Supreme Court Corruption (Formerly Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire) (1 Viewer)

[cuddlemonkey]

It seems that a billionaire GOP donor has spent a small fortune on vacations for Ginni and Clarence Thomas.

Clarence Thomas Secretly Accepted Luxury Trips From Major GOP Donor

Island-hopping on a superyacht. Private jet rides around the world. The undisclosed gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the Supreme Court. “It’s incomprehensible to me that someone would do this,” says one former judge.

www.propublica.org

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Supreme Court overturns Chevron decision, curtailing federal agencies' power in major shift

The Supreme Court overturned a landmark 40-year-old decision that gave federal agencies broad regulatory power.

www.cbsnews.com

If, by some chance the Dems get a 60 seat majority in the Senate and retake the House then immediate action to impeach Alito and Thomas must be done.

No chance of getting to a super majority in the Senate these days.

 

[Dragon]

No chance of getting to a super majority in the Senate these days.

Well maybe when the climate changes become so bad - especially in the southern (storms/flod) and western states (fire/drought/flod) - that the voters there finally understand that climate change is real. Maybe then changes can be made. Unfortunately it will probably be too late by that point

 

[LA - L.A.]

Well maybe when the climate changes become so bad - especially in the southern (storms/flod) and western states (fire/drought/flod) - that the voters there finally understand that climate change is real. Maybe then changes can be made. Unfortunately it will probably be too late by that point

It's tragic and I take no delight in the prospect of it, but the governments in the southern states are going to nearly or actually collapse over the next decade just because of increasingly extreme weather.

It'll eventually become a major issue all over the country. The southern states are getting the earliest brunt of it as predicted by climate models. Well, actually it's happening faster and more expansive than models predicted.

Texas will be lucky to get through this summer without a catastrophic failure of their power grid. One more major hurricane landfall in Florida and the real estate market their collapses because of lack of insurance. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are right on Florida's heels.

My family lives in southwest Louisiana in the Lake Charles area. There has been more non-hurricane related tornado activity in the area this year than their has been in the last couple of decades combined. The same with hail. It's already hailed three times this year which equals the total for the previous couple of decades.

And now we wait and watch for hurricanes. The second named storm is brewing in the Atlantic right now and it's not even July.

 

[Dragon]

It's tragic and I take no delight in the prospect of it, but the governments in the southern states are going to nearly or actually collapse over the next decade just because of increasingly extreme weather.

It'll eventually become a major issue all over the country. The southern states are getting the earliest brunt of it as predicted by climate models. Well, actually it's happening faster and more expansive than models predicted.

Texas will be lucky to get through this summer without a catastrophic failure of their power grid. One more major hurricane landfall in Florida and the real estate market their collapses because of lack of insurance. Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama are right on Florida's heels.

My family lives in southwest Louisiana in the Lake Charles area. There has been more non-hurricane related tornado activity in the area this year than their has been in the last couple of decades combined. The same with hail. It's already hailed three times this year which equals the total for the previous couple of decades.

And now we wait and watch for hurricanes. The second named storm is brewing in the Atlantic right now and it's not even July.

We don't have a decade. Five years max. I sure hope I am wrong and I can't cite any sources but that is what every part of my mind say, We are like frogs put in a pot where the water is slowly starting to heat up and wont be able to get out before we reach the boiling point.

Every year we see it escalate just a little bit more. Go back 5 years and start reading. Ocean temperature, days with drough, areas where we have hit the wet bulb max survivability level. huge fires, The rise in the number of incidents and the seriousness of those incidents are very concerning. We are setting new records every single year.

 

[LA - L.A.]

We don't have a decade. Five years max. I sure hope I wrong and I can't cite any sources but that is what every part of my mind say, We are like frogs put in a pot where the water is slowly starting to heat up and wont be able to get out before we reach the boiling point.

Every year we see it escalate just a little bit more. Go back 5 years and start reading. Ocean temperature, days with drough, areas where we have hit the wet bulb max survivability level. huge fires, The rise in the number of incidents and the seriousness of those incidents are very concerning. We are setting new records every single year.

I have the same feeling about the timing. The changes consistently happening faster and more intensely than models originally predicted that you're referring to has been happening since the 1980's. The rate of intensity and acceleration are very alarming.

I say 10 years at the longest, but I also feel that within the next 5 years we might long for the days of dealing with the COVID pandemic. It makes it hard to figure out a 5 year plan just based on the climate challenges. Piled on top of that is all of the sociopolitical challenges. Looks like I picked the wrong decade to be in my late 50's.

 

[bird]

I have the same feeling about the timing. The changes consistently happening faster and more intensely than models originally predicted that you're referring to has been happening since the 1980's. The rate of intensity and acceleration are very alarming.

I say 10 years at the longest, but I also feel that within the next 5 years we might long for the days of dealing with the COVID pandemic. It makes it hard to figure out a 5 year plan just based on the climate challenges. Piled on top of that is all of the sociopolitical challenges. Looks like I picked the wrong decade to be in my late 50's.

What will be bad will be internal migration driven by climate change and climate migration worldwide. No government anywhere is prepared for that.

 

[Lapaz]

The problem is the right-wing denialism due to distrust of science. Now the Supreme Court is making regulating more difficult with the Chevron case snd congress will probably be frozen. All of this is leading us towards an authoritarian government, because that’s the only ones that can act irrespective of the stupidity of the populous. If not authoritarian, something will have to change in our governance style, because our style is slowly failing.

 

[zztop]

The US supreme court just basically legalized bribery | Moira Donegan

By sheer coincidence, this ruling concerns the sort of generous ‘gifts’ and ‘gratuities’ that justices have been known to accept

www.theguardian.com

 

[LA - L.A.]

All of this is leading us towards an authoritarian government, because that’s the only ones that can act irrespective of the stupidity of the populous. If not authoritarian, something will have to change in our governance style, because our style is slowly failing.

The problem is not "the stupidity of the populous," the problem is a combination of intentionally poorly educating people and intentionally not providing emotional health care to people.

We are not stupid as a society, but we are poorly educated and emotionally unhealthy as a society and that is by design. It's infinitely easier to manipulate and exploit people when they are poorly educated and emotionally unhealthy. That's why Republicans started undermining education and emotional health care a long time ago. The Republicans have been steering America to this moment since Nixon was president.

Authoritarianism is never the better, or even a valid, option.

 

[LA - L.A.]

What will be bad will be internal migration driven by climate change and climate migration worldwide. No government anywhere is prepared for that.

Yes it will be a terrible tragedy. I wasn't excluding the suffering outside of the US. I was just pointing out that the climate and extreme weather don't give a crap about geopolitical boundaries or "American exceptionalism."

The climate change and increasingly more intense and frequent extreme weather is going to dramatically impact and disrupt life as we know it today, including the balance of geopolitical power.

 

[bird]

Yes it will be a terrible tragedy. I wasn't excluding the suffering outside of the US. I was just pointing out that the climate and extreme weather don't give a crap about geopolitical boundaries or "American exceptionalism."

The climate change and increasingly more intense and frequent extreme weather is going to dramatically impact and disrupt life as we know it today, including the balance of geopolitical power.

Oh, I got your point. Exceptionalism is flat out a load of crap. The only exceptional thing was the government created. We have seen that the system has allowed for far less than exceptional results. Beyond that being born in a geography does not arbitrarily mean anything.

 

[Dragon]

The problem is not "the stupidity of the populous," the problem is a combination of intentionally poorly educating people and intentionally not providing emotional health care to people.

We are not stupid as a society, but we are poorly educated and emotionally unhealthy as a society and that is by design. It's infinitely easier to manipulate and exploit people when they are poorly educated and emotionally unhealthy. That's why Republicans started undermining education and emotional health care a long time ago. The Republicans have been steering America to this moment since Nixon was president.

Authoritarianism is never the better, or even a valid, option.

I've spend a few years in the US educational system. One year in High School and 2 in college in the early 80s and the major difference between the educational system i Denmark and in the US AFAIR was the root learning and constant test in the US. In Denmark the emphasis is on how to find information and evaluate it - Not on just memorizing everything in your head. In some exams we were even allowed library access (the exam took place IN the library) and today the young people are allowed internet access to certain ressources even when taking exams.

They (and we back in the days) were however NOT allowed just to copy the text, but would need to explain the answer using their own words while critically evaluating the source used (and listed as source on the exam answer)

 

[LA - L.A.]

I've spend a few years in the US educational system. One year in High School and 2 in college in the early 80s and the major difference between the educational system i Denmark and in the US AFAIR was the root learning and constant test in the US. In Denmark the emphasis is on how to find information and evaluate it - Not on just memorizing everything in your head. In some exams we were even allowed library access (the exam took place IN the library) and today the young people are allowed internet access to certain ressources even when taking exams.

They (and we back in the days) were however NOT allowed just to copy the text, but would need to explain the answer using their own words while critically evaluating the source used (and listed as source on the exam answer)

It falls into the logic of teaching a person to fish is better than giving a person a fish. I was lucky that all through my education I had individual teachers who taught me to learn for myself and think for myself. I got very, very lucky in that regards.

Anyone can develop the skills need to learn and think for themselves. That ability is in everyone. It's not a rare or special trait, it's a very common one. All it takes for a person to develop those skills is the desire to develop them and someone willing to help them develop it. The typical American education isn't designed to help people develop those skills, instead it's designed to give people the information and rules that will develop people into "good little worker drones."

A person who hasn't been encouraged to develop the skills to learn or think for themself is more dependent on other people to tell them what to think and what to do.

 

[Taurus]

It falls into the logic of teaching a person to fish is better than giving a person a fish. I was lucky that all through my education I had individual teachers who taught me to learn for myself and think for myself. I got very, very lucky in that regards.

Anyone can develop the skills need to learn and think for themselves. That ability is in everyone. It's not a rare or special trait, it's a very common one. All it takes for a person to develop those skills is the desire to develop them and someone willing to help them develop it. The typical American education isn't designed to help people develop those skills, instead it's designed to give people the information and rules that will develop people into "good little worker drones."

A person who hasn't been encouraged to develop the skills to learn or think for themself is more dependent on other people to tell them what to think and what to do.

And then you use media and political messaging to make them *proud* of it. Defiantly proud of being ignorant