ABrockwell @aebrockwell@social.cleverlibre.org

The Associated Press -- like essentially every other major journalism outlet -- has totally normalized extremism.

Calling the new house speaker a "staunch conservative" -- a pathetically weak euphemism for far-right extremist -- is only the latest example of Big Journalism's collapse into willful helplessness.

It's journalistic cowardice in the face of a movement that aims to bring down democracy, and by extension journalism.

Vegemite is 100 years old today! What a little Aussie icon.
---
We've been loving and adoring Vegemite for 100 years - ABC News

#Vegemite #Australia https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-25/vegemite-celebrates-100-anniversary/103014788

"The FBI released new data last week showing that violent crime is down in America, but that hate crimes are up. This is completely at odds with right-wing narratives about the United States, which portrays surging violence in lawless 'Democrat-run' cities. Instead, the data show a different picture: violence is down, except against the very social groups that are targeted by right-wing tropes and the MAGA movement."

~ Brian Klaas

#violence #crime #HateCrimes

https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-politics-of-the-pariah

The fact that two former Trump attorneys have now confirmed — via guilty pleas — that Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election included criminal acts should be a much bigger story.

Arresting the person who is trying to save our planet for protesting against the people who knowingly are destroying it seems ludicrous, but that's the idiotic world we live in. I'm a non apologetic supporter of #gretathunberg she is doing what more of us should be doing. #climatechange #climatecrisis https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67136772

We're told repeatedly that it's just the price of one coffee a month.

But the combined cost of every single tool, service, app and game demanding a cup of coffee a month becomes the equivalent of paying for enough caffeine to poison even the strongest constitution.

https://www.theindex.media/p/the-subscription-economy-sucks

#ClimateChange #ExtinctionRebellion

I love this phrase from @garymarcus@sigmoid.social

“Blind fealty to the statistics of arbitrary data is not AGI. It’s a hack. And not one that we should want.”

Rejecting the voice shows #Australia is still in denial, its history of forgetting a festering wrong - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2023/oct/14/rejecting-the-voice-shows-australia-is-still-in-denial-its-history-of-forgetting-a-festering-wrong "The referendum became by proxy a vote on Indigenous peoples’ right to exist in our own land. Imagine – just try – how that feels today"

I've voted YES!
This referendum is about straightforward ideas and practical solutions:
Recognising and respecting 65,000 years of Indigenous culture for the first time in Australia’s 122-year-old constitution.
Listening to a diverse group of Indigenous Australians about the policies and challenges that affect them
Protecting the Voice from politics and bureaucrats by putting it in the constitution, giving it the security it needs to provide meaningful and honest advice.
#yes23 3#Australia #recognition #Recognise @yes23au

Republicans calling a special legislative session to prevent *private businesses* from implementing Covid restrictions tells us an awful lot about where the party is right now.

Apparently government is supposed to be so big and intrusive that it can force a deadly, anti-freedom, anti-scientific ideology on everyone.

#Texas #Covid #GOPExtremism

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-special-session-2023/285-33f86a48-9740-4f55-a6ab-552179836467

There Are No Rules

States and quasi-states are using extreme, uninhibited violence against civilian populations.

By Anne Applebaum

Extract

The russian invasion of #Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on #Israeli civilians are both blatant rejections of that rules-based world order, and they herald something new. Both aggressors have deployed a sophisticated, militarized, modern form of terrorism, and they do not feel apologetic or embarrassed about this at all

Read more here🔗 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/israel-war-hamas-terrorism-ukraine-russia/675590/

I know there is a lot going on, but Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for far less than what Trump has done.

Just thought I should remind everyone of that.

Congressional Republicans: "We refuse to work with Democrats and we certainly will not honor any deals we make with them, but we are pissed at them for refusing to bail us out when the crazy people we've been harboring for years turned on us."

There are some who claim the Dems should have supported #McCarthy. Why? He’s all-in on #tfg; he weazeled through Jan6; just launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over bogus allegations; thwarted Jan. 6 investigations; reneged on his debt ceiling agreement with POTUS, and then on TV over the weekend he blamed Dems for the near-shutdown saying Dems everything they could to create a shutdown. Liar.

So, McCarthy gave up every principle and concession to the far, far right of the US Republicans, and now they've ousted him anyway. Leopards, faces, etc.

This is your occasional reminder that it's not "Congress" or "politicians" who are throwing a tantrum and shutting down the US federal government due to their inability to pass a budget.

It's exactly one of the two major parties: the Republican party. Every single time this happens? It's the Republicans. And they bank on you blaming "politicians" or "Congress" in general, rather than holding them accountable.

every woman in academia needs to stop and read this 2021 profile of Katalin Karikó. it’s enraging and inspiring all at once.

and every man should read it for a very simple reason:

🗣 THIS IS WHAT A REAL GENIUS LOOKS LIKE

not Jobs.
not Musk.
not Zuckerberg.

not 99.99% of the Silicon Valley conartists calling themselves geniuses.

no.

it’s this middle-aged mother who works at a lab.

❝ Messenger RNA vaccine pioneer Katalin Karikó shares her long journey

https://www.statnews.com/2021/07/19/katalin-kariko-messenger-rna-vaccine-pioneer/

It’s finally clear as day. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has announced he will run as an independent for president. He’s backed by GOP funders, and his goal is to peel away Democratic voters from Biden. Don’t be fooled by shiny third party traps. To stop Trump, we need to unite behind Biden. A vote for anyone else is a vote for Trump.

The press has succumbed to what I call "the banality of crazy," in which they breathlessly report every minor Biden gaffe, but barely cover Trump calling to execute generals or shoplifters. This numbing effect helps Trump--and warps American politics. My latest: https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-case-for-amplifying-trumps-insanity