Tracker

‘Very proud of themselves’: Senior WH official says Trump team was ‘celebrating’ tear gas stunt The Trump White House is “celebrating” Monday evening’s gassing of protestors in Lafayette Park to clear the area so the President could walk to St. John’s Church to hold up a bible for a photo-op. President Donald Trump made the decision to hold a Rose Garden speech during which he threatened to deploy the Military throughout the country to “quell” protestors demonstrating over the police killing of George Floyd, then march to the historic house of worship. “One senior aide was exuberantly telling friends the photograph of [Trump] holding a Bible in front of the church that had been attacked by vandals was an ‘iconic’ moment for the president,” Axios’ Jonathan Swan reports. https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/very-proud-of-themselves-senior-wh-official-says-trump-team-was-celebrating-tear-gas-stunt/

‘Wow!’ CNN’s Anderson Cooper is appalled by the real reason Trump went to St. John’s Church On Monday evening, President Donald Trump appeared to cause mass disruption and chaos as federal police cleared peaceful protesters with forceful tactics outside the White House ahead of his walk to the nearby St. John’s Church. And when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins told Anderson Cooper on air of the reported reason behind this move, the host was shocked and appalled. “Sources are telling my colleague Kevin Liptak that, in part, the reason the president made this trip outside the gates of the White House — a really rare trip, where you do not often see the president walk out of the front door of the White House, walk across Lafayette Square, to St. John’s — was driven, in part, that he was upset by coverage of the fact that he had been rushed to the underground bunker on Friday night during the protests that you saw breaking out here, in front of the White House,” she said. “Oh my God!” said Cooper, rolling his eyes. “Wow! We are in trouble. This country is being led by a man … he was taken to a bunker, and you know, he’s hiding in a bunker, and he’s embarrassed that people know that. So what does he have to do? He has to sic police on peaceful protesters so he can make a big show of being, you know, the little big man, walking to a closed down church. And then, you know, he always talks about the world laughing — that the world is laughing at the governors right now. They’re not laughing at the governors, they’re standing in horror at what is happening. The only people that the world is laugh at is the president of the United States.”

Iraq war veteran accuses cops of ‘walking around like stormtroopers’ during protests: ‘There’s a rot at the heart of policing’ “Deescalate,” a term that is often used by responsible law enforcement officers, refers to efforts to calm down an intense situation and not escalate the potential for violence — and Iraq War veteran Rafael Noboa y Rivera, in a disturbing article for the Daily Beast, warns that during the “Justice for George Floyd” protests, way too many police have been doing the opposite of deescalating. https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/iraq-war-veteran-accuses-cops-of-walking-around-like-stormtroopers-during-protests-theres-a-rot-at-the-heart-of-policing/

He could be a sonofabirch.

Fox News urges viewers to make citizen’s arrests: Take "zip ties and subdue some of these people" "It’s up to us to realize cops can’t be everywhere, DOJ can’t be everywhere, law enforcement can’t be everywhere"

Matt Gaetz’s Tweet About Hunting Antifa ‘Terrorists’ Gets Twitter Warning Label Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) fired off an incendiary tweet Monday, asking if the U.S. can “hunt” down members of the left-wing anti-fascist group antifa. “Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?” the Republican lawmaker said. Twitter on Monday restricted the Florida lawmaker’s tweet for violating its policies against glorifying violence—but did not remove it. (When someone who has Trump's ear says something like this, you bet that there is a real threat here)

And then you could leaf?

Trump and Barr Move Another Step Closer To Dictatorship: Barr Promises to Sic Terrorism Task Forces on Protesters The nationwide network of Joint Terrorism Task Forces aren’t built to go after property crimes committed by protesters. But, veterans say, the rule of law isn’t the point here. Attorney General Bill Barr told state governors on Monday that the Department of Justice was prepared to use the FBI’s regional counterterrorism hubs to share information with local law enforcement about “extremists” and “agitators” in the protests sweeping the country. Barr said the Justice Department would tap Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs)—regional groups that ordinarily unite area FBI agents with state, local and federal law enforcement to monitor and pursue suspected terrorists—to “identify people in the crowd, pull them out and prosecute them.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/bill-barr-pledges-to-sic-terrorism-task-forces-on-protesters?ref=home

There is no perfect place to live- where its warm all year round, you have to put up with tornados, tsunamis, hurricanes, lethal insects and reptiles, predatory animals and political instability. Costa Rica comes pretty close, though.

Coronavirus is a blood vessel disease, study says — and its mysteries finally make sense "Covid Toe," pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, and other odd manifestations are finally tied together JUNE 1, 2020 6:55PM (UTC) Anew report from a well-respected medical journal suggests that the coronavirus may be a blood vessel disease as well as a respiratory infection. That explanation would tie together a number of disparate manifestations of the novel coronavirus that were previously confounding researchers. That includes the emergence of pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a coronavirus-related syndrome which only affects children; and the presence of toe rashes, a condition that has been dubbed "Covid Toe." https://www.salon.com/2020/06/01/coronavirus-is-a-blood-vessel-disease-study-says-and-its-mysteries-finally-make-sense/

Trump posts tweet threatening unnamed people in a video he accuses of being ‘anarchists’ In a reckless and dangerous move, President Donald Trump posted a video on Twitter Monday of a small group of people, apparently at a protest, speaking vaguely about putting “stuff out here.” Despite the fact that the video appeared entirely innocuous, Trump apparently read into the clip sinister motives, and shared it to his millions of followers with a threatening message. “Anarchists, we see you!” he wrote. https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/trump-posts-tweet-threatening-unnamed-people-in-a-video-he-accuses-of-being-anarchists/ (Trump has become divorced from reality)

True believers say, "YES!!"

As imperfect as Winnipeg and Canada are, any black American player who is looking to raise a child in that poisoned miasma that is the current American culture has to be scared.

Ex-FBI official slams Bill Barr for ignoring the right-wing ‘Boogaloo Bois’ infiltrating protests Attorney General Bill Barr was slammed by the former assistant director for counterintelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday for misleading Americans about the source of violence at the protests over the killing of George Floyd while in police custody. “There’s evidence developing, Brian, that the organization we’re seeing of the most violent protesters is coming from a couple of disturbing places,” both, by the way, there’s disparate in terms in being from the right or the left. here’s what those who monitor these groups and sites are seeing. We’re seeing a far-right group, one group for example known as the Boogaloo Bois, who on their private Facebook page and social media outlets are calling for violence, calling for people to show up,” Frank Figliuzzi told MSNBC’s Brian Williams. https://www.alternet.org/2020/05/ex-fbi-official-slams-bill-barr-for-ignoring-the-right-wing-boogaloo-bois-infiltrating-protests/

Illinois governor immediately confronted Trump over his ‘inflammatory’ rhetoric during call In leaked audio obtained by CNN, President Donald Trump can be heard lambasting governors during a teleconference call on Monday — slamming them as “weak” for not doing more to bring protestors under control and not encouraging more arrests. Trump stressed that he wanted governors to “dominate” protestors. But Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker did not take it lying down. https://www.alternet.org/2020/06/illinois-governor-immediately-confronted-trump-over-his-inflammatory-rhetoric-during-call/ (Sound like Trump is displacing his bedroom fantasies here)

This has been brewing for a while. Police forces in the US have been buying and have been given military equipment designed for urban warfare and the reality is that there has never been a weapon that was designed but never used. Thus many police forces have had this equipment and some officers have been itching to use it, and the black people know exactly who it was meant for, ramping up their anxiety and reactiveness. By comparison, about 25 years ago, Scotland Yard police management in London were preparing to issue sidearms to the Bobbies, but the police overwhelmingly rejected this, threatening to go on strike if necessary to make their point. They believed that carrying firearms would create an atmosphere that would make them more at risk and, most importantly, distort the relationship they had with the public. The management backed down.

It has been said that the reason that America has become so polarized is that between Faux News, the GOP and now Trump, the neo-fascists and racists have become comfortable in coming out into the light. The mainstream media is not blameless. They have bent over backwards to present opposing points of view, even when one of them is as diseased as the alt-right, giving more legitimacy to who were fringe lunatics before. I cannot see how this malevolent genie can be put back in the bottle.

Trump Was Reportedly Rushed To Underground Bunker For Protection During D.C. Protests Melania and Barron Trump reportedly accompanied him. As anti-racist protests continued for a fourth night in Washington, D.C., the Secret Service rushed President Donald Trump to an underground bunker, according to a number of media reports. Trump and his family were never in any real danger on Friday when they were relocated but the incident rattled them, sources told The New York Times, which was the first news outlet to report the extraordinary safety measure. https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/donald-trump-bunker-george-floyd-protests_n_5ed47035c5b6d9860129333f (Trump flaunts his courage)

On Fox News, McEnany claims Trump hasn't delivered Oval Office address about Floyd because of Antifa "A national Oval Office address is not going to stop Antifa,” McEnany says. “What’s going to stop Antifa is action" White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday blamed Antifa for President Donald Trump's refusal to give an Oval Office address to the nation in the wake of George Floyd's apparent killing by Minneapolis police. https://www.salon.com/2020/06/01/on-fox-news-mcenany-claims-trump-hasnt-delivered-oval-office-address-about-floyd-because-of-antifa_partner/

The Pastor Who Called Trump's White House ‘Holy Ground’ Is Raking in the Bucks ‘IN THE NAME OF JESUS’ When Trump told her he was running for president and wanted her to be his “bridge” to the Christian right, she introduced him to 30 or 40 pastors at a time. The One Voice Prayer Movement launched out of the White House a year ago by Pastor Paula White is a case study in how to leverage religious connections for political gain. Appointed special adviser to the Office of Faith and Opportunity initiative by President Trump, White is mobilizing religious-right leaders to promote Trump’s Reopen America message and defend his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. White’s supporters see her as an agent sent by God to ensure Trump’s re-election, and she claims to have had a “divine encounter” at the White House that gave her “every authority to declare the White House as holy ground because I was standing there and where I stand is holy.” https://www.thedailybeast.com/pastor-paula-white-who-called-trumps-white-house-holy-ground-is-raking-in-the-bucks?ref=home

Trump tells mayors and governors ‘most of you are weak’ during teleconference ‘rant’ about unrest: ‘You have to dominate’ President Donald Trump scolded the nation’s mayors and governors for the unrest in the wake of several deaths of unarmed Black people by police and “wannabe police.” Speaking on a conference call, Trump told the group, “the only time it’s successful is when you’re weak and most of you are weak.” He went on to tell the group that they must start arresting people or protesters will “run over you.” “You have to dominate, if you don’t dominate you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate,” Trump said. He reportedly went on to call them “fools.” (Trump has certainly mastered the art of diplomacy)

It appears that you are correct and I was wrong. Thank you for the correction but the point still stands.

There has been and is discrimination against Canadian first nations, but I see no evidence that there have been the type of incidents where police have been killing and assaulting unarmed first nations people on the scale of what is happening in the US. I do not condone violence, by the police or others, but there comes a point where, if peaceful means of protest gain nothing and the killings and assaults go on, reactive violence is predictable and almost inevitable.

Reports indicate that Erik Prince of Blackwater mercenary fame is recruiting people to infiltrate liberal groups. Wonder who is paying for that?