December 13, 2024

Stuttering Lede, Dec 13th, 2024

Bah, Humbug...

i hope i die

warmed

by the life that i tried

to live

Nikki Giovanni

The New European has awarded Person of the Year to Gisèle Pelicot. A woman of immeasurable bravery who stood up to the 50 men who raped her. Time Magazine chose not to honor a rape survivor.

US

• Trump: I tell the story about a woman who… went to a grocery store, had three apples and she put them down on the counter and she looked and saw the price and she said will you excuse me? And she walked one of the apples back to the refrigerator. Yeah, it does not make any bloody sense.

• Once more, there is no “Left” In the post-war era leftists were hunted down, murdered, terrorized, depowered, isolated, and neutralized. What is referred to as “the Left” now is centrist/barely center-left. If it’s to exist again we’ll need to build it.

• On whether there might be a GOOD reason for Chris Wray to announce his resignation early. I’m sure you know the answer before you even read the article though.

• A month after the election Trump admits his promises on voters' top issue were lies. What a shocker! He will not lower costs, in fact his plans will lead to Americans paying higher prices.

• Rep. Nancy Pelosi hospitalized after being injured while on a congressional delegation in Europe.

• President Biden will commute sentences for 1,500 people & pardon 39 more.

• Sen. John Fetterman said he might vote yes on Pete Hegseth. “Fetterman: “Well there haven't been any charges filed so…”

• Sen. John Fetterman has joined Truth Social:

Fetterman's sharp rightward turn will be retconned as reflecting how only centrist Dems can win in a swing state like PA, but this is emphatically not how he was during the primary or the general. His Sinema arc will end the same way: incapable of winning the primary despite being the incumbent.

• Far right militias seeking role in the deportation plan.

• Remember the FBI informant who claimed President Biden took millions in bribes from Burisma? He admitted in federal court that he made the whole thing up. And that he started spinning new lies after meeting with Russian intelligence.

• Rep. Nancy Pelosi, allegedly, working to defeat AOC’s bid for top role at oversight.

• The Justice Department Inspector General found NO evidence the FBI had undercover agents around the Capitol on Jan. 6.

  This further undermines debunked right-wing conspiracies about the riot.

• Trump and company believe that because the US runs a trade deficit, we have all the leverage in a trade war. But export taxes, which will hit US consumers and businesses, can be potent weapons. This will quickly get much messier than Trump imagines.

• Trump's use of an old Reagan trick to take on and take down federal agencies.

• FTC just stopped grocery prices from surging higher.

  FTC Chair Lina Khan is showing what it looks like for the government to work for working people.

• Trump’s Pick for FTC Chair is Ready to Undo the Good Things From Lina Khan.

• TIME has published a 2,800-word fact-check of its interview with Trump. That's a lot of statements that needed checking...

• Kimberly Guilfoyle is the latest Trump family ally chosen for an ambassadorship.

• The Guardian view on Trump’s threat to the media: time to pass the Press Act.

• Bankruptcy judge rejects The Onion's bid for Infowars.

• In a highly revealing moment, Trump lawyer Alina Habba confirmed on Fox News that the new administration will deport whole families, while spinning this as humane policy.

• Eric Trump Promises the ‘Most Pro-Crypto President’ in History.

• Penn Law professor Amy Wax gave a speech at a white nationalist conference where she called on "race realists" to join their local school boards and education department his is who FIRE spends its time and effort defending. This is their avatar of "academic freedom.

• Chicago to be ground zero for mass deportations, Trump border czar tells Illinois Republicans.

  Leave a comment

• Trump’s Fans Are Suffering From Tony Soprano Syndrome.

• “An incoming Missouri Republican lawmaker introduced a bill this week that would offer $1,000 bounties to residents who turn in undocumented immigrants.”

• Destruction of Government by Elon (DOGE).

• Chicago police have pulled over the president of a police accountability commission FIVE times this year.

• New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law Monday to prohibit public and school libraries from banning books in the state and to enshrine protections against civil and criminal charges for librarians who comply with the law. Every single state should.

• As NYPD officials boasted of the resources expended finding the killer of a corporate CEO, another sidewalk murder the same week, of a migrant teen, has not received the same treatment.

• At Mar-a-Lago, Trump Hosted German Far-Right 'Friends' Who Defend Nazis.

• Twelve Communication Traps Democrats and Progressives Must Avoid.

Europe

• By pulling the plug on France's center-right government last week, Marine Le Pen took a step away from her painstaking efforts to cultivate a more mainstream image.

  Was the gamble worth it?

• French President Emmanuel Macron missed his self-imposed 48-hour deadline to appoint a new prime minister last night.

• Macron had to make a new choice. He went with François Bayrou. This whole thread feels a LOT like, "fuck around and find out," came for Macron and he's still intent on finding out.

• “Oh no you fucking don’t. Seriously, you tosspot, you’re not one of us and we wouldn’t want you even if you were. Step one foot on our lovely spectrum and we’ll yeet you directly into the sun.”

• 68% of all voters and 54% of Britons who voted leave, including 59% of voters in “red wall seats”, said in exchange for single market access they would now accept full free movement for EU and UK citizens.

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• How Russia is expanding its military foothold in Africa.

• Evan Gershkovich's first story for WSJ since being freed this summer is about the spy unit that targeted him in Yekaterinburg and wages a domestic political repressions campaign inside Russia.

• Romania’s cancelled presidential election.

• Russian Trolls Are Staging a Takeover in Africa—With Help From Mercenaries.

• In the Central African Republic, a former propagandist lifts the veil on the inner workings of Russian disinformation.

• Kaja Kallas, says Russia has learned how to influence elections through new technologies.

• Key questions about the sale of the Observer that remain unanswered.

• European flights to China have become longer, more expensive and even harder to find as more and more airlines cancel routes — but Chinese airlines are facing no such problems.

• Following the UK government's promise to remove gas almost entirely from the British power grid, assets like Rough — the country’s biggest offshore gas storage facility — have started to resemble relics from a bygone age.

• Last week the Russian Central Bank sold 1 trillion in bonds to the banks in order to raise money to cover the 2024 government deficit. The banks lacked liquidity to buy, so now the CB is lending the banks money to buy its own bonds. All while using the same bonds as collateral for the loan.

Middle East

• Death feels imminent for 96% of children in Gaza, study finds.

• The patient efforts behind HTS’s success.

• Benjamin Netanyahu says Golan Heights will remain part of Israel ‘for eternity’

• “Many parts of the U.S. government were caught off guard by Assad’s collapse, including longtime advocates for Assad’s ouster, according to one senior U.S. official.”

• The rebels have liberated hundreds of women, toddlers and babies held in Sednaya prison.

• Shalom Nagar Dies; Reluctant Executioner of Adolf Eichmann.

• They've also released hundred of prisoners some of which were tortured to the point of forgetting their own identity, others held for decades for speaking out against the regime. Syrian woman recently freed from Assad’s prison by the rebels shared her story with activists: “I was arrested at 19. I’m now 32. I have children, but I don’t even know who their fathers are.”

• The true extent of Hezbollah’s current weakness is most evident in its failure to stop the toppling of Assad’s regime in Syria.

• Image found in the Syrian Presidential Palace of Bashar al-Assad with his cousin, Ihab Makhlouf, wearing a Hitler tshirt.

Women Rights

• A Coast Guard Commander Miscarried. She Nearly Died After Being Denied Care.

• Why Are Texas Lawmakers So Obsessed with Dildos?

• Yes, Ovia's Reproductive Health Apps Require Users to Input Their Country and State

• Lee Anderson, The Reform UK MP argued that men have it harder than women because of a battle that took place over a century ago.

• Texas files first lawsuit against out-of-state abortion provider. Texas AG Ken Paxton has sued a New York doctor for allegedly "providing abortion-inducing drugs to Texans through telehealth." The AG argues he has jurisdiction over doctors who initiate services to people located in Texas. He's seeking $250k + an injunction. Everyone knew this was going to happen sooner rather than later.

• Too many women believe they're too old, too busy, or too inexperienced to go after what they really want, but none of that is true.

LGBTQA+ Rights

• If you think that Paxton's theories on out-of-state jurisdiction are something new or limited to abortion... as is so often the case, we see it used first to target trans people. Paxton tried to prosecute Seattle Children's Hospital last year the same way.

• The National Defense Authorization Act, which enacts the first federal anti-lgbtq law in decades and targets the trans kids of military servicemembers, just passed with 80 Democratic votes.

  Shameful.

• Trump has nominated Harmeet Dhillon, an aggressively anti-trans pick, for assistant AG for civil rights. She has already gone after transgender refugee laws in safe states. It’s important to note this is a senate confirmed position, so contact your senator about it at myreps.datamade.us.

• NYC Marriage Bureau saw a 33% increase in license appointments compared to November last year, driven in part by same-sex couples and those with concerns about their immigration status.

• Tracking 116 Anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the USA for the 2025 legislative cycle.

Worst Types:

• 28 Gender Affirming Care Bans

• 16 Bathroom Bans

• 10 Ending Legal Recognition

Worst States:

• 39 in Texas

• 23 in Missouri

• 11 in South Carolina

• 21 Federal Bills

Health

• Health care costs are expected to rise by double digits for the third straight year. In the US insurers say they expect costs to rise by 10.2%, up from the 9.3% increase last year.

• Ohio Senate passes measure forcing hospitals to administer ivermectin, other patient-requested treatments

• Trump's presidency includes a number of grifters, most notably many who have promoted misinformation about autism.

• the new middle school sex education curriculum that was just approved by the Florida Department of Education.

• It excludes almost all information about sex.

• RFK Jr’s attorney asked the FDA to revoke polio vaccine approval.

• So… assassinating CEOs works? North Carolina’s Atrium Health says it will forgive the debts of 11,500 people — less than a week after NBC News reported that the company has aggressively pursued former patients’ medical debts, placing liens on their homes to collect on bills.

• UnitedHealth is strategically limiting access to a treatment for thousands of children with autism across the country in order to cut costs. Advocates say the company’s strategy may be illegal.

• Congress introduces legislature to breakup UnitedHealth.

• The brazen murder of a CEO in Midtown Manhattan—and the cheering reaction to his execution—amounts to a blinking-and-blaring warning signal for a society that has become already too inured to bloodshed Not Uvalde, Sandy Hook, etc.?????

• Luigi Mangione is the median American voter.

• Luigi Mangione’s fellow prisoners yelled “Luigi’s conditions suck” and “Free Luigi” from their cells in Pennsylvania during an interview.

• Meanwhile, NYT:

Climate Change

• Atlantic circulation collapse? "In short, it’s a climate scientist’s nightmare come true." Here's a good 'deep dive' into this risk, from Yale Climate Connections.

• The Arctic Tundra Used to Store More Carbon Than It Released. Not Anymore.

• Arctic tundra now emits planet-warming pollution, federal report finds.

• 2024 is now certain to be the warmest year in recorded history with an expected global average temperature of 1.60C marking the first full calendar year to exceed 1.50C. Global temperatures remain significantly above where they should be despite El Nino having faded.

Tech

• The AI madness is so far out of control that "Our product wrote a completely false news alert and credited a real news source" doesn't even rate a corporate comment, let alone an ashamed apology and pulling the product.

• OpenAI whistleblower found dead in San Francisco apartment. WTAF?

• This Marc Benioff interview sheds a light on why TIME Magazine picked who they did for the Person of the Year. Truly, there are and cannot be “good” billionaires. Makenzie Scott is the glaring exception (at least as far as I know).

• How Microsoft is tracking in-office work.

• FBI Warns iPhone, Android Users—Change WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Signal Apps.

• Remember when BlueSky had a major antiblackness problem and everybody knew it? A key thing about solidarity w/ other marginalized groups is being able to see when another group is going through the same thing yours did and saying "Hey that's a really shitty you're doing. Quit it." Well guess what?

• St. Peters Chapel, a 300-year-old church in Switzerland is using an AI-powered Jesus to hold confessional. Naturally, AI Jesus is raising concerns of data security and the laws surrounding any saved information being used in a court of law.

• Does the new version of KOSA they're trying to cram at the last minute to the funding bill solve KOSA's first amendment problems? Ha ha no. Tell your Congressional Rep. you're not falling for this shit and neither should they.

• "Researchers trained medical AI models on over 25,000 knee X-rays. They then essentially worked backwards, tasking the deep learning programs to find commonalities that predicted nonsensical traits, such as which knee-owners clearly drank beer or ate refried beans—which is patently absurd."

• Hundreds of musicians are speaking out against the recording industry’s lawsuit against The Internet Archive for preserving 78rpm records.

• Krispy Kreme disclosed a cyberattack that it says has caused “certain operational disruptions, including with online ordering in parts of the United States.”

• The latest effort at mending relations with the US president-elect is also the first time Facebook's parent company has contributed to an inauguration fund. Meta said it had donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inaugural fund, in the latest move by Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, to foster a positive rapport with Trump.

• 295,000 journalists from 44 countries will stop posting content on X.

• OpenAI has finally released version 1 of it's Sora AI video generation tool. Sign ups are disabled due to high demand at the moment, but you can see lots of examples of it's creations here. Whatever the use cases for all these AI video generation tools you can 100% guarantee it'll result in a flood of AI generated swill on social media platforms. You think your Facebook feed is unbearable now, just wait until it's moving.

• How Facebook ended up using "white men" as a protected category and not "black children" and being proud enough of their soi-disant objectivity to use it as a concrete example in their moderation training materials.

Education

• Linda McMahon, nominee for Sec. of Education, bankrolled the fascist MSG Rally in November.

• JFC. Really?? Has anyone asked for this?? All Day TA.

Gun Violence

• The gun used to kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was a ghost gun — an unserialized, untraceable firearm easily assembled from parts either bought without a background check or 3D-printed.

Misc.

• The New Republic Books of the Year.

• The 10 best jazz albums of 2024.

• Solaris, and other films by Andrei Tarkovsky are now available for free on YouTube.

• What’s behind conservatives watching movies and shows warning about the dangers of fascism and somehow coming away thinking the fascists are the good guys, and they should follow their example.

• On average, Americans first see online pornography at age 12; by 17, 73% have seen it. Children who see pornography, intentionally or accidentally online, over half reported seeing violence, including rape, choking or someone in pain."

• 15 reasons why Christmas is stupid and bad and should be stopped.

• Male humpback whale crossed 3 oceans for sex, inadvertently breaking distance record for species.

• For 8 Months, Traffic Enforcement on New Jersey’s Highways Plummeted.

• A fascinating story about how *the last car* on Mexico City Metro trains are known to be spots for queer cruising/hookups. Some people like it - and of course some people don’t.

• WTF Is Going on With the New Jersey Mystery Drones?

• More mystery drones spotted over N.J.

• Ban drone flights and declare state of emergency, N.J. lawmaker says.

• Рornhub is experiencing a huge increase in interest for 'tradwife' content, including searches for 'modesty' and 'mindfulness'

• A group of fans is reverse-engineering Netflix and creating unauthorized archives of its disappeared interactive shows, such as Battle Kitty and Minecraft: Story Mode.

Humor