|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:14:34 GMT -8
A rather smallish man was sitting at his barstool at a local bar just staring at his drink for what seemed forever. This big trouble-making biker steps next to him, grabs his drink, gulps it down in one swig and then turns to the guy with a menacing stare as if to say 'What cha gonna do about it?' The poor little guy starts to weep. 'Come on man I was just giving you a hard time,' the biker says 'I didn't think you'd CRY about it. I can't stand to see a man crying.' 'This is the worst day of my life,' says the little guy between sobs. 'I can't do anything right.' 'I overslept and was late to an important meeting, so my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car was stolen and I don't have any insurance. I left my wallet in the cab I took home. I found my wife in bed with the gardener and my dog bit me. So I came to this bar trying to work up the courage to put an end to my life, --- and then you show up and drink the damn poison. I Was Wrong. He Wasn't Molasses Merrick. He Was Motionless Merrick. Or Was it Gutless Garland?A Washington Post investigation found that more than a year would pass before prosecutors and FBI agents jointly embarked on a formal probe of actions directed from the White House to try to steal the election. Even then, the FBI stopped short of identifying the former president as a focus of that investigation. In the weeks before Jan. 6, Trump supporters boasted publicly that they had submitted fake electors on his behalf, but the Justice Department declined to investigate the matter in February 2021, The Post found. The department did not actively probe the effort for nearly a year, and the FBI did not open an investigation of the electors scheme until April 2022, about 15 months after the attack. This is an Appalling Story That Is Being Under-Reported. It's Worth Reading the Whole ThingFBI resisted opening probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 for more than a year[/span] |
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:18:06 GMT -8
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this weekCLAIM: President Joe Biden withheld 1,850 boxes of classified documents from his time as vice president. THE FACTS: The National Archives and Records Administration says the boxes of files referenced in that figure are actually Biden’s Senate papers, which are housed at the University of Delaware. CLAIM: A church in Boston was hosting a same-sex wedding ceremony when it was hit by lightning, sparking a fire that left no survivors. THE FACTS: The First Congregational Church in the town of Spencer — which is in central Massachusetts, not the Boston area — did burn down on June 2 after it was hit by lightning. But there was no wedding being held at the time, nor any injuries reported, the local fire chief told the AP. CLAIM: A screenshot shows a Truth Social post from former President Donald Trump saying his personal aide and alleged co-conspirator Walt Nauta was the one who packed up his “personal papers” when he left the White House. THE FACTS: The image is fabricated and Trump never posted such a statement on Truth Social. CLAIM: A map shows that Poland has not been the target of any terror attacks, the lack of which is a result of the country’s “strict no-migrants policy.” THE FACTS: The map only shows terror attacks from 2012 through 2015 — but the University of Maryland’s Global Terrorism Database shows six such attacks in Poland since 2015 and dozens prior to 2012. Additionally, Poland is open to migrants as a member of the European Union, and experts say the data shows migrants are in fact more likely to be victims of terror than perpetrators.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:23:06 GMT -8
One Reason You Don't Want to Be Previous Guy's Lawyer
A meandering interview between Donald Trump and Fox host Bret Baier ended with even other Fox hosts struck by the "incoherent" moments.
"How much did Joe Rogan pay Bret Baier to debate Donald Trump," asked former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. It's a reference to Joe Rogan's demand that Joe Biden debate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Jon Favreau made the obvious point that Trump's lawyers were likely unhappy that Trump was saying such things on television because it would make their defense even harder.
"This is next level of 'I would like to report a murder.' Bret Baier did a great job firing back," said Jonathan Ford.
"If mookish insecurity could generate a heat field, Bret Baier would have already been immolated sitting this close to Trump," quipped "The Atlantic's" Tom Nichols.
Activist and writer Goldie Taylor pointed to the video of Trump saying he had the right to have the boxes and said flatly: "Homie going to prison."
Her other observation was about the recording in which Trump admits he could have declassified a document but couldn't now that he wasn't. Trump went on to tell Baier that he never even saw the document he is on tape showing to people.
"Something is truly wrong with this man," Taylor said.
RepubNowDem on Twitter, commenting on Tomi Lahren's posting of a Biden video, argued, "this is all just to deflect from Trump's disastrous interview on Fox."
George Conway joked: "It seems like deputy special counsel Bret Baier filleted the defendant today."
Devin Duke wondered, "Are they going to send their minions to go harass Bret Baier at his home now too?" It refers to a number of pro-Trump people threatening or swatting those who disagree with them in person.
Rep. Eric Swallwell (D-CA) posted the clip of Trump confessing to taking classified documents.
"Well that’s that. Trump just confessed to Fox News that he stole and shared classified materials," he tweeted.
Another Reason You Don't Want to Be Previous Guy's Lawyer
John Eastman, the Trump-allied lawyer who created a memo arguing that then-Vice President Mike Pence could overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, is set to face disciplinary hearings starting Tuesday in Los Angeles.
The counsel for the State Bar of California is asking a court to revoke Eastman’s license to practice law in the state. Eastman faces 11 disciplinary charges for allegations that he engaged in a plot to push a far-fetched legal strategy for Pence to overturn Biden’s electoral victory during the certification of Electoral College votes by a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Prosecutors alleged that Eastman made false and misleading statements with his baseless claims of widespread election fraud, including his remarks at the “Stop the Steal” rally on the Ellipse shortly before the Capitol attack.
The disciplinary hearings before the State Bar Court seeking Eastman’s disbarment is expected to last at least eight days. The court will determine whether Eastman’s conduct qualifies for recommendation of a suspension or revocation of his law license. The fate of Eastman’s law license then falls into the hands of the California Supreme Court.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:27:46 GMT -8
1 + 1 = 12, According to Klueless KevinSpeaker Kevin McCarthy is furious that President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden is not going to jail. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McCarthy said that other people who faced such charges would be sent to prison for 10 years or more. Biden is expected to plead guilty to two counts of tax evasion and enter a diversion agreement on one felony count of being a drug user in possession of a firearm, according to multiple sources. As part of a plea deal, he is expected to avoid jail time. "Do you think it's equal and fair that a political opponent is gonna be given jail time — but a presidential son — and if you compare this to other individuals in America that have the same accusations against them, the same crimes that they had been guilty of, they are proposed to have 10 years and another time period?" McCarthy said to CNN's Manu Raju. It's factually inaccurate, according to former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade who spoke to MSNBC Tuesday. The two misdemeanor charges are typically dealt with as a civil matter that involves a fine. McQuade said that it appears to her that Biden is being treated more harshly than others would in such a case. The maximum prison term for the two misdemeanors would be no more than 12 months in jail, she said. Playbook: Dems salivate as McCarthy caters to the rightNEVER MIND THE MIDDLE — As the drama between Speaker KEVIN McCARTHY and hardline conservatives roils the House, Democratic leaders are watching with total fascination — and giddiness. For years, their own caucus has fallen in line behind a masterful political tactician who bent over backwards to protect her most vulnerable members — and by extension, her majority — often steamrolling progressives in the process. (Yes, we’re speaking of the one and only NANCY PELOSI.) Now, as Democrats see it, McCarthy is doing the exact opposite to protect his own gavel — and playing right into their hands. Since becoming speaker, McCarthy has exposed his “majority makers” to votes on steep cuts to federal programs that benefit millions of Americans and, just last week, the reversal of a Biden administration rule that cracks down on a gun accessory used in several recent mass shootings. Both were priorities of the hard right and exposed members in swing districts to Democratic attacks. House leaders typically give frontliners leeway to break with leadership on these kinds of votes to protect themselves politically. But with only a five-seat majority, Republicans don’t have much wiggle room right now — and that has Democrats ready to pounce. “Vulnerable Republicans are going to have to answer for continuing to side with the extremists in their party,” Rep. SUZAN DelBENE (D-Wash.), the DCCC chair, told Playbook yesterday. Those votes, she said, will “cost them their seats” — and the House majority.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:31:10 GMT -8
Oman, OMG!
"As a NYT reporter, I've been investigating Trump family international deals since 2016. India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Panama," he wrote. "I have never seen anything like the Oman deal, [regarding] the potential for a conflict of interest."
What makes the deal such a giant red flag, argues Lipton, is that the land being used to build the Trump real estate project in the country is actually owned by the government of Oman.
Added to this, notes Lipton, "the developer, Dar al Arkan, is a Saudi real-estate company with close ties to the Saudi royal family," which has also put large investments into Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner's private equity firm.
"Oman is enormously important player in the Middle East," Lipton adds. "Close ties with Saudi Arabia and Iran. US has sold F-16s/other military equipment. It is now involved in negotiations between US and Iran. [Imagine] adding a multi-billion real-estate deal to that mix as a president decides policy."
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:34:17 GMT -8
Are Moms For Liberty Becoming Moms For Hitler?“There's an ongoing campaign by these neo-Nazi groups to radicalize some of these more benign patriot MAGA groups—and it's working because I've seen more Nazi content creeping into posts from Moms for Liberty people recently,” a researcher, who is known as Trash City, and who closely tracks Moms for Liberty activity, told VICE News earlier this month. The attacks didn’t just come from Moms for Liberty members, Caballero said; they also came from members of a local Proud Boys chapter. Earlier this month, a day after former President Donald Trump announced he would speak at the group’s annual summit alongside fellow Republican presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) designated Moms for Liberty as an “anti-government extremist” organization for the first time. Inside Moms for Liberty’s Close Relationship With the Proud Boys
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:37:33 GMT -8
What If YOu Decide to Have Sex, Decided You Don't Want a Baby, and Then Decide You Want to Baby?Wracked by guilt after taking an abortion pill, a sobbing woman calls a US hotline. It recommends a "reversal" treatment to save the fetus -- despite medical warnings that it is potentially life-threatening. Misinformation about medical termination appears to have skyrocketed since last June, when the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. That includes false "pro-life" posts on social media claiming abortion pills cause cancer and infertility -- as well as "pro-choice" content promoting dubious herbal treatments to terminate a pregnancy. More striking, researchers say, is a wave of misleading content that promotes an unscientific treatment that promises to undo the effects of the first pill, mifepristone, in the two-drug regimen for medical abortion. Anti-abortion advocates in the United States have heralded the so-called "reversal" treatment -- which involves taking the hormone progesterone -- for women who change their minds after taking mifepristone. "Abortion pill reversal can help turn back the clock," reads the website for the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN), a pro-life outfit that supports the treatment. "When destructive voices would only say 'it is done,' abortion pill reversal says 'here is a second chance at life, just in time.'" What is not mentioned is the warning from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG), an association of reproductive health specialists, that calls the treatment "unproven," "unethical" and "not based on science." Also omitted is a 2019 medical trial by researchers from the University of California, Davis, to test the effectiveness of the "reversal" treatment. The trial had to be stopped prematurely after some participants experienced severe internal bleeding. 'Not based on science': US confronts abortion 'reversal' myths
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:40:37 GMT -8
If You Have Been Wishing for a Flesh-Eating Drug, You Just Got Your Wish
'Tranq': the flesh-rotting drug adding to America's opioid crisis
Opioid addict Martin has seen the deadly fentanyl replace heroin as the most prevalent drug in New York. Now he's trying to avoid "tranq," a flesh-eating drug increasingly causing concern across America.
"It makes holes in your body, your skin," said the 45-year-old, whose wounds on his legs and arms signify he may have unknowingly injected the animal sedative, officially named xylazine and commonly called the "zombie drug."
The tranquillizer, approved for veterinary use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has infiltrated the illegal drug market in the United States, with producers increasingly using it to augment fentanyl.
Overdose deaths where tranq was detected have soared in recent years and in April the White House designated the drug an "emerging threat."
"It eats up your flesh, like a crocodile," Martin, who did not wish to give his surname, told AFP during a visit to St. Ann's Corner of Harm Reduction, a drug-support and syringe-exchange center in the Bronx.
Xylazine is easily accessible on the internet and almost always coupled with fentanyl, the synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the estimated number of overdoses involving xylazine in the country rose from 260 in 2018 to 3,480 in 2021.
While Philadelphia is the epicenter of tranq use, the drug is also gaining ground in New York. City authorities say traces of xylazine were found in 19 percent of fatal opioid overdoses, around 419 deaths, in 2021.
"Fentanyl is a short-acting opioid so people have to use more frequently," to prevent withdrawal, explained Courtney McKnight, clinical assistant professor of epidemiology at New York University's School of Global Public Health.
"The thinking is that xylazine has been added to the supply because it can extend the life of fentanyl. However, there are other side effects that come with it that are pretty significant," she added, citing anxiety.
Health experts also suspect that xylazine causes abscesses and skin ulcers by tightening blood vessels. In some cases, it can lead to amputation.
Workers at St. Ann's are seeing more skin wounds when they're on streets of the Bronx to provide treatment, equipment, clean syringes, fentanyl tests, food and, sometimes, just a few words of advice and comfort.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:43:15 GMT -8
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Little FishFish are the most diverse group of vertebrates, ranging from tiny gobies and zebrafish to gigantic tunas and whale sharks. They provide vital sustenance to billions of people worldwide via fisheries and aquaculture, and are critical parts of aquatic ecosystems. But fish around the world are getting smaller as their habitats get warmer. For example, important commercial fish species in the North Sea have declined in size by around 16% in the 40 years to 2008, while the water temperature increased by 1–2℃. This “shrinking” trend is forecasted to significantly exacerbate the impacts of global warming on marine ecosystems. The link between warmer water and smaller size is well known, but poorly understood. Our experiments keeping fish in warmer water offer some crucial clues – and may help us learn how to prepare for a warmer future with smaller fish. The world’s fish are shrinking as the climate warms. We’re trying to figure out why
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:45:01 GMT -8
Just When You THink People Can't Possibly Get Any WorseA year-long BBC investigation has uncovered a sadistic global monkey torture ring stretching from Indonesia to the United States. The World Service found hundreds of customers in the US, UK and elsewhere paying Indonesians to torture and kill baby long-tailed macaques on film. The torture ring began life on YouTube, before moving to private groups on the encrypted messaging app Telegram. Police are now pursuing the buyers and several arrests have already been made. BBC journalists went undercover in one of the main Telegram torture groups, where hundreds of people gathered to come up with extreme torture ideas and commission people in Indonesia and other Asian countries to carry them out. The sadists' goal was to create bespoke films in which baby long-tailed macaque monkeys were abused, tortured and sometimes then killed on film. Hunting the monkey torturersBut, Wait! There's More!Two nine-year-olds were among the 25,000 people forcibly sterilised in Japan under its post-World War Two eugenics law, a parliament report has revealed. The law, in place for 48 years, forced people to undergo operations to prevent them having children deemed "inferior". Many of them had physical or cognitive disabilities, or mental illness. The law is widely recognised as a dark chapter in Japan's post-war recovery and was repealed in 1996. On Monday, parliament released a long-awaited 1,400-page study, based on a government investigation which began in June 2020. It acknowledged that about 25,000 people had been subjected to operations - more than 16,000 of which were performed without consent. Some people were told that they were undergoing routine procedures like appendix operations, the report disclosed. Local governments at the time had the power to arbitrarily assign the surgery. The two nine-year-olds who were sterilised were a boy and a girl, the report said. Japan sterilisation law victims included nine-year-oldsThen There's Just Plain StupidThe man who allegedly threw a phone at singer Bebe Rexha during a performance in New York City on Sunday said he did it because he thought "it would be funny," according to a criminal complaint. Nicolas Malvagna, 27, was arraigned Monday in New York City on misdemeanor charges of harassment and assault after allegedly throwing a phone at the 33-year-old singer during a concert the night before at Pier 17, a venue at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan. Video shared on social media by a concertgoer shows the phone striking Rexha near her eye. She then covers her face and collapses to the ground as crew members rush on stage. According to the criminal complaint, an unnamed witness told police that he asked "who threw the phone," and that Malvagna allegedly raised his hand and said, "I did." Malvagna then allegedly said: “I was trying to see if I could hit her with the phone at the end of the show because it would be funny," according to the witness, the complaint states.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:48:50 GMT -8
The Best is Yet to Come
Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said the “biggest blow” in Kyiv’s counteroffensive campaign against Russian forces has yet to come but admitted the operation is difficult as Moscow is throwing all it can into the battle to prevent Ukraine from pressing forward.
Ukraine began the first stage of its long-rumoured counteroffensive two weeks ago to reclaim land occupied by Russian forces. But amid reports of slow progress by Ukraine’s forces and stiff resistance by
Russia, officials in Moscow have claimed the Ukrainian offensive has failed.
The Ukrainian military, which has maintained a strict silence about the campaign in general, announced on Monday that small victories had been achieved and eight villages liberated so far, along with some 113 square km (70 sq miles) of territory.
“The biggest blow is yet to come,” Maliar said on Monday.
“The ongoing operation has several objectives, and the military is fulfilling these tasks,” she wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:51:56 GMT -8
Ever Wonder What is Halfway Between Norway and the North Pole?Halfway between Norway and the North Pole, buried into the side of a mountain on an archipelago with more polar bears than people, is a genetic repository built to prevent our own agricultural Armageddon. Back on June 19, 2006, Nordic leaders laid the foundation stone for the $9 million Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which protects the seeds for the food we grow — making it arguably the world’s most important refrigerator. Opened in 2008, the vault is run by Norway and has so far taken in 1.25 million seed samples from almost every country in the world, preserved for all humanity, at -18℃, for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. The destabilising threats to global agriculture can seem endless, and include biodiversity loss, natural disasters and war, with the climate crisis, according to the U.N., front and centre. In the 1800s, the U.S. had 7,100 named varieties of apples. Today, 6,800 of them are extinct. The Svalbard vault can help by preserving the genetic material of food seeds that one day may, for example, help genetically confer resistance to drought or pests. It also serves as a critical backup system. In 2015, seeds from the Svalbard vault were used to restart the “International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas”, after its seed bank in Aleppo had to be abandoned because of the war in Syria. Inside the “Doomsday” Seed Vault
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 8:57:11 GMT -8
Only 17 Tapes From Getting Biden
Hunter Biden, the president's son, has agreed to plead guilty to a pair of tax-related misdemeanors and enter a diversion program that would enable him to avoid prosecution on one felony gun charge, which would potentially end a yearslong probe, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Biden will acknowledge his failure to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018, according to the agreement. In exchange, prosecutors will recommend probation, meaning he will likely avoid prison time. For the gun charge, he will agree to pretrial diversion, with the charge being dropped if he adheres to certain terms.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 9:01:10 GMT -8
Summer in Miami Could Get Even Hotter
Donald Trump’s federal trial on charges related to the classified documents seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate is scheduled Aug. 14, the judge announced Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order also told Department of Justice prosecutors and lawyers for Trump to file all pre-trial motions by July 24. The brisk schedule would place the first federal criminal trial of a former president months ahead of his New York state trial in March 2024.
Arguments about evidence and what can be debated at trial can often postpone initial trial dates. Trump, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was indicted earlier this month on 37 criminal counts and pleaded not guilty to all charges related to his taking hundreds of classified records with him when he left the White House in January 2021.
|
|
|
|
Post by mhbruin on Jun 20, 2023 9:11:36 GMT -8
The QOP SHould Just Ignore Juneteenth, Instead of Pretending It Shows How Wonderful White People Are
As Americans marked Juneteenth, a federal holiday, in a variety of ways ranging from solemn reflection to pre-summer cookouts, Senator Josh Hawley paused his awkward campaign for manliness to tweet about slavery:
Critics pointed out that Hawley ― perhaps best known for saluting Jan. 6 protesters with a raised fist before running away from them ― missed the mark in several ways.
Christianity is not the religion of the United States, which guarantees the separation of church and state. The Christian faith was used repeatedly to justify slavery, especially within the United States. And the practice of slavery thrived in America long after it was outlawed by many other Western nations.
|
|
