Events in Korea continue to unfold.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korean-persecutors-question-ex-defence-minister-over-botched-martial-law-2024-12-07/

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-musk-rat

😳

Musk is undetectable poison, vegetable alkaloid, death cap mushroom, and he knows *exactly* what he is doing.

Expect the Russian and Chinese governments to adopt these techniques.

We have absolutely got to get a handle on social media and our friends, neighbors, and relatives who are stupid enough to fall for this stuff.

Bad actors trying to game democracy and democracy saying, “No,” straight-up. Now we’re starting to get down to it.

«Barely a month ago, Georgescu was almost unheard of inside his own country, with no party backing and a low profile in traditional media.

But all that changed in the final two weeks before the Nov. 24 first round of the presidential election. Some 25,000 pro-Georgescu TikTok accounts burst into action, in what Romanian analysts say was a coordinated attempt to sway the election in his favor.»

https://www.politico.eu/article/romania-politics-election-calin-georgescu-elena-lasconi-what-the-hell-is-going-on/

I hope laws on social media will be passed. Data should be preserved and made available for analytics on a timely basis. Misleading posts should be quickly and accurately labeled as such and put behind an extra click or two (at minimum). (I remain convinced it’s possible, between human intelligence, algorithms, and machine learning.)

Ok, this is how it’s going to go down. Red states (or red areas of blue states) will get exceptions while blue states (or blue areas) don’t. So, the only faces that will be eaten by leopards will be blue faces. Yay.

«Here’s another possibility: In the end, Trump’s deportation forces may selectively spare certain localities and industries from mass removals. Trump’s incoming “border czar,” Tom Homan, suggests this won’t happen. But a hallmark of MAGA is corruptly selective governance in the interests of MAGA nation and expressly against those who are designated MAGA’s enemies, U.S. citizens included. One can see mass deportations becoming a selective tool, in which blue localities are targeted for high-profile raids—even as Trump triumphantly rants that they are cesspools of “migrant crime” that he is pacifying with military-style force—while GOP-connected industries and Trump-allied Republicans tacitly secure some forbearance.

Indeed, there is historical precedent for something like this. In one infamous 1990s episode, Georgia lawmakers intervened to get immigration authorities to back off deportations during the state’s Vidalia onion harvests.»

https://newrepublic.com/article/189054/trump-immigration-threats-republican-resistance

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/us/politics/california-house-gray-duarte.html

«Mr. Duarte, who trailed by 187 votes in a contest in which more than 210,000 ballots were cast, conceded shortly before The A.P.’s call»

Votes count.

I thought of you, dear social media, when I read this quote from “Echoes of Honor (Honor Harrington Book 8)” by David Weber –

«We’re beginning to stress the economy pretty hard. I’ve even got permanent secretaries and undersecretaries in my department talking about a progressive income tax.”

“You what?” That brought White Haven upright in his chair once more, and his eyes widened when his brother nodded. “But that’s unconstitutional!”

“Not exactly,” William said. “The Constitution specifies that any permanent income tax must be flat-rated, but it does make provision for temporary adjustments to the rate.”

‘Temporary’!” White Haven snorted.

“Temporary,” William repeated firmly. “Any progressive taxes have to be enacted with a specific time limit, and they automatically terminate at the time of the first general election after enactment. And they can only be passed with a two-thirds super-majority of both houses in the first place.”»

Start reading this book for free: https://a.co/3zIGugF

———————–

Getting periously close to the “throw the book across the room” point. Really, David Weber? Your utopian nation defending justice and democracy has a FLAT TAX???

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn38321180et

What the heck is going on South Korea?

https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2024/12/act-10-overturned

Note to self: continued effort pays off.

(Super-obnoxious Republican law in Wisconsin banning collective bargaining among public-sector employees overturned.)

https://whowhatwhy.org/cartoon/asking-the-tough-questions/

https://weeklysift.com/2024/12/02/weak-points/

«Trump will troll us by threatening to do something, get some kind of response from the targets of his threats, falsely claim that the response is a concession, and do a victory lap for “winning” the exchange. Nothing has actually happened, but he has exhausted his opponents and given his followers a fake “victory” to crow about.»

…

«Inflation is headed down, fentanyl deaths are down, border apprehensions are down — in a few months we’re going to hear Trump claim all these accomplishments as his own.»