JamesGleick

JamesGleick, 6 months ago to random

Bombshell from CNN. Let’s connect the dots:

In the last days of his presidency, Trump personally ordered a super-sensitive classified binder of intelligence—about Russia interfering in the election on his behalf—to be delivered to him.

On his way out the door, Trump absconded with boxes of classified material.

The binder contained raw intelligence on Russian agents, including sources and methods. It was never returned. It is still missing.

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/politics/missing-russia-intelligence-trump-dg/?cid=ios_app

JamesGleick, 7 months ago to random

I really try not to post things from the old hellsite. But this is too good.

JamesGleick, 7 months ago to random

I still think they’re missing the news. The news is not that House Republicans are trying to aid Israel. The news is that House Republicans have declared their first and most important priority: starving the IRS of the funds needed to collect money owed by billionaire tax cheats.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/11/02/house-israel-aid-mcconnell-schumer-biden/71393928007/

JamesGleick, 8 months ago to random

All Republicans have to do is say, “We’ll take a vote, and then we’ll have a winner.”

Only, to make this work, the losers have to abide by the results. And Republicans can no longer do that.

JamesGleick, 8 months ago to random

“The sight of Elon Musk charging towards Wikipedia with his trademark guile and delicacy was so predictable that it was almost relaxing. He saw a collective resource that people prized and he wanted to hurt it.”

Zoe Williams in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/23/why-is-elon-musk-attacking-wikipedia-because-its-very-existence-offends-him

JamesGleick, 8 months ago to random

As their final price for allowing Democrats to keep the government running for 45 more days, what did Republicans demand?

A sop to Putin. Nothing more, nothing less.

JamesGleick, 9 months ago to random

Every day, the leading GOP presidential candidate promises that, if elected, he will act as a vengeful, rageful dictator. He vows to bend the military, the justice system, and the free press to his will. He will put his enemies on trial. His favorite word is “treason”: anyone who opposes him will be punished as a traitor.

On the other hand, Biden is three years older.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4221310-trump-pledges-to-investigate-msnbc-parent-for-threatening-treason/

JamesGleick, 9 months ago to random

This is Handmaid’s Tale stuff. We are the dystopia now.

I remember when even anti-abortion politicians were careful to say they would never criminalize the pregnant women. Now Nebraska is imprisoning a mother who helped her teenage daughter with an abortion pill.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/22/burgess-abortion-pill-nebraska-mother-daughter

JamesGleick, 9 months ago to random

As always, the NY Times takes an incoherent, confused, self-contradictory, rambling performance (full of actual lies) and does its gosh darn best to make sense out of it. Trump must have meant SOMETHING, they seem to feel, so let’s figure out what it is.

Meanwhile, they feature their third story this week reminding us that Biden is old, old, old. Though, unlike Trump, he has remained focused, coherent, and effective in his job.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/17/us/politics/trump-meet-the-press-abortion-desantis.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

JamesGleick, 9 months ago to random

Do you have friends who STILL haven’t left the twitter? This might be what they need.
https://chrlschn.medium.com/mastodon-is-rewinding-the-clock-on-social-media-in-a-good-way-8998f6d9f1aa

JamesGleick, 9 months ago to random

Starlink must be nationalized. It’s no longer just a hypothetical possibility that leaving it in private control might damage U.S. national security. That is happening now. https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/111025127137415613

JamesGleick, 10 months ago to random

This AP story demonstrates how eager some political reporters are to say Trump’s crimes don’t matter. It says the electorate is divided. It says “about half” approve of the indictments. It quotes three of the people polled: all Republicans.

In fact, only a dwindling minority are still able to defend Trump. If you skip the prose and look at the ACTUAL POLL RESULTS, you learn that only 15% of those polled said Trump did “nothing wrong” in Georgia and 21% at the Capital.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-poll-georgia-elections-b6140eed88b3153e41dbf9e008d5a21b

JamesGleick, 10 months ago to random

I thought I’d seen it all, but no. The lead news analysis in the New York Times, by its longtime chief White House correspondent, puts this unprecedented moment in American history into perspective:

“Another jury, another indictment.”
“surreally routine”
“The novelty … has somehow worn off.”
“short attention spans … seen this before”
“priced into the market, as the Wall Street types would put it”
First quote—GOP consultant: “white noise … it all blurs together”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/14/us/politics/trump-indictments-georgia-criminal-charges.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare