Welcome to The Now

Turning back the clock to the shooting that occurred in Buffalo , New York, it's interesting that one of the victims, security guard Aaron Salter , was working on vehicles that could run on green energy (as in water ) and even started his own company .  I say this because when the smoke cleared surrounding the beltway sniper , a theory was floated that the real target was the sniper's ex-wife and that the other shootings were just cover to draw him away as being a suspect (take note that the judge in the trial didn't believe there was much to that theory).  Anyway, it's odd that someone who was working on something that could have turned the energy industry on its head was murdered before he could finish his work. 

 There's certainly enough going around to put doubt in the first account that framed the police as fending off a heavily armed shooter who ended up killing 21 and injuring 17. Combining the new information with timelines by Forbes and CNN , it seems that: The shooter did not have body armor; The police "encountered" the shooter before he went into the school; The police were, at best, hesitant to go in...frustrating many parents and citizens to the point that they decided they should go in instead; ICE was involved, making some parents (who happen to be immigrants) hesitant to even show up at the school to check on their children;  The shooter had pretty much free reign for 40 minutes. If this isn't an example why police should have less funding and not more, I'm not sure what is. Much like politicians, America has elevated officers to celebrity status, and as we know celebrities don't do anything of substance, let alone the things they were hired for. The

 The movement Black Lives Matter emerged over the death of Trayvon Martin and the aquital of his killer, grew from the pain of the death of Micheal Brown and went international due to the George Floyd protests, sending a signal that black pain was real and that issues like police brutality should not be ignored. Then, much like COVID-19, #MeToo, climate change (particularly the Al Gore "Inconvenient Truth" brand) and other issues, capitalism appeared, infected and eventually co-opted something promising. Case in point : In a new 63-page Form 990 filing attained by the Associated Press, it is revealed that co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Patrisse Cullors, 38, used about $2 million in organization funds to pay her brother and her child’s father for “professional services.” This is the first time BLMGNF has filed with the IRS since October 2020. According to the tax records, $970,000 was paid to Trap Heals LLC, a company founded by the father of C

 

 

 For those who are curious about Marxism, or even want to understand why so many people have soured on Capitalism:  

Yikes. Why are they doing this? Why? 

 After failing to support Nina Turner in any significant way, Pramila Jayapal of The Squad speak up for a left candidate running in elections in Texas . 

  The story thus far : Sri Lanka's new prime minister says the country is down to its last day of petrol as it faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years. In a televised address, Ranil Wickremesinghe said the nation urgently needs $75m (£60.8m) of foreign currency in the next few days to pay for essential imports. He said the central bank would have to print money to pay government wages. Mr Wickremesinghe also said state-owned Sri Lankan Airlines may be privatised. The island nation's economy has been hit hard by the pandemic, rising energy prices, and populist tax cuts. A chronic shortage of foreign currency and soaring inflation had led to a severe shortage of medicines, fuel and other essentials. And here's a screenshot of what the crowds look like:

 Because apparently a lot of voters didn't.

 After firing their own staff for using marijuana (although they'd like to say otherwise ), the fact that the Biden Administration is trying to help a WNBA player who's under arrest for "smuggling" cannabis is odd to say the least.

 Now that some employees can no longer use COVID-19 leave, the Biden Administration gives Americans eight more free COVID tests . #Medicare4All

 Instead of criticizing Israeli police for attacking the funeral of a slain Palestinian journalist , one of America's strongest lobbying groups has decided to go after candidates who criticize acts of "atrocities" happening in Gaza.

 They will tell you that there are stark difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, yet claim that bases of both parties (aka, the Far-Left and the Far-Right) are virtually the same. All while doing nothing other than supporting the status quo. Besides: what's "left" now can become the status quo two or three decades from now:

Democrats tend to attack Russia. Republicans tend to attack China. Neither party has any prominent member who goes after both. No one talks about how Russia and China have a good working relationship. No one talks about how Russia (in contrast to western Europe) did not colonize the Global South and Africa. Critics of China's COVID-19 policies do not talk about it's effectiveness. 

 So according to ol' Wikipedia , socialist magazine New Politics accuses WSWS of being "pro-Putin" and "pro-Assad." Of course this was written back in 2019 , but what's interesting is that this criticism tries to link WSWS to The Grayzone, as if the two are one. For the record: WSWS has recently criticized the founder of the Grayzone for his participation in anti-mandate protests .  In other words: in the race of "who's the most left" everyone has blind spots. 

 I remember hearing (and asking) variations of this question myself: If Job was faithful, why did he have to suffer? Well, NIV has a very interesting approach to answering to that question . 

 

 I use to say that, "If men could get pregnant, there'd be an abortion clinic on every block." I still believe that, but the reaction to the Supreme Court leak had me thinking about a more realistic yet equally improbable way to call the bluff of those on the right side of American politics who also happen to be associated with Christianity. (I'm not using terms like "Christian Republicans" on purpose. There are a lot of denominations , and if you think every one is being represented politically you're dreaming) Ready? It is EXTREMEMLY CONTROVERSIAL and believe me when I say not only would current, former and potential members of Congress not want to vote on it, they would not want to even discuss it. Here it is: Ban pre-marital sex . I know, right? Name one conservative Republican in Congress who would say they are for this.  Now how could this even work? Well, use the template that Texas is using for abortion: empower citizens to report fornicators to

 Contrary to popular belief (and two-party dogma), 58% of voters would go for a "moderate, independent presidential candidate" as an alternative to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump. It's a step in the right direction, but it would be better if voters were more concerned about the policies than the people; voting on personalities (perceived or otherwise) has done more harm than good.

 A combination of COVID and cyber attacks have forced Lincoln College in Illinois to close.

  Russia is a threat . Russia is losing . Russia is a threat . Russia is losing . Russia is a threat .  Hope this clears things up.

  Case in point : The Senate on Monday easily cleared a bill to extend security protections to the immediate family members of Supreme Court justices. The bill — spearheaded by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) — passed the Senate by unanimous consent, meaning all 100 senators had to sign off in order for it to pass without a formal vote. It still now heads to the House for passage.  “Threats to the physical safety of Supreme Court Justices and their families are disgraceful, and attempts to intimidate and influence the independence of our judiciary cannot be tolerated,” Cornyn said in a statement.  “I’m glad the Senate quickly approved this measure to extend Supreme Court police protection to family members, and the House must take up and pass it immediately,” he added.  Coons, in a statement, said that he was “glad to see this bipartisan bill unanimously pass the Senate in order to extend security protection to the families of Supreme Court members.” The bill would

 Saudi Arabia is interested in accepting the yuan. 

Sometimes to get the full story, you have to put narratives that are from different places and times together. For example: Common Dreams has a day-old story where GOP Senator Mitch McConnell talks about a federal ban on abortion ("If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies—not only at the state level but at the federal level—certainly could legislate in that area...If this were the final decision, that was the point that it should be resolved one way or another in the legislative process...So yeah, it's possible.") Last June (2021) PBS took a tally of Democratic Senators to see who would be for "reforming" the filibuster , a non-Constitutional mechanism that if changed correctly, could pave the way for codifying Roe v Wade.  Only 24 Senators said they were willing , and even among those support is subjective.  So last year less than half of the Democratic Senators were willing to change self-imposed rules to better reflect the will of t

 One of the many reasons Americans can't get a proper handle on COVID is our politicians can't help but to use it for their own ends. From  walking back for making insensitive comments about making home tests available , to basically holding a mini super-spreader event at "Nerd Prom" the Biden White House has taken COVID as serious as their polling data will allow. Now with everyone and their grandmother predicting a GOP bloodbath in the midterms, and with the SCOTUS Roe v Wade revelation potentially causing more division  and confused messaging than rallying, the White House warns of a new surge in the fall and winter .  Never mind that funding ran out for COVID relief and Congress has nothing close to a staunch advocate for Medicare For All (which if it even passed Congress, Biden has said that he'd veto).  Much like the Roe v Wade issue, the COVID announcement is meant to provoke traditional-Democratic Party leaning voters to get activated. But with little i

 Sure CinemaSins can get nitpicky (they outright admit it most times) but you can't help but tell that even they enjoyed the latest Peanuts movie:

 In an attempted takedown of Aaron Mate, Sam Seder forgets some basics. Sabby addresses this in her review of Seder's video: I would say that if your goal is to entertain your audience with the occasional foray into quasi-political discourse, then by all means embrace being a goofball. But as Sabby points out, if you're serious you need to do some fundamental work and tone down the tangents and no sequiturs. 

 Or at least they claim to. Take for example PayPal shutting down Consortium News until their supporters pushed back . It appears that CN's crime was providing an anti-war alternative to the mainstream, which only differs in how much war and weapons should be used to resolve conflicts). 

 People like Kyle Kulisnki and Niko House have their takes (I lean more toward Niko on this one), but what I find most disturbing about the story is the reaction: namely things like this: From the blurb (the link won't matter because this page is constantly having stories added to it, forcing older ones to scroll down): The United States Capitol Police, Metropolitan Police Department, and Supreme Court Police are adding security measures in response to demonstrations surrounding the leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe V. Wade.   Protesters descended on areas outside the Supreme Court overnight after the draft opinion was released, and have remained throughout the morning.  A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department told CNN the department is activating its Civil Disturbance Unit to manage protests, but declined to specific how many officers or where they’d be deployed.   The United States Capitol Police said it is working with other agencies and adding additio

 Never Forget:

 The short answer is, "Because the GOP shoot themselves in the foot every morning instead of answering every question with 'God bless America!' regardless of context." Nevertheless, the longer answer is worth the watch.

 Russell Brand shares his thoughts on that question: