Friday Stuff

(By the way, posting for next week is really "up in tha air"...just don't know yet.)

Jen Psaki discusses the Gropenfuhrer’s agenda being thwarted by losses in court, including deploying ICE to the streets of LA (a pretty thorough rundown...”so much winning,” you might say)...Psaki speaks with Norm Eisen of the Democracy Defenders Fund and Skye Perriman of Democracy Forward...discussion touches on the release of the Epstein files (and yeah, #47 is going to try and hide as much as he can on that of course)...and Eisen is right about using “shock and awe with the rule of law” to try and hold our Cretin-In-Chief and his various lickspittles accountable...



...and Robert Reich tells us about Cantaloupe Capone abusing his pardon power and shaking down everybody who can pony up and throw some dough his way...and oh yeah, Bronzer Beelzebub has also erased about $1.3 billion in fines and restitution these jackals were due to pay in the process, as Reich tells us...so much of this foul, fetid corruption somehow ties back to Ed Martin, it should be noted...

via GIPHY

...and Caleb Cunningham and Farron Cousins tell us that “Alligator Alcatraz” was apparently nothing but a $250 million waste of money for the state of Flori-DUUH!...another shining moment for Ron #DeathSantis...I didn’t know that FEMA funds went into this cruel madness, but as Cousins says, the next time a hurricane inevitably hits, there won’t be as much dough to help with rescue and recovery (and I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this ridiculous update)...



...and Sam Black of More Perfect Union tells us about the secret deals struck by Google, Meta and other competitors in the AI space to build data centers, agreements reached with utility companies out of sight from any public accountability, which explains why our electric bills are going up...and it looks like Ashburn, VA is the spot where a lot of these places are getting built...the report tells us that tech companies want to spend about $475 billion on data centers in this year alone, with this PJM outfit leading the pack as far as utilities go, passing off the cost to consumers as supply charges (though other utilities are guilty besides PJM)...and yeah, I don’t think it takes a genius to see that the data center is going to underpay for their energy costs and leave it up to the energy provider to gouge their residential customers to cover the difference...privatizing the profit and socializing the risk as usual (and it looks like Maryland is trying to get this situation under control, to their credit)...so along comes this astroturf outfit called the Data Center Coalition to hoodwink people into letting our corpocracy run rampant as usual and defeat bills to rein in these corporate behemoths...and for the wingnut take on this story, I offer the following...



..and David Doel tells us about Graham Platner really killing it at an appearance in Maine as part of Bernie Sanders’s “Fight Oligarchy” tour...good point by Doel to mention the growth of “unaffiliated” voters to one political party, not just in Maine but across the country I’m sure, meaning that NOTHING is guaranteed for next year...I watch this clip and I realize once more just how badly the Dems blew it last year by giving that genocidal criminal “Bibi” every damn thing he wanted (and as I’ve said before, we’re looong past the point of saying “yeah, well, who was responsible for October 7th?,” wrong as it was to kill, attack and capture Israeli civilians)...Dems absolutely hemorrhaged Gen Z male voters in particular last year because they offered them virtually nothing, but Platner is EXACTLY the type of candidate who can help win them back (and yeah, I know they’re bailing on #47, but again, Dems have to actually win these people...slightly NSFW/H at the very end)...



...and in keeping with the effort to find some levity in the midst of this madness, Jesse Welles gives us the “Ballad of Big Balls” (probably behind the news cycle on this again - apologies)...



...and leave it to Mr. Newberger to make comedy lemonade out of lemons, you might say...



...and happy 80th birthday to Al Stewart.

Thursday Stuff

Emma Vigeland and the crew of The Majority Report let us know that “MAGA Mike” Johnson can’t explain why Louisiana isn’t getting the “Trump national guard” treatment, with Gavin Newsom pointing out that Johnson’s state has a higher crime rate than Newsom’s, and of course Johnson blames the “Soros-funded, Democrat DA” in Shreveport, a charge which caught the state’s Repug Governor Jeff Landry off guard, among others, with Landry supporting the DA in question as noted here...and of course, when Johnson says “urban area,” that’s code for “OMIGOD we have to keep the ‘blahs’ and the Hispanics and the single mothers raising kids in their place!”...and good job by Emma IMO for calling out John Berman’s follow up question which is basically taking for granted that calling out the freaking national guard to our cities is OK in the first place (and maybe the stats in Philly under Larry Krasner having to do with violent crime are positive, but Krasner has made some big mistakes also IMO, including not seeking the death penalty for the perp accused in the shooting of Ofc. Christopher Fitzgerald - here).

And oh yeah, one of the quickest Google searches of my life yielded the following...

Here's the clip from The Majority Report...



...and Brian Tyler Cohen discusses the recent exchange between Our Ochre Abomination and a White House reporter about the Epstein files...in a weird way I’ll admit, I’m a little OK with Cheetoh Hitler continuing to lie over and over about how well this country is supposedly doing, because that means that the butt-whipping he’ll eventually get will be one he’ll likely never forget...yeah, I get it that the red states are doing their best to rig next year’s election, but if the results of special elections so far are any indication, they’re going to have to come up with a hell of a lot more than that to hang onto power...such a gaggle of Repug idiots in this clip including Comer, who probably can’t get through a day without uttering the words “Biden” and “scandal” in the same sentence repeatedly (NSFW/H)...



...and I know this is a little behind the media cycle here, but I wanted to get to this clip of John Iadarola and Elliott Morgan of The Damage Report addressing the “Is Trump Dead?” rumors...and no, I’m not going to go on the record wishing he would take the dirt nap, because then it becomes “Oh, you mean lib! How typical of you to want that for our commander in chief!”...so no, I’m not going to give the wingnuts an opportunity for BS with a self-inflicted wound like that...and I don’t have a clue as to what’s going on with the stuff thrown out of the White House window – hard to keep up with all of the ways that Our Ochre Abomination has utterly debased everything to do with being *preznit...story more or less ends at about 5:42, with the discussion turning next to which woeful offspring from Our Treasonous Orange Pustule would inherit the resolute desk, with apparently Eric saying he’d run depending on how badly his father screwed up – yeah, we’re talking about a real MENSA candidate here (#sarcasm)...I’ll have to catch up on the show “Succession” to truly get the reference here...yeah, between Uday and Qusay versus Couch Boy for ’28, NONE of these options are good for the health of our nation as Morgan says...

...and Sam Stein and Jonathan Cohn of The Bulwark bring us the utterly ridiculous story of Flori-DUUH! getting rid of vaccine mandates (here)...yeah, “Dr.” Joseph (“Disdain and Slavery”) Ladapo is totally nutty, which I’m sure we knew already...yes, this poses a threat to anyone who is immune compromised as discussed (kids AND adults), as well as the fact that it takes longer for some kids to build up immunity than others; also, vaccines can help fight off other infections that may permutate from measles or whooping cough or other viruses...can’t think of a word to describe how idiotic it is for us to have these cures at our disposal and not using them when others in poorer nations don’t have access to these therapies but would dearly want that...

...and sorry I'm a little late with this also, but RIP Graham Greene...



...and I'm not sure about the "headphones thicker than blood" part, but the rest of this newer tune nails it as far as I'm concerned.

Wednesday Stuff

Glenn Kirschner of Justice Matters informs us that, apparently, Judge Winebox isn’t doing such a bang-up job as a D.C. prosecutor, with her charges of felony assault being tossed in two cases, so it looks like she’s trying to prosecute misdemeanor charges instead since that’s apparently the only avenue for prosecution she has left...and “a 20-person raid” to arrest Sean Charles Dunn, the D.C. “sandwich thrower”?? Too absurd to call this farcical, though I guess that word fits...glad to hear Kirschner compare the cases of Dunn and Sidney Reid to what happened with the 1/6 insurrectionists, since I think that applies...



...and Yasmin Khan of Rebel HQ tells us about a Texas Repug state rep who authored a “pro-life” bill (Giovanni Capriglione) who also has had an affair with a former exotic dancer (Alex Grace) that was secret at one time, though not any more...and oh yeah, this guy Capriglione has paid for his mistress to have “several” abortions according to her...I give Grace credit for her courage in coming forward like this, along with describing her own role in the situation the way she did, warts and all you might say...I agree with Khan; the hypocrisy on the part of Capriglione is the point here, but at least he’s not seeking re-election, so there’s that...I realize it’s Grace’s choice if she wants to appear on some right wing nutter podcast, but as long as she did, I’m not sure what kind of “proof” she’s supposed to provide; is she supposed to present phone records? “Mash” notes? The results of an ob-gyn exam or something?...



...and Jesse Dollemore presents a clip of CA governor Gavin Newsom quite correctly sounding the alarm about Pumpkin Pol Pot, saying that foreign leaders are laughing at #47 behind his back, and as Jesse says, that means they’re laughing at us also...the first clip with Newsom is good, but he sure nails it in the second clip concerning the threat that Our Treasonous Orange Pustule truly poses, and even more so in the third excerpt...



...and The Good Liars visited Trump Tower for a Labor Day protest – nice to see some folks putting in the effort to make a difference...and yeah, I guess Mango Mussolini hasn’t shed his mortal coil, if you will, but I still think this guy has serious health issues that this regime is typically trying to hide...



...and I now give you the latest installment of “This Day In Doomsy History” from 9/3/20; never forget that using the military to patrol our cities is an extension of the behavior from the same guy responsible for this...



...and happy 80th birthday to George Biondo of Steppenwolf.

Tuesday Stuff

I haven’t checked in with Trae Crowder for a while, not for any particular reason, I should add – he tells us all about the typical response from the wingnut bottom feeders to the most recent gun carnage in this country, this time in Minnesota...and apparently, since the shooter was reportedly “trans” (here), well then, I guess that automatically absolves all of the other non-trans gun nuts of their murderous, destructive acts, huh (shaking my head...NSFW/H)...



...and Rachel Maddow tells us about Our Ochre Abomination’s degradation of the military and law enforcement; looks like a “new mission” indeed, with the termination of a whole bunch of senior military and national security officials...”de-professionalizing” law enforcement and the military for sure (hat type to Kyle Kulinski for mentioning this clip)...I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it; every damn thing 47 does makes us weaker and helps Vlad The Butcher...”watch what he does, not what he says” indeed...



...and Jesse Dollemore, in Idaho, discusses white supremacy, and he’s definitely in a location for that sadly...clip tells us how Bronzer Beelzebub wants to put forward revisionist history, particularly when it comes to the Civil War, with the portrait of General Robert E. Lee being hung once more at West Point, and doing so while trying to erase the contributions of people of color...and boy, is this Joe Borelli character on CNN ever a knucklehead...and oh yeah, when it comes to descendants of the confederacy, I give you this (briefly NSFW/H)...



...and Brittany Page gives us the story of the CDC director who supported Cantaloupe Capone saying she was forced out of her job by “Bobby Brainworms,” and apparently it’s an open question as to whether or not he can do that...and oh yeah, the CDC stopped monitoring our food supply for six pathogens, but sssshhh– don’t tell anyone...I didn’t know about the 750 CDC employees who signed a letter saying that RFK, Jr. was complicit in dismantling our public health infrastructure; I mean, yeah, we knew that tragically, but what guts by the employees to do that...glad she goes after Repug U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor who YOU WOULD THINK would know better than to move along Jr.’s HHS nomination...and yep, if you keep digging through the toxic garbage people in this ruinous administration, you will eventually come to Peter Thiel, or at least a connection to Thiel (more here)...



...and oh look, Dementia Donnie apparently appeared for the first time in days as noted here...if this had been #47’s predecessor, our corporate media would have lost their collective sh*t and had screaming banner headlines for days...kind of brings to mind this number from Mr. Newberger...



...and kudos to Neil Young for continuing to fight the good fight (here)

Monday Stuff

Here is a clip reminding us of the importance of today's holiday, as well as of the labor movement overall (more here , here, here, here, and a true relic is here...and as noted here, the beat goes on, you might say)…



...also, this story tells us about the Chicago Labor Day March, with the theme of workers over billionaires (rallying at Haymarket, which is a storied location in the history of organized labor, as noted in the first video)...



...and this report from CBS Sunday Morning tells us about prison labor and how those incarcerated can earn either points to be redeemed at a prison commissary or actual dough, in the case of the “Prison Blues” brand of jeans, which are apparently popular in Japan...I’m sure it won’t be surprising to learn which states don’t both to comp inmates in any form for their work...I have to admit that I didn’t know how wide-ranging prison work really was across diverse industries...also important to note that using incarcerated workers drives down wages for non-incarcerated workers, which is probably the biggest benefit for employers (and I say that through clenched teeth)...I knew that prison labor was exempted when slavery was outlawed by the 13th Amendment...



...and this story tells us about a California grower who wants to replace workers with robots amidst a labor shortage (with farmers taking a hit from Mango Mussolini’s cruel and ridiculous immigration raids)...this story poses a bit of a thorny question I realize; on the one hand, you have the threat of robotics driving down wages, but on the other hand, you have the threat of the affected crops not getting picked at all, potentially shuttering businesses and driving up food prices...there must be a balance that can be struck somewhere, though I’ll admit that I don’t know how or where...



...and Robert Reich tells us about 5 ways to strengthen labor and the middle class of this country...video is 12 years old, but it still has some good points about leveling the playing field, you might say, for workers...and I’m pretty sure the minimum wage adjusted for productivity and inflation is around $15 an hour now (what the federal minimum wage should be, I mean)...good idea about increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit also (and let's not forget this, by the way)...



Update 9/2/24: Well said.

Update: For Bluesky folks, I offer this.

...and here is a tune for the holiday.