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"Don't register to vote": FL sheriff, standing beside Ron DeSantis, says don't "vote the stupid way" "Welcome to Florida. But don't register to vote and vote the stupid way you did up north," warned Grady Judd During a Monday signing ceremony for Florida's new anti-riot bill (HB 1) backed by law enforcement all throughout the state, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd appeared alongside Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to remind Floridians of how the new legislation –– which grants civil immunity to motorists who crash into protesters –– will preserve the state they "know and love." "There's a reason that this place is fun," the sheriff explained, holding up what appeared to be stock photos of multiracial families basking in the sunlight of Florida's beaches. "There's a reason why we have a 49-year-low crime rate. And the same people that don't think we should have an anti-rioting bill, or a rioting bill, are the same ones that think we ought to let more people out of prison." He continued, "We're a special place, and there are millions and millions of people who like to come here. And quite frankly, we like to have them here. We only want to share one thing as you move in hundreds a day. Welcome to Florida, but don't register to vote and vote the stupid way you did up north, or you'll get what they got." "Don't register to vote": FL sheriff, standing beside Ron DeSantis, says don't "vote the stupid way" | Salon.com

Revealed: Trump's DHS IG blocked a probe into the assault on Lafayette Sq. protest The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general blocked an investigation into the role of the Secret Service in clearing Black Lives Matter protesters from Lafayette Square ahead of former President Donald Trump's controversial photo-op last June, according to internal documents obtained by the Project on Government Oversight. Joseph Cuffari, a former adviser to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey who was appointed by Trump in 2019, rejected career staffers' recommendation to investigate the Secret Service's involvement in the June 1, 2020, incident, when federal law enforcement used tear gas to forcibly clear peaceful protesters in front of the White House so Trump could take a photo holding up a Bible in front of a church that had been damaged by fire during an earlier protest. Department investigators argued that the probe was "essential" in upholding the duty of the office, according to The Washington Post, which first reported the documents. The documents show that investigators pushed to probe whether the Secret Service violated its use-of-force policies in the clearing, noting that hundreds of protesters were hit with rubber bullets and chemical irritants. Cuffari shot down the proposed investigation a week later, suggesting that the Secret Service could review the episode themselves and taking investigators "aback," according to the report. Revealed: Trump's DHS IG blocked a probe into the assault on Lafayette Sq. protest - Alternet.org

He probably always was but was afraid to come out until it became fashionable.

Here's the insane amount Republican orgs spent buying GOP books to pad best-seller lists last election cycle The problem with having a base that isn't particularly interested in reading anything more than a headline is that it is hard to sell books to those folks. You couple that with holding and promoting wildly unpopular positions on health care, foreign policy, economics, race, and justice, and a proclivity to act morally hypocritical and you are creating the kinds of conditions most book publishers would shy away from. Add to that most of the things you say are factually incorrect, a potential lawsuit in the waiting for a publisher, and it is a wonder how any of these conservative jokes get publishing deals in the first place. However, the conservative oligarchy-bubble has figured a way around promoting an unpopular product—buy the perception that it isn't popular. For some time news outlets have reported on the self-dealing, bulk-book buying tendencies of campaigns and Republican committees, that help propel books by people from people like Sens. Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, and Tom Cotton, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, and cosmic embarrassment Donald Trump Jr., access to national best-seller lists. Being on a best-seller list—especially from one of the Republican proclaimed fake news sites like the Washington Post or the New York Times, can boost your sales further being the premiere advertisement for literature and nonfiction in the United States. The Washington Post did a report on the shady-quality of this practice, pointing out that "Four party-affiliated organizations, including the Republican National Committee, collectively spent more than $1 million during the past election cycle mass-purchasing books written by GOP candidates, elected officials and personalities, according to Federal Election Commission expenditure reports." The practice is not simply deceitful in promoting a false sense of popularity for unpopular ideas, but because authors of books make serious money if they can get on best-seller lists off of royalties from hundreds of thousands of dollars in book sales. One of the more well-publicized self-dealings in recent months was Texas's answer to intelligence, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, whose book got a $400,000 boost in sales from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The NRCC defended its purchase of Crenshaw's book, saying that it had fundraised no less than three times the amount off of the book (signed copies, etc.), making it a legitimate purchase. But the Republican former Navy SEAL, who holds an elected office based almost entirely on the truly twisted Republican gerrymandering of a Texas district, was able to point to his best-seller status as proof of the popularity of his opinions. Here's the insane amount Republican orgs spent buying GOP books to pad best-seller lists last election cycle - Alternet.org

This will be appealed forever.

The taxes on tobacco do not come close to covering the costs of treating the preventable cancers associated with smoking. I suspect that the forthcoming bans on tobacco and tobacco products has as much to do with the governments taking an overt stand against a known health hazard.

Trump Dreams Up Nefarious Plot That Pfizer and FDA Are Behind J&J Pause During his first on-camera interview since leaving office three months ago, former President Donald Trump did what he does best on Monday night: make unsubstantiated claims and provide little to no evidence to back them up. Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump suggested that federal health agencies recommended a pause of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because the Food and Drug Administration is in bed with Pfizer, the manufacturer of one of the other federally approved COVID-19 vaccines. And that is the reason why Trump won’t “do a commercial” promoting the efficacy and safety of the shots. Trump Dreams Up Nefarious Plot That Pfizer and FDA Are Behind Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Pause (thedailybeast.com)

A good man left over from the era when dignity and ethics mattered in American politics.

Oath Keepers leader reveals militia are being trained by police in '60 Minutes' interview In an interview with "60 Minutes" Sunday evening, Oath Keepers leader Jim Arroyo revealed that active-duty law enforcement is part of their movement and helping with militia training. "Our guys are very experienced. We have active-duty law enforcement in our organization that are helping to train us. We can blend in with our law enforcement," he said. Javed Ali, Towsley Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald Ford School of Public Policy, formerly served as a former NSC senior director and was a counterterrorism official at the FBI under the Trump administration. Speaking to CBS News, he explained that the Oath Keepers is "unique." "Beyond the fact that they are a formal group with chapters all over the country, is that a large percentage have tactical training and operational experience in either the military or law enforcement," the domestic terrorism expert said. "That at least gives them a capability that a lot of other people in this far-right space don't have." In August 2020, Michael German is a former FBI special agent who penned several reports on U.S. law enforcement failing to control the right-wing terrorists in their ranks. According to his findings, law enforcement officials are increasingly tied to racist militant activities in more than a dozen states since 2000. Updated research has revealed things are much worse. His report explained that over the years, police had grown increasingly linked to militias and white supremacist groups in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Oath Keepers leader reveals militia are being trained by police in '60 Minutes' interview - Alternet.org

Hmmmm....history

Obama was more show than substance, but he was hamstrung at every turn by his own party and a hostile GOP-controlled Senate.

A big part of police training is that they are told that when they enter an incident scene, they must immediately take charge and tolerate no questioning or dissent. The "logic" is that if they do not, they will lose control of the situation. "Taking charge" is subject to a large degree of interpretation and is situationally dependent, calling for judgement on the part of the officer. Unfortunately, some police cannot distinguish between minor and major incidents, and many take this attitude home with them, leading to a lot of failed marriages and violence. Police are one of the three professions with the highest domestic violence.

Footage of cops tackling grandma with dementia is a reminder of what AOC really means by 'defund the police' The Loveland Police Department in Colorado is facing heightened backlash amid the release of body cam footage showing one of its officers tackling a 73-year-old grandmother with dementia. The harrowing footage also serves as a reminder of what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez means when advocating for police to be defunded. According to VICE, a federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against the Loveland Police Department and three of its officers on behalf of a 73-year-old grandmother named Karen Garner. The lawsuit which details Garner's disturbing arrest also offers a breakdown of her medical condition noting that she suffers from "dementia and sensory aphasia," and has "an inability to understand spoken and written speech." The bodycam footage shows Garner being approached by Loveland Police Officer Austin Hopp after she was accused of shoplifting from a local Walmart. When Hopp asked Garner why she did not stop walking when he turned on his patrol siren and lights, she only offered a blank stare and an inaudible response. As she attempted to walk away, the bodycam footage shows Hopp grabbing the 80-pound woman, throwing her down to the ground as he twisted both arms behind her back in what the lawsuit describes as a "painfully upward" position. Hopp and the officers who assisted him are also said to have "hog-tied her on the side of the road." The tactic is seen as a controversial restraining method that some law enforcement agencies have banned officers from using. Footage of cops tackling grandma with dementia is a reminder of what AOC really means by 'defund the police' - Alternet.org Cook County Prosecutor On Leave Over False Statements About Boy Shot By Police Assistant State Attorney James Murphy appeared to suggest that the boy, Adam Toledo, was still holding a gun as Officer Eric Stillman pulled the trigger, killing him. CHICAGO (AP) — A prosecutor who implied in court that 13-year-old Adam Toledo was holding a gun the instant he was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer was placed on leave a day after a video showing the boy’s hands were empty was released to the public. “In court last week, an attorney in our office failed to fully present the facts surrounding the death of a 13-year-old boy,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx spokeswoman Sarah Sinovic said in a statement. “We have put that individual on leave and are conducting an internal investigation into the matter.” Cook County Prosecutor On Leave Over False Statements About Boy Shot By Police | HuffPost

Pro-Trump website 'TheDonald' confirms detailed plans to storm Capitol and kill members of Congress If there were any lingering doubts as to the violent intentions and motives of those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, those doubts may now be put to rest. From minute details, such as the most effective type of zip ties to restrain elected officials to the most effective methods of killing police officers, the rioters left a chilling and irrefutable electronic trail on a website dedicated to overturning the 2020 election on Donald Trump's behalf. Prior to Jan. 6, that website, "TheDonald.win," had generated over 1 million visits per day. A research group called Advance Democracy, formed by former FBI analyst and Senate investigator Daniel Jones, collected thousands of messages posted by pseudonymous users of the now-defunct website in the days leading up to the insurrection. The posts were distilled into a report and provided to The Washington Post. Jones' group had previously focused on the online effort to mobilize the riot, and it soon became evident that this particular website served as one of the rioters' primary organizational hubs. As reported by the Post's Craig Timberg: "The website, TheDonald, played a far more central role in the January 6th Capitol insurrection than was previously known," he said. "There are thousands of posts — with tens of thousands of comments — detailing plans to travel to Washington and engage in violence against the U.S. Capitol. The ultimate end goal of this violence was, on behalf of Trump, disrupt the Congress and overturn the presidential election." Because the posters on this site used pseudonyms, Advance Democracy could not identify them; the logical assumption is that the website and its contents are now being analyzed by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to track the former users through more forensic means. As the Post explains, the website itself grew out of a Reddit forum that served for some time as a "safe space" for racists and conspiracy theorists. Eventually, chafing at Reddit's moderation rules, the forum became a standalone site, with its web address owned by an Army Veteran named Jody Williams. Williams disbanded the site after the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol. The Post article cites a treasure trove of intensely violent comments and discussions on the site in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6 assault. Many of those comments clearly go well beyond the aspirational fever dreams of "keyboard commandos," and involve meticulous and well-coordinated plans, including "shared diagrams of the tunnel systems beneath the Capitol complex," discussion of travel and funding resources, and most notably, proposed methods to inflict violence, some of which were then employed by the rioters. Pro-Trump website 'TheDonald' confirms detailed plans to storm Capitol and kill members of Congress - Alternet.org

Here in Canada, we have Ezra Levant and Rex Murphy. Same racist crap but in a slightly less obvious wrapping.

HAVING A BIG NOSE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT WEARING A MASK. FOR EXAMPLE, I STILL WEAR UNDERWEAR.

Check out Primus. Or IVC telecom- 100MBPS for $40.00 per month.

Secret Facebook groups reveal America's top soldiers' racist beliefs, election lies and QAnon theories A disturbing number of Facebook users who belong to America's military and other special forces have deep-rooted beliefs and views on racism and other conspiracy theories such as the QAnon movement and the falsehoods surrounding the presidential election. NBC News has conducted an analysis of hundreds of social media posts shared in four secret Facebook groups for "current and former Rangers, Green Berets and other elite warriors. The publication notes that most of the politically charged content was shared within two groups—SF Brotherhood - PAC and US Special Forces Team Room. Collectively, there are more than 5,000 Facebook users within those two groups with some users belonging to both private groups. Across the board, the U.S. Special Operations Command consists of approximately 70,000 personnel. Additionally, the special operations forces also have thousands more retired members. The highlighted Facebook posts cover a vast canvas of conspiracy theories. For example, in one of the posts, a special forces member raised concerns about one conspiracy theory as he claimed "several aides to former Vice President Mike Pence were part of a 'Concerted effort by the thieves and pedophiles walking the hallowed halls of the people's government.'" On Jan.7, just one day after the Capitol insurrection, a member of the U.S. Special Forces Team Room posted a message that read, "Trump was sabotaged once again!" adding, "trying to get to the bottom of the obvious election fraud now looks like it doesn't have a chance." According to the publication's analysis, there are many disturbing posts that are relatively similar. The analysis has raised concern about the mindset of many members of the United States' lethally trained forces. Jack Murphy, a former Army Ranger and Green Beret recently voiced his concerns about radicalization within the special operations forces community. Secret Facebook groups reveal America's top soldiers' racist beliefs, election lies and QAnon theories - Alternet.org

Sorry- the caption did not come through. New Zealand is proposing legislation that would band sale of tobacco and tobacco products to anyone born after 2004.

'The most nakedly nativist rhetoric': House Republicans launch caucus for 'Anglo-Saxon political traditions' Although former President Donald Trump has been gone from the White House for almost three months, many far-right Republicans in Congress continue to push an equally nativist "America first" agenda — and Punchbowl News is reporting that some of Trump's Republican allies in the U.S. House of Representatives are putting together an "America First Caucus" based on "Anglo-Saxon political traditions." According to Punchbowl, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona are "distributing materials" calling for a caucus that would express a "common respect for uniquely Anglo-Saxon political traditions." Punchbowl reports that according to an e-mail invitation it has obtained a copy of, House Republicans who have been invited to join the America First Caucus include Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas and Rep. Barry Moore of Alabama. (Racism by another name is still racism)

Its all just tribalism. Old wine on a new bottle.

This is why America is doomed to repeat another civil war, although it will probably be euphemistically renamed.