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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 8:46:22 GMT -8
'Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home.' '
That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome.'
'Is it common?'
Well, 'It's Not Unusual.'
The Massive Story the Media is Ignoring: They Are Coming For Your Social Security and Medicare.
Perhaps the single most consequential story of the midterms season broke this week, and there’s been virtually no coverage from major TV news shows, newspapers, and other mainstream outlets.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg Government produced a bombshell report that points to the massive economic consequences a Republican House would bring for Americans.
If Republicans gain a majority following next month’s elections, the outlet reported, they plan to use a future increase or suspension of the debt ceiling as leverage to force through “top priorities” like seismic cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other social safety net spending. Failure to act on the debt ceiling would result in an economic catastrophe, experts say.
There has been shockingly little coverage of this development given its significance. It earned a scattering of mentions in publications including New York magazine. And Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and MSNBC’s Chris Hayes detailed the stakes on his show Wednesday night.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 8:48:32 GMT -8
Another Reason We Need to Get Off Oil
A US national held in Saudi Arabia has received a 16-year jail sentence for writing tweets critical of the government, his son has told the BBC.
Saad Ibrahim Almadi, 72, who also has Saudi citizenship, was arrested in November after he travelled from Florida to Riyadh to see his family.
His son has now spoken out for the first time publicly, going against what he says has been US official advice.
Ibrahim Almadi said he did not want to see his father die in prison.
He alleged that Saad had been held in conditions that amounted to torture since his arrest by Saudi authorities.
The Saudi court that issued the prison sentence found him guilty of trying to destabilise the kingdom and of supporting and funding terrorism.
Ibrahim says the only evidence finally presented to the court consisted of 14 tweets.
The tweets, which the BBC has seen, include criticism of the demolition of old parts of the cities of Mecca and Jeddah, concern over poverty in the kingdom, and a reference to the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 8:49:42 GMT -8
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
Australia has reversed a decision made four years ago to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Canberra's decision in 2018 had undermined peace and put Australia out of step with other nations, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.
She stressed that Australia remained a "steadfast friend" to Israel. Its embassy will stay in Tel Aviv.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contested issues between Israel and the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Back in the States
The US’s largest pro-Israel lobby group is backing dozens of racists, homophobes and election deniers running for Congress next month because they have pledged to defend Israel against stiffening criticism of its oppression of the Palestinians.
The powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has justified endorsing Republicans with extremist views, including members of Congress with ties to white supremacist groups and representatives who attempted to block Joe Biden’s election victory, on the grounds that the singular issue of support for Israel trumps other considerations.
But Aipac’s support for rightwing politicians has privately embarrassed some Democrats also endorsed by the powerful group and drawn accusations from more moderate pro-Israel organisations that it is attempting to stifle legitimate criticism of hardline Israeli policies.
Logan Bayroff, a spokesman for J Street, a group campaigning for Washington to take a stronger stand to end the occupation of Palestinian territories, accused Aipac of attempting to impose a narrow definition of what it is to be pro-Israel amid shifting views in Democratic ranks.
“Their actions have made clear that they view pro-Israel, pro-peace progressive Democrats as threats – and Trumpist Republicans as allies. That worldview could not be more out of touch with the vast majority of American Jews,” he said.
Our Family is Four Jews They Don't Represent
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 8:58:09 GMT -8
I've Seen Fire and I've Seen Rain and I've Seen Mud.
Artillery has been pounding positions on both sides as rasputitsa, aka mud season, arrived weeks early to Ukraine this year. Normally, it’s not expected until November.
By restricting movement to main roads, the rain and mud have made advancement by either side difficult. Any attempt to go off road in these conditions will mean reduced range and maneuverability at best, and bogged down immobilized vehicles at worst.
It’s hard to hide movement on roads, and easy to plot coordinates on a map. Advance is difficult.
Once the ground is frozen, Ukraine can advance with even larger force. Britain alone is training 2,500 Ukrainians every six weeks, with Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, and the Baltic countries recently joining the effort. More armored vehicles and artillery guns are arriving in Ukraine daily. Russia, on the other hand, is relegated to sending untrained, under-equipped, unmotivated mobilized conscripts to serve as speed bumps in miserably cold and wet trenches
Attack of the Killer Drones
I’m betting Ukraine will figure out how to effectively combat those drones within the next 4-6 weeks, with both additional Western help (like anti-drone jammers) and domestic ingenuity. Meanwhile, the on-the-ground tactical and strategic situation will remain completely unchanged because even now, Russia still refuses to use its rockets, missiles, and drones to strike military targets.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:04:58 GMT -8
Master Debaters
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:06:28 GMT -8
And the Grift Goes On
The Trump Organization also charged the Secret Service as much as $1,185 per night for agents protecting Trump family members—nearly six times the usual allotted rate for government employees. In all, the House report found that the Secret Service spent at least $1.4 million in taxpayer money at the Trump International and other Trump properties, and probably more.
By the standards of federal spending, $1.4 million is not a great deal of money. (The government has spent $5.4 trillion this fiscal year.) What is offensive here is not the sum, but the naked profiteering. The Secret Service couldn’t shop around: Agents had to stay at the hotel to protect the family members. The Trump Organization treated that as an easy way to bilk the government, sending public money directly to the president’s own pockets while claiming that it offered agents huge discounts. It was a brazen parody of what it means to be a public servant.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:10:30 GMT -8
America Under the QOP
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:11:37 GMT -8
Will the QOP Refuse to Get a Cancer Vaccine?
"What we have developed over decades for cancer vaccine development has been the tailwind for developing the COVID-19 vaccine, and now the Covid-19 vaccine and our experience in developing it gives back to our cancer work," Tureci said, explaining that "mRNA acts as a blueprint and allows you to tell the body to produce the drug or the vaccine ... and when you use mRNA as a vaccine, the mRNA is a blueprint for the 'wanted poster' of the enemy -- in this case, cancer antigens which distinguish cancer cells from normal cells."
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:15:24 GMT -8
Fish Gotta' Swim, Lie-Walker Gotta' Lie
Herschel Walker, the GOP candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, walked back some of his past comments calling for a total ban on abortion, saying he “never” said he was opposed to exceptions in laws limiting the procedure.
Walker, a former football star challenging Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, was asked by NBC News’ Kristen Welker about his recent support for Georgia’s so-called heartbeat law. The law effectively prohibits abortion when cardiac activity is detected in an embryo — something that is usually possible around six weeks into a pregnancy, when many people don’t yet know they’re pregnant.
The Georgia law includes exceptions that allow victims of rape or incest to have abortions if they file a police report about the rape or incest.
Welker pressed the GOP candidate about his support for the Georgia bill during a debate on Friday, noting that he had, in fact, called for a total abortion ban earlier in his campaign.
Walker claimed he had “never” expressed that position.
“It wasn’t a change. I said I support life,” he told Welker. “Georgia is a state that respects life. I’ll be a senator that protects life. And what I said then, I said I would support life, I will always support life, but I said I also support what the people voice it.”
“The people’s voice is the Georgia heartbeat bill, which has exceptions in it,” he continued. “I never said I didn’t have any exceptions. I said I’m for life. And then I said, you know, the governor has a great bill. The heartbeat bill is a great bill. It has exceptions in it.”
In fact, Walker did say earlier this year that abortion bans should have no exceptions. “There’s no exception in my mind,” he said during a campaign event in May. “Like I say, I believe in life. I believe in life.”
Should Warnock Hand Out Fake Heisman Trophies?
Herschel Walker was widely mocked and criticized for flashing an honorary deputy sheriff’s badge on stage at a Georgia Senate debate Friday after his Democratic opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock, called him out for pretending to be a police officer.
Walker is now showing the badge, one of at least two the Republican has from Georgia sheriffs, in TV interviews. He plans to tout it in a video cut for social media with Johnson County Sheriff Greg Rowland, who gave him the badge. And Walker’s campaign told NBC News that it has ordered 1,000 imitation plastic law enforcement badges that say, “I’m with Herschel,” as a fundraising tool.
It hopes to hand out some of them at a crime-themed event Thursday in Macon with law enforcement officers if the props arrive in time.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:17:28 GMT -8
If You See Chicken and Turkey Prices Rising, Here's Why
A near-record number of U.S. chickens and turkeys have died in this year's outbreak of avian flu, as a different form of the virus than farmers battled before has infected more wild birds that then transmit the disease, officials said.
More than 47 million birds have died due to infections and cullings. This has spurred export bans, lowered egg and turkey production, and contributed to record prices of the staples ahead of the U.S. holiday season. The outbreak exacerbates economic pain for consumers grappling with soaring inflation.
In 2015, 50.5 million birds died in the deadliest U.S. outbreak, the nation's worst animal-health event to date.
Farmers are fighting a subtype of the H5N1 strain of the virus that survived over the summer, when rising temperatures typically reduce avian flu, said Rosemary Sifford, chief veterinary officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The same subtype, known as the goose/Guangdong lineage, is spreading in Europe, she said in an interview. Europe is already suffering its worst avian flu crisis, with nearly 50 million poultry culled.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:19:03 GMT -8
Once Again, No One in a Big Corporation Goes to Jail
A French industrial company pleaded guilty Tuesday to providing material support to terrorism by paying millions of dollars to ISIS in order to keep its cement plant in Syria operable.
LaFarge SA and its now-dormant Syrian cement affiliate pleaded guilty to a single count brought by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn that charges the company with conspiracy to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations.
The company conceded it knowingly and intentionally conspired to support the Islamic State and the Al-Nusra front.
“Guilty,” LaFarge chief executive, Magali Anderson, said before Judge William Kuntz.
From August 2013 to November 2014, LaFarge and LaFarge Cement Syria knowingly and willfully agreed to a conspiracy to make and authorize payments for the benefit of armed groups in Syria, Anderson said in a plea allocution.
“The individuals responsible for this conduct have been separated from the company since 2017,” Anderson said
LaFarge agreed to pay $777 million in fines and forfeiture and serve three years probation as part of its plea agreement with the government. It also agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:22:08 GMT -8
Could Crypto Get Any Worse? Yes!
Online betting sites are offering odds on Russia carrying out a nuclear attack this year, as Ukraine continues to resist Vladimir Putin's invasion.
Polymarket, a cryptocurrency betting site, is currently taking bets on "Will Russia use a nuclear weapon before 2023?"
The current odds are being offered on the use of an "offensive" nuclear weapon are 1-20. This means, if you correctly bet nuclear weapons will be used, you stand to collect $18.97 from a $1 bet after site fees are processed.
Conversely, if you rightly guess they won't be used you will win $1.04, for the same $1 stake.
Explaining the technicalities Polymarket says: "This market will resolve to 'Yes' if the Russian Federation detonates a nuclear device in an offensive capacity by December 31, 2022, 11:59:59 PM ET. Otherwise, this market will resolve to 'No.'
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:27:02 GMT -8
When Kanye Isn't Talking About Jewish Conspiracies, ...
While it may be true that Kanye ‘Ye’ West struggles with mental health issues, and he has admitted to that, it doesn’t mean that the billionaire rapper is immune to a possible lawsuit when he says something totally false and outrageous.
In a recent three-hour appearance on the Drink Champs podcast Sunday, Ye made a slew of wild and unfounded comments. Inspired by The Greatest Lie Ever Sold, a documentary about Black Lives Matter by Candace Owens, whom the rapper was seen with at Paris Fashion Week wearing matching “White Lives Matter” T-shirts, Ye claimed that George Floyd died because “They hit him with the fentanyl.”
“If you look, the guy’s knee wasn’t even on his neck like that,” Ye said in defense of ex-Minneapolis cop and convicted murderer Derek Chauvin.
Floyd’s family wasn’t having it, and Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, reached out to the family attorney, civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt, saying they were interested in possibly pursuing a defamation suit against the celebrity.
“I have put together a working team to investigate [West’s] statements and to investigate the source of those statements,” Merritt told CNN.
Merritt tweeted, “While one cannot defame the dead, the family of #GeorgeFloyd is considering suit for Kanye’s false statements about the manner of his death. Claiming Floyd died from fentanyl not the brutality established criminally and civilly undermines & diminishes the Floyd family’s fight.”
When Kanye Isn't Saying False Stuff About George Floyd, ...
On Cuomo Monday, rapper Kanye West doubled down on the anti-Semitic sentiment he’s espoused as of late. Ye’s Twitter account was locked in response to an anti-Semitic tweet he posted, and anti-Semitic comments were reportedly edited out of a recent interview he did with Fox News’s Tucker Carlson. On Monday, Ye offered the media uproar about him wearing a White LIves Matter t-shirt as a legitimate reason for his slander against the Jewish community.
“When I wore the White Lives Matter t-shirt, the Jewish underground media mafia already started attacking me,” Ye said, before referencing canceled concerts, and public tiffs with Pete Davidson and Trevor Noah. He added, “They just immediately disrespect me. They keep the crazy narrative going. They never call me a billionaire.”
Eventually, Chris Cuomo pushed back.
“You’re trying to say that there isn’t a collective. Over 50% of the executives in Hollywood, the CEOs, are Jewish,” Ye said. “And these guys know each other.” “That’s different than saying it’s a mafia,” Cuomo responded, “and that they act as Jews in some way as opposed to just being businessmen.”
Later, when the two were going back and forth and Cuomo attempted to explain to Ye what is wrong with what he’s saying, Ye broke into, “La la la la la la.”
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Post by mhbruin on Oct 18, 2022 9:32:13 GMT -8
Why They Can't Find Enough Waiters
Owners of restaurants, coffee shops, and the like are often at the front of the line to complain about how Nobody Wants To Work These Days. No doubt coincidentally, they often provide some of the worst examples of why nobody wants to work for them. And this one is spectacular.
Boston-area journalist Deanna Schwartz started to apply to work at her local coffee shop, Phinista. Started, but didn’t finish, thanks to an outrageous and illegal line on the application. The story doesn’t end with Schwartz, though, because it turns out that Phinista crushed a union drive earlier in the year, and the workers who organized that have a lot to say about their former workplace. And the abuses at Phinista are not unique to one independent coffee shop, but are widespread across the food service industry.
But it’s not just Phinista. In response to Schwartz’s tweets, many people noted that lots of food service businesses require unpaid trial periods. It’s still illegal—but it means that this is not a single abusive establishment, it’s an abusive industry exploiting the nation’s weak labor laws and weaker enforcement of those laws.
Wage theft is also hugely common in the restaurant industry in lots of ways other than unpaid trial periods. In 2019, McDonald's paid $26 million to settle wage theft accusations in California. Those allegations included being denied overtime and timely breaks and having to do cleaning and maintenance on their required uniforms that took their pay below the minimum wage. Similar suits have been filed in other states as well. It’s not just McDonald’s: Survey after survey has found majorities of fast food workers saying they’ve experienced wage theft. Nor is it just fast food. Tipped workers in restaurants also report high levels of wage theft.
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hasben
Resident Member
Posts: 1,022
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Post by hasben on Oct 19, 2022 5:58:28 GMT -8
>Another Reason We Need to Get Off Oil
There is no difference between SA, Russia, and China. They are all brutal dictatorships of one type or another.
>The US’s largest pro-Israel lobby group is backing dozens of racists, homophobes and election deniers running for Congress
The Israeli govt is another brutal regime that deserves no respect or support from the US. They are only an ally when it greatly serves their own interests and they can not be trusted.
The US is a total hypocrite for classifying SA or Israel as allies with preferred treatment on all levels. Allies are the UK, Canada, Germany, and France. SA and Israel both do things to undermine the security of the US.
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