Tracker

Bill Barr is now targeting "anti-government extremists" OK, the Law & Order hunt Is now officially on. It’s not clear who that is exactly — but it means the Justice Department won’t be doing anything important. Atty. Gen. William P. Barr has directed the formation of an interagency task force dedicated to countering "anti-government extremists" from a variety of viewpoints who agree on nothing else but challenging the public order. https://www.salon.com/2020/07/03/bill-barr-is-now-targeting-anti-government-extremists_partner/

Trump official spins out-of-control anti-China conspiracy theory Trump White House Trade advisor Peter Navarro used the long Independence Day weekend to spin a fantastical conspiracy theory that directly blames China for creating the deadly coronavirus, then sending “hundreds of thousands” of its people to the U.S. to infect and ultimately kill Americans. “It is the Chinese Communist Party that is making us stay locked in our homes and lose our jobs,” Navarro, the author of the 2011 book, Death by China, told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi Friday afternoon. “They spawned the virus. They hid the virus. They sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals over here to seed and spread the virus before we knew,” he continued, refusing to respond to Velshi’s questions. “So, ah, the dateline is November. They spawned the virus, probably came out of the biological lab. For two months, they hid the virus from the world and the possibility of a pandemic, behind the shield of the World ‘Health’ Organization. While they did that, they vacuumed up the world’s protective equipment, including two billion masks, and,” said Navarro, plowing through Velshi who repeatedly asked if China did this deliberately. “Here’s the point. While they were preventing any domestic travels from Wuhan to Beijing or Shanghai, locking down their transportation network, they freely sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals on aircraft to go around the world.” https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/trump-official-spins-out-of-control-anti-china-conspiracy-theory/ (I sure looks like Trump is setting the stage for a de facto coup when he loses the coming election)

CNBC founder claims Trump has a specific plan to stay in office no matter what the voters say Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” with hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the founder of CNBC walked viewers through a scenario where Donald Trump would attempt to remain president even if he is rejected by the voters in November. Speaking with hosts, Tom Rogers along with co-author former Senator Tim Wirth (D-CO) explained the central point of their piece in Newsweek that proposes: “How Trump Could Lose the Election– and Still Remain President.” According to Rogers, who began by saying his scenario was “not farfetched” he believes Trump has no chance of winning the election and will do anything to remain in office. “This is how it happens, Biden wins,” he began. “I don’t just mean the popular vote, he wins the key swing states, he wins the electoral college. President Trump says there’s been Chinese interference in the election. He’s been talking about Biden’s soft on China — China wanted Biden to win so he says a national emergency; the Chinese have intervened in the election.” “Why do I think that’s real?” he continued. “Just ten days ago he tweeted, he actually tweeted, ‘rigged 2020 election,’ millions of mail-in ballots will be printed by foreign countries it will be the scandal of our times. so he’s laying the groundwork for this. So he does an investigation and [Attorney General Bill] Barr backs this up with all kinds of legal opinions about emergency powers that the president has.” https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/cnbc-founder-claims-trump-has-a-specific-plan-to-stay-in-office-no-matter-what-the-voters-say/

US military confirms ‘horrendous’ decision to issue bayonets to troops responding to George Floyd protests “Are they supposed to stab protesters?” That was Rep. Ted Lieu’s (D-Calif.) response Thursday to a letter by the highest-ranking military officer in the United States confirming that bayonets were issued to some of the troops deployed to the nation’s capital last month as part of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on demonstrators protesting the police killing of George Floyd. Faced with questions from Lieu and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley admitted that members of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina and the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment were given bayonets for their June 2 deployment to Washington, D.C. https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/us-military-confirms-horrendous-decision-to-issue-bayonets-to-troops-responding-to-george-floyd-protests/

Former "Apprentice" producer alleged to have "all the dirt" on Trump paid by RNC committee: report The GOP National Convention's Committee on Arrangements reportedly made a dozen payments totaling more than $66,000 Chuck LaBella, who now heads his own company LaBella Worldwide, Inc., is known in the entertainment world for his work at NBC and on Donald Trump's hit reality show, "The Apprentice" (which became "The Celebrity Apprentice"). Actor Tom Arnold, who was a contestant on that show, has alleged that LaBella has "all the dirt" on Trump — and according to Daily Beast reporters Lachlan Markay and Sam Stein, LaBella has been receiving large payments from the Republican National Convention. Markay and Stein explain, "From August 2019 through May 2020, the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Convention made a dozen payments totaling more than $66,000 to LaBella Worldwide, Inc. for 'production consulting services.'" https://www.salon.com/2020/07/02/former-apprentice-producer-alleged-to-have-all-the-dirt-on-trump-paid-by-rnc-committee-report_partner/

Armed Man Who Rammed Justin Trudeau’s Home Is a QAnon Fan: Report Corey Hurren, who rammed a pickup truck filled with guns through the gates of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s home, had made Instagram posts about QAnon and other far right conspiracies, according to Vice. Hurren, a Canadian Armed Forces Reserve, smashed into the gates at 6:40 a.m. Thursday causing his car to break down. He fled on foot with a rifle in his hand but was arrested after a standoff with police. He reportedly had a note on him that he wanted to deliver to Trudeau, who wasn’t at Rideau Hall at the time. https://www.thedailybeast.com/corey-hurren-armed-man-who-rammed-justin-trudeaus-home-is-a-qanon-fan-report-says?ref=home

Well, sort of. He apparently was/is a Ranger- a sort of local auxiliary officer who act as liasons with the Canadian military in remote areas- like the NWT.

Sargeant Sundae on Portage Avenue near the Deer Lodge Center is pretty good, but ti doesn't have the ambience or the history of the BDI. Sad.

Probably from embarrassment over the events in the US.

I suggest that we all ought to thank our Creator every morning that we live in an imperfect country with imperfect government and judiciary, but not even close to as stupid and broken as the American system. I suspect that almost every American entering the country lowers the average IQ here.

Aaaand- we have our share of idiots, too. Deport him to Alabama- he ought to fit right in there.

This proves its a fair comment to refer to Alabamans as idiots.

This reinforces the need for a WTF emoji here in this forum.

The Trump lackeys have been giving out coded messages to the right-wingers/neo-Nazis for awhile with the 14-word opening sentences in press releases and 88 word releases. The 14 words refers to an (in)famous Hitler speech where he spoke about the needed to protect future generations against the hordes of the unclean. The 88 words refers to the 8th letter of the alphabet-"H" and the 88 is a reference to "HH"- heil hitler. These have cropped up so often in the Trump rhetoric that it can no longer be accidental. The fascist undercurrents that have been present in America since the 1920's has finally been legitimized in this regime, even though there are Jewish members of Trump's inner circle. These probably think they can leverage the fascism to keep themselves in power and then control it. This is a false hope. The people who installed both Hitler and Putin had the same ideas but fanaticism is not easily controlled, and it take only a relatively small amount of these to begin extremist campaigns. Americans seem to have learned nothing from history.

Talk about an oxymoron spoken by a moron.

In case you were wondering where the Trump campaign was going: ‘Come on’: Trump campaign’s new T-shirt insignia looks a lot like a Nazi symbol — and even conservatives are noticing Images via Screengrab. President Donald Trump’s campaign is promoting a new shirt that features an eagle clutching a shield with the American flag and ribbon displaying his campaign. The Nazi Reichsadler is an eagle clutching a shield with a swastika. While eagles have been used since the Roman Empire to signify power, the only eagles clutching a shield in their feet appear on Nazi memorabilia and Trump’s campaign sh

The Trump GOP has painted themselves into a corner and this response is all they have left.

It's going to be a long four months: Trump and Fox News just keep ramping up the racism Desperate to distract from the coronavirus catastrophe, Trump and his media allies are going full-on rabid racism So now Trump, aided as usual by the massive propaganda apparatus at Fox News, is pushing all his chips on the bet that just enough voters in swing states will disregard all these failures, so long as he keeps escalating the racism. There's no real evidence this will work — his efforts to whip up racist hysterics about a "caravan" that was "invading" the U.S. in the fall of 2018 (it was really a small group of Central American refugees fleeing from violence) did nothing to prevent the Democrats' big midterm win — but Trump is a dull-witted man with few real ideas. Racism is all he has. And if racism isn't working yet, Trump clearly thinks that piling on more and more of it will finally turn the tide. On Tuesday night alone, Trump — who clearly isn't sleeping much, based on his Twitter patterns — went buck-wild with the overt racism. Around 9 p.m., Trump tweeted that at "the request of many great Americans who live in the Suburbs" he is "studying" (ha) "the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devastating impact on these once thriving Suburban areas." The reference may be a little obscure, but the intent definitely isn't. Trump is referring to an Obama-era rule to enforce the 1968 Fair Housing Act, aimed at ending racial discrimination in housing. Or, to put it more bluntly, Trump is suggesting that it ruins suburban life if Black people move in, and he's eager to do whatever he can to stop it. (Trump himself was sued by the Department of Justice for refusing to rent to Black tenants in the 1970s.) Trump's administration has already put a pause on enforcing some Obama-era rules to desegregate housing, even though evidence shows that there continue to be dramatic levels of discrimination against Black people seeking homes to rent or buy. The administration has made some noises to make these moves somehow sound not-racist, but Trump's unsubtle tweeting suggests he sees the racism as a selling point. His theory, one supposes, is that white voters will thrill to hear he's working to keep Black people from moving into their neighborhoods. Later that night, Trump threatened to defund the entire U.S. military if the Senate tries to rename military bases that currently sport the names of Confederate military leaders. Again, not exactly subtle. These bases should never have been named for traitors who took up arms against the U.S. government and killed hundreds of thousands of patriotic American soldiers in the name of white supremacy. With this threat, Trump is pretty clearly saying that racism matters more than patriotism, which is turning out to be a pattern with him. There are reports that some members of Trump's staff think that going full-on white supremacist is a bad look — anonymous White House staffers recently told reporters that they spent three hours trying to get Trump to take down a tweet featuring that infamous video clip of golf-cart-riding supporters shouting "white power" — but the biggest hosts at Fox News think this ramped-up racism is a winning strategy for their orange reality-TV president. https://www.salon.com/2020/07/01/its-going-to-be-a-long-four-months-trump-and-fox-news-just-keep-ramping-up-the-racism/

U.S. Coronavirus Deaths Substantially Higher Than Official Tally, Study Shows The true number of coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. is likely much higher than the confirmed count, according to a new Yale University study. Researchers used data from the National Center for Health Statistics, comparing the number of excess deaths in the U.S. between March 1 and May 30 to the number of COVID-19 deaths. The researchers found that the number of excess deaths exceeded the number of confirmed coronavirus deaths, suggesting that there are far more deaths related to the virus than previously thoughts. The deaths in the U.S. numbered about 122,300 more than would typically be expected, but only 95,235 of those were attributed to COVID-19. “Our analyses suggest that the official tally of deaths due to Covid-19 represent a substantial undercount of the true burden,” Yale epidemiologist Dan Weinberger told CNBC. https://www.thedailybeast.com/us-coronavirus-deaths-substantially-higher-than-official-tally-study-shows (There is a pandemic flashpoint when so many are infected that the spread can no longer be contained unless by the harshest of measures)

The virus cannot harm you unless you transport it into your body through inhalation or by picking it up on your hands and then into your mouth, nose or the surface of you eyes. And ordinary soap and water will kill the virus- you do not need the sanitizer unless you are outside your home and handling objects that have been contaminated by others.

Trump Freaks Out Over Black Lives Matter Mural to Be Painted Outside Trump Tower President Donald Trump lashed out on Twitter on Wednesday morning after New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that a Black Lives Matter mural would be painted on the street in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue. The president called the mural a “symbol of hate” and said it would “denigrating this luxury Avenue” and “further antagonize” New York City police officers. Trump said the money spent on the mural should be spent “fighting crime instead.” Similar murals have been painted on streets around the country. Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser started the trend in June with a huge, yellow mural painted along 16th Street leading to the White House in a two-block section renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-freaks-over-black-lives-matter-mural-to-be-painted-outside-his-manhattan-trump-tower?ref=home

As Trumpism proves to be a spent force, expect the dead-enders to become more dangerous Trump’s dismal poll numbers are just starting to register broadly with Republicans, and we’re already seeing white supremacist terror attacks by the Boogaloo Bois and other groups, massive voter suppression efforts from state government officials, the demonization of Democrats and delegitimization of peaceful protesters and the ginning up of a coordinated propaganda campaign of fear that that makes the Willie Horton ads that sank Michael Dukakis’s candidacy 30 years ago look like child’s play. That said, America can’t go back to business as usual after we stave off a potential Trumpian coup. If Democrats manage to sweep the 2020 elections, progressives need to “occupy” the American information and political battle-spaces, reform the police and secure justice and equal access for all citizens. Most importantly, we will need to remain vigilant, and continue to stamp out and suppress all anti-democratic ideologies and movements. We forced the Germans to adopt a law that specifically outlaws the use of symbols of fascism – one that has been applied quite broadly and effectively. I am saddened and ashamed to admit this, but we need such a law in the U.S. https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/trumpism-is-a-spent-force-expect-the-dead-enders-become-more-dangerous/

There is a phenomenom called "fishing in troubled waters" wherein someone deliberately incites conflicts in order to intervene to affect events to their benefit. This has been the Russian aim, and it has been adopted by American interests such as the GOP, the Koch brothers and so forth. Times of turmoil can often cause the fearful to look to a strong leader or one perceived as strong and delegate their thinking and power to that person. If Trump and the GOP incite hatred and ensuing chaos, it can served their ends as well as a victory at the polls.

The day he was briefed about Russian bounties Trump was busy meeting actors for play about Peter Strzok and Lisa Page Today is the day that the Gang of Eight—both Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate—are set to be briefed on the intelligence behind Russia’s scheme to murder American soldiers and destroy the peace process in Afghanistan by offering bounties to Taliban militants. Naturally, this briefing begins with a tweet from Donald Trump describing the entire story as a “hoax” cooked up by The New York Times. Which naturally ignores that the information has now been confirmed by the Washington Post, CNN, NBC … pretty much everyone. Intelligence even has the receipts showing transfer of funds from Russia to the Taliban. Really, the only questions on the matter seem to be the ones that have been hauled out so many times they’re getting more than a little tattered: What did Trump know, and when did he know it? Even the answer to that should be obvious, as reports indicate that John Bolton briefed Trump on the issue over a year ago. However, Bolton has refused to provide any details out of concern over “national security.” Meaning, of course, that he’s fishing for a new book deal. That leaves the one other time when it’s absolutely known Trump was given the information on Russia’s cash-for-corpses plan: The daily brief on February 27. However, there remains the possibility that Trump never read that brief, because it was a very busy day. That’s the day Trump not only met with Diamond and Silk, he spent the morning talking with the lead actors in a play about the love notes between Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. https://www.alternet.org/2020/07/the-day-he-was-briefed-about-russian-bounties-trump-was-busy-meeting-actors-for-play-about-peter-strzok-and-lisa-page/