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Politics 2022
12/27/22
Glenn Greenwald: The FBI's Exposed Propaganda Partnership With Big Tech - Synopsis: Before WWII there was no agency doing any sort of surveillance of foreign countries or US citizens other than rudimentary efforts by the FBI under Hoover.
National Security Act, 1947, signed by Truman, established the CIA.
Eisenhower appointed Allen Dulles as Director. His brother John Foster Dulles served as Secretary of State. Eisenhower effectively allowed Allen to do as he pleased. The CIA became highly secretive and effectively served as a shadow government during that time. It was the secrecy even from the president that led to...
Eisenhower's farewell address, 1/17/61, military-industrial complex.
JFK fired Dulles in 1961 as a result of the Bay of Pigs.
The CIA and NSA continued to grow in power and operated with increasing secrecy until the Church Committee investigation in 1975 which was a direct result of the break-in of the DNC (6/17/72) and Nixon's resignation (8/9/74). The two ringleaders of the 'plumbers' were Howard Hunt (CIA) and G. Gordon Libby (FBI).
12/23/22
MSN: AOC Votes No on $1.7B Omnibus Bill and Common Dreams - $855 B welfare for defense contractors, increased funding for ICE and DHS
12/21/22
Reuters: UN Council Demands End to Burmese Government's Violence
12/13/22
Ms: Focusing on 'Exceptions' Misses the True Harm of Abortion Bans
12/19/22
NPR: In the Southeast, Power Company Money Flows to News Sites That Attack Their Critics
12/8/22
Yale Books: Thomas Piketty: Time for Socialism
12/6/22
NYTimes: US Court Dismisses Suit Against Saudi Ruler in Khashoggi Killing - ..."following Biden Administration guidance."
11/28/22
Guardian: 'Publishing is not a Crime.' Media Groups Urge US to Drop Julian Assange Charges
11/17/22
NYTimes: The Far Right Rises in Israel
11/16/22
New Yorker: A Rare Win in the Fight Against Dark Money - From the article: "The measure is designed to expose the funders of the dark-money front groups that have proliferated since the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, in 2010. Since then, there has been an explosion of anonymized campaign spending by a tiny but extraordinarily wealthy group of donors, including in this year’s races."
"As Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of the nonpartisan group Open Secrets, recently told the Times, “We’ve broken records with our broken records.” Her organization estimated that total spending in the 2021 and 2022 midterm races would reach $16.7 billion, easily surpassing the previous midterm record of fourteen billion dollars, set in 2018. More than fifteen per cent of the total spent on federal races, according to the Times, has been contributed by billionaires, of whom there are fewer than eight hundred nationwide. Because contributions are often transferred from one shell group to another before reaching the group that actually spends the money, the original donors often remain untraceable. The system has proved to be a bonanza for self-serving, and critics say corrupt, private interests."
AZ Central: No One Liked Trump's Speech Announcing a 2024 Presidential Run. Not Even Trump - Hilarious!
11/15/22
Guardian: Israel Will Not Cooperate With FBI Inquiry Into Killing of American-Palestinian Journalist
AJC: Fulton Co. Judge Strikes Down Georgia's Repressive Abortion Law - According to Guttmacher's rating system, GA goes from a "Most Repressive" state to just a "Repressive" state. Praise the Lord!!!
New Yorker: Kari Lake Furious After Arizona Awards Her Participation Trophy - "After a state official tried to bestow the trophy on Lake at her campaign headquarters, she snarled at the six-inch plastic figurine and drop-kicked it across the room.
Refusing to concede defeat, Lake instead lashed out at the woman who had just vanquished her. “Katie Hobbs is totally unqualified to lead Arizona into the nineteenth century,” she said."
11/10/22
Open Secrets: Spend Big, Win Big: 96% of US House Races Won by the Biggest Spender
11/4/22
Open Secrets: Outside Spending on 2022 Federal Midterm Elections Tops $2 Billion - "Since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC in 2010 paved the way for super PACs to raise unlimited cash from corporations, unions and individuals, outside spending has soared. Super PACs may spend unlimited amounts on mailers, TV and radio ads, peer-to-peer texting and other independent expenditures for or against a candidate"
10/27/22
New Yorker: Herschel Walker Calls It Unfair to Expect a Man to Remember Every Abortion He Has Ever Paid For - “There’s no way a man could remember every single solitary abortion unless he kept an abortion journal, and I don’t know anyone who does that,” Walker said, before aides grabbed him and ushered him away from the microphone.
10/23/22
Common Dreams: Dark Money Groups Have Pumped $1 Billion Into GOP Effort to Retake Senate - From the article: "Nearly 90% of the money spent on pro-Republican television ads this midterm cycle has been from dark money groups, according to NPR's analysis of ad data. By comparison, 55% of spending on ads boosting Democrats has come from dark money organizations, which have exploded in number and influence since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision." Here is NPR's study, and the OpenSecrets report.
Per the NPR study: "If it weren't for these outside groups, Republican candidates would be swamped on the airwaves."
10/17/22
CNN: New UK Finance Minister Rips Up Truss' Economic Plan in Stunning Policy Reversal
10/7/22
Rolling Stone: Herschel Walker Asked Girlfriend to Have Second Abortion
10/2/22
Guardian: Capitol Attack Officer Fanone Hits Out at "Weasel" McCarthy in Startling Interview
9/29/22
Business Insider: List of Trump Officials Who Have or Will Testify Against Him
9/26/22
NYTimes: What's Behind the Steep Decline in Child Poverty
9/24/22
NYTimes: Solo Souless Saboteurs - "America has its own history of lying itself into wars, in Vietnam and Iraq, for example, and then prolonging the killing of young soldiers as a sop to male politicians’ egos. Now it’s Russia’s turn."
9/21/22
Guardian: 'It's Going to Explode': Young Palestinians Look to the Gun Amid Israeli Offensive
New Yorker: Bill McKibben: Watching Trump Embrace QAnon From the Historical Jewish Quarter of Krakow - "...we can be lulled into believing that truly terrible things won’t happen because they haven’t quite happened, and then they do."
9/20/22
NYTimes: Video Shows Trump Allies Handling Georgia Voting Equipment - Maggot heads doing exactly what they accuse everyone else of doing.
9/15/22
Common Dreams: Martha's Vineyard Responds With Compassion After Desantis Dumps Migrants in 'Cruel Stunt' - "We are a caring and compassionate community and will not resort to the depravity of the extremist Republicans who think dumping people off like garbage is deserving of a victory lap," said local organizers.
NYTimes: Right After Primary Win, Bolduc Reverses Support for Election Lies - "Like a driver making a screeching U-turn, Don Bolduc, the Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, pivoted on Thursday from his primary race to the general election, saying he had “come to the conclusion” that the 2020 presidential election “was not stolen,” after he had spent more than a year claiming it was.
“I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I’ve spent the past couple weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party, and I have come to the conclusion — and I want to be definitive on this — the election was not stolen,” Mr. Bolduc said in an interview on Fox News."
9/13/22
NYTimes: At Least a Fifth of Congress Routinely Trade Stocks of Companies Regulated by Committees on Which They Sit - Nothing illegal here.
9/11/22
MoJo: New York City's Hasidic Schools Demonstrate the Folly of State-Funded Religious Education
9/9/22
Twitter: AOC Shows How Wrong Our Campaign Finance Laws Are - Essentially everything she is pointing out is a result of Citizens United. The original video is Here.
9/7/22
NYTimes: In Voter Fraud, Penalties Often Depend on Who's Voting - Charges for voter fraud are filed on average 1.5 people per state per year.
9/5/22
White House: Biden Celebrates Labor Day and the Dignity of American Workers - Great speech. Just wish he had actually meant it.
9/4/22
Guardian: Leonard Leo: The Secretive Rightwinger Using Billions to Reshape America - He's doing it mostly with dark money, which would be illegal if it weren't for Citizens United.
9/3/22
Guardian: Trump in Increasing Legal Peril One Month After Mar-a-Lago Search
9/2/22
Guardian: A White Nationalist Pyramid Scheme: How Patriot Front Recruits Young Members - The real 'grooming.'
8/31/22
Guardian: New Mexico to Build Abortion Clinic on Texas Border
8/26/22
Guardian: Leaked Video Shows Amy Coney Barrett's Secretive Faith Group Drove Women to Tears
8/16/22
New Yorker: Marjorie Taylor Greene's Status as Most Ignorant Person in Congress At Stake in Alaska Election - First she put Lauren Boebert to shame, then she upended Rand Paul, and now Sarah Palin tries a comeback. Ignorance is MTG's brand. She's extremely concerned, as we all should be.
8/14/22
Guardian: GOP Governors Rebuke Party Members' Outrageous Rhetoric
NYTimes: The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score - You are being watched.
8/13/22
NYTimes: As Right-Wing Rhetoric Escalates, So Do Threats and Violence
8/3/22
New Yorker: Kansas Republicans Face Dark Future in State Where Women Have Rights -
8/2/22
NYTimes: 'They're Just Going to Let Me Die?' - Tennessee doctors cancel abortion of a non-viable fetus, putting mother's life in jeopardy.
7/28/22
7/15/22
Common Dreams: From 'Bone Saw' to 'Pariah' to Fist Bumping Buddies; Outrage as Biden Greets Murderous Saudi Prince - Democrat leaders are pure scum.
7/14/22
7/13/22
New Yorker: The Kids Who Lost Parents to Covid
7/12/22
Guardian: Shireen Abu Aqleh: Family of Killed Journalist Denied Meeting With Biden
7/11/22
Guardian: Uber Hired Oligarch-Linked Russian Lobbyist
7/10/22
Iran Enriches to 20% With New Centrifuges at Fortified Site - "Nonproliferation experts warn that’s enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon if Iran chose to pursue it.” What nonproliferations experts? Never identified. The statement is false, aka propaganda.
7/2/22
New Yorker: The Dobbs Decision Has Unleashed Legal Chaos For Doctors and Patients - “I think it’s going to take lots of women dying before we get back to a reasonable place.”
7/1/22
19th News: What Abortion Looks Like in Every State Right Now
SF Chronicle: Democrats Swiftly Raise $80M After Court Overturned Roe
6/27/22
Guardian: AOC Calls for Supreme Court Justices to be Impeached - Joe Biden, the nation is calling you. He refuses to take the call.
6/25/22
Guardian: How to Support Abortion Access in a Post-Roe America
6/24/22
NYTimes: We're Not Going Back to the Time Before Roe. We're Going Somewhere Worse - "We have entered an era not of unsafe abortion but of widespread state surveillance and criminalization—of pregnant women, certainly, but also of doctors and pharmacists and clinic staffers and volunteers and friends and family members, of anyone who comes into meaningful contact with a pregnancy that does not end in a healthy birth.
Those who argue that this decision won’t actually change things much—an instinct you’ll find on both sides of the political divide—are blind to the ways in which state-level anti-abortion crusades have already turned pregnancy into punishment, and the ways in which the situation is poised to become much worse."
"In the states where abortion has been or will soon be banned, any pregnancy loss past an early cutoff can now potentially be investigated as a crime. Search histories, browsing histories, text messages, location data, payment data, information from period-tracking apps—prosecutors can examine all of it if they believe that the loss of a pregnancy may have been deliberate. Even if prosecutors fail to prove that an abortion took place, those who are investigated will be punished by the process, liable for whatever might be found."
Any pregnancy loss can now be investigated as a crime, and any pregnancy can be viewed as a potential crime.
6/20/22
MSN: Supreme Court Rushes to End a Term Like No Other - The justices will skulk off into the night without facing the American public with their pro-corporate and pro-ultra-right wing decisions. The whore court is now completely detached from the American people and the process for which it was originally designed. It no longer represents America.
6/15/22
NPR: Synagogue Lawsuit Alleges Pimp Court Decision on Abortion Violates Religious Freedom
CNN: Herschel Walker's Campaign Confirms He Has Four Children
6/14/22
Guardian: US Defense Contractor in Talks to Take Over NSO Group's Pegasus Hacking Software - See full summarization entry of 7/20/21.
6/13/22
6/12/22
Guardian: US Southern Baptist Churchs Face 'Apocalypse' Over Sexual Abuse Scandal #Evangelical
6/11/22
WSWS: The Significance of 1/6/21 and the Conspirancy to Establish a Trump Dictatorship - And the terrified Democrats run to ask mommy if they should fight back.
6/10/22
Common Dreams: Nation 'On the Precipice of Fascism,' Warns AOC - We now know that Trump's children, staff and his Attorney General were all telling Trump that the Big Steal was 'BS' and a total fabrication, and also that Congressmen who participated in the insurrection were already asking for pardons before the riot even took place.
6/8/22
NYPost: How 'The Janes' Gave 11,000 Illegal Abortions Ahead of Roe v. Wade - "The septic ward was nearly always full." I pray that the Janes may not be needed again.
6/4/22
5/29/22
New Yorker: The Atrocity of American Gun Culture - A recently completed study, and Here, by FSU faculty shows that the philosophy of 'the only way to stop bad people with guns is good people with guns' is absurd and immoral.
“Gun homicide rates in states with more permissive gun carry laws are 11% higher than states with stricter laws. And the probability of mass shootings increased by roughly 53% in states with more gun ownership.”
Note that the Uvalde mass shooting occurred in a state with some of the most permissive gun carry laws in America.
As for people who say we should not ‘politicize’ this tragedy, it’s worth mentioning that “The circumstances that make a mass murder of fourth graders possible are inherently political. The legal access to the weaponry involved is political. The most visible people refusing to see these things as political happen to be elected to political office.”
5/27/22
Common Dreams: 'We Can Do Better' Than Biden's Paltry Student Debt Relief Plan, Says AOC - As a candidate in 2020 Biden proposed to forgive all student debt for those making under $125,000/year. Another broken campaign pledge by Biden.
5/25/22
New Yorker: This is the Country That Gun-Rights Advocates Have Chosen
5/24/22
The Athletic: Steve Kerr on Texas School Shooting: 'When Are We Going to Do Something?'
5/23/22
NYTimes: Biden Pledges to Defend Taiwan if it Faces a Chinese Attack - This is the 4th major bone-headed gaff Biden has committed: last October he stated that he would send the National Guard to fix the supply-chain mess, then in March he stated that Putin 'cannot remain in power’. Also in March, he seemed to imply that US troops might be deployed to Ukraine.
This man is nearly 80 years old and is apparently at least a part-time delusional. He is leading the country for one reason: On 3/25/20, just prior to Super-Tuesday, Bernie had the lead in delegates, fund raising and momentum. Biden was considering withdrawing from the race. On that day Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) endorsed Biden which, along with Democratic party betrayals at the convention, over time effectively ended Bernie’s campaign. The endorsement was based purely on considerations of big donors. The Democratic establishment wanted to keep the money flowing into their pockets, regardless of what Democratic rank-and-file voters wanted.
Every time Biden makes another boneheaded statement or move - such as the catastrophic and completely unplanned abandonment of Afghanistan - we can send a note of thanks to Clyburn. That decision left over 1 million children to starve, and thousands of the people who cooperated with, and were loyal to America to be murdered by the Taliban. It also left over $1Billion worth of American firepower for them to use. The costs of this invasion, war and then abandonment will probably never be fully calculated, and Here.
5/20/22
FAIR: Israel Killed Reporter Abu Akleh-But US Media Disguised the Facts
5/17/22
Guardian: Pro-Israel Lobbying Group AIPAC Pouring Millions Into Defeating Progressive Democrats
5/14/22
Reuters: Abortion-Rights Advocates Fume Over Democrats' Feeble Response to Looming Threat
Common Dreams: 'An Outrage': Sanders, Tlaib, Khanna, Omar Condemn Attack by Israeli Soldiers on Shireen Abu Akleh's Funeral Procession and AlJazeera
5/5/22
Data For Progress: Majority of Voters Believe Roe v Wade Should Stay in Place - That has been true since 1976.
5/4/22
Guardian: Rebecca Solnit: Here's How Americans Can Fight Back to Protect Abortion Rights
NYTimes: Charles Blow: 'A War for the Minds of Our Children' - "...fear, anger and envy", that's what Republicans are peddling. Trump voters are lapping it up.
Socialist Alternative: Why I'm Never Voting for a Democrat Again - From the article: "I’ve seen the unhinged misogynistic psychopaths on the right like Alito and Kavanaugh (whose appointments to the Court the Democrats rolled over for) who want women to be submissive incubators of the next generation of workers to exploit. But then I turn around and see the “good cop” blue politicians say that giving the psychopaths free rein is essential to our thriving democracy. When you show me Republicans and Democrats, I see criminals and their accomplices. Pinning hopes on the Democrats, after watching Biden campaign on codifying Roe and then sitting idly as this attack plays out, feels like a hostage situation."
5/3/22
Vice: Pelosi Campaigns for Anti-Choice Candidate in Texas - ...anti-choice Democrat Henry Cuellar who’s facing off against a progressive, pro-choice challenger.
5/1/22
Guardian: This Will Not Pass: Trump-Biden Blockbuster a Dire Read for Democrats - Example democrat: Cedric Richmond, Biden senior advisor: "AOC and the Squad are f'ing idiots." Before taking the Biden job, Richmond represented the 2nd district of Louisiana, one of the poorest districts in the nation, and one the most impacted by Oil & Gas industry pollution of the air and groundwater. In 2019, the 1,209 oil and gas facilities in his district racked up over 2,000 violations of the CWA. This causes major health issues for the citizens of Richmond's district. That district includes seven of the 10 most polluted geographic regions. It has the 5th highest incidence of cancer in the nation. Meanwhile, Richmond turned a blind eye to Oil & Gas industry violations, while he was getting the majority of his campaign funds from that industry.
This is your typical democratic politician, the type that is running the party, and making boneheaded decisions like nominating Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. In Nov. 2024 they will have given us Trump twice.
4/30/22
Guardian: According to one Republican, Pregnancy From Rape is an 'Opportunity' - per Ohio's Jean Schmidt
4/27/22
NYTimes: Democrats Ask if They Should Hit Back Harder Against the GOP - Don't you just love that headline. The lady who is the subject of this article knows the answer.
Here's the speech.
4/21/22
Yahoo: 'I've Had it With This Guy' GOP Leaders Privately Blasted Trump After Jan. 6
4/15/22
FAIR: There is Plenty of Evidence to Request the Arrest of Trump
4/5/22
Guardian: How Far-Right Figures Cause Chaos in American Politics
3/30/22
NYTimes: Burma Still at War, Civilians Are Driven From City Life to Jungle Insurgency
3/25/22
New Yorker: Legal Scholars Are Shocked by Ginni Thomas's "Stop the Steal" Texts
3/15/22
New Yorker: Sarah Bloom Raskin Withdraws Her Nomination to the Federal Reserve Board - The fossil fuel industry has spoken.
3/11/22
NYTimes: Texas Supreme Court Shuts Down Final Challenge to Abortion Law - Today marks the day. After 50 years, Roe v Wade is now dead. Women no longer have control over their own health care or their own bodies. Less then 30% of Americans want Roe v Wade overturned, but now it is basically done. What is it going to take?
New Yorker: The Weakness of the Despot - "An expert on Stalin discusses Putin, Russia and the West."
AJC: Herschel Walker's Business Records Reveal Creditor Lawsuits, Exaggerated Claims
3/9/22
CBS News: Congress Passes Bill to Overhaul Postal Service
3/2/22
NYTimes: Open Letter to President Biden From a Dispirited Black Voter
2/23/22
Democracy-NOW: “Pick Up the Pen Joe” - Another campaign promise broken.
2/22/22
NYTimes: The Long Crusade of Clarence and Ginni Thomas - Also see the New Yorker expose of Ginni T's various conflicts of interest.
2/21/22
Guardian: 'The Police Don't Care': Gun Violence Engulf's Israel's Arab Community
2/17/22
FAIR: Trump Donor John Malone Could Soon be Calling the Shots at CNN
2/14/22
Guardian: Congressman Echoes Trump Claim that Clinton Aides Deserve to Die
2/11/22
Intercept: Elon Musk Reveals Shocking Ignorance About Social Security
2/9/22
American Prospect: Congress Proposes $500 Million for Negative News Coverage (propaganda) of China
2/8/22
NYTimes: Justice Dept. Seizes $3.6 Billion in Bitcoin and Arrests Married Couple - This flies in the face of two claims that bitcoiners like to make:
1) Bitcoin is supposed to have no need for regulation or government rules. Yet here comes the government recovering losses for investors, because they have lost their money and they squeal in pain calling for mommy to come fix it. In the end they need the nanny-state that conservatives complain about.
2) Advocates of bitcoin have repeatedly said that there are so many checks and balances in their blockchain system that is it completely unhackable. But now we have an almost $4 Billion hack.
Anything on the web is hackable.
Reuters: FBI Probes pre-Capitol Riot Meeting of Far-Right Groups
2/7/22
NYTimes: Bill McKibben: Older and Fighting for America
2/6/22
NYTimes: Biden's 'Friend' is the Enemy - No, Biden and the two party system are the enemy.
1/27/22
Socialist Alternative: A Year In, Working People No Better Off Under Biden
1/23/22
UK Independent: A Promised Show of Strength for the Anti-Vaccine Movement Was Precisely the Opposite - 20,000 was the number of anti-vaxxers that were supposed to show up today, but many fewer were present. However 20,000 is about the number of them that now die everyday. If they keep this up, they'll all be gone in no time.
UK Independent: Bernie Sanders Calls Arizona Democrats’ Censure of Kyrsten Sinema ‘Exactly Right’
1/22/22
Guardian: 'House of Trump is Crumbling': Why His Legal Net is Crumbling
1/21/22
New Yorker: Is Ginni Thomas a Threat to the Supreme Court?
1/14/22
1/12/22
NYTimes: Biden Fully Enters the Battle to Save Democracy...When It's Nearly Over
1/11/22
Guardian: Georgia Activists Warn Biden Against a 'Photo Op' Visit That Lacks Voting Rights Plan
1/10/22
Guardian: Bernie Says Democrats Are Failing: 'The Party Has Turned Its Back on the Working Class' - Catering to the rich/corporate ruling class is more important to the Democratic leadership than maintaining its majority in Congress.
1/8/22
Guardian: Trump Has Birthed a Dangerous 'Lost Cause' Myth
1/6/22
NPR Fresh Air: How Dan Bongino is Building a Right-Wing Media Infrastructure In Time for 2024 and New Yorker - This is the new Rush Limbaugh and the new direction of right-wing media.
1/5/22
New Yorker: Afghanistan Has Become the World's Largest Humanitarian Crisis - "More than twenty million people are on the brink of famine.
As Afghanistan’s economy implodes, the achievements of the past two decades in areas such as health care and education are collapsing"