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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 10:56:29 GMT -8
Never make your password ‘beef stew’. It’s not stroganoff.
The Big Secret the Media Won't Tell You.
The pundit editorial class — as well as too many political reporters — focus on President Joe Biden’s age. What they don’t do is point out that Donald Trump is only 3.5 years younger.
Nor do the New York Times, Wall Street Journal or Washington Post — or any TV news show — ever feature a quote from a Trump campaign event that’s more than a few words.
That’s because after Trump strings words together, they look and sound like they were the output of a random number generator.
At a campaign rally in Claremont, New Hampshire, Saturday afternoon, Trump said that Barack Obama was president.
"But they were interviewing him [Victor Orban] two weeks ago and they said what would you advise President Obama, the whole world seems to be exploding and imploding."
The Media is Either Covering Up the Obama is Still President, or the Prev Guy Doesn't Know Who the President is.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 11:49:06 GMT -8
For Some, the Price of Poop is Going Up
For residents in some Pennsylvania communities, flushing the toilet has suddenly gotten much more expensive.
In many townships and counties, rates have spiked as private water companies have bought up wastewater systems from local governments.
The new push to privatize sewer services follows the passage of a state law in 2016 that allows the dollar value of water systems to include not just pipes and plants but market factors such as their worth to the community, allowing them to be sold at much higher prices.
Community groups and municipal leaders say that law, an example of “fair market value” legislation, has unleashed dozens of buyout attempts as private companies have offered tens of millions of dollars for local water systems. Pennsylvania’s municipalities have been at the forefront of the national movement, though an ongoing court case could slow the state’s momentum.
The deals provide a short-term cash boost for local governments, which can struggle to cover the cost of aging infrastructure. But critics say the public services and tax savings that governments might provide residents with the quick money don’t make up for the rate hikes, a phenomenon known as “taxing through the tap.”
“Big Water tells municipal officials, ‘You’re going to get free money.’ “That’s a lie. That money is going to be paid for by ratepayers,” said Bill Ferguson, a co-founder of Keep Water Affordable. The community group protested the 2020 sale of the wastewater system in New Garden Township, a community of about 11,000 residents near the Delaware border, to Aqua Pennsylvania.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 11:51:48 GMT -8
No Matter what is Happening in Gaza, That is No Excuse for Attacks on Jews.
Something unprecedented is happening this weekend in Paris, brought about by the war between Israel and Hamas and its spill-over in Europe.
For the first time ever, a major demonstration being attended by representatives of the major political parties includes the far right - but not the far left.
On Sunday afternoon thousands of people heeded a call from the Speakers of the two houses of parliament to show their support for French "Republican" values and their rejection of antisemitism - this in the face of a steep rise in antisemitic actions since 7 October.
Among the first to announce their presence were Marine Le Pen, three-time presidential candidate for the National Rally (formerly the National Front), and the party's young president, Jordan Bardella.
Almost simultaneously came a rejoinder from their counterpart on the far left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, irascible leader of France Unbowed (LFI). His party would not be attending, he tweeted, because the march was a "rendezvous for unconditional supporters of the massacre [of Gazans]".
It is hard to overestimate the symbolic significance of this switch-over.
For decades French politics erected a bulwark against the far right, whose views - not least on Jews - were deemed "anti-Republican". The old National Front under Marine's father Jean-Marie Le Pen was seen as beyond the pale, and it was shunned.
The far left meanwhile - the Communists, the Trotskyists and the new formations like Mr Mélenchon's LFI - were certainly attacked for their views, but they were never excluded. They were part of the broad political family, in a way that the Le Pen franchise clearly wasn't.
A few years ago, for a far-left party not to have been part of a march against antisemitism would have been unthinkable. For a far-right party to have been there instead would have been unconscionable.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 11:53:42 GMT -8
There is an Epidemic of Hysterical News Coverage.Americans are starting to feel like shoplifting is becoming an epidemic. It’s becoming a mainstream worry that is contributing to fears about crime and the fate of major cities. New York City is experimenting with new ways to address shoplifting, for example, as complaints of stealing from retailers reportedly increased 77% from 2017 to 2022. In October, former President Donald Trump said he would support shooting shoplifters, an indication that he sees those fears as a political asset. To hear some retailers explain it, an outbreak of shoplifting, and especially “organized retail theft,” where merchandise is stolen en masse and resold online, is forcing them to close some stores and lock up merchandise elsewhere. “We are living in a nation where stealing is no longer considered a crime, and those stealing are not criminals,” David Johnston, the vice president of asset protection and retail operations for the Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation, wrote in September. But for all of the extreme statements, it’s hard to tell if there has really been a notable increase in shoplifting nationwide. Law enforcement often does not distinguish between theft from retailers and other kinds of robbery. The broad category of larceny, however, is lower than it was before the pandemic. The Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, says larceny fell 7% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same time period in 2019. Are fears of a shoplifting surge running away from the facts?
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 11:55:13 GMT -8
Are People Who Want to Lose Weight Going to Hope for Heart Disease so They Can Get their Wegovy?
The weight-loss drug Wegovy can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by 20% in adults with heart disease and obesity, according to new research.
The trial is the first to show that a weight-loss medication can help protect against serious heart problems in obese adults, potentially opening the door to a new treatment option for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
The findings could also have important implications for insurance coverage of the drugs. Currently, insurance companies are reluctant to provide coverage for weight-loss drugs, and Medicare, by law, is barred from covering them.
“I think this will force insurance and Medicare to consider reimbursement,” said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and executive vice president of Scripps Research in California.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 11:55:52 GMT -8
Who Won the Week?
Judge Kenly Kato, confirmed by the Senate to a CA U.S. District Court, making her Joe Biden's 35th former public defender in a lifetime seat on a federal bench (and 150th confirmed Biden judge overall)
Ohioans, for voting to enshrine reproductive rights into the state constitution, and OK'ing recreational marijuana
Democrat Andy Beshear, for slaying 5 MAGA Super PACS and riding a wave of popularity to win reelection as Kentucky's governor
Virginians, as voters retain control of the state Senate and flip the House of Delegates from red to blue, a massive fail for Governor Glenn Youngkin
School boards, students and teachers across the country, as candidates endorsed by the book-banning fanatics "Moms for Liberty" lost 70% of their races Tuesday
Gabe Amo, who won his election and will be the first Black representative in Congress from Rhode Island
Democratic candidate Judge Daniel McCaffrey, for winning the race for Pennsylvania Supreme Court, giving Democrats a 5-2 majority
New York AG Letitia James, for wrapping up her case against the Trump crime family after two weeks of flailing and selective amnesia among the defendants
Democrat Cherelle Parker, who won her race and will be Philadelphia's 100th mayor, the first woman to hold the office
Yusef Salaam, one of the "Exonerated 5," for winning his election to the New York City Council
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 11:56:32 GMT -8
Who Lost the Month?
Donald Trump, as a judge approved a settlement of a lawsuit filed by staffers on his 2016 presidential campaign, claiming the non-disclosure statements they were required to sign barring negative statements about him were overly restrictive
Allen Weisselberg, as Forbes accused him of perjury in testifying he wasn’t involved in the Trump Tower valuation – when the magazine cited emails and reporters’ notes that even the NY attorney general does not have
Ivanka Trump, as a judge ruled she will had to take the witness stand in the civil fraud case against her father, her brothers and the family business (and wound up being more damaging to the firm’s case than the others)
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), whose presidential future was talked-up endlessly … before Election Night this week
The Trump Organization, as Donald’s sons blamed outside accountants for the errors in company financial statements (as contrasted with the actual documents and testimony)
Vitali GossJankowski, a defendant already convicted of several Jan. 6 charges, ordered to be jailed for several doxxing threats targeting federal agents, then fighting with agents who tried to handcuff him and take him into custody
Donald Trump, dropping his $500-mill lawsuit against former attorney Michael Cohen, widely believed to be his concern about facing another deposition
Larry Giberson, a then-Princeton University student who yelled "drag them out" while he joined rioters trying to storm the U.S. Capitol, sentenced to two months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a felony
Donald Trump, as Judge Tanya Chutkan is responding to his insults and delaying tactics by moving up jury selection in Jack Smith's 2020 election interference trial from March 4 to February 9
Four California men linked to the “Three Percenters” militia movement, convicted on charges including conspiracy and obstruction for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol
State attorney general Daniel Cameron (R-KY), losing his election bid to incumbent Andy Beshear on the basis of abortion … and Breonna Taylor, whose police killers he protected
Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R-OH) who did his damnedest (in several ways) to stop the Buckeye State voters from enshrining abortion into the state constitution … only to lose 57-43
Moms for Liberty (whose school board candidates mostly lost) and other right-wing losers from this week’s elections (not already mentioned)
Donald Trump, as Judge Tanya Chutkan set a Jan 15 date for him to decide whether he intends to use an "advice of counsel" defense – which would require him to waive privilege and provide relevant documentation then
Rudy Giuliani, as the judge on his damages trial cited him for “continued & flagrant” violations of court orders; that jurors will be told that Giuliani intentionally hid financial documents and other records in defiance of court orders
Jacen Cockerell, arrested for election interference (while wielding a Trump flag on a fishing pole) for damaging a voting machine and making threatening gestures towards voters on Election Day in Louisville, Kentucky
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 12, 2023 11:58:59 GMT -8
40% of Americans are OK with a Dictator
Last month, PRRI released the results of its annual American Values Survey. The pollsters asked respondents a slew of questions measuring their views of the country and its politics in the moment. Included among the questions was one that specifically addressed the question of authoritarianism: Did they think that things in the U.S. had gone so far off track that we need a leader who would break rules in order to fix the country’s direction?
About 2 in 5 respondents said they did. That included nearly half of Republicans.
Back in early 2016, political scientist and consultant Matthew MacWilliams identified support for authoritarian tendencies as a key indicator of support for Trump among Republican primary voters. Before the 2020 election, he revisited the idea, noting that “approximately 18 percent of Americans are highly disposed to authoritarianism, according to their answers to four simple survey questions used by social scientists to estimate this disposition.”
Less than half of respondents objected to the idea that we need a strong leader, even if the leader bends existing rules. A plurality of conservatives endorsed that idea. Less than half of respondents similarly expressed concern that the government might want to muffle critical reporting with a plurality of conservatives again expressing a lack of concern about that possibility.
What they Don't Say. They Expect Him to Use His Powers on those OTHER People.
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hasben
Resident Member
Posts: 1,023
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Post by hasben on Nov 12, 2023 14:25:54 GMT -8
40% of Americans are OK with a Dictator
Those polls are total BS. Their questions are meaningless:
"need a leader who would break rules
strong leader, even if the leader bends existing rules"
Most of the morons who took that poll have no idea what that means. And "bending rules" is 100% inaccurate. They should have asked "do you think we need a leader to break the law, ignore the courts, and violate the constitution to save the country?"
I'm sure some trolls would even say yes to that but it would probably be less than 10% not 40%.
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Post by mhbruin on Nov 13, 2023 15:14:49 GMT -8
40% of Americans are OK with a Dictator Those polls are total BS. Their questions are meaningless: "need a leader who would break rules strong leader, even if the leader bends existing rules" Most of the morons who took that poll have no idea what that means. And "bending rules" is 100% inaccurate. They should have asked "do you think we need a leader to break the law, ignore the courts, and violate the constitution to save the country?" I'm sure some trolls would even say yes to that but it would probably be less than 10% not 40%. It shows that a lot of people are unaware of the danger. 2024 could be our last real Presidential election ever. When previous Guy is using Hitler's rhetoric, I think we should understand his intentions. Are the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers his version of the SA? |
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