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buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
josh buermann
@buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
67 followers 27 following 2.1K posts
"Man has survived hitherto because he was too ignorant to know how to realize his wishes. Now that he can realize them, he must either change them or perish." […]

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.social/@buermann, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
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buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
I feel like the only regular press coverage of the climate crisis that remains at this point is the business press' reporting on how fossil industry is making it worse as fast as humanly possible.

https://archive.is/sc8UK
BLOOMBERG Oil Market Faces ‘Super Glut’ With Supply Hikes, Trafigura Says By Mitchell Ferman December 9, 2025 at 1:10 PM UTC
December 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
The part where Tom Cotton mistakes Trump for Dubya and the follow up question from MEET THE PRESS is not "who is the president of the united states" is an amazing example of the contemporary commercial press' inability to recollect who not only who was but […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
NBC, MEET THE PRESS, December 7, 2025: SEN. TOM COTTON: If George Bush can invade a Latin American country and overthrow its regime, I think President Bush has every power under the Constitution to strike boats in international waters from foreign terrorist-designated organizations. KRISTEN WELKER: Okay. Final question to you, Senator. The Pentagon's inspector general was out with a report this week https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-december-7-2025-n1313135
December 9, 2025 at 2:19 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
This thing where the health insurance lobby has all but immunized itself from public criticism could make real fodder for somebody who cared about free speech.

https://prospect.org/2025/12/05/meet-the-connectors-middlemen/
The lawsuit Bil and his wife Shanon brought is another way the fight continues. Bil has dedicated his life to the “David vs. Goliath” battle, quitting his job, founding Patient Protector to advocate for those who have been harmed by PBMs, and becoming for a time the director of patient experience at AffirmedRX, a public benefit corporation he says provides the type of service, transparency, and care that middlemen should. But the company laid him off when it was forced to cut costs, yet another symptom of PBMs’ death grip on the market. Bil also appeared in a Modern Medical Mafia documentary about PBMs, which UnitedHealthcare forced Prime Video and Vimeo to take down, a move The New York Times characterized as part of “an aggressive and wide-ranging campaign to quiet critics.” It is still up on YouTube, which Bil worries may not last long.
December 6, 2025 at 11:12 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Awful lot of reminders these days that all it takes to be rich and successful in America are the right connections that share your brand of sociopathy.

https://prospect.org/2025/12/05/meet-the-connectors-middlemen/
The PBM that denied Cole’s inhaler, Optum Rx, is run by Patrick Conway, who just a few years ago resigned from his job as the CEO of BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, after cops arrested him in Raleigh for driving drunk, crashing into a tractor trailer, and endangering his two young daughters who were in the car with him. During the encounter, Conway was “absolutely belligerent,” cussed out the cops, threatened to call the governor, refused a breathalyzer, and began kicking and pounding on the holding cell, to which officers responded by slapping him in shackles. BlueCross board members reportedly sought to cover it up, but when they failed it didn’t really matter because the rules don’t apply to high-placed individuals in the U.S. and it takes much more than two child abuse misdemeanors and a careless and reckless driving charge to bring them down, or even require they serve jail time. So while Conway had to quit his CEO gig, which paid him $3.59 million in his last year on the job, the practicing pediatrician focused on “self-care” and quickly got a new position. Now his paycheck is even bigger, “a little north of $4 million” as of 2023, he told Congress.
December 6, 2025 at 10:53 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
How high is Hakeem Jeffries' bribery income? What banks does he rely on to launder the cash?

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/politics/video/cnn-sitroom-blitzer-brown-hakeem-jeffries-henry-cuellar-trump-pardon-texas
"Exactly the right outcome": Minority Leader Jeffries reacts to Trump pardoning Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries joined CNN's Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown to react to President Trump's decision to offer a full pardon to Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar. Jeffries said the charges against Cuellar and his wife were “very thin,” and that Trump's decision was "exactly the right outcome."
December 4, 2025 at 2:07 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
America hasn't had a president that did not either sponsor a dictatorship in Somalia or bomb it -- which would you prefer? -- since the Ogaden War and most Americans will never even hear about any of it, let alone last weekend's mass murder, let alone give a […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
COMMON DREAMS for Nov 17, 2025 At Least 12 Somali Civilians—Including 8 Children—Killed in Suspected US Airstrikes The US has carried out nearly 100 strikes in Somalia this year alone, with scant coverage by the corporate media. At least a dozen civilians—eight children, three women, and an elderly man—were killed in weekend bombings that local sources claimed were the latest of nearly 100 US airstrikes in the Horn of Africa nation this year alone. --Brett Wilkins
December 3, 2025 at 12:33 AM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Is there nowhere safe for the CIA to park their death squads when they're done deathing?

"Lakanwal didn’t feel safe in Bellingham , WA after... a man sprayed something into his eyes requiring hospital treatment" […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
In September, Lakanwal’s nephew requested the Bellingham housing authority approve a move closer to an Afghan community. The handwritten application, reviewed by Rolling Stone, cited Lakanwal’s isolation, lack of English skills, and the need to find employment in a larger community like Seattle. Lakanwal didn’t feel safe in Bellingham after he was assaulted when a man sprayed something into his eyes requiring hospital treatment, according to the application. Following the shooting in D.C., President Donald Trump called it a “terrorist attack” and announced a full review of all Afghan nationals admitted to the U.S. under the Biden administration. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Vice President J.D. Vance, and FBI Director Kash Patel then collectively laid blame on former President Joe Biden, claiming Lakanwal and other refugees were “unvetted” or subject to “zero vetting,” often citing that the shooting suspect was “mass paroled into the United States.” “This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said. “Our citizens and servicemembers deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden administration’s catastrophic failures.” But Lakanwal, who went by “Shafiq” during his time fighting for the CIA, underwent more vetting than most Afghans. No one just joined the CIA’s Zero Units. Soldiers had to be recommended by a close family member or friend. The CIA then vetted each member before even offering a probationary period. The vetting process was so successful that Zero Units never suffered an insider attack — when Afghan soldiers turned against U.S. advisers. Slots in the Zero Units were coveted because of better pay, better training, and the chance to work alongside elite U.S. operators. In later years, there were also opportunities to immigrate and resettle in the U.S. after at least one year of service and U.S. government approval. In the final days of the war in 2021, roughly 81,000 Afghan immigrants — including almost 10,000 members of the Zero Units, along with many of their families — were evacuated by the CIA and resettled across the U.S., according to reports. After arriving in the United States, the Zero Unit veterans were vetted again before receiving Special Immigrant Visas, meant for Afghan and Iraqi nationals who worked for the U.S. government.
December 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
TODAY IN PAX MAGA: 'The American war against fishing is legal but we did not order it, but if we are not awarded a peace prize we will murder everyone you know.'
Leavitt said Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the 2 September strikes but did not give the verbal order to "kill everybody" on board, an allegation first reported by the Washington Post. Hegseth also denied he gave the order, which has drawn bipartisan condemnation from US lawmakers who have vowed to investigate the incident for possible war crimes. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0r95q9kv1go As Washington prepares to launch land attacks inside Venezuela, a long-awaited phone call between the White House and Caracas aimed at defusing the crisis carried a blunt message for strongman Nicolás Maduro: You can save yourself and those closest to you, but you must leave the country now, sources familiar with the exchange told the Miami Herald. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article313261442.html
December 1, 2025 at 9:54 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Pete Hegseth is ordering fishermen to be murdered on the open sea rather than risk more drug kingpins buying Trump's autopenned pardon from Roger Stone.

https://archive.is/758vY
NYT Nov. 28, 2025 Trump Announces Pardon for Honduran Ex-President Convicted in Drug Case Juan Orlando Hernández was accused of receiving millions in bribes and partnering with cocaine traffickers. He was convicted in Manhattan in 2024 and sentenced to 45 years in prison. Since Mr. Trump took office this year, Mr. Hernández’s family has attempted to portray his conviction as political persecution by the Biden administration. But the investigation into his ties with drug traffickers took place primarily during Mr. Trump’s first term. His cause was taken up by figures like Roger Stone, the conservative political operative and Trump ally. Mr. Stone claimed that Mr. Hernández had been “trapped” and was a victim of a conspiracy tied to the U.S. government.
November 29, 2025 at 3:24 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
CBS News chief Bari Weiss seems to think that the "vast majority of Americans" are close personal friends of Jeffrey Epstein like Alan Derschowitz, but that seems like a gross exaggeration of how many friends she has […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
During an appearance at the Jewish Leadership Conference earlier this month, Weiss – a self-described “radical centrist” and “Zionist fanatic” – argued that a recent debate that The Free Press hosted between Dershowitz and former NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch on gun control was indicative of the vision she had for CBS News going forward. Sitting next to right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro, Weiss asserted that not only did Dershowitz and Loesch seemingly represent the “center left and center right” of the political divide, but that their opinions and positions are “where the vast majority of Americans actually are.”
November 26, 2025 at 12:52 AM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Jeffrey Epstein was an international arms merchant, a petty warlord, apparently. He was rich because he knew everybody and he knew everybody because he was rich. Usually they get their start in Congress or the Ivies, I think? This guy started his climb to sex […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
In trying to make sense of Epstein’s career, it’s hard not to be reminded of one of the greatest of American novels, Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow (1973). Pynchon was obsessed with the covert system formed in wartime that merged deceptive public goals with private ambitions and corporate agendas. At one point, the narrator of Gravity’s Rainbow reflects on how war allows traffickers of all sorts—in luxury goods, in sex work, in refugees—to thrive: “Don’t forget the real business of the War is buying and selling. The murdering and the violence are self-policing, and can be entrusted to non-professionals…. The true war is a celebration of markets. Organic markets, carefully styled ‘black’ by the professionals, spring up everywhere.” Epstein flourished in the shadows of those organic markets.
November 22, 2025 at 7:53 AM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
same story different headline
Bloomberg.com headline blurb on Google News US Stocks Rally as Nvidia Earnings Ease AI Bubble Worries By Geoffrey Morgan & Jess Menton 2 hours ago The same Bloomberg article when you click to it from Google News US Stocks Slump Anew After Nvidia Results Fail to Quiet AI Angst By Jess Menton and Geoffrey Morgan November 20, 202
November 20, 2025 at 9:06 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
JP Morgan says that rich people cannot get enough subprime #ai debt to build warehouses that should have been windmills and batteries full of rapidly depreciating GPUs that should have been solar panels and power lines.

https://archive.is/zu2BI
BLOOMBERG AI’s $5 Trillion Cost Needs Every Debt Market, JPMorgan Says By Victor Swezey November 10, 2025 A $30 billion bond sale by Meta Platforms Inc. last month set a record for the largest order book in the history of the high-grade bond market, and investors were ready to fork over another $18 billion to Oracle Corp. last week to fund a data center campus.
November 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Right below the above horror story is another one about how the #pedocon festooned White House acted to protect the sex traffickers Andrew and Tristan Tate.

ProPublic has the written orders from the White House's lawyer, and the White House's lawyer's lawyer […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Interviews and records reviewed by ProPublica show a White House official told senior Department of Homeland Security officials to return the devices to the brothers several days after they were seized. The official who delivered the message, Paul Ingrassia, is a lawyer who previously represented the Tate brothers before joining the White House, where he was working as its DHS liaison. In his written request, a copy of which was reviewed by ProPublica, Ingrassia chided authorities for taking the action, saying the seizure of the Tates’ devices was not a good use of time or resources. The request to return the electronics to the Tates, he emphasized, was coming from the White House. Ingrassia’s lawyer, Edward Paltzik, said in a text message: “Mr. Ingrassia never ordered that the Tate Brothers’ devices be returned to them, nor did he say — and nor would he have ever said — that such a directive came from the White House. This story is fiction, simply not true.” When questioned about whether Ingrassia had asked authorities to return the devices, even if he did not order them to, Paltzik declined to comment, explaining that “the word ‘ask’ is inappropriate because it is meaningless in this context. He either ordered something or he didn’t. And as I said, he did NOT order anything.”
November 20, 2025 at 3:15 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Yet another horror story about fundamentalist Christians covering up terrible sex crimes against children. The molester here was a parishioner and the church -- not just the leadership but entire congregations -- repeatedly circled their wagons to protect him […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
After St. Louis County announced charges against Massie, Kleffman began receiving calls from alleged victims all over the country. One of those was from Chamberlin. Months later, Kleffman realized that one of the other victims he interviewed was Chamberlin’s older sister, Bertolotto. Neither of them knew what had happened to the other. Neither knew the other sister had come forward. Both women agreed to be named in this story. Court filings listed nine alleged victims, but only three of the cases resulted in charges of felony sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 13. The statute of limitations under South Dakota law had run out for Bertolotto and Chamberlin. And the girl who’d been pressured to forgive Massie in Bruckelmyer’s office hadn’t had her case charged either; under Minnesota law, too much time had passed between her initial report in 2017 and the prosecution. His attorney, citing Massie’s lack of a criminal record, asked that he receive no prison time and be allowed to seek treatment and receive probation that he could serve at home. Massie apologized to his victims and their families. “I beg for their forgiveness, for the damage and hurt that I’ve caused them over the years,” he said in a quavering voice. “I feel responsible for the horrible acts to these children.” But Judge Eric Hylden noted that since Massie had pleaded guilty, he’d never tried to enroll in sex-offender treatment or written apology letters to his victims. Hylden also quoted aloud from one of 17 letters of support for Massie, many from OALC members, which he said demonstrated that some in Massie’s community still did not believe he’d done anything wrong: “I wish you find ones that have actually done these things and get them put away rather than putting your energy into lying and seeking evil where there is none to be found.” The judge sentenced Massie to 7 1/2 years in prison.
November 20, 2025 at 3:04 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Andrew Paul Johnson follows his fellow "j6ers" Andrew Taake, David Daniel, and Theodore Middendorf by being charged with child sex crimes after being pardoned by President Donald Trump […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
NBC News Pardoned Capitol rioter tried to bribe child sex victim with promise of Jan. 6 payout, officials say Andrew Paul Johnson, 44, faces multiple charges in Florida, including lewd/lascivious molestation, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office. Nov. 18, 2025 By Ryan J. Reilly and Minyvonne Burke
November 18, 2025 at 11:44 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
for christian nationalists any other festival of lights is a war on christmas

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/16/us/indian-americans-racism-maga-cec
Last month, FBI Director Kash Patel wished his followers on X a happy Diwali. It did not go over well. Far-right Christian nationalist and white nationalist accounts flooded his post with bigoted memes and rhetoric. “Go back home and worship your sand demons,” a far-right pastor wrote. “Get the f**k out of my country,” read another reply. Said another, “This is America. We don’t do this.” These responses, some of which were seen millions of times, were on the tamer end of the spectrum. Some Indian American conservatives seem shocked that segments of the political right are now taking aim at them. When Democrats won big on election night, Ramaswamy advised Republicans to “cut out the identity politics,” saying “we don’t care about the color of your skin or your religion. We care about the content of your character.” After one X user said that the existence of Indians disgusted them, Dinesh D’Souza, the right-wing commentator who has peddled racism against Black Americans for decades, mused: “In a career spanning 40 years, I have never encountered this type of rhetoric. The Right never used to talk like this. So who on our side has legitimized this type of vile degradation?”
November 17, 2025 at 9:01 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
ah the stalwart defenders of liberalism, trashing it with faint comparisons to a rusty dumpster of flaming lies

https://www.patreon.com/posts/being-tone-deaf-143495269
“’2025 Thanksgiving dinner under Trump is 25% lower than 2024 Thanksgiving dinner under Biden, according to Walmart,’ Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Thursday. ‘My cost are lower than the Democrats on everything, especially oil and gas! So the Democrats ‘affordability’ issue is DEAD! STOP LYING!!!’” The NYT then told readers: “Mr. Trump risks being in a similar position as his predecessor, defending his record by pointing to statistics that don’t capture a troubling reality that many Americans are feeling.” Vox did virtually the same thing in its Podcast, Today Explained, which had a segment with Democratic political consultant David Axelrod. Axelrod used very similar language to tell listeners that Trump risked making the same mistake as Biden.
November 13, 2025 at 5:10 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
gotta hand it to andrew cuomo for soaking the rich with his desperately malodorous mayoral campaign

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-nyc-mayor-race-donations/
NYT Mayoral PAC Fundraising Since the Primary, a chart that when you add up the numbers suggest the billionaires blew nearly $30 million trying to stop the deadly socialist threat of municipal grocery co-ops
November 5, 2025 at 7:02 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
RJF Jr. always looks like the air is slowly leaking out of the wormhole.

#presidentsmumps
RFK Jr's slowly deflating visage standing behind Doctor Oz at a lectern lecturing the press with outrageous lies.
November 3, 2025 at 5:23 AM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
The "AI pilot" of this incompetent robot who is paid considerably more than a house keeper looks incredibly human.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3c4mQty_so
A graphic from a WSJ story about a new house cleaning "robot" that is just a clumsy gimmick. On one side Alan Turing is pictured with the chyron "AI PIONEER:. To Alan's right is a kid in VR goggles with the chyron "AI PILOT".
October 30, 2025 at 7:12 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
If the United States deported every man who had ever assaulted a partner half the administration -- including the president, who aside his dozens of sexual assaults was only granted a divorce with one of his wives on account of his "cruel and inhuman […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
Souvannarath most recently lived in Arab, Alabama. Court records show he was granted lawful permanent residence in the U.S. before his first birthday. His father, a native of Laos, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Souvannarath claims his citizenship derives from that status. In 2004, Souvannarath was convicted of unlawful firearm possession and assault against his then-girlfriend in King County, Washington. He had also been convicted of a misdemeanor assault against the same woman several years before, court records show. "20 years later, he tried a Hail Mary attempt to remain in our country by claiming he was a U.S. citizen," McLaughlin wrote in her statement. "I know its shocking to the media — but criminal illegal aliens lie all the time." Souvannarath's wife, Beatrice, described him as a hard worker and loving father who stayed out of trouble since his run-ins with the law two decades ago. He's mostly worked installing air conditioners and heaters, she said. "He doesn't even drink," she said.
October 30, 2025 at 6:50 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
@rustoleumlove

Speaking of BARINN I was watching a Daily Show clip and noticed the YouTube's propaganda algorithm promoting 60 Minutes' new feature interviewing Joe Rogan's guest list with archaic clickbait headlines... I do not share the common awe for 60 […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
A recommendation from YouTube off a Daily Show video: Mentalist Oz Pearlman BLOWS MINDS, from Joe Rogan to tech titans 60 Minutes
October 29, 2025 at 8:37 PM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
It's now gospel to some people that Graham Platner had not just one but two Nazi tattoos because he once volunteered to maintain the Appalachian trail with an organization founded in 1919, which, like particular hussarian permutations of the skull & crossbones, can apparently only mean Nazi shit.
[The crossed pick and hammer of the Appalachian Mountain Club logo] The Start of an Era, 1919 In 1919 the AMC Department of Improvements realized that the existing system of trail maintenance was no longer sufficient and the AMC White Mountain Trail Crew was born. For its first 50 years, the Trail Crew focused on making the existing AMC trails accessible to the public. Standard tasks included early season patrolling to cut out trees blown down during the intervening seasons, clearing brush and limbs to create a clear passageway 4 feet wide and 8 feet high, designing and installing bridges across major water crossings, creating and hanging trail signs, and installing and maintaining a system of shelters throughout the trails system. https://www.amctca.com/history/ A list of all the names of the 2002 Appalachian Trail Crew including Graham Platner, capped from their annual newsletter: https://www.amctca.com/wp-content/uploads/Chips-and-Clippings-2022.pdf
October 23, 2025 at 2:06 AM
buermann.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
"Jon Paul Sheptock, 49, the Worship Minister at First Montgomery Baptist Church in Montgomery, was arrested last month for... child sexual assault materials.... Sheptock's alleged victim testified to the Montgomery County Constable's office that Sheptock had […]

[Original post on mastodon.social]
CHRON Oct 22, 2025 Trump-supporting pastor born with no arms faces child porn charges in Texas John Sheptock is accused of possession, production and distribution of child sexual assault materials. By Gwen Howerton, Texas Culture Reporter
October 22, 2025 at 9:22 PM