kegill

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Hitler (1933 to 1945) and Stalin (1939-1941) murdered about 14,000,000 people in Poland, Soviet Belarus, Soviet Ukraine, the Baltic States, and the western fringe of Soviet Russia.

We tend to forget about Stalin’s WWII-era crimes before Hitler turned on him in 1941 and he became an “ally” (convenience).

Hitler murdered about as many non-Jews as Jews.

Not in camps.

By starvation.

Today, that’s Gaza

From Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder
https://a.co/6tcK1Jm

Map of what historian Timothy Snyder calls the “bloodlands.”

kegill, 2 months ago to random

“Victor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, very tough man, probably the toughest guy there is, frankly toughest in Europe, a lot of people don’t like him because he’s tough, he says,” GOP presidential candidate Donald #Trump told supporters in Ohio, earlier this month.

Brynn Tannehill, technical analyst with RAND, warns that democracy’s guardrails are penetrable, making Trump’s fondness for autocrats perhaps more worrisome than his red financial ledger.

https://themoderatevoice.com/a-trump-return-to-the-white-house-is-a-threat-to-democratic-institutions-rand-analyst/

kegill, 2 months ago to random

20 March 2020
Day 60

: US has identified ~20,000 #COVID19 cases, deaths in 30 states

: In Italy, deaths increased almost 50% from Th to Fr

: Florida beaches are closed

: Governors in three states have told one-in-five Americans to stay home

: In Tennessee, Elvis Presley's Graceland is now closed to the public.

: President Trump has limited non-essential travel between Mexico and the United States via executive order.

#onthisday

https://kathyegill.substack.com/p/20-march-2020-covid-19-news

kegill, 2 months ago to random

In 2013, a jury convicted C. J. Rice of four counts of attempted murder.

Today, he walks outside, exonerated.

Anecdote 2,382 (2021 data) of why America must abolish the death penalty.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/cj-rice-philadelphia-exonerated/677787/?utm_source=apple_news

https://archive.is/rb1g2

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Today’s journalistic malpractice comes from @washingtonpost

In a story about Fred Trump’s Alzheimer diagnosis… Michael Kranish decided to go for the outrageous over the nuanced with regard to President Biden.

Kranish used the inflammatory media soundbite that treated a Trump-appointed LAWYER as though he were a GERIATIC PSYCHOLOGIST.

His own paper added nuance once DOJ released the full transcript.

ai6yr, 2 months ago to random

And now you know why my parents (immigrants to the US who have been here since the 60's) started carrying their US Passports when traveling around the US around 2016.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/how-texas-plan-to-arrest-migrants-for-illegal-entry-would-work

kegill, 2 months ago to books

🛑🛑🛑
Whatever you’re doing, stop.
Read this.
I suggest having tissues handy.
Then fire up your library app and get in the queue.
❤️❤️❤️

🎁 #GiftLink #FreeLink #books #Reading
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/18/books/tommy-orange-there-there-wandering-stars.html?unlocked_article_code=1.d00.o4Gk.tptQCWdBkbMA&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

kegill, 2 months ago to random

ON THIS DAY IN 2020
19 March
Day 59

It’s day 59 since the first case of “coronavirus disease” was announced in the US.

Italy, with a population of 60 million, has had 3,405 deaths with 41,035 #Covid29 cases. On 10 March 2020, the number of cases almost doubled in 48 hours. Lockdown.

Not in the US.

But governors are closing schools; limiting the size of public gatherings; and shutting down entertainment venues. The country isn’t locked down, but CA is.

.
. (1/2)

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Hell yes!
“James Ginsburg said his mother would have been “appalled” by honours given in her name to “people who pretty much stand against all the things that she stood for in terms of trying to … make the world a better place for people striving for equality and for a more inclusive world where everybody is treated with respect

#RBG

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/18/rbg-elon-musk-rupert-murdoch https://mastodon.social/@kegill/112103927298438750

kegill, 2 months ago to random

“On January 6th, for a span of several hours, Pence became America’s indispensable man. And he answered the call.”

IF YOU READ ONLY ONE article about the election today, let it be this one.

Mike Pence should be the biggest story of the 2024 campaign, parts 1 & 2

https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/mike-pence-will-not-endorse-trump?r=5wdm&utm_medium=ios

No American vice president has ever said that president he served under is unfit to serve. It is the most devastating possible observation from the most credible source in existence. Pence’s refusal to endorse Trump should be part of the context of every single story about this campaign. Jonathan V Last Mike Pence should be the biggest story of the 2024 campaign The Bulwark

kegill, 2 months ago to books

“I am a little man and this is a little town, but there must be a spark in little men that can burst into flame.”
~ Mayor Orden on the spark of resistance
In ‘The Moon is Down’
John Steinbeck, 1942

#Steinbeck wanted to support democracy and those fighting totalitarianism. So he wrote a short novel about a hypothetical small town in northern Europe.

#WW2 #Propaganda #Resistance
#Books #Reading #History… (1/2)

ChrisMayLA6, 2 months ago to Economics

This graphic (circulated by Bridget Doran on LinkedIn) neatly sums up the problem with the simple message that growth needs to be prioritised & measured via a nominal GDP measure.

In this sense it reflects a heckle reported by Anand Menon nearly a decade ago, during a lecture on GDP & the problems of growth:

'That’s your bloody GDP. Not ours'!

The simple truth that growth is unevenly distributed is often lost in policy discussions!

#economics #growth #inequality #GDP

Sheril, 2 months ago to science

Beatrice ‘Tilly’ Shilling was born in 1909 in Hampshire. She became an aeronautical engineer & daredevil motorcycle racer.

In 1936, Shilling joined The Royal Aircraft Establishment. 5 yrs later, she led a team that designed a device to prevent Merlin plane engines from stalling during flight, which helped the Allies win WWII.

Shilling was also the 2nd woman to earn a Brooklands Gold Star for lapping the track at >100mph. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Shilling #science #history

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Timothy Snyder has written a critical counterpoint to Trump’s “bloodbath” speech in Ohio.

For almost 10 years, Trump’s political rhetoric has emphasized an us-v-them dichotomy. For at least four years, he weaves violence into every public appearance.

https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-strongman-fantasy

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Imagine what Ukraine’s military could be doing if MAGA House Speaker Mike Johnson weren’t under Putin’s thumb via Trump.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-strikes-russian-city-refinery-day-two-presidential-vote-2024-03-16/

kegill, 2 months ago to random

“An affront to the memory of our mother and grandmother.” Ruth Bader Ginsburg family blindsided by 2024 awardees

An outraged Ruth Bader Ginsburg family said it "has no affiliation with and does not endorse" giving Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken, Sylvester Stallone and Martha Stewart an award in RBG's name.

The "Foundation" has not filed an IRS 990 since 2020.

#RBG

https://themoderatevoice.com/an-affront-to-the-memory-of-our-mother-and-grandmother-ruth-bader-ginsburg-family-blindsided-by-2024-awardees/

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Four notorious men will receive an award honoring "strong and resilient women who have dedicated their lives to...positive change in society" ... an award named for Ruth Bader Ginsberg.

The sponsoring Foundation appears defunct.

This is NOT the Onion.

W.T.F.

https://themoderatevoice.com/why-is-the-dwight-d-opperman-foundation-giving-an-award-to-elon-musk-in-rbgs-name/

kegill, 2 months ago to random

Trump continues to defame E. Jean Carroll, like a stuck replay button

However, life is not a game. Defamation demands consequences. Now, not after an eternity of appeals.

News organizations are co-dependent.

https://themoderatevoice.com/trump-continues-to-defame-e-jean-carroll-like-a-stuck-replay-button/

dangillmor, 2 months ago to random

"There is something wrong at the New York Times" --

https://www.salon.com/2024/03/05/there-is-something-at-the-new-york-times/

This is a well-reported, and pretty much conclusive, indictment of the Times' increasingly terrible political journalism.

The Salon piece focuses on super-flawed recent polls the Times has sponsored and touted -- but the rot goes much, much deeper.

"mistakes" are no longer a plausible explanation. Much more likely is willful blindness. Or, and I hope this is not true, outright malign intent.

kegill, 2 months ago to random

I understand that @pluralistic coined ‘enshittification’ to describe how a digital platform devolves from being useful to people so it grows to, well, an abusive partner that treats its base and advertisers like 💩.

https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/enshittification-the-2023-word-of-the-year

Unfortunately, there are too many examples of how people/businesses co-opt internet protocols and then act like that abuser’s identical twin.

Thus the meaning of “enshittification” evolves. An example from Bluesky. (I read it a little.)