Thursday Stuff

Robert Reich gives us examples of “greedflation,” namely concerning Coke and Pepsi, though corporate consolidation and price fixing affects just about every area of our lives as noted here (and with that in mind, kudos to Dem U.S. Senator Bob Casey of our beloved commonwealth of PA for this – to reward good behavior, click here...and yes, I know about this - I'm more concerned about trends than "sky is falling" hysteria given one news report)...



Update: More here.

...and Sam and Emma of The Majority Report bring us a clip of Jon Stewart of The Daily Show interviewing Lina Khan, chair of Biden’s FTC, about Apple and AI consolidation (background on the lawsuit against Apple is here – maybe “No Malarkey Joe” isn’t giving us lefties everything on our wish list, but give him credit for the good work he’s doing, going against rapacious corporate bad actors of the “one percent”)...



...and turning once more to Arizona and the recent abortion-related atrocity, Chris Hayes gives us a pretty thorough rehashing of Tangerine Palpatine’s flip-flopping on this issue as well as a comprehensive look at all the ways Republicans, at every level of government, can strip women of their bodily autonomy...just up to us to redouble our efforts to punish these troglodytes where we can in the November elections...



...and this TYT clip covers a lot of the same ground, but it does manage to bring some more detail, in particular about the 1864 decision basically outlawing abortion that was concocted before Arizona was even a state...I think Ana’s presentation is spot-on, and Cenk is right that the policy is the issue, though I’m a little baffled as to why he’s treating that state’s Philistines in black robes with kid gloves the way he is...Cenk may be right that Biden is a winner out of this, but hopefully Ruben Gallego is too...I’m not sure where Ana is coming from with the “Joe Biden performing poorly in swing states” stuff – yeah, he has work to do, but I’d still rather be where he is than Bronzer Beelzebub...and of course, it wouldn’t be TYT without a pointless slam at “corporate Democrats”...there’s a time and a place for that, but NOT on this issue...



Update 4/12/24: Yeah, I would agree with this.

...and I should probably pay a little more attention to Jeff Waldorf than I have previously, particularly given this clip where he discusses the Biden EPA trying to limit “forever” PFAS chemicals in our drinking water...and I know you’ll be absolutely shocked (well, not really I guess) to find out that the EPA under Our Treasonous Orange Pestilence tried to rig it so companies wouldn’t have to report levels of PFAS chemicals, even under the Biden Administration (since some of these nematodes from #45 had burrowed their way into government jobs and could still do their dirty work, apparently...and it looks like the Trumpist culprits here are Mark Hartman and Nancy Beck)...



Update 4/21/24: More here.

...and David Pakman interviews Adrienne Shropshire, Executive Director of BlackPAC, a left-leaning political action committee focused on mobilizing and engaging with African American voters (refuting this “Oh boy, African Americans are gravitating towards Trump” BS...yes, some will vote for him of course, but the data points don’t back that up the claim of some kind of Trumpist wave as of now, and hopefully it will stay that way...we’ll see if the “independent” thing turns into a trend...I’m glad the video gets to the “nuts and bolts” of what Biden has done as president for African Americans vs. his ruinous predecessor, but GOD FREAKING ALMIGHTY, ARE THE DEMS EVER GOING TO GET THEIR DAMN ACT TOGETHER ON MESSAGING THE GOOD STUFF THEY’VE DONE, INCLUDING #46??!!)



...and maybe I shouldn’t include this clip right after the Pakman interview, but I guess this is as good a place as any...what a shame that O.J. Simpson never found the “real killer” (#sarcasm again) of former wife Nicole Brown and her boyfriend Ron Goldman...I could probably do a whole post on the legal circus surrounding Simpson’s criminal trial, as well as the pop culture references surrounding the running back, TV pitchman and actor of sorts, but let me just say this...I won’t mention my employer at the time the criminal trial verdict was handed down, but I’ll simply say that two of my white female co-workers told me they needed to see me in a conference room right away, and of course, being particularly clueless, I had no idea of what was going on...when I got there and closed the door, they told me they were boiling with rage over the verdict but believed they couldn’t say anything in our shared cubicle space because, if an African American co-worker overheard, the two women believed their co-worker(s) would have ratted them out to HR and they couldn’t take the chance...not trying to attack women or African Americans, but I’m just talking about a slice of reality in corporate America...



...and as a bit of a “tribute” to the guy who was found to be liable in the civil trial brought by the Goldman family, I’m including this song which alludes to a truly infamous courtroom moment in the Simpson criminal trial.