Tracker

Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary's sickening tweet denies Nazi protest Ever since a racist, washed-up reality tv show host was able to exploit racial and cultural tensions by hoodwinking millions of uninformed working-class whites into thinking he gave a damn about them, our country has descended into a cauldron of hate and antisemitism. Case in point, a neo-Nazi rally took place in the open in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday in which radical white nationalists waved Nazi flags and shouted anti-Semitic and anti-Black slogans, including the"Jew is the devil" and "Jews rape children and drink their blood." This type of radical anti-Semitism has been on the rise ever since Trump usurped the oval office in 2016 and, worse yet, only seems to be metastasizing now that he's gone. And while any sane and decent human in the public sector would vociferously condemn this disgusting and naked anti-Semitism, white nationalists are pretty much Republicans voting base these days. Case in point, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' Press Secretary Christina Pushaw appeared to question whether the obvious nazi rally was actually being put on by Nazis. Allow me to repeat that for those of you who may be bleeding from the eyes, a public official doubted photos and videos of white nationalists in nazi uniforms were actual nazis. In a since-deleted tweet, Press Secretary Christina Pushaw responded to Twitter outrage over an Orlando Nazi demonstration by asking, “Do we even know they’re Nazis?” Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary's sickening tweet denies Nazi protest - Alternet.org

Conservative caucus revolt triggers vote on Erin O'Toole's leadership John Paul Tasker · CBC News · Posted: Jan 31, 2022 8:31 PM ET | Last Updated: 1 hour ago Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole is facing an internal revolt and some members of his caucus are prepared to trigger a vote on his future as early as Wednesday, sources told CBC News. MPs opposed to O'Toole's leadership have collected enough signatures — 35 have signed on to the effort so far — to hold a secret ballot to decide his fate, sources said. A vote by 50 per cent plus one of the 119 sitting Conservative MPs calling on O'Toole to step down would force him to make way for an interim leader immediately. Conservative post-election report says O'Toole was 'over-managed' during the campaign. Sources tell CBC News that O'Toole's caucus opponents believe they have the necessary votes, with at least 60 MPs agreeing that he has to go.

The same fanatical mindsets as the parishioners of fundamentalist churches who keep getting milked and even are urged to take out loans to give more to the church.

Yes, money talks but if Lawler thinks he will have the same degree of success in BC and here, he will be badly disappointed. That porous O-line will will be having whatever QB they have running for his life and not concentrating on his reads or checkdowns. The lack of a credible running game will only make that worse. Reilly, even last year, was much, much better than any QB they can scare up, and he really struggled.

Nothing stopping the Lions from cutting him- its been done before. Unless the Lions are printing their own money, I cannot see how they can avoid dumping salary. The Argos are gonna get what they are paying for. Bethel-Thompson might a good backup but that's all.

I think there are few of these who believe they are or will ever be in the majority- all they want is the power to disrupt the will of those they disagree with and change things to what they see fit. After all, if God is with you, why would you care about democracy, the law or other trivial things? BTW: The federal government should seize the $4 million they are using as a war chest as it is being used to fuel disorder and civil disobedience. If the yahoos are not having their their keep in Ottawa paid for, they will likely fade away into the obscurity they deserve.

Former President Donald J. Trump and his Republican allies are using three tactics in a nationwide, state-by-state strategy to control the outcome of future elections. All are on display in Arizona. Tactic #1: Keep voters from voting Arizona's latest voter restriction law will remove an estimated 100,000 eligible voters from its early voting mailing list. It won't begin deleting voters from the list until after the 2024 election. But Republicans have proposed new restrictions that could have a profound impact sooner, including new voter-ID requirements, severe limitations on the use of drive-up voting and ballot drop boxes, and requiring all voting to be in person on Election Day. "We need to get back to 1958-style voting," Arizona State Rep. John Fillmore said, defending his proposals in a committee hearing on Jan. 26, 2022. Ah, the good ol' days of 1958, when Arizona with its large Native American population imposed literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting, and about half of the Navajo voting-age population couldn't pass them. Tactic #2: If the opposing candidate wins the popular vote, disregard It Trump recently told the Pennsylvania GOP, "Sometimes the vote counter is more important than the candidate... We have to get tougher and smarter." He's putting those words into action. In 2020, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs—a Democrat—was Arizona's top "vote counter." Now that she is running for governor, Trump has endorsed state Rep. Mark Finchem to replace her. Finchem addressed Trump's crowd at the "Stop the Steal" rally in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, and attended the January 6 insurrection. Gov. Doug Ducey, who is term-limited, signed the state's official certification of Biden's victory. To replace him, Trump has endorsed former Fox news anchor Kari Lake. She claims falsely that Trump won the election, advocates the imprisonment of Hobbs for unspecified election crimes, and demands that Arizona "decertify" Biden's electoral victory, which is impossible. Republicans in Arizona are also working on a backup plan. They have proposed a law that would empower the state's legislature to "accept or reject the election results." If rejected, any voter could sue to request a new election. Tactic #3: Bogus audits and investigations After Trump lost in Arizona, his allies focused on Maricopa County, which accounted for 60 percent of the state's total. To its credit, the Republican-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors withstood the pressure and certified Biden's 45,000 vote victory. Nevertheless, in March 2021, the state senate's Republican president hired Cyber Ninjas to lead an outside audit of Maricopa County's 2.1 million ballots. The inexperienced firm's owner had touted Trump's election conspiracy theories and provided the ominous voiceover in "The Deep Rig"—a movie claiming that Trump had won the election. The state promised to pay Cyber Ninjas $150,000. Millions more poured in from outside sources, including pro-Trump fundraising groups led by his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Trump's election conspiracy-peddling lawyer Sidney Powell, and correspondents for the One America News Network. The "audit" became a farce. "It's clearer by the day: The people hired by the Senate are in way over their heads," said the Republican chair of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in May. "This is not funny; this is dangerous." In June, another Arizona GOP election official blasted the audit as "insane from a competence standpoint." Now every day in Arizona is January 6 - Alternet.org

An acquaintance of ours has been posting on Facebook that these cretins are "doing God's work"...and they are not alone in that ideation.

Moderna Announces Full FDA Approval For Its COVID-19 Vaccine WASHINGTON (AP) — Moderna announced Monday that U.S. health regulators granted full approval to its COVID-19 vaccine, a shot that’s been given to tens of millions of Americans since its emergency authorization over a year ago. The action by the Food and Drug Administration means the agency has completed the same rigorous, time-consuming review of Moderna’s shot as dozens of other long-established vaccines. The decision was bolstered by real-world evidence from the more than 200 million doses administered in the U.S. since the FDA cleared the shot in December 2020. The FDA granted full approval of Pfizer’s vaccine last August. Public health advocates initially hoped the regulatory distinction would boost public confidence in the shots. But there was no discernable bump in vaccinations after the Pfizer approval, which was heavily promoted by President Joe Biden and other federal officials. More than 211 million Americans, or 63% of the total population, are fully vaccinated. About 86 million people have gotten a booster dose. Vaccinations peaked last spring at more than 3 million per day, and now average less than 750,000 per day. The pace of vaccinations briefly spiked following news of the omicron variant in December but has since slowed again. The FDA, like regulators in Europe and elsewhere, initially allowed emergency use of Moderna’s vaccine based on a study that tracked 44,000 people 18 and older for at least two months — the time period when serious side effects typically arise. That’s shorter than the six months of safety data normally required for full approval, so Moderna continued that study. The FDA also kept watch for serious side effects that have proved to be very rare. In the U.S., Moderna is used only by adults. The company said last fall that FDA had delayed deciding whether to clear the shots for 12- to 17-year-olds as it examined a rare risk of heart inflammation seen mostly in young men and teen boys. Johnson & Johnson has not yet applied for full approval of its COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna Announces Full FDA Approval For Its COVID-19 Vaccine | HuffPost Latest News

As part of the protest against Joe Rogan's postings on Spotify, Yoko Ono has threatened to put her recordings on it.

Trump Incriminates Himself In Seditious Conspiracy Targeting Pence Trump admitted in writing to the entire world that he tried to make Mike Pence overturn the 2020 election. Trump railed against changing the Electoral Count Act, but it is the last part of the statement that is damning: Donald J. Trump Incriminates Himself In Seditious Conspiracy Trump is threatened by losing the ability to steal the next election to such a degree that he admitted that the point of all of the pieces of the puzzle the 1/6 attack, the forged election documents, the fake slates of electors, the pressure on swing states to claim fraud were all intended for a singular purpose. The goal was to get Mike Pence to refuse to certify the election. The point has been stated by other people who were part of Trump’s conspiracy, but the man at the top of the plot is admitting that he wanted his vice president to trash democracy and overturn the election for him. Trump admitted the motive for his conspiracy. The 1/6 Committee, the Department of Justice, and any other law enforcement agency, state or federal that might be investigating Trump has a huge piece of the puzzle confirmed. Donald Trump can’t stop talking. His constant need for attention may end up getting him criminally charged for election crimes. Trump Incriminates Himself In Seditious Conspiracy Targeting Pence (politicususa.com)

Yet another step towards an anocracy.

I think it would be very helpful if Trudeau, Singh , the current leader of the Bloc and all the sane premiers and MPs got together and posted a video and audio recording condemning the blockades and related criminal actions along with a commitment to vigorously prosecute everyone who crosses the legal line. A show of solidarity will both reassure the vast majority of Canadians and deter more lemmings from joining in.

There is a Farhan Lalji report that the Lions have offered Lawler 250k on a 2-year contract.

AN AMERICAN VIEW OF THE CANADIAN TRUCKER CONVOY Canada’s Anti-Vax Answer to Jan. 6 Is an Indefinite Blockade of Ottawa OTTAWA—The downtown of Canada’s capital is indefinitely gridlocked, as thousands of vehicles have descended on the city to rage against COVID-19 restrictions. The protest—which some have warned could spiral into Canada’s own version of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol—was months in the making and culminated in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau being whisked off to a secure location Saturday. Diesel fumes hang over the whole frigid city, and the honking of horns ran from sun-up to midnight. The brigade of disgruntled anti-vaxxers won’t be leaving, they say, anytime soon. The busy streets in front of Canada’s Parliament buildings are now frozen, with a line-up of 18-wheelers, rigs, RVs, trucks, SUVs and cars essentially shutting the downtown core. The protesters have come from all across the country, with some driving more than 2,500 miles to be in Ottawa. The convoy has branded itself as a trucker protest, objecting to COVID-19 vaccine requirements for those who haul goods across the U.S.-Canada border, but in reality it is a rejection of virtually every policy and public health measure put in place to fight the pandemic. Now that thousands, perhaps more than 10,000, protesters have shut down Canada’s capital, they say they want all vaccine requirements quashed and Trudeau removed from office. The cross-country convoy has become a cause célèbre for the international right-wing—from Tucker Carlson to Joe Rogan and even Donald Trump and Don Jr.— as a symbol of resistance against what they see as the tyranny of government vaccine mandates. The blockade is perhaps the most drastic, organized, COVID-19-inspired demonstration the world has yet seen. Its organizers are a Voltron of various political factions: There’s the right-wing nationalist who is vowing to blockade MPs’ homes; the QAnon follower who wants Trudeau tried for treason; the political activist running a $7 million fundraiser, trying desperately to stop GoFundMe from seizing the dough; and a plethora of other characters who have assembled to shut down the capital. Their mix of pseudo-science, grassroots organizing, and a dash of legal mysticism have combined to create a really potent rally cry. More at: Canada’s Anti-Vax Answer to Jan. 6 Is an Indefinite Blockade of Ottawa (thedailybeast.com)

Trump Calls On Massive Protests If Prosecutors Go After Him And Offers Pardons To Jan. 6ers Former President Donald Trump Saturday night called on his followers to stage massive protests in multiple cities should prosecutors act against him. He also said he would offer pardons to those charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol that he incited in a last-gasp attempt to remain in power. “If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protests we have ever had in Washington, D.C., in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere, because our country and our elections are corrupt,” he said to a rally audience in Conroe, Texas, reading from teleprompters set up on either side of his lectern. A few minutes later, he claimed his followers who stormed the Capitol, assaulting police as they entered, were not being treated “fairly” and that should he run for the White House again and win: “If it requires pardons, we will give them pardons.” Trump Calls On Massive Protests If Prosecutors Go After Him And Offers Pardons To Jan. 6ers | HuffPost Latest News

CLEVER PRODUCT PLACEMENT

In March, apparently- testing underway now with promising results so far.

From Today's Jerusalem Post: Swastikas displayed at Canadian ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests against vaccination mandates By SHIRA HANAU/JTA 4 hrs ago Swastikas and other symbols of hate were on display amid a sea of Canadian flags as part of the Canadian “Freedom Convoy” protests against vaccination mandates in Ottawa over the weekend. The protests, which were organized by Canadian truckers in response to a vaccination mandate placed on truckers returning to Canada from the United States, took place Saturday and attracted thousands to Canada’s capitol city. The protests featured a range of groups comparing vaccine mandates to fascism and displaying Canadian flags, and sometimes American flags, upside down. Many protesters held signs with profanity-filled messages for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Among the symbols displayed at the protests were swastikas and, in at least one instance, the Confederate flag. A member of parliament from the Conservative party, Michael Cooper, went out to show support to the protesters and was interviewed by a Canadian news channel as a protester with a Canadian flag covered in swastikas walked behind him. Cooper later released a statement saying he did not know that the symbol was behind him and that if he had, he would have condemned it. “He or she does not represent the thousands of peaceful protesters who waved Canadian flags and acted responsibly. I stand with them and will continue to fight with them,” he wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. Journalists who reported on the protests said they were subjected to hate speech and violence themselves, with one reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation being called a “slave blooded traitor” after asking for an interview with those organizing the protest. Former US President Donald Trump gave the Canadian protesters a shoutout at a rally in Texas Saturday. “We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way,” Trump said. “They are doing more to defend American freedom than our leaders by far.” Bruce Heyman, who served as the US Ambassador to Canada from 2014 to 2017, condemned the displays of swastikas and other symbols of hate. “Both the use of the swastika and the confederate flag are symbols of extreme hate. So very sad to see these symbols anywhere and especially in Canada,” he wrote in a tweet.

That's Phase Two of the looming robot/AI revolution. I for one, welcome our new overlords.

It would probably be best for all the news media to simply say, " The bunch of idiots in the Trucker parade defaced a memorial, carried a Nazi flag and extorted food from a charity" and leave it at that. The Sun would probably print that " bold heroes expressed themselves vigorously."

Money is a helluva soother.

Yes, I have- grew up there and spent a few years of my practice there. There were a few misanthropes but nowhere near Alberta levels.

We moved to southern Alberta to get to know our granddaughters better and spent three years there. I saw and heard more casual racism there in the first six months than I did in many years in Manitoba. It was stunning how overt and common it was. I could not believe it. Coming back to Manitoba was a relief.