social.outsourcedmath.com



Albertsons and Kroger agree to pause merger amid legal, regulatory challenges

https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/albertsons-kroger-agree-pause-merger-amid-legal-regulatory-challenges
Will diaspora
Ridiculous merger mania. You would think people would encourage healthy competition.

“Utterly #Immoral and Cruel”: @IlhanOmar Tears Into #Netanyahu

https://newrepublic.com/post/184202/utterly-immoral-cruel-genocide-ilhan-omar-netanyahu-speech-congress

Kevin C 🎬 mastodon (AP)
#AllStarTrek I dunno what the big deal is. Just leave me with my Trek blue-rays and xbox, and I'm pretty sure I'd be fine alone for months.

(Probably says more about me than anything else 😖)
#StarTrek #StarTrekVoyager #One
This entry was edited (6 months ago)

AnarchoNinaAnalyzes mastodon (AP)
This story is just over a week old now, but (unsurprisingly) I haven't seen that much coverage about it in the media, so we're gonna talk about it here. Indie media outlet Unicorn Riot recently published a summary dive into just *who* is behind Project 2025; the christo-fascist battle plan for transforming America into the Pork Reich over the first 180 days of a potential Trump presidency. It probably won't surprise you to learn that the folks involved in both funding and creating Project 2025 are kooks, fundies, and nazis. What might surprise you to learn (because it's barely covered in the media) is that these fascists are almost universally "Very Respectable People" in US society - politicians, employees of globally significant consulting firms, and legal organizations:

https://unicornriot.ninja/2024/a-deeper-look-into-project-2025-far-right-political-funding-and-propaganda/

A Deeper Look Into Project 2025, Far-Right Political Funding and Propaganda

"Likewise, it pays to understand who is funding not just the politicians but groups like Heritage and the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), where many of these far-right Republicans get their bigoted ideas, dictated talking points, and financial support. These groups often draft conservative policy ideas and legislation for politicians.

For Republicans, the goal is simple: keep white Christian nationalists in power at all costs.

Upon deeper investigation of the Project 2025 document and its funders, Unicorn Riot found that Joel Frushone, a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young, is listed as a Contributor in the 922-page document ‘Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise’, as is Jen Ehlinger, formerly a communications strategist at the U.S. State Department for much of the Trump Administration and an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton until December 2022.

Ernst & Young is a major professional services firm that serves as a consultant for businesses and governments globally. They are considered a Big Four Player among accounting firms along with Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC – some of the largest in the world. Booz Allen Hamilton is a consulting firm specializing in helping governments and businesses with complex technology-related challenges. Booz Allen Hamilton is listed next to Jen Ehlinger’s name in the Project 2025 document’s ‘Contributors’ list; Ernst & Young is not listed next to Joel Frushone’s name on that list."

While the sheer size of list of names, think tanks, and organizations profiled in this piece can be quite dizzying, much of the clout behind both the larger fascist project in America and Project 2025 itself, revolves around or is connected to an innocuous sounding political policy shop/think tank called the Conservative Partnership Institute, or CPI. If you follow the links in this piece, you'll discover that the CPI is dedicated to creating "America First political infrastructure" (read: fascism) and is "led by former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint." The expressed purpose of this group is to create the political infrastructure to install fascism in America, the moment the nazis reclaim the White House; infrastructure Trump lacked when he won in 2016.

Obviously, this means CPI isn't an ordinary think tank/policy document shop; even if it's run like one. Let's look at some of the US fascists who have offices at the CPI:

"The Documented and Guardian report focuses on an analysis of recently acquired tax records that revealed Citizens for Sanity, a dark money group with ties to former president Trump’s inner circle, spent $93 million in the second half of 2022. Nearly all of that money went to running ads that have been described as vile, racist, and transphobic.

Tax records also revealed that Citizens for Sanity’s offices are located at the headquarters of CPI in Washington D.C. – a key component of the infrastructure to get Trump elected. Notably, the group has ties to America First Legal (AFL), which employed three Citizens for Sanity’s board members. Many of AFL’s employees are also listed as contributors to Project 2025."

"Many far-right politicians in Congress who promote racial, ethnic, and cultural hatred across the country have offices at CPI’s headquarters. U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA14), Ralph Norman (R-SC05), Matt Gaetz (R-FL01), and Byron Donalds (R-FL19) alongside senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) call it “a home away from home,” according to CPI."

I encourage you to read the full piece because there are names I didn't have room to list, but the key point is that American fascism and Project 2025 are not the product of fringe elements on the right and street nazis. These folks are elected officials, lawyers, PR minions and influential members of our society. They're running the fascist project the same way you'd run any other policy shop or political infrastructure organization, and they're dead serious about it.

#Fascism #Project2025 #HeritageFoundation #CPI
2 people reshared this
charvaka mastodon (AP)
Ernst & Young serves a lot of public companies. I hope they have already taken action against the senior manager who contributed to this fascist handbook. I will ask the partners I know at the firm. They do not want to be seen as supporting this project.

Booz Allen Hamilton gets a lot of government contracts, the Biden administration needs to investigate this.
TheDarcBird reshared this.

Europe Says mastodon (AP)
https://www.europesays.com/1361262/ SCOTUS Justice Elena Kagan endorses ethics enforcement mechanism #AnythingGoesNews #BreakingNews #GlobalNews #LatestNews #News #WorldNews
SCOTUS Justice Elena Kagan endorses ethics enforcement mechanism

US public rapidly sours on Project 2025 as awareness grows


Progressive polling firm Navigator Research found in a survey conducted between July 11-14 that 54% of Americans were familiar with Project 2025, which calls for the weakening and eradication of federal agencies and the consolidation of power with the president, the elimination of job protections of thousands of federal employees, and the withdrawal of mifepristone—a pill used in a majority of abortions in the U.S.—from the market.

That's an increase of 25 percentage points from Navigator's poll on Project 2025 just one month ago, said the firm.

Just 11% of people polled viewed the agenda favorably, while 43% had unfavorable views—a 24-point increase since June.

https://www.alternet.org/heritage-right-wing/

backup: https://archive.ph/elCrM
I'd comment there, but I can't
Bob Lai diaspora
'Sours' on Fourth Reich 2025?

Who the fuck was for it in the first place?

What they really mean is, 'People are getting upset with the media for being a bunch of over-paid shills and stenographers, so we have to pretend we knew all along this was fascist codswallop.'

CandyK mastodon (AP)
🤣 🤣 🤣 😂 🤣 Who did this?

This summer, the 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks that the Netherlands and Denmark purchased for Ukraine will be sent to Ukraine. These battle tanks have been refurbished and tested over the past few months, according to Minister Ruben Brekelmans. The tanks, originally used models, were bought last year and refurbished by the German company Rheinmetall.

https://www.defensie.nl/actueel/nieuws/2024/07/25/toegezegde-leopard-2-tanks-naar-oekraine

Sue Stone mastodon (AP)
'Scared little punk': CNN panel slams 'big, strong man' Trump after he backs out of debate - Raw Story

https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-2668817401/

BakersRelay mastodon (AP)
#MacyFire #CAwx

Liam Winstead, Staff Reporter
Jul 25, 10:55 PM EDT

Structures remain threatened, per incident command. Highway 74 will be shut down through the night. Grand Avenue will be shut down at least until midnight.

The Evacuation Center will be moving to Elsinore High School (21800 Canyon Dr, Wildomar, CA 92595), per radio traffic.

https://share.watchduty.org/i/28015

João Pinheiro mastodon (AP)
[País Basco] 20 anos de prisão e 56.000 euros por acampar em Aroztegia - Anda tudo louco! https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2024/07/23/pais-basco-20-anos-de-prisao-e-56-000-euros-por-acampar-em-aroztegia/

bouriquet mastodon (AP)
Kamala Harris is right.
We’re not going back!
I’ve modified the flux capacitor to make sure we never ever go back to the 1950s.
We’re headed for the future!
Doc Brown in Back to the Future

Kevin Rigotti mastodon (AP)
That URL should be a public order offence
Meredith mastodon (AP)
@Graffotti Yes! I don't know why The Conversation has such unwieldy URLs. Otherwise, it's such an excellent website.

Europe Says mastodon (AP)
https://www.europesays.com/1361260/ “That’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.”. #PoliticalHumor #PoliticalHumor #Politics #UsPolitics
"That's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for them.".

Meredith mastodon (AP)
Angel on my shoulder: What sustains me during complex creative projects? A couple of years ago, I discovered something surprising...

https://www.meredithlewis.com.au/blog/angel-on-my-shoulder
Susanne mastodon (AP)
Great text.
"I felt that so much of my life had been swept away by my struggle to just survive each day that I wanted to keep just one promise to myself, to keep on doing one thing that really mattered just to me."

I'll keep that quote.
Meredith mastodon (AP)
@SusanneDoering Thank you Susanne! I'm glad that it resonated with you.

Ars Technica mastodon (AP)
US solar production soars by 25 percent in just one year

2024 is seeing the inevitable outcome of the building boom in solar farms.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/07/us-solar-production-soars-by-25-percent-in-just-one-year/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
2 people reshared this

Solve hunger, homelessness, fund education, .... Do it!!!
Didn't I read, recently, how he's been focused on "a trillion people in space" as his 'solution' (to something)?
I agree with Whuffo and second Kenny: that would be a great start, Bezos! Nothing at all to you, monetarily, and more immediate results, quicker into the pipeline. Heck, that would be a lovely *gesture", just one mil a day, and SEE results.

Dan Neuman hometown (AP)
The effect of the Loblaws boycott wasn't huge, but their food retail sales saw only an increase of 0.2% this quarter. This is on top of a settlement of $500M for bread price fixing.

Another way of looking at this though is that this quarter last year had a net income of $1.58 per share, but dropped to $1.48 per share this year, a year over year drop of 6.3%.

#Loblaws #BoycottLoblaws #CanPoli #cdnpoli https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/comments/1ebx2w2/press_release_consumer_boycott_exerts_pressure_on/
This entry was edited (6 months ago)
Laurie Kay mastodon (AP)
it’s not over yet! 92K on the sub Reddit, and who knows how many boycotting but not on the sub. People are pretty angry, with good reason.
Dan Neuman hometown (AP)
@curmudgeonaf And then fewer people will shop there.

BakersRelay mastodon (AP)
#ApacheFire #CAwx

Benjamin Kuo, Reporter
· Jul 25, 10:23 PM EDT

According to VCEmergency.com, as of 5:00 PM Thursday, July 25, 2024, the fire is estimated at 1,499 acres with 0% containment. There have been no changes to evacuation orders or warnings since the last update.

#ApacheFire https://share.watchduty.org/i/27551

Let me help you, Ted. Literally no woman on Earth wants anything of yours.
Ted Cruz: "Kamala can't have my guns. She can't have my gasoline engine. And she sure as hell can't have my steaks and cheeseburgers"
Martha mastodon (AP)
AMEN! Fuck off, Cruz

fivestone mastodon (AP)
RT:Childless Cat Lady T恤,所有利润将以万斯的名义,捐献给堕胎基金会~

https://weirdlilguys.com/
如月中天 mastodon (AP)
childless cat lady……我的进度是66.67%!就差养只猫了(

Sue Stone mastodon (AP)
'Kamala just broke Zoom': 136K white women overcome glitchy call to raise over $1M - Raw Story

https://www.rawstory.com/kamala-harris-2668817109/

#Harris #Harris2024

levelbot mastodon (AP)
funk rock levels are 70% and rising

(70%) ■■■■■■■□□□
TheDarcBird mastodon (AP)
Let's pump up the volume
https://youtu.be/8DyziWtkfBw?si=5NEs6w25HenmPFND


libramoon diaspora
https://drjenniferfreed.substack.com/p/we-do-not-have-a-mental-health-crisis

WE DO NOT HAVE A #MENTAL #HEALTH #CRISIS
We have a MENTAL CARE CRISIS
DR. JENNIFER FREED
JUL 25, 2024

..."If you are not extraordinarily privileged in this country, quality mental care is basically unavailable.

Make no mistake it is much more profitable to call our current pandemic of mental despair “A Mental Health Crisis" because that subtly blames the victim, instead of the systems and policies that create the despair.

If we accurately named it a MENTAL CARE CRISIS we would have to take responsibility for the conditions and policies that not only do not help, but overtly continue to harm those most vulnerable in a our communities.

Follow the money and it will be easy to see who is deeply profiting from our broken care systems. What if even a fraction of those profits went into designing mental and emotional care as part of everyday life? What if our educational systems actually taught people how to care as well as succeed?

Mental and emotional care requires that people have the following essential ingredients in their life:
1-Community belonging- Living with or among folks who actually care about your wellbeing.

2-Being a useful and contributing member of the community. Having a job or vocation that matters.

3-Basic economical security in terms of shelter, food, and physical health care coverage

4-Accessible trauma therapy and group support therapy available upon immediate request

5-Protection from bigotry, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of pervasive social harms.

6-Healthy food and air and water

7-Daily movement and exercise

8-Spiritual, religious, or creative rituals practiced regularly in a loving community.

9-Free care for people struggling with addiction"...
headrift diaspora
I agree. When my daughter killed herself in early 2023, my fiancee and I spent about 3 of her last 4 hours on the phone with her. She couldn't get help because her mother (my ex wife) wouldn't have understood it at all. She wouldn't have listened to her or have had any support besides criticism and basic abuse that she had already received for 22 years.

It's a long sad story. I had been suicidal in the past, so I couldn't blame her for anything... all I could do was understand where she was coming from. I don't blame her for anything, only check that she had thought it through (she had stolen a pistol from her maternal grandfather) and make sure that she did in fact want off the ride. She couldn't explain anything to her mother or even think about her response.

She didn't care anymore. She just wanted out.

I had her phone number, but but her address. I didn't have my ex's number or address, she had been planning this for years. I tried to get her to go into my therapist years before that, but she couldn't bring it to to her mother or anyone on that side of her family.

She said she needed a walk (around 11pm). I got the "call 911 rn" text an hour later. They couldn't get in. I did get a call from my ex hours later, she was angry (that and drunk are her only emotions) so I told her the final desires before hanging up on her. I'm not sure of they were respected, but probably not.

They say there are 5 stages to greif, so I'm still at anger at my ex... nothing new there, so I've got it safely clamped away. fwiw, I'm getting handfasted to the gf she liked and was on the phone with that night.

...eventually, love will prevail, but there will be losses

Snowshadow mastodon (AP)
🧵 1/?

A thread of photos of only a few wildfires in Canada:

Please reduce or end your use of fossil fuels.

1/?

Rescuers searching for survivors of a town burning due to wildlfires

#ClimateChange
A vehicle of rescuers searching for survivors of a town burned by wildfire as the fire rages on in the surrounding area. It looks like a scene from a blackened fiery hellscape.
This entry was edited (6 months ago)
Snowshadow mastodon (AP)
6/?

This is what remains of a town in BC after a wildfire a couple of years ago

Please end or reduce your use of oil and gas and coal

#ClimateChange
A town burned to the ground by a wildfire. Nothing remains except twisted metal and cement foundations.
Snowshadow mastodon (AP)
7/?

final photo

People are affected by wildfires, homes and businesses are lost. Often there's no time to save anything except yourself and your loved ones.

Here's a photo of people gathered along a shoreline watching as across the lake in the distance their community burns in a wildfire.

Please reduce your use of oil and gas

#ClimateChange
People gathered along a shoreline. They are dressed in summer clothing like shorts and t-shirts. They are watching helplessly as their community burns under a night sky glowing with orange flames and smoke. The image of the fire is reflected in the water of the lake.
This entry was edited (6 months ago)

josh :floppies: mastodon (AP)
goose game strong

libramoon diaspora
DERISIVE ACTION

Chorus of woe.
Not ours to do.
Pesky tasks for vague thems
to assume.
Most human of vainglorious attributes.
In gathered room of prayer, con-solace,
commoners sing of pestilence.
So pleasant a dingy air.
Cronies, kin, at one in entrained disdain.
Don’t come crying to us when your fancy plans
to have us all be haves and happy can’t become
a cause that leaps with us all as brilliant flame.
We can’t be responsible, aren’t the abling crew.
As ours are trained, we do: roll eyes and complain.

libramoon diaspora
gnome tale #fiction

Hi, I’m Rodney. I’m a gnome from Gnome Hill. But that’s not what I’m here to tell you about. I’m here to tell you the story of what happened to me one day when I got bored and went out to find my fortune. The fortune I found, but it was not the one I had imagined that day.

I carefully packed my bag with some hardtack and bottled water, a change of clothes, some soap and a cloth, my toothbrush, a pen and notebook to keep a journal of my adventures, and what cash I could find in my pockets and piggy bank. I left a note for my family so they would not worry. I took a bath and ate a hearty meal so I would be at my best. Then I set out for parts unknown, singing a song and skipping a bit as I made my way down the road from my home.

I had hardly been walking a half an hour when I came upon a magick carpet that quickly moved behind me, plowed into the backs of my knees so that I fell over backward onto it, and flew me away above the trees and into the clouds.

Of course I was quite surprised by this, and even a little bit frightened. I was also amazed and delighted to be flying so high that everything on the ground looked small and far away. It was exhilirating to be moving through the clouds.

Then, suddenly, the carpet moved out of the cloud cover and I saw a huge mountain right in front of us. There was a small opening in the mountain, like a cavemouth. The carpet showed great skill in maneouvering us through the tiny opening into a kind of antechamber, where it landed and encouraged me to disembark.

I could not leave through the opening in the mountain because that would have meant plunging thousands of feet, and for no good reason. The antechamber was boring and small, but I saw a brightly colored curtain on the back wall that seemed to cover an entrance to another room deeper into the mountain.”

I walked through the entrance, a little trepidatiously I admit, and found a large, cavernous room carved out of the mountain stone. It was mostly dark and shadowy, because the only light seemed to be a smallish stone table covered with burning candles. Past the table of candles, there stood a free-standing mirror about twice as large all around as I am. When I looked into the mirror I became a bit confused and alarmed as I realized that every time I looked away the image would be changed when I looked back.

It was basically a reflection of me, but larger or taller or older or in different clothes. I was so amazed that I walked up to and touched the mirror. To my greater amazement, my hand passed right through as if through liquid, which set me off-balance so that I fell through the mirror altogether. This, of course, surprised me, but not as much as my surprise at what I found on the other side of the mirror.

There were all my friends and family setting up a big party for me. There was a long table with all my favorite foods. There were balloons in all my favorite colors. There were friends with musical skill playing my favorite songs, to which other friends were dancing. It was quite a production. I was pleased and surprised and happy to join in. I went up to one of my brothers who was fairly near and put my arm around him, but he did not respond. He went right ahead stuffing his face with cake and smiling and nodding at the dancers. He acted like I was not there at all. In fact, nobody seemed to notice me. They seemed to be looking straight through me.

Then, my friend Stan appeared, heading toward me from the crowd. He certainly saw me. He came right up and spoke to me.

My dear and long-time friend Stan and I have had many adventures together. He is an inter-dimensional being, but appears in this dimension as something like a unicorn. He looks like a white horse, of considerably smaller than average stature, with a spiral seashell-like horn on his forehead. Actually, it is an interdimensional communications device with which he stays in touch with the folks in his home dimension. He likes the unicorn look.

Stan is a great one to have on adventures. He is fun to be with, entertaining, and very useful in a great variety of ways. He is loyal and dependable, except when he gets called on his horn by his home dimension family and has to disappear in a wink, sometimes even forgetting to say good-bye.
Synopsis:

Stan tells Rodney that they have fallen into a “possibility portal” — a kind of hyperlink that holds different timeline possibilities which can be perceived as real, but not directly interacted with. These portals have been popping up lately disguised as mirrors, clear water or ice, anything with that kind of reflective surface.

Further, Stan tells Rodney that he (R) had left on his morning’s adventure about 6 months previously and has not been heard from since. Stan and a couple of Rodney’s siblings, Peter and Kayla [please let me know if there are better gnome names] had been out on a frozen pond when they fell through the pp.

The gargoyles, who are not really mean but have a rather twisted sense of humor, had become aware of the portals, which affected them differently in that they were more aware of the illusory nature of the possibilities and were able to maneouver through and use them. They have decided it would be great fun to capture the gnomes who fall through the portals by arranging for them to believe they are about to be seen by men. To hide themselves, the gnomes will take on a temporary garden gnome statue state. The gargoyles have a stasis raygun which will keep the gnomes locked in the statue state. The gargoyles intend to take these gnomes, when they have a good supply, to sell to garden supply stores as garden gnomes. What fun it will be a couple of decades down the line when the gnomes unstasis and scare the people whose gardens they are in, and vice versa. Gargoyles have very long lives and very little time sense.

Peter and Kayla were captured by the gargoyles. Stan, being an interdimensional being, also has other rules in the pp and can not get out without assistance. He has been wandering the pp world and learned about the gargoyle’s plan. Finally, he thot to contact his old friend, the flying carpet, with whom he has a telepathic link, asking the carpet to bring someone who can help him. Thus Rodney was brought to the mountain.

Rodney and Stan must save Rodney’s kin. They find that there is a large wall mirror at the back of the party room. Rodney jumps on Stan’s back and they are able to fall through the portal mirror back through the mountain portal on the other side. They take some candles from the stone table and continue through the inside of the mountain path to make their way to where the gargoyles are holding the captured gnomes, 6 months in the future.

There can be any amount of adventures while they are journeying through the mountain, including a time when Stan is called to his home dimension and winks out, leaving Rodney alone and unsure of how to proceed.

Along their journey, Rodney and Stan discover that the way to break the statis is to perform a certain ritual song. The specific vibration of the notes of the song will cause the stasis victims to dance back into life.

Of course, eventually Rodney and Stan reach their goal, find the captured gnomes, perform the ritual song and free them. Afterwards, there is a big party — the same party from the first pp. Rodney has learned that his true fortune is his friends and family. However, he is certain to go off on many other escapades to be true to his adventurous spirit.

The End


libramoon diaspora
https://lauriecorzett.substack.com/p/lifelines



The Associated Press removes a fact-check claiming JD Vance has not had sex with a couch / ‘We are looking into how that happened,’ an AP spokesperson told The Verge.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/7/25/24206088/jd-vance-fact-check-sex-couch-rumor-associated-press-retraction



Dave Matthews protests against Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to US Congress: “I’m ashamed”

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/dave-matthews-protests-against-benjamin-netanyahus-visit-to-us-congress-im-ashamed/

libramoon diaspora
https://www.artrenewal.org/artists/maxfield-parrish/314
Maxfield Parrish

117 #artworks

American Golden Age #Illustrator, #painter and illustrator

Born 1870 - Died 1966

#MaxfieldParrish/Date of birth
July 25, 1870

In some ways yes, in other ways no.
NDA's need to have an expiration date, unless they involve national secrets. They have utility.
Non competes are anti worker.



prainbow mastodon (AP)
“The vulture collapse in India provides a particularly stark example of the type of hard-to-reverse and unpredictable costs to humans that can come from the loss of a species,” says Mr Sudarshan, an associate professor at the University of Warwick and co-author of the study.
#extinction #vultures #India #KeystoneSpecies #Nature #Birds
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c28e2pvzn3lo
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