A new analysis by the Arizona Republic shows Kari Lake owes her defeat to a large number of GOP voter defections (story here). The newspaper says “Lake’s loss boils down to the fact that she alienated vast swaths of her fellow Republicans.” They determined this by examining the ballots[...]
Archive for January, 2023
January 22nd, 2023 - 9:05 pm § in Misc.
Why DeSantis shouldn’t run for president
That’s the title of a Mother Jones article here. Its thesis: Trump would eat him alive. The author, David Corn (profiled here), says, “Donald Trump is fueled by vengeance. And this is why, as of now, it would be foolish for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024 …[...]
January 22nd, 2023 - 8:30 pm § in America, Christianity, Democrats, Donald Trump, Politics, Religion, Republicans
Americans are leaving religion behind
Organized religion in America is grappling with dwindling congregations and church closures (read story here). That’s less than shocking. The old churchgoing generations are dying off, and people who stopped attending during the pandemic have been slow to return. But there’s a bigger re[...]
January 20th, 2023 - 10:53 pm § in Business
Will USDA finally crack down on organic food fraud?
In November 2021, a New Yorker article described how a major grain trader got away with passing off non-organic corn and soybeans as “organic” for years, making millions in the process. (Read it here.) What’s striking about that story is how easy it was, how porous the certificatio[...]
January 20th, 2023 - 7:33 pm § in Business
Oklahoma pork plant fired worker, then called cops who killed him
Guymon, Oklahoma, is a town in the dusty Oklahoma panhandle. It was a dying town until the pork plant came in the 1990s. In 2014, an Oklahoma newspaper gushed (here), “On the northeast corner of town, cradled by a cluster of dilapidated trailer homes, sits a business that many credit for start[...]
January 20th, 2023 - 2:37 am § in Politics, Republicans
GOP unveils tax overhaul
Income would no longer be taxed, and the IRS would be abolished. Sound too good to be true? Income taxes aren’t indigenous to the United States; in very early days, the federal government subsisted on tariffs. But aircraft carriers, V.A. health care, and air traffic control cost more now than [...]
January 20th, 2023 - 2:09 am § in Misc.
Yes, you can live on ketchup, for a while anyway
This has been empirically tested, although not intentionally. The experimental guinea pig was Elvis Francois, who lives in the Caribbean islands. He was repairing his boat when it was blown out to sea with him and a bottle of ketchup aboard. He was picked up 24 days later by a container ship after b[...]
January 20th, 2023 - 1:43 am § in Donald Trump, Law and Courts
Trump and lawyer hit with sanctions for frivolous lawsuit
A federal judge in Florida sanctioned Trump and one of his attorneys, Alina Habba (photo, left), for a frivolous lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and others, Politico reported on Thursday, January 19, 2023 (read story here). The order (read it here) by Judge Donald Middlebrooks, a Bill Clinton appoin[...]
January 19th, 2023 - 1:32 pm § in Law and Courts, Racism
This school district should be under federal court supervision
The Effingham County, Georgia, school system is run by racists who blatantly mistreat black students. Several black students’ parents are suing for an injunction to stop the discrimination (read their lawsuit here). That isn’t enough. The school district needs to be under ongoing federal[...]