. Think of the internet as the key propaganda tool that created the world that Huxley wrote about - where it drowns the public in information that they don’t know what to do or right from wrong: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/the-brave-new-world-of-1984-part-205
Thanks for the link. This "nothingburger" discussion made me think of a quote I learned in high school, "it is a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
Shakespeare from Macbeth
Thank you for the full quote; sadly, it could not be more applicable to our times.
This just shows how long idiocy has been going on. (probably from the beginning of human endeavor) And yet we somehow manage to make improvements to our quality of life in spite of the idiots.
Renee, we often forget that we have made some progress and that life is better for most than it was in Shakespeare's time, 400 years ago. There have been those willing to destroy for their own personal gain forever. It is up to the rest of us to find ways to contain them and their destructive tendencies. Where are those who will contain Trump and Kump?
We persist, for sure. 😊🌈
As is the nature of allegories, the literary Macbeth in his nihilistic soliloquy implies the impulse to the contrary in human nature, which is to accomplish great things, though in fits and starts throughout history.
Now in trump, we have the idiot, filled with himself in bravado and bluster,
bent to destroy whatever is good and just in humanity, and perhaps the presumed "higher" life on Earth, all for the petty benefit of this scoundrel
and his band of sycophants, in the scintilla of time representing human life.
Thank you for this most timely quote from the Bard.
Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Indeed, and "to be or not to be" tis is the question? and thus nor will be no more, for mankind in the not-too-distant future, if Trump manages to get back in office and in power, for any chance at saving our climate will be lost to history
"tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps...." Yup.
Perfect!
Heather Cox Richardson reports U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, along with the U.S. Department of Labor and the State Department, unsealed an indictment charging Weidong Guan, also known as Bill Guan, the chief financial officer of the global news outlet The Epoch Times, with using the outlet to launder at least $67 million. The Epoch Times is affiliated with the ultraconservative Chinese anticommunist religious group Falun Gong and supports Donald Trump and other right-wing U.S. politicians with both press and cash. It was a major promoter of Dinesh D’Souza’s film 2000 Mules that claimed the 2020 presidential election was stolen. A voter depicted in that film sued for defamation, and just last week the distributor settled with the plaintiff, issued an apology, and stopped distributing the film.
The allegation that The Epoch Times is a money-laundering operation comes on top of yesterday’s story by Joseph Menn in the Washington Post, reporting that the editor of another media site that pushes disinformation from both the far right and the far left, The Grayzone, has worked for Russia’s Sputnik as well as taken money from Iranian government-owned media. One of the people who retweets Grayzone stories is Senator Mike Lee (R-UT).
Yikes!
Daniel, I am glad we are learning these things now, but a lot of damage has already been done. I find it hard to believe that there was not a journalist who knew and could have shared that information years ago. Yep, money is a great silencer!
Good to hear. We receive so little news because of the ongoing circus of demolition by the Felon-Follower Cult.
If you think the Grayzone pushes disinformation, you are, as mildly as I can put it, pushing disinformation.
Just stop.
Tell it to WAPO and Heather, Tovarich.
Think of what Goebbels could have done with Social Media
Stephen Miller seems to be getting the hang of the Goebbels thing.
Not that he’s a doppelgänger that looks every bit as surly
I shudder to think about that!
Fox has been doing it for decades.
Just ponder what he managed to without social media. The entire MAGA believes all the lies that their cult leaders constantly peddle.
Think what the Chinese leadership is doing.
Jew fuckers doing same
He would never have fostered an opposing view.
Any commons can turn into a sewer if its not properly regulated. The fact that the internet and other media present difficult free speech issues is not a reason for lack of needed regulation. This is particurlarly true given foreign authoritarian adversaries are able to take advantage of asymmetry in speech laws and harm our media eco-system by flooding it with dis/misinformation. Our electeds need to act and not take the easy way out of letting, say, social media companies self regulate any more than they would allow other industries to self regulate.
I agree Steve, and I think we desperately need more regulation. We need more regulation of banks and lending institutions, more regulation of the tech
industry and social media, and we need to crack down on the oil & gas industry giving them firm deadlines for converting to renewable energy, because it’s obvious they won’t do it until they’re forced to do it. No industry will self-regulate because they equate regulations with lower profits.
Their attitude is they should be able to make as much profit as possible without any government
“interference.” In fact a few states have done away with child labor laws so industry can take advantage of children by paying them less money.
Susan,
Not only are they paying them less money, they’re making it more difficult for them to complete their schooling in a manner that would enable them to better support themselves, and a family, and advance to better positions in the future.
Franklin, yes, people are drowning in information, but alas, we neglected to teach people how to distinguish between the truth and propaganda that is often filled with lies, innuendos, and disinformation. In addition, we are working with a whole lot of people that just love the mis/disinformation and are desperate to believe the BS. So much of what Trump and Kump put out is obviously nonsense, but it is for many, fun to believe poor Baby Donnie faced a rigged trial and that he wsn't permitted to testify. They don't listen to him at all, so don't notice that he is barely able to put two sentences together without whining, complaining, or misstating something. His "demenjtia" is increasing and he just keeps going on blurting out the same "tried and true" crap and his supporters just love it, as members of the exclusive Trump Klub. Trump has a lot of support too when the media interview folks who are racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, as though they are the be all to end all of the American people. Their biases are ignored and they rattle on about how immigrants, for example are hurting their citizens (in their little town), and want more military to be on duty. It's disgusting, butr what we have right now that passes for journalism.
-The Republicans are conductors on the midnight train to nowhere.
Going back to find
That simple place in time
That never existed
Outside the revisionist mind
That train is on the road to WW3, & the Trump cult is thrilled about that. They've all drunk so much of the Kool-Ade that it's all they crave & what they continue to imbibe. Unjust States of AIPAC-Amerikkka (USA) is already dead & waiting to be embalmed, cremated, & buried in an urn at Bedminster Golf Club's first hole. Sorry USA, but your grand experiment in self-government has failed & your country is condemned to a long & painful demise. Change your ways or go extinct with all of history's other political dinosaurs. Vote for Trump & die or rid your failed nation-state of all its deluded traitors & try to rebuild what's left into a decent country. It'll be hard work but it might be worth it.
Try to contain your fatalism until after the election. There is still time to get off the road to hell. We don’t need to discourage voters.
Not WWIII - he loves the dictators. It would be Civil War II, henceforth to be known as CVII.
CWII Timothy, unless in Olde English or Latin.
Ugh. I thought it looked a bit Roman numeral-y. Thank you!
Midnight train to the abyss of fascist tyranny.
Yep!! Hi Jaime. :)
We can only hope that train derails in a hurry. Even the NY Times stated that the undecided voters don't know if they want fascism or not. If that one new poll is accurate stating that 49% of the voters feel that the demented convicted felon should drop out of the race, that should help get that train to hell off the tracks.
NYT is jew shit stew…..you read that shit ? Get another 5 boosters!
Did Nazi see that coming. 🤣
LOL.
As we get closer to November the number of right wing trolls will increase exponentially.
I think many are still subconsciously affected by Covid trauma. Gotta admit, Covid was rather disruptive.
According to sources that I vet and follow, Covid is not over. It has simply evolved to become less intense during the acute phase, but better equipped to find hide-aways that the immune system can't reach, and linger on, causing a myriad of symptoms. And yes, it IS rather disruptive.
Correct.
I read the in the NYTs yesterday that a new COVID-19 strain is beginning to make the rounds in the U.S., and it's more evasive than previous strains.
Stay safe everyone.
Morons
David, not that I like defending covid, but the GOP voters have always been bat ship crazy. From too much religion in my opinion. Mark said religion was the opiate of the masses. The right wingers hate Marx, who was the libertarian. They call him a communist because he thinks religion drives people insane.
Covid19 wasn't the problem: poor education, misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, stupidity, & deliberate lies have always been the bane of the USA. RIP USA. You have wasted your lives & ours. May you all rot in Hell!
Senator Manchen was interviewed by CNN and was so evasive and dishonest. Gone to the Dumps.
Grow up Chen. Your fatalistic screeds are not helpful.
Chen is not wrong. The GOP has been on a campaign of deliberate misinformation since the Powell Memo and the Reagan administration. The admonishment to rot in Hell was not pointed at us but at those who have been spewing propaganda for the last 45 years: Reagan, Atwater, Gingrich, Limbaugh, the Tea Party, Freedom Caucus, MAGA, Trump, McConnell, et al. We have spread violence and misery across the globe with death tolls in the hundreds of thousands, if not more, and we, as a nation, have not really done a lot to stop it.
I agree with you but “may you all rot in hell” looks to be a directed at everyone. Too fatalistic none the less.
David Sea, and yet it was a mild pandemic in terms of actual deaths. think of the hemorragic diseases found in the tropics, with their very high fatality rates. we got off with a mild learning experience, which the repugnanticans, with their anti-science mindset made worse, and which mindset will make the next pandemic (yes, it is ineviteable) worse as public health funding is never enough under either party.
Moron
Yep, I have family members who at this point have never met a conspiracy theory they didn't like.
Sadly, I do as well. And trying to reason with them is like talking to a fence post.
It's even worse. At least a fence post is on the fence.
True, LOL!
Seems obvious there is a huge emotional reward and emotional investment in that crap.
What is it ?
It's the fact that they don't have to worry about truly terrifying things like climate change, loss of species, and all the other indications that we are making the planet uninhabitable. Religion is closely related. They have abdicated their responsibility to reality in favor of a fake sense of security in blaming the wrong people for the things that are indeed threatening them. Meanwhile, the people who are lying to them are making an insane amount of money.
I wish I knew. I’m not sure even the deluded know why they believe what they do.
They might be the last people to know why.
One piece
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/chance-trump-youth-rally-see-him-answer-economic-woes-2024-04-21/
Thank you. My eyes are exhausted from rolling in my head.
The problem with the internet is that it leads us to believe that any questions or issue can be resolved instantly. This leads to believing all issues can be fixed by tomorrow and unfounded frustration when they aren’t. Good solutions take time.
Girl Scientist, unfortunately that's what happened because Congress could not bring itself to put some regulations on the internet's functioning. We again made the mistake of thinking young white males who owned our tech would do the right thing for the people of this nation related to the technology. Instead, they let the power go to their heads and we have to either live with their mistakes and intended abuses of the tech, like the internet or get honest necessary regulations in place to protect us all. I am not sure which we will choose, but I am thinking the big bucks will let things go on just as they are. Instead of dealing with this real burger, people are redirected to the "nothing burgers," and supposed to like it or lump it.
The Internet is capable of doing both things simultaneously — informing and growing the number of people who are educated about our world; AND delivering crap messages that confuse and mislead people.
The medium is NOT the message, but those who use the medium best will get their message across.
So far, the R’s are great at messaging {especially because people like to be entertained, and the R’s play the clown at the drop of a hat —- Egad, MTG, anybody? Lauren Boebert? Matt Gaet?}!
The Left needs to get its message out better. It’s late in the game — we don’t have a lot of time to figure this out, because the Internet is NOT going away….
It’s not the internet alone; it’s lack of education that allows people to believe the ridiculous and to follow false and crooked leaders.
Not to say lack of education isn't important , or racism, or even economic inequality. But we have had such problems for a very long time. The American voter was never very educated. Two things that have totally altered the landscape: Citizens United where the rich buy elected officials more than ever, and the rise of right wing media, social media and the collapse of much local media. CU also weakend the control of central political Party control allowing an asshole like Trump to worm his way in and finally destroy the Republican party. And it has been destroyed.
Alan, phony religion detaches them from reality.
I agree with your assessment of the power of the Internet. After all, in addition to being a powerful and versatile tool, it is a new communication medium, and a very powerful one at that. New media forms over the last 150 or so years have always had a learning curve, during which the consumers were often persuaded of falsehoods, such as radio, film and TV based propaganda. People need to become more social media literate.
Also, in another survey, 72% of those polled respond that their own finances are at least okay, while only 22% of those same respondents think "the economy" is doing well.
Well....56% of the people are not doing all that well.
AND MOST MAGATS VOTE AGAINST THEIR OWN WELL BEING, Tovarich. .
Suicide seems to be a popular American lifestyle choice. So long USAens. You won't be missed.
Where in China is your troll shop?
If its suicide we take the rest of the world with us. Figure it out Chen.
Chen chill.
Thanks to the 3% who control our economy and take our money. The corporations which you defend.
Absolutely!
We need to restrict malevolent foreign actors from our social media platforms. It can be done. China does it.
It seems like the National Enquirer left the grocery shelves and went online. And then people think "WELL GOSH IF IT'S ONLINE THEN IT MUST BE REAL"
ignorance, gullibility, naivete, a failure to question, an inability to think critically - what has any of this to do with the internet? these are caused by the lack of a genuine education to some extent. the dumber one is [and this includes the majority of voters] the more important it is to get a good education.
Two-thirds of Americans have decreased spending due to economy, Wells Fargo Money Study finds. SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- When asked how Americans are faring financially, most admitted to having to make major adjustments due to the economy, according to the inaugural Wells Fargo Money Study
Karl, why should we believe anything a major bank tells us, study or not?
Why not?
Karl, perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve found more clueless managers, finagling CFO’s, and dishonest investment advisers at big banks than anywhere else so far in my 75 years.
The real nothing burger is what the Republicans are doing for the American people!
Keith Olson ; They rob the poor and give to the rich. Investigate the innocent and protect the guilty.
An absolutely awesome comment! I love it.
Change "They" to "Republicans" and you just made a "New York Times" or "Washington Post" headline of a yet-to-be-written and should-be-written Robin Hood story.
Exactly, Laurie! Very well put!
The Sheriff of Nottingham in disguise.
I'd better be disguised!, it would be challenging to see me in tights!
You just created a visual Laurie that I can't unsee, and I know you aren't a 600 lb woman.
Can't unsee, as in Trump's long red tie hanging down to you know where.
I have a visual of the Sherrif of Nottingham. It's Hollywood tho.a goof on the JG Wentworth ad for structured cash settlements. Complete with the singing! And several MAGAT offenders . With the complete cash cow! At the Fed!
average 150 lb.
Way too warm! It's 90° and humid!
52 ° and raining where I live, been rainining since Friday, off and on, temperatures range from 48 to 55
Daniel, maybe he’s the Sheriff of Nothingham?
I’m still waiting for the little boy in the story to shout, “But the emperor has no clothes!” And for someone to say, “He’s right”.
Laurie, “they” have become magicians. They shout, “look at that over there!”
while they stick their greasy little paws into our pockets. Then, those who looked wonder why their pockets are empty.
Stephanie: The really pathetic ones are those who say "tRUMP can improve our economy, we were doing Great when he was president! There would be no Wars, too! He alone can fix it! The lib-tards are the problem! They want a large nanny state! Of course they don't see the contradiction that women's private choices and healthcare , book banning, and investigating people like Dr Fauci are closer to a nanny state. A very sick nanny too!
Would like if I could
I wish our media would get creative and expose all the "nothing burgers!" Every last one : all the fake "wasting and spending" the workers and the poor are doing! While raising the deficit! We could enjoy the fake opera style commercial format like the one selling to those who "need cash now"!
It would be the loans that the government is paying back to the rich who gave them credit : a musical where these opportunists are singing about their untaxed windfall profits (interest) praising Jerome Powell : " " Our Greed cash cow"!This would echo the lyrics of their jingle " when you need a structured settlement and you need cash now!"
A Musical named The Beltway. but with a theme like the Music Man, but with lots of flim flam men and women.
Exactly. NOTHING for the American people. Wasting taxpayers money. We should protest THAT.
I don’t know why no one has calculated the cost to taxpayers of all these dog-and-pony investigations. If the GOP had to fund them, I’m guessing the performance would end.
Nicely said.
I don’t know why *mental costs*, in addition to *monetary costs* of their investigations hasn't been calculated. GOP actors wouldn't be able to grasp such a performance-ending concept of what they are doing. They just keep on going . . . performing
The real nothing burger is continuing to hype the illusion that elections matter.
Expecting the Democrats, absent some religious conversion back to welcoming the hatred of the malefactors of wealth, to fix this mess is fantasy.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/joe-biden-immigration
“After one social media user sarcastically told Branstetter, "I'm sure you'll love Trump's border policies," she stressed, "This is Trump's border policy."”
We WANT citizens to VOTE! We WANT and NEED citizens to get REGISTERED to vote!
www.FieldTeam6.org if you want to help.
I want citizens to vote as well. I especially want citizens to vote for independent or third party candidates in federal elections. To expect either bought and paid for Rs or Ds to address major issues in meaningful ways is stupid, and has been since Clinton highjacked the Ds and Gingrich did the same for the Rs in the 90s.
Once again. The perfect should not be held out as the enemy of the acceptable. With government, there is no road to heaven. If you vote for Republicans, you vote for the road to hell.
No doubt the Democrats sometimes support causes we don’t approve of but these are not undemocratic or destructive of an ordered society. With the GOP you get a rush to destroy society in favor of filthy wealth and power. I’m willing to vote for the imperfect to prevent the barbarians from getting what they hope for.
You keep on doing that. Supporting the ratchet effect with your duopoly vote is paving the way to the authoritarian rule you profess to fear.
There is nothing pragmatic about incremental solutions to catastrophic problems.
Put that in your acceptable pipe and smoke it.
Try coming up with a solution other than “the hell with the whole thing”.
For a start, stop voting for any party that aids and abets a genocide, or supports endless war; any party that is held hostage by AIPAC or the MIC.
The GOP and the DP both qualify.
I’m done with you. You’re either a crank or a troll. Bye bye.
Like the election of George Bush Jr over Al Gore didn't matter.
Check. Got it. Thank you for your interest in Russian national defense.
You think Dubya was elected? Check. Got it.
The Democratic Party is full of wusses, who think bombing Russia and Gaza makes them manly men.
Speaking as a vet, take your Russian apologist BS and shove it
Exactly!.. they don't care about the American people! ..they care about MONEY and POWER!
Worse than nothing. To do nothing is better than to do the wrong thing!
Keith : very well said!
Robert Reich, yet again you spell it out clearly. However, these fallacies spread by the right-wing are no more surprising than they are absurd and harmful disinformation. It is typical of right-wing ideology for, when the truth would clearly incriminate you, better lie, deny, or better still - blame the victim.
Sadly, those who need to understand this and review their self-harming support of Trump and a GOP that has lost all sense of principle, equity, justice or reality, will either not read it at all or will reject all it says as a wicked and treacherous component of the 'witch-hunt' for Trump.
As Jonathan Swift said, some 300 years or so ago: "It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. (J.Swift. 1667-1745)
Trump supporters are walking, if not running, headlong and deluded into a future, if Trump is elected, that will be akin to that of mice or rats running into a trap.
“when the truth would clearly incriminate you, better lie, deny, or better still - blame the victim.” This is Trump’s MO taught to him by mobster attorney Roy Cohn.
I am sending this article (as well as other articles by HCR, Vance, Hubbell, Hartmann to the media.
I wonder if and what they will choose to reproduce.
Take care. Stay safe. ☮️
Don’t worry. I give the credit to the authors. My name isn’t associated. I email. I don’t use Twitter, etc.
No, Marlo, not worried - just have little trust in Main Stream Media and so always interested to see the perspective they pursue. Take care. mate.
NSC:
Can we analogize to the old tale of the Pied Piper? Do you remember? How did that end?
\Vince S
AZ:
Or for the children. That's the part that is horrifying.
\Vince S
Me neither, and I live here! But remember that when Hitler took power, the 'forces' of his movement were only in the tens of thousands [like 35,000, if memory serves].
These folks too believed the BS sandwich and only 'allowed' the determined and violent few to reign over them. That's what I'm afraid of: Minority rule through violence.
Let's hope he gives the word. Then the US Army would give them all barrages of bullet birds.
No they won"t. You don't know the Army, the Chain of Command. Now if Trump is president and he puts in his people and gives the order, then you are correct.
it does not work that way
Yes, the are that stupid! And think about it - we say “snake oil peddlers” and that’s a term from probably 150 years ago! Americans don’t want to do their homework, so they let snake oil salesmen do their thinking for them!
Just let's not overdo it. These polls stoke despair. There are plenty of people who have some common sense yet.
Yeah, you’re right about that. If the people around me are any indication, I think we’ll still land on our feet, as a country I mean!
The thing about polls. When people are lulled into thinking that they have won,or their side is winning, they tend to fall into a tupor, relax, sit back and let other "fools" do the heavy lifting, like standing in line at a polling station, but when the polls say it is a horserace, they are motivated to get off their duff
If the polls say that you will lose by a wide margin, then again the motivation is to stay home, because one believes they will lose anyway,
Just another way of looking at polls.
The polls were wrong in 2016, wrong in 2020, wrong in 2022, what makes anyone think they are correct this time. The pollsters and the media's bread and butter depend on selling the horse race.
Yeh Az, that too, people lie. Pollsters are biased either ideologically or financially , and people lie. Needless to say the polls got it wrong in 2016,2020, 2022. I think that polls try to create a reality, not reflect a reality.
Ihave a hard time calling India a democracy anymore, with Mohdi, India's Orban., a rabid Hindu nationalist.google the Gujarat massacre of Muslims.
Mohdi is the head of the BJP party which is Indians version of the Trump party and Putin's customer for oil products. and was his customer for arms sales.
None of this hardly covered in American media, no bright shiny object to chase.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party
It becomes more difficult to shake the thought that this racist, genocidal country is going to get what it deserves.
Genocidal? You and others do such violence to the word, and overuse as an epithet for something that you don't like, that you render it useless.
When everything is genocidal, nothing is genocidal.
The boy who cried wolf.
Only 150 years?. Traceable back to Aristotle "If the facts don't fit in with what they want to see,then the facts are wrong,there is no other possible reason"..
Traceable back to 4 BC reputedly ."What you want to be real,may never be".
The investing version of Musk. AI does not frighten me,I welcome it,.the never ending stupidity of the masses terrifies me,probably just an update on Mackay's book popular delusions and the madness of crowds( late 1800s?)
They both frightened me.
It’s easier to fool someone than to convince them they’ve been fooled - Mark Twain.
Enough are that dumb/ignorant/stupid to condemn the rest of us to perpetual perdition.
Oh, Mr. Az, I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t once remember my grandparents using phrases like “the American Dream” or wanting “riches” in their daily discourse. My great grandparents immigrated here so they could find something to eat and have a roof over their heads. Being decent people, weathering the Depression, serving their country and becoming NYC cops and firemen and nurses, that was success to them. Protecting their children. They did it all with 8th grade educations. They would have looked upon your words as foolish. Remember, “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.”
I'm not sure that I should answer that ...
Az friend. I am going to be cynical here (as if that is something new) Americans (left, right and center) are susceptible to propaganda that tugs at their emotions, and they believe is associated with their they stand philosophically.
One seems to expect that all birds of a feather flock together. That to join a pack or a herd, one must conform, hold beliefs and opinions that the consensus
holds and believes.
Only problem is who actually is behind the consensus and why
Does one have to eat the whole pizza or pie, or can one just nibble?. Eating the whole thing is an earmark of a cult.
Earmark: What one does to cattle to distinguish which herd they belong to. what a vet does to an animal that has been neutered or spayed.
Opinion varies: https://youtu.be/QFgcqB8-AxE?si=abPGBDInwUK9d95h
Rather than a “nothing burger”, would call it a “Shit sandwich”.
Don't be surprised if their next move is to open articles of impeachment against Hunter Biden.
I'm more worried about impending articles of impeachment against Jill Biden.
Or Dr Fauci!
Or what the hell, impeach everybody! That will make them look more foolish than they already are, and will make them happy.
Thanks, David! You gave me a laugh when I was feeling pretty low!
Sometimes I go from feeling pretty low to laughing after reading your comments. Keep on commenting.
Peggy:
Those of us who are feeling low could do worse than read a bracing report by Dr Heather Cox Richardson posted early this morning. It's dated "3 June 2024."
\Vince S
Thank you, Vincent!
😄
A party of somethingburgers is arriving for help. Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist with a PhD in environmental engineering will become the new president of Mexico. I'm so happy I could shi..
Mexico: Climate. Female winner.
USA: Drill baby drill. Female loser.
Problem Dr Bloxom is that she is a handpicked protege of he current president, and a faux environmentalist.
Read what Heated, the enivronmental news letter, has to say about her: https://heated.world/p/what-exactly-is-a-leftist-climate
She is a fraud and defeated a real environmentalist progressive.
She is not a fraud. The more likely fraud is the link you posted.
Really Heated, an environmentalist is a fraud. You didn't even read it. If you are a progressive and concerned about global warming subscribe to Heated.
Angela Merilee, a physical chemist, was the best thing that ever happened to Germany. I don't know if it was her science or her gender. Probably both.
Whether it was her science, gender or both is an interesting question. I'm inclined to say all three (she+science+gender) are inseparable.
I admire all physical or analytical chemists; especially after having flunked relatively simple organic chemistry in college. I thought my career aspirations had vaporized.
Btw, how did Angela Merilee help Germany?
No, but I am smiling, more like laughing, at your comment. Thanks for the ha ha.
In America we seem to have a symbol for almost everything. No Parking, No entry, no rubbish, recycling, no bikes allowed, radiation. What might be useful in a national symbol to use on social media to indicate pure unadulterated BS!. An easy to use icon we could attach to any social media content that is an out and out lie. A symbol to help identify lies and avoid wasting time and energy reading it. The 1st protects free speech even if the speach is untrue. I don't think it prohibits us from pointing out a lie when we hear or reead one.
I suggest the poop emoji.
Maybe something less gross? We would be seeing it often!
That's what I immediately thought of.
How about the word "Truth" inside of a red circle with slash.
https://www.clker.com/clipart-transparent-red-no-circle.html
The problem is reality,your reality is not my reality.The human race will have that problem forever,they see what they want to see and they hear what they want to hear.
Here is a simple test.I spent 5 minutes on the internet last night,using skills I have acquired during 50% of my working life,after leaving a trade and studying..A company I have shares in has a US equivalent, I decided to check which company had performed best .The US will always win simply because of that huge population/market.The US company was Home Depot.
5 minutes on the investor section on their web siteThe site is not the same as I usually find so it took a bit longer,3 minutes would probably do if people know how that layout works.Company price history,how it started,and first listing so the 4 or 5 owners that started their small company could expand it They raised $4 million in ,I forget,I should have made a note of it.
The first share split was in January 1982. 2 for 1. The share price prior to split was $21. You needed to buy 2 shares because the next split was 5 for 4.They continued to have odd splits such as 4 for 3,then 3 for 2..The last split they had was Dec 1999.The share price was $102 and the split was 3 for 2.
Working it out that original spend of $42 for two shares had grown to ~ 1250 shares .You'll need to find out the share price today perhaps 1250 X 350,we'll call it $340K shall we..Without reinvesting dividends.Millions of $$$ with dividends reinvested .
They don't pay tax.They vote for Trump.They screw their employees They are greedy,they should not be allowed to have that much "money".They only care about making money.The govt should make them pay more tax."They" are to blame for every problem you could ever make up.
Which one of them gets the bullshit tick?
Which one of them is real? Which of them is your version of reality.? Which one of them agrees with what you want to see and hear?
Not that it is relevant but Home Depot was founded by a Catholic and a Jews.
Just as I finish that a 30 second report on the business part of the news.
Guzman y Gomez.,Mexican food Exactly what I cannot find in my city. Two New Yorkers,emigrated to Australia by the look of it.Opened a fast food restaurant,opened more as the company grew and employed more people. Kept on expanding and employing more people..Opened in Singapore,Japan,then back "home" in the USA..
Payout time and time to share that wealth amongst more people.They are raising A$2.5 billion in an IPO.Everybody will get the chance to buy them.The float will probably be scaled back,so you will need to buy on market They may be next McDonald's,they may go badly and fade away and die.
There ends any plans to try to improve your ( plural) life.Google their web page while the story is just starting.
What is reality?
I made an error,or the guy on the news made an error.Probably my error not paying attention
They are raising ~ A$242.5 million . 11.1 million shares @$22 each This values the company at $2.5 billion..That float will be sorting out now and successful applications will be receiving the news of how many shares they will get,and when the refund money will go into their bank account.
A new company appears on the stock exchange on 20 june
A not very interesting little personal story that I struggle to find releevant to the subject being discussed. Whatever motivated you to write it?
The reality. If you gamble, the house always wins.
Hope you're bonded.
A red circle with a slash sinister (upper left to lower right) over a pile of manure.
When I think of today’s republicans, I think of 2 paintings: The Scream, by Dutch painter Edvard Munch, and Vision of Hell, by Hieronymous Bosch. Both give a wrench to my gut, drawing feelings of terror, isolation, sheer horror. I am no art historian but I have to think these paintings came from very disturbed minds, hence my vision of republicans. Warped and broken, creating their own horrific realities and drawing others in,in order to give themselves credence. Imagine if they saw the best in us, recognized hope and possibilities, instead of decadence and damnation. Just imagine if they weren’t broken and warped what we as a nation could accomplish.
I never associated republicans with The Scream before. But it's a perfect analogy! LMAO
As we talk misinformation here, thought you should know Munch was Norwegian.
Thank you, my mistake.
I am absolutely amazed at what's happening to Hunter Biden. If it were anyone else, NRA and its Republican friends would be up in arms...literally...and would do anything and everything possible to get the charges dropped.
And since not many are speaking out about this, people believe that the Bidens are corrupt. I know it feels childish, but why aren't the Democrats in Congress going after and shaming Trump kids in public for what they've done?
The average American now-a-days is so gullible that he will believe anything he sees on TV/YouTube/TikTok/etc. Democrats need to talk at the level that people understand and flood the airwaves with attacks going after the Trump empire. This is not the time to be the grownup. Our future is at stake.
If Biden is weaponizing the DOJ he sucks at it
I wonder who is going to do that first? 🤔 it'll be dangerous, most likely.
To be perfectly honest, I am tired! I will keep working hard but everyday I see more and more propaganda and lies being brought to the American people by republicans who should know better but just seem not to care. I know the days are gone when candidates refuse to campaign on ways they will work to fix the real, actual problems we face. Instead, we are left with screamers and those refusing to work with the other party actually saying it would be a cold day in hell before they worked with a Democrat!! Apparently, the dumbing down of average Americans began earlier than I thought and they obviously want an authoritarian regime rather than Democracy! I know this will get worse closer to the election but I cannot help but think had the republican party made a clean break with trump before he came down that escalator, we wouldn't be having this ridiculous chaos!! My friends are getting tired. They are worn out trying to fight against such an onslaught of lies. Vote Blue, America!!
The problem is not the GOP refusing to work with the Democrats. The problem is the Democrats who still cling to the bipartisanship fantasy that working with the GOP is the path to improving the lives of Americans, and meaningfully addressing the problems we face.
It isn’t.
As usual, the MAGA wing has reversed FDR's comforting words to depression America: They say "You have nothing but fear, and fear is all." They're following the usual dictator's playbook using division to weaken public oversight, and divert distrust of big business to the bogeyman of big government. Attacks on educational content are part of the overall strategy to overwhelm the truth of history and equality with a false, self-justifying narrative. That's why the next election cycle has to hit at all levels of elected office, to replace the dog-whistle fear mongers with real public servants. I hope we can do it.
........ in the meantime, they are flooding and dominating the media with their nothing burgers and the media love to amplify them without any serious pushback because it attracts clicks and advertisements., thus $$$ for individuals and shareholders. They sure seem ahead in the propaganda war. We must make sure most Americans will see through them by exposing them as such, much louder than they produce them.......
There are no guardrails on the 4th estate. 'Everything that's fit to print'. "Truth in advertising". A fairness doctrine to keep the misinformation and disinformation out of media.
Abandoning the “fairness doctrine” was the first signal of their assault on creating an America with no concern for actual truth. Thank you republicans, I feel bad you don’t get the credit you so richly deserve for that move.
Hans ; Yes, it would be interesting to see a kind of "nothingburger bloopers" show. Exposing the real crap, and those who peddle it.
As long as the media continues to propagate the lies you mentioned, some people will believe those lies. There is no reasoning with people who watch faux news, for they believe what they hear and see on faux news. Get rid of faux news and perhaps people will wake up and realize they have been lied to. Until then, good luck trying to convince people the world is not flat and trump is not the second coming of Jesus.
Indeed a great deal of attention is wasted on "nothingburgers" at an opportunity cost to paying attention to existential threats. While not enough attention is being made of the past president's predilection for false hyperbole and fascist tendencies. Another underlying pattern is a tendency toward anarchic moves being encouraged by the likes of Bannon and rich backers of the idea that we need to tear down big government. Anarchy is the condition when people want to tear down existing institutions and norms, without having any plan for what to replace them with. It is predicated on the belief that something will emerge from the ruins that will be better, yet it defies everything we know about the need for institution and trust building that take years to enact.
BTW, WHY isn’t BANNON , who has been convicted, in JAIL??
Either Richardson or the other lawyer substack writer clarified that Bannon has a Trump appointed Judge allowing him to run free and poison the airwaves. Extremely unconventional , just like the horrid Florida grifter female judge whose husband had some kind of relationship to trumptys businesses. CROOKS> Infiltrated US Court systems with corruption . Thank you trumpty, Leo Leonard the horror, and the gang. "LOOK EM UP! LOOK EM UP!< LOCK EM UP!!!!" is what we need to call out for the real, nor projected crooks... LOCK EM UP!!!!
Presidential pardon? When did that become a get out of jail free card for a complicit traitor of a "president?!
Except Bannon et al know what they want to replace it with: a repressive fascist police state
Speaking of existential crises; climate change and rising sea water temperatures are more important to me than anything. To hell with Trump.
Yes Az. For those who may not know, AMOC is the "Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation". What is going on there is an unsolved problem.
Note that I said AMOC is an "unsolved" problem, not an "unknown" problem. FWIW
The link you sent . . . https://tos.org/oceanography/
is a real eye-opener that should be widely disseminated. I plan to take a deep dive into that awesome web site and hope others will too.
Thank you for awakening me to my "previously-unknown naivete" on this important topic. I have lots of reading to do, thanks to you.
“Right-wing House Republicans are railing against government spending…The biggest reason America’s debt is soaring is George W. Bush’s and Donald Trump’s huge tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy and big corporations…”
One of the biggest problems with this discussion is that Democrats fail to characterize tax cuts for the rich and corporations as just another form of spending, because they both deplete government coffers of the money needed to operate and provide services for average Americans. Where the two differ is that actual spending benefits all levels of society in very tangible ways, whereas with tax cuts, 99.9 of Americans have little if anything to show for it.