Desert Flower
@crystal159.bsky.social
940 followers 880 following 8.3K posts
I worked for a corp. for almost 40 years as an employee and manager: I am an entrepreneur, an empath, an organizer, an optimist, a coach, a life explorer, dogmatic, disciplined, and a free-minded thinker. Politically I align with democratic values.
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crystal159.bsky.social
One thing after another plus congressional republicans and SCOTUS continue to give him the green light no matter how outlandish the idea is.
crystal159.bsky.social
There are certain myths that the Republican Party embraces as fact, reality be damned. Many GOP officials just know, for example, that Trump secretly won the 2020 election (he didn’t). They just know that the economy reached record highs during Trump’s first term (it didn’t). They just know...
crystal159.bsky.social
THE LANDSCAPE OF ELECTION DENIAL IN AMERICA

- 155 Republicans in the US Congress are 2020 election denialist

- 24 Republicans in the State offices are 2020 election denialist

Is one of your elected office holders one of them?

👇 👇 👇
electiondeniers.org
crystal159.bsky.social
I'm sitting here shaking my head. 😕 What are we going to do?
Reposted by Desert Flower
crystal159.bsky.social
HONG KONG (AP) China outlined new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies on Thursday, extending controls over use of the elements critical for many high-tech and military products ahead of a meeting in about three weeks between President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
China outlines more controls on exports of rare earths and technology
China has outlined new curbs on exports of rare earths and related technologies, extending controls over the use of the elements critical for many high-tech products and military applications.
apnews.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
Companies shed 32,000 jobs last month, according to data from payroll processor ADP, marking the biggest private sector decline in two-and-a-half years — and yet another warning sign that the labor market is losing steam.

The data comes in stark contrast to expectations of economists surveyed ...
ADP says private sector sheds jobs as government shutdown halts data
Job losses spread across industries including leisure and hospitality, business services, and finance. Construction and manufacturing also declined
qz.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
In an interview with the BBC, Dimon said he was "far more worried than others" about a serious market correction than his peers. While he declined to put an exact timeline on his bearish prediction, he said it could come anywhere from six months to two years from now.
Jamie Dimon has a warning about the stock market
The JPMorgan Chase CEO says he sees a 30% chance of a market correction, which is three times the odds his peers are giving
qz.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
Judging by total net worth, millions of Americans have never been richer, but some are still struggling to access that cash. More than 24 million American households are now worth more than $1 million, according to a study by Bloomberg. That's the largest number in history, with one-third ...
There are now 24 million millionaires in the U.S.
America has never had more millionaires ± but the benchmark doesn't mean what it used to. Here's how their money is spread out
qz.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled support for boosting the deposit insurance limits on certain accounts.

"I'm encouraged to see emerging bipartisan support for increasing FDIC insurance limits on non-interest bearing transaction accounts," Bessent said Thursday at a community banking ...
Treasury's Bessent signals support for lifting deposit insurance limits
The U.S. government only insures bank deposits up to $250,000, but there's long been bipartisan interest to revisit that cap
qz.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
Running for a second term may be President Trump’s best business decision yet. #corruption

Forbes estimates Trump's net worth is around $7.3 billion — a $3 billion increase from the previous year — while The New Yorker calculates that the Trump family has taken in $3.4 billion since his first term.
Donald Trump's net worth has almost doubled in a year. Is it legal?
Trump’s ballooning fortune highlights the weak legal guardrails against presidential profiteering, fueling calls for reform once his administration ends
qz.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
President Donald Trump's announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed the first phase of a ceasefire deal was widely welcomed Thursday by world leaders, the families of hostages and Palestinians who have endured more than two years of war.
White House hopeful Israel, Hamas framework opens door to bigger peace plan
President Donald Trump's announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed the first phase of a ceasefire deal was widely welcomed Thursday by world leaders, the families of hostages and Palestinians who...
www.msnbc.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
SCOTUS has already ruled that the First Amendment protects those who burn the American flag in protest. Nevertheless, seven weeks ago, Trump signed an executive order aimed at prosecuting those who “desecrate” the American flag.

Can a president override a court ruling with a non-binding directive?
‘We took the freedom of speech away’: On First Amendment, Trump says quiet part loud
A week after the White House boasted that Trump “is a strong supporter of free speech,” the president’s legal gibberish pointed in the opposite direction.
www.msnbc.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
The conventional wisdom is always right until it’s not.

In Washington, the conventional wisdom on government shutdowns was that they backfire on the party that’s out of power. Heading into the current shutdown, Capitol Hill insiders and other so-called experts warned Democrats that they would be...
Democrats proved the insiders wrong on the shutdown
The conventional wisdom was that a shutdown was a losing fight.
www.msnbc.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
When Donald Trump doesn’t like a political opponent, he doesn’t just condemn them. The president also has an unfortunate habit of calling for their incarceration.

The classic example of this, of course, was the Republican’s incessant calls for Hillary Clinton to be “locked up,” but the former...
As out-of-state troops arrive in Chicago, Trump wants mayor and governor ‘in jail’
“Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power,” Pritzker wrote. “What else is left on the path to authoritarianism?”
www.msnbc.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
On the first full day of his second term, Donald Trump attended a national prayer service in Washington, D.C., where he sat and listened to the bishop of the local Episcopal Diocese. It quickly became quite memorable: The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde spoke truth to power, urging the newly...
Team Trump’s clashes with the faith community go from bad to worse
The political world is overdue for a conversation about the severity of the conflicts between the Republican administration and the faith community.
www.msnbc.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
Trump and OBM Director Russell Vought have repeatedly threatened to use the government shutdown as a pretext to escalate their lawless attacks on those they believe are enemies of the administration. Before the shutdown even began, Vought suggested the possibility of firing federal workers en masse.
Opinion | Trump just threatened to deny furloughed feds' backpay. That's illegal.
Most importantly, it would violate a 2019 law that Congress overwhelmingly passed, and Trump himself signed,
www.msnbc.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
One of the biggest stories in Republican politics right now is the pseudo #ArcticFrost controversy. In a nutshell, the party and #conservative media outlets are insisting that the Biden-era FBI was caught “spying” on GOP members and “tapping” their phones as part of the investigation into ...
Kash Patel fires yet another group of FBI agents without cause, shutters corruption group
The Republicans’ “Arctic Frost” controversy has largely collapsed under scrutiny. It led the FBI to fire at least three special agents anyway.
www.msnbc.com
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crystal159.bsky.social
Greene, R-Ga., has broken with her party in the ongoing standoff over the government shutdown. In so doing, she is effectively arguing that the Democrats are right to demand that Republicans make concessions on health care policy — although she might not wish to describe it that way.
Opinion | Marjorie Taylor Greene's break from the GOP on the shutdown is significant
A MAGA firebrand is echoing the Democrats' strongest talking points against the GOP.
www.msnbc.com
crystal159.bsky.social
Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters’ scandal-plagued tenure officially ended last month when he resigned to work with right-wing activist group Teacher Freedom Alliance. But his resignation hasn’t brought an end to the controversies.

On Tuesday, the state Ethics Commission..
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crystal159.bsky.social
Reporter Yalda Hakim discusses President Donald Trump's announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed the first phase of a ceasefire deal, which was widely welcomed Thursday by world leaders, the families of hostages and Palestinians who have endured more than two years of war.
'A historic moment': This time is different for Israel and Hamas, says reporter
Reporter Yalda Hakim discusses President Donald Trump's announcement that Israel and Hamas have agreed the first phase of a ceasefire deal, which was widely welcomed Thursday by world leaders, the fam...
www.msnbc.com