usernamesAreTricky

@ usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml

Posts

376
Comments

584
Joined

3 yr. ago

1y ago

South Korea's ex-president Yoon avoids questioning by taking off clothing
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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago
I think you mean super relevant actually. As we all know that is precisely what happened here, even with the seal costume and all. Any information to the contrary are total lies /s

1y ago

Senate Democrats Turn to Rare Rule to Force Release of Epstein Files

And that drags out the discussion of it the entire time. Trump wants the story to go away because it's splintering some of the base, that makes it louder at each step and makes more

So either the files do get release or the story continues to play out and become a bigger and bigger deal. Either way is not great for Trump

1y ago

Democrats invoke rare Senate rule to force release of Epstein documents

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

I'm not 100% sure he means from their redactions? I think the law only allows senators access to the files, so he might be meaning senators / senator staff releasing it after getting it then redacting victim names?

In either case, doing this still keeps it in the news which hurts Trump. Senate Dems can and should keep doing everything like this instead of Schumer's previous strategy of stuff like caving on the CR for no reason. This is notable improvement from senate dems even compared to recently

Especially because house dems have shown more fight. They were far more aggressive in trying to force votes on releasing the files which lead to Republicans just shutting down the house instead of voting on it. Which both works to show Republicans are complicit and stops them from pushing through worse bills for an extra few weeks. Senate dems tried a couple of unanimous consent votes, but didn't see it quite to the level of house dems forcing amendment votes in every committee on damn near everything

1y ago

Instagram Suspends Zohran Mamdani’s account, Leaked Memo Cites ‘National Interest’ as Meta Tilts Right

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Can't find any other reporting on his account being temporarily blocked from anywhere else

Site is even more suspicious than just being really new. nycjournals.com/blog/ has a link in "First time to the site? Start here" that goes to a page on financialbureau.org which is a dead site. Pulling it up in archive.org shows an almost identical site layout also with no real information on who's behind it

1y ago

House speaker starts August recess early to avoid Jeffrey Epstein votes

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Needs to be asked: "What did the ~~president~~ speaker know and when did he know it"

I'd also accept the Watergate quote of "I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow"

1y ago

House and Executive Branch Now Totally Derailed by Epstein

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Because his base isn't upset about those as much as they are about Epstein. He's underwater in polling on all those other things now, but his core base wasn't upset about it

Right wing media talked about Epstein a lot over the past many years. Claimed that Trump would give them all the truth. It became an ingrained belief. Then he abruptly and very suddenly contradicted all that at once and can't keep to a consistent narrative

He also directly insult his base in the back and forth. Calling them "weaklings", stupid, etc. for caring which he normally avoids doing. Normally he pretends to care about their concerns when coming up with a BS excuse

1y ago

Georgia GOP has won 2026 already — with a truly evil scheme

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Headline is misleading and actively harmful. This produces the apathy the right wants from us. That they are engaging in voter suppression does not declare the results ahead of time. It can make it more difficult to win but far, far from impossible

Don't do their dirty work for them by claiming it cannot be overcome at all. That just makes their job a lot easier. If the GOP really thought Georgia was on lock, then governor Kemp wouldn't have stated he doesn't want to run. The same for Marjorie Taylor Greene. They're super worried they'll lose and hurt their career which is not how they'd be acting if it were impossible to win

1y ago

Rep. Ro Khanna Pushes Bipartisan Bill Calling for Release of All Epstein Files

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Oh 100%, keeps it going and puts pressure on the representatives who are up for reelection. The base is already mad about this, and even those who may not abandon Trump on this may very well be willing to blame Republicans in congress

Plus dems for once are actually playing smart politics here. Over the past two weeks, they've been forcing votes on various versions of it. They've had 4 so far I believe. Some in various committees, some as amendments, etc. The Massie/Ro Khanna version of the bill would make it even harder to shoot down than those other votes because it would be fully stand alone and fairly well written to cover all the various other excuses raised earlier

1y ago

Rep. Ro Khanna Pushes Bipartisan Bill Calling for Release of All Epstein Files

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

They have enough votes (at the moment) to force this version to get through the house via a discharge petition (way of going around the speaker). All 212 dems + 10 republicans last I saw. We'll see if the 10 republicans who've said they'd back it actually hold up on final vote since they keep folding under pressure from Trump

Even if they do, I don't know if this has the votes in the Senate / nor is it a veto-proof majority. Though Trump vetoing it would likely rile up his base more on this

1y ago

RANT: MAGA is imploding. Stop turning defectors away.

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Exactly this. This should mean something like stopping rhetorical attacks on right wing followers and focusing in on leaders and ideas

And then extend that to "if you've been lied to on X maybe they also tricked you on Y". Don't give up Y to try to bring them in

1y ago

211 House Republicans Vote to Block Release of Epstein Files

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

This is the longest I've seen his base angry at Trump & Republicans for. He got ratioed on Truth Social for the first time ever. He's also doing something he rarely does - telling his base directly that their concerns don't matter to him. Republicans usually manufacture away around issues that still pretends to care about their concerns, but they are not doing that well here

I can't fully predict the future think this leaves a wound that not all the base comes back from and that matters. If say 10-20% of MAGA people don't return, that weakens his grip on power. Some percentage going away enables a permissions structure for future criticism on other issues. Wannabe authoritarians need zero criticism to be acceptable to their followers because the tiniest bit can snow ball

1y ago

Trump's effort to quell MAGA revolt over Epstein files seems to add fuel to the fire

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Trump has never been ratioed (more comments than likes) on Truth Social before - he just was here. There is something different going on here and an anger that's lasted longer than normal. Can't fully predict the future here, but this is not typical MAGA dissent. This seems like it will leave a wound

Even if most of the MAGA base goes back to forgetting about this, just 10-20% not doing the same would have a real impact

1y ago

Zohran Mamdani's momentum shows no sign of slowing down

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Also to note for others: NYC only has ranked choice for mayor in primaries (or special elections), so there is no ranked choice in this general election

1y ago

Permanently Deleted

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Not the person you are replying to, but that is severely underestimating the amount of factory farming. They are the dominant method of production

Based on the EPA's definition of a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (i.e factory farm) and USDA census data:

All fish raised in fish farms were considered to be factory-farmed. More than 98% of hens and pigs. For chickens and turkeys, the share was more than 99%. Cows were a bit more likely to be raised outside in fields, with greater space and freedom. Nonetheless, 75% were still fed in concentrated feeding operations for at least 45 days a year.

https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-animals-are-factory-farmed

And even those that are not considered factory farmed don't always look how one may think, for instance non-factory farmed cows still use plenty of grain feed

Currently, 'grass-finished' beef accounts for less than 1% of the current US supply

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aad401

None of this is not limited to the US by any means. For instance in the UK:

There are more than 1,000 US-style mega-farms in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including some holding as many as a million animals

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/18/uk-has-more-than-1000-livestock-mega-farms-investigation-reveals

Factory farming is unfortunately what scales well. If we want less factory farming we need the industry itself to be smaller. That is no impossible goal. Germany, for instance, has seen its overall meat consumption fall over the last decade

In 2011, Germans ate 138 pounds of meat each year. Today, it’s 121 pounds — a 12.3 percent decline. And much of that decline took place in the last few years, a time period when grocery sales of plant-based food nearly doubled.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23273338/germany-less-meat-plant-based-vegan-vegetarian-flexitarian

1y ago

'Jaw-dropping' new numbers expose Trump's 'critical vulnerability': GOP pollster

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

That's not what the poll asked. Wording matters a lot in polls. The question was worded as approval of deporting undocumented people in general - not necessarily of how Trump is conducting it. Quite a number of people have bought into the false the right wing narratives that most undocumented people are [insert negative thing here]. Then when they see brutal operations that don't reflect that narrative they start to oppose the operations - but not always realize the premise was false. When you poll on how Trump is conducting things, the approval falls a lot more

EDIT: which also isn't to say that those myths can't be busted, just that such a thing takes longer. Acknowledgement that the current operations are horrifying is the first step towards that

1y ago

Kennedy Wants To Let Avian Flu Run Wild. What Could Go Wrong?

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

They really don't understand the structure of the poultry industry. The genetics are controlled by Tysons and Aviagen who breed around 90 to 99% of all chickens in the industry in the US (similarly high globally). Primarily the Cobb 500 and Ross 308 which are both fast growing. They do it this way because the industry wants their super fast growth at the expense of their health

Fast-growing chickens that make up almost all the industry are already known to be at a higher risk of illness and have a worse immune system. They have all kinds of other health issues from difficulty walking to hock burns

The methods of mass killing on disease detection are also quite cruel too I should add, but this administration don't seem to be too concerned about that. Look up ventilation shutdown and foam depopulation if you want more info on that

1y ago

Democratic establishment melts down over Mamdani's win in New York

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

There's a primary for his now vacant seat this Saturday if anyone here is in that district (VA-11) and wants to avoid a repeat. Special election is in September

There are some progressives running in that primary

1y ago

Democratic establishment melts down over Mamdani's win in New York

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

Vote in every primary. The establishment can't fight as hard as they did for Cuomo everywhere. There are lot of primaries across the country that many people don't even know are happening

For instance, there's one for the US House seat in VA-11 (Most of Fairfax county + Fairfax City) this Saturday prior to the September special election to replace Gerry Connolly who died from cancer

1y ago

Millions across US turn out for ‘No Kings’ protests against Donald Trump

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

There were over 2000 protest locations alone. Thousands would mean that an average of 1-5 people showed up at each location which you can find plenty, plenty, plenty of photos to prove otherwise. For instance, you can find places with hundreds turning out in deep red small towns

1y ago

Millions across US turn out for ‘No Kings’ protests against Donald Trump

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usernamesAreTricky @lemmy.ml 1y ago

One group's estimate is least 11 million, which is at the 3.5% figure and they are still counting! Been rising hourly by millions as they continue to count the thousands of protest locations

The 3.5% is not necessarily the full iron clad guarantee it's touted as, but the high turnout is encouraging. Keep the pressure up!