Black Lives
Why do we need DEI? Well, spend a few seconds with quiz at left.
Black lives didn’t matter at all until recently, and there are still systemic conditions in American society that perpetuate racial inequality.
Tagged with: Black Lives
Woke/DEI Programs
Let’s hope that opposition to wokeism and DEI is just a passing fad. Yes, pushback against diversity is an effective tool used by Trump and his top people to keep the MAGA crowd stirred up. But let’s look forward to a day in the near future when the United States generally agrees that we’re a better country if we can give everyone an equal chance to succeed.
Tagged with: Woke/DEI Programs
Newsmax: What’s Going Wrong?
I spend a few minutes a week watching right-wing “news” shows, to get a feel for how they present their material. One thing I notice is that NewsMax, in their lower third, is rife with typos. Four examples in the last 10 minutes:
Trump Wants Rebuild Gaza (should be Trump Wants To Rebuild Gaza)
Hanlde (misspelling of “handle”)
Gender Polcies (misspelling of “policies”)
On our great nations desk (should be “on our great nation’s desk)
At first, I wrote this off as a function of the fact that many of their viewers are functionally illiterate. But then I noticed that their advertisers make precisely zero mistakes; they don’t mind spending a few dollars on editors and proofreaders.
These sponsors may be selling snake-oil food supplements, or sham precious metal hedges against the coming “stock market crash precipitated by Biden,” or the need for “patriots” to buy high-priced off-grid power-generation equipment that is essentially solar panels and batteries, sold to everyone else at a small fraction of the price.
I honestly don’t know what’s going wrong here, but it’s pitiful.
Above is a solicitation to buy shares in Newsmax. I’ll pass.
Tagged with: Trump Wants to Rebuild Gaza
Donate to Protect Democracy?
What’s a sane reaction to a call for donations like this one?
The Trump administration breaks the law several times a day. Are these people better prepared to deal with these atrocities than other “competitive” groups? Do they use your donations more efficiently?
I don’t know, but I’m skeptical.
Immigrants and Social Security
Here’s an article that walks the reader through a current-day misconception re: immigrants.
What effect do immigrants have on Social Security? Trump supporters tend to believe that “real” Americans are harmed via immigrants’ mooching money out of the pool of money that citizens paid in. When given a few moments of thought, however, this idea is revealed as empty, since people without Social Security numbers cannot receive benefits.
In fact, the truth is the precise opposite. Non-citizens working in the United States pay taxes into a system without any means of benefiting. In just one more way, we exploit them.
Tagged with: Immigrants and Social Security
An Opinion Piece in the Vancouver Sun: “Farewell to My American Friends. It’s Over.”
This brilliant op-ed from Canadian journalist Pete McMartin includes this zinger: Where there was once admiration, there is now a firm and angry resolve.
But what about the line: “It’s Over?”
I would say, at worst, “It’s over for now.” Yes, Trump has reduced this relationship to rubble, along with many others around the globe. But what happens when Trump is gone and sanity returns to the United States?
Tagged with: when Trump is gone
Poking Fun at Progressives
I thought this was funny, but in reality, liberals must deal with a ton of ridicule from the right wing.
Normally this aggression come from the hateful morons, but not always. A rich and well-educated friend likes to kid me about my environmentalism. “Save the whales, Craig,” he jeers.
Tagged with: hateful morons
Trump’s Choice to Run as a Republican
What Trump says here is true — and how often can we say that?
Actually, however, in 1998 the average Republican was far brighter and more discerning that they are now. At this point, nothing seems outrageous. Annex Canada? Invade Greenland? Have an unelected billionaire dismantle the federal government? Take personal possession of Gaza? It’s all just fine.
Trump Would Own Gaza
In this short interview, Donald Trump talks about his plans to take personal possession of Gaza.
I don’t recall seeing grift like this from a single other world leader.
See Bernie Sanders’ response below.
Tagged with: Trump Would Own Gaza
Climate Change Mitigation and the Economy
We’ve all heard the claim that decarbonizing our energy and transportation sectors will harm the economy. This narrative is critical to the far-right-wing’s claim that environmentalism is anti-capitalist, and, in particular, anti-American.
But does it make sense?
Granted, there are a great many “moving parts” to an analysis, but at a minimum we need to take into considering the cost of current-day and long-term environmental damage, including climate change (storms, droughts, wildfires, loss of land mass), ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, increasing levels of disease and death from pollutants, and the wars that take place over oil.
