Spyke

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Conservatives go to red states and liberals go to blue as the country grows more polarized

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The problem comes when conservatives see the rainbow flag (or any of the other numerous pride flags) as a direct attack on their religion. I grew up in a very conservative area of a very red state, and I can tell you from personal experience that an attack on their religion will feel like a personal attack against them. They might be flying the thin blue line flag as a "fuck your feelings" flag, but it's likely because they see any pride flag as a "fuck your religion" flag.

This really stems from the larger issue of tying religion and politics together; now they can view any challenges to their political views as a challenge to their religious views. One thing Christianity is very good at is building a victim complex and that Jesus/ the church is the most important thing in this life or the next, and that preconditions their followers to believe that they will have to dig in harder in the face of adversity.

I think the real key is to make everyone realize that freedom of religious is the same as freedom from religion as well. Once we can all get on the same page that making something legal and available (like women's healthcare) is not the same as a government endorsement and still allows people to not use the service. Getting over that hurdle might take away a huge arm of the right-wing propaganda machine (allowing priests and ministers to give political messages from the pulpit) and might help the wheels of government to turn a little smoother.

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The next-generation "forest army": Biden launches civilian climate corps program

This is incredible news! While 20,000 is fewer jobs than I would have liked, it's still 20,000 more people that are fighting to save our planet than we had before. Plus all those jobs will provide income to all those people and families, and they'll be able to recirculate those funds to their local economies. I bet this program will generate more income than it's cost over the long run, and that's not even counting all the monetary savings that a more stable (or at least slower changing) climate will bring.

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Biden says UAW should fight for 40% pay raise in Michigan strike visit

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I don't think it's as likely that the Feds break this strike like they did with the railroads. Their argument against the rails was that almost every other industry relies on them to move product, while having fewer new cars will only effect the new and used car markets. With however hundreds of millions of usable vehicles that are already out there, this strike doesn't really have the same opportunity to spill over to the larger economy.

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Republicans Are at War With College Towns. And They’re Losing.

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That may be true, but what the article was really trying to point out was how increases in these college areas (and therefore college aged voters) is starting to make a big difference. The example they gave was that, at least in the most recent election, the area around Madison used to cancel out the red suburbs around Milwaukee, but now Madison is so strongly liberal that they out weigh those suburbs and therefore tip the scales in favor of Dems. If this trend continues, and if the Dems can replicate it in other swing states (big "if"), then it could change the way politics are played in America.