October 27, 2024

40 years of Fox News brainwashing accelerated by. . .

. . . algorithm created social media information bubbles that just keep getting more bizarre, and you have a serious social problem.

This isn't a political partisan divide of decades past. We are in a whole new place. Far right brainwashing is a serious social problem tearing apart communities and families and we need to figure out some sort of national "recovery program." Something like Exit Deutschland on a big scale. Showcase recovering MAGA folk. More attention to the heartbreak of losing loved ones to the brainwashing.

We need to move from the current us vs. them-ism where we write "them" off as evil people that deserve nothing but our condemnation, to a serious examination of the snowballing social problems the the multibillion dollar far right noise machine kicked off, which is being accelerated at an unbelievable pace by social media algorithms fomenting anger and hatred that are sending an unbelievable number of Americans into rabbit holes that just keep getting more and more and more bizarre.

We need to take on Christianism Nationalism, while being very, very, clear that we are not condemning Christian faith.

We need more documentaries like the 2016 Brainwashing of My Dad

More people from progressive faith communities speaking out on the cancer that is Christian Nationalism.

September 17, 2024

If you want to disarm trump, stop giving him the gift of our attention.

Roy Cohn taught trump well (link)

Trump and his acolytes want us to be immersed in his horror show. And over, and over, and over, we oblige. If we break away, they do something more outrageous to drag us back.

And when we spend time "spreading the word" about how horrible he is, we are, once again, immersed in his shit.

Time spent denouncing him is NOT PRODUCTIVE. It crushes hope and joy and thus immobilizes. It suppresses the will to take positive action. When we are overwhelmed by his shit, we lose ourselves. When we feel like screaming "how can 'they' not see this?" we are on road to cynicism and hopelessness; we are on the road to feeling powerless. It saps us.

His people are his people. For now, just let them bask in their own horrible little world. He's basically at both his ceiling and his floor. Now it is all about turning out our voters. That's it. That's our job. We need all our hope, enthusiasm, and energy to get it done.

The most productive thing those who oppose trump can do is to ignore the man and his acolytes -- truly ignore them as the pathetic creatures they are. I would be happy if we didn't even put his mug in our ads.

Whatever the latest bit of insanity, dismiss it as the same old shit without comment. Only that way do we disarm him. Find a hopeful speech. Feed our own sense of our power through action or inspiring ourselves with books like "Lobbying for Change: Find Your Voice to Create a Better Society" by Alberto Alemanno. Find the things that inspire you -- simple things.

Resisting the efforts to turn our attention from hope and action to the horrors of the trump show is perhaps our most difficult, but important, task. Just as a meditator chooses, over and over again, to turn their attention back to the breath when attention is pulled elsewhere, we each need to find ways to turn our attention back to hope and action when we find ourselves pulled into the latest outrage.

September 14, 2024

There are Christians fighting the cancer that is Christian Nationalism

TX State Rep. James Talarico is a riveting speaker on the topic. I hope to see him on the national stage in the not too distant future. Some excerpts below. I highly recommend the entire sermon.

August 21, 2024

Still a toss up. As Simon Rosenberg and Joe Trippi pointed out

. . .in the latest Strategy Session, we have a long way to go. The country remains dangerously and evenly divided.

Trippi:
We gotta keep doing the work. No matter what this thing looks like, no matter what it is, we keep doing the work. They keep doing the crazy, we keep doing the work. And run it up everywhere we can. And fight everywhere, including Texas and Florida.

Rosenberg:
If I can say one last point. . . Everyone's gotta realize what Joe just said is so important. Right now, the people that I'm talking to who are canvassing and making phone calls -- so it's exciting, people are interested. You've got this new candidate, new dynamic. Imagine if you are a marginal voter and you kinda have this new excitement, and then the campaign calls you, or the campaign knocks on your door. Not only is this exciting, but they care about me!

What we are hearing anecdotally from people who are making calls and canvassing, and texting right now, is that the reception is unbelievable. And people are like "thank you for calling me," "I want to volunteer." People are volunteering to volunteer. They are not even having to be asked.

So I think there is this dynamic right now that this huge grassroots army that is already deployed is also moving the needle. It's turning people from potential voters, marginal voters into our supporters. And then that is creating what I call this virtuous cycle of participation. This virtuous cycle is now beginning to kick in in the election.

So anyone who is thinking of working, make your plan now. How are you going to close? Early voting starts in 38 days. What are you going to do? Don't wait. Be active now. It's an amazing time to be talking to voters right now. The response has been incredible. And early vote starts in 38 days. Have your plan now for how you're going to give, how you're going to volunteer, and how you're going to vote on day one. It 's important that everyone vote as early as they can in the early vote. If you do that our campaigns move on to lower propensity voters. It increases voter turn out

See https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219332188
It is a great panel!

August 10, 2024

"Unhumans" -- the far, far, far right dystopian vision of fascism saving the world:

Unhumans

Forward by Bannon,
Blurbed by J.D. Vance, Don Jr., and Tucker Carlson, among others.

Opinion
Michelle Goldberg
JD Vance Just Blurbed a Book Arguing That Progressives Are Subhuman
Aug. 5, 2024

Paywall free link to NYTimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/opinion/jd-vance-fascism-unhumans.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Bk4.xGes.1_ONuyrQ-M2p&smid=url-share

I am mystified that the title of this book and the author isn't being spread as far and wide as the danger of project 2025.

Unhumans goes so much farther down the dystopian authoritarian path.

By blurbing this book, Vance, Carlson, and Don Jr. are endorsing the glorification of the reign of murdering facists like Franco and Pinochet nd endorsing a vision of DT/Vance leading a similar purge.

We can keep the focus on the message of hope and joy, but we CANNOT ignore the implication of this book and how utterly horrifying the premise and "solutions" offered are.

August 7, 2024

Election Protection orgs -- give time or money

Can just mailing list here https://www.democracydefenseproject.org

Here are some other worthy organizations working to combat suppression and other nefarious activity.

https://www.fairfight.com/

https://allvotingislocal.org/
Efforts focused in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

https://866ourvote.org/
Election Protection Administered by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
See in your state drop down here: https://866ourvote.org/partner/national-bar-association/

Rolling Stone article:
These Swing State Election Officials Are Pro-Trump Election Deniers
At least 70 pro-Trump conspiracists are election officials in key battleground counties — and they are poised to make a giant mess on Election Day

And film:
Suppressed and Sabotaged: The Fight to Vote
It's from 2020, but worth a look if you missed it (and the list of partners at the bottom of the main page includes a number of other organizations doing work to combat suppression).

January 10, 2021

Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Reach

The "violating free speech" bullshit really angers me.

No one is silencing the speech, only limiting the avenues for spreading in an attempt to limit the damage it can do. (If you haven't seen it, check out the speech from Sasha Baron Cohen below)

To those concerned about the bans from certain social media platforms, publishers, or media outlets, I ask, would you have the NY Times forced to publish militant white supremacist or other loathsome speech because those people "have a right to be heard"? Obviously not. Does an outlet that has rules limiting content run the risk of being accused of being "unfair"? Sure. Outlets that limit content in ways that demonstrate what most would consider objectionable bias will get to be known for what they are. (Like Fox is known for what it is.) Calling rules governing unacceptable content "a violation of rights" is completely and utterly absurd.

Sure, within limits ("advocacy of the use of force" is unprotected when it is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action" ) everyone has a right to speak their minds, but no organization has an obligation to give them a megaphone. Simon and Shuster can't be forced to publish Hawley's claptrap any more than Regnery could be forced to publish a book by Bernie Sanders.

Any militant white supremacist or crazy conspiracy theorist can get a megaphone and shout their shit from a soapbox in the public square. Or raise funds to set up an internet host willing to host "anything goes" social media platforms.

Conservative social media sites are welcome to ban liberal voices as far as I'm concerned. The people occupying them have their minds closed anyway. Might as well make it explicit with rules that basically amount to "see no evil (social justice ideas), hear no evil (social justice ideas), speak no evil (social justice ideas)"

I am perfectly happy with outlets making their values clear in their rules. I am proud to participate in platforms that utterly reject right-wingnut insanity and hate speech. And if right-wingnut outlets want to make their rejection of sanity clear in their rules, fine. It would be up to us to find other avenues to try to reach those people (if we think we have a message that could possibly get through).

November 19, 2020

I think. . .

On "our side" we generally do a terrible job of focusing on big themes and goals. We get mired in details. The focus is on the "doable," not the vision of what we can and should be as a people. The details do not engage.

Change requires a couple ingredients that too few of us have.

1. A belief that this is OUR government, and if we want something, we can make it happen.

2. A vision of what we can and should be grounded in moral principle and the aspirational values expressed in the Declaration of Independence. (Values we have allowed to be violated since those words were written. But, I do not believe that past is prolog. I think more of us can internalize the vision. And that’s the first step in the journey to ACTUALLY starting to build "a more perfect union." )

A vast majority believe political change is the responsibility of elected officials and "professionals." That is, “politics” is not for us "regular people." That sort of alienation from our own government sets things up for anger and resentment and apathy against this “alien” government thing that is failing us. It opens the door to the sort of demonization we are seeing. The truth, that WE are the real movers IF we choose, is the antidote.

I think we can do a better job of engaging our fellow citizens and rekindling belief in some of the fundamental values that drive change. We need to focus on building the foundation: a vision of what is possible and a belief in our power to acheive it.

Hope is contagious. We will never get “everyone" on board. But uniting everyone is not necessary. We just need to reach the “critical mass” necessary to get the ball rolling.

For example, in the fight for universal health care we have repeatedly allowed it to be shot down with "can’t afford” this or that detailed plan before building a consensus on basic principles -- principles that, when more generally accepted, demand implementation of universal health care. Where there is a will, there is a way. The principles drive the definition of the goals and then we can lobby for a plan that fulfills the goals – including a plan for paying for it. (Like a wealth tax – but that is grounded in another set of principles.).

Quite some time ago, I started building a little web site. I wasn't able to follow through with making connections and building it into the sort of activist "clearinghouse" I envisioned, but some of what I wrote I think conveys what I'm talking about.

http://www.greatergoodusa.com/issues/universal-health-care/


I'm sure you didn't expect such a verbose answer to a simple question. Hope your not sorry you asked.

October 8, 2020

Letters to editors of newspapers and networks needed -- LOTS of letters

One way to lobby for a change in language is in letters to the editor. (Or to bring attention on any subject.)

Personally, I''ll be lobbying to change White Supremacists, White Extremists, White Power movement, Militias, etc. to "White Terrorists." As noted in other posts on the thread, I think this is more accurate and a simpler transition from current language. YMMV. There are other labels suggested on this thread, like Right-Wing Terrorists, you might prefer. I like including "White" because I think this ultimately boils down to racism -- not just "right-wing" beliefs.

In addition to writing to papers/news local to your state/city/region, below are some nationals and progressive-friendly magazines.

I've also included cable and network news contacts.

When you write, cite a recent article (articles) that have instances of the objectionable term. Make a short case for a new, more meaningful and accurate, label. Note the the problematic language is used everywhere.

Best to keep it under 200 words, whether or not the outlet provides this as a guideline.

National Newspapers

--------------------------
WaPo
Write to letters@washpost.com or to: Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post, 1301 K Street NW, Washington DC 20071.

Guidelines: [F]ewer than 200 words and take as their starting point an article or other item appearing in The Post.

------------------
NYTimes
letters@nytimes.com

Guidelines: Letters should be exclusive to The New York Times or The International New York Times. We do not publish open letters or third-party letters. -- That is, customize for NYTimes citing a few articles with the objectionable term and noting that the term is pervasive.

---------------------
USA Today
letters@usatoday.com -- also need to be under 200 words (fewer the better).

Progressive Magazines

-------------------
The Atlantic
letters@theatlantic.com

----------------
Mother Jones
backtalk@motherjones.com
or send snail mail to Backtalk, Mother Jones, P.O. Box 584, San Francisco, CA 94104-0584.

--------------
The American Prospect
David Dayen, Executive Editor, ddayen@prospect.org

The American Prospect
1225 I Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 776-0730
info@prospect.org

-----------------
Harper's
Harper’s Magazine
666 Broadway, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10012
212-420-5720

To email us about articles in the magazine:
letters@harpers.org

-------------
The Nation
https://www.thenation.com/letters-editor-0/

--------------
Washington Monthly
1200 18th Street NW
Suite 330
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202-955-9010, Fax: 202-955-9011

Cable News and other network news

CNN
https://www.cnn.com/feedback

MSNBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, N.Y. 10112

ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/contact
List of contacts for specific shows
https://abcnews.go.com/contact

NBC News
Assistant Managing Editor for Politics
Gregg Birnbaum / Gregg.Birnbaum@nbcuni.com

Assistant Managing Editor for News
Tim Perone / Tim.Perone@nbcuni.com

CBS News
Different contacts for evening weekday and weekend news. See https://www.cbsnews.com/news/contact-information-01-08-1998/

March 29, 2020

Timeline and failures -- lost shot at containment

Re-posted as OP by request
___________________________

Actual sequence of events follows "what could have been".

Just imagine...

-- If the CDC had started sourcing and distributing sample collection materials the week of 1/13, and simultaneously moved to develop and distribute tests and testing supplies to public health entities (there are about 3000 of them) as rapidly as possible.

-- If the public health emergency had been declared 1/13 to empower more rapid preparation and response.

-- If the FDA had used its EUA power as soon as the public health emergency was declared to allow labs across the country to develop, distribute, and process tests.

-- If the public health emergency declaration had conveyed the reality of what we were facing. (i.e., Had conveyed a clear picture of what would come if we failed to act, and act quickly. The grim reality was obvious as soon as it was clear how readily it was transmitted in China and how high the mortality rate was.)

-- If, in response to clear warnings, states and and feds had recognized the need to pass funding bills to get critical testing, tracing, and containment programs off the ground and create specialized task forces to coordinate across states and public health entities (A big job that requires dedicated management and staff -- something we still don't have).

-- If federal authorities paid attention to epidemiologists' models and health expert metrics of projected incidence, hospitalizations, actual resources vs. needed resources, and began to source and use powers to order increased production of PPE, ventilators, and put plans in place for how to address possible/probable shortage of beds and other critical resources.

-- If, as soon as testing was available, the power to order tests had been put in the hands of doctors and a public information campaign had been initiated to advise anyone having symptoms, or who suspected exposure, to immediately self-quarantine and seek testing.

Even if it took until the beginning of Feb to get "rolling," we would have been mobilized to detect cases that had been contracted in mid-January. With fewer cases to detect, public health entities would have been able to ramp up efforts to trace source and contacts of every case detected (and have time to bring personnel on board to make it possible to trace if/when numbers increased -- funded by those emergency bills).

Perhaps all this is too much to expect of any government, but I don't think so.

The first "sin" was the inability of the DT administration to confront the grim facts about the probable (if not guaranteed) consequences of failing to act early and quickly. In our interconnected world, it was ridiculous to think the crisis in China would somehow, magically, be be limited to China without action on the part of other nations. Effective containment required coordinated mobilization across national borders. Or, failing that, mobilization within our own borders.

Of course, I could be flat wrong and containment efforts would have failed, however early they had been initiated.

We'll never know because our government didn't bother to try.


____________________________________

Timeline

1/13
Test developed by the department of virology at Berlin’s Charité university hospital with help from experts in Rotterdam, London and Hong Kong available.

CDC inexplicably declines to develop and use this test, opting, instead, to come up with their own.

1/19
Virus is already circulating, undetected, in WA state, and probably elsewhere. (Based on analysis of genetic samples from a 1/20 case and a later case, researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington found the virus had probably been circulating undetected for at least 6 weeks prior to 3/1 -- finding announced 3/1)

1/31
Azar (DHS) declares public health emergency. Among other things, this triggers FDA emergency use authorization (EUA) power which they DID NOT exercise until 2/29 (see later). The emergency declaration should have come at least two weeks earlier. In an interconnected world, the grim reality of what we would face if we did not make preparations to act, and act quickly, was obvious as soon as it was clear how readily it was transmitted in China and how high the mortality rate was.

In re: EUA power. Normally, hospitals and labs need FDA permission to use their own laboratory developed tests (LDTs). EUA power allows labs to move forward with test distribution and processing while the FDA reviews information about the test they submitted.

If the FDA had started exercising its EUA power immediately upon declaration of a public health emergency, as they should have, labs at university medical centers, hospitals, private labs, etc., could have moved forward with their own tests or a version of the reliable test that was available on Jan 13. (FDA did not exercise this power until 2/29, as noted later in the timeline.)

2/3
China travel ban
After not testing anybody, and doing no screening on anybody for 3 weeks, DT issues a travel ban on China 2/3. Only returning Americans and foreign nationals with "pre-clearance" are allowed entry.

Selected airports are designated to receive planes and screen passengers as they come in. Anyone who visited China in the past two-weeks is screened. If they have symptoms they are told to go home and quarantine. No testing to determine actual status (because we don't have a test). Everyone else on plane already exposed. (More to it than that -- re-routing to original destination and whatnot.)

2/5
CDC finally begins distributing their own test.

Shortly after distribution begins, recipients find problems with the test. Apparently it has been distributed without proper quality control checks. Testing by states put on hold. States are directed to send samples to CDC. CDC has very strict criteria for testing to limit number of tests and resultant backlog. The number of people tested is extremely limited.

2/23
First community transfer confirmed in CA. (Virus has therefore been circulating, undetected, there, too.)

2/27
CDC has fixed the test issue. Most states still not getting kits. They continue being directed to send samples to CDC for testing with overly strict criteria. Even with limits and test "rationing" there are backlogs.

2/29
FDA finally begins to use its EUA power to empower labs to distribute/process tests independent of the CDC. A crucial six weeks has been lost.

2/29
DT expands travel ban to include Iran.

2/29
Governor Inslee declares state of emergency in WA (first state)

2/30
Cuomo declares disaster emergency in NY

3/1
With extremely limited testing, 42 cases in the US are confirmed. 2 deaths are attibuted to COVID-19.

People who have symptoms are directed to "self-quarantine."

3/3
Newsom declares state of emergency in CA.

3/8
497 cases have been detected. 22 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19. Test capacity continues to be so severely limited we really have no idea how many COVID-19 cases there are. Most states are still being directed to send tests to the CDC for processing. Backlog.

3/15
3,497 cases have been detected. 62 deaths attributed to COVID-19.* Some states are ramping up testing, but a vast majority continue to face severe sample collection materials shortage and/or extremely limited test processing capacity. The limitations are so severe there is no way to estimate likely incidence per capita in most regions, or to create region-specific data-driven models. In absence of anything else, preparations are necessarily based on worse case scenarios everywhere.

Statewide closure orders begin with Inslee in WA ordering closure of all bars, restaurants, recreational and entertainment facilities. NY follows March 16, and CA follows March 17, with even more restrictive "Shelter in Place" orders. More detailed state-by-state action summary here.

3/22
29,046 cases detected.

300 deaths attributed to COVID-19*

Testing still so limited the actual numbers remain essentially unknown.
Hospital admissions with COVID-19-like symptoms that resulted in death were only counted if diagnosis was confirmed by test (which was not happening with any sort of consistency)

3/29
https://covidtracking.com/data/ 7pm ET

139,061 cases detected

2,428 deaths attributed to COVID-19*

Hospitalized 19,730 (not all states report this so the actual number is probably much higher)

Continued limited testing. Actual numbers higher.
Only 254 tested per 100,000 (US)

Wide range by state. For example:
Approx 800 tested per 100,000 in NY and WA
Approx 90 tested per 100,000 in TX

+++++++++++++++++
April 7th update

3/29

12,709 deaths attributed to COVID-19*

* Underestimate. People with COVID-19-like symptoms who died before testing began to ramp up in mid-March were often not counted as COVID-19 deaths because the diagnosis was never confirmed by testing. People dying at home, and even in the hospital, were not always, and still are not always tested to confirm COVID-19 status, These cases of likely COVID-19 are not counted in reported deaths.