WTF-Beta

I could never understand how someone with his reported ethics and values could end up aligning himself with the horror of MAGA. I just don't understand it.

Jennifer Rubin's thoughts on Graham the politician. I find it hard not to agree with her.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) passed away suddenly Saturday night from an apparent tear in his aorta. Unfortunately, Senate colleagues and most legacy media outlets are avoiding the hard reckoning he deserves. Few American politicians have been as disastrously wrong in their advocacy for regime change in the Middle East, not just once but twice, or in their indulgence in an Israeli right-wing government that took Israel (and in turn, U.S. policy) down a morally abhorrent road of domestic reprehension of Palestinians. He supported authoritarian rule in derogation of Israel’s professed democratic values and reckless violence aimed at the utterly unattainable goal of obliterating military threats to Israel’s survival at the expense of attainable diplomatic solutions.

Domestically, he played a small but critical role in trying to steal the 2020 election, assisting Donald Trump’s campaign to “find” nonexistent votes to swing Georgia’s election results. His role in demagoguing and running roughshod over now Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual assault victims marked a low point in Supreme Court confirmation hearings and helped steer the court toward its downward spiral into rank partisanship. More generally, his support for a corrupt, racist, conspiracy-mongering president who threatens the fiber of our democracy leaves a legacy of moral cowardice. As someone who formally supported comprehensive immigration reform, his indulgence of the rank racism and domestic campaign of terror against migrants exemplifies the rot at the core of the Republican Party.

We leave it to others to scrounge for redeeming features or accomplishments that contributed to the well-being of Americans and the advancement of our democratic values. His career should stand as a reminder that, in the end, access to power and electoral success mean little. History will judge him harshly for his role in the MAGA assault on democracy and America’s disastrous loss of international stature.

Not to be morbid, but dead or alive? I don't know what to think, but I suspect the news is not good and we are seeing a cover up.

@wtg Yeah, it happened on one of my posts that I looked at last night.

@AdagioM Good.

“Our intent was to provide a useful creative tool and to give people control over whether their public content could be referenced in this way. We’ve heard the feedback that this feature missed the mark, so it’s no longer available.”

Liars. If they wanted to give people control, their default modus operandi would be "opt in". Bastards.

@jon-nyc Public accounts.

@wtg Ditto. I have no accounts at any Meta apps. I checked, and my Google search history is also off.

@Axtremus I have my Youtube history setting to off, but because I only watch videos from people I'm subscribed to (and similar videos from people I'm not subscribed to), I almost always click the 'like' button on as a courtesy to the creators and to help their stats. For that reason, Youtube knows pretty much my history because they automatically create a playlist called "Liked Videos" and if I were to delete it, Youtube would remove all of my "likes". Bastards.

Meta just added a feature to Instagram that allows any user to use your photo to create new AI images in your likeness. Such intrusions like this should be opt-in not opt-out. There is no other word for it: AI companies are bastards.

https://www.wired.com/story/meta-now-lets-anyone-use-your-instagram-photos-in-ai-images-unless-you-opt-out/

Another Vermont bread maker. Just north of Burlington. Wish I'd known when I went over to Burlington last fall, I might have looked for a loaf... which was probably sold out.

Just amazing ...

@CHAS Why? They've been making farm equipment since 1837. When I was a child, our neighbors, the Clarks, had John Deere equipment. We had Farmall.

Good news on the right to repair front.

Something folk remedies have been aware of for some time.

@AndyD No, I'm pretty sure that the back part is her house. Yeah, it looks pretty iffy and I wonder what it's like in the winter! The weather there would be pretty much the same as here, hovering around 0F many days in wintertime. Maybe it's all patched up and insulated but can't see that.

All behind paywalls. But I did read an article at ms.now about ME's party executive director's comments. IMO, it's too heavy handed and they could shoot themselves in the foot.

“Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like.

“We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race, so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November.

"They have no role", "Platner must drop out". First off, Platner does not need to drop out. It is entirely his prerogative. "They have no role" is confrontational and entirely the wrong approach in this delicate situation.

I am on the side of having the voters decide, but they can't just brush Platner aside, he has leverage. They need tact, and should try to work with him while emphasizing that the voters should have a say. To say he has no role is not good, it's antagonistic.

She's amazing. For the bread makers, here she makes bread.

Wow. Gotta admire this woman. Vershire isn't too far from here.

@RealPlayer I don't think it's unusual. Engineers figure it out. But what I've read is that the developers of this construction have racked up several violations and have deviated from agreed upon plans. Don't take my word for it though.

@jon-nyc I think it would be best if Platner can (legally) pick his successor. But I thought Maine law was pretty clear on what has to happen. Hope they can make it work.

As far as polling goes, Platner was doing as well as anyone could be.

@jon-nyc said:

@Bernard said:

@jon-nyc Cheap shot but that's come to be expected.

Can you elaborate?

No. I didn't see the full picture. I will delete my post.

@jon-nyc His elaborated response...

“We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner said.

“You never turned your back on me, and I will not turn my back on you now,” he said. “Every one of you deserves to see that vision come to fruition, and see Susan Collins defeated, and we will use every tool at our disposal to do so. As Maine goes, so goes the nation.”

If the party has to appoint a successor, Maine is going to have another Kamala situation--where they'll be forced to vote for someone they didn't choose. I don't think that's going to go over well. More friction in the party, If Platner isn't steely enough to continue they'd be best to pick someone as close to his vision and philosophy as possible. But I think Maine is now lost to Collins.

There is something absolutely rotten, if not fishy, about the timing of this this news. It took less than three hours for Gilibrand (again!) and Schumer called for his ouster. Why now, less than a week away from a deadline? She was interviewed by the NYTimes earlier this year. Nothing.

Collins can go fuck herself, hypocritical bitch. She voted for Kavanaugh.

Collins herself weighed in on social media: “These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.”