@Gargron I agree. From #Detroit-based #Socialist journal #AgainstTheCurrent: "Socialists should support the #HarrisWalz ticket, not because they represent a significant progressive alternative, but because it gives us four more years in our democracy — such as it is — to organize social and political movements to fight for the working class and the oppressed and raise the ideal of democratic socialism."

@Gargron
Trust the #Election.
#Vote for #Harris.
And then DEMAND #Electoral #Reform.
#USA #Politics #Biden #Harris #Trump

Elon Musk was on hand to award fascist Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni an award from the Atlantic Council last night.

He said she was “someone who is even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside.”

https://www.politico.eu/article/precious-genius-elon-musk-love-bombs-beautiful-giorgia-meloni-global-citizens-award-un/

I thought I was done, but I'm so enraged about it that I need to say more.
This dumb rule isn't about tallying the votes, it's about counting the number of physical ballots to confirm they match up with the count in the tabulator.
City election departments have big, powerful machines whose sole purpose is to count physical ballots orders of magnitude more quickly and accurately than people can.
THERE IS NO LEGITIMATE REASON FOR THIS HAND COUNT.
#politics #USPol
Gift link:

You will not find a single reputable expert in the field of election security who thinks this policy is necessary, appropriate, or good. There is no science to back it up. There are no historical events to cite to justify it. There is no evidence that it will improve election security in any way.
All it is, is a big fuck-you to poll-workers, Georgia's voters, and everyone else in this country who cares about democracy.
/fin
#politics #USPol
Gift link:

As @mattblaze will happily tell you, there is a valid concept of risk-limiting audits conducted after elections to validate that the results haven't been tampered with. But this thing the Georgia board of elections is imposing on poll-workers is not that. It's a bullshit process, and poll-workers are _guaranteed_ to make mistakes while carrying it out. It won't limit risk, it will increase risk by sowing doubt.
THAT'S THE POINT.
(continued)
#politics #USPol
Gift link:

The Georgia board of elections has just decided, "Hey, overworked, understaffed poll-workers! After more than 12 hours of work, when you're tired and cranky and in no condition to do detail-oriented work, we need you to stay at the polls for hours extra counting all the ballots three times, a completely useless endeavor since you're all honest people and the ballots have already been counted by the machines. Good luck with that!"
(continued)
#politics #USPol
Gift link:

Polling places are often understaffed due to a lack of people willing to volunteer to do the work. This is especially true for presidential elections, which are crazy busy compared to off-year and local elections.
By the time the polls close at the end of the day, most poll-workers have been there for 12 or more hours (in MA where I work the polls, it's 14). They are tired and cranky and just want to go home.
(continued)
#politics #USPol
Gift link:

I want to share some important background information about this new Georgia elections rule, from the perspective of a poll-worker:
Poll-workers are not skilled professionals extensively trained in the complexities of conducting an election. They're everyday people with widely varying levels of skill, intelligence, and physical ability who take a few days out of every year to help keep democracy running in this country.
(continued)
#politics #USPol
Gift link:

Unless these shitheads are soundly defeated in Georgia and elsewhere in November, I don't see how the trajectory we're on leads anywhere other than full-on civil war.
These people are sabotaging the election. Everyone knows that's what's going on. Claims to the contrary are transparent bullshit.
These people have given up all pretense of respecting democracy or the union. If we don't stop it soon, a total split is only a matter of time.
#politics #USPol
Gift link:

Anyways I also saw this post talking about how this was run and. Uh.

Anyways mad props to the teamsters locals that have opted to do an endorsement for Harris anyways despite the IBT as a whole doing this pandering to the enemy.

So, if Thames Water says without a 59% price hike the firm is neither financeable or investable then one must presume that without such a price hike the firm is essentially worthless?

If so, a governmental nationalisation would be very cheap presumably as the current owners would be unable to claim (as no-one would pay for it) that the asset being taken from them was worth anything that should be compensated....

But I'm guessing that's not quite what they mean?

"voting for a cop isn't harm reduction"

*rubs temples*

I have not gotten enough sleep for the internet today.

My letter to the NYT on its abdication of endorsements in NY races, with others.

1/ When surveys ask academics to self-describe their political leanings, we get the familiar result that the vast majority lean left. When an algorithm analyzes their #Twitter posts, we still find a left-leaning majority but we also find more centrists and conservatives than the surveys do.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/actually-there-are-more-conservatives-on-the-faculty-than-you-think-study-finds
(#paywalled)

#Academia #Politics #SocialMedia
@academicchatter

All governmental orgs and offices should be active on #Mastodon, a free and open platform, and not on for-profit social media.

Pass it on.

Well now.

“What’s been reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk said. “I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump.”

Elon Musk backs down from $45 million a month pledge to Trump: ‘I don't subscribe to cult of personality’
#politics

When they say, “new primary”, they mean “bypass Harris”.

“When they say, “open process”, they mean “bypass Harris”

Don’t let them gaslight you on this as they do the bidding of superwealthy donors and try to force Biden and install whatever pre-approved white (likely male) candidate the donors agreed to.

As Just Stop Oil protesters get 4 & 5 year sentences, Greenpeace Director, Amy Cameron sums up how many feel:

'What sort of country locks people away for years for planning a peaceful demonstration, let alone for talking about it on a Zoom call? We’re giving a free hand to the polluting elite robbing us of a habitable planet while jailing those who’re trying to stop them – it makes no sense'!

Labour must reverse this anti-democratic punishment of protest!

#politics

Love me some "woke" aka "being a good person". Turns out it's actually better for everything from crime to economics too.