Tracker

In Minneapolis, a police union gone rogue To get some idea of the battle that goes on between the mayor and the police union, here is a story that was reported about a year ago. In open defiance of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, the union that represents the city’s roughly 900 rank-and-file police officers announced that it is partnering with a national police organization to offer free “warrior-style” training for any officer who wants it… The announcement comes in response to Frey’s ban of the popular training style, which he first revealed in his State of the City address last week. Frey said at the time that Minneapolis would become the first department in the country to eliminate “fear-based” training… Many policing agencies, including Minneapolis’, are moving toward “guardian”-oriented tactics, which focus on de-escalating tense situations and use of deadly force as a last resort. But opponents of this approach argue that such techniques endanger officers’ lives by teaching them to let their guard down. So the mayor banned the use of this “warrior-style” training, with concurrence from the city’s police chief. But the union defied the ban and subsidized the training for officers anyway. It is also the police union that has defended Officer Derek Chauvin, the one who kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for over seven minutes, when he was the target of 18 prior complaints. https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/in-minneapolis-a-police-union-gone-rogue/

Laura Ingraham to black Americans: Trump understands police brutality because of the Mueller probe MAY 30, 2020 12:30AM (UTC) Amid a stunning outburst of racially charged unrest across the country following the death of an unarmed black man in police custody, Fox News personality Laura Ingraham — who has been called a "Neo-Nazi fan favorite" by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; a "white supremacist" by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas; and a "racist" and a "monster" by her own brother — assured black Americans on Thursday night that President Donald Trump's "own experience" with the "out-of-control" Russia investigation had given him an empathic understanding of "poisonous" police brutality. (Everything is fine now) https://www.salon.com/2020/05/29/laura-ingraham-to-black-americans-trump-understands-police-brutality-because-of-the-mueller-probe/

‘Brutal and unacceptable’: Calls for arrest of NYPD cop who put woman in the ER during protests Written by Bob Brigham / Raw Story May 30, 2020 164 The Speaker of the New York City Council is demanding accountability for a NYPD officer caught on tape violently striking a woman during protests of police violence. Video of the incident appeared on social media on Friday. The video appears to show the cop running up to and shoving the woman, launching her off her feet.

Brodbeck has been a right-wing troll for a long time, so this is heresy for him.

The odd thing is that Flynn was a general, and one would think that his sense of duty to his country would compel him to act in an ethical way above anything Trump would ask or direct him to do.

Trump is already setting new lows for presidential conduct, and even if there is lots of dry tinder lying around, the person who throws the lit match onto it bears the ultimate responsibility. I hope that when Trump is evicted from the White House in disgrace, there will be criminal investigations into him, Barr and the whole lot.

One of the exacerbating factors in all this is that as much as 50% of some police officers are ex-military and left the service with PTSS trauma which can easily cause them to react to confrontations as if they were in theatre. A recipe for disaster which may play into Trump's reelection plans.

The White House said that the transcripts of the Flynn conversation with the Russian ambassador completely exonerated both Flynn and the Trump administration and promised to release them. No sign of them yet- probably ever.

Trump and the GOP have set their strategy for the upcoming election. They are blaming the blacks, the WHO, Obama and China for their current mess, not only for their party, but for the whole country. Their tax cuts that allow corporations and the wealthy to fatten their purses while running up the national debt will cripple the American infrastructure for a decade or more and allow China to become the preeminent economic power in the world.

Watched the game rerun and it was interesting. When my heart wasn't in my throat, some realizations came to me .Firstly, Evans didn't play all that much worse than the Collaros/Streveler combination, but the Bomber receivers were a heckuva lot better. Two Canadians dominated the game-Harris and Demski, Kongbo didn't play all that much or was all that much a factor, so maybe he won't be missed too much. and the TiCats could run up the middle almost will during most of the game. It would have been better if TSN had televised the entire playoffs ending with the Cup game.

George Floyd and former police officer Derek Chauvin worked security at same nightclub: report Floyd and the ex-cop overlapped shifts at south Minneapolis club El Nuevo Rodeo, the building's former owner says. https://www.salon.com/2020/05/29/george-floyd-and-former-police-officer-derek-chauvin-worked-security-at-same-nightclub-report_partner/

How a ‘notoriously stupid’ Fox News host inadvertently let slip Trump’s corrupt plan: media reporter Steve Doocy of Fox News warns that Trump's pending executive order might make Twitter "think twice about putting a footnote on a tweet from the president of the United States."

By no means is the manslaughter charge a slam-dunk. More egregious cases have walked, and not that long ago.

At one point, the state China bank held several hundred million dollars of Trump debt. That must no longer be the case, but it does hold several billion dollars of US federal government debt. Should be interesting to watch the reactions by China after Trump's tantrum.

Senior Trump Official Used Connections to Help Relative Get a Job at the EPA: Watchdog ABUSE OF POWER? Douglas Domenech used his connections as assistant interior secretary to help his son-in-law get a job at the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a watchdog investigation. The Interior Department’s inspector general discovered that Domenech discussed the job for his relative with a senior EPA official on two occasions, once in person and another time via email, in 2017. He also advocated for another relative’s wedding-related business to that official, investigators found. https://www.thedailybeast.com/assistant-interior-secretary-douglas-domenech-used-connections-to-get-relative-a-job-at-the-epa-watchdog-says?ref=home (A free-for-all at the trough)

‘I will never surrender’: Far-right Mississippi mayor refuses to resign after mindlessly defending officers involved in George Floyd’s death Some conservatives and libertarians — from MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News — have been vehemently outspoken about the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd, asserting that his death was absolutely inexcusable. Napolitano, in fact, has called for all four of the officers involved in Floyd’s death to face murder charges. But Hal Marx, the far-right Republican mayor of Petal, Mississippi, has defended the officers, and critics are calling for Marx’s resignation. https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/i-will-never-surrender-far-right-mississippi-mayor-refuses-to-resign-after-mindlessly-defending-officers-involved-in-george-floyds-death/

Trump has ‘sidelined’ the coronavirus task force — abdicating responsibility for the staggering death toll Written by Joan McCarter / Daily Kos May 29, 2020 The deaths of more than 100,000 Americans from coronavirus this week have not been marked officially by the White House. The White House coronavirus task force headed up by Vice President Mike Pence hasn’t even issued a statement, much less conducted a briefing. But more disturbing, it has had just one meeting in a week, CNN reports.

Does Perry go to those meetings?

This should have told people exactly who Trump is.

No doubt the rapid imposing of restrictive measures has a major part to play in this, but we might be fortunate in which strain of COVID19 we have on hand.

The Shooting Of Black Americans Started Long Before The Looting Donald Trump threatened George Floyd protesters on Twitter, but their lives have always been at risk. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/george-floyd-trump-tweet_n_5ed0d7eec5b6b8a60949c111?ri18n=true

Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner: George Floyd's Death Was 'A Murder' “I don’t want to prejudice this from a criminal perspective, but I’m just calling it what I see it," John Harrington said. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/george-floyd-police-killing-minneapolis_n_5ed13989c5b61ca72719bd78?ri18n=true

Even in Canada, there is a small but potentially violent minority who would readily resort to violence against people. all they need is a sense of encouragement or complicity by silence.

Sadly, it is believable, and not rare. When a presidential candidate tells a crowd that if they choose to attack a protestor, he will defend them and pay their legal bills, this is the inevitable result. And I do not believe for a moment that he would have actually paid out any money, the cheap bastard.

You need to stop conflating the protests and the riots- they are not the same. As happened in Vancouver some years ago in the Stanley Cup riot, there are those who will look for an excuse to blend into a legitimate gathering and then wreak havok. The Latinos do not face the same degree of systemic, violent racism, but I suspect that if the blacks were not there, they would be next.