elsewhen returns

Saturday, January 20, 2024

scotus moms: anne gorsuch buford

neil gorsuch's mom was smart. she graduated with a bachelors degree at just 19, and was the youngest woman admitted to the colorado bar. when she got into politics, she was voted outstanding freshman legislator in the colorado house of representatives.

she also did everything she could to dismantle the epa, an agency she headed as its first female director, and hid superfund cleanup money so that it wouldn't help democratic candidates. she also relaxed pollution standards, cut the number of court cases against polluters, hired industry lobbyists to work in the epa, and allowed the use of restricted-use pesticides.

she also refused to enforce regulations that barred the use of lead in gasoline, which had been proven to cause aggression and brain damage. congress demanded records regarding her handling of the superfund. she refused to supply them, and was cited for contempt of congress - the first agency director to ever be cited for contempt.

she died of cancer at the age of 62. her son is neil gorsuch, who currently sits on the supreme court.

Thursday, January 18, 2024

facebook knows your kinks... and everything else

consumer reports has had an interesting life as an organization. they've gone from reviewing dishwashers and window cleaners to figuring out that an average of 2,230 companies send your personal data to facebook.

think about that for a minute. two thousand (2,000). two hundred (200). plus thirty (30). and some of us have had even more companies send our deepest, darkest secrets to facebook, for zuckerberg to do whatever he wants with. did you call a suicide hotline? buy some jock itch cream, read an article about how to overthrow the government, google how a fleshlight works, or spend some time following taylor swift's current relationship?

meta knows. that's CREEPY, gang. did you consent to that? did you even know about it?

here's how that would look if each of those companies was a 1:

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111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that's how many companies rat each of us out to meta. you know - the guys who let russia influence our elections.

maybe someone should write a law about that.

Friday, January 12, 2024

nra concealed leader's extravagant spending

in case you missed it, wayne lapierre, the head of the nra - which is categorized as a nonprofit entity - since the age of the dinosaurs, expensed his wardrobe, private jets, limousines, five star hotels and more to the organization.

all of this was paid for by member dues and contributions (and possibly some russian money from that spychick - remember her?) and paid for in such a way as to avoid scrutiny by the courts and nonprofit watchdogs.

and he wasn't the only one.

lapierre is resigning at the end of this month (january), but the courts may decide that his retirement is anything but comfortable.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

richest 1% pay less local taxes in 41 states

currently in the u.s., the top 1% of wage earners pay less in state and local taxes than all other wage earners in 41 states.

as an example, the richest 1% in florida have a 2.7% tax rate, but the lowest-income folks in that state pay 13.2% - almost 5 times more.

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

extraordinary rendition

so how did the u.s. go from being the 'good guys' of wwii to being reviled by most of the world? there are lots of reasons, but one of the big ones is the use of extraordinary rendition - basically, capturing civilians without legal cause and holding them without charges or the ability to stand trial essentially forever. this began during the bush presidency but continues to this day.

prisoners held under this policy are routinely shipped to other countries (more than 50 currently participate) and tortured - a technique that even the cia says is ineffective.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

why soylent green was optimistic

the thing about recycling plastic is that it's a lie. oh, you likely spend time sorting out what stuff goes in which bin, good on you, but the truth is that once it's picked up, chances are much higher than 50% that both end up in your local landfill.

this is partly because the plastic industry doesn't want to recycle plastic. it's more expensive than making new plastic, and they are all about keeping that money. in fact, they have many, many sham organizations that talk about recycling (like the alliance to end plastic waste, which is actually a lobbying and pr organization owned by basf, chevron phillips chemical, exxonmobil, dow chemical, mitsubishi chemical holdings, procter & gamble, and shell oil), but only exist to keep anyone from making it happen.

as a result, not only are the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams full of plastic, but there is not one shovelful of earth from anywhere on the planet that doesn't contain microplastics. in fact, it's a lot worse than that. the concentration has been found to be as high as 62.2%. and even worse: a lot of it is being added on purpose, in fertilizer.

now, here are a couple of reasons why this should make you shit your pants:

plastic doesn't hold water anywhere near as well as natural soil, which means rain and irrigation are wasted on it
plastic doesn't give plants the nutrients that they need to live

we were going to tell you how much the plastic/soil percentage is expected to rise over the next 30 years, but you should really be spending this time gathering canned goods and a nice big chest freezer to keep your neighbors in, because they are eloi and you, my friend, are the first of many morlocks.

72-hour gun violence map

since weapons manufacturers own congress and a sizable portion of the supreme court, guns are likely to remaion the number one killer of americans until there aren't any americans left. that being the case, wouldn't it be nice to have a map that shows where all the shooting is taking place so you can avoid it? over, say, the past 72 hours?

the gun violence archive is a non-partisan group and website that provides exactly that. thank them, won't you?

Saturday, November 4, 2023

college debt 'til the day you die

in 2020, 60% of college loans had higher balances than when they started. unless the u.s. government changes this system, the majority of college student loans will never be repaid in the debtors' lifetimes.

this is despite the fact that, at the same time many students saw their incomes drop due to the pandemic, their employers got massive government loans that they will never have to pay back.

Friday, October 13, 2023

dark money, part 1

ever wonder who or what is driving everything that's going wrong with our country?

the following is a list of dark money organizations and the groups that fund them.

do all of the funders only support bad causes? no. is this all of them? not even close. but it's somewhere to start.

3m co.

60 plus association

actwireless

aetna inc

agc construction advocacy fund

alliance for a free society

alliance for quality nursing home care

america votes

american action network

american bridge 21st century

american electric power company, inc.

american encore

american energy alliance

american federation of state, county, and municipal employees (afscme)

american future fund

american health care association

american legislative exchange council

american petroleum institute

americans for job security

americans for prosperity

americans for tax reform

anthem, inc.

arizona free enterprise club

association of american railroads

atlantic advicay fund

berger action fund

boeing co. pac

brenda potterfield

charles schwab

chevron corp.

citizens for a digital future

conservative solutions project

consumer information council

cornerstone policy research action (cpr action)

crossroads gps

crossroads grassroots policy strategies (crossroads gps)

doris fisher

dow chemical co.

edison electric institute

education freedom alliance

eli broad

ending spending

environmental defense action fund

exelon corp.

fair share

free enterprise america

freedom partners chamber of commerce

fuels america

fwd.us

green tech action fund

heartland institute

intel corp.

international association of firefighters

involve america

john fisher

judicial crisis network

kentucky opportunity coalition

larry potterfield

leage of conservation voters education fund

main street advocacy fund

majority forward

merck & co., inc.

metlife, inc.

microsoft corp.

midway usa

mobile consumers for choice and competition

motion picture association of america (mpaa)

national rifle association (nra)

natural resources defense council (nrdc) action fund

ncta (the internet and television association)

neo philanthropy action fund

next century fund

nextgen climate action

online consumers network

open society policy center

partnership for quality home healthcare

partnership project

partnership project action fund

peoples alliance for leadership

pepsico, inc.

pharmaceutical research and manufacturers of america

pierce bullet seal target systems

planned parenthood action fund

planned parenthood federation of america

policy and taxation group

priorities usa

prodential fnancial, inc.

property casualty insurers of america

qualcomm inc.

republican jewish coalition

retail industry leaders association

reynolds american inc.

robert fisher

rockefeller family fund

rockefeller philanthropy advisors

seiu pennsylvania state council

sixteen thirty fund

smith & wesson corp.

southern company

sturm, ruger & co., inc.

susan thompson buffet foundation

tc4 trust

texas public policy foundation

the 45 committee

the advocacy fund

the annual fund

the heritage foundation

the state policy network

tides foundation

union pacific corp.

vote alabama

wellspring committee

william fisher