Tracker

Trump called her an ‘incredible woman’ — but a new report reveals the disturbing past of Ashli Babbitt Ashli Babbitt has been heralded by Trump and his MAGA supporters as a martyr, but the reality tells a vastly different story. Babbitt, 35, was an Air Force veteran who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police police officer as she attempted to climb through a broken window of a door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby inside the U.S. Capitol during the terrorist attack on Jan. 6. Since her death, former President Donald Trump has praised Babbitt, calling her an “innocent, wonderful, and incredible woman,” taped a posthumous video for her birthday, and demanded the Justice Department reopen an investigation into her death. Trump supporters idealize her as a soldier for justice who was wrongfully murdered. Her name and photo have been emblazoned on T-shirts and flags at Trump rallies. However, Associated Press spoke with a woman by the name of Celeste Norris who says the Babbitt she knew was dangerous and violent. “I lived in fear because I didn’t know what she was capable of,” Norris told the AP. “I was constantly looking over my shoulder.” Trump called her an ‘incredible woman’ — but a new report reveals the disturbing past of Ashli Babbitt - Alternet.org 'The committee has broken through Trump's wall' and knows exactly what he did during riot: CNN's Jamie Gangel CNN reporter Jamie Gangel on Monday said that the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th Capitol riots has gained direct testimony describing former President Donald Trump's actions as he watched his supporters storm the Capitol. Speaking with host Jake Tapper, Gangel broke down what sources have been telling her about testimony the committee has secured. "The source said, quote, there's a collection of people with relevant information," she said. "Translation, Jake: 'Firsthand' indicates the committee is now hearing from people with direct knowledge. It could be someone who was in the room, someone on the phone, but these are people with firsthand information. I would say, bottom line, Jake, this means the committee has broken through Trump's wall." Trump had indicted to top allies such as Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon that he did not want them cooperating with the committee, but it seems that the committee has nonetheless gathered testimony from other Trump officials to create a full picture of the president's actions during the riots. During her talk with Tapper, Gangel elaborated on one potential witness who could have given the committee significant information. "One witness that we know of who has given a deposition to the committee is Keith Kellogg," she said. "He was former vice president Mike Pence's national security adviser who happened to be with Trump in the White House on January 6th when the riot was going on."

Its like a used car- its not the years, its the mileage. Or would that be kilometerage?

She has adopted the Ron DeSantis approach to dealing with the pandemic. You cannot be asked difficult to answer questions if you cannot be found.

The crest of the pandemic is still forecasted to hit the third week of January but its a helluva lot higher than predicted. I have no doubt that hospitals have triage priorities in place already so as to offer ICU beds only to certain patients if/when the crunch hits.

The biggest problem is that those with the most severe mental health and/or MAS problems are the most unaware of how troubled they are and are the most resistant to intervention.

I have worked for nearly 40 years in healthcare and I am now starting to get scared.

Trump Jr and Ivanka are refusing to comply with NY AG’s subpoenas: report Donald Trump, Jr. and Ivanka Trump are refusing to comply with legal subpoenas issued by the New York State Attorney General. AG Letitia James subpoenaed the Trump siblings last month, but according to ABC News court documents say a “dispute has arisen between the OAG and the Individual Trump Parties regarding the Subpoenas.” Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump “will file motions to quash the subpoenas as soon as Monday, the filing indicated.” The subpoenas demand testimony from the adult Trump children in a civil suit filed by James into how the Trump Organization and Donald Trump valued assets. The former president, according to his former attorney Michael Cohen, inflated the value of his real estate holdings when applying for loans or credit, then deflated their value for tax purposes.

Pandemic deaths among pregnant Americans are now 'surging' You can chalk up more deaths for the "pro-life" crowd: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting that COVID-19 is now claiming the lives of more pregnant Americans and resulting in more stillbirths. Poynter reports that deaths in pregnancy "rose sharply" in the last two months, and that 40% of such pandemic deaths have happened since August, when delta began surging in the United States. Pregnant people have an increased risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms due to poorer immune responses and other factors, and the CDC is urging those who are pregnant or are planning pregnancy to get vaccinated immediately. That 40% of such deaths have happened just since August is telling, because by August vaccines against COVID-19 were already widely available and the United States was well on its way to getting the population fully vaccinated. But it also marked a new surge of COVID-19 cases based, once again, in Republican-voting states and counties where pandemic safety measures like masking, social distancing, and vaccinations have been mocked or intentionally blocked by state and local Republican leaders. Those Republicans followed Donald Trump in claiming that the pandemic would not be serious, that it would lead to few deaths, and that his administration's inaction was therefore not just forgivable but noble. The party has since made resistance to pandemic safety measures a core "culture war"-style issue. Notably, pro-Trump and anti-vaccine protesters have taken to mocking abortion rights protesters with anti-vaccine signs reading "my body, my choice" or variations.

Canadian political scientist warns his country must face 'horrible' possibility of US becoming a 'right-wing dictatorship' by 2030 As a political science professor at the Royal Roads University in Colwood, British Columbia, Thomas Homer-Dixon is only about 35 miles from the U.S. border — and in an op-ed published by the Globe and Mail on New Year’s Eve, he grapples with the frightening possibility that Canada’s neighbor to the south could be under a fascist dictatorship only eight years from now. “By 2025, American democracy could collapse, causing extreme domestic political instability, including widespread civil violence,” writes Homer-Dixon, author of the book “Commanding Hope: The Power We Have to Renew a World in Peril” and founder of Royal Roads’ Cascade Institute. “By 2030, if not sooner, the country could be governed by a right-wing dictatorship. We mustn’t dismiss these possibilities just because they seem ludicrous or too horrible to imagine.” Homer-Dixon, in his op-ed, warns that if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House in January 2025 — possibly by stealing the 2024 election with the help of the Republican Party — there will be major implications for Canada. “Returning to office, he’ll be the wrecking ball that demolishes democracy, but the process will produce a political and social shambles,” Homer-Dixon writes. “Still, through targeted harassment and dismissal, he’ll be able to thin the ranks of his movement’s opponents within the state — the bureaucrats, officials and technocrats who oversee the non-partisan functioning of core institutions and abide by the rule of law. Then, the stage will be set for a more managerially competent ruler, after Mr. Trump, to bring order to the chaos he’s created.” The Canadian government, he warns, is facing an “unfolding crisis” to the south and needs to think long and hard about how it will respond if United States goes full-fledged authoritarian. “A terrible storm is coming from the south, and Canada is woefully unprepared,” Homer-Dixon explains. “Over the past year, we’ve turned our attention inward, distracted by the challenges of COVID-19, reconciliation and the accelerating effects of climate change. But now, we must focus on the urgent problem of what to do about the likely unraveling of democracy in the United States. We need to start by fully recognizing the magnitude of the danger. If Mr. Trump is reelected, even under the more optimistic scenarios, the economic and political risks to our country will be innumerable.” Homer-Dixon laments that it isn’t excessive to use the “f word” to describe the political threat facing the U.S. — the “f word” being “fascism.”

New, year, same team. Jets have too few forwards willing to backcheck (I'm looking at you, Mark Scheifele) and their defensive "system" in front of their own net resembles a jail break.

And he is not without followers. I cannot recall where I first heard this, but "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers".

Anti-Vax Leader Traveling Country With Guns, Flamethrower, and Fake Badge in Quest to Arrest Dem Governors Anti-COVID-19 vaccine “Vaccine Police” organization leader Christopher Key, who has proudly claimed he would soon arrest Democrat Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards over vaccine mandates, has set off on a cross-country road trip with a fake badge and high capacity firearms. In a series of Telegram messages posted over the past week, Key has visited countless state offices and harassed officials over vaccines, masks, and mandates. In a phone conversation with The Daily Beast this past week, Key stated that he has been traveling the country “serving” people with packets of information he believes supports his conspiracy theory that COVID-19 vaccines are “bioweapons.” But it’s not only firearms Key has shown off, he also appears to have access to a flamethrower. “All those bioweapons that we have, that are not vaccines, they all need to be lined up, and they need to be exterminated,” Key said in a video posted in mid-December while brandishing a flamethrower. On Saturday night, when asked about the guns and if he intends to bring them along when conducting the planned arrests, Key told The Daily Beast he is “never about violence.” “I will do it [the citizen arrests] lawfully, and the sheriffs will be with me,” he added. Anti-Vax Leader Traveling Country With Guns, Flamethrower, and Fake Badge in Quest to Arrest Dem Governors (thedailybeast.com)

In 20 minutes, they won't remember to.

2022 DISASTER BINGO CARD (save for reference)

FITY

Betty's life stand as the only needed testament to her life and work. You may not know that she had her own show in the 50's that was cancelled because she insisted on bringing on Black performers. She also founded and funded several shelters for abused animals.

"Sick madness": The public reacts to the CDC's decision to cut COVID-19 self-isolation time in half The CEO of Delta may have influenced the CDC's decision to cut its recommended self-isolation period in half. Prior to this week, those who tested positive for COVID-19 were urged by government officials to isolate themselves for 10 days. That changed on Monday, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cut the quarantining recommendation in half, instead urging infected Americans to avoid interpersonal contact for five days. The reasoning behind these modifications are rooted in economics perhaps more than science. Dr. Anthony Fauci — director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and one of President Biden's chief science advisers — recently told CNN's Jim Acosta that "we want to get people back to the jobs, particularly the essential jobs, to keep society running smoothly." Meanwhile, immunologist and rapid tests expert Dr. Michael Mina, reacting to the CDC's new policies, told The New York Times that studies show wide variations in how long people will remain contagious after developing COVID-19. Some even wonder whether pressure from airline CEOs, who worry that long self-isolation periods hurt their bottom line, could have motivated the CDC. This school of thought connects the decision to a recent letter by Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian to the CDC. According to Reuters, Bastian argued that "with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the 10-day isolation for those who are fully vaccinated may significantly impact our workforce and operations." The commentariat was livid at the implication that an airlines CEO was pushing to put lives at risk for the sake of profit. Steve DaSilva of Jalopnik observed that "Bastian seems to acknowledge the possibility that this could lead to higher transmission rates, noting that Delta could 'partner with CDC' to collect data from its planes. Because, after all, that's the way you want to collect data on a highly contagious disease: By throwing still-infected people into an enclosed tube with others and just seeing what happens." Similarly, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants–CWA, said in a statement on Monday that "the CDC gave a medical explanation about why the agency has decided to reduce the quarantine requirements from 10 to five days, but the fact that it aligns with the number of days pushed by corporate America is less than reassuring." The CDC did not simply impose a blanket reduction in self-quarantining time for infected individuals. The agency added that the rule only applies to people who do not exhibit symptoms and are willing to wear a mask around others for at least five days after leaving isolation. The agency also revised its self-quarantining guidelines for people who have merely been exposed to the virus; partially vaccinated individuals are now asked to either isolate for five days and then wear a mask around others for another five days, or to wear a mask for all 10 days (if self-quarantining is not feasible). Even without directly mentioning the letter from the Delta CEO, many observers still felt the CDC's new policies are misguided. "It's been glaringly obvious many of the CDC's recommendations are tied to [political] and economic concerns, leaving the public confused/second guessing advice about masks, protocols, vaccines while the anti-science sect sticks to singular (and horribly incorrect) messaging," tweeted author Gregory Han. Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist at Harvard University, stated in a Twitter thread that the CDC's decision is a "crazy move" and "sick madness," concluding that "it will go down in the annals of the pandemic as a terrible horrible no good very bad politically/business-influenced decision that will endanger millions and squander public health trust!" Comedian Judah Friedlander quipped, "Congrats to the Airline CEOs on being appointed head of @CDCgov," while Scripps Research Executive Vice President Eric Topol tweeted, "The data that supports the new @CDCgov 5 day isolation period without a negative test" followed by an image showing a blank box.

ditchweed, ganja, whatever

Rheinbold was set up to fail. The talent on the team was poor and he had no experience as a head coach or GM, nor did he have any player pipeline to the US. Then he started bringing in players he had personal connections to but little talent. Nice guy, though.

The illness of addiction does not discriminate between good people or bad, male or female, young or old, or even race. It can take many forms- chemical or process addictions, and about half the people in Canada know someone on a first-name basis whose addiction is our of control. My own brother dies from his, even after repeated medical crises and warnings from his doctors. He was talented and intelligent but that made no difference in the end.

Best Wishes To All for the New Year-It Can Only Get Better

Pilots are routinely screened for ALL forms of intoxication, as are several other professions considered to be safety=sensitive. Yes, possession and use of THC/CBD is now legal, but legal sales account for only 15/% of usage. Insofar as my knowledge is concerned, my credentials and work history qualify me to comment.

An inevitable part of the journey is the end.

I suggest that your view is based on decades-old data, where pot was 3-4% potency but now the stuff is 19-25% potency and has caused a lot of trouble for many people. You say that the matter is between the person and employer- would you be comfortable boarding an plane where the pilot was stoned? Whether or not it is more problematic than alcohol or opioids is irrelevant- THC has to stand on its own merits or liabilities. There is a vast difference between casual, recreational use and problematic use. What causes a problem is a problem.