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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:02:10 GMT -8
It’s funny — England doesn’t have a kidney bank, but has a Liverpool.
How Do You Bring Dishonor to a Bunch of QOP Legislators?
Three Democratic lawmakers in the state of Tennessee face a rare expulsion vote for participating in gun control protests after the deadly Nashville school shooting.
Hundreds had marched to the Tennessee State Capitol last week calling for stricter gun laws.
Tennessee Republicans have accused the protestors and the Democratic House members of disruption.
Six people, including three children, were killed in the 27 March shooting.
On Thursday, the Tennessee House of Representatives will vote on a resolution filed by the Republican leadership to expel the three Democrats from their seats in the state legislature for "disorderly behaviour".
The Democrats - Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson - interrupted House proceedings on 30 March to join protestors at the state Capitol.
During the protest, Mr Jones held a sign that read "protect kids, not guns", and also led protest chants, shouting "no action, no peace" into a megaphone.
Mr Jones and Ms Johnson were stripped of their committee assignments in the aftermath by the Republican leadership. Mr Pearson did not serve on any committee.
Collectively, the three Democrats represent about 200,000 constituents in Tennessee.
The resolution to expel the lawmakers says they brought "disorder and dishonour to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions".
Expulsion votes are exceptionally rare. In Tennessee, the House of Representatives has only voted twice since the Civil War to expel a member - one for a sitting lawmaker who was convicted of soliciting a bribe, and another for a majority whip who was facing allegations of sexual misconduct.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:03:44 GMT -8
He Was Killed for Driving?
The US justice department will investigate the death of a Washington DC teenager who was shot by a police officer sitting behind him in a car.
Dalaneo Martin, 17, was asleep in a parked, stolen SUV when officers opened the door on 18 March, say police.
Bodycam footage shows police stealthily entering the vehicle to make an arrest. The suspect, who was black, speeds away with an officer in the back seat.
After telling him to stop, the officer opens fire on the teenager from behind.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:05:46 GMT -8
Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy
Robert F Kennedy Jr has filed election paperwork to run for US president in 2024 as a Democrat.
The 69-year-old is the son of assassinated Senator Robert F Kennedy and nephew of President John F Kennedy.
The environmental lawyer's campaign treasurer, John E Sullivan, confirmed the filing on Wednesday.
Mr Kennedy is an outspoken anti-vaccine campaigner. Instagram removed his account in 2021 for "repeatedly sharing debunked claims", the company said.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:08:21 GMT -8
"Mo Dollars" Sounds Like a Rapper“We do merchanting, that’s it.” This is how Mohamed Khan, one of South Africa’s biggest money launderers, described his approach to hiding vast amounts of illicit cash from authorities. That code word for laundering sits well with the man known better by his street name, Mo Dollars. Over the last decade, Khan has built a legend as a go-to figure for people wanting to clean their dirty money in Southern Africa. He helps some of the region’s wealthiest people legitimise millions of dollars of unaccounted cash through a sophisticated web of front companies, bribes and fake invoices, thousands of documents and interviews with Khan’s former colleagues, brother and ex-wife have revealed. Mo Dollars is a central figure in Al Jazeera’s four-part investigation, Gold Mafia, into gold-smuggling and money-laundering operations in Southern Africa. The investigation reveals how competing gangs have infiltrated state institutions, airlines and banks in Zimbabwe and South Africa to launder piles of money using gold. How a ‘Gold Mafia’ is looting Southern Africa, washing dirty cash
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:10:04 GMT -8
Is Banning Abortions Really a Winning Issue for the QOP?
Idaho has become the first state to pass a law explicitly restricting some out-of-state travel for abortions.
The new legislation makes helping a pregnant minor get an abortion, whether through medication or a procedure, in another state punishable by two to five years in prison. Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed the bill on Wednesday night, and it goes into effect after 30 days.
Abortion has been banned at all stages of pregnancy in Idaho since August — a result of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Terminating a pregnancy is illegal in the state unless it saves the life of the mother or in cases of rape and incest in which the survivor has reported the incident to law enforcement.
Although Oklahoma and Texas allow lawsuits against people who help facilitate an abortion within the states' borders, Idaho's law is the first that expressly criminalizes assisting with an out-of-state abortion.
I'd Be Happy About the QOP Screwing Themselves, But They Are Harming a Lot of Women in the Process.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:13:46 GMT -8
Before and And After the Rains A vehicle is parked on a newly revealed piece of land due to receding waters at the drought-stricken Folsom Lake in Granite Bay, Calif., on Saturday, May 22, 2021.  In an aerial view, a boat floats in the Granite Bay area of Folsom Lake, in Granite Bay, Calif., on Sunday, March 26, 2023. Months of winter storms have replenished California's key reservoirs after three years of punishing drought. I Hope the People in the "Before" Picture Moved Their Cars. 
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:19:38 GMT -8
Karma!On April 30, 1989, Trump, then a brash and influential real estate mogul, took out a reported $85,000 worth of ads in four New York newspapers with the headline: "BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY, BRING BACK OUR POLICE!” regarding the case of the "Central Park Five" – Kevin Richardson, 14, Raymond Santana, 14, Antron McCray, 15, Yusef Salaam, 15, and Korey Wise, 16, who had been wrongfully accused of raping and assaulting a white female jogger in Central Park in New York City. "I want to hate these murderers and I always will. I am not looking to psychoanalyze or understand them, I am looking to punish them," Trump wrote in the ad.  More than a decade after the attack and following the confession of a serial rapist named Matias Reyes—a confession that was supported by DNA evidence that confirmed Reyes’ involvement—Salaam and the four other young men who had been wrongfully accused and convicted of the rape and assault were exonerated, and their convictions were vacated. After spending their young adult years in prison for their wrongful convictions (which they contend were based on coerced confessions), the quintet successfully sued the City of New York and received a $40 million settlement. Nevertheless, Trump continued to double down on his original vitriol, contending that all the men had still committed criminal acts and calling the settlement they’d reached with the city a “disgrace.”
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:21:53 GMT -8
QOP: The Party of Losers
While Republicans are staying mired in Number 45’s trials, tribulations, and grievances, Democrats are winning elections.
Away from the Trump circus, it certainly feels like a shift is happening.
The go-to Republican scare tactics – Socialism is coming! Crime is rampant! The family is under attack! – aren’t working. And when the face of your party becomes the first former president ever indicted, the old “party of law and order” line falls a bit flat.
Republican lawmakers spent the day howling about the injustice of the charges against Trump. And Trump spent Tuesday night at his Florida resort delivering an almost tragically whiny, lie-filled speech bemoaning the various criminal investigations he’s facing, dragging those listening into his own personal pit of grievance and despair.
It was, in theory, a campaign speech, but there was nothing positive, no hope for a brighter tomorrow. Just selfishness and anger, which seem to be the only two things on the GOP menu these days.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:29:59 GMT -8
Come to Scenic South Africa, Vlad
From August 22 to 24, 2023, South Africa will host the 15th BRICS summit, with leaders from Brazil, India, China and Russia expected to attend.
Should the obstinate and increasingly belligerent Putin attend the meeting, South Africa must respect its obligations to the ICC and arrest him, even though Russia is a longstanding ANC ally.
The Soviet Union provided considerable financial, military and political support to South African and African movements during the struggles for independence. Nevertheless, that commendable assistance cannot justify any South African or African attempt to stop Putin from assuming responsibility for his alleged war crimes.
International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor has confirmed that South Africa has sought legal advice on how to handle a visit from an alleged war criminal.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:33:37 GMT -8
They Hate Government Until They Need It
When Sarah Huckabee Sanders campaigned for the Arkansas governorship, she ran as a small government conservative with the commitment she would rid Arkansans of the yoke of an overreaching bunch of autocratic bloodsuckers in DC. She promised her fellow Razorbacks the “right to be free of socialism and tyranny” and vowed to defend Arkansas from the “radical left now in control of Washington.”
In January, the newly installed Arkansan Governor reiterated her commitment to keeping DC on its side of the divide. She tweeted, "As long as I am your governor, the meddling hand of big government creeping down from Washington DC will be stopped cold at the Mississippi River."
On Friday, tornadoes ripped through Wynne and other Arkansas communities, and this champion of rugged self-determination pleaded, cap in hand, for federal taxpayer cash. And once again, the blue states must pony-up to rescue their ungrateful cousins in the red welfare states.
President Biden did his bit for his fellow Americans by declaring the state a disaster area — releasing federal funds. The federal government has already committed to reimbursing the state 75 cents for every dollar it spends. This was not enough for this petulant “leave us alone” whiner. She demanded that for 30 days, the rest of the country bear the entire cost of Arkansas's recovery.
On Tuesday, this newly minted socialist announced that she had requested a 100% federal cost share for state and local clean-up.
"I’ve been across our state since Friday, surveying damage, meeting with survivors, and discussing recovery efforts with local leaders, emergency personnel, and volunteers. It’s clear that the cost to clean up the damage those storms created will be substantial.
The federal government is currently covering 75 percent of all costs incurred during our recovery process, but that arrangement must go further to help Arkansans in need. Today, I’m asking the federal government to cover 100 percent of all our recovery expenses during the first 30 days after the storm."
Sanders and her state, along with the other helpless, greedy, and entitled conservative Bible Belt welfare recipients, are like teenagers demanding their independence while expecting to be housed, fed, and have their laundry done.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:36:59 GMT -8
I Find Myself Doubting ThomasSupreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted luxury gifts from a prominent Republican donor for more than 20 years without disclosing them, possibly violating a law that requires justices, judges and members of Congress to disclose most gifts, according to a new report. ProPublica reported Thursday on a series of lavish trips Thomas has taken over more than two decades, which have been funded by billionaire and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. This investigation comes as the nation's high court fends off requests for a code of ethics, which would likely address similar instances. The disclosures are the latest ethics controversy to dog Thomas, who also has faced tough questions about his incomplete financial disclosure forms and appearances at other political gatherings of wealthy conservative donors and influencers. Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, his wife, also has come under scrutiny for her back-channel efforts to help former President Donald Trump stay in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden. ProPublica Story
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:39:17 GMT -8
Putin Emulates Hitler
Last fall, Ukrainian troops were closing in on Kherson, rolling back Russian forces who had seized the city after Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine.
At Kherson’s Regional Art Museum, a team of armed Russians in civilian clothes arrived along with several large trucks and buses. Over five days, they hauled away more than 11,000 pieces of art, including paintings, sculptures, graphics and other works from Ukraine and around the world, said Alina Dotsenko, the director of the museum.
“It was obvious that it was all planned. The decision to loot the museum was not made on the spot,” Dotsenko said. “It was all carefully planned.”
The theft, verified by human rights monitors and independent scholars, was not an isolated incident.
A growing body of evidence suggests Russian forces are systematically stealing art and cultural artifacts from Ukraine on a scale not seen in Europe since the Nazi plunder of World War II, according to researchers and experts documenting the damage.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:40:13 GMT -8
It Took Them Decades to Figure This Out?
The federal government is moving forward with sweeping new regulations to make portable generators safer, citing the increasing number of deaths they cause and the failure of manufacturers to protect consumers.
On Wednesday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission voted unanimously to advance a proposal that would require portable generators to emit less carbon monoxide and to shut off automatically when the deadly gas reaches a certain level. The invisible and odorless gas emitted by the devices claims an average of 85 lives a year, making generators one of the deadliest consumer products the CPSC regulates.
If the proposal is finalized, it will be the first time that the federal government will require companies to manufacture generators that protect consumers against carbon monoxide poisoning — the most significant step that the agency has taken after decades of studying the hazard.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:41:28 GMT -8
Did You Forget There's a Smartmatic Suit, Too?
Abby Grossberg, the former Fox News producer who alleges she was coerced into giving misleading testimony in Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit about Fox’s handling of election fraud claims, has been subpoenaed in a separate voting technology company lawsuit against the cable news network.
According to a subpoena dated Monday, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, Smartmatic Inc. directs Abby Grossberg to produce extensive documentation and records of communications regarding the claims aired on Fox regarding the 2020 presidential election. The subpoena specifically cites potential evidence and correspondence related to Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as the Trump Campaign and the Trump Organization.
Smartmatic is pursuing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox in New York Supreme Court. Allies of former President Donald Trump — like Giuliani — alleged on Fox News that Dominion and Smartmatic were linked and involved in potential election fraud, even though they are two separate companies with no partnerships.
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Post by mhbruin on Apr 6, 2023 8:43:12 GMT -8
This Summer Texas is Serving Baked Inmate
The indoor temperature in at least 15 state-run jails and prisons exceeded 100 degrees last summer, according to data obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
The heat was worst at a handful of units. The Stevenson Unit in DeWitt County was the hottest in July, with 12 days in three figure digits. Inmates at two units in Falls and Taylor counties experienced seven days over 100 degrees last summer.
Inside inmate housing areas at Hutchins State Jail in Dallas County, the temperature exceeded 95 degrees for a total of 21 days in July.
The News obtained the indoor temperature logs, which the state recently required prisons to begin keeping, through a public information request and analyzed them for trends and patterns. The data shows that inmates and staff are exposed, at times, to dangerous levels of heat in the majority of the state’s unairconditioned jails and prisons, experts said.
The temperature logs also shed new light on the conditions behind bars as Texas lawmakers consider whether to use some of the state’s record-setting budget surplus to install air conditioning at its 100-plus lockups.
Two experts who reviewed the data said allowing these conditions to continue unabated could hurt inmates and staff, and result in sicker people and more rapidly degraded infrastructure.
For Dessert, There is Baked Prison Guard
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