ofcourse

Not only is it perfectly legal but the executives would argue that they are bound by their fiduciary duty to their shareholders. Layoffs increase stock price => shareholders make money => shareholders approve bonus for executives.

Social media and their engagement maximizing algorithms.

GenZ don’t watch TV or read print media so almost 100% of their news is getting filtered through an algorithm that has the sole purpose to keep them hooked. Hell, even search results are biased. One really has to go out of their way to get facts outside of a personalized feed.

GenZ are definitely not the reason we have a buffoon as a president and a psychopath as his controller. This article about GenZs changing their views says more about their willingness to think critically than all the older voters who have chosen not to despite the 2017-21 hell.

I wouldn’t blame anyone resigning voluntarily over this. Can you imagine the energy, dedication and countless hours they’d have put into building this case only to have it thrown away on a whim?! It would be close to impossible to stay motivated in any job after something like this. Honestly, good on them for prioritizing their safety and mental health over a thankless job.

This is how the Republicans are really gutting the government - by breaking the spirits of the most dedicated employees. This regime is going to be the biggest shock to US government since Reagan and the American people will be suffering from its impacts for decades.

That is indeed a problem that needs to be resolved, and likely through ranked choice voting. But as a country, we tend to focus too much on the presidential election. Change will have to start in the congressional elections - both at federal and state levels. The issue of votes splitting will be a lesser issue in these elections except in a few large districts. That will also be where smaller fundraising campaigns would go further.

In the last 2 decades, the major English bloc of US, Canada, UK and Australia has been in lock step toward the shift to the right. I think it is no coincidence that it aligns with the meteoric rise of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. To satiate his incredible greed, his media organizations have fed into people’s fears and laid down the groundwork for today’s social media companies promoting inflammatory content to maximize engagement. I don’t know if democracy can survive without reining in popular media and significantly reducing biased and false reporting.

Progressives need to start their own party. The establishment DNC is so entrenched with big donors and lobbyists that it is unable to serve the people. Their balancing act of appeasing both the right and the left is just serving to alienate everyone because the final policies get so diluted. They have become too stuck in the quagmire of their own doing. I don’t see the DNC being able to change any time soon and through their inaction, will only enable more devastation of the country.

The new Progressive party should align with the DNC as the opposition during this administration but simultaneously run more like minded candidates in the next elections with their own separate fundraising campaigns. That’s the only hope I have for meaningful change to happen.

He may be an actual villain.

The super rich have only one goal - to become richer.

It always requires labor exploitation.

Sometimes to improve their public perception, their PR teams suggest philanthropy, which they then use for tax evasion.

Other times like now, they don’t give a fuck about public perception because the public has chosen racism and bigotry.

How is the justice department funded? That’s right, our taxes.

Our taxes are going to be used to fight these lawsuits in court and when the department loses, our taxes will be used to pay for the damages to the FBI agents.

There are no real consequences from this to the Justice Department or the buffoon and his lackeys. The only loser is us.

Any research into immigrants’ impact on economy has found that they benefit the local economy. Moreover when immigrants are picked up by ICE, e.g., during Obama presidency, research also found that jobs didn’t increase and incomes were stagnant.

Check out this book, if you want to look at the research yourself: The Truth About Immigration by Zeke Hernandez

From the excerpt:

Skeptics fear that newcomers compete economically with locals because of their similarities and fail to socially assimilate because of their differences. You'll see that it's exactly the opposite: newcomers bring enduring economic benefits because of their differences and contribute positively to society because of their similarities.

Depending on the state you live in, and whether the lease specifically mentioned taking special care of the hardwood floors, this could very well be considered regular wear and tear. There does not appear to be intentional damage here.

The landlord will also need to provide documentation prior to getting work done if they want you to cover the bill, at which point you’ll have the option to contest it.

Check out tenant rights for your state to verify. Hopefully, you’ll also be more careful with hardwood floors in the future. Couches on wheels are no-bueno.

Since Reagan’s neoliberal policies, Republicans have created a vicious cycle of: government inefficient so reduce funding -> not enough resources to hire good talent and provide services -> government inefficient so reduce funding.

IRS is the perfect example where they can only afford to go after the mid-income, while the wealthy get to openly dodge taxes.

All this while promoting the idea that the private sector can do it better, which has led to increasing inequality in resource access, and has only contributed to more money in the pockets of executives and those same Republicans.

We need someone like FDR again to expand government programs and show how good a well run government can be for everyone. Current Democratic leadership’s half assed policies only help to reduce their favorability because neither the left nor the right is happy.