September 30, 2020

First Trump-Biden debate chaotic and unpresidential, with frequent interruptions of Biden and the moderator by the president. “The debate was divided into six topics, but many Americans tuning in would have had a hard time finding any clarity about either man’s positions, as the debate devolved into shouting, rancor and cross talk that at times made it impossible to follow what either man was talking about.” https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/29/politics/us-election-first-presidential-debate/index.html Moderator Chris Wallace struggled, and often failed, to maintain control. Next time try putting the candidates in different locations and on separate video feeds, and cut them off and turn off their mikes when their time is up.

Green and Libertarian party candidates excluded from presidential debate. “(Howie) Hawkins said the rules effectively block third-party candidates like himself and Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen from taking part in the debates.” https://www.syracuse.com/politics/cny/2020/09/syracuses-howie-hawkins-shut-out-of-presidential-debate-to-protest-in-cleveland.html

Third party candidates and their supporters protest outside presidential debate venue. “… Green Party presidential nominee Howie Hawkins was due to address a gathering of left-wing activists, while Libertarian nominee Jo Jorgensen has also traveled to Cleveland and is expected to speak at an outdoor event…” https://www.newser.com/story/296834/protesters-gather-in-cleveland.html

Hawkins tells Cleveland reporters that he does not support abolishing the police. “Hawkins said he agreed with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s statement that seeking to ‘abolish the police’ is a ‘bourgeois liberal’ idea that doesn’t consider the need for someone to respond to acts of violence and abuse.” https://www.cleveland.com/open/2020/09/green-party-presidential-nominee-howie-hawkins-calls-cleveland-debate-a-fraud-opposes-abolishing-the-police.html

99,477 Brooklyn voters to receive new mail-in ballots after envelope error blamed on printing contractor. “On Tuesday, the New York City Board of Elections announced a plan to print and mail new absentee ballots to nearly 100,000 voters who received erroneous envelopes in their absentee ballot packages. The decision comes after an unknown number of Brooklyn voters received absentee ballots with the wrong name and address printed on the return envelope.” https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/918382378/nyc-to-send-new-ballots-to-nearly-100-000-voters-after-printing-error

Black cheerleader SWATed by fellow students. “According to (Christin Evan’s) parents, the freshman was sleeping in her dorm room when (Stephen F. Austin State University) police officers suddenly barged in around 3 a.m. with their guns drawn…. ‘…they could’ve shot her,’ (her) mom said.” https://abc7ny.com/stephen-f.-austin-state-university-swatting-case-christin-evans-police-barge-into-cheerleader’s-dorm-fake-report-sfa-prank-call-to/6643973/

Joe Biden fact check: Health insurance companies don’t actually want Obamacare to be abolished, as Biden suggested. “They are clearly on the side of Obamacare here. America’s Health Insurance Plans, the leading lobbyist for health insurance companies, filed an amicus brief opposing the lawsuit (that seeks to abolish the program).” https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-insurance-companies-are-with-biden-but-biden-pretends-otherwise Which is why we aren’t going to get Medicare for All under a Trump or Biden administration.

President Trump called evangelists ‘hustlers’, claims former aide Michael Cohen. “During the (Oval Office) meeting, Trump had reverently bowed his head in prayer while the pastors laid hands on him. Now he was gleefully reciting the impious details of (Creflo) Dollar’s quest for a Gulfstream G650…. ‘They’re all hustlers,’ Trump said.” https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-secretly-mocks-his-christian-supporters/616522/

Russia believed Hillary Clinton’s campaign was cynically tying the country to Donald Trump as part of its campaign strategy, according to declassified intelligence report. “(Director of National Intelligence John) Ratcliffe declassified the summary of a Russian intelligence assessment of Clinton on Tuesday, writing that US intelligence in 2016 obtained a Russian intelligence analysis that alleged Clinton had approved a campaign plan to ‘stir up a scandal’ against Trump by tying him to Russia and the hack of* the Democratic National Committee.” https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/29/politics/ratcliffe-russia-intel/index.html *or possibly ‘the leak from’

TV producers allegedly told by Texas sheriff that they could delete video of police pursuit and fatal arrest. “Prosecutors have said unaired footage would be crucial to an ongoing investigation, offering what is probably the clearest account of how two Williamson County sheriff’s deputies restrained Javier Ambler, 40, and used a Taser on him several times moments before he died in March 2019.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/09/29/texas-sheriff-live-pd-indicted/ and https://lawandcrime.com/important/with-live-pd-cancelled-host-dan-abrams-speaks-out-on-the-video-footage-of-javier-amblers-death-in-police-custody/

If extradited to the U.S. and found guilty of espionage, Julian Assange could end up in permanent solitary confinement at the ‘supermax’ ADX prison in Florence, Colorado, expert witness testifies. “Giving evidence, former (MCC) warden Maureen Baird said Assange would remain at the ADX ‘unless there was a severe change in his medical status’. She told the court that an inmate would have to be in a ‘much worse’ condition than disabled (terrorist) Abu Hamza, adding: ‘You have to be almost dying.'” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8786117/Julian-Assange-need-deaths-door-escape-supermax-jail-9-11-terrorists.html

Far-right Proud Boys energized after being mentioned during presidential debate. “(Moderator Chris) Wallace asked whether Trump would urge white supremacist groups that inflamed violence at nationwide protests to ‘stand down’…. ‘Proud Boys, stand back and stand by, but I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left, because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem,’ Trump said…. Proud Boys organizer Joe Biggs also posted after the debate that he was ‘standing by’, and he said the president ‘basically said to go f— them up’.” https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/proud-boys-celebrate-after-trump-s-debate-call-out-n1241512

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris release their tax returns for 2019. “Former Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill, reported paying nearly $300,000 in federal taxes last year on adjusted gross income of $985,233, according to the newly released income tax returns…. California Sen. Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, jointly reported $3,095,590 in gross adjusted income from 2019, with a federal income tax bill of $1,054,847.” https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-09-29/the-latest-biden-releases-2019-tax-returns-ahead-of-debate “The records show that both Biden and Harris have risen to levels of affluence that most Americans will never attain…”

Russian historian documenting Stalin’s victims sentenced to 13 years in prison on sex abuse charges. “(Human rights group Memorial) say (Yury Dmitriev’s) real crime was dedicating himself to documenting Joseph Stalin’s 1937-38 Great Terror by unearthing mass graves and chronicling state repression. Nearly 700,000 people were executed during that period, according to conservative official estimates.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/russian-court-sentences-gulag-historian-yury-dmitriev-to-13-years-in-jail Stalin’s ‘purges’ actually started in 1929, as he began weeding out people who had ties to the defeated Tsarist regime (especially military officers who had joined the Red Army), anyone considered to be counter-revolutionary, Communist Party members who were not from working class backgrounds, as well as his opponents in the senior ranks of the Communist Party. The purges kept growing in scale and severity, reaching a peak during the Great Terror.

Indigenous woman insulted by nurses after she screamed that she was being over-medicated, just before she died of heart failure, with their comments being captured by the patient’s cell phone. “Two women are heard calling (Joyce) Echaquan stupid, questioning her life choices, saying she’s only good for sex and that she would be better off dead. ‘And who do you think is paying for this?’ one of them is heard saying.” https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/indigenous-woman-who-died-at-joliette-hospital-had-recorded-staffs-racist-comments

More workers injured at Amazon warehouses with robots. “… workers who grab and scan items had their quotas increase from about 100 items an hour to 400 items an hour in the automated warehouses, according to the report. The rise in injury rates suggests automation could actually be creating a more dangerous environment for the workers, despite hopes that robots would take on the most dangerous tasks…. Amazon warehouses counted 14,000 serious injuries in 2019 (meaning injuries that require days off or job restrictions)…” https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/29/21493752/amazon-warehouses-robots-higher-injury-rates-report-reveal

LAPD allegedly using Palantir law enforcement tool Gotham to collect personal data on the city’s residents. “Training documents for the ‘Intermediate Course’ and ‘Advanced Course’ show how cops are taught to use the powerful law enforcement tool Palantir Gotham to collect and store detailed information on anyone at all they encounter, from witnesses or victims of crimes to someone simply living in the area a crime took place.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8786823/LAPD-uses-Palantirs-tool-list-names-addresses-romances-contact-police.html

Relief group says 4.6 million children in Syria are ‘food-insecure’. “After nearly a 10-year conflict that killed some 400,000 and displaced half the country’s population, Syria’s economy has been badly harmed by the war as well as by widespread corruption, Western sanctions and a severe economic and financial crisis in neighboring Lebanon…. Save the Children found that 65% of children ‘have not had an apple, an orange, or a banana for at least three months’.” https://english.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2020/9/29/700-000-children-in-syria-risk-hunger-aid-group-warns

Cameroon sentences five soldiers over executions of civilians. “The footage of the executions, which occurred in 2015, was initially dismissed as ‘fake news’ and ‘an unfortunate attempt to distort actual facts and intoxicate the public’ by Cameroon’s communications minister.” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/30/cameroon-soldiers-women-children/

Number of ‘excess deaths’ higher in U.S. than in Europe, say Danish researchers. “Aron and Muellbauer found that excess deaths from the start of March to the end of July increased by 12.4 percent in the 28 European nations they tracked, compared to 17.2 percent in the U.S. during that period.” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/29/excess-mortality-data-shows-trump-lying-covid-deadly-europe/ Excess deaths are deaths over the amount which occurred during that time period in previous years.

Trump Supreme Court nominee has a record of favoring corporations claims watchdog. “According to the government watchdog Accountable.US, Barrett sided with corporations 76% of the time during the three years in which she’s served on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/29/showing-76-coney-barrett-rulings-put-corporate-interests-over-people-analysis-warns

New Jersey increases its ‘millionaire tax’. “… the (new) budget included an increase in the so-called millionaire’s tax, which will rise from 8.97% to 10.75% for people earning between $1 million and $5 million. People earning over $5 million already pay the higher… rate.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/29/fight-covid-19-address-inequality-and-boost-recovery-nj-gov-signs-millionaires-tax

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September 29, 2020

Central banks still buying up huge amounts of government and corporate debt. “(The Federal Reserve) slashed its benchmark (interest rate) to virtually zero and resumed buying government bonds, as well as widening its emergency lending authority to extend aid to municipalities, small- and medium-sized companies, and large corporations. Its balance sheet is now at $7 trillion, compared to $4 trillion in January and the previous peak of $4.5 trillion in 2015.” https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/unconventional-monetary-policy-turned-conventional-040010954.html

President Trump criticized Barack Obama’s low federal income tax payment for 2011. “Obama in 2011 paid $162,074 in federal taxes on gross income of $789,674, according to the return he released that year…. (In a 2012 tweet, Trump) complained that Obama’s rate was 20.5%…. Obama’s tax rate was slightly lower than average for people in his tier due to $172,130 in charitable donations that year.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-obama-old-tax-tweet_n_5f715143c5b61af20e779df0

Prince Georges county, Maryland settles William Green excessive force lawsuit for $20 million. “The family of a black man fatally shot six times by police while his hands were cuffed behind his back in a patrol car will receive $20m, among one of the largest settlement payments involving a person killed by police.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/william-green-settlement-prince-george-county-maryland-b674397.html

Williamson county, Texas sheriff and county attorney charged with evidence tampering in death of black motorist Javier Ambler, stopped on suspicion of failing to dim his headlights. “The 40-year old postal service worker was tased four times…. He repeatedly cried out in agony, telling the deputies he suffered from congestive heart failure and exclaiming, ‘Save me. I can’t breathe.’ He died at the scene…” https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/09/28/917931965/texas-sheriff-charged-with-destroying-evidence-in-officer-related-death

Life in a developed market economy: Houston-area boy dies from amoeba contaminated tap water. “The investigation into his Sept. 8 death led to the detection of the brain-eating amoeba after (health) officials conducted water sample tests, Lake Jackson City Manager Modesto Mundo said in a news release Saturday…. According to the CDC website, the first deaths from naegleria fowleri found in tap water from treated U.S. public drinking water systems occurred in southern Louisiana in 2011 and 2013.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brain-eating-amoeba-texas-water-supply-boy-death-investigation/

Health officials reportedly alarmed by statements of coronavirus task force member Dr. Scott Atlas. “(Radiologist and Fox News commentator) Atlas, who has no background in infectious diseases but who appears to have the best current access to Trump of any medical adviser, has been frequently criticized by the scientific and medical communities for offering what public health professionals say is bad advice about coronavirus.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/28/covid-coronavirus-cdc-director-robert-redfield-trump-adviser-scott-atlas

Post Office accused of failing to update change of address database used by state election officials for mailing ballots. “The latest problem occurred from Aug. 10 to Aug. 30 at the National Change of Address Linkage, or NCOALink, which is run out of Memphis, Tenn…. it would be difficult to determine how many voters could be affected by the 1.8 million missing change-of-address filings, because election practices and schedules vary from state to state.” https://time.com/5893881/exclusive-as-states-prepared-mail-in-ballots-postal-service-failed-to-update-at-least-1-8-million-addresses/

Former Trump campaign official says the president repeatedly suggested that his daughter Ivanka be his 2016 running mate. “Trump continued to bring up the idea over the next few weeks, which signaled to his advisers ‘just how serious he was about putting his politically inexperienced daughter just a heartbeat from the presidency’, (Rick) Gates writes.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-28/trump-considered-daughter-ivanka-as-2016-running-mate-book-says

New York City voters complain of receiving wrong mail-in ballots. “Voters are required to sign their names on their ballot to return it to be counted, meaning the mislabeled return envelopes would likely be voided if mailed in because the names and signatures would not match.” https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/518682-new-yorkers-report-receiving-ballots-with-wrong-name-voter-addresses

Facebook takes down anti-communist accounts in the Philippines due to ‘coordinated inauthentic behavior’ (coordinated activity among ‘fake’ Facebook accounts – accounts not controlled by their apparent owners). “Facebook linked some of the fake accounts in the Philippines to the military and the police, although they denied being the account holders.” https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/philippines-duterte-calls-facebook-accounts-taken-rcna142

U.N. estimates $88.6 billion a year in illicit capital transfers are coming out of Africa. “… these outflows are nearly as much as the (average) combined total annual inflows of official development assistance, valued at $48 billion, and yearly foreign direct investment, pegged at $54 billion, received by African countries…” https://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=2479

Spokesman of far-right Alternative for Germany party fired over anti-refugee comments. “… Christian Lueth, then a party spokesman, was filmed in a Berlin cafe talking to someone he believed to be a sympathizer…. Asked if the AfD wanted to see more immigrants, he replied: ‘Yes. Because then things go better for the AfD. We can still shoot them all afterwards,’ he said. ‘Or gas them, whichever you like. I don’t care either way!'” https://www.reuters.com/article/germany-far-right/or-gas-them-germanys-far-right-afd-fires-official-over-migrant-comment-idUSL8N2GP4BM

Amnesty International leaving India over ‘government reprisals’. “Amnesty International India has been facing an onslaught of attacks, bullying and harassment by the government in a very systematic manner.” https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54277329

Mexican coronavirus official downplays significance of country’s death toll. “Some parts of the country like Mexico City have begun conducting their own recalculations, finding “excess deaths” likely caused by coronavirus were at least double official figures…. But (Hugo) López-Gatell placed in doubt Sunday whether the figure was important or whether it could really be measured.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/mexico-says-official-coronavirus-death-toll-won-t-be-available-n1241237

64 world leaders sign biodiversity pledge. “The pledge promises a stronger global effort to reduce deforestation, halt unsustainable fishing practices, eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies and begin the transition to sustainable food production systems and a circular economy during the next decade.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/29/australia-joins-us-china-and-russia-in-refusing-to-sign-leaders-pledge-on-biodiversity Leaders of U.S., Brazil, China, Russia, India and Australia declined to participate.

Author discusses the history of U.S. nuclear doctrine in his book The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, And The Secret History Of Nuclear War. “DAVIES: … John F. Kennedy takes office after winning the 1960 election and goes out to Omaha to meet with, you know, the military leaders. You write that he came away as shocked and appalled as he’d ever felt in his life. Why? KAPLAN: … If the Soviet Union or communist China… even made a slight ground invasion of some… vital allied territory – and let’s say they hadn’t used any nuclear weapons at all yet – U.S. policy was to unleash our entire nuclear arsenal against every target in the Soviet Union, the satellite nations of Eastern Europe and China, even if China wasn’t directly involved in the war. This was something like 7,000 nuclear weapons. At some point, somebody* asked, well, how many people would get killed in this attack? And the estimate was 285 million people would be killed in this attack. And there was no plan B. This was the only plan.” https://www.npr.org/2020/09/28/917734532/the-bomb-presents-a-secret-history-of-nuclear-war-planning-in-america *Daniel Ellsberg, I believe.

Federal Reserve: Black families, on average, possess 15% of the wealth that white families do. “According to a Fed survey of consumer finances conducted every three years, the median wealth of white families was $188,200, compared with only $24,100 for Black families…. While median white family wealth was $188,200, the mean wealth of a white family was $983,400. That’s because extremely high net worth individuals skew the average much higher than the median, a measure that refers to the wealth of individuals in the middle of the overall distribution.” https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/28/racial-wealth-gap-federal-reserve-422658

A German financial services company’s hedge fund reportedly lost 97% of its investors’ money. “(New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority) joins a list of woebegone (pension funds) suing German financial giant Allianz over its ‘Structured Alpha’ (hedge) funds, which collapsed in the market turmoil earlier this year…. (The MTA lost over $300 million)…. Blue Cross Blue Shield says it had $2.9 billion in the fund at the start of the year and suffered ‘staggering’ losses. Lehigh had $62 million in the fund. The Arkansas teachers lost an astonishing $774 million.” https://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-york-subway-pension-loses-over-300-million-in-collapsed-hedge-fund-11601224350

Bi-partisan coalition of U.S. senators introduce the Unplug the Internet Kill Switch Act. “The bill aims to revoke Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934. When that law was passed, there was no internet. But the broad language included in Section 706 means that it could be invoked today to give a president ‘nearly unchallenged authority to restrict access to the internet, conduct email surveillance, control computer systems, and cell phones,’ (Tulsi) Gabbard explained in her statement on the bill.” https://reason.com/2020/09/25/rand-paul-tulsi-gabbard-thomas-massie-ron-wyden-join-forces-to-unplug-the-presidents-internet-kill-switch/

Number of foreign observers who will be monitoring U.S. election cut from 500 to 30. “The OSCE’s election monitoring body, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), had intended to send 100 long-term and 400 short-term observers…. But a cautious response from the OSCE member states who have the responsibility for recruiting and funding the trained observers meant the plans had to be drastically downsized. ‘….safety concerns as well as continuing travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are creating challenges for all our election activities and particularly for the deployment of long- and short-term observers, who are sent directly by OSCE countries,’ Katya Andrusz, the ODIHR spokeswoman, said.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/28/us-election-observers-europe-latin-america America is now officially ‘too dangerous’ for foreign election observers.

Millionaires and billionaires now own 79.2% of all wealth in the United States. “Thirty years ago, millionaires and billionaires owned 60.4% of all household wealth in the U.S.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/28/analysis-shows-nearly-80-us-household-wealth-owned-millionaires-and-billionaires The study claims millionaires and billionaires make up 12% of the U.S. population, but I doubt that is correct. This article agrees with me. “A new study has found that in 2018, there were 11.8 million households in the United States with a net worth of more than $1 million, making up 3 percent of the US population.” https://nypost.com/2019/03/14/the-us-has-more-millionaires-than-greece-has-people/

Oil companies claim to back zero emission goals while secretly belonging to fossil fuel industry lobbying groups. “This is a standard business practice,” Brulle told HuffPost and Unearthed—which is Greenpeace U.K.’s investigative journalism platform. “They’re trying to have it both ways, being socially responsible without changing their actual positions.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/28/trying-have-it-both-ways-investigation-reveals-bp-and-shell-still-back-anti-climate

September 28, 2020

President Trump’s income tax returns reportedly leaked to the New York Times, revealing his claims of massive financial losses and debts, resulting in extremely low tax liabilities. “President Trump paid no income taxes for 10 of the 15 years before he was elected president, and his income tax payments in 2016 and 2017 amounted to just $750…” https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/518510-trump-paid-no-income-taxes-for-10-of-past-15-years-report

Supporters of Kamala Harris accused of abusively ‘swarming’ other Twitter users. “The harassment included slurs about people’s ethnicity, including calling Black people ‘house slaves’ for backing other Democrats. One Elizabeth Warren supporter, who identifies as gay, said he was told that all ‘Warren gays should be chemically castrated’, after he was the target of a harassment campaign kicked off by a KHive member.” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kamala-harris-khive-toxic-side_n_5f4fa573c5b69eb5c037473e

Joe Biden facing ‘enthusiasm gap’ among his supporters, most voters foresee a national crisis if the ‘wrong’ candidate is elected. “Among registered voters, 65 percent of those currently favoring Trump say they are very enthusiastic about that support. Among those backing Biden, 47 percent of registered voters say they are very enthusiastic about their support for him. (However), the former vice president’s supporters are intensely concerned about Trump winning a second term, with a 70 percent majority of Biden voters saying Trump’s reelection would be ‘a crisis for the country’. By comparison, 59 percent of Trump voters say a Biden victory by would result in such a crisis.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-trump-biden-post-abc/2020/09/26/940ef678-ff7f-11ea-9ceb-061d646d9c67_story.html Among registered voters polled, their preferred candidates were as follows: Trump 41%, Biden 47%, Jorgensen (Libertarian) 5%, Hawkins (Green) 3%. https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/sept-21-24-2020-washington-post-abc-news-poll/13c7913a-ebbb-482b-a661-c5562bd2d551/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2

Driver targets Breonna Taylor counter-protesters in Linda Yorba, California. “… demonstrators calling for justice for Breonna Taylor were marching along Imperial Highway in Yorba Linda when they were confronted by counter-protesters, according to local news…. a white sedan drove through the crowd of counter-protesters, which included individuals waving Trump flags. One man was seen bleeding from the knee through photos shared to social media.” https://www.newsweek.com/third-driver-plows-car-through-crowd-black-lives-matter-protesters-california-1534472

Nine million Americans who haven’t received stimulus checks are people who did not file recent tax returns. “These are people who did not file tax returns for 2018 or 2019, which are the returns the IRS used to find beneficiary information. Most also don’t receive Social Security, railroad retirement, or VA benefits, as these agencies provided data on benefits recipients.” https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/articles/how-many-people-your-state-are-missing-their-stimulus-check/ If your income is low enough you are not required to file a return, but some of these people may have heard about the current lax enforcement of income tax payment and simply decided not to file. “Starting in 2011, Republicans in Congress repeatedly cut the I.R.S.’s budget, forcing the agency to reduce its enforcement staff by a third…. Over time, crimes only tangentially related to taxes, such as drug trafficking and money laundering, have come to account for most of the agency’s cases.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/business/economy/irs-tax-fraud-audit.html

Former Trump campaign manager Brad Pascale reportedly held under Baker Act after police are called to his home. “Fort Lauderdale police responded to a home in reference to an armed male attempting suicide Sunday afternoon. When officers arrived on the scene, they made contact with the wife of the man who told them her husband was armed, had access to multiple firearms inside the house and was threatening to harm himself. She had placed the 911 call, according to police.” https://www.local10.com/news/local/2020/09/28/former-trump-campaign-manager-brad-pascale-armed-barricades-self-in-fl-home-police-called/

A rundown of previous close U.S. presidential elections that have sparked confusion and controversy. “… determining who had won in Florida was difficult because the margin was so infinitesimal, officially 537 votes out of more than 5.8 million. Various problems also emerged regarding the counting or disallowing of imperfect voting cards (‘hanging chads’).” https://www.npr.org/2020/09/27/916956240/presidential-votes-have-been-too-close-to-call-and-even-too-close-to-count

NYPD and witnesses share widely divergent accounts of West Village mass arrest of 12 suspected protesters. “Police said in a statement that they ‘responded to a large disorderly group (of about 150 people) obstructing vehicular traffic in the vicinity of 10 Street and Hudson Street within the confines of the 6 Precinct’. But photos and videos from the incident appeared to show a different scene. Images captured from different angles seem to depict a small group of protesters on one side of the street and dozens of officers on the other side.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nypd-officers-charge-small-group-protesters-diners-arresting-people-sidewalk-n1241216 “I’ve lived in New York for 31 years and this was the most unhinged thing I’ve ever seen.”

Seventh weekend of mass protests in Belarus. “Riot police pulled people out of crowds and hauled them away into vans, a Reuters witness said. Several metro stations were shut and the mobile internet disrupted. Some protesters wore fake crowns to mock Lukashenko’s inauguration.” https://news.trust.org/item/20200927141744-turft/ The story also mentions that France’s president has suggested that it was time for the Belarussian leader to step down in response to the protests, to which Lukashenko responded that perhaps Macron should step down in response to the demands of ‘yellow vest’ protesters in his country. I saw a BBC reporter on their World News broadcast taunting masked police officers with, ‘What’s your name?’ and ‘Why are you doing this?’, which I’ve never seen them do while covering crackdowns on protesters in NATO countries, such as the U.S. or France.

Surge in Hong Kong residents applying for U.K. passports. “The 154,218 (British National Overseas) passports issued in 2019 is an eightfold jump from the year earlier, the newspaper reported, citing British government data…. There are an estimated 350,000 BNO passport holders in Hong Kong, and about 2.5 million who are eligible for them.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-27/hong-kongers-seek-u-k-bno-passports-in-record-numbers-scmp

Companies sue Trump administration over tariffs on Chinese products. “About 3,500 U.S. companies, including Tesla Inc, Ford Motor Co, Target Corp, Walgreen Co and Home Depot have sued the Trump administration in the last two weeks over the imposition of tariffs on more than $300 billion in Chinese-made goods.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-tariffs/some-3500-u-s-companies-sue-over-trump-imposed-chinese-tariffs-idUSKCN26G31G

Group claims improved farming practices can capture large amounts of carbon in the soil. “Contrary to previous thought, it’s not the (crop residues) that (are left in the field that create) long-term soil carbon stores, instead it’s the microbes who process this plant matter that are most responsible for soil carbon sequestration. Stable soil carbon is formed mostly by microbial necromass (dead biomass) bonded to minerals (silt and clay) in the soil. Long term carbon storage is dependent on the protection of the microbially-derived carbon from decomposition.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/26/regenerative-agriculture-and-soil-carbon-solution-new-paper-outlines-vision-climate

Batavia, New York area resident takes photo of suspected UFO. “A local farmer reports seeing this triangular-shaped object flying over his fields last night at about 8:45. He said he posted about it on Facebook and at least one other person said they saw something, too, and one person sent him this photo.” https://www.thebatavian.com/howard-b-owens/local-farmer-thinks-he-spotted-a-ufo/559370

September 27, 2020

Proud Boys outnumbered by Portland, Oregon counter-protesters, but groups rally in different locations. “Two miles away from the Proud Boys rally, in Peninsula Park, a counter-protest of around 1,500 people – perhaps three times as large as the Proud Boys gathering – went ahead, and a series of speakers denounced the far right group’s incursion into the city. That counter-protest, one of three held in the city during the afternoon, was not positioned, as previous protests have been, in direct physical proximity to the far right group.” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/26/proud-boys-rally-portland-oregon-kate-brown-ted-wheeler-trump

President Trump nominates Judge Amy Coney Barrett for vacant Supreme Court position. “If confirmed, Barrett will be the third justice nominated by Mr. Trump appointed to the Supreme Court. It would also expand the conservative majority on the court, widening it to 6 to 3.” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amy-coney-barrett-acceptance-speech-donald-trump-white-house/ But that’s a big ‘if’.

CDC ends door-to-door coronavirus survey in Minnesota after workers complain of verbal abuse and racial insults. “Minnesota was downgraded Friday to the ‘uncontrolled spread’ category by a website that tracks each state’s progress toward stopping the spread of COVID-19.” https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-race-and-ethnicity-health-minnesota-public-health-948de2cf77a7c2fd36e046375eacbf4d

Kamala Harris asked to name ‘best rapper alive’, says it’s Tupac Shakur. “Maybe she knows something we don’t. Did she put him in witness protection?” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8775491/Kamala-Harris-names-Tupac-best-rapper-alive-24-years-shot-dead-Vegas.html

Putin offers deal: You stop interfering in our elections and we’ll stop interfering in yours. “The suggestion comes as a part of a ‘comprehensive program’ meant to enhance and strengthen the relationship between the two countries, according to the statement.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/putin-says-russia-and-the-us-should-make-a-deal-to-stop-meddling-in-each-others-elections/ar-BB19s6P7?li=BBnb7Kz Story discusses Russian interference in U.S. elections at length, does not discuss U.S. interference in Russian elections at all. Let’s see what we can find on the internet…. “Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of stirring up protests against his 12-year rule and said foreign countries were spending hundreds of millions of dollars to influence Russian elections.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-idUSTRE7B610S20111208

Canadian mining company allegedly buzzed indigenous communities in Guatemala with helicopters and orchestrated evictions to drive them off their land. “Eleven women from Lote Ocho were allegedly gang-raped by police officers, soldiers, and CGN’s security during the last eviction.” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/26/hudbay-skye-canada-mining-guatemala/

Media outlets slammed for not standing up for Julian Assange. “Most troubling of all, the media have not reported the fact that during the hearing lawyers for the U.S. have abandoned the implausible premise of their main argument that Assange’s work did not constitute journalism. Now they appear to accept that Assange did indeed do journalism, and that other journalists could suffer his fate. What was once implicit has become explicit, as Assange warned: any journalist who exposes serious state crimes now risks the threat of being locked away for the rest of their lives under the draconian Espionage Act.” https://consortiumnews.com/2020/09/24/assange-extradition-us-using-the-guardian-to-justify-jailing-assange-for-life-as-the-paper-remains-silent/

YouTube is hiding ‘conspiracy theory’ videos. This may not be a good thing.

I read an interesting article at Wired about YouTube’s (Google’s) effort to hide or down-rank videos on topics that are considered by YouTube/Google to be ‘conspiracy theories’. Although the article briefly addresses the issue of alternative (i.e., opposition) news sites (on the left and right) being down-ranked and suffering a massive reduction in visitors, the tone of the article is primarily ‘inaccurate and unverified content is a serious problem because people are being brainwashed, and here’s what Google is doing about it’. The article doesn’t raise the issue of inaccurate and unverified content spread by the mainstream media however (e.g., the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq hoax, the Russiagate hoax, the Abu Ghraib ‘just a few bad apples were doing this‘ hoax or the 9/11 ‘no one ever imagined that airliners could be used as weapons‘ and ‘WTC 7 pancaked straight down at free-fall speed due to burning office furniture‘ hoaxes). Here’s a link to the Wired article. Note the word ‘silence’ in the title:

YouTube’s Plot to Silence Conspiracy Theories

I’ve been thinking about this topic myself recently, after a brief discussion on Facebook on the topic of censorship. Should bad stuff be censored? Who decides what is bad stuff? What if important or ’embarrassing to the government’ information is censored under the guise of being bad stuff, like under repressive regimes for example? At the end of the Wired article, there is an email address to solicit readers reactions, so I shared my thoughts with them. However, it turns out that they haven’t shared any of these reader responses on their website since 2007 apparently. So I’ll share my letter here:

Dear Wired,

Of course I can see the problem with social media spreading false information. It’s a serious problem because a lot of people seem willing to believe crazy lies, like, for example, that Mexico will pay for the border wall, or in 2008 that the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay would be closed and U.S. troops would be brought home from Iraq after the election. I can see how people claiming the pandemic is a hoax or that President Trump conspired with Russian government to win the 2016 election can be dangerous and destabilizing. But most people realize that YouTube is entertainment, not a reliable source of information.Videos are posted directly by users, who are just unvetted members of the public. Almost everyone understands that.

On the other hand, is there no concern at all that ‘mainstream’ sources don’t always give the public the whole story, and that the power to control social media content would be very useful if someone wanted to mislead the public or hide the truth?

Imagine if, pre-Edward Snowden, people were spreading ‘conspiracy theories without evidence’ about the NSA engaging in mass, warrantless surveillance of the public’s telephone, email and internet activity?

Or pre-Abu Ghraib, that Iraqi prisoners were being subjected to humiliating, nude, sexual mistreatment and being tortured to soften them up for interrogators? At first we were told it was ‘a few bad apples’. Then, that it was the fault of the camp commander, who let things get out of control. But eventually it turned out to be part of an officially sanctioned interrogation program.

Or that the CIA was operating ‘black sites’ around the world as part of a campaign to abduct and ‘harshly interrogate’ suspected terrorists?

The U.S. military has recently released videos of UFOs encountered by Navy pilots, the existence of which, for decades, has been written off as a ‘tinfoil hat’ conspiracy theory. How is YouTube handling this now?

Regarding the question of ‘conspiracy theories without evidence’, did you know that the state of Connecticut has exempted the Sandy Hook crime scene photos from the state’s Freedom of Information Act laws? That no EMTs or medical personnel attended to the victims in the immediate aftermath of the shootings, or even entered the school? It was apparently just assumed that all of the victims were dead, without any medical personnel allowed on the scene to make that determination. They were told they wouldn’t be needed. The victims were not transported to hospitals. That the local authorities refused to produce invoices for the clean-up afterwards, which by law is supposed to be handled by specialized contractors licensed to dispose of biological waste? Shouldn’t this ‘evidence’ criterion for conspiracy theories work both ways? In other words, why isn’t the idea that the shooting actually occurred considered to be a ‘conspiracy theory without evidence’ unless there is some kind of proof that it actually happened? Who makes that call? Were U.S. Navy ships really attacked by North Vietnam during the Gulf of Tonkin incident? The U.S. government said they were, but it turned out to be a lie. [Actually, there was apparently one attack, after raids on the coast of North Vietnam by U.S.-backed, South Vietnamese commandos, but the second attack, which triggered the massive U.S. intervention, did not actually happen.]

What if someone [had] started a ‘conspiracy theory without evidence’ that the Nazis really weren’t sending Jews to labor or prison camps, but were actually exterminating them? Under YouTube’s policy, would this information have been hidden from the public?

Were protesters at Tiananmen Square massacred by the Chinese military? We can watch video evidence that they were, but people living in China can’t. In China it’s a ‘conspiracy theory without evidence’.

UPDATE: Here is some additional information on one man’s attempts to verify the occurrence of the Sandy Hook massacre.

“(Former Florida state trooper and school security official Wolfgang Halbig’s) quest started when he was asked to speak at a 2013 Florida School Boards Association about how to prevent a tragedy like the Sandy Hook shooting in the future. He started looking into the details surrounding the event and thought things just didn’t add up. So he started requesting public records. Among them: Halbig asked who cleaned up the blood from the shooting and for the photos of children’s bodies. ‘For six years, my public records requests in Connecticut, they’ve been refusing to answer me,’ Halbig said….

His drive was ignited around Christmas in 2013, he said. According to an incident report, Halbig told the Lake County Sheriff’s Office that two plainclothes deputies showed up to his home and threatened to arrest him if he didn’t stop looking into the Sandy Hook massacre. ‘They lit a fire under me,’ he said.” https://www.dailycommercial.com/news/20190406/sorrentos-wolfgang-halbig-still-insists-sandy-hook-was-faked

September 26, 2020

BBC Our World documentary Police Brutality – American Witnesses uncovers accounts of witness tampering and destruction of evidence related to U.S. police shooting incidents. “The killing of George Floyd, caught on camera by eyewitnesses, has led to an outpouring of anger in America. But what happens when the cameras are turned off?” https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000n2v9

Judge orders inquiry into Eric Garner’s death during his arrest for selling loose cigarettes in 2014. “(New York supreme court) Judge Joan Madden on Thursday ordered a ‘summary inquiry’ into the case, including an alleged lack of immediate medical aid to Garner by officers; alleged lies in a police report; the unauthorized release of Garner’s arrest record; and release of autopsy information by New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-york-supreme-court-judge-orders-judicial-review-eric-garner-n1241166 And into witness tampering?

President Trump tells ‘Blacks for Trump’ rally he will designate KKK and antifa as ‘terrorist organizations’, even though the antifa body count = 1. “Trump (said he) will also push to make Juneteenth, the day slavery officially ended in the United States, a federal holiday.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8774267/Trumps-designates-KKK-Antifa-terrorist-organizations.html Not the day ‘slavery officially ended’ Brits, but something like that. “President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had officially outlawed slavery in Texas and the other states in rebellion against the Union almost two and a half years earlier. Enforcement of the Proclamation generally relied on the advance of Union troops (however).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth

Comprehensive Donald Trump coronavirus fact check. “He has falsely claimed that he banned travel from China over the objections of his advisers (they had to push him), that he rushed to suspend travel from Europe (he waited a fatal six weeks), and that he was betrayed by Chinese President Xi Jinping (he collaborated with Xi to mislead the public).” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/trump-escalating-coronavirus-lies.html

Some Pennsylvania overseas ballots were thrown away, but were then recovered. “In a press release, Luzerne County County Manager David Pedri said a ‘temporary seasonal independent contractor’ who started work sorting mail at the Elections Bureau on Sept. 14th had ‘incorrectly’ thrown out a small number of military and overseas ballots.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/temp-tossed-pennsylvania-ballots-trump-complained-about-official-says-n1241128 Who was this temp worker, and how was this caught ‘two days later’? Seems amazingly convenient for the Trump camp’s election fraud narrative.

Thousands of far-right ‘Proud Boys’ to rally in Portland, Oregon this Saturday, governor warns them that they’d better behave. “The Proud Boys and Patriot Prayer groups have come time and time again looking for a fight, and the results are always tragic. Let me be perfectly clear, we will not tolerate any type of violence this weekend.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/portland-oregon-braces-itself-large-rightwing-rally-proud-boys-portland-oregon-breonna-taylor-kate-brown-b613082.html

White supremacist gang member killed during shootout with sheriff’s deputies in Templeton, California. “After the shooting, authorities found multiple weapons in (Christopher) Straub’s vehicle, including four assault-style rifles, one bolt-action hunting rifle, one shotgun, and two handguns along with the handgun he used to shoot at deputies, plus hundreds of rounds of ammunition…. Straub was a wanted felon…” https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/25/us/california-white-supremacist-police-shooting/index.html

Directors of veterans home charged over 76 coronavirus deaths, Massachusetts claims they were criminally negligent for not taking pandemic more seriously. “Shortly after the dementia units were combined, the flow of dead bodies overwhelmed the home’s morgue, forcing the facility to use a refrigerated truck for storage.” https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/25/916977736/leaders-indicted-at-soldiers-home-where-at-least-76-people-died-in-covid-19-outb

Rochester, New York police and city officials tried thinking up excuses to delay release of Daniel Prude arrest video. “Officials suggested citing an ‘open investigation’. Days later, they raised concerns about the medical privacy of Prude, who died a week after the video was filmed in March. ‘Can we deny/delay?’ a top city attorney wrote in a flurry of emails between city officials.” https://www.thehour.com/news/article/Police-are-using-the-law-to-deny-the-release-of-15596825.php

Bipartisan group of U.S. House legislators ask Trump administration officials about status of government mass surveillance programs. “In the letter, the lawmakers state that ‘with the expiration of Section 215 (in March), we are concerned that the executive branch may, once again, be using questionable legal theories of executive authority to justify the illegal surveillance of the American people.’ The legislators also express their concern that the Trump administration ‘believes it has the inherent authority to surveil the American people without any congressional authorization.'” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/25/our-right-privacy-stake-jayapal-leads-demand-white-house-answers-possible-illegal

Federal appeals court judges quiz lawyers in case of former basketball player ejected from Madison Square Garden. “(Charles Oakley) argued on appeal that the lower court set a dangerous precedent in finding that a property owner asking someone to leave automatically triggers his right to proceed directly to violent conduct. ‘Anyone… would naturally be expected to ask for a reason if approached without warning and told that she must leave. According to the lower court, receiving such a request for an explanation… alone would trigger the property owner’s right to immediately engage in violence to effectuate the ejection. New York law does not provide property owners such unfettered discretion to resort to force without any legitimate provocation.'” https://www.courthousenews.com/basketball-stars-rough-treatment-raises-alarms-at-2nd-circuit/ That’s right, only cops can do that!

California expands its consumer protection laws to cover predatory lending, governor says it was necessary due to lack of federal action.”Assembly Bill 1864 officially creates the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which will focus on rooting out unfair, deceptive and abusive financial practices.” https://www.courthousenews.com/claiming-federal-inaction-newsom-signs-bills-to-protect-california-consumers/

Lawyers of man accused of shooting protesters while trying to uphold law and order want more time to decide whether or not they will fight his extradition back to Wisconsin. “Assistant Illinois State’s Attorney Ruth Lofthouse pointed out that Illinois Governor J.B. Prtitzker’s warrant for Rittenhouse’s extradition has been received by the local sheriff’s office, but (attorney John Pierce) made clear that he and the rest of Rittenhouse’s high-profile legal team have not yet seen the Wisconsin extradition documents. They want 30 days to review them and do legal research.” https://www.courthousenews.com/rittenhouse-wont-cede-extradition-on-wisconsin-killings/ The judge reportedly gave them 14 days to think it over.

September 25, 2020

California man accused of driving into Pasadena BLM protest arrested on weapons charges. “A photo that authorities said they obtained from (Benjamin Hung’s) iCloud account… shows (multiple) assault rifles, (multiple) semi-automatic pistols, (multiple large-capacity) magazines, ammunition, a tactical vest, binoculars, a rifle scope and other equipment…. Hung was charged with illegally acquiring the Glock found in his truck and buying three out-of-state guns that he brought to California.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-who-drove-california-protesters-used-vineyard-tactical-training-camp-n1240901

New York City George Floyd protesters face life in prison for attempting to burn vandalized, abandoned police vehicle. “According to a criminal complaint seen by New York magazine, prosecutors say (Urooj) Rahman leaned out of (Colinford) Mattis’s van and threw a Bud Light bottle filled with gasoline and a toilet paper fuse through a broken window of an empty police car, causing the vehicle to ignite.” https://www.insider.com/black-lives-matter-demonstrators-facing-charges-protests-2020-9

Governor of Florida proposes legislation that would make it legal to run over protesters if the driver feels threatened. “(Gov. Ron DeSantis’) proposal, if passed into law, would also absolve a person of liability for killing or injuring someone with their vehicle if they were ‘fleeing for safety from a mob’.” https://www.insider.com/desantis-proposes-law-to-protect-drivers-who-kill-people-2020-9

Protesters across the country turn out to denounce Breonna Taylor grand jury decision. “In Atlanta, police said they used chemical agents to disperse protesters demonstrating against the grand jury’s decision not to indict police officers in the death of the 26-year-old medical technician.” https://www.voanews.com/usa/race-america/protests-erupt-us-cities-after-police-cleared-shooting-death-breonna-taylor and https://www.insider.com/breonna-taylor-protests-across-us-outrage-over-decision-2020-9

13,643 Americans arrested during George Floyd/Black Lives Matter protests as of June 6, 2020, according to FBI. “Protests (violent and non-violent) have occurred in over 140 cities across the United States and the National Guard has been activated in at least 32 states and the District of Columbia.” https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6982454/FBI-June-6-George-Floyd.pdf I couldn’t find any figures for later arrests.

Orange County, California deputies fatally shoot black jaywalker. “In a cellphone video of Wednesday’s shooting, two sheriff’s deputies can be seen confronting… Kurt Andras Reinhold, in the middle of El Camino Real. The deputies wrestle him to the ground. After a voice, presumably that of a deputy, yells, ‘He’s got my gun’, two shots can be heard in the video…” https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-09-24/black-man-shooting-killed-oc-deputies

Letter of recommendation from Sen. Diane Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, who is on the University of California board of regents, allegedly helped a less qualified student get admitted. “According to the audit, Blum sent a letter in support of a still-unidentified student to the chancellor after the student was placed on UC Berkeley’s waitlist…. despite the fact that the applicant had around a 26% chance of being admitted based on the ratings assigned to their application, they were accepted.” https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/09/24/uc-regent-who-helped-unqualified-student-get-into-cal-identified-as-richard-blum-husband-of-sen-dianne-feinstein/

Seattle police officer on leave after running over protester’s head with bicycle. “Footage captured from protests in Seattle on Wednesday show a group of police walking and riding bikes down the street as one officer, dismounted from his bike, runs over the head of a person on the ground.” https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/518135-seattle-police-officer-put-on-leave-after-running-over-injured-protestor He steps over the body, so it’s not like he didn’t see the person. It appears to be intentional. https://twitter.com/WarlockBranis/status/1309028676076556290

Hollywood, California protester hospitalized after being hit by truck driving though the crowd. “Demonstrators had gathered at Hollywood Forever Cemetery starting at 7 p.m. to decry Wednesday’s decision not to prosecute Kentucky police officers for killing (Breonna) Taylor.” https://ktla.com/news/local-news/truck-plows-through-hollywood-crowd-protesting-breonna-taylors-killing-at-least-1-injured/

White woman gets tasered by black cop after resisting arrest during dispute over not wearing a mask at junior high football game. “Footage of the incident shows (Alecia) Kitts sitting next to her mother while in a heated verbal altercation with a police officer over face masks.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8768465/Woman-tased-arrested-not-wearing-face-mask-middle-school-football-game-Ohio.html ‘If you don’t want to get tased, you should just obey the police!’ I’m looking forward to seeing how the ‘law and order’ MAGA crowd responds to this. I have a feeling they are only in favor of harsh enforcement of the law when it involves people they disagree with or dislike.

Union-linked Brazilian Volkswagen workers were also tortured, not just blacklisted, during military dictatorship. “(Lúcio) Bellentani was taken to São Paulo’s notorious Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS), where he was beaten, tortured with electric shocks and had teeth ripped out with pliers.” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/24/volkswagen-brazil-ex-employees-persecuted-military-dictatorship-compensation

Emergency federal PPP loans often went to healthy companies say critics. “The Trump administration wrote the PPP rules and sent billions of dollars to the well-resourced and well-connected, rather than actual small businesses struggling during this public health and economic crisis.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/09/24/dividends-buybacks-ppp-loans/

U.S. surveillance plane operating near China allegedly used transponder ‘hex code’ of Philippine aircraft. “The SCSPI said the US Air Force plane used a hex code assigned to a Philippine aircraft while over the South China Sea and switched back to its original when the mission was over.” https://news.antiwar.com/2020/09/24/us-spy-plane-disguised-itself-while-flying-over-yellow-sea/

U.S. troops are actually in Syria for ‘low-intensity regime change’ claims analyst. “Trump has also defended the decision to keep a small contingent of troops in Syria by stating that Israel and Jordan asked him to keep our forces there.” https://nationalinterest.org/blog/skeptics/what-us-troops-are-really-doing-syria-169410 It’s called ‘keep Syria weak and divided’.

Democrats have a range of options for blocking any Supreme Court nomination. “Denying a Quorum — Republicans need to produce the presence of a quorum of Judiciary Committee Senators to report out the nomination. Democrats might choose not to help produce the necessary Senators.” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/24/memo-laying-out-delay-tactics-circulates-among-senate-democrats/

U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorses 30 Democratic Party candidates. “One of the Chamber endorsements, for instance, went to freshman Rep. Sharice Davids, who won a narrow and bitterly fought primary in a wealthy suburban Kansas district in 2018…. Davids and her supporters assured voters that she was equally as progressive as her rival…. after being sworn in, she joined the (pro-business) New Democrat Coalition…” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/24/chamber-of-commerce-democrats/

Writer claims stay-at-home Democrats cost Hillary Clinton the presidency, not defectors who voted for Trump. “White voter turnout in Wisconsin declined by 1% (in 2016), amounting to 100,000 people who chose not to vote for either candidate…. While 79% of Black voters participated in the 2012 general election, only 47% voted in 2016 – less than half the eligible voters. This amounted to about 88,000 less votes than in 2012.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/25/joe-biden-disaffected-black-voters-election These disaffected Democrats who failed to turn out for Clinton far outnumbered the 31,000 people who voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, many of whom would never have voted for a neoliberal, hawkish candidate like Clinton, even if Stein had not been on the ballot.

Los Angeles district attorney declines to charge journalist who was subjected to a violent arrest by deputies while covering protest at hospital. “It does not appear that she was intentionally attempting to interfere with the deputies, but merely trying to record the occurrence,” the DA’s office report said. “While she was in close proximity to deputies making an arrest, and while deputies had reason to ask her to back up, (KPCC reporter Josie) Huang was not given the opportunity to comply with their demand.” https://www.courthousenews.com/los-angeles-da-declines-to-charge-journalist-arrested-while-reporting/

Judges rule against plaintiff Karen McDougal in libel suit, stating that no one really takes Tucker Carlson seriously. “Whether the court frames Mr. Carlson’s statements as ‘exaggeration,’ ‘non-literal commentary,’ or simply bloviating for his audience, the conclusion remains the same — the statements are not actionable,’ U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil wrote in 19-page opinion Thursday.” https://www.courthousenews.com/nixing-libel-suit-judge-says-no-one-expected-facts-from-bloviating-tucker-carlson/ Carlson had accused McDougal of extorting money from Donald Trump on his program.

September 24, 2020

Grand jury finds officers who killed Breonna Taylor after breaking into her home fired their weapons in self-defense. “(Kentucky Attorney General Daniel) Cameron said investigators were unable to specifically identify the source of all of the other bullets that struck Taylor. He also said he could not discuss why Taylor had been struck but (Kenneth) Walker, (who had fired one shot at the plainclothes officers after they broke down the door,) had not.” https://www.foxnews.com/us/breonna-taylor-shooting-louisville-officer-indicted-on-criminal-charges How is shooting an unarmed person after breaking into their home self-defense?

Governor of California bans sale of new gasoline and diesel vehicles after 2035. “Transportation is the state’s biggest — and rising — source of emissions, while other sources of emissions, such as from the electricity sector, are falling due to ambitious climate policies.” https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/916209659/california-governor-signs-order-banning-sales-of-new-gasoline-cars-by-2035

Hunter Biden accused of receiving large sum of money from Russian businesswoman alleged to have ties to organized crime. “… Elena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of Moscow who was fired in 2010 over corruption allegations, wired him and his business partner Devon Archer $3.5 million as part of a ‘consultancy agreement’…. A 2010 cable published by Wikileaks reveals that contacts told the U.S. embassy in Moscow that Baturina ‘definitely has links to the criminal world, and particularly to the Solntsevo criminal group (widely regarded by Russian law enforcement as one of the most powerful organized crime groups in Russia)’.” https://www.nationalreview.com/news/mainstream-outlets-dismiss-report-on-hunter-bidens-foreign-dealings/

Dr. Anthony Fauci shoots down Sen. Rand Paul’s hypothesis that New Yorkers have achieved ‘herd immunity’. “‘If you believe 22 percent is herd immunity, I believe you’re alone in that,’ Fauci told Paul during the hearing, referring to the number of New Yorkers thought to have had COVID-19…. Fauci said… the state has managed to bring its positivity down to about 1 percent because New Yorkers have been following recommendations like wearing masks, keeping physical distance and staying outdoors more than indoors.” https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/517801-fauci-rand-paul-is-not-listening-to-the-cdc-director-about-covid-19-data

President Trump says there won’t be a transfer of power after the election. “‘Do you promise to ensure a peaceful transfer of power?’ the reporter asked. ‘We want to get rid of the ballot, you have to be very quiet – there will be no exchange, frankly, there will be a continuum,’ Mr Trump replied.” https://presstories.com/2020/09/24/we-want-to-get-rid-of-the-ballot-trump-will-not-engage-in-peaceful-transfer-of-power-instead-puts-forward-voter-fraud-demands/ It was tough finding a news story that included the reporter’s question.

Republican Party accused of plotting to steal the election. “… the litigation strategy of the Trump campaign and its allies has become clear: try to block the expansion of mail-in balloting whenever possible and, in a few key states, create enough chaos in the system and legal and political uncertainty in the results that the Supreme Court, Congress, or Republican legislatures can throw the election to Trump if the outcome is at all close or in doubt.” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/trump-plan-supreme-court-stop-election-vote-count.html

Department of Homeland Security has reportedly awarded millions of dollars in contracts to firm where the acting director’s wife works. “(Chad) Wolf’s wife, Hope Wolf, is vice president of professional staff operations at Berkeley Research Group, a consulting firm. Although the company has a long history of federal contracts, it did not do work for DHS until after Wolf became the TSA’s chief of staff in 2017.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/dhs-awarded-6-million-contracts-firm-where-acting-secretary-wolf-n1240773

U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands accused of hosting reception for right-wing party at embassy. “The U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands has been accused of interfering in national politics after hosting an event for the far-right Forum for Democracy party.” https://www.politico.eu/article/pete-hoekstra-us-ambassador-under-fire-for-hosting-dutch-far-right-bash/

U.S. media accused of ignoring story about CIA spying on Julian Assange and the journalists who interviewed him inside Ecuadoran embassy in London. “In an investigation for The Grayzone this May, this reporter detailed how the Las Vegas Sands corporation of Trump mega-donor Sheldon Adelson functioned as an apparent liaison between UC Global and Pompeo’s CIA, presumably contracting the former on behalf of the latter…. some of the reporters who had their personal information and notes stolen by UC Global, the apparent CIA contractor, have not said a word about it.” https://thegrayzone.com/2020/09/18/mainstream-us-reporters-silent-spied-cia-contractor-assange/

Volkswagen to pay settlement over blacklisted Brazilian employees. “A government-appointed commission investigating abuses during Brazil’s dictatorship found evidence that companies including Volkswagen secretly helped the military identify suspected ‘subversives’ and union activists on their payrolls. Many of the workers were then fired, detained or harassed by police, and were unable to find new jobs for years afterward…” https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-volkswagen-brazil/volkswagen-to-pay-victims-of-brazil-dictatorship-in-landmark-settlement-idUKKCN26E36G?il=0

House Democrats’ Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act called ‘a shiny ribbon wrapped around a dirty package’. “The groups (opposing the bill) cite the measure’s reliance on ‘ineffective gimmicks’ like carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), in which CO2 is injected underground…. ‘We cannot perpetuate false solutions to the climate crisis that (continue) our reliance on fossil fuels—as this legislation proposes to do…'” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/nowhere-near-what-we-need-it-be-face-climate-calamity-100-groups-say-democrats

President Trump calls police aggression against journalists ‘a beautiful sight’. “Referring to journalists covering ongoing Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and worldwide, Trump said: ‘They’d grab one guy… They threw him aside like he was a little bag of popcorn. Honestly, when you watch the crap that we’ve all had to take so long, when you see that—you don’t want to do that—but when you see it, it’s actually a beautiful sight. It’s a beautiful sight.'” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/these-are-actions-fascist-press-rights-advocates-warn-dangerous-pattern-trump-again

Voters want to see government action to address climate change. “… the new polling shows… seven in 10 Americans favor government action to combat the climate crisis. More than eight in 10 Democratic voters support the Green New Deal, the far-reaching green jobs and infrastructure program which would aim to shift the U.S. to renewable energy sources by 2030.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/even-major-politicians-continue-drag-feet-poll-shows-majority-us-want-bold-climate

Federal Reserve bond purchasing program didn’t prevent companies from laying off workers. “According to the report, nearly 140 of the companies that issued bonds purchased by the Fed have carried out furloughs or layoffs since March, affecting over one million workers…. Ninety-five of these companies paid dividends and simultaneously laid off employees, ‘prioritizing their shareholders over their workers in the midst of the pandemic’.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/fed-program-meant-help-workers-amid-pandemic-prioritized-wall-street-investors

Virginia voters to decide how the state will redraw election districts after census. Currently, the majority party gets to draw the districts, with predictable results. “(The proposed amendment would) create a bipartisan commission made up of eight legislators… along with eight citizen appointees. This group of 16 will draw the (election district) map (and) vote on it, with a supermajority required for passage, before sending it to the Legislature for approval by both chambers.” https://www.courthousenews.com/virginians-to-decide-fate-of-controversial-redistricting-amendment/

Alexei Navalny released from German hospital, makes fun of allegation that he poisoned himself. “… the ‘ultimate aim of my cunning plan’ must have been to die in Siberia, where the cause of death would be ‘lived long enough’. ‘But Putin outmaneuvered me…. As a result, I lay in coma for 18 days like a fool, but didn’t get my way. The provocation failed!'” https://www.courthousenews.com/russias-navalny-released-from-german-hospital-after-32-days/

60 year-old Pittsburgh woman claims several police officers entered her home, roughed her up and broke her arm after informing her that her son’s car had been stolen. “At a preliminary hearing on the criminal charges, the lawsuit said, (Officer Zachary) Vozza ‘conceded’ that seven officers entered (Deborah) Trzeciak’s home without a warrant or consent.” https://triblive.com/local/woman-who-claims-pittsburgh-police-used-excessive-force-on-her-up-for-40k-settlement/

September 23, 2020

Jim Henson TV series wins Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Program, is immediately cancelled. “Netflix has cancelled its critically acclaimed childrens’ show The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance after just one season.” https://www.nme.com/news/tv/netflix-cancels-the-dark-crystal-age-of-resistance-immediately-after-it-wins-emmy-2758561 “The Dark Crystal… deals with an incredibly timely topic; wealth inequality, oppression, and political scheming, all depicted with an abundance of imagination, inside a hauntingly beautiful world, rich in lore.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2020/09/22/where-netflix-went-wrong-with-the-dark-crystal-age-of-resistance/ I guess someone doesn’t want kids watching that.

Man convicted of killing John Lennon denied parole for 11th time. “Back in the ’60s when you said the things that he said, you were a creep. I remember I was in my 20s and I was conscious of the times and the press and presidency and all of that and how they looked upon anti-war people. Now we realize that Vietnam was a horrible mistake.” https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/mark-david-chapman-man-killed-john-lennon-parole/story?id=73149086 Author claims Chapman was a patsy. “If Chapman looked like a zombie, as he hung around after the killing and waited for the police, it was because that was exactly what he was…. ‘Chapman was standing on Lennon’s right and, as the autopsy report and death certificate later made clear, all Lennon’s wounds were in the left side of his body.’ There had to be another shooter involved, (Phil) Strongman insists.” https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1335479/Was-John-Lennons-murderer-Mark-Chapman-CIA-hitman-Thirty-years-theres-extraordinary-new-theory.html

More than 200,000 Americans have died due to the pandemic. “The U.S., which accounts for roughly 21% of all confirmed Covid-19 deaths around the world despite having only 4% of the world’s population, is battling one of the deadliest outbreaks in the world.” https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/22/us-coronavirus-death-toll-tops-200000-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-.html

Seattle city council overrides mayor’s veto of police budget cuts. “Measures passed by the council will cut less than $4 million of the department’s $400 million annual budget this year. The exact number of officers to be cut wasn’t clear but council members suggested it would amount to several dozen.” https://www.independent.co.uk/wires/us/seattle-city-council-overrides-mayors-veto-policing-cuts-jenny-durkan-police-department-budget-budget-mayor-b544182.html

Four people arrested after black man’s body discovered burning in Iowa ditch. “Just after 5:30 p.m. last Wednesday, authorities received a report of a fire in a roadside ditch near the small city of Kellogg in central Iowa. Responding personnel found a body on fire and put out the flames. The dead man was identified as 44-year-old Michael Williams of Grinnell, authorities said.” https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/22/us/man-found-dead-iowa-ditch-trnd/index.html All four of those arrested are reportedly white. No motive for the crime has been released.

Michael Bloomberg pays off fines, fees and restitution owed by 32,000 Floridians with felony convictions, allowing them to vote in upcoming election as authorized by 2018 referendum passed by voters. “On Tuesday, the billionaire announced that his political operation had raised over $16.1 million in the past week to pay off court fines and fees for 32,000 Black and Latino ex-felons in Florida, allowing them to register for the upcoming election before the deadline of October 5.” https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/09/bloomberg-pays-fines-of-32-000-florida-felons-to-vote.html After the referendum passed, Republican legislators tacked on the condition that all of a released felon’s legal obligations had to be paid before they could vote.

University of California accused of admitting at least 64 less qualified students as ‘favors’. “Auditors found that at least 22 applicants were falsely designated as student-athlete recruits ‘because of donations from or as favors to well-connected families’. These students ‘had little or no athletic skills’, (state auditor Elaine) Howle said…. The audit found the elite (UC Berkeley) school admitted 42 applicants who were the children of staff and donors, while denying admission to others who were more qualified…. ‘There’s at least another 400 or so students… that were really questionable.'” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/university-california-admitted-dozens-wealthy-white-students-favors-audit-finds-n1240766

Pennsylvania elections officials worried about ‘naked ballots’. “Some 30,000 to 40,000 mail-in ballots could arrive without secrecy envelopes in Philadelphia alone in November’s presidential election, (Lisa) Deeley estimated, and the state Supreme Court’s interpretation of current law forces election officials to throw out the so-called ‘naked ballots’.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/secrecy-envelopes-will-cause-electoral-chaos-official-warns-n1240694

China sets 2060 target for carbon neutrality. “We aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.” https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54256826 Not good enough, but better than nothing. Why not set 2020 as the peak and reduce emissions from there?

Consumers without purchasing power are a drag on the economy. “There is so much money in so few hands at the very top that they simply can’t spend enough of it to make a difference to an economy as large as America’s. The problem is that the poor and middle class don’t have enough money.” https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/michael-farr-the-problem-with-the-us-economy-is-there-are-too-many-poor-people.html

Swiss voters to decide on whether or not to replace aging warplanes. “Ireland, Malta and Luxembourg don’t have jets, they say, making the 6 billion Swiss franc ($6.6 billion) plan a waste of money…. Voters get their say on Sunday Sept. 27.” https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-swiss-vote-jets/who-is-our-enemy-neutral-switzerland-votes-on-fighter-jets-idUKKCN26C0II

Facebook planning to restrict what can be posted if there is unrest after November 3rd election. “The social media giant has prepared to limit what is shared if this year’s election devolves into civic unrest, Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of global affairs, told (The Financial Times).” https://thehill.com/policy/technology/517515-facebook-to-restrict-the-circulation-of-content-if-chaos-results-from

Federal agencies allegedly monitored protester phone calls during Portland, Oregon protests. “Cell phone cloning involves stealing a phone’s unique identifiers and copying them to another device in order to intercept the communications received by the original device. The former intelligence officials described it as part of a ‘Low Level Voice Intercept’ operation, declining to go into further detail…” https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/homeland-security-portland/

Ann Arbor, Michigan decriminalizes ‘magic mushrooms’. “The city council voted in favor of a resolution that makes investigating or arresting anyone in the purchase, seizure, growing, cultivation or distribution of entheogenic plants or plant compounds the lowest priority of local law enforcement, AnnArbor.com reported. The move effectively decriminalizes substances with hallucinogenic properties deemed illegal under state and federal law, including ayahuasca, ibogaine, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin mushrooms…” https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/517581-ann-arbor-lawmakers-vote-to-decriminalize-psychedelic-mushrooms

Former Turkish legislator sentenced to 11 months in prison for insulting country’s president. “Sebahat Tuncel was sentenced last week to 11 months and 20 days for calling (President Tayyip) Erdogan an enemy of Kurds and women in a speech in 2016, comments one of her lawyers defended as legitimate criticism of a political opponent.” https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-turkey-erdogan-kurds/jailed-kurdish-politician-handed-another-year-for-insulting-turkeys-erdogan-idUKKCN26D16G

Austin, Texas law enforcement puts on massive show of force, triggered by woman’s anti-cop bumper stickers. “… I counted at least 40 DPS vehicles blocking the south end of the First Street Bridge. There had to be 80 cops on scene by that time, if not 100. The emergency vehicles included a fire truck, an ambulance, and two BearCat armored personnel carriers…. I had only been there a few moments when an APD SWAT team arrived. They pulled up in eight blacked-out Chevrolet Tahoes with all the insignia removed, and commenced to unload an arsenal of military weapons and body armor from big drawers that pulled out of the beds.” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/22/texas-austin-police-militarization-budget/

Joe Rogan drawing 3 or 4 times more viewers than Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. “Rogan is rarely discussed in mainstream political and media circles, which raises its own questions. Why does someone who packs such a big punch in terms of audience size and influence receive so much less media attention than, say, cable news hosts with audience sizes far smaller than his?” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/22/as-joe-rogans-platform-grows-so-does-the-media-and-liberal-backlash-why/ Obviously, because he’s not under control.

More families experiencing hunger during pandemic. “What I see every day from the pandemic is amazingly-increased numbers of severely underweight children coming to our clinic, and parents really panicked about how they’re going to find enough food.” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/23/hunger-food-insecurity-coronavirus-children-census/

Fox News compilation reveals network’s pattern of pandemic misinformation. “Fox hosts and guests habitually berated effective social distancing measures including wearing masks and quarantines, with host Martha MacCallum even defending comments by Attorney General William Barr comparing pandemic lockdowns to slavery.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/fox-lied-200000-died-video-mash-chronicles-cable-network-downplaying-covid-19 The video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMEcrTBMdjY

Vanessa Bryant files lawsuit against Los Angeles County sheriff over Kobe Bryant helicopter crash photos. “After learning of the photos, Bryant says she asked the sheriff’s department if she ‘should brace for pictures of her loved ones’ remains to surface on the internet’. Eight deputies allegedly took (cellphone) photos of the dead at the crash site.” https://www.courthousenews.com/widow-of-kobe-bryant-sues-la-sheriff-over-officer-photos-of-crash-site/

September 22, 2020

Salt Lake City police release body camera video of shooting of 13 year-old autistic boy. “‘Get on the ground now!’ one officer yelled, according to body camera footage released Monday. Another yelled, ‘Pull your hands out!’ The first officer then fired nearly a dozen times at the boy, gravely injuring him….” https://www.sltrib.com/news/2020/09/21/bodycam-shows-salt-lake/

Climate clock counts down to irreversible, runaway climate change. “The Climate Clock unveiled by artists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd warned at 1:30 p.m. Monday that there were 7 years, 101 days, 17 hours, 29 minutes and 22 seconds… (until) the world (burns) through its carbon budget if swift action isn’t taken to keep warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/09/21/climate-change-metronome-clock-nyc/

Chinese tycoon gets 18 years in prison after criticizing President Xi. “Mr. Ren (Zhiqiang) was detained in March after he criticized Mr. Xi’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak that spread across China and the rest of the world from late last year. Months later, the Communist Party announced that Mr. Ren had been expelled and that he had been placed under criminal investigation.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/world/asia/china-ren-zhiqiang-tycoon.html

Local officials claim sharp drop in Uighur birth rate is simply the result of enforcement of family planning policy. “The Xinjiang government attributed the sudden drop in population to Beijing’s family planning policies finally being properly implemented in the region after 2017…. But (Adrian) Zenz pointed out that changes to the natural birth rate should take place over several years or even a decade, not in the space of 12 to 36 months.” https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/21/asia/xinjiang-china-response-sterilization-intl-hnk/index.html

Turkish government files charges against Greek journalists over insulting headline. “The headline… which means ‘F*** off Mr. Erdogan’ in Turkish, appeared next to a photo of the president, and included the English translation.” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/erdogan-files-complaint-greek-newspaper-insulting-headline-200921122835838.html

Prince Charles calls for international mobilization against climate change. “We must now put ourselves on a warlike footing, approaching our action from the perspective of a military-style campaign.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-new-york/military-style-marshall-plan-needed-to-combat-climate-change-says-prince-charles-idUSKCN26C2DP

93 historic sites in U.K. linked to slave trade or colonialism. “The report details links to plantation owners and those who were paid compensation for enslaved people freed through abolition, as well as those who gained their wealth through the slave trade. It also includes properties with connections to people involved in colonial expansion, including leading figures in the East India Company, or senior figures in administering colonies, including Winston Churchill’s home Chartwell.” https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-54244434

Former leaders urge their countries to sign treaty banning nuclear weapons. “The signers included former prime ministers of Canada, Japan, Italy and Poland; former presidents of Albania, Poland and Slovenia; more than two dozen former foreign ministers; and more than a dozen former defense ministers. Two of the signers are former secretaries-general of NATO: Javier Solana of Spain and Willy Claes of Belgium. Ban Ki-moon, the former secretary-general of the United Nations and a former foreign minister of South Korea, also signed.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/world/treaty-nuclear-arms-united-nations.html

Support for President Trump still firm among rank-and-file members of many unions. “‘The immigrant’s here to take your job.’ That resonated with our membership….’ (Union leaders, who mostly back Biden) said parts of Biden’s record, such as his past support for the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, hurt him…” https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/22/donald-trump-union-support-snub-joe-biden-418329 It’s not that undocumented workers directly take union jobs, but they work for companies that underbid unionized firms by paying lower wages and providing fewer benefits. The end effect is the same though – unionized workers out of a job.

Current and former political leaders and officials urge U.K. not to extradite Julian Assange to the United States. “More than 160 current and former world leaders, lawmakers and diplomats have endorsed a call for the U.K. to free WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and stop his extradition to the U.S…. (The letter claims) he would ‘be exposed to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’.” https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/release-wikileaks-julian-assange-say-current-former-world-leaders-n1240597 This is what happens when you don’t ‘clean house’ after prisoner abuse and torture scandals by holding the people in charge accountable.

House emergency stop-gap spending bill includes a surprise – $1.6 billion for two new submarines. “The Navy would be allowed to buy the first two Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines under a stopgap government funding measure released by House Democrats on Monday.” https://thehill.com/policy/defense/517404-house-stopgap-spending-bill-includes-16b-for-columbia-class-subs

Journalist Cassandra Fairbanks testifies that President Trump ordered arrest of Julian Assange after deal with Ecuador, prosecution admits Wikileaks not the first to publish leaked classified documents. “(Prof. Christian) Grothoff then explained that the German publication Freitag wrote on Aug. 25, 2011 about the password being available in the book (WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy), which led to the cables being published on Aug. 31 on a torrent site, followed by their publication by Cryptome.org on Sept. 1. WikiLeaks then published it on Sept. 2.” https://consortiumnews.com/2020/09/21/assange-hearing-day-ten-fairbanks-testifies-trump-ordered-assange-arrest-us-concedes-wikileaks-not-first-to-publish-cables-but-says-it-had-widest-reach/

New York City police officer accused of spying on Tibetans on behalf of Chinese government. “(Consular) officials allegedly directed the officer to monitor the activities of ethnic Tibetans in New York and assess potential ethnic Tibetan intelligence sources.” https://thehill.com/policy/international/517430-nypd-officer-charged-with-spying-on-tibetan-new-yorkers-for-chinese

An estimated 100,000 anti-government protesters march in Minsk, 442 detained nationwide. “Loyalty of the security forces is critical for Lukashenko’s ability to hang on to power,” Bialiatski said Monday. “It is by the hands of these people that large-scale political repression is carried out in the center of Europe.” https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/police-detain-over-400-during-sunday-protests-in-belarus/ar-BB19fWl5

Las Vegas massacre shooting suspect Stephen Paddock expressed far-right views, claim former associates. “The FBI’s silence on a possible motive is unsatisfying…. When (one) associate refused (to sell him a gun part) because he said it would be illegal, Paddock reportedly became enraged and made references to a litany of anti-government conspiracy theories, including supposed plans by the Federal Emergency Management Administration to set up ‘detention camps’ (for) Americans and plans for widespread confiscation of firearms.” https://theintercept.com/2020/09/22/stephen-paddock-las-vegas-shooting-far-right/ There have been rumors that Paddock actually made his money selling guns, not by gambling, which makes a lot of sense, and that the shooting may have been the result of a gun deal, or law enforcement sting, gone bad. How many guns do you really need to fire into a crowd? Even if you’re a twisted jerk just shooting people for amusement, are you really going to have time to shoot 23 different rifles before the cops show up? It’s possible that was his motive, but it seems unlikely. Maybe he saw those people at the country music festival as potential customers, not targets? It wasn’t the first time he had booked a room close to a music festival. “Paddock booked rooms overlooking the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in August and the Life Is Beautiful show near the Vegas Strip in late September, according to authorities reconstructing his movements before he undertook the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history…. The weekend before the massacre, he rented a room through Airbnb at the 21-story Ogden condominiums in downtown Las Vegas and stayed there during a music festival below that included Chance the Rapper, Muse, Lorde and Blink-182.” https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/10/05/did-las-vegas-gunman-stephen-paddock-target-other-music-festivals.html

China accused of forcing rural Tibetans into training centers for industrial workers. “This is now, in my opinion, the strongest, most clear and targeted attack on traditional Tibetan livelihoods that we have seen almost since the Cultural Revolution.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-tibet-exclusive/exclusive-china-sharply-expands-mass-labor-program-in-tibet-idUSKCN26D0GT

Facebook suspends, then un-suspends, accounts of environmental activists. “Groups such as Greenpeace USA, Climate Hawks Vote and Rainforest Action Network were among those blocked from posting or sending messages on Facebook over the weekend…. The suspensions, the day before another online action aimed at (pipeline funder) KKR & Co, has enraged activists who oppose the (Coastal GasLink) pipeline for its climate impact and for cutting through the land of the Wetʼsuwetʼen, a First Nations people.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/22/facebook-climate-change-environment-groups-suspended

Pentagon accused of re-purposing coronavirus funds. “”While the Department plans to execute a portion of that funding for personal protective equipment (PPE) as intended by Congress, most of the funds will be used to address the impact of Covid–19 on the [defense industrial base], which was not the original intent of the funds.” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/colossal-backdoor-bailout-outrage-pentagon-funnels-hundreds-millions-meant-covid

After Trump administration designates New York City, Seattle and Portland, Oregon as ‘anarchist jurisdictions’ for not cracking down hard enough on protesters, critics point out some inconvenient statistics. “Annual murders per 100k population:
* Oklahoma City – 12.5
* Jacksonville – 12.2
* Miami – 11.2
* Lexington – 9.0
* Ft. Worth – 8.0
* NYC – 3.4 Guess which is the only one DOJ has designated an ‘anarchist jurisdiction’?” https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/21/progressives-hit-back-after-doj-designates-new-york-seattle-and-portland-oregon

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