Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The willow is too close to the house.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Good lord, these people are nuts.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

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War for Ukraine Day 1,089: A Bad Deal Is Worse than No Deal at All

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Painting by NEIVANMADE. It has a white background an in the center are Soldiers in green doing air defense by firing at incoming Russian missiles in the upper right. The missiles are red and yellow. In the upper left, written in green, is the text: "SAVE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!" Below the Soldiers, also written in green, is "SUPPORT FOR KHARKIV"

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

All of eastern and central Ukraine – at 6:20 PM EST/1:20 AM local time in Ukraine – is once again under air raid alert for drone swarm attack.

It appears that portions of last week’s US “proposal” for Ukrainian mineral resources has leaked:

Parts of the leaked critical minerals agreement that the US presented to Zelensky last week

I am told the original document stipulated that this agreement between the US and Ukrainian governments would be governed under.. NY State law!

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— Dmitri Alperovitch (@dmitri.silverado.org) February 17, 2025 at 11:12 AM

Which would mean that Letitia James would be in charge of its enforcement!

Other issues here:
– Request to sign an agreement that says “Pre-decisional & Deliberative”
– No specification on the timeframe for the license payments – in perpetuity or limited in some form?

— Dmitri Alperovitch (@dmitri.silverado.org) February 17, 2025 at 11:12 AM

– US commitments are extremely vague. I am told the original draft didn’t include any, which would have made it unenforceable under NY law (you have to have future considerations included in a contract)

— Dmitri Alperovitch (@dmitri.silverado.org) February 17, 2025 at 11:12 AM

That’s not so much a “proposal” as a list of demands.

I think it’s the first case in human history where a nation fighting for its survival against a major aggressor is being forced—by a non-combatant partner—into paying Versailles-style reparations over military aid that had earlier been provided purposefully at no cost.

— Illia Ponomarenko (@ioponomarenko.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM

And all of this while the war is still ongoing and far from lost.

— Illia Ponomarenko (@ioponomarenko.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 4:10 PM

We are probably the first country to be asked to pay reparations for being invaded. It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 1:45 PM

I think it is important for everyone to keep in mind, that these demands, “negotiating” without Zelenskyy and Ukraine at the table, and especially Kellogg’s and Trump’s demands that Ukraine must hold elections, are all attempts to actually undermine President Zelenskyy. It is an active measure and influence campaign. It is also Putin’s active measure and influence campaign. Putin has been hammering on this for a long time as a way to present what he thinks is a reasonable objection to why he can’t end his genocidal re-invasion: Ukraine doesn’t have a legitimate president for him to negotiate because there haven’t been elections since the beginning of the genocidal re-invasion. The reason there haven’t been elections is, of course, the result of the genocidal re-invasion: Ukraine is under martial law due to the state of emergency created by having to defend against Russia. Under Ukrainian law, elections are suspended until after the emergency is lifted. Trump picked this up from Putin and, most likely also Musk and the latter’s toady David Sacks who have been amplifying this agitprop on the hellsite. Kellogg is now pushing it because Trump is. This is a perfect example of reflexive control, specifically the reflexive control that Putin has over Trump. Which is why the EU and the UK have also been excluded by Trump from these negotiations.

Three basic Soviet/Russian rules for negotiating with the West:
1.Demand the maximum, don’t ask.
2.Present ultimatums.
3.Never give ground—there’s always someone in the West willing to offer something.

Just a reminder.

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— Maria Avdeeva (@mariainkharkiv.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 1:40 PM

Ukrainska Pravda has more on President Zelenskyy’s views on what the US is doing in Saudi Arabia this week.

Ukraine will not be participating in upcoming talks in Saudi Arabia and will not recognise any agreements made on Ukraine without Kyiv’s involvement.

Source: Zelenskyy, commenting on the talks in Saudi Arabia between Russian and US representatives, quoted by Interfax-Ukraine

Quote from Zelenskyy: “Ukraine will not participate [in the talks]. Ukraine did not know anything about them. And Ukraine considers any negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine to be useless. And we cannot recognise anything or any agreements about us without us. And we will not recognise such agreements.”

Details: The head of state noted that there is a bilateral track in these negotiations, “and they have the right to do that if they have bilateral issues”. Zelenskyy added that this had been discussed before, but only now have they “begun to speak publicly”.

Zelenskyy said his official visit to Saudi Arabia on 18 February “has no connection with the things happening in Saudi Arabia at the level of the US and Russian representatives”.

The president added that he would ask Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman about the talks.

He also said that he would raise the issue of lowering oil prices during his visit and believes that US President Donald Trump may do so too.

Quote from Zelenskyy: “I don’t know who can reduce prices. I believe that President Trump has the greatest power to do this, and he is the strongest in this area, in the energy sector, and controls it. And I think that if he set the goal, he could do it.”

Background:

  • On Monday 17 February, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks between US and Russian delegations on resolving the war in Ukraine.
  • According to Axios, the meeting between the Russian and US officials will take place on Tuesday, 18 February.
  • On 16 February, Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that no meetings with Russians are planned until a plan to end the war has been developed.

President Zelenskyy held a videoconference press availability today. During that event he made it clear that Europe had to be represented at any actual talks to end Russia’s genocidal re-invasion of Ukraine.

There is no doubt that Europe must be at the negotiating table for ending the war in Ukraine, therefore it is important to appoint a special representative to be involved in this process. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a video conference with media representatives.

The Head of State stressed that the United States is a strategic partner of Ukraine and a leader in providing assistance, but during the negotiations, the proposals from European countries regarding the format of support for our state and security guarantees should also be considered. That is why Volodymyr Zelenskyy supports the idea of appointing a special representative of Europe.

“The specifics of what Europe offers or how it supports Ukraine, in what format, and what security guarantees Europe is ready to provide – all this will definitely be on the table, for sure. We will consider who that person will be. It is important for us that this person is not only a representative of Europe and is respected by Europe. It is critical that everyone at the table understands that this is a serious person,” the President said.

The Head of State added that the negotiations should involve countries ready to assume responsibility for security guarantees, assistance, investments in Ukraine’s restoration and prevention of further aggression by Russia.

Here is the video of that videoconference:

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Breaking: Another Crash, Let’s Politicize It!

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Breaking: Another Crash
Credit: CBC

Emergency crews at Toronto Pearson Airport are responding to the crash of Delta CRJ-900 arriving from Minneapolis/St.Paul.  According to the latest from the airport, all passengers and crew are accounted for.  That link is to the CBC which I’m sure will have updates. (The latest is 8 passengers are being treated by paramedics.)

I’m a bit of an aviation geek, but not a nervous flyer.  But, for the first time in my life, I’m debating whether to take a plane to a family event in a couple of months.  Elon Musk has willy-nilly fired hundreds of FAA employees at a time when there have been shortages of air traffic controllers for years.  On the night that the CRJ-700 had a mid-air collision with a Blackhawk helicopter near DCA, there were supposed to be separate controllers for helicopters and for fixed-wing planes.  They were short-staffed and only one controller was working both positions.   The NTSB is going to report the cause(s) of the crash in a year or two, but it’s not alarmist or silly to say that Republicans are making us less safe by not addressing the crisis of ATC short-staffing, where 90% of US airport towers are understaffed.

So, yes, Republicans are trying to kill you and your family.  Pictures like the one above will become more commonplace because an unelected billionaire decided that he wanted a bigger tax break.

My view is that the real problem isn’t exploiting the tragedies that will undoubtedly occur on Trump’s watch, it’s making sure that whatever caused the tragedy is fixed.  Firing FAA employees will cause more tragedies.  The fix is to boot Musk, re-hire everyone fired, and hire more ATC.  We can call for that today without hurting anyone but Republicans.

Editfrom the CBC: “Ornge Air Ambulance, Ontario’s air ambulance service, says a child was taken to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children with critical injuries, while a man in his 60s and a woman in her 40s were also taken to Toronto hospitals with critical injuries.”

Hope the world-class team at Sick Kids can save the child’s life. At least Canada funds its healthcare, unlike what Trump and Musk would like to see.  Sick Kids is a University of Toronto Hospital.  The research grant cuts that Musk has put into place will rob our great University hospitals of the funding they need.  This means worse care for badly injured kids.

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Today’s North Carolina Protest – AM in NC Was There

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We worked hard for North Carolina last year, and now of course the Rs want to steal votes in order to steal the NC State Supreme Court.  North Carolina is not taking the sitting down.

What’s your favorite sign?  I like the spirit in the flame / fire one, myself.

Pictures and a short write-up from AM in NC:

I just got back from a pro-democracy/Anti-Jefferson Griffin-Trying-To-Steal-A-NC-Supreme-Court-Election protest at the Capitol in Raleigh, NC.

It was inspiring to rally together with North Carolinians of all ages, races, genders, economic situations and religions to fight for our representative government and the rule of law.

Here are some signs I saw if you want to post any of them . . . I asked permission from all people I took photos of.

First two are of my sign (front and back). The rest are in situ at the protest.

Today's North Carolina Protest Today's North Carolina Protest 1 Today's North Carolina Protest 2 Today's North Carolina Protest 3 Today's North Carolina Protest 4 Today's North Carolina Protest 5 Today's North Carolina Protest 6 Today's North Carolina Protest 7 Today's North Carolina Protest 8 Today's North Carolina Protest 9

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Extreme Right Wing = Republicans

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Extreme Right Wing = Republicans
No Kings Protest – Philly – From Reader B. Thanks!

I was at the gym this morning and Fox News was going at Democrats hammer and tongs.  Hakeem Jeffries had an interview during the segment, and in the portion I saw, he said the usual (good) stuff about how Democrats are going to push back, protect Medicare/Medicaid, etc.  He also used the standard line that a lot of Democrats use about “extreme right-wing” in an effort to make a distinction between Republicans who are hard-core Trumpers and the imaginary others who might possibly vote for a Democrat.  The Fox hosts followed that segment with the comments about Democrats in general being too woke, how we’re staggering after the huge defeat we just had, etc.

It’s just unilateral disarmament to manufacture some imagined distinction between far-right and reasonable Republicans when you appear on Fox (or anywhere else).  I’ve long been inspired by Steve M’s take on Fox News trying to “other” Democrats, no matter how “moderate” or “centrist” we are.  We are the fucking enemy to them, we’re bad people, and in their ideal world, we’d be exterminated.  This is not hyperbole.  Tom Homan has already called for a DoJ investigation of AOC because she informed people of their rights on her social media.

The Harris campaign made a huge deal about having Liz Cheney on our side.  On everything but democracy, she’s as right wing as they get.  The reaction of the Republican Party — as a bloc — was to disavow her and there were many threats of violence that came her way.  Anyone paying attention knows that there’s no such thing as a “moderate” Republican:  Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins voted for RFK Jr, for fuck’s sake.

If we are going to communicate the extent of the threat that the Republican Party presents to the US, we need to have some frank talk.  An unelected billionaire and Trump’s cabinet of clowns are endangering lives daily. Elon Musk is going to kill people by cutting staff at the FAA.  RFK Jr’s nutty anti-vaxx nonsense comes at a time when we might be facing a pandemic of bird flu and an outbreak of measles among kids in Texas.  Trans people are being scapegoated.  The list goes on and on.  They’re all extremists.  Call them that.

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Various Topics

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Various Topics

Reader J sent this pic from the Minneapolis anti-Tesla protest, complete with IncelCamino.

Protesters at the Tesla service center just outside of Minneapolis. Signs reading “Unplug Mad King Musk”, “This car runs on facsism”, “Who buys cars from a nazi?”, “Say no to doge”, “Don’t buy swasticars, BAD DOGE!”.

Keep the pics coming to [email protected].

I posted this on BlueSky yesterday but in case you didn’t see it, it’s a perspective that I hadn’t seen before:

“It seems to me, with Canadian farms, we are well protected against the worst effects of avian influenza,” he said. He says U.S. “agribusiness” has “no resemblance” to Canada’s egg farms, which have an average of 25,000 laying hens per farm.

In the U.S., farms run by mega-producers like Cal-Maine and Rose Acre Farms can have several million laying hens.

If a wild bird infected with avian flu lands on a farm and infects a hen, the whole flock has to be euthanized because the disease spreads so quickly. Avian flu has a 90 to 100 per cent mortality rate in chickens, and they usually die within 48 hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s an incredibly communicable disease. So it has become a really, really significant and problematic issue,” Muirhead said.

On a farm with six million birds, he says, killing them would eliminate about four million eggs per day from the market.

Needless to say “small family farms” don’t have millions of laying hens on them.

Here is the ad the Washington Post refused to run about Elon Musk this weekend.

And here is the ad the Post was happy to run by a rightwing group funded by Musk that smeared me in October.

I started Democracy Docket to be fiercely independent and prodemocracy. Check it out. www.democracydocket.com

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— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) February 17, 2025 at 7:49 AM

Legacy media, and most social media with an “algorithm” (all but BlueSky) are all-in on Trump 2.0. The woman who posted that great TikTok (franchesca_leigh) that I embedded on Saturday got that video demonetized for some pretext, and Hope Walz got a strike for gentle pushback against a right wing commenter. No links because it’s a pain to do with TikTok.

In a bit of a rush this morning, open thread and hope you’ll get time to attend a protest today, and if you’re in the Phoenix area check out WaterGirl’s post below.

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Arizona Peeps: In-Person Immigration Action at the AZ State Capital Today

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Our friends at Worker Power sent this to me.

I would love to hear a first-hand account from anyone on BJ who attends.

Anyone think you might go?

Auto Draft 124

Open thread.

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Monday Morning Open Thread: The GOP Is *Not* the Farmers’ Friend

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The GOP Is *Not* the Farmers' Friend 1

(John Deering via GoComics.com)

 
Good news, if we can keep (them to) it:

Beyond the cruelty, there’s the dumbfounding incompetence.
First, they push through an announcement that 2200 employees would be fired from the Indian Health Service, removing doctors & nurses from our poorest citizens.
Then they reduced it to 950 layoffs.
Now it’s zero
ictnews.org/news/rfk-jr-…

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— Bill Grueskin (@bgrueskin.bsky.social) February 16, 2025 at 8:29 AM


Backstory:

If any of you know Neil Gorsuch (a longtime defender of Indian tribes' rights), please send him this piece about the devastating layoffs of about 1,000 employees in the Indian Health Service — which means we're abrogating our obligations as mandated by treaties. ictnews.org/news/life-or…

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— Bill Grueskin (@bgrueskin.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 9:01 AM


 
Meanwhile…

new john mellencamp about to drop

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— not an art thief (@famousartthief.bsky.social) February 15, 2025 at 12:33 PM

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