Tracker

NAACP Sues Trump, Giuliani and Two White Nationalist Groups for Failed Jan. 6 Coup The NAACP, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, and civil rights law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll figure if Republicans won’t let their ovaries hang and impeach the voice of the insurrection, then they will just have to sue his ass and his supporters’ untanned asses. So a lawsuit was filed Tuesday morning in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming that the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, former President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani incited a riot on Jan. 6 to keep Congress from certifying election results, Politico reports. The lawsuit “claims they did so in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era statute designed to protect both formerly enslaved African Americans and lawmakers in Congress from white supremacist violence,” according to Politico. “If we don’t put a check on the spread of domestic terrorism, it will consume this nation and transform it to something that none of us recognize,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told Politico. “We must, as a nation, prevent the spread of this type of boldness where [insurrectionists] will go to our U.S. Capitol and seek an act of treason.” Reps. Hank Johnson and Bonnie Watson Coleman are expected to join the litigation as plaintiffs in the coming days.

Despite gloom and doom, I remain optimistic that there will be a 2021 season. Gotta be.

Very very quick, good body control and is 192 lb, so he won't be easy to bring down once he gets up to speed.

Yes. Civil suits in the US require only a majority jury decision, and do not have to meet the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard.

Republicans formalize their embrace of American fascism with Trump's acquittal The full malevolence of this new Republican Party nullification of consequences for political corruption—this time, in the form of a president sending a mob to block the certification of the U.S. election that would remove him from power, a president responding to the resulting violence by singling out to the mob his own specific enemies, then sitting back to watch the violence unfold on his television while taking no action to either contain the mob or protect the Congress, is difficult to even grasp. The ultimate irony of the Republican sabotage, however, is that impeachment was unquestionably the most appropriate remedy for Trump's actions. It was an absolute necessity, and now the entire nation will suffer the consequences. Yet again. Whether or not what Trump did was criminal is as yet undetermined, but even Sen. Mitch McConnell himself honed in on the central sin of Trump's actions. It was, at the very least, an unforgivable dereliction of duty. When faced with a clear and present need to defend the country, Trump did not. He betrayed his oath. He proved himself not just unfit for office, but a malevolent figure willing to use even violence against lawmakers as avenue for further political power. Republicans formalize their embrace of American fascism with Trump's acquittal - Alternet.org Lindsey Graham says Lara Trump is the "future of the Republican Party" Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of America's biggest loser, has just been proclaimed the winner of the impeachment trial that resulted in a 57-43 vote to convict husband Eric's dad for inciting insurrection against America. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has somehow decided that Donald Trump's escape means Lara Trump is now certain to become senator of North Carolina. She's expected to seek the seat being vacated next year by Senator Richard Burr, who infuriated the Republican Party Saturday by voting to convict Trump. Burr had announced in 2016 he wouldn't seek another term in 2022. If Graham has a reason to elevate Lara Trump other than her last name, he's keeping it to himself. "The biggest winner I think of this whole impeachment trial is Lara Trump," Graham told Fox News' Chris Wallace. "If she runs, I will certainly be behind her because I think she represents the future of the Republican Party." Lindsey Graham says Lara Trump is the "future of the Republican Party" | Salon.com

As insane as it may seem, most Republicans believe that Trump is their best chance of regaining power in the houses and presidency. With the only sane possible presidency candidate being Mitt Romney, and Trump will do his damnedest to make sure he never gets so much as a whiff of that, there is no real alternative to Trump. Besides, who else would appeal to the Jesus freaks and knuckle-draggers?

Sen. Lindsey Graham Brushes Off Trump's Election Lies: 'I'm Into Winning' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday acknowledged that former President Donald Trump spread lies about the election and could have “done more” to stop the deadly insurrectionist attack on the U.S. Capitol last month. Nonetheless, the GOP senator said he will stick by Trump’s side because he likes “winning.” Asked during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday” whether Trump bears any responsibility for the Capitol riot, Graham said “no in terms of the law.” “He bears responsibility of pushing narratives about the election that I think are not sound and not true,” said Graham, who helped peddle Trump’s baseless claims of widespread election fraud and urged him not to concede the race days after President Joe Biden declared victory. “I don’t think that he caused the riot,” Graham added. He conceded, however, that Trump’s behavior after the election was “over the top.” Either way, Graham added, Republicans can’t win back the House in 2022 without Trump, who lost the popular vote to Biden by more than 7 million votes. “To the Republican Party, if you want to win and stop the socialist agenda, we need to work with President Trump,” Graham told Fox News. “We can’t do it without him. ... I’m into winning. And if you want to get something off your chest, fine. But I’m into winning.”

The only rationale for the Democrats not calling a multitude of witnesses to Trump's seditious and criminal behaviours that I can think of relates to possible criminal indictments pending. If all of the evidence against Trump is displayed at the impeachment hearing, then Trump's defence could ask for all charges to be dismissed on the grounds that all of that evidence made public has poisoned any potential jurors that could be impaneled.

If you have been watching CNN, this is not hot news, but apparently a GOP senator is willing to testify that she overheard Kevin McCarthy taking by phone to Donald Trump advising Trump that Mike Pence was being hustled out of the Capitol due to the danger. Trump apparently said that he did not care and subsequently in two messages to the rioters called out Pence as disloyal. This has the potential to be a game-breaker and this could lead to other GOPers coming forward to testify. Trump's lawyers are trying to stonewall any further testimony.

57 GOP State And Local Officials Were At The Capitol Insurrection At least 57 state and local Republican officials attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington that turned into a deadly insurrection, according to an updated HuffPost tally. Almost all of them are resisting calls to resign. They traveled from 27 states for the “Stop the Steal” demonstration near the White House. A couple of officials even gave speeches, warming up the crowd for then-President Donald Trump, who took the stage and regurgitated lies about the election results before instructing the “Make America Great Again” mob to march on the U.S. Capitol. Late last month, after identifying an initial 21 state and local GOP officials at the rally — among them a QAnon conspiracy theorist, a self-described member of a far-right militia and a man who once declared that “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat” — HuffPost received emails from readers across the country identifying the additional 36 officials in this new tally. Some of the reader emails were urgent — “PLEASE, PLEASE REVISE YOUR ARTICLE TO REFLECT THESE INSURGENT SEDITIONISTS PLEASE!” read one — underscoring how communities across the country are still grappling with the fallout from the siege of the U.S. Capitol. Many are hoping that these officials will somehow face consequences for their actions. Nearly all 57 are facing calls to resign. Yet only two men, both of whom were arrested for their role in the riot — a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates and a secretary of the California Republican Assembly — have actually stepped down. Elsewhere, a Virginia state senator was censured and stripped of committee assignments. Two other censure attempts — of a city councilwoman and a school board member in California — were voted down. In Texas, a Pizzagate-conspiracy-theory-believing field organizer was fired. In most cases, the GOP officials have brushed aside calls to resign. “For a call to go out seeking my resignation is beyond the pale and reeks of cancel culture,” said Rob Socha, a city councilman in Hillsdale, Michigan. (Incidentally, at least four of the 57 GOP officials invoked “cancel culture” or being “canceled” while dismissing calls that they step down.) 57 GOP State And Local Officials Were At The Capitol Insurrection | HuffPost Canada (huffingtonpost.ca)

Fauci says it will be 'open season' for COVID-19 vaccine by April On Thursday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, delivered hopeful news about vaccine availability and the country's lagging roll-out. On NBC's "Today" show, echoing remarks from earlier in the day, Fauci said there could be an "open season" on available vaccine doses by April. "By the time we get to April, that will be what I would call, for better wording, 'open season,' namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated," Fauci said. "From then on, it would likely take several more months just logistically to get the vaccine into people's arms, so that hopefully as we get into the middle and end of the summer, we could have accomplished the goal of what we're talking about — namely the overwhelming majority of people in this country having gotten vaccinated." (Good news as two more vaccines have applied for approval)

Lead 'Stop the Steal' organizer promises to punish enemies and build new society for Trump supporters Ali Alexander, the lead organizer of the so-called Stop the Steal campaign, has resurfaced after going into hiding following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Streaming on Trovo Wednesday night, Alexander claimed that while he has been licking his wounds, he has been plotting to restart rallies in March, abolish the media, and build a separate society for Trump supporters. As former President Donald Trump faces an impeachment trial this week for inciting an insurrection with his speech at the Stop the Steal rally the morning of Jan. 6, it appears Alexander has yet to face charges for his role. Alexander rebooted the so-called Stop the Steal campaign the day after Election Day, when Trump's lead began to slip as mail-in ballots began to be counted. He pushed voter fraud conspiracy theories, embraced QAnon conspiracy theorists and far-right activists in his campaign, claimed to be doing God's work, and organized three massive rallies in Washington, D.C., that featured the Proud Boys hate group, paramilitary groups like the Oath Keepers, and other extremists. Following Jan. 6, Alexander was booted off most major social media platforms and, as a result, is now streaming on Trovo, a gaming platform that appears to be growing in popularity among far-right actors kicked off other platforms. On Wednesday night, Alexander lamented the “racist, bigoted, anti-Christian, anti-Southern, anti-Republican, anti-conservative, anti-human smear machine" that he says targeted him, and he promised to create chaos. “We've got to get back in the driver's seat," he added. “They've done a great number on my life, they've cost me tens of thousands of dollars, they've really destroyed parts of my life, but in a lot of ways, I have no other choice but to announce that I'm building the future, so I'm making strategic investments in tools that fight deplatforming and to create chaos on existing platforms," Alexander claimed. “America is going to have a choice, and I promise you that, between going onto this dystopian future or fighting in what I'm calling the American sovereignty movement," he said. “And I'm gonna get back, and I'm going to do rallies again starting in March, I'm gonna have indoor gatherings in March, in Michigan, in Arizona, in Georgia, in Texas. I'm going to do a media tour." Alexander said he had been plotting how to do away with the free press and other “systems that control us": “So I want you guys to know that I've been licking my wounds, but I've been plotting, I've been planning, I've been scheming because we have to do away with this whole system. The free press is not free, and they're not the press, they need to be abolished. The systems that control us have to be abolished." “I'm going to create a society, and a community, and a culture, and a language for [Trump supporters], and there are tens of millions of us. … Winning can just be 10 million people creating a new megacity," he mused. “Let's build our own city, let's seriously build our own city, let's build a back-up city in South America." Lead 'Stop the Steal' organizer promises to punish enemies and build new society for Trump supporters - Alternet.org

You know its been too long without sex when you start wearing flipflops to remember what it sounded like.

FYI: Wisconsin shooter charged with two murders and out on bail immediately violated the terms of his parole by going to a bar and associating with known white supremacists. When police checked on his stated address, they were told that he did not live there and never did. The police went to court to have an arrest warrant issued on him for non-compliance, but were told by the presiding judge that the terms of Rittenhouse's release was that he had to provide an address, but not necessarily live there. Police and the victims of Rittenhouse were stunned at this ruling for some reason.

I would put this into the same category as the guy who found his cat had been run over on the street, so he skinned it and put the skin overtop of a drone. He then flew it all over his neighbourhood. Weird. Very weird.

It's Mary, and Liz is anti-gay.

This is a very volatile situation and will be for awhile.

And yet one their most popular female senators is openly lesbian. Moreover, in the past few years, several GOP federal politicians have been caught in soliciting gay sexual encounters, and that doesn't count the fundamentalist "ministers" who were also exposed.

Baby food allegedly riddled with poisonous metals—and the Trump administration did nothing about it Anew report reveals that the baby foods sold by a number of major manufacturers may be contaminated with poisonous heavy metals — and President Donald Trump's administration, despite knowing about it, did nothing. The House Oversight Committee released a report on Thursday based on a congressional investigation into the potential presence of toxic heavy metals — including lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury — in baby foods. Four baby food manufacturers provided Congress with information about the amount of toxic heavy metals in their foods based on their own internal testing, including Beech-Nut Nutrition Company, Gerber, Hain Celestial Group, Inc. and Nurture Inc. Between those four companies, Congress found that the companies allow dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals in their foods and that the foods sold by the companies frequently exceed even those standards. "The Food and Drug Administration has set the maximum allowable levels in bottled water at 10 ppb [parts per billion] inorganic arsenic, 5 ppb lead, and 5 ppb cadmium, and the Environmental Protection Agency has capped the allowable level of mercury in drinking water at 2 ppb," the report explains. "The test results of baby foods and their ingredients eclipse those levels: including results up to 91 times the arsenic level, up to 177 times the lead level, up to 69 times the cadmium level, and up to 5 times the mercury level." Three other major baby food manufacturers — Campbell, Walmart and Sprout Organic Foods — did not cooperate with the congressional investigators, leaving them "greatly concerned" about the possible toxic heavy metal contamination in their foods. Then again, as the chair of the subcommittee which conducted the investigation told Salon, the government has previously not forced these companies to be accountable for what they put in their baby food. Baby food allegedly riddled with poisonous metals—and the Trump administration did nothing about it | Salon.com

Forty Percent of America’s Coronavirus Deaths Were Avoidable: Lancet Study Reuters Around 40 percent of the Americans who have been killed by COVID-19 might have lived if better political decisions had been made before and during the pandemic, according to a new Lancet study. The paper, titled Public Policy and Health in the Trump Era, rips into former President Donald Trump, saying he “brought misfortune to the USA and the planet.” It describes Trump’s response to COVID as “inept and insufficient,” though it says the roots of the nation’s public-health problems go much deeper. Mary Bassett, a Lancet commission member and director of Harvard’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, told The Guardian: “The U.S. has fared so badly with this pandemic, but the bungling can’t be attributed only to Mr. Trump, it also has to do with these societal failures.” The paper estimates that, had America’s virus death toll matched up with the rates in other high-income G-7 countries, some 40 percent of deaths could have been avoided. Almost 470,000 Americans have died so far.

Bad News For Alberta? People with dementia are twice as likely to contract COVID-19, according to new study Recently, scientists have discovered peculiar connections between neurological conditions and COVID-19 risk. We know that there is a heightened risk of dying of COVID-19 complications for those with schizophrenia. Now, this week comes a new study which finds that people with dementia are twice as likely to contract COVID-19 as those without the deadly cognitive disease. The study, which was mainly written by researchers from Case Western University and published on Tuesday in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, analyzed electronic health record data for nearly 62 million Americans adults. People with dementia are twice as likely to contract COVID-19, according to new study | Salon.com

Encouraging, but will hold my breath for the next two weeks to see if the variants show up in numbers.

That should cover the cost of a Stanford Binet test and therapy, but there is no fix for stoopid.

Hayley Miller REPORTER/ 2 hours ago Capitol security footage never before seen by the public will be shown during the prosecution's presentation this week, senior aides on the impeachment managers' team told reporters on a call this morning. The footage will provide new insight into the "extreme violence that everyone suffered" and "the threat that it could have led to further violence and death to many,"