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Arotrios

@[email protected]

For Amusement Purposes Only.

Changeling poet, musician and writer, born on the 13th floor. Left of counter-clockwise and right of the white rabbit, all twilight and sunrises, forever the inside outsider.

Seeks out and follows creative and brilliant minds. And crows. Occasional shadow librarian.

#music #poetry #politics #LGBTQ+ #magick #fiction #imagination #tech

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[News] Republicans nominate Steve Scalise to be House speaker and will try to unite before a floor vote ( apnews.com )

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans on Wednesday nominated Rep. Steve Scalise to be the next House speaker and will now try to unite around the conservative in a floor vote to elect him after ousting Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the post....

Arotrios OP ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Let the games begin...

Arotrios OP ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

I christened this guy Ratfucker Kennedy when he started his campaign, and today, beyond all doubt, he's earned the right to bear that name.

Arotrios OP ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

@Virginicus - the Freedom Caucus certainly will. However, the realpolitik of the situation is that any Speaker will need Democratic support to get elected at this point.

There are three possible outcomes here:

  1. The Republicans are able to control their caucus and elect a new speaker entirely with GOP votes (highly unlikely, and if they do, a new leader will be just as vulnerable as McCarthy was until 2024)
  2. The Republicans are able to peel off enough Democratic votes to get a new speaker in by advancing a moderate and granting concessions (possible, but this effort would likely lose as many GOP votes as it would gain Dem ones unless they convince Jeffries to rally his caucus in support of a moderate)
  3. The Democrats are able to peel off enough GOP votes to elect Jeffries (slightly less likely than 2, above) - this is the worst possible scenario for the GOP

Jeffries has them over a barrel as long as he maintains caucus discipline. Thus far he's doing a far better job at it than the GOP, plus he's still got Pelosi's connections in his back pocket (and she's definitely not about concessions to the GOP at this point). This opinion piece is both an olive branch and a subtle threat to those on the GOP side who can still do basic math - it's "work with us, or watch us take the Speakership before 2024".

[News & Opinion] "Already an embarrassment": Legal experts shred Judge Aileen Cannon for granting Trump "delay" ( www.salon.com )

The federal judge presiding over Donald Trump's classified documents case on Friday temporarily paused a series of significant pre-trial deadlines pertaining to prosecutors' sharing of sensitive materials that the former president is entitled to while building his defense, The Messenger reports....

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Kevin McCarthy and the GOP right now

[News] Rep. Matt Gaetz triggers vote to oust Kevin McCarthy from speaker's office ( www.nbcnews.com )

WASHINGTON — Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., the Donald Trump ally and conservative bomb-thrower who has been a nagging thorn in leadership’s side, filed a resolution Monday to force a vote to overthrow his political nemesis, Kevin McCarthy, as speaker of the House....

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Power is a helluva drug.

[News Analysis] GOP waging a "coordinated national effort to undermine American elections," says leading official ( www.salon.com )

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat viewed as a national leader in voting rights, has received 67 death threats and over 900 threats of online abuse within just three weeks, according to a system used by her office that tracks harassment and threats against election workers....

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

You've got a fresh cup of Camomile waiting at Anna's

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

@some__guy aww, are you and your sock puppets are feeling lonely again? I think it's time to admit you're showing all the symptoms listed here. It's been three months and multiple accounts, bud - it's time to get help - this isn't a vendetta, this is a sad pathology.

The Historic Writers Strike Will Soon Be Over ( www.huffpost.com )

Nearly five months after thousands of film and TV writers went on strike over more equitable pay and working conditions in the streaming era, effectively shutting down the entertainment industry, Hollywood studio and streaming executives at long last have reached a tentative deal with the Writers Guild of America, East and West....

[News - Colorado] Judge overseeing case to remove Trump from ballot agrees to order banning threats and intimidation ( apnews.com )

DENVER (AP) — The Colorado judge overseeing the first significant lawsuit to bar former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot on Friday issued a protective order prohibiting threats and intimidation in the case, saying the safety of those involved — including herself and her staff — was...

"It's the content, stupid." - Quick Notes to Supercharge K.Bin ( kbin.social )

Like you, I'm a passionate user of K.Bin but lately, I'm noticing that things are getting kinda stale around here. The most recent thread in this, the top-level magazine on K.Bin, is 4 days old. Many other top 25 magazines are also suffering from a similar lack of fresh content. I run /m/scifi and it's been continuing to grow...

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

@inkican - Agreed - Kbin will live or die based on its content. One thing that should be mentioned to those on the fence about contributing is how powerful Kbin is as a publishing platform in comparison to either Mastodon or Lemmy - this is one of the few places where you can post and get your content on both style of instances.

There are a couple of factors degrading contribution that could be alleviated by more stringent moderation - particularly the bot networks and downvote spammers. I've seen a couple of instances where folks have gotten bullied out of trying to run a forum, and Kbin's flaws in blocking (a blocked user can still downvote your posts and message you), make ongoing harassment an issue for contributors. No one wants to submit something to have it shat upon.

The other factor is that a number of users set up magazines, grabbing popular names from Reddit, then did nothing to maintain them. I think removing or reassigning these ghost magazines to interested moderators would go a long way in improving the content quality here now that the dust has settled from the Reddit collapse.

From a moderator standpoint, if you're looking to expand the reach of your magazine and get new subscribers (and thus, hopefully, more contributors), one thing I've found that helps expand the audience is using a Lemmy account to crosspost, as the cross-posting functionality is built into that architecture and provides a link back to the original. This both expands the range of the content, and draws subscribers from Lemmy that normally wouldn't see you on Kbin to subscribe to your magazine. Mastodon is similar - a single supportive account there boosting magazine content expands your reach dramatically.

Side note: I run @13thFloor and wanted to say if you or your users ever feel like cross-posting our scifi content from there, or cross-posting your content to our magazine, feel free to do so - we fucking love scifi over here.

Arotrios ,
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For those having issues with the aforementioned downvote trolls, @some_guy and @YourContentSucks kindly showed up to illustrate the problem. These two accounts are accompanied by a third, @cre0 -all the same user. If you're pre-emptively looking to protect your users from downvote spam, keep these accounts out of your magazines - he likes to try to dox folks. This is his theme song.

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Posted this on the other thread - but excellent work! Thank you!

Arotrios OP ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

American voters != Republican voters, but I agree with your overall point regarding the GOP.

[Analysis]The End of Roe Is Having a Chilling Effect on Pregnancy - Lauren Leader, Politico ( www.politico.com )

The end of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 has had a profound effect on maternal healthcare and abortion access across the country. Fourteen states have now completely banned abortion and two dozen more have bans at 22 weeks or less. As a result, an already grim maternal health care landscape has worsened....

[Opinion] ‘You’re screwed’: Romney’s exit threatens a collapse of Senate’s middle - Burgess Everett ( www.politico.com )

Mitt Romney’s retirement shines a glaring spotlight on the potentially bleak future of the Senate’s ideological center in both parties. If Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema follow him out the door, it will get worse....

[News] US Senate subpoenas Saudi’s $700bn sovereign wealth fund over US dealings ( www.theguardian.com )

Saudi Arabia’s $700bn sovereign wealth fund – which has been used as a lever of global influence by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – has been subpoenaed by a powerful Senate committee after it refused to voluntarily comply with information requests about its US dealings....

[News] Child poverty in the US jumped and income declined in 2022 as coronavirus pandemic benefits ended ( apnews.com )

Child poverty in the United States more than doubled and median household income declined last year when coronavirus pandemic-era government benefits expired and inflation kept rising, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau....

[Opinion Analysis] Trump’s Economic Plan: Raise Taxes on the Middle Class, Cut Them on the Rich - Johnathan Chait ( nymag.com )

The discourse of the Trump era has been dominated by a conceit that the two major parties have swapped economic identities. The Democrats have supposedly abandoned their historical role as spokespeople for the working class to represent the neoliberal global elite, while the Republicans have been transmuted into scruffy...

[Opinion] Trump's plans to become a dictator: It's time to get real about Project 2025 - Chauncey DeVega - Salon ( www.salon.com )

Donald Trump is a dictator in waiting. Like other dictators, he is threatening to put his "enemies" in prison – and to do even worse things to them. These are not idle threats or empty acts of ideation: Donald Trump is a violent man who is a proven enemy of democracy and freedom....

Arotrios OP ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Now I've got the Beach Boys singing your comment in my head... thanks...?

"ban ban ban Alabam, ban ban ban christian Taliban"

[Poll Analysis] Lauren Boebert begs supporters for help after admitting her campaign is flailing ( www.lgbtqnation.com )

It’s official: Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) is scared. Recent polling has shown Democratic frontrunner Adam Frisch in the lead in Boebert’s district, and now the anti-LGBTQ+ Congresswoman is pleading with voters for help....

[News] 61 protestors indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges connected to 'Stop Cop City' movement ( apnews.com )

ATLANTA (AP) — Sixty-one people have been indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges following a long-running state investigation into protests against a planned police and firefighter training facility in the Atlanta area that critics call “Cop City.”...

[News] “Dark” right-wing network recruits MAGA “army” to replace 50K federal workers Trump plans to purge ( www.salon.com )

A network of conservative groups is gearing up for the potential reelection of Donald Trump, actively enlisting an "army" of Americans to come to Washington with a mission to disassemble the federal government and substitute it with a vision that aligns more closely with their own beliefs and ideas, according to The Associated...

State Republicans Try to Remove NC Supreme Court Justice for Mentioning the Existence of Racial Bias ( slate.com )

On Tuesday, it was reported that North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls could be ousted from her seat for judicial ethics violations. Did she fail to disclose gifts from a billionaire benefactor on whose cases she was ruling? No. Maybe she’d gone on luxury vacations across the globe paid for by some of the richest...

[Opinion Analysis] Some Republicans Worry that a Trump Nomination Could Bring Steep Down-Ballot Losses for the GOP - Tom LoBianco ( themessenger.com )

ATLANTA – Republicans have quietly been coming to grips with the likelihood that Donald Trump will keep winning the Republican nomination until he dies if he doesn’t retake the White House next year — and either outcome could cost the GOP down-ballot....

{News] Republican congressman threatens to ‘defund’ NC Cherokee tribe on brink of historic marijuana vote. ( www.charlotteobserver.com )

As Cherokee tribal members in North Carolina prepare to vote on legalizing adult-use cannabis, a congressman from the area is threatening to defund the tribe — whether the measure passes or not....

[News[ A New Rudy Scandal: FBI Agent Says Giuliani Was Co-opted by Russian Intelligence ( www.motherjones.com )

It was big news when Rudy Giuliani, once hailed as America’s Mayor, was indicted last month by a district attorney in Atlanta for allegedly being part of a criminal enterprise led by Donald Trump that sought to overturn the 2020 election results. Giuliani was back in headlines this week when he lost a defamation suit filed...

Arotrios OP ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

Guess this is happens when ghoul Fuks around...

[News] A Texas judge has declared unconstitutional a law championed by Gov. Greg Abbott that limits the power of Democrat-led cities ( www.businessinsider.com )

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a bill into law in June that prohibited cities from passing certain local ordinances. It was widely seen as an effort to curb the power of Democrat-led cities....

[News] U.S. health agency recommends easing federal restrictions on marijuana ( www.nbcnews.com )

WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services is formally recommending that the Drug Enforcement Administration ease government restrictions on marijuana, which remains illegal at the federal level despite more than 40 states allowing its use in some form....

[News] Longshot Republican presidential candidate files lawsuit to disqualify Trump from N.H. primary - The Boston Globe ( www.bostonglobe.com )

After urging by conservative talk-show host Charlie Kirk during his podcast on Monday, supporters of the former president inundated New Hampshire Secretary of State David Scanlan’s office with phone calls to pressure Scanlan to keep the GOP front-runner’s name on the ballot for New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation...

ExpertPlus , to /kbin
@ExpertPlus@kbin.social avatar

Hey, I'm knew to KBIN, and already like it!

Question and issues:

  • How do I set a custom display name for my profile?
  • Is it possible to edit my username?

Thank you in advance for answering.

Arotrios ,
@Arotrios@kbin.social avatar

@ExpertPlus when logged in, go to https://kbin.social/settings/profile. Scroll down and you can change your username. There's no separate display name at this point.

Arotrios OP ,
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Thanks to @MicroWave for the link.

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