(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Itzl Alert Network: Tuesday, 3rd of December, 2024: Thumbs up and Thumbs down [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-12-02 Today I am presenting two lists. These are organizations, some big, some small. I will start with those I feel the need to be given a thumbs down. Then I will list those that get my thumbs up. The little dog is named Itzl. As you can see by Itzl's concerned look, this group is for us to check in at, to let people know we are alive, doing OK, and not affected by such things as heat, blizzards, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, or other such things that could keep us off Daily Kos. If you're not here, or anywhere else on Daily Kos, and there are adverse conditions in your area (floods, heatwaves, hurricanes, etc.), we are going to check up on you. If you are going to be away from your computer for a day or a week, let us know here. We care! IAN is a great group to join, and a good place to learn to write diaries. Drop one of us a PM to be added to the Itzl Alert Network anytime! We all share the publishing duties, and we welcome everyone who reads IAN to write diaries for the group! Every member is an editor, so anyone can take a turn when they have something to say, photos and music to share, a cause to promote or news! This is our current schedule of regular IAN diary writers: Monday: Youffraita Tuesday: bigjacbigjacbigjac Wednesday: Pam from Calif Thursday: art ah zen Friday: FloridaSNMOM Saturday: FloridaSNDad Sunday: loggersbrat Thumbs down: The Republican party. Since at least the days of Nixon and his southern strategy, the Republican party has embraced white supremacy, and male supremacy, and Christian supremacy, and wealthy folks' supremacy. I may have missed some other supremacies, but that is what came to me off the top of my head. Radical right-wing media. Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, radio, TV, and internet. All those preaching the Republican supremacies listed above. They have many newer platforms and personalities nowadays, but I am not taking time to make a list. Thumbs up: The Catholic Church: (I am starting with the largest group and working my way down to smaller groups.) (There are well over one billion Catholics.) I know. The church hates same sex marriage, and abortion and contraception. Technically, the dogma seems to say those things. However. I was a Catholic for 20 years. It is not all that simple. Most Catholics, for decades, have been voting for Democrats. The Pope recently said that priests should give same sex couples a “blessing.” Catholic dogma states that the actual sacrament of matrimony is given by the two consenting adults. As I understand it, the only thing the Church gives to any couple is some kind of blessing, and a signature on the marriage license. The Pope did not tell them to sign the marriage license, as far as I know, but a “blessing?” I am not well versed on all that, but I am saying that most Catholics, maybe even the Pope, are “cafeteria Catholics.” They take what they want from the Church and leave the rest on the table. Plus, for at least 100 years, here in the USA, the Church has set up schools and clinics and hospitals. Here in Wichita, Kansas, we have at least one Catholic high school, two Catholic hospitals, and I think my Ascension Living Hope agency was set up by Catholics. One hospital here is Methodist. United Methodist Open Door is the largest free food pantry in Wichita. The Catholic Church has The Lord’s Diner, as a free food place downtown, plus two or three Lord’s Diner food trucks. The Methodists give you some food to take home and cook. The Catholic Church gives you a hot meal. The governments of China and the USA: You can certainly find fault with both of them. But we seem to have stability. No big fighting, no big wars. We have troubles in Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa, Haiti, just off the top of my head. But no big all-out wars since WWII. The government of the USA is so big and so stable, that even after Trump and his team try to weaken it with Project 2025, I think it will remain stable and strong. (I know, ignore Uncle Mark, he said Harris would win by a landslide.) The fossil fuel industry: I know, many folks say: Climate change! I say: Contraception, please. We cannot load up our planet with 8 billion humans and climbing, all of them wanting all the good things of life (like food) and expect to simply stop using fossil fuels right this minute. We are feeding 8 billion mouths using tractors (burning diesel fuel) to plant the seeds; combines (burning diesel fuel) to harvest the crops; trucks and trains and barges and ships (burning diesel fuel) to move the crops from the farms to the next steps and on to the mouths to be fed. I am warm and cozy in my apartment here in Wichita, Kansas. It is 28 degrees outside. My heater in my apartment is a vintage 1947 natural gas heater. We have many natural gas wells here in Kansas. There is a small town in southeast Kansas called “Gas.” Someday, humankind will make the transition away from fossil fuels. In the meantime, we will be burning some fossil fuels. And using more contraception, to bring down our fertility rate, to stop growing our population. In the meantime, those “evil” fossil fuel companies are feeding us. And keeping Uncle Mark warm. Walmart: Recently there was a news item that said that Walmart has stopped efforts at DEI. The man who was speaking for Walmart said that “Walmart wants to welcome everyone”, or something like that. I worked at a Walmart store for 12 years. I had co-workers who were Black, who were gay, and one who was transgender. Walmart always needs more workers, always looking to hire more folks. Walmart cannot afford to get too picky about who gets hired. You can have tattoos and piercings, and you still get the job. I feel that the man was saying: “If anyone feels bad about Walmart saying the term, “DEI” then Walmart will stop saying the term, stop shoving it in the faces of all the customers.” You do not like anyone saying “DEI?” Welcome to Walmart. You are a member of a marginalized group (Black, gay, trans)? Welcome to Walmart. Seems to me that Walmart will continue to practice DEI. They will just stop saying it too loudly. Seems to me. Certain commentators are giving Walmart a thumbs down. I do not agree. MSNBC: I watch YouTube videos posted by MSNBC on their YouTube channel. I do not watch “TV.” MSNBC has twenty or thirty great commentators plus other experts they call in on camera. For all this year, 2024, they have given Trump a hard thumbs down, all day, every day. I mean going as far as to simply call Trump “Stupid!” (Lawrence O’Donnell) After the election, Morning Joe and his wife Mika (MSNBC commentators) went to Mar-a-Lago and sat down face-to-face with Trump. That inspired certain commentators (such as some here at Daily Kos) to give MSNBC a thumbs down. I do not agree. Roland S. Martin: This man is a Black man, and he owns his own news platform. I watch his YouTube channel when I want a video that will run for an hour or so, while I wash my dishes. (His live streams, when no longer live, are simply long videos.) After spending ten years married to a Black woman, Tonia, I feel a need to find out what Roland has to say about what Black folks feel about the news, each day. He and his commentators can say exactly what they feel, because it is a Black owned news and commentary outlet. Roland can fire his commentators, but nobody can fire Roland. Ha! Beau of the Fifth Column: This YouTube channel has a team of five or so, and they are good at doing the research needed to make the news of the day understandable. One of their recent videos was the first time I ever heard this simple fact about the economy: We must always have inflation, at about 2% per year. If we do not have inflation, we have a recession. I have heard that from other sources since then, but that channel was the first one to tell me, to bring it to my attention. Anyone who ever complains about any price that has gone up in the last year or the last month, we all need to say to them: “Do you want a recession?” I have been an adult since about 1975. Have we had steady inflation from 1975 up to now, almost 2025? Yes. Except for the recession of 2008. Ha! Daily Kos: Rather than point out all the positives of Daily Kos, I simply want to remind you and me, that there are many folks who may not like our Daily Kos home. But Uncle Mark is here for the long run. I am not going away, until I am deceased. Anyway. Hugs! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/12/2/2289832/-Itzl-Alert-Network-Tuesday-3rd-of-December-2024-Thumbs-up-and-Thumbs-down?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/