ABrockwell @aebrockwell@qoto.org

I love this phrase from @garymarcus@sigmoid.social

“Blind fealty to the statistics of arbitrary data is not AGI. It’s a hack. And not one that we should want.”

Rejecting the voice shows #Australia is still in denial, its history of forgetting a festering wrong - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2023/oct/14/rejecting-the-voice-shows-australia-is-still-in-denial-its-history-of-forgetting-a-festering-wrong "The referendum became by proxy a vote on Indigenous peoples’ right to exist in our own land. Imagine – just try – how that feels today"

I've voted YES!
This referendum is about straightforward ideas and practical solutions:
Recognising and respecting 65,000 years of Indigenous culture for the first time in Australia’s 122-year-old constitution.
Listening to a diverse group of Indigenous Australians about the policies and challenges that affect them
Protecting the Voice from politics and bureaucrats by putting it in the constitution, giving it the security it needs to provide meaningful and honest advice.
#yes23 3#Australia #recognition #Recognise @yes23au

Republicans calling a special legislative session to prevent *private businesses* from implementing Covid restrictions tells us an awful lot about where the party is right now.

Apparently government is supposed to be so big and intrusive that it can force a deadly, anti-freedom, anti-scientific ideology on everyone.

#Texas #Covid #GOPExtremism

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/texas/texas-special-session-2023/285-33f86a48-9740-4f55-a6ab-552179836467

There Are No Rules

States and quasi-states are using extreme, uninhibited violence against civilian populations.

By Anne Applebaum

Extract

The russian invasion of #Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on #Israeli civilians are both blatant rejections of that rules-based world order, and they herald something new. Both aggressors have deployed a sophisticated, militarized, modern form of terrorism, and they do not feel apologetic or embarrassed about this at all

Read more here🔗 https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/10/israel-war-hamas-terrorism-ukraine-russia/675590/

I know there is a lot going on, but Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for far less than what Trump has done.

Just thought I should remind everyone of that.

Congressional Republicans: "We refuse to work with Democrats and we certainly will not honor any deals we make with them, but we are pissed at them for refusing to bail us out when the crazy people we've been harboring for years turned on us."

There are some who claim the Dems should have supported #McCarthy. Why? He’s all-in on #tfg; he weazeled through Jan6; just launched an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over bogus allegations; thwarted Jan. 6 investigations; reneged on his debt ceiling agreement with POTUS, and then on TV over the weekend he blamed Dems for the near-shutdown saying Dems everything they could to create a shutdown. Liar.

So, McCarthy gave up every principle and concession to the far, far right of the US Republicans, and now they've ousted him anyway. Leopards, faces, etc.

This is your occasional reminder that it's not "Congress" or "politicians" who are throwing a tantrum and shutting down the US federal government due to their inability to pass a budget.

It's exactly one of the two major parties: the Republican party. Every single time this happens? It's the Republicans. And they bank on you blaming "politicians" or "Congress" in general, rather than holding them accountable.

every woman in academia needs to stop and read this 2021 profile of Katalin Karikó. it’s enraging and inspiring all at once.

and every man should read it for a very simple reason:

🗣 THIS IS WHAT A REAL GENIUS LOOKS LIKE

not Jobs.
not Musk.
not Zuckerberg.

not 99.99% of the Silicon Valley conartists calling themselves geniuses.

no.

it’s this middle-aged mother who works at a lab.

❝ Messenger RNA vaccine pioneer Katalin Karikó shares her long journey

https://www.statnews.com/2021/07/19/katalin-kariko-messenger-rna-vaccine-pioneer/

It’s finally clear as day. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has announced he will run as an independent for president. He’s backed by GOP funders, and his goal is to peel away Democratic voters from Biden. Don’t be fooled by shiny third party traps. To stop Trump, we need to unite behind Biden. A vote for anyone else is a vote for Trump.

The press has succumbed to what I call "the banality of crazy," in which they breathlessly report every minor Biden gaffe, but barely cover Trump calling to execute generals or shoplifters. This numbing effect helps Trump--and warps American politics. My latest: https://www.forkingpaths.co/p/the-case-for-amplifying-trumps-insanity

STORY: Trump threatens judges at campaign events while facing 91 criminal indictments to overthrow democracy
MEDIA: Trump rises above legal troubles to woo voters

STORY: Biden's first 3 years most productive in modern POTUS history
MEDIA: Biden texted "I love you" to drug user

Corporate media is failing us over, and over, and over again.

Do you see a pattern here?

Courts have ruled:
Trump University - a fraud
Trump Foundation - a fraud
Trump Real Estate, NY - a fraud

Not my opinion, these are cases tried and proven in a court of law. How is it that nearly half the US population are bamboozled by this conman?

"We reside in a #media environment that promotes—whether it intends to or not—right-wing #authoritarian spectacle. At the same time, as a culture, it’s consistently obsessed with who “won the day,” while placing far less value on the fact that the civic & democratic health of the country is nurtured through practices such as deliberation, compromise, and sober governance.

...it’s potentially tragic for democracy."
https://newrepublic.com/article/175612/two-medias-trump-2024-spectacle

#Journalism #Journalists #Politics #USPol #USA #News

@tzimmer_history
#polarization

Be wary of New York Times articles by Maggie Haberman and Mike Schmidt that ostensibly address Trump's outrageous actions, but in substance actually normalize and both-sides this illegal behavior.

This is what this cleanup crew does time and time again. Likely Team Trump know some sort of legal action to curtail his threats is coming, and once again these trusted newshapers are thrust out ahead of events to sculpt public opinion.

#NewYorkTimes #Haberman #Trump

Let’s not forget what Kevin McCarthy and the GOP choose to spend time and resources on this month: a baseless impeachment inquiry against Joe Biden and attacks upon the Justice Department for doing its job.

Instead of passing the budget they already agreed to this spring, they waste time and taxpayer money doing the bidding of extremists within their ranks, all while careening toward yet another government shutdown.

We must vote them out next fall. As many as we possibly can.