American guns are the murder weapons of choice throughout Central and South America. How is this possible? Because the Republicans in Congress have been rented like prostitutes by the corporations that make the murder weapons, and no law constraining gun manufacture or sales can get passed. The result is not only that a shot in their bodies has become the main cause of death of children in the U.S., it is also now becoming a main cause of death in the rest of the hemisphere. I see this as a national shame.
Heavily-armed soldiers patrol the beach of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. The country’s idyllic Caribbean coast is increasingly seeing gun violence. Credit: Natalia Pescador / DPA
When Mexicans are shot dead, the last thing they see are the barrels of American guns.
Republicans in Congress get 95% of the gun rights lobby’s campaign donations, and they aggressively run interference for their base’s business — selling as many guns as possible to whoever wants to buy them wherever they are.
The Second Amendment isn’t just an American right for gun manufacturers. It’s a human right, maybe even worth putting in the UN Charter. For the U.S. weapons industry, everyone everywhere needs a gun, preferably at least one per hand — or even digit.
I told you this would happen, and it is. We are seeing the population of the United States sort itself in accordance with the Great Schism Trend. Conservatives in significant numbers are moving to Red States so they can be around people who agree with their sense of resentment, victimization, racism, and views on abortion, education, and libraries. Young people and young couples, in contrast are moving to Blue States, as this poll and article describe. What this is also doing is creating a growing disparity in the intellectual levels of Red and Blue States. Blue States are getting smarter and better educated. Red states are getting less intelligent and less educated. This is all part of the growing reality that we are becoming two countries in a single nation, and I think this has growing implications for a change in how our government will operate in the future.
People gather to protest the Supreme Courts 6-3 decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization at Washington Square Park on June 24, 2022, in New York City. Credit: Michael M Santiago / Getty
A new poll demonstrates that young people across the U.S. are less inclined to live in and accept employment in states that have restrictive policies on abortion.
The CNBC + Generation Lab Youth Poll, conducted from April 26 to May 2, examined the viewpoints of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34. Among a number of issues, the survey asked young Americans how their living choices and employment selection — including where they would seek or accept employment opportunities — are affected by abortion accessibility.
Asked about whether they’d want to live in a state that bans abortions, the poll found that a majority (62 percent) would “probably” or “definitely” not choose to do so. Just 39 percent said that they “probably” or “definitely” would live in such a state.
This is an excellent article on the change in journalism. It is a major trend changing our culture as it withers, and not in a good way. Journalism is being replaced by the weaponization of lies on social media. The result is a population of ill-informed people who have lost contact with the truth, and who no longer understand or value democracy.
Members of the press cover former President Donald Trump’s address to supporters at the Mar-A-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 4, 2023. Credit: Francis Chung/Politico
Wounded and limping, doubting its own future, American journalism seems to be losing a quality that carried it through a century and a half of trials: its swagger.
Swagger is the conformity-killing practice of journalism, often done in defiance of authority and custom, to tell a true story in its completeness, no matter whom it might offend. It causes some people to subscribe and others to cancel their subscriptions, and gives journalists the necessary courage and direction to do their best work. Swagger was once journalism’s calling card, but in recent decades it’s been sidelined. In some venues, reporters now do their work with all the passion of an accountant, and it shows in their guarded, couched and equivocating copy. Instead of relishing controversy, today’s newsrooms shy away from publishing true […]
I do not in any way excuse or defend the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas. They are war crimes. But I do not think what they have done compares with the genocide of Muslim women and children being carried out by the Israelis. How is it possible that Jewish men, many of whose forebearers were murdered by Hitler’s Nazis, could participate in such mass murder? To get the answer to that question watch my podcast Consciousness, Authoritarianism, and Political Violence, which will air this Friday afternoon on YouTube
People inspect destroyed houses following Israeli attacks in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah. Credit: Rizek Abdeljawad / Xinhua / ZUMA
Israeli forces announced on Tuesday that they had seized control of the Rafah border crossing, a vital passageway for transporting aid into Gaza, prompting intense condemnation from international aid groups warning that the humanitarian crisis would be significantly exacerbated.
The incursion into Rafah comes a day after White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that President Biden “doesn’t want to see operations in Rafah that put at greater risk the more than a million people that are seeking refuge there,” On Sunday, Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, said on NBC’s Meet the Press that the “full-blown famine” in Gaza’s north was quickly “moving its way south.”
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been staunch about plans to invade Rafah, has openly defied these warnings. He said last week that the incursion would occur “with or without a deal” to free the hostages or enact […]
We have never seen a former president who has been convicted as a rapist, financial fraudster, and eventually very possibly committer of treason. Now I think there is an excellent chance we are going to see a former president convicted and sent to prison. What do you think America will do if that happens?
Trump on trial Credit: NBC News
On Monday, the judge presiding over Donald Trump’s New York trial once again warned — this time face-to-face — that he could face jail time if he continues to violate a gag order. It’s a scenario that Trump’s presidential campaign has already been discussing.
“Over the past couple of months, everybody has come to the realization that [it’s a possibility], and thought about what must be done,” one person close to the campaign noted. “These are all professionals.”
Alternative punishments, like home confinement, have also been discussed by Trump’s team, given both the logistical questions that jail poses and the judge’s own admitted reluctance in issuing such a decision. Only one thing is clear: Trump would take the lead in messaging, just as he has throughout the trial.
What, exactly, the playbook would look like if Trump actually goes to jail remains to be seen. But, based on the tactics currently being deployed by the campaign, it would almost certainly include a ramp-up of fundraising messages, surrogates arguing Trump’s side in the media, and […]
