The Smartmatic lawsuit for $2.7 billion added to the Dominion suit for $1.6 billion may do what shame and disgrace has not been able to do, and that is put the Fox propaganda operation out of business, or at least cause it to change how it operates. I certainly hope Fox loses both suits, the Murdochs and the cartoon characters they have hired to spew out misinformation are largely responsible for the culture crisis that is tearing the United States apart.
Maria Bartiromo, one of the worst of the Fox creatures Credit: screen grab
A defamation lawsuit against Fox News by voting machine company Smartmatic appears to be headed to trial after the New York Supreme Court gave the green light last week.
An analysis by The Guardianfound that the $2.7 billion lawsuit could be “more dangerous” than the $1.6 billion lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. In both cases, Fox News personalities are accused of falsely claiming President Joe Biden won the election because of a voting machine conspiracy.
“The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four,” Smartmatic’s 2021 complaint
EditSign began. “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for President and Vice President of the United States. The election was not stolen, rigged, or fixed. These are facts. They are demonstrable and irrefutable.”
The complaint also noted: “Defendants did not want Biden to win the election. They wanted President Trump to win re-election … They also saw an opportunity to capitalize on President Trump’s popularity by inventing a story.”
Over 100 false claims were made about Smartmatic on Fox News, […]
Here is some excellent good news. The Biden administration is finally taking on the crisis of forever chemical toxins in the drinking water of much of America. Not a perfect solution, but at least a first step.
Credit:Manolo Guijarro / Getty
The Environmental Protection Agency released long-awaited proposed standards for cancer-causing “forever chemicals” in drinking water on Tuesday. Once finalized, the standards will force states to begin the arduous and expensive process of cleaning their water supplies of some of the class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. This marks the first time the EPA has proposed enforceable drinking water limits for PFAS, which are commonly known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down over time and can remain in the environment for years on end.
The proposed limits would cap two common types of PFAS contamination — the chemicals PFOA and PFOS — in drinking water at just 4 parts per trillion. That’s a significant reduction from the level the EPA suggested was safe as recently as 2016, when the agency put out a health advisory that suggested 70 parts per trillion as a maximum level for those types of PFAS in drinking water. This week’s announcement signals that federal regulators’ understanding of […]
Here is some more good news. It seems that in spite of the endless culture war being perpetrated by MAGAt world and its disinformation propaganda outlets the majority of Americans still are focused on fostering wellbeing. Let's hope that is reflected in how they vote in November 2024.
Key takeaways:
Americans trust Biden and Democrats more than Republicans on looking out for children and caring for children’s well-being.
Top priorities for kids are safety from gun violence and learning what’s needed for success. Top school concerns are education quality, mental health, funding, and teacher pay.
Democratic priorities on childcare and education, like affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, and universal preschool are much more popular than Republican priorities, like banning critical race theory and restricting the rights of transgender students.
Americans Trust Biden and Democrats More Than Republicans to Look Out for Children and Care for Their Well-Being
Independents trust Biden and Democrats more to “[look] out for children” (net +13 Biden and Democrats) but are more divided on which party they trust more to “[care] for children’s well-being” (net +3 Republicans).
Americans’ Top Priorities Around Children Are Preventing Gun Violence and Ensuring Educational Quality
Keeping children “safe from gun violence” is the top priority for Democrats (64%), independents (57%), and parents (51%).
Republicans stand alone in their prioritization of “preventing [children] from being exposed to woke ideas” (54%) over protecting them from gun violence (40%).
It is amazing to me that poor and middle class Americans simply don't seem to be capable of undertanding that Republicans only govern for the benefit of themselves and the oligarchs who rent them as needed. Whereas the Democrats, as they did in this Silicon Bank debacle, do the best they can to promote wellbeing, just as Biden did today.
Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) hold a news conference on August 3, 2022. Credit: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call / Getty
In 2018, ignoring the vocal warnings of experts and advocacy groups, the then-Republican-controlled Congress passed legislation that weakened post-financial crisis regulations for banks with between $50 billion and $250 billion in assets, sparking fears of systemically risky failures and more taxpayer bailouts.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the California-based firm that collapsed on Friday, controlled an estimated $212 billion, leading analysts and lawmakers to argue that the 2018 law made the institution’s market-rattling failure and resulting federal takeover more likely.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was an outspoken opponent of the deregulatory measure, said in a statement Friday that “President Trump and congressional Republicans’ decision to roll back Dodd-Frank’s ‘too big to fail’ rules for banks like SVB—reducing both oversight and capital requirements—contributed to a costly collapse.”
But the GOP wasn’t alone in its support for Sen. Mike Crapo’s (R-Idaho) Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and […]
The perversion of Christianity, into a gun-toting, White supremacy, militant heterosexual cult, I think, is a nasty trend that is not only doing immediate damage to American democracy, it is also going to fundamentally damage Christianity for more than a generation, perhaps longer. And, of course, christofascist oligarchs like the Kochs are behind the scene funding the hate, and manipulating the peasants. This story lays it out.
Christian Nationalist demonstration Credit: Shelby Tauber
Wearing a blue America First cap, 19-year-old Max White stood among a dozen protesters, softly mouthing the Hail Mary prayers over and over: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”
Around White flew the flags of right-wing extremist groups, including the American Nationalist Initiative and the New Columbia Movement, carried by men who looked to be in their 20s, strapped with rosaries or assault rifles or both. On a cloudless January day in Dallas, they faced off against a group of nearly 100 community members who showed up to support the drag show performance that White and his peers were protesting.
“I started going to these events last year, starting with the Pride event in Oak Lawn. … I was like, ‘If these people are going to go and protest this kind of stuff, just perverse sexual stuff for kids, I’m going,’” he said.
Since he was 16, White has been following young white-supremacist agitator Nick Fuentes and groups like Protect […]
