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Arizona Republican waging war on voting rights drops the mask: "Everybody shouldn't be voting." Since its devastating loss in 2020, the Republican Party has been committed to overhauling voting rights in the United States to ensure restrictive practices limit voting capabilities. Now, Arizona Republicans' latest actions show they are leading the way. According to CNN, Republican lawmakers in Arizona's state legislature have unveiled more than two dozen proposed voting laws to make it more difficult for residents to vote. The various proposed laws are geared toward targeting certain aspects of the state's voting systems, namely its vote-by-mail system that contributed to Arizona residents' turning the state blue during the last presidential election. The publication reports that: "A handful of the bills -- including two that would impose new restrictions on Arizona's popular vote-by-mail system and one that would limit its narrow voting window -- have gained momentum and could pass." The flurry of proposed pieces of legislation has led to opposition from Democratic lawmakers. Arizona state Rep. Athena Salman (D-Tempe) offered her observation of the bills, what they signify, and who they are targeting, specifically. "They are trying to make it harder for everyone to vote based on the hope and desire that the people who it harms more and who it disenfranchises more are the people less likely to vote Republican," said Salman. On social media, Rep. John Kavanaugh (R-Ariz.), who also chairs Arizona's Government and Elections Committee is also facing backlash for his remarks about voting as he insisted that "everybody" should not be voting. "There's a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans," Kavanagh said. "Democrats value as many people as possible voting and they're willing to risk fraud. Republicans are more concerned about fraud, so we don't mind putting security measures in that won't let everybody vote -- but everybody shouldn't be voting." Kavanaugh added, "Not everybody wants to vote, and if somebody is uninterested in voting, that probably means that they're totally uninformed on the issues. Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes, as well." Arizona Republican waging war on voting rights drops the mask: "Everybody shouldn't be voting" | Salon.com

Oklahoma House Passes Bill To Give Immunity To Drivers Who Hit Protesters The Republican-majority Oklahoma state House passed a bill on Wednesday that would grant immunity to drivers who “unintentionally” run over protesters. In an early morning vote along party lines, with 79 votes in favor and 18 against, state lawmakers approved legislation that would remove criminal or civil liability for any driver who “unintentionally” injures or kills someone while “fleeing from a riot,” as long as they have a “reasonable belief” that fleeing would protect themselves from harm. The bill would also allow protesters to be charged with a misdemeanor if they “unlawfully obstruct” traffic, punishable by up to a year in jail and $5,000 in fines. Oklahoma House Passes Bill To Give Immunity To Drivers Who Hit Protesters | HuffPost Canada Politics (huffingtonpost.ca)

Newly revealed audio caught Trump pressuring a Georgia official to help him overturn the 2020 election President Donald Trump infamously called state Attorney General Brad Raffensperger, berating him for his loss of Georgia and demanding he "find" him 11,000 more votes in what some legal experts say was a criminal act. But less known until now is that Trump also called the chief investigator of the Georgia Secretary of State's office in his attempt to overturn the results of the election. In that call he blamed Stacey Abrams and "dishonest" Fulton County, which is home to Atlanta, for the loss – which he also insists was not real, saying that he won the state by "hundreds of thousands" of votes. The Wall Street Journal Wednesday evening reported on the call, and published the audio. "Something bad happened," Trump told the investigator, Frances Watson. "When the right answer comes out, you'll be praised." Watson was not about to be intimidated. "I can assure you that our team and the [Georgia Bureau of Investigation], that we are only interested in the truth and finding the information that is based on the facts." In the recording of the call, which has never been released before, Trump and pressures Watson repeatedly to help him out. "This country is counting on it," Trump tells her, meaning him winning Georgia. "You have the most important job in the country," he also tells her. Trump also falsely claims he won other states, like Texas, by the biggest margin ever: "we won Texas by a record, Texas was won by the biggest, biggest number ever," which is false. Newly revealed audio caught Trump pressuring a Georgia official to help him overturn the 2020 election - Alternet.org

If he had been the USB inventor, the funeral would have consisted of placing the casket in the grave, then removing it, turning it over and re-inserting it.

The Argos have two significant assets: they are owned by Maple Leaf Sports Enterprises and they have a good coach.

I caught some of the details on satellite radio today. There are/will be 8 XFL teams with the possible option for four more. The owners of the XFL are apparently serious about promoting football instead of the circus with all the gimmicks that were present last time. They are committed to matching the CFL's schedule with limited cross-border games. I had the impression that it is still pretty half-baked, though.

GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Anti-Pelosi Ad Ends With A Chilling Sound Effect "What exactly are you implying with that?" one critic asked the Colorado Republican, in light of the deadly U.S. Capitol riot. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) faced backlash this week for releasing an ad attacking Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that ended with a gunshot sound. In the spot, the QAnon-endorsing first-term lawmaker called on Pelosi to “tear down” the security fence that was put up around the U.S. Capitol following the Jan. 6 insurrection, when a violent mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters overran the Capitol building. “It’s time to cut the crap and remember, this is the people’s house,” Boebert bombastically declared. The video concluded with audio of a gunshot, followed by the sound of the weapon being reloaded and fired again. GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Anti-Pelosi Ad Ends With A Chilling Sound Effect | HuffPost Canada Politics (huffingtonpost.ca)

Atlanta columnist: Georgia Republicans are trying to make good on Donald Trump's demand to 'find' 11,000 votes In the weeks after the 2020 election was called for President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump desperately sought to overturn the results, even asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to "find" him 11,870 votes prior to the Electoral College certification. Republican election officials made it clear they were not willing to be part of Trump's attempted coup, but now that the election is over, an Atlanta Journal-Consitution op-ed is shedding light on how Trump's request underscores state lawmakers' latest efforts to shape future elections in their favor. The author, Patricia Murphy, argues that Republican lawmakers could very well find Trump's 11,000 votes by "subtracting 11,000 Democrats." Murphy went on to discuss the political strategies Republican lawmakers are implementing to reach that goal as she highlighted the latest attack on voting in the state of Georgia: the newly-approved Senate Bill 241. A number of other proposed bills are also aimed at enforcing highly restrictive voting practices that threaten voting rights. Murphy began by laying out the bill's attack on no-excuse absentee voting. The method was used by more than 1.3 million voters for the 2020 election, but Murphy says eliminating this particular measure could actually backfire on the Republican Party. Atlanta columnist: Georgia Republicans are trying to make good on Donald Trump's demand to 'find' 11,000 votes - Alternet.org Jimmy Carter Says He’s ‘Saddened And Angry’ Over Georgia GOP’s Efforts To Restrict Voting ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter declared his opposition Tuesday to a slate of restrictive voting proposals moving through his native Georgia’s General Assembly, saying he is “disheartened, saddened and angry” over moves to “turn back the clock” on ballot access after Democratic successes in 2020. Carter, a Democrat, said in a long statement that the Republican-backed proposals, which would end no-excuse absentee voting, “appear to be rooted in partisan interests, not the interests of all Georgia voters.” The GOP push comes after Georgia favored President Joe Biden in November and elected two new U.S. senators in January, giving Democrats control of the U.S. Senate and cementing Georgia as a clear battleground. Carter, 96, alluded to false assertions by former President Donald Trump, saying the proposed restrictions “are reactions to allegations of fraud for which no evidence was produced —allegations that were, in fact, refuted through various audits, recounts, and other measures.” Georgia’s Republican legislative leaders insist their measures are necessary to restore public confidence in the election, a position Carter dismissed. “As our state legislators seek to turn back the clock through legislation that will restrict access to voting for many Georgians, I am disheartened, saddened, and angry,” Carter wrote. Jimmy Carter Says He's 'Saddened And Angry' Over Georgia GOP's Efforts To Restrict Voting | HuffPost

You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.

If you think THAT was a amazingly stupid waste of money, consider that the US military has spent close to 2 trillion dollars on a fighter plane that cannot fly in bad weather. Worse yet, the problems are apparently unfixable.

I disagree about the NDP being too far left. If Ed Broadbent or Le Bon Jacques was the leader of the NDP, they would be the governing party next election. I habour a suspicion that the Liberals are being this careless/arrogant/stoopid because it is obvious that the Conservatives are in such disarray that they pose no real alternative.

After long and rigorous contemplation........no. Canada has had its Day and it was lacking.

The very good news is that the number of ICU patients has dropped.

There is no one currently in the Conservative party who has the credentials to step forward as a credible candidate for PM. The influx of Reform Party people have skewed the party so far to the right that it is in danger of being mistaken for the GOP. Singh is both credible and articulate but I do not think Canada is ready for a practicing, observant Sikh as prime minister. Trudeau has made some politically bad decisions, and this is on him and his advisors, but none of them are criminal, so far as I know. When the Conservatives were able to have credible leaders like Joe Clark and Bob Stanfield, they were a legitimate alternative, but all that changed with Mulroney. His administration new lows for corrupt behaviours and all but destroyed the PC party, forcing them into a shotgun marriage. There are good people in all three parties but, but sad to say, our expectations of our politicians has been lowered.

Riders and Argos rated ahead of Bombers..(snort).

Roquemore has really not much to recommend him at 6'1" and 210. From the clips, he looks a bit slow but in his interview, comes across as intelligent and a student of the game. Was listed as a safety. Boobie Williams does not looks all that spectacular- no breakaway speed but appears to be able to absorb a hit without falling over. Was give an looksee in the NFL but not a power runner, either. Training camp fodder?

Its looking like new cases in the 50's will be the usual for a while to come.

There is a federal election looming and considering how much stimulus/survival money is being thrown around, 9 million dollars is almost negligible.

I spoke to the Costco manager at the St. James Street store a couple of years ago. He told me that the plan was to build a new Costco somewhere on Portage Avenue west in "a few years". That would mean the closure of the St. James store.

New report exposes Trumpworld connections to a plot to 'strong-arm' elections officials in Michigan Michigan is one of the states where former President Donald Trump and his lawyers, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, unsuccessfully tried to overturn Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Reporter Mardi Link, in an article published by the Traverse City Record Eagle this week, discusses events in Michigan in late November — when some pro-Trump GOP operatives showed up to examine election data. The operatives, according to Link, went to Antrim County, where they "identified themselves to township officials as representing Rudy Giuliani's legal team" and "accessed official election data in at least one township, according to local officials." On Nov. 27, Link notes, they examined "two separate paper totals tape" from a precinct tabulator. Antrim County Clerk Sheryl Guy told the Record Eagle, "They made calls to township people on Thanksgiving Day to set all this up. They were strong-arming local clerks to get in and see those machines. Some clerks said 'no' or didn't answer their phones. And as soon as we could, we sent out an e-mail telling the clerks not to let them in. Then, we learn after the fact, they'd already been in three different locations." One of the Republican operatives who showed up in Antrim County on Nov. 27, according to Link, was Katherine Friess — a Washington, D.C.-based attorney known for her connection to Trump allies Roger Stone and Paul Manafort (both of whom were prosecuted on multiple criminal charges and sentenced to prison during Trump's presidency but received presidential pardons from him. Link reports that according to local Antrim County officials, Friess "bragged" about dining with Trump and Giuliani. The attorney serves as CEO of the lobbying firm, Global Policy Partners, and she previously worked for BKSH & Associates — a Washington-based lobbying firm that was created when, in 1996, two firms merged: Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly (abbreviated as BMSK) and attorney Martin B. Gold's Gold & Liebengood. Long before Trump's presidency, Manafort and Stone worked together at BMSK during the 1980s. Link explains, "The operatives who visited Antrim County on Nov. 27 included some of the same people who performed a court-sanctioned forensic exam of the county's voting equipment on Dec. 6, as part of a lawsuit filed by Central Lake Township resident Bill Bailey against the county, citing its use of Dominion Voting Machines equipment." New report exposes Trumpworld connections to a plot to 'strong-arm' elections officials in Michigan - Alternet.org

Time knows no master and we cannot halt or delay it. My mother in law died a few years ago at age 99- two months short of her 100th birthday. She often said that everyone she knew in her adult life as peers had already died, and most of her familiar community and church had changed over time where she felt almost an alien in her own world- two of her children had died also. We are not permanent residents here. We are passing through and all of the accumulated losses are meant to let us know that our days, like the days of all those who have come before and all those who will come after, are numbered. A novice monk asked his master which was more important- the journey or the destination. The master replied," Neither. It is who we journey with." I have come to see that it is not the length of our days that matters but the quality of those days. May you be well and at peace.

Ireland/Ulster is a wonderful example of what can happen when there is sufficient good will and enough pain and disgust over the past. There is a parallel between Ulster and the US to a degree. In both cases, what may have started out as legitimate protests over real grievances got coopted by essentially criminals who used and are using the veneer of protest to both exacerbate and profit from them to increase their power and wealth. In Ireland, when enough people saw that the IRA had become a criminal organization, dealing in extortion, selling drugs and so forth with no real concern for people, change became possible. I do not see that awareness in America today, and a low-grade civil war and fracturing of the country is almost inevitable. A poll quoted by CNN reported that a growing percentage of moderate Americans are willing to tell the redneck states to leave. Impossible? An American seer Edgar Cayce predicted racial violence in the US but that the breaking of America would come from class warfare, and I interpret that to mean the wealthy against the poor and that gap has been growing for some 60 years. A political economist about ten years ago stated that so long as the "Communist" in Russia alternative existed to Capitalism, the rich and powerful were careful to not grind the working and middle classes. Once the USSR collapsed along with its pretend socialist government, the field was seen as clear for the 3% to begin to erode the other 97% of their incomes and political power, and that has been growing since 1989.

Paul Gosar Spoke At A White Nationalist Conference. The GOP Doesn't Care. Last week a sitting U.S. congressman delivered a keynote speech at a white nationalist conference in Florida. “Wow, what a group,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) said as he took his place behind a podium emblazoned with the letters “AFPAC” — an acronym for America First Political Action Conference, the second annual gathering of the white nationalist “groyper” movement. After speaking about “cancel culture,” Big Tech’s supposed censorship of right-wingers, and the need for a big border wall to keep “America First,” Gosar said goodbye to the AFPAC crowd, who’d traveled from across the country to attend the secret gathering inside the Hilton Orlando. “May God bless you,” Gosar said. “And may God bless the United States of America.” The crowd — a motley crew of unabashed racists and anti-Semites — broke into a chant of “Gosar! Gosar!” to which the congressman responded with a wave, a smile and what looked like an earnest, heartfelt “Thank you.” Paul Gosar Spoke At A White Nationalist Conference. The GOP Doesn't Care. | HuffPost Canada (huffingtonpost.ca)