All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Malvolio]

Had a friend days ago try and tell me how someone can kill as many with several hand guns. Even me a non gun person is like ? Your seriously saying this with an assault rifle that can fire way more bullets so many seconds ? Yet he kept persisting this.

"Several" hand guns? How does he think anyone can hold and fire any more than two at a time?

[CaptainEurope]

I hope Michael Moore is right about another blue wave next month.

I also noticed how flustered Ron gets when confronted in person. I can't tell if he's about to explode with anger or start crying.

If old man Crist can make him look so bad, imagine what Trump would do with him in a primary debate. Ron better start giving the DOJ info on Mar-A-Lago if he ever wants to be president.

[myownlittleusername]

"Several" hand guns? How does he think anyone can hold and fire any more than two at a time?

When one handgun runs out of bullets you switch to the next one, faster than reloading.

[Username taken]

I havnt been following the news much. Why I havnt been post much on the thread as of late. So I had no idea what was going on with Kanye West until I watched they news and they shows some demonstration from a White hate group with their "Kanye is right about the Jews signs." and in what may be the only time the GOP comes to the defense of a black man talking about "Cancel Culture." going after Kanye. So I listened to the things he said.

Yikes the whole thing. This day in age we have people who not only feel this way and openly speak about it but a large group of the population that defends them.

Maybe it is because of the mood I have been in the last few days. But I sit here and think of the direction of this world, the school shootings, the 6 top news stories on my local news being about shootings 2 of which involve children, the racists being openly celebrated, rights being taken away from people, the hate crimes, pandemics, a war caused by a mad man causing untold suffering for so many, a supporter of terrorism being the front runner for president.

I just dont know how we fix this. I just dont know how we come back or if we even can.

I actually said the same thing in the minority thread.

The world is in a pretty disturbing way right now and things aren’t looking good.

To top it all off, there’s the possibility of extremists taking of the House and Senate. Throw in a radical Supreme Court and things don’t look good. On a personal level, I’m consciously zoning out of some of this stuff for personal reasons. The surge in bigotry alone is tough enough to deal with.

[InformationGeek]

So, how did that debate between Oz and Fetterman go? Well, we had this crap.

Oz says his abortion position: should be between "a woman, her doctor, and local political leaders" #PASenDebate

[worstblogever]

So, how did that debate between Oz and Fetterman go? Well, we had this crap.

Doctor Oz should find an exception to abortion, and abort his campaign.

[Tami]

So, how did that debate between Oz and Fetterman go? Well, we had this crap.

Physicians in PA would like to tell the public a few things about Mehmet Oz.

Things that haven't been reported in the press enough, but should matter to all of us.

A thread. Doctors are not letting Oz get off easy.

[kidfresh512]

Third in line to vote easy and quick. Want abbot gone but not likely unfortunately.

[Catlady in training]

The Remote Control Killers Behind Russia’s Cruise Missile Strikes on Ukraine

https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-a...es-on-ukraine/



Why we are wary of Russian émigrés in Georgia – so soon after Russian invaders

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ssian-invaders

Very good read, in case anyone thinks that fleeing russians are not treated fairly abroad.

At first glance, there is no problem at all in a noble act of hospitality – Georgia giving shelter to people who do not want to fight in war is truly a kind act. Beneath the surface, however, problems are brewing. Even without official numbers, a brief walk around central parts of Tbilisi is enough to confirm that the language predominantly spoken in the streets now is Russian.

Few, if any, of these displaced Russians, even if they are fleeing a totalitarian regime and positioning themselves against the war, seem keen to show off their pacifist ideas once safely in Georgia. Apart from a couple of small-scale demos, I cannot recall any significant acts of protest by relocated Russians against the war, let alone in support of Ukraine. At the end of September a popular joke circulating on Georgian social media went: “Oh, man, it is exhausting to read thousands of posts by Russian migrants freely criticising Putin’s politics and the war in Ukraine.” Of course, the truth is very few Russians have taken advantage of the (still existing) freedom of speech in Georgia.

Some are more vocal in expressing their disapproval of the graffiti in the streets supporting Ukraine or comparing Putin to male genitalia. When a bar in Tblisi began asking its Russian visitors for “visas”, issued if they ticked a “Glory to Ukraine” box, many Russians, including the reality TV star Ksenia Sobchak, protested vociferously on social media. I witnessed a Russian customer in my local cafe storm out swearing obscenities when a staff member, who did not speak Russian, politely told her the wifi password was “StandwithUkraine”.

In these instances, the complaint is always about alleged “Russophobia”. Yet a fear now widely discussed among Georgians is that these 2022 arrivals could eventually form a new Russian diaspora and in some hypothetical future scenario serve as justification for the Kremlin to order another attack on Georgia in the name of “protecting” Russian-speaking citizens. However absurd this sounds, one should not forget how Putin has weaponised language and identity issues as a pretext for invading Ukraine.

[babyblob]

Third in line to vote easy and quick. Want abbot gone but not likely unfortunately.

My neighbor and I went and did our Early voting a few days ago. I was very disappointed to see the lack of turn out. I know my county is very red but I was hoping there would be a bigger turn out for early voting. Maybe people are doing it by mail? But we were in and out very quickly.

[worstblogever]

So there’s no surprise that his voting record looks like this:

• December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Norman is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
• December 18th, 2019: Norman ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
• May 15th, 2020: Norman votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• October 2nd, 2020: Norman is one of 17 Republicans who vote against a resolution to condemn the Qanon conspiracy theory after its followers started to make death threats against Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski.
• December 10th, 2020: Norman signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
• January 7th, 2021: Ralph Norman votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Norman votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
• February 4th, 2021: Ralph Norman votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
• February 25th, 2021: Norman votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Norman votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Ralph Norman votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Norman votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Norman votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 19th, 2021: Rep. Norman votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• May 20th, 2021: Norman is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
• June 15th, 2021: Rep. Norman is one of twenty-one Republicans who pick a side to have rooted for in the failed coup attempt on 1/6/21 and votes against awarding Congressional gold medals to members of the Capitol Police who bravely defended members of Congress during the attack.
• June 16th, 2021: Ralph Norman is one of 14 Republicans who vote against celebrating Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
• August 6th, 2021: One week after joining a lawsuit filed by GOP legislators against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for daring to put mask mandates in place for members of the House… Ralph Norman, anti-mask rebel… tests positive for Covid-19.
• August 28th, 2021: Ralph Norman files articles of impeachment against Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, blaming him, for whatever reason, after an ISIS suicide bomber killed 13 American service members during the evacuation of Afghanistan.
• November 5th, 2021: Ralph Norman votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• February 8th, 2022: As Russia furthers its invasion into Ukraine, and needs their allies to come to their aid, Rep. Norman co-sponsors HR 6648, which would withhold aid from Ukraine until the useless wall along the U.S./Mexico border is completed.
• March 31st, 2022: Norman votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. Ralph Norman would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
• May 18th, 2022: Ralph Norman is one of 192 Republicans who votes against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
• May 18th, 2022: Rep. Norman votes against the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
• May 19th, 2022: Norman votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.
• July 15th, 2022: Ralph Norman votes against House Amendment 262, which would require the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary of Defense to publish a report on the infiltration of American law enforcement by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, offer measures to be taken to remove them from their ranks, and prevent further infiltration by others.
• July 13th, 2022: Norman votes against the Honoring Our PACT Act, to provide healthcare to veterans affected by toxic burn pits while serving in the War on Terror that leave them more susceptible to forms of cancer.
• July 19th, 2022: Rep. Norman is one of 157 Republicans who vote against the “Respect for Marriage Act”, which would codify same sex marriage into law nationally.
• July 21st, 2022: Norman is one of 195 Republicans who vote against the Right to Contraception Act, which codified the right of Americans to have access to birth control.
• September 29th, 2022: Ralph Norman is one of 49 Republicans who vote against HR 8888, the Food Security for All Veterans Act.

Ralph Norman's Democratic challenger, Evangeline Hundley, will have to pull the mother of all upsets in a deep red district to win in two week's time.

[hyped78]

Only 35% in the UK now approve of Brexit. It's amazing how many were bamboozled by this stupid decision that was obviously going to screw the Country.
They could lose Scotland and Northern Ireland over this asinine vote. That Boris, Farage and the rest had no idea how they could make it work is not surprising. Much like most of the GOP policy here. But they manage to keep duping voters.

The new PM, Sunak, is/was also a Brexiteer. Unfortunately, there's not much that can be done now, apart from trying to manage the situation as best possible under the circumstances. More people should've turned out to vote on such an important issue (almost 30% didn't vote).

I think it's 100% the access to guns. I mentioned earlier that we had a shooting earlier this month which has since been classified as terrorism. It's not something that happens often (shooting I mean, this was the first terrorist attack in the country), the last I remember was few years ago. In this case, the shooter had access to his father's gun and even came back after the deed, changed the gun for another(!) that he then killed himself with.
But if we had access to guns comparable to the US, I firmly believe that it would be just as bad as there, because the situation in society - polarization, hate speech from politicians, attacks on rights of minorities, threats towards healthcare workers during pandemic, etc. seems to be very similar to what I hear from people in the US.

There was also a shooting here in East London (Ilford) a couple of days ago. It was big news - because shootings are very rare here.

Doctor Oz should find an exception to abortion, and abort his campaign.

A thread. Doctors are not letting Oz get off easy.

Well, I'm not defending Dr. Oz at all but yesterday's debate showed that Fetterman has lingering health issues that impact his speech and verbal recognition (e.g. he was reading from closed captions), not sure if he should run for the Senate given the unfortunate situation he's in. The NY Times headline says it all how this debate will be remembered:

"Fetterman, Showing Stroke Effects, Battles Oz in Hostile Senate Debate"
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/25/u...senate-pa.html

[hyped78]

My neighbor and I went and did our Early voting a few days ago. I was very disappointed to see the lack of turn out. I know my county is very red but I was hoping there would be a bigger turn out for early voting. Maybe people are doing it by mail? But we were in and out very quickly.

If Blue voters turn out to vote on election day instead then it won't make a difference vs. voting early

[babyblob]

If Blue voters turn out to vote on election day instead then it won't make a difference vs. voting early

With this county I have low hopes of a blue wave. Went over 90 percent Trump in 2016 and 2020. But im hoping for a blue wave in the state overall.

There is a Republican County headquarters in the county but nothing for the Democrats. The Blue have pretty much given up on my county and it is sad.

[hyped78]

With this county I have low hopes of a blue wave. Went over 90 percent Trump in 2016 and 2020. But im hoping for a blue wave in the state overall.

There is a Republican County headquarters in the county but nothing for the Democrats. The Blue have pretty much given up on my county and it is sad.

Let me put things another way, then - in a county like yours, the good news for Democrats is overall low turnout (lower vs. 2020 or 2018)