TrickstaPriest

What the hell is going on in this world?
 
Shinzo Abe, Japan's former prime minister, assassinated at a campaign stop

This is utter brilliance and shpws the British sense of humour

Normalization of violence: Achieved.
 
November's going to be ugly.

Uvalde refuses to let Highland Park steal its limelight: Uvalde cop asked for permission to shoot gunman but received no reply before the gunman entered the school and opened fire
 
 
 
But speaking of kids, 2-year-old found unattended at scene of Highland Park shooting because both his parents were victims
 
 

I agree only in part. Donald Trump is the first prominent U.S. politician to publicly repudiate the legitimacy of election results with no basis in fact, and to actively challenge the peaceful transition of power. Donald Trump is the first POTUS to nominate candidates to the Supreme Court whose very competence to function in the office was highly questionable, purely on the basis of their personal beliefs and avowed support for himself. Trump was the first to unilaterally withdraw America from an unprecedented number of international agreements lawfully negotiated by his predecessors, out of ego and spite. Trump is the first POTUS to publicly lie repeatedly, about the most egregious and easily debunked subjects, and to not care if someone proved he was lying.
 
Yes, American politics before Trump was full of vinegar, but Trump was baking soda poured into it.

It's not Trump, or at least not alone.  Trump had nothing to do with refusing to even listen to an Obama Supreme Court nominee, and he alone could never have replaced Ginsburg without the active, eager cooperation of the Senate Republicans.  They started the process LONG before Trump hit the stage.  What Trump did was to legitimize it through the office and authority of the Presidency.  Which is bad enough.  

The Supreme Court Is Dooming America to Repeat History
 
From the article's conclusion:
 

So at what point should we start comparing the violence in our society to be comparable to the acts in the Middle East?  ie- the bombings, shootings, and so on?  That is, 'failed state' level violence?

I mean, it bothers me because literally everyone is fooling themselves at thinking they are making "the correct financial decision for their retirement" by supporting these policies.  Retiring is hard when your grocery bill is higher than rent.........

So at what point should we start comparing the violence in our society to be comparable to the acts in the Middle East?  ie- the bombings, shootings, and so on?  That is, 'failed state' level violence?

Well, we do live in a society that uses firearm related analogies and metaphors as casually as sport related analogies and metaphors. 
 
And there are politicians who toss similar firearms related “political speech” onto the airwaves in speeches and their political advertisements and then claim its all harmless...
 

Abortion Bans Are Already Messing Up Access to Other Vital Meds

I mean, it bothers me because literally everyone is fooling themselves at thinking they are making "the correct financial decision for their retirement" by supporting these policies.  Retiring is hard when your grocery bill is higher than rent.........

Our chain had to dump the first major corn-on-the-cob sale of the summer last week because what with one crop failure or another, Vancouver buyers couldn't get corn anywhere on the continent. Meanwhile, here, our warehouse keeps dumping more cold crops (rappini, chard, kale; also broccoli and cauliflower, but people like those) on us because in this corner of the continent, it is so bizarrely cold and wet. 

...and I just checked the voter registry here in OH to see if I was listed.  We just had an election back in May, voted with no issue...
 
...I've been removed.

It's been disappointing to see right wing media successfully direct the narrative to the irrelevant grabbing-the-wheel story.  The man knowingly directed armed insurrectionists to attack the capitol and clearly intended to lead them himself.  That almost certainly counts as levying war against the United States.  It absolutely counts as seditious conspiracy, and you can tack on any number of obstruction charges for the witness intimidation attempts that happened on Monday.  It's not a smoking gun, it's a smoking arsenal.

Apparently strikes can work. Who knew?

NSW government backflips on union demands in a bid to end train dispute

Literally told them I was leaving over this, which scared the Director so bad he ran (on injured feet) to the CEO to tell him.  He asked 'do you want anything' but gave no offers, and so I left.
 
Many companies chronically underpay their staff.  Chronically offer poor health insurance.  Chronically avoid any inconvenience to their internal systems or administration while applying incredible inconvenience (and even harm) to their employees.  Anything they are not mandated to do, they won't do.  😕

Literally told them I was leaving over this, which scared the Director so bad he ran (on injured feet) to the CEO to tell him.  He asked 'do you want anything' but gave no offers, and so I left.
 
Many companies chronically underpay their staff.  Chronically offer poor health insurance.  Chronically avoid any inconvenience to their internal systems or administration while applying incredible inconvenience (and even harm) to their employees.  Anything they are not mandated to do, they won't do.  😕

You may not like it, but this is what peak capitalism looks like.

Or as Todd Snyder says it, "Everybody wants the most they can possibly get for the least they can possibly do."
 
Corporations are certainly not above lowballing anyone they can--including their own employees--in much the same way that the sea is not above the clouds.

Freedom House gave the US an 83 rating for 2021.  It will be interesting to see how much this drops.  Key points:
 
Do various segments of the population (including ethnic, racial, religious, gender, LGBT+, and other relevant groups) have full political rights and electoral opportunities?
Are individuals free to practice and express their religious faith or nonbelief in public and private?  
Does due process prevail in civil and criminal matters?
Is there an independent judiciary?
 
The last is a big one.  On one level, sure, the Supreme Court is independent, but by the same token, it's become massively politicized.  (The dissent, and Alito's retort, are public evidence that they're not working well together, but I've also heard several reports that they keep separate even during meetings.)  The Texas ani-abortion law is an example how due process is threatened.  And not listed, because it's multiple questions, IIRC...free and fair elections issues.
 
https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores?sort=desc&order=Total Score and Status
 
The score is 32 for political freedoms, 51 for civil rights.  As recently as 2015, they were 37 and 55.  We've slipped 9 points in 6 years.  Another 13, and the general classification goes from Free to Partly Free.  But we're not alone:
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule
 
 

The counter argument to not packing the courts is that just letting them run amok is going to do lasting harm right now. In real time.
 
If you limit their ability to erode human rights now, at least it kicks the can down the road and opens up the possibility that things might actually improve. Sure, they could undo things if they ever regain power, but that was going to be the case anyway. 
 
If you're not going to use your temporary advantage to change the situation to redress the obvious injustices done by the other side by refusing to even give Garland a hearing and to ramrod their candidate in record time, what is even the point?