Basav

Note that non-American civilians aren't mentioned, implying that their lives aren't worth protecting. American exceptionalism is an exceptionally flawed value system.

The US political system effectively allows a small group of ideological extremists to make sweeping,far-reaching decisions based on intentionally falsified information, with no real recourse for people to stop these decisions from going into effect.

The public and commentators need to stop thinking about "wars for oil" as about securing oil for the U.S., it's been decades since that was a motivator. "Wars for oil" are instead about securing oil for oil companies, securing a fossil fueled global economy, and denying oil's wealth to "enemies."

I was born in an Iranian prison. My parents were held in their jails. My uncles lie in their mass graves. Nothing you can tell me about the crimes of the Iranian regime that I haven't lived in blood and bone. That doesn't mean I want my people bombed, maimed, killed, their homes in ruins. If your vision of liberation comes only through the destruction of innocent lives, then it's not freedom you're after. Sahar Delijani, Iranian author

I am pro Iranian people. I stand with them against their own government’s repression AND against the imperial violence in the form of bombs dropped from the sky from Israel & the US who have already killed hundreds.

I support neither imperialism or dictatorship.

Sahar Delijani said it best:

A lot of us despise the Trump regime, Per, doesn’t mean I want the elementary school in my town vaporized.

Critically important observation for understanding how the US national security state is weaponized against people at home, and why resisting US imperialism is not only the moral thing to do, but also in the self-interest of most people in the US.

Radiohead is demanding that the Trump administration take down a pro-ICE promotional video featuring a version of its song “Let Down” without permission.

Full statement from the band:

Somehow it feels even worse to have NO headline, at all, about the fact that the President is in FBI files as having punched one child for not giving him a blow job and having outright raped another child. The silence in elite media fills me with disgust and despair.

(Looking at you, @nytimes.com )

Attributing fake human-eating habits to others to distract us from her (real and verified) dog-murdering habits.

The boarding schools, all over again.

The perfect backronym.🎯

Since Trump likes to consider himself a king…

“In a historical digression, the judge traced the history of insurrection law & cited the 1649 execution of England’s Charles I, who led troops into parliament, to establish that even heads of state can commit insurrection by attacking the legislature.“

Here's what's truly bizarre about these tech-aligned "thinkers." They invent a sci-fi boogeyman to be scared of, "artificial super-intelligence," while their date centers worsen the real, actual, scientifically proven existential threat of climate change.

Exhibit A in the "your enemy's enemy is not always your friend" file.

still remember the "it's too early/hyperbolic/irresponsible to compare these guys to Nazi Germany" Reasonable Posters - whom, I imagine, are waiting for the renovations to be completed before they update their priors

Any state/local official supporting these plans, and any corporation looking at this as a business opportunity, is complicit in crimes against humanity.

How Federal Judges Can Bring Down the Hammer On ICE Federal judges have plenty of tools at their disposal for punishing ICE’s lawlessness—if they feel like using them.

At some point, federal judges are going to have to go beyond issuing strongly worded orders condemning ICE's lawlessness, and start fining recalcitrant Trump administration officials and/or putting them in jail

graph of US oil and gas exports by year. both are low until 2010-15, when they sharply increase and keep on increasing

Awkward, but... probably the most effective policy to make US energy more affordable is just to return oil and gas export rules to their pre-Obama states. This would reduce gasoline and natural gas prices, as well as wholesale electricity prices, which natural gas power plants very often set.

Deeply saddened to learn of the passing of our Ward 4 neighbor, pastor, and community leader, Rev. Graylan Hagler.
 
Rev. Hagler believed, as we do in Ward 4, that our neighborhoods are worthy of dignity, investment, and love, and fought to make that vision real.

Abuse isn’t enough, they have to silence kids too:

“They threw away all my drawings,” said 15-year-old Cariexis Quintero… . Her mother, displaying a pile of colorful paper scraps, detailed how the guards “stormed into her room looking for drawings and letters” & then “destroyed what they found”

Yesterday my friend told me about her PHILOSOPHY students all using ai for their assignments and like come the fuck on man you’re in Uni doing the subject thats Thinking about Thinking and u refuse to Think

Like everything in the US, fascism is another opportunity for parasitic corporations to make money.

We won our FOIA lawsuit for body cam footage of DOGE raid on US Institute of Peace The judge ruled DC Metropolitan Police must share all un-redacted footage from the March 2025 raid.

These are DC MPD cops, doing the Fed's dirty work for them, and covering up for them, with the blessing of the Bowser administration. DC police and Mayor's collaboration with Trump's agenda runs deep.
www.thehandbasket.co/p/foia-lawsu...

The US government puts out propaganda and misinformation directed at the US public, and now wants to do the same for people worldwide.

Good. Impose financial consequences for lawyers defending the regime's illegal actions, until no one wants to be a lawyer for the government any more.

Please shove this in the face of all the, “he’s the only option we have!!” people.

A chance for other countries to kick out the obstructionist bully and get serious about aligning energy policy with science and justice.
Also, huge numbers of us here in the US will cheer if the IEA kicks the US out instead of giving in to bullying.

Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted child sex trafficker, gets gardening time, sports, therapy dogs, and spa products in prison.

Migrant children in custody are sleeping on concrete floors without enough food or clean water.

Our priorities are so fucked.

Maybe some property owners don't want to sell their property to people planning to turn it into a concentration camp, even if they stand to make a lot of money from the transaction!

The people who have to insure our homes and cars know that climate change is real, because it affects their bottom line. It's not that regulating emissions is bad for business; it's just bad for a small number of industries that happen to be very powerful.