Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe’s repeal of paid sick leave sparks harsh backlash, threatening workers like Bill Thompson who face financial ruin and health risks without this essential benefit. Michael Sainato exposes how corporate greed trumps worker wellbeing in Missouri’s fraught political climate. Read more: https://www.alternet.org/missouri-sick-leave/ #Missouri #PaidSickLeave #LaborRights #MichaelSainato #WorkersRights #MikeKehoe #CorporateInterests
'Gut punch': Missouri workers 'disgusted' by GOP repeal of paid sick leave mandate

In July, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, signed into a law a repeal of the deep red state's paid sick leave mandate. The move was vehemently criticized by labor groups, but the repeal remains. The Guardian's Michael Sainato, in an article published on August 12, details the harsh effects the...

Alternet.org

"By far the most impactful in this #experiment, though, was the ‘#corporateinterests’ message. This pushed down not just on favourability to #Farage, it was the only message to significantly reduce willingness to vote for #Reform. It decreased Farage’s numbers as best PM, increasing #Starmer’s lead over him in the two-way version of this question."

(2) What messages might Reform be vulnerable to?
https://strongmessagehere.substack.com/p/what-messages-might-reform-be-vulnerable

#UKpol

What messages might Reform be vulnerable to?

Exploring weaknesses in the Farage brand - an experiment.

Strong Message Here

Here's a gem from 2016. Hmmmmm... #LeopardsEatingFaces, #GatorsEatingFaces... I'm not seeing much of a difference. Both of them want to eat your face!

#DrainTheSwamp? #FillTheSwamp! #TrumpSucks #Oligarchy #CorporateInterests #CorporateColonialism #TaxBreaksForTheRich

HOW MEDIA AND TECH GIANTS’ SUPPORT FOR TRUMP SHAPES US DEMOCRACY: Corporate Influence, Political Power and the Future of American Elections, Motives and Methods

HOW MEDIA AND TECH GIANTS’ SUPPORT FOR TRUMP SHAPES US DEMOCRACY: Corporate Influence, Political Power and the Future of American Elections, Motives a

"The American Beef Industry Understood Its Climate Impact Decades Ago"

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14032025/american-beef-industry-knew-climate-impact-decades-ago/

People need to know about the anti-science and pseudoscience promoted by the meat industry, especially the cow meat industry, to hide the non-slaughter horrors of their bloody industry.

<💬>
Jacquet, a professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Miami, noted that the 2006 UN report represented an inflection point, not only making the public aware of livestock’s climate impact, but putting the industry on notice that it could potentially be targeted for regulation. The report said that livestock’s climate emissions—which come from converting forests to pasture, growing feed, methane-emitting cow burps and manure storage—were about 18 percent of the global total, more even than the transportation sector.
</💬>

<💬>
In 1989—the year after NASA’s James Hansen famously told Congress that climate change posed a global threat—the Environmental Protection Agency held a workshop focusing on methane emissions from livestock and, soon after, published a report, “Reducing Methane Emissions from Livestock.” The report said that livestock were a major source of methane and estimated that a 50 percent decrease in global emissions from livestock would yield huge benefits for stabilizing this especially potent greenhouse gas. Tucked into an appendix was the following suggestion: “Reducing methane emissions from ruminants should be pursued as part of an overall investigation into alternatives for reducing future global warming and its impacts.”
</💬>

<💬>
Jacquet and her co-authors note that representatives from the meat and dairy industry attended the 1989 EPA workshop, including a member of the National Cattlemen’s Association. Several months and a handful of planning meetings later, the association, which is the country’s biggest beef lobby and now known as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, or NCBA, developed a “Strategic Plan on the Environment” to counter anticipated public relations problems or regulations related to climate change. The plan included suggestions to reach out to “key influencers” with research and positive messaging about the industry’s environmental benefits.
</💬>

...

<💬>
In a separate study, published this week, Jacquet and another University of Miami researcher, Loredana Loy, trace the meat industry’s efforts to derail advocacy groups’ attempts to persuade the public to eat less meat as a climate strategy. These attempts include the Beyond Beef campaign and others, including Diet for a New America and Meatless Monday.
</💬>

<💬>
The study says the livestock industry took a different approach than the oil and gas industry, which tried to convince the public it was only continuing to develop fossil fuels because consumers called for them. The livestock industry, on the other hand, tried to convince consumers that their dietary choices would make no difference.
</💬>

#meat #beef #bigMeat #fossil #fossilFuels #climate #GHG #emissions #globalWarming #diet #disinformation #greenwashing #misinformation #meatinformation #skeptic #corporateInterests #meatBased #plantBased #diet #entericEmissions #methane #livestock #regulations #pasture #environment #EPA

The American Beef Industry Understood Its Climate Impact Decades Ago - Inside Climate News

New research finds the industry’s campaigns to confuse the public about beef’s climate impact go back longer than previously recognized.

Inside Climate News

Thousands in #Midwestern #GOP Districts Attend #Sanders' First Stops on Tour to Fight #Oligarchy

"It's like there's only one person who is actually able to sidestep the demoralization and frustration," said one observer.

Julia Conley, Feb 22, 2025

"After addressing more than 3,400 #Nebraska residents in Omaha Friday evening, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday made his second stop on his National Tour to Fight Oligarchy—telling Iowa City, #Iowa residents that '#Trumpism will not be defeated by politicians inside the #DCBeltway.'

"'For better or worse, that is not going to happen,' said the Vermont Independent senator, whose broadly popular policy proposals have long been dismissed by Democratic leaders as unrealistic and radical while President Donald Trump has increasingly captured the attention of the #WorkingClass Americans who would benefit most from Sanders' ideas.

"'It will only be defeated by millions of Americans in Iowa, in #Vermont, in Nebraska, in every state in this country, who come together in a strong #grassroots movement and say no to oligarchy, no to #authoritarianism, no to #kleptocracy, no to massive cuts to programs that #LowIncome and working Americans desperately need, no to huge #TaxBreaks for the #wealthiest people in this country,' said Sanders.

"The senator announced his tour earlier this month as #ElonMusk, the head of the Trump-created Department of Government Efficiency ( #DOGE) who poured $277 million on the president's campaign, swept through numerous agencies, with DOGE staffers setting up illegal servers, seizing control of data, shutting federal employees out of offices, and working to shut down operations across the government.

"Since Trump took office for his second term just over a month ago, roughly 30,000 federal employees have been fired or laid off—part of Musk's push to cut $2 trillion in federal spending in order to fill the $4.6 trillion hole that Trump's extension of the 2017 tax cuts would blow in the deficit.

"#Republican lawmakers have also pushed to include cuts to #Medicaid, and Trump this week signaled he would back #Medicare cuts after repeatedly insisting he would not slash the popular healthcare program used by more than 65 million Americans, in order to save money while handing out tax cuts to the same #corporations and #ultrawealthy households that benefited from the 2017 tax law.

"'Today in America we are rapidly moving toward an #oligarchic form of society where a handful of #multibillionaires not only have extraordinary wealth, but unprecedented economic, media, and political power,' said Sanders in Iowa City, which like Omaha is represented by a Republican U.S. House member who narrowly won reelection last November and has faced pressure to reject the GOP budget plan. 'Brothers and sisters, that is not the democracy that men and women fought and died to defend.'"

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-donald-trump
#Oligarchy #OligarchyTour #StillSanders #BernieSanders #USPol #CorporateInterests #Corporatocracy #CorporateColonialism

Thousands in Midwestern GOP Districts Attend Sanders' First Stops on Tour to Fight Oligarchy | Common Dreams

Senator Bernie Sanders is on a mission to fight oligarchy and empower the people. With a powerful message against Trumpism and billionaire influence, he's rallying Americans to stand up for democracy. #FightOligarchy

Common Dreams

#NotNews24 | #UnbreaklingCorporateInterestsNotNews... #IT's #DefinitelyNotNews...

"And, #BigTech will only #SupportYou for #AsLong as #IT's in their #CorporateInterests to #DoSo... "

#IT's also #Worth #BearingInMind that #NotAllCharities are that #Charitable...

#HappyBaconSammidgeDay... | #MakeTimeForBacon

🧙⚔️🤖🐺🤖⚔️🧙 | 🥪🎠🥓​🦄🥓​🎠🥪

Just proving that #Trump's administration is TOXIC!

Trump #EPA withdrawal of #PFAS effluent limits is setback for #PublicHealth, #EWG warns

WASHINGTON – "On Tuesday, the Trump Environmental Protection Agency withdrew a pending Biden administration plan that would have protected public health from the chemical manufacturing sector by setting discharge limits on the toxic '#ForeverChemicals' known as PFAS.

"The Trump administration pulled the proposal from White House review – the last step before the agency could release the plan publicly and seek comment on it. The decision is a significant setback for efforts to address the growing public health crisis caused by industrial PFAS pollution of the water supply.

"Coupled with President Donald Trump’s executive order placing a freeze on any new federal regulations, the withdrawal prompts significant concerns from environmental and public health advocates about the future of PFAS regulation and whether tackling the PFAS contamination crisis will be an administration priority.

The following is a statement from Melanie Benesh, vice president for government affairs at the #EnvironmentalWorkingGroup:

"Yesterday’s action by the Trump administration to withdraw the long-awaited proposal on PFAS effluent limits is a devastating setback in the fight to protect our communities from toxic 'forever chemicals.'

"This move not only delays establishing critical federal standards but also sends a dangerous message giving polluters a green light to continue poisoning our water and communities without fear of consequence.

"It’s an unconscionable betrayal of the public’s health in favor of corporate interests, and it underscores this administration’s troubling shift in policy which threatens to roll back any progress to protect our #environment and hold #polluters accountable.

"PFAS contamination is already a public health crisis. The science is clear: PFAS are toxic at even the smallest levels, and they have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, immune suppression and developmental harm. Communities across the country, especially those near PFAS-manufacturing facilities, have lived with the devastating consequences of this pollution for decades.

"State regulators have waited for the federal government to lead on this issue so they can incorporate effective monitoring and treatment requirements into their discharge permits. Without federal limits, those efforts remain stalled.

"The Trump administration’s refusal to act now puts even more lives at risk, leaving American communities to fend for themselves as polluters continue their unchecked discharges of toxic PFAS into our water."

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/statement/2025/01/trump-epa-withdrawal-pfas-effluent-limits-setback-public-health-ewg
#WaterIsLife #PFASContamination #EnvironmentalDamage #ManMadeDisasters #AFFF #Wildlife #OceansAreLife #PFASPollution
#FirefightingFoam #PFOS
#3M #ForeverChemicals #Environment #BigChemical #CorporateInterests #Corporatocracy #TrumptyDumpty #WhenIdiotsRule #USPol

“Crack-Up #Capitalism”: #Historian #QuinnSlobodian on #Trump, #Musk & the Movement to “Shatter” the State

#DemocracyNow, February 20, 2025

"Who are the minds behind #DOGE, and what do they really believe? Historian Quinn Slobodian says three strains of #conservatism have converged to form the second Trump administration’s #AntiDemocratic coalition: finance-backed #CorporateInterests previously friendly to the #DemocraticParty, #ChristianConservative think tanks who have long advocated for the end of the administrative state, and the online-driven movement of reactionary extremists who traffic in #WhiteSupremacist and #NeoNazi rhetoric. Meanwhile, says Slobodian, 'Trump is a person who doesn’t believe in much, but he believes in #money,' leaving him willing to enact the political visions of these three #ProCapitalist projects. Slobodian, an expert in German history, also discusses the connections between the Trump sphere and Germany’s far-right Alternative for #Germany (#AfD) party, supported by Musk and Vice President #JDVance.'"

Read / listen / watch:
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/2/20/quinn_slobodian_maga_doge_capitalism
#USPol #FarRight #CorporateColonialism #Capitalism #ChristoFascists

“Crack-Up Capitalism”: Historian Quinn Slobodian on Trump, Musk & the Movement to “Shatter” the State

Who are the minds behind DOGE, and what do they really believe? Historian Quinn Slobodian says three strains of conservatism have converged to form the second Trump administration’s anti-democratic coalition: finance-backed corporate interests previously friendly to the Democratic Party, Christian conservative think tanks who have long advocated for the end of the administrative state, and the online-driven movement of reactionary extremists who traffic in white supremacist and neo-Nazi rhetoric. Meanwhile, says Slobodian, “Trump is a person who doesn’t believe in much, but he believes in money,” leaving him willing to enact the political visions of these three pro-capitalist projects. Slobodian, an expert in German history, also discusses the connections between the Trump sphere and Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, supported by Musk and Vice President JD Vance.

Democracy Now!