Month: April 2023

To Retire Or Not

As a retired worker I was worried about if I would have enough to live comfortably…..my fears were made moot when I was hurt after Katrina and had to retire because I could no longer do my job.

Today many workers are worried that their retirement plan may not provide a situation that they are comfortable with as far as their lives go, that is…..

Inflation and falling stock prices have contributed to fewer retirees and workers than a year ago feeling good about having enough money for a comfortable retirement. The share of workers confident about their retirement finances fell from 73% to 64% in that time, the poll by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute showed. The economy’s performance, including slipping returns on savings, have “people significantly more hesitant about the future than they were,” said Craig Copeland of the institute, the Wall Street Journalreports. Among retirees, the drop was 77% to 73%. The findings are nowhere near the most worrisome found by the institute, which has conducted the survey for 33 years. The low point in confidence came in 2011: 49% for workers and 60% for retirees.

Inflation was cited most often as the problem facing retirees; 42% cited it as their top concern. About 60% of them reported the balances in their retirement accounts went the wrong direction in the past year. The S&P 500 index fell 2.95% in that period, according to Dow Jones Market Data. People still working named debt as the big problem 62% of the time, up from 56%. Almost half of them said debt is hurting their ability to save for retirement. “As we’ve come out of the pandemic, with heightened inflation and interest rates, we’re starting to see financial stress start to increase again in employees,” said Lynda Abend, head of strategy for John Hancock Retirement, per MarketWatch.

We will be working longer to enjoy our declining years less.

All this bad news could be avoided if only the people we elect spent my time worrying about the people than their moronic image.

If you are having these worries then I am truly sorry….but all these problems could have been avoided by the election of people that literally had your back.

But you prefer the hate and vitriol of social media….basically you are screwing yourself.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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IST Saturday News Dump

The weekend starts and as usual IST will bring you the news that failed to impress the MSM….

In 1492

Columbus sailed the ocean blue

We all remember that little ditty from our youth it is all about the discovery of America…..we keep propagating this lie even with the proof that it was visited hundreds of years before Columbus was even born.

Microscopic analysis of wood suggests that Norse people in Greenland were using timber that came from North America over 700 years ago. The research is further evidence that Viking sailors were making contact with the east coast of North America long before Christopher Columbus “discovered the New World” in 1492 CE.

Archaeologist Lísabet Guðmundsdóttir from the University of Iceland examined the wood from five Norse sites across western Greenland that were occupied between 1000 and 1400 CE. Looking at the cellular structure of the wood, Guðmundsdóttir noted how some of the timber came from trees that aren’t native to Greenland or even Northern Europe, such as Jack pine that’s found east of the Rocky Mountains in Canada.

“These findings highlight the fact that Norse Greenlanders had the means, knowledge, and appropriate vessels to cross the Davis Strait to the east coast of North America, at least up until the 14th century. As such, journeys were being made from Greenland to North America throughout the entirety of the period of Norse settlement in Greenland, and resources were being acquired by the Norse from North America for far longer than previously thought,” the study concludes.

https://www.iflscience.com/more-evidence-shows-vikings-were-in-america-long-before-columbus-68525

After the meteor strike did not diminish the size of the creatures that remained….take a look at what we had after the strike.

Dinosaurs have always seemed larger than life. They lived during a time when almost everything seemed bigger—titanic herbivores stretching more than 80 feet long were not uncommon, and nine-ton carnivores had to feast on hundreds of pounds of flesh each day to survive. This popular view of the Age of Dinosaurs overlooks the innumerable small species that lived alongside Stegosaurus and Triceratops, just as we’re surrounded by insects, birds, rodents and other small animals today. It also falsely frames the end of this era as an end to the heyday of gigantism—but that’s only an illusion.

Life didn’t shrink after the end of the Cretaceous. Long past the Age of Dinosaurs, Earth saw the evolution of impressive birds, snakes, crocodiles, rhinos and more, including the largest animals of all time. While the broader story of life on Earth may best be told through the diminutive and meek creatures that are often overlooked, here are ten animals that underscore the fact that remarkable body size was not just the domain of the dinosaurs.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/after-dinosaurs-went-extinct-these-ten-giant-creatures-roamed-the-earth-180982010/

The global problem that is growing is the rise of Type 2 Diabetes…..and now we know what causes it (I thought we always know what causes this)….

The CDC expects to see a 700% increase in the number of young Americans diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes by 2060. It’s both a national and global problem and, according to new research, poor diet is largely to blame. Researchers from Tufts University created a model based on dietary data from 184 countries and found 70% of Type 2 diabetes diagnoses in 2018, some 14 million cases, could be tied to poor diet—well above the 40% figure previously offered, according to a release. They also found there were 8.6 million more diet-attributable cases in 2018 than in 1990, per CNN. They then looked at 11 dietary factors, ranging from intake of sugary beverages to intake of whole grains. They linked more than 60% of diet-attributable cases to excess intake of unhealthy foods and 39% to inadequate intake of good foods. But three factors stood out overall.

The largest impacts globally, especially for men, younger adults, and urban residents, came from overconsumption of refined rice, wheat, and potatoes, as well as red and processed meat, like bacon, sausage, and salami, per CNN. Insufficient intake of whole grains was another major factor. Consuming too many sugary drinks, including fruit juice, and not enough nuts, seeds, and nonstarchy vegetables were also contributing factors, though not to the same degree as the three foremost ones, per HealthDay News. “These new findings reveal critical areas for national and global focus to improve nutrition and reduce devastating burdens of diabetes,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Tufts’ School of Nutrition Science and Policy, co-author of the study published Monday in Nature Medicine.

The greatest number of diet-attributable cases came from Central Asia and central and Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and Russia, where potatoes and red and processed meats make up a large part of diets. There were also high numbers of cases in Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly Colombia and Mexico, where sugary drinks and processed meat are widely consumed, but whole grains aren’t, researchers said. “Left unchecked and with incidence only projected to rise, Type 2 diabetes will continue to impact population health, economic productivity, [and] health care system capacity, and drive heath inequities worldwide,” says lead study author Meghan O’Hearn, a former PhD student at Tufts, per HealthDay.

One of the first things that points to getting older….the appearance of gray hair…..but could that be a thing of the past?

A groundbreaking study from NYU Grossman School of Medicine has shed new light on the causes of gray hair. It also focuses on the unique properties of melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) found in hair follicles. 

The study reveals that as people age, McSCs lose their ability to move between growth compartments in hair follicles. This ultimately affects hair color. The research improves our understanding of the mechanisms underlying hair pigmentation. It also opens up the possibility of developing treatments to reverse or prevent graying in humans.

Published in the journal Nature on April 19, the study focused on cells present in the skin of mice and humans, known as McSCs. The maturation of these cells determines hair color. They continually multiply but remain nonfunctional unless they receive a signal to transform into mature cells responsible for producing pigments. 

The researchers discovered that McSCs exhibit remarkable plasticity. This means they can transition between different states of maturity as they move through the various compartments of a hair follicle.

https://www.earth.com/news/breakthrough-gray-hair-will-soon-be-a-thing-of-the-past/

As my regulars know I am a dog person….I have always had dogs in my life and we are close so I detest any form of mistreatment but there are other things that contribute to mistreatment besides the extremes we read about everyday….

It’s easy to denounce the mistreatment of animals at the extremes: physical abuse, dog fighting, etc. But as Kenny Torrella writes at Vox, it gets trickier when even self-described animal lovers do things that fall into the realm of “everyday neglect and cruelty” in regard to their pets. He ticks off examples: “punitive training, prolonged captivity and extreme confinement, mutilations (declawing, ear and tail docking), outdoor tethering, lack of autonomy, verbal abuse, monotonous and unhealthy diets. …” Plus, the animals often don’t get enough socialization or exercise—they’re bored to frustration. “We may see ourselves as the best of animal lovers, but we very well could be inflicting suffering on our pets every day.” In his provocative piece, Torrella suggests we should aim for a world with fewer—but happier—pets.

“Before the cat dads and dog moms come for me, know this: I am one of you,” writes Torrella. He adds that his dog Evvie won’t be his last, given the number of dogs in need of homes at animal shelters. But he also argues that too may pet owners think their animals are much happier than they are. “Scientists have set up cameras to see what dogs do when home alone all day, and it turns out there’s a lot of yawning, barking, howling, whining, and sleeping—signs of anxiety and frustration.” Torrella talks to ethologist Marc Bekoff, whose views sum up the piece: “He’d like to see puppy and kitten mills phased out amid a major cultural shift wherein people would only get a dog or cat if they have the time, money, patience, and energy to give them a good life,” writes Torrella. “The motto would be: fewer pets with better lives.” Read the full piece

My canine friends suffer from none of the types listed so I believe they are a happy bunch.

This concludes the round-up of ‘forgotten’ news for this weekend.

Enjoy your Saturday….Be Well….Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

15,000 And Counting

That is the total amount of books that have been pulled from the shelves of libraries in the first part of 2023.

GOP led states is rushing to ban books and limit the excess to us mere peons.

New laws imposed by right-wing state legislatures have been a driving force behind a rise in book bans since the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, a national free expression group reported Thursday.

PEN America’s new report, Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools, reveals that 874 unique titles were pulled from public school library shelves from July-December 2022, the result of 1,477 individual book bans.

That represents a 28% rise from the first half of 2022, and the group said the escalation is largely due to state-level “stringent policies that schools must abide by when reviewing existing library collections.”

The states that have banned the most books include Texas and Florida—where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed legislation to restrict teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ issues in classrooms and where some schools were directed to empty or cover bookshelves in order to comply with the new laws.

Just seven districts in Texas were behind 438 individual book bans and 13 school districts in Florida were responsible for 357 bans.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gop-book-bans-schools

I find this intolerable….I mean my mother never told me what I could read so why should the Nanny State GOP governments?

I mean she found my Playboy when I was 14 or 15….after looking through the pages she had one question….are those tits fir real?  Tossed the Playboy onto my bed and nothing more was ever said.

I had a very cool mother.

How far will these demented toads go?

I really do not want to find out…..do you?

All this makes me think of a term from the not so distant past….Nanny State (warning:  post will be forthcoming)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Money Well Spent? (Again)

Since the invasion and the US throwing money at Ukraine I have been concerned with the amount of money we throw….most people just parrot the talking points in the news…..no one cares….but try to spend money the help the poor and the screams are deafening.

I can remember back when corruption was rampant in Ukraine and the US was concerned…..but those days are gone.

Looks like even the IG has his doubts on where the money goes…..

The watchdog for US spending on Afghanistan told Responsible Statecraft in an interview that he expects “pilferage” of US aid to Ukraine.

John Sopko, who has served as the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) since 2012, said that he personally favored creating a similar position for US spending on the war in Ukraine.

Explaining why more oversight on the Ukraine policy is needed, Sopko pointed to the fact that the US has already authorized $113 billion in spending. “That money is flowing like manna from the sky. If you don’t get in there soon, you’re gonna see pilferage,” he said.

Sopko said he was not just concerned about military assistance to Ukraine but also aid disbursed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). “We’ve always had more problems with AID. In Afghanistan, my experience with them is they have not been a very well-run organization,” he said.

Sopko pointed to the fact that USAID was overseeing aid that’s paying the salaries of Ukrainian government workers. In Afghanistan, Sopko said the Pentagon directed the paying of government salaries and could never come up with a system to make sure the US was paying the salaries of real Afghans.

“Well, have you heard anybody saying, ‘what’s the system they have in place to ensure that they’re not paying ghost Ukrainian civil servants, ghost Ukrainian police, ghost Ukrainian soldiers?’” he said.

Sopko said USAID has “had a poor track record on ghosts and on oversight” and added that the State Department is “even worse.” The US has provided Ukraine with tens of billions in “budgetary aid,” funds that go directly to the Ukrainian government.

Sopko said he was worried about after the war when the US and its allies fund Ukraine’s reconstruction. “The real crisis is going to happen once the shooting stops, and they start laying concrete, and they start rebuilding things … We’re going to be buying horribly overpriced steel and cement and other products,” he said.

US government agencies have assigned their own inspector generals to oversee Ukraine aid but have resisted efforts to establish a position similar to Sopko’s. He said a “whole of government” approach was necessary for the oversight. The Senate recently voted down an amendment introduced by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) that would have created a special inspector general for Ukraine.

Earlier this month, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report that alleged the CIA is aware of rampant corruption in Ukraine and estimated that Ukrainian officials have skimmed at least $400 million in US-provided funds earmarked for diesel purchases.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s notorious corruption was commonly cited by Western governments. In June 2021, President Biden said Kyiv must “clean up corruption” before it can join NATO. But since the US began flooding Ukraine with weapons and money, the corruption concerns have barely been mentioned.

(antiwar.com)

Why does no one care?

But let some old woman get $500 too much on her welfare check and you idiots go batcrap crazy.

The whole population cannot be on the payroll of the ‘security consultants’….so why is the funds being thrown away acceptable?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Nuclear Oneupmanship

Last month the Russian made an announcement that it would move some nukes into Belarus……

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Moscow will deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus at the request of Minsk.

Announcing the decision, Putin compared the move to NATO’s nuclear sharing program, under which there are US nuclear weapons deployed to the territory of five allied countries: Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

“There is nothing unusual here either. Firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries,” Putin said. The Russian leader insisted the deployment wouldn’t violate Moscow’s non-proliferation commitments.

(antiwar.com)

Then I read a piece that said that the US was planning to move some nukes into South Korea…..

The US will dock nuclear-armed submarines in South Korea for the first time since the 1980s in a significant escalation that will raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula and risk provoking a response from Pyongyang.

The deployment is part of an agreement announced by President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is visiting Washington. The US previously had nuclear weapons stationed in South Korea but withdrew them in 1991.

The agreement comes as there’s no sign of the tensions on the Korean Peninsula easing. The US and South Korea continue to conduct massive war games while Pyongyang has launched a huge number of missile tests and is warning it can develop more nuclear weapons.

(antiwar.com)

Is this one of those ‘do as I say not as I do’?

I do not see the difference…..as a person opposed to nukes I see this game as dangerous on several levels.

But then that is just me.

On another note….US said it hasn’t seen any indication that Russia is planning to use nuclear weapons. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also said the US hasn’t seen Russia move any nuclear weapons around yet.

Does anyone see a problem with the rhetoric here?

Sorry just thinking out loud (so to speak)….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What Game Is This?

Meanwhile back to the Ukraine/Russia mash-up….

And the confusion remains….

The US House members want a resolution for a total victory in Ukraine…..

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) is planning to introduce a resolution in the House that would declare it is US policy to seek a Ukrainian victory against Russia, which includes returning all Russian-controlled territory to Kyiv, including Crimea.

According to Yahoo News, the resolution “affirms that it is the policy of the United States to see Ukraine victorious against the invasion and restored to its internationally recognized 1991 borders.”

The resolution will be co-sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) and will need to make it through the House Foreign Affairs Committee before being put to the floor for a full House vote. The committee is chaired by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), who has been calling on President Biden to arm Ukraine with longer-range weapons that can launch strikes on Crimea.

(antiwar.com)

Any accountability according to Dems would be “devisive and ill-advised”….

Legislation introduced by Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), which calls on the White House to provide Congress with documents related to the war in Ukraine, passed a voice vote on Wednesday. The resolution is set to be voted on by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday. Debate on the resolution was divided among party lines. 

The legislation, H.Res.300, calls on President Joe Biden to “transmit, respectively, to the House of Representatives copies of all documents indicating any plans for current or future military assistance to Ukraine and documents indicating whether any United States Armed Forces, including special operations forces, are currently deployed in Ukraine.” 

…

Support for the resolution was limited to Republicans. The measure passed a voice vote and is set for a full committee vote on Friday. Several Democrats attacked the legislation during Wednesday’s debate. 

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) blasted the resolution as “divisive and ill-advised.” She claimed, “It is a partisan political ploy, and the height of legislative irresponsibility that jeopardizes the national security of the United States, of our Europe allies and partners as well as the courageous Ukrainian people.”

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news/democrats-attack-ukraine-audit-resolution-as-divisive-and-ill-advised/

Makes you wonder just who pays these slugs salary….and why throwing cash without accountability is fine with them.

While the House has wishful thinking….the President and his minions are not so sure….

The Biden administration is preparing for the possibility of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive failing, POLITICO reported on Monday.

Pentagon documents allegedly leaked by Airman Jack Teixeira revealed that the US doesn’t believe Ukraine can regain any significant territory in its counteroffensive, which is expected to be launched in the spring. The information in the leaks was based on an assessment made in February.

According to POLITICO, more current assessments also don’t expect much Ukrainian success. Two Biden administration officials said they don’t think Kyiv has the ability to sever Russia’s landbridge to Crimea in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

The report said US intelligence “indicates that Ukraine simply does not have the ability to push Russian troops from where they were deeply entrenched.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in March that his forces need more Western weapons before they can launch a counteroffensive.

(antiwar.com)

… according to POLITICO, there is a discussion among administration officials about convincing Ukraine to accept more modest goals and agree to a temporary ceasefire. Possible incentives for Kyiv include giving Ukraine NATO-like security guarantees and more military aid.

Keep in mind before this conflict heated up…. Russian and Ukrainian officials were engaged in peace talks, and Moscow’s primary demand was for Ukrainian neutrality. But now Kyiv stands to lose much more as Russia maintains any settlement must include recognizing the areas it annexed in the Donbas and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts as Russian territory.

Sorry to bring that up….it does not trend with Russia bad, Putin’s a dick and victory at ALL costs.

How long will this continue?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

In The Shadow Of RFK

As an old fart I remember when ‘Bobby’ ran for president and would most likely have won the nomination but his campaign was cut short by a bullet.

I bring this history up because Biden has announced he will seek re-election and he will have a challenger, for now, in RFK,Jr…

Most knowledgeable people know him basically from his anti-vaxxer stance……put he does have other facets as well…..

Robert Francis Kennedy, Jr., near the very beginning of his April 19 announcement to run for President in the Democratic Party spoke these words:

“Fifty-five years ago last month, I sat as a 14-year-old boy behind my father as he now announced in a Senate caucus room in Washington, DC, his campaign for President of the United States. And my father at time was in the same, in many ways, the same position that I’m in today. He was running against a President of his own party. He was running against a war. He was running against – he was running at a time of unprecedented polarization in our country.”

In this way the son tells us right away that he is “running against a war,” Joe Biden’s cruel US proxy war against Russia using Ukrainians as cannon fodder.

He reminded us that his father was given very little chance of winning and felt he would likely lose. But on the day of his assassination, RFK had won the California primary, an urban state, and South Dakota, a rural state. The son is telling us that his is a candidacy not to be written off lightly. RFKJr was polling at 14% among Biden voters even before he announced. And nearly 44% of Democrats want anybody but Biden, with only 25% wishing him to run in 2024.

A video of the entire two hour long speech, impressive in many ways, is to be found here and a transcript here. Kennedy did not read from a prepared text although the speech appeared to be carefully outlined. It had a refreshing air of informality. And it deserves a careful listen.

Many of the points in the speech are summed up in the section on “Peace” in RFKJr’s campaign website, Kennedy2024.com, as follows:

“Annual defense-related spending is close to one trillion dollars. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed. Now we have another chance.

“As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country.“

“When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation.”

And on Ukraine:

“In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014. We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Robert F. Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia’s borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukranian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries.

“We have to stop seeing the world in terms of enemies and adversaries. As John Quincy Adams wrote, ‘Americans go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.’“

Those are strong words and realistic categories like “empire,” “proxy wars,” “coups,” “geopolitical machinations going back to 2014,” all ugly imperial facts alluded to euphemistically or not at all in the mainstream media.

This is not to say that we should accept all of RFKJr’s words at face value. But given the present enthusiasm for war in every corner of the Democratic Party’s political establishment and among much of its base, it is difficult to see RFKJr’s candidacy as opportunistic. His candidacy deserves to be treated skeptically like all candidacies but not cynically. The speech should be listened to carefully in that spirit.

(antiwar.com)

I disagree with him on the vaxxer thing but I have no problem with some of his statements and so-called ‘plans’…..

His vaxxer thing will be the attack points from his adversaries.

Research your choices before you vote….the big picture should always be the deciding point not some narrow vision.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Oh Crap! It’s Official!

Biden made it official yesterday he will run for re-election….to my chagrin…..

A Biden-Trump rematch just took a big step closer to reality. President Biden on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to “finish the job” he began when he was sworn into office and to set aside their concerns about extending the run of America’s oldest president for another four years. The announcement, in a three-minute video, comes on the four-year anniversary of when Biden declared for the White House in 2019, promising to heal the “soul of the nation” amid the turbulent presidency of Donald Trump, per the AP.

“I said we are in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are,” Biden said Tuesday. “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom. More rights or fewer.” While the question of seeking reelection has been a given for most modern presidents, that’s not always been the case for the 80-year-old Biden, as a notable swath of Democratic voters have indicated they would prefer he not run, in part because of his age—concerns Biden has called “totally legitimate” but ones he did not address head-on in the launch video. He would be 86 at the end of a second term.

Yet few things have unified Democratic voters like the prospect of Trump returning to power. And Biden’s political standing within his party stabilized after Democrats notched a stronger-than-expected performance in last year’s midterm elections. “Freedom. Personal freedom is fundamental to who we are as Americans,” said Biden. “There’s nothing more important. Nothing more sacred.” The president painted the Republican Party as extremists trying to roll back access to abortion, cut Social Security, limit voting rights, and ban books they disagree with. “This is not a time to be complacent,” Biden added. “That’s why I’m running for reelection.”

Finish the job?

What job?

About the only thing he has successfully started is our deep involvement in the Ukraine thing….oh there is the Covid thing from our dark ages….everything he has done has been for the benefit of the corporations that pay them (politicians) for their votes and time.

For me he is too old…..is has old ideas and is more corruptible….new forward looking ideas will always be in a minority as long as old farts keep their strangle hold on power.

So far Biden will have a challenger, RFK, Jr….what about Bernie?

Bernie Sanders isn’t going to try to beat President Biden’s record as the oldest president in US history. The 81-year-old independent senator from Vermont said Tuesday that he won’t seek the Democratic nomination a third time and he will do everything he can to support Biden’s bid for a second term. “The last thing this country needs is a Donald Trump or some other right-wing demagogue who is going to try to undermine American democracy or take away a woman’s right to choose, or not address the crisis of gun violence, or racism, sexism or homophobia,” Sanders told the AP. “So, I’m in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected.”

Sanders—who finished second to Biden in the 2020 race for the Democratic nomination and second to Hillary Clinton in 2016—said he would discourage other high-profile progressives from challenging Biden. He said he would continue to fight for progressive policies as chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Where will this clown show go?

And I shall continue to rant.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

As A Progressive

As the 2024 election creeps in at its petty pace I thought I would put down a few of my thoughts.

The mid-terms have happened and the inevitability of a new direction for the Congress and the nation has passed.

I read an article that thinks there is a new direction for the congressional Progressives….

The much predicted and by some feared red wave turned into, as people are saying, a splotch of ketchup on the wall at Mar-A-Lago. Instead of overwhelming Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, the November 8 election produced a return to Democratic Senate control with prospectively a one-seat gain depending on December runoff results in Georgia. As of this writing, the House is still up in the air, but the best the Republicans can expect is a several-seat majority. It was a better result for Democrats than almost anyone expected, running against the tide of high inflation and the usual losses of a first term president’s party in the midterms.

It is clear Roevember happened, that women enraged by the Supreme Court’s overturning Roe v. Wade abortion rights came out in numbers not captured by polls. In addition, younger people, also underrepresented in polls, swung heavily toward the Democrats. Trump’s presence in the election turned into a minus for Republicans, as extreme right candidates endorsed by him were defeated across the country. This election very likely signals that the kind of far right politics signified by Trump has reached its high water mark and is receding in a demographically changing nation.

Midterms Reveal Progressive Possibilities in a Changing Nation

To be honest I do not see it.

First of all I am old and I am NOT a liberal! To me that is an insult. I am not necessarily a Dem either…to me most are just as sick and lazy as the GOP….when in power they accomplish little and bitch a lot.

I am a Leftist or better these days a Progressive. I believe it should always be about the country and its people. The government should not be held captive by the oligarchs that want it all and give nothing in return.

As a Progressive I am very disappointed in our country and its people we have such potential and we never build on that potential…..so what is it that I and others like me want?

Given his political leanings, Ellinger described himself as a “Silent Generation progressive.” But that’s not the norm for voters his age. In fact, Americans in Ellinger’s age group — those over the age of 65 — were the most likely of any age group to say that they approved of former President Donald Trump’s job performance, and registered voters from his generation were the most likely to favor Republican candidates, according to the Pew Research Center. And among registered voters, Silent Generation men were more likely than women of the same age to favor Republicans as well.

This is in line with the conventional wisdom that there’s a consistent age gap in our politics today, where older voters vote red and younger voters veer blue. And there are myriad reasons why this is the case. For one, older Americans are more likely to be white and religious — two demographic groups that also tend to vote Republican. They’re also more likely to favor less government intervention and are more prone to believing that increased diversity isn’t a good thing for the country — which is in line with many Republicans’ way of thinking.

But these sentiments weren’t shared by the four voters older than 50, including Ellinger, whom I spoke with for this piece. In fact, many were closer to younger generations — like Gen Z or millennials — when it came to their political beliefs; climate change, racial justice, abortion access and higher wages were among some of the top policy priorities they listed, even if they were skeptical that Congress would address these things in their lifetime. Moreover, even though almost everyone I talked with said they wished the Democratic Party would go further left and support policies championed by, say, members of “The Squad,” a progressive group of Democratic lawmakers made up mainly of women of color, they didn’t begrudge President Biden for not pushing forward a more progressive political agenda, as he once promised. Rather, several applauded him for the work he’s done in office post-Trump, but wished the Democratic Party itself would invest more in building a younger, more liberal bench of successors. 

“I do feel like the lack of constant generation change has left Democrats a little stuck,” said Pamela M., a 52-year-old from rural Maryland who preferred to use only her first name and last initial for privacy. “They don’t know how to advertise and haven’t had a great ground-game strategy in a way that a wide swath of people respond to.”

What Do Older Progressive Voters Want?

My political views have not changed since I was 17 years old…that is damn near 60 years I have held my principles and have been for the most part disappointed by the lack of progress for this country.

What is it that you want in this coming election?

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

WTF? Carlson Gone?

The news hit yesterday that d/bag Carlson is out at FOX.

REALLY?

Hush your mouth!

Once he left MSNBC and landed at FOX and became the d/bag I thiught he had found a home among the crazies and stupid.

But it is real.

Tucker Carlson is no longer a Fox News host, reports Mediaite. “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network said in a surprise statement on Monday. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.” The statement gives no reason for Carlson’s departure, and Carlson himself has not commented. It’s “shocking news,” writes CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy on Twitter. Carlson drew the network’s largest audience with his 8pm show, per the Washington Post. Last year, his Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged 3.3 million total viewers.

The network said the time slot will be filled by “rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named.” The show will be called Fox News Tonight in the interim. The news comes less than a week after Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, though it’s not clear if the two developments are related. Carlson had been among the Fox hosts spreading the false narrative that the company’s voting machines were rigged. The host had long been “the source of repeated controversies and headaches for the network because of his statements on everything from race relations to L.G.B.T.Q. rights,” per the New York Times

What was the final straw that cost Carlson his gig at FOX?

A discrimination lawsuit filed by a former producer played a role in Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News on Monday, insiders say. Sources tell the Los Angeles Times that the decision came straight from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch, with input from other top Fox execs, and one factor was the lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg last month. Grossberg, who was fired and countersued by the network, alleges that she faced bullying, sexism, and antisemism after she was transferred from Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo to Tucker Carlson Tonight.

Grossberg also alleges that Fox lawyers “intimidated” her into giving misleading evidence in Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit, the Guardian reports. “Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client,” Grossberg attorney Tanvir Rahman said Monday. “Mr. Carlson and his subordinates remain individual defendants in the case and we look forward to taking their depositions under oath in the very near term.” A source tells Variety that Justin Wells, Carlson’s longtime executive producer, is also leaving Fox.

According to the Los Angeles Times‘ sources, Murdoch was also concerned about Carlson’s promotion of conspiracy theories that the Capitol riot was caused by government agents. An insider tells Mediaite that while the network claimed it had “agreed to part ways” with the host, the departure was a firing that caught Carlson and many others at Fox by surprise. In an apparent coincidence, CNN fired longtime host Don Lemon on Monday.

It was about time that this total dirt bag was called on his BS…..but do not cry for him I am sure there will be a wealth of idiot sites that will want him and his  views.

Who will step up at FOX to fill the position of idiot supreme?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”