This is the sixth set of notes for a reading group on Marx’s Capital, and includes a Volume I refresher for further reading of Volume II. There are links to earlier posts and texts that may be useful. Marx is probably too taken with a kind of scientism by proposing...
Charging
You could say Ted Cruz is about as funny as a debilitating brain parasite, but that would be imprecise. He’s as funny as a brain parasite attempting to do prop comedy at 1 a.m on a Wednesday at a Sioux Falls Holiday Inn. In other words, much less funny than your workaday...
“Today's sentencing of human rights lawyer Steven Donziger should be front-page news ringing alarm bells anywhere people are concerned about democracy, abuses of corporate power, and the rule of law. The real crime here is the death and disease resulting from Chevron's poisoning of the drinking water of thousands of Indigenous...
It looks like New York City just had a narrow escape: 18-year-old from Ohio arrested with AK-47 in Times Square subway station, police say (CNN)An 18-year-old from Ohio is facing weapons charges after officers patrolling a Times Square subway station on Friday found him with an AK-47 and a loaded...
[Edit: Response to some comments below] Some of the comments have pointed out that the gun pictured is only an AK-47 knockoff, or some other kind of gun that doesn’t shoot as many bullets or as fast as the real thing. That misses the point: This person was carrying a...
Fox News and Greg Gutfeld apparently believes he’s funny enough to go up against late night comedy programming. Because of the previous guy, the world might be safe for RW late night humor when ‘Pretentious Virtue Signaling’ can be an intelligible punch line. As if Dennis Miller on RT makes us feel better...
Trump has released this statement to CNN: “Mayor Giuliani is not currently representing President Trump in any legal matters.” Is this because of today’s lawsuit charging that in concert with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, they were conspiring to incite a violent riot at the U.S. Capitol on January...
On Friday, three hours of Castor and Schoen defending Trump, demonstrating that there will be very fine people on both sides in an insurrection somehow not connected to the incitement of Trump. Worse will be that somehow Trump had rights to foment violence as a clear and present danger to elected officials....
Suddenly, we’re all talking about the felony murder doctrine. Broadly, that’s a legal principle stating that if someone is involved in the commission of a felony, and the circumstances of that crime result in a death, then they are guilty of the offense of murder even if they weren’t directly...
Unlike one of her predecessors, who had numerous connections to the Trump impeachment and its hinky relations with the Russian oligarchs, Jennifer Granholm will combine clean energy policy and economic recovery. Even without explicit support for the GND, this is a direction 180 degrees from the prior administration's kowtowing to...
All his life, Donald Trump has managed to avoid responsibility for the damage he’s done to others: his racial discrimination in his housing (not to mention his neglect of that same housing), his stiffing of contractors, driving many of them into bankruptcy, his exploitation of undocumented immigrants, his misogynistic treatment...
Last gasps of biglygate: even Mitt Romney shades Trump as President-elect Biden has not ruled out legal action against the GSA, as Trump will have run out of options very soon. x Arizona will follow in a week.Nevada and Wisconsin will certify on December 1. The electors will cast their...
Our nation’s very last Mouth of Sauron has spoken! And been cut off mid-sentence by Fox News! Finally. Lame Duck Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany saved the best bullshit for last, and she’s broken Fox in the process As she vigorously flung Donald Trump’s poo today because he was too lazy to do...
From The Huffington Post: x YouTube Video NextGen America, which focuses on turning out voters under age 35, is expanding its target list to include Senate races in Alaska and South Carolina, and House elections for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District and Kansas’ 2nd and 3rd Congressional districts. The group, funded...
In revisionist history, perhaps the Union troops hunting down John Wilkes Booth were only interested in him because of some ‘wanton endangerment’. We do know who’s a snake in these counterfactual historical narratives. x For sure! It’d be like charging John Wilkes Booth for shooting recklessly inside a crowded theater....
Trust the plan. Enjoy the show. Nothing can stop what is coming. x From a WaPo editorial 4 years ago today: 'His politics of division could strain the bonds of a diverse nation. His contempt for constitutional norms might reveal the nationâÂÂs experiment in checks and balances to be more...
Not exactly a slam dunk if you have to brag about something you won’t have to show the public. “If you are perfectly normal, why would they be shocked?” x Trump on cognitive exams to Fox: “I actually took one very recently … I proved I was all there because...
Colorado white woman tries to run a black man out of her neighborhood then realizes someone else in the neighborhood was videoing her. Again a white woman attempting to exert authority over a black man walking in the neighborhood. x x YouTube Video Watch complete episodes here. As the woman...
She can’t stop getting caught lying: Sen. Martha McSally released a TV ad for her campaign in which she says, “Of course I will always protect those with preexisting conditions. Always.” Well … It boils down to this: McSally has been a proponent of abolishing the Affordable Care Act, which...
This story gets stranger as the 3rd precinct police building has burned to the ground in Minneapolis, Minnesota. If police have gotten bolder in resorting to deadly force with suspects in custody, so too has the response in an age of Black Lives Matter. Video recording in the years post-Rodney...
Trumpies have been clamoring for years to have Susan Rice’s email of Jan. 5, 2017, declassified. This was a memo the national security adviser wrote to herself to memorialize a conversation in the Oval Office meeting about Russian interference (this kind of memo is a standard practice in government when...
The lingering insult considering the number of fatalities is the willingness of people to capitalize on the necessity of PPEs. The biggest insult is Trump assuming that profit always trumps people. x Thankfully @jonkarl pressed him again. Trump said the supplies are being saved for surges, and ultimately said yes,...
Freshman State Represenative Charles Booker from Louisville has officially declared that he will run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate this year against Moscow Mitch. Booker is no shrinking centrist. He’s a hard charging progressive. Booker said state Democrats have failed to topple McConnell — who was first elected...
The FBI has received Spanish wiretaps from an investigation of Russian money laundering through NRA that implicates Donald Trump Jr. Then there’s the money that GOP leadership received including the transfers made during the GOP convention. x Oligarch Len Blavatnik in 2016 gave Trumps pac $7.35 million. Marco Rubio, John...
This is part three of our three-part series comparing all major electric vehicles that will be on sale in the US in 2020. For “Part 1: Offerings, Basic Stats, Safety, and Manufacturers”, click here. For “Part 2: Price, Performance, Efficiency, Range and Charging”, click here. Electric 2020 Every Electric Car...
This is part two of our three-part series comparing all major electric vehicles that will be on sale in the US in 2020. For “Part 1: Offerings, Basic Stats, Safety, and Manufacturers”, click here. “Part 3: Cargo, Internal and External Dimensions, Purchasing” will be posted tomorrow! Electric 2020 Every Electric...
2020 is almost upon us, and there’s many people out there who will be making a New Year’s resolution to buy a new electric car during the course of the year. The number of offerings on the market keeps expanding every year, so what will this year look like? Join us...
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Republicans have had less than nothing (or nothing real, anyway) to fall back on in their defense of Donald Trump during the recent impeachment imbroglio. What they do have amounts to repeating Hunter Biden’s name into a mirror over and over again...
So here’s the latest news about impeachment: House Democratic leaders are bracing for some defections among a group of moderate Democrats in swing districts who are concerned a vote to impeach President Trump could cost them their seats in November. Lawmakers and senior aides are privately predicting they will lose...
Until recently, Warren and Buttigieg had avoided attacking each other, but lately that’s changed. Warren said Buttigieg needed to be more forthcoming about his consulting work with McKinsey. In response, Buttigieg said Warren should release more of her tax returns (she’s released 11 years’ worth) to show her work on...
Quick diary: I was watching the handoff between Rachel and Lawrence O’Donnell just now, and Lawrence made a point I think makes a lot of sense: The House should report more than one article of impeachment, because this will give Republican Senators a way of saying, “Look, I voted against...
In the olden days, we often heard a refrain along the lines of: “Man, look at the MPGs on these cars in Europe! It’s ridiculous that we can’t get them over here.” Nowadays, it’s often of the form: “Man, look at the range of this upcoming European EV! I totally want...
OK, this should make everyone very angry but especially those in North Central Florida and my red red county. Local lawmakers say they're looking to tighten up loopholes in state law after learning that a Floral City man can't be prosecuted for making multiple threats to do harm to...
Every so often one encounters a myth about electric vehicles that's so odd it makes you scratch your head. When it happens just once, it's easy to dismiss, but when it keeps popping up, it becomes time to address it. In recent weeks, I've seen multiple people assert that, “Sure,...
http://www.nytimes.com/… Former New York City mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg said today he would give half a billion dollars in effort to close all coal fired US electric plants and promote renewable energy. The effort, named Beyond Carbon, will focus on local and state governments since the federal government headed by...
photo: The Constitution of the United States (Image from the U.S. Archives) In solidarity, Mike Hersh for Alan, Deb, Dan, Bryan, Mike F, Shayna, Dr. Bill, Janis, and Kimberly—your PDA National Team PDA Supports Impeachment InvestigationsUrge Congress To Cosponsor Tlaib Resolution Special Counsel Robert Mueller said, “If we had had...
Did this ever happen to you? You’re sitting quietly with friends at your favorite local watering hole, and at the end of the bar is the mandatory big mouth, loudly spouting off on every event of the day, and with every shouted opinion, proving he has his head so far...
I know you probably think I’ve been sniffing DMT off a psychedelic toad’s hindquarters, but this is real. A real thing that’s happening. Within the space-time continuum. Axios: In a memorandum released Monday evening, President Trump directed Attorney General William Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan to issue...
photo: PDA’s Stephen Spitz, Mike Hersh, and Shayna Stevens on Capitol Hill In solidarity with the Political Revolution, Mike Fox for Alan, Dr. Bill, Dan, Janis, Deb, Kimberly, Bryan, Mike H., and Shayna—your PDA national team. Bernie Launches Medicare For All!Help Keep The Momentum Going! Bernie announced his Medicare For...
Personally, I’d rather hitchhike to Branson, Missouri, with a syphilitic fruit bat duct-taped to my genitals than give Donald Trump’s reelection campaign a dime of my money. But some idiots do so, and now they’re getting doubly screwed. Not only are they supporting the reelection of an angry, quavering glop...
1) Cobalt In High-Nickel Batteries: Does It Do Anything Useful At All? Of all of the components of a lithium-ion battery, cobalt has historically been one of the more expensive and controversial. The three most costly raw materials, generally, are battery-grade cobalt oxide (~$80/kg as of November, likely less now),...
The torrent of Donald-Trump-is-a-debauched-amoral-criminal news yesterday drowned out this revealing piece from Dan Alexander, who works the Donald-Trump-is-a-debauched-amoral-criminal beat for Forbes magazine. Seems Trump has been taking in campaign donations since inauguration day, when he officially launched his 2020 reelection campaign, and has been using them to line his own...
One of the greatest, if not the greatest reasons that many people hesitate to switch to an electric vehicle is the fear of… “What if I can’t get There from Here”? Well, here’s the good news: You absolutely can. We’ll start with Teslas, as they’ve long been the road-tripping champions, and then move...
Big news today for the electric vehicle market, from two fronts…. Nissan postpones launch of 60kWh Leaf E-Plus Following the ouster and arrest of their CEO, Carlos Ghosn, Nissan has postponed the launch of the much anticipated Leaf E-Plus. Why does this matter? Not merely will the much larger pack greatly...
Are sealed indictments by Robert Mueller the equivalent of legal time bombs for Trump? I have been reading up on the speculation about Robert Mueller’s investigation and sealed indictments, and if there are any lawyers on Daily Kos, I would appreciate your input. First up, here is one definition of...
Here’s the latest news out of Florida courtesy of UNF’s latest poll: The Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida has a new poll of likely voters that reveals Andrew Gillum in the lead for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Florida, with Ron DeSantis close behind and...
Big news today out of Arizona courtesy of NBC/Marist’s latest poll: Fueled by advantages among Latinos, independents and women, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema holds a 6-point lead over Republican Martha McSally in Arizona’s key Senate contest, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll of the state. Sinema, a Democratic congresswoman, gets support...