DarkGamer

cozz33 , 6 months ago

I don’t have anything to add to this conversation but I just want to say you’ve done a great job at reporting news while remaining civil DarkGamer. I’ve never seen you get heated or take an all or nothing stance on an issue and honestly it’s so refreshing to see. You’re proof that people can debate things without resorting to shit slinging and name calling. Keep up the good work 👍

HandsHurtLoL , 10 months ago

I read the OGC report and my interpretation is that it was heavily implied that her race was a factor in why non-university sources were bitching and moaning about her hiring to members of the board of regents, who were uncharacteristically involved in asking the president about this hiring.

Like just because no one on the record says "don't hire a black woman" doesn't mean they aren't all dog whistling to each other about her race.

In the OGC report, at one point the BoR or president expressed concern about "the optics" of hiring someone who's done research in a DEI topic/worked on at least one committee to increase representation in newsrooms during the last state legislative session, under which a law was signed by piss baby Abbott to make it illegal to consider diversity in the hiring process. The OGC report is clear that the president intervened to delay McElroy's hire date until after the end of that legislative session at the very least.

I'm glad A&M settled, but I think she should have sued for more. It's funny that she made more money off this than if she had worked there 5 years in the original offer...

Arotrios OP , 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago)

Depends on how the 2024 elections turn out.

Barbara Lee is targeting Feinstein's seat, and she has enormous pull on the democratic side. She's looking to take the national stage, and I believe that this legislation will be her signature goal during her campaign - while drawing a contrast between herself and Schiff and Porter, who are also eyeing the seat. I think that if the Dems take the house back, and if the public shows strong support for the legislation, there's actually the political capital to get it done, especially if Schumer keeps the Senate.

The tax is actually quite modest (no more than 8% for the highest earners), but it's unique in how it's structured, as it's based off of not of a set number, but the dynamic of median income per year. This is what really caught my attention - this is actually a very smart, modest tax designed to capture as many centrist votes as possible, while insulating the middle class entirely from any fallout - it only starts on incomes that are 1000 times the median wealth. For reference, in 2019, median wealth in America was $140,399, so if the tax were in play then, it would start at wealth totaling over $140,399,000 - and only at 2% at that tier.

So the math is basically very centrist and non-threatening when considering the small number of people it will tax and the modest rates - remember that the capital gains tax used to be over 70% (back when we had things like clean water, affordable housing, and free college).

So do I think it has a shot of getting anywhere? Yes, but not till after the elections, and only if the Dems take the house. If Barbara Lee gets Feinstein's seat, I think it's much more likely - the California delegation usually follows the Senators' lead, and Lee has proven herself a powerbroker in the House already.

Edits: I grammar and spel gud

Instigate , 10 months ago

While I take your point I would also counter with the point that many people simply do not want to consume information devoid of entertainment. There are large swathes of people who are so beaten-down by societal pressures (work, finances, cost of living, erosion of rights etc) that they don’t have the mental energy to seek out news and information. For these people, mixing important information with entertainment might be the only opportunity they have to be exposed to this information.

Being someone who does seek out unbiased information to inform my opinions, I can still empathise with those who don’t. They also deserve to have this information delivered to them in a manner that they find palatable, as long as the information that is being conveyed is accurate.

somas , 10 months ago

@Kara

FYI to anyone who doesn’t realize, you can follow each of those @names individually or just use the url https://kbin.social/d/social.bbc to subscribe to all social.bbc posts in kbin

btaf45 , 11 months ago

Reminder that Steve Bannon frankly confessed Trump's Start the Steal conspiracy plans to a group of Trump insiders before the election.

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112138665/jan-6-committee-hearing-transcript

…audio from Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, surfaced from October 31st, 2020, just a few days before the Presidential election.

Let’s listen. [Begin Videotape]

STEVE BANNON: And what Trump’s going to do is declare victory, right? He’s going to declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s a winner. He’s just gonna say he’s a winner. The Democrats — more of our people vote early that count. Theirs vote in mail. And so they’re going to have a natural disadvantage and Trump’s going to take advantage — that’s our strategy.

He’s gonna declare himself a winner. So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm. Also — also if Trump is — if Trump is losing by 10 or 11:00 at night, it’s going to be even crazier. Because he’s gonna sit right there and say they stole it. If Biden’s wining, Trump is going to do some crazy shit.

effingjoe , 11 months ago

Your solution ignores that all we really need to do (and I say that like it's easy but I acknowledge it's not) is remove the parts of our system that prevent an accurately representative government. Stuff like the electoral college, the cap on House seats, and the dominance of plurality voting. The root problem we see here is that a minority of people have more power over the government than the majority of people.

Like I said, this is much easier typed out than done, but it is not impossible, and is much more likely to succeed than "make a fascist country and give it a humongous border with the democratic country that it views as 'the enemy'" Even if there were a clean way to split it up (there isn't: cities are blue, rural areas are red), much of the red state's income comes from the federal taxes from blue states. Do you really think that's going to end well?

sparseMatrix , 11 months ago

@DarkGamer

Damn Right!

btaf45 , 11 months ago

Reminder that Steve Bannon frankly confessed Trump's Start the Steal conspiracy plans to a group of Trump insiders before the election.

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112138665/jan-6-committee-hearing-transcript

…audio from Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, surfaced from October 31st, 2020, just a few days before the Presidential election.

Let’s listen. [Begin Videotape]

STEVE BANNON: And what Trump’s going to do is declare victory, right? He’s going to declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s a winner. He’s just gonna say he’s a winner. The Democrats — more of our people vote early that count. Theirs vote in mail. And so they’re going to have a natural disadvantage and Trump’s going to take advantage — that’s our strategy.

He’s gonna declare himself a winner. So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm. Also — also if Trump is — if Trump is losing by 10 or 11:00 at night, it’s going to be even crazier. Because he’s gonna sit right there and say they stole it. If Biden’s wining, Trump is going to do some crazy shit.

Flaky_Fish69 , 11 months ago

There’s always a relevant XKCD, lol

btaf45 , 11 months ago

Reminder that Steven Bannon frankly confessed Trump's Start the Steal conspiracy plans to a group of Trump insiders before the election.

https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112138665/jan-6-committee-hearing-transcript

…audio from Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, surfaced from October 31st, 2020, just a few days before the Presidential election.

Let’s listen. [Begin Videotape]

STEVE BANNON: And what Trump’s going to do is declare victory, right? He’s going to declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s a winner. He’s just gonna say he’s a winner. The Democrats — more of our people vote early that count. Theirs vote in mail. And so they’re going to have a natural disadvantage and Trump’s going to take advantage — that’s our strategy.

He’s gonna declare himself a winner. So when you wake up Wednesday morning, it’s going to be a firestorm. Also — also if Trump is — if Trump is losing by 10 or 11:00 at night, it’s going to be even crazier. Because he’s gonna sit right there and say they stole it. If Biden’s wining, Trump is going to do some crazy shit.

HandsHurtLoL , 11 months ago

Sincere question: does this statistic represent the sentiment that they A. like that Trump is a security risk to national interests or B. see this indictment as further proof that he's actually the messiah who was close to unearthing JKF Jr and QAnon stuff, so clearly he was thisclose to draining the swamp?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: what is the role that Oppositional Defiance Disorder is playing into such a huge number of people??