Hot take by Bernie

Is he right? Have we abandoned working class people? Definitely time to start doing some soul searching.

https://twitter.com/berniesanders/status/1854271157135941698?s=46&t=0YKDVlA0-PifpiC_0T1Ofg

The price of war is never paid by those responsible

ACLU: Biden Signs Law Effectively Banning Tik Tok

Block the on Everyone Is A Spy Bill!!!

Buried in the Section 702 reauthorization bill (RISAA) passed by the House on Friday is the biggest expansion of domestic surveillance since the Patriot Act. Senator Wyden calls this power “terrifying,” and he’s right.

https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/1778864936573100445

Elizabeth Goitien, Co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, explains the danger of this bill:

https://twitter.com/LizaGoitein/status/1779885127360766437

Vote "NO" on Amendments to Expand Domestic Surveillance and Enact Patriot Act 2.0

There are many fighting to protect our freedoms in congress, but the surveillance state is constantly trying to get more power. The latest proposed amendment to FISA is a massive expansion of domestic surveillance, including giving them the ability to demand access to wifi routers from ordinary businesses.

Contact your representatives today and urge them to vote NO on Amendment 1 !!!

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/vote-no-amendments-expand-domestic-surveillance-and-enact-patriot-act-0

Are we living up to our founder's ideals?

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞. What vast Additions to the Conveniences and Comforts of Living might Mankind have acquired, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲’𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲. What an Extention of Agriculture even to the Tops of our Mountains; What Rivers render’d navigable, or join’d by Canals; what Bridges, Acqueducts, new Roads & other public Works, Edifices & Improvements, rendering a compleat Paradise, might not have been obtain’d 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟! in bringing Misery into thousands of Families, and destroying the Lives of so many Thousands of working People who might have perform’d the useful Labour."

—𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧

Things we protect

Israel's war with Hamas leaves Gaza hospitals short on supplies, full of dead and wounded civilians

Source: CBS News

Jerusalem — Israel says its war is only with Hamas, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has flatly rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire, but the toll has been immense for the roughly 2 million people who live in the Gaza Strip. For civilians caught between two sides intent on destroying each other, it's become a daily struggle for survival.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza says more than 8,500 people have been killed by Israel's relentless airstrikes on the enclave in response to the U.S.-designated terror group's bloody Oct. 7 attack, which Israel says left more than 1,400 people dead.

About 66% of the fatalities in Gaza have been women and children, according to the ministry, which puts the toll of children alone at 3,500.

Israel disputes the figures provided by the Hamas regime in Gaza, but entire neighborhoods in the densely populated Palestinian territory have been razed to the ground. All of its hospitals — struggling to keep generators running under an Israeli blockade that was tightened after the unprecedented Hamas attack — are flooded daily with more dead and wounded.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-civilian-deaths-hospitals-fuel-supplies-running-out/

We've Seen This Movie Before

On War Profiteers

I am pretty firmly on record as being against virtually all war and advocating for more diplomacy and peaceful support and less selling of arms. It is pretty easy to get even our beloved fellow Democrats wrapped in the flag when we see what we believe to be the "good guys" getting attacked. But it is incredibly important to step back and take stock of what is really going on. Following the money. Examining policies of not just the past few months but the past few decades.

We must learn from our mistakes and understand that war is at its heart an economic windfall for giant companies both domestically and overseas at the cost of lives and societal advancement. And thanks to Citizens United, there is nothing preventing these companies, whose profits skyrocket as a result of war, from heavily lobbying and buying members of congress to encourage them to take the most hawkish positions and pro-war stances. There is absolutely NO counterbalancing force to compete against the mountains of money these companies spend on lobbying.

Add in the direct profiting members of congress are allowed to make by trading on inside information, and you have a very, very scary situation for world peace. Below is just one recent example. There are literally dozens you can point to and pull from public records that predate the Ukraine invasion and what is now going on in Israel.

Coincidence? Maybe. But allowing our elected representatives to profit based on the decisions they make in office is a recipe for corruption and poor governance. Ideally these companies would not be allowed to lobby nor hire former Generals, but that is a topic for another discussion.

https://x.com/unusual_whales/status/1711156014752604647?s=20