iemanja
iemanja's JournalI don't think Trump is in control
He doesn't care enough about governing or the responsibilities of being President to implement all these changes. He is simply going along with the Project 2025 billionaires and Musk. His concerns have always been his ego and how much he can grift; nothing else interests him. We are witnessing direct rule by oligarchs. They don't simply advise Trump; they control his administration and all of its actions.
Trump does care about having loyal governmental appointees, and the reason for that is his ego and desire for retribution. That, however, is not the same as a political agenda. Trump's political concerns are limited. He promotes hatred because he sees that as feeding into his pretense of power, as rallying support among his white supremacist base. But that base doesn't care about policy any more than Trump does. The one exception is the anti-DEI, anti-immigrant (read Nazi) crusade. For the oligarchs, anti-DEI provides an opportunity to decimate government and free up more funds to fill their own pockets through tax breaks. Then, of course, the Project 2025 adherents want to see government destroyed altogether. We are in dangerous times, and Trump is merely the vehicle for the annihilation of the American way of life.
Devastating toll for Gaza's children: Over 13,000 killed and an estimated 25,000 injured, UN says
Source: Minnesota Star Tribune
UNITED NATIONS — The war in Gaza has been devastating for children: More than 13,000 have been killed, an estimated 25,000 injured, and at least 25,000 hospitalized for malnutrition, according to U.N. agencies.
As Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador, James Kariuki, recently told the Security Council, ''Gaza has become the deadliest place in the world to be a child.''
''The children of Gaza did not choose this war,'' he said, ''yet they have paid the ultimate price.''
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Thursday that of the 40,717 Palestinian bodies identified so far in Gaza, one-third – 13,319 – were children. The office said Friday the figures came from Gaza's Ministry of Health
Read more: https://www.startribune.com/devastating-toll-for-gazas-children-over-13000-killed-and-an-estimated-25000-injured-un-says/601211285
Researchers recently published a paper in Lancet suggesting that fatalities may be significantly higher than the Gaza Health Ministry and UN have reported--in the range of 55,000-75,000.
https://democraticunderground.com/100219920937
Also see CBS News, The Children of Gaza. https://www.cbs.com/shows/video/G5gIg_iwm8ZuPSjg9uqYjBizZ_NsgDdN/
Researchers say Gaza death toll may be significantly higher than previously estimated
It [The UK led study] https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0140-6736%2824%2902678-3
used data from the ministry, an online survey of relatives reporting fatalities, and obituaries. It estimated that up until 30 June 2024, 64,260 Palestinians died from traumatic injury, meaning an under-reporting of deaths by 41%
Israel says the numbers from the Gaza Health Ministry can't be trusted, but
Researchers used a statistical method called "capture-recapture."
The report in The Lancet estimated a death toll between 55,298–78,525 people, compared to 37,877 reported by the health ministry.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqjvl4klzweo
The article and study are open access.
Kamala Harris answers the web's most searched questions
In Memoriam: DFLforever
DFLforever passed away on Thursday, August 15. She had just turned 86 years old four days before her death. She posted very seldomly; in fact, she hadn't posted since 2014, but she recommended posts through early August of this year. She was a star member who had been part of DU since 2002. She was also my mother. Because of her infrequent posts, few of you will know her, but she was a committed Democrat, who in her younger and middle-aged years volunteered to get out the vote in nearly every local and federal election. She especially loved Barack Obama and was a fervent supporter of Joe Biden. She was also excited about the Harris-Walz ticket, being a Minnesotan, born and raised in St. Paul.
I initially didn't want to post a thread, but this is the only way I can get her added to the In Memoriam page, which I believe she deserves due to her long-standing commitment to DU.
If you are so disposed, she asked in her will that memorial contributions be made to Doctors without Borders. donate.doctorswithoutborders.org It is, after all, a great cause.
https://democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=119676
Voting for Biden (This is Golden!)
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1811996767623258618/photo/1Poll Fixed! Choose the Flowers for Nancy and Paul Pelosi /GoFundMe
Sorry for the length of this post. I want to make sure everyone knows what's going on and has a chance to have a say in the flowers we send to the Pelosi's.
______________________________________
The last poll overwhelmingly voted to send Nancy and Paul Pelosi one lovely bouquet of flowers and then contribute the rest to Senator Warnock's campaign. We are using Omaha Steve's DU for Warnock link to contribute: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/duforwarnock
All contributions through this Thursday will be credited toward the Pelosi fundraising campaign.
I've set up a GoFundMe for donations for the flowers: https://www.gofundme.com/f/flowers-for-nancy-and-paul-pelosi?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1
Please donate when you vote!
The costs of potential flower bouquets range from $89-500 (plus delivery fees and tax). We will send the flowers to her house Thanksgiving week. We got her address from a staffer.
Here are the choices for flower arrangements:
Apples, Peaches, and Pumpkin Pie, Farmgirl Flowers, $89
https://farmgirlflowers.com/apples-peaches-pumpkin-pie
Gram Cracker, Farmgirl Flowers, $110
https://farmgirlflowers.com/gram-cracker
Double the firecracker, Urban Stems, $126.
https://urbanstems.com/products/flowers/double-the-firecracker/FLRL-D-00025.html
Seasons Cheer, Le Bouquet, $150
https://www.le-bouquet.com/deliveries?lightbox=dataItem-l9rnttd5
Sugar and Spice, San Francisco Flowers, $150.
https://www.sanfranciscoflorist.com/floral-arrangements/Autumn/31232/Sugar-Spice
Technicolor deluxe, Acme Floral, $350
https://acmefloral.com/san-francisco-acme-floral-co/technicolor-deluxe.html
Rich and Dramatic, Acme Floral, $500.
https://acmefloral.com/san-francisco-acme-floral-co/dramatic-and-rich-luxe.html
Family Jewels, Le Bouquet, $200
https://www.le-bouquet.com/deliveries?lightbox=dataItem-kx6kfiai
If the vote goes to an arrangement less expensive than the one pictured, we can ask the florist to upgrade it with the extra money and/or donate the rest to the Warnock campaign. Similarly, if we raise less money than the results of the poll, we'll downsize to a less expensive option.
Do you want to donate for Flowers for Nancy and Paul Pelosi?
Donation Link ~~~~~~~~ https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17351334 ~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you remember when DU sent loads of flowers to Barbara Boxer? I believe it had to do with her efforts to oppose the Iraq War.
A bunch of DUers have been talking about doing something similar for Nancy Pelosi. See this thread: https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17348022
Vote below on how you think we should approach this.
The overwhelming vote is for 1 bouquet of flowers and donations to Warnock. The Warnock donation link can be found on this thread by Omaha Steve. https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=17351334
We'll soon post another thread with donations for flowers, but those donations should be small, with the bulk of your donation going to Warnock, should you so choose.
Three States Banned Slavery on Tuesday. One Voted to Keep It
Rolling Stone via Yahoo
The ballot measures address a caveat in the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” The loophole was exploited by many former slaveholding states, including Louisiana, to criminalize newly freed former slaves and create involuntarily held workforces during Reconstruction. Louisiana has long been home to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, a sprawling prison-farm nicknamed “Angola.” Malcolm Alexander, a former inmate who was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated for almost four decades and exonerated in 2018, described working at Angola as something “like you see in old pictures of slavery…we even had a quota we had to meet at the end of the day,”
Before Tuesday’s midterms, only four other states had barred slavery as a form of punishment, Colorado, Rhode Island, and as of 2020, Nebraska and Utah. “It is time for all Americans to come together and say that it must be struck from the U.S. Constitution,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told the Associated Press. “There should be no exceptions to a ban on slavery.”
The votes this week are a major step in establishing labor rights for incarcerated people. “Incarcerated workers are under the complete control of their employers, and they have been stripped of even the most minimal protections against labor exploitation and abuse,” reads an ACLU report published in June. The ACLU has advocated for a total repeal of “federal and state constitutional exception clauses allowing slavery and involuntary servitude to be used as punishment for a criminal conviction.”
https://news.yahoo.com/three-states-banned-slavery-tuesday-162416613.html
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