Notices by david roberts (drvolts@journa.host)

Major social media platforms owned by conservatives, reinstating Trump, riddled w/ nazis & vax deniers. Top cable news channel hyper-conservative. Most local news stations owned by conservatives. Talk radio dominated by conservatives. Mainstream media shedding thousands of jobs.

End to end, the information environment in the US has become an absolute sewer of conservative lies & conspiracy theories. Trustworthy information is harder & harder to find. And all the trends are in the wrong direction.

Seems bad.

Maybe the Fed could refrain from deliberately causing a recession then?

RT @jan_eeckhout@twitter.com

I don’t think people fully appreciate that high inflation in the US and the Euro area is over. We are back at 2%

Part of the high inflation perception today is measurement: instantaneous inflation in December is 2% instead of the conventional measure of 6.5%

1/9

??: https://twitter.com/jan_eeckhout/status/1617478919560794112

RT @SarahHuckabee@twitter.com

In Arkansas, we will not tolerate indoctrination or CRT, we reject “Latinx”, and we will not aid in China’s data harvesting or exploitation.

On day one, we set the tone for an administration that will empower Arkansans and defend our freedom at every turn.

??: https://twitter.com/SarahHuckabee/status/1613878037140934657

Out of the 50 states, Arkansas ranks 49th in quality of health care, 41st in quality of education, 43rd in quality of infrastructure, 41st in overall economic health.

So, in their wisdom, the people elected a dim-witted nepo baby to ban CRT.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/arkansas

Just your regular reminder that "firearms recently became the number one cause of death for children in the US, surpassing motor vehicle deaths and those caused by other injuries." Kids are shot & killed in the US at 7X the rate of our nearest competitor.
https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/child-and-teen-firearm-mortality-in-the-u-s-and-peer-countries/

I've said this before but the most pathetic thing about current RW culture wars is that they are defending a lifestyle -- giant SUVs, highways, strip malls, fast food, suburbs, poisonous/deadly consumer products -- that is 100% a creation of late-20th century corporations.

Once you understand that anger, belligerence, & resentment are not the opposite of fear but the direct outgrowths of fear, the entire US conservative movement makes more sense. They are scared of everything, all the time.

When you take public space away from cars, everything else gets better.

RT @QAGreenways@twitter.com

It seems to be working: "Air pollution in Barcelona has fallen by more than 30% in the last 8 years."
https://www-publico-es.translate.goog/public/contaminacio-l-aire-barcelona-caigut-mes-d-30-els-ultims-8-anys.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

??: https://twitter.com/QAGreenways/status/1605991717177806849

I'm on an Amtrak to Portland. Get ready for ? tweets.

Hot train take 1: decent people treat all rail cars as quiet cars.

Part of the scam is to define basic bedrock standards of decency as "left" & then, lo, you find "left bias" everywhere you look.

But that's not bias, fellas. That's just people trying to live in a society together.

One of the most bizarre features of the current masculinity panic is the notion that eating meat is somehow manly or powerful or patriotic.

RT @RottenInDenmark@twitter.com

I used to love doing stuff like this. And then I turned 14.
https://www.mediaite.com/podcasts/piers-morgan-eats-steak-in-front-of-vegan-protester-i-love-eating-steak-im-not-going-to-stop/

??: https://twitter.com/RottenInDenmark/status/1600624099260518400

More broadly, I'm just baffled by the way these folks try to define masculinity through ... consumer choices. Like, you buy a truck & a gun, you eat meat, you shop at big box stores, you live in SFH, etc etc.

Here's the thing, though: anybody can do/buy any of that stuff!

Collecting those external signifiers of masculinity requires nothing but a little money. You don't have to be strong or good or ... anything (they don't check at the register). It says absolutely nothing about your character, about the kind of person you are.

You can be pissy, resentful, dishonest, rude or violent toward those with less power than you, abusive toward your family, on and on ... but you eat a lot of steak, so ... you're manly? I guess?

If all these panicked dudes want to bring back masculinity, how about bringing back some stereotypically masculine virtues? Be reliable & steady. Make those around you feel safe. Help & protect those weaker than you.

Be a *gentleman*. Where did that notion go?

Fucking Piers Morgan sitting there gobbling steak at a vegan on TV ... I mean jesus, has anything ever radiated more weakness? More sweatiness & insecurity? How did all these dudes get the idea that being a man = being a petulant dick?

RT @RottenInDenmark@twitter.com

Back-to-back paragraphs.
No one is actually against "cancellation," they think some people deserve it and others don't but are too chickenshit to say it. https://twitter.com/THR/status/1596967221749768193

??: https://twitter.com/RottenInDenmark/status/1597034579076222976

I know this is not a welcome opinion On Here but, y'all, Diet Coke is gross.

RT @ACLU@twitter.com

For those keeping track of abortion-related ballot measures at home:

Michigan: VICTORY ✅
California: VICTORY ✅
Vermont: VICTORY ✅
Kentucky: VICTORY ✅
Kansas: VICTORY ✅
Montana: VICTORY ✅

Abortion is our right — and we the people will fight to protect it.

??: https://twitter.com/ACLU/status/1590454433686736898