Eric J. Korpela @SETIEric@social.cleverlibre.org

@rchusid @pluralistic Cory Doctorow calls Trump an engagement machine, doing A/B testing with his base in real time. So it's not Trump himself that's coming up with the ideas for the Republican Party, it's the crowds at his rallies

Jay Kuo walks us through the story of the mysterious vanishing loan that Clarence Thomas's super-rich friend Anthony Welters extended to Thomas to buy his $276,000+ RV. As Kuo notes, after Welters wrote off the entire principle balance on the loan, Thomas never reported the transaction on his taxes or federal financial disclosures.

Which looks more than a little fishy, doesn't it?

#ClarenceThomas #corruption #ethics #SupremeCourt

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/me-and-my-rv-me-and-my-rv

Jennifer Rubin on PRRI's findings released this week:

"Taking a step back, the overall picture here is a country that is inclusive, respectful of religious differences, pro-democracy and supportive of women’s rights — except when it comes to the largely Republican, mostly White evangelical Christians who reject these fundamental ideas."

#PRRI #evangelicals #WhiteChristianNationalism #violence #Republicans #democracy #BigLie #immigrants #LGBTQ
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/26/american-values-survey-maga-extremisim/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjk4Mzc5MjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjk5NzY1MTk5LCJpYXQiOjE2OTgzNzkyMDAsImp0aSI6IjdmYjFhMDIwLTBiMjItNGMyNC1iYWNjLTIwNTM2ZTFkNTJiOSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9vcGluaW9ucy8yMDIzLzEwLzI2L2FtZXJpY2FuLXZhbHVlcy1zdXJ2ZXktbWFnYS1leHRyZW1pc2ltLyJ9.jZdyhAuHWVGoWFBZqrMzsZ81LCHXHLZ3tZlp4vP4zm4

A year later, many, many journalists still fuel the deadbird site,. They know they are in effect supporting a person who hates them, and amplifies anti-democracy activists.

Journos rationalize. They say exTwitter is still "where the people are" -- but what they mean, I believe, is that it's where their peers are.

The in-group conversation they are having is more important than the inconvenience, and effort, of doing what they know is the right thing, for themselves and their audiences.

@arstechnica It would be even more efficient if the tractor unit and driver were elided and the trailer part put onto a rail car.

The US is not a functional democracy because a rabid fascist minority with the help of nihilist oligarchs have paralyzed its ability to do common sense shit a majority of Americans want.

Lurid Realities: Trump Implies That Selling Nuclear Secrets Is Treason

https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/10/27/lurid-realities-trump-implies-that-selling-nuclear-secrets-is-treason/

A cishet guy in my FB timeline lost a bet and has to spend all day wearing the jersey of a sportsball team he hates.

At first I didn't understand why it was such a big deal. It's just sportsball. It's just clothes... oh.

This must be like the cishet guy version of dysphoria.

I'm coining this as 'Sportsball Dysphoria'.

Gun nuts get very upset when you mislabel an AR-15 as an assault rifle. So to avoid any controversy, please refer to the weapon using its proper technical classification, which is a mass murder rifle.

"Three years ago, Apple introduced a privacy-enhancing feature that hid the Wi-Fi address of iPhones and iPads when they joined a network. On Wednesday, the world learned that the feature has never worked as advertised."

https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/10/iphone-privacy-feature-hiding-wi-fi-macs-has-failed-to-work-for-3-years/

Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among children in the United States.

Every developed nation has people with mental illness, video games, disgruntled ex-employees, alienated people, homicidal and suicidal persons, etc. Why does the U.S. have the problem it does?

It’s the same things it always is- the number of firearms, access to them, fetishism surrounding the 2nd Amendment, and the immense political power of the firearms industry.

Not a Republican has the courage to step up.

Extremist right-wingers have been eyeing the takeover of school boards across the country for a while now, with an agenda of extreme censorship and an anti-science mindset.

In 2023, there will be school board elections in AK, AR, CO, ID, IL, IA, KS, KY, LA, MN, MS, MO, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, SC, TX, VA, WA, and WI. Make sure you get involved.

Link to elections: https://ballotpedia.org/School_board_elections,_2023

Story: https://www.kttn.com/conservative-moms-for-liberty-m4l-group-sets-sights-on-school-boards-and-book-bans/

President Biden and the Democrats are taking serious positions on national security and domestic policy issues. I don’t agree with everything they do, and they make and have admitted to mistakes.

However, Republicans have sworn allegiance to a man who attempted a coup, is facing multiple indictments on a variety of financial and national security crimes, and who continues to tell extreme numbers of lies. That allegiance has left all of us weaker and worse off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/biden-albanese-australia-israel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5Uw.fPgC.m0FZpmsd6J06&smid=url-share

@TonyStark

Let’s face it: WE’D ALL BE FUCKED if it weren’t for Joe Biden.

He’s an imperfect soul, but he’s not the Antichrist. Because we know who TFG is already. 😤

I used to have a long pinned post about how I got disabled, but I'll sum it up in under 500:

I grew up with a too-strong work ethic, I let my employers push me beyond what my fit-but-not-young body could handle, I got injured on the job, WSIB denied me twice, now I'm 9 yrs #ChronicPain, 3 yrs #Disabled, 3 yrs #ChronicAnxiety, I don't leave the house much, and everyday that I can get out of bed I consider myself very lucky.

Learn from my mistakes...they don't give a shit about you

#Wellness

The Senate adopted an amendment yesterday making it easier for veterans with mental disabilities to buy guns. Sen Angus King of Maine voted in favor. Chris Murphy said it will allow "actively suicidal," veterans to buy deadly weapons.

#GunReform #ItsTheGuns

https://rollcall.com/2023/10/25/senate-adopts-gun-provision-among-amendments-to-spending-bill/

This shouldn't need to be said at this point, but given the new Speaker's apparent beliefs, it bears repeating:

While there are weaknesses in US election infrastructure, there is simply no evidence whatsoever that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" or that technical attacks in any way altered its outcome.

58 of my colleagues and I wrote this shortly after these nonsensical conspiracy theories began to spread two years ago. It remains as true now as it was then. https://www.mattblaze.org/papers/election2020.pdf

I have an idea! Let’s seize that “gift” of an R.V. that a rich benefactor gave Justice Clarence Thomas and make Trump serve his time inside it after he’s convicted. The secret service can wait outside in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Two nasty birds with one $267K stone.

Why does GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson hate America?

He called it an "amoral society."

But he believes he can save it.

Pleases read and share my latest article.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/10/mike-johnson-america-speaker-house/