July 20, 2024

The 1% stealth takeover of America...

[ ... ] Suppressing voting, changing legislative processes so that a normal majority could no longer prevail, sowing public distrust of government institutions— all these were tactics toward the goal. But the Holy Grail was the Constitution: alter it and you could increase and secure the power of the wealthy in a way that no politician could ever challenge. [ ... ]

[ Next best thing is to own the Supreme Court so as to interpret the Constitution in ways favorable to oligarchs. ]

Gravy Train to Oligarchy

MacLean explains that Virginia’s white elite and the pro-corporate president of the University of Virginia, Colgate Darden, who had married into the DuPont family, found Buchanan’s ideas to be spot on. In nurturing a new intelligentsia to commit to his values, Buchanan stated that he needed a “gravy train,” and with backers like Charles Koch and conservative foundations like the Scaife Family Charitable Trusts, others hopped aboard. Money, Buchanan knew, can be a persuasive tool in academia. His circle of influence began to widen.

[ ... ]

Buchanan’s school focused on public choice theory, later adding constitutional economics and the new field of law and economics to its core research and advocacy. The economist saw that his vision would never come to fruition by focusing on who rules. It was much better to focus on the rules themselves, and that required a “constitutional revolution.”

[ ... ]

Buchanan’s ideas began to have huge impact, especially in America and in Britain. In his home country, the economist was deeply involved in efforts to cut taxes on the wealthy in 1970s and 1980s and he advised proponents of Reagan Revolution in their quest to unleash markets and posit government as the “problem” rather than the “solution.” The Koch-funded Virginia school coached scholars, lawyers, politicians, and business people to apply stark right-wing perspectives on everything from deficits to taxes to school privatization. In Britain, Buchanan’s work helped to inspire the public sector reforms of Margaret Thatcher and her political progeny.

[ ... ]

A World of Slaves

Most Americans haven’t seen what’s coming.

MacLean notes that when the Kochs’ control of the GOP kicked into high gear after the financial crisis of 2007-08, many were so stunned by the “shock-and-awe” tactics of shutting down government, destroying labor unions, and rolling back services that meet citizens’ basic necessities that few realized that many leading the charge had been trained in economics at Virginia institutions, especially George Mason University. Wasn’t it just a new, particularly vicious wave of partisan politics?

It wasn’t. MacLean convincingly illustrates that it was something far more disturbing.

[ ... ]
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

July 14, 2024

The Guardian: Alabama shootings leave 7 dead, including child

July 5, 2024

Delgado v. Trump, Case 1:19-CV-11764-AT-KHP

It's not sensitive content.
Click "SHOW MORE" to see the link to each document.

[ Edit to add link ]:
https://casetext.com/case/delgado-v-trump-11/

[ And one with all the docs ]
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/16624382/delgado-v-donald-j-trump-for-president-inc/

July 3, 2024

Robber Baron Roberts, Clearance Thomas, Mockalito, Coathanger Barrett, Goreysucker, and

Beer Bong Weenie Waver must have secret decoder rings that let them read the hidden messages in the U.S. Constitution.

Either that, or they're just a Subversive Court trying to remake the U.S. to fit their dystopian, dysfunctional, hateful, autocratic, extremist vision.

July 1, 2024

How blackouts in Ukraine affect chronically-ill children

June 30, 2024

If you've decided to abandon my President...

You can take all of your opinions, roll them into a spikey ball, and shove them up your sorry ass with a left-hand twist, because such a position renders your judgment on all matters highly suspect, to me.

This idea of having Joe Biden step aside has gotten too much airplay for me to continue biting my tongue.

June 18, 2024

Law Dork: Trump-heavy courts block Biden LGBTQ school protections in many states

June 18, 2024

#UkraineWar, Day 846: #Putin Thanks #NorthKorea for Propping Up His Invasion

UPDATE 0618 GMT:

A Ukrainian drone attack has set oil depots on fire in the Rostov region in southwest Russia.

Governor Vasily Golubev confirmed the strike on the site in the town of Azov, a port on the Sea of Azov. He said there are no casualties, and the blaze is being extinguished.


ORIGINAL ENTRY: En route to North Korea, Vladimir Putin has thanked Pyongyang for propping up his 28-month invasion of Ukraine.

Putin will arrive in North Korea late Tuesday, in his first trip since 2000, for talks with Kim Jong-un. The Russian will be accompanied by Defense Minister Andrey Belousov and 1st Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who oversees military matters.

In an article written for North Korea’s Nodong Sinmun (Workers’ Newspaper), Putin praised Pyongyang for “firmly supporting” the assault on Ukraine, and declared that he wanted to take relations to a higher level.

[ ... ]

June 4, 2024

The Intercept: The "Trash" School

[Alt text, where available, shows up with mouseover]

June 2, 2024

The timeline here is notable