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}

‘U.S. intelligence suggests China is considering providing arms and ammunition to Russia, an involvement in the Kremlin’s war effort that would be a “serious problem,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.’ {AP 2/19}

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 President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged the possibility of Russia facing a breakup in the future, with its population to be divided into separate nations, the country's news agency TASS reported on Feb. 26.’ {New Voice of Ukraine 2/26}

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}

Leading military analysts believe upwards of 70% of Russian prisoner conscripts have been killed or wounded fighting in Ukraine. {NYT 2/13}

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}

Putin orders tightening of security at the Ukrainian border after drones enter deep into Russian territory. {AP 2/28}

The EU bans Russian diesel and other refined oil products. {AP 2/05}

Polish sports minister predicts that up to forty countries will boycott next year’s Olympics if the IOC follows through on plans to reintegrate Russian and Belarussian athletes. {DW 2/03}

Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice warns the GOP that ‘these conflicts always come home,’ and abandoning Ukraine in order to appease Putin will backfire badly on the United States. {Alternet 2/26}

NATO Secretary-General: Ukraine will join the alliance in the ‘long term.’ {AFP 2/28}

Joe Granita/Zuma Free Press

GEOPOLITICS & WORLD NEWS

‘The United States has detected what it says is a Chinese surveillance balloon that has been hovering over the northwestern United States, the Pentagon said on Thursday, a discovery that comes days before Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s visit to Beijing.’ {NYT 2/02}

President Biden orders Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of the Carolinas. {AP 2/04}

‘The China balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes.’ {AP 2/09}

Charlie Sykes on the utterly absurd public reaction to the Chinese balloon fiasco: ‘(G)reat visuals, and enough performative outrage to fill several news cycles, including all the takes that aged like tuna left out in the sun. And, of course, the ominous balloon from Beijing blasted into shredded Kleenex by America’s Top Guns. Something for everyone, really.’ {The Bulwark 2/06}

‘A U.S. military fighter jet shot down an unknown object flying off the remote northern coast of Alaska on Friday on orders from President Joe Biden, White House officials said.’ {AP 2/10}

‘A U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Lake Huron on Sunday on orders from President Joe Biden. It was the fourth such downing in eight days and the latest military strike in an extraordinary chain of events over U.S. airspace that Pentagon officials believe has no peacetime precedent.’ {AP 2/13}

In spite of the trade war and overall rising tensions, Americans spent a record amount on Chinese imported goods in 2022. {BBC 2/08}

Prayers for Turkey and Syria: At least 3,400 dead following devastating 7.8 earthquake. {AP 2/06}

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}

‘A crucial lesson aspiring autocrats have learned is that they should move fast and break things.’ Is the U.S. going to stand by while Israel becomes an autocracy? {Jan-Werner Müller 2/14}

UK Environment Secretary Therese Coffey anticipates fruit and vegetable shortages will continue for up to a month. {Sky News 2/23}

‘A Romanian court on Monday upheld a third 30-day detention for the divisive influencer and former professional kickboxer Andrew Tate, who is held on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking.’ {AP 2/27}

The Daily Beast/Getty Images

POLITICAL S**TSHOW IN #MURICA

Bank of America CEO says they are preparing for a U.S. debt default. {The Hill 2/06}

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}

The GOP at a crossroads: ‘While the party may be ready to move on from (Donald Trump), it clearly isn’t ready to move on from Trumpism. And to do that, they’ll have to not only leave Trump, but his voters, behind.’ {S.E. Cupp 2/01}

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}

‘No serious lawyer could believe what they were saying.’ Con-artists, the whole lot of them: What Fox News hosts said privately vs. publicly about Trump’s claims of voter fraud. {NYT 2/25}

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}

‘Shame is the business model of most churches. Understand that and so much becomes clear. Fifty years ago their pews were packed, but numbers are way down and falling as they lose source after source of shame.’ {The Guardian 2/25}

David Sacks/Getty Images/NYT

While Republicans are out in force this week lying about their intentions toward Social Security and Medicare, 75% of the House GOP endorsed a proposed budget that ‘included basically every kind of Social Security cut on offer.’ {Josh Marshall 2/14}

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}

Rep. Marjorie Traitor Greene’s proposed ‘national divorce’ would be devastating for red states, ‘the biggest beneficiaries of the federal spending that they oppose.’ {Raw Story 2/23}

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}

‘Mr. Trump didn’t change the Republican Party; he revealed it. Ms. Haley, for all her talents, embodies the moral failure of the party in its drive to win at any cost, a drive so ruthless and insistent that it has transformed the G.O.P. into an autocratic movement.’ {Stuart Stevens 2/13}

The FBI finds an additional classified document in search of former VP Pence’s home. {BBC 2/10}

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}

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff emerges as ‘the most visible public figure in the battle against rising antisemitism.’ {Jennifer Rubin 2/01}

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}

#NeverAgain: Jewish faith leaders in New York counter white supremacist-declared ‘day of hate’ with ‘day of resolve.’ {CBS News 2/25}

‘A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison has been arrested again and accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid with a woman he met while incarcerated.’ {WaPo 2/06}

‘A Delaware man who threatened a Black police officer with a pole attached to a Confederate battle flag as he stormed the U.S. Capitol was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison.’ {AP 2/09}

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}

Potential ruling by the theocratic Supreme Court could spell the end of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, putting millions of Americans at risk of grave financial harm. {The New Republic 2/27}

‘A federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that a federal law prohibiting people who use marijuana from owning firearms is unconstitutional, the latest challenge to firearms regulations after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority set new standards for reviewing the nation’s gun laws.’ {AP 2/05}

‘The 43-year-old gunman who killed three students and wounded five others at Michigan State University had no apparent connection to the campus, police said Tuesday as they searched for a motive for shootings that terrified the community for hours.’ {AP 2/14}

‘A white supremacist who killed 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday after relatives of his victims confronted him with pain and rage caused by his racist attack.’ {AP 2/15}

One dead, three wounded in shooting at El Paso shopping mall. {AP 2/15}

Southwest Airlines executives to take pay cuts following the company’s operational meltdown around Christmas time. {Bloomberg 2/09}

Another hit for the boy genius, Elon: Tesla recalls 362,000 vehicles over ‘driver assistance system did not adequately adhere to traffic safety laws and could cause crashes.’ {Reuters 2/16}

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}

FDA issues emergency-use authorization for at-home test, already available in Europe, that can detect both the flu and COVID-19. {CBS Boston 2/27}

Measles outbreak following evangelical ‘spiritual revival’ conference in rural Kentucky. {CNN 2/25}

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}

Maternal mortality rates soar in the United States. {NYT 2/22}

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}

Norfolk Southern reveals there were more toxic chemicals than previously reported aboard the train that derailed in East Palestine, OH. {ABC News 2/13}

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}

‘The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Norfolk Southern on Tuesday to pay for the cleanup of the East Palestine, Ohio, train wreck and chemical release as federal regulators took charge of long-term recovery efforts and promised worried residents they won’t be forgotten.’ {AP 2/21}

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}

‘Soy, oat, almond and other drinks that bill themselves as “milk” can keep using the name, according to draft federal rules released Wednesday.’ - Milk comes from cows, period; will not hear otherwise. {AP 2/22}

‘An on-demand, non-hormonal male contraceptive pill may be a real possibility say scientists who have found a cell pathway, or switch, that stops sperm from being able to swim.’ {BBC 2/14}

CLIMATE CHANGE

CDC: A surge in deadly fungal infections likely related to warmer temperatures. {MarketWatch 2/01}

‘23 dead whales have washed ashore along the East Coast since early December, including 12 in New Jersey and New York, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.’ {NYT 2/28}

MISC.

The first president of my lifetime, and possibly the most decent human being to ever hold the office. Best wishes for President Carter as he enters hospice care. {AP 2/18}

Study on citizens of the former East Germany sheds light on why most people will choose deliberate ignorance over painful truths. {PsyPost 2/13}

In praise of Paul Goodman, the writer who foresaw the currently pitiful state of American medicine, higher education, and pop culture way back in 1960. {Ted Gioia 2/07}

James Vaughan/Flickr

RIP Raquel Welch: One of the most stunning women to ever grace the silver screen. I keep saying the world is becoming an uglier place, and how can it be denied when we’ve lost such great beauty? {NYT 2/15}

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}

‘A woman has filed a lawsuit against Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler, alleging sexual assault, coercion of an abortion and involuntary infamy in the 1970s when she was a minor and he was in his mid-20s.’ {CNN 2/01}

The right team won. The Kansas City Chiefs are World Champions again after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-35, in the Super Bowl. {ESPN 2/12}

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}

Reigning Premier League champions Manchester City charged with breaching league rules over nine seasons, punishment could include ‘fines, points deductions or relegation’ - Sort of akin to threatening to demote the Houston Astros down to AAA. {ESPN 2/06}

A Cardinals and baseball legend: Rest in Peace, Tim McCarver. {ESPN 2/16}

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January 2023 in review

stock photo

PUTIN’S WAR OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

Prayers for Soledar: ‘The fate of a devastated salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine hung in the balance Wednesday in one of the bloodiest battles of Russia’s invasion, while Ukraine’s unflagging resistance and other challenges prompted Moscow to shake up its military leadership again.’ {AP 1/12}

Barbarians: ‘Russia unleashed a major missile attack on Ukraine on Saturday, smashing a nine-storey apartment block in the city of Dnipro, killing at least five people and striking vital energy facilities, officials said.’ {Reuters 1/14}

Putin’s propagandists ramp up their venom against military leaders after Ukrainian missile attack on Russian invaders stationed in Makiivka kills upwards of 400. {BBC 1/03}

Joint op-ed by Condoleeza Rice and Robert Gates warns that Putin is deeply committed to his ‘messianic mission’ of destroying Ukraine, and is counting on international support for Ukraine to eventually ‘erode and fracture.’ {WaPo 1/07}

Sen. Angus King: Ending U.S. aid to Ukraine would be a historic mistake. {AP 1/09}

Former Wagner mercenary group commander flees Russia to seek asylum in Norway - Andrei Medvedev states ‘(w)e were just thrown to fight like cannon fodder,’ and any conscripted prisoners who refused to fight were beaten or killed. {CNN 1/16}

President Zelensky honors those who were killed in deadly helicopter crash in Kyiv. {AP 1/21}

Sergio Lima/AFP

GEOPOLITICS & WORLD NEWS

January 6-style coup attempt by Bolsonaro supporters in Brazil. {AP 1/08}

A look at how Steve Bannon - somehow still a free man while appealing his conviction of contempt of Congress - and Trump’s propagandists in the United States manufactured the presidential palace riot/coup attempt in Brazil. {BBC 1/09}

Irish nationalists protest in Ballymun, Dublin, against Ukrainians and other refugees - Quote from the appalled Irish Minister of Housing: ‘We know from our own history what it’s like to be people who have had to leave our own shores due to oppression, due to war, due to famine.’ {Irish Times 1/09}

Over a million protest on streets of Paris to protest Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 - The French people are in the streets, while a demoralized, thoroughly gas lit American public largely remains silent (and/or in deep denial) as politicians diligently work to eliminate Social Security and Medicare. {AP 1/19}

Prince Harry draws heavy criticism for revealing in memoir that he killed twenty-five Taliban fighters while in the Royal Army, raising fears that his comments may ‘incite some people to attempt an attack on British soldiers anywhere in the world.’ {Sky News 1/06} 

Israel under Netanyahu’s new coalition of extremists - ‘Each day brings developments that were inconceivable a short while ago. No, it’s not the end of Israeli democracy. But it is the end of an Israeli consensus about what is and is not permissible in a democracy—and once the rules are no longer agreed on, political chaos is not far away. Israel has never been in such a place before.’ {Hillel Halkin 1/05}

‘It was obvious that this would come. In non-democratic countries, the leadership always threatens to arrest opposition leaders.’ Open talk of civil war in Israel as far-right lawmaker in Netanyahu’s governing coalition calls for the arrest of Lapid, Gantz, and others on grounds of ‘treason.’ {Times of Israel 1/10}

‘More than 30 graves at a historic Christian cemetery in Jerusalem were found toppled and vandalized, the diocese said Wednesday, jolting the Christian minority in the contested city.’ {AP 1/04}

‘A court in Romania’s capital Bucharest has upheld the 30-day arrest of divisive social media personality and self-described misogynist Andrew Tate on charges of organized crime, human trafficking and rape, an official said late Tuesday.’ {AP 1/10}

Japanese leaders discuss taking ‘measures of unprecedented levels’ to reverse birthrate decline. {Japan Times 1/19}

CNN

POLITICAL S**TSHOW IN #MURICA

Friends, please do not waste your time arguing with any Trumper. They do not care if the country around them burns, just so long as their resentments are being heard and the people they hate are being hurt. It truly is that simple: I spent too much time over the past seven years trying to understand these people and their reasoning, and my final conclusion is they hate the rest of us more than they value even their own lives. Therefore, they will believe any theory no matter how absurd, and follow a leader - no matter how corrupt, ill-mannered, and poorly spoken he is - who tells them what they want to hear, to the end of the earth. This is not going to end well, these people are petulant children throwing the temper-tantrum of all-time. At this point, there can be no other explanation for this absurdity. No matter what President Biden does, they are going to be invested in tearing him down at every opportunity, so do not even entertain any of their arguments about anything. Do not engage, it’s not worth the headache. The more they are relegated to their own echo chamber, the safer the rest of us will be. But that can only happen if everyone else stops taking the bait.

Financial armageddon imminent as Janet Yellen announces the U.S. will hit its debt limit, and the House GOP licks its lips in anticipation of purposefully crashing the economy - Any recession, or worse, that results from this is, say, 75% to 80% the fault of Republican voters. For being so stupid as to elect those who outright vowed to shut down the government and play games with the debt ceiling. Blood is on their hands, but will they ever be held accountable for their stupidity and malevolence? No, citizens are always considered collectively infallible, but the reality is the opposite. This country will never be quite as wonderful a place to live as it proclaims itself to be so long as millions upon millions of these yahoos are among us. Civil war is coming. {AP 1/13}

On the first day of the new term, the U.S. House of Representatives adjourns for the day after three failed attempts at electing a Speaker - A historic embarrassment for Congress, and the Republican Party in particular. So happy I am not obligated, as every Republican and/or right-wing partisan in America is at the moment, to have to try and spin this disaster. Or any of their multitude of disasters. {AP 1/03}

Republicans nearly come to blows with each other, but finally elect their precious Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House on the 15th ballot in post-Midnight vote - A f**king disgrace this GOP is. They cannot govern, and even their own supporters have no choice but to acknowledge as such. Excerpt: ‘McCarthy strode to the back of the chamber to confront Republican Matt Gaetz, sitting with Lauren Boebert and other holdouts. Fingers were pointed, words exchanged and violence apparently just averted. At one point, Republican Mike Rogers of Alabama started to charge toward Gaetz before another Republican, Richard Hudson, physically pulled him back. “Stay civil!” someone shouted. Order restored, the Republicans fell in line to give McCarthy the post he had fought so hard to gain.’ {AP 1/07}

The gutless GOP - ‘Time and again, we’ve seen a vocal minority within the Republican conference exert an inordinate amount of influence over the majority. Each time, with each conflict, the response from the Republican leadership was to back down or fold. That reflex to pander to the most extreme voices within their party is what allowed President Trump to hijack it.’ {Kurt Bardella 1/03}

‘(I)t seems like the holdouts do not understand the dire consequences of default.’ Cuts to Social Security and Medicare looking more likely under the new GOP House - Senior citizens and disabled folks who voted Republican this cycle seemingly have a death wish. The truth is, however, they are all completely blind to their party’s intentions toward SS/Medicare. Pure bigotry and resentment are the only things that drive them. After 2016, that sad fact can no longer be denied. Most of the true believers are willing to suffer themselves if it means bringing suffering to those in this society they hate. Logic has nothing to do with their thinking, so appeals to saving Social Security and Medicare are never going to sway them; even if they are living out of a cardboard box and eating cat food to survive. The GOP is emboldened and no longer timid about crossing that ‘third rail’ of destroying Social Security and Medicare, and I believe they are going to succeed in doing so. Along with everything else around us. {Insider 1/12}

‘House Republicans are making clear that they intend to seek cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare with their new majority in the 118th Congress.’ {Huffington Post 1/09}

The U.S. has become ‘an exporter of cultural and political anxieties. The world seems eager to engage in the kind of societal conflicts that nowadays divide the United States’ - In other words, be very afraid for the future of this planet. {Moisés Naím 1/13}

‘Sobering’ report shows how deeply committed the GOP and its base have become to silencing their appointed enemies - One political scientist notes: ‘“(T)he core goal shared by all factions of the Republican conference is to gut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security" — all ideas that are notorious losers at the ballot box. Unable to persuade voters to back their policy preferences, he argues, Republicans are increasingly looking for ways to enact their agenda outside of democratic means.’ {Salon 1/12}

‘The Supreme Court said Thursday an eight-month investigation that included more than 120 interviews and revealed shortcomings in how sensitive documents are secured has failed to find who leaked a draft of the court’s opinion overturning abortion rights.’ - It must have been purposely leaked by the controlling theocratic wing that has essentially declared holy war on secular America. Leaked, I believe, in order to have a chilling effect. Cruelty is the point. {AP 1/19}

GOP efforts to restrict mail-in ballots anger military families - Way to piss off a constituency that was widely assumed by most to be part of your base up to now. {AP 1/14}

Mona Charen: The normalization of Marjorie Taylor Greene - The GOP went down a slippery slope by falling behind Trump in 2016, and there is no return. Either this nationalist populist cancer festers or it is eradicated, but the Republican Party is forever tarnished and is never to be trusted again. {The Bulwark 1/10}

All just a ‘Democratic hoax,’ he said: ‘A former senior aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was convicted Thursday after being found guilty of helping to funnel illegal foreign campaign contributions from a Russian national into former President Trump's 2016 campaign.’ {Axios 1/03}

‘George Santos, the freshman Republican congressman from New York who lied about his biography, has deeper ties than previously known to a businessman who cultivated close links with a onetime Trump confidant and who is the cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch’ - The Grand Ole Putinists sat back and did nothing when it was revealed this jerk lied about his entire background, and will do nothing now. ‘Unfit to govern’ does not even scratch the surface of how rotten today’s Republican Party is. Resign now, you son of a bitch. {WaPo 1/16}

AG Garland announces he is appointing a special council to investigate Biden classified records - The top law enforcement officer in the nation is too much of a sissy to charge Trump, but has no problem harassing his own boss over this foolishness? Enough of this bulls**t: Mr. President, fire Merrick Garland, now! {CNBC 1/12}

More classified documents found by lawyers at President Biden’s home - Definitely not Mr. Biden’s finest hour, but I’ll be damned if his detractors - namely, the mainstream news media, the GOP, #Cult45, the hard-left, the Russians, perhaps his own AG, et al - get away with destroying this man while continuing to prop up the most corrupt and malevolent president in U.S. history, Donald Trump. Not happening, a**holes. {AP 1/14}

Thirteen hours to find six documents? FBI searches President Biden’s Delaware home - Sorry, #Cult45, nothing is going to come of this, no matter how hard the president’s enemies try. I don’t deny this is disappointing, though. {BBC 1/21}

The National Archives requests that all former presidents and VPs check their records for potentially misplaced classified documents. {AP 1/26}

President Biden to migrants seeking to enter the United States: ‘Do not, do not just show up at the border. Stay where you are and apply legally from there’ - Amen. Just because the man does not want to resort to gutter racism and inhumane measures to solve this ‘crisis’ (if that is the accurate word) does not mean he is soft on border security. To his detractors, it does not matter what the president does or what the facts are, they will just keep shouting the same old lines and casting the same aspersions. All the while pretending that their orange god actually did anything substantial during his time in office; apart from separating families, imprisoning children, and building about 80 miles of fencing - and not even particularly effective fencing - along a border that is nearly 2,000 miles long. {AP 1/05}

‘Since the court moved sharply to the right with Donald Trump’s appointment of three new justices, its default position has been to allow executions to proceed even in cases where serious constitutional issues are at stake’ - Whatever one feels about capital punishment - in extreme cases, I am for it - know that it has been a defining feature of every theocracy or theocratic-leaning society in history. {The Guardian 1/12}

‘Florida lawmakers will move to increase state control of Walt Disney World's private government, according to a notice published Friday, the latest development in a feud over what law critics have dubbed "Don't Say Gay."’ {CBS News 1/07}

Getting tired of this crap: ‘Law enforcement officials swarmed and entered a white van Sunday afternoon that officials suspect was driven by a gunman who opened fire on a Southern California ballroom dance studio, killing 10 people and wounding 10 more.’ {AP 1/22}

FAA grounds all flights across America due to a computer system glitch - A f**king outrage. Nobody can do anything right anymore, everything is broken, everybody is stupid. Am absolutely bulls**t just learning of this, so I can only imagine how those stuck in airports for however long must be feeling. We're becoming a Third World s**thole. A reflection of the orange a**hole that led this nation to ruin from 2016 to 2020; we still haven't even scratched the surface of the damage that has been done to our psyches, our infrastructure, economy, national security, foreign relations, should I go on? Gross incompetence plagues #Murica. By and large, the American people are a lost cause now. Unacceptable. {Sky News 1/11}

‘Planes were stuck on the ground for hours across the United States on Wednesday, leading to thousands of canceled and delayed flights after a government system used to give pilots safety and other information broke down overnight.’ {AP 1/11}

‘Shortages of computer chips and other parts continued to hobble the U.S. auto industry last year, contributing to vehicle sales dropping 8% from 2021 to their lowest level in more than a decade.’ {AP 1/04}

Two criminals charged with attacking power substation near Tacoma, WA, told police they knocked out power so they could rob an unspecified business without being detected. {AP 1/03}

The populist freak-out of the week (or one of their freak-outs, at least): No, you gullible fools, the Biden administration is not moving to ban gas stoves and specifically stated as much. {Politico 1/14}

Elon Musk breaks Guinness world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in one year - At least $165 billion. A heavy price to pay for the privilege of declaring himself king of the Internet trolls. {BBC 1/11}

Elon Musk gets his $8.00 a month from prominent Taliban figures now displaying the useless ‘blue check’ on their Twitter profiles. {BBC 1/16}

COVID-19 & OTHER HEALTH NEWS

‘A leading QAnon promoter who urged both her followers and strangers she passed on the street not to take the COVID vaccine died Thursday of the coronavirus, making her just the latest vaccine opponent killed by the disease.’ {Daily Beast 1/07}

‘Patients, most of them elderly, are lying on stretchers in hallways and taking oxygen while sitting in wheelchairs as COVID-19 surges in China’s capital Beijing.’ {AP 1/04}

COVID misinformation/disinformation proliferates online following NFL safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field collapse - Especially on Twitter, a direct result of Elon Musk lifting the company’s COVID misinfo policy. {WaPo 1/03}

‘Immunization rates for measles, polio and other diseases once again dropped among kindergartners last school year, a trend public health officials warn puts kids at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.’ {USA Today 1/12}

‘The U.S. is poised to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like a yearly flu shot, a major shift in strategy despite a long list of questions about how to best protect against a still rapidly mutating virus.’ {AP 1/26}

‘The time has come for a major reset at the CDC.’ {WaPo editorial board 1/26}

CLIMATE CHANGE

Atmospheric river: Extreme weather ravages California, 90% of the state under flood watch - After all these years of natural disasters - to say nothing of political and social disasters - it is patently obvious that the two glorified warm weather havens, Florida and California, are actually glorified hell holes. All due respect to residents, but maybe you folks ought to consider leaving these doomed places while it is still possible to do so. #JustSaying. {Axios 1/10}

Anecdotes of economic, societal, and climate-related collapse from across the United States and elsewhere - Some of these are quite alarming. Most people are in denial, but I sense strongly they know in their guts that everything is going wrong. {Reddit 1/16}

Citing the need to conserve water for its own residents, the Arizona city of Scottsdale turns off water supplies for folks in an outlying, unincorporated area. {NYT 1/16}

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

‘A new U.S. law has eliminated the requirement that drugs in development must undergo testing in animals before being given to participants in human trials.’ {NPR 1/12}

LauncherOne: What would have been the first-ever satellite launch from Western Europe is foiled by an ‘anomaly.’ {Sky News 1/10}

Predictions for 2023, from 1923 - A four-hour workday is a pipe dream, cancer has not been eradicated, ugly people still exist, and nobody is living to be 300 years-old. {NPR 1/04}

Robert Knight Archive

MISC.

Jeff Beck, without question one of the greatest guitar players of all-time, dies at 78 - Well, if this isn’t a kick in the gut. Rest in peace, good sir, and thank you. {Rolling Stone 1/11}

Founding Yardbirds lead guitarist - before Clapton, Beck, and Page - Anthony ‘Top’ Topham passes at 75, just two weeks after Jeff Beck left us - A sad time for all Yardbirds fans. Rest in Peace. {Irish Times 1/25}

Unholy idiots: Pink Floyd announces 50th anniversary box set celebrating ‘Dark Side of the Moon,’ and certain, bigoted fools cry foul over the rainbow prism that has been a part of that record’s cover design the entire time. {NME 1/21}

Luciano Viti/Getty Images

A true American original: Rest in Peace, David Crosby. {Variety 1/19}

Congratulations to Scott Rolen on being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame - An amazing achievement for an amazing player, I couldn’t be happier than I am right now. And also to Fred McGriff, very deserving. {CBS Sports 1/24}

‘Jill Biden’ s advocacy for curing cancer didn’t start with her son’s death in 2015 from brain cancer. It began decades earlier, long before she came into the national spotlight, and could now be further energized by her own brush with a common form of skin cancer.’ {AP 1/16}

IMDB

Rest in Peace, Gina Lollobrigida - Italian film actress of the 1950s and 60s dies at age 95. {BBC 1/16}

Copyright 2023, Sunking278. Stay up-to-date: Twitter – @Sunking278 and Facebook – click here. Now also on Post and Mastodon. DONATIONS - click here.

December 2022 in review

Getty Images

PUTIN’S WAR OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

David Frum: ‘Zelensky came to Washington to speak for his nation. He came to Washington to ask for assistance. But above all, he came to Washington to recall Americans to themselves.’ {The Atlantic 12/22}

Cathy Young: Putin’s useful idiots in the American nationalist populist media lose it over Zelensky’s visit - ‘(A) deluge of snark and grievance.’ Borderline treason, and perhaps I’m being overly kind by calling it ‘borderline.’ {The Bulwark 12/22}

President Zelensky of Ukraine is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year - Could there have been any doubt? Continued prayers for his and his family’s safety. Слава Україні. {BBC 12/07}

Kurt Eichenwald: ‘Putin’s co-conspirators in America are supporting crimes against humanity.’ {The Threats Within 12/22}

‘Banished from public consciousness for decades, the nightmare of nuclear warfare has surged back to prominence with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the erosion of the Cold War global security architecture.’ {AFP/JIJI 12/06}

Vladimir Putin’s propagandists in the Russian media ‘struggling to hide their growing sense of panic’ over war failures. {Daily Beast 12/04}

In a televised news conference, Putin violates his own law forbidding referring to the invasion of Ukraine as a ‘war.’ {WaPo 12/22}

Putin pays a visit to his stooge in Minsk, Alexander Lukashenko, while Ukraine takes steps to further secure its border with Belarus. {BBC 12/19}

The Wagner group, a private mercenary army loyal to Putin and employing mostly prison labor, bought missiles from North Korea for use against Ukrainian targets. {WaPo 12/22}

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny reveals prison doctors are injecting him with unknown drugs, and that authorities are using physical pain to break him - Pray for this brave and noble man, this is too much for anyone to bear. {Reuters 12/26}

‘Explosions rocked two air bases in Russia on Monday, Russian media reported. One of the explosions reportedly happened at a base that houses nuclear-capable strategic bombers that have been involved in launching strikes against Ukraine.’ {AP 12/05}

‘As Russia has launched relentless strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, leaving millions without electricity, water and heat, towns across Russia have been beset by their own, utility-related disasters.’ {WaPo 12/25}

Experts say top U.S. ‘conservatives’ are pushing Russia’s spin on their war of aggression against Ukraine - One need not be an expert on anything to see the obvious, but willful political blindness is at an epidemic stage right now. {The Guardian 12/06}

Pope Francis breaks down in tears during public prayer in Rome, reflecting on the suffering of Ukraine - As an Anglo-Saxon Protestant, I do not officially recognize this man - or any of his predecessors - as anything more than the leading cleric of the Catholic Church. Yet, at least during this extremely poignant moment, I have to believe God was speaking through him. {Reuters 12/08}

New Hampshire home was used as a waypoint for illegally shipping military equipment, electronics, and other hi-tech gear into Russia; seven individuals under federal indictment. {WCVB 12/13}

Don English/Getty Images

GEOPOLITICS & WORLD NEWS

New Zealand enacts draconian, lifetime smoking ban for anyone born after 2008 - Coming soon everywhere. Am I ever grateful to not be growing up today, and that I was allowed to engage in some vices to help soothe the horrors of this rotten life. My life sucks enough as it is, I do not find the idea of a ‘smoke-free world’ all that appealing; nor am I wanting to live forever here. Nanny State bulls**t like this, wherever it occurs, is exactly why otherwise reasonable people turn to the likes of Trump and other right-wing demagogues falsely promising to save them from insufferable, left-wing douchebags who are forever demanding to police our words, actions, and even thoughts. {BBC 12/13}

‘The Iranian government has stepped up its efforts to kidnap and kill government officials, activists and journalists around the world, including in the United States’ - Iran is paying drug dealers and other assorted hard criminals to carry out their dirty work. China has set up rogue ‘police stations’ in American and Canadian cities. Despotic regimes killing and oppressing individuals beyond their borders is not a new concept, but it’s being weaponized as never before. {WaPo 12/01}

‘North Korea has fired about 130 artillery rounds into the water near its western and eastern sea borders with South Korea, the latest military action contributing to worsening relations between the neighbors.’ {AP 12/05}

The Xi regime provokes Taiwan yet again, sending seventy-one warplanes and seven ships toward the island nation, out of anger over Taiwan provisions in U.S. defense spending bill. {AP 12/26}

‘The Indian army said on Monday that soldiers from India and China clashed last week along the two countries' disputed Himalayan border.’ {DW 12/13}

Neo-Maoist leader takes power in Nepal - We’ve witnessed the rebirth (or at least the echoes) of 1930s Fascism, so I suppose it’s not too surprising hard-left pathologies such as Maoism would also make a comeback somewhere in the world. Never mind that all of these tyrannies - left and right - were massive failures in the end, human nature is such that we never learn from history. {WaPo 12/26}

The State Department reiterates U.S. support for Israel, in spite of unease over the incoming government coalition led by the returning Benjamin Netanyahu - Fair concerns: Netanyahu should be old news, and his cozying up to Donald Trump was pathetic. And he has always been a bit too cozy for comfort with Vladimir Putin. Far be it for me to judge the Israeli people, but they made a horrendous call in restoring a failed, corrupt, and tired leader in Netanyahu. {AP 12/04}

‘Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu announced the formation of the most far-right government in the country’s history Wednesday night, marking the imminent return of its longest-serving leader and granting an unprecedented portion of power to his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies, who have vowed to make far-reaching legislative changes in the country.’ {WaPo 12/21}

Indonesian lawmakers pass new criminal code that would criminalize sex outside of marriage, as well as restrict political freedoms - All throughout history, religionists of all stripes have worked to impose their perverted will upon the societies they inhabit. And these efforts have *always* brought bloodshed and ruin in their wake. This time will be no different. {BBC 12/06}

Women caught between a rock and a hard place in war-torn Nigeria: Enemy combatants Boko Harum and the Nigerian military each accused of atrocities; rape, forced abortion, etc. {Reuters 12/14}

Argentina: VP Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner convicted on corruption charges, receives a six-year prison sentence that she is unlikely to serve - This had something to do with public works. In America, it would likely go virtually unnoticed. {AP 12/06}

Ahead of impeachment vote, Peru’s president attempts to dissolve their Congress, and is promptly put under arrest and removed from office - Which is what should have happened here in the United States on the day of January 6, 2021. {CNN 12/07}

‘Twenty-five people have been arrested in raids across Germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government’ - A far-right, racially motivated group led by one ‘Heinrich XIII,’ seeking to restore the Second Reich of 1871. {BBC 12/07}

The Prince and Princess of Wales receive a warm welcome in Boston. {WHDH 12/01}

A small dick is the least of his problems now: One day after being humiliated by Greta Thunberg, kickboxer Andrew Tate is arrested in Romania on sex-trafficking charges. {New York Post 12/29}

AP/Evan Vucci

POLITICAL S**TSHOW IN #MURICA

When Trumpism becomes terrorism - The author of this article greatly overstates the extent to which Trump has lost his base, and I flat out disagree with his contention that the American people in general are making a noble stand against the resurgence of Fascism. A few of the less-committed have gotten cold feet or suffered a drop in enthusiasm, but there is not a ‘great exodus’ happening. Most of these people hate President Biden so vehemently that they will support Trump or whoever the GOP candidate is in 2024 (it will be Trump) …

No doubt, however, that #Cult45 has seen better days, and are growing more desperate to finish the job of punishing their fellow Americans. Trump and his core supporters may be more dangerous now than they’ve ever been; maybe not so much in the electoral sense, but as a threat to our very lives. Do not underestimate how powerful a hold hatred of anyone different from them has on these people, and the depths to which they may be willing to sink in order to satiate their bloodlust. I’ve learned the hard way, one too many times now, that they are not repentant. FTA: ‘(T)he last few true believers. They’re hardened, committed, fanatics. The kinds of people for whom violence and brutality and hate aren’t a cause for shame and regret — but the point.’ {Umair Haque 12/08}

Donald Trump: ‘A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution’ - What would be the excuse of any self-proclaimed ‘constitutional conservative’ to continue supporting this man now? {WaPo 12/03}

A ‘generalized grievance’ without standing: Supreme Court refuses to hear case alleging Dominion Voting Systems and Facebook were involved in vote fraud in the 2020 presidential election. {CNN 12/05}

Trump Organization found guilty on all counts in tax fraud scheme, faces $1.6 million in fines - Hardly even a slap on the wrist, but another dent in Donald Trump’s legacy; albeit, he himself was not a defendant in this case. {Reuters 12/06}

Lock him up: House January 6 Committee holds its final public hearing, recommends the DOJ pursue criminal charges against Trump. {AP 12/19}

Kurt Eichenwald: Trump’s trading card grift is worse than you think - In partnership with something called Wyoming Corporate Services, described in the article as ‘a rogue’s gallery of criminals.’ {The Threats Within 12/15}

New York AG’s office: Trump failed to report $19.8 million debt to South Korean company Daewoo in financial disclosure forms before taking office. {Insider 12/06}

GOP congressman-elect George Santos admits to having embellished his resume during campaign, but adamantly refuses to step down - Post-Trump, the utter shamelessness of these far-right grifters has become impossible to contain: Only until people stop falling for populist bulls**t every time out, but do not hold one’s breath waiting for that to happen. {NYT 12/26}

Project on Government Oversight: Over 300 Oath Keepers members may be current or former employees of the Department of Homeland Security - Think of how many thousands more have infiltrated state and local police departments. {Insider 12/13}

‘Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers intercepted a record number of firearms brought by passengers to airport security checkpoints in 2022. As of December 16, TSA has stopped 6,301 firearms; more than 88% were loaded.’ {TSA 12/16}

Trump condemns Jewish leaders in the U.S. for allegedly forgetting whatever great things he thinks he did for Israel, but refuses to condemn Kanye West - Trump knows what his audience wants, common sense or basic humanity be damned. {Times of Israel 12/09}

Kurt Eichenwald: Republicans hate America - FTA: ‘Most people in the modern world have spoken the question - who among us would have sided with the Nazis in Germany? The answer to this question cannot presume what Hitler ultimately emerged as being, but rather examine who sided with him - both tacitly and openly - as he gradually undermined German democracy. We now know the answer: The Republican Party. It hates America, at least the America all of us have presumed exists as an outgrowth of the Founders’ vision.’ {The Threats Within 12/05}

screenshot

President Biden strongly condemns antisemitism, one day after rapper Kanye West declares ‘I like Hitler’ - Quote: ‘I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure. And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.’ {Israel National News 12/02}

Kanye West, wearing a hooded mask, appears with Nick Fuentes on Alex Jones’ broadcast. Exact quote: ‘I like Hitler’ - Alex Jones proves what a lowlife and evil scumbag he is once again, by providing these Jew-haters a platform. Yet, even he was taken aback and uncomfortable in this interview with how far ‘Ye’ is taking this antisemitic crusade. If ever anybody deserved to be ‘canceled,’ it is Kanye. {The Hill 12/01}

Following his pro-Hitler screed on Alex Jones’ broadcast, Kanye West is suspended from Twitter; deal to buy competing social media service Parler is off - Morbid curiosity drove me to view portions of this interview, and it is painful to watch. Actually rather shocking to witness the mental state this ‘Ye’ is in. At one point, he says this may be the last anyone hears of him, implying ‘the Jews’ are going to kill him soon. No matter that this is a man in mental breakdown: He is a public figure, with a large following, spouting antisemitic and pro-Nazi garbage. The kind of garbage our fathers and grandfathers fought in World War II to prevent from ever polluting the earth again. Consider this: Kanye is probably the highest profile and most famous *overt* (as opposed to covert) Jew-hater, at least in the non-Islamic world, to come along in many decades. Anybody who never wants to see another Holocaust is duty-bound to oppose someone with so wide a reach that is telling his audience to blame the Jews for all the world’s problems. A quick Google search reveals he has sold at least 30 million records in the United States alone, probably a severe undercount given the various problems with record certification and such (a different topic for another day.) Millions are listening to what Kanye is saying, and nodding their heads in agreement. Fascism is rearing its ugly head again all over the world. #NeverAgain means *never* again, so speak out now! {AP 12/02}

Chicago art school rescinds honorary degree given to antisemitic rap star Kanye West. {Chicago Tribune 12/09}

Michelle Goldberg: Antisemitism’s march into the mainstream - Quote: ‘If it were just Trump doing this, that would be bad enough. But other narcissistic celebrities are now joining him in reveling in reactionary transgression.’ {NYT 11/28}

American Jews are increasingly under attack from hate-mongers on both the hard-left and far-right, while there is also a schism of sorts with their Israeli counterparts - Shame on Israelis for turning their back on their American counterparts - and for embracing those in America colluding with right-wing antisemites, most notably Trump, out of primal fear. At the exact moment millions upon millions of American gentiles are practically begging for another Holocaust (albeit, rarely directly blaming the Jews in public, but anyone with an IQ over 70 knows who they mean), we are seriously on the cusp of reliving something horrifying: That is, America finally being exposed beyond any doubt as one of the most evil empires to ever rule the earth. {AP 12/07}

When populism becomes authoritarianism - A recap of how violent authoritarianism - particularly of the Fascist variants - gained popularity over the world in the interwar period. Only death and horror came of it then, and nothing good is coming from its various modern revivals. Learn from history. {Video via TimeGhost History}

Charles R. Knight/NatGeo

ON THE PENDING DEMISE OF TWITTER, AND THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MICRO-BLOGGING: Elon Musk is really getting carried away with himself, neglecting his core business to join the (sometimes) lucrative ranks of professional a**holes: An industry that we all know was - if not outright pioneered by - refined and defined by the former president, Donald Trump. Of course, Twitter was utilized to great effect by Trump and professional a**holes everywhere; the supposed richest man in the world just couldn’t help but initiate a hostile takeover in order to make himself the head a**hole. I pray the a**hole industry will eventually take a downturn, but given that most of the general public are a**holes themselves, then probably not …

But, Twitter is eventually going down. It has been so entrenched and so integrated with everything - virtually every media outlet, corporation, government, and emergency service on earth is on there - that its implosion is going to take some time to play out. Fellow micro-bloggers, get on *Mastodon.* Intelligent people are there - the experts and best minds in their various fields - and the platform is very simple to use after one figures out which ‘instance,’ or server, they will use (the one I use - mastodon.world - is perfectly fine for any general user, and runs smoothly without server issues.) I am on the waiting lists of the post.news thing - a big ‘if’ as to whether I’ll ever use it - and, I think, something called BlueSky being developed by Twitter’s original founders. A month ago, I began an account at something called Tribel, but was so spectacularly unimpressed that I simply have never bothered to return after the first look. CounterSocial was rather the same deal, only even more convoluted. We will see about ‘post,’ but Mastodon appears to be best-positioned to eventually take over Twitter’s mantle as the micro-blogging service of choice for the world. And even if it never becomes quite that, it is growing into something that is more-than-viable. No morons allowed: @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world. 

Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest man following drop in Tesla stock price. {CNBC 12/12}

European Union officials issue warnings to Elon Musk that the arbitrary suspension of journalists’ Twitter accounts could bring about sanctions. {WaPo 12/16}

Brittney Griner has been freed from Russian penal colony, exchanged for ‘Merchant of Death’ Viktor Bout - President Biden gets things done, and hopefully Paul Whelan will also soon be on his way home. While it is a tad concerning that America had to release a very dangerous criminal to secure her release, this was never going to be easy. I do not care about anyone’s opinion that she shouldn’t have entered Russia with the vial of hash oil that wouldn’t harm a fly, and that was only ever a pretense for detaining her: No, Brittney Griner was being held solely for political purposes. With Putin moderating some of his rhetoric concerning the use of nuclear weapons, and with the war on Ukraine going so badly for them, Russia is not in a strong position at the moment. Western nations must take advantage however they can. {ESPN 12/08}

‘(Q)uick to weaponize criticisms of American history or misbehavior in an attempt to police Americanness and keep Black advocacy against racism and white supremacy at bay.’ Examining #Cult45’s Brittney Griner obsession. {Tiffanie Drayton 12/08}

Mona Charen: The right needs Hunter Biden - In October 2020, candidate Joe Biden asked Twitter not to circulate compromising pictures of his son, and they chose to comply. Frankly, on both counts, I would have done the same thing. Elon Musk, the GOP, and all of #Cult45 are desperate to turn this whole thing with Hunter Biden into the scandal of the century, but it is falling flat. Precisely because their credibility is shot after six years of insane dedication to the world’s most obviously corrupt conman; the whole lot are desperate to detract from their massive failures …

Key passage FTA: ‘Further, the hyperventilating about the assault this represents on the First Amendment is risible. Twitter, a private company, was free to ignore Biden’s request. Even if Biden had been president at the time, there would be no violation of the First Amendment. Government officials not infrequently request that journalists refrain from publishing material, often about military secrets. Newspapers sometimes comply and sometimes not. It’s only a violation of the First Amendment if the government coerces the journalists.’ {The Bulwark 12/06}

Sen. Raphael Warnock defeats Herschel Walker in Georgia run-off election - Sanity (just barely) saves the day. {AP 12/07}

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

‘The Supreme Court’s conservative majority sounded sympathetic Monday to a Christian graphic artist who objects to designing wedding websites for gay couples, a dispute that’s the latest clash of religion and gay rights to land at the highest court’ - Reason #13,457 why I’m embarrassed to be an American these days. People litigating such petty matters all the way to the Supreme Court, and only out of spite. Even worse that the high court now has five Christofascist nutjobs serving on it, eager to turn America into a pseudo-Christian version of Saudi Arabia. What do any of these stupid evangelicals, or any other homophobes, think the homosexuals are going to do to them, anyway? Why the hell should I care if a man wants to penetrate another man? Neither I or anyone else is being forced to participate or watch (well, maybe apart from some unfortunates serving time, but I digress.) I’ve had it with you heretical evangelicals, and allied bigots and fools (a/k/a #Cult45); especially those on the Supreme Court: Keep your mouths shut and mind your own damn business. Stay out of politics, stay away from women’s bodies, and stay out of everyone else’s bedrooms! {AP 12/05}

Lakeland, FL: Right-wing thugs, most wearing masks, display Nazi flags outside charity event that included drag show. {The Ledger 12/04}

Moore County, NC: ‘Intentional vandalism’ at substations knocks out power to over 40,000 residents - Seeing some very disturbing rumors flying around concerning the possible motives of this crime. If these rumors prove to be true, it will serve as further confirmation that LGBTQ folks are in grave danger in today’s #Murica. Whatever the motive for purposely knocking out power to thousands of people, it obviously cannot be good. {WRAL 12/03}

Massive power outage in Moore County, NC: The FBI joins investigation into the intentional attack on substations; more than 30,000 residents still in the dark. {CNN 12/05}

In the wake of the attack on power infrastructure in Moore County, NC, officials in Oregon and Washington report domestic extremists have made previous attempts to take down substations in their region. {KOIN 12/06}

Sandy Hook first responder looks back, ten years later. {NYT 12/14}

The Sandy Hook killings, when a ‘change in conspiratorial targets from veiled government and elite figures to everyday people marked a shift in the trajectory of American conspiracy theories.’ {Amanda Crawford 12/14}

Families of Uvalde, TX, school shooting victims file $27 billion suit against local and state authorities. {AP 12/03}

Upstate New York man pleads guilty to taking part in the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol building, alongside his mother; assisted in the theft of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s laptop. {UPI 12/06}

Delaware trucker convicted in plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan is sentenced to nineteen years in prison. {AP 12/28}

Convicted J6 rioter known as ‘Baked Alaska,’ following Trump’s ‘major announcement’ of a trading card set: ‘I can’t believe I'm going to jail for an NFT salesman.’ {Raw Story 12/15}

‘The leader of small polygamous group near the Arizona-Utah border had taken at least 20 wives, most of them minors, and punished followers who did not treat him as a prophet, newly filed federal court documents show.’ - And it gets worse from there. {AP 12/07}

Southwest Airlines suffers massive system breakdown, leading to widespread flight cancellations and leaving thousands stranded across the United States - Gross incompetence seems to be running rampant in America these past few years, and is only exacerbated by the many unfavorable circumstances that have plagued the nation and world. Particularly those related to our crumbling infrastructure and the increasingly dire climate crisis. {CNN 12/27} 

Power companies in Alabama and Florida going to extreme lengths to drive out competition and maintain some of the highest electricity rates in the nation, with the help of supposed ‘independent’ media outlets. {NPR 12/19}

U.S. home prices decline for the fourth straight month. {UPI 12/27}

Alcoholics Anonymous allows cameras for the first time in its seventy-five years in the UK - Wherever in the world they are, this is a cult as greedy for money and control as any other. I learned this the hard way. {The Guardian 12/06}

The death of a Scientologist actress sparks debate about the cult’s ‘teachings’ concerning cancer, specifically that advanced members become ‘impervious’ to it. {Newsweek 12/06}

Nobody cares about you, they don’t even care about their own selves. These are the last days: Service workers left in the lurch as Americans cut back on tipping. {The Guardian 12/06}

The pandemic, inflation, and an inability and/or unwillingness to keep up with changing consumer demands ‘hollowing-out’ the restaurant industry. {WaPo 12/26}

AFP

COVID-19 & OTHER HEALTH NEWS

Study finds opposition to school vaccine mandates has grown significantly - And not only to COVID vaccines, but inoculations for measles, mumps, polio, and other routine vaccinations that children have been receiving for decades. Sick times. {NYT 12/16}

China: Amid protests, the Xi regime slightly eases some controls, but gives no indication of when its ‘zero COVID’ policy will end. {AP 12/05}

Rumors of shortages create actual shortages in China following easing of COVID-19 restrictions, while local governments are urged to prepare ICU units for new wave of infections. {BBC 12/14}

‘The U.S. announced new COVID-19 testing requirements Wednesday for all travelers from China, joining other nations imposing restrictions because of a surge of infections.’ {AP 12/28}

Stanford University study suggests the brains of teenagers aged ‘by at least three or four years’ during the pandemic. {Axios 12/02}

Bird flu is the culprit for rising egg prices and shortages - This is all getting very tiresome: A shortage of this, a crisis with that. Everything costs an arm and a leg, and basic human competence is now a rare commodity. Bird flu may be a creation of nature, but some sort of human error or malfeasance has exacerbated it. Just as COVID spread to humans because idiots in Wuhan, China, were eating bat meat sold at their disgusting wet markets. #HellOnEarth {KGTV 12/06}

Life expectancy for a U.S. newborn drops to 76.4 years, the lowest level since 1996 - FTA: ‘While most countries in the world experienced a decrease in life expectancy during the pandemic, it was particularly pronounced in the U.S. And while many advanced economies, including France, Belgium, Switzerland and Sweden saw their life expectancy rates recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, death rates in the U.S. continued to climb.’ {VOA 12/23}

CLIMATE CHANGE

‘The National Trust has warned that extreme weather seen in the UK in 2022 has set a benchmark for what a typical year could be like from now on.’ {BBC 12/28}

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Scientists breathlessly tout results of nuclear fusion test - Am skeptical that any silver bullet exists, or ever will exist, to meet future energy needs. Anything and everything in life that sounds too good to be true *is* too good to be true. {CNBC 12/13}

Neuralink, the medical firm owned by Elon Musk, is under investigation over animal testing concerns. {Sky News 12/06}

FIFA

MISC.

Alexis Petridis: The enigma of Christine McVie - An excellent tribute to one of rock music’s single most important women. {The Guardian 12/01}

David Gilmour and Pink Floyd have raised over $600,000 for Ukraine with ‘Hey, Hey Rise Up.’ {Kiev Independent 12/24}

Argentina defeats France to win a thrilling World Cup final - As I type this, more two-and-a-half hours have passed since the Argentines sealed victory, but I remain in awe. Lionel Messi is an amazing athlete, with as much heart as I’ve seen in anyone. This was a special event that I feel honored to have witnessed, from afar. I am absolutely a bigger soccer fan because of this World Cup, and am looking forward to having it in America in 2026. {BBC 12/18}

Outgoing Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker to become the next president of the NCAA - They have picked a very capable man. Easily this Commonwealth’s best governor in my nearly 45 years. {ESPN 12/15}

Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach dies at age 61 - A significant loss for college football. May he rest in peace. {ESPN 12/13}

Aaron Judge is staying with the New York Yankees - $360 mil. for nine years. An astronomical sum, $40 million per season. But this is a generational player, and in the end that figure may prove to have been a bargain. {ESPN 12/07}

Reigning AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander is on his way to the NL, signing a two-year deal with the New York Mets worth $86 million - Not quite Ronaldo money (reportedly over $200 million a year to play for a Saudi club), but obviously a boffo deal for a 40 year-old. {ESPN 12/05}

Former Cub catcher Wilson Contreras agrees to five-year, $87.5 mil. deal with the St. Louis Cardinals - Frankly, I would prefer Andrew Knizner to be given his chance to be the lead guy at catcher. A real slap-in-the-face to a good ballplayer and hard-working guy. This whole thing is going to take some serious getting-used-to. Clearly, the Cardinals organization that I’ve known all these years is changing, and not for the better. {ESPN 12/07}

St. Louis Cardinals play-by-play man Dan McLaughlin arrested for DWI - Very saddened by this news. An outstanding announcer and a good man, I hate to see his life and career derailed in this way. {St. Louis Post-Dispatch 12/05}

Journalist Grant Wahl dies in Qatar while covering the World Cup - Cannot honestly say I ever heard of the guy, but this is very sad. Condolences to his loved ones. #RIP. {NYT 12/09}

Rest in Peace, Pele - A true legend and transcending figure. Condolences to all Brazilians, and anyone who ever loved him. {ESPN 12/29}

Rest in Peace, Franco Harris - One of the single greatest running backs ever in pro football, bar none. {ESPN 12/21}

Rest in Peace, Barbara Walters: TV news icon dies at age 93. {ABC News 12/30}

Rest in Peace, Pope Benedict XVI. {BBC 12/31}

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