The foundational belief of the right wing is this:
I am rich because of my hard work, not just because I was born rich. You are poor because you are lazy, not just because you were born poor.
#ukpolitics #tory #uspol #politics
politics
Our top story: Three of her children left for the birthday party at a rented Airbnb. María wouldn't hear from them for the next three days—and the next six months of her life would be turned upside-down. https://www.texasobserver.org/officials-tren-de-aragua-party-attendees-differ/
#ICE #immigration #HumanRights #police #Texas #CentralTexas #politics #USpol #news
I joined infosec and IT groups, shut down Twitter, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and all that shit. I'm stuck with Mastodon, Reddit, and Github, and I still have to constantly dodge shitty people who only talk about politics.
Obviously the problem is not social media but human stupidity.
I'm narrowing the spectrum of people I follow, filtering and blocking unbearable topics.
As expected, I use compartmentalization and have accounts to read stealthily and without interacting.
I think I'll end up leaving Mastodon too. Maybe it's just another silly utopia.
#actuallyautistic #mastodon #socialmedia #socialnetworks #politics
Raw Story:
Internet melts down as Trump identified as 'unindicted co-conspirator' in Arizona filing
Trump's own niece, Mary Trump, had this to say about the news from Arizona:
"Good. Now indict the unindicted."
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-unindicted-arizona/
New today: More than 1,000 captive trophy-hunting ranches operate in the United States, most of them in Texas. Some routinely offer hunts of endangered or threatened exotic species. This should not be allowed.
An OpEd from Amber Gobell ... https://www.texasobserver.org/exotics-hunting-endangeredspecies-wildlife-environment/
#wildlife #hunting #nature #politics #news #USpol #endangered
Out today: "I’m still not sure what kind of grooming could possibly occur at a neighborhood festival where toddlers and grandparents dance to a B-52s cover band." https://www.texasobserver.org/north-texas-pride-fest-rainbow-panic/
#Pride #LGBTQIA+ #NorthTexas #Texas #culture #politics #USpol #news
No love lost for John Bolton. As I recall, he could have testified under subpoena a while ago but chose not to, using Executive Privilege as a shield.
Not much of a shield when the guy who hands them out takes uses them as a weapon against you, now is it? #politics
Edited 26d ago
Joseph Cowan Cross House
https://justin-farrimond.pixels.com/featured/joseph-cowan-cross-house-justin-farrimond.html
And there he stands, looking down Westgate Road, the mighty Joseph Cowan.
What would the modern political scene make of such a man?
Behind him, Cross House, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Sorry about the seagull Joe.
#PhotoOfTheDay #WorldDreamDay #Photography #ArtPrint #Dreamscape #Art #PhotographyIsArt #Politics
Disney reportedly lost 1.7 million paid subscribers in the week after suspending Kimmel
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration Monday for expanding federal sex discrimination protections under Title IX to include LGBTQ+ students.
#LGBTQ #News #Politics #Texas #KenPaxton #SexBasedDiscrimination #TitleIX #TransRights
Two positive thoughts about the terrible #Hegseth #Trump meeting with military leaders:
1) I am confident that it hardened opposition more than support among military leadership.
2) Contrary to my expectations, they did not use the gathering to loyalty-test people and immediately dismiss any who failed the test. This was a huge strategic blunder.
I think with regards to the military we are actually in better shape as a result of this meeting.
#politics #USPol #OrangeFascist
American democracy keeps facing the same test. Reconstruction. Watergate. January 6th. Each was an inkblot: some saw freedom and law, others tyranny and betrayal.
The danger isn’t just the crisis—it’s perception unmoored from fact. A lie, repeated often enough, creates its own inkblot. Not to reveal the viewer. But to control them.
1/17
#history #blackmastodon #histodons #blackandwhite #photo #photography #politics #democracy #fascism #civilwar
Aliens 👽 invade:
"EARTHLINGS, WE HAVE KILLED YOUR LEADERS, DESTROYED YOUR ECONOMY, AND ARE HERE TO TAKE OVER YOUR GOVERNMENT."
Humans: "oh thank fxcking god"
Aliens: "wait what?"
👾 👾 👾 👾 👾 👾 👾 👾
Over 40 years, we were collectively told to give tax cuts to rich people.
And we were told that if we did that, wealth would trickle down and everyone would be better off.
Over 40 years, pretty much everything got cut to fund these tax cuts.
Schools. Hospitals. Public housing. Public transport. Universities. Roads projects. Mental health services. Welfare payments.
People literally went homeless or starved, so rich people could get tax cuts.
Because the wealth would trickle down.
Eventually the eroding of public goods caused social dislocation.
So governments further cut those public goods to fund more police and prisons. To continue giving tax cuts to rich people.
But they said the wealth would trickle down.
Eventually the climate started changing because of the amount of toxic fossil fuel pollution in the atmosphere.
So governments chose to keep the tax cuts rather than fund infrastructure to reduce emissions.
(Many of those billionaires getting tax cuts made their money selling toxic fossil fuels.)
And as the oceans and atmosphere warmed, the bushfires, droughts, hurricanes, cyclones, floods, and droughts got worse.
But they said the wealth would trickle down.
Eventually people were getting pissed off at the dire state of the world.
The rich misdirected that anger at immigrants!
And First Nations!
And trans people!
And neurodivergent people!
Anyone but the billionaires who got the tax cuts.
So governments chose to keep the tax cuts. (For the rich. Everyone else got new tariff taxes.)
But they said the wealth would trickle down.
So did the wealth trickle down?
Well...
A group of billionaires saw this kinda cool tech demo.
It predicted the next pixel of an image, based on the colour patterns of every image on the internet.
It also predicted the next word in a sentence, based on an analysis of every piece of writing on the internet.
The rich decided that this clearly showed that a sentient computer was just around the corner.
The problem was these tech demos needed servers with a lot of GPUs to work.
So the rich took all the money they got from those tax cuts.
And they bought GPUs.
Millions and millions and millions and millions of GPUs.
All the tax cuts? All the underfunded schools? All the draconian welfare cuts? All the public housing shortages? The delays in funding clean energy.
In the end, it didn't trickle down.
And instead of all the public goods it could have bought...
...We'll be left with millions and millions and millions of GPUs in a landfill.
#ChatGPT #Claude #AI #LLM #capitalism #socialism #business #politics #Nvidia
Edited 41d ago
If you're an American born after 1969, you've never lived under a liberal-leaning U.S. Supreme Court.
If Hillary Clinton had been elected in 2016, that could have changed.
The U.S. could be much different.
Roe would still be the law of the land.
Justice and equality could move forward, not backward.
The Supreme Court, and federal courts, are reason enough to vote for Democrats.
Sent from a friend - honestly spot on.
#Politics #USPol #Election2024 #GOP #Republicans #Funny #Meme #Cats #AltText
In May, we reported on how an "anti-woke" energy tycoon had hijacked the #Texas State Historical Association. Now, hundreds of historians, students and educators are supporting the newly formed Alliance for Texas #History, dedicated to telling untold stories from our state. New from @josephinelee: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-history-alliance-tsha/
Introducing the new May/June 2024 issue of Texas Observer magazine ... with a short message from our new Interim Editor-in-Chief @gusbova: https://texasobserver.org/editors-letter-introducing-our-may-june-issue/
(🎨 Cover by Emily Joynton)
#Texas #news #politics #USpol #culture #journalism #nonprofit
Edited 1y ago
YOU
CAN
DO
IT
tomorrow, October 18
be there
let the world know
💪 😤 🇺🇸
find a location near you:
The arrest of two city council members in a small #Texas town set off a firestorm of legal controversy that's reaching all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. From Correspondent Jason Buch, in our magazine: https://www.texasobserver.org/small-town-politics-national-consequences/
#news #politics #USpol #SCOTUS #police #CriminalJustice #law #SouthTexas
Uniparty? Hardly.
Biden and Trump offer worlds-apart contrasts on issues
Here's how the candidates stand on 10 key issues: abortion, climate / energy, democracy, federal government, immigration, Israel / Gaza, LGBTQ issues, NATO / Ukraine, trade, taxes
https://apnews.com/article/biden-trump-rematch-policies-abortion-immigration-gaza-1a904cd70f14581f264b851a5cb2f9e4?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share #USpolitics #Politics #USnews #JoeBiden #Democrats #BidenHarris #Elections #WomensRights #WomensHealth
#GOP #Republicans #DonaldTrump #trumpism #fascism #fascist #SCOTUS
Pritzker pointing out that ICE lies first and immediately, knowing journalists will catch up later if at all.
Coming from a sitting US governor, that’s an amazing breakthrough.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:dps5knuqjkybgklyaixbptsq/post/3m2hhfzm3i223
#chicago #news #illinois #uspol #uspolitics #ice #fascism #politics #FuckICE #AbolishICE
Edited 37d ago
“Every time that an anti-trans bill passes, it is another attempt at removing #trans people from the public eye,”
New from @TexasObserver: The #Texas "bathroom bill" that goes into effect in December is more than an assault on trans rights: it weaponizes #transphobia to attack #schools and libraries. One legal expert I spoke with called it “the most plainly unlawful, undemocratic, legislation I’ve seen in recent history.” https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-bathroom-bill-weaponizes-transphobia/
Edited 40d ago
Are you interested in covering politics in the Lone Star State? The Texas Observer is hiring an intern to help us cover the 2026 elections! Apply here: https://www.texasobserver.org/jobs/
#journalism #jobs #Texas #politics #USpol #elections #democracy