Do not buy anything from Amazon. There are other places to get the same stuff. Spend a few bucks to do the right thing. Like books from independent small bookstores.
I use Amazon mostly as an on-line catalog. It is a great way to find things (and their proper name/size options/ etc), then ask your local vender about the item. Also don't forget to check the local thrift store or Craigs List.
I diligently attempt to NOT use Amazon--there is success to be found by walking into stores, particularly a small independent bookstore for instance, and even a Target store for household items. But there are some items for which I have gone to the original manufacturer's online site only to find that the purchase of said item is run through Amazon. It can be done, but not as easily as one would hope.
I spend hours trying to find sources for items I buy on Amazon and can't!!! Both going to local stores and on line.... I hate it when I order from Amazon, but bozos has such a grip on the market it is SICK! The only redeeming aspect is that at least at the moment he employs many people who need the money despite the despicable conditions they work in.... what to do????
As a retired teacher from a federally funded school, I feel like I got out in the nick of time. I was a teacher for goodness sake not a member of the deep state, but based on my relatively liberal beliefs I would have become suspect. And it will be a cold day in hell before I will swear loyalty to the likes of trump.
I was just thinking about his "all men are created equal, but some are more equal than others" forecast. My father came to America from Cuba before the revolution and could never go home again. I will not live an autocracy, and I will not let a man who has everything take my own home from me.
I tell you this, I won't be living in a country like that. Send your militia goons after me, I don't care. I've had a wonderful life thus far--hard, hard working, but satisfying--and I don't intend to regress because a sad billionaire wants everyone who is not him to be unhappy. (Spoiler alert: he'll never be happy.)
Thank you for your service :) Regardless of all the crap to come, I am comforted by the two months I spent watching a female presidential candidate run an excellent campaign for the people, not the billionaires. I'll never forget it. (It's probably all I'll get in this lifetime.)
ALSO: If you want to take action. We have an early chance to push back on MAGA in Wisconsin. The balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is again going to be determined by an election, this one in early April. If the side that favors democracy wins again it could mean getting rid of the extreme gerrymandering in that state. SUPPORT SUSAN CRAWFORD IN WISCONSIN!!. Look her up, contribute your time and money!
I signed up to send Postcards to Wisconsin voters for her . The election date is in April but the postcards will all go out in March . Hopefully it will reach voters who are unaware of this special election and go vote
With any sort of government-enforced censorship, it it the paramount responsibility of the Fourth Estate to be ever vigilant in resistance to misinformation, sanewashing and lies; to stand up to them and counter them with truth and fact.
We do have a problem here. Much of the main stream media is controlled by billionaire oligarchs who are more interested in currying favor with Trump than informing the people. This being the case, we will have to look farther afield. Substacks like Steady, , Heather Cox Richardson, The Contrarian, and Robert Reich. The BBC World Service and even NPR do better. Remember, critical and objective thinking help to avoid the pitfalls of manipulated facts.
Its the collective name for newspapers, reporters, and journalists before the word 'media' became a buzz word. Once that word showed up there appeared to be more of a shift toward entertainment, clicks, and profit.
I would add Bryon Cohen on No Lie and other podcasts he does on Meidas Touch. There are several podcasts on Meidas Touch that are truth laden and strive to protect democracy. I'm not familiar with Steady but have watched the others that you mention with appreciation.
Trump sowed the seeds of corruption throughout his first term, and then magnified them when he was out of office and he had no constraints. Now, he knows that he has the total loyatly to his party, so no one will stop him..The worst of it all is that he corrupted the courts, especially the Supreme Court. A judge has already stopped his removal of Birth Right Citizenship, saying he's never seen such an obviously unconstitutional action. But, this Supreme Court might see that differently. They rewrote the Constitution for the Immunity Case, they can do it again.
Oldandintheway: I don't think the immunity thing means he can do anything he wants.
From how I understand it, he just cannot be arrested, tried, or punished for anything he does. He's on his way, however, to take down judges who are still easy to say "what?" and have the rule of law written on their hearts. It won't be pretty. Have you read, "The Death of Democracy"? He's following Hitler's playbook too closely to be happenstance.
Thanks for this comment. you are doubtless right -- and speeches would probably appeal to Trump more than discussion of "plans" of any kind.
I'm not up on Il Duce (except that he made the trains run on time?) But I did once see an outstanding film about Der Fuhrer (how did you get an umlaut on your typer? :-) called Downfall, which if I understood correctly, uses actual dialogue Hitler said (in writings? not sure) for the dialogue throughout the whole movie.
If you get the Directors Cut, there are interviews after the movie, one of which is a (now elderly) private secretary to Hitler, one of five or six young girls who all shared the job, and considered Hitler a friendly uncle. It is a terrific film, and utterly chilling.
If you haven't read Jane Mayer's book DARK MONEY, it is a meticulously researched and wonderfully written book. All the players who gave us Project 2025, and who have been quietly plotting for decades, engineering this coup we have of an unhinged megalomaniac in the White House in lockstep with all the Billionaires -- they are all there, some of them described from their often weird childhoods. And their Poster Boy, Trump, is now doing their bidding: (The goal being to free the Billionaires from paying taxes forever, and to remove all regulations, and get rid of democracy so they dont have to worry about those pesky Elections any longer) It seems to me one of the most important books ever written for understanding how our poor country ended up in this horrendous mess.
I will get that book because I recently listened to a podcast that explained how these billionaires behind Project 2025 have used front groups to play out their agenda and stay hidden. The dark money comes along with these groups.
The immunity ruling means that anything he does that can even loosely be construed as within the scope of the presidency he can get away with without penalty.
It won't be easy to 'take down' federal judges, all of whom have lifetime appointments (arguably a double-edged sword).
Trump's new FCC chairman Brendan Carr sees a problem where none exists, so of course, an investigation must be mounted. Attempting to censor private businesses (which networks are) is going to be problematic. Note that the previous chairman saw no need for this, that coverage had been fair and neutral.
I think the more likely action will be to rescind licenses of broadcast channels using the public airways. Remains to be seen what they'll come up with to address cable channels, which don't use public airways and don't require an FCC license to function.
I appreciate the late night "comedy" talk shows for news updates; there is at least a tiny softening of the awfulness with intentional humor. I have wondered if/how they might be targeted for their consistent content at 45 and his regime's expense. They are exercising their free speech rights.
This criminal regime’s lies are just down right evil and not addressing the real economic issues that every day Americans are facing. Their whole agenda is to grab for the next headline with appalling lies to the country! Their whole agenda country must devote its energies in exposing this outlandish crap!
Michael David Flynn: . . . to differ. Truth doesn't skew to the left. The left is "progressive" and so moves forward towards the new mostly in terms of it; while "conservative" just as naturally, holds back--but, insofar as the two are supposed to move together towards the good for everyone, and where truth can reside in both . . . but that moving dynamic and relationship is presently severely distorted, e.g., towards their extremes. Trump and the GOP presently are about destroying that very dynamic which is the foundation of democracies. It won't last . . . . I've seen better losers on children's soccer fields.
I liked a comment made by Heather Cox Richardson (paraphrased here): "I am a Conservative. I believe in the Constitution. I believe in the right to Vote, and in Equal Justice under the law."
A society that can not sort fact from fiction is fundamentally unable to think or act collectively. It is clearly the strategy of Republican right wing and their enablers (and handlers) to flood American with deceit to make it easier for them to act in ways that reinforce their power. The building blocks of this have been being laid for decades with things like the end of the fair use doctrine, lifting of media ownership limits, and Citizens United. Social media made the challenge harder and we were working to find the line between protected speech and disinformation. Now, essentially the Republicans have made it legal to yell fire in theater and endanger others, to slander with little risk, and manipulate in ways we would have never dreamt of. The capitulation of Meta, Wa Po, LA Times, and Amazon makes our job of keeping facts at the center and protecting the ideal of the First Amendment that much harder. It also makes the work of the Contrarian that much more important.
Anyone who has not already read ON TYRANNY by Timothy Snyder will find a lot to pay close attention to, it seems to me. (I especially liked the "graphic" version).
The only time DonOLD Drumpf ever tells the truth is when he slips up. Actually, conscientiously using "entirely true speech" is foreign to him and his subservient lackeys.
The new administration includes many who wear the cloak of Free Speech while burning books. The irony is dizzying.
Do not buy anything from Amazon. There are other places to get the same stuff. Spend a few bucks to do the right thing. Like books from independent small bookstores.
I use Amazon mostly as an on-line catalog. It is a great way to find things (and their proper name/size options/ etc), then ask your local vender about the item. Also don't forget to check the local thrift store or Craigs List.
Always ask the final question as well: "Do I really need this (fill in the blank)"? We are literally drowning in stuff.
Yes, I almost never buy on Amazon.
I really like this idea. I'm going to start doing more of that.
eBay although hum.. who owns eBay?
My Kindle was broken, so I bought a Nook and cancelled my Amazon account.
I diligently attempt to NOT use Amazon--there is success to be found by walking into stores, particularly a small independent bookstore for instance, and even a Target store for household items. But there are some items for which I have gone to the original manufacturer's online site only to find that the purchase of said item is run through Amazon. It can be done, but not as easily as one would hope.
I spend hours trying to find sources for items I buy on Amazon and can't!!! Both going to local stores and on line.... I hate it when I order from Amazon, but bozos has such a grip on the market it is SICK! The only redeeming aspect is that at least at the moment he employs many people who need the money despite the despicable conditions they work in.... what to do????
And CNN is caving as well. Thank you for being the voice of truth!
CNN has been Fox-lite for years
I don’t have cable so that’s that. My Facebook account is only used to send my blogs out I never respond to “friends” request as they are not friends.
Federal worker household here: he is also demanding that civil servants inform on each other. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
As a retired teacher from a federally funded school, I feel like I got out in the nick of time. I was a teacher for goodness sake not a member of the deep state, but based on my relatively liberal beliefs I would have become suspect. And it will be a cold day in hell before I will swear loyalty to the likes of trump.
Here's wishing that there were more people like you!
Quite right, too. It is best to swear AT Trump, not swear loyalty TO. :-)
Same things found in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. George Orwell wrote eloquently about them.
I was just thinking about his "all men are created equal, but some are more equal than others" forecast. My father came to America from Cuba before the revolution and could never go home again. I will not live an autocracy, and I will not let a man who has everything take my own home from me.
Nancy that's horrible! Wondering how long it will take before friends and neighbors are reporting each other.
I tell you this, I won't be living in a country like that. Send your militia goons after me, I don't care. I've had a wonderful life thus far--hard, hard working, but satisfying--and I don't intend to regress because a sad billionaire wants everyone who is not him to be unhappy. (Spoiler alert: he'll never be happy.)
From what I saw canvassing for Harris in PA, it's already happening.
Thank you for your service :) Regardless of all the crap to come, I am comforted by the two months I spent watching a female presidential candidate run an excellent campaign for the people, not the billionaires. I'll never forget it. (It's probably all I'll get in this lifetime.)
ALSO: If you want to take action. We have an early chance to push back on MAGA in Wisconsin. The balance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court is again going to be determined by an election, this one in early April. If the side that favors democracy wins again it could mean getting rid of the extreme gerrymandering in that state. SUPPORT SUSAN CRAWFORD IN WISCONSIN!!. Look her up, contribute your time and money!
I signed up to send Postcards to Wisconsin voters for her . The election date is in April but the postcards will all go out in March . Hopefully it will reach voters who are unaware of this special election and go vote
Same!
Good idea; I've been watching Wisconsin and think other states could learn a lot from them.
Since Trump will not be on the ballot a lot of his voters won’t care.
Can we convince everyone to use Blue Sky, please. Our reps are still posting on twitter/x; I refuse to read or even open any twitter posts.
Yes! And as hard as it is ditch Instagram and Amazon. We were successful with TV ratings falling on Monday.
With any sort of government-enforced censorship, it it the paramount responsibility of the Fourth Estate to be ever vigilant in resistance to misinformation, sanewashing and lies; to stand up to them and counter them with truth and fact.
We do have a problem here. Much of the main stream media is controlled by billionaire oligarchs who are more interested in currying favor with Trump than informing the people. This being the case, we will have to look farther afield. Substacks like Steady, , Heather Cox Richardson, The Contrarian, and Robert Reich. The BBC World Service and even NPR do better. Remember, critical and objective thinking help to avoid the pitfalls of manipulated facts.
I haven't heard of the Fourth Estate. What is that, please?
Its the collective name for newspapers, reporters, and journalists before the word 'media' became a buzz word. Once that word showed up there appeared to be more of a shift toward entertainment, clicks, and profit.
I would add Bryon Cohen on No Lie and other podcasts he does on Meidas Touch. There are several podcasts on Meidas Touch that are truth laden and strive to protect democracy. I'm not familiar with Steady but have watched the others that you mention with appreciation.
Steady is produced by a respected newsman, Dan Rather.
Oops. I did leave out The Guardian, and am not familiar with Marc Elias.
Trump sowed the seeds of corruption throughout his first term, and then magnified them when he was out of office and he had no constraints. Now, he knows that he has the total loyatly to his party, so no one will stop him..The worst of it all is that he corrupted the courts, especially the Supreme Court. A judge has already stopped his removal of Birth Right Citizenship, saying he's never seen such an obviously unconstitutional action. But, this Supreme Court might see that differently. They rewrote the Constitution for the Immunity Case, they can do it again.
Oldandintheway: I don't think the immunity thing means he can do anything he wants.
From how I understand it, he just cannot be arrested, tried, or punished for anything he does. He's on his way, however, to take down judges who are still easy to say "what?" and have the rule of law written on their hearts. It won't be pretty. Have you read, "The Death of Democracy"? He's following Hitler's playbook too closely to be happenstance.
Yes, even invading defenseless neighboring countries.
Mein Kampf sits on Trump's bedside table, it has been reported. Said to be the only book Donald Trump has actually ever read.
Thanks for this comment. you are doubtless right -- and speeches would probably appeal to Trump more than discussion of "plans" of any kind.
I'm not up on Il Duce (except that he made the trains run on time?) But I did once see an outstanding film about Der Fuhrer (how did you get an umlaut on your typer? :-) called Downfall, which if I understood correctly, uses actual dialogue Hitler said (in writings? not sure) for the dialogue throughout the whole movie.
If you get the Directors Cut, there are interviews after the movie, one of which is a (now elderly) private secretary to Hitler, one of five or six young girls who all shared the job, and considered Hitler a friendly uncle. It is a terrific film, and utterly chilling.
If you haven't read Jane Mayer's book DARK MONEY, it is a meticulously researched and wonderfully written book. All the players who gave us Project 2025, and who have been quietly plotting for decades, engineering this coup we have of an unhinged megalomaniac in the White House in lockstep with all the Billionaires -- they are all there, some of them described from their often weird childhoods. And their Poster Boy, Trump, is now doing their bidding: (The goal being to free the Billionaires from paying taxes forever, and to remove all regulations, and get rid of democracy so they dont have to worry about those pesky Elections any longer) It seems to me one of the most important books ever written for understanding how our poor country ended up in this horrendous mess.
I will get that book because I recently listened to a podcast that explained how these billionaires behind Project 2025 have used front groups to play out their agenda and stay hidden. The dark money comes along with these groups.
Let me know how you like the book!
The immunity ruling means that anything he does that can even loosely be construed as within the scope of the presidency he can get away with without penalty.
It won't be easy to 'take down' federal judges, all of whom have lifetime appointments (arguably a double-edged sword).
Another good read is The Cult of Trump.
If we survive as a nation, the next 4 years, we are going to need a passel of constitutional amendments.
The book burners were never the good guys in history. Never.
Add that the FCC is now investigating ABC, NBC and CBS over their coverage of the 2024 election.
Trump's new FCC chairman Brendan Carr sees a problem where none exists, so of course, an investigation must be mounted. Attempting to censor private businesses (which networks are) is going to be problematic. Note that the previous chairman saw no need for this, that coverage had been fair and neutral.
I think the more likely action will be to rescind licenses of broadcast channels using the public airways. Remains to be seen what they'll come up with to address cable channels, which don't use public airways and don't require an FCC license to function.
I appreciate the late night "comedy" talk shows for news updates; there is at least a tiny softening of the awfulness with intentional humor. I have wondered if/how they might be targeted for their consistent content at 45 and his regime's expense. They are exercising their free speech rights.
"Fair and neutral" is not what Trump and his fellow idiots want. They want only THEIR views to be reported.
I'm sure that the new FCC director will do all he can to rescind licenses for use of the public airwaves.
This criminal regime’s lies are just down right evil and not addressing the real economic issues that every day Americans are facing. Their whole agenda is to grab for the next headline with appalling lies to the country! Their whole agenda country must devote its energies in exposing this outlandish crap!
They're right about one thing; truth skews to the left.
Michael David Flynn: . . . to differ. Truth doesn't skew to the left. The left is "progressive" and so moves forward towards the new mostly in terms of it; while "conservative" just as naturally, holds back--but, insofar as the two are supposed to move together towards the good for everyone, and where truth can reside in both . . . but that moving dynamic and relationship is presently severely distorted, e.g., towards their extremes. Trump and the GOP presently are about destroying that very dynamic which is the foundation of democracies. It won't last . . . . I've seen better losers on children's soccer fields.
I liked a comment made by Heather Cox Richardson (paraphrased here): "I am a Conservative. I believe in the Constitution. I believe in the right to Vote, and in Equal Justice under the law."
A society that can not sort fact from fiction is fundamentally unable to think or act collectively. It is clearly the strategy of Republican right wing and their enablers (and handlers) to flood American with deceit to make it easier for them to act in ways that reinforce their power. The building blocks of this have been being laid for decades with things like the end of the fair use doctrine, lifting of media ownership limits, and Citizens United. Social media made the challenge harder and we were working to find the line between protected speech and disinformation. Now, essentially the Republicans have made it legal to yell fire in theater and endanger others, to slander with little risk, and manipulate in ways we would have never dreamt of. The capitulation of Meta, Wa Po, LA Times, and Amazon makes our job of keeping facts at the center and protecting the ideal of the First Amendment that much harder. It also makes the work of the Contrarian that much more important.
Probably a whole new field of Economics. Exposing and accounting for, the real cost of disinformation on the economy.
You can ignore physics, the natural world, reality etc. Unfortunately, ignorance doesn't alter reality..
Censoring the media is one more activity taken straight out of the Dictator's Playbook. They've been working on the pretext for it a long time.
Watch and see - this won't be the only Playbook favorite Donny & Co will trot out.
Anyone who has not already read ON TYRANNY by Timothy Snyder will find a lot to pay close attention to, it seems to me. (I especially liked the "graphic" version).
The only time DonOLD Drumpf ever tells the truth is when he slips up. Actually, conscientiously using "entirely true speech" is foreign to him and his subservient lackeys.