Aggregator

Both men are being held without bond.

Finally, for what it's worth, here's the actual state of the economy in the final quarter of 2023 compared to 2022. I feel like I should hardly need to say this, but everything that should be adjusted for inflation has been. Real GDP growth: 4.9% Unemployment rate: 3.7% Inflation (CPI): 3.2% Inflation (CPI change from ...continue reading "2023 was an all-time great year for the economy"

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is the latest guest on comedian Marc Maron's popular WTF podcast. According to the episode's description, the pair discusses "melodies, power pop, R.E.M., the…

Source

As long as we're at it, here's what else Republicans think about the economy these days: 58% think the overall economy is poor (vs. 14% for Democrats) 62% think the economy is getting worse (vs. 22% for Democrats) 53% say they are worse off than last year (vs. 18% for Democrats) 50% say they've heard ...continue reading "Here’s what Republicans think of the economy"

I was fooling around with the latest YouGov/Economist poll and marveling anew at how bad Republicans think the economy is. But the most spectacular finding is surely this: 68% of Republicans think unemployment is a serious problem in the US. The unemployment rate last month was 3.7%. It's been under 4% for 24 straight months. ...continue reading "The unemployment rate in 2023 was the lowest in half a century"

Bruce Springsteen has marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day by sharing an emotional performance on social media. The rocker posted video of him performing the gospel song “We Shall Overcome,” a tune commonly associated with…

Source

"Elon Musk" by dmoberhaus is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk’s purported support for free expression is nothing more than a “snake-oil salesman’s marketing scheme,” writes Freedom of the Press Foundation Executive Director Trevor Timm in The Guardian.

The most recent example of Musk’s hypocrisy on free speech was X’s brief suspension of several left-leaning journalists and commentators. That incident followed Musk’s frivolous lawsuit against Media Matters in November and a long line of other anti-speech antics. Musk “uses his power to retaliate against his critics more than anyone this side of Donald Trump,” Timm wrote. He’s also gutted X’s legal department and made its rules and procedures “opaque and arbitrary.” It doesn’t have to be this way, though:

Imagine Musk’s professed love for free speech wasn’t entirely fake. As the wealthiest person in the world, he could have huge leverage. He could create a transparent, robust appeals process for [X users] who allegedly break the rules and get suspended. He could employ a huge legal team to fight any and every government order for censorship around the world, while protecting the anonymity of his users against those who sue.

Read the full article here.

To You, I Go (2023) is Jessica Page’s visual love letter to St. Louis. Although St. Louis is rarely romanticized, Page aims to showcase the softest purest side of her […]

The post To You, I Go appeared first on Explore St. Louis.

SPRINGFIELD - As the Iowa caucuses draw closer each election season, there’s usually lots of talk about caucuses and primaries - but what exactly are they, and what’s the difference between them? CJ Nasello, host of Our Daily Show! on Riverbender.com , recently sat down to clarify these terms for viewers and voters ahead of the 2024 election. “Caucus season and all that starts today,” Nasello said. “It kind of amazes me, because some of us - I’m not picking on you - just don’t know what the difference is. So what’s the difference between a primary and a caucus?” According to usa.gov , primaries and caucuses use different methods to accomplish the same goal - help states and political parties choose their presidential nominees. In a presidential primary, voters cast secret ballots to anonymously vote for their preferred candidate. Those votes are then taken into account by the state they were cast in before the state

Continue Reading

I want to try to discuss with you today some of the issues surrounding that struggle that is taking place not only in our nation but all over the world. Victor Hugo said on one occasion that there is no…

ALTON - Rosetta Brown, the Alton Branch NAACP First Vice President and Alton Alderwoman had a great way to sum up the Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024, Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration at the Greater St. James Baptist Church: "It was incredible." While it was zero degrees outside with a wind chill 20 to 30 degrees below zero, the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive and well in the confines of the Greater St. Baptist Church. People of all ages were present - from very young to even a person in her 90s. The energy of Dr. King appeared present during the Alton ceremony from every speaker and participant. One speaker and participant seemed to naturally flow from one to the next and the beauty was the ceremony encompassed participation from all age levels. Leon Smallwood-Bey, president of the Alton Branch of the NAACP, said he was glad everyone gathered on Sunday to honor Dr. King despite the incredibly frigid conditions outside. Inside the Alton church on Sunday, he said it was a grea

Continue Reading