Occupy Banksters & Crony Capitalism & GREED

Trump Bibles make a mockery of Christianity — and that's exactly why MAGA will eat them up
Salon | Amanda Marcotte | 03/28/24

Earlier this week, Donald Trump unveiled his newest grift to squeeze money out of his cult followers: Trump-branded Bibles. Claiming the book contains the "King James version" and "also includes the Founding Father [sic] documents," Trump promised "you have to have it for your heart, for your soul." The screenshots of the video are funny by themselves, but I highly recommend watching the ad Trump cut for these Bibles. Trump radiates total contempt for Christianity.

This is Trump in his angry-bored mode, letting viewers know with his listless tone and posture that he thinks all this Bible stuff is dumb. The not-at-all subtle message of the video is that Trump doesn't believe any of this faith-in-God crap, but he definitely believes in using Christian identity as a weapon to make money and dominate his foes.

Many Trump opponents on social media replied with video clips underscoring how Trump may be the single most ignorant person in the country about the contents of the Bible. ... Read more

Since Trump is now selling Bibles, here is a montage of clips of Trump giving us his vast and extensive knowledge of the Bible.

Americans continue to lose their religion as GOP pushes it
Axios | Russell Contreras | 03/29/24

Americans increasingly are calling themselves "unaffiliated" with any religion - or rejecting religion altogether - at a time when influential Republicans are leaning into Christian nationalism to shape public policies, a new survey finds.

Why it matters: The survey found that 26% of Americans now consider themselves unaffiliated with a religion. That's up 5 percentage points from 2013, and reflects a widening gap between how citizens and lawmakers see religion's role in society.

The GOP is dominated by white evangelicals who have successfully pushed to limit abortion, ban books and restrict some LGBTQ+ rights. But the general public - especially younger Americans - is rapidly moving away from religions that endorse such policies.

Just a slim majority of Americans (53%) now say that religion is important in their lives, down from 72% in 2013, the survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute says. ... Read more

The Biggest Economic Lies We're Told | Robert Reich | 02/21/23 | 7:30

Trump's Bibles and the evolution of his messianic message
Axios | Zachary Basu | 03/28/24

Few politicians have commanded the loyalty of the religious right like former President Trump, whose decision to begin selling $60 Bibles for Holy Week has outraged his critics - but drawn little reaction from evangelical leaders.

Why it matters: Trump has developed a sense of impunity when it comes to religious messaging, forged through a grand compromise with Christian conservatives who see him as a flawed - but effective - champion of their movement.

Hawking Bibles is just the latest example. ... Read more

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Jordan Klepper On How We Should Deal with Jan 6th Rioters | The Daily Show | 03/27/23 | 9:23

Trump's Low-Quality USA Bibles | Ronna McDaniel Is Terrible | RNC's Big Lie Litmus Test | The Late Show | 03/27/23 | 11:11

Extreme heat summit to urge leaders to act on threat from rising temperatures
TheGuardian | Jonathan Watts | 03/27/24

Two of the world's biggest aid agencies will host an inaugural global summit on extreme heat on Thursday as directors warn that the climate crisis is dramatically increasing the probability of a mass-fatality heat disaster.

The conference will highlight some of the pioneering work being done, from tree-planting projects to the development of reflective roof coverings that reduce indoor temperatures.

After last year's record-shattering temperatures, when 3.8 billion people - half the world's population - sweltered in extreme heat for at least one day, the organisers hope the event will prompt governments to prepare for a "silent killer" that rarely gets the attention it deserves when compared with hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes. ... Read more

Jordan Klepper on Trump's Bible Grift and GOP Reaction to Baltimore Bridge Collapse | The Daily Show | 03/26/24 | 10:48

Student Loans: Last Week Tonight | John Oliver | 03/21/24 | 30:01

Truth Social faces harsh reality as a public company
Axios | Sara Fischer | 03/27/24

Truth Social - the Trump-owned social media platform that started trading yesterday - currently has far fewer users and less income than any social network that has gone public before.

Why it matters: While the app does sell some ads, its business is practically non-existent.

Truth Social earned $3.4 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2023 and it lost around $49 million.

By comparison, Facebook (now Meta) earned $3.71 billion in revenue the year before it went public and was profitable. ... Read more

In photos: Baltimore bridge collapses after cargo ship collision
Axios | Ivana Saric | 03/26/24

First responders are combing the water for survivors after a container ship collision caused a major bridge in Baltimore to collapse Tuesday morning.

The big picture: Several vehicles were on the Francis Scott Key bridge when it was struck at about 1:30 am ET. Search and rescue efforts are currently underway for "upwards of seven people," Baltimore fire chief James Wallace told reporters. ... Read more

"MAN-MADE HELL ON EARTH": A CANADIAN DOCTOR ON HIS MEDICAL MISSION TO GAZA
The Intercept | Jeremy Scahil | 03/23/24

"I saw scenes that were horrific and I never want to see again," said Yasser Khan, a surgeon from Toronto.

THROUGHOUT THE PAST five and a half months, Israel has waged a full-spectrum war against the civilian population of the Gaza Strip. The United States and other Western nations have supplied not only the weapons for this war of annihilation against the Palestinians, but also key political and diplomatic support.

The results of the actions of this coalition of the killing have been devastating. Conservative estimates hold that more than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 13,000 children. More than 8,000 people remain missing, many of them believed to have died in the rubble of buildings destroyed in Israeli attacks. Famine conditions are now present in large swaths of the Gaza Strip. The fact that the International Court of Justice has found grounds to investigate Israel for plausible acts of genocide in Gaza has not deterred the U.S. and its allies from continuing to facilitate Israel's war. ... Read more

Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: March 25 | MSNBC | 03/26/24 | 20:30

With TikTok creator program, AI-sped misinformation pays
Axios | Megan Morrone | 03/26/24

TikTok's cash-for-creators program could speed the spread of spammy misinformation on the platform as video makers lean on AI to hook viewers with outlandish images, conspiracy theories and hokum.

Why it matters: The crazier the video, the higher the engagement - and now, more engagement directly translates to more dollars. ... Read more

UN Security Council passes Gaza ceasefire resolution, U.S. doesn't veto
Axios | Barak Ravid | 03/25/24

The UN Security Council passed on Monday morning a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the month of Ramadan and calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Why it matters: This is the first resolution demanding a ceasefire to pass at the council after four previous failures. The U.S. abstained rather than using its veto. All other members voted in favor.

Between the lines: The most recent failure was on Friday, when China and Russia vetoed a U.S. proposal. The dispute was over the U.S. insistence on linking the ceasefire call to a hostage deal and condemnation of Hamas.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit by his senior advisers to the White House later this week to protest the U.S. decision not to block the resolution, which he claimed did not condition the ceasefire call on the release of hostages. ... Read more

Putin blames radical Islamists for Moscow concert hall attack but claims it is part of Ukraine's attacks on Russia
TheGuardian | Gloria Oladipo | 03/25/24

Putin added that the Moscow concert hall attack fits into a larger trend of intimidation from Ukraine, Reuters reported.

Here are more of Putin's remarks: This atrocity may be just a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been at war with our country since 2014 by the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime ... ... Read more

Trump arrives for key hearing in New York hush money case
Axios | Erin Doherty | 03/25/24

Former President Trump arrived Monday at a Manhattan courthouse for a key hearing in his New York hush money case.

Why it matters: Judge Juan Merchan may determine whether to keep April 15 as the trial's tentative start date or push the proceeding back further. It's expected to be the first of Trump's four criminal cases to go to trial.

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree in the case, which stems from a 2016 payment he allegedly made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. ... Read more

Screens are poisoning kids' minds
Axios | Erica Pandey | 03/22/24

This is the indisputable and alarming trend among American children, based on the latest polling and deep research by an NYU professor in a book out next week.

The big picture: The pandemic is often cited as a driver of the teen mental health crisis, but it was brewing long before then. A growing body of research links the acceleration of the crisis to one of this century's biggest events: the arrival of the smartphone.

Rates of depression and anxiety among U.S. adolescents were "fairly stable in the 2000s" but "rose by more than 50% in many studies from 2010 to 2019," Haidt writes in The Atlantic.

The suicide rate for kids between the ages of 10 and 14 tripled between 2007 and 2021, according to the CDC.

The share of U.S. high school girls who seriously considered attempting suicide jumped from 19% in 2011 to 30% in 2021, per the CDC. The share of boys who considered suicide rose from 13% to 14%. ... Read more

The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt, Sean Pratt

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on most measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the "play-based childhood" began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the "phone-based childhood" in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this "great rewiring of childhood" has interfered with children's social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Trump world allies sentenced to prison
Axios | Ivana Saric | 03/22/24

Even as former President Trump wades through a complex web of legal woes to avoid prison, some of his allies and associates are already facing that fate.

The big picture: A striking number of people closely associated with the former president have been sentenced to prison for an array of crimes that include contempt of Congress and campaign finance violations.

The latest: Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to perjury charges earlier this month, becoming the latest member of the Trump world to face legal consequences. ... Read more

Blinken: U.S. submitted draft resolution to UN calling for Gaza ceasefire
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 03/21/24

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday the U.S. has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that calls "for an immediate ceasefire" in Gaza that's "tied to the release" of hostages held by Hamas.

Why it matters: Both Israel and Hamas are facing pressure to reach a deal to free the hostages and start a truce in Gaza, where over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, per Axios' Barak Ravid, who noted this week that the first detailed negotiations in months were underway.

Now Blinken has said in an interview with Al-Hadath in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that an agreement was "getting closer" and "the gaps are narrowing," according to a transcript released by the State Department Wednesday. "I think an agreement is very much possible," he added.

The big picture: Blinken said during the interview that the Biden administration was "pressing for an immediate ceasefire" tied to freeing the hostages. ... Read more

Fossil fuel firms could be tried in US for homicide over climate-related deaths, experts say
The Guardian | author | date

Each year, extreme temperatures take 5 million lives, while 400,000 people die from climate-related hunger and disease and scores perish in floods and wildfires.

Now, researchers are promoting a new legal theory that says fossil fuel companies - which, data show, are the leading contributors to planet-heating pollution - could be tried for homicide for climate-related deaths.

The radical idea, first proposed last year by consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen, may sound far-fetched, but it's gaining interest from experts and public officials. ... Read more

Carbon-Majors-Report-2017.pdf

Groundbreaking 'Carbon Majors' research finds 100 active fossil fuel producers including ExxonMobil, Shell, BHP Billiton and Gazprom are linked to 71% of industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.

1. Carbon Majors Database is the most comprehensive dataset of historic company greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ever compiled;
2. 100 active fossil fuel producers are linked to 71% of global industrial greenhouse gases (GHGs) since 1988, the year in which human-induced climate change was officially recognized through the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC);
3. Almost a third (32%) of historic emissions come from publicly listed investor-owned companies, 59% from state-owned companies, and 9% from private investment;
4. Over half of global industrial emissions since 1988 can be traced to just 25 corporate and state producers;
5. Fossil fuel companies and their products have released more emissions in the last 28 years than in the 237 years prior to 1988;
6. Over half (52%) of all global industrial GHGs emitted since the start of the industrial revolution in 1751, have been traced to these 100 fossil fuel producers;
7. Low carbon tipping point in reach if investors and carbon majors take urgent climate action.

Top U.S. & World Headlines - March 21, 2024 | 03/21/24 | 11:52

"Humanitarian Violence" in Gaza: Architect Eyal Weizman on Mapping Israel's "Genocidal Campaign" | DM | 03/21/24 | 25:14

How Trump is Following Hitler's Playbook | Robert Reich | 03/19/24 | 5:48

MUST-SEE: Jamie Raskin drops BOMB on Republicans | btc | 03/21/24 | 8:04

Jim Jordan stumbles into BRUTAL trap at public hearing | btc | 03/21/24 | 8:05

How DOJ paved the way for the NAR (National Association of Realtors) home-selling settlement
Axios | Emily Peck | 03/21/24

For decades, the Department of Justice pushed for more competition in the real estate market - now the agency might be getting its way.

Why it matters: Pressure from the DOJ's antitrust division likely played a role in getting to the game-changing class action settlement announced by the National Association of Realtors last Friday.

Between the lines: "We've been in their crosshairs for as long as I've been involved at the National Association of Realtors," NAR president Kevin Sears, a licensed Realtor for 20+ years, told hundreds in the industry at a conference in February. ... Read more

There's a big wealth gap between union and nonunion workers
Axios | Emily Peck | 03/20/24

There's a massive wealth gap between workers in unions and nonunionized workers, across education levels, finds a new analysis from the liberal think tank Center for American Progress shared first with Axios.

Why it matters: Typically, unionized workers earn about 10%-20% more than their nonunion peers, but these wealth gaps are far wider, an indication that the benefits of union membership accrue to workers over time.

The big picture: College is still one of the best paths to accumulating wealth, this and other data show. But CAP's numbers point to an alternative for those who might not want to spend the time or money on a college education: union membership. ... Read more

Factchecking Trump's 'bloodbath' speech and his mounting legal fees | Planet America | 03/20/24 | 29:50

The U.S. crime rate is still dropping, FBI data shows
NBC/Apple News | Ken Dilanian | 03/19/24

Why does the public think it's going up? "There is definitely more disorder in cities than there was five years ago," said one expert. "People confuse disorder and crime."

New FBI data confirms previous indications that crime in the U.S. declined significantly in 2023, continuing a post-pandemic trend and belying widespread perceptions that crime is rising.

The new fourth-quarter numbers showed a 13% decline in murder in 2023 from 2022, a 6% decline in reported violent crime and a 4% decline in reported property crime. That’s based on data from around 13,000 law enforcement agencies, policing about 82% of the U.S. population, that provided the FBI with data through December.

"It suggests that when we get the final data in October, we will have seen likely the largest one-year decline in murder that has ever been recorded,"" said Jeff Asher, a former CIA analyst who now studies crime trends. ... Read more: Ken Dilanian | NBC NEWS | 03/19/24

Elon Musk's MAGA alliance
Axios | Zachary Basu | 03/19/24

In public and in private, Elon Musk is increasingly treating the prospect of President Biden's re-election as an urgent - even existential - threat to America.

Why it matters: Musk hasn't endorsed former President Trump. But the billionaire X owner has made no secret of his disdain for Biden's policies, leveraging his massive online platform to denigrate Democrats and promote Trump's messaging on the 2024 election's top issues.

Musk's remarkable political evolution had begun at least by 2022, when the Tesla CEO revealed he had voted Republican for the first time. ... Read more

Watch Rachel Maddow Highlights: March 18 | MSNBC | 03/18/24 | 20:23

Pandemic pact crunch time
Axios | Alison Snyder | 03/18/24

An international draft treaty aimed at bolstering readiness for the next pandemic enters a final round of scheduled negotiations Monday, with key disagreements remaining about how much knowledge and product drugmakers must share with the world.

Why it matters: COVID-19 laid bare global health inequities - and exacerbated them, as low- and middle-income countries received vaccines far later than other countries despite global sharing efforts hatched during the crisis.

That led to hundreds of thousands of deaths that could have been averted, and the inequity reverberated around the hyperconnected planet as variants arose and spread through an uneven patchwork of vaccine access.

An estimated one-quarter of the world's population still hasn't received a single dose of COVID vaccine. ... Read more

Georgia case against Trump can continue if DA or special prosecutor leave: judge
Axios | April Rubin,Jacob Knutson | 03/15/24

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office can remain on Georgia's 2020 election interference case against former President Trump if the special prosecutor Willis hired steps aside, a judge ruled on Friday.

Why it matters: The ruling allows the case to conditionally go forward and is a win for Willis, who defense lawyers accused of improperly benefiting from her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade.

Judge Scott McAfee said he found the "appearance of impropriety" but ruled that the relationship brought no actual conflict on interest and denied the defendants' claims and requests. ... Read more

Five Biggest Border Lies Debunked | Robert Reich | 02/18/24 | 3:05

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins | Book Summary | Bestbookbits | 11/18/21 | 29:21

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (3rd Edition) by John Perkins

How do we stop the unrelenting evolution of the economic hit man strategy and China's takeover?

The riveting third edition of this New York Times bestseller blows the whistle on China's economic hit man (EHM) strategy, exposes corruption on an international scale, and offers much-needed solutions for curing the degenerative Death Economy. In this shocking expose, former EHM John Perkins gives an insider view into the corrupt system that cheats and strong-arms countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars and ultimately causes staggering income inequality and ecological devastation.

EHMs are highly paid professionals who use development loans to saddle countries with huge debts and force them to serve US interests. Now, a new EHM wave is infecting the world, and at the peak of the devastation sits China, a newly dominant economic power, with its own insidious version of the US EHM blueprint. Twelve explosive new chapters detail the allure, exploitation, and wreckage of China's EHM strategy in Latin America, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

If allowed to continue its rampage, the EHM strategy-whether executed by the United States or China-will destroy life as we know it. However, all is not lost. Perkins offers a plan for transforming this system that places profits above all into a Life Economy that restores the earth. He inspires listeners to take actions toward a new era of global cooperation that will end the United States's and China's EHM strategies for good.

SpaceX's Starship set for third and most ambitious test flight
Axios | Jacob Knutson | 03/14/24

SpaceX is scheduled to test fly its massive Starship spacecraft for a third time on Thursday, hoping to demonstrate technologies critical for any future manned missions to the moon or beyond.

Why it matters: The rocket, which is essential for NASA's Artemis program, is the largest ever built but has yet to complete a full test flight and has reached space only once.

The Starship's second test flight last year ended abruptly without meeting the stated goals for the test.

The vehicle's huge lower-stage booster exploded after a successful separation from the upper-stage spacecraft portion. The upper stage then exploded after reaching an altitude of about 90 miles.

The first test flight earlier in 2023 ended with another explosion, though that was after the rocket punched a crater through the launchpad and spread debris for miles around the launch site.

Such spectacular blunders have been a part of the company's hardware engineering philosophy: move fast, embrace failures and learn from them. ... Read more

The third flight test of Starship is targeted to launch Thursday, March 14. The 110-minute test window opens at 7:00 a.m. CT. | SpaceX | 03/14/24 | 1:43:59/video

Trump arrives for high-stakes court hearing in classified documents case
Axios | Erin Doherty | 03/14/24

Former President Trump arrived Thursday at a Fort Pierce, Fla. courthouse, where his legal team will argue for the dismissal of his classified documents case, multiple outlets reported.

Why it matters: The hearing has huge stakes for the former president and likely GOP presidential nominee. A dismissal of some or all of his charges would be a win for Trump in one of his four criminal trials.

Trump faces 40 counts in the federal case, including charges of willful retention of national defense information and making false statements and representations.

“Trump's team in a filing last month argued that he had "virtually unreviewable" executive authority to designate presidential documents as personal under the law. ... Read more

NASA's pricey mission to send U.S. back to moon faces technical challenges | 60 Minutes | 03/05/24 | 13:22

Democrats' big vulnerability: Why they're losing Black, Hispanic voters
Axios | Russell Contreras | 03/13/24

New data shows that Democrats' longtime advantage with Black, Latino and Asian American voters has shrunk to its lowest point in more than 60 years - creating a massive vulnerability for President Biden and congressional Democrats.

Why it matters: One of the most loyal parts of the Democratic coalition is suddenly in danger. Black and Hispanic men could vote Republican in numbers not seen since President Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected in the 1950s.

The big picture: Latinos, the nation's largest non-white group, still lean Democratic. But they've been shifting Republican over the last two decades, and are no longer the slam-dunk Democrats they were in 1960 when JFK ran for president.

By the numbers: Democrats' advantage among Black, Latino and Asian voters is at its lowest since 1960, Financial Times columnist and chief data reporter John Burn-Murdoch found by analyzing a massive set of polling data. ... Read more

ISRAEL'S USE OF MASS STARVATION AS A WEAPON OF WAR
TheIntercept | staff | 03/13/24

AFTER SIX MONTHS of a sustained U.S.-backed Israeli war of annihilation against the Palestinians of Gaza, President Joe Biden says he now has a "red line." Asked about Israel's threatened full-scale invasion of Rafah, Biden said, "You can't have another 30,000 Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after [Hamas]," Biden told MSNBC. "There are other ways to deal with Hamas."

The White House has taken no action to halt the transfer of arms and other support to Israel's war and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly said that he, not Biden, will decide whether to occupy Gaza. As the Ramadan holiday begins, the humanitarian reality of the people in Gaza has descended into horror. Israel's deliberate starvation campaign is intensifying the already indescribable suffering wrought by constant bombing and ground operations. The decimation of the health infrastructure and the attacks against hospitals have resulted in the collapse of basic health services. ... Read more

RNC's new Trump-backed team orders mass layoffs
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 03/12/24

Trump allies welcomed reports that the Republican National Committee's new leadership team began firing dozens of staff on Monday.

Why it matters: Reports of plans to purge some 60 staffers come days after likely Republican 2024 presidential nominee former President Trump's allies were installed in key committee leadership roles.

The RNC voted for the Trump-backed Michael Whatley to become chair and the former president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump to be co-chair on Friday, some eight months before the 2024 election. ... Read more

Trump pledges to free Jan. 6 rioters in early act as president if elected
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 03/12/24

Former President Trump vowed Monday to "free" Jan. 6 rioters as one of his first acts if he's elected for a second term in November.

Why it matters: Trump's comments on his Truth Social platform appear to mark the first time the likely Republican presidential nominee has indicated that releasing those imprisoned over the U.S. Capitol riot would be an early priority of his presidency.

What he's saying: "My first acts as your next President will be to Close the Border, DRILL, BABY, DRILL, and Free the January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned!" Trump wrote on Monday evening, in reference to the prisoners.

By the numbers: "In the 38 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 1,358 individuals have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol," per the latest Justice Department statement. ... Read more

Klepper Presses Haley Supporters: Biden or Trump in 2024? | The Daily Show | 03/05/24 | 5:37

Jon Stewart Calls BS on Trump & the GOP's Performative Patriotism | The Daily Show | 03/11/24 | 14:45

Mocking Biden's Stutter | Trump Loves Hitler, Admires Dictators | The Late Show | 03/11/24 | 12:45

Top U.S. & World Headlines - March 12, 2024 | 03/12/24 | 12:14

Aid Workers Say Israel Must End Attack on Gaza, Open Aid Routes | DN | 03/12/24 | 18:00

Donald Trump and Viktor Orbán: The American right's most disturbing global alliance grows desperate
Salon | HEATHER DIGBY PARTON | 03/12/24

I've been following Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's increasing influence on the American far right for some time as he hosted the likes of former Fox News celebrity Tucker Carlson and held a CPAC meeting in Budapest. (They're doing it again in April with Orbán once again doing the hosting duties.) He was the darling of a certain faction of the conservative coalition even before Donald Trump won and whose election in 2016 super-charged the "illiberal democracy" ideology here in the U.S. which we now know as MAGA. He likewise hopes to consolidate the European far-right into a MAGA-style movement throughout the continent.

Orbán's CPAC appearance got a thunderous ovation last year and just last week he came to meet with members of the Heritage Foundation which is busily putting together "Project 2025" for the second Trump term. One imagines he had quite a few tips for them. He wrote the book on how to turn a modern country into a repressive autocracy without becoming a full-fledged police state.

Trump himself doesn't seem completely sold on that idea since he's pushing for mass round-ups and deportations of non-citizens by National Guard troops and a total lockdown of the country to keep foreigners who "don't like our religion" (or Israel) out of the country. And he's promised to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections" which leans more in the direction of Putin's Russia or Pinochet's Chile. But Orbán's ideas about how to make the government bureaucracy into a patronage operation, gerrymander the legislature in ways that pretty much strangle real democracy while turning the independent media and academia into impotent irrelevancies are being observed very carefully by the Trump 2.0 planners and they will be implemented if they gain power. (It's also the case that Orbán demonized migrants as a political strategy and even built a fence to keep them out, so they do have that in common as well.)

After the Heritage meeting, Orban made the pilgrimage down to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump. (Notably, he wasn't invited, nor did he ask, to meet with the actual president of the United States.) Trump was very impressed with his guest. He apparently feted him at the usual party that takes place every night at this social club and introduced him to the crowd of paying guests saying, "He's a non-controversial figure because he says this is the way it's going to be, and that's the end of it. Right? He's the boss." ... Read more

Health care providers losing up to $1B a day from cyberattack
Axios | Tina Reed | 03/11/24

Disruptions from the Change Healthcare cyberattack are costing health providers as much as $1 billion a day and creating enough of a drag to depress first-quarter earnings, analysts and industry officials say.

Why it matters: Even though Change's parent, UnitedHealth Group, has a timeline for restoring the third-party payment systems that roughly half of U.S. health care relies on, it's not as simple as throwing a switch.

What they're saying: "I know some systems that bill $40 or $50 million a day. They're up to about $800 million so far," Chip Kahn, CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, told Axios about lost cash flow.

The big picture: Providers that use Change systems have seen portions — and in some cases nearly all — of their revenue vanish since systems for filing claims or having them paid went offline Feb. 21. ... Read more

Biden sends his $7.3 trillion budget to Congress
Axios | Hans Nichols | 03/11/24

President Biden is proposing a $7.3 trillion FY 2025 budget that would offset spending on his key domestic priorities - including tax credits for families and new money for housing - by increasing taxes on corporations and the rich.

Why it matters: Biden is using his budget to fill out the fine print of the campaign promises he has been making for months, and to press Congress to provide funding for Ukraine, Israel and border security.

"My Budget also makes key investments in childcare and education, so every child in America can have the strong start they need to thrive," Biden said in a statement. ... Read more

Biden vs. Trump: Whose Economic Plan Is Better for You? | Robert Reich | 02/11/24 | 4:09

Uvalde shooting: New report clears officers of blame to dismay of families
Axios | Sareen Habeshian | 03/08/24

An independent report released Thursday did not assign blame to local law enforcement officers and defended their actions in response to the May 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The big picture: The findings are somewhat contrary to other reports, including one from the Department of Justice earlier this year that heavily criticized law enforcement's response, explicitly calling it a "failure." ... Read more

7 highlights from Biden's 2024 State of the Union address | CBS News | 03/08/24 | 25:20

State of the Union address 2024: Full Biden speech | AP | 03/07/24 | 1:56:37

Biden Delivers A Feisty, Fiery, Heated State Of The Union Speech | Stephen Colbert | 03/07/28 | 11:29

My Ultimate History Crash Course | Robert Reich | 02/27/24 | 32:59

Biden plans feisty economic reset
Axios | Mike Allen,Zachary Basu | 03/07/24

President Biden will use tonight's State of the Union address to admit that prices are still too high in some areas - but argue things were worse under former President Trump, White House chief of staff Jeff Zients tells Axios.

Why it matters: Biden, in what could well be the most important speech of his presidency, aims to project fighting optimism to an audience with plenty of doubts about the nation's vigor - and that of the 81-year-old president.

Biden needs a cure for what some advisers call "Trump amnesia" - the notion that the chaos and unpopularity of Trump's presidency has receded from some voters' memories nearly four years on. ... Read more

HOW HOMELAND SECURITY IS UNDERMINING FAITH IN U.S. ELECTIONS
TheIntercept | Daniel Boguslaw | 03/06/24

NOW THAT THE party nominees for president have all but been decided, America's entire election infrastructure is under assault, from foreign governments, hackers, and extremists. Or at least that's the frenzied message being conveyed from on high these days. Russian warning lights are flashing. Think tanks are working overtime to grind out panicked reports about cybersecurity and disinformation. Fearmongering proliferates on both sides of the political aisle.

But it is the federal government that is most active in this effort, and in its zeal to "protect" the elections, Washington is building a narrative that achieves exactly what it blames foreign adversaries for. By arguing that the elections can and will be manipulated, federal agencies are delegitimizing the highly effective and secure electoral system, and affirming the view of too many Americans that the vote can’t be trusted. ... Read more

Trump a worse appeaser than Neville Chamberlain, leading Democrat says
TheGuardian | Martin Pengelly | 03/07/24

Donald Trump is a worse appeaser in his attitude to Vladimir Putin and Russia than the 1930s British prime minister Neville Chamberlain was towards Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, a senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee said.

Jim Himes of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the committee, also said Trump acted like a “single-cell organism” in obstructing aid to Ukraine.

"They both may be undertaking an act of appeasement," Himes added, “but Neville Chamberlain, love him or hate him, I think probably thought this through.

"Donald Trump is a little bit of a single-celled organism: he responds to one stimulus and one stimulus only, which is, 'Does this make me feel good or does it make me feel bad?' And Ukraine makes him feel bad because he got impeached over Ukraine." ... Read more

Maddow, MSNBC panel instantly fact-check Trump's Super Tuesday speech | 03/06/24 | 8:36

Nikki Haley suspending presidential campaign
Axion | Erin Doherty,Mike Allen | 03/06/24

Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley will announce Wednesday that she is suspending her presidential bid, a top Haley source told Axios.

Why it matters: Haley became the first woman to win a GOP presidential primary earlier this month, but her rise in the polls and 11th-hour endorsements were not enough to break former President Trump's commanding lead.

She's expected to announce the news in remarks on Wednesday morning, the Wall Street Journal first reported. ... Read more

I code the body electric: We're putting AI brains in robot bodies now. What could go wrong?
Salon | Rae Hodge | 03/05/24

If we open a humanoid robot's metal skull right now and replaced the regular old computer in there with one that has access to a large language model (LLM) - so that the robot is controlled by artificial intelligence the same way we humans are controlled by the electrified hamburger meat between our ears - I don't think we would actually be able to tell if that robot eventually reached human-level, living consciousness. And while it's fair to say I change my opinion on this about once a week, I've recently wondered whether this sort of consciousness might be already occurring to some extent, even if only in the most primitive way.

The problem is that science doesn't yet fully know what the terms "artificial intelligence" and "consciousness" even mean. There are a hundred theories reasoned out across the two interwoven fields, but we humans are still new to the ambitious (and possibly self-contradicting) goal of quantifying sentience. ... Read more

Jon Stewart Unpacks the GOP's "Migrant Crime" Narrative | The Daily Show | 03/05/24 | 10:01

AI jobs charge ahead in the face of public skepticism
Axios | Ivana Saric | 03/05/24

New AI jobs postings continue to grow in the U.S. despite the fact that public trust in AI technology and the companies behind it is sinking.

Why it matters: The trend highlights the disconnected feelings between the public and the tech industry when it comes to the advancement of AI.

State of play: There were 10,404 new AI job postings in January, a 42% rise from Dec. 2022, according to the University of Maryland and LinkUp's AI job tracker.

By comparison, there were more than 90,000 total new IT job postings in January - a 31% drop from from Dec. 2022, per the Wall Street Journal. ... Read more

Public trust in AI is sinking across the board
Axios | Ina Fried | 03/05/24

Trust in AI technology and the companies that develop it is dropping, in both the U.S. and around the world, according to new data from Edelman shared first with Axios.

By the numbers: Globally, trust in AI companies has dropped to 53%, down from 61% five years ago. In the U.S., trust has dropped 15 percentage points (from 50% to 35%) over the same period.

Trust in AI is low across political lines. Democrats trust in AI companies is 38%, independents are at 25% and Republicans at 24%.

Tech is losing its lead as the most trusted sector. Eight years ago, technology was the leading industry in trust in 90% of the countries Edelman studies. Today, it is the most trusted in only half of countries. ... Read more

Stories about Iran | 60 Minutes | 11/26/23 | 54:12

State of the U.S.-China relationship as countries compete economically | 60 Minutes | 02/28/24 | 26:53

Sierra Nevada hit with ferocious blizzard
Axios | Shauneen Miranda,Andrew Freedman | 03/04/24

A blizzard warning was in effect until midnight Sunday for parts of the Sierra, as the massive winter storm disrupts travel in portions of California and Nevada.

The big picture: The "potentially life-threatening" blizzard which began slamming parts of the Sierra Nevada on Thursday was gradually waning on Sunday evening ahead of another storm expected on Monday night.

State of play: This storm has brought relentless hurricane-force winds to the Sierra, knocking out power, creating whiteout conditions and shutting down Interstate 80 for well over 24 hours. ... Read more

Nikki Haley makes history with D.C. Republican primary win
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 03/04/24

Presidential candidate Nikki Haley won her first GOP presidential nominating contest on Sunday, the D.C. Republican Party announced.

Why it matters: "This makes Nikki Haley the first woman to win a Republican primary in U.S. history," noted Haley campaign spokesperson Olivia Perez-Cubas in a post to X.

The big picture: While Haley's win in Washington, D.C., doesn't affect the trajectory of the race that former President Trump has dominated, it's a welcome boost for the ex-UN ambassador ahead of this week's Super Tuesday contests. ... Read more

If One Megabank Collapses, the U.S. Economy Goes With It. Should We Have More?
Politico | Vistoria Guida | 03/01/24

In a speech at the University of Michigan last month, one of the nation’s top banking regulators posed a deceptively simple question. Michael Hsu, the acting comptroller of currency, wondered aloud: "What should the banking system look like?"

Hsu, an understated lawyer who spent his career overseeing large financial institutions at agencies like the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission, wasn't just asking an idle question. His meaning was more specific: How big should American banks be, and how much financial power should be concentrated in the largest ones?

It's an important question - perhaps even more so now than when Wall Street crashed the economy 15 years ago. Since then, the four universal megabanks that now dominate the economy - JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo - have grown significantly. ... Read more

Key takeaways from transcript of Hunter Biden's testimony
Axios | Rebecca Falconer | 03/01/24

A transcript of Hunter Biden's closed-door deposition before two Republican-led committees was publicly released on Thursday.

The big picture: He struck a defiant tone as he appeared before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees as part of their impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden.

Hunter Biden maintained throughout his testimony that lasted over six hours that his father was never involved in his business dealings. ... Read more

Hunter Biden's testimony transcript

Trump's one loss this week: His 2024 courtroom strategy
Axios | Erin Doherty | 03/01/24

Former President Trump's delay tactics are paying off in court, but he may be losing one of his most potent venues for his grievance-centered campaign: courthouses.

Why it matters: It now appears likely that just one of Trump's four criminal cases - the one in New York involving hush money paid to an adult film actress - will conclude before the 2024 election.

That means Trump - who's used court appearances for rants against against Democrats and fundraising pleas - may need new backdrops in casting himself as a victim of politically motivated prosecutors. ... ... Read more