The Stuttering Lede, Vol. IX
If you can't bite, don't show your teeth. Yiddish proverb
On This Day In History
Happy Labor Day.
Why do we get Labor Day off? You can thank Chicago workers.
2024 Elections
Billions are being spent to control women’s bodies. This is just Musk’s investors!!
Teamsters, the only one of the top 10 unions to not endorse Kamala Harris is really playing with fire.
Wall Street Journal writes about “An extraordinary public war of words in Silicon Valley as some of the biggest names in technology take shots at each other in the run-up to the presidential election.” This one behind the paywall, so I could not read it, but really, what Silicon Valley big names are not supporting Trump?? If you say Mark Cuban, sush, while he is a tech billionaire he is not part of Silicon Valley culture of pro-fascist tech bros.
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Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy caught on audio talking about “Drunk Indians at 8 a.m.”
Trump ridiculed after accusing Kamala Harris of mistreating Mike Pence.
Donald Trump’s appearance at Moms for Liberty’s annual gathering was intended as a chance for the candidate to preen in front of a friendly audience. “But these aren’t the women Trump needs to win over.”
Except that Moms for Liberty, among many things is now also famous for quoting Hitler.
The New Republic obtained J.D. Vance's foreword for the upcoming book by Project 2025 leader Kevin Roberts.
The U.S. has never seen a presidential candidate with as many financial links with foreign autocrats as Trump—and with more despots who've continued cozying up to him even after he left the White House.
DOJ notified after legal experts say Trump caught 'confessing to the criming' in interview.
It is simple - racism and misogyny, stepchildren of fascism.
Republicans have a three part strategy:
1. Suppress the vote.
2. Challenge voters/intimidate election workers.
3. Refuse certification.
Democracy Docket is tracking and exposing their plans. Subscribe now to stay informed.
Politics
True history and meaning of black barbershops from the amazing Michael Harriot.
George Lakoff writes, “Unions create freedom. Workers are profit creators.
Pensions are earned. Unionization is a freedom issue, and needs to be understood as such.”
A retired Colorado police officer who faces criminal charges for raping his daughter and sexually assaulting two adopted daughters remains free from custody while his ex-wife is in jail for objecting to court-ordered “reunification therapy” to repair his relationship with his sons. Pardon my French, but what the actual fuck???
After a two months delay, Emmanuel Macron is also playing with fire and authorianism. For Macron, appointing Bernard Cazeneuve as prime minister would have a political and personal cost, as per tradition Macron met with Nicholas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. I am very much perplexed by Cazeneuve’s choice, especially since from political perspective there’s not much to distinguish him from Lucie Castets.
UK to halt exports of some arms to Israel citing possible law breaches.
Linda Deutsch, one of America’s best-known trial reporters and a special correspondent for AP, has died. Deutsch covered dozens of the most significant trials in the U.S., including Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson. She was 80.
There is a clear Russian agent at No 10. I kid, but Sir Keir Starmer adopted a siberian forest cat.
Surprisingly good NYT article on the fight within the Israel union movement.
The Design Builder has been selected for the rebuild of the Francis Scott Key Bridge! The design of the replacement bridge begins now. This is what happens next.
Russia
One of the leaders of the so-called Russian opposition, Mikhail Khodorkovsky writes: “Russia won't disappear, no matter the outcome of the current conflict. The West must learn to coexist with its 120-140 million people.”
Such framing is one of many reasons why "Russia won't disappear." What infuriates me is the Russian-centric POV. Yes, the population of Russian Federation is about 140 million people (based on '21 census) but only 102 million or so are Russian. There's no room for even a hint of self determination for 40 million of ethnic minorities. The so-called opposition, from Navalny to Khodorkovsky to pick your own name are no different that Putin; all are part of the same Russian ethnoemperial ambition that has turned into fascism under Putin.
Michael Kofman and Rob Lee “take a balanced look at the initial success, possible benefits, and risks of the Kursk offensive. Implications for the front. Hoping Ukraine and Western supporters can use this as an opportunity to better align strategy.”
Based on this reporting, ChrisO_wiki writes how “Russians soldiers fighting in Ukraine are subjected to a variety of arbitrary, brutal and illegal disciplinary methods, such as beatings, being imprisoned in pits, or being chained to trees for days at a time. Commanders kill their own soldiers and conceal their deaths.”
U.S. researchers say they've identified the probable deployment site of the Burevestnik, a new nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile: 295 miles north of Moscow. Some experts say the weapon risks a radiation-spewing mishap, "a flying Chernobyl."
Poland and other countries bordering Ukraine have a "duty" to shoot down incoming Russian missiles before they enter their airspace despite the opposition of NATO, Radek Sikorski, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs states.
Tech
Elon Musk has been retweeting prominent race scientist adherents, spreading misinformation about racial minorities’ intelligence and physiology to his audience of 176.3 million followers. Mother Jones is usually very accurate, but here Elon clearly decided to up the ante and moved from retweeting racist and abhorent shit to posting it:
Carole Cadwalladr wrote a piece about Elon Musk for ObserverUK, a free speech warrior so committed to the cause he serially sues his critics for libel. Today he responds to an untrue tweet about my own libel case.
The article in question basically said that Elon Musk believe in free speech in the same way he believes in free Teslas. Free for him and very expensive, if available for everyone else.
Wait… companies are eavesdropping on our conversations to sell us stuff? I’m shocked.
The above article mentions Pavel Durov, who is now under criminal investigation in South Korea for essentially the same chargers he was arrested for in France.
Important investigation by Marianna Spring at BBC on how social media algorithms push harmful content to young users. “It stains your brain': How social media algorithms show violence to boys. Elliot Higgins talks about how online radicalization works.
A D.C. startup to integrate AI into lobbying is covertly run by a pair of well-known conspiracy theorists, Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, who are using the fake names "Jay Klein" and "Bill Sanders" in their new business, four former employees told me.
Climate
Misc.
Who decided it was a good idea to publish this book???
Humor
You will hear thunder and remember me, and think: she wanted storms.
Anna Akhmatova
