Sunday, June 29, 2025
This punctuation mark is semi-dead, except in emoticons   SHARE A mini-dissertation on the history of attitudes toward this punctuation mark that I often use to on two independent clauses where a period would separate them excessively and an em dash would relate them too closely. Kurt Vonnegut trashed semi-colons but other literary icons used and sometimes overused them. I'm all in favor of keeping them. 
Series: Ruminations (17 Articles, 45766 views)

(1 comments)        Monday, June 16, 2025
On Election Corruption in E2024: A Comprehensive Report   SHARE "The Election Truth Alliance is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization founded in December of 2024 when multiple individuals came together to share independent data, analysis, and research into the results of the 2024 US Presidential Election. As concerning trends emerged from their shared data, they moved quickly, at the speed of trust, to make their findings more accessible and understandable to the broader public." Read the data reported in detail in their publication "Common Sense. Common Goals: The Common Coalition Report."
Series: Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), discrimination (75 Articles, 120192 views), activism in action (68 Articles, 148215 views) (View All Series)

       Monday, June 2, 2025
These Hidden Provisions in [Trump's] Budget Bill Undermine Our Democracy   SHARE "Most attention on [President Trump's] budget bill has centered around issues like the tax code, Medicaid and immigration. However, there is a lot more hidden in the House’s reconciliation proposal, including two provisions Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has identified that would severely harm voters and threaten the rule of law.  "The first of these outrageous policies buried in Section 70302 of the legislation would severely restrict federal courts' authority to hold government officials in contempt if they violate judicial orders... "The second problematic provision found within Section 43201(c) of the House reconciliation bill would impose a 10-year ban on the enforcement of all state and local laws that regulate artificial intelligence (AI), including rules for AI's use in political campaigns and elections." Read more on the ramifications of both of these measures:
Series: politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), discrimination (75 Articles, 120192 views) (View All Series)

       Friday, May 16, 2025
GOP Plans to Steal 2026 Midterms - LA Progressive   SHARE "The Republican Party is attacking the right to vote with a raft of new election laws--and criminal penalties for breaking them. ... At the center of the plan is the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, passed on April 10 by the House and pending before the Senate, and an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on March 25 with the Orwellian title of 'Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections. 'And looming in the background, with the final word on either measure’s constitutionality, is the Supreme Court, packed with three Trump appointees and holding a long and sorry record of hostility to voting rights." (article sent to email list by Ray Lutz of  Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPs); originally published by LAProgressive.com)
Series: Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), discrimination (75 Articles, 120192 views), democracy (80 Articles, 133246 views) (View All Series)

       Tuesday, May 13, 2025
Josh Hawley: Don't Cut Medicaid   SHARE A cogent, well-reasoned, and compelling oped from an unexpected source, a MAGA Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley. A pleasant surprise. He's concerned with the loss of working-class Republican votes--see Thom Hartmann's column today on how many Blacks have been kept from voting--but there are many whites among the working-class constituency whose votes are still counted.
Series: The Capitol Beat (11 Articles, 137838 views), politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Greg Palast and environmentalism (9 Articles, 51959 views) (View All Series)

       Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Astronomers Detect a Signature of Life on a Distant Planet - The New York Times   SHARE Life out there lightyears away--there is finally a glimmer of it! "Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable." It may take lightyears to find out, but here is a trace of science nonfiction come to life. Read on.
Series: International (10 Articles, 28716 views)

       Wednesday, April 16, 2025
'An existential threat to democracy': the US judge facing a challenge to her election victory   SHARE "Allison Riggs, a Democratic justice on the North Carolina supreme court, is battling to keep her seat after a recent court ruling paved the way to overturn her election victory, telling the Guardian in an interview: 'This is not just a North Carolina problem. This is an existential threat to democracy.' "In November, Riggs won an election for the state supreme court by a razor-thin 734 votes. But on Friday, the North Carolina supreme court ordered the state board of elections to give certain overseas voters 30 days to prove their eligibility in order to have the votes they cast more than five months ago count. "Riggs has already asked a federal court to intervene and halt the ruling, which could lead to the election results being overturned. She told the Guardian she sees her court challenge as about more than just her seat." Read on ... 
Series: politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), activism in action (68 Articles, 148215 views) (View All Series)

       Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Trump Assumes Unheard-of Powers in Ordering Federal Overhaul of Elections   SHARE "In one of his many bold, sweeping and likely unconstitutional gestures, President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that purports to 'protect election integrity.' Many experts have already charged that it constitutes a clear abuse of power that flagrantly exceeds the president’s allotted authority." Multiple lawsuits have already been filed against the EO.
Series: politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), discrimination (75 Articles, 120192 views) (View All Series)

       Friday, April 4, 2025
"No nukes!"--Harvey Wasserman Interviewed on New Doc Detailing Birth of Movement   SHARE "A new documentary film, Far Out: Life On & After the Commune, directed by Charles Light, tells the story of a group of leftwing journalists [originally of the] Liberation News Service. [The] eighty-five-minute film reveals the communards as young hippies and senior citizens, and shows how their paths intertwined with folk/rock superstars to fight the good fight.  "One of the film's co-stars is author and historian Harvey Wasserman who is also the longest active contributor to The Progressive. ... "... Far Out contends that the commune's opposition to the construction of this [nuclear power] plant [at Seabrook, NH] sparked the U.S. grassroots anti-nuclear movement. "Wasserman: The first thing is we came up with the slogan 'No Nukes,' printed the first bumper sticker and T-shirt; it's gone global ever since...."
Series: rallies and demonstrations (10 Articles, 7046 views), activism in action (68 Articles, 148215 views)

       Sunday, March 30, 2025
Trump Seeks Takeover of Elections in a Bid for More Presidential Power   SHARE Among the ocean of executive orders is this recent one, requiring proof of citizenship upon voter registration. Documentation is often difficult to produce--few Americans have passports and/or birth certificates, especially if they had to leave their homes in a hurry because of various forms of oppression. Millions of votes will be lost if this order survives court challenges--it was eclipsed by "Signalgate" among other issues and orders. "It is to reduce turnout by people he [the president] thinks won't vote for him," opined an anonymous election official. Read on.... 
Series: politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), discrimination (75 Articles, 120192 views) (View All Series)

       Thursday, March 20, 2025
Don't Count on the Courts to Save Democracy   SHARE "Giving courts the last word is part of what got us into this mess. It won’t get us out. ... [The] notion that upholding the rule of law means the president goes no further than the Supreme Court allows, and that we are only in a crisis if he pushes beyond that boundary, is a dangerous mistake of principle and practice....  [The] real resistance must take place in Congress, at government workplaces and in the streets."
Series: activism in action (68 Articles, 148215 views), democracy (80 Articles, 133246 views), politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views) (View All Series)

       Monday, February 10, 2025
Robert C. Koehler: Election Theft in the Context of Racism   SHARE Chicago-based journalist and nationally syndicated writer Robert C. Koehler writes here about "[Trump's] plan to devolve America back to the good old days: back to the era of Jim Crow certainty and whatever that might mean." How did we get here? Koehler summarizes Greg Palast's findings, published Click Here two weeks ago, that racist exclusion of hundreds of thousands of voters--blacks and other people of color, delivered the election illegally to the Republican candidate. Koehler also reviews the film Vigilantes Inc. that communicates cinematically the story behind the grim numbers, available to view for free at gregpalast.com.
Series: Reviews (6 Articles, 175841 views), politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Greg Palast and environmentalism (9 Articles, 51959 views) (View All Series)

       Friday, September 13, 2024
What I Learned When I Read 887 Pages of Project 2025   SHARE NYTimes columnist Carlos Lozada dissects portions of this 887-page monstrosity that Trump claims not even to have read (fortunately or unfortunately?). "Undoing" damage will replace it with nightmarish scenarios and, as we know, the death of democracy. He writes:  " ...  [U]nder the leadership of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the book announces itself as part of a 'unified effort to be ready for the next conservative administration to govern at 12:00 noon, Jan. 20, 2025.' There is much work ahead, it states, 'just to undo the significant damage that will have been done during the Biden years.'"
Series: discrimination (75 Articles, 120192 views), Ruminations (17 Articles, 45766 views), The Capitol Beat (11 Articles, 137838 views) (View All Series)

       Saturday, August 31, 2024
Poll: Two-Thirds of Americans Think Trump Won't Accept 2024 Election Outcome   SHARE As if we needed more reasons to dread this year's Election Day, these latest polling results exacerbate it. Once upon a time, ED was a holiday. What is the opposite of a holiday? Being glued to the television watching returns with a sinking stomach since the results promise to be so close? Since Biden stepped down, voter registration has surged, among youth and others. So have multiple forms of "election interference"--see the New Yorker article I also quicklinked on OEN today, Click Here. And read on. 
Series: Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), democracy (80 Articles, 133246 views), politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views) (View All Series)

       Saturday, August 31, 2024
Election Interference Can Mean So Many Different Actions   SHARE The term "election interference" can mean so many different things, from SCOTUS deciding Election 2000 in terms of its own political leanings to the GOP in Washington State selecting candidates with the same name as the Democratic counterpart to confuse the public. It can refer to one person donating millions of dollars to their favorite candidate or Trump begging GA SoS Raffensperger to find him enough votes to win that state in 2020. This New Yorker Lede column explores the multiple applications of the term, which converges with others, and the implications of one word covering so many phenomena. 
Series: discrimination (75 Articles, 120192 views), democracy (80 Articles, 133246 views), politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views) (View All Series)

(1 comments)        Saturday, August 24, 2024
The Day After November 5: Confronting the Post-Election Crisis   SHARE Who’s looking forward to election day, November 5? Early voting begins next month in some states, which means a week from today.  And, more than that, who’s looking forward to the days and weeks after November 5, when even if there is a landslide problems are inevitable? But if there’s not a landslide, look out for disastrous complications that may stretch on for months. Author and writer David Daley has studied these eventualities in expert detail in his new book Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right’s 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections. There he “foresees a looming crisis that could dwarf the chaos of the 2000 election.” In the attached transcript of Jeff Schechtman's spot-on interview of him, also a podcast, you can read the details of Daley's expert expectations of what may occur after November 5, 2024. It isn’t pretty!
Series: democracy (80 Articles, 133246 views), Reviews (6 Articles, 175841 views), politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views) (View All Series)

(3 comments)        Tuesday, July 2, 2024
The Next Step is to End All Prosecutions of Trump   SHARE "Now that the Supreme Court has made any president into a king who chooses to corruptly use the power granted them by six Republicans on the Supreme Court, the next step will be to end all prosecution of Donald Trump, now and ... forever...." Don't forget to read the comments--they are most enlightening. 
Series: activism in action (68 Articles, 148215 views)

       Friday, May 24, 2024
Arizona May Fund Tool to Allow Candidates to Verify Election Results, Ballot by ballot   SHARE An effort to channel $2 million into the state budget for a tool that could enable candidates to verify their election results ballot by ballot is being spearheaded by Arizona state Sen. Ken Bennett. "[G]ranting access to digital ballot images and voting records would head off frivolous challenges," he said. Recall Arizona's elaborate recounts in 2020 to ascertain the true presidential victor. The process was costly and time-consuming, with exemplary bipartisan cooperation. Bennett first introduced the plan in a senate bill that failed to pass two years in a row, so his latest route is a budget measure proposing the expenditure.  Unfortunately it isn't likely that the measure will apply in this year's elections.  --Thanks to John Roberts Brakey, head of AUDITUSA, for alerting me to this landmark development.
Series: politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views), democracy (80 Articles, 133246 views) (View All Series)

(2 comments)        Monday, February 12, 2024
How to Steal a US Election: Trump's New Threat   SHARE The issue isn't who will run against Trump but how he will steal the election if he can't win it. Nothing is off the table. We're in a new era where Election Day is dreaded instead of enjoyed or at least suspenseful. Patriotism is so difficult these days and I wonder how long before my lackadaisical, well-nigh silent suburban life style will vanish in the path of nightmarish scenarios.  Now on to what Lawrence Lessig has to say, in a new book, on how the 2024 election will be stolen. Shades of Greg Palast, but so far behind him! 
Series: politics in general (85 Articles, 173648 views), Greg Palast and environmentalism (9 Articles, 51959 views), Election Integrity (90 Articles, 237642 views) (View All Series)

(1 comments)        Friday, November 17, 2023
Media Underplay Risks of Trump Victory in 2024   SHARE Margaret Sullivan of the Guardian blames the media for underplaying the risks of a Trump victory in 2024 even as it reports extensively on polls predicting his substantial lead over Biden in four of the five swing states.  Sullivan writes that "It’s now clearer than ever that Trump, if elected, will use the federal government to go after his political rivals and critics, even deploying the military toward that end. His allies are hatching plans to invoke the Insurrection Act on day one." (reprinted by WhoWhatWhy's edition today) 
Series: The Capitol Beat (11 Articles, 137838 views), activism in action (68 Articles, 148215 views), democracy (80 Articles, 133246 views) (View All Series)