Thursday, March 2, 2023

February 2023 in review

FACT: The majority of Americans are bullies, jerks, and/or idiots. I’ve been all over the lands east of the Mississippi in my miserable and exceptionally long 45 years, and I’ve observed people carefully. I’ve reflected on my own, oftentimes pitiful, behavior through the rotten, awkward years. Brought on because I was distracted by people who wished only to hurt me almost immediately from the time I came into this world (I am not speaking about my parents or immediate family, but nearly everyone else involved.) We as Americans are not good people by and large - I would never have been made to feel the way I do by others had it been otherwise - and until that changes, we cannot expect anything good to come along and redeem our dying country. Who am I to talk, I know, but that is what is very strongly being communicated to me. America is doomed, because its people are mostly malevolent demons …

Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters

PUTIN’S WAR OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

‘Never in Mr. Biden’s lifetime had a president ventured into a war zone that was not under the control of American forces, much less on a relatively slow-moving locomotive that would take nine and a half hours to reach its destination.’ - The president’s finest moment in office. Outright heroic, even. Thank God this man is in office at this perilous time, and not his Putin-appeasing predecessor or anybody with cold feet about standing up to Putin and Russia. #StandUpForUkraine Слава Україні {NYT 2/21}


Vladimir Putin faces a ‘quiet rebellion’ in the Kremlin over war failures - A must-read report on the true state of affairs in Moscow, with the key takeaway being that, while they may not respect him anymore, Putin’s subordinates (including the Russian people) still fear his wrath. And also that Putin will not back down ‘in his belief that he is fulfilling his “historical mission” to bring Kyiv under Moscow’s control.’ This monster spent decades consolidating power in himself to such a degree that, even now in the face of disaster, an entire nation has been rendered incapable of even considering any other alternative. {Times of London 2/14}

Fact-checking Putin’s absurd speech to the Russian public - Grateful today to not be one of those poor souls forced to sit in that hall and listen to this paranoid tyrant prattle on for nearly two hours. Not that I have any sympathy for any of those cowards: Collectively, they could have put a stop to Putin years ago; but out of a desperate desire for prosperity and security, they did not. Benjamin Franklin’s old adage never has been more accurate. {BBC 2/21}


Russian casualties in Ukraine now stand at around 200,000 - A number ‘eight times higher than American casualties in two decades of war in Afghanistan.’ Bear in mind, a good percentage of these losses are convicts, untrained and forced into the war as mere cannon fodder while more seasoned forces lay in wait. Hundreds of thousands of their own slaughtered, all entirely expendable to Putin and the majority of Russian citizens. {NYT 2/02}


Estonian intelligence warns ‘Russia will not run out of cannon fodder, Soviet-era armaments or propaganda-induced imperialism any time soon’ - In contrast to an MI6 report in October that stated Russia was running out of troops and weaponry. As poor as the enemy’s performances on the battlefields have been, the wisest course of action all along has been not to underestimate their capabilities, or Putin’s resolve. {Sky News 2/08}

Ahead of his latest meeting with Putin, Belarusian dictator Lukashenko declares Belarus will only join the war on Ukraine if they are directly attacked - Wink, wink. Expect an attack on Belarus soon - likely of the ‘false flag’ variety (though I won’t necessarily rule out Zelensky becoming fed up with Lukashenko and launching a legitimate attack at some point.) Putin needs cannon fodder, and Lukashenko needs Putin’s protection. {WaPo 2/16}






Joe Granita/Zuma Free Press

GEOPOLITICS & WORLD NEWS









The death toll from the 7.8 earthquake in Turkey and Syria surpasses 40,000, nine survivors pulled from the rubble - The utter indifference Americans have displayed in the wake of this disaster does not speak well for us at all. When I was growing up, Americans largely did care when natural disasters struck in other parts of the world. Everything has changed, and we are no longer a nation of empathy and goodwill. {Reuters 2/14}




The Daily Beast/Getty Images

POLITICAL S**TSHOW IN #MURICA


Trump election probe grand jury believes some witnesses lied under oath - Of f**king course they did. These sort of sycophants are incapable of telling the truth, even to their own selves. {AP 2/16}


Rupert Murdoch caught admitting to knowing Trump was lying about the election, but decided to have his network’s hosts give credence to the lies anyway - Barely a single Fox News fan is going to be swayed by these revelations. As in, out of however many millions of loyal viewers, one will be able to count on one hand the number of people who smarten up. Ought to be unbelievable, but is sadly all too predictable. {Media Matters 2/27}


Theocrats are doing away with any pretenses, and are openly embracing the term ‘Christian nationalist’ - Christian nationalism is not authentic Christianity; but it is authentically totalitarian and repressive. At all costs, this poisonous ideology has to be defeated; the millions of Americans subscribing to its tenets may ultimately have to be dealt with in a harsh and unusual manner, for they are not going to let go of their beliefs - especially the belief evangelicals hold dominion over the rest of us - without a major fight. One only need look to those countries where Islamists have held sway for a terrifying glimpse of America’s future should these bastards succeed. {The Bulwark 8/22/2022}



Paul Krugman: Why Social Security and Medicare are sustainable - Or, rather, could be sustainable if the political will was there to sustain them. However, the GOP and other powerful entities in business and media are hellbent on destroying it. In spite of the insistence of many that Republicans are bluffing, and cutting Social Security & Medicare would be ‘political suicide’ and therefore could never happen, it is going to happen. The old rules no longer apply: In the middle of the deadliest global pandemic in over a century, the people of this country threw the mother of collective hissy-fits about having to wear a mask, wash their hands, and take a shot. Appeals to public welfare are useless when Americans are demonstrating willingness to suffer if it means those they hate suffer worse. That is literally where we are at as a nation, so what makes anybody believe Social Security and Medicare are still a ‘third rail,’ or even that there are any third rails left? As long as the GOP can continue to successfully keep the lay people of this malevolent, angry country up-in-arms about ‘wokism’ and keep them voting against their own interests, they will get away with it. Social Security and Medicare are toast, as are all who rely on it. Most of our fellow Americans will not give a s**t about the fallout, believe that. {NYT 2/21}


More controversy for embattled Rep. George Santos, a/k/a ‘Anthony Devolder,’ as questions swirl over the legitimacy of an animal charity he once ran - Using innocent animals, and people who love animals, for his self-aggrandizement. Just when one thought it wasn’t possible for this Santos to be any more of a complete tool and scam artist. Yet the House GOP is still refusing to act, and the base shrugs its collective shoulders. Tells us all we need to know about today’s Republican Party and the people who support it, when ‘owning the libs’ is the be-all and end-all of everything, and anything - anything at all, no matter how low - is justifiable in the name of doing so. {NYT 2/06}




Trump accuses DeSantis of being a pedophile - Not to give him any credit, but this time the orange idiot may have a point. Why is the Florida governor so concerned with what kids are doing with their private parts? Compensating for something. {Rolling Stone 2/07}

The College Board caves to at least some of Florida Gov. DeSantis’ demands for the censorship of an AP course in African-American studies, while flatly denying that it is doing so - Consider that the vast majority of American teenagers are never going to take an AP course in black history (or any AP course). Only the smartest kids - possessing critical thinking skills and not as prone to falling victim to any sort of indoctrination - will be doing so. The exact problem Christofacists such as DeSantis have is people thinking for themselves; anything outside of the nationalist populist box they are imposing upon America is to be shut down, all the while as they whine about being victims of ‘cancel culture.’ The pompous windbag continues to trend down a slippery slope in his zeal to impose pseudo-Christian nationalism into every facet of American life; even valid concerns about the excesses of the hard-left have been rendered secondary to the threat posed by theocrats attempting to forcefully return America to a glorious past that, by and large, never really existed except in their twisted minds. {WaPo 2/01}

Florida GOP state lawmaker files bill to ban any party that once advocated for slavery as part of its platform, effectively outlawing the Democratic Party in the state - As with many in his willfully obtuse and ignorant party, Sen. Ingoglia is conveniently overlooking the fact that the old Southern Democrats all eventually migrated to the GOP, forming the basis of today’s far-right, theocratic, nationalist populist Republican Party. {Florida Politics 2/28}


Survey conducted by the American Jewish Committee finds over 40% of Jews believe ‘their status in America is less secure than it was a year earlier,’ and 80% feel antisemitism has been on the rise over the past five years - FTA: ‘A quarter of the respondents said they were directly targeted by antisemitic expressions, either in person or on social media, with 3% reporting a physical attack. Nearly four in 10 changed their behavior to lower risks to their safety.’ {AP 2/13}




Scott Adams

‘(T)he right-wing insistence on White victimhood’ - Even if *some* of their complaints are grounded in a degree of truth, the far-right grievance industry has become far more out-of-control, paranoid, and dangerous than even their hard-left counterparts. The notion that whites face as much, or more, discrimination in America than blacks and other minorities is not just factually wrong, it is absurd; blatantly so, as the organized effort being made to enforce this fallacy in the minds of millions is working all too well. Donald Trump made sure this would happen, and - most importantly - the base was long salivating for it; the entire basis of #Cult45 is cultivating and grooming grievances that were already inherent in the rank-and-file. Confirmation bias: Without it, Trumpism has no animating force and simply cannot operate. Human nature is corrupt, and those who succeed in this world tend to do so by taking advantage of this inbred weakness of man. This has all been explained endlessly by better minds than mine, yet the masses remain asses and will not listen to reason. Columnist Philip Bump has more thoughts on this matter here. {WaPo 2/27}

Demographic change is not necessarily a reliable predictor of a more politically and socially liberal (or ‘progressive’) future - Whether or not one agrees with every conclusion made in the linked article, this country’s psyche has taken a tremendous beating in this young millennium. Which, of course, is manifesting in more violence, more hatred, less freedom, and less empathy. America is losing its humanity, fast. {Cristina Beltrán 2/25}








COVID-19 & OTHER HEALTH NEWS

Two Idaho lawmakers file bill to outlaw the administration of mRNA-based COVID vaccinations - Granted, it is Idaho and nothing has been voted on, yet; but other insane performative artists acting as lawmakers in other states will follow. {ArsTechnica 2/20}



CDC: Number of suicides in America reached a four-year high in 2021 - During the middle of the most miserable era of most all of our lives, is it any wonder? Frankly, I am surprised it is only 48,183, and suspect the true number is far higher. And whenever the 2022 numbers are announced, we will see a sharper spike still. {ABC News 2/09}


Katie D. Schenk: ‘I was laid off from a public health job. Trust me, tech layoffs are different’ - Probably out of an abundance of caution and not out of unawareness, the author of this piece does not touch upon the devastating impact conspiracy theories and naked political intimidation have had on her industry; but I am not going to beat around the bush: Addled by conspiracy theories and egged on by unscrupulous politicians and talking heads in the #Cult45 orbit (along with a much smaller contingent on the hard-left), large portions of the general public have turned viciously on health care workers in America in the past three years. Many in the field are losing their jobs after Congress did not renew funding for COVID-related public health protections last year, and - in the wake of a pandemic that killed over a million Americans - there is almost exactly zero outpouring of support or concern for them. The plight of tech workers losing their jobs, however, is eliciting media coverage and public sympathy. When I was growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, nerd culture existed but it was not considered cool. Something drastically changed in the past 25 years, to the point where one is now an outcast if their smartphone is a year-or-two out of date. People rely so much on gadgets today that perhaps it is inevitable they would come to prioritize their entertainment over public health and safety. A good and decent country wouldn’t make enemies of the very people who labor to keep us alive; just know that karma is going to be a real bitch when the next pandemic or plague hits and there are few doctors and nurses left to tend to the dying. {Stat 2/03}


Pets and wild animals around East Palestine, OH, getting sick and dying following deadly train derailment - Beyond horrifying, and the worst part is that such a scenario is possible nearly anywhere in this country. More horrifying still that most Americans simply do not care. {WGN 2/14}


AP

Sen. John Fetterman checks into Walter Reed for clinical depression - Even for a congressman with access to a greater level of care than is available to most people, there is no real cure. The Senator will be battling this for the rest of his life, as will all of us who suffer from this malady. The difference being that Fetterman is a public figure, so therefore people are sympathetic to his cause (or at least pretend to be.) And I sense somebody reading this is already anxious to jump down my throat and start telling me how wrong I am; as if I have no first-hand experience. Spare me: My latest bout with clinical depression began in July 2019 and is still ongoing. I fight it completely on my own, and out of necessity. Because I know first-hand there are no effective long-term treatments. More so because it’s not really anybody else’s problem but mine (well, I did deliver some very strongly-worded tell-offs to the people whose actions caused this latest bout of depression, and I am fairly certain that one or two of those folks are now in therapy as a direct result of the emotional and verbal ass-kicking I gave them.) I just hope Sen. Fetterman understands how privileged he is, and understands that 95% of the people wishing him well cannot be bothered to give a damn about the real people in their own lives who are hurting. Hey I don’t wish the guy any harm - he did prevent the GOP from taking the Senate, after all - but this should be a private matter and not some public, virtue-signaling spectacle. {CBS News 2/16}









Songwriter Burt Bacharach dies at 94 - Cannot honestly say I am much of a fan of the songs he wrote, but obviously he was an important figure in the history of pop music. Scored Angie Dickinson in her prime, which is impressive. RIP. {The Guardian 2/09}

2023 RNR Hall of Fame nominees announced - Am going with Kate Bush, Soundgarden, Iron Maiden, Warren Zevon, and Willie Nelson. As is the case most years, there are some very questionable nominees. For instance, while I like the White Stripes, they weren't around very long and are really only known for one song. Nor have I been impressed with anything I've heard from Jack White since, and Meg White just disappeared altogether. {Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2/01}



Tom Brady announces his retirement from the NFL - Stay retired this time. Stabbed Bill Belichick in the back, stabbed all of New England in the back, while essentially taking sole credit for the six championships. Good riddance. {ESPN 2/01}



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