Category: Uncategorized

A show-stopping takedown of Donald Trump

BREAKING: Democratic star Congressman Jamie Raskin delivers a show-stopping takedown of Donald Trump’s lawless mass pardon of violent January 6th insurrectionists.

This is exactly what all of us are thinking right now…

“The chairman began by saying that the point here is to restore the rule of law… restore the rule of law… Can you even pretend to do that if you stand by and support Donald Trump who on day one — as the chairman of the committee just said — day one of his presidency, pardoned fifteen hundred insurrectionists including hundreds of people who violently assaulted and attacked American police officers?” said Raskin during a hearing of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement.

“Let’s just take one person who is free today, Julian Khater, who had been convicted after having every due process protection, the right to counsel, the right to cross-examine witnesses, the right to introduce evidence, but they had him completely,” said Raskin.

“They knew exactly what happened. Most of this was videotaped so the whole world could see it,” he continued. “Well, Julian Khater repeatedly violently assaulted our officer protecting us in Congress, Officer Brian Sicknick, who then proceeded to have several strokes and died on January the 7th, 2021, the next day.”

“The family of Officer Sicknick is absolutely devastated and demolished by what’s just happened,” Raskin went on. “I invite any of my colleagues, including the members new to this committee who maybe weren’t here on January 6th and didn’t experience the trauma of that violent insurrection when we saw a mob marauding through here yelling ‘Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!’ and looking to assassinate Nancy Pelosi.”

“And now you have the temerity to come forward and say this is about public safety? How much safer are we now with these fifteen hundred criminals at large in Washington D.C. and going out into the country?” asked Raskin.

“Are you vouching that these people are not going to be attacking any other police officers?” he added. “Are you vouching that they’re no longer a threat to public safety? What an outrage! What a scandal!”

The truth is that there is no defending Trump’s pardons on anything other than purely partisan grounds. He released these criminals because they support him. He doesn’t care that they attacked police officers. He doesn’t care that they might do it again. All that matters is that they’re in his MAGA cult.

Goodbye to Free Speech

We are witnessing the end of freedom of speech in America as Trump has made the press bow to his demands.

CNN’s top boss told his show hosts to show some deference to the most powerful person on earth.

The owners of the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post have stopped their editorial boards from endorsing Harris. The Times owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong, has taken on the paper’s liberal philosophy and has added known conservatives to its editorial board.

The absolute dictatorship of the United States is going forward. Donald Trump’s family and friends will soon have absolute control. Sadly, the majority of Americans handed the power to make this a reality.

Fighting Traffic Jams

Starting Sunday, most drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak travel times will be charged a $9 fee.

New York’s congestion pricing program will be similar to tolling systems used in London, Stockholm and Singapore to reduce traffic and climate-warming vehicle emissions and to generate revenue. But New York’s program would be the first of its kind in the United States, and it has been the source of at least 10 legal challenges and subjected to repeated delays, most recently by the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul.

If you have been to any of our largest cities you know that congestion in downtown areas makes driving a nightmare. Downtown Los Angeles traffic is horrifying. Los Angeles freeways provide toll roads to help you avoid the jams.

Metro ExpressLanes are toll roads in Los Angeles County on the I-10 and I-110 freeways. It is a program designed to improve traffic flow and provide enhanced travel options. ExpressLanes provide mobility and offers safe and reliable trip for users. More choices for solo drivers. More rewards for carpoolers. More transit service. 

Tolls on the ExpressLanes will be calculated using Congestion Pricing. Congestion pricing provides an opportunity to sell some of the additional capacity on the ExpressLanes to those willing to pay a toll and maximizes efficiency of the entire freeway. It is designed to keep traffic in the ExpressLanes flowing smoothly, resulting in a more reliable travel time. Tolls on the ExpressLanes are based on real-time traffic conditions and vary according to the level of congestion in the ExpressLanes. The toll is higher when there is more traffic in the ExpressLanes, and lower when traffic is lighter.

Democracy suffers when navigated by a ship of fools

Abridged and edited article by Lloyd Axworthy

Special to The Globe and Mail a Canadian Newspaper

Directed to Canadians but applicable to the United States.

Almost 2,400 years ago, Plato wrote a mocking allegory in his dialogue The Republic, depicting how in democracies, leaders emerge who use the electoral process to amass personal power and proceed to govern autocratically. He likened such leaders to sailors who knew nothing of navigation yet claimed the right to steer the ship, leading to irrational decisions and chaos – a “ship of fools.”

Over the succeeding centuries, Plato’s allegory has been used to highlight the importance of good leadership and the risks of governing with ignorance and malfeasance. It serves as a warning about the perils of populism and demagoguery.

The potential second term of Donald Trump has given new meaning to this metaphor. The crew of miscreants that Mr. Trump is bringing on board the Washington ship of state, coupled with his pronouncements that they are chosen solely because of their loyalty to him and his mission of undermining democratic governance, has renewed questions about how democracies can be transformed into autocracies.

He is not unique. An epidemic of far-right political movements is under way globally, exploiting the civic malaise brought on by the pandemic, surging migration, growing inequality, and inflationary increases to mobilize discontent and translate it into electoral success.

American journalist and historian Anne Applebaum has warned that these autocratic movements have aligned into sophisticated networks that undermine democracy. They share common interests in power and wealth, often supporting each other financially and politically to destabilize democratic societies.

In these turbulent times, we need not a ship of fools but a ship of reason – a vessel steered by leaders who understand navigation, who respect the complexity of democratic governance and who are committed to charting a course through challenging waters with wisdom, transparency and genuine public service.

Our democratic journey requires not blind loyalty or reactionary impulses but thoughtful leadership that can unite rather than divide, that can inspire rather than incite and that can restore faith in our collective ability to navigate toward a more just and hopeful horizon.

Say Hello to Polio

The polio vaccine developed by Dr. Salk and colleagues is licensed in the U.S. Before the polio vaccine, the disease had been a major cause of disability in children. About 16,000 cases of polio (paralytic poliomyelitis) occurred each year in the U.S. in the 20th century compared with none in 2020.

An attorney connected to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, filed a petition on behalf of an activist group asking the Food and Drug Administration to suspend or withdraw approval of a polio vaccine for children.

Senator Elizabeth Warren sounds the alarm about Donald Trump’s idiotic decision to put conspiracy theorist RFK Jr. in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services.

She didn’t pull any punches…

“Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio — that’s what’s on the horizon if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. becomes the Secretary of Health and Human Services,” Warren wrote on X along with a video.

“You know I would laugh if it weren’t so scary,” she said in the clip. “Donald Trump just picked RFK Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. This is a man who wants to stop kids from getting their polio and measles shots.”

“He’s actually welcoming a return to polio a disease we nearly eradicated,” she continued. “But it doesn’t stop there. RFK Jr. also doesn’t believe fluoride should be in your water and that’s what keeps your teeth from rotting.”

“You can’t make this stuff up!” she added.

Affordable Health Care

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in front of a New York City hotel last week is probably guilty.

Mangione’s hatred for the health insurance industry and health care in the United States has brought people cheering him as a folk hero. Singers have posted songs about him. On TikTok, folk singer Joe DeVito posted a song. Merchandise, including sweatshirts, wine tumblers and hats emblazoned with the words, began making their way around online storefronts, though some have since been removed, the Washington Post reported.

For as many jokes internet users cracked casting the suspected shooter as a “folk hero,” others pointed to the systemic wealth inequality governing a society in which UnitedHealthcare reported over $16 billion in operating profits in 2023.

On a personal side my daughter’s healthcare (California Care – part of ACA) has denied coverage repeatedly. The cost of her Dexilant is $500 a month but by accident we learned that she can buy the medication from a Canadian pharmacy for $92 a month. It’s not a generic.

At the very least Luigi Mangione has brought the health care industry to a forefront. Will anything change? Probably not. Making money is more important than affordable health care.