#political commentary

[catgirl-kaiju]

workplaces should have to legally provide unlimited paid sick leave available immediately upon hire. the limits that companies that even provide paid sick leave put on it is so fucked up. no one can control when they get sick, how often they get sick, or how long they are sick for, and they shouldn't have to suffer for the transgression of being ill.

"oh, but some people might take advantage of that and just stay home all the time and get paid for it!" if there is really a statistically relevant amount of people you have hired staying home on paid sick leave for months or years on end, perhaps your workplace sucks to be at, and you need to change.

give them reasons to come in to work. make it safer and easier to do their jobs. give them work that they can get invested in and talk to them about what that looks like. make sure you aren't overloading them with too much work or making unreasonable demands. pay them an amount that makes the work worth doing to them. actually form a working relationship with your employees instead of treating them like infinitely exploitable wage slaves.

only allowing your workers to accrew "2 hours a week of sick time starting after 6 weeks of employment" or some shit just doesn't match the reality of how sickness or human health works

#rant #healthcare #anti capitalism #workers rights #labor rights #socialist #communist #us politics #political commentary

[alwaysbewoke]

#political commentary #capitalism #corporate power #consumerism #economic policy #socialism #government intervention #market dynamics

[phoenixyfriend]

I try not to make a lot of original posts on topics I don't actually have any expertise on, but I haven't seen a whole lot of posts going around that actually... explain what happened and why? Like, the actual order of events, the history, and so on. I want to reblog reference posts and explanations by people who actually know what they're talking about, but I haven't seen anything that hits the buttons I need to actually get a political situation... but I have seen some stuff on other platforms.

So here are some videos I've personally found useful in understanding Israel-Palestine, because that's the format I've found most useful in processing information of this nature:

Why Israel was Originally Attacked from RealLifeLore (explains the decades of political dynamics, internal demographic tensions, and power shifts leading up to the current conflict; notably the best I've seen at actually explaining what 'Israeli Occupation' actually means)

Israel-Hamas War: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (commentary on the actual current situation in terms of who's getting attacked, why, and what the international ramifications so far are)

What's Happening in Israel and Why with Nathan Thrall from Adam Conover, series Factually (a discussion with an on-the-ground journalist about what life was like on the ground for Palestinian people in the areas under Israeli control during the last few years, just up to the attacks themselves)

I'm not going to claim these are comprehensive or completely unbiased (there are a few moments where I'm not entirely sure of the bias levels myself), but for people like myself who came into all this unsure of what the actual situation even is, I think these are a solid set to build up an basic understanding from which to put together opinions on future information.

I can't tell anyone what to think about how or why any of this is happening. I can only really tell you that what's going on right now is a crime on the level of attempted genocide, and that the years leading up to that have been an absolute mess on almost all fronts.

Again, I have no expertise on this subject. I just know what kind of video essay, political commentary, and interview style makes things understandable to me, personally, and might work for others. Please be courteous and kind in the comments and tags, as I am only sharing this because I haven't seen such a resource making the rounds yet, not actually trying to sway anyone in a particular direction beyond "the mass death needs to stop."

If you know of similar, relatively unbiased* resources, feel free to share.

* By 'relatively unbaised,' I don't mean taking or not taking a side; I just mean that it doesn't try to hide some information or other in favor of pushing a narrative, doesn't try to generalize a population, or doesn't seem to be trying to use emotional gut reactions to get readers or viewers to jump past reason or compassion.

#israel #palestine #israel palestine conflict #palestine israel conflict #not fandom #politics #current events #resources #information #video essays #interviews #political commentary #I'm not even sure how to tag this #I'm not even sure I should be making this post because it's not really my place. But. IDK it feels like 'hour long video essay' etc #is a much better resource to explain things than the usual 2 minute videos I see circulating #and the 2minute videos have a purpose! But. they're not really explaining everything #I didn't know that Israeli Occupation applied to regions outside the original Sykes Picot agreement until I read an article a few weeks ago #and I didn't UNDERSTAND it until the RealLifeLore video

[cleopatrachampagne]

can’t stand the argument “well what if your mother had aborted you” less for the fact that it’s a childishly reductionist attempt at an emotional gotcha and more for the fact that i love my mother and the idea of her being forced to keep an unwanted pregnancy breaks my heart even in a hypothetical. i love my mother — and plenty of other women in my life — therefore if she had felt the need to abort me then i would want her — and any other woman — to be given the dignity, option and safe access to do so. it’s a stupid “argument” but ultimately it reveals the true colors that this person hates (or at least has never actually loved any) women and doesn’t actually give a damn about the issue of abortion. i love my mom and i trust her judgment. i’m grateful for my life but i don’t want to be alive at the expense of someone i love suffering and being deprived of her humanity. my mom is much more than just the person who birthed me; she has her own mind, life, dreams and passions outside of being my mom and if your argument hinges on me reducing my mom to solely her capacity to give me life then you’re selfish, sexist and wasting both of our time. it’s really that simple.

#abortion #pro choice #feminism #abortion rights #political commentary #politics

[matcha-goblin]

People when a human rights issue doesn't affect them: Oh, I'm not really involved in politics haha

People when a human rights issue does affect them: This isn't about politics! It's about people's lives!!

#for real it's like ppl use the label of “politics” to justify not caring about it #why is “politics” automatically boring and abstract and nothing to do with us? #and then when a political issue stops being abstract #it can't be political anymore #since when did we decide that giving a fuck about how human lives should be governed is just for the nerds? #not caring about politics is a privilege #politics #us politics #political commentary #human rights #leftism #i guess this is maybe a radical leftist take? #idfk

[ohsalome]

Often in online conversations about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainians are not included in the conversation, and their perspective is not shared. This is not only true of main stream news, but alternative news outlets as well. This also includes conversations had in the streaming place, and streams broadcasted by Twitch's top political streamer, Hasan Piker. So I gathered 4 Ukrainians from all across Ukraine, with varying political beliefs, to respond to statements made by Twitch's top political pundit. - DylanBurnsTV

#Youtube #ukraine #russia #war in ukraine #russian invasion #russian propaganda #hasanabi #political commentary

[my-last-brain-cell-is-socrates]

Okay, but can we note on the slight jab of Mon "I'm fighting for the oppressed and downtrodden people of this galaxy" Mothma snapping at her housekeeper??

Something something liberal politicians something something she remains part of the privileged elite and is herself able to uphold the same structures of oppression within her own close circle

#star wars #Andor #This is the best sw series to date actually #can't believe it's not trending #shame on you all #i am in love your honor #Cassian Andor #Mon Mothma #political commentary #Diego Luna #rebel alliance #empire #Luthen Rael #Andor spoilers

[theotherpacman]

look I think death note is a really poignant satire of the japanese justice system.

(im not japanese but i am american so. im not saying the japanese justice system is worse than my country's or anything)

japan has one of the lowest homicide rates in the world, and one of the reasons for that is because homicides aren't fucking reported as homicides. they're reported as heart attacks or suicides, because the japanese police just want to say that they have a low murder rate and a high solve rate for murder cases: on a personal level they want good numbers so they can get promoted, but on a societal level they want the police to remain the good guys in the eyes of the public. and that's light. "heart attacks" and "suicides" and "accidents" all actually murders, covered up to uphold the societal ideal of the law as the ultimate good.

in japan, 99% of people charged with crimes are convicted. innocent people falsely accused are put under enormous pressure to confess, at which point they often crack under the pressure and accept conviction. and that's L. he put a lot into the theory that light was the culprit even when he had nothing to go on and indeed evidence to the contrary, because he had no other suspects. and remember when he fucking had misa tortured ????? bound standing up with her eyes covered even when it couldn't have been clearer that they weren't going to get a confession out of her and it had been weeks? and he kept it up pretty much solely because he was too proud to admit that he had been wrong, or at least that this wasn't working.

in that way, light is the corrupt police force, and L is the corrupt judicial system. together they make the system of justice, but do either of them actually believe in that? they say they do, but light's "justice" is deference to the law, or rather, the status quo that the law represents; L's "justice" is having someone in prison, someone to blame, and the same perpetuation of the status quo. ideally they'd be able to keep each other in check - the police to arrest a corrupt judge, the court to convict a corrupt officer - but they're really exactly the same. light killed lind l. tailor, but L is the one who sent him to die.

it isn't 1:1 allegorical but it doesn't have to be. it's a thought-provoking and scathing criticism of what the japanese government calls justice. I think it's solid social commentary

#anyone wanna talk about this? it's interesting stuff and I'm really just repeating/building off of stuff other people have said #death note #media analysis #social commentary #political commentary #social criticism #death note analysis #l lawliet #light yagami #japanese government #japanese politics #police corruption #judicial system #acab

[phasmid42]

hey tumblr i made an autistic little video about disco elysium look look here u go its very short and i am very stoned go nuts

#autistic /pos #luke.txt #disco elysium #harry du bois #harrier du bois #kim kitsuragi #analysis #media analysis #media literacy #video essay #de #america #politics #political commentary #Youtube

[waytooinvested]

#Grace Petrie #political commentary #fantastic new song from GP #Youtube

[sixpossumsinaclownsuit]

Remember kiddos, polygamy and polyamory was only demonized for four core reasons:

Tw: homophobia, sexism, religious commentary, political commentary, oppression

1.) America wanted more taxes

Part of the legal institutionalization of marriage is that there is tax benefits for the individual parties when they get married, and financial ties/power is attorney between married people. It becomes messy when these ties extend to multiple people/marriages and the I*RS wants they tax money, and America would rather just make an entire way of life illegal than make laws and systems that accommodate people. See point #4 for more on that

2.) Puritan culture (aka thinly veiled sexism)

Puritan culture relies heavily on systems of control that villainize sex and women (that's a whole other conversation but I won't digress), and lots of marriages/polygamous marriages having sex with each other is obviously bad bad bad!! Hard to control!! Save the defenseless women from their pimp husbands! Orgies, the devil's work! And...

3.) Homophobia

Good god, women being in marriages together! Married to a man, but what if these women end up by being married to each other by extension! And having sex with each other! And what if a woman marries more than one man! Would these men become inferior to their wives? Would one of these husbands be less dominant than another? Would the men function in these complex marriages like a woman?! Disgusting! That's gay (derogatory!) Would these husbands be having sex with each other? But that's gay and gay is bad! Sex is bad! God, purge these sinners of their Sodomy!

(Surprise surprise, homophobia has very little to do with actual gay people and has everything to do with puritan culture, control, sexism and the demonization of sex, and points two and three are actually the same thing)

4.) Christian nationalism

Polygamy and nonmonogamy is normalized and integrated with several non-Christian and alternative Christian cultures going back thousands of years, like Islam, Mormonism, feudal Japanese/samurai cultures, Hinduism, several Native American cultures, etc... even in the Bible in Judeo-Christian history and biblical era cultures nonmonogamy was normalized. Banning nonmonogamy in America is banning the right to engage in non-christian religious rite and practice. It's only something criminal to post-puritan Christians and those beliefs becoming law, regardless of other religious beliefs and practices also existing in America, is the unseparation of church and state.

So before you tell a polyamorous person "oh that's cheating with permission" or "I could NEVER do that," or "I love my partner too much to do that/cheat like that," remember that these are the institutions and the propaganda you're upholding with your judgement. Supporting/ being kind about polyamory is religious tolerance, and biting your thumb at the I*RS.

Tl:dr, the dissolution of separating of church and state, puritan culture and the sexism/homophobia associated with puritan culture is why nonmonogamy is demonized and why polygamy is illegal in America.

Tone indication/post intention: satirical and exaggerated tones criticizing longstanding institutions of oppression with the intent to explain why judging, hating or criticizing nonmonogamous practices is oppressive and a result of propaganda. This post is not intended to persuade people who practice monogamy to practice nonmonogamy instead or to demonize monogamy. It is intended to advocate for breaking the stigma around nonmonogamy.

#polyamory #polygamy #nonmonogamy #ethical nonmonogamy #enm #monogamy #toxic monogamy #puritan culture #religious tolerance #religious freedom #islam is not inherently oppressive #hijab is not oppression #puritan culture is oppression #puritan culture is sexism #puritanism is control #crash the mode #Christian nationalism #end Christian nationalism #homophobia #sexism #marriage equality #American history #political commentary #tax evasion is a moral obligation #tax evasion

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

A few stories about the Tangerine Tyrant caught my eye today, and they all point to his increasing desperation - so I figured I’d go around the horn and celebrate his continuing dissipation.

First: Criminal Defendant and Adjudicated Rapist Donald Trump yesterday predicted a “bloodbath” if he didn’t get reelected, and the media quickly devolved into outlets condemning his use of violent rhetoric and others - Fox and Newsmax - concern trolling over how he was talking specifically about the automobile industry. So, whatever. If you’re interested in parsing the event along those lines, have at it - but I think there’s a more interesting, deeply indicative phenomenon just below the surface that speaks not just to Trump’s mentality but that of his whole bonkers cult.

If you’re looking for the atavistic pull of Donald Trump on his followers, it’s in his power to do whatever the hell he wants and face no consequences. NO ONE can tell him what to do. NO ONE can keep him from attacking whomever he wants. NO ONE can prevent him from sating his desires. NO ONE.

Now, we know that’s not true - as evidenced by his exile to Mar-a-Lago for the past three years, but it’s part of the mystique. In a lot of ways, it makes sense if you look at his cult following - people who are, by and large, deeply disempowered and enraged at a culture that is stripping away their traditional privileges and social entitlements. They WANT Trump to keep shitting the punch bowl as a sort of wish fulfillment of their own stifled rage. Maybe they can’t rape the woman they want to rape or kill the immigrants they hate for speaking Spanish or Hindi at the Gas-n-Sip – but they sure as hell can dream about it when Trump gives a cross-burner of a speech. That’s all standard form.

But what we saw last night - and in the fascist outrage-trolling today - was something new. It’s been creeping into the 2024 election cycle here and there, but yesterday, it entirely broke through, and it’s this: NOT EVEN TRUMP’S BRAIN IS ALLOWED TO CENSOR TRUMP’S MOUTH WHEN IT COMES TO RAGE AND ANGER.

Look, Trump KNOWS that using words like “bloodbath” is going to cost him non-MAGA voters. He knows that calling people “vermin” is going to hurt his chances of navigating the very narrow path ahead if he hopes to return to the White House. Yet, he can’t stop himself. Trump is unable to act in his own easily achieved best interest if it means not being a monster, and while it’s lamentable that he’s bringing such hatred to our national debate, I encourage him to keep it up.

You be you, Donald!

Every single time you let your id out of its box, it’s like sending America an unsolicited, mushroom-shaped dick-pic. Sure, your fans are going to love it, but the rest of us grossed the fuck out.

So, please! Rage on!

-----

Second:

Trump’s lawyers in the NYS civil fraud case settlement submitted a filing today that it is “a practical impossibility” for Trump to post a bond for the half-billion dollars he needs to cough up in order to appeal the decision. According to reports, he approached 30 different surety companies, and they all turned him down. Why they would do that might indicate what’s got him tuned to “bloodbath” and “vermin” levels of rage.

It might be a simple point, but it bears a paragraph of explanation.

Most folks who don’t work in the NYC real estate market – or any real estate market – might think, “Hey, he’s a rich guy. Why not just sell a few of those buildings he owns? They’ve gotta be worth a pretty penny.”

Or, alternatively, “Why won’t anyone take Trump Tower as collateral for a loan?”

The simple answer is he doesn’t really OWN any of that shit outright. It’s ALL mortgaged to the hilt. To get a clearer picture of this, let’s look at 40 Wall Street – one of Trump’s “prestige” properties.

The numbers are a bit hard to come by, but an hour of reading suggests that the building is presently worth about $200 million. Mind you, part of the fraud charges – now proven – included his valuation of the building in 2015 at over $750 million, but it’s just not worth that at all.

So, take the $200 million as a starting point and note that Trump’s mortgage on the property, according to a Bloomberg report in November of 2023, stands at $122 million. So, if Trump were to liquidate his stake in the property fully, he’d only net about $78 million – and that is BEFORE the capital gains taxes, NYS taxes, and NYC taxes on the sale. According to a few articles I’ve scanned this evening, that would be up to about 40% of his earnings. That means, even if he drops one of his most precious assets, he would only raise about $50 million.

He owes TEN TIMES that number by next week.

Play that out another round, and realize that if Trump tried to sell ten or twenty office buildings in NYC all at once, the price of ALL of them would plummet to fire-sale prices.

He’s fucked. Moreover, he knows it and is desperate to find a way out.

-----

This brings us to news item number three: The Return of Paul Manafort.

News leaked today that Trump is considering bringing convicted felon and former campaign manager Paul Manafort back into his 2024 bid for the White House. Manafort, primarily due to his complete lack of a moral center, would be a tremendous asset for Trump. He’s a solid political operative, but what he REALLY brings to the table is a direct line back to the Russian oligarchy and their money. That, obviously, is an enormous threat to national security, and I’ve got to hope that the intelligence services in DC and around the world will be on heightened alert for any covert – or overt – entreaties to Putin or his cronies for a loan. I’ve got to hope there are ways of making such entreaties known to the public through selective leaks if nothing else.

But that brings us back to observation number one.

Trump knows that going to Putin for help with his financial difficulties if it becomes known, would be a dagger to the heart for his chances of returning to the White House. Yet, if I’m right, he will be unable to stop himself when it comes to finding a fix for his hemorrhaging empire. His brain will tell him this is a terrible idea, but it won’t matter. NO ONE is allowed to stop Donald Trump from doing whatever the hell he wants to do – not even Donald Trump.

In 1776, James Otis, a thoughtful supporter of the Revolutionary War, noted about politics, “When the pot boils, the scum will rise.”

Trump is proving that to be true, even when there’s only one evil, arrogant, rapist bastard in the soup. He’s so screwed.

Love to you all.

Michael J. Tallon

#TFG #skullduggery #Michael J. Tallon #political commentary #the plot thickens

[tmarshconnors]

“You can not be a party of women, when you can’t even tell us what a woman is.”

Sarah Elizabeth Huckabee Sanders is an American politician serving since 2023 as the 47th governor of Arkansas.

#Politics #Republican Party #White House #Press Secretary #Conservative #Trump Administration #Elections #Public Relations #Communication #Government #American Politics #Leadership #Media Relations #Political Commentary #Sarah Huckabee #Trump Era #Conservative Women #Political Communication #Policy #Political Figures #quoteoftheday #today on tumblr

[callmebrycelee]

HAPPY 32ND BIRTHDAY, HASAN PIKER!!!

#happy birthday #happy birthday 2023 #july 25 #july 2023 #brown eyes #twitch #twitch streamer #hasan piker #the young turks #hasanabi #political commentary #turkish #leo

[cleopatrachampagne]

i know i’m far from an expert on history but it always bothers me to see bob marley’s portrait hanging in my local weed shop. like, i’ve loved reggae music since i was young, well before i ever smoked weed, i know listening to music is pretty rad when stoned, and i admit i understand that a lot of prominent figures and concepts idolized by the hippies and revolutionaries of the 60’s and 70’s in the usa eventually became synonymous with drug use, esp marijuana, due to smear campaigns against counterculture so maybe it is a kind of defiance to display it proudly? but while i understand the admiration a lot of disillusioned young people in the usa in the 60’s and 70’s would have felt for the people fighting the class war in jamaica and the reggae music emerging with lyrics about said war but still pushing for peace, for one love, as they worked to topple inequity and corrupt systems while redefining perspectives on race, oppression and intergenerational trauma but how did bob marley become “the weed man” in the cultural consciousness when he was a spokesperson for political change and class revolution? is it only that way in the us? do other countries and cultures see him as more than a stoner icon with his face on rasta memorabilia sold at jacked up prices to college kids who have never even heard of the rastafari revolution, the pan-african movement or the jamaican civil war, idk why but it really does bother me to see a strong voice for peace and change reduced to a face plastered on drug paraphernalia and stoner t-shirts. like… damn. that’s the death of a revolutionary in the capitalist tradition, i suppose. bob marley’s portrait hanging above the bud hut cash register, “grunge” clothing sold by fast fashion corporate hellholes, t-shirts with kurt cobain’s suicide note written on them being sold for 800 bucks a pop, eat the rich stickers for sale on amazon of all places, santa muerte being sold as a goth accessory or a “hardcore” generic tattoo in the us stripped of what she symbolizes to me and many other latina/o people who were raised with mexican neopaganism and folk catholic traditions, sanitized street art commissioned by some silicon valley suit that is purely aesthetics with no heart, no soul, nothing related to the authenticity of artistic vandalism, just imaginary street cred points for a rich dick. i get the same feeling in my stomach seeing the “aesthetic” whitewash of counterculture, the clownery of “alt” culture on apps like tiktok, the cashing in on the suffering of the oppressed for a quick buck and the tragic victory of cementing hippies and beatniks and freedom fighters in the minds of the following generations as degenerate druggies (thanks nixon and crew) that i get when i hear that pop remix of “the hanging tree” and it’s a lot to take in while i’m just trying to buy a box of strawberry cough prerolls.

#bob marley #hippies #revolution #counterculture #weed #1960s #1970s #grunge #reggae #jamaican civil war #colonizers #fuck capitalism #eat the rich #tiktok #stoners #rambling #rant #cultural commentary #political commentary #history #politics #class war #rastafari revolution

[filmtvfandom]

Lysella asking for asylum - The Orville S03E10

#the orville #lysella #future unknown #tvedit #Giorgia Whigham #ed mercer #kelly grayson #political commentary #tvcentric #usertvfilm #tvfilmspot #theorville #theorvillegifs #orvilleedit #tvgifs #TV series #scifi #taggingmygifs #notsg