Category: Government

Trump Stuck in the Mud

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OPINION: 

Trump Stuck in the Mud

Trump put on a disgusting show last night at the CNN Town Hall

OPINION:

Trump Stuck in the Mud

By D.S. Mitchell

A Real Train Wreck

Anyone that knows me knows my total disgust of anything and everything, Trump. So, some may wonder why I would waste an hour watching the CNN Donald Trump Town Hall last night.  Frankly, I just wanted to confirm that all the character traits that originally made me loath the man were still applicable. I didn’t need the hour to confirm my original assessment, but I hung around, just because as with all train wrecks it’s hard to look away.

Friendly Audience

He had a handpicked pro-Trump audience in New Hampshire. The crowd laughed and cheered at his attacks on E. Jean Carroll who had just the day before, won a $5 million lawsuit against the ex-president for sexual assault and defamation. Hopefully, Ms. Carroll isn’t done yet because this guy hasn’t learned anything about defamation. I believe she has grounds for a second defamation case against the disgraced, twice impeached, pro-sexual assault, ex- president.

A Vivid Reminder 

If nothing else, last night gave us a vivid reminder of what another term of a Donald Trump presidency would look like. I don’t know about anyone else but I’m way, way, past the chaos, shame, hatred, cruelty, lies, corruption, and total dysfunction this man brought to the White House. I’m ready to see this aberration gone into the dark night, never to be seen or heard from again.

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Carlson In My Rearview Mirror

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Tucker Carlson In My Rearview Mirror

Fox said goodbye to Tucker Carlson. Time will tell whether Carlson fades into oblivion like Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly other past Fox rabble rousers.

Tucker Carlson In My Rearview Mirror

By D. S. Mitchell

 

$787.5 Million For Dominion 

The Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit cost Fox (News?) $787.5 million big ones. If it sounds huge, it is. In fact, it is by far the largest defamation settlement in the history of the planet. Prior to the Fox-Dominion case, the largest defamation payout was for $177 million, in a 2017 case between ABC News and Beef Products Inc., a South Dakota meat processing company.

Five Factors To Prove Defamation

Five factors must have occurred to prove defamation. 1.) Publication of false information. 2.) The person, or in this case entity, Dominion Voting Systems, was specifically identified by Fox and its commentators. 3.) The remarks had a negative impact on the person or the entity’s reputation. 4.) The information disseminated (by Fox) was false and they knew it was false (reckless disregard). 5.) The defendant (Fox) is at fault, having published the lie for public consumption.

What Exactly Did Fox Do?

First and foremost, Fox and its on-air crew (Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham, and multiple others) repeatedly lied to their viewers. Despite information to the contrary, day after day, night after night, they repeated the lies, claiming Dominion Voting Systems had switched or credited votes illegally to Joe Biden. An intoxicated, red faced, Rudy Giuliani, a mentally disturbed Sydney Powell, and that weirdo Pillow Guy were on Fox every night pushing the lie that Donald Trump had won the 2020 presidential election with zero pushback from the commentators.

Nasty Secrets Revealed

As the trial date drew near, the cable news airwaves were filled with jaw-dropping leaks of emails between the folks at Fox. The texts and emails from the king of bullshit, and Fox’s biggest star, Tucker Carlson, stunned me. The shock came when I realized this SOB was even more disgusting in real life than I had imagined possible.  Behind the scenes Tucker was like a rabid dog going after everyone from Donald Trump, to his boss, Rupert Murdoch.

‘Antifa Kid’

The large number, and the toxic content of Tucker’s emails were truly outrageous. In one particularly egregious email he “prayed” for the killing of a protester being attacked by a group of white supremacists. Now that is sick. On 1/7/2021 Carlson sent a text message to his producer telling him about his visceral response to the video. In the video three or more white men were filmed attacking an ‘Antifa kid.’  Carlson said he wanted the victim to be killed. After some thought Tucker decided that was ‘deeply wrong.’

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EDITORIAL: Can SCOTUS Survive The Scandals?

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EDITORIAL:

Can SCOTUS Survive the Scandals? 

Can the Supreme Court survive the scandals of the justices? Hopefully not.

Editorial: Along with a series of outrageous decisions the SCOTUS is facing the revelation of potentially serious wrongdoing, grift, and corruption.

EDITORIAL:

Can SCOTUS Survive The Scandals?

By D. S. Mitchell

Public Backlash

The 6-3 supermajority conservative Supreme Court is facing ugly public backlash to numerous recent court decisions, most notably of course, the overturning of Roe. But the court is also facing public outrage over the corruption of members of the court and their spouses. Clarence Thomas (& Ginni Thomas), John Roberts (& Jane Roberts), Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh are mostly responsible for the bad publicity that has led to the court’s low public approval rating.  It looks like this set of justices is bad for the court.

Written on a Sign

I don’t know about you, but my outrage grows by the day. At a recent abortion protest, I saw a young girl carrying a sign inscribed, “I hate it here.”  If you are a follower of Calamity News and Politics, you may have noticed an increased tension, and quite honestly, unbridled rage coming from this corner of the progressive community. I too have had several recent “I hate it here,” moments.

Targeted Killings

The radical right sees no contradiction in banning abortion, for love of life, yet fueled rhetoric that likely led to the  murder of at least 10 pro-choice physicians. The radical right tell us the Second Amendment is sacred. Sometime between my birth and today, the sanctity of the Second Amendment has taken on ridiculous, and unintended proportions. Since when is the right to own a gun more important than the life of a child.

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OPINION: Mass Shootings Terrorizing America

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OPINION:

Mass Shootings Terrorizing America

No other country in the world has the gun violence seen in the U.S. It could be because there are more guns than people.

OPINION:

Mass Shootings Terrorizing America

By D. S. Mitchell

 

Nothing New

Only four months into 2023 and there have been 195 mass shootings in America. The recent rash of mass shootings has shaken the nation. Rightfully so, such a wanton loss of life is unacceptable in a civilized society. Sadly though, it is difficult to be surprised. Spree killings have been as much a feature of American culture as baseball and apple pie, reaching all the way back to the days of Howard Barton Unruh.  Howard  was an American mass killer, sometimes classified as a spree killer. Unruh  shot and killed 13 people (including three children) during a 12-minute walk through his neighborhood in the fall of 1949, in Camden, N.J. He was 28 years old.

A Couple Years Later

Charlie Starkweather is another twentieth century mass murderer that blazed across the pages of American newspapers with his 14 year old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate.  Charles Raymond “Charlie” Starkweather went on a multi-state killing spree killing eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming between December 1957 and January 1958. He was 19 years old. He killed ten of his victims between January 21 and January 29, 1958, the date of his arrest. I just wonder how many victims Charlie would have had if he’d had access to an AR-15? The point being, America has a gun problem and it is nothing new.

Powerful NRA Lobby

The latest Fox Gun Poll showed more than 75% of Americans support banning assault weapons and many other gun restrictions. The primary opposition to gun control laws in the United States are the gun manufacturers. The NRA has served as an arm of gun manufacturers for years, successfully masquerading as a citizen 2nd Amendment right’s group. The NRA and its bought and paid for wing of the Republican party have formed a powerful voice in Congress, effectively shutting down nearly all efforts to legislate gun control. One of their more ridiculous cries has been the case of “what-aboutism”

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Psilocybin Mushroom Information

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Psilocybin Mushroom Information

Psilocybin Mushroom Information

Growing and using Psilocybin mushrooms

Psilocybin Mushrooms are just one of the “drugs” made legal in Oregon in 2020.  Bill Cook a friend of Calamity Politics and expert on the cultivation of Psilocybin mushrooms stopped by the Calamity studio on 5/2/2023 and talked to Dave about the positive effects of growing and using Psilocybin Mushrooms. Over the next few weeks Bill will be stopping by the studio to chat with Dave on a number of topics including the cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms and marijuana in the State of Oregon. We are looking forward to these conversations. Stay tuned as they say.

 

The New Space Race

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The New Space Race 

The competition in space is a looming threat to peace on earth.

The New Space Race

By D. S. Mitchell

 

Back To The Moon

The U.S. touched down on the moon and did a walk about, planted a flag, collected a pile of rocks and came back home. That was way back in 1969. With that landing the U.S. effectively won the space race of that era against it’s saber rattling, cold war enemy, the Soviet Union.

The Vision

NASA’s  new moon program is called Artemis. Artemis 1 orbited the moon and returned with loads of information, but did not carry human beings. The vehicle landed safely in the Pacific Ocean after a 42 day mission. In the Artemis 2  phase NASA plans to send astronauts to the  moon and return them safely to earth. A colony will be built over a period time where astronauts will visit and stay for weeks at a time.

Two Primary Goals

The goal is to establish a continual human presence on the moon. In the NASA plan a space station orbits the moon and a base camp is established on the surface; all fueled by small nuclear reactors.  The goal is basically two fold. One is to mine the minerals on the moon and two is to test whether human beings can live in space for months, potentially years, safely. NASA’s ultimate goal is to use the moon as a staging site for its race to Mars.

NASA’s SLS Rocket

The SLS rocket has cost over $93 billion to develop. The SLS is the most powerful rocket ever built, taller than the Statue of Liberty, and capable of carrying 27 tons of cargo. The big drawback of the SLS is that they can only be used once, making them inefficient. By contrast the super-heavy launch vehicle Starship, being built by Elon Musk’s SpaceX for use as the lunar landing vehicle is re-useable.

 What Role Does SpaceX Fill

SpaceX beat out Blue Origins, owned by Jeff Bezos to provide the lunar lander for Artemis 3, in a contract worth $3 billion dollars. Starship will ferry astronauts from their Orion capsule orbiting the moon down to the surface. But so far the SpaceX rocket has not been tested. Needless to say if SpaceX can’t deliver on time the whole project will be set back accordingly

Moon Geography

The Apollo astronauts landed at the equator. The Artemis astronauts will land and explore the South Pole, which features steep mountains as well as deep crevices that hold water ice. The Chinese have announced their plan for an exploratory mission  to that same region. It looks like it might get crowded up there.

Lunar Diversity

In 2022 the Chinese and the Russians agreed to co-operate in building a joint lunar base.  China sent a rover to the moon surface in 2013. They plan over the next decade to send at least three more rovers to the  moon,  their goal is to eventually land astronauts in the early 2030’s. The Chinese and the Russians are our rivals and the tensions here on earth could easily be transported off planet. Bill Nelson, NASA administrator highlighted tensions by accusing the Chinese of stealing U.S. secrets, at the same time the Chinese are deploying spy balloons over our country. In addition to the government missions, both Blue Origins and SpaceX intend to fund private venture missions of their own, separate from NASA. Capitalism at it’s finest.

Artemis Accords

NASA is partnering with the UK, the EU, Canada, and Japan to build a lunar space station. The U.S. has taken the lead in establishing a legal framework for international lunar co-operation. The Accords were written by NASA and the U.S. State Department. Twenty-one countries have signed the pact, most importantly two have not, China and Russia, calling the pact  “colonialist” paving the way they say for the U.S. and her allies to “loot” the moon’s resources before anyone else can get there.

HUMOR: Let’s Find Something To Smile About

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 HUMOR: Let’s Find Something To Smile About

Times are tough, sometimes you just need to make time to smile

HUMOR: Let’s Find Something To Smile About

By D.S. Mitchell

 

Back At the Computer

I am back at the computer working on a new post for my www.calamitynewsandpolitics.com website.  Before I started this website, I worried that I wouldn’t have enough to scream about, but I’m finding that I could probably do half a dozen posts a day related to the B.S. and dangerous misinformation but I thought, before I start a fresh rant on the collapse of American democracy and other issues of importance to Western Civilization I should deliver something positive and uplifting.

So, dear hearts here are twenty-five things to make you smile:

  1. Touching toes in the night
  2. Sunsets over water
  3. Wraparound sunglasses
  4. The Science channel
  5. Kite flying contests
  6. The Muppets
  7. Astronauts on Mars
  8. Blowing the paper wrapper off the straw
  9. Winning at Poker
  10. A dog’s cold nose on your hand
  11. Barhopping on a Saturday night
  12. Old jeans that fit just right
  13. Your lover’s voice
  14. The clatter of skis being loaded for vacation
  15. The rumble of a train as it passes
  16. Walking in the rain
  17. The imagination of a six year old
  18. Margaritas at midnight (or any time, for that matter)
  19. Finishing the Sunday crossword without cheating
  20. A morning walk
  21. The smell of a new car
  22. Roller skating
  23. Your First grade teacher
  24. A sexy book
  25. Daddy’s smile

Back to the Fight

Now that we’ve had five minutes of smiles its time to get back to the fight. We have lots of work to do; stop the relentless gun violence, end state’s whittling away of our voting rights, stop anti-democratic gerrymandering that provides power to those who do not have voter support. We must halt the actions of John Robert’s  monumentally corrupt Supreme Court. Time to impeach Clarence Thomas and any other Justice that is in bed with the billionaires. And closest to my heart, the restoration of a woman’s right to choose, by the codification of Roe. We can do it all, we just need boots on the ground working toward these goals. Join the fight for democracy.

TikTok and Security Concerns

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TikTok and Security Concerns

Governments around the world suspect China will weaponize customer information

TikTok and Security Concerns

The number of countries banning TikTok, a video sharing app, is growing over concerns that China is collecting data on customers that may later be weaponized by the Chinese state.

By D. S. Mitchell

The Five Eyes

The United States, Canada, Britain, New Zealand, and Australia have each recently banned TikTok from federal government devices amid growing concerns over the app’s ties to China.  The aforementioned countries form the so-called “Five Eyes” intelligence-sharing partners. Government experts fear sensitive information could be exposed when TikTok is downloaded, especially on government devices. The recent U.S. ban applies only to government devices, although numerous US lawmakers are advocating an outright ban of the app. Both the FBI and the FCC warn that ByteDance could share TikTok user data with China’s authoritarian government.  More than half of the 50 US states have banned the app from government devices. An outright ban of the app was blocked in the United States Senate at the end of March.

Inside United States 

TikTok has 150 million users in the United States. Pew Research estimates that roughly two-thirds of US teens use TikTok. Aside from the security threat there is also concern that TikTok’s content could harm teenagers’ mental health. Researchers said in a December report that eating disorder content on TikTok had accumulated 13.2 billion views.

Other Countries Follow U.S. Lead

The European Parliament, European Commission, and the EU Council, the three top EU bodies, have all banned TikTok on staff devices, citing cybersecurity concerns. Estonia, France, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, India, Afghanistan, Taiwan, and Pakistan have also recognized the danger TikTok presents and have restricted its use on all government devices.

CEO Claims Independence From China

TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance. The company CEO, Shou Zi Chew, recently appeared before the U.S. Congress and testified that the company is run independently and does not share data with the Chinese government. Furthermore, CEO, Shou Zi Chew aggressively disputed accusations that TikTok collects more customer information than other social media companies and describes the recent bans as “without deliberation or evidence.”

Why All The Excitement?

The deepening rivalry and the growing tensions between the United States and China are central to these actions. The Biden Administration believes China intends to harness user data to fuel influence operations directed at American citizens. From the large number of countries banning the app on government phones also see a looming threat. ByteDance denies that any user data is at risk and claims it cannot be accessed by Beijing. But  the reality of the situation is clear; Chinese law obligates any company or citizen to aid state intelligence. Let me repeat that, Chinese law obligates any company or citizen to aid state intelligence. That fact alone should make us all a bit uneasy.

On The Other Hand

Observers of the situation claim the biggest danger to American privacy is not the Chinese government but rather a system that allows any tech company to harvest users’ data. Many folks are asking where has Congress been? While ranting about TikTok the US Congress has failed to pass even the most basic comprehensive privacy legislation to protect our data from misuse by any and all tech companies.

 

Clarence & Ginni Thomas Bad For SCOTUS

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Clarence & Ginni Thomas Bad For SCOTUS

Clarence & Ginni Thomas Bad For SCOTUS 

How much longer before we take action against this most egregious and corrupt court in the history of the Republic? Time to introduce legislation that would require supreme court justices to adhere to the same ethics standards as other judges in this country. Clarence & Ginni Thomas are bad for SCOTUS.

By D. S. Mitchell

Low Public Approval of Supreme Court

According to recent Gallop polling the Supreme Court has its lowest public-approval rating in history—in part because it is viewed as being both overly politicized and corrupt. The 6-3 supermajority conservative court is facing ugly public backlash to numerous recent court decisions, most notably of course, the overturning of Roe. Clarence & Ginni Thomas are partly responsible for that low public opinion. It is becoming obvious Clarence & Ginni Thomas are bad for SCOTUS. The activities of Ginni Thomas are outrageous and are at last coming under scrutiny.

Chief Robert’s Defiant Versus Pro-Active

In December 2022, John Roberts in his Year-End Report on the federal judiciary defended the court. Robert’s rather than seek measures to improve the court and its public image Robert’s got belligerent, defensive, and down right defiant. According to Robert’s,  “The Judiciary’s power to manage its internal affairs insulates courts from inappropriate political influence.” The problem Mr. Chief Justice is that you and your court are not managing your internal affairs effectively or appropriately.

Conservative Supreme Court Justices Deny Partisanship

For at least the last year, member’s of the conservative wing of the court have been crisscrossing the country giving speeches defending the court against accusations that the justices have become legislators in black robes. These folks can talk till they are blue in the face, but it won’t change the fact that there is a back door to the Supreme Court that is open to ultra conservative activists and locked to the rest of us.

No Ethics Rules Or Regs For Supreme Court Justices

The Supreme court has no ethics rules or formal means of monitoring the behavior of individual justices or their spouses. There is a shadow world in which the conservative justices meet and greet with  conservative individuals looking for access to the court and their decision makers; a world where powerful and influential wives, such as Ginni Thomas hover over the court’s decisions.

Ginni Thomas’ Political Activism Has Become A Serious Concern

Certainly one of the most active political voices in the conservative world whose activities are highly questionable are those of Ginni Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas. Ginni Thomas is giving the SCOTUS a black eye.The long voiced claim that the Justice’s opinions are politically neutral is getting harder and harder to swallow. In the case of Clarence Thomas the activities of his right wing activist wife Ginni Thomas  has become a serious issue of concern for the legitimacy of the court.

It Appears Ginni Thomas Has Her Thumb On The Scale

Mrs. Thomas is a lawyer that runs Liberty Consulting,  a political-lobbying firm. Until her emails to Mark Meadows on January 6th were made public, few Americans had ever heard of her. Those who had heard of her, dismissed much of her lobbying as harmless activities. However, it appears the Court is happily giving her allies major wins—on abortion, affirmative action, and gun rights.

A “Stench” Of Partisanship Permeates The Supreme Court 

In 2016 the Republicans, in an unprecedented move blocked President Obama’s nominee to the Court.  As a result  Trump was able to push through the appointment of three extreme right wing Justices. The Democrats have recently attempted to impose some ethics standards on the Justices—a response, in part, to what Justice Sonia Sotomayor has described as the “stench” of partisanship on the Court.

Ginni Thomas Hides In The Shadows Directing Radical Wing Causes

While Ginni Thomas tries to hide in the shadows she is kept busy working with many right wing activists who have brought numerous hot button issues in front of the Court. Ginni Thomas was once a director of CNP Action, a dark-money wing of the Council for National Policy. The Council of National Policy is a pressure group that connects wealthy donors with the most radical right-wing individuals in the United States. Ginni Thomas was formerly on the Turning Point USA advisory board. The Turning Point USA is a pro-Trump student group, whose leaders have boasted of sending busloads of protestors to D.C. on January 6th.

Many Think Ginni Thomas’s Behavior Is Appalling

 

The Inflation Reduction Act At Work

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The Inflation Reduction Act At Work

 

The Inflation Reduction Act At Work

By D. S. Mitchell

In the Winter edition of “Solutions,” a publication of the Environmental Defense there was a brief article on the Inflation Reduction Act by Vanessa Glavinskas.  Ms. Glavinskas explained five benefits to the average American to facilitate the transition to clean renewable energy.  The new law allocates $369 billion to address climate change and promote lower-carbon living through rebates and tax credits. Listed below are five areas of your home where you can start saving money today.

The Roof: Time to add solar panels. The new law provides tax credits of up to 30% to households that invest in clean energy. The credit is retroactive to 2022. The typical cost for a residential solar set up is around $19,000. In that scenario a homeowner would save $5,700. The cost of the system is usually recouped within 12 years.

The Driveway: The new law gives tax credits of up to $4,000 for buying a used electrical vehicle and up to $7,500 for a new EV. The EV must have final assembly in North America to qualify. This means some brands won’t qualify. So if it is important to you to get those tax credits make sure you confirm that the EV you intend to buy was assembled in the U.S.A.

The Kitchen: Gas stoves leak the super pollutant methane, comparable to 500,000 gasoline powered cars. Furthermore gas stoves also release the carcinogenic benzene. If you want to transition to an electric stove, oven, or range there are rebates of up to $840.

The Laundry Room: Heat pump clothes dryers, rarely seen in the U.S. but popular in Europe take a bit longer to dry a load of clothes but are much more energy efficient than traditional models. Qualifying households can get a rebate of up to $840.

The Thermostat: A heat pump is an efficient way to heat and cool your home. With a heat pump the system transfers heat between your home and the outdoors and can save you hundreds of dollars annually. Most U.S. households can qualify for a tax credit up to $2,000. Low income families may be able to qualify for a tax credit of as much as $8,000 per installation.

 

 

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