“hello literally everyone,” the official account of Twitter tweeted this afternoon, after Facebook and its affiliated platforms Instagram and WhatsApp went dark at about 11:40 this morning. The Facebook outage lasted for more than six hours and appears to have been caused by an internal error. But the void caused by the absence of the internet giant illustrated its power at a time when the use of that power has come under scrutiny.
I subscribed to your letter yesterday after all the news about Facebook. Now, the first thing I will open in the morning will be the e-mail with your letter, not Facebook. I will still watch your videos (which I love) and keep up with my family, but I have decided to cut WAY back on my FB time.
Although I am on Social Security, and the debt ceiling could impact my income, my biggest concern is the lack of action on the Freedom to Vote Act. I live in Wisconsin, the most gerrymandered state in the union. The Freedom to Vote Act is the only way progressives in our state will be able to have our voices heard.
Welcome. I took the plunge over a year ago, and find the time spent here, "conversing" with other commenters is far more satisfying than the exchanges on Facebook.
I literally use it for two things: to see pictures of my daughter and grandchildren, and to find out why the power went out again. Not a poster, just a lurker...
I think I deactivated my account. Idk … I haven’t visited Facebook since February. I quit for my birthday… don’t miss it… after 1/6… my horror brought me to stop feeding it my energy… it was not worthy.
If you “think” you deactivated your account, that might not be true. I found the process more difficult than anticipated when I found it necessary to deactivate account during a public office campaign. A user can deactivate or delete account, but requires your input. A dormant account will remain that way, with you as active user. Hope this info helps. Lots of people want to leave FB.
In the month that I was banned from posting on FB, I could still access my account and delete posts. That is what I did. Each time I logged on there were more posts & pix that seemed to be dredged up until finally no more. So, if my profile is still there, it is empty. I know it took a month after going thru their hoops of deleting my profile for it to become final. If only they had taken more effort to make it a pleasurable experience before they burned me.
Hi Robin, you have a compatriot here. I deactivated my account (not the same as deleted) when I was hacked. I occasionally use messenger for family members, but I have left the daily check-in and I really don't miss it. It had gotten to the point that there were more ads than posts from friends.
Yes - the foot dragging likely has as much or more to do with preventing protection of voting rights and protecting the gerrymandering that is going on right now. McConnell would no doubt trade a raised debt ceiling and passed infrastructure bill (taking credit for both regardless of how Republicans voted since their base seem so ill informed) for completed and protected gerrymandering and (Democrat and POC) voter suppression, but because he is superb at long range planning and strategy (is that somewhat redundant?) he is having it all at the moment. If Dems don't prioritize voter protection now (now!) we will find ourselves with an Emperor Mitch and some Republican puppet acting out their best Trump imitation in the oval office... for life. Five years ago I would have thought that must surely be hysterical over-statement but by now surely even the most optimistic must have seen enough carefully laid domino trains going down to realize there is an end goal and that's it.
As to so many saying the people of Kentucky need to vote Mitch out of office; I read an article (which I did not double check) detailing some amazingly strange statistics surrounding his elections which strongly made the case that he is in office and will remain in office entirely apart from whatever the people vote. In other words - an old hand at voting corruption. I would love to hear from anyone who saw the article and knows if there was any truth in that.
I don't know the source(s), but there were several and the question is still being raised. The numbers apparently do not and never did add up. Yet, msm has let this one go by the wayside for some reason.
That depends on how badly Republicans want to discredit Pres Biden’s agenda. There is no ceiling limit on their lack of integrity or which people they use to further their minority rule.
Yes. They will do anything to force the Dems to use last reconciliation pass of the year for debt ceiling and stymie the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Acts. And filibuster the infrastructure.
The resistance to carving out the filibuster might HAVE to dissolve but there is still not the agreement amongst the Dems to even pick up the carving knife.
Personally, I’m putting my bets on President Biden. The parties of McConnell and Trumpist will not ever see anything from me except a look of disgusted incredulity. Until the cracks are fractures and then fissures and then chasms and so on until their quake.
Mine too. Without an end to voter suppression and literal partisan decisions on the validity of the vote, all else is moot. We will be in a dictatorship ruled by a hateful, cruel minority and what happened in Germany last century, can and will happen here.
Facebook is a problem, McConnell is a threat. He has imperiled our democracy as much as Trump in his years-long campaign to establish minority rule in this country. The filibuster must go or the Democrats will surely suffer defeat in 2022 without a voting rights law, infrastructure spending and climate change initiatives. It is time for the Democrats to put down their nail clippers and get out the brass knuckles.
imo, he has done more damage the former president. remember Merrick Garland? Remember 'our primary focus is on making sure Obama is a one term president?
He doesn't even pretend to govern - only obstruct.
Every person who receives a Social Security check each month are watching to see if the Republicans are going to keep the checks coming, or if we (and there are a lot of us out here) will start defaulting on our debts. One third of the Senate is up for re-election in 2022. How does your elected Senator vote? If you are not registered, get registered, support those running who share your values. These people are only where they are because we citizens elect them. We hold the power.
Same goes for disabled veterans. Sometimes we get paid when Social Security recipients won't but sometimes not. The only way to know is to check your bank balance on the 1st during these bouts of extreme irresponsibility and bullshit by politicians. I think every time they decide to hurt regular citizens this way, their paychecks and medical insurance should stop too.
Thank you so much for your service. You gave a part of your body for your country and should be honored. Love your stopping their paychecks and medical insurance idea. Voting for those who will continue to pay you is the best way to be sure and keep responsible people in charge.
Murkowski has not announced a reelection bid but surely she will run. McConnell will support her bid financially, he said. Her opponent is heavily Trump backed. ( Trump backed heavily?). Usually she votes with McConnell but she has the freedom to step away on certain votes. Alaskans generally love her and Alaska has ranked choice voting.
I believe your last sentence may be the clue to the Republicans actions. No Voting Rights Bill as long as Congress is tied up with the debt issues. It seems planned this way.
Mitch is nothing if not competent evil, it’s no news flash, it’s well documented for decades. There were scoundrels in Joe’s day (Hastert and Delay to start) but nothing like today. If Joe still thinks it’s politics as usual, he is toast.
"Sludgy rills"? What a great phrase. And since it brings to mind perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA in the Ohio river, Please let us have their resting place be the part of the Ohio river marinated in PFOAs.
"McConnell is holding the nation hostage to keep the Democrats from passing a very popular bill, and today, Biden called him on it. McConnell complained that congressional Democrats were 'sleepwalking toward significant and avoidable danger,' prompting Biden to demand that Republicans 'stop playing Russian roulette with the U.S. economy.... Not only are Republicans refusing to do their job, but threatening to use their power to prevent us from doing our job—saving the economy from a catastrophic event—I think, quite frankly, is hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful. Their obstruction and irresponsibility knows absolutely no bounds.'"
McTurtle has constantly played Russian Roulette with the Democrats. His viciousness has no end. He made life miserable for Obama and will continue to do so for Biden. Surely, there must be something in the Pandora Papers to make him crawl into his shell and stay there for a while. The power he wields -- and uses at every turn -- goes beyond what should be allowed for any senator.
Thank you daria . After 6 yrs and 4 months of TFG spewing his Damnation of our Democracy and for 4 yrs on our time and our Dime after taking an Oath ( LOL ! ) to Defend us and Protect us . Now it’s Facebooks fault ? Do we know if the ‘Leaker ‘ is Repub or Dem. ? Personally I don’t care right this moment , as I see my Country being lead to Authoritarianism , how Putin’s paramour lives.Shouldn’t the headlines be Screaming “ The Republicans are willing to let Americans be denied their Right to Vote and throw us All off the Economic Cliff if need be to do it !”. And does Facebook have more Guilt than TFG , who occupied the highest office in our Country and Used every privilege that Office afforded him and then some, to do it ? None of this will be a thought in our minds if in Nov. 2022 we are Gagged and Hogtied philosophically speaking, to Vote Fair and Safe.With the Outing of the Panama Papers the only thing that happen to those caught the first time, had to pay up their Tax’s. Oh poor babies ! They just got smarter since then and the end result will be the same.It’s not where they hide it that counts. It’s the Legal Loopholes that allow them to gain it to hide it ! How many of us have our Guy(s) we go to for “. Wealth Management ?”. Our Wealth is our Freedom and Democracy.The 99% R’s. Wealth.I don’t like FB that’s why I got off. When does TFG get Charged, put in the ‘Hot seat ‘ and then Punished ? How about Fox ?What Social Platform or News Information hasn’t given TFG a platform at one point or another ? We are going down that Rabbit Hole. Bigly ! Nothing Tops the Citizens of America’s Right to Vote ! I would call their Bluff on the Debt. Everyday in Fl if you watch the Fl ch is about All the $$$$$$$ the State is making.What CoVid ?Just get them here. We don’t care if you infect us. But please go home to get sick and DIE ! Rant Over !
Everyday in Fl if you watch the Fl ch is about All the $$$$$$$ the State is making.
Yes, tourism and tech companies are apparently booming on the Space Coast. Maybe that’s why Florida is the only state in the country not to apply for 3rd round funding to help schools under American Rescue Plan ! 😡
DeSantis won’t take anything from Biden if he can avoid it. But they are asking for Protection for School Board members and others that have been threatened. We are finding out also from Local news people were stalled on Rent and Unemployment Ben. And none of us really know’s the True # of CV-19 infections or Deaths ? He wants that Presidency ——-Bad !
As someone earlier suggested, I hope McTurtleneck is outed on the Pandora Papers. He needs to have his legs cut out from under him. Biden calling him out won't do much unless he does so everyday for the next two weeks.If people hear it enough that McTurtleneck is standing in the way, they will start to believe, right? Biden needs to continue to use his "bully pulpit" to be a bully. Unfortunately, being a bully is not in his blood. Now, McTurtleneck was schooled on being a bully at the same school as tRump.
On another point.... it is interesting that the insurrectionists found the "weakness" in the windows. I don't find conspiracies helpful, but this one sounds more like the truth. It's time for the Jan 6 commission to get to work.
I love the facts that Professor Richardson goes sideways on. Weakness in those particular windows? Having seen the crashing of those windows so many times in replay, I’ve always thought….”What in the world? That seemed way too easy.”
What sleuths historians can be.
Let alone tying the technology intent and fiascos of today with the technologies of the Industrial Revolution over two centuries ago.
The best historians are sleuths. Rather than lazily repeat the same information other historians have cited, they search for new material and raise new questions about their subject, whether a person or an event. They and good journalists share the same qualities of integral inquiry as they both work to reveal the truth.
I believe there are thousands of pages in this report, but I do hope there will be Americans implicated. And, yes, it would be interesting to have the Cho dynasty listed. In fact, I'll be crossing my fingers for just that.🤞
Enormous as this trove of documents is, it’s also not enough for indictments without supporting tax returns which are carefully guarded by the wealthy and powerful.
Once upon a time when shame worked, those implicated would step down. Now they just double down.
It’s interesting that the weakness in those windows was created during Trump’s reign. I think from the minute he took office things were put in place to make it easier to overthrow the government and install him as almighty king and dictator.
I also think the timing at Facebook yesterday was perfect for them to scrub incriminating evidence.
And I’m not into conspiracies but sometimes these things seem so clear. I count on all of you to stop me before I go off the deep end.
And I have to smile; when my daughter was very young, 4 in fact, she would ask on Sunday evenings: Is it time for Tick Tick? Because that is what we watched on Sunday evening.
From the minute he took office he surrounded himself with loyalists … not filling positions and eradicating any that he couldn’t fill with one of his own very fine people …
A fact not helped by so many people who simply quit out of outrage which one can't blame them for but which did help push the administration toward the critical limit where there were too few to hold any lines.
Biden said, "...prevent us from doing our job—saving the economy from a catastrophic event—I think, quite frankly, is hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful." It's also unpatriotic. Republicans are willing burn the house down in order to continue their agenda of obstruction. Ordinary Americans live in that house. If the U.S. defaults, Social Security and Disability payments will stop. Federal workers will not get paid. Our creditworthiness will be downgraded and it is estimated that 6 million Americans will lose their jobs as we fall into a recession.
It's clear that Republicans are playing hardball in order to obstruct highly popular Democratic legislation so they can relegate Biden to a lame duck administration. Here's the catch: Their very supporters who would benefit most from Democratic proposals are threatened with ruin so Republicans can blame Democrats for their ruin. The sad part is that R supporters don't even realize the depth of this deception. In the end, however, Republicans will get on board so they won't be blamed for sinking the boat. This game of chicken moves us closer to economic peril.
But they want to burn the house down. They want to burn down Democracy. This is all part of their end game. This situation merely speeds things up for them.
Look at their moves over the past year.
1. Create chaos and distrust over covid.
2. Attempt to undermine the 2020 election through intimidation at the polls, distrust of mail
in ballots and DeJoy slowing down the mail system.
3. Undermine trust in the 2020 election outcome.
4. Pass voter suppression and vote nullification in 18 States.
5. Dismantle Roe v Wade.
6. And now--destroy the Economic Infrastructure of the United States thus upsetting the
World economies.
These folks have been working on this scenario for decades. McConnell has been packing the Courts for decades. Republicans have been doing rampant gerrymandering for decades. We have seen the Pandora report. They have built a huge financial safety net for themselves.
And I am not ordinarily a paranoid person. I have been sitting back looking at how this is all fitting together.
The good news? President Joe Biden and the good people fighting the good fight.
The R’s are not only willing to reduce most Americans to feudal serfdom, they are eager to do it. Turning this country into a third rate disaster in which they rule the roost is their goal. Look at how they run the red states.
Yes, Joan. I totally agree. When we try to speak about how to lift people up, help them succeed, it falls on ears of people who want cheap labor and who are desperate just to put food on their tables. Climate change? They’ll be dead before the worst comes and in the meantime they and their immediate heirs will live safely and high off the hog. And they certainly need servants to make all this work well. Ugh. Disgusting. And your point about the citizens in red states? So true, so true.
They are also dead set on destroying our education system. They want charter schools for several reasons.
They want to segregate the white Christian kids and only teach them religion and superiority. There will be no emphasis on math, science, computer programming. Women will be relegated to housewives and incubators. The massive problem with this is there will be no educated to run our tech industries and we will be more reliant on China, Japan and India for the people that have been educated.
Plus they have plans to eliminate public education altogether leaving millions uneducated.
I feel like they are driving themselves into ruin. Are there successful countries now run on white supremacy and religion? The United States will be considered an extremist county and be shut out of world groups and conferences. Computer industries won’t just get their components made in China, their entire businesses will move because it will be impossible to hire educated people. Already there are massive numbers in this country on the Visa program. R’s want to stop that.
Where will the consumers be among the poorly educated, blue collar workers in oil and coal? The immigrants they want to stop at our southern border are the workers in our fields, meat packing and food processing. Who will do that work?
It’s a bleak picture but if currently only 1% are the wealthy corporations won’t survive without the rest of us to support them.
I have heard this more than once: those white ppl who would benefit are better than POC ; therefore, if something would benefit POC, the whites must not need it too.
I am astounded and frankly annoyed by the obsession with FB and Instagram, re negative impact on young women and our democracy. Both seem to me to arise from long standing problems. Advertisers have gone after self-esteem in women and girls for decades, undermining their confidence so they will buy products they don't need. This is an old game, going back to pin-up girls, and you can also add most pornography to the mix .
As to stoking divisions and misinformation: excuse me? I think Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and all the right wing talk radio shows play a far bigger role in telling lies, dividing our country, and putting democracy at risk. If we obsess on Facebook, we are missing the bigger picture on both counts. I think it is a distraction. How about demanding the FCC re-establish some rules for the road for ALL media , including sanctioning out-right lies and misinformation, and establishing equal time requirements (which were eliminated under Reagan)? Katie Cameron
It's interesting you posted that, Ron. I've been thinking that the biggest irony is that only a "Democratic Dictator" --not really a misnomer if you think about it--is needed to shut down Republican obstructionism.
We begin every day with these Letters. Thank you, Dr. Richardson!
Something we've recently found very helpful to read after the daily Letters is Robert B. Hubbell's "Today's Edition Newsletter". Mr. Hubbell takes much of what we're learning from Heather (and from our other news gathering) and puts it in a calm, actionable perspective. Anyone else doing this? Highly recommended!
Robert Hubbell started his letters right after the 2016 election as a daily way to communicate hope for our country to his three daughters after the unthinkable happened. His audience has now grown into thousands nation and worldwide. He often closes his newsletter with the words "We have every reason to be hopeful and no reason to be complacent." I too rely on his words each weekday morning. Plus, his wife's more recent gardening blog is a real kick and a break from politics.
Like you (and quite a few others here in Heather’s Herd), I’ve been a daily Hubbell reader (and garden blog consumer) for a good while now. You’re spot on, describing Jill’s garden blog as a real kick. Her calming videos leave me smiling.
I’d love to have Heather and The Hubbells as my neighbors 💙!
Thanks for the tip--just subscribed to Robert Hubbell's Substack. As a reader, it is relief to see "only" 12 comments! But if more comments are a measure of success, I wish him more.
I also have subscribed to Hubbell. Like it but have to have Heathers newsletter for the historical perspective. We have been here before and here is what happened.
I have started learning about NYS issues, particularly election issues. I've had direct email conversations with both my NYS legislators -- one a Democrat, one a Republican.
I have found issues with each of them where I agree with them (or partially agree). And I have had direct email conversations with them both about THEIR issue and MY issue.
You might set up Google Alerts for their names to see more published information about what they are doing.
I find it has been possible to have useful, informative telephone conversations with them, and I am planning this fall to give a quick, 15-minute presentation (well, a 5-minute presentation + 10 minutes of talk) to prepare for when the NYS legislature reconvenes in January.
Well, this is pretty grim news. Biden and McConnell in a game of debt-ceiling "chicken" to the death (of our nation).
Either a couple of Republicans need to be convinced, or a way to convince Manchin and Sinema needs to be found, but ending the filibuster is the only solution. This has been clear for many months, and time is running out very quickly.
"Biden and McConnell in a game of debt-ceiling "chicken" "
I think this is an oversimplification and a false equivalency. As it is a legislative issue, McConnell has more power than Biden. And as it is a legislative issue, it is in the hands of every legislator. Ultimately the American electorate in its choice of representatives - knowingly or not - has set this in motion.
Lin, you're right, of course, but this just means that only McConnell can decide whether or not to drive us over the default cliff, given the disunity among Democrats. I think if he does do that, he will pay a steep price in terms of his own popularity, but the more important result could well be Trump presiding over an American dictatorship. The risk here goes way beyond politics, and Joe Biden needs to clearly explain this problem -- using his bully pulpit -- and what can be done to solve it. Has he considered the Trillion-dollar platinum coin scenario clearly explained by Paul Krugman in a recent NYT column?
Thanks, Gail. It appears that much, if not all, of what happens in the Senate is subject to rules, so unless there's a law that requires a qualified majority of some sort, any rule could be eliminated by vote of a simple Senate majority. The more I read about the US Senate, the more detestable it seems. And we call this "democracy"?
When Senate leadership is entranced by playing the game, rather than governing it is indeed time to step back and reassess. Still looking for a unicorn...
As a journalist, member of the faculty of Singularity University, and software developer I have warned about tech giants, notably Facebook, which -- like gun manufacturers in America -- uniquely are exempted from liability for any damage they caused by content published on their platforms. Here is a piece -- https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/11/27/tech-giants-must-reined/ -- I wrote in 2017 about the damage PURPOSELY PLANNED by Facebook against vulnerable, depressed teenagers. Nothing changed and now the Wall Street Journal series obtained help from a whistleblower who leaked research proving the damage they caused.
All corporations must be liable for damage they cause. Only that will stop this abuse.
I posted your article on Twitter and Facebook, Diane. Great piece! I started to tell my own followers and friends that I’d known ahead of time about the planning for January 6 because I quietly checked what some of my Facebook “friends” were seeing that I wasn’t on Facebook. Without comment, “likes” or anything. I’d guess about half my high school classmates believe all or most conspiracy theories. My public school, northeastern Ohio classmates from the original 500 people, is still quite large and clearly think everything they have and earned was due entirely to no government interference, and “by God” they’re not paying for lazy people to not be poor when it’s their own fault. Anyway, they gobble up Facebook and who knows what else. I’ll post a photo of my dog and hear from 60 people. Posting your article will generally not receive any attention 😏
Oops, lost my train of thought. I’d started to tell them I knew it all (January 6 planning) ahead of time but knew it sounded arrogant and would blow my cover.
Watching Facebook executives attempting to justify their own and their platforms’ wickedness is like watching someone repeatedly perform and fail the mental equivalent of the milk crate challenge, both hopeless and laughable.
I deactivated my account early yesterday morning (pre-crash). When I got home from the dentist and checked the news I saw that Facebook had crashed. I had to laugh...I thought wow! I timed that right!
Kidding aside, I'm wondering, what the thousands of businesses here that rely on WhatsApp and Facebook will do if this becomes a common occurrence? Everything, from ordering garafones* of water to dental and doctor appointments to food ordering is transacted via WhatsApp. Micro and small businesses rely on Facebook to advertise their products, post daily menus, etc. I'm sure micro and small business reliance on Facebook is similar around the globe. Zuckerberg's tentacles are going to strangle millions who bought into his bullshit about human connectivity and he simply doesn't care.
Yes, and a major frustration encountered by tens of millions of Facebook users yesterday was those using Facebook sign-on to access other apps and websites. With a background in cybersecurity, I have urged others, including my own family members and friends, for years not to maintain a Facebook account or on any of their other platforms and not to be a user of any of their apps or technology.
My analogy of them to the Wicked Witch of the West is more accurate than most can imagine. Beware they do not call on or release the flying monkeys on you if you are a user of their technology. They know not what they do and worse don't care.
Another blowback: Facebook employees could not enter buildings, offices or server racks in secure rooms because their badges were deactivated. The flying monkeys turned on their own.
I suggest taking up the idea of uploading any recordings of those lectures to a channel she already has on YouTube to make them available there. YouTube is owned by Google (Alpahbet) and not Facebook. YouTube is a bit more careful about securing personal data and cybersecurity, but only a bit. However, I would much prefer it as a more secure platform than Facebook. I will not comment on the financial incentives or opportunities of those using these platforms and leave it to them to explain their motivations for choosing one over another.
I suggest communicating with Dr. Richardson and request she loads her lectures up to the YouTube channel she already has by recording them and uploading them after she delivers them.
As to what is (not) happening in D.C. with regards to the debt ceiling, what an absolute clusterf**k! I suggested weeks ago that McConnell’s game was to force the use of reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling so it would not be available for use on Biden’s desperately needed infrastructure plan; looks like I was right. Disgusting that he sees his own agenda for personal power and wealth as more important than delivering lifesaving measures to the people who elected him.
As to the Facebook et al outage yesterday, I discovered that I liked not having it available, and am strongly considering deleting my account.
I subscribed to your letter yesterday after all the news about Facebook. Now, the first thing I will open in the morning will be the e-mail with your letter, not Facebook. I will still watch your videos (which I love) and keep up with my family, but I have decided to cut WAY back on my FB time.
Although I am on Social Security, and the debt ceiling could impact my income, my biggest concern is the lack of action on the Freedom to Vote Act. I live in Wisconsin, the most gerrymandered state in the union. The Freedom to Vote Act is the only way progressives in our state will be able to have our voices heard.
Welcome. I took the plunge over a year ago, and find the time spent here, "conversing" with other commenters is far more satisfying than the exchanges on Facebook.
I literally use it for two things: to see pictures of my daughter and grandchildren, and to find out why the power went out again. Not a poster, just a lurker...
Ditto!
I think I deactivated my account. Idk … I haven’t visited Facebook since February. I quit for my birthday… don’t miss it… after 1/6… my horror brought me to stop feeding it my energy… it was not worthy.
If you “think” you deactivated your account, that might not be true. I found the process more difficult than anticipated when I found it necessary to deactivate account during a public office campaign. A user can deactivate or delete account, but requires your input. A dormant account will remain that way, with you as active user. Hope this info helps. Lots of people want to leave FB.
In the month that I was banned from posting on FB, I could still access my account and delete posts. That is what I did. Each time I logged on there were more posts & pix that seemed to be dredged up until finally no more. So, if my profile is still there, it is empty. I know it took a month after going thru their hoops of deleting my profile for it to become final. If only they had taken more effort to make it a pleasurable experience before they burned me.
Hi Robin, you have a compatriot here. I deactivated my account (not the same as deleted) when I was hacked. I occasionally use messenger for family members, but I have left the daily check-in and I really don't miss it. It had gotten to the point that there were more ads than posts from friends.
Welcome! You will find a home here.
Yes - the foot dragging likely has as much or more to do with preventing protection of voting rights and protecting the gerrymandering that is going on right now. McConnell would no doubt trade a raised debt ceiling and passed infrastructure bill (taking credit for both regardless of how Republicans voted since their base seem so ill informed) for completed and protected gerrymandering and (Democrat and POC) voter suppression, but because he is superb at long range planning and strategy (is that somewhat redundant?) he is having it all at the moment. If Dems don't prioritize voter protection now (now!) we will find ourselves with an Emperor Mitch and some Republican puppet acting out their best Trump imitation in the oval office... for life. Five years ago I would have thought that must surely be hysterical over-statement but by now surely even the most optimistic must have seen enough carefully laid domino trains going down to realize there is an end goal and that's it.
As to so many saying the people of Kentucky need to vote Mitch out of office; I read an article (which I did not double check) detailing some amazingly strange statistics surrounding his elections which strongly made the case that he is in office and will remain in office entirely apart from whatever the people vote. In other words - an old hand at voting corruption. I would love to hear from anyone who saw the article and knows if there was any truth in that.
I don't know the source(s), but there were several and the question is still being raised. The numbers apparently do not and never did add up. Yet, msm has let this one go by the wayside for some reason.
Great to have you aboard.
Welcome Robin. We look forward to comments. When seeing your name, I will also see spring. Robins always represent a positive sign to me.
Robin:
They will continue to pay SS.
That depends on how badly Republicans want to discredit Pres Biden’s agenda. There is no ceiling limit on their lack of integrity or which people they use to further their minority rule.
There are some thing Repubs can not stop. https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/verify/money-verify/government-shutdown-social-security-payments-not-impacted-new-cards-issued-will-be-delayed/536-3f19d548-149a-4b1b-bba8-140758f271d0
Thanks, Bill.
Don't know about that SS issue, but I'm going to applaud that clever snark on ceiling limit. Just gave me a snort...
Haaaaahahaha. Nothing is a guarantee!
Really? I'd read SS could be impacted somehow,so thought that meant no checks.
I found out FB was down on the 6:00 news! LOL
"Meanwhile, every day this drags on, Congress does not pass the Freedom to Vote Act." My biggest worry.
And that is the whole point. The FTV Act will send the Trumpian party into oblivion and they know it.
Yes. They will do anything to force the Dems to use last reconciliation pass of the year for debt ceiling and stymie the Freedom to Vote and John Lewis Acts. And filibuster the infrastructure.
The resistance to carving out the filibuster might HAVE to dissolve but there is still not the agreement amongst the Dems to even pick up the carving knife.
Personally, I’m putting my bets on President Biden. The parties of McConnell and Trumpist will not ever see anything from me except a look of disgusted incredulity. Until the cracks are fractures and then fissures and then chasms and so on until their quake.
The People will prevail.
Mine too.
Mine too. Without an end to voter suppression and literal partisan decisions on the validity of the vote, all else is moot. We will be in a dictatorship ruled by a hateful, cruel minority and what happened in Germany last century, can and will happen here.
Yes!
And mine.
Exactly.
Mine also.
Facebook is a problem, McConnell is a threat. He has imperiled our democracy as much as Trump in his years-long campaign to establish minority rule in this country. The filibuster must go or the Democrats will surely suffer defeat in 2022 without a voting rights law, infrastructure spending and climate change initiatives. It is time for the Democrats to put down their nail clippers and get out the brass knuckles.
imo, he has done more damage the former president. remember Merrick Garland? Remember 'our primary focus is on making sure Obama is a one term president?
He doesn't even pretend to govern - only obstruct.
Great turn of phrase.
Every person who receives a Social Security check each month are watching to see if the Republicans are going to keep the checks coming, or if we (and there are a lot of us out here) will start defaulting on our debts. One third of the Senate is up for re-election in 2022. How does your elected Senator vote? If you are not registered, get registered, support those running who share your values. These people are only where they are because we citizens elect them. We hold the power.
Same goes for disabled veterans. Sometimes we get paid when Social Security recipients won't but sometimes not. The only way to know is to check your bank balance on the 1st during these bouts of extreme irresponsibility and bullshit by politicians. I think every time they decide to hurt regular citizens this way, their paychecks and medical insurance should stop too.
Thank you so much for your service. You gave a part of your body for your country and should be honored. Love your stopping their paychecks and medical insurance idea. Voting for those who will continue to pay you is the best way to be sure and keep responsible people in charge.
Murkowski has not announced a reelection bid but surely she will run. McConnell will support her bid financially, he said. Her opponent is heavily Trump backed. ( Trump backed heavily?). Usually she votes with McConnell but she has the freedom to step away on certain votes. Alaskans generally love her and Alaska has ranked choice voting.
I believe your last sentence may be the clue to the Republicans actions. No Voting Rights Bill as long as Congress is tied up with the debt issues. It seems planned this way.
Mitch is nothing if not competent evil, it’s no news flash, it’s well documented for decades. There were scoundrels in Joe’s day (Hastert and Delay to start) but nothing like today. If Joe still thinks it’s politics as usual, he is toast.
He and tfg take a road trip in an iffy car, encounter a rain storm with slick roads …
And are struck by lightning.
...Which propels them into the Ohio River, where they sink beneath the sludgy rills, never to be found...
"Sludgy rills"? What a great phrase. And since it brings to mind perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA in the Ohio river, Please let us have their resting place be the part of the Ohio river marinated in PFOAs.
Ah yes... a man so many women have dreams about...
I'm hoping for such for a VERY evil man! Hell awaits him and his ilk...
Hell hath no fury like p.o.'d Kentuckians. As a Kentuckian, I intend to be part of the incensed electorate!
"McConnell is holding the nation hostage to keep the Democrats from passing a very popular bill, and today, Biden called him on it. McConnell complained that congressional Democrats were 'sleepwalking toward significant and avoidable danger,' prompting Biden to demand that Republicans 'stop playing Russian roulette with the U.S. economy.... Not only are Republicans refusing to do their job, but threatening to use their power to prevent us from doing our job—saving the economy from a catastrophic event—I think, quite frankly, is hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful. Their obstruction and irresponsibility knows absolutely no bounds.'"
McTurtle has constantly played Russian Roulette with the Democrats. His viciousness has no end. He made life miserable for Obama and will continue to do so for Biden. Surely, there must be something in the Pandora Papers to make him crawl into his shell and stay there for a while. The power he wields -- and uses at every turn -- goes beyond what should be allowed for any senator.
Agreed. And I certainly hope he gets exposed!
"Meanwhile, every day this drags on, Congress does not pass the Freedom to Vote Act."
That is the biggest issue of all.
Thank you daria . After 6 yrs and 4 months of TFG spewing his Damnation of our Democracy and for 4 yrs on our time and our Dime after taking an Oath ( LOL ! ) to Defend us and Protect us . Now it’s Facebooks fault ? Do we know if the ‘Leaker ‘ is Repub or Dem. ? Personally I don’t care right this moment , as I see my Country being lead to Authoritarianism , how Putin’s paramour lives.Shouldn’t the headlines be Screaming “ The Republicans are willing to let Americans be denied their Right to Vote and throw us All off the Economic Cliff if need be to do it !”. And does Facebook have more Guilt than TFG , who occupied the highest office in our Country and Used every privilege that Office afforded him and then some, to do it ? None of this will be a thought in our minds if in Nov. 2022 we are Gagged and Hogtied philosophically speaking, to Vote Fair and Safe.With the Outing of the Panama Papers the only thing that happen to those caught the first time, had to pay up their Tax’s. Oh poor babies ! They just got smarter since then and the end result will be the same.It’s not where they hide it that counts. It’s the Legal Loopholes that allow them to gain it to hide it ! How many of us have our Guy(s) we go to for “. Wealth Management ?”. Our Wealth is our Freedom and Democracy.The 99% R’s. Wealth.I don’t like FB that’s why I got off. When does TFG get Charged, put in the ‘Hot seat ‘ and then Punished ? How about Fox ?What Social Platform or News Information hasn’t given TFG a platform at one point or another ? We are going down that Rabbit Hole. Bigly ! Nothing Tops the Citizens of America’s Right to Vote ! I would call their Bluff on the Debt. Everyday in Fl if you watch the Fl ch is about All the $$$$$$$ the State is making.What CoVid ?Just get them here. We don’t care if you infect us. But please go home to get sick and DIE ! Rant Over !
It’s our strategic time to rant, Marcia. Keep on, keep on.
Marcia, rant on!
😂👍
Everyday in Fl if you watch the Fl ch is about All the $$$$$$$ the State is making.
Yes, tourism and tech companies are apparently booming on the Space Coast. Maybe that’s why Florida is the only state in the country not to apply for 3rd round funding to help schools under American Rescue Plan ! 😡
DeSantis won’t take anything from Biden if he can avoid it. But they are asking for Protection for School Board members and others that have been threatened. We are finding out also from Local news people were stalled on Rent and Unemployment Ben. And none of us really know’s the True # of CV-19 infections or Deaths ? He wants that Presidency ——-Bad !
I agree. I was going to post this, but you already did. So, thank you!
As someone earlier suggested, I hope McTurtleneck is outed on the Pandora Papers. He needs to have his legs cut out from under him. Biden calling him out won't do much unless he does so everyday for the next two weeks.If people hear it enough that McTurtleneck is standing in the way, they will start to believe, right? Biden needs to continue to use his "bully pulpit" to be a bully. Unfortunately, being a bully is not in his blood. Now, McTurtleneck was schooled on being a bully at the same school as tRump.
On another point.... it is interesting that the insurrectionists found the "weakness" in the windows. I don't find conspiracies helpful, but this one sounds more like the truth. It's time for the Jan 6 commission to get to work.
I love the facts that Professor Richardson goes sideways on. Weakness in those particular windows? Having seen the crashing of those windows so many times in replay, I’ve always thought….”What in the world? That seemed way too easy.”
What sleuths historians can be.
Let alone tying the technology intent and fiascos of today with the technologies of the Industrial Revolution over two centuries ago.
Wow.
The best historians are sleuths. Rather than lazily repeat the same information other historians have cited, they search for new material and raise new questions about their subject, whether a person or an event. They and good journalists share the same qualities of integral inquiry as they both work to reveal the truth.
I agree, Christine. Tying today's tech with the Industrial revolution is masterful.
It would be interesting to see if the Foremost Group, the Cho family shipping business is implicated. Somehow, I think they are smarter than that.
I believe there are thousands of pages in this report, but I do hope there will be Americans implicated. And, yes, it would be interesting to have the Cho dynasty listed. In fact, I'll be crossing my fingers for just that.🤞
What's in the Pandora Papers leak?
The 2.9 terabyte leak contains a total of more than 11.9 million files.
Documents*
6,406,119
Images
2,937,513
Emails
1,205,716
Spreadsheets
467,405
Presentations
8,511
Audios
3,497
Videos
1,421
Others
873,494
Source: Pandora Papers data
*More than 4 million PDFs, more than 1.79 million Word documents, and other document formats.
https://www.icij.org/investigations/pandora-papers/about-pandora-papers-investigation/
Enormous as this trove of documents is, it’s also not enough for indictments without supporting tax returns which are carefully guarded by the wealthy and powerful.
Once upon a time when shame worked, those implicated would step down. Now they just double down.
Exactly correct, Diane, on all counts.
OMG. I knew it was as big as Pandora's box, but not that big. But, I imagine there are many who will pour over all this for years.
It’s interesting that the weakness in those windows was created during Trump’s reign. I think from the minute he took office things were put in place to make it easier to overthrow the government and install him as almighty king and dictator.
I also think the timing at Facebook yesterday was perfect for them to scrub incriminating evidence.
And I’m not into conspiracies but sometimes these things seem so clear. I count on all of you to stop me before I go off the deep end.
"I also think the timing at Facebook yesterday was perfect for them to scrub incriminating evidence."
Sharon, very interesting comment.
And they knew the Whistleblower was going on 60 Minutes. FB certainly would dread 60 Minutes trumping them. Tick, tick, tick…..
And I have to smile; when my daughter was very young, 4 in fact, she would ask on Sunday evenings: Is it time for Tick Tick? Because that is what we watched on Sunday evening.
Daria, I miss Andy Rooney.
I do too, Pam!
Daria, without a question.
From the minute he took office he surrounded himself with loyalists … not filling positions and eradicating any that he couldn’t fill with one of his own very fine people …
A fact not helped by so many people who simply quit out of outrage which one can't blame them for but which did help push the administration toward the critical limit where there were too few to hold any lines.
You are right. Many many people marveled at the timing.
Biden said, "...prevent us from doing our job—saving the economy from a catastrophic event—I think, quite frankly, is hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful." It's also unpatriotic. Republicans are willing burn the house down in order to continue their agenda of obstruction. Ordinary Americans live in that house. If the U.S. defaults, Social Security and Disability payments will stop. Federal workers will not get paid. Our creditworthiness will be downgraded and it is estimated that 6 million Americans will lose their jobs as we fall into a recession.
It's clear that Republicans are playing hardball in order to obstruct highly popular Democratic legislation so they can relegate Biden to a lame duck administration. Here's the catch: Their very supporters who would benefit most from Democratic proposals are threatened with ruin so Republicans can blame Democrats for their ruin. The sad part is that R supporters don't even realize the depth of this deception. In the end, however, Republicans will get on board so they won't be blamed for sinking the boat. This game of chicken moves us closer to economic peril.
But they want to burn the house down. They want to burn down Democracy. This is all part of their end game. This situation merely speeds things up for them.
Look at their moves over the past year.
1. Create chaos and distrust over covid.
2. Attempt to undermine the 2020 election through intimidation at the polls, distrust of mail
in ballots and DeJoy slowing down the mail system.
3. Undermine trust in the 2020 election outcome.
4. Pass voter suppression and vote nullification in 18 States.
5. Dismantle Roe v Wade.
6. And now--destroy the Economic Infrastructure of the United States thus upsetting the
World economies.
These folks have been working on this scenario for decades. McConnell has been packing the Courts for decades. Republicans have been doing rampant gerrymandering for decades. We have seen the Pandora report. They have built a huge financial safety net for themselves.
And I am not ordinarily a paranoid person. I have been sitting back looking at how this is all fitting together.
The good news? President Joe Biden and the good people fighting the good fight.
The R’s are not only willing to reduce most Americans to feudal serfdom, they are eager to do it. Turning this country into a third rate disaster in which they rule the roost is their goal. Look at how they run the red states.
Yes, Joan. I totally agree. When we try to speak about how to lift people up, help them succeed, it falls on ears of people who want cheap labor and who are desperate just to put food on their tables. Climate change? They’ll be dead before the worst comes and in the meantime they and their immediate heirs will live safely and high off the hog. And they certainly need servants to make all this work well. Ugh. Disgusting. And your point about the citizens in red states? So true, so true.
They are also dead set on destroying our education system. They want charter schools for several reasons.
They want to segregate the white Christian kids and only teach them religion and superiority. There will be no emphasis on math, science, computer programming. Women will be relegated to housewives and incubators. The massive problem with this is there will be no educated to run our tech industries and we will be more reliant on China, Japan and India for the people that have been educated.
Plus they have plans to eliminate public education altogether leaving millions uneducated.
I feel like they are driving themselves into ruin. Are there successful countries now run on white supremacy and religion? The United States will be considered an extremist county and be shut out of world groups and conferences. Computer industries won’t just get their components made in China, their entire businesses will move because it will be impossible to hire educated people. Already there are massive numbers in this country on the Visa program. R’s want to stop that.
Where will the consumers be among the poorly educated, blue collar workers in oil and coal? The immigrants they want to stop at our southern border are the workers in our fields, meat packing and food processing. Who will do that work?
It’s a bleak picture but if currently only 1% are the wealthy corporations won’t survive without the rest of us to support them.
I have heard this more than once: those white ppl who would benefit are better than POC ; therefore, if something would benefit POC, the whites must not need it too.
I am astounded and frankly annoyed by the obsession with FB and Instagram, re negative impact on young women and our democracy. Both seem to me to arise from long standing problems. Advertisers have gone after self-esteem in women and girls for decades, undermining their confidence so they will buy products they don't need. This is an old game, going back to pin-up girls, and you can also add most pornography to the mix .
As to stoking divisions and misinformation: excuse me? I think Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and all the right wing talk radio shows play a far bigger role in telling lies, dividing our country, and putting democracy at risk. If we obsess on Facebook, we are missing the bigger picture on both counts. I think it is a distraction. How about demanding the FCC re-establish some rules for the road for ALL media , including sanctioning out-right lies and misinformation, and establishing equal time requirements (which were eliminated under Reagan)? Katie Cameron
I am old enough to agree 200%. One of Bill Moyers’ ideas before we got so deep in this mess. Have we waited too long?
Please appoint a dictator because we are incapable of governing ourselves!
One waiting in the wings
It's interesting you posted that, Ron. I've been thinking that the biggest irony is that only a "Democratic Dictator" --not really a misnomer if you think about it--is needed to shut down Republican obstructionism.
We begin every day with these Letters. Thank you, Dr. Richardson!
Something we've recently found very helpful to read after the daily Letters is Robert B. Hubbell's "Today's Edition Newsletter". Mr. Hubbell takes much of what we're learning from Heather (and from our other news gathering) and puts it in a calm, actionable perspective. Anyone else doing this? Highly recommended!
Here's today's: https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-democrats-have-a-path
Robert Hubbell started his letters right after the 2016 election as a daily way to communicate hope for our country to his three daughters after the unthinkable happened. His audience has now grown into thousands nation and worldwide. He often closes his newsletter with the words "We have every reason to be hopeful and no reason to be complacent." I too rely on his words each weekday morning. Plus, his wife's more recent gardening blog is a real kick and a break from politics.
Yes, MaryB!
Like you (and quite a few others here in Heather’s Herd), I’ve been a daily Hubbell reader (and garden blog consumer) for a good while now. You’re spot on, describing Jill’s garden blog as a real kick. Her calming videos leave me smiling.
I’d love to have Heather and The Hubbells as my neighbors 💙!
Link to Jill B. Hubbell’s garden blog:
https://youtube.com/channel/UCifZMTCKtHWuK5ArQtqj_nw
Thank you, MaryB! :-)
Yes. Daily. And he is an accomplished lawyer who can weigh in on what’s legal and what should be.
Thanks for the tip--just subscribed to Robert Hubbell's Substack. As a reader, it is relief to see "only" 12 comments! But if more comments are a measure of success, I wish him more.
I also have subscribed to Hubbell. Like it but have to have Heathers newsletter for the historical perspective. We have been here before and here is what happened.
Yes.
Thank you for the link. I have learned so much from this community.
Yes
When you write to Facebook (i.e., post), the whole world might be listening. When you write your Congressman, no one is.
Amen! (But CongressWOMEN are no better.)
I have started learning about NYS issues, particularly election issues. I've had direct email conversations with both my NYS legislators -- one a Democrat, one a Republican.
I have found issues with each of them where I agree with them (or partially agree). And I have had direct email conversations with them both about THEIR issue and MY issue.
You might set up Google Alerts for their names to see more published information about what they are doing.
I find it has been possible to have useful, informative telephone conversations with them, and I am planning this fall to give a quick, 15-minute presentation (well, a 5-minute presentation + 10 minutes of talk) to prepare for when the NYS legislature reconvenes in January.
Well, this is pretty grim news. Biden and McConnell in a game of debt-ceiling "chicken" to the death (of our nation).
Either a couple of Republicans need to be convinced, or a way to convince Manchin and Sinema needs to be found, but ending the filibuster is the only solution. This has been clear for many months, and time is running out very quickly.
"Biden and McConnell in a game of debt-ceiling "chicken" "
I think this is an oversimplification and a false equivalency. As it is a legislative issue, McConnell has more power than Biden. And as it is a legislative issue, it is in the hands of every legislator. Ultimately the American electorate in its choice of representatives - knowingly or not - has set this in motion.
Lin, you're right, of course, but this just means that only McConnell can decide whether or not to drive us over the default cliff, given the disunity among Democrats. I think if he does do that, he will pay a steep price in terms of his own popularity, but the more important result could well be Trump presiding over an American dictatorship. The risk here goes way beyond politics, and Joe Biden needs to clearly explain this problem -- using his bully pulpit -- and what can be done to solve it. Has he considered the Trillion-dollar platinum coin scenario clearly explained by Paul Krugman in a recent NYT column?
Yes. I heard Biden yesterday laying out and laying into GOP intransigence.
Ahh the platinum coin. As The Count of Monte Cristo said: when you live among madmen, you must train to be a maniac.
Smart guy, that Count!
Manchin and Sinema would surely vote in favor of lifting if it came to that.
That would require Reconciliation which would end any hope of passing the larger infrastructure bill this year. That’s McConnell’s objective.
Diane, a question: Is "reconciliation" somewhere in the Constitution, or is it -- like the filibuster -- just a rule established by a Senate majority?
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/02/05/what-is-reconciliation-in-congress/
Thanks, Gail. It appears that much, if not all, of what happens in the Senate is subject to rules, so unless there's a law that requires a qualified majority of some sort, any rule could be eliminated by vote of a simple Senate majority. The more I read about the US Senate, the more detestable it seems. And we call this "democracy"?
When Senate leadership is entranced by playing the game, rather than governing it is indeed time to step back and reassess. Still looking for a unicorn...
Do Trojan Horses change their stripes?
Ron, I sure hope so. Looks like a crap shoot to me
As a journalist, member of the faculty of Singularity University, and software developer I have warned about tech giants, notably Facebook, which -- like gun manufacturers in America -- uniquely are exempted from liability for any damage they caused by content published on their platforms. Here is a piece -- https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/11/27/tech-giants-must-reined/ -- I wrote in 2017 about the damage PURPOSELY PLANNED by Facebook against vulnerable, depressed teenagers. Nothing changed and now the Wall Street Journal series obtained help from a whistleblower who leaked research proving the damage they caused.
All corporations must be liable for damage they cause. Only that will stop this abuse.
I posted your article on Twitter and Facebook, Diane. Great piece! I started to tell my own followers and friends that I’d known ahead of time about the planning for January 6 because I quietly checked what some of my Facebook “friends” were seeing that I wasn’t on Facebook. Without comment, “likes” or anything. I’d guess about half my high school classmates believe all or most conspiracy theories. My public school, northeastern Ohio classmates from the original 500 people, is still quite large and clearly think everything they have and earned was due entirely to no government interference, and “by God” they’re not paying for lazy people to not be poor when it’s their own fault. Anyway, they gobble up Facebook and who knows what else. I’ll post a photo of my dog and hear from 60 people. Posting your article will generally not receive any attention 😏
thanks
Oops, lost my train of thought. I’d started to tell them I knew it all (January 6 planning) ahead of time but knew it sounded arrogant and would blow my cover.
Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Messenger all down for hours...
Well, to quote the Wicked Witch of the West, “Who would have thought that. some little girl like you could. destroy my beautiful wickedness.”
🙏 Thank you Frances Haugen for throwing a bucket of water on these evil doers.
Watching Facebook executives attempting to justify their own and their platforms’ wickedness is like watching someone repeatedly perform and fail the mental equivalent of the milk crate challenge, both hopeless and laughable.
I deactivated my account early yesterday morning (pre-crash). When I got home from the dentist and checked the news I saw that Facebook had crashed. I had to laugh...I thought wow! I timed that right!
Kidding aside, I'm wondering, what the thousands of businesses here that rely on WhatsApp and Facebook will do if this becomes a common occurrence? Everything, from ordering garafones* of water to dental and doctor appointments to food ordering is transacted via WhatsApp. Micro and small businesses rely on Facebook to advertise their products, post daily menus, etc. I'm sure micro and small business reliance on Facebook is similar around the globe. Zuckerberg's tentacles are going to strangle millions who bought into his bullshit about human connectivity and he simply doesn't care.
*5 gallon bottles of water
Yes, and a major frustration encountered by tens of millions of Facebook users yesterday was those using Facebook sign-on to access other apps and websites. With a background in cybersecurity, I have urged others, including my own family members and friends, for years not to maintain a Facebook account or on any of their other platforms and not to be a user of any of their apps or technology.
My analogy of them to the Wicked Witch of the West is more accurate than most can imagine. Beware they do not call on or release the flying monkeys on you if you are a user of their technology. They know not what they do and worse don't care.
Another blowback: Facebook employees could not enter buildings, offices or server racks in secure rooms because their badges were deactivated. The flying monkeys turned on their own.
Ok, if I deactivate my FB account how do I listen to HCR’s twice weekly lectures? Is there a different way?
YouTube after the fact
Oh, maybe I'm wrong, see Bruce's response.
Dr. Richardson does have a YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbKOlm6H9njgmN-Yil90Rg/featured. Unfortunately, it appears she does not post her weekly lectures here.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbKOlm6H9njgmN-Yil90Rg/featured
I suggest taking up the idea of uploading any recordings of those lectures to a channel she already has on YouTube to make them available there. YouTube is owned by Google (Alpahbet) and not Facebook. YouTube is a bit more careful about securing personal data and cybersecurity, but only a bit. However, I would much prefer it as a more secure platform than Facebook. I will not comment on the financial incentives or opportunities of those using these platforms and leave it to them to explain their motivations for choosing one over another.
I suggest communicating with Dr. Richardson and request she loads her lectures up to the YouTube channel she already has by recording them and uploading them after she delivers them.
And her being from Iowa is sorta like being from Kansas.
As to what is (not) happening in D.C. with regards to the debt ceiling, what an absolute clusterf**k! I suggested weeks ago that McConnell’s game was to force the use of reconciliation to raise the debt ceiling so it would not be available for use on Biden’s desperately needed infrastructure plan; looks like I was right. Disgusting that he sees his own agenda for personal power and wealth as more important than delivering lifesaving measures to the people who elected him.
As to the Facebook et al outage yesterday, I discovered that I liked not having it available, and am strongly considering deleting my account.