Brian Beach has moved @bwbeach@qoto.org

As I mentioned in another post, I think probably our biggest obstacle is that most Americans are entirely checked out, have no knowledge or interest in how our government is structured or how it runs. They literally don't know what is good for them, and they don't know that they don't know it. #USPolitics

"In one fell swoop, the majority today gives itself exclusive power over every open issue—no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden—involving the meaning of regulatory law. As if it did not have enough on its plate, the majority turns itself into the country's administrative czar."

Elena Kagan, Supreme Court Justice

2/ @emptywheel cont’d:

Are we going to start talking about Trump's open claim to have an agreement with Russian that they hold a US journalist hostage to help him win the election?

Did Trump also get Russia to work with Hamas to hold hostages to help him win, too?

Maybe NYT could assign 12 of the journalists writing Joe Biden debate stories to investigate why Trump is so sure Gershkovich will only be released if Trump wins?

I taught civics a long time ago. I used to tell students, "a vote isn't a valentine". But also: A VOTE ISN'T A REVIEW. Protest votes or (lack of votes) won't punish or reward any politician (and it certainly won't "send a message"), but it could make life really terrible for you, or for someone you love. Vote with your brain and your heart. #uspol

@JugglingWithEggs

Our kid: I'm not interested in politics.

Us: So what are you interested in?

Kid: [lists various public services - transport, health, education etc]

Us: So how do you think that decisions about providing such things are made?

Kid [after a short pause - but only short, he's not stupid]: Oh.

We can fight for a better and more equitable future for everyone AND VOTE. This isn't an either/or, you need to do both. This isn't about idealism, it's about survival for a large amount of people. I get it, I don't love it either, but a good amount of life is choosing the lesser of two evils, there are no utopias.

biden is not the end-all be-all of democratic politics. unlike maga republicans, we’re not in a cult. if he’s unable to do the job, there are others who will succeed him. but if he’s on the ticket, then what other choice do we have, aside from not voting, being passive, letting trump win? do you remember how badly that term went?

In my lifetime, I have watched as we have devolved from a man being disqualified from seeking the presidency because he didn’t know how to spell potato to a pathologically dishonest, election tampering rapist being treated as a serious candidate, rather than a serious threat. The growth of power of the reactionary, white supremacist right wing is terrifying.

When there is an incumbent a debate is an opportunity for the country to "get to know" the challenger.

When both candidates are former presidents, neither of whom have been out of the news even for a moment... what is the point?

Will we learn anything new?

I'm seeing a lot of panic and "This is bad for Biden" flickering by, and I'd agree ... if he wasn't someone we already knew.

Never-forget the implicit desire media has for a horse race.

I'll be curious to see the ratings.

An election reminder. If you can't vote for the candidate you want because they won't get enough support to win then vote against the one you don't want by voting for the candidate best placed to beat them. You don't have to like them personally, just want to take a step along the road.
#GE24 #GE2024 #VoteTactically

landfills were invented within human memory. the trash can as we understand it is a 20th-century invention. disposability as a concept had to be invented. none of this is inevitable or necessary.

Public information poster (ca. 1940s)
Image: Ministry of War, Canada

Always imagine that you’re addressing the highest version of anyone you meet.

#ProTip #relationships #life #humanity #inspiration #LifeCoach #happiness #random #growth

"[V]ictims' anger has everything to do with the way their community responds to the wrongs inflicted upon them. Retributive anger...is what people feel when they are alone and abandoned to their fates. The wish to retaliate is born of isolation and helplessness.... When the community rallies to the victim's support, vengeful feelings are transformed into shared righteous indignation, which can be a powerful source of energy for repair.” (Herman, 2023: 47) #Trauma #Repair #Books

If you want to know more about “Project 2025,” I wrote a three-part series about the worldview of the people behind it, the policy agenda and detailed plans “Project 2025” has produced, and what this all tells us about today’s radicalizing Right:
 
https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/what-project-2025-would-do-to-america

The latest in my ongoing #GreenColonialism investigation: a federal agency has moved forward with a renewable energy development on Yakama sacred lands, despite not having consulted with the Yakama Nation.

They cornered the Yakama Nation with an impossible choice: give up confidential cultural information, or waive the right to consult. Some experts say this is a disingenuous tactic, showing the lack of teeth tribal consultation really has.

#Indigenous #Washington

https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-7/how-federal-rules-and-a-lack-of-protection-for-sacred-indigenous-sites-left-the-yakama-nation-with-an-impossible-choice/

An AI thing I'm watching play out at another org:

1: Expert A, with a deep understanding of a nuanced and difficult problem answers a question they've been given, presenting several choices.

2: Director B, recipient, uses an AI to summarize it and then runs it up to leadership saying, "A says this." That generated summary is subtly and very wrong.

3: A is now being held responsible for plans made based on B's AI-generated and very wrong rewriting of his recommendations.

Fun times.

@pixelpusher220 @shoq @jeffjarvis As the one who has been in our department the second longest, and in a role that is "akin" to "the librarian" (as in I know where everything is), I have this argument frequently. The form/shape/system of the repository is never the issue. Its curation of the repository that is EVERYTHING.

There are tons of wikis out there. What makes Wikipedia so good? Active and vigilent curation. What makes our corporate wikis and sharepoints so garbage? No time for curation.