61% of GOP voters now say they support tearing down the wall of separation between church and state and… declaring the U.S. to be a Christian nation. Doug Mastriano and Marjorie Taylor Greene are no longer the fringe of the GOP. They’re the mainstream.
I wouldn’t use the word “mainstream”. More like “the center of the stink!”
Fast food restaurant company Hardee’s just masterfully mocked MyPillow CEO and noted conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell after he complained that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized his phone while he was in the drive-thru of a Hardee’s restaurant…the company saw an opportunity to stake a new claim to fame after the FBI seized Lindell’s phone, taking a jab at Lindell in the process.
The use of the word “pillowy” to describe Hardee’s biscuits was a clear reference to Lindell, who has been the subject of considerable derision since the MyPillow CEO, who previously advised former President Donald Trump’s campaign, took a more active role in supporting and financing Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 general election result by spreading disproven conspiracy theories about widespread electoral fraud in that election…
Lindell’s phone was seized in connection with a 2021 breach of voting machines in Mesa County, Colorado, committed by former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is facing felony charges for alleged tampering after sensitive voter machine data she leaked was presented at Lindell’s “Cyber Symposium,” which he billed as an arena in which he would unveil definitive proof that the 2020 election was stolen but that ultimately failed to produce any evidence of fraud.
Surprise, surprise! It takes someone dim enough to be a Trump fanboy to involve their working life, their private life, justifying the lies and foolishness that ooze from Republican politics, nowadays.
Mario Tama/Getty
When the NASA climatologist James Hansen testified before Congress in June 1988 about a warming planet, the temperature in Washington DC hit a record 100F. It was a summer of unprecedented heatwaves, and 40 states were grappling with drought.
His warning was seen as a historic wake-up call – but instead of heeding the existential smoke alarm, the US removed the batteries and kept on cooking.
Nearly four decades later, the consequences of a sweltering Earth are hitting home in the US south-west and mountain west – comprising states from California to Colorado. Over the past two decades, extreme heat and dwindling moisture levels have converged to create a “megadrought” deemed the driest period in 1,200 years…
The west is now in uncharted territory, as once singular conditions become the norm. Its mightiest reservoirs – Lake Mead and Lake Powell – are at record low levels and steadily shriveling. Prolonged, triple-digit heatwaves are making cities like Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada, almost unlivable during summers. And wildfires now spark year-round as parched forests and grasslands are more primed than ever to burn…
“We were given an excellent warning by climate scientists,” says Bill McKibben, the journalist turned climate activist. “And, yet, instead of mustering the will to do something about it, our political and economic systems rallied to do nothing.”
This is the beginning of a series by THE GUARDIAN. Dunno if the hacks in DC and Congress will be any more responsive (or unresponsive) than they have been to date. It is another opportunity to stick a fist in their collective faces and make rude noises along with suggestions for action. Again.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency amid evidence of circulating poliovirus, a move that will increase the availability of resources including expanding the network of polio vaccine administrators, state health officials said.
Sequence analysis of wastewater surveillance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found poliovirus samples in Nassau County, bringing the total to 5 counties — Rockland County, Orange County, Sullivan County, New York City, and now, Nassau County.
“Bolstering the immunization drive, the E.O. (executive order) immediately expands the network of polio vaccine administrators with the addition of EMS workers, midwives, and pharmacists and authorizes physicians and certified nurse practitioners to issue non-patient specific standing orders for polio vaccines,” the release from DHS said.
One quote says it best: All samples are “samples of concern,” — essentially, types of poliovirus that can cause paralysis in humans. I grew up when summertime was polio epidemic time many places in the GOUSA.
I never want to go back to that!
Chancey Bush/Albuquerque Journal
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham moved Wednesday to buttress access to abortions in New Mexico, signing an executive order that pledges $10 million to build a state-funded clinic providing abortion and other services in Doña Ana County.
The governor’s executive order also directs the state Department of Health to marshal state resources to expand access to reproductive health – including abortion – in rural parts of the state and study whether medication that ends pregnancies can be provided in public health clinics.
“This is a state that will stand against any attempts to remove or eviscerate women’s constitutional rights,” Lujan Grisham said during a remote briefing with reporters, legislators and members of the state’s Commission on the Status of Women.
The move comes as New Mexico has seen an influx of patients from Texas and other states seeking abortion services…
Lujan Grisham already issued a previous executive order aimed at shielding health care professionals targeted by lawsuits from losing their licenses or being disciplined for providing abortion services.
The June order also asserts the state will not comply with abortion-related arrest warrants or extradition requests from other states.
Our Governor Michelle is one tough woman. And as far as I can see, a majority of folks in the state agree with her.
Eideard 