memfree @ memfree @beehaw.org

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99

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313

Joined

2 yr. ago

Watch the video before you say that.

Working people know our system is broken. The elites are not laboring on behalf of workers. There is a political caste system that prevents citizens from accessing their representatives to hold them accountable. For a moment in time, working people in America were seen as essential. Sadly, it took a global pandemic for political and corporate elites to notice this fact.

I find it hard to “fix” something that wasn’t designed to be fixed in the first place

I completely understand! The system does not want to change, but I would dearly love it if we could get better people in there to fix it from the inside instead of just letting the bastards get away with whatever they want. I would love to see a system where businesses by LAW had to be at least partially owned by current and past workers, where excessive earnings were automatically taxed away such that you might as well put that money into making a better product, and those taxes were transparently spent for the public good, why then... , then I'd be tickled pink! I'm sure we'd find more stuff to complain about, but what a start it might be!

I don't think that was her thought process. This news broke into network programming (CBS, anyway) so people will hear it.

I think she's mad at the shooting so did it as a pro-Trump retaliation. More coverage here: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/15/us/trump-documents-case-dismissed

EDIT: I stand corrected! They're saying it is a 90+ page ruling so she didn't do it over the weekend. Maybe it was planned as a celebration for the start of the RNC?

I vote in every election. I frequently can't find useful information about down-ballot races, but I check with the party websites and wherever else I can find information and VOTE.

I have to give hope to the idea that somehow we could get useful information about candidates that moved the populace to vote for representatives that worked for the people and the betterment of the country rather than just for big donors and power.

Like: we're all passengers on a boat navigating the rough river of progress. Some of us might be specialists and some might want leadership, but we're not going to get anywhere without a captain at the rudder and oarsmen to row, and we have to elect them. If they're all getting paid off to only go left or right, we won't move forward. They have to work for all of us or we'll be stuck. While it seems to me that we should only and always only go left, perhaps that is because we're already so far right. I feel like somewhere in the past there must have been at least a handful of sane conservatives that had a valid point here or there.

Anyway, I suspect our system COULD work if we could get good people to amend the Constitution to overturn the idea of Citizens United (money is NOT speech, it is the opposite: power, and that was why free speech was needed) and other horrid rulings, and we went back to forbidding monopolies, taxing the rich, and somehow got rid of tax havens such that companies could not sell stuff in the U.S. without appropriate taxation. All of it seems increasingly unlikely, I know, but I'm thankful ProPublica has outed the Supreme Court's corruption, and maybe that can help lead to some change.

Could be worse. Could be an Elsevier site (Lancet, Cell, ScienceDirect, etc.).

Please read wonky news, vote, and tell your friends and neighbors about the stuff you learn about candidates. We get crappy government by voting for it. We could fix the government if we elected people who would write legislation to stop corruption, was there to fix roads and balance budgets rather than scream about triggering issues, and wanted to make a better rather than to simply 'win' no matter the price.

i'm chilling slo mo to Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator. No adrenaline needed.

At first I figured he'd done another Jan. 6th, 'They're not here to hurt me' and waived off that security, but news is talking to someone there who said the crowd DID get screened. There is talk now that the shooter may have been outside a fenced in area. The shooter supposedly climbed onto a low nearby rooftop.

From other fediverse coverage: https://beehaw.org/comment/3717663

If he’s uninjured then I have to assume this was staged.

Pic of blood on Trump's face from APnews:

https://apnews.com/live/election-biden-trump-campaign-updates-07-13-2024

Defiant fist afterwards:

https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5

I see what you are saying and I appreciate that we are both stating our positions. I;m grateful we have a place where we can express ourselves.

You are correct that the thread started that way. I was just saying that I then reframed that as low-info voters who may or may not be moderate. Someone in another thread had talked about some leftists in California who were going t skip voting as a protest to the war in Israel -- which won't matter because California is not up for grabs.

FWIW, I watched Biden's press conference and was once again amazed as Biden reminded us of all the things he's done. He's been a great statesman and exactly the kind of world leader I want our President to be, and it baffles me that so much of the population want to pick a petty know-nothing bully like Trump.

I've been watching old movies on Turner Classic. I particularly like the introductions they sometimes get (mostly movies in the 8pm time slot). Obviously you can't go see them in the theater, but they come around fairly often and some can be found on Max, Prime, or the like. Examples: Journey into Fear (Orson Wells), Berlin Express, Desert Hearts, The Long Voyage Home (John Ford), and New York New York (Scorsese).

I don't think you read what I wrote.

• I didn't say "moderates not voting" I said "low-information voters."
• It isn't that WE don't have compelling reasons, it is that low-info folks are not LISTENING
• My reasons:

1. It doesn't matter if I think he's winning, the polls think that. Polls aren't particularly accurate, but you are willing to risk Democracy on the hopes that it is OK for people who like neither choice to stay home. I want them in the streets and in the voting booth.
2. I do not 'believe' he is capable of responding because I watched as he failed to do so. It is evidence based.
3. I don't care that Biden is old. Trump is old, too. I care that Biden is exhibiting evidence of a dramatic decline in ability both physical and mental.
4. It was not a great speech. He stared at the teleprompter and punched up each word as hard as he could. Every President gets their speeches written for them, so I'm not criticizing that. but his delivery was strained. You are saying that and his zombie presence the next day are merely 'superficial', but his chances to give content have been empty. The debate, the Stephanopoulos interview, and every chance he's had to say something meaningful. He's not painting a picture of what would happen if Trump wins and how he'll work to make sure no one gets that power. He's only saying stuff he's said before.
5. Again, it does not matter who wins the popular vote. The election is about who is going to sit out in a few swing states.

• I think Biden is a wonderful man who did wonderful things for the U.S. -- maybe not enough, but Congress and the Courts blocked a lot. A neighbor complained that Biden went back on student loan debt forgiveness. I pointed out that, no, he didn't -- the courts blocked it. A week later, the same neighbor complained about it again. I spent five minutes explaining how the courts overruled the plan and who to be mad at. There was a similar but lesser issue with Dobbs.

Look: The polls and pundits tell me a future Biden administration will only exist in our dreams, so the only choice is to find someone else or let Trump win.

To woo voters, I think we should all write the White House and ask for a new candidate with a, "No Kings allowed" message -- probably our VP, Kamala Harris. I think it would get the undecided to pay attention for a minute. I want her (or anyone) out there saying things like, "Dictator? We founded our nation because we knew Monarchs -- and autocrats in general -- were a bad idea!" and, "Nazis? White Nationalism? How many of you have family members who were killed or injured fighting that war? We know we don't want that here. We know how that turns out if unopposed!"

Lastly, the new message should be about government serving the PUBLIC instead of itself.

Ok, I'll bite back. The election is going to swing on low-information voters in a handful of states. Coyotino just told you about people who could sway the vote to keep Trump out, but are planning to STAY HOME. They're going to swing us into fascism.

Biden's inadequacies:

• he wasn't winning in the polls before the debate
• through the debate and since, he hasn't defended the good people dedicated to keeping the government working, nor taken on any of the other horrors of the 2025 plan. He can't. He can't react in real-time to Trump lying in front of him, he certainly can't refute why all of the 2025 plan is awful without someone feeding him what to say. Sure, he's knows it is bad, but he can't articulate why and in what way.
• we all know he's old and relying on others (God Bless Them) to keep things on an even keel -- but he obviously can't do things on his own and should not have to make the big decisions he must make. Example: he should have let Ukraine hit Russia sooner and harder, and should have re-upped that even further before now.
• Today (Wednesday, July 10 2024), I watched Biden meet other officials with the NATO head. They stood in one place while digniaries came up, shook hands, got a photo, and moved on. Biden sparkled for each hand shake and photo, but because a lifeless zombie between people. It was unnerving. I felt sorry for him having to stand there like the dead until reanimated for the next required action, then back to death.
• post debate, Biden is STILL losing in the polls

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We need all eligible voters to show up and stop Trump. We need a Congress that will outlaw fascist actions rather than further enabling them.

We need something to spark the apathetic potential voters to act to save Democracy because the risk is too great and right now the low-info folks aren't hearing anything new.

I have democratic relatives that register Republican because their local elections ALWAYS go to republicans and they want the least-bad republican to win the primary -- even if they then vote against that person in the general election.

I heard a strange take on this story. I know someone whose spouse worked at that very school and has heard the gossip about the incident. While the hen clutch has been gossiping in private conversations rather than internet posts for the world to see, their speculations about the Principal are almost as slanderous -- and have been for years.

Long story short: the hens felt this wouldn't have happened if the Principal didn't let the kids run amok and instead provided consistent disciple.

That's encouraging!

Do the people you mention always vote? As a Yellow Dog Democrat who never misses an election, myself, I don't really influence the outcome. I'm just one of the predetermined Ds. The only person I know who is voting R -- an ex-boss firmly in the Trump camp -- is an equally reliable R, so we kind of cancel each other out.