Gaythia Weis @Gaythia@qoto.org

There’s another GOP candidate debate coming up with the leader of the pack notably missing again. The rest of them should have to answer questions that he has raised in his latest “Truth Social” postings about Gen. Mark Milley, Jack Smith and Fani Willis. Do they agree with him? Do they condemn his words? The GOP has got to start to take ownership for the things their de facto leader says. They can’t be allowed to continue to deflect and dissemble.

Research Warns White Supremacists Are Building a Shadow Militia https://www.voanews.com/a/research-warns-white-supremacists-are-building-a-shadow-militia-/7280445.html

This makes my heart happy
#JimmyCarter

Jimmy, #RosalynnCarter surprise parade crowd at Georgia festival - UPI.com

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2023/09/23/former-president-jimmy-carter-spotted-at-plains-peanut-festival/3371695494086/

@MikeDunnAuthor I live in Oklahoma, and my kid’s school system has been targeted by the state superintendent. We have lost so many really good teachers. One of our favorites was a social studies teacher who went to work in a remote tech job for probably more than 2x the salary—and no need to worry about getting death threats for teaching about the Tulsa Race Massacre. I don’t blame her one bit.

I got the new #COVID mRNA vaccine. If it’s available where you are, it’s a great way to protect you & your community from serious illness.

Clarence Thomas twice spoke at the Koch brothers’ annual fundraising retreat. A sitting Supreme Court justice is actually fundraising for a partisan organization that routinely brings cases before the Supreme Court, which he routinely rules in favor of. Naturally he has not disclosed this. https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus

#Wisconsin Republicans Went to Extremes in #Gerrymandering. Now They’re Scrambling to Protect That Power.
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Heavily redrawn #election districts in the battleground state gave #Republicans firm control of the legislature — and the leeway to move aggressively against officials and judges they perceive as threats.

#Impeachment #Judges #Redistricting #Midwest #News #Politics

https://www.propublica.org/article/wisconsin-gop-gerrymander-elections-janet-protasiewicz?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Australia: "Rooftop solar 'cannibalising' power prices as Australian generators pay to stay online" (OH NO, THINK OF THE POOR COAL BURNING POWER PLANTS AND THEIR PROFITS!) #solar #cleantech #energy https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-23/rooftop-solar-cannibalising-australian-power-market/102889710

Fully one-third of U.S. states have election deniers in some of the highest positions overseeing elections. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/election-deniers-17-states-1234826808/

If you’re going to interview Donald Trump, you had better be prepared to fact check him in real time. Our media does a terrible job of allowing him to spew falsehoods and spread conspiracies without calling him out on them. This is not the time to platform Trump like he is some regular politician. He is an existential threat to our democracy, including to institutions such as the free press. Do better.

@aprilfollies @aburka @futurebird @zzzeek the idea of election day as a federal holiday sounds really compelling, except the people who have a hard time voting because of their work schedule don’t get holidays off anyway. Plus most public transportation systems run limited schedules on federal holidays because people aren’t working, which is counter to the purpose too. Universal early voting and vote by mail are the way forward.

Good read. I doubt any of my followers think that the fever will break once Trump is gone, but many people including members of the press do.

Young Republicans grew up with Limbaugh/Tea Party/Palin/Trump "conservatism.” They're in it for the performative politics and the shared grievance and victimhood. It’s not going anywhere soon.

The GOP put a fascist in the top seat and wants more of that. That’s why the rest of us have to work together and do it wisely.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/09/why-the-gop-cant-quit-donald-trump-american-psychosis/

Once “polarization” is adopted as an overarching diagnosis, as a governing historical and political paradigm, it obscures what the key challenge to achieving a pluralistic democracy is – the anti-democratic radicalization of the Right. 9/

"“We have dozens of these facilities that are within a mile of the Big Sioux River or a tributary, and they’re not managing their waste,” Roberts said.

Complaining about such facilities became harder during the most recent legislative session. Legislators passed a law that says only the owner or lessee of an affected property can file a nuisance action against an agricultural operation such as a CAFO, and only if the affected property is within 1 mile of the operation."

#CAFO #Water #Pollution #SouthDakota

https://southdakotasearchlight.com/2023/09/04/not-all-livestock-operations-in-south-dakota-have-to-manage-waste-equally/?emci=cc4c5d1c-2e49-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&emdi=fdd0c25e-db4b-ee11-a3f1-00224832eb73&ceid=75026

To be fair, I've been "using pragerU in the classroom for years" ... for STEM even.

I have a folder of "Terrible graphs" that I use for discussions for stats students, they make so many horrible graphs I had to only pick the most interesting examples so that there is more variety.

(And I've been using them less since the students say it's too easy to spot that flaws. It's more fun to dissect a bad graph that made it into a major newspaper.)

“I know how this information looks—when taken out of context, it seems bad,” Exxon CEO Darren Woods said in response to the Wall Street Journal’s inquiry about the documents that show Exxon executives strategized over how to diminish concerns about warming temperatures, and they sought to muddle scientific findings that might hurt its oil-and-gas business.

Lol. In what context does this look good?

https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/exxon-climate-change-documents-e2e9e6af

PragarU Founders Are Fracking Billionaires Who Delight In Climate Disinformation - For Children - CleanTechnica

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/09/14/pragaru-founders-are-fracking-billionaires-who-delight-in-climate-disinformation-for-children/

In 1916, 23 yr old chemist Alice Ball discovered a breakthrough in treatment for Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease). She was the 1st woman & 1st Black chemistry professor at UHawaii.

Tragically, Ball passed away months after her discovery due to complications from a lab accident.

What happened next? Arthur Dean, head of her dept, continued the work publishing Ball’s process as “Dean’s method.”

Fortunately, a colleague spoke up & the name was changed to “Ball’s method.” #HistoryRemix #science #history

Having lived much of the last year in a country that has universal healthcare, it's heartbreaking to be back in the U.S. seeing families having to appeal to strangers online through gofundme sites bc they cannot afford outrageous medical bills while dealing with unimaginable tragedy.