Last night, at about 11:10 local time, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida, where the state’s panhandle curves down toward the peninsula.
Project 2025 is designed to create a government that has only one interest: serving the president as king … and those who the king (sorry, I mean President) considers loyal to him. In a disaster, we can expect Trump to “throw paper towels” at the problem, because - just like with the COVID pandemic - he doesn’t care about us.
Not arguing, but I think the horror is a little broader-based than that. Project 2025 is built from religious dogmas that seek to enforce -- as law -- a large laundry-list of deep intrusions into private life, while repealing all forms of social equity across the white-male-christian/not-white-male-christian boundary.
Thanks for “not arguing”. I know Project 2025 will make life Hell for many of us. I also know Trump has a cruel streak that runs deep and will enjoy hearing about the suffering. And I know he might die and then we’ll have a POTUS Vance… a different kind of Hell.
You don't think a POTUS Vance would encourage a Voluntary Day of Prayer and Fasting, when floodwaters are rising to the upper floors and the power is off? Maybe Bill Lee had taken the Trumpian precaution of changing the trajectory of the hurricane with a sharpie.
Bill Lee is an ineffective governor, interested primarily in one thing: school vouchers. He tried last year and got so much resistance it was shelved. He’s coming at us again this year. Meantime, TN has refused federal funds for HIV, education, and Medicaid expansion. As head of the RGA, he endorsed Mark Robinson. Oh—and he’s a devout “Christian.”
I'm going to challenge that frequently restated claim. I don't think cruelty is the point. I think their cruelty is merely a means to an end, and the end the point. The key to understanding cruelty is that it’s about power and control. Likewise, the key to understanding the gaslighting, the lies, the rare occasions when they tell the truth, all the women Donald Trump has sexually assaulted, etc., is that MAGA is exactly the point, and MAGA is all about a small group of people having the power to control everyone else.
This just in Steve, the Vance-Trump -K.Roberts Troika have revised P25. In the 1st 200 days all 'childless-cat-women' will be herded up & incarcerated in a rapidly built prison named the 'Ozzie & Harriet Maximum Security Facility" in Springville, Ohio. Mandatory prayer on Sundays to the other Troika: The Father, The Son & The Holy Ghost.
Would behoove us to pay attention to how nature responds to what we do. Never before have we been able to wreak havoc to the extent that 7-8 billion humans can. Especially if some of those humans deny any “havoc” and continue with their selfish quest for dominance.
Just because the Republicans want to claim climate change isn’t real does not mean the natural disasters aren’t real. I live on the southeastern NC coast, (not on the beach.) In 2018 a hurricane severely damaged my house, which is not in a flood plain. In 2019, tornadoes imbedded in a hurricane roared through my area damaging houses, uprooting trees, downing power lines, etc. That was all VERY, VERY REAL.
We looked into moving to the middle of the state, but couldn’t decide where to move. But as Hurricane Helene demonstrates storms don’t hit just the coastal areas. Western NC has experienced devastation. It takes a really long time to recover from a natural disaster, in some cases years, and cost astronomical amounts of money. How do you live in the meantime?
Here is Kevin Roberts (President of Heritage Foundation) at this weeks NYT (Climate Event) arguing with moderator about the science that Project 2025 doesn’t believe in:
Kevin D. Roberts, Ph.D. | The Project 2025 Climate Agenda
Remember the sarcastic meaning of the college degrees:
B.S. Bull S***
M.S. More of the Same
P.H.D. Piled Higher and Deeper
"Roberts earned his PhD in American History from the University of Texas."
Of course this means he is an expert in American History and therefore qualified to make judgements on climate science. /s
His next paper on American History should be "Climate disasters since 1776 to the present in America with emphasis of CO2 levels and damage assessments"
He is more fond of the slavery period when such as he ruled all. Or maybe the Articles of Confederation would be his go to. He is an expert on greed and power when all is said and done. And BTW, I have known and know of more than a few educated imbeciles, who use any intelligence they have to weaponize what they have learned against the “lessers.” Bill Buckley comes to mind.
Of course this agenda must be stopped. But for all the good Biden has done, he sat on his hands concerning the massive influx of illegals flooding across the border for almost 3 years. Now Harris is paying for it. I predicted this would happen and it’s happening today. It’s clearly a toss-up of who will win. If Trump wins, the country goes to hell.
Massive influx?? Seriously! Sat on his hands? Trump sand bagged a viable border bill developed by red state right wing senators which representatives of President Biden also had input of the bill! Nay! The signing pen was swallowed by chump!
Bill, so Trump's unfulfilled promise to add 15000 additional border patrol and customs agents and we ended up only 14600 short of that goal when he left office, is Biden's fault? You're drinking the Republican kool-aid.
And his POS border wall that any 12 year old with a saws-all could breach is again, Biden's fault. He promised over 1000 miles of new wall and we got 49 or about 5% of what he promised. And the wall is still being breached up to 150 times a day because, it is a POS wall with a terrible design.
If DonOLD had actually done anything to secure the border besides claim that "Mexico would pay for the big beautiful wall" then maybe I would be a little more willing to blame Biden for people coming across the southern border.
Did you know that we also have a northern border where it is estimated that 3 times as many undocumented people cross as the southern border? I have crossed into Canada in several places and I know for a fact that if I wanted to sneak into Canada or the US, I could be dropped off within a mile or so and be across the border in less than an hour--undetected.
And how does securing the "open" southern border prevent the students graduating college from overstaying their visas?
Is it my responsibility to check the papers of each of the workers that I have hired to work on my property? I know for a fact, that I have hired illegal Canadian workers that will never get arrested because they are white and speak English, eh?
Here is my answer which is a story from "Donald's Vanity Tantrums."
What Some Ancient Rulers Have in Common with Trump
During ancient Egyptian dynasties, monarchs often defaced or destroyed statues representing the previous ruler to erase the reputation and deeds of the former ruler. Sometimes damage was limited to facial disfigurement as with Pharaoh Senwosrett III (1878-1840 BC) whose nose was broken off because ancients believed that the life force emanates through the nose.
Trump shares this goal when renegotiating and tearing up Clinton and Obama-era treaties.
NAFTA is one such remake that removes Clinton’s name from the global trade agreement. As Politico writer Adam Behsudi quotes Lori Wallace, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch said, “For those who trusted Trump’s pledge to make NAFTA ‘much better’ for working people, it’s a punch in the face because the proposal describes TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) or any other same-old, same-old trade deal.” There are no improvements -- only the removal of the Obama legacy and any other former president’s name.
This symbolic effigy-smashing of Obama extends to the Iran Nuclear Deal, to recertify to Congress every 90 days that the Iranians are complying with the rules; the Paris Climate Agreement; The Affordable Healthcare Act and all other agreements that Obama successfully negotiated regarding the environment and human rights.
In the land that I call home, tens of millions of Americans who couldn’t tell the difference between shit and Shinola, resulting in the election of a malevolent quasi-life form that makes George W. seem like Jesus, Moses, and George Washington rolled into one. Maybe our next president, if we are still electing presidents that is, will take cues from Trump and the ancients as well. A good start would be to remove any future White House portrait of him that might eventually be installed.
Bill, I think this is an easy but harsh swipe at Biden/Harris's administration. Ponder for a second how little the Repubs were ever willing to lean in to help and how often they thought pillorying Secretary Mayorkas in their star chamber hearings was the nation's best use of the Secretary's time. I think my view isn't mine alone.
We assume "the massive influx of illegals flooding across the border for almost 3 years is " bad". There is little truthful evidence that this is correct. Credible statistics say otherwise.
An old saying: "Assume" can make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me' ".
And an observation about donkeys and elephants: The ass of an elephant is bigger than the entire donkey.
So, here's what I want to know: how is the 'influx of illegal immigrants' even measured? All I can find are the govt stats about 'encounters', which include apprehensions and expulsions, but certainly not folks who actually end up living here...?????
P.S. Whether anybody answers this or not, I LOVE that there's a place that I can even ASK these kinds of questions and have these discussions! Community, indeed!
I have had dozens of Spanish speaking workers that have reroofed houses in FL, ME and NE or did landscaping or other construction work, etc. If they didn't do good work and worked hard, I wouldn't have used them. And who hires them? Usually a white American who has no responsibility for their immigration status. And I'm certainly not going to check their papers when I know that no one else is available to do the work.
This is the fault of Republicans for not updating our immigration laws. Every time a bi-partisan bill is hammered out, the Republicans turn it down.
And putting razor wire in the water in the Rio Grande is just plain cruel, but I expect no less from the TX Republicans.
Oh really? Ask New York City how they are coping and any other cities where these migrants have flooded in. And besides, you and others miss a valid point. It’s a public relations disaster that may culminate in electing you know who.
CBP report says influx of illegals dropped 37% due to Biden's tightening up of policies, despite not getting that immigration bill through. They've been doing all they can.
Reality Check! Trump told the flock to kill the Immigration Bill so he could run on it in the Fall. It was a very good piece of legislation that would have stemmed the tide and calmed tempers on this side. BUT NO! Trump had to hijack it.
Unvarnished view of the recent past. I think every administration should include one adviser who is a contrarian to offer another point of view. Politicians probably wouldn’t agree but I happen to think it’s healthy to include all points of view.
Yes, the horror is broader, but the issues are too numerous for one post. Maybe 900 pages of push back, or some notice by MSM. Maybe now is the time to publicize the FEMA plans in P2025. Thank you HCR
In an increasingly Complex World, the Project 2025 Siths, and the Wanna Be Orange King, want to undo the Progress made in the 20th Century... A.I. won't go away, Climate Change will still progress... Look at the Damage Hurricane Helene has just done... Imagine dealing with the aftermath of Helene with 19th Century Methods, and Resources... The Siths forget that the Average American Life Expectancy was less than 50years... Future Pandemics, Wild-Fires, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Earthquakes will happen...
J L Graham, and do want violence ---- mental/emotion, sexual, physical. Their egos crave it. Confirms their "superiority", feeds their desire to harm others and create conflict, etc.
Feudal Society... Supreme Religious Dogma... Ultimate Wealth Disparity... Sounds too much like the Middle-East Autocracies... OBW: How is that part of the World doing?
This HCR Letter was an excellent summary of the decades long work in the crafting of useful disaster response and the recognition that significant responses cannot be handled locally. The final two paragraphs of the letter, dealing with the Project 2025 dismantling of FEMA, should strike fear in the heart of any caring American.
The reality is that multiple state and local governments CANNOT all be equipped to handle significant disaster response. The lunacy embedded in that line of thinking is astounding.
Thanks to Dr. Richardson for highlighting yet another Project 2025 disaster in the making.
It is clear where the current "conservative" party would like the rest of us to go. Straight to Hell. All except those with generational wealth, or newly gotten gains on the markets... They are allowed to use their wealth to weather any storm, no matter what the cost This country has labored long and hard to keep life going for people in dire straits. Hurricanes, broken levies, 100 year storms. Without the coordination of literally hundreds of regional associations, aid would be erratic at best. Why do these "conservatives" want to burn the whole construction down?
Craig, big money donors don't want to pay taxes. As climate change threats and damage rapidly increase, much more money will be needed to fund Fema and other diaster response efforts and prevention efforts too. They want to avoid gov't demanding that they pay their fair share in taxes. How? Eliminate agencies that they personally, being absurdly wealthy, do not need. It illustrates how deeply unconnected they feel to people, to their fellow citizens.
Wow, Heather, again demonstrating that there is no topic, no angle regarding American history and the relevance to our current politics that you cannot enlighten us about.
JSC, agreed! Heather continues to amaze me with the breadth of her knowledge.
The Heritage Foundation’s stance on NOAA bears similarities to someone refusing a parachute because they have to sign a paper acknowledging what happens if you don’t pull the ripcord.
FEMA and NOAA exemplify the benefits of a federal Republic. The Heritage Foundation wants to get rid of NOAA because its data gathering proves that climate change is happening, and they don't give a $@#! about the impact, except on their profit margins! We must vote for Kamala Harris.
Louise, it is said “it takes a village”…..well, IMHO, our country is one large village joining hands to help sustain our neighbors…..if that’s what is called the Fed Gov’t, so be it….we step in where the help is needed. I am verklempt with concern by those affected by this disaster. We, the globe, need to seriously, intently, urgently, deal with the emerging climate change challenges….I know, I know, like herding cats….but we still have to try!
Views on climate change, and what people propose to do about it at every single level where we elect people to anything, need to be shared quite specifically, not letting anybody get away with vague sentences and promises.
Ever since Trump, as President, decided he could change the trajectory of a hurricane path with a sharpie and it didn't work, he's had it out for NOAA. This is part of Trump's vendetta list, just as he's never gotten over Obama teasing Trump at a Press Gallery dinner. Trump can't stand empirical facts because they don't care about his feelings so he want's to "get even" with NOAA because their facts made him look ridiculous.
and the private interests who own Accuweather and other such operations don't like the public sector competition. They'd rather have an even more profitable monopoly. So if NOAA were wound up, and its assets sold to them, that would suit them just fine.
No doubt some of the unprofitable long-term studies of climate would have to be scrapped, for the benefit of the bottom line, but who really cares beyond the next couple of weekend forecasts, right?
But it is a self deceiving illusion. The chaos that will ensue in the heels of Project 2025 will destroy our economy, our transportation, and their profits...there won't even be any margins. CHAOS has infected the Republican party....with a promise that will not be fulfilled.
As I read tonight's Letter, I anticipated the punchline about the GOP-Trump/Vance-Project 2025 plans to dismantle NOAA (final two paragraphs). I can't imagine anything so short-sighted in undermining our nation's ability to deal with the effects of Climate Change. A truly medieval disregard & disdain for science. I can't wait for Project 2025 and all of its architects and enablers to become a minor footnote to our era.
And a disregard for the general population. As Scrooge said, “If they are to die, then let them get on with doing so… and decrease the surplus population.”
I would go beyond short-sighted as a descriptor, I would go with criminal intent, which It is. These brain dead soul dead
beings give themselves away with every breath. Let us not minimize them at all along with their completely harmful and ridiculous plans that are trying to fulfill some incredibly sick fantasy about grabbing power that they don't deserve and never will. The only language they understand is one where they get completely rejected. They're always going to be a problem so let's not give our energies in that direction - reminding me of how I thought I could change the partner in my marriage. Yeah right.
"The only language they understand is one where they get completely rejected." -- We are working more than ever before (letter writing, political contributions) for the complete rejection... The GOP will need to go down in flames before there is the slightest hope that they will ever re-emerge (under a new name?) as a decent party to serve in opposition in a 2-party system.
As we grapple with the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene, it’s impossible to ignore the dire consequences of Project 2025—the GOP's blueprint for the next administration. This plan, endorsed by Trump and J.D. Vance, would dismantle FEMA, gut NOAA, and leave disaster-stricken communities to fend for themselves. Tim Snyder, a leading scholar on fascism, warned that authoritarian regimes often thrive when public services crumble and the state abandons its people in moments of crisis. Project 2025 is the embodiment of this warning. It promises cruelty masked as "freedom," pushing the burdens of climate disasters, healthcare, and economic inequality onto states with fewer resources, all while shuffling more power into the hands of a corrupt few.
This is not just an attack on science and disaster response; it’s an assault on the very fabric of democracy. Voting for the GOP in this election would accelerate the shift toward authoritarian rule, leaving our communities vulnerable in ways that can’t be undone. We must resist, not only for the future of our planet but for the survival of a just society
Project 2025 wants to toss FEMA overboard and let states fend for themselves in disasters, as if hurricanes respect state lines. And gutting NOAA’s hurricane warnings? Bold move—who needs life-saving data when we can just cross our fingers? This isn’t streamlining, it’s a crash course in disaster roulette.
I had to laugh about Tennessee proudly refusing aid for what, practically a whole day? I remember when the national drinking age was increased from 18 to 21 by Ronald Reagan in 1984.The State of Wyoming refused to raise the drinking age, and received reduced Federal Highway funds as a result, for several years before the State Legislature bowed to reality in 1988, after a couple catastrophic winter storms- there are many things individual States, particularly the smaller, rural, poorer states simply cannot afford to do on their own. I hope to see "Hurricane Relief and Assistance, brought to you by the Biden/Harris administration" signs everywhere in all those southern States. I would hope Harris makes a point if visiting each of those States and does a lot of photo ops with appropriate people. In Tennessee, the sign should include, in parentheses " (in spite of your local Republican Party!)" Don't mean to be making light of a horrible situation. Climate change is happening in spite of hopes, prayers, and laws to the contrary. The 2025 project is so astoundingly short sighted and divorced from reality, it like it was written by a bunch of uneducated individuals with delusional disorder. That said, I have to admit that the idea of spending so much money to rebuild in low-lying marginal areas that will be underwater in a few years is troubling. Anywhere hit by the storm surge should probably be declared coastal protection barrier land and planted with suitable vegetation, rather than being rebuilt with houses that have no business being there in the first place.
Weather related or whether related the main point exists , Project 2025 is BIG but just a name , ‘ SAME GAME’…inflation,health crisis, conspiracy theories, authoritarian move, rich vs poor,immigration. Major players conspiring with 80+ % of the population engaged at some level albeit most unwittingly and useful tactics/happenings to consume them conveniently used.
Bravo ‘Notes..’ solutions…marvelous !
💙💙🇺🇸VOTE BLUE.END THIS COUP.UP TO ALL THE YOUS🇺🇸💙💙
And also highlights the value of public servants, folks who work for the myriad agencies that have been activated to assist the people of multiple states during this catastrophe in ways large and small. Republicans have reliably denigrated public service for decades.
I have been in DC all week doing research in museums and the Library of Congress. Yesterday I was surprised to find a fantastic vegetable garden on the SW corner of the Madison building. These are recreations of WW1 victory gardens and are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol (see aoc.gov).
I am trying to point out the positive things that our government does right to my overly cynical 35 year old daughter. She and many like her are so wrapped up in how Harris et al are complicit in Gaza and other disasters that they all lose sight of any good etc. if they base their votes on this cynicism and vote 3rd party or simply don’t vote, this will result in disaster.
But will people who chose that path take any responsibility for the results? I know people who voted for Nader who seem to bristle at their complicity when I ask them “how did that work out for you? Not so well I see…).
This cynicism of the youth needs to be confronted head on. A trip to the Capitol especially into the Rubenstein Treasures Gallery in the Jefferson Wing of the Library of Congress was for me a powerful experience. I was there to gather data on one exhibit - the glass flute owned by President Madison. The curator of the flute vault said to check out the rest of the exhibit and I did. In moments I, a 69 year old bloke, was immediately moved to tears by the intense history and humanity reflected by these treasures.
Perhaps teaching Civics in schools needs more emphasis. Instead Trump and Project 2025 wants to get rid of the Department of Education. The cynicism that I observe in today’s younger generations unfortunately becomes part of the MAGA playbook.
Harris is campaigning on a platform of Hope. How do we get under this callus of cynicism that has been growing since Bush vs. Gore?
I for one am worn out with this cynicism. Our government does some pretty cool things and reminds us how we got here in ways that touch the heart - if one bothers to look.
“One of the nation’s largest Muslim political groups endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday despite fierce opposition to her Middle East policy, saying that stopping former President Donald Trump is paramount.”
last night an interview of Secretary Clinton asked her greatest fear after teaching at Columbia, and her answer is directly related to your daughter's response. She said young people reacting to the Israeli response to 10/7 need to have a much better understanding of the historical context of the situation. They need to see the bigger picture of how we got here, including all the attempts and failures of people trying to 'solve' the bigger situation of Israel and it's neighbors. (check out Firing Line with Margaret Hoover on PBS)
Casey Burns, thanks for trying to make a difference by offering some challenges to your daughter's thinking. Keep it up, please. You may be getting through more than you think.
Seems there is a lot of activity on TikTok in that age group and that some of it is getting very good in terms of youth looking ahead at what they will need and what they understand better, can look it up I suppose.
Going "back" to states' rights...Didn't we fight a Civil War over this? Thank you Heather for your terrific history review to remind us. Diminish the FEDERAL govt is the goal of "the south will rise again." 50 squabbling states with 50 different laws on education, safety, voting, environment...(add yours) as Lincoln said..."a house divided cannot stand." PEOPLE UNITE...VOTE FOR SEVERAL ELECTION CYCLES!
Republicans are either totally crackers or have had their skulls scraped out by decades of self service, meanness, misery and fear of everyone. They’re nuts! They give humans a bad name. Honestly, sometimes I’m made totally breathless by their bizarre behaviours and declarations. They’re completely indubitably, nuts!!
This is a time for the vaulted mainstream of the media to speak the fuck up, in fact way way past time. The elephant in the room has got to be replaced with some other moniker, because elephants don't deserve bad press. Monster? Monstrosities? And then there is MEFHB=
Miserable Excuses For Human Beings. Okay, done my bit.
''Bill Lee, a Republican, did not ask for such a declaration until this evening, instead proclaiming September 27 a “voluntary Day of Prayer and Fasting.” Observers pointed out that with people stuck on a hospital roof in the midst of catastrophic flooding in his state, maybe an emergency declaration would be more on point.''
More 'thoughts and prayers'? God works through people. Vote.
Trump and vice presidential candidate Ohio senator J.D. Vance, calls for slashing FEMA’s budget and returning disaster responses to states and localities.
Project 2025 also calls for dismantling the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and either eliminating its functions, sending them to other agencies, privatizing them, or putting them under the control of states and territories. It complains that NOAA, whose duties include issuing hurricane warnings, is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.”
Michael, the Project 2025 mandate of calling for the dismantling of NOAA is like being threatened by a stake through my heart. As a lifelong cherished hobby non-professional Climatologist and weather researcher, i rely on NOAA data for my ongoing research with the aid of the data from their websites on a daily basis. The DTP, (Domestic Terrorist Party) and their lame excuses and pure ignorance is appalling to the extreme. I do remember well when their God, Donald TUMP suggested the utterly dumb and stupid idea of detonating an atomic or hydrogen bomb to dissipate a hurricane. TUMP and his minions belong in an institution for the mentally deranged for the rest of their despicable lives! There is no way they should even be considered to be leaders in our Federal Government.
The strategy of the GOP for years has been to support an anti-government narrative by underfunding or willful incompetence in order to prove their own anarchistic ideology (disguised as libertarianism) that there should be no government regulation or assistance for anything, period. It's pretty insane, given the Constitution talks about promoting the general welfare, and up until Trump threatened to abrogate it they were pretty big fans of our founding document. Disaster relief - like health care or unemployment insurance - is surely a part of promoting the general welfare.
But no, now to promote the general welfare makes you a communist. Good grief these people and half the electorate are just plain crazy, mean, and stupid. And that is not name calling: that is just observable empirical fact, by any human measure.
IOW, it is not only a nuclear war that would send those of us who survive back to living in caves and scrabbling in the ground for food—re-electing Trump would do it, too, and probably faster.
Major autocrats outside the USA are watching. Divide and conquer is an ancient strategy.
The natural existence of an autocracy depends on continued material growth to feed the growing number of selfish individuals in the leadership structure and the inefficiency of the pyramid control structure.
There are several sites I visit daily for vital information. Living in Alaska for the past 48 years I have depended on NOAA weather information. NPR for (mostly unbiased) news and for the past few years LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN has provided me with contextualised news. Honest information has a very high value and I am grateful to HCR, NPR and NOAA.
Remember, they have no humanities -- no context for the human, no capacity to connect to other perspectives. And the money & power which they crave totally dismisses conscience of all kinds. Witness the orange felon, his fellow vulgar Vance, and then all their cohort in their mixture of lies and self-absorbed fantasyland.
It strikes me as odd that religion, which has given us shame, is proclaimed far and wide from the rooftops, including those of hospitals, by those who name themselves Christians but who have no shame when it comes to committing any and all of the seven deadly sins.
But let's recall not only do they not have any humanities but, in place of that, they have reduced life to nothing more than units.
Education becomes for them unit acquisition. (They call it information.) Standardized testing refines this vulgarity by stressing the logic of categories to which all info fits (or a-b-c-d doesn't). Categories means groups -- packages.
So we have the status quo over which our schools preside.
Wonder why dictators, demagogues, oligarchs, Clarence courts, standardized testers, corporate textbook packagers, and all the other vulgar rule?
Plus, of course, the orange felon, rapist, racist, criminally convicted grifter.
Good old Governor Lee; he precisely described what folks have to do without any assistance while perched on their roofs awaiting the rescue rafts. Sadly, he forgot to mobilize the assistance that would enable the rafts to deploy. They are heading back to the days of the bucket-brigades down there. At the accelerating rate of super-storms in the southern and Gulf states, the prudent long term strategy might be to just abandon the coastlines altogether and move to higher ground many miles away. Just don't move to Oregon, please. Oklahoma is probably far enough. If you want to return all form of government to the states, prepare to tough it out each time Nature comes knocking.
Yes - paying for disaster after disaster will prove bankrupting. Transition to a green economy should have started decades ago. But Reagan removed the solar panels Carter installed on the White House . . . it started even then, with Ronald "you've seen one tree you've seen them all" Reagan, and James Watt telling people to use up resources because the Apocalypse was at hand (yeah, they were really nuts from the get-go back in '80). Thus did anti-environmentalism become a cornerstone of GOP identity.
Climate change does seem to resonate with young voters. If it increases their turnout substantially, that alone could swing the election. Can’t count on it, but it’s a favorable factor.
Climate change is a voting issue among the young. I'm wondering whether those who have been displaced by Helene will be able to vote in just slightly over a month?
I was just thinking that all those folks affected by this storm may have difficulty voting on November 5. Some areas, especially Florida, may not have electricity for weeks or months. And more hurricanes are lining up at this moment.
Now might be a good time for democratic campaign ads and the Lincoln Project to blanket the public about republican intentions to eliminate FEMA, NOAA, and other important federal agencies and rub salt in the gaping wound that Project 2025 would cause.
Did trump really botch the economy? Seems to me, a non investor, that the stock market went up during the Trump years. Seems that's all that matters to the "chosen" ones.
When Trump left office, he gave us the highest deficit, by far in US history.
The economy lost 2.7 million jobs. During his 4 years, unemployment rate increased by 1.7 percentage points to 6.4%. There was a dramatic collapse in GDP during Covid as many businesses shut.
The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 36.3% from 2016.
The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million.
The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion.
Home prices rose 27.5%, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8%.
Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the Southwest border rose 14.7% last year compared with 2016.
The stock market is setting records daily under Biden.
I don't disagree with all you say. But my observation is that the wealthy supporters of Trump care little about the facts you cite. All they care about is whether their personal wealth (and power in the highest percentile segment) increased. These are people who let professionals manage their investments. They are beyond consumption of goods and services and care only about the game of controlling others.
Project 2025 is designed to create a government that has only one interest: serving the president as king … and those who the king (sorry, I mean President) considers loyal to him. In a disaster, we can expect Trump to “throw paper towels” at the problem, because - just like with the COVID pandemic - he doesn’t care about us.
This agenda must be stopped!
Not arguing, but I think the horror is a little broader-based than that. Project 2025 is built from religious dogmas that seek to enforce -- as law -- a large laundry-list of deep intrusions into private life, while repealing all forms of social equity across the white-male-christian/not-white-male-christian boundary.
YES. This agenda MUST BE STOPPED!
Thanks for “not arguing”. I know Project 2025 will make life Hell for many of us. I also know Trump has a cruel streak that runs deep and will enjoy hearing about the suffering. And I know he might die and then we’ll have a POTUS Vance… a different kind of Hell.
You don't think a POTUS Vance would encourage a Voluntary Day of Prayer and Fasting, when floodwaters are rising to the upper floors and the power is off? Maybe Bill Lee had taken the Trumpian precaution of changing the trajectory of the hurricane with a sharpie.
Do I detect sarcasm here?
Bill Lee is an ineffective governor, interested primarily in one thing: school vouchers. He tried last year and got so much resistance it was shelved. He’s coming at us again this year. Meantime, TN has refused federal funds for HIV, education, and Medicaid expansion. As head of the RGA, he endorsed Mark Robinson. Oh—and he’s a devout “Christian.”
For Republicans, the cruelty is exactly the point.
Never forget it!
And even for the MAGAts, of which there are many in this destruction zone…
I'm going to challenge that frequently restated claim. I don't think cruelty is the point. I think their cruelty is merely a means to an end, and the end the point. The key to understanding cruelty is that it’s about power and control. Likewise, the key to understanding the gaslighting, the lies, the rare occasions when they tell the truth, all the women Donald Trump has sexually assaulted, etc., is that MAGA is exactly the point, and MAGA is all about a small group of people having the power to control everyone else.
Yikes; My gut tells me that could be worse.
Vance....who also enjoys cruelty
This just in Steve, the Vance-Trump -K.Roberts Troika have revised P25. In the 1st 200 days all 'childless-cat-women' will be herded up & incarcerated in a rapidly built prison named the 'Ozzie & Harriet Maximum Security Facility" in Springville, Ohio. Mandatory prayer on Sundays to the other Troika: The Father, The Son & The Holy Ghost.
🎶 I went back to Ohio but my City was gone.
A,o. way to go Ohio🎶
By a government that has no pride
A snippet from my upcoming post on science and law: ". . .when the laws of man and those of Nature are in conflict, Nature always wins."
Would behoove us to pay attention to how nature responds to what we do. Never before have we been able to wreak havoc to the extent that 7-8 billion humans can. Especially if some of those humans deny any “havoc” and continue with their selfish quest for dominance.
It is foolish to think otherwise...
Just because the Republicans want to claim climate change isn’t real does not mean the natural disasters aren’t real. I live on the southeastern NC coast, (not on the beach.) In 2018 a hurricane severely damaged my house, which is not in a flood plain. In 2019, tornadoes imbedded in a hurricane roared through my area damaging houses, uprooting trees, downing power lines, etc. That was all VERY, VERY REAL.
We looked into moving to the middle of the state, but couldn’t decide where to move. But as Hurricane Helene demonstrates storms don’t hit just the coastal areas. Western NC has experienced devastation. It takes a really long time to recover from a natural disaster, in some cases years, and cost astronomical amounts of money. How do you live in the meantime?
Here is Kevin Roberts (President of Heritage Foundation) at this weeks NYT (Climate Event) arguing with moderator about the science that Project 2025 doesn’t believe in:
Kevin D. Roberts, Ph.D. | The Project 2025 Climate Agenda
https://youtu.be/ZFeLC_6WnMI?si=Z2u81vFU6qtAxzZj
and
Here - is Julio Friedmann’s substack he dropped recently that shows complex visuals for his report on carbon removal:
Julio Friedmann Substack ‘The Hard Stuff’
https://open.substack.com/pub/carbonwrangler/p/the-hard-stuff?r=kxzps&utm_medium=ios
Give 'em a blue tsunami.
https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/
Yikes! Who gave Robert’s a PHD?
Remember the sarcastic meaning of the college degrees:
B.S. Bull S***
M.S. More of the Same
P.H.D. Piled Higher and Deeper
"Roberts earned his PhD in American History from the University of Texas."
Of course this means he is an expert in American History and therefore qualified to make judgements on climate science. /s
His next paper on American History should be "Climate disasters since 1776 to the present in America with emphasis of CO2 levels and damage assessments"
He is more fond of the slavery period when such as he ruled all. Or maybe the Articles of Confederation would be his go to. He is an expert on greed and power when all is said and done. And BTW, I have known and know of more than a few educated imbeciles, who use any intelligence they have to weaponize what they have learned against the “lessers.” Bill Buckley comes to mind.
Louis Giglio, Cracker Jacks.
He’s a scary dude!
One thing about this interview with Robert’s strikes me…..the fact that he paraphrased most answers by saying he means no disrespect.~~
Of course this agenda must be stopped. But for all the good Biden has done, he sat on his hands concerning the massive influx of illegals flooding across the border for almost 3 years. Now Harris is paying for it. I predicted this would happen and it’s happening today. It’s clearly a toss-up of who will win. If Trump wins, the country goes to hell.
'Sitting on his hands' disregards the rather strict border bill that Trump and the House Magas scotched.
Massive influx?? Seriously! Sat on his hands? Trump sand bagged a viable border bill developed by red state right wing senators which representatives of President Biden also had input of the bill! Nay! The signing pen was swallowed by chump!
They are illegals and they did flood across the border. And if Trump should win, you have Biden to thank for it.
Bill, so Trump's unfulfilled promise to add 15000 additional border patrol and customs agents and we ended up only 14600 short of that goal when he left office, is Biden's fault? You're drinking the Republican kool-aid.
And his POS border wall that any 12 year old with a saws-all could breach is again, Biden's fault. He promised over 1000 miles of new wall and we got 49 or about 5% of what he promised. And the wall is still being breached up to 150 times a day because, it is a POS wall with a terrible design.
If DonOLD had actually done anything to secure the border besides claim that "Mexico would pay for the big beautiful wall" then maybe I would be a little more willing to blame Biden for people coming across the southern border.
Did you know that we also have a northern border where it is estimated that 3 times as many undocumented people cross as the southern border? I have crossed into Canada in several places and I know for a fact that if I wanted to sneak into Canada or the US, I could be dropped off within a mile or so and be across the border in less than an hour--undetected.
And how does securing the "open" southern border prevent the students graduating college from overstaying their visas?
Is it my responsibility to check the papers of each of the workers that I have hired to work on my property? I know for a fact, that I have hired illegal Canadian workers that will never get arrested because they are white and speak English, eh?
Here is my answer which is a story from "Donald's Vanity Tantrums."
What Some Ancient Rulers Have in Common with Trump
During ancient Egyptian dynasties, monarchs often defaced or destroyed statues representing the previous ruler to erase the reputation and deeds of the former ruler. Sometimes damage was limited to facial disfigurement as with Pharaoh Senwosrett III (1878-1840 BC) whose nose was broken off because ancients believed that the life force emanates through the nose.
Trump shares this goal when renegotiating and tearing up Clinton and Obama-era treaties.
NAFTA is one such remake that removes Clinton’s name from the global trade agreement. As Politico writer Adam Behsudi quotes Lori Wallace, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch said, “For those who trusted Trump’s pledge to make NAFTA ‘much better’ for working people, it’s a punch in the face because the proposal describes TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) or any other same-old, same-old trade deal.” There are no improvements -- only the removal of the Obama legacy and any other former president’s name.
This symbolic effigy-smashing of Obama extends to the Iran Nuclear Deal, to recertify to Congress every 90 days that the Iranians are complying with the rules; the Paris Climate Agreement; The Affordable Healthcare Act and all other agreements that Obama successfully negotiated regarding the environment and human rights.
In the land that I call home, tens of millions of Americans who couldn’t tell the difference between shit and Shinola, resulting in the election of a malevolent quasi-life form that makes George W. seem like Jesus, Moses, and George Washington rolled into one. Maybe our next president, if we are still electing presidents that is, will take cues from Trump and the ancients as well. A good start would be to remove any future White House portrait of him that might eventually be installed.
Bill, I think this is an easy but harsh swipe at Biden/Harris's administration. Ponder for a second how little the Repubs were ever willing to lean in to help and how often they thought pillorying Secretary Mayorkas in their star chamber hearings was the nation's best use of the Secretary's time. I think my view isn't mine alone.
Please don’t get me started on Mayorkas.
I'm going to request that we use the phrase "undocumented immigrants" instead of "illegals" as the latter is dehumanizing.
We assume "the massive influx of illegals flooding across the border for almost 3 years is " bad". There is little truthful evidence that this is correct. Credible statistics say otherwise.
An old saying: "Assume" can make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me' ".
And an observation about donkeys and elephants: The ass of an elephant is bigger than the entire donkey.
So, here's what I want to know: how is the 'influx of illegal immigrants' even measured? All I can find are the govt stats about 'encounters', which include apprehensions and expulsions, but certainly not folks who actually end up living here...?????
P.S. Whether anybody answers this or not, I LOVE that there's a place that I can even ASK these kinds of questions and have these discussions! Community, indeed!
I have had dozens of Spanish speaking workers that have reroofed houses in FL, ME and NE or did landscaping or other construction work, etc. If they didn't do good work and worked hard, I wouldn't have used them. And who hires them? Usually a white American who has no responsibility for their immigration status. And I'm certainly not going to check their papers when I know that no one else is available to do the work.
This is the fault of Republicans for not updating our immigration laws. Every time a bi-partisan bill is hammered out, the Republicans turn it down.
And putting razor wire in the water in the Rio Grande is just plain cruel, but I expect no less from the TX Republicans.
Oh really? Ask New York City how they are coping and any other cities where these migrants have flooded in. And besides, you and others miss a valid point. It’s a public relations disaster that may culminate in electing you know who.
Like Springfield, OH? I do need cites.
CBP report says influx of illegals dropped 37% due to Biden's tightening up of policies, despite not getting that immigration bill through. They've been doing all they can.
Reality Check! Trump told the flock to kill the Immigration Bill so he could run on it in the Fall. It was a very good piece of legislation that would have stemmed the tide and calmed tempers on this side. BUT NO! Trump had to hijack it.
And what did Biden do for 3 years leading up to Trump ordering his minions to kill the bill? Excuses.
synic
Unvarnished view of the recent past. I think every administration should include one adviser who is a contrarian to offer another point of view. Politicians probably wouldn’t agree but I happen to think it’s healthy to include all points of view.
Yes, the horror is broader, but the issues are too numerous for one post. Maybe 900 pages of push back, or some notice by MSM. Maybe now is the time to publicize the FEMA plans in P2025. Thank you HCR
This is the danger, beyond Trump, of giving political power to people who believe that rapture is around the bend.
KSC, and they must cruelly punish all "unbelievers" and convert all by the tip of the sword.
Better hurry rapture, I am sick of the cretins and need to see them disappear pronto…
In the ultimate service of Billionaire;, or so they think.
My oh my, they sure know how to arrange things.
The Eagles, "Lyin' Eyes" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PTEqZURh4o>.
In an increasingly Complex World, the Project 2025 Siths, and the Wanna Be Orange King, want to undo the Progress made in the 20th Century... A.I. won't go away, Climate Change will still progress... Look at the Damage Hurricane Helene has just done... Imagine dealing with the aftermath of Helene with 19th Century Methods, and Resources... The Siths forget that the Average American Life Expectancy was less than 50years... Future Pandemics, Wild-Fires, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Earthquakes will happen...
They yeanr for a self-enclosed feudalistic society.
What they don't want is democracy.
J L Graham, and do want violence ---- mental/emotion, sexual, physical. Their egos crave it. Confirms their "superiority", feeds their desire to harm others and create conflict, etc.
Feudal Society... Supreme Religious Dogma... Ultimate Wealth Disparity... Sounds too much like the Middle-East Autocracies... OBW: How is that part of the World doing?
Still there, which is perhaps something.
Still There, but a lot of UnHappy People hoping to make it to the next Day...
And not much hope in sight.
This HCR Letter was an excellent summary of the decades long work in the crafting of useful disaster response and the recognition that significant responses cannot be handled locally. The final two paragraphs of the letter, dealing with the Project 2025 dismantling of FEMA, should strike fear in the heart of any caring American.
The reality is that multiple state and local governments CANNOT all be equipped to handle significant disaster response. The lunacy embedded in that line of thinking is astounding.
Thanks to Dr. Richardson for highlighting yet another Project 2025 disaster in the making.
It is clear where the current "conservative" party would like the rest of us to go. Straight to Hell. All except those with generational wealth, or newly gotten gains on the markets... They are allowed to use their wealth to weather any storm, no matter what the cost This country has labored long and hard to keep life going for people in dire straits. Hurricanes, broken levies, 100 year storms. Without the coordination of literally hundreds of regional associations, aid would be erratic at best. Why do these "conservatives" want to burn the whole construction down?
Craig, big money donors don't want to pay taxes. As climate change threats and damage rapidly increase, much more money will be needed to fund Fema and other diaster response efforts and prevention efforts too. They want to avoid gov't demanding that they pay their fair share in taxes. How? Eliminate agencies that they personally, being absurdly wealthy, do not need. It illustrates how deeply unconnected they feel to people, to their fellow citizens.
They wanna return everything to the states, just as they feel they've accomplished with abortion.
Actually they are more interested in protecting wealth and power than retaining a monarchical dictator.
Wow, Heather, again demonstrating that there is no topic, no angle regarding American history and the relevance to our current politics that you cannot enlighten us about.
And we all benefit from clarity of her understanding and the breadth of her view. Thank you Heather!
Good writer, too.
JSC, agreed! Heather continues to amaze me with the breadth of her knowledge.
The Heritage Foundation’s stance on NOAA bears similarities to someone refusing a parachute because they have to sign a paper acknowledging what happens if you don’t pull the ripcord.
FEMA and NOAA exemplify the benefits of a federal Republic. The Heritage Foundation wants to get rid of NOAA because its data gathering proves that climate change is happening, and they don't give a $@#! about the impact, except on their profit margins! We must vote for Kamala Harris.
The Heritage Foundation is a collection of professional gaslighters.
gangsters
Louise, it is said “it takes a village”…..well, IMHO, our country is one large village joining hands to help sustain our neighbors…..if that’s what is called the Fed Gov’t, so be it….we step in where the help is needed. I am verklempt with concern by those affected by this disaster. We, the globe, need to seriously, intently, urgently, deal with the emerging climate change challenges….I know, I know, like herding cats….but we still have to try!
Views on climate change, and what people propose to do about it at every single level where we elect people to anything, need to be shared quite specifically, not letting anybody get away with vague sentences and promises.
Ever since Trump, as President, decided he could change the trajectory of a hurricane path with a sharpie and it didn't work, he's had it out for NOAA. This is part of Trump's vendetta list, just as he's never gotten over Obama teasing Trump at a Press Gallery dinner. Trump can't stand empirical facts because they don't care about his feelings so he want's to "get even" with NOAA because their facts made him look ridiculous.
and the private interests who own Accuweather and other such operations don't like the public sector competition. They'd rather have an even more profitable monopoly. So if NOAA were wound up, and its assets sold to them, that would suit them just fine.
No doubt some of the unprofitable long-term studies of climate would have to be scrapped, for the benefit of the bottom line, but who really cares beyond the next couple of weekend forecasts, right?
But it is a self deceiving illusion. The chaos that will ensue in the heels of Project 2025 will destroy our economy, our transportation, and their profits...there won't even be any margins. CHAOS has infected the Republican party....with a promise that will not be fulfilled.
As I read tonight's Letter, I anticipated the punchline about the GOP-Trump/Vance-Project 2025 plans to dismantle NOAA (final two paragraphs). I can't imagine anything so short-sighted in undermining our nation's ability to deal with the effects of Climate Change. A truly medieval disregard & disdain for science. I can't wait for Project 2025 and all of its architects and enablers to become a minor footnote to our era.
And a disregard for the general population. As Scrooge said, “If they are to die, then let them get on with doing so… and decrease the surplus population.”
Scooge was talking about Republicans, I hope.
Ayn Rand
I would go beyond short-sighted as a descriptor, I would go with criminal intent, which It is. These brain dead soul dead
beings give themselves away with every breath. Let us not minimize them at all along with their completely harmful and ridiculous plans that are trying to fulfill some incredibly sick fantasy about grabbing power that they don't deserve and never will. The only language they understand is one where they get completely rejected. They're always going to be a problem so let's not give our energies in that direction - reminding me of how I thought I could change the partner in my marriage. Yeah right.
"The only language they understand is one where they get completely rejected." -- We are working more than ever before (letter writing, political contributions) for the complete rejection... The GOP will need to go down in flames before there is the slightest hope that they will ever re-emerge (under a new name?) as a decent party to serve in opposition in a 2-party system.
Truly medieval indeed.
Or to be swept away by the furies of climate change!
As we grapple with the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene, it’s impossible to ignore the dire consequences of Project 2025—the GOP's blueprint for the next administration. This plan, endorsed by Trump and J.D. Vance, would dismantle FEMA, gut NOAA, and leave disaster-stricken communities to fend for themselves. Tim Snyder, a leading scholar on fascism, warned that authoritarian regimes often thrive when public services crumble and the state abandons its people in moments of crisis. Project 2025 is the embodiment of this warning. It promises cruelty masked as "freedom," pushing the burdens of climate disasters, healthcare, and economic inequality onto states with fewer resources, all while shuffling more power into the hands of a corrupt few.
This is not just an attack on science and disaster response; it’s an assault on the very fabric of democracy. Voting for the GOP in this election would accelerate the shift toward authoritarian rule, leaving our communities vulnerable in ways that can’t be undone. We must resist, not only for the future of our planet but for the survival of a just society
Project 2025 wants to toss FEMA overboard and let states fend for themselves in disasters, as if hurricanes respect state lines. And gutting NOAA’s hurricane warnings? Bold move—who needs life-saving data when we can just cross our fingers? This isn’t streamlining, it’s a crash course in disaster roulette.
I had to laugh about Tennessee proudly refusing aid for what, practically a whole day? I remember when the national drinking age was increased from 18 to 21 by Ronald Reagan in 1984.The State of Wyoming refused to raise the drinking age, and received reduced Federal Highway funds as a result, for several years before the State Legislature bowed to reality in 1988, after a couple catastrophic winter storms- there are many things individual States, particularly the smaller, rural, poorer states simply cannot afford to do on their own. I hope to see "Hurricane Relief and Assistance, brought to you by the Biden/Harris administration" signs everywhere in all those southern States. I would hope Harris makes a point if visiting each of those States and does a lot of photo ops with appropriate people. In Tennessee, the sign should include, in parentheses " (in spite of your local Republican Party!)" Don't mean to be making light of a horrible situation. Climate change is happening in spite of hopes, prayers, and laws to the contrary. The 2025 project is so astoundingly short sighted and divorced from reality, it like it was written by a bunch of uneducated individuals with delusional disorder. That said, I have to admit that the idea of spending so much money to rebuild in low-lying marginal areas that will be underwater in a few years is troubling. Anywhere hit by the storm surge should probably be declared coastal protection barrier land and planted with suitable vegetation, rather than being rebuilt with houses that have no business being there in the first place.
Weather related or whether related the main point exists , Project 2025 is BIG but just a name , ‘ SAME GAME’…inflation,health crisis, conspiracy theories, authoritarian move, rich vs poor,immigration. Major players conspiring with 80+ % of the population engaged at some level albeit most unwittingly and useful tactics/happenings to consume them conveniently used.
Bravo ‘Notes..’ solutions…marvelous !
💙💙🇺🇸VOTE BLUE.END THIS COUP.UP TO ALL THE YOUS🇺🇸💙💙
Yes, because their dogma is that government should be small, that it should not do anything for people, only for businesses.
And also highlights the value of public servants, folks who work for the myriad agencies that have been activated to assist the people of multiple states during this catastrophe in ways large and small. Republicans have reliably denigrated public service for decades.
Ocean can’t encroach or Mar-a-lardo soon enough!
I have been in DC all week doing research in museums and the Library of Congress. Yesterday I was surprised to find a fantastic vegetable garden on the SW corner of the Madison building. These are recreations of WW1 victory gardens and are maintained by the Architect of the Capitol (see aoc.gov).
I am trying to point out the positive things that our government does right to my overly cynical 35 year old daughter. She and many like her are so wrapped up in how Harris et al are complicit in Gaza and other disasters that they all lose sight of any good etc. if they base their votes on this cynicism and vote 3rd party or simply don’t vote, this will result in disaster.
But will people who chose that path take any responsibility for the results? I know people who voted for Nader who seem to bristle at their complicity when I ask them “how did that work out for you? Not so well I see…).
This cynicism of the youth needs to be confronted head on. A trip to the Capitol especially into the Rubenstein Treasures Gallery in the Jefferson Wing of the Library of Congress was for me a powerful experience. I was there to gather data on one exhibit - the glass flute owned by President Madison. The curator of the flute vault said to check out the rest of the exhibit and I did. In moments I, a 69 year old bloke, was immediately moved to tears by the intense history and humanity reflected by these treasures.
Perhaps teaching Civics in schools needs more emphasis. Instead Trump and Project 2025 wants to get rid of the Department of Education. The cynicism that I observe in today’s younger generations unfortunately becomes part of the MAGA playbook.
Harris is campaigning on a platform of Hope. How do we get under this callus of cynicism that has been growing since Bush vs. Gore?
I for one am worn out with this cynicism. Our government does some pretty cool things and reminds us how we got here in ways that touch the heart - if one bothers to look.
“One of the nation’s largest Muslim political groups endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday despite fierce opposition to her Middle East policy, saying that stopping former President Donald Trump is paramount.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/muslim-group-endorses-harris-opposition-gaza-policy-rcna172670
last night an interview of Secretary Clinton asked her greatest fear after teaching at Columbia, and her answer is directly related to your daughter's response. She said young people reacting to the Israeli response to 10/7 need to have a much better understanding of the historical context of the situation. They need to see the bigger picture of how we got here, including all the attempts and failures of people trying to 'solve' the bigger situation of Israel and it's neighbors. (check out Firing Line with Margaret Hoover on PBS)
Casey Burns, thanks for trying to make a difference by offering some challenges to your daughter's thinking. Keep it up, please. You may be getting through more than you think.
Seems there is a lot of activity on TikTok in that age group and that some of it is getting very good in terms of youth looking ahead at what they will need and what they understand better, can look it up I suppose.
Going "back" to states' rights...Didn't we fight a Civil War over this? Thank you Heather for your terrific history review to remind us. Diminish the FEDERAL govt is the goal of "the south will rise again." 50 squabbling states with 50 different laws on education, safety, voting, environment...(add yours) as Lincoln said..."a house divided cannot stand." PEOPLE UNITE...VOTE FOR SEVERAL ELECTION CYCLES!
Republicans are either totally crackers or have had their skulls scraped out by decades of self service, meanness, misery and fear of everyone. They’re nuts! They give humans a bad name. Honestly, sometimes I’m made totally breathless by their bizarre behaviours and declarations. They’re completely indubitably, nuts!!
Yes, both. But they are also committed, unhesitating, and vicious. And, they have assault rifles.
This is a time for the vaulted mainstream of the media to speak the fuck up, in fact way way past time. The elephant in the room has got to be replaced with some other moniker, because elephants don't deserve bad press. Monster? Monstrosities? And then there is MEFHB=
Miserable Excuses For Human Beings. Okay, done my bit.
- Pulled Quote -
''Bill Lee, a Republican, did not ask for such a declaration until this evening, instead proclaiming September 27 a “voluntary Day of Prayer and Fasting.” Observers pointed out that with people stuck on a hospital roof in the midst of catastrophic flooding in his state, maybe an emergency declaration would be more on point.''
More 'thoughts and prayers'? God works through people. Vote.
Trump and vice presidential candidate Ohio senator J.D. Vance, calls for slashing FEMA’s budget and returning disaster responses to states and localities.
Project 2025 also calls for dismantling the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and either eliminating its functions, sending them to other agencies, privatizing them, or putting them under the control of states and territories. It complains that NOAA, whose duties include issuing hurricane warnings, is “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.”
Michael, the Project 2025 mandate of calling for the dismantling of NOAA is like being threatened by a stake through my heart. As a lifelong cherished hobby non-professional Climatologist and weather researcher, i rely on NOAA data for my ongoing research with the aid of the data from their websites on a daily basis. The DTP, (Domestic Terrorist Party) and their lame excuses and pure ignorance is appalling to the extreme. I do remember well when their God, Donald TUMP suggested the utterly dumb and stupid idea of detonating an atomic or hydrogen bomb to dissipate a hurricane. TUMP and his minions belong in an institution for the mentally deranged for the rest of their despicable lives! There is no way they should even be considered to be leaders in our Federal Government.
The strategy of the GOP for years has been to support an anti-government narrative by underfunding or willful incompetence in order to prove their own anarchistic ideology (disguised as libertarianism) that there should be no government regulation or assistance for anything, period. It's pretty insane, given the Constitution talks about promoting the general welfare, and up until Trump threatened to abrogate it they were pretty big fans of our founding document. Disaster relief - like health care or unemployment insurance - is surely a part of promoting the general welfare.
But no, now to promote the general welfare makes you a communist. Good grief these people and half the electorate are just plain crazy, mean, and stupid. And that is not name calling: that is just observable empirical fact, by any human measure.
IOW, it is not only a nuclear war that would send those of us who survive back to living in caves and scrabbling in the ground for food—re-electing Trump would do it, too, and probably faster.
Major autocrats outside the USA are watching. Divide and conquer is an ancient strategy.
The natural existence of an autocracy depends on continued material growth to feed the growing number of selfish individuals in the leadership structure and the inefficiency of the pyramid control structure.
There are several sites I visit daily for vital information. Living in Alaska for the past 48 years I have depended on NOAA weather information. NPR for (mostly unbiased) news and for the past few years LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN has provided me with contextualised news. Honest information has a very high value and I am grateful to HCR, NPR and NOAA.
Former 13-year Alaska resident here - Right on!
I strongly concur, Charles.
Oh lord, is there nothing these people won’t do to eliminate any agency of help and care in our country?
No. Nothing. They are ruthless. And shameless.
And stupid.
Shameless, Rex?
Remember, they have no humanities -- no context for the human, no capacity to connect to other perspectives. And the money & power which they crave totally dismisses conscience of all kinds. Witness the orange felon, his fellow vulgar Vance, and then all their cohort in their mixture of lies and self-absorbed fantasyland.
It strikes me as odd that religion, which has given us shame, is proclaimed far and wide from the rooftops, including those of hospitals, by those who name themselves Christians but who have no shame when it comes to committing any and all of the seven deadly sins.
Sure, Becky.
But let's recall not only do they not have any humanities but, in place of that, they have reduced life to nothing more than units.
Education becomes for them unit acquisition. (They call it information.) Standardized testing refines this vulgarity by stressing the logic of categories to which all info fits (or a-b-c-d doesn't). Categories means groups -- packages.
So we have the status quo over which our schools preside.
Wonder why dictators, demagogues, oligarchs, Clarence courts, standardized testers, corporate textbook packagers, and all the other vulgar rule?
Plus, of course, the orange felon, rapist, racist, criminally convicted grifter.
Betsy, i call people like that Governor of Tennessee, a crazed Religious fanatic.
Good old Governor Lee; he precisely described what folks have to do without any assistance while perched on their roofs awaiting the rescue rafts. Sadly, he forgot to mobilize the assistance that would enable the rafts to deploy. They are heading back to the days of the bucket-brigades down there. At the accelerating rate of super-storms in the southern and Gulf states, the prudent long term strategy might be to just abandon the coastlines altogether and move to higher ground many miles away. Just don't move to Oregon, please. Oklahoma is probably far enough. If you want to return all form of government to the states, prepare to tough it out each time Nature comes knocking.
Climate change is not much of a voting issue, it seems. “The Economy” is. Which seems to mean paying prices that we like, regardless of true costs.
Global warming continues whether or not NOAA is able to tell us about it.
Yes - paying for disaster after disaster will prove bankrupting. Transition to a green economy should have started decades ago. But Reagan removed the solar panels Carter installed on the White House . . . it started even then, with Ronald "you've seen one tree you've seen them all" Reagan, and James Watt telling people to use up resources because the Apocalypse was at hand (yeah, they were really nuts from the get-go back in '80). Thus did anti-environmentalism become a cornerstone of GOP identity.
Climate change does seem to resonate with young voters. If it increases their turnout substantially, that alone could swing the election. Can’t count on it, but it’s a favorable factor.
Climate change is a voting issue among the young. I'm wondering whether those who have been displaced by Helene will be able to vote in just slightly over a month?
I was just thinking that all those folks affected by this storm may have difficulty voting on November 5. Some areas, especially Florida, may not have electricity for weeks or months. And more hurricanes are lining up at this moment.
Now might be a good time for democratic campaign ads and the Lincoln Project to blanket the public about republican intentions to eliminate FEMA, NOAA, and other important federal agencies and rub salt in the gaping wound that Project 2025 would cause.
Of course.
To MAGATs the "economy" is a pretext for racism.
Ironically, Trump botched the economy, too.
For patriotic Americans, Jan 6 disqualifies all MAGATs.
Did trump really botch the economy? Seems to me, a non investor, that the stock market went up during the Trump years. Seems that's all that matters to the "chosen" ones.
When Trump left office, he gave us the highest deficit, by far in US history.
The economy lost 2.7 million jobs. During his 4 years, unemployment rate increased by 1.7 percentage points to 6.4%. There was a dramatic collapse in GDP during Covid as many businesses shut.
The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 36.3% from 2016.
The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million.
The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion.
Home prices rose 27.5%, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8%.
Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the Southwest border rose 14.7% last year compared with 2016.
The stock market is setting records daily under Biden.
I don't disagree with all you say. But my observation is that the wealthy supporters of Trump care little about the facts you cite. All they care about is whether their personal wealth (and power in the highest percentile segment) increased. These are people who let professionals manage their investments. They are beyond consumption of goods and services and care only about the game of controlling others.
Some. Not all. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-endorsed-by-business-leaders/
In 2020 people who were transfixed by their 401 Ks supported Trump. No more.
Many of Trump's supporters do so for "insurance," i/e. fear that he can retaliate against him.