Hot Air


If We Even Get That Far, Part II

Not one part of the election process seems to be legitimate. Not one little tiny weeny iota of it. The primaries were rigged. Bernie was sidelined removed and Biden installed. Now Harris, the chosen one, is brought forth and together they will run as rightful candidates in the 2020 election.

But the election will ultimately be decided when the votes are counted.

~
h/t mimi
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“The number one thing the US State Department Guidelines use to determine if a US election is honest, are exit polls. ... If exit polling does not match the official count you know there was thievery. By the US government’s own standards, which have rejected elections in the Ukraine, Peru, and Serbia, we should not have accepted the results in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Because the exit polls showed Hillary winning, and in two of those states crushing Donald Trump.

"So what happened? … They didn’t count all the votes. You had votes that were disqualified. … 75,000 ballots in Detroit were not counted. … That’s not exactly Trump Motown.” Greg Palast interview with Chris Hedges

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The whole thing is a farce. It appears to be happening again. It is rigged and the losers will be the 99%, the environment, biodiversity, and the planet.

If the Age of Aquarius is coming, it had better damn well hurry up. Fire next time.

Certainly Trump will do nothing about the climate crisis. We will burn; we will melt; we will swelter.

So, if by some mircle Trump and crew do not steal the election and Biden and Harris get elected, how will the environment and the climate crisis fare? They will will likely not get worse and they may get better.

The question is, can we meet this challenge in time? My hope is that we will, my fear is that is it very, very late in the game.

~
The thread is open

~

This is to say that this very thread is open for any and all comments about anything and everything. It is your Open Thread. It is a vessel from which your wisdom can spring forth, or some such.

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Comments

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

Can you support this?

Biden and Harris are career criminals; I want to see them suffer, not win.

Supporting them for the sake of the environment feels like caving in a hostage negotiation, at best.

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18 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat

The climate and environment got worse under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as did the water quality in this country.

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4 users have voted.

"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Raggedy Ann's picture

There is no hope for America in the duopoly, which is why I dropped out. My choice. I cannot play their game anymore. They propose a lose-lose situation. Not for me.

It's time to stop talking about what is and start talking about what is possible and begin to make that happen. Here's a great interview. The last two minutes are a discussion of what is possible but the entire interview is worth watching.
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/08/12/disparaging-stokely-carmichael-bill-c...

Live in the present.
Live in love.
Be grateful.

Enjoy your day. Pleasantry

Edited to add the video

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12 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

on what a farce our electoral practice is. Dems fear third party challenge on their left, and the rise of Populism and the Republicans are terrified of minority votes all being counted. Our two party system stands as a perfect example of a closed loop system serving the elite while taking every opportunity to prevent the possibility of the United States becoming an actual functional democratic republic. They are unified in their terror of losing their power to the deplorable unwashed masses.

The 2020 election is sure to be an electoral shit show. On the bright side, it might become the turn where the masks and pretense fall away and the true depravity of this failing empire become evident and undeniable.

One can wish. (sigh)

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14 users have voted.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Wonder if this is just more political posturing?

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/12/house-democrats-introduce-u...

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6 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

Just watch a few minutes of the weather extremes around the worlds last month.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnC8yOJ7EbQ]

As the solar minimum deepens, all the electrical phenomena are increasing in amount and intensity, and we had another month of record amounts of water pouring down affecting millions and destroying crops around the world.

East Asia got the worst in July, extreme monsoon rain, and the consequential floods and landslides affected tens of millions, displaced thousands, and killed hundreds of people in China, Nepal, Bangladesh, and India.

China continues to battle the worst floods in decades as the water level of 433 rivers is above the flood control line, with 33 of them reaching record highs. Heavy rains have lashed 27 of the country's 31 provinces, affecting more than 37 million people and leaving 141 dead or missing so far.

South Korea continues to suffer its wettest monsoon in recent history, at least 15 people died and more than 1,500 have been evacuated. About 1,300 houses are reported to have been submerged or buried in landslides across the country, and 1,000 roads and bridges have been destroyed or damaged.

Heavy rain and floods continue to ravage Assam, India since May, affecting 2 to 3 million in 27 districts, claiming the lives of more than 100 people, and destroying crops. Over 2,400 villages submerged.

After two weeks of heavy rains, flash floods washed away houses, farms, roads, and electricity and water lines in Yemen. Thousands have been left homeless, and at least 14 have died.

Heavy rains and floods also affected parts of the US Midwest and Southeast, meanwhile, the tornado season has been prolonged another month, with cases of multiple tornadoes at the same time. Ontario, Alberta and Saskatoon, Canada, also experienced multiple tornadoes, something that is becoming more common, even in places where they are supposedly rare.

Snow continues with its off-season displays, 1 foot of snow and -7C degrees temperatures chilled Noway, and China got a fair share despite it being summer.

In the Southern hemisphere, the Andes recorded a historic record of 17 feet of snow; The Snowy Mountains in Australia reported 40 inches, and South Africa experienced a rare snowfall, something new to many locals.

Meteor fireballs gave us a very bright display this month, reminding us that we need to pay attention to the skies and "cosmic intentions".

At the same time, noctilucent clouds are becoming a common sight, perhaps indicating a more significant accumulation of charged particles in the upper atmosphere. As a reminder:

"The unbelievable amount of precipitation during the past months can be explained with the increasing amount of charged particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere.[...]

[...]Charged particles influence weather much more than has been appreciated. "

Extreme weather continues to impact food production all over the world, and we can expect an increase in food prices sooner than later.

As to voting, Greg offers the following advice....

Protect the health of your democracy during this epidemic of stupidity, meanness, and misinformation. Follow these simple instructions:

Don’t Just Pick and Lick!

If you decide to Go Postal and mail-in your ballot, make sure you follow your state’s rules, no matter how berserk. That means getting a witness signature (Minnesota), notarization (Alabama), and sign the ballot and envelope twice if it says so; use the official envelope only; put on TWO stamps (Ohio). And include a copy of that special ID (Wisconsin).

Registration Investigation!

Think you’re registered? This is America, Jack, not some democracy. Better check your registration again. Make sure you have not been purged, Crosschecked, made “inactive,” or otherwise scammed out of your vote. You don’t have to re-register if you’ve moved within your county—but you’re a fool if you don’t. Why? You can’t mail in your ballot, Homer, if you don’t get it in the mail in the first place! D’oh!

Don’t Get Spoiled Rotten!

Don’t mark ballots with red pens, pencils, crayons, lipstick. Don’t use an ✘, ✓, or ☺︎, unless it says so. Fill in the bubble, Bob. If on a machine, check over your choices before you pull that final lever. If a punch-card, turn it over and scrape off the chads, Dad.

The Early Bird Throws Out the Worms!

Vote early. In-person when no one’s around, weekdays if possible. Then, if they jacked with your registration, you may have time to fight. But beware “Souls to the Polls” Sunday: in states like Ohio, the lines will be hours long as the vote thieves launch their new weapons to block voters of color. If you are a voter of color or under 35, don’t forget to take along photo ID and an experienced attorney.

Look Out for Tranquilizer Ballots!

The nice lady behind the counter will tell you your “provisional” ballot will count. Bullshit. Demand a real ballot from an election judge. If you must fill out that bogus bouncing ballot, make sure you fill in every line on the envelope with registration address, registration signature, and if no license, write “no license.” If you need to return with an ID, do it and don’t bellyache.

Act Out!

It’s time to say basta! to mass purges, to voter ID rigmarole, to tossing out provisional ballots and to the entire lynching-by-laptop operation. And that means joining voting rights action groups such as Rainbow/PUSH. Whether you’re a butcher, baker or mass tort litigation maker, we need you to cross The Bridge with us. I know you have a good excuse to do nothing, but I don’t want to hear it.

Spread the Word!

Download and send this Ballot Condom to everyone you know.

https://www.gregpalast.com/ballot-condom-for-safe-voting-2/

Well y'all have a good day. I like RA's idea to imagine the possible instead of bemoaning the present.

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10 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

The Democratic strategy seems to be all-in on the "any little girl can become a VP candidate," platform.

That may be true. But it is irrelevant.It promotes Identity Politics instead of Policies we Want to Vote For.

What concerns me is that the Democratic strategy is Identity Politics in a country where Identity Politics favors the GOP.

America was founded by, as, and for, and remains a White Male dominated country. No amount of rhetoric on cable TV is going to change that anytime soon. Barack Obama was sui generis and I don't think we will see another Black President in my lifetime or my daughters lifetime.

If Joe Biden truly wanted to win, he'd have selected a young white male, but that clearly was never going to happen. If Joe Biden truly wanted to win, he'd run on policies that the vast majority of Americans prefer.

Hard to conclude that this campaign is anything other than 2016 Redux. Same actions and most likely same results.

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11 users have voted.

NYCVG

usefewersyllables's picture

@NYCVG

though. I suspect that many, many more people will stay home out of disgust, as well as fear of the pandemic (and as a result of the usual and customary voter-registration purging/caging/ratfucking). If my registration was one of the ones screwed up by enemy action last time or during the primary ratfuckings, I wouldn't be particularly motivated to go fight with the county to fix it. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the majority of those additional folks will be from the nominally-blue side.

The only reason that I personally will be voting is that we have VbM here, and they will mail me my ballot to effortlessly mark here in the privacy of my own home. I have to drive by the local cop-shop on the way to the grocery store, so it requires no effort to drop it off in the county lockbox to be counted. If voting required effort, or worse yet required me to go stand in line for hours in a packed high school gymnasium, I sure as fuck wouldn't bother or take the risk.

This is by far the least interesting election I've ever seen in 40+ years of voting, precisely because it really doesn't matter at all. The outcome simply doesn't matter, and the mechanism is completely compromised (as will be shown by the unending denials, lawsuits, and claims of illegitimacy no matter how it comes out). The deadenders and team fanatics will queue up to vote as they always do- but the ranks of the "Why the hell should I care?" portion of the electorate are really going to grow for this one.

I gotta tellya, the urge to simply sweep the ballot into the trash with the rest of the junk mail will be very high. But I just can't do it: I've never missed an election. So I'll be marking my ballot very dispassionately for anybody on a Green ballot line, and then getting rid of it the same day it comes in (should be Oct 10 or 11). And that is all the enthusiasm I can summon for this one at this point: the fervent wish that it freakin' well be over.

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14 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables Trump's supporters don't feel as you do. They will stand in line. Forever, if necessary.

Democratic apathy may very well doom Biden. As he will richly deserve after offering so little to the people who need government the most.

My view of the democratic party's cable news obliviousness and inaccuracies is that their viewers aren't the ones hurting from the unemployment and eviction crises. Largely older viewers whose Social Security benefits and Medicare plans keep them safer that others in their class, they enjoy the kabuki theater horse race jousting as they, we, including myself, have our back-up plans in place.

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6 users have voted.

NYCVG

usefewersyllables's picture

@NYCVG

that the Trump "Murika Fuk Yeh" base will turn out. They always do, and many of them also seem to fall into the "virus is a hoax" camp this time, as well as being fully devoted to their team. I fully expect Trump to "win", as much as anybody will be able to be said to win.

A lot of people won't be voting because they will be struggling to find work, or housing, or warmth, or even a meal- struggling for simple survival. In those cases, wasting the time and effort it'll take to participate in this whole Kabuki bullshit makes no sense, and isn't merely inconvenient.

Hell, I expect both parties to have minions looking over the eviction and foreclosure notices to immediately go purge those voters registered to the "other team" from the rolls who are no longer at their previous (or any) address. Even if their state suddenly decides to go VbM at the last minute, they won't be at any specific address to receive their ballot in any case. Perhaps more of those folks are from the blue side as well- I don't know.

Like I said, the election will be completely meaningless, especially for the folks who find themselves newly homeless. It isn't that there will be no impact on those folks in particular: far from it. It's just that neither of the two options who are likely to "win" will lift a finger for them, or for us. Identifying the "winner" will merely provide a distinction without a difference. And this situation stinks beyond the ability of mere words to describe...

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10 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@NYCVG

win because his election-riggers are better than Trump's, or lose for any number of reasons--but I don't think putting a young, white male in the VP spot would have flipped his outcome from a loss to a win. He does not need superficial characteristics, but established trust. If he had picked Nina Turner--and she had accepted--he would have significantly increased his chances. Ditto with AOC, whom I don't trust, but most do.

Even picking Bernie as his VP--not a good choice, IMO, for reasons that have nothing to do with policy or personality--even doing that would have given "Joe" a bump.

Picking Jeff Random White Guy would not have helped.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

mimi's picture

and listen to the whole as well.
[video:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/659618/how-trump-stole-2020-by-...

On this link you have a transcript of the whole conversation between Hedges and Palast.
On Contact: Voter fraud, stealing elections

I am not the one who should talk about it, I am too far away. Beware of your middle names and use them.

My middle name is beautiful. Verena.

signed mimi, the beautiful verena. I am glad I can't vote in the US though.:-)

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lotlizard's picture

of an independent Hawai‘i assumes power at ‘Iolani Palace in Honolulu …

http://www.futures.hawaii.edu/publications/half-fried-ideas/J5/lynette.pdf

Everybody’s upset about Trump — Americans don’t realize that, as experienced by Hawaiians, all U.S. leaders and institutions — after the Grover Cleveland administration’s last failed (well-intentioned but alas, without U.S. willingness to use force, feeble) attempt at redress — have done far worse for far longer. All these “Trumps” have wielded power illegitimately and high-handedly in Hawaii and against Hawaiians.

Four more years of this president frightens you? Hawaiians have endured 120+ years of American presidents and all were regimes that used them as a doormat and their islands as mere stepping-stones to military power and hegemony in the Pacific.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

She works the frontline in a hospital in another state. She told me that she was happy about Kamala Harris as the VP pick. It gave her hope. She sees Kamala as a fighter and knows something of her political history.

So, if by some mircle Trump and crew do not steal the election and Biden and Harris get elected, how will the environment and the climate crisis fare? They will will likely not get worse and they may get better.

Her hope gave me hope — when I forcibly push aside the terrible truths that I know about US politics and our evil presence in the world. I have no platitudes to add. This is just an observation.

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5 users have voted.

____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Pluto's Republic's picture

Kamala Harris' economic policy: Roll back tax cuts, expand health care and middle-class tax breaks

Much like Biden, Harris is an advocate of higher taxes on businesses and high-income households, economists say.

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Except for the complete bullshit of the parenthetical "Much like Biden" — that headline does tug at the political hope of the Left.

(Before the lessons of past experience with Democratic campaign promises set in.)

@Pluto's Republic

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
TheOtherMaven's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Been there, done that, not buying it this time.

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6 users have voted.

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

enhydra lutris's picture

be well and have a good one

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4 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Neither party wants honest elections. They benefit in different ways from the cheating. But as a generalization, democrats mostly cheat each other in primaries, while the gop cheats mostly in the general elections. My generalization sorta fits as pundits have noted that democratic party power brokers are more interested in keeping their power than in winning elections.

Much easier to blame the Russians and now Chinese and Iranians for bad election results. In the latest NYT installment, Russians are up-ending the election by filming Portland protesters.

How a Bible burning in Portland reveals Russia’s efforts to upend the 2020 U.S. election

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about two or three sentences of Kamala's first "I'm gonna be the VP" speech on the radio, and it was eye rolling.

In an attempt to make it about Trump (of course, because what else have they got?!?), she said something along the lines of "When Obama was president, you remember ebola?! You remember that?! Only two Americans died during that pandemic!" (with the implication that we were so much better off back then, than with Trump at the helm).

My jaw just dropped at such an infantile comparison. First of all, ebola wasn't even in America--it was confined to a rather small portion of Africa (the two people who died were shipped home to America for medical care). And ebola doesn't spread anywhere near as quickly or in the same manner as covid. It's just such an inane comparison!!!

Your likely future vice president and president laddies and gentlemen!! (slow golf clap)

Didn't bother to listen to any more of it. I'm beginning to think just about all people in politics are mentally handicapped in some way. It's like there is zero intelligence being displayed at all.

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15 users have voted.
Granma's picture

I'm worried about the children that have no way of accessing their online schooling. I have no way of knowing how many of them there are. I personally know of 2 little girls. I am giving them my old IPad. since their mother speaks little, if any, English, I have to hope friends or relatives will help her figure out how to get an Internet connection so they can actually use it.

Several years ago, I read about an organization that was building kid-proof computers and giving them to children in Africa to use for their education. The small computers cost $100 apiece, were able to withstand being banged around etc. I do not remember the name of the organization. I believe they had worked with a university to design the computers.

Does anyone know anything about this? We should be issuing these to every child in this country who needs one. It does no good to have online schools if children have no access to the web. In the spring, there were school districts in some places in US providing tablets to families who needed them.

This is something that is worth putting energy and time into right now. All of us can check with our school districts and push to insure every school age child is able to access the education they need and deserve.

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11 users have voted.
lotlizard's picture

@Granma  
to have gone sour and disbanded.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17233946/olpcs-100-laptop-education-w...

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5 users have voted.
Granma's picture

@lotlizard What a shame. I was quite busy at the time, did not keep up with it, and did not realize the project had fallen apart.

Prices for tablets are much less now. It would be quite possible to supply a basic one to every family with school age children in this country. What is needed is the willingness and some actual caring about children.

Actual caring about children would be enough to make it happen. But in this country, it doesn’t seem to matter if kids are fed and housed, let alone have a shot at an education.

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7 users have voted.
ggersh's picture

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/10/damaging-derecho-takes...

11 tornado's hit Illinois, two suburban cities(black communities) still w/out power 3 days later.

May wettest on record. As of June 20th it was on pace to be driest June ever until we got
hit with rain for a few days which enabled us to have a wetter than normal June.

July 4th hottest on record...so far August seems to be quite average in most regards.

Sorry to say unless RA's prophecy comes true, it won't end well

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9 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Anything else is illegitimate. Anything else is election fraud, fraud which should result in a long prison sentence. And all those "elected" via other methods are illegitimate. They have all the power with no legitimate authority. They are criminal usurpers.

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9 users have voted.
Pluto's Republic's picture

@tle

That's how Russia does it.

Every voting spot in Russia is fitted with a video camera recording the whole room with one or more large, clear, plexiglass boxes elevated in the center. Beginning one hour before the polls open, the cameras live stream so that anyone in Russia can tune in to any and every voting location in the country and witness the entire process as each voter drops their ballot into the box. Citizen observation continues after the polls are closed and the boxes are opened and the ballots counted by hand. The counters are responsive to the cameras and keep their counts transparent as they calculate the totals and report them.

Complaints of irregularities are publicly recorded and investigated.

FYI

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12 users have voted.

____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

@Pluto's Republic
There were 8 candidates to choose from. It's a popular vote election, unlike some so called democracies where they don't trust the people. In Russia you actually got a choice of a wide variety of candidates, including the Communist Party, Pavel Grudinin, who placed second. Exit poll for Vladimir Putin was 76.3%. Official count was 76.69%. Exit for Grudinin was 11.9%, vs 11.77% actual count.

Yet in the West we criticise their Democracy????

Putin is that popular, for good reason. There would be no Russia if it were not for him. That's almost a literal quote from Gorbachev. He put Russia back together after Yeltsin, with US help had almost destroyed the country. Since President Putin is bashed constantly in the West, most visitors to Russia are shocked to find out that V.V.P. is truly loved by his people. He will go down in history as the George Washington of the Russian Federation. When you visit Russia, please do not carry your prejudice about their President with you and make nasty comments. I heard one American tourist do that in Moscow, it was truly cringe worthy. Remember, you are subject to endless propaganda, they are not.

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4 users have voted.

Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

Cassiodorus's picture

who did that great video with Molly Crabapple:

As for the "joint Biden-Sanders platform" that she worked on, that was put there so you could imagine that Biden was someone he wasn't.

And as for climate change and the environment "getting better," if the physical statistics about climate change are to get better and we are to reach the Ocasio-Cortez utopia, there will have be a point at which, it is declared, all fossil fuel extraction will cease. What Biden-Harris will do to avoid recognizing that truth is, to promote massive spending on "research" into carbon capture and storage. And maybe at some point some carbon will be captured and stored. One imagines this giant carbon dioxide bubble buried a few feet underground, a great symbol of the Biden or Harris Administration's commitment to climate change mitigation. Generally, though, the current Congress with its CARES Act appears to be mapping out the Biden-Harris path to the future -- give a lot of money to rich people via direct Fed loans, and let the rest of us suffer what we must.

There honestly needs to be some sort of revolution or some sort of partisan fracture, starting with the People's Party perhaps, if anything productive is to occur about climate change. In this regard, all the talk of voting for Biden-Harris to avoid re-electing Trump is really kind of a waste of time. Your California vote will not change the outcome of the election.

I guess Our Revolution California will be having a Zoom meeting tonight at 730pm. Maybe the Movement for the People's Party will be having a Zoom meeting too. Huh.

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9 users have voted.

"I'm starting to believe that they want Donald Trump to get elected." -- Compton Jay

@Cassiodorus

What Biden-Harris will do to avoid recognizing that truth is, to promote massive spending on "research" into carbon capture and storage. And maybe at some point some carbon will be captured and stored. One imagines this giant carbon dioxide bubble buried a few feet underground, a great symbol of the Biden or Harris Administration's commitment to climate change mitigation. Generally, though, the current Congress with its CARES Act appears to be mapping out the Biden-Harris path to the future -- give a lot of money to rich people via direct Fed loans, and let the rest of us suffer what we must.

Pretty much.

Like many other issues, there is one key component, without which, you know whoever you are talking about isn't serious. In this case, it is reduction of consumption. We simply can not continue consuming in the amounts we are without continuing to impact the environment negatively. Lifestyles and business will have to change. But, as always, the government throws money after magic bullets that never amount to a thing other than making the rich richer.

On this and so many other issues, our society is trapped with a combination of people stuck in the denial and bargaining stages. It will be the death of us.

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8 users have voted.

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

Cassiodorus's picture

@Dr. John Carpenter when you get a reduction in production.

The wizards of capitalist analysis seem to think they can argue that "Aw geez if a few nice liberals consume less gasoline, they'll produce less." Basically it's that a fundamental misconception of the energy market lets them sleep nights. The reality is this: what is produced will be consumed.

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8 users have voted.

"I'm starting to believe that they want Donald Trump to get elected." -- Compton Jay

@Cassiodorus

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3 users have voted.

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

magiamma's picture

I have a Thursday morning appointment now that makes it hard for me to participate. And the rest of the day has been nuts.

You all rock. Take good care and have a good one, everyone.

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5 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Canada's last intact ice shelf collapses due to warming

"This is a huge, huge block of ice," White said. "If one of these is moving toward an oil rig, there's nothing you can really do aside from move your oil rig."

huh well heres hoping the industry has plans to move em if that occurs. bp memories suggest nope. thanks obama now trump.

for some reason that news did resonate more than the other horrifying global shitstorm links. proximity i guess. lol i just realized i dont even want to type the word shrug. maybe next week. cheers

everyone i talk to is voting biden 'cause trump is so awful, and they all know why i am not.

peace and love

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4 users have voted.

Most if not all of the posts agree that voting is not secure and the election could be stolen. Many note that neither party says a word about the vulnerability of the vote counting process unless it is in connection with claiming that Russia will take advantage of it. The illogic of that notion from the Democrats is truly mind boggling.

Yet not one post on this thread suggests that the reason why neither party objects to the insecurity while the Democrats insist on making idiotic arguments that are guaranteed to help their opponents -- Russiagate, Unkrainegate, Identity Politics Uber Alles -- nobody even considers the possibility that the two parties are really just one party pretending to fight with each other.

Well now at least one participant has suggested it.

.
.

If I missed any fellow paranoid lunatic who believes that the fraudulence of American politics is a total fraud, my apologies.

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1 user has voted.

I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.

@fire with fire
if the whole “Representative Democracy” thing wasn’t a scam from the beginning, just a sly way for the elite to keep the democracy part dangling in front of the rabble like a carrot on a very long stick. Just work a little harder and you’ll be on easy street, like we are. (snicker, snicker, ha,ha!)

Remember, George Carlin said “It’s a (singular) big fucking club, and you ain’t in it!”

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5 users have voted.

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

@ovals49 Fletcher v. Peck:

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Following the Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution, Georgia claimed possession of the Yazoo lands, a 54,000 sq mi (140,000 km2) region of the Indian Reserve, west of its own territory. The land later became the states of Alabama and Mississippi.

In 1795, the Georgia legislature divided the area into four tracts. The state then sold the tracts to four separate land development companies for $500,000, about $0.014 per acre, a bargain even at 1790 prices. The Georgia legislature overwhelmingly approved this land grant, known as the Yazoo Land Act of 1795. However, it was later revealed that the Yazoo Land Act had been approved in return for bribes. The voters rejected most of the incumbents in the next election; the new legislature, reacting to the public outcry, repealed the law and voided the transactions made under it.

Robert Fletcher and especially John Peck were speculators in the Yazoo lands. Fletcher bought a tract of land from Peck while the 1795 act was still in force. Fletcher, in 1803, brought a suit against Peck, claiming that Peck had not had clear title to the land when he sold it.

There was collusion between the two. Both would have their land secured if the Supreme Court decided that Native Americans did not hold original title. Fletcher set out to win the case.[1]

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Even then? A heads I win tales I win lawsuit was cooked up to overturn the democratic will of the Georgia electorate and the Unites States Supreme Court of course took the side of money over people. 54,000 square miles and two States of the Union bought with bribe money and the Supreme Court said, of course even an illegal contract is enforceable. It would not be fair to swindlers who bribe politicians if the voters could bust up their scams.

One of the Justices filed a concurring opinion, and concluded with this delicious bit of sarcasm:

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I have been very unwilling to proceed to the decision of this cause at all. It appears to me to bear strong evidence, upon the face of it, of being a mere feigned case. It is our duty to decide on the rights, but not on the speculations of parties. My confidence, however, in the respectable gentlemen who have been engaged for the parties, has induced me to abandon my scruples, in the belief that they would never consent to impose a mere feigned case upon this court.

The law school professors for my Constitutional Law class got a big lawyerly guffaw out of that bit of shysterspeak.

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I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

how Trump stole 2016 from Hillary; he's never interested in how Hillary 2016 stole from Bernie.

You're either outraged by election fraud or you aren't.

If you try to be selectively outraged by election fraud, you lose credibility.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

mimi's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
I didn't know Greg Palast before and have no knowledge about his view point during the past years.
Sorry. I will try not to post something about people anymore, I do not know much about. Which is basically everybody.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@mimi

My comment in no way means you shouldn't post about Greg Palast.

You are in no way compelled--or even asked--to only post about things that don't bother me. Nor to only post about things I like.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver