November 30, 2021

Revenue from federal estate tax fell by almost 50% after Republicans raised threshold. “…’the dramatic decline is largely the result of the tax overhaul enacted by Republicans in 2017, which doubled the amount that wealthy couples can pass to heirs without triggering the levy’ to $23.4 million. ‘The modern estate tax was introduced in 1916 to help counter the growth of dynastic wealth.’ Since 2016, U.S. billionaires have doubled their collective net worth to more than $5 trillion.”   https://news.yahoo.com/disappearing-estate-tax-105225647.html

American Josephine Baker to be reburied in France’s Pantheon, one of the country’s highest honors. “Born Freda Josephine McDonald in 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri, Baker rose to stardom in the 1930s after moving to France to pursue a career in show business and escape racial discrimination in the U.S. …. Following Nazi Germany’s invasion of France during the second World War, Baker joined the French Resistance, relaying intelligence to the Allies while performing for Axis troops in enemy territory…. An advocate for social change, Baker returned to the U.S. in the 1950s and 1960s to protest for racial justice, speaking at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963.”   https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/arts-culture/583378-american-dancer-and-spy-who-was-worlds-first-black

NLRB decides Bessemer, Alabama Amazon workers deserve a second chance to vote on unionization. “By installing a postal mailbox at the main employee entrance, the employer essentially highjacked the process and gave a strong impression that it controlled the process. This dangerous and improper message to employees destroys trust in the board’s processes and in the credibility of the election results.”   https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/labor-official-confirms-election-amazon-workers-81453063

Turkish court finds man implicated in 2016 coup attempt was in contact with CIA agents. “According to the court records, in those exchanges, [Enver] Altaylı disclosed state secrets…. In the email, Altaylı said he wanted to warn ‘his friends’ regarding what he described as a shift in [Turkey’s] foreign policy direction, claiming that Erdoğan was steering Turkey toward the Shanghai Alliance. Among the seized documents were Altaylı’s pictures with CIA agents Ruzi Nazar and Duane Clarridge, who were once stationed in Turkey.”   https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/enver-altayli-exchanged-emails-with-cia-agents-court-169740

FBI can easily obtain WhatsApp and iMessage ‘metadata’, claims internal document. “The document — titled Lawful Access and prepared jointly by the bureau’s Science and Technology Branch and Operational Technology Division — offers a window into the FBI’s ability to legally obtain vast amounts of data from the world’s most popular messaging apps, many of which hype the security and encryption of their services…. WhatsApp is unique in how quickly it can produce data to law-enforcement agencies in response to a so-called pen register — a surveillance request that captures the source and destination of each message for a targeted individual. WhatsApp will produce certain user metadata, though not actual message content, every 15 minutes in response to a pen register, the FBI says…. Even without the ability to legally request message content from WhatsApp, however, the metadata provided by WhatsApp to law enforcement captures which users talk to one another, when they do it, and which other users they have in their address book.”   https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/whatsapp-imessage-facebook-apple-fbi-privacy-1261816/

TechCrunch reporter says FBI agents showed up at his home to ask about a news story he had written. “Zack Whittaker, the top notch cybersecurity reporter for TechCrunch got to experience the fun of [government scrutiny] when the FBI showed up at his door over a year after he had published a story about a hacker dumping thousands of Mexican embassy documents from Guatemala after the Mexican embassy left the data exposed online…. ‘After we published our story the Mexican government requested the help of the U.S. Department of Justice through diplomatic channels to investigate the hack and presumably try to identify the hacker. Because I had contact with the hacker, that must have made me a subject of interest to the Mexican authorities, hence the visit a year on.”   https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20211124/17414748005/when-fbi-shows-up-your-door-about-your-reporting-thats-intimidation.shtml   Whittaker declined to reveal any details about who his source was.

Arvada shooter Ronald Troyke referred to ‘sovereign citizen’ movement during an earlier encounter with Arvada police officers, and in his manifesto, where he also mention Elijah McClain. “I dedicate what I did to Aurora PD. Especially those officers involved in the killing and mocking of Elijah McClain.”   https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/olde-town-arvada-suspect-police-interaction-before-shooting/73-292890ad-ae38-41e2-8a9e-dc8fc4e3cb36   Troyke’s family told police he had been ‘warped’ by watching videos about police brutality. “‘He gets up early in the morning and calls my sister up and tells her about all this negative police stuff that YouTube always shows and all the lies and crap they give out and he just, I don’t know, he just kept watching it and watching it… so I think this is part of it,’ one of Troyke’s relatives told law enforcement. Investigators searched Troyke’s internet history after he was killed and found ‘an extensive YouTube history which consisted of almost exclusively of anti-police / police misconduct / 1st Amendment auditor videos.’”   https://www.denverpost.com/2021/11/12/ronald-troyke-arvada-shooting-gunman/   The FBI reportedly opened a terrorism investigation into Troyke, based on his manifesto.

Video shows $133 million F-35B fighter slowly rolling off the end of British aircraft carrier. “In a shocking security breach, the 16-second clip was copied using a smartphone and put on Twitter…. The cause of the crash is under investigation, but it is thought that a red plastic rain cover for the jet was accidentally left on and sucked into an engine.”   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10255359/Footage-emerges-moment-F-35-jet-topples-end-HMS-Queen-Elizabeths-runway.html

Deaths of civilians during U.S. military actions are routinely covered up instead of being investigated, claims writer. “A 2019 investigation by Human Rights Watch determined that approximately 7,000 civilians had been killed in the previous five years in Iraq and Syria in air strikes by the U.S. and its allies. With virtually no negative reaction in Washington, D.C., or coverage in the mainstream media, there should be no surprise that the Pentagon thought they could get away with the 2019 massacre in Baghuz. There appears to be a sense that, given the horror of ISIS, the killing of large numbers of civilians may be necessary to ensure their defeat, so it’s important to keep such tragedies quiet.”   https://progressive.org/latest/pentagon-doesnt-care-about-civilian-casualties-zunes-211126/

National Guardsman to be deployed to Africa. “On Saturday, 800 Virginia and 200 Kentucky Guardsmen shipped off for about a month of pre-deployment training at Fort Bliss, Texas. The soldiers recently wrapped up three weeks of training at Fort Pickett, Va, according to a Guard spokesperson. The soldiers are expected to be sent to unspecified countries in Africa in early 2022.”   https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/11/29/1000-national-guard-soldiers-deploy-africa-mid-east-wars-wind-down.html

Sri Lankan security forces accused of driving Tamil families from cemeteries, attacking journalists. “Grieving relatives were forced out of cemeteries on the weekend as they attempted to light lamps at graves of loved ones who died in the island’s decades-long conflict, which ended in 2009. The Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions on Monday said Tamil journalists covering a memorial in Mullaittivu, a northeastern fishing town where the war’s final battle was fought, were assaulted by soldiers.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/29/sri-lanka-troops-tamil-remembrance-civil-war-dead

Pakistani man who went to college in the U.S. claims the FBI turned him into a social outcast after he refused to become an informant. “[Aswad] Khan and his legal team believe he was placed on the U.S.’s no-fly list as well as the terrorist watchlist…. His [personal] contacts said U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers suggested to them during interrogations that Khan was a dangerous person, a possible terrorist. The officials made it clear that he was the source of their problems at the border. For many of his friends, the pressure was too much. People whom Khan had known for years started calling him to apologize that they were going to have to unfriend him on social media. At weddings in Karachi, other guests started asking that he be excluded from group photographs. His invitations to events started drying up. Spouses and parents of his friends began telling them that being associated with Khan was not worth the trouble.”   https://theintercept.com/2021/11/30/fbi-informant-watchlist-reputation-damage/

Iranian movie examines impact of the death penalty on society. “There Is No Evil consists of four short stories – with twists and ingeniously concealed interconnections – on the topic of the death penalty and how it is poisoning the country’s soul. Hundreds of people are executed a year in Iran, including children. Execution of the condemned criminal is the job of civilian functionaries but also widely carried out by soldiers doing compulsory national service.”   https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/30/there-is-no-evil-review-passionate-plea-against-irans-soul-poisoning-executions

Lawyers for victims of 2017 mass shooting in Texas and U.S. government spar over compensation for families. “[Devin Kelley] killed 26 people and injured 22 more when he shot more than 500 bullets from an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle and a handgun into the [Sutherland Springs First Baptist Church] frequented by his wife’s family. This July, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled that the Air Force was 60% responsible for the mass killing, which was carried out with weapons Kelley would not have been able to purchase if the Air Force had submitted Kelley’s criminal record to the FBI’s background check database, as the military branch is required by law.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/us-offers-less-than-10-of-damages-requested-by-sutherland-springs-shooting-victims/   Another case of the government apparently enabling a mass shooting through its inaction.

 

 

 

November 29, 2021

Former defense secretary Mark Esper claims the Pentagon is censoring his book. “[Esper’s] lawsuit contends that ‘significant text’ in the memoir, scheduled for publication by William Morrow in May, is being improperly held under the guise of classification and that Esper maintains it contains no classified information…. he had been asked not to quote Trump and others in meetings, not to describe conversations he had with Trump, and not to use certain verbs or nouns when describing historical events…. some 60 pages of the manuscript contained redactions at one point.”   https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/pentagon-chief-sues-publish-material-memoir-81438550

Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen claims Donald Trump is not serious about running for president in 2024. ” One of the things Donald Trump has done is grift off of the ‘Big Lie’ that the election was stolen from him in 2020…. he is grifting off of the American people, these supporters, these individuals that are just sending money to him at record levels…. His insatiable need for attention is one reason he continues to flaunt this disingenuous 2024 run,” [Cohen] said [in September]. “The other is he’s making more money doing that than anything he has ever done before.”   https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-trump-not-running-2024-gop-presidential-election-claims-2021-11

‘2nd gentleman’ lights the National Menorah. “Doug Emhoff, husband to Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke at the National Menorah lighting ceremony on Sunday for the first night of Hanukkah…. ‘Let us remember always that Jewish history is American history; our values, American values.’ …. The tradition of the lighting dates back to 1979, when President Jimmy Carter was in office. But it was President Ronald Reagan who officially designated the candelabrum the National Menorah…. ‘The truth is that Jewish heritage, Jewish culture, Jewish values are an essential, such an essential part of who we are,’ [vice president Joe] Biden said [in 2014], donning a black yarmulke. ‘It’s fair to say that Jewish heritage is American heritage. That’s who we are as a people.'”   https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/28/politics/national-menorah-lighting-doug-emhoff-hanukkah/index.html   So we have a National Christmas Tree and a National Menorah. What’s next, the National Kaaba? The National Ganesha? The National Pentacle? Whatever happened to ‘separation of church and state’?

Pegasus phone hack victims identified after Apple sends out notifications. “… Apple issued alert messages on Wednesday to at least six Thai activists and researchers. These individuals have been critical of Thailand’s government in the past…. five other iPhone users in Thailand received Apple’s Pegasus alert. The list includes a researcher, two other activists, a rapper, and a politician…. Apple notified a Polish prosecutor that her iPhone might have been infected with Pegasus. Ewa Wrzosek might have been targeted after investigating a failed presidential election where money was spent on a postal vote that didn’t take place…. Apple issued similar warnings…. to two political activists in Ghana, a politician in Uganda, and a dozen journalists in El Salvador.”   https://bgr.com/tech/pegasus-iphone-hack-victims-come-forward-after-alerts-from-apple/

Rigged U.S. election districts are producing undemocratic representation. “In Wisconsin [in 2018], losing the popular vote for the statehouse across the state by a 54-45 gave Republicans a 63-36 supermajority in that statehouse. Now that would truly impress a foreign autocrat – a system locking a minority into power despite a clear mandate by the voters that they wanted the opposite. The prime culprits behind all this election rigging are the statehouses themselves – mostly anonymous elected officials who few voters know but who wield far more power than most Americans appreciate.”   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/28/republicans-are-quietly-rigging-election-maps-to-ensure-permanent-rule

Military junta in Myanmar disrupting food production and distribution. “The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar said the junta had destroyed food supplies and killed livestock while cutting off roads used to bring in food and medicine. The council said military offensives in the country’s north-west and east have prevented farmers from harvesting their crops. The council of experts, which includes people who previously worked on Myanmar for the UN, said the international community should work with the parallel National Unity Government (NUG), set up by pro-democracy politicians, to get support to people.”   https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/nov/26/myanmar-junta-accused-of-forcing-people-to-brink-of-starvation

November 28, 2021

Papua New Guinea also sends troops to Solomon Islands. “[Prime Minister Manasseh] Sogavare declared a 36-hour curfew in Honiara and asked for help from his country’s neighbours. Australia and Papua New Guinea sent 150 peacekeepers on Thursday and Friday, helping to quell the unrest in the nation of 800,000 people…. In neighbouring Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said more Australian Federal Police would arrive in the Solomon Islands on Sunday, and added that he expected Fiji to also contribute troops.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/28/riot-hit-solomons-begins-clean-up-as-more-foreign-troops-arrive

French troops kill two, wound 18 while dispersing protesters in Niger. “‘The convoy of the French Barkhane force escorted by the national gendarmerie was blocked by very violent protesters in Tera in the Tillaberi region, where it had spent the night,’ the interior ministry said in a statement. ‘In its attempt to break free, it used force’, leading to ‘the deaths of two people and 18 wounded’, including 11 seriously.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/27/three-killed-in-niger-as-protesters-confront-french-army-convoy

November 27, 2021

Iranian security forces crack down on water shortage protesters. “For more than two weeks, [Hassan] Tavakoli and hundreds of other farmers had been protesting on the dry bed of [Isfahan’s] storied Zayanderoud River. Tens of thousands of people had joined them in a show of solidarity. Their demand: Restore water flows to the river to help irrigate farmlands laid to waste from years of mismanaging water resources…. Clashes spread from the dry riverbed to streets in downtown Isfahan. Security guards fired bird [shot] and tear gas at the crowds of protesters and beat them with batons, according to two eyewitnesses in the area and videos shared widely on social media. There were no official casualty numbers, but videos and eyewitnesses said scores of demonstrators were injured.”   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/world/middleeast/iran-protests-water-shortages.html

Justice Dept. refusing to cooperate in Spanish investigation into surveillance of Julian Assange inside Ecuador’s London embassy. “Since June of last year, Spanish judges have sent three requests for information to the Justice Department primarily seeking information about the ownership of IP addresses believed to be in the United States that had access to files documenting Assange’s activities while he was holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, according to copies of the requests reviewed by Yahoo News. Despite a mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) between the U.S. and Spain pledging to assist each other in criminal investigations, none of the Spanish requests have yet elicited any substantive responses from the United States, the judge said. Instead, Justice Department lawyers have asked Spanish authorities for more information about the basis for the inquiry before taking any action. Chief among those puzzle pieces is whether U.S. intelligence officials — as Assange’s lawyers have alleged — arranged for the Spanish security firm UC Global to violate Spanish privacy and bribery laws by installing cameras and hidden microphones inside the Ecuadorian Embassy…. to secretly record or otherwise eavesdrop on conversations that Assange had with his lawyers, doctors, advisers, journalists and others, including in one case a U.S. congressman, according to internal documents from the Spanish case.”   https://news.yahoo.com/us-stonewalls-probe-into-security-firm-that-allegedly-spied-on-assange-for-cia-says-spanish-judge-191433247.html

Marshall Islands and U.S. unable to reach cooperation agreement. “The Marshall Islands are home to a major US military base and are essentially treated as a US territory under an agreement known as the Compact of Free Association. But the agreement is due to expire soon, and the dispute over the nuclear weapons [tests in the 1940’s and 50’s] has some members of Congress concerned…. In the 1980s, the US agreed to give the Marshall Islands a $150 million settlement, but this amount fell well short of what is needed to clean up all of the radioactive debris.”   https://news.antiwar.com/2021/11/26/us-refuses-to-engage-with-marshall-islands-on-damage-caused-by-nuclear-weapons-tests/

103 Colombian protesters suffered eye injuries, more than 80 killed, during spring anti-government protests. “In a report published on Friday, Amnesty International said 103 protesters suffered eye injuries during the protests, including at least 12 demonstrators who lost eyes or some of their vision after being hit by police projectiles during rallies around the country.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/26/colombia-protesters-faced-intentional-police-violence-report

November 26, 2021

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer reportedly given $66,000 by health insurance lobbyist. “The bundle of checks, collected and given to Schumer’s campaign by Matt Eyles, the president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), was disclosed in a lobbyist bundling report covering July through September that Schumer filed with the Federal Election Commission. The report does not indicate the exact date that Eyles gave the bundled donations to Schumer…. One of the group’s goals for the Build Back Better Act has been to block a proposal from the Biden White House to add dental, vision, and hearing benefits to Medicare. Most Medicare Advantage plans, such as those offered by Cigna and Aetna, include dental, hearing, and vision benefits, so adding these coverages under traditional Medicare would be a hit to the insurance companies’ competitive advantage against the government.”   https://readsludge.com/2021/11/23/schumer-took-a-66k-bundle-of-checks-from-the-health-insurance-industrys-top-lobbyist/

New York judge rules against NYPD on release of police body camera videos. “A New York state judge ruled last week that the New York City Police Department illegally withheld body-worn footage in two police shootings…. The NYPD declined to release footage of the April 2019 shooting of [Kawaski] Trawick for more than a year and a half, citing an ongoing investigation…. That footage showed that after a sergeant arrived and asked who was injured, two officers responded in near-unison, ‘Nobody. Just a perp.’ …. In addition to footage from the Trawick shooting, the suit had also demanded the full footage from the police shooting of Michael Cordero…”   https://www.propublica.org/article/judge-says-nypd-illegally-withheld-footage-in-police-shootings

Australian troops and police arrive in Solomon Islands to prop up the country’s pro-Chinese government. “[Prime Minister Manasseh] Sogavare announced a 36-hour lockdown of Honiara after the violent protests, and on Thursday night Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Australia would deploy a peacekeeping force to Solomon Islands to assist in “riot control.” The deployment, which follows requests for assistance from Sogavare under a 2017 bilateral security treaty, will include 73 Australian Federal Police and 43 Australian Defence Force personnel…. The demonstrations are linked to ongoing tensions between Sogavare’s central government, which shifted Solomon Islands’ diplomatic ties from Taiwan to mainland China in 2019, and the people of Malaita Province – the most populous island in the country’s archipelago – who have vocally condemned the move.”   https://www.vice.com/en/article/3abbzy/solomon-islands-capital-honiara-violent-anti-government-protests

Canadian anti-vaxer reportedly telling her followers to arrest health care workers who vaccinate children. “Shoot to kill anyone who tries to inject Children under the age of 19 years old with Coronavirus19 vaccines/ bioweapons or any other Vaccines,” [Romana Didulo] wrote. “This order is effective immediately.” A follow-up post on Tuesday changed the wording from ‘shoot to kill’ to ‘arrest’. “Please, use airports, hospitals, schools, stadiums, and other public venues to hold and detain all traitors,” the post said. “They will stay there until Military Tribunal is held for each one of them until the day they are executed via firing squad or hanging.”   https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7ddgm/qanons-queen-of-canada-calls-for-followers-to-kill-people-vaccinating-children

Far right thrown into turmoil by Kyle Rittenhouse’s denunciation of his former attorney, Lin Wood. “The spat, which began when Kyle Rittenhouse publicly accused Wood of ‘taking advantage’ of him, has consumed the QAnon world, sucking in almost every major figure in the Q universe, including disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell… and right-wing talking head Dan Bongino…. Many others joined in such as Bongino, former White House aide Sebastian Gorka, and Pizzagate promoter Jack Posobiec, but what really sparked a wider split in the QAnon world was Wood’s criticism of Flynn, seen by many within the movement as the de facto leader of QAnon today.”   https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7wwqe/kyle-rittenhouse-qanon-civil-war-lin-wood

Syrian Democratic Forces deny claims that Islamic State prisoners bought their way out of prison. “In its report, The Guardian said it had seen a ‘release form’ which allegedly showed that ‘Syrian men imprisoned without trial can pay an $8,000 (£6,000) fine to be freed‘. The SDF denied these claims, describing the documents as ‘fake’…. In their denial, the SDF said the decree cited on the paperwork, which resulted in the freeing of the men, was an amnesty decree issued by the Syrian regime in 2019.”   https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/sdf-hit-back-claims-releasing-prisoners-money

Israeli troops and Palestinians clash in West Bank, 24 arrested. “Dozens of Palestinians were injured in the occupied West Bank on Thursday as Israeli soldiers and settlers stormed Palestinian towns and villages…. Israeli forces… detained 14 Palestinians in the Issawiyah area of East Jerusalem and four Palestinians in the village of Surif near Hebron in the southern West Bank. They also arrested two brothers from the Zayed family in Qalandiya north of Jerusalem.”   https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/dozens-detained-injured-israeli-raids-west-bank

Proprietary covid-19 vaccines blamed for rise of new variant. “For vaccine equity campaigners and epidemiologists, the emergence of another highly contagious coronavirus mutation is far from surprising given the massive inoculation gap between rich and poor countries, which has left billions of people across the globe without access to lifesaving shots—and kept the door open to variants…. Tim Bierley of the U.K.-based advocacy group Global Justice Now said in a statement that the B.1.1.529 mutation is an ‘entirely avoidable’ consequence of deliberate policy decisions by rich countries, which have hoarded vaccine doses and refused to force pharmaceutical giants to share technology with developing nations.”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/26/it-was-entirely-avoidable-rich-countries-blamed-new-covid-variant-sparks-global

Police in Istanbul, Turkey block march opposing violence against women, attack marchers. “The group of several thousand, mostly women, marched to the city centre’s Taksim Square, blocked off with barriers amid a heavy police presence. The police fired [tear] gas and scuffled with the protesters after urging the crowd to disperse…. At the start of July, Turkey withdrew from an international treaty to combat violence against women, known as the Istanbul Convention and negotiated in Turkey’s biggest city in 2011, in a move strongly criticised by Western allies.”   https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkish-police-break-up-violence-against-women-protest-2021-11-25/

November 25, 2021

Employees can be fired in 48 states for refusing to work on Thanksgiving Day, says labor lawyer. “In most cases, employers dictate recognized holidays, Timothy Ford, an employment and commercial litigation partner in the law firm Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost & Botwinick, tells Yahoo Finance. ‘Employers are free to select the holidays it seeks to recognize, if any at all,’ Ford says of private firms…. Massachusetts and Rhode Island require private companies to give workers paid time off for national holidays…”   https://www.yahoo.com/news/you-can-legally-be-fired-for-refusing-to-work-thanksgiving-in-most-states-203327155.html

Organizers of January 6th March for Trump rally in Washington, D.C. allegedly communicated with Trump administration officials via ‘burner’ phones. “According to the three sources, some of the most crucial planning conversations between top rally organizers and Trump’s inner circle took place on those burner phones. ‘They were planning all kinds of stuff, marches and rallies. Any conversation she had with the White House or Trump family took place on those phones,’ the [March for Trump] team member says of Kylie Kremer…. Burner phones — cheap, prepaid [cell phones] designed for temporary usage — do not require users to have an account. This makes them hard to trace and ideal for those who are seeking anonymity — particularly if they are purchased with cash.”   https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jan-6-rally-organizers-trump-white-house-1262122/

Fiery Republican rhetoric could lead to political violence, warns columnist. “Conservative columnist Max Boot on Monday warned of a ‘full-blown insurgency’ from right-wing extremists should former President Donald Trump decide to run in 2024 and lose again. The Washington Post writer feared an armed faction of right-wing Trump zealots would ‘bear roughly the same symbiotic relationship to the GOP that the IRA had to the Sinn Fein party…. a responsible political party would damp down its incendiary rhetoric and urge its supporters to moderate their zeal.’ …. But Republicans just ‘continue to fan the flames of hatred, violence and division.’”   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/max-boot-gop-violent-insurgency_n_619ca65ce4b0ae9a42a5722d

All three defendants in Ahmaud Arbery murder trial found guilty. “The fact that these men viewed Arbery as a threat, though they had no evidence he had done anything illegal; that they felt they had the right to arm themselves and chase him; that when police officers arrived on the scene they comforted the killers, not immediately tending to the young man who lay writhing on the ground; the fact that no arrests were made for more than 10 weeks and only then after a video of the killing went viral, all look to many observers as vestiges of a brutal bygone age.”   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59411030

Statue of Thomas Jefferson removed from New York City Hall. “After 187 years, a statue of America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, no longer sits in New York City Hall…. ‘Thomas Jefferson was a slaveholder who owned over 600 human beings,’ Councilmember Adrienne Adams, co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, said in a presentation last month. ‘It makes me deeply uncomfortable knowing that we sit in the presence of a statue that pays homage to a slaveholder who fundamentally believed that people who look like me were inherently inferior, lacked intelligence, and were not worthy of freedom or right.'”   https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/24/us/thomas-jefferson-statue-removed/index.html   On the other hand, Adrienne Adams, who is presumably a person of color, is an elected member of New York City’s city council. She is not a subject of the British monarchy, and lives under the protection (more or less) of enumerated rights specified in a written constitution, unlike citizens of the U.K.

President Biden pardons White House turkeys, but Leonard Peltier, who became eligible for parole in 1993, is still imprisoned after 44 years. “John F. Kennedy appears to be the first president to pardon a Thanksgiving turkey, saying ‘We’ll just let this one grow.’ George H.W. Bush formalized the turkey pardoning event in 1989.”   https://www.npr.org/2021/11/19/1057289605/president-biden-pardons-turkeys-peanut-butter-and-jelly-ahead-of-thanksgiving   Some other, anonymous, factory-farmed turkey probably gets quietly eaten instead!

Pentagon creates new UFO investigation office, merges it with previous program. “In a memo outlining the group’s formation, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks wrote that unidentified aerial phenomena in special-use areas ‘represents a safety of flight risk to aircrews and raises potential national security concerns.’ …. The [Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon] Task Force will now be absorbed into the newly formed group…”   https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pentagon-announces-group-investigate-reports-ufos-military-sites/story?id=81375017   A continuation of the pretense that they have no idea what these objects are. “[Steven] Greer said there were some 400 witnesses who claim to have firsthand experience with UFO sightings or alien evidence, and are willing to testify before Congress…. [Attorney Daniel] Sheehan said he was… led into the National Archives, where he was shown photographs of captured UFOs, complete with what appeared to be alien writing symbols, but he was only allowed to take notes on a yellow legal pad…. Former Air Force Maj. George Filer III told reporters that when he was at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, an alien craft came down, and an alien got out and was shot by a military policeman.”   https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98572&page=1

South Dakota’s supreme court strikes down voter-approved legalization of recreational marijuana on a technicality. “Gov. Kristi Noem brought the case after voters passed the constitutional amendment in November. Lawyers for the state argued that the amendment violated the constitution. The court sided with the state in a 4-1 ruling…. Recreational marijuana use is legal in 18 states and the District of Columbia.”   https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/national/south-dakota-supreme-court-rules-against-voter-approved-recreational-marijuana

Former Army major who blew the whistle on prisoner abuse is dead at 42. “[Ian Fishback] died in an adult foster care facility…. following court-ordered treatment with anti-psychotic drugs after he had become delusional and created public disturbances, his family said. Major Fishback was one of three former members of the 82nd Airborne who said soldiers in their battalion had systematically abused prisoners by assaulting them, exposing them to extreme temperatures, stacking them in human pyramids and depriving them of sleep to compel them to reveal intelligence — or, in some cases, simply to amuse the soldiers.”   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/us/ian-fishback-dead.html   “One day in 2005, Marc Garlasco, a former Pentagon analyst and then a senior military adviser for Human Rights Watch, was clearing off his desk when his phone rang. The person on the other end said, “Hello sir, I am a U.S. Army officer, and I am concerned there has been torture of detainees in my unit,” Mr. Garlasco recalled…. In July 2019, Major Fishback informed Mr. Garlasco in an email that the C.I.A. was after him, he recalled. “I was like, dude, call me.” Major Fishback was in Europe with a new position. “He said, ‘I am going to give classified information to foreign governments if you don’t get the C.I.A. off my back.’ It was there that I lost the thread.”   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/24/us/politics/ian-fishback-veteran-mental-health-crisis.html

John Deere reports fiscal year profit of almost $6 billion. “For fiscal year 2021, net income attributable to Deere & Company was $5.963 billion, or $18.99 per share, compared with $2.751 billion, or $8.69 per share, in fiscal 2020…. Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 16 percent, to $11.327 billion, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 and rose 24 percent, to $44.024 billion, for the full year.”   https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/deere-reports-net-income-of-1-283-billion-for-fourth-quarter-5-963-billion-for-fiscal-year-301431381.html

Apple sues spyware company over hacking of activists’ iPhones. “NSO develops and sells its spyware, known as Pegasus, which exploits vulnerabilities in iPhones and Android smartphones and allows those who deploy it to infiltrate a target’s device unnoticed…. Pegasus was revealed in July to have been used to target smartphones belonging to dozens of journalists, human rights activists, and politicians, according to an investigation by a consortium of newspapers.”   https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/apple-sues-israeli-spyware-group-nso/

Law enforcement agencies reportedly shared a list of known Black Lives Matter supporters and protesters based in Wisconsin. “Originally created by Dominick Ratkowski, a crime analyst for the Wauwatosa Police Department (WPD), the list was shared with numerous local and federal agencies throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Officially, WPD acknowledges that it was shared with the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)…. Ratkowski referred to the document as a ‘target list‘ in an email…. The list also includes a Wisconsin Examiner journalist, vast swaths of the Milwaukee area’s activist community across numerous organizations, and elected officials.”   https://progressive.org/latest/fbi-kenosha-police-blm-list-holmes-211111/

Justice Department official accused of links to neo-Nazi movement. “… [Brian] Haughton works in domestic counter-terrorism for the U.S. Department of Justice. He has access to sensitive intelligence used by more than 1,000 federal agencies and police departments in all fifty states to stop attacks by white supremacists—the deadliest domestic terrorist movement in the United States, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security…. Haughton has this job even though his links to the Aryan Republican Army, a neo-Nazi gang suspected of funding the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing—the single largest domestic terror attack in U.S. history—are easily traceable on Google…. movement leaders like [Mark] Thomas were encouraging young skinheads to blend into society (no more tattoos, shaved heads, or mosh pits) and get law enforcement or military jobs. This was to prepare for white supremacy’s key goals: race war and the establishment of a white homeland in the United States.”   https://progressive.org/magazine/lone-wolf-in-the-henhouse-christophi/   Another possible explanation is that he became an informant (maybe after the threat of prosecution was applied) and was infiltrating the neo-Nazi movement. He could have been the source of information that led to arrests, and after that he moved up the ladder.

Almost 3/4 of the world’s undemocratic countries receive weapons, training or financing from the U.S. government. “Comparing Freedom House’s list of Not Free nations to FY 2020 US overseas weapons sales, military training and financial assistance, we find that of the 57 nations considered undemocratic, 42 receive weapons, training and/or money for their military and security services. This means 74% of the non-democratic nations of the world are supported militarily by the US.”   https://original.antiwar.com/Matthew_Hoh/2021/11/24/nearly-3-4-of-the-worlds-dictators-receive-us-weapons-and-military-assistance/

Starbucks executives accused of bludgeoning Buffalo area employees with anti-union talking points. “‘As soon as the baristas publicly announced they wanted to have a union, corporate executives swarmed into the stores to try to stop them with threats, promises, store closings and overwhelming pressure,’ said Richard Bensinger, an organizer with Starbucks Workers United…. ‘It’s been really stressful, especially when there are times when they come in a group of four or five of them to talk to every single person on the floor. It’s 10 am, peak coffee time, and we’re trying to keep up business while they’re trying to do one-on-one meetings with people to gauge what’s going on with them, and that’s been frustrating,’ said Angel Krempa, a shift supervisor at the Starbucks location in Depew, New York, just outside Buffalo.”   https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/23/starbucks-aggressive-anti-union-effort-new-york-stores-organize

November 24, 2021

Far right defendants and groups hit with $26 million in damages for Unite the Right violence. “Though the jury deadlocked on the two federal conspiracy claims, it slammed the defendants on the other claims with major awards to the plaintiffs, who included town residents and counter-protesters injured in the violence four years ago…. Half of the $24 million in punitive damages awarded were against [car assault driver James] Fields. In addition, the jury awarded punitive damages against Kessler, Spencer and Cantwell at $700,000 each, and Heimbach for $500,000. Despite the large jury award, there’s the question of whether the plaintiffs will see much of that money.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/23/us/charlottesville-unite-the-right-trial-deliberations-tuesday/index.html   People will cheer about these groups being fined, but imagine, if you will, an anti-war rally that spins out of control after hawkish, jingoist counter-protesters arrive and aggressively engage with the anti-imperialists, who push back, with the conflict gradually escalating until blood is shed. Should the groups opposed to another war be fined for the actions of individual protesters, just because they organized the rally? Are they responsible for not foreseeing the possibility of violent clashes, or for criminal acts committed by the participants? That would certainly stifle free speech. Who is going to organize a protest rally if they know they are legally or financial responsible for anything bad that could possibly happen?

Former detective sentenced to 6 years in prison for kicking fleeing suspect after he surrendered. “Ellis Brown III, 32, of High Ridge, Missouri, was an officer with the St. Ann Police Department in suburban St. Louis when the incident occurred…. After the crash, [Steven] Kolb initially tried to run before lying on his stomach in a bank parking lot with his hands outstretched. Investigators said Brown repeatedly kicked Kolb, who was restrained and facedown…. Prosecutors said the beating required Kolb to be flown to a hospital for treatment of broken ribs and broken bones in his face.”   https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/ex-missouri-detective-gets-6-years-in-beating-of-suspect

Baltimore county police officer allowed home detention while appealing rape conviction. “Prosecutors said that in sentencing Anthony Westerman, 27, on Friday, Circuit Judge Keith Truffer determined there was ‘not evidence of any psychological injury to the victim’, despite that the fact that she indicated she had received therapy…. Sentencing guidelines called for Westerman to receive between five and 10 years, Thompson said. He said the judge’s sentence of 15 years, with all but four years suspended, was within that range…. Westerman is unlikely to serve any time behind bars at all because his time on home detention will count toward his time served and the appeal will be a lengthy process.”   https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-co-cr-officer-rape-home-detention-20211122-lg5adcswjjdwperkyacir2hv34-story.html

Barbados to exit British Empire, will become a republic. “Barbados, a former British colony, will next week ditch Queen Elizabeth as head of state, breaking its last remaining imperial bonds with Britain nearly 400 years since the first English ship arrived at the Caribbean island…. ‘The people of this island have struggled, not only for freedom and justice, but to remove themselves from the tyranny of imperial and colonial authority.'”   https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/new-republic-is-born-barbados-celebrates-ditching-britains-queen-2021-11-24/

Swedish social democrat to become the country’s first female prime minister. “Magdalena Andersson has been approved by Sweden’s parliament as the country’s first ever female prime minister, replacing Stefan Lofven as leader of the centre-left Social Democrats. Sweden is the only Nordic country never to have elected a woman as national leader before.”   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59400539

Joe Biden’s nominee to lead Food and Drug Administration is a former pharmaceutical industry consultant. “The powerful pharmaceutical and medical device lobbying groups issued strong statements of support Friday, as did a number of physician and patient groups. [Robert] Califf has worked as a consultant for major drugmakers including Eli Lilly and Merck & Co., and he sits on the board of two smaller biotech companies.”   https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/biden-picks-fda-chief-califf-lead-agency-81130100

United Auto Workers union accused of selling out John Deere employees. “After that first contract was voted down by 90 percent and the union officials felt they had no choice but to call a walkout, the UAW shifted to doing everything it could to isolate the strike and shut it down at the earliest opportunity. Despite a roughly $790 million strike fund made up of workers’ dues, the UAW starved workers on just $275 a week in strike pay, placing them under immense financial pressure to accept a deal as the walkout wore on. When the union brought back a second deal and sought to sell it with lies and claims that it was the best the company could do, workers again defied it, rejecting it by 55 percent. The UAW spent the next week and a half meeting in secret with the company to plot their ‘next steps’, which would turn out to be their plan to force a re-vote on the company’s ‘last, best and final’ deal.”   https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/11/24/deer-n24.html

Kyle Rittenhouse hosted by Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. “The meeting between the two was disclosed during Trump’s hour-long interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday night…. Trump said Rittenhouse visited with his mother and the two left the former president’s Florida resort ‘a little while ago’…. ‘He should never have been put through that,’ Trump said Tuesday night, referring to Rittenhouse’s trial.”   https://nypost.com/2021/11/24/kyle-rittenhouse-and-donald-trump-meet-at-mar-a-lago-after-acquittal/

Belarus bans the country’s oldest newspaper over ‘extremist’ content. “The [115 year old] Nasha Niva newspaper was outlawed as extremist by the Central District court in Minsk, which acted upon the request of the Ministry of Information. The ruling will expose anyone who would publish or repost Nasha Niva materials to prison terms of up to seven years…. ‘The authorities are continuing to destroy Belarus’ independent media, calling everyone extremist.'”   https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/belarus-oldest-newspaper-is-banned-as-extremist/ar-AAR3lsF

Qatar detains two Norwegian journalists covering working conditions of World Cup migrant workers. “The journalists said they were arrested outside the hotel [on Sunday evening] and taken to a police station, where they remained until they were released on Tuesday morning.”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/24/norwegian-journalists-reporting-labourers-qatar-world-cup-arrested

Voters across the ideological spectrum agree that corporate crimes and crimes committed by the wealthy often go unpunished. “A whopping 80% of voters agree that ‘wealthy people and corporations are regularly not punished for breaking the law’, including 84% of Democrats, 79% of Independents, and 77% of Republicans. In addition, 87% of voters agree that ‘when wealthy people and corporations are not punished for breaking laws, people lose trust in the government and the rule of law.'”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/23/voters-both-parties-overwhelmingly-want-biden-crack-down-corporate-crime

American poll respondents blame both the victims and society for human suffering. “… 71 percent agreed with the statement ‘suffering is mostly a consequence of people’s own actions’, and 69% express support for the statement ‘suffering is mostly a result of the way society is structured’. [Prof. John] Torpey said this is a contradiction. He wondered how 71% can believe that suffering is a result of one’s own actions, while roughly the same number blames society.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/most-americans-blame-people-or-society-instead-of-god-for-bad-things/   I think I figured it out. Sometimes people are responsible for creating their own problems, and sometimes it’s society that inflicts suffering on people, depending on the situation, so they agree with both statements.

November 23, 2021

Inmates in Virginia claim guards are abusing them with attack dogs. “When [Curtis] Garrett turned around and put his hands behind his back, believing that he was about to be handcuffed and taken to solitary confinement, the officers unleashed the dogs and ordered them to attack him…. After guards fired several tear gas canisters at him, [Corey] Johnson lay down on the ground. Instead of handcuffing him, the suit says, the guards shouted for their dogs to attack…. The Washington Post reports that prisoners have brought ‘numerous’ complaints in Virginia, but because those inmates represented themselves, the state took no subsequent action to eliminate the use of dogs to attack prisoners.”   https://reason.com/2021/11/22/prisoners-sue-virginia-department-of-corrections-over-canine-attacks/

Members of three black militias rally outside Ahmaud Arbery murder trial. “As prosecutors and defense lawyers delivered their closing statements, dozens of members of BLM 757, Lion of Judah Armed Forces and the New Black Panther Party marched outside the Glynn County Courthouse…. The activists carried New Black Panther flags and wheeled a coffin with a dummy corpse on which was written countless names of Blacks who were killed at the hands of Whites – including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor…”   https://www.foxnews.com/us/ahmaud-arbery-case-black-armed-militias-gather-georgia-courthouse

FBI reportedly agrees to settlement with families of Parkland High School shooting victims. “The FBI’s failure to investigate a January 2018 tip before the Parkland massacre was one of numerous warning signs that authorities failed to pursue. On at least three other occasions, including multiple calls to the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, authorities were told that Cruz was a potential school shooter…. Officials have said a person close to Cruz called the FBI’s tip line to warn the agency of concerns about Cruz’s ‘gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting.’ The FBI, however, failed to pass the tip along to its local field office for further investigation, officials have acknowledged.”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/parkland-fbi-lawsuit-settle/2021/11/22/be56d3ea-4bfc-11ec-b0b0-766bbbe79347_story.html   What possible reason could there have been for not investigating a detailed tip like this? Who would benefit from yet another school shooting, and what would the possible consequences be?

New York state legislature committee finds ‘overwhelming evidence’ that former governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed employees, used state resources for pandemic book. “Investigators hired by the Assembly Judiciary Committee concluded that Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, used state workers and other public resources to write, publish and promote his memoir about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a likely violation of state ethics laws…. While the Assembly report described sexual harassment accusations from 12 women… it focused on two of them. They are an unidentified state trooper and Brittany Commisso, the former executive assistant to Mr. Cuomo who accused him of groping her…”   https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/22/nyregion/cuomo-ny-assembly-investigation.html

Bidens help serve ‘Friendsgiving’ dinner for troops. “President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Monday afternoon to hold a “Friendsgiving” celebration with military service members and their families…. The President served stuffing and the first lady served mashed potatoes.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/22/politics/biden-friendsgiving-fort-bragg/index.html   “Thanksgiving on Fort Bragg was served with a presidential twist Monday evening. President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden and senior Fort Bragg leaders served turkey, dressing and all the holiday trimmings to 250 troops.”   https://abc11.com/joe-biden-fort-bragg-friendsgiving-thanksgiving/11262981/   Uh-oh, it sounds like ‘Thanksgiving’ is about to be ‘cancelled’.

‘Restorative justice’ program allows white police officer who accidentally shot a black woman outside a supermarket to avoid prosecution, apparently just by saying how very sorry she is about the whole shooting thing. “[Officer Julia] Crews mistakenly drew her firearm instead of using her Taser to restrain [Ashley] Hall and shot her in the torso, leading to critical injuries, the office said. Hall lost part of her spleen and suffers with post-traumatic stress disorder, prosecutors said…. The prosecutor’s office said Hall and Crews voluntarily participated in a ‘successful’ face-to-face meeting with a mediator, Seema Gajwani…. The method allows an offender to find rehabilitation through reconciliation with the victim.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/22/us/missouri-police-restorative-justice/index.html

Major cities in Europe see protests against coronavirus restrictions amid surge in infections. “Protests against fresh Covid-19 restrictions have rocked Europe over the weekend, with demonstrations breaking out in places such as Brussels, Vienna, Rome and Amsterdam…. In Belgium, protesters clashed with police after tens of thousands of people gathered in a march through Brussels’ city center on Sunday.”   https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/22/photos-of-anti-covid-protests-in-europe.html

Two journalists covering pipeline protests in Canada are arrested. “Press organizations in Canada have condemned the arrest of two journalists who were detained while covering Indigenous-led resistance to a controversial pipeline project and remain in custody…. More than a dozen protesters were also arrested.”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/22/canada-two-journalists-detained-indigenous-pipeline-protest

Portugal closes its last coal-fired power plant. “The move comes nine years before Portugal’s targeted end of the use of the fossil fuel by 2030. Belgium, Austria and Sweden are the other three European countries to have already stopped using coal for power generation.”   https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/22/europe/portugal-coal-plant-intl-climate-intl/index.html

U.K. panel says crustaceans and cephalopods are ‘sentient beings’. “The review, published this month, found there was ‘strong evidence’ that such animals are sentient, which the review defines as having ‘the capacity to have feelings, such as feelings of pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort and excitement.’ …. ‘Octopuses and other cephalopods have been protected in science for years, but have not received any protection outside science until now.’ …. Boiling crustaceans alive is already illegal in some countries, including Switzerland and New Zealand.”   https://www.businessinsider.com/octopuses-crabs-lobsters-recognized-as-sentient-beings-in-uk-2021-11

U.S. tells Israel that its attacks on Iran’s nuclear program are making the situation even worse. “Noting that in the last 20 months there have been four explosions at Iranian nuclear facilities attributed to Israel, along with the killing of Iran’s top nuclear scientist, the report said US officials have cautioned their Israeli counterparts that while such efforts may be ‘tactically satisfying’, they are ‘ultimately counterproductive’. In the wake of the explosions, which took uranium enrichments plants offline and destroyed dozens of centrifuges, the Americans noted that Iran has managed to resume enrichment within months, often installing newer machines that can enrich uranium far faster.”   https://www.timesofisrael.com/nyt-us-warns-israel-attacks-on-iran-nuclear-program-are-counterproductive/   Not to mention setting a dangerous precedent of inter-state terrorism.

Jeff Bezos donates $100 million to Obama Foundation. “Former President Barack Obama’s foundation said Monday it has received a $100 million donation from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos that it says is the largest individual contribution it has received to date…. Construction on [the Obama Presidential Center] is expected to cost about $830 million and to be completed by 2025.”   https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-bezos-gift-obama-foundation-20211122-y2njo4mxqjfxpa5r7lujb66kyu-story.html

Amazon lobbyists reportedly wanted to block legislation protecting consumer privacy. “One 2018 document reviewing executives’ goals for the prior year listed privacy regulation as a primary target…. The mission included defeating restrictions on artificial intelligence and biometric technologies, along with blocking efforts to make companies disclose the data they keep on consumers…. Amazon’s lobbying against privacy protections aims to preserve the company’s access to detailed consumer data that has fueled its explosive online-retailing growth and provided an advantage in emerging technologies, according to the Amazon documents and former employees.”   https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/amazon-privacy-lobbying/

Exiled UAE dissidents designated ‘terrorists’ by government. “Exiled Emirati activists Hamad Al-Shamsi, the executive director of the Emirati human rights organisation Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center and Mohammed Saqr Al-Zaabi, the former president of the Emirates Jurists Association…. Ahmed Al-Shaiba Al-Nuaimi, a writer and brother of prominent imprisoned political activist Khaled Al-Shaiba Al-Nuaimi and Saeed Al-Tenaiji, [an] Emirati researcher [who] heads both the Gulf Center for Studies and Dialogue and the Emirati Association Against Normalisation with Israel were also accused of supporting ‘terrorism’, the rights watchdog [Human Rights Watch] said…. The move meant that all four had their assets frozen and property confiscated.”   https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/four-uae-dissidents-quietly-labelled-terrorists-hrw

Candidate for Interpol presidency accused of overseeing torture of prisoners. “Two British citizens who say they were arbitrarily detained and tortured in Emirati custody have filed a lawsuit against United Arab Emirates’ police chief, Major General Ahmed Naser al-Raisi, in a Turkish court. Raisi is expected to be elected as Interpol’s new president following a vote in Istanbul on Thursday.”   https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/interpol-uae-police-chief-british-victims-accuse-overseeing-torture

Hong Kong activist sentenced to more than 3 1/2 years in prison for advocating independence from China. “The district criminal court judge Stanley Chan said [Tony] Chung ‘played an active role in promoting the independence of Hong Kong’, through the group he founded, which was called Studentlocalism…. Prosecutors had presented as evidence pro-independence T-shirts, flags and books seized from Chung’s home in a police raid in 2020, and a PayPal account Chung had run until October 2020 to receive donations.”   https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/23/hong-kong-activist-tony-chung-jailed-under-national-security-law

Three Republican legislators offer Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse internships. “Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) suggested an internship for Rittenhouse before the gunman was even acquitted…. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)… said he would arm-wrestle Gaetz ‘to get dibs on Kyle as an intern’. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) recorded a video of himself offering Rittenhouse an internship…”   https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/19/kenosha-killer-kyle-rittenhouses-republican-internship-offers-disgust-progressives

New York City man sentenced to 19 months in prison for threatening to ‘slaughter’ legislators. “Brendan Hunt, 37, was convicted of threatening to kill members of Congress in a video he posted online two days after the attempted insurrection in Washington. ‘We need to go back to the U.S. Capitol, when all of the senators and a lot of the representatives are back there, and this time we have to show up with our guns. And we need to slaughter these motherfuckers,’ Hunt said in the video, posted on the streaming platform BitChute under the username X-Ray Ultra.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/judge-delivers-19-month-sentence-for-threats-made-after-capitol-riot/

Judge quadruples Capitol rioter’s sentence from the 14 days recommended by prosecutors to 60 days. “Claiming that he only went up the steps to the Rotunda doors to take pictures, [Frank] Scavo suggested that he was swept up in the frenzy. ‘The crowd pushed up to the doors, and I got caught up in it,’ Scavo said. But the statement left a poor impression on U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who wound up quadrupling the 14-day sentence recommended by the government.”   https://www.courthousenews.com/capitol-rioters-2-month-sentence-is-harsher-than-what-prosecutors-sought/   14 days for taking part in a violent coup attempt? You could get more time than that for protesting outside a free speech zone!

 

 

 

November 22, 2021

Fox News contributors resign over Tucker Carlson’s Patriot Purge. “The… documentary baselessly suggested that the January 6 insurrection was a ‘false flag’ plot by President Joe Biden to conduct an ideological purge and persecute conservatives…. ‘If a person with such a platform shares such misinformation loud enough and long enough, there are Americans who will believe — and act upon — it.'”   https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-employees-resigned-tucker-carlson-jan-6-documentary-2021-11   “In the first episode, [Carlson] describes the arrest of Jan. 6 rioters as the precursor to a ‘purge’ of ‘legacy Americans’…. It was all a ‘set-up’, Carlson says. He blames antifa, agent provocateurs and the FBI separately for orchestrating the attack, all as a pretext for what he portrays as a brutal state crackdown [on Trump supporters]…. ‘Viewers are treated to montages of waterboarding, terrorist attacks, an ISIS beheading, drone strikes, and even comparisons of the arrest of Jan. 6 rioters to de-Baathification in Iraq.’ …. The message is clear: this kind of state violence will be visited upon you, the good patriotic viewer, very soon, unless something is done.”   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-patriot-purge-is-fascist-january-6-revisionism_n_6192b4a9e4b05e93cbb3c1d7   It sounds like far right is being stirred up for another coup attempt. ‘Legacy Americans’? Gimme a break, those would be the descendants of the continent’s indigenous peoples. How about ‘descendants of 17th and 18th century immigrants’?

Long-time investigator of the JFK assassination, Jefferson Morley, takes an educated guess on what the CIA is hiding in unreleased files. “Most of the still-secret JFK files have been partially declassified. In some documents only a paragraph, sentence or single word remains secret. From context we can deduce much about what is still hidden. A redacted 123-page CIA file on Watergate burglar Howard Hunt, released in April 2018, for example, may shed light on what President Richard Nixon called ‘the whole Bay of Pigs thing’. Nixon used this phrase as a coded reference to JFK’s assassination, according to his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman.”   https://www.yahoo.com/news/cia-continues-conceal-jfk-assassination-230950828.html   Morley suspects the remaining files will never be released in their entirety, because they likely implicate at least some elements of the CIA in Kennedy’s assassination, which may have been carried out because of JFK’s ‘weak’ and ‘traitorous’ policies towards Cuba and Russia – negotiation instead of war.

Justin Bieber asked not to perform at Saudi racing event. “The fiancée of the slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has published an open letter in The Washington Post asking the singer Justin Bieber to cancel his performance at a Formula One race in Saudi Arabia…. Human Rights Watch has also called on Bieber and the other performers to pull out of the Formula One concerts in Saudi Arabia, saying the events are aimed at ‘sportwashing’ by diverting attention from and deflecting scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.”   https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/jamal-khashoggi-s-fianc-e-pens-letter-asking-justin-bieber-n1284303   It’s ok, they’re a U.S. ally! (sarcasm)

70% of the world’s population live in undemocratic countries or in countries where democracy is in decline. “Large democracies such as Brazil and the United States have seen presidents question the validity of election results, while India has witnessed the prosecution of groups of people critical of government policies. Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Serbia are the European countries with the greatest declines in democracy. Turkey has seen one of the largest declines between 2010 and 2020…. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in authoritarian behaviour by governments…. in countries as diverse as Belarus, Cuba, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Venezuela…”   https://www.reuters.com/world/democracy-slipping-away-record-rate-intergovernmental-body-warns-2021-11-22/   Not to mention that both major parties in the U.S. fail to address the concerns of their constituents, but instead serve the needs of powerful financial interests. “Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.”   https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

 

 

 

 

 

 

November 21, 2021

Build Back Better programs would cost four times less than current military spending. “… the legislation’s fate depends on the Senate ― where Republicans and key Democrats say the plan costs too much. But as senators debate the $1.7 trillion package, they will also advance a far more expensive bill with far less scrutiny: the annual Pentagon budget, which approves more than four times as much spending as Biden’s Build Back Better Act…. The National Defense Authorization Act would approve $778 billion in spending in 2022, compared to the approximately $170 billion in spending that Biden’s social policy would entail next year.”   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ndaa-build-back-better_n_6197ee6de4b025be1adbcc74   Bipartisan infrastructure bill cost more than Build Back Better, and will likely increase the budget deficit more. “[Mitch McConnell and Joe] Manchin voted to pass the $1 trillion infrastructure plan in early August despite it not being fully paid for…. the [Congressional Budget Office] estimates the infrastructure plan will [increase] the US [deficit by] about $256 billion.”   https://www.businessinsider.com/joe-manchin-build-back-better-expensive-infrastructure-pricier-deficit-cbo-2021-11

Vietnamese workers on contract to build Chinese tire factory in Serbia say they aren’t getting paid, fed properly or given access to medical care. “‘They have been here since May, and they [have] received only one [month’s wages].’ …. Workers sleep on bunk beds without mattresses in barracks with no heating or warm water. They told the AP that they have received no medical care even when they developed COVID-19-like symptoms, being told by their managers simply to remain in their rooms.”   https://www.yahoo.com/news/vietnamese-workers-chinese-factory-serbia-075504353.html

Dutch police reportedly opened fire on anti-lockdown protesters, with real bullets. “Police opened fire on protesters in rioting that erupted in downtown Rotterdam around a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions late Friday night…. Police said that two rioters were hospitalized after being hit by bullets and investigations were underway to establish if they were shot by police…. Officers arrested 51 people, about half of them minors, police said Saturday afternoon.”   https://www.foxnews.com/world/orgy-of-violence-dutch-police-open-fire-rioters

Kansas City police detective found guilty in fatal shooting at home of speeding suspect. “The shooting occurred not long after a police helicopter spotted a red truck chasing a purple Mustang at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour through a residential neighborhood…. Delivering his verdict from the bench in a courtroom packed with supporters and family of both [detective Eric] DeValkenaere and [shooting victim Cameron] Lamb, [Presiding Judge J. Dale] Youngs said that the two plainclothes policemen had no arrest warrant, no search warrant and no probable cause to obtain either. Neither were there exigent circumstances nor a hot pursuit that might have justified their entrance onto the property, Youngs said, noting that the car chase had ended some time earlier.”   https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-11-19/kansas-city-police-officer-eric-devalkenaere-found-guilty-in-fatal-shooting-of-a-black-man   “During the trial, DeValkenaere admitted shooting Lamb, but said the shooting was to protect his partner after Lamb pulled a gun and pointed it at the other officer. DeValkenaere’s partner testified that he didn’t see a weapon in Lamb’s hand.”   https://www.ksnt.com/news/kansas/kansas-city-detective-guilty-of-manslaughter-in-shooting-death-of-cameron-lamb/   “Before he was shot, prosecutors said, Lamb had his left hand on the truck’s steering wheel and his cellphone in his right hand. Another officer, who was the first to arrive at the scene after the shooting, testified during the trial that he didn’t see a gun on the ground below Lamb’s left arm, which was hanging out of the window of the truck. Later, though, a gun was there in police photographs. Two bullets were found in Lamb’s pockets at the morgue, but crime scene technicians didn’t find them at the scene. And prosecutors also raised questions about whether Lamb, who was right-handed, could have used his left hand to pull a gun due to an earlier injury.”   https://www.huffpost.com/entry/eric-devalkenaere-convicted-2019-death_n_61981332e4b0451e54fa090b

Three teens shot during gun battle in parking lot of Aurora, Colorado high school. “Multiple guns were used in the fight, as different shell casings of different calibers were found at the scene. The investigation is ongoing, as it is not clear what roles the victims played in the fight.”   https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/582493-fight-in-school-parking-lot-ends-with-three-students-shot

Five suburban Atlanta police officers found guilty in death of naked pedestrian detained after concert. “Fernando Rodriguez was wandering naked near Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton on Sept. 18, 2019, when someone called 911…. Several officers responded, but Rodriguez ignored their commands, according to body-camera video. However, he made no aggressive moves, mostly just walking around. The cops used stun guns on Rodriguez at least 15 times, shocking him to the ground. When he didn’t roll over onto his stomach, the cops got on top of him and forced him into a prone position…. One officer said Rodriguez was ‘holding his breath’ before the group realized the young man was actually dying. Rodriguez died two days later at a hospital. His death was ruled a homicide by asphyxiation.”   https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-cops-charged-fernando-rodriguez-death-20211121-p4f2syoszjd4ra4jt2anbz5hu4-story.html

Police break up protest at Texas high school over student who was allegedly suspended after making a sexual harassment complaint. “Video shows police officers in Little Elm using stun guns and chemical spray on students inside Little Elm High School Friday after being called to ‘calm things down’ after an on-campus protest turned ‘disruptive’. Little Elm police said four students were arrested for assaulting police officers in the incident…”   https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/police-respond-to-calm-things-down-after-disruption-during-protest-at-little-elm-hs/2820925/

French marchers protest violence against women. “Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across France to demand more government action to prevent violence against women…. Groups fighting violence against women said at least 101 women have been killed by their partners or former partners in France this year – about one woman every three days. More than 220,000 women are suffering physical or sexual abuse by their partners each year, according to a 2017 nationwide study.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/20/thousands-march-in-france-over-violence-against-women

France deploys anti-terrorism forces to its Caribbean territory of Guadalupe to quell rioting. “Speaking to reporters on Saturday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said France will send about 50 members of the GIGN and RAID elite tactical forces of the gendarmerie and police to the overseas territory, where stores have been looted, shots fired at police, and 31 people were arrested overnight. The extra forces will increase the number of police and gendarmes available in Guadeloupe to 2,250, Darmanin said.”   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/21/france-to-send-special-forces-to-guadeloupe-after-looting-arson

More Americans have already died from covid-19 this year than all last year. “Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that the total number of deaths involving COVID-19 in 2020 was 385,343…. at least 385,348 COVID-19 deaths — 15 more than the 2020 total —have so far been recorded in 2021, and that number will only rise in the days and weeks to come.”   https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/582502-us-covid-19-deaths-in-2021-outpace-last-years-toll

44% of American adults polled say it’s unlikely they will ever have children. “Meanwhile, 74% of adults younger than 50 who are already parents say they are unlikely to have more kids, virtually unchanged since 2018…. A majority (56%) of non-parents younger than 50 who say it’s unlikely they will have children someday say they just don’t want to have kids…. About… 19% say it’s due to medical reasons, 17% say it’s for financial reasons and 15% say it’s because they do not have a partner. Roughly one-in-ten say their age or their partner’s age (10%) or the state of the world (9%) is a reason they don’t plan to have kids. An additional 5% cite environmental reasons, including climate change, and 2% say their partner doesn’t want children.”   https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/11/19/growing-share-of-childless-adults-in-u-s-dont-expect-to-ever-have-children/

Airport custodians go on strike, win big pay raise. “Janitors at Denver International Airport (DIA) have reached a historic agreement with Flagship Facility Services, for a $4.00 an hour raise over their three-year contacts. This comes after 350 janitors walked off the job at 6 a.m on Saturday due to increased workloads said the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) Local 105, a Colorado union that represents healthcare, janitorial, security and airport workers.”   https://www.9news.com/article/travel/denver-international-airport/dia-janitor-strike/73-f4ad8ee0-33db-4440-a20b-a2b315ac288f

Life in a developed market economy: onions contaminated with salmonella sicken 892 and hospitalize 183 in 38 states. “Multiple companies have recalled whole yellow, red, and white onions due to potential risk of Salmonella, all of which were ‘supplied by ProSource Produce LLC and Keeler Family Farms…’ Three- and five-pound bags of onions from Alsum Farms & Produce Inc, Potandon Produce LLC, and Pier-C Produce… are also part of the recall, according to the FDA.”   https://kvia.com/news/border/2021/11/20/salmonella-outbreak-tied-to-chihuahua-onions-sickens-nearly-900-hospitalizes-over-180/

NYPD accused of withholding officer body camera video from Civilian Complaint Review Board. “In some instances, the NYPD has told CCRB investigators no footage of an incident exists, only for the CCRB to later learn that it does…. Other times, the NYPD has acknowledged footage exists but refused to turn it over, citing privacy issues. In one case, an officer slammed a young man into the pavement, sending him to the hospital with a brain bleed. Seven body cameras worn by officers captured parts of the incident. But the NYPD withheld almost all the footage from CCRB investigators, on the grounds that a minor’s face could be seen in some of it.”   https://www.propublica.org/article/police-watchdog-calls-for-full-access-to-body-cam-footage-the-nypd-says-no   Pretending not to know there are ways of blurring peoples’ faces?

Survey reveals that candidates who focus on issues like jobs, health care and income disparities do better with working class voters than those who focus on ‘culture war’ issues such as sexuality, identity politics, abortion, gun control, immigration, etc. “… working-class voters did not shy away from progressive candidates or candidates who strongly opposed racism. But candidates who framed that opposition in highly specialized, identity-focused language fared significantly worse than candidates who embraced either populist or mainstream language.”   https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/11/common-sense-solidarity-working-class-voting-report

Reform faction of Teamster’s Union wins control in leadership election, vows to push for better contracts for members. “The election marks the first time that a coalition backed by Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a rank-and-file reform caucus, will head the union since former IBT president Ron Carey was removed from office on false corruption charges in 1997…. The Teamsters United slate won 67 percent of the vote against their incumbent-backed opponents.”   https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/11/teamsters-united-democratic-union-ibt-election