Interesting News, Articles & Stuff

[florduh]

More modern versions of Mickey will remain unaffected by the expiration of the Steamboat Willie copyright

Mickey Mouse will soon belong to you and me — with some caveats

Mickey Mouse is about to belong to you and me. The earliest version of Disney's most famous character will become public domain on Jan. 1, 2024.

apnews.com

Thank god. Now I can finally get this lawn statue I've had my eye on.

 

[Canna Chameleon]

This 'Extremely Rare' Bird Is Half Female, Half Male

The green honeycreeper is only the second of its species ever observed with this condition—and the first recorded in more than 100 years

www.smithsonianmag.com

Imagine that. Wonder who groomed them that way….

 

[florduh]

Trump Doubles Down On Anti-Immigrant ‘Blood’ Slur—Despite Widespread Criticism He’s Quoting Hitler

Trump has increasingly echoed Hitler and other dictators in recent months, despite widespread criticism of his comments.

www.forbes.com

I'm not sure what the worse option is here. That Trump is knowingly quoting Hitler. Or that he aligns with Adolf's worldview so thoroughly that he came to the same word-for-word opinion on immigrants organically.

 

[florduh]

Trump Doubles Down On Anti-Immigrant ‘Blood’ Slur—Despite Widespread Criticism He’s Quoting Hitler

Trump has increasingly echoed Hitler and other dictators in recent months, despite widespread criticism of his comments.

www.forbes.com

I'm not sure what the worse option is here. That Trump is knowingly quoting Hitler. Or that he aligns with Adolf's worldview so thoroughly that he came to the same word-for-word opinion on immigrants organically.

Colorado Supreme Court bars Donald Trump from the state’s ballot in 2024, ruling he’s disqualified by Jan. 6 actions

Donald Trump cannot appear on the state’s primary ballot, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a legal challenge that has gained national notice as the former president seeks the 2024 …

www.denverpost.com

This will be appealed but the Supreme Court has an opportunity to do the funniest thing here.

$750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people

A study by USC and a San Francisco-based nonprofit has found that a $750 monthly stipend improves the lives of homeless people.

www.latimes.com

Every single time they run this experiment, the result is the same. Giving homeless people money with no strings attached leads to less homelessness.

 

[Canna Chameleon]

Well now

Colorado Supreme Court declares Donald Trump is ineligible for the White House

The Colorado Supreme Court is removing former President Donald Trump from the 2024 primary ballot under the Constitution's insurrection clause.

apnews.com

 

[florduh]

Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global in Merger Talks

Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global have held talks about a potential merger of the two media companies, Variety has confirmed.

variety.com

 

[florduh]

Musk and Tesla are battling unions across Scandinavia. What comes next in the labor dispute?

Tesla has found itself locked in an increasingly bitter dispute with union workers in Sweden and neighboring countries.

apnews.com

The Nords have developed clapback video technology. Elon is fucked.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1737833201459179680

Imagine trying to do American style union busting in the region that created this regime:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1708935432548069780

 

[Abele Rizieri Ferrari]

I remember disliking social democracy for its capitalism embracing, concession rich approach to politics. (Plus of course the Rosa Luxemburg betrayal.) That's not that long ago I felt that way actually. Right now however social democracy would be such an improvement.

On the other hand though, the social democratic watering down of their backing of the workers' and peoples' rights is part of the reason far right populism was able become so triumphant. They moved the biggest economically leftist movement way toward the center. And cozied up with the neoliberal trend in stead of opposing it, completely losing touch with the working class.

After neoliberal failure at the cost of the people, the (previously) economic left got the blame, creating an electoral vacuum where far right populism jumped right into. Simply by pointing at "those foreign opportunists".

Anyway, I'm ranting. And you guys in US would have been better of if there was some social democratic history to have at least some basic workers' rights in effect. Still very saddening to have seen the situation in Netherlands deteriorate ever since I started to have some political awareness.

 

[florduh]

And you guys in US would have been better of if there was some social democratic history to have at least some basic workers' rights in effect.

This might be too simplistic. But I tend to think social democracy took off in Western Europe because of how close it was to the Soviet Union.

There was a real threat of revolution in Europe. Millions of men just experienced the worst violence humanity is capable of in WWII. And they could look just east of the Iron Curtain, where people were getting very affordable housing, free healthcare, free education. So to avoid a communist uprising, European governments needed to provide some amenities for their citizens.

This is the same reason the New Deal happened in America. People like FDR believed we were under imminent threat of a socialist revolt. So he instituted mild social democratic reforms (for white people). To save capitalism from itself.

The clip I posted was from a documentary about Olof Palme, the social democrat Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1986. It's on YouTube with English subtitles.

 

[cybrguy]

Texas governor flies about 100 asylum seekers to Chicago on private plane after crackdown on "rogue" buses

The flight came after the city approved tougher penalties for bus operators who violate Chicago's rules for notifying the city about migrant arrivals, or not dropping off asylum seekers in designated areas.

www.cbsnews.com

So what's to prevent the city of Chicago impounding these airplanes that are leased to carry migrants to Chicago? I can imagine the leasing companies will stop this behavior very quickly as they will lose millions of dollars in no time if their planes are no longer available to lease...

If they are privately owned aircraft, that is even better. The city can just keep them...

 

[florduh]

Texas governor flies about 100 asylum seekers to Chicago on private plane after crackdown on "rogue" buses

The flight came after the city approved tougher penalties for bus operators who violate Chicago's rules for notifying the city about migrant arrivals, or not dropping off asylum seekers in designated areas.

www.cbsnews.com

So what's to prevent the city of Chicago impounding these airplanes that are leased to carry migrants to Chicago? I can imagine the leasing companies will stop this behavior very quickly as they will lose millions of dollars in no time if their planes are no longer available to lease...

If they are privately owned aircraft, that is even better. The city can just keep them...

I love that we're using people fleeing countries that have been destroyed by America over the past 40-50 years as political pawns. We're such a delightful, Christian Nation.

One of Abbott's Zoomer aides needs to take one for the team and give everyone a nice little Christmas present.

But to answer your question. The CPD could do asset forfeiture on the private jets. They're being used in commission of a crime. But those pigs all agree with what Abbott is doing, so they won't.

Trump Vows to Amp Up the Hitler Talk

Donald Trump plans to keep saying immigrants "poison the blood" of the U.S., and even that he's "too nice" to them, sources tell Rolling Stone.

www.rollingstone.com

“He wants the media to choke on his words,” one of these sources says. “The [former] president said he’s going to keep doing it, he’s going to keep saying they’re poisoning the blood of the nation and destroying and killing the country … He says it’s a ‘great line.’” (Trump has been publicly using this specific phrase since at least September.)

Cool, normal country

 

[cybrguy]

But those pigs all agree with what Abbott is doing, so they won't.

Just watch. This is Chicago, not Dallas. Not only is Chicago a sanctuary city, but we have a governor who gets it. We'll see how this goes, but I'm really hoping Chicago will be really aggressive about this.

 

[florduh]

Being a fucking born scam artist really runs in this family, huh?

It really does run in the family. The only self made Trump was Fred. He's got an interesting story.

Fred Trump - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Fred was doing shady real estate deals when he was a teenager. Because he got the equivalent of a $14,000 loan from his mother. So...not exactly self made. I grew up better than most. And my parents could not afford to give me $14k to start a business when I was a teenager.

But. The reason Fred got rich wasn't because of a sugar momma. But a sugar daddy. Specifically: Uncle Sam. Or...FDR. In the 30's and 40's the government paid him to build houses. I dunno. Sounds kind of socialist to me

The big money maker wasn't even the New Deal cash. It was WWII. Which later became a scandal.

In early 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and other federal leaders began denouncing real-estate profiteers. That June, The New York Times included Trump on a list of 35 city builders accused of profiteering from government contracts.[66] He and others were investigated by a U.S. Senate banking committee for windfall gains. Trump and his partner William Tomasello[k] were cited as examples of how profits were made by builders using the FHA.[72]

I like that the guy who loves bitching about SOCIALISM only became President because his daddy happened to come of age at the only time in history we had a modestly "socialist" President.

Trump is an excellent marketer. Most scam artists are. I think without a rich daddy, he'd be a moderately successful used car salesman in New Jersey (if he wasn't in prison). But he'd never be a famous game show host or a President. That only happened because FDR was the President when his daddy was a young man.

 

[macbill]

Meet the PHOLED That Is Transforming Displays

Blue phosphorescent materials fix OLED display weaknesses

spectrum.ieee.org

 

[florduh]

NYPD overtime pay in the subway went from $4 million to $155 million this year

Subway crime is down slightly. Fare evasion tickets and arrests are way up.

t.co

The people behind "we need to run the government like a BUSINESS!" present: shutting down libraries and other public services so we can give cops who don't live in the city $155 million in overtime pay to recover... nearly $4,000 in stolen subway fares!

Whatever happened to "if you got time to lean, you got time to clean"? Grab a broom or something, fellas. Nobody wants to work anymore!

 

[macbill]

Twitter violated contract by failing to pay millions in bonuses, US judge rules​

Twitter violated contracts by failing to pay millions of dollars in bonuses that the social media company, now called X Corp, had promised its employees, a federal judge ruled on Friday.

 

[Canna Chameleon]

Propeller

propeller.la

 

[CANtalk]

Share here as well

NASA's Detonation Engine Revs Up for 4 Minutes in Breakthrough Test​

NASA's Detonation Engine Revs Up for 4 Minutes in Breakthrough Test

The new propulsion system is powered by supersonic technology and can be used for spacecraft journeying from the Moon to Mars.

gizmodo.com

 

[cybrguy]

This made me cry. Merry Christmas...

UNITED24Media 🇺🇦 Telegram

"Merry Christmas and the war is not over." Merry Christmas from the defenders and UNITED24. #Ukraine #UAarmy #defenders #Ukrainians #Christmas #MerryChristmas #video #war #United24 #United24Media #world #song

post.news

 

[cybrguy]

Merry fucking Christmas, North Dakota Republicans.

Post Article

Like a pack of Scrooges, straight out of “A Christmas Carol.”

post.news

 

[florduh]

Merry fucking Christmas, North Dakota Republicans.

Post Article

Like a pack of Scrooges, straight out of “A Christmas Carol.”

post.news

This isn't even new. I remember when I was in grade school in the 90's. My dad would bitch about "free school lunches". He'd say "if the parents don't send their kids to school with lunch, the cops should put them in prison for child neglect!"

Even as a little kid I remember thinking "ok...but the kids still gonna need the free lunches, right? You know, cuz their parents are in jail now?"

He still says the same shit like 30 years later. Now, I point out the exact thoughts I had as a child. And also...that growing up without your parents is a great way to recreate the cycle of poverty. When dad hears this you can see this happening:

Then he usually moves on to Hunter's laptop or something.

Also....we're talking about public schools. The teachers are "free" too. Seems weird to draw the line at lunch. And having students who can pay attention in class because they aren't starving is a good thing for the country. "A rising tide" and all that.

 

[cybrguy]

Post Article

Thx @mjs_DC Just when you think the #SupremeCourtStench could not stink any higher? Traitors Ginni & Clarence Thomas prove us wrong #ImpeachClarenceThoimas #IndictGinniThomas

post.news

 

[cybrguy]

This is a long article, but very worth the read. Personally, I think Fiona Hill is an American hero, besides being brilliant and incredibly knowledgeable about the world stage, especially Russia.

‘We’ll Be at Each Others’ Throats’: Fiona Hill on What Happens If Putin Wins

The veteran Russia watcher is deeply alarmed as Washington reaches an inflection point on the war in Ukraine.

www.politico.com

 

[florduh]

This is a long article, but very worth the read. Personally, I think Fiona Hill is an American hero, besides being brilliant and incredibly knowledgeable about the world stage, especially Russia.

‘We’ll Be at Each Others’ Throats’: Fiona Hill on What Happens If Putin Wins

The veteran Russia watcher is deeply alarmed as Washington reaches an inflection point on the war in Ukraine.

www.politico.com

I had to lol at this part:

Oh good. The money is going to buying the major shareholders of America's death-merchant corpos new yachts!

By all means. Fund the defense of Ukraine. But we need a better strategy than keeping the fight going until the last Ukrainian dies. Every war ends with some sort of treaty. It's not going to end with Zelinsky marching into Moscow and putting Putin's head on a pike. This isn't a movie. We need to be pushing for a peace settlement both sides can live with.

Also while we're investing in the Raytheon Executive Yacht Fund, maybe we can spend some money to help these folks out too:

 

[cybrguy]

We need to be pushing for a peace settlement both sides can live with.

There isn't and won't be any peace settlement that both sides can live with. If it doesn't end with Russia losing the war and returning all of Ukraine's territory to Ukraine then Russia wins and Russia cannot win. If Russia wins, Moldova or Latvia or Poland will be next...