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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
January 16, 2021
(Detroit Metro Times) Is the Earth round? Is skin the largest organ in the human body? Does the Pope wear a funny hat? Was Bruce Willis trying to die hardest by refusing to wear a mask in a Los Angeles Rite Aid? Has J.Lo made a pact with the devil in order to age in reverse?
Among these irrefutable facts posed in rhetorical question form (well, maybe aside from that last one) is one that comes as no surprise: Do Michiganders miss drinking in bars more than they miss hitting the gym since the pandemic started?
Short answer: duh.
In a recent survey of 3,000 U.S. residents 21 years old and up, the American Addiction Centers found that we do, in fact, miss cracking a cold one with the boys over getting their fitness on at the gym — and we're not alone.
The survey found that, since the start of the pandemic, 58% of Michiganders miss drinking at the bar, with only 42% are suffering from major gym FOMO. ..............(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/table-and-bar/archives/2021/01/15/in-least-shocking-news-ever-michiganders-miss-going-to-bars-more-than-going-to-the-gym-survey-finds?
In least shocking news ever, Michiganders miss going to bars more than going to the gym: survey
(Detroit Metro Times) Is the Earth round? Is skin the largest organ in the human body? Does the Pope wear a funny hat? Was Bruce Willis trying to die hardest by refusing to wear a mask in a Los Angeles Rite Aid? Has J.Lo made a pact with the devil in order to age in reverse?
Among these irrefutable facts posed in rhetorical question form (well, maybe aside from that last one) is one that comes as no surprise: Do Michiganders miss drinking in bars more than they miss hitting the gym since the pandemic started?
Short answer: duh.
In a recent survey of 3,000 U.S. residents 21 years old and up, the American Addiction Centers found that we do, in fact, miss cracking a cold one with the boys over getting their fitness on at the gym — and we're not alone.
The survey found that, since the start of the pandemic, 58% of Michiganders miss drinking at the bar, with only 42% are suffering from major gym FOMO. ..............(more)
https://www.metrotimes.com/table-and-bar/archives/2021/01/15/in-least-shocking-news-ever-michiganders-miss-going-to-bars-more-than-going-to-the-gym-survey-finds?
January 16, 2021
Sheriffs Helped Lead This Insurrection
Sheriffs play a key role in right-wing white supremacist movements.
By JESSICA PISHKO
JAN 15, 2021
(Slate) On Jan. 6, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb made a promise. Delivering a speech in Phoenix during the ongoing mob attack on the nation’s Capitol, Lamb accused former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of unnamed crimes and repeated President Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud. “Now I’m limited to what I can do as the sheriff, but if you live in Pinal County, I assure you I can fight for your freedom,” he said before exhorting his followers to “be vigilant” and to “fight for the Constitution, freedom, and the American way of life.” (The video has since been deleted from social media.)
In the past week, it’s become clear that many members of law enforcement from across the country participated in the siege on the Capitol. That includes former and current sheriffs and their deputies. Ex–Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway was at the Trump rally but says he didn’t march to the Capitol. He described the crowd as “a cross between tailgating at a football game and a NASCAR race—families, dogs, children. Everyone being nice. I mean, it was like a family reunion without some of the hatefulness you can find at family reunions. It was a very good crowd.”
At least one current sheriff admits he was at the riot: Sheriff Chris West of Canadian County, Oklahoma, says he marched toward the Capitol building but did not enter. But long before Jan. 6, sheriffs have been helping to lay the groundwork for violence by the far-right movement. As political leaders in their communities, they have been sowing dissent at home, encouraging their own armed militias to prepare themselves to take back the government just as Lamb suggested.
Ninety percent of American sheriffs are white men, and in recent years they’ve become strongly affiliated with white supremacist groups. Across the country, sheriffs have declared that they will not enforce laws they deem “unconstitutional,” like COVID-19 public health orders or gun laws limiting weapons possession and permits. Their influence has only grown since the pandemic began, as mask wearing became affiliated with progressive liberals and a bare face was a sign of Trump support. Trump has always had an affinity with sheriffs. He met with more sheriffs at the White House than any other president and pardoned ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of contempt of court for failing to abide by a nondiscrimination order, calling him an “American patriot.” .............(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/constitutional-sheriffs-white-supremacists-capitol-riot-insurrection.html
Sheriffs Helped Lead This Insurrection
Sheriffs Helped Lead This Insurrection
Sheriffs play a key role in right-wing white supremacist movements.
By JESSICA PISHKO
JAN 15, 2021
(Slate) On Jan. 6, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb made a promise. Delivering a speech in Phoenix during the ongoing mob attack on the nation’s Capitol, Lamb accused former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of unnamed crimes and repeated President Donald Trump’s false claims about election fraud. “Now I’m limited to what I can do as the sheriff, but if you live in Pinal County, I assure you I can fight for your freedom,” he said before exhorting his followers to “be vigilant” and to “fight for the Constitution, freedom, and the American way of life.” (The video has since been deleted from social media.)
In the past week, it’s become clear that many members of law enforcement from across the country participated in the siege on the Capitol. That includes former and current sheriffs and their deputies. Ex–Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway was at the Trump rally but says he didn’t march to the Capitol. He described the crowd as “a cross between tailgating at a football game and a NASCAR race—families, dogs, children. Everyone being nice. I mean, it was like a family reunion without some of the hatefulness you can find at family reunions. It was a very good crowd.”
At least one current sheriff admits he was at the riot: Sheriff Chris West of Canadian County, Oklahoma, says he marched toward the Capitol building but did not enter. But long before Jan. 6, sheriffs have been helping to lay the groundwork for violence by the far-right movement. As political leaders in their communities, they have been sowing dissent at home, encouraging their own armed militias to prepare themselves to take back the government just as Lamb suggested.
Ninety percent of American sheriffs are white men, and in recent years they’ve become strongly affiliated with white supremacist groups. Across the country, sheriffs have declared that they will not enforce laws they deem “unconstitutional,” like COVID-19 public health orders or gun laws limiting weapons possession and permits. Their influence has only grown since the pandemic began, as mask wearing became affiliated with progressive liberals and a bare face was a sign of Trump support. Trump has always had an affinity with sheriffs. He met with more sheriffs at the White House than any other president and pardoned ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of contempt of court for failing to abide by a nondiscrimination order, calling him an “American patriot.” .............(more)
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/01/constitutional-sheriffs-white-supremacists-capitol-riot-insurrection.html
January 16, 2021
(Salon) The far-right social media platform Parler has shouldered much of the blame for last week's Capitol riot — and may since have been rendered permanently defunct. But watchdog groups say much larger companies like Facebook carry more of the responsibility for the lead-up to the pro-Trump siege.
Amazon Web Services, which hosted Parler, took the platform offline last week after Apple and Google removed it from their app stores, arguing Parler was not doing enough to moderate content that could incite violence. Amazon in court documents detailed extensive violent threats on Parler that the company "systemically failed" to remove. Hacked GPS metadata analyzed by Gizmodo shows that "at least several" Parler users managed to penetrate deep inside the Capitol.
....(snip)....
Parler played a role in the "organizing" of the siege and amplified calls to violence but "it wasn't just Parler, it was social media platforms across the board," Getachew said. Facebook in particular has "done a poor job of consistently enforcing their content moderation policies," he added.
This isn't just a case of "one platform is a bad actor," Getachew said. "All platforms have not done what they need to do to prohibit this type of disinformation and incitement of violence."
....(snip)....
But available data suggests that Facebook played a much larger role than Sandberg suggested. As many as 128,000 people used the #StoptheSteal hashtag promoted by Trump and his allies until Monday, Eric Feinberg, a vice president with the Coalition for a Safer Web, told The Washington Post. At least two dozen Republican officials and organizations in at least a dozen states used the social network to plan bus trips to the rally that preceded the riot, according to a Media Matters analysis. Media Matters also identified at least 70 active Facebook groups related to "Stop the Steal," against which the platform could have acted long before the riot. Days after the siege, Facebook's algorithm was still suggesting events hosted by some of the same groups that organized the Stop the Steal rally. .............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/16/despite-parler-backlash-facebook-played-huge-role-in-fueling-capitol-riot-watchdogs-say/
Despite Parler backlash, Facebook played huge role in fueling Capitol riot, watchdogs say
(Salon) The far-right social media platform Parler has shouldered much of the blame for last week's Capitol riot — and may since have been rendered permanently defunct. But watchdog groups say much larger companies like Facebook carry more of the responsibility for the lead-up to the pro-Trump siege.
Amazon Web Services, which hosted Parler, took the platform offline last week after Apple and Google removed it from their app stores, arguing Parler was not doing enough to moderate content that could incite violence. Amazon in court documents detailed extensive violent threats on Parler that the company "systemically failed" to remove. Hacked GPS metadata analyzed by Gizmodo shows that "at least several" Parler users managed to penetrate deep inside the Capitol.
....(snip)....
Parler played a role in the "organizing" of the siege and amplified calls to violence but "it wasn't just Parler, it was social media platforms across the board," Getachew said. Facebook in particular has "done a poor job of consistently enforcing their content moderation policies," he added.
This isn't just a case of "one platform is a bad actor," Getachew said. "All platforms have not done what they need to do to prohibit this type of disinformation and incitement of violence."
....(snip)....
But available data suggests that Facebook played a much larger role than Sandberg suggested. As many as 128,000 people used the #StoptheSteal hashtag promoted by Trump and his allies until Monday, Eric Feinberg, a vice president with the Coalition for a Safer Web, told The Washington Post. At least two dozen Republican officials and organizations in at least a dozen states used the social network to plan bus trips to the rally that preceded the riot, according to a Media Matters analysis. Media Matters also identified at least 70 active Facebook groups related to "Stop the Steal," against which the platform could have acted long before the riot. Days after the siege, Facebook's algorithm was still suggesting events hosted by some of the same groups that organized the Stop the Steal rally. .............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/16/despite-parler-backlash-facebook-played-huge-role-in-fueling-capitol-riot-watchdogs-say/
January 16, 2021
We are falling on our face because we are jumping high
A dash of perspective in a dark hour
Anand Giridharadas
It’s scary out there right now. It’s going to be scary for some time to come. What has been unleashed, what has been revealed, is ugly. It is what makes democracies die.
In the despair, it is easy to lose perspective. I certainly do all the time. But from time to time, I step back and try to remember where we are as a country on the arc of things.
....(snip)....
And on matters of race and identity, likewise, the Trump era doesn't have the crackle of a launch. It has been a mourning. A mourning for white power. A mourning for a time when simply to be white and show up was enough. A mourning for an era in which simply to be a man, and not necessarily an especially capable one, could get you ahead of other people. A mourning for a time when you could be the default idea of an American and not have to share your toys.
We must understand that what we've been living through is backlash. Backlash. It's not the engine of history. It is the revolt against the engine of history. Then we might remember — just to pat ourselves on the back for a second — that what we are actually endeavoring to do right now is to become a kind of society that has seldom, if ever, existed in history. Which is become a majority-minority, democratic superpower.
....(snip)....
And, therefore, that we are having insurrections on the Mall or four years of an autocratic attempt or racism oozing through the television and social media portals is both terrifying and a completely predictable, inevitable result of people in power exploiting these transitional anxieties for their own pecuniary gain. ..............(more)
https://the.ink/p/hope
We are falling on our face because we are jumping high
We are falling on our face because we are jumping high
A dash of perspective in a dark hour
Anand Giridharadas
It’s scary out there right now. It’s going to be scary for some time to come. What has been unleashed, what has been revealed, is ugly. It is what makes democracies die.
In the despair, it is easy to lose perspective. I certainly do all the time. But from time to time, I step back and try to remember where we are as a country on the arc of things.
....(snip)....
And on matters of race and identity, likewise, the Trump era doesn't have the crackle of a launch. It has been a mourning. A mourning for white power. A mourning for a time when simply to be white and show up was enough. A mourning for an era in which simply to be a man, and not necessarily an especially capable one, could get you ahead of other people. A mourning for a time when you could be the default idea of an American and not have to share your toys.
We must understand that what we've been living through is backlash. Backlash. It's not the engine of history. It is the revolt against the engine of history. Then we might remember — just to pat ourselves on the back for a second — that what we are actually endeavoring to do right now is to become a kind of society that has seldom, if ever, existed in history. Which is become a majority-minority, democratic superpower.
....(snip)....
And, therefore, that we are having insurrections on the Mall or four years of an autocratic attempt or racism oozing through the television and social media portals is both terrifying and a completely predictable, inevitable result of people in power exploiting these transitional anxieties for their own pecuniary gain. ..............(more)
https://the.ink/p/hope
January 16, 2021
We are falling on our face because we are jumping high
A dash of perspective in a dark hour
Anand Giridharadas
It’s scary out there right now. It’s going to be scary for some time to come. What has been unleashed, what has been revealed, is ugly. It is what makes democracies die.
In the despair, it is easy to lose perspective. I certainly do all the time. But from time to time, I step back and try to remember where we are as a country on the arc of things.
And I see then that this is both a very dark time and, potentially, a very bright time. It's important to hold these truths together.
When I look down at the ground of the present right now, I feel depressed. If I lift my head to the horizon, I see a different picture.
This is not the chaos of the beginning of something. This is the chaos of the end of something. ...........(more)
https://the.ink/p/hope
"We are living through a revolt against the future. The future will prevail."
We are falling on our face because we are jumping high
A dash of perspective in a dark hour
Anand Giridharadas
It’s scary out there right now. It’s going to be scary for some time to come. What has been unleashed, what has been revealed, is ugly. It is what makes democracies die.
In the despair, it is easy to lose perspective. I certainly do all the time. But from time to time, I step back and try to remember where we are as a country on the arc of things.
And I see then that this is both a very dark time and, potentially, a very bright time. It's important to hold these truths together.
When I look down at the ground of the present right now, I feel depressed. If I lift my head to the horizon, I see a different picture.
This is not the chaos of the beginning of something. This is the chaos of the end of something. ...........(more)
https://the.ink/p/hope
January 16, 2021
Trump Supporters’ Main Problem Was Never The Economy
The Capitol riot has ended the notion that the president’s hardcore base was motivated by economic anxiety. It has always been about race.
By Emily Peck
(HuffPost) Safe to say, the Donald Trump supporters who ransacked the U.S. Capitol last week weren’t short on cash or propelled by severe economic anxiety.
The insurrectionists came to Washington by plane. They stayed in Airbnbs and at the Embassy Suites. They wore costumes and carried weapons and iPhones. Some were cops. There were doctors, lawyers, a Chicago real estate broker, teachers ― even a school therapist. A CEO.
Sure, some of them could’ve been impoverished former coal miners, as so many pundits have described a certain sect of Trump voters. But these people weren’t raging over the decline of the carbon-based economy. This was a riot about race and power. If there was economic anxiety, it was spurred by the rioters’ false notion that their place in the world is under threat.
We can stop talking about how white Americans voted for Trump because of economic interest. His appeal was never about money. (And Trump is leaving office with the economy in tatters, by the way. On Thursday, 1.15 million more people filed for unemployment.)
....(snip)....
Overwhelmingly they’ve found that Americans who chose Trump were worried about losing their social status, their place in a country where white folks will soon be in the minority and where many women no longer seem to realize that men should be in charge. .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-core-support-never-about-economy_n_6000b785c5b62c0057bb6dfc?
Trump Supporters' Main Problem Was Never The Economy
Trump Supporters’ Main Problem Was Never The Economy
The Capitol riot has ended the notion that the president’s hardcore base was motivated by economic anxiety. It has always been about race.
By Emily Peck
(HuffPost) Safe to say, the Donald Trump supporters who ransacked the U.S. Capitol last week weren’t short on cash or propelled by severe economic anxiety.
The insurrectionists came to Washington by plane. They stayed in Airbnbs and at the Embassy Suites. They wore costumes and carried weapons and iPhones. Some were cops. There were doctors, lawyers, a Chicago real estate broker, teachers ― even a school therapist. A CEO.
Sure, some of them could’ve been impoverished former coal miners, as so many pundits have described a certain sect of Trump voters. But these people weren’t raging over the decline of the carbon-based economy. This was a riot about race and power. If there was economic anxiety, it was spurred by the rioters’ false notion that their place in the world is under threat.
We can stop talking about how white Americans voted for Trump because of economic interest. His appeal was never about money. (And Trump is leaving office with the economy in tatters, by the way. On Thursday, 1.15 million more people filed for unemployment.)
....(snip)....
Overwhelmingly they’ve found that Americans who chose Trump were worried about losing their social status, their place in a country where white folks will soon be in the minority and where many women no longer seem to realize that men should be in charge. .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-core-support-never-about-economy_n_6000b785c5b62c0057bb6dfc?
January 15, 2021
..... seems like the priority is going to be put on passing Biden's relief plan more than pressing forward with the impeachment trial.
Also she tapped Gen. Honore to review the security breakdown.
Listening to Nancy Pelosi's news conference.....
..... seems like the priority is going to be put on passing Biden's relief plan more than pressing forward with the impeachment trial.
Also she tapped Gen. Honore to review the security breakdown.
January 15, 2021
(CNN Business) US retail sales dropped last month, the Commerce Department said Friday, marking the third straight month without any growth.
Retail sales fell 0.7% in December from the month prior. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected sales to be flat. The Commerce Department also revised November's data lower from a 1.1% decline to a 1.4% drop.
America's economic recovery took a hit in the final months of 2020, and the retail sector hasn't been spared. Rising Covid-19 infections and renewed lockdown measures, as well as job losses, have weighed on consumer spending and were a drag on retail sales. The economy shed 140,000 jobs in December, the first decline since April.
The pandemic has forced consumer to shop more online. But not even e-commerce was spared from the December dip, falling 5.8% from the prior month. Compared with the same period a year ago, however, online sales are still up more than 19%. ...............(more)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/economy/december-retail-sales/index.html
Retail sales decline for third straight month
(CNN Business) US retail sales dropped last month, the Commerce Department said Friday, marking the third straight month without any growth.
Retail sales fell 0.7% in December from the month prior. Economists surveyed by Refinitiv expected sales to be flat. The Commerce Department also revised November's data lower from a 1.1% decline to a 1.4% drop.
America's economic recovery took a hit in the final months of 2020, and the retail sector hasn't been spared. Rising Covid-19 infections and renewed lockdown measures, as well as job losses, have weighed on consumer spending and were a drag on retail sales. The economy shed 140,000 jobs in December, the first decline since April.
The pandemic has forced consumer to shop more online. But not even e-commerce was spared from the December dip, falling 5.8% from the prior month. Compared with the same period a year ago, however, online sales are still up more than 19%. ...............(more)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/economy/december-retail-sales/index.html
January 15, 2021
Sacramento GOP leader forced to resign after bragging on video about breaking into Pelosi’s office
A man from Sacramento, California, has resigned his position in the California Republican Assembly (CRA) after he was discovered to have participated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, ABC10 reports.
The CRA confirmed to ABC10 that Jorge Riley was the Corresponding Secretary for the State Board of the California Republican Assembly and President of the Sacramento Chapter. Riley was forced to resign both positions after he posted images and video on his Facebook page showing him taking part in the riot. In one video, Riley can be seen explaining his actions inside the Capitol. .............(more)
https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-2649950825/?
It's safe to say that most of these insurrectionists aren't MENSA members
Sacramento GOP leader forced to resign after bragging on video about breaking into Pelosi’s office
A man from Sacramento, California, has resigned his position in the California Republican Assembly (CRA) after he was discovered to have participated in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, ABC10 reports.
The CRA confirmed to ABC10 that Jorge Riley was the Corresponding Secretary for the State Board of the California Republican Assembly and President of the Sacramento Chapter. Riley was forced to resign both positions after he posted images and video on his Facebook page showing him taking part in the riot. In one video, Riley can be seen explaining his actions inside the Capitol. .............(more)
https://www.rawstory.com/capitol-riot-2649950825/?
January 15, 2021
One big mystery remains unsolved: Why was the Capitol left unguarded?
The Capitol Police have more than 2,000 officers and a $500 million budget. Who prevented them from stopping this?
By DAN FROOMKIN
JANUARY 15, 2021 11:00AM
(Salon) There is so much going on these days. But what I keep coming back to is that if the Capitol Police had been anything close to properly mobilized, none of it would have happened.
There would have been a protest on January 6, not an insurrection. Five people wouldn't be dead. Members of Congress and Capitol staff wouldn't have been terrorized. Donald Trump wouldn't be impeached.
All but for a still inexplicable decision made by who-knows-who.
Because we still don't know how it was allowed to happen.
....(snip)....
Speaks to motive
I have tried to consider the possibility that it was just gross incompetence. But no one could really be that incompetent.
So at this point, in the absence of any other plausible explanations, it is more than reasonable to assume that the people making decisions about Capitol Police deployment that day felt kinship with the Trump mob, and either were too racist to see the threat posed by Trump supporters or looked the other way on purpose. .............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/15/one-big-mystery-remains-unsolved-why-was-the-capitol-left-unguarded/
One big mystery remains unsolved: Why was the Capitol left unguarded?
One big mystery remains unsolved: Why was the Capitol left unguarded?
The Capitol Police have more than 2,000 officers and a $500 million budget. Who prevented them from stopping this?
By DAN FROOMKIN
JANUARY 15, 2021 11:00AM
(Salon) There is so much going on these days. But what I keep coming back to is that if the Capitol Police had been anything close to properly mobilized, none of it would have happened.
There would have been a protest on January 6, not an insurrection. Five people wouldn't be dead. Members of Congress and Capitol staff wouldn't have been terrorized. Donald Trump wouldn't be impeached.
All but for a still inexplicable decision made by who-knows-who.
Because we still don't know how it was allowed to happen.
....(snip)....
Speaks to motive
I have tried to consider the possibility that it was just gross incompetence. But no one could really be that incompetent.
So at this point, in the absence of any other plausible explanations, it is more than reasonable to assume that the people making decisions about Capitol Police deployment that day felt kinship with the Trump mob, and either were too racist to see the threat posed by Trump supporters or looked the other way on purpose. .............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2021/01/15/one-big-mystery-remains-unsolved-why-was-the-capitol-left-unguarded/
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