@tobie1@mastodon.social cover
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

tobie1

@[email protected]

My interests vary wildly from politics to poetry and philosophy. I'm a born contrarian but my bark is worse than my bite, and I appreciate detailed posts, sharp commentary, verbal repartee and quirky habits. Some of my quirks are #FountainPens, #birding, and all manners of idealist thought. Committed to fairness, democracy, and environmental stewardship. Proud lifelong #Dem

I was on another server but it was closing down, so I switched to this instance. I'll say in advance, "Happy to meet you."

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

@thejapantimes@mastodon.social avatar thejapantimes , to random

Taiwan can't afford to hike its defense budget to more than 3% of gross domestic product, the new leader of the democratic island's biggest opposition party said, which could derail the government's spending plans. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/01/asia-pacific/politics/taiwan-kmt-defense-spending/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@thejapantimes she also blamed Ukraine for Russia's invasion and insisted that Putin is a democratically elected leader.

@RememberUsAlways@newsie.social avatar RememberUsAlways , to random

Fate will judge the people of for the transgressions in leadership. They have lost their way and know nothing of balance. Hell is hungry for the madness.

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@RememberUsAlways This seems harsh. Do we judge the people of Turkey for the violence Erdogan unleashed against Kurds? Or Gazans for the violence exercised by Hamas?

US envoy Steve Witkoff had his speech drowned out by boos from Israeli civilians when he praised Netanyahu. The people are not with their govt. The fact that in this one case we cannot make this distinction speaks volumes about troubling attitudes toward Israelis in particular.

https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2025/10/12/crowd-boos-mention-of-netanyahu-during-witkoffs-speech-in-tel-aviv

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@RememberUsAlways it was adults who booed Witkoff. Shall we condemn then?

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@RememberUsAlways Who is talking about victory? Not me. I asked a simple question: why is it that you can separate the Turks from Erdogan or the Chinese from Xi but not Israelis from Netanyahu. Try to speak less elliptically.

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@RememberUsAlways okay. This is crazy-making. I didn't ask about the difference between Erdogan, Xi and Netanyahu. I asked about why we distinguish between citizens and leaders in some cases but not in others. We obviously speak different languages so I'll end the conversation here. Have a nice day.

@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar tobie1 , to random

If you ever wonder where your US tax dollars go, Politico revealed the truth in 2020 and has been trying to hide it ever since.

"Direct farm aid has climbed each year of Trump’s presidency, from $11.5 billion in 2017 to more than $32 billion" in 2020.

No region of the US is more heavily subsidized than rural America. It's time we talk about this.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/14/donald-trump-coronavirus-farmer-bailouts-359932

tobie1 OP ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@failedLyndonLaRouchite The Politico article was about DIRECT PAYMENTS to farmers, i.e., bailouts. It does not include Medicaid, Medicare or
Social Security payments. It also does not include regular annual agricultural subsidies for things like crop insurance, price loss coverage, agricultural risk coverage etc. Oh my gosh, if we factored that in, we'd see some astonishing per capita figures.

tobie1 OP ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@failedLyndonLaRouchite
Some say rural counties depend on subsidies because of their aging population.

I'm not a fan of the Economic Innovation Group but they do large studies and are more reliable than "The Daily Yonder."

"In general, areas that are older, more rural, and less wealthy tend to be significantly reliant on transfers."

https://eig.org/great-transfermation/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sendto_localnewslettertest&stream=top

Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps is a myth.

tobie1 OP ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@failedLyndonLaRouchite I'm all for shoring up Soc Sec, Medicaid, and Medicare. What I'm not for are things like crop insurance or the $52 billion in direct aid to farm in the Big (Un)Beautiful Bill. Farming in the US is industrialized and that's reflected in farm income:

"In 2023, the median U.S. farm household had $1,439,138 in wealth. Households operating commercial farms (those with gross cash farm income of at least $350,000) had $3.6 million in total wealth."

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-household-well-being/income-and-wealth-in-context#:~:text=Farm%20Household%20Wealth%20and%20Income&text=In%202023%2C%20the%20median%20U.S.,of%20residence%20or%20intermediate%20farms.

@heidilifeldman@mastodon.social avatar heidilifeldman , (edited ) to Santa Fe, capital city of the state of New Mexico

🚨 SEIU is holding rapid response rallies to call for the release of David Huerta and an end to the ICE raids TODAY at multiple locations nationwide. I have registered an event for 5:15 - 6:15 today at the Roundhouse ( State Capitol Building) in . More information at https://actionnetwork.org/events/santa-fe-freedavidendraids

Please help spread the word here and anywhere else you can.

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@heidilifeldman thanks for posting. I found this link for protests nationwide.

https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/freedavidendraids

@RememberUsAlways@newsie.social avatar RememberUsAlways , to random

thinks need to do some "soul searching'.

Ok.

She should buy and pump $100 B into Democratic campaigns.

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

@RememberUsAlways This is so exhausting. I have zero interest in Democratic navel-gazing.

@tagesschau@ard.social avatar tagesschau , to random German

Nach Berichten über Tote: Hilfszentren in Gaza bleiben heute geschlossen

Die Hamas wirft Israel erneut vor, bei einem Verteilungszentrum für Hilfsgüter Menschen getötet zu haben. Nun sollen die Zentren nach Angaben der Armee heute komplett geschlossen bleiben.

➡️ https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/asien/gaza-hilfszentren-100.html?at_medium=mastodon&at_campaign=tagesschau.de

tobie1 ,
@tobie1@mastodon.social avatar
@8124@mastodon.social avatar 8124 , to random

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @8124 Popular account @thetnholler[email protected] also repeated Al Jazeera's and BBC's reporting. Really disappointed that so many pundits and journalists fail to wait for confirmation on such inflammatory stories.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    Here’s a way to support those losing their jobs at VOA, RFE/RL, RFA and other international broadcasting entities under USAGM. https://secure.givelively.org/donate/usagm-employee-association/support-for-us-international-media-workers

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa This is terrible. I can't imagine what it's like to be treated this way. Good luck to you and your colleagues. I donated today and will do so again.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    CNBC - President Trump is to sign an executive order today directing the DoJ to pause enforcing a nearly half-century-old law that prohibits American companies and foreign firms from bribing officials of foreign governments. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/10/trump-doj-foreign-corrupt-practices-act-pause.html

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa Cui bono? That's the only question to ask with Trump. Who does he want to bribe and what is he expecting in return?

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    CNN — Two top USAID security officials put on administrative leave after attempting to refuse officials from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency access systems at the agency. https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/usaid-officials-leave-musk-doge/index.html

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa Please be sure to call DOGE a non-governmental advisory committee. The name is meant to deceive people into believing its a govt agency, which is why to repeat it without a description is to spread propaganda. DOGE has about as much relation to the govt as a glee club at Mar-a-Lago

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    FNN - By Monday, all OPM offices are expected to give political leaders staffing charts with plans for an initial 30% reduction for both feds and contractors. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2025/01/trump-administration-directs-opm-career-leaders-to-prepare-for-70-cut-to-staffing-programs/

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa Musk doesn't have the brains or the experience with complex interacting systems to make any of these decisions. I weep for my country.

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    NPR - The Trump administration is working on a plan to save TikTok that involves tapping software company Oracle and a group of outside investors to effectively take control of the app's global operations. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/25/g-s1-44779/tiktok-ban-deal-trump-org

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa oh great, so TikTok will be run by rightwing techbro Larry Ellison just as X and Meta are run by rightwing techbros. How can the White House just choose whom to sell the platform to?

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    President Biden, in his farewell address to the nation, says "in the past four years our democracy has held strong."

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa The hardest thing to fathom is that the American people voted for someone they know will attack fundamental freedoms. They applaud him for this. The results of the election are an indictment of the American people. It pains me to say this as an Ametican

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    “At this unprecedented juncture in American history, we must be clear about what just happened. The Democrat Party forced the Democrat nominee off the ballot, just over 100 days before the election. … If Joe Biden is not fit to run for President, he is not fit to serve as President. He must resign the office immediately. November 5 cannot arrive soon enough.” - Statement from House Speaker Johnson

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa Small favor to ask. When a politician or pundit uses "Democrat" instead of "Democratic" as an adjective, would you kindly mark the grammar mistake with the word sic in parentheses?

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    A federal judge in Mississippi sides with 15 Republican-led states and blocks the Biden administration from enforcing a new rule against
    discrimination on the basis of gender identity in healthcare. https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2024-07-03/us-judge-blocks-biden-admin-rule-against-gender-identity-discrimination-in-healthcare

    tobie1 ,
    @tobie1@mastodon.social avatar

    @w7voa No doubt, a Federalist Soc member.