News bits: Walmart’s ‘sensory-friendly hours’; Bannon court update; How the GOP sees the election

Sensory overload (sensory processing disorder) is a real thing. I just thought it was fairly rare and usually not debilitating. Anyway, for whatever reasons Walmart seems to be locked onto the concept according to a report by The Hill:

In a Tuesday news release, Walmart said from 8-10 a.m. local time, it will change its TV walls to a static image while also lowering or turning off lights where possible in an effort to make customers with sensory disabilities feel more comfortable.

“During these hours, we hope our customers and associates will find the stores to be a little easier on the eyes and ears,” the company said in its news release. “These changes are thanks to those who shared their feedback on how their stores could help them feel like they belong.”

Walmart said that it ran a pilot program of its new initiative Saturdays during the back-to-school season, adding the feedback it received was “overwhelmingly positive.”

Good for Walmart. It's turning down the garbage intensity for at least two hours/day. That's a lot better than no hours/day.

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Along with DJT, Mark Meadows and all the 1/6 insurrectionists, another DJT-related felon I very much want to see behind bars is the scumbag extraordinaire Steve Bannon. Bannon coined the now-standard authoritarian radical right attack label, flood the zone with shit, meaning spew tones of lies, slanders and crackpottery to deflect and divert attention from the corruption and authoritarian horrors the ARR is engaged in.  The Hill updates the status his legal saga:

Steve Bannon’s bid to avoid prison 

heads to appeals court

Steve Bannon’s bid to avoid prison heads to a federal appeals court Thursday as the onetime Trump White House strategist attempts to overturn his conviction.

A jury last year found Bannon guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the Jan. 6 House select committee.

With his four-month prison sentence on hold, Bannon’s attorney will go before a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday to argue his client’s constitutional rights were violated.

The onetime former President Trump aide and “Bannon’s War Room” podcast host is advancing several arguments rejected by a lower court, including that the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena wasn’t valid in the first place.

Even if it was, Bannon contends he was entitled to present various defenses to the jury to explain his defiance. Bannon insists he is innocent because he relied on his attorney’s advice and legal opinions from within the Department of Justice.

I so much hope that Bannon has to serve his full 4 months in the slammer. I see the 4 month sentence as more evidence of how weak the rule of law is for elites, and the rich and powerful. In my opinion, he should spend at least 10 years in the slammer for the damage he caused to democracy and society.

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One Repub senator describes Tuesday's election results like this:

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) called Tuesday’s election results “very disappointing.”

“Part of what we have to do is get the vote out. I don’t know if you all saw the disturbing number[s] [for] turnout. Clearly, these were races that Democrats didn’t win, Republicans lost. We didn’t show up,” he said.

“It’s about execution; it’s about messaging, and we’ve got to do a better job,” he said. “Yesterday, to me, was complete failure.”

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Faux News is spinning it's black little heart out to reframe the abortion situation in terms of a gigantic lie. The HuffPo writes:

Sean Hannity's Gaslighting Post-Election Abortion 

Claim Doesn't Fool Onlookers

In the face of resounding victories for abortion rights in Tuesday’s elections, Sean Hannity quickly started rewriting facts for Fox News viewers. “Democrats are trying to scare women into thinking Republicans don’t want abortion legal under any circumstances,” the host said Tuesday night. As many commenters pointed out on social media, the main reason for that perception is probably because it’s true in many cases.