09-10-24 •
When Misinformation is Dangerous
Kim: Harris only matches up to Trump because the media is carrying her on their shoulders.
So do you believe Trump when he says that Kamala wants schools to be able to do gender re-assignment surgery? Do you think it matters that he says this? Just curious.
Kim: I would love to hear his comment in its totality and in the context it was said, because speaking of the media, they have a habit of distorting words and facts.
Do look into it. Here's a description of a couple of recent incidents of this:
__Trump claims schools could be regendering kids__
Trump did not say it happened, he just asks people to imagine it in frightening detail and then tells them that Kamala Harris proposes or supports it. Do you think it matters that he does this?
Kim: So how exactly was he lying…?
I didn't say he was lying, I just asked if it matters that Trump is spreading this.
Varia:Imagine this.... imagine that....
This sort of propaganda is done by both major parties.
Degree matters.
Kim: What is he spreading? That Kamala supports sex reassignment to an extreme that may not be healthy? Where’s the lie?
The lie is pretending those are the same.
Kim: So how do you feel about Kamala during the debate, spreading the lie that Trump will sign an abortion ban when he’s being very clear that he’s not?
I think it's a real risk.
Varia:"Degree matters?" Degree of WHAT?
Reality.
Elon Musk now tweeted this:
"Kamala vows to be a communist dictator on day one. Can you believe she wears that outfit?" (picture of Kamala Harris in Communist branded red outfit with hammer and sickle)
Does it matter that he is spreading this?
Kim: No more than if you posted it.
No, almost no one sees what I do.
Kim: It's not meant to be taken literally. It's meant to send a message.
So, you think it does not matter. I disagree, I think it is a deliberate spread of misinformation by those with power.
______________________________________________
Kim: Doesn’t he have freedom of speech?
Irrelevant, I have not proposed that his speech be censored by any party.
Kim:
He believes Kamala is a communist, I happen to agree.
"Is a communist" could mean anything, but that's not what he said. He said she has "vowed to be a communist dictator on Day One." That's not an opinion, it's a particular claim of fact. Did Harris, in fact, say that she would be a communist dictator on Day One? For comparison, consider that Trump is actually on the record saying that he would be a dictator on day one. Is there a similar quote from Harris? Anything even in that universe? If not, the claim is utterly baseless, a subversion of the truth, misinformation.
Kim:
Would you still object if I shared that opinion and that caption?
I would still consider it sharing misinformation, but if you asked me if it mattered, I would say probably not much, unless you are an influencer somewhere.
Kim:
But I’m still waiting for your answer. What do you think about Kamala spreading lies during a presidential debate? That’s not “deliberate spread of misinformation according to you?
As I have already stated, I think it's a realistic risk that there could be a national Trump abortion ban. The Trump court and many Trump Republicans have signalled support for draconian bans and they are being enacted all over, and Trump has no consistent position on it.
Kim:
And isn’t she in a position of power? Or that’s fine and doesn’t matter as long as you agree with it?
I'm not saying that every word from Harris was perfectly accurate. She said, "As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone in any war zone around the world, the first time this century," and that is a bit of an overstatement. She also exaggerated the significance of Trump's large trade deficits, failing to note that Biden's are even bigger. I don't think that's fine and I do think it's wrong of her to exaggerate and spin.
However, I don't think that is even in the same universe as the insane fear-mongering being blasted from Trump and Vance. Trump has been saying for months that Democrats support "abortion after birth," ie executing babies. He says that Kamala Harris wants elementary schools to be able to re-gender your children. They are now claiming that immigrants are eating dogs and cats. In other words, Democrats, your fellow Americans, your neighbors and family, are inhuman monsters who are coming for *your* kids and pets.
As I said to AZ, the degree matters - is this in the realm of normal political exaggeration, or does it rise to the level of dangerous misinformation? In my opinion it does. Now that they think I am an inhuman monster who supports communist dictatorship, killing babies and eating pets, what's to stop my neighbors from violently attacking me? The risk of political violence has dramatically increased because of these lies.
Not that this speech should be banned! It should just be regarded as authoritarian disinformation and universally condemned instead of excused. IMHO.
______________________________________________
The Next Day:
Ohio town hit with bomb threats, buildings evacuated
"Officials in Springfield, Ohio closed City Hall Thursday after a bomb threat citing right-wing misinformation was issued to multiple facilities, the city said in a news release."
Threats in Springfield, Ohio
This is exactly what I said. "Where's the lie?" Portraying your neighbors as inhuman monsters results in violence. This campaign should be denounced from every corner for spreading this kind of hate speech. How do they still have a chance?
Ordinary, decent people need to start peeling off of this movement.
09-09-24 •
We're Not Going Back
Dreyma: The Harris-Walz slogan is "We're not Going Back!" What, to a better time, when Trump was president, and we had peace, prosperity, and secure borders?
Kiki: When did we ever have peace, prosperity, and “secure borders”?
Dreyma: It’s never been perfect,
But we’ve had times we were going uphill rather than downhill.
I guarantee the Trump presidency - a constant stream of rage-tweeting, disgusting insults, obfuscation, norm-shattering, servile authoritarian bootlicking, hate-mongering, law breaking, misogyny, election denying and insurrection inciting - will not be seen by history as a high point.
Dreyma: I dunno…
In fifty years, what do you want to hear…
Remember when we had that president that was a total dick, but we had money and weren’t at war…
Vs.
Remember that time we had a really sweet and kind president, but we were on the verge of another Great Depression and in tantamount to a world war?
First of all, it's not about "sweet and kind" vs "total dick" - it's "works within rule of law" and "can be trusted with democracy" vs "disregards rule of law" and "tried to overturn an election". The comparison is not about temperament, it's about who can be trusted to hand over the reins at the end of their legal term and that's not Trump.
Secondly, the insults and misogyny and hate-mongering and obfuscation are not just "being a dick" when it's the President. It's abusing power, destroying the discourse, breaking the law, and making it impossible for democracy to function. That's "being an authoritarian" and it's a risk to the entire society.
In fifty years…do you want to hear, "Remember when women had the right make their own decisions about their bodies?" and "Remember when the votes actually counted?" I don't.
Finally, if you want to reminisce about the days when the U.S. had a great economy and widespread, shared prosperity, that would be in the post-war years when union activity was at its height, inequality was low, wages grew along with productivity, and the top tax rate was 95%.
Take a look at yet another report which confirms what has long been known - the economy performs better under Democrats:
https://www.epi.org/press/new-report-fi ... strations/
In particular, the report finds that since 1949:
• Annual real GDP growth is 1.2 percentage points faster during Democratic administrations than Republican ones (3.79% versus 2.60%).
• Total job growth has averaged 2.5% annually during Democratic administrations, while it is barely over 1% annually during Republican administrations. Applied to today’s total workforce, this would imply nearly 2.4 million more jobs created every year under Democratic administrations.
• The Democratic advantage is even larger in private job growth than it is for total job growth. Notably, business investment is higher during Democratic administrations, with investment growth running at more than double the pace than it does during Republican ones.
• Average rates of inflation—both overall and “core” measures that exclude volatile food and energy prices—are slightly lower during Democratic administrations.
• Families in the bottom 20% of the income distribution experience 188% faster income growth during Democratic administrations.
If what matters is your bottom line, history says trust a Democrat.
Dreyma:
The human experience in this country is a collective of people experiencing extremely difficult economic times.
We might come up with study after study to tell those people they’re wrong… but their human experience is the same regardless of which study is cited.
I actually don't disagree with you. Yes, many Americans ARE experiencing extremely difficult economic times. Most Americans can't afford a medical emergency, most can't afford a college education, many can't afford childcare or even a home. It's an outrage that basic necessities are increasingly out of reach and the ground is dissolving under the middle class. It's an outrage that all income and productivity gains go to the top 1%. I find all of this deeply morally wrong.
What I question is where you are getting the idea that Republicans are somehow the answer to this. Their laissez-faire economic policies are responsible for a lot of it. The point of the stats is not to show that you are doing fine when you aren't. It's to show that Republicans have nothing that can help you. Those who are struggling do worse under them.
If you really want America to return to a time when there was widespread, shared prosperity, we need the policies of the leftmost time in our history - when labor was highly organized, taxes on the wealthiest were very high and inequality was at its lowest in history. That's what it takes to create those conditions. There is no road there through the right in this country. The left swerves a little closer, as evidenced by their better numbers.
Yes, things really are hard, but it's not worth risking democracy and rule of law and women's rights to hand power to the party with the worse record.
Leyla:
My groceries are more expensive because of Biden's inflation!
There's this:

The U.S. has some of the lowest inflation in the world. Maybe we should thank Biden and Harris for us coming out of the pandemic better than so many other nations. But also, there is no reason to hope that Republicans will combat corporate consolidation or market concentration, the real drivers of inflation.
07-29-24 •
Olympic Art Offends
Sidney: Anyone catch the opening ceremony for the Olympics? I watch a little then went to bed. I woke up this morning to my phone blowing up with news about the "Olympics Drag Queen Last Supper". That's been fun to read about :/
Liz: Sad.
Sensi One: It was one of several artistic depictions, all fair game. The Last Supper is an imaginary scene made centuries after the time of Christ. It isn't a religious artifact.
Sensi Two: According to the art director of the opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, this was not even meant to depict the Last Supper. It's called "The Feast of Dionysis" and it's meant to represent Greek mythology, since the original Olympics were Greek.
I didn't think it looked that much like The Last Supper. Now I hear it wasn't even supposed to be The Last Supper. Like, do Christians own everybody sitting on one side of a table, forever?
I think this was a lot of outrage over nothing.
Liz: Kind of sad that they chose to draw attention away from the Olympics and put energy into mocking other people’s religion...
What's really sad is that people use this an excuse to pan the LGBTQ+ community, and somehow blame them for this, making them out to be hypocrites for wanting inclusion and then mocking religion, blah de blah de blah. Maybe people should put less energy into blaming gays.
Liz: What?
Who is blaming gays?
Definitely not me…
Definitely the whiners you posted.
Jillian Micheals: "Dear fellow gays...we demand tolerance and respect but then we make a mockery of something sacred for over 2 billion Christians...this type of hypocrisy is a bad look." What does this mean? How are her "fellow gays" on the hook for this? What did *they* do? How are they hypocrites?
Caitlyn Jenner: "A disgusting display of mockery...from the Radical Rainbow Mafia!" Who? And what do they have to do with this?
That sounds like blaming gays to me, and for what?
Liz: I just said it was sad that the art directors used this platform to mock a religion…
But that's not what happened. They were trying to honor a religion, not mock one. So, direct your sad where it belongs - the people you posted blaming gays for an outrage against Christians that never happened.
Liz: Maybe you should not be trying to tell a gay woman like Jillian Michaels how to feel about LGBTQ+ art.
It's not "LGBTQ+ art," it's art, open to comment by all of the public.
Liz: So now it's NOT a "celebration of LGBTQ+ inclusivity"? You would just erase LGBTQ+ celebration when it gets a backlash?
It IS an LGBTQ+ celebration, that doesn't mean that only gay opinions count. I feel free to comment on anything you post here for discussion, and I don't agree that I'm somehow excluded from comment on this because I'm not LGBTQ+ enough, lol.
I disagree with Michaels and Jenner that gayness or the search for inclusivity, or gay people in general, are somehow on the hook for this, or inherently offensive to the religious. So they need to do what - ask for less? Stay marginalized? Keep away from the Olympics? Absolutely not.
Liz: Christians are upset because something sacred to them was being mocked and turned into a comedic celebration. Why do you think Muslims get upset if the prophet is drawn in an insulting manner?
People can get upset about whatever they want, but I don't agree that the entire world must refrain from drawing the prophet because of their upset. I don't agree that no one should ever use The Last Supper in a comedic manner. In fact I have seen it used in a comedic manner many times without issue, because it has global recognition. The Last Supper belongs to everyone.
Obviously, it's so embedded in the culture that any depiction of this table scape will invoke the thought of it, even when it's based on another painting, so there's really no way it could be exclusive to Christians.
Liz: As I said, if the goal was inclusivity for all and bringing the world together to share feelings of unity, I think the art piece missed the mark.
It did miss the mark, but I don't agree that it's because the people who chose it were trying to mock Christians, or doing anything inappropriate. First of all, it wasn't the Last Supper, and secondly, were they supposed to realize that using (or even resembling) the Last Supper for comedic effect was going to cause a huge outcry? How could they, when it's done all the time? This was really recent, without notable issue:

It's a TV trope, here are dozens of other examples:
TV Tropes, The Last Supper Steal
Lastly, I seriously doubt that "being mocked and turned into a comedic celebration" is really the problem. I think it's just the LGBTQ+ celebration part that is bothering Christians, and I don't think that's a reason not to do it. People need to celebrate *in spite* of that, in fact that's really important.
For this to art piece to be offensive requires huge reaches - pretending that this is The Last Supper, pretending that the Last Supper is exclusively owned by Christians, pretending this is the work of some Radical Rainbow Mafia, and most of all, pretending that drag and LGBTQ+ celebration are somehow wrong, when they most certainly are not. That pretense is the source of the problem, not the celebratory choices of the Olympic art committee.
As I said, it's a lot of outrage over nothing.
((Later))
Congrats, Outrage Factory, the DJ at the center of the piece is now getting death threats.
Over a celebration that had nothing to do with Christianity! Was this worth it??
We had a similar discussion last Christmas about the "Hunger Games Aesthetic" White House dancers. They were called out by the outrage factory for being too liberal, and they started getting death threats too. Over nothing!
Getting super offended over things that aren't bad is really problematic.
07-21-24 •
And Again
Carrie: And just like that...after extreme pressure from leading Democrats and donors, Biden has withdrawn from the 2024 election.
Susan: I notice he didn't endorse Kamala Harris. His own VP! That tells you everything you need to know about her!
Carrie: Yes he did, immediately. Sheesh. Go Kamala!
Susan: You know, she said Joe Biden couldn't be president when she was running against him - then became his VP! She claims she's a prosecutor who's tough on crime, but she also claims we should abolish ICE! I'm calling her "Kamaleon Harris."
Carrie: And the attacks begin! Don't expect that nickname to catch on with Trump supporters, lol.
When John Kerry ran for president, they wore purple "flip flop" sandal pins at the RNC to deride him for changing policy positions. That's how much it was considered a problem back then - it helped sink his candidacy.
Trump made all that irrelevant by having no positions on anything. He'll say one thing today, another tomorrow, then back again, and no one expects better from him. So *now* consistency is important? Meh.
07-15-24 •
Things Have Changed Again
Susan: Oh my God that was close! Trump just got shot!
Carrie: I saw the photos. Trump with blood on his face, fist in the air, in a huddle of Secret Service guys, American flag waving patriotically in the background. It looks like the flag raising on Iwo Jima. [sigh] I guess he wins the election now.
And now Biden has Covid. We'll see.
07-12-24 •
Things Have Changed
Carrie: Anyone else excited for the Biden v. Trump debate? We're having a watch party!
((Later))
Carrie: Oh, dear. That was brutal to watch.
Susan: Biden looked so lost! Honestly, I don’t know how anyone can vote for him after watching this.
It's because Trump is that bad. Yes, really. But, any other decent Democrat could beat him easily. At this point I am hoping for a debilitating health crisis - anything to give another Democrat a chance to step up - and frankly that is looking more likely by the minute.
Plexy: It's because they hate Trump so much that they would rather see our country continue to be in the state it is in than to vote for a more capable person to run the country. They can't see past their hate.
I don't agree that most people are motivated to defeat Trump by "hate" for him and here's why.
1) There are legitimate concerns for the future of American democracy. Trump does not care about checks and balances. He refused to accept the results of an election he legitimately lost and then tried several schemes to illegitimately remain in power. The peaceful transfer of power is the most important test of a president and he blew it. When that is lost it's really, really hard to get back.
2) Trump made several disastrous moves as president, such as lowering the tax rate for the wealthiest, starting a "family separation" policy, and stacking the Supreme Court with religious conservatives. People have legitimate concerns about basic American equality and civil rights under his proposed policy agenda.
3) The country and "the state it is in" are not as bad as Trump makes them out to be. Crime is way down. Unemployment is down, GDP and wage growth are up. We have brought back chip manufacturing, invested in infrastructure and clean energy. Inflation is the worst part, but that's hardly Biden's fault - inflation is up all around the world, and the U.S. has actually had some of the best recovery from inflation and the pandemic of any nation. The numbers are headed in the right direction.
I don't love Biden and I don't think he should be the nominee, but I don't "hate" Trump and I hope you can see that I and many others have legitimate concerns about what it will mean for our country to put him back in the White House.
Thanks Plexy!
07-01-24 •
Trump and the Supremes
Lynn C: Good news, Supreme Court ruled that Trump is immune from prosecution.
Carrie: Does this ring alarm bells for anyone?
Lynn C: That was pretty much the status quo...
Lynn C: It’s never been a problem…
Official duties are immune from prosecution because if they weren’t, any president we’ve ever had or will ever have could be prosecuted for the decisions they’ve made…
Only if they are illegal, and what's wrong with that? Of course they should be held accountable for their decisions.
Lynn C: Because the question of “who decides what’s illegal” gets brought up too much…
Should Obama have been held liable for sending troops to war without getting congressional approval? Some say yes, some say no…
That's what adjudication is for - to decide. I have no problem with Obama being held to account if he did bad shit, why would I? Maybe he should be facing charges for all those extrajudicial drone killings too.
The point is to give presidents the message that they are accountable to the law like anyone else. Maybe then they will think twice about doing bad shit. And that would be better.
06-29-24 •
Getting By
Susan: So how is everyone getting by in this economy?
Lynn C: Awful. It's the tightest we've ever been.
Martha: We are both working hard, about 60+ hour weeks, and we haven't seen each other in months. But, my husband worked extra long hours, and he has a bonus coming, so we are doing fine.
We have a place to live and food we can cook but that's it. We can't spend for entertainment, we don't have cable or streaming, we shop only thrift.
It's actually a very exciting life. I do have my computer and the internet and you, so I have all the entertainment on a screen I could ever want. We attend every free thing that comes up, take picnics to parks all over, hit museums on their free days, attend free concerts, etc. We're attending a music festival in a few days - my husband and son are volunteering and I am performing live art so we all got free tickets. I spend my time making beautiful things on the computer - right now I am making stage projections for a theater company in London.
I can't deny how incredibly privileged we are. We have two old rattletrap cars, but they run, and we can just afford to insure and gas them. That's our freedom. We could have more if we got 9 to 5 jobs, but then we would lose the only thing we have that really matters, our time together. So we're going to keep this up as long as we can.
06-29-24 •
AI and Fake News
Gears: Some good news...Riley Gaines wins 50 million dollar lawsuit against NCAA

Pavel: I can't verify this with any news source. Are you sure this is for real?
Kira: What on earth does "excessive behavior of alertness in sports" mean?
It sounds like an AI was asked to rephrase "woke".
Kira: Honestly I bet you are right, that's exactly what it sounds like.

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