Zombie Prime Minister

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With the resignation of Liz Truss as UK Prime Minister, the political jockeying begins to select the new PM.

And Boris Johnson - Truss’s predecessor as PM who left amidst a series of scandals and disgraces - sees this as his opportunity to bring his political career back from the dead.

It’s hopefully a long shot. But politics is pretty crazy these days. So who knows. We might have an undead PM just in time for Halloween.

Bye, Liz Truss

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So Liz Truss resigns as UK Conservative party leader (and as Prime Minister once a new one is selected) after her party pushes for her to leave. Her policies were deemed a failure and lacked planning to help the UK avoid recession. She’s the shortest serving PM in UK history (I’ve heard), but also the first PM to serve two monarchs since Winston Churchill. In the end, though, she was deemed an incompetent disaster.

Sounds awful, right?

Or does it show that the UK government is more resilient and can quickly remove a regrettable leader? Something many Americans wish we could have done more easily here.

Thanks, Biden.

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Yesterday, the Biden administration launched the application process for their student loan forgiveness program.

This cartoon is based on a billboard seen on the streets of Las Vegas. If women want to strip, more power to them. But if, as this billboards implies, they’re only doing it to pay off student loans and would decide to not do it if they don’t have the loans, then maybe the forgiveness is a good thing.

Propositions

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It’s election season and in California, as usual, we have several propositions on the ballot for direct decisions by the general voting population.

Among several other propositions, this time we’re asked to decide on multiple competing initiatives for online gambling and regulation for the dialysis industry.

I’m not a fan of the ballot propositions. I’ll be honest, I have zero expertise in gambling or dialysis regulations. Nor do I really want to put in the time to figure it out.

And that’s the problem. I’m a pretty engaged and informed voter. I don’t think most of the population has much more insight to the long term ramifications of the propositions, which can often back us into budgetary and legislative corners that limit the ability of our elected officials to manage the state.

But that’s kind of the goal with some of these. Play to the emotions and tie the hands of legislators.

So I’ll do the best I can to figure it out. We’ll spin the election wheel and see where the ball lands.

Social Media Myths

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Perhaps you’ve heard the story going around social media. Perhaps you’re lucky and haven’t. But the story goes that schools are installing cat litter boxes in some bathrooms to accommodate kids who identify as cats.

Sounds ridiculous, right? Because it is. Yet it’s been shared widely across social media. Worse, several political candidates (almost entirely Republican) have repeated it in the press, on social media, at rallies and meetings. Joe Rogan - essentially an Internet troll with a big platform - repeated it on his show.

And it’s not true. A team of investigative journalists looked into each named accounting of the story. No truth to it.

How an urban myth about litter boxes in schools became a GOP talking point

Instead it spreads as part of the fear mongering over the gender identity debates and LGBTQ+ issues. It’s a way to ridicule and stoke fears of “the others” and legitimize laws to restrict rights of minority groups.

The saddest part is that the only kernel of truth in the cat litter story is some schools (from the same district as Columbine) that stock cat litter do it for “go buckets;” buckets of materials for kids locked in a classroom by an active shooter.

Way to go, America: do nothing about the real, horrible thing that happens repeatedly in our country and instead focus on some fake, imagined fear.

Please don’t spread this stupid cat litter nonsense. People who do should take a break from social media.

Trump and His Documents

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The Congressional Committee on January 6th voted unanimously to subpoena former President Trump to seek his testimony about the day of the Capitol Insurrection.

I’m sure Trump will fight the subpoena. The only sensible legal strategy is for Trump to exercise his rights under the 5th Amendment for every question. But sensible legal strategies are not a strong point for Trump.

On the plus side, he likes collecting government documents, so this gives him one more to take home with him.

That guy is Awful

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Yeah, I REALLY don’t like Tucker Carlson.

Now there’s a video going around yesterday off the pieces he edited it off his recent interview with Ye (aka Kanye West) that just reinforces how he manipulates things to make awful points.

Watch the Disturbing Kanye Interview Clips That Tucker Carlson Didn’t Put on Air

Marijuana

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President Biden has announced that he will pardon all people convicted of federal offenses for simple marijuana possession. This isn’t drug dealers and traffickers, but people who simply had small amounts or used marijuana on federal lands.

He also will try to influence governors to do the same at the state level, and work to reclassify marijuana so it’s not considered the same as heroin and other hard drugs.

It’s a good step that is bound to help millions who can’t get a job or housing due to simple marijuana violations.

It’s time for our country to recognize that the War on Drugs has done more harm than good and move ahead with decriminalization of marijuana.

New Campaign Slogan

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This is a follow up to my “Stop Voting for Stupid People” campaign.

Enough with the hypocrites, liars, and politicians who lack integrity. Enough with the anti-abortion candidates who paid for their girlfriend’s abortion. Enough with the small government conservatives who want to wield government power to control individual’s lives. Enough with the leaders who mandate rules they don’t follow. Enough with the leaders who try to deny funding to help disasters in other states but turn around with their hands out for their own.

We’ve gone long past electing “our best and brightest.” There are principe people elected, but many of them have flawed principles. This is about those who seek out their own principles - not for compromise or progress - but for convenience and personal gain. Enough with the people who lack scruples, honesty, and integrity.

We deserve better.

What’s he watching??

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Tucker Carlson Tonight is one of the worst things on TV. The man is abhorrent, an entitled heir to his parents fortunes, and he routinely says terrible things about other people. He doesn’t solve problems or offer realistic solutions. And his bits routinely show up these days on Russian state television, emboldening Putin and his cronies’ propaganda.

Friends don’t let friends watch Tucker Carlson.

Lizzo the Pied Piper

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Popular musician Lizzo - a classically trained flautist and Black woman - was allowed by the Library of Congress to play a 200+ year old crystal flute once owned by former President James Madison.

In one of the stupider controversies lately, many conservative pundits lost their minds. They seemed to think this somehow desecrates American history.

Just like the Pied Piper, Lizzo’s flute playing drew out the awful people like rats.

Likely many of the same people who were upset at Disney casting a Black woman as Ariel in their live action Little Mermaid film.

There’s probably even a common thread between the two… sigh. 🙄