ancianita
ancianita's JournalAnand Giridharadas: Why It's Not Yet Time To Feel Better When the Wealthy and Business "Help"
Even as we see "help" for America's peaceful transfer of power, we must not yet trust the historically untrustworthy of the business world.
We need to...
-- reconstitute our knowledge of the wealthy
-- force the wealthy like Jamie Dimons and the Sacklers know that they are the inequality problem their philanthropy uses to wash their guilt, and which allows them to maintain their monopolies
-- see that the DNA of the wealthy is to lie to themselves about their harms, their workers
-- know it's not our job to help the wealthy get off our backs, use law to force them
-- use win-win to leverage loss of predatory power for all "good" wealth holders without loss of their wealth
-- "leaning in" to wealth PR over patriarchal oppression is "not a posture problem"
-- refuse institutional acceptance of anonymous money that justifies philanthropists and institutional meddlers like Jeffrey Epstein
-- Answer: Democratic governments that enforce equality under rule of law;
democratic government is where we change the rules for the wealthy, patriarchy and racism;
no problems of the human world are solved by business, complicit institutions and
organizations, but by worker coercion and democratic leverage;
institute, once and for all, a permanent Wealth Tax.
Because bankrolling order does not justify leeching from the benefits of democratic societies.
Governor Cuomo On The State of the State
From the war room of New York's capitol.
Addressing how new realities and structures have come out of the Covid War,
and whether America will be stronger or weaker in the post-Covid world.
Government must simultaneously
1. beat covid
2. vaccinate 70-90%
3. manage economic crisis
4. invest in the future
5. transition to green energy
6. understand long term effects of covid
7. address systemic injustice
How
-- human discipline of attitude and thinking about public health
-- restructure public health, supplies, distribution systems, and federal coordination with new state public health
-- funding and spending sufficient to end covid's fiscal damage
-- end federal politicization and negligence of of health and economic impact of the covid attack
-- ensure federal responsible economic justice, prudence and compensation to pay for the public health the nation demands;
-- austerity must not be the answer for state debt due to federal mismanagement
-- reconstruct for a better future by solving the real problems of the "two Americas," restructure justice policies to end the great economic and social divide
-- make broadband accessible and affordable
-- build social justice by reforming public safety; pass laws for police interactions with urban populations
-- provide public relief and assistance in housing, rents; legally prevent business profiting from public misery, making the federal govt get out of states' way
-- reimagine, reinvent, recreate boldly from past lessons
Overcome? Yes We Can
IMO, as goes the state of New York, so goes the United States.
Why the Three Percenters Are More Permanent Than Trumpism
National security will continue to complicate progress for this nation long after Trumpists are gone. They are part of the state level problem that showed up January 6. The state level problem is bigger than the Washington problem.
Three Percenters call themselves 1776 American revolutionary descendants; they consider themselves part of the patriot movement that includes, by various names, 181 militias by SPLC's 2018 count.
They are described by SPLC as a paramilitary group having right-libertarian and far-right ideology. They advocate gun ownership rights and resistance to the U.S. federal government's involvement in local affairs.
Members believed Obama's presidency would lead to increased government interference in the lives of their individuals, and particularly stricter gun-control laws. Many members are former and current members of the military, police and other law-enforcement agencies, as well as anti-government groups like Oath Keepers.
Three Percenters and Oath Keepers are the two largest militias in the U.S.
They believe they're the cleanest of patriots. But what they say and what their members do shows otherwise. More from the first link above ...
-- In 2014 when Black Lives Matter protests followed the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO, the Three Percenters' Facebook page featured numerous racist comments made by its supporters.
-- 2015 an Idaho Three Percenter group protested refugee resettlement in that state.
-- In response to the 2017 Unite the Right rally, the group issued a statement that they "strongly reject and denounce anyone who calls themselves a patriot or a Three Percenter that has attended or is planning on attending any type of protest or counter protest related to these white supremacist and Nazi groups." Yet they were tasked with protecting the rally goers.
-- 2018, three 3%'er men were arrested in connection with the bombing of the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minnesota.
-- 2019, Oregon Governor Kate Brown sent the Oregon State Police to bring 11 absent Republican state senators back to the Oregon State Capitol. The Republican state senators had gone into hiding to prevent a vote on a cap-and-trade proposal with a goal of lowering greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in order to combat climate change. The 3 Percenters offered support for the Republican senators, declaring they'd be "doing whatever it takes to keep these senators safe."
-- May 2020, during a Second Amendment rally on Memorial Day weekend in Frankfort, Kentucky, Three Percenters and other protesters breached several off-limit barriers to access the front porch of the Governor's Mansion, Governor Andy Beshear's primary residence, heckling the Mansion's occupants in response to the Governor's restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soon after, members of the group raised an effigy bearing the Governor's face and a sign reading sic semper tyrannis ("thus always to tyrants" ) from a tree.
-- 2020 investigation of a MI kidnapping plot targeting Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, one of the suspects arrested was identified as the second-in-command of the Wisconsin branch of the Three Percenters.
-- Facebook said it had removed 980 groups, 520 pages and 160 ads linked to militia organizations ... it had also restricted more than 1,400 hashtags related to these groups and organizations on Facebook-owned Instagram.
-- Jan 6 2021, 3 Percenters were reportedly present, wore emblematic gear or symbols during the riots and assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Three Percenter membership requires voting and opposing laws the group sees as unconstitutional. Members take an oath similar to that of the U.S. armed forces.
Three Percenters who are also active military members are asked to swear an additional oath promising to disobey certain official orders, such as orders to disarm U.S. citizens.
3%'ers oppose federal involvement in what they consider local affairs, and state in their bylaws that county sheriffs are "the supreme law of the land."
They work to elect the 3,081 sheriffs in the 48 states that have sheriffs.
They support the nation's 697,195 sworn law enforcement officers across 50 states.
Why do they even exist? The Constitution and federal law. I never knew their foundation was this literal and legal.
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
From that all male US Citizens and immigrants who have stated an intention to become a citizen are in the militia, and all such females who joined the National Guard.
https://www.quora.com/How-many-militia-members-are-there-in-the-US
So. How many in all militias?
A mathematically estimated 64.53 million AT MINIMUM.
Counting only male citizens between 17 & 45, strictly according to US Federal Law.
Militia culture, life, world outlook, is part of the greater context of why we saw the conflicted, complicated timeline of reactions across other enforcement groups on Jan 6.
It's why we saw insurrectionists freely walk out as the Capitol got cleared, and old ladies get helped down the steps.
Trumpism is damned stupid, as NanceGreggs says, and Trump might be called "mad" by some GOP, but the 71 million who voted for Trump?
They are still protected by the reality of militias with constitutional rights.
Law enforcement and the military know it, and probably why some of them are part of it.
Whether they disavow white supremacy and Nazis, 3 Percenters can provide cover across states for a whole number of what MLK has called the sincerely ignorant and conscientiously stupid, not to mention white supremacists and Nazis.
If you're like me and didn't know, now we know.
Eugene Goodman Needs To Be A Household Name
From Facebook
This brave Black man works for the Capitol Police and we now know his full story.
As he stared down this mob, they were only about a hundred feet away from reaching congresspeople.
They had not been secured yet. So this man TOOK ON THE WHOLE MOB of Trump supporters and led them on a wild chase way from the congresspeople.
Have you seen the video of them chasing a man? This was Eugene Goodman.
He did that on purpose. He turned a corner, saw that the congresspeople weren’t secure, then sent these goons all around to keep them safe.
As you may know, all he had was a club against a mob. AND THIS MAN SAVED SO MANY LIVES.
Beyond words.
Chris Hayes On House Impeachment Tomorrow
For the sake of national security, Democrats will put the Rule of Law challenge to Republicans for the Congressional Record.
Demonstrations are scheduled to culminate with what organizers have dubbed a "Million Militia March"
Just more info, is all. As if we don't have enough, right?
Another post called for action at “DC & All State Capitols” and was signed by “common folk who are tired of being tread upon” declares: “We were warned!”
The bitterness and specificity of the posts cited by the Alethea Group resembles what was publicly reported ahead of Wednesday’s assault.
In addition to SITE, the Coalition for a Safer Web sent numerous dispatches warning of the trouble brewing, as did Advance Democracy. Online chatter was organized, in some cases, around hashtags such as #StormTheCapitol and included threats to kill congressional leaders.
Some event listings for the days ahead of the inauguration are openly discussing delivering “justice” for Ashli Babbitt, a rioter and Air Force veteran who was fatally shot by police inside the Capitol on Wednesday.
Cindy Otis, vice president of analysis at Alethea, said: “So much of the conversation right now is the general making of threats. There’s a risk of these particular dates leading to violence because that’s the kind of amped-up conversation we’re already seeing...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/09/trump-twitter-protests/
https://www.aletheagroup.com
Squire has been collecting fliers for as many as 10 rallies planned for Jan. 17 organized by members of the far-right militia movement who call themselves “Bugaloo bois.” They emerged last year showing up at rallies calling for the protection of Second Amendment rights and the group has been on law enforcement’s radar for anti-government activity.
Of most concern is the excitement expressed online by accelerationists, some of the most violent and extreme in the white supremacist movement who believe there is an impending race war.
“[Accelerationists] are over the moon and talking about how to exploit grievances. They’re on these Telegram groups completely excited about it,” Squire said.
Just because a new president will be inaugurated, according to ADL President Jonathan Greenblatt, doesn’t mean pro-Trump extremists will fade into the background.
“The conspiratorial, baseless narrative of a stolen election will continue to animate extremists for some time to come
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/right-wing-extremists-vow-return-washington-joe-biden-s-inauguration-n1253546
Good Lord. Jan 6 poll from YouGov on the storming of the Capitol -- 45% of Republicans approved.
And remember, most of those who approved of it were not even there.
From my son in NM, to FB friends:
"... Don’t talk to them, don’t share anything with them, don’t listen to them.
They are, at best, ignorant of the consequences of their support, and are dangerous, even then.
We must actively identify, document, marginalize, and disempower them, at every level, and minimize their affect on our individual, neighborhood-wide, communal, and geographic lives.
Failure to do so will inevitably lead to further violent conflict.
Be cautious, reach out to help those you love, stick together and get to work. Every day."
BELLINGCAT ON THE CROWDSOURCED CONSPIRACY FORCES THAT COALESCED IN DC ON JAN 6
I’ve mentioned here before how the Southern Poverty Law Center was the major original source for the FBI’s new mission of “Threat Assessment” back in the days of Mueller’s leadership.
Now Bellingcat joins in to help them with a database of the rioters.
Bellingcat turned up in yesterday's report from Nextgov on what the FBI’s doing.
Nick Waters, an investigator with Bellingcat, told Nextgov the goal of the spreadsheet is to collect as much information as possible to better understand exactly what happened at the Capitol in the name of public interest. Waters said despite the common conception that everything on the internet is there forever, that isn’t necessarily the case. Waters cited instances of content being removed during conflicts, such as those in Syria and Yemen, as examples.
“However, if you collect all this information, and then analyze it over a later period it makes a lot easier to understand it,” Waters said. “Once you have that kind of understanding, you can then go on to actually investigate it and start to write articles and understand aspects of the case that may not otherwise have been evident.”
Social media sites including Facebook and YouTube, which in the past have faced intense criticism for failing to remove inflammatory content, are now taking steps to remove some posts, including videos of President Trump addressing the mob. Yesterday, Facebook and Twitter banned Trump for certain periods of time. This morning, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg announced Trump would be banned indefinitely.
Facebook’s Wednesday statement also indicated the company would take down posts supportive of the insurrection. The statement lists several types of content it would remove:
-- “Praise and support of the storming of the US Capitol
-- Calls to bring weapons to locations across the US — not just in Washington but anywhere in the US including protests
-- Incitement or encouragement of the events at the Capitol, including videos and photos from the protestors. At this point they represent promotion of criminal activity which violates our policies.
-- Calls for protests — even peaceful ones — if they violate the curfew in DC
-- Attempts to restage violence tomorrow or in the coming days.”
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement after Facebook announced Trump’s suspension social media platforms need to do more.
The difference was that Q had a much larger and more committed following than /HTG/ ever did. Moreover, Q kept cranking out content and the anons kept dissecting it, finding new meaning in even the most baroque, outlandish claims.
Even Q’s failed prophecies could not dissuade them, for “disinformation,” as Q explained, “is necessary.”
Perhaps this answer to the question of Q is unsatisfying. It is an answer which boils down to:
“Q was a skilled LARPer who fed the audience’s beliefs back to them; recycled ideas from earlier LARPs; and had help early on from a small but clever band of fans who spread word about the drops outside of 4chan.”
Whether the rise of Q has been simple or not, it has had tremendous and sometimes tragic real-world consequences.
The QAnon movement has taken a wrecking ball to families around the world — the QAnonCasualties subreddit offers a small glimpse of the human cost of QAnon.
And while most QAnon followers will probably never take any violent actions themselves, the political damage they have wrought is considerable.
Last December, President Trump reportedly described QAnon as a group of people who “basically believe in good government”.
But Q’s message is that “good government” can arrive only in the form of a purge — because every prominent Democrat, and most Republicans who don’t show enough fealty to Trump, is part of a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.
True justice and “good government” can only exist after the Storm, when Trump — and Trump alone — rules the country, with all his opposition dead or imprisoned.
Three years ago, Q stitched together the most widely-held beliefs of one of the darkest corners of the internet. Drop by drop and stitch by stitch, the right-wing media scandals, the racist conspiracies and LARPs of bygone days grew into something greater than the sum of their parts.
Q has eclipsed them all.
The story told above can only be incomplete. It addresses the supply side of the QAnon phenomenon, but the demand side is where the problem lies. To explore that would be to tell a story about the deepest fissures in American society — through the dangerous succor of conspiracy.
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/americas/2021/01/07/the-making-of-qanon-a-crowdsourced-conspiracy/
Take Heart: A Major De-Platforming Of Trump and Trump Cult Is Happening
REDDIT, TWITTER, TWITCH, SHOPIFY, GOOGLE, YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, SNAPCHAT, TIKTOK, APPLE, DISCORD, PINTEREST.
Because bad politics is bad for business.
Ending Trump as a digital political actor will take him out, weaken Republican discourse in general.
And if impeachment can win on the stipulation that he may never hold public office again, that will be our icing.
https://www.axios.com/platforms-social-media-ban-restrict-trump-d9e44f3c-8366-4ba9-a8a1-7f3114f920f1.html
Profile Information
Gender: Do not displayHometown: New England, The South, Midwest
Home country: USA
Current location: Sarasota
Member since: Sat Mar 5, 2011, 12:32 PM
Number of posts: 36,009
