The longest general election campaign of all time is underway, Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law has assumed leadership of the RNC, and independent candidate RFK Jr. is expected to announce his running mate soon.
and today’s other news across the pond from the Beeb New extremism definition unveiled by government (bbc.com) Ministers have unveiled a new extremism definition under which certain groups will be blocked from government funding and meeting officials. It will apply to, but not criminalise, groups that promote an ideology based on “violence, hatred or intolerance”. […] The government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall, has warned the new policy “could undermine the UK’s reputation because it would not be seen as democratic”. Under the new definition, which comes into force on Thursday, extremism is “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to: negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in (1) or (2).” The previous definition, introduced in 2011 under the Prevent strategy, described extremism as “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and belief”. The government says the new one is “narrower and more precise” and will help “clearly articulate” how extremism is “evidenced” in behaviours. It also says there will be a “high bar” to being classed as extremist and the policy will not target those with “private, peaceful beliefs”. Organisations or individuals added to the list will not be criminalised, unlike terrorist groups. Instead, they will be barred from contact with government and will not be able to receive government funding. Alongside the redefinition, a new unit – the Counter-Extremism Centre of Excellence – has been set up, to gather intelligence and identify extremist groups. Groups and individuals labelled extremist have the right to seek reassessment and submit new evidence to a review. If they still disagree, they can challenge the government’s decision through a potentially costly judicial review. Announcing the change, Mr Gove said “our values of inclusivity and tolerance are under challenge from extremists”. “In order to protect our… Read more »
A new Russian school textbook has been produced that distorts the history of the war against Ukraine and encourages students to join the army.
It has been designed for a new subject entitled “Fundamentals of Security and Defence of the Motherland”.
The lesson is compulsory for high school students aged 15 to 18 in Russia and occupied territories in Ukraine.
It will be taught once a week from September, replacing a lesson known as “Fundamentals of Safe Living”.
Former soldiers are expected to teach the new subject and Russians with a degree in pedagogy – the method and practice of teaching – who return from the war are already being offered free retraining courses to become teachers.
[continues]
Moscow has launched a wide-ranging campaign telling residents of occupied parts of Ukraine to vote in Russia’s presidential election.
For the first time, the national vote is taking place over three days (15-17 March), but additional early voting has already begun in the occupied parts of four Ukrainian regions: Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk.
One resident complained of pro-Russian collaborators with ballot boxes going from house to house looking for voters accompanied by armed soldiers.
Voters blame businesses more than Biden for sticky inflation CNBC: President Joe Biden is starting to win the inflation blame game against corporations. A Financial Times-Michigan Ross online poll revealed that 63% of respondents attribute recent price hikes to “large corporations taking advantage of inflation,” up from 54% in November. Only 38% of respondents blame Democratic policies for the inflation. — https://cnb.cx/3IAUWxQ
If Joe’s team can keep him on message, and I think they can, reminding people that the inflation they see is tied to Dumbass’ deficit creating tax cuts for corporations and their rich owners, debunking Dumbass’ lies about the awful shape our country is under Biden and how wonderful it was and will be under Trump, he ought to be able to pick up enough reasonably intelligent “uncommitted” voters, particularly in the 6 states that will decide who wins the election, to win in November. Of course even as I say this I remember Gorge Carlin’s reminder t think about how stupid the average American is and remember that half of Americans are dumber than that.
And it’s only 15 minutes to the launch of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. The question on everyone’s mind is will it resemble more of a rocket launch or a fireworks display?
Correction, it’s launched and appears to be going well. Supposedly lost the booster upon it’s return, but hey, that ain’t too bad.
“Biggs, an Arizona Republican who is a staunch conservative and supporter of former President Donald Trump, appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Monday morning for a discussion about key issues shaping political discourse, including government funding, immigration and foreign policy. During the interview, a caller confronted him about the state of the modern Republican Party.”
“Republican critics of Trump argue the “MAGA” brand has driven away moderate and suburban voters crucial to GOP victories in battleground states, pointing to his loss in 2020 and the subpar performance of some Trump-aligned candidates in the 2022 midterms. His supporters, however, say he has won over some longtime Democratic voters and can engage with more rural voters in a way other Republicans have struggled to do.”
Rural, Republican voters have always been tRUMPers, but Dems aren’t going to vote for him. That’s a damned lie.
“The caller, who was identified as Nick from Berlin, Connecticut, said he has been “puzzled” by the alleged “divisiveness” within in the GOP, while arguing that the country has been “doing very well” under the Biden administration.”
“Nick said he has moved around the country five times, registering as a Republican at each point, and that he views the country as being in a “strong” position based on his recent travels.”
“I just registered as a Republican two months ago, for the fifth time yesterday, and I’m just going to leave with this comment. And that is I registered as a Republican because I’m a conservative, and I’m going to vote for Joe Biden because I’m a Christian,” he said.
The caller was then chastised by Biggs.
“Biggs responded to the caller, saying that he “probably should have re-registered as a Democrat,” while addressing his concerns about Trump and Republicans.”
“If you’re not voting for Donald Trump because you think he’s not a Christian or not a moral man, I’m not going to say ‘Look at Joe Biden.’ I would just say we should all look at ourselves and see who’s casting the first stone,” he said.
Republicans are so fulla crap…..even when resigning from elected office. Why the fuck can they not just vote with the democrats now and then? That’s all it would take to inject some reason into the debates. No, they’d rather just quit—solving nothing. If they’re going to resign, they obviously don’t have to sweat being primaried.
Assholes.
“…New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wrestler-turned-Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura are among two of his top contenders.”
“He’s also considering a pair of truck nuts dipped in Ivermectin,” said Jimmy Kimmel, who didn’t attempt to hide his bemusement at the very idea of any one of these men logging time in the West Wing.
It really is time to cut off Israel. The only thing BeBe is trying to save is his job. Take it right to the Knesset. Either throw the BeBe out with the bath water or face a loss of funds currently purchasing Israeli weapons. It would be a nice trim to our current bloated defense budget.
well, the RNC is an official subsidiary of TrumpCorp now so if you don’t get in line and worship the golden cow, there goes your funding! 💨
(that was re: nancy mace. She seemed reasonable until they got to her- she ran on, was elected as, and continued to be a moderate until someone gave her “the talk”, so the voters tried. Try again!)
“Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s assembling a team of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok.”
“But ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, may never be allowed to be sold to any company outside of China because of measures the government began putting into place in 2020. The Chinese government deems TikTok a sensitive technology and officials have said they’d oppose any forced sale that would involve exporting it into the hands of a foreign owner.”
“Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, told CNN that ByteDance and China will “never” sell TikTok with the source code — the “special sauce” that makes the app so successful and valuable.”
“Without the source code, this would be like buying an F1 car without the engine. It would be illogical,” Ives said.
“Mnuchin, though, said he’s looking to find a solution where the Chinese government will allow TikTok to be sold without a technology transfer.”
“However, the more likely buyer, according to Ives, would be a tech giant like Microsoft or Oracle, which already has a relationship with TikTok, and not a financial player like Mnuchin.”
“Thursday’s TikTok news comes just one week after Mnuchin led a $1 billion lifeline rescue of embattled regional lender New York Community Bank.”
“Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Equity, scored a $2 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, while former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategic Capital secured $1 billion.”
Pogo – there is no sound in outer space. It seems there are a lot more garbage than before. So far three going ups and rather rude returns. That must give anyone thinking of going to Mars on that ride some need for Maalox.
I had really high hopes for Nancy Mace. First woman to graduate from The Citadel, the military college of sc.
“Save the Males” they used to scream at her and worse, but she stuck it out and shut ‘em down. I was proud of her. Then she came out as a Republican, and I thought, ok, we can wait and see—of course she’d have to be Republican to be elected, etc, etc.
At first she tried to make the right noises even though flashes of stupidity were still there……And then she did that thing in front of the stump bldg in NYC and a few other general fuck-ups, and I knew it was over—she’d become a full-fledged 100% member of the Idiot Club and I gave up any hope I might have had left. And since, she’s just gotten stupider and stupider, just so totally annoying.
She coulda been a contender, instead she seems to have opted for the one way ticket to Palookaville.
“Given Boeing’s singular importance in the American aviation industry, it is the definition of Too Big to Fail. Boeing is immune to most of the forces, like consumer choice, that other companies must contend with to stay in business.”
News 1 has a non-meteorologist talking about the ongoing storms. He thinks it’s nothing bad or we would see really bright colors, not just red and green. Red next to green means there’s rotation! Had to switch to my ABC affiliate. So far, it’s going around me.
bId – I think one of the most important changes that many compaines did was to change “quality control” to “quality assurance”. It moved the power of stopping the process from QC to somewhere else. The talk of lack of government oversight is a diversion. Boeing used to be very strong on a solid product. Now, I would not fly on a new Boeing anything.
“The Republican nominee for superintendent overseeing North Carolina’s public schools and its $11 billion budget has a history marked by extreme and controversial comments, including sharing baseless conspiracy theories and frequent calls for the execution of prominent Democrats.”
“…expressed support in 2020 for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama and suggested killing then-President-elect Joe Biden.”
“…Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.”
“Morrow also promoted QAnon slogans and tweeted that the actor Jim Carrey was “… likely searching for adrenochrome” – a reference to a conspiracy theory shared by QAnon believers that celebrities harvest and drink the blood of children to prolong their own lives.”
Attribution: The Exodus by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com
The longest general election campaign of all time is underway, Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law has assumed leadership of the RNC, and independent candidate RFK Jr. is expected to announce his running mate soon.
and today’s other news across the pond from the Beeb New extremism definition unveiled by government (bbc.com) Ministers have unveiled a new extremism definition under which certain groups will be blocked from government funding and meeting officials. It will apply to, but not criminalise, groups that promote an ideology based on “violence, hatred or intolerance”. […] The government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, Jonathan Hall, has warned the new policy “could undermine the UK’s reputation because it would not be seen as democratic”. Under the new definition, which comes into force on Thursday, extremism is “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to: negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in (1) or (2).” The previous definition, introduced in 2011 under the Prevent strategy, described extremism as “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and belief”. The government says the new one is “narrower and more precise” and will help “clearly articulate” how extremism is “evidenced” in behaviours. It also says there will be a “high bar” to being classed as extremist and the policy will not target those with “private, peaceful beliefs”. Organisations or individuals added to the list will not be criminalised, unlike terrorist groups. Instead, they will be barred from contact with government and will not be able to receive government funding. Alongside the redefinition, a new unit – the Counter-Extremism Centre of Excellence – has been set up, to gather intelligence and identify extremist groups. Groups and individuals labelled extremist have the right to seek reassessment and submit new evidence to a review. If they still disagree, they can challenge the government’s decision through a potentially costly judicial review. Announcing the change, Mr Gove said “our values of inclusivity and tolerance are under challenge from extremists”. “In order to protect our… Read more »
more news from BBC
Ukraine war: Russian schoolbook urges teenagers to join the army (bbc.com)
and Occupied Ukraine encouraged to vote in Russian election by armed men (bbc.com)
Great ad! But only if the GOP was still Reagan’s party.
What would Reagan do?
Cheney fuels speculation about her next move.Independent bid or Biden endorsement? Whatever helps stop Trump, she says
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4526744-cheney-fuels-speculation-about-her-next-move/
Voters blame businesses more than Biden for sticky inflation
CNBC: President Joe Biden is starting to win the inflation blame game against corporations.
A Financial Times-Michigan Ross online poll revealed that 63% of respondents attribute recent price hikes to “large corporations taking advantage of inflation,” up from 54% in November. Only 38% of respondents blame Democratic policies for the inflation. — https://cnb.cx/3IAUWxQ
Even the Wall Street Journal agrees.
Big Profits and High Prices: There Is a Connection
WSJ: “There is a factual core to Biden’s accusations”
Since the end of 2019, prices are up 17%, outpacing both labor and nonlabor costs. The result: Profit grew by 41%.
https://www.wsj.com/economy/corporate-profits-inflation-economy-e66da175?mod=hp_lead_pos2
If Joe’s team can keep him on message, and I think they can, reminding people that the inflation they see is tied to Dumbass’ deficit creating tax cuts for corporations and their rich owners, debunking Dumbass’ lies about the awful shape our country is under Biden and how wonderful it was and will be under Trump, he ought to be able to pick up enough reasonably intelligent “uncommitted” voters, particularly in the 6 states that will decide who wins the election, to win in November. Of course even as I say this I remember Gorge Carlin’s reminder t think about how stupid the average American is and remember that half of Americans are dumber than that.
And it’s only 15 minutes to the launch of the Super Heavy booster and the Starship spacecraft. The question on everyone’s mind is will it resemble more of a rocket launch or a fireworks display?
Correction, it’s launched and appears to be going well. Supposedly lost the booster upon it’s return, but hey, that ain’t too bad.
https://www.newsweek.com/christian-contfronts-andy-biggs-voting-joe-biden-1878071
“Biggs, an Arizona Republican who is a staunch conservative and supporter of former President Donald Trump, appeared on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal on Monday morning for a discussion about key issues shaping political discourse, including government funding, immigration and foreign policy. During the interview, a caller confronted him about the state of the modern Republican Party.”
“Republican critics of Trump argue the “MAGA” brand has driven away moderate and suburban voters crucial to GOP victories in battleground states, pointing to his loss in 2020 and the subpar performance of some Trump-aligned candidates in the 2022 midterms. His supporters, however, say he has won over some longtime Democratic voters and can engage with more rural voters in a way other Republicans have struggled to do.”
Rural, Republican voters have always been tRUMPers, but Dems aren’t going to vote for him. That’s a damned lie.
“The caller, who was identified as Nick from Berlin, Connecticut, said he has been “puzzled” by the alleged “divisiveness” within in the GOP, while arguing that the country has been “doing very well” under the Biden administration.”
“Nick said he has moved around the country five times, registering as a Republican at each point, and that he views the country as being in a “strong” position based on his recent travels.”
“I just registered as a Republican two months ago, for the fifth time yesterday, and I’m just going to leave with this comment. And that is I registered as a Republican because I’m a conservative, and I’m going to vote for Joe Biden because I’m a Christian,” he said.
The caller was then chastised by Biggs.
“Biggs responded to the caller, saying that he “probably should have re-registered as a Democrat,” while addressing his concerns about Trump and Republicans.”
“If you’re not voting for Donald Trump because you think he’s not a Christian or not a moral man, I’m not going to say ‘Look at Joe Biden.’ I would just say we should all look at ourselves and see who’s casting the first stone,” he said.
today’s meme…
Republicans are so fulla crap…..even when resigning from elected office. Why the fuck can they not just vote with the democrats now and then? That’s all it would take to inject some reason into the debates. No, they’d rather just quit—solving nothing. If they’re going to resign, they obviously don’t have to sweat being primaried.
Assholes.
Happy Pi(e) Day!
Moscow Mitch: Unless someone is threatening to hurt his family (which is a possibility), there’s zero reason to keep helping Orange Adolf.
I’ve got 3.14159265358980… problems, and pi ain’t one of them.
yup… pay attention!
Well, Musk may be an ass, but that was really cool. Best pictures from space I’ve ever seen.
“Moscow Mitch: Unless someone is threatening to hurt his family (which is a possibility), there’s zero reason to keep helping Orange Adolf. “
Wrong again, Mitch. ESPECIALLY if someone is threatening your family.
Mealy Mouth Mitch
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jimmy-kimmel-absolutely-destroys-aaron-rodgers-as-rfk-jrs-possible-vp-pick
“Kimmel Absolutely Destroys Aaron Rodgers as RFK Jr.’s Possible VP Pick”
“…New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wrestler-turned-Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura are among two of his top contenders.”
“He’s also considering a pair of truck nuts dipped in Ivermectin,” said Jimmy Kimmel, who didn’t attempt to hide his bemusement at the very idea of any one of these men logging time in the West Wing.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/politics/chuck-schumer-israel-election-comments/index.html
“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday criticized Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, calling for new elections in a speech on the Senate floor on the Israel-Hamas war.”
Wow. Good. Now, cut off military support, because BeBe will kill civilians in Rahfa.
Gipper was good at acting. Plumpty is good at acting out.
It really is time to cut off Israel. The only thing BeBe is trying to save is his job. Take it right to the Knesset. Either throw the BeBe out with the bath water or face a loss of funds currently purchasing Israeli weapons. It would be a nice trim to our current bloated defense budget.
“throw the BeBe out with the bath water”
jamie, gold star stuff. don’t be surprised if it’s lifted by the late night pros who may peruse the trail.
mind if I borrow that too?
Nancy Mace. Mad at George Steph for rapist shaming.
South Carolina strikes again.
well, the RNC is an official subsidiary of TrumpCorp now so if you don’t get in line and worship the golden cow, there goes your funding! 💨
(that was re: nancy mace. She seemed reasonable until they got to her- she ran on, was elected as, and continued to be a moderate until someone gave her “the talk”, so the voters tried. Try again!)
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/business/steven-mnuchin-tiktok/
“Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he’s assembling a team of investors to make a bid to buy TikTok.”
“But ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, may never be allowed to be sold to any company outside of China because of measures the government began putting into place in 2020. The Chinese government deems TikTok a sensitive technology and officials have said they’d oppose any forced sale that would involve exporting it into the hands of a foreign owner.”
“Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, told CNN that ByteDance and China will “never” sell TikTok with the source code — the “special sauce” that makes the app so successful and valuable.”
“Without the source code, this would be like buying an F1 car without the engine. It would be illogical,” Ives said.
“Mnuchin, though, said he’s looking to find a solution where the Chinese government will allow TikTok to be sold without a technology transfer.”
“However, the more likely buyer, according to Ives, would be a tech giant like Microsoft or Oracle, which already has a relationship with TikTok, and not a financial player like Mnuchin.”
“Thursday’s TikTok news comes just one week after Mnuchin led a $1 billion lifeline rescue of embattled regional lender New York Community Bank.”
I would trust China more than a tRUMPer.
https://www.axios.com/2022/04/11/trump-saudi-kushner-mnuchin
“Trump alums cash in on Saudi ties”
“Jared Kushner’s firm, Affinity Equity, scored a $2 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, while former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s Liberty Strategic Capital secured $1 billion.”
Pogo – there is no sound in outer space. It seems there are a lot more garbage than before. So far three going ups and rather rude returns. That must give anyone thinking of going to Mars on that ride some need for Maalox.
Patd
Steal away with blessing any time you see something you can use.
I had really high hopes for Nancy Mace. First woman to graduate from The Citadel, the military college of sc.
“Save the Males” they used to scream at her and worse, but she stuck it out and shut ‘em down. I was proud of her. Then she came out as a Republican, and I thought, ok, we can wait and see—of course she’d have to be Republican to be elected, etc, etc.
At first she tried to make the right noises even though flashes of stupidity were still there……And then she did that thing in front of the stump bldg in NYC and a few other general fuck-ups, and I knew it was over—she’d become a full-fledged 100% member of the Idiot Club and I gave up any hope I might have had left. And since, she’s just gotten stupider and stupider, just so totally annoying.
She coulda been a contender, instead she seems to have opted for the one way ticket to Palookaville.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/13/business/boeing-crisis-nightcap/index.html
“Given Boeing’s singular importance in the American aviation industry, it is the definition of Too Big to Fail. Boeing is immune to most of the forces, like consumer choice, that other companies must contend with to stay in business.”
Nationalize it?
News 1 has a non-meteorologist talking about the ongoing storms. He thinks it’s nothing bad or we would see really bright colors, not just red and green. Red next to green means there’s rotation! Had to switch to my ABC affiliate. So far, it’s going around me.
bId – I think one of the most important changes that many compaines did was to change “quality control” to “quality assurance”. It moved the power of stopping the process from QC to somewhere else. The talk of lack of government oversight is a diversion. Boeing used to be very strong on a solid product. Now, I would not fly on a new Boeing anything.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/14/politics/kfile-gop-nominee-north-carolina-public-schools-michele-morrow-executing-democrats/index.html
“The Republican nominee for superintendent overseeing North Carolina’s public schools and its $11 billion budget has a history marked by extreme and controversial comments, including sharing baseless conspiracy theories and frequent calls for the execution of prominent Democrats.”
“…expressed support in 2020 for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama and suggested killing then-President-elect Joe Biden.”
“…Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.”
“Morrow also promoted QAnon slogans and tweeted that the actor Jim Carrey was “… likely searching for adrenochrome” – a reference to a conspiracy theory shared by QAnon believers that celebrities harvest and drink the blood of children to prolong their own lives.”
I’ll bet she goes to church every Sunday, though.
NEW THREAD