John B Alexander, PhD, Colonel, USA (Ret.) - Daily Kos
Stephan:
John Alexander is a career combat leader and retired Army colonel and PhD. He is the first person I have seen tell the truth about how the Afghanistan War ended, and criminal Trump became the first American president in history to surrender. This is a story you should forward on to friends and family members. It is a major part of the Trump disgrace that no on every talks about.
Criminal Trump, the only U.S. President to ever surrender Credit: CBS
As self-acknowledging “suckers and losers,” all active and former military members supporting Trump are betraying the million men and women who made the “ultimate sacrifice.” It is disconcerting that so many of them are willing to overlook one of many critical flaws in a narcissistic megalomaniac who couldn’t care less about them.
They should also know that Trump is the first American president to overtly surrender to an adversary during a period of conflict. They seem ignorant of the facts that form the basis of the Doha Agreement that Trump had Zal Khalilzad negotiate with the Taliban on his behalf. Betraying our Afghan allies, Trump’s negotiators entered the discussions without including the very people who would have to carry on with the governance of the country.
The agreement signed in Doha, Qatar, was if U.S. forces stopped attacking the Taliban, they would not attack our troops. It also included a departure date by which all U.S. and NATO forces would be out of the country. That was/is in effect, surrender.
Michelle Boorstein, Religion Reporter - The Washington Post
Stephan:
If the christofascists can’t get rid of public education they at least want to turn it into a “Christian” (nothing to do withe Jesus’ actual teachings) indoctrination system. It is their next battle in the war to make the U.S. a christofascist autocracy.
A sign directs the way to the chaplain’s office at the Florida House of Representatives in Tallahassee. Credit: Brendan Farrington / AP
Lawmakers in mostly conservative states are pushing a coordinated effort to bring chaplains into public schools, aided by a new, legislation-crafting network that aims to address policy issues “from a biblical world view” and by a consortium whose promotional materials saychaplains are a way to convert millions to Christianity.
The bills have been introduced this legislative season in 14 states, inspired by Texas, which passed a law last year allowing school districts to hire chaplains or use them as volunteers for whatever role the local school board sees fit, including replacing trained counselors. Chaplain bills were approved by one legislative chamber in three states — Utah, Indiana and Louisiana — but died in Utah and Indiana. Bills are pendingin nine states. Onepassed both houses of Florida’s legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
The bills are mushrooming in an era when the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the rights of religious people and groups in the public square and weakened historicprotections meant to keep the government from endorsing religion. In a 2022 case, […]
This is another story about the corruption of the American Congress, but the difference from most of the stories is that this one shows the Democrats are just as corrupt as the TCPs when it comes to renting themselves to the Fossil Fuel corporations who pour tens of millions of dollars into Democratic coffers. This is all the result of Citizens United and no one wants to change it. That’s why I tell you the United States is the most corrupt democracy in the world.
In January, Joe Biden temporarily halted approvals for new liquid natural gas exports and processing terminals. Since then, fossil fuel–backed Democrats have scrambled to undo the climate win.
hen President Joe Bidenannounced in January that he was temporarily halting approvals of new liquefied natural gas exports and processing terminals, Emma Guevara welcomed the news.
A resident of Brownsville, Texas — a historically poor city and fossil fuel hot spot on the Gulf of Mexico — Guevara is concerned about two multibillion-dollar proposed liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals for the area. Beyond the projects’ potential impacts on nearby ecosystems, air, and water quality, Guevara is worried about how carbon emissions from the projects would impact the planet — and her home.
“We’re on the coast,” said Guevara, a local Sierra Club organizer. “And we’re a really marginalized community that can barely handle regular natural disasters, let alone what we’re looking at in the next ten years.”
But Biden’s pause on such fossil fuel projects isn’t just being opposed by Republicans — it’s also facing pushback from some Democrats, including Guevara’s own Democratic congressman, Vicente Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is one of fourteen House Democrats who have […]
Here is some good news about pollution, improving wellbeing, and dealing with climate change. Only a fraction of what could have been done, of course, because of the corruption that plagues the United States. “This rule could’ve been the biggest single step of any nation on climate, but the EPA caved to pressure from big auto, big oil and car dealers, and riddled the plan with loopholes big enough to drive a Ford F150 through,” said Dan Becker, Center for Biological Diversity’s safe climate transport campaign director, as The Guardian reported.
Afternoon traffic on the I-15 freeway between the 60 and 210 freeways in Ontario, California on Jan. 31, 2024. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times / Getty
In a historic move, the Biden administration has announced new tailpipe emissions regulations, which call for a 56% reduction in the average carbon dioxide emissions of passenger cars, medium-duty vehicles and light-duty trucks by 2032.
The new rules will apply to vehicles with model years from 2027 to 2032 and beyond, a press release from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said.
“With transportation as the largest source of U.S. climate emissions, these strongest-ever pollution standards for cars solidify America’s leadership in building a clean transportation future,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The standards will slash over 7 billion tons of climate pollution, improve air quality in overburdened communities, and give drivers more clean vehicle choices while saving them money.”
The updated standards will provide almost $100 billion in net benefits to society annually, with $13 billion in public health benefits from improved air quality, and reduced fuel, repair and maintenance costs of $62 billion.
When the new rules have been completely phased in, they will provide an estimated $6,000 in fuel and […]
Here is some more good news. The Biden administration is finally making a move to deal with America’s gun psychosis. A small step, but an important one.
Vice President Kamala Harris
Vice President Harris will make two announcements on gun violence prevention efforts Saturday in Parkland, Fla., where 14 students and three staff members were killed in a school shooting in 2018.
Harris is set to meet with families of those killed in the mass shooting and will visit Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with them, along with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and state officials. She will then deliver remarks on gun safety measures at 2:45 p.m., according to a White House official.
The vice president will announce the launch of the first-ever National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center, which will aim to help states effectively implement red-flag laws through training and technical assistance. The center will be funded through a Department of Justice grant stemming from the bipartisan gun control bill that President Biden signed into law in 2022.
Harris also will announce an official call to action for states to pass red-flag laws and to use the resources from the bipartisan gun control bill to implement them.
Red-flag laws allow a judge to take away a firearm from someone based on the suspicion that the owner could use it to harm […]
