Stuff that doesn't really fit in either "Examples of" thread....

topcat

Well-Known Member
Religion in alignment with their stated prosocial goals is ok, they are not using the movement to promote religion, but to motivate the movement, like black churches do. Moms for liberty who are actually fascist book burners are not, as are Christian dominionists and many southern Baptist fascists.
Shawn Fain.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Shawn Fain.
People are not one or the other and in matters of religion there are a lot of grey areas, Jimmy Carter is a Christian who walks the walk and talks the talk, who I respect. Others claim to be Christians but are anything but. Ask republicans if they think Donld Trump is a "good" Christian man", or if he is better for unions and on the economy than Joe Biden! Social justice had its roots in Christianity, anti-slavery and labor Unions too.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member

How fallout from a major Trump family scandal illustrates institutional self-policing

Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald Trump's older sister, who died today at age 86, last made national headlines in 2019 when she resigned from the federal judiciary, short-circuiting a court investigation that followed New York Times reporting on the Trump family’s tax practices. Rachel Maddow cites Trump Barry's resignation as an example of how institutions enforce a societal accountability separate from criminal justice.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
He might be able to pull in Trump or some of his minions at least. It is a simple matter that should have been settled long ago with a fine, like all other similar cases. He is a private citizen and there was and is a conspiracy among republicans to smear him and they abused their offices to do it and made him the victim of thousands of death threats. With all the rats running and squealing from Trump's sinking legal ship maybe they might mention something about it on the witness stand.

With some financial backing and law suits he could probably ruin dozens of the bastards financially over the coming years.

 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Think about the situation in ten years, perhaps half the cars on the road could be EVs, what will that do to the price of gas and market. Domestic production should be able to take care of any remaining demand and people like OPEC should have a lot less power over American politics. America's national security focus will shift from securing oil to other sources of supply, and it could mean less overseas commitments. Of course, the republicans could come to power, and they are for sale to the highest bidder, so things could take a giant step back in America, but nowhere else, except Russia.

Over time I expect gasoline prices to be less of a factor in politics, and EVs and solar generation could lead to a bit of deflation as a lot of people's transportation costs are reduced. Gas prices are politics and so is inflation, as is the share of the national wealth taken in taxes and the rights of workers. It is a disruptive technology for oil and utility companies, as well as OPEC, how do you disrupt? By doing it cheaper and in this case better too, eventually.

 

topcat

Well-Known Member
Think about the situation in ten years, perhaps half the cars on the road could be EVs, what will that do to the price of gas and market. Domestic production should be able to take care of any remaining demand and people like OPEC should have a lot less power over American politics. America's national security focus will shift from securing oil to other sources of supply, and it could mean less overseas commitments. Of course, the republicans could come to power, and they are for sale to the highest bidder, so things could take a giant step back in America, but nowhere else, except Russia.

Over time I expect gasoline prices to be less of a factor in politics, and EVs and solar generation could lead to a bit of deflation as a lot of people's transportation costs are reduced. Gas prices are politics and so is inflation, as is the share of the national wealth taken in taxes and the rights of workers. It is a disruptive technology for oil and utility companies, as well as OPEC, how do you disrupt? By doing it cheaper and in this case better too, eventually.





Trump Biden did that.jpg
 

printer

Well-Known Member
Rupert Murdoch to be deposed as part of Smartmatic suit against Fox News
Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch will face questioning this week from lawyers for voting systems company Smartmatic as part of the company’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News over its coverage of the 2020 election.

The deposition will take place Tuesday in Los Angeles, Reuters reported.

Murdoch, 92, until this month served as chairman of Fox and News Corp. before ceding control of the company to his eldest son Lachlan and taking on the role of “Chairman Emeritus.”

In April, with Rupert Murdoch still at the helm, Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to settle similar claims of defamation stemming from statements made on its airwaves about Dominion’s software that were being promoted by former President Trump and his allies.

As part of that litigation, Dominion lawyers made public Rupert Murdoch’s sworn depositions and internal communications around the time of the 2020 election, some of which showed him criticizing Trump and his false claims of a stolen election.

Smartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox, accusing it of maliciously giving Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani a platform to air falsehoods about the election.

Fox has denied Smartmatic’s accusations and has moved in court to have the case dismissed, so far unsuccessfully. The network has also argued Smartmatic is inflating its valuation as it attempts to win a settlement.

“We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025,” the network said in a statement about the case. “As a report prepared by our financial expert shows, Smartmatic’s damages claims are implausible, disconnected from reality, and on its face intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.”
 

printer

Well-Known Member
Protecting family values.

Russia Decriminalized Domestic Violence With Support from the Russian Orthodox Church
2017 - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law on Tuesday an amendment that decriminalizes domestic violence, making physical abuse of a spouse, child, or elder parent punishable by a monetary fine rather than time in prison. Both houses of Russian parliament approved the measure handily—the first reading of the amendment in the lower house passed 386 to one.

Under the new law, a person can beat his spouse or child until she’s bloodied and bruised, and as long as her injuries don’t require a hospital stay, he’ll get hit with a fine if his victim presses charges. The most jail time he’ll serve will be 15 days. Previously, domestic abusers faced a maximum of two years in prison. The amendment offers domestic abusers this easy out as long as they don’t commit more than one severe beating a year.

The law was written by member of parliament Yelena Mizulina, who also drafted the country’s 2013 “gay propaganda” law that’s had a chilling effect on LGBTQ life in Russia. Domestic violence only became a crime in Russia in summer 2016, when parliament decided that people who beat their spouses and family members should be punished as criminals. Now, survivors of domestic abuse must collect evidence and track doctors’ visits themselves before filing a complaint; since it’s no longer a criminal offense, police don’t have to investigate.

The Guardian reports that advocates for the new amendment have argued for “traditional families” with parent-child relationships “built on authority and power.” They claim they were merely trying to close a loophole that would have allowed a stranger to get off with a lesser sentence for beating a woman or child than that victim’s husband or parent. The Russian Orthodox Church has also pushed for looser restrictions on domestic abusers, claiming that the state should not interfere in family matters and that calls to make domestic violence a crime are informed by Western influences that want to impose liberal values on Russia.

Domestic violence is widely recognized as an epidemic in Russia, where each month, more than 600 women are killed in their own homes. In 2013, Russian officials reported that 600,000 women reported being physically or verbally abused at home; that year, 14,000 died from injuries inflicted by an intimate partner.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law on Tuesday an amendment that decriminalizes domestic violence, making physical abuse of a spouse, child, or elder parent punishable by a monetary fine rather than time in prison. Both houses of Russian parliament approved the measure handily—the first reading of the amendment in the lower house passed 386 to one.

Under the new law, a person can beat his spouse or child until she’s bloodied and bruised, and as long as her injuries don’t require a hospital stay, he’ll get hit with a fine if his victim presses charges. The most jail time he’ll serve will be 15 days. Previously, domestic abusers faced a maximum of two years in prison. The amendment offers domestic abusers this easy out as long as they don’t commit more than one severe beating a year.

The law was written by member of parliament Yelena Mizulina, who also drafted the country’s 2013 “gay propaganda” law that’s had a chilling effect on LGBTQ life in Russia. Domestic violence only became a crime in Russia in summer 2016, when parliament decided that people who beat their spouses and family members should be punished as criminals. Now, survivors of domestic abuse must collect evidence and track doctors’ visits themselves before filing a complaint; since it’s no longer a criminal offense, police don’t have to investigate.

The Guardian reports that advocates for the new amendment have argued for “traditional families” with parent-child relationships “built on authority and power.” They claim they were merely trying to close a loophole that would have allowed a stranger to get off with a lesser sentence for beating a woman or child than that victim’s husband or parent. The Russian Orthodox Church has also pushed for looser restrictions on domestic abusers, claiming that the state should not interfere in family matters and that calls to make domestic violence a crime are informed by Western influences that want to impose liberal values on Russia.

Domestic violence is widely recognized as an epidemic in Russia, where each month, more than 600 women are killed in their own homes. In 2013, Russian officials reported that 600,000 women reported being physically or verbally abused at home; that year, 14,000 died from injuries inflicted by an intimate partner.

Administrative fines are not an effective means of disrupting cycles of domestic violence, which often intensify with each go-round. A husband whose wife gathers enough evidence to file a complaint against him is unlikely to cease his abuse after paying a fine. Moreover, decriminalizing abuse within the family sends a strong message that the Russian state condones the enforcement of obedience through violence—a message husbands and parents will undoubtedly hear, on account of all the press this amendment has gotten.

In another country, that press attention might have also opened channels for more robust discussion and awareness-raising about domestic violence. But Russian authorities have prohibited opponents of the new law from staging a protest in Moscow, effectively stifling public debate. Anti–domestic violence activist Alena Popova told the Guardian that she’s been protesting outside the parliament building on her own, listening to supporters of the law defend wife-beating and fielding accusations that she’s been paid by Western nations.

Here in the U.S., noted friend of Russia Donald Trump is reportedly planning to cut all federal grants housed under the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, grants that provide essential support to victims of sexual assault, intimate-partner violence, elder abuse, stalking, and children who witness the abuse of a parent. At the same time, the president has signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to disseminate information on “acts of gender-based violence against women or honor killings by foreign-born individuals in the United States”—a Nazi-esque act of propaganda designed to stoke fear of and prejudice against immigrants. One wonders what the man who practically made alleged domestic abuse a prerequisite for a cabinet nomination thinks of gender-based violence that’s perpetuated by Russian Christians instead of his imaginary immigrant villains.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/02/russia-decriminalized-domestic-violence-with-support-from-the-russian-orthodox-church.html
 

printer

Well-Known Member
Well Trump in his trial asked for every document that might be in the DOJ, FBI, every government agency that might have something on him.
Prosecutors push back against Hunter Biden's move to subpoena Trump documents in gun case
Prosecutors pushed back Monday against Hunter Biden's move to subpoena documents from Donald Trump and former Justice Department officials in the firearms case filed against the president's son.

They argued that Hunter Biden doesn't have enough evidence to support his claims of potential political interference in the criminal investigation against him and urged a judge to reject the subpoena requests.

“His allegations and subpoena requests focus on likely inadmissible, far-reaching, and non-specific categories of documents concerning the actions and motives of individuals who did not make the relevant prosecutorial decision in his case,” prosecutor Leo Wise wrote in court documents.

The investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes and a gun purchase began in 2018, while Trump, a Republican, was still president. But charges weren’t brought until this year, while his father was president, something Wise called an “inconvenient truth” that undercuts the defense’s argument.

The subpoena request is before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika.

Hunter Biden’s attorneys have alleged there were “certain instances that appear to suggest incessant, improper, and partisan pressure applied” by Trump to his then-Attorney General William Barr and two top deputies, Jeffrey Rosen and Richard Donoghue. They cited public comments made by Trump, information from the House panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and details from a book by Barr.

The charges against Hunter Biden allege he broke laws against drug users having guns in 2018. He has pleaded not guilty, and the case is on a track toward a possible trial in 2024 while his father, a Democrat who defeated Trump in 2020, is campaigning for reelection.

The long-running case had appeared to be headed for a plea deal this summer, but the agreement on tax and gun charges broke down after Noreika, a Trump nominee, raised questions about it during a plea hearing. No new tax charges have yet been filed, but the special counsel overseeing the case has indicated they are possible in California, where Hunter Biden lives.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
There should be a nationwide movement to amend the Constitution.


Buffett stated, “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.”
 

BudmanTX

Well-Known Member
nice to see people still working with Fusion.....

Japan and the European Union have officially inaugurated testing at the world’s largest experimental nuclear fusion plant. Located roughly 85 miles north of Tokyo, the six-story, JT-60SA “tokamak” facility heats plasma to 200 million degrees Celsius (around 360 million Fahrenheit) within its circular, magnetically insulated reactor. Although JT-60SA first powered up during a test run back in October, the partner governments’ December 1 announcement marks the official start of operations at the world’s biggest fusion center, reaffirming a “long-standing cooperation in the field of fusion energy.”

The tokamak—an acronym of the Russian-language designation of “toroidal chamber with magnetic coils”—has led researchers’ push towards achieving the “Holy Grail” of sustainable green energy production for decades. Often described as a large hollow donut, a tokamak is filled with gaseous hydrogen fuel that is then spun at immense high speeds using powerful magnetic coil encasements. When all goes as planned, intense force ionizes atoms to form helium plasma, much like how the sun produces its energy.

Speaking at the inauguration event, EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson referred to the JT-60SA as “the most advanced tokamak in the world,” representing “a milestone for fusion history.”

“Fusion has the potential to become a key component for energy mix in the second half of this century,” she continued.

But even if such a revolutionary milestone is crossed, it likely won’t be at JT-60SA. Along with its still-in-construction sibling, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Europe, the projects are intended solely to demonstrate scalable fusion’s feasibility. Current hopes estimate ITER’s operational start for sometime in 2025, although the undertaking has been fraught with financial, logistical, and construction issues since its groundbreaking back in 2011.

Experts alongside Simson believe creating sustainable nuclear fusion would mark a revolutionary moment that could ensure an emissionless, renewable energy future. Making the power source a feasible reality, however, is fraught with technological and economic hurdles. Researchers have chased this goal for a long time: The world’s first experimental tokamak was built back in 1958 by the USSR.

While researchers can now generate fusion energy at multiple facilities around the world, it is usually at a net loss. By advancing the technology further at facilities like JT-60SA, however, industry experts think that it is only a matter of time until fusion reactors regularly achieve net energy production gains.

In the meantime, another possible road to fusion energy is making its own promising gains. Earlier this year, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Northern California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved a net energy gain for the second time using what’s the inertial confinement fusion method. In this process, a high-powered laser is split into 192 beams that then hit a capsule containing a pellet of tritium and deuterium. The resultant X-rays generate pressure and temperatures that then initiate fusion.

No matter which process—be it tokamak reactors or ICF lasers—a successful nuclear fusion facility could play a major role in finally shifting humanity away from fossil fuels.


tried to save ya from the click bait...
 

Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Trouble in little China?

Dictators will dick. He's replacing the people he purged with scared yes men. What just happened is like charging the passenger of a vehicle after the driver hit a a pedestrian. There are more than a billion reasons why it's better for the planet if China avoids an economic downturn that leads to widespread discontent in that country. So, yeah, keep an eye out for the next shoe to drop. What will that be? Media crackdowns? Show trials of scapegoat business executives? More purges? A thousand dead after a protest in Tiananmen square? The only question I have is the order in which they occur.
 
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