Kurt Vonnegut:
“America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.
Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters."
More at https://fastnbulbous.com/kurt-vonnegut-slaughterhouse-five/
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Kurt Vonnegut:
“For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course, that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. “Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!”
Let's look at some of Kurt Vonnegut's timeless words of wisdom -
"'Socialism' is no more an evil word than 'Christianity'. Socialism no more prescribed Joseph Stalin and his secret police and shuttered churches than Christianity prescribed the Spanish Inquisition. Christianity and Socialism alike, in fact, prescribe a society dedicated to the proposition that all men, women, and children are created equal and shall not starve."
From "A Man Without a Country (2005)"
Happy Birthday Kurt Vonnegut (Nov 11, 1922 – Apr 11, 2007).
"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.
If we are wounded by an ugly idea, we must count it as part of the cost of freedom and, like American heroes in the days gone by, bravely carry on.
When things are going sweetly and peacefully, please pause a moment, and then say out loud, ‘If this isn’t nice, what is?’
God damn it, you’ve got to be kind."
Susie Wiles resigned because trump blamed her, among others, for Republican losses this week.
"Trump made his displeasure with his political team known starting at a tense election night reception in the East Room. He vented that deep Republican losses were the result of their strategy. Wiles was among those Trump blamed for the Republican losses, the person said."
The world knows that it is trump who should resign.
https://www.channel3000.com/news/national-and-world-news/stephen-miller-replacing-susie-wiles-as-chief-of-staff-as-trump-grows-furious-with-midterm/article_7640f500-5e62-50bf-bdbc-b2dfee24347c.html
#UsPol
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The well-written article by emptywheel also provides some broader lessons for all of us - to have informed opinions, to learn about the big picture, to learn about the person's decades of history, to understand their roles and responsibilities, to not react to isolated statements or quips made by leaders or pundits or opponents, to not follow the herd.
To see things not just from our own eyes, but through the eyes of others and the eyes of the target of our opinion.
#UsPol
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emptywheel writes in the defense of Hakeem Jeffries:
"Hakeem Jeffries is not YOUR leader. There are actually people leading the resistance well already.
He is the leader of 255 incoming Members of Congress, more than half of whom are more conservative than you, than me, and even than Hakeem Jeffries."
#UsPol
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"In my opinion, Hakeem Jeffries — who I concede many of you likely hate as a person — has been maximally effective.
In the last 20 months, House Dems were repeatedly unified on votes.
Dem unity made splits in the GOP caucus disastrous for Mike Johnson.
Jeffries and his leadership team effectively took away one of the biggest tools Trump has to sow authoritarianism, a House majority.
Has been a fundraising powerhouse
Helped win seats in the Deep South."
Democrats in the new Congress include 13 medical doctors/experts.
And 4 scientists -
Jasmine Clark, GA, Microbiologist
Daniel Biss, IL, Mathematician
Sean Casten, IL, Biochem Engr
Bill Foster, IL, Physicist
"They plan, they say, to use their knowledge to combat what they see as trump's anti-science policies.
Mr. Biss said he believed that his colleagues with backgrounds in science would bring an important perspective on problem solving to Congress."
🧑🔬
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/06/science/scientists-election-congress.html
#UsPol
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"You might well think, based only on the news coverage of Tuesday’s elections, that opposition to Trump and his agenda is a relatively recent thing, mostly a function of his decision to attack Iran 8 months ago, which then led to increased fuel prices.
But no, it’s been around a bit longer than that.
Ever since the moment Trump won a 2nd term in Nov 2024, very close to half of American voters have been angry and horrified."
https://presswatchers.org/2026/11/whats-missing-from-every-story-about-tuesdays-anti-trump-rout/
#UsPol
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Over the next 7 months, the ESA Hera mission will study asteroid Dimorphos, measure its mass as well as its shifted orbit and perform its own ‘crash scene investigation’ of the asteroid moon’s impact crater and surrounding surface.
Hera will also deploy two CubeSats, which will fly closer to the asteroid. CubeSat Milani will prospect the mineral make-up of Dimorphos. Juventas will perform the first radar sounding of an asteroid. They might even attempt landing.
Check out this thread from March 12, 2025, when ESA’s Hera spacecraft performed a flyby of Mars.
ESA had a wonderful webcast featuring Dr. Brian May (!) and Dr. Patrick Michel explaining the Hera mission, Mars and its moon Deimos.
Here is the first close-up view of the Didymos asteroids taken by the ESA Hera spacecraft from a distance of 60 km.
The 51-m diameter Dimorphos companion asteroid is located below Didymos and is mostly hidden by shadow.
On Sept 26, 2022, the NASA DART spacecraft intentionally crashed into Dimorphos at about 6.1 km/s, shortening its orbit around Didymos by ~33 minutes.
This view of Didymos shows the opposite side of what was seen by DART before impact.
Mr. Musk spent at least half a billion dollars in this election, most of it went down the drain.
House - backed 37 Republicans, 33 lost
Senate - backed 7 republicans, 6 lost, AK remains to be called
He spent over $225 million Texas which saw a blue wipeout.
Cameron county, home to Starbase and Boca Chica, voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates (~65%:31%).
Sad 🙁
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-has-little-show-his-record-spending-republican-campaigns-us-midterms-2026-11-05/
https://www.cameroncountytx.gov/elections/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/1145pm-RPT11-04-2026-060050.pdf
#UsPol
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It's a bloodbath in the stock market today as overpriced tech stocks sink while markets absorb the implications of Democratic wins in the midterms.
Tesla, down 11%, has lost about $150 billion in value today. YTD, it is down 25%.
#UsPol
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Lots of interesting questions and results from these exit polls conducted by NBC News, with a group of other news organizations, in 45 key states.
The Economy and the state of Democracy are top issues in this poll question.
The blue vs red bar shows Democrat vs Republican split for each answer.
Check them out at https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-elections/exit-polls
#UsPol
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Old man yells at clocks.
🕰️
#UsPol
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Online front page of the NYT -
https://www.nytimes.com/
🌊 🌊🌊
#UsPol
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This is a test of of the cluelessness and gullibility of MAGA republicans, whose "bone-spurs" cult leader boasts and rambles on and on about things of which he has no clue.
#UsPol
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