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TCatInReality

@[email protected]

#TwitterMigration refusnik. Lives in reality and wants to make it nicer for all. Politics, Corporate Accountability and the danger that is now Social Media/AdTech/Surveillance.

Seek the truth. Support independent journalists of quality. Support MeidasTouch, ProPublica, etc

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@randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

This is the content I am here for. https://mstdn.social/@ravensrod/116062534986639444

TCatInReality ,
@TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

@randahl

Then here's another for you 😁

Mock up of a Ladybird children's book It shows Nigel Farage which a braying laugh in a country jacket and flatcap. He has a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Behind him on the left are piles of cash, gold and a royal crown. Behind him on the right are five regular guys (all white) looking very sad. The book title is "I'm a Man of the People" Subtitle "And other lies told by a fascist elite"
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    • @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar aral , to random

    Stop calling it the Board of Peace. Call it what it is: Board of Criminals and Autocrats.

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @aral

    I prefer the more accurate spelling ... Bored of Peace

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    How can we reform capitalism?

    Well Jason Hickel & Yanis Varoufakis suggest three key steps:

    1. re-engineer finance; penalising investment for destructive private investment & prioritise public investment for public goods;

    2. democratise public & private budgeting decisions;

    3. democratise corporations; wrest control from the elites & put it in the hands of workers.

    Its as simple as that.... well, OK not simple, but you can see what they're getting at!


    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2026/feb/12/capitalist-model-climate-growth-capitalism-species-humanity

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6 @TerryBTwo

    💯

    I have long thought the easiest path to reining in neoliberal excess is to legally make corporations' duty of care to employees/vendors, users and the environment/community at least as important as the fiduciary duty to shareholders.

    It is profit-over-all that is at the root of exploitation. It's why sociopaths are promoted to the highest levels of mgmt. And completely insane, as corporations only exist as legal constructs. We can do better.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    And when we see commentators saying this will now require the BoE/MPC to reduce interest rates, because they will see that they need to do that to stimulate growth.... we should treat this is the same way that we would treat the hope that someone who has just pushed us off the deck of a ship, might now be prepared to throw a lifebelt after us.....

    2/2

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    I just don't understand why isn't using the current situation to drive more public investments.

    Climate change, war in Ukraine, reducing dependencies on politicised American firms... Take your pick. Any of these would be a solid basis for major gov action.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    With just over three years until the next GE, would be very wise to start right now

    Hopefully, this purge of Blairites will being in some new thinking. Starmer would be wise to reach out to the Burnham and Rayner wings of the party.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    I hear that.

    But I fear that abandoning either of the major parties ignores the massive institutional power they have.

    Trump could only win because he took over the Republicans. Abandoning Labour leaves it wide open for corporate power to further corrupt it.

    To me, the only solution for Labour or the US Democrats is to take over the party and pull it left. They must remain a big tent, so it will never be truly progressive. But 3rd parties won't get power. IMO

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    To me, sure, support Greens at local level. Build a power base. Get a few MPs

    But it is a decades long project to get national power...Farage has proven

    It is wildly optimistic to think it can swing in one or two cycles.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    Indeed

    But anyone pushing for defections to build the Greens should reflect long and hard on the election results of a progressive Corbyn-led Labour.

    History is clear. Far right movements are only defeated (at elections) by coalitions of antifascist parties. Division = Fascism

    Yes, we need to pull Labour left. But long-term victory requires a coalition across Labour/LD/Greens and other parties to stop the Tory/Reform return.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    The UK is continuing its slow but clear fall in perceptions of corruption across the world.

    This has already seen a fall in both ranking & a rise in the absolute level of the perception of the UK as a (partially) corrupt society.

    In the ten years from 2015 the UK fell from 7th ranked to 20th (which is to say perception of corruption grew)... and this year has an overall score for corruption of 70/100 (the lower the worse the perception of corruption).


    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/10/uk-and-us-sink-to-new-lows-in-global-index-of-corruption

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    Yes, deeply worrying. But let's not forget which party was in power for 10 of the 11 years where this corruption grew.

    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar TCatInReality , to random

    Remember ?

    It's still nowhere near even humane levels of food aid

    NYTimes: Gaza City Famine Averted, Global Experts Say, but Palestinians Face Major Difficulties Accessing Food
    Gaza City Famine Averted, Global Experts Say, but Palestinians Face Major Difficulties Accessing Food https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/world/middleeast/gaza-hunger-report-israel.html

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Eleanor Shearer has it about right:

    'Labour has tied itself in knots with its fiscal rules & manifesto pledges on tax, catching itself in a...short-termist cycle of decision-making. It must change course, for the sake of the country’s economy & its own political future'!

    She argues perhaps the most notable aspect of Rachel Reeves budget was the implied self-denial of policy tools & the mistaken notion public spending follows growth rather than drives it.


    https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/rachel-reeves-budget-short-termism-labour-government-fiscal-rules/

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    Yes, the world could benefit from some vocal Keynesians.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @GeofCox @ChrisMayLA6

    Labour has been quietly ramping up taxes on the wealthy:

    • taxing pensions above £1m
    • raising capital gains rates
    • raising dividend rates
    • new mansion surcharge

    It's not enough and it doesn't address the massive wealth hidden offshore or in unrealised gains, but it is happening.

    I just wish they'd be far more vocal and progressive. IMO, that would play very well politically (and maybe move people off obsessing about immigrants)

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6 @GeofCox

    100% agree.

    There continues to be an elevation of the wealthy - not as people who typically got their thru connections and exploitation - but as role models. Indeed, that is deeply problematic and at the root of so much dysfunction.

    We need to save our praise for the wealthy who grow employment, cut exploitative practices and gladly pay taxes.

    But I suspect that would tank party donations and create a media uproar.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Have arrived home to find that Rachel Reeves Autumn Budget was so comprehensively trailed in the last few days that for the most part there's not much to say, that's not already been said.... other than rather than revealing a strategic vision it looks a but more like the fiscal equivalent of scrambling around for small change (or in some cases perhaps notes) in jars & drawers around the house.....

    But as the dust settles I'll posy on anything that pops up that was not expected

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    IMO, a solidly budget this time.

    With the significant exception of freezing tax thresholds, the tax increases targeted those with disposable income or expensive houses - while funnelling significant increases to pensioners and those on minimum wage.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    I would have loved progress on the "big idea" of a

    All this focus on Income and other transactions is such 19th century thinking. It continues to give a free pass to those who are hoarding massive unrealised gains.

    Nb. The "mansion tax" being an obvious exception that dances along the Wealth Tax margins.

    @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

    She thinks anyone with ears and a brain actually believes her. Ahahaha!

    John Cleese tweets thanking someone for making him laugh after spending an hour and a half in a dentist’s chair. Embedded is a Fox News screenshot of a White House press briefing where Karoline Leavitt claims it's “ridiculous” to say Trump does anything for his own benefit.
    ALT
    TCatInReality ,
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    @randahl @georgetakei

    Straight to Fox "News". Guaranteed.

    @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random

    We talk a lot about the “age problem” in politics, but not enough about what’s actually driving it. This piece makes the case that the deeper issue is the shame of aging in a society that ties worth to productivity and treats retirement as irrelevance. That shame is shaping who stays, who steps aside, and who steps up, and it’s already altering the political landscape ahead of 2026. https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/democrats-aging-politicians-shame

    TCatInReality ,
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    @georgetakei

    I disagree

    The "age problem", at least in current politics, is about those who keep using old approaches based on old dynamics and decades-old priorities - rather than adapting to the current realities and battle lines.

    That's why Sanders is hugely popular with young voters but Pelosi and Schumer are not.

    @indivisibleteam@mastodon.social avatar indivisibleteam , to random

    Between Thursday and next Monday, join us in hitting pause on buying from corporations that enable Trump’s fascist agenda: https://weaintbuyingit.com/?utm_source=mastodon

    (above images of the Target, Amazon, and Home Depot logos that have been crossed out) We Ain't Buying It Target Companies This action is taking direct aim at Target, for caving to this administration's biased attacks on DEl; Home Depot, for allowing and colluding with ICE to kidnap our neighbors on their properties; and Amazon, for funding this administration to secure their own corporate tax cuts.
    ALT
    TCatInReality ,
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    @indivisibleteam
    Why just these five days?

    Let's never buy from them again

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    If the human race gambled in Rio a decade ago that climate change could be arrested by voluntary action(s), that gamble has spectacularly failed to pay off, as COP30's failure to focus on the reduction (and eradication) of fossil fuel usage attests.

    As I've said before but should future generations survive the growing climate crisis, they will look back at the early C21st as a period when a craven global political class betrayed the future!

    https://theconversation.com/the-world-lost-the-climate-gamble-now-it-faces-a-dangerous-new-reality-270392

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    The future generations will look back at the failure to act on the - and at the obvious, massive concentration of wealth and power - and shake their heads.

    "The answer was so obvious", they'll say.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    If, like many, you're puzzled how Shabana Mahmood (a child of immigrants) can be pushing anti-migrant policy, then Nesrine Malik has an explanation (putting Mahmood & her Tory predecessors into context).

    Mahmood's story supports an argument that racism & prejudice are the fault of immigrants themselves for being too numerous, and nothing to do with prejudice.

    She offers an excuse & justification for policies that might otherwise be seen for what they are.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/24/shabana-mahmood-open-britain-immigration-asylum-policies

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    How can this still be a puzzle to anyone?

    For over a decade now, the path to a high state office for minorities is to be the "toughest" and loudest in defending nativism.

    It's only a surprise that Labour is now doing it. Well, not a surprise to those watching Starmer's choices this past year.

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

    Trump’s latest peace plan is dead on arrival.

    In Europe, most Ukraine allies have said so, and lawmakers in the US even claim, Marco Rubio admitted the plan is Russia’s wish list.

    Next week we may see Macron, Meloni and others at The White House, again trying to please the unpleasable. But even to these seasoned politicians, the act is getting old.

    In Europe, we long for the day when the US is out of the war game, because it is difficult to think when the toddler is constantly screaming.

    TCatInReality , (edited )
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @randahl

    Trump's "Ukraine Plan" always was, and will be, Ukrainian surrender. But it serves as a useful distraction.

    Trump is a chaos agent whose key to his survival is constantly changing the narrative - Epstein, shutdown, Gaza, another US city invasion, Ukraine, insult a journalist, war with Venezuela, etc.

    He can do this indefinitely. The rest of the world needs to realise America is a and move on.


    18+ @wdlindsy@toad.social avatar wdlindsy , to random

    Alan Elrod notes that "the very parts of American culture that claim to promote teen abstinence and sexual purity operate on a parallel logic to the rape culture that enables the darkest misogynistic violence against women."


    /1

    TCatInReality ,
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    @wdlindsy

    💯. Great recap. Thx.

    Amazing that even self-described Dominionists, who explicitly want "Christian" dominion over the world are not described as Christian Nationalists.

    Totally burying the lede and sanewashing a clear attempt to undermine the Constitution as read for 200 years.

    This crappy, offend-no-one media is so easily manipulated by liars and conmen. It's no wonder the world is such a mess.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Now Labour is really showing their colours:

    while many immigrants will (now) be waiting decades in insecurity awaiting for their residence to be confirmed; for 'higher earners' & rich entrepreneurs residence will be fast tracked in around three years.

    So we're going from a situation where all migrants could apply for permanent residency after five years... to a situation where its one law for the rich & another for the rest!

    This is (surely) just class war?


    h/t FT

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    Money buys more choices.

    Starmer knows making the wealthy immigrants wait 20 years means they'll just go elsewhere.

    Shame the ones that will work hardest to build the country will be forced to wait

    @georgetakei@universeodon.com avatar georgetakei , to random
    TCatInReality ,
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    @georgetakei

    I disagree, George.

    These are people who believe they can create reality. Words mean what they say they mean - and a good chunk of society will go along.

    So, YMCA and Pink Pony Clubs become known as Trump party songs, devoid of their original meaning

    It's not clueless. It's asserting dominance

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

    Russia is blowing up railways inside NATO now — just 97 kilometers from an EU capital, Warsaw in Poland.

    Gangsters only yield to overwhelming force.

    Our response is long overdue.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @randahl

    Time for Article 5, Poland.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Stephen Bush (FT) sums up the problem with the Labour Govt's immigration 'policy':

    'The problem is that Labour’s arguments convince no one, because the people attracted to their rhetoric & their policies on control notice that the UK continues to welcome some immigrants, while those who want a more welcoming position are turned off by the party’s new policies'!

    As he suggests their incoherent position pleases no-one & emboldens the Right by normalising their rhetoric.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @indivisibleteam@mastodon.social avatar indivisibleteam , to random

    By surrendering so utterly and completely at a moment of their maximum leverage and momentum, Senate Democrats taught Trump and his cadre an important lesson: Do enough damage and your opponents will buckle. Because of this surrender, our democracy is more imperiled now than it was before.

    TCatInReality ,
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    TCatInReality ,
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    @indivisibleteam

    Too many Dems in leadership are still trying to govern and compete on an out dated model - assuming they might get back in power.

    But this is an existential battle - that the GOP has played for decades now. It is obstructionism and it requires Dems always lose. Then, even in power, they are weakened

    And now, Trump and MAGA are actively destroying every institution, including elections. It is time to defeat the oligarchs and their party

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Sometimes although the US is often perceived as the epitome of rampant capitalism, at the local level a form of municipal & community governance of pubic assets is possible & thrives... a lesson to us in the wake of the failed experiment of the privatisation of water services?

    h/t FT Letters

    Re John Kay’s article on public utilities in the UK “What exactly are we paying for? The legacy of privatised utilities” (FT Money, Opinion, November 1), my wife and I live in Northern Virginia in a suburb of Washington, DC. The county where we live owns a non-profit corporation which supplies us with clean drinking water, and supplies millions of our neighbours. The corporation is run by engineers who are paid competitive salaries with the sole objective of providing safe water. They are not bureaucrats in the traditional sense. The corporation has a board of directors who ensure management achieves the company’s objectives. As Kay implies, this is neither a high-tech business, nor is it high finance but rather a model of simple common sense. When we travel to Britain, which we do and enjoy it enormously, it breaks our hearts to know that the solution to your water problems is not that hard to achieve. Néstor Enrique Cruz Falls Church, VA, US
    ALT
    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    It's exceedingly rare in America, but yes, possible.

    Of course, this is what public utilities used to be ...everywhere. But the drive toward privatisation destroyed all that.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6
    "Manciple Model"

    I learn something new every day 😀

    Thanks

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

    Just hours after an e-mail revealed Trump was with an Epstein victim at Epstein's house, Trump defender Megan Kelly starts moving the goal posts to, "He was not a pedophile […] He liked 15-year-olds […] He wasn't into 8-year-olds […] There is a difference."

    She is trying to white wash child sex trafficking and child rape the day after she finds out Trump was likely abusing a trafficked girl.

    It is a cult.

    video/mp4

    TCatInReality ,
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    @randahl

    There is no bottom.

    It's hopeless to expect the MAGA cult to break apart on its own.

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    The UK's economy is not growing;

    The UK workforce's standard of living is not improving;

    UK productivity is no longer rising;

    yet, somehow the very richest are becoming ever richer...

    Moreover businesses tell us workers' rights & shifts in taxes on(to) the wealthy will stifle growth.

    I assume they mean the growth of their wealth... because that's the only thing that is growing.

    The rich require a sacrifice from the rest of us that has become too obviously to ignore....

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    Well said!

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Women in politics face a double burden:

    'they are forced to cope with a disproportionate amount of online toxicity while also wrestling with the broader question of what the attacks say about their place in politics'...

    Men may also be abused but the threats & abuse women in politics experience are of a different order & focus.

    The toxic misogyny that tries to undermine women's role(s) in politics is anti-democratic & must be resisted!

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/12/female-politicians-such-as-mexicos-claudia-sheinbaum-face-backlash-driven-by-discrimination

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    Stewart Lansley (UBristol) argues that much of the feeling many have that the economy is rigged against them comes from the preponderance of 'bad wealth' as opposed to 'good wealth'!

    So how to move from the former to the latter?

    1. Shift the focus of tax from income to wealth;

    2. Reduce intergenerational wealth transfers;

    3. Introduce a 'whole wealth' tax;

    4. expand public ownership;

    5. start Citizens' Wealth Funds;

    6. widen access to national assets!

    https://theconversation.com/bad-wealth-made-good-how-to-tackle-britains-twin-faultlines-of-low-growth-and-rising-inequality-269218

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    All brilliant ideas!

    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    The resignations of the BBC Director General & the BBC Head of News over the weekend have prompted considerable commentary about political interference in the ruling of the BBC, its level of independence & issues about its left, or right leaning biases.

    Here are two interesting, if differently pitched, accounts of what we might conclude from this weekend's events at the Beeb.

    The first is from the Bear:

    https://www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/the-beeb-bleeds-the-telegraph-cheers

    The second if from The Observer:

    https://observer.co.uk/opinion-and-ideas/leaders/article/the-observer-view-political-interference-at-the-bbc

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6

    I desperately hope Starmer uses this opportunity to pull the BBC back from its rightward drift, led by all the Tory appointees

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @ChrisMayLA6

    Indeed

    I've grown used to being disappointed

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” announces President Trump in a Sunday morning social media post.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @w7voa

    Suuuuure!

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

    The Trump regime has now attacked 16 vessels in international waters, killing 66 individuals whom the regime suspected were criminals.

    66 people.

    Gone.

    No investigation. No arrests. No charges. No trial.

    Just murdered.

    Because it makes Trump feel good.

    TCatInReality ,
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    @randahl

    He doesn't even know their names. It doesn't matter to him who they kill.

    He's just killing for the sake of building his reputation as a murdering madman

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

    Zohran Mamdani ran a truly impressive campaign. He rose like a comet to change America, and top Democrats are so afraid of his politics, they cannot even mention his name after he handed them victory.

    This is beyond shameful.

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @randahl

    Don't worry. America's oligarchs chase power - so will quickly begin to embrace Dems like Mamdani (now that he has power)

    @StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar StillIRise1963 , to random

    What does partial funding of SNAP mean? CRUMBS?🙄

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @StillIRise1963

    Just enough to stymie the courts and kick any real judicial confrontation down the road by weeks.

    When will the courts realize they need to make decisions more quickly, giving explicit commands to the government - and couched in clear terms that the press can convey (at least the few who still try)

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @StillIRise1963

    Imagine if this judge issued a ruling demanding full SNAP payment on Nov 1st with a follow-up scheduled for Nov 2nd

    And at that time, issued a ruling explicitly saying SNAP is a Congressional act with funding for emergency scenarios like this, as the admin stated in Oct. That the POTUS does not have the power to starve citizens on a whim - that any delay will be a contempt of court. Maybe issue a press release with that statement (to spoon-feed the media)

    🤔

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @StillIRise1963

    It still amazes me, after a decade of Trump, that people don't realize this is a media war

    @w7voa@journa.host avatar w7voa , to random

    Shares of US-listed rare earth miners rally after China agrees to delay the introduction of further export controls as part of an agreement between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/30/rare-earths-stocks-china-delays-export-controls-after-trump-xi-summit.html

    TCatInReality ,
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    @w7voa

    Classic Trump manoeuvre:

    • Break something
    • Wait for the hype to die down and repercussions to hit
    • "Negotiate" putting things back as they were
    • Declare success (sometimes collecting a personal kickback on the side)


    @ChrisMayLA6@zirk.us avatar ChrisMayLA6 , to random

    If you are a Thames Water customer, already pretty annoyed with you water services provider, the news that during its bid KKR (the private equity giant) received £20mn to cover the costs of its due diligence into the firm, before then stepping back due to the risk of nationalisation, will not come as good news.

    At least that material has now been passed to th group of lenders currently trying to 'rescue' TW.

    as the FT puts it: 'cash is leaking out of the utility'...

    TCatInReality ,
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    @ChrisMayLA6
    "Leaking out" or being drained out?

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

    Trump has angered the farmers by destroying the soybean exports, opening up beef imports, and kicking out their foreign workers.

    He has angered the MAGA voters by trying to cover up the Epstein files, by making everything more expensive with tariffs, and not bringing down the price of groceries.

    He has angered business owners by introducing tariffs that hurts their businesses.

    And he has just told the religious that he will never get into heaven.

    Tell me, who is left to vote for this guy?

    TCatInReality ,
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    @randahl @mastodonmigration

    You're looking at this wrong.

    Trump (and the right in general) thrive with an angry populace. That makes people more emotional and blind to logic.

    As long as they can give the angry public an enemy, the angry mob will follow them. And they will always have someone to blame.

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , (edited ) to random

    First, sex trafficker Gislaine Maxwell was moved to a minimum security prison.

    Then Trump commuted wire fraud criminal George Santo's 7 year sentence.

    And now Trump pardons the Chinese crypto criminal Changpeng Zhao, arguing "A lot of people say that he wasn't guilty of anything" — after the man pleaded guilty in a case that revealed, his company Binance laundered money for terrorist organisations like Hamas and al-Qaida.

    The US government truly is a mob empire.

    https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/10/23/trump-pardons-binance-founder-cz-zhao.html

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @randahl

    Actually...first, on day one, he released the convicted mobsters who stormed the US Capitol on Jan6

    ...helping build out his paramilitary arm.

    @briankrebs@infosec.exchange avatar briankrebs , to random

    womp womp

    A Bloomberg article today with the headline "Tesla recalls almost 13,000 EVs over risk of battery power loss", and includes a picture of a Tesla car lot with a large car conveyor truck loaded with Teslas.
    ALT
    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @briankrebs

    Meanwhile, stock is up 100% since March 2025 despite falling market share, delayed products and recalls like this.

    Make that make sense.

    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar randahl , to random

    Is this the real US Senator Rand Paul, or has the Kremlin somehow replaced him with a Russian body double?

    Rand Paul now suggests that because Putin is unwilling to give back the land he has stolen from Ukraine, the West should start trading with Russia again, so Putin can fill his empty war chest.

    The difference between The Kremlin and the Republican Party really seems thin as a Pygmy Mouse whisker.

    https://youtu.be/iEX_mhII44o?si=zYT-7WyD-QoAdSQZ

    TCatInReality ,
    @TCatInReality@mastodon.social avatar

    @randahl @Npars01

    Oh yeah

    And the NRA is a significant channel for Russia to funnel money to Republicans

    https://www.newsweek.com/nra-fund-russia-uvalde-school-shooting-1712397