Jim Hightower's Lowdown podcast

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المحتوى المقدم من Jim Hightower. يتم تحميل جميع محتويات البودكاست بما في ذلك الحلقات والرسومات وأوصاف البودكاست وتقديمها مباشرة بواسطة Jim Hightower أو شريك منصة البودكاست الخاص بهم. إذا كنت تعتقد أن شخصًا ما يستخدم عملك المحمي بحقوق الطبع والنشر دون إذنك، فيمكنك اتباع العملية الموضحة هنا https://ar.player.fm/legal.

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Understanding the Elegant Math Behind Modern Machine Learning 1:14:43

منذ 8 أيام1:14:43

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1:14:43

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying mathematical concepts that power modern machine learning, to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives–even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…

Jim Hightower's Lowdown

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News and shows about the progressive, democratic populist rebellion from former Texas Ag Commissioner and NYT best-selling author Jim Hightower.

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#Progressive #News #Politics #Jim Hightowers #Population #Texas

Jim Hightower's Lowdown

100 subscribers

updated منذ يوم واحد

منزل السلاسل•Feed

News and shows about the progressive, democratic populist rebellion from former Texas Ag Commissioner and NYT best-selling author Jim Hightower.

690 حلقات

#Progressive #News #Politics #Jim Hightowers #Population #Texas

كل الحلقات

1
To the Barricades: Trump Plans to “Fix” America’s Postal Service

منذ 1 day

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Uh-oh. Trump is hearing voices again. And the voices are telling him to do something truly stupid. As he puts it , “There is a lot of talk about the Postal Service being taken private,” adding that “It’s an idea that a lot of people have liked for a long time.” Hmmm, I haven’t heard even one voice say our phenomenal public mail service should be privatized. Indeed, it is a widely popular government agency because it works for everyone – rich and poor, urban and rural. Upgrade your subscription When he claims that “a lot of people” like the idea of postal privatization how many? Six? Six million? And what kind of people? Working stiffs, poor people, rural residents… who? He gives a coded answer to that when he refers to the Post Office being “taken” private. Oh? Taken by whom? Of course – by the corrupt profiteering billionaires who funded Trump. Their business plan is to have him hand the agency to them in the name of instituting “corporate efficiency” – meaning the privateers will go to three-day mail delivery, cut-off service to unprofitable poor and rural communities, raise prices, and fire legions of experienced postal workers. They’re out to steal an essential public treasure, but they’re also trying to censor opposition to their political control of government. The Postal Service was created in 1792 in part to prevent royalists and oligarchs from controlling communications. If you think that’s not a problem in modern America, reflect on the blunt media censorship being imposed right now by Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and other petty potentates of corporate plutocracy. To learn more, visit the American Postal Workers Union: apwu.org . Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Now Is the Time to Push for a Democratic Democratic Party

منذ 3 أيام

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Once again, Sen. Bernie Sanders is showing that he’s a leader who actually leads . While top Democratic Party lawmakers are hunkered down in their Washington bunker, immobilized by the Trump-Musk oligarchic coup on America’s democracy, the feisty “little-d” democrat from Vermont is out in grassroots America, rallying workaday people with his National Tour to Fight Oligarchy . His effort has even caused the lethargic Democratic establishment to speak out. Against Bernie! Upgrade your subscription The party’s clueless cadre of insider consultants mocked Sen. Sanders’ for focusing on Trump’s clique of profiteering oligarchs: “Americans don’t understand the word oligarchy,” they clucked . Excuse me, smart ones, but once again, you’re wrong. The oligarchy has become quite well-known to us commoners, who’ve suffered from their healthcare outrages, voter suppression, anti-union greed, rampant price gouging, etc. To the shock of elites in both parties, Sanders has even taken his “Fight Oligarchy” campaign into red congressional districts, drawing thousands of mad-as-hellers in such Republican states as Iowa and Nebraska. In a symbolic rejection of Bernie’s on-your-side populist rebellion, Hakeem Jeffries – the Democratic leader in the US House – rushed out to Silicon Valley to hug the billionaire oligarchs of high-tech ! Far from confronting the rise of monopoly power, Jeffries assured the Tech Bros that the “Party of the People” is there to serve them. Meanwhile, Democratic congressional leaders held an internal “gripe-fest” last week. Not griping about Trump’s authoritarian assault – but about their own grassroots constituents inundating them with calls and emails demanding that they grow spines and start fighting the rising oligarchy. Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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"If You Accept a Corporate Check, Written on the Back of It Is A Corporate Agenda."

منذ 7 أيام

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Jim Hightower & Ralph Nader at a press conference in the mid-1980s As we join in the calls for an Day of Economic Blackout today, we felt like the conversation Hightower had this week on the would be a great companion for your day without buying anything from the big corporate chains who’ve bought our politics. He joins the conversation at 26 minutes in, but we’re sure you’ll enjoy the whole show. Be sure to subscribe to the Radio Hour while you’re at it! PS— Happy belated birthday, Ralph! Ralph Nader Radio Hour D.C. Gutted. Grassroots Galvanized. First, Ralph welcomes economist James Henry to discuss the Trump administration's latest attempts to disable our corporate watchdogs and dismantle the IRS. Then, Ralph is joined by America's Number One Populist Jim Hightower to get his take on what's been happening in our government, and how to fight back… Listen now 9 days ago · 122 likes · 34 comments · Ralph Nader Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Guess What? Hurricanes and Wildfires Don’t Have Political Preferences

منذ 8 أيام

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May I just say that the stupidest, most despicable, most self-defeating political “tactic” in our present hyper-partisan climate is the accusation that victims of today’s horrific wildfires, floods, and such are getting what they deserved because of their political views. Upgrade your subscription Start with this month’s catastrophic floods in Appalachia. If you’ve never had a river gushing into your home and town, you can’t imagine the destruction, muck, stench, injuries, death, and despair. Yet, various numbskulls who profess to be progressive have posted taunts online , chortling that these devastated victims are red-state, small-government Trump voters who don’t deserve government’s helping hand in their time of dire need. Likewise, right-wing MAGA squads, including some GOP congress critters, routinely jeer at wildfire victims in blue states and cities, gloating that hellfire is righteous punishment for “ungodly” people who oppose Trump’s “divine mission.” Hello—this is not politics, it’s disgraceful inhumanity. And those who engage in it are skuzz, insults to America’s democratic ideals of the Common Good. Happily though (even as divisive and violent political rhetoric is being spewed by some of our highest officials), the ingrained ethic in practically every community is to rush to the aid of anyone and everyone in times of disaster. I saw this up close when Hurricane Harvey slammed Houston in 2017. Washington officials played politics for weeks as the city was drowning—but hundreds of working people showed up, even from far away states, bringing their small boats and power tools to organize ad hoc rescue teams, not asking anyone their party affiliation. This is Jim Hightower saying… That’s our truest selves—and it’s why it’s essential to swat down the malignant ethic of anyone who tries to pervert fundamental humanity into their red-blue morass. Leave a comment Share This post from was part of the inspiration for this commentary, and they’ve shared resources where you can support the people affected by this latest round of climate disasters: No Elegy Needed No, people aren't “getting what they voted for” with the flooding in Appalachia This is a brief follow-up to yesterday’s post, so I am sorry for blowing-up your inbox, fam. I’ve included a pic of Big Dog at the end to make up for it… Read more 13 days ago · 173 likes · Appodlachia and Chuck Corra Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Ironically, Trump’s Coup Attempt Is Uniting Americans to Fight for Their Common Good

منذ 10 أيام

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The Trump-Musk administration thought they could just stomp on us and our Constitution, replacing democracy with a MAGA monarchy. But they had not reckoned with one fearsome opponent: Sen. Chuck Schumer. The Senate’s top Democrat says he’s getting “furious” about the GOP’s oligarchic coup attempt. Wow, he might even fire off one of his strongly worded letters to the White House! So far, though, the Democratic “leader” is meekly urging a horrified public to just weather the storm, predicting that, “Trump will screw up.” Hello, Chuck—history clearly teaches that to fight totalitarianism, you actually have to… fight. Upgrade your subscription People are asking: Why the hell is the party’s top leadership AWOL? The good news is grassroots people themselves—the little-d democrats—have taken to the streets, leading the charge to STOP this plutocratic, autocratic power grab. So, “leaders” ought to at least follow! All Democratic national officials (including former presidents Clinton, Obama, and Biden) should literally come out and stand together, demonstrating solidarity with the majority of Americans fighting this far-right, un-American assault by rampaging billionaires. Most encouraging is the fact that workaday people—in red states as well as blue—are erupting in spontaneous protests and unity actions. Ironically, Don & Elon’s self-serving plutocratic thuggery is rallying workers, veterans, schoolchildren, seniors, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, main street businesses… and, well, Americans—against them! The GOP assault on all of us reveals that we commoners really are in this together, and it will take all of us to defend the Common Good for one and all. This is Jim Hightower saying, to get involved in some of the actions in your area, check out resources we’ve listed below. There are loads of actions happening around the country, and it’s hard to collate them all! Here are just a few we’ve seen—leave us your recommendations in the comments, too. The newly-founded Federal Unionists Network (aka, “FUN,” we love it) had a day of action on February 19th. Follow along with their fight: https://www.federalunionists.net/ Stand Up for Science is back and hosting a day of rallies and action on March 7th. Get in on that here: https://standupforscience2025.org/ If you’re interested in defending veteran’s services of all kinds, check out Common Defense, who has a Project 2025 fight guide, too: https://commondefense.us/project-2025 Indivisible has also lit up again—and we like that there are local groups you can join, not just national actions: https://indivisible.org/groups We also just found this Bluesky account that’s trying to track What Democrats Are Doing : https://bsky.app/profile/whatdemsaredoing.bsky.social Oh! And let’s have some fun too— someone hacked into the monitors inside the Housing and Urban Development office yesterday: And many more! We’ll do our best to keep track of what we’re seeing out there. Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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An AI Bot Won’t Take Your Job. Will It?

منذ 15 يومًا

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Corporate powers are telling us not to worry our little heads about the humanoid robotics they’re increasingly employing in America’s workplaces. Yes, they concede, AI’s new generation of “thinking robots” will transform many jobs, but – like magic – they’ll also create better career opportunities for “the human element.” Really… like what? Well, like taking care of all those machines! But wait – can’t a robot do that, too? Upgrade your subscription What’s playing out here is corporate hide-and-seek from the public. Having poured hundreds of billions into developing the technology for their dream of a workerless workforce, CEOs and tech investors are now desperate to deflect workers’ fury over the joblessness that awaits them. Thus, moneyed elites have mounted a soothing PR campaign, asserting that the AI bots will only replace repetitive, drudge jobs, “liberating” those human employees to do higher-value work. That bubble of lies, however, is already being popped by reality. Many renegade CEOs and profiteers brag that their advanced bots are taking over sophisticated thinking jobs and doing top-level creative tasks. For example, the New York Times reports that Klarna, a multibillion-dollar company, says it’s replacing more than half of its 5,000 employees with new robotics. Its CEO is not coy about the future of work, declaring “AI can already do all of the jobs that we, as humans, do.” The designers of this Brave New World bluntly say their AI creatures are fast-coming for a wide variety of our jobs – and big investors are betting billions on them. Yet, politicians and the media blithely accept the corporate deception that there is no need to talk about it – much less consider what to do about it. Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Trump’s Thought Police Are Stomping On Freedom of Speech

منذ 17 يومًا

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In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , Humpty Dumpty autocratically declares that “When I use a word, it means what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” But, says Alice: “The question is whether you can make words mean so many different things.” To which Humpty retorts: “The question is which is to be master – that’s all.” Now comes Trumpty Dumpty, asserting that he and his government redefiners are our linguistic masters. For starters, they unilaterally exed out three hallowed words that have historically expressed our people’s proud democratic purpose – diversity, equity, and inclusion. Upgrade your subscription This month, investigative journalist Judd Legum uncovered dozens of words that partisan Trump functionaries are perverting and purging in a bizarre authoritarian frenzy . Legum even found that NSA, a non-partisan security agency, has now banned its staff from using 27 common words, including “bias” and “injustice.” It’s as though Trump’s word police think censoring language will hide the ugly realities the words express. In fact, the control of language is central to the entrenchment of totalitarian regimes, as George Orwell laid out in his bleak novel, 1984 . He wrote about “Newspeak,” “doublethink,” and other linguistic twists as mass propaganda tools that eliminated inconvenient ideas and provided new “truth” for the party faithful to spread. Such manipulation, Orwell says, creates “loyal willingness to say black is white.” Thus, we see the spectacle of Trump blindly signing an executive order titled “Restoring Freedom of Speech and Ending Federal Censorship” – even as he blatantly censors speech and stomps on our freedoms. So come on – speak up against such thuggish Orwellian tyranny! For information, go to National Coalition Against Censorship: NCAC.org Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Why Hightower Endorsed Jesse Jackson for President in 1988

منذ 20 يومًا

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As the Trump administration attempts to erase Black history all over the country, we wanted to share this video from a 2022 interview with Hightower, where he talks about why he endorsed Jesse Jackso… Read more

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Let’s Fight this 5-Alarm Monopoly Fire

منذ 22 يومًا

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Here’s something I had never given any thought to: The price of fire trucks. Plus, a worrisome fire truck shortage! Huh? What would cause any town or city to run short of this essential piece of its community infrastructure? Answer: old-fashioned greed, coming from a modern-day monopolistic construct called “private equity.” Essentially, this is a fast-money Wall Street scheme, encouraging very wealthy investors to buy up established businesses and either plunder their assets or consolidate several of them into a monopoly. It has targeted everything from healthcare to newspapers… and now, your local fire department. Upgrade your subscription Until recently, making and selling fire trucks was a competitive business, with family-owned manufacturers operating in every region of America. However ( as detailed by BIG, a unique newsletter investigating monopolies ) about a decade ago a private equity outfit began an industry “roll up,” consolidating independent truck companies into a national conglomerate named REV Group. It now controls nearly half of US fire truck sales. What REV mainly revved up was its profits by doubling the sticker price for trucks to more than a million dollars each. Worse, REV increased delivery time for a local department’s order from about a year to as a long as four years, meaning old trucks break down and can’t respond to catastrophes. For example, the Los Angeles fire chief reports that in this month’s horrific wildfires, more than 100 of the city’s 183 fire trucks were out of service! Fires are inevitable. Letting a handful of private equity speculators profit from fires is not . National and state antitrust laws already prohibit such greedheaded monopolization. So, here’s an idea: Enforce those laws! Learn more at the American Antitrust Institute: AntitrustInstitute.org . Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Big News: Grassroots Democrats Pulling Party Back to the Grassroots

منذ 24 يومًا

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Early in the Civil War, General George McClellan’s Union Army was poised for a decisive victory over Confederate forces. But, inexplicably, McClellan wouldn’t attack! For days, President Lincoln ordered and even begged the general to move. But nothing – so the Confederates slipped away. In firing McClellan, Lincoln wrote: “If you don’t want to use the army, I should like to borrow it for a while.” That’s what today’s grassroots Democratic Party activists are saying to their aloof campaign generals, who stay ensconced in Washington, refusing to deploy their ground troops in the field of battle. Upgrade your subscription The great strength of the Democratic Party is its army of volunteer door-knockers across the country who have the local knowledge, connections, and lingo to relate to local voters. Yet, in the past 30 years, fat-cat donors and high-dollar consultants have taken over the “People’s Party” and abandoned high-touch organizing for high-tech “digital outreach.” Thus, the Democrats’ passionate army of local campaigners is unused, only called on by emails to send more donations to fund Beltway consultants and negative political ads. As a friend of mine recently said in exasperation: “I wish the Democratic Party would stop asking for money and start asking me for ACTION .” Well, change is coming, for the grassroots Democratic army has been taking charge in many areas and mobilizing itself! And in a huge advance, the Party’s new National Chair and its new chair of State Democratic Committees were both elected this month on a bold program to move the Party’s focus back to year-round, grassroots activism. After all, voters aren’t mere consumers of politics, they should be valued as the whole purpose of politics and its primary producers. To get involved with this grassroots rebellion, and to hold the leadership accountable to their word, sign up with your local or state Democratic Party committees— a list of state parties’ websites can be found here . Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Bizarre: Today’s Politicians Celebrate Jerks and Ignore Grassroots Genius

منذ 29 يومًا

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Corporate chieftains are giants, even geniuses – right? Years ago, laissez-faire ideologue Ayn Rand hailed them as society’s supermen, comparing them to Atlas, the mythological Greek god who “holds the world on his shoulders.” But look, here comes one of her modern-day gods now – Timothy Wentworth! He stands astride Walgreens, the multibillion-dollar drug store conglomerate. Last month, Wentworth demonstrated his corporate prowess by offering a stunning insight. He noted that, with shoplifting on the rise, chains like his had reacted by moving much of their merchandise into locked display cases. But the ever-alert Big Boss has now deduced that this impacts sales, “because when you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them.” Wow… pure genius! Upgrade your subscription Did I mention that Walgreens pays Timothy $13 million a year? Or, that his monopolistic chain is closing some 1,200 of its “less-profitable” stores, which will leave entire communities with no pharmacies to meet their crucial needs? My point is not to disparage one silly corporate boss, but simply to say: Hey, why are the so-called “leaders” of both of our political parties kowtowing to the painful ignorance, arrogance, and avarice of the most self-serving group of egos in the world: Billionaires! Look at them – Elon Musk is a jabbering jerk, Mark Zuckerberg is a pathetic whiner, and Jeff Bezos cluelessly floats around on a garish yacht he financed by underpaying and mistreating his workers. These are our giants? What about schoolteachers, family farmers, mechanics, cooks – and other everyday people who really make things work? America needs to start listening to them… and reinvesting in their genuine genius. Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Costco Shows Trump What a Real Mandate Is

منذ 4 weeks

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I guess I’ll just have throw myself on Donald Trump’s mercy, for I confess that I am a repeat violator of MAGA’s high crime of DEI-ism. Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. Guilty on all counts! But it’s not my fault. From childhood, I was fed a steady diet of that kind of all-in-this-together thinking by my parents, teachers, and ministers. So next thing you know, I was doing DEI on my own. Then, when I was elected to be Texas Agriculture Commissioner, I shamelessly promoted all three as agency goals (particularly for women and minorities who had long been excluded). Upgrade your subscription But I now see that such egalitarian concepts are out of step with the moral precepts of Trumpocracy. Thus, I’m an outlaw. You might be, too, for the MAGA minority now ruling in Washington is thuggishly expunging DEI values from our schools, corporations, libraries, churches, etc. You have two choices, they bark: Comply… or be forced to comply. Sure enough, even corporate powerhouses like Amazon, Disney, Facebook, Target, and Walmart are sucking up to the new regime by cravenly surrendering DEI principles and promises without a fight. Well, they whine, we have no choice. But wait—this is America! The choice has always been clear: Don’t just comply, defy! Even corporations can stand for the people’s democratic principles, as Costco recently did. The popular retailer was assailed by a right-wing group demanding that shareholders terminate its DEI efforts. But Costco executives didn’t cower, and guess what? Ninety-eight percent of Costco’s shareholders stood with them, emphatically endorsing diversity, equity, and inclusion as core American values. This is Jim Hightower saying… 98 percent! That, Mr. Trump, is a real mandate. Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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What in the Name of Jesus Is This?

منذ 5 weeks

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Photo: Mikala Compton The far-right potentates of Christian nationalism not only say they speak to God, but they now claim to speak for God. They might, however, want to ponder a cartoon I recently saw. It pictured one of these pious flimflammers demanding entry to heaven, bragging that he had been God’s personal messenger on Earth. “Really,” said God, “You don’t look at all like Dolly Parton.” Upgrade your subscription But now – GreatGodAlmighty! – here comes a gaggle of these lordly pretenders proclaiming that Yahweh has ordained their narrow religious sect to be America’s governmental rulers. This month, a flock of these “chosen ones” descended on the Texas state capitol, announcing that God has instructed them to transform our government into an authoritarian arm of their own fundamentalist churches. “We take charge and authority of [this] legislative session,” one of their leaders declared, informing the rest of us that his cult has “been given spiritual jurisdiction over the affairs of men.” Unfortunately, this is not just another case of Crazy Texas. The extremist Christian nationalist show at the Texas Capitol was fully-embraced and coordinated by the extremist Republican governor, attorney general, legislative leaders, and state party hierarchy. More pointedly, it’s all part of a messianic crusade by two Bible-thumping, West Texas oil billionaires, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks . This plutocratic/theocratic duo is pumping unlimited sums of crude political cash into the GOP to “Christianize” elections and all public policies. So don’t laugh – pay attention. This right-wing, religious, anti-democratic power play is unfolding all across America. Ludicrous as it seems, they’re out to crucify our freedoms and force their state-run theology on everyone– all in the name of Jesus. Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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The Royal Threat Behind Trump’s Petty Pomposity

منذ 5 weeks

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In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, the framers were clear on what they were NOT creating: A monarchy. One delegate expressed the group’s absolute conviction that the founding document must exclude even the “fetus of monarchy.” Yet, 238 years later, watching Trump’s inaugural week, it was both awful and comical to see the royal pretentions of King Donald. There were silly gestures, like him waving around a ceremonial sword (made more ludicrous by the fact he was a cowardly rich-boy draft dodger). Plus, the staged spectacle of him imperiously signing stacks of orders, proclamations, and pardons in a show of “Kingliness.” Upgrade your subscription Petty pomposity aside, though, he is an untethered megalomaniac whose inaugural speech re-asserted such monarchial concepts as “the divine right of kings” and “manifest destiny.” And let us not naively dismiss Trump’s flat-out claim that the Constitution gives him “the right to do whatever I want as president,” or that he previously suggested “termination” of the Constitution to return him to the White House. Indeed, he now contends that he can unilaterally terminate a bedrock Constitutional right: The 14 th Amendment provision guaranteeing citizenship to everyone born in the USA. He has royally and unconstitutionally decreed that children born here whose parents were undocumented immigrants are not citizens, but “aliens.” This is Jim Hightower saying… Well, at least there’s the 22 nd Amendment, which makes clear that he can’t be president again, right? Uh… maybe. Trump is already suggesting his royal court might find a way to keep him in power, just as they’re now contriving to void the clear citizenship protection of the 14 th Amendment. Despots don’t obey Constitutions – they pervert them. And We the People must reject the perverters. Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

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Yes, You Can Fight the Bastards… and Win!

منذ 6 weeks

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Diane Wilson outside her home in Seadrift in December 2024. Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News It’s been my honor to know a few real heroes – people who’ve selflessly dared to fight greed and oppression to advance the common good. Diane Wilson, for example. For forty years, this fiery, fourth-generation fisherwoman from the Texas Gulf Coast has battled tenaciously for the rights and very survival of the area’s hardscrabble fishing families. She and her grassroots allies have taken on Formosa Plastics, a $250 billion, global corporate beast that has routinely dumped its chemical waste around Matagorda Bay, poisoning life and livelihoods. Upgrade your subscription But in 2019, in a lawsuit based on massive evidence collected by Wilson and her armada of volunteer kayakers, she won a stunning court victory, f orcing the contaminator to pay $50 million for its malfeasance . Wilson’s fight was not just for her, and she did not get a penny from the Formosa settlement. But she won something richer than money – “It felt like justice,” she said of the court’s judgement. Importantly, the court didn’t award the $50 million to some regulatory agency, but to a public trust administered by – guess who? – Wilson’s allies! So she has been working tenaciously ever since to make sure the money directly benefits the poor families Formosa ran over. Especially promising is the trust’s major grant to create the people’s own Matagorda Bay Fishing Cooperative . It will provide dock space, supply contracts, processing ability, local jobs… and the power for local people to forge their own future. Why fight against overpowering odds for 40 years? Because of her strong principles… and sheer stubbornness. “It’s my home,” Wilson says of the bay and its working-class community, “and I completely refuse to give it to that company to ruin.” Learn more about Diane and support her work: Leave a comment Share Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.…

مرحبًا بك في مشغل أف ام!

يقوم برنامج مشغل أف أم بمسح الويب للحصول على بودكاست عالية الجودة لتستمتع بها الآن. إنه أفضل تطبيق بودكاست ويعمل على أجهزة اندرويد والأيفون والويب. قم بالتسجيل لمزامنة الاشتراكات عبر الأجهزة.