[News] Post a Political News Story

Ongoing discussion of the political news of the day. This thread is for 'smaller' stories that don't call for their own thread. If a story blows up, please start a new thread for it.

Bob Murray, Who Fought Against Black Lung Regulations As A Coal Operator, Has Filed For Black Lung Benefits

The TL;DR is that a dude who amassed a fortune of $6.5 billion building and running a coal mining company that persistently denied claims made by workers who sought black lung benefits; that sued the Obama administration over regulations that minimized the acceptable amount of coal dust exposure for miners and increased testing requirements; that funded groups that denied climate change; that donated $100K to Trump's campaign in 2016 (and whose employees *wink* donated another $103K) and another $200K to a Trump Super-PAC; who gave Trump an "action plan" to save coal; and whose mines bitterly fought safety regulations while racking up hundreds of violations, record fines, and killed nine miners and rescuers during a preventable mine collapse wants the government to pay him money for a disease he repeatedly denied he had.

The cherry on this pile of sh*t is that Murray Energy declared bankruptcy last year--with creditors accusing him of treating the company as a “family piggy bank” and citing a “disturbing pattern of self dealing and abuse of corporate resources”--which is going to leave taxpayers on the hook for $155 million in worker compensation claims under the Black Lung Act.

Bob Murray? You mean this guy? (2017)

Or after he dropped his lawsuit against HBO, two years later?

Or when Last Week Tonight did a musical about him?

Eat sh*t bob. if theres anyone in the world who deserves silicosis, it's that guy, for no other reason than the number of people he fought tooth and nail to guarantee they got it.

I Lived Through Collapse. America Is Already There.
Living in Sri Lanka during the end of the civil war, I saw how life goes on, surrounded by death

I lived through the end of a civil war — I moved back to Sri Lanka in my twenties, just as the ceasefire fell apart. Do you know what it was like for me? Quite normal. I went to work, I went out, I dated. This is what Americans don’t understand. They’re waiting to get personally punched in the face while ash falls from the sky. That’s not how it happens.

This is how it happens. Precisely what you’re feeling now. The numbing litany of bad news. The ever rising outrages. People suffering, dying, and protesting all around you, while you think about dinner. If you’re trying to carry on while people around you die, your society is not collapsing. It’s already fallen down.

Collapse Takes A Lifetime. America Is Just Getting Started
I was born into collapse in Sri Lanka. It only ended when I was nearly 30 years old

I lived through Sri Lankan collapse. It took forever. I feel that Americans are really underestimating what’s going down, and how long it will take.

First off, yes, America has already collapsed. You can’t just step over your newly dead and poor. America has already lost more lives than in WWI and Vietnam, combined. The economic contraction is the worst in your recorded history. The rest of the world has stopped accepting your passports. Worst of all, this is all self-inflicted. Your leadership and 40% of the population drove off a cliff, and they’re still hitting the gas.

If this isn’t collapse, what is?

Second, Americans have completely unrealistic expectations of, well, many things, but specifically how long recovery will take. You think you’re going to vote this away in a few weeks? Lol, no. Speaking as a recovered collapse addict, recovery doesn’t take months, quarters, or even years.

Recovery takes generations.

You don’t just lose 200,000+ people and vote it all better again. You don’t crash your economy and recover right away. This is the work of generations. Other people — people not yet born — will have to clean up your bloody mess and, honestly, it will never be the same.

I believe those takes are based on a warped view - warped by the mainstream media worldwide and fueled by the incessant fear drum beaten by US conservatives, and president Trump in particular. That drumbeat is loud, and the drummers are tireless, but they are also wrong. I'm no Pollyanna. I realize things are very bad in some cities, a lot of people who shouldn't have died are dead, and the economy is in tatters. But it's not so grim everywhere, not even in most cities. Crime is not out of control. Terrorists are not blowing up buildings and killing bystanders with bombs (though some have been victims of guns and vehicles). The pandemic is proceeding apace, but the rate of people dying from COVID-19 has slowed and even turned around in some areas, despite more people testing positive for the virus.

It's hard to see if you're living in an area that has been devastated by disastrous wildfires, or if any of your friends or family have fallen victim to the pandemic, or if your city is starting to look like Beirut in one of its worse years. I don't believe society has already collapsed. It has fallen, no doubt about it, and it will be a lot of work to climb back up. And frankly, while we can't vote it away, the vote is crucial to install the kind of government and the kind of leadership that will make it possible for people to work together.

This is the wrong time for defeatism. This is the time for us to try making it possible to turn things around.

At any point, we can collectively decide to start acting like adults and dramatically improve our situation....

I just want to add that a little less than four years ago, I honestly didn't think I would survive to see the Third of November, 2020. And that was way before any of the disasters that happened this year. My mother told me it was foolish to get upset about something as temporary as the result of an election. These past four years sure didn't seem temporary at the time.

I have chronic Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and despite the odds, I'm still here. I will be dropping off my permanent early voter ballot at the Pima County Recorder's Office the day I get it.

Don't give up. It ain't over 'til it's over.

BadKen wrote:

Don't give up. It ain't over 'til it's over.

Hang in there!

Prederick wrote:

I genuinely do not have a civil response to this.

civil war is a civil response, right?

Edit: Wrong thread, sorry.

Chairman_Mao wrote:
Prederick wrote:

I genuinely do not have a civil response to this.

civil war is a civil response, right?

~mod~
Sorry, not civil enough, you've been warned about expressing violent fantasies on the forums, which goes against the coc. Any further posts with violent rhetoric will be deleted without notice. Thanks! -Mudbunny

MOD
This is a periodic reminder that wishing harm on people is not acceptable in the GWJ community.
/MOD

That being said, I hope they find that, if he is entitled for any benefits, that he is personally responsible for paying them... to himself.

Bob Murray is personally responsible for the lengthy agonizing choking deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people. Because of the wealth he has gathered by doing so, and the privileged that wealth provides, we will no doubt receive at little to no cost to himself precisely the skilled and expert medical care he actively denied to those under his aegis. No one should ever ever forget that.

Trump blames low-income people, minorities for 'ruining' suburbia

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump refused to condemn white supremacists. On Wednesday, he appeared to blame suburban, low-income people of color for “ruining this American dream.”

The two comments represent a feature, not a bug, of his presidency and campaign. And he’s ramped it up in the final month of the election.

All article headlines for now should be revised to say, "Trump, hiding in quarantine from a pandemic he's responsible for, etc etc etc."

With that new low income jab birthed from the recent tax reveals, Trump's statement about ruining suburbs actually has merit.

fangblackbone wrote:

With that new low income jab birthed from the recent tax reveals, Trump's statement about ruining suburbs actually has merit.

Hardly! I know you’re joking but that tax evasion sh*t makes me livid. I pay close to half of my net annual household income to taxes. And I would be cool with that if 1%ers did the same, and yes loopholes and opposite of loopholes etc etc ITS f*ckING WRONG!!

IMAGE(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/120585301_3157256124371991_9010822743609091988_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=x_o6cEAWGpEAX-tDHAn&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=29e62c96156afaba8ef5a05dc77d7404&oe=5F9B0800)

I'm not gonna make it to November 4.

She's the one that believes demon sperm makes people sick, right?

Ayup! Not to mention a doctor that condones punching someone in the face...

sometimesdee wrote:

MOD
This is a periodic reminder that wishing harm on people is not acceptable in the GWJ community.
/MOD

Trump ::redacted:: ::redacted:: coronavirus ::redacted:: ::redacted:: ::redacted::!!!

fangblackbone wrote:

Ayup! Not to mention a doctor that condones punching someone in the face...

If the face belongs to a fascist and you treat their injury afterward, I'd withhold judgement.

Gay men take over Proud Boys hashtag on Twitter 'to reclaim our pride'

Less than a week after the far-right group the Proud Boys were mentioned at the presidential debate, the group's name is being taken over on Twitter by gay men.

During the debate last Tuesday, President Donald Trump did not condemn the "western chauvinist" men's group that the Southern Poverty Law Center says is a hate group. But on social media, many men in the LGBTQ community began sharing photos of themselves and their partners to counter the group's rhetoric.

"What if gay guys took pictures of themselves making out with each other or doing very gay things, then tagged themselves with #ProudBoys," Star Trek actor George Takei, who is gay, tweeted Thursday.

The Proud Boys phenomenon is not just happening on Twitter, it's happening all over social media.

I've seen some backlash from it on Reddit, where some gay men have not been pleased about being associated with white supremacists, and also not happy about having gay imagery "weaponized." Despite Takei's intention (which I support 100%), some people don't like using a negative connotation of homosexuality to make any group uncomfortable, even if it is only negative in the target group's minds.

The vast majority of reactions to these pictures I've seen on reddit has been positive and supportive.

The Michigan Supreme Court struck down the governor's COVID-related executive orders. (Under a rather dubious partisan decision.)

Today, the Michigan director of Health and Human Services issued and epidemic order that put most of the requirements back in place, under an entirely separate legal authority.

BadKen wrote:

The Proud Boys phenomenon is not just happening on Twitter, it's happening all over social media.

I've seen some backlash from it on Reddit, where some gay men have not been pleased about being associated with white supremacists, and also not happy about having gay imagery "weaponized." Despite Takei's intention (which I support 100%), some people don't like using a negative connotation of homosexuality to make any group uncomfortable, even if it is only negative in the target group's minds.

The vast majority of reactions to these pictures I've seen on reddit has been positive and supportive.

Many of the pics I saw were of beautiful couples. How often can you say something celebrates love and fights racism in one go?

Nevin73 wrote:
BadKen wrote:

The Proud Boys phenomenon is not just happening on Twitter, it's happening all over social media.

I've seen some backlash from it on Reddit, where some gay men have not been pleased about being associated with white supremacists, and also not happy about having gay imagery "weaponized." Despite Takei's intention (which I support 100%), some people don't like using a negative connotation of homosexuality to make any group uncomfortable, even if it is only negative in the target group's minds.

The vast majority of reactions to these pictures I've seen on reddit has been positive and supportive.

Many of the pics I saw were of beautiful couples. How often can you say something celebrates love and fights racism in one go?

It started out that way, but the ht started to grow a derisive association with those icky gays as soon as enough of straight twitter got ahold of it. Apparently also made trying to track and counter the sh*tty proud boys difficult for those on the ground trying to anticipate and plan for their activity. The noise to Signal ratio went up.

Any disruption to their ability to organize right before an election might well be worth it.

The Proud Boys don’t really use any of the platforms being affected by this for organization, it’s just where they go to sh*t talk and troll people. They tend to use private chat rooms and apps like Telegram for anything serious.