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raynetoday

@raynetoday@mstdn.social

Searching for my dharma in spite of the weather. Specializing in competitive intelligence and technology. Contributor at http://emptywheel.net
(Ex-Twitter: @raynetoday)

Note: I block accounts which do not have a profile and header picture. This is not the only criteria I use for blocking.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

redcrew , to random
@redcrew@mstdn.social avatar

Listening to Oakland County prosecutor talk about preventing gun violence and mass shootings.

I disagree with her

No, it's not about mental health.

No, there doesn't need to be a stress assessment for your community or schools

It's the guns.

Mass shootings happen daily in the United States.

It's the guns.

raynetoday ,
@raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

@Npars01 @benroyce @redcrew The court was corrupted first -- Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion on Citizens United was crucial and telling, especially since the decision was 5-4. See excerpt from Wikipedia below.

It was Citizens United which allowed Russia to donate large amounts of dark money to the NRA; the NRA was manipulated at the same time by Russian spy Maria Butina and her handler. NRA shifted nearly 100% of its Senate campaign donations to GOP candidates post-Citizens United.

Screenshot of graph from OpenSecrets showing history of National Rifle Association donations to GOP and Dem party. Marked up to show when Citizens United was decided and when Russian spy Maria Butina began to influence GOP through NRA.

Screenshot excerpt from Wikipedia entry for Citizens United v. FEC (2010), Concurring Opinions, Justice Clarence Thomas. Text: Justice Clarence Thomas, another member of the majority, also wrote a separate concurring opinion in which he disagreed with upholding the disclosure provisions of BCRA Sections 201 and 311. In order to protect the anonymity of contributors to organizations exercising free speech, Thomas would have struck down those reporting requirements, rather than allowing them to be challenged only on a case-by-case basis. Thomas's primary argument was that anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment and that making contributor lists public makes the contributors vulnerable to retaliation. Thomas also expressed concern that such retaliation could extend to retaliation by elected officials.
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  • Reply
    • + Npars01
    raynetoday , to random
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    Oh please. Give me a fucking break. As if Turley isn't a key contributor to the far right's manufactured outrage machine.

    The Hill runs this crap with a disclaimer, as if we can't see through its history of pushing right-wing bullshit like Turley's.

    raynetoday OP ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    They're coming out of the wood work to protect slack-assed Sammy.

    Gee, why would a professor at a CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY find nothing wrong with a CATHOLIC SCOTUS JURIST pushing the US toward a theocracy, as if nothing was wrong with that?

    Alito isn't just exercising free speech -- he's telling us how he practices his faith on the bench.

    raynetoday , to random
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    Via Canyon Country Zephyr blog site.

    https://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/blog/2012/06/13/george-orwell-on-journalism/

    Photo: middle-aged woman attending a protest rally while holding a cardboard sign printed in black ink with a quote attributed to George Orwell: “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.” source: https://www.canyoncountryzephyr.com/blog/2012/06/13/george-orwell-on-journalism/
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    • + Xenograg
    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    Gift link:

    ’s Spending: $43,000 a Month and a Lot of Credit Card Bills

    Rudy Giuliani promised a bankruptcy court that he would limit his spending, but it didn’t take long before he broke that pledge, and by a lot.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/us/politics/bankruptcy-giuliani-spending.html?unlocked_article_code=1.o00.AFii.-gqxdk6tStlp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff I see Rudy cut at least one expense — no more hair color.

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    #WompWomp

    NYT- #Tesla has agreed to recall nearly 4,000 of its Cybertruck pickups to fix an accelerator pedal that can get stuck, raising the risk of crashes, a federal safety agency said on Friday.

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff So all of the Tesla Cybertrucks delivered to date have been recalled -- because a pedal part was glued and soap was involved. LMAO

    https://www.autoevolution.com/news/tesla-recalls-3900-cybertrucks-for-faulty-accelerator-pedals-there-s-no-software-fix-232604.html

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    Via Roger Parloff:

    #Trump jurors' news sources. (More watch BBC than Fox. Not one reads NY Daily News--ouch.) From
    nytimes:
    https://bit.ly/3xKEg4L

    #TrumpTrial

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff Yikes. Three news sources cited by five jurors on the list are Murdoch properties: NYPost, Fox, WSJ.

    Google and Facebook aren't news sources but aggregators, so we don't know that the five jurors who cited it as a source are also consuming Murdoch media through those platforms.

    TikTok, X, and Truth Social may have news outlets but who knows if they're consuming more Murdoch through those sites.

    Ugh.

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff I suspect having already lost a sizeable number of juror candidates when they were asked if they could be fair, they couldn't weed too finely on media.

    There are two whose media consumption is sketchy -- [2] who relies on Truth Social and X, and [5] who claimed Google and TikTok. Number [2] is worrisome.

    List of Murdoch news consumer jurors seated in Trump's hush money trial, listed by juror number and the news media they said they consumed. [1] DM / Fox / MSNBC / NYT [3] Google / NYT / WSJ [7] NYPost / NYT / WSJ / WaPo / WNYC [8] BBC / CNBC / NYT / WSJ [Alt-1] NYT / WSJ (source of juror-media information: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/nyregion/trump-trial-jury-news.html)
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    • raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff LOL I'd seen that in your feed and I'm still laughing about it. This trial might be more entertaining than I've expected.

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    They can't even stand being with each other.

    Via Rupar:

    the Republican parties aren't as fun in the post-Madison Cawthorn era

    Olivia Beavers:

    👀 Less than 100 House GOP members are going to the Republican retreat in West Virginia this week, per source familiar

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff Or they need every moment they can muster for fundraising after the Trump crime family took possession of the RNC and will now clean out the remaining coffers.

    Bwahahahahahah!!!

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    But will he donate to Trump’s legal fund? 🤔

    Via The Hill:

    “#Musk says he won't spend on presidential race after reports of Trump meeting

    Billionaire tech and media mogul Elon Musk said he will not be giving money to either President #Biden or #Trump this year as the two prepare to face off in the fall. "Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for US President“

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff If he was going to help Trump, think Musk would do something else rather than an obvious donation. Probably a quid pro quo involving Truth Social and the DWAC SPAC deal, if I had to guess.

    Or perhaps Musk is looking to develop a new golf course/condo tower. LOL

    Whatever Musk might agree to will be just as transactional as Trump is.

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @tiamat271 @GottaLaff All the more reason to fight like hell for a Democratic majority in the Senate, so that none of Trump's corrupt appointments will get through should the worst happen and the demented orange hellbeast win in November.

    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    #WompWomp 1/...

    Former #Twitter Executives Sue Elon #Musk for $128 Million

    "The plaintiffs, including Parag Agrawal, the former chief executive, are asking for severance after they lost their jobs during Mr. Musk’s 2022 takeover of the company." #legal
    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/04/technology/twitter-executives-sue-musk.html

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff I had to double check that was Musk and not Trump.

    Next there will be reports Musk has cheated on his partners and had kids by different mothers.

    raynetoday , to random
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    If this guy's father was still alive I think he'd slap him into next week for being so goddamned stupid.

    Congress has the power to regulate commerce, asshat. Transactions are commerce.

    Congress also has the power to coin money and regulate its value. Regulating money assures safety in commerce.

    And of course news media including Axios never pins him on this.
    https://mstdn.social/@axios@mastodon.social/112039196922754348

    Screencap of Mastodon post by Axios - @axios@mastodon.social - published March 04, 2024, 15:01 ET RFK Jr. pushes Bitcoin as a *freedom" technology at a crypto conference in Denver: “Transactional freedom is as important as freedom of expression.” Headline of embedded article: "RFK, Jr. pitches bitcoin as freedom tech at Denver crypto conference"
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  • Reply
    • + GottaLaff
    GottaLaff , to random
    @GottaLaff@mastodon.social avatar

    Here we go again: Someone replies “we DESERVE” who we get in elections… Me: No, we didn’t DESERVE Trump. (There were dirty tricks, election interference, 7 million more for Hillary). He then felt he had to explain we don’t use pop vote in elections. No kidding. I asked that he “please don’t twist my words, my issue was “DESERVE”. His reply? “I’ll make a conscious effort to passively consume your content without further engagement moving fwd.”

    I never sugg he shouldn’t opine. Debating here is 🤪

    raynetoday ,
    @raynetoday@mstdn.social avatar

    @GottaLaff Oh all of that.

    How do any Americans who are suppressed and unable to exercise their right to vote deserve the kind of wretch who would take even more of their civil rights?

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