Tracker

It Took a Near Coup From the Military to Stop Trump’s Coup -Reuters If Biden and the Democrats don’t get it together, the next assault on our democracy will be even uglier and there may not be a next time after that. The revelation that it took a military intervention from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to avert a soft coup by President Trump should terrify you. According to excerpts from Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s forthcoming book, Peril, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election” and agreed with Nancy Pelosi’s assertion that he was “crazy.” So as Trump raged about how the election had supposedly been “stolen” from him, Milley single-handedly called a top-secret meeting of senior military officials in the Pentagon’s war room to deter Trump from launching nuclear weapons or a military strike. That’s a stark reminder of the perilous state of our democracy, where the GOP has become so beholden to a nihilistic death cult indulging in conspiracy theories and violent insurrections that one of our few remaining guardrails was a potential military coup. I agree with Alexander Vindman, the former National Security Council and White House staffer fired by Trump, that this is an “extremely dangerous precedent” because Milley “violated the sacrosanct principle of civilian control over the military.” It Took a Near Coup From the Military to Stop Trump’s Coup (thedailybeast.com)

Trump Threatened To Withhold Friendship From Pence Over Election Certification: Book A new book shines fresh light on the final days of the Trump administration, when a top general feared the president had gone into “serious mental decline.” Donald Trump reportedly pressured Mike Pence to disrupt the official election certification process in his waning days in office by telling the vice president: “I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this.” The allegation comes from an upcoming book by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, “Peril,” which is based on more than 200 interviews with people who worked in and around the former administration. CNN and The Washington Post received advance copies. Although Pence ultimately did not move to stop the proceedings, “Peril” claims that he tried finding rationale for acquiescing to Trump’s demands ― and found none. The vice president oversees the congressional certification process, but the role is largely ceremonial. Still, Trump allegedly tried to convince Pence to overturn the results by asking, “Wouldn’t it be almost cool to have that power?” Per the book, Pence replied, “No. I’ve done everything I could and then some to find a way around this. It’s simply not possible.” Trump then became agitated, screaming, “No!” “You don’t understand, Mike. You can do this. I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this,” he said, according to the book. Trump Threatened To Withhold Friendship From Pence Over Election Certification: Book | HuffPost

The Old Testament contains passages that can be reasonably read to justify slavery, incest, human sacrifice and genocide.. Beyond that, it has been extensively edited and re-edited to suit the whims of various church leaders and those who controlled them.. It contradicts itself repeatedly and is often at odds with proven history. However, if you look past these, the principles in the New Testament of tolerance, forgiveness compassion and optimism, these are there also. And yes, there is independent historical confirmation of the existence of an itinerant preacher named Yeshua who lived in that era.

A talented guy who struggled with a gambling addiction that derailed his career and devastated his personal life.

9/11 – THE MOTHER OF ALL COINCIDENCES by Eric Margolis | The following article was originally published on September 10, 2010 “America’s strategic and economic interests in the Mideast and Muslim world are being threatened by the agony in Palestine, which inevitably invites terrorist attacks against US citizens and property.” Eric Margolis. Sun Media. 2 September, 2001. NEW YORK – Ever since 9/11, readers keep asking me my views on these attacks. I have been barraged with emails until my head spins with engineering studies about melting steel, controlled explosions, claims about nefarious plots, and wreckage analysis. 9/11 – THE MOTHER OF ALL COINCIDENCES « Eric Margolis ( An edifying and scary read from an unbiased, informed author)

9/11 – THE MOTHER OF ALL COINCIDENCES by Eric Margolis | The following article was originally published on September 10, 2010 “America’s strategic and economic interests in the Mideast and Muslim world are being threatened by the agony in Palestine, which inevitably invites terrorist attacks against US citizens and property.” Eric Margolis. Sun Media. 2 September, 2001. NEW YORK – Ever since 9/11, readers keep asking me my views on these attacks. I have been barraged with emails until my head spins with engineering studies about melting steel, controlled explosions, claims about nefarious plots, and wreckage analysis. 9/11 – THE MOTHER OF ALL COINCIDENCES « Eric Margolis ( An edifying and scary read from an unbiased, informed author)

That may be so, but back then, the Republicans had ethics and backbones as well as a media that held Nixon to account and a unbiased judiciary.

Israel’s Top COVID Truther Claimed COVID That Killed Him Was ‘Poison’ Attack One of Israel’s top anti-vaxx activists has died of COVID-19, two days after posting a final message to his followers that ordered them to “keep fighting” against the shot that could have saved his life. Hai Shoulian, 57, spent much of the pandemic organizing protests against coronavirus rules—including mask mandates and Israel’s vaccine-passport scheme, the Green Pass. He lost his life to COVID-19 on Monday morning after spending 10 days at Tel Aviv’s Wolfson Medical Center. His brother, Avi, told The Daily Beast that his family felt like they had been torn apart, as he headed to his brother’s funeral on Tuesday. “Our dad used to say that every table has four legs and we were four, that was our family motto,” he said, tearfully. “And since yesterday we’re three.” Avi said his brother’s death certificate lists the coronavirus as the cause of death. He said he decided to speak to the media to encourage his brother’s followers to take the vaccine “and save their lives.” The brother added: “I wish I managed to convince him to save his own life.” In his last Facebook post, Hai Shoulian complained about how awful his symptoms were, but remained defiant against the vaccine. In a video showing him receiving oxygen support, he wrote: “I’m in a very bad shape, it is serious... If I take the oxygen out I can’t walk three meters. I can’t talk or respond to people. It took me about an hour to figure out who I am. Where am I and what am I doing here... Lack of oxygen is a terrible thing.” Despite his condition, he managed a final stand against Israel’s Green Pass, saying: “It has nothing to do with the coronavirus. It has nothing to do with vaccines. It has to do with coercion... Keep fighting.” The anti-vaxxer’s traditional name, Hai, is intended to protect its bearer—it means “alive” in Hebrew. In his final message, he signed off: “I believe that I will make it through this, with God’s help. In my estimation it will take another two weeks, maybe three.” Two days later, he died from the virus. When he first fell sick last week, Shoulian claimed that police had poisoned him after he was arrested during a protest against the Green Pass. “I’m telling you, this is an attempt to wipe me out and if something happens to me know that’s exactly what happened,” he said. Hai Shoulian, Israel’s Top COVID Truther, Claimed COVID That Killed Him Was ‘Poison’ Attack (thedailybeast.com)

Unvaccinated conservative pastor who successfully sued Colorado over mask mandates dies of COVID-19 A conservative pastor who adamantly opposed mask mandates and vaccinations to combat the spread of COVID-19 has died from complications of the virus. On Monday, September 13, Fred Williams, who co-hosts on the conservative radio show The Real Science, confirmed Pastor Robert "Bob" A. Enyart's death in a Facebook post, according to The Denver Post. Back in October, Enyart won a lawsuit after challenging the state's COVID mitigation efforts At the time, the state of Colorado required all individuals to wear masks indoors and limitations were placed on gathering sizes. After successfully challenging the state's order in court, a federal judge ruled that churchgoers at Colorado churches would no longer be required to wear masks indoors or limit their gathering size. "We were so thankful that a federal court would recognize our God-given right to worship him, our creator, without the government interfering," said Enyart to KMGH-TV. "We can actually sing congregational singing and we can gather and we're very thankful for that," Enyart continued. "We hope other churches will join us and our sister church [Community Baptist Church] up north in Brighton in worshiping God as he calls us to do, with congregational singing and no artificial limits on how many can come together." In reference to the COVID vaccine, Enyart "stated on his show that scientists tested the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines on "the cells of aborted babies," according to Newsweek. Unvaccinated conservative pastor who successfully sued Colorado over mask mandates dies of COVID-19 - Alternet.org

Which version?

You promised you wouldn't tell!!!

Charlie is overdue for acknowledgement. I can't count how many times he was absolutely, positively trapped for a loss and somehow squirted out for a gain.

Good discussion/debate on this topic and I appreciate the lack of personal invective.

Poole is living proof that idiocy is alive and well. Chris Jones is the David Caruso of the CFL.

Manitoba's health office has confirmed today that the new COVID variant is here in Manitoba in significant numbers- mostly in the Steinbach- Winkler corridor.

It was on cbc radio Sunday CBC News: The National CBC News: The National 1.19M subscribers SUBSCRIBE Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is facing new criticism for saying he wouldn’t repeal a ban on assault-style weapons if elected, even though his platform promises to do it. EmailFacebookTwitterLinkedIn Conservative leadership candidate Erin O’Toole is promising to end funding for CBC’s digital news services and to eventually sell off its English-language television operations. In one of his campaign’s first major policy announcements, O’Toole said he would leave CBC Radio and Radio-Canada untouched, but end CBC’s English-language digital news footprint and move to privatize its English TV operations. That would be done by slashing CBC’s television budget in half and eliminating advertising on its networks, before moving to sell off its English-language TV entities. “Our plan will phase out TV advertising with the goal to fully privatize CBC English TV by the end of our first mandate,” he said in a video posted to social media on Friday.

CBC has confirmed that O'Toole met with gun manufacturers and promised to revoke the ban on assault rifles and he has also committed to selling off the CBC if elected.

Form Energy’s Iron-Air Battery Considered Potentially Disruptive for Power Industry Washington Post “Iron-air batteries: Huge green-energy breakthrough, or just a lot of hype?” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/27/iron-air-batteries-huge-green-energy-breakthrough-or-just-lot-hype/ This Washington Post article is very cautious, noting that battery breakthrough announcements often do not pan out, but the author does bring up the point that iron is 2000 times more plentiful than lithium, and that replacing lithium with iron would make it much easier for the United States to be come self sufficient in storage batteries, since no rare-earth materials (few are currently produced in the US) are required. Oilprice.com “Iron-Air Batteries Could Be The Breakthrough Energy Markets Are Waiting For” https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Iron-Air-Batteries-Could-Be-The-Breakthrough-Energy-Markets-Are-Waiting-For.html The authors of this article not that Form energy has raised $250 million, and the company has announced a deal to provide 150 hours energy storage to the Great River Energy cooperative in Minnesota US (lithium-ion energy storage systems are typically for 2-4 hours). They write: “a relatively inexpensive 100 hour plus utility-scale storage battery is as disruptive a technological force for the electric utility industry as anything we have ever seen.”

Mike Lindell, pro-Trump conspiracy theorists fail to draw crowd at Kentucky rally Some of the biggest names pushing pro-Trump conspiracy theories were unable to draw much of a crowd at a "We the People Reunion" rally in Kentucky. "The event is hosting speakers such as the CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, former national security advisor Michael Flynn and Pastor Greg Locke, who has in the past admitted to being at the Capitol during the January 6 Capitol riot," WFIE 14 News reported. The station reported on attendance at the event. "Promoters said they expected crowds of around 10,000 people. Fewer than 300 were at the event when 14 News arrived," the network reported.

Roberts was the beneficiary of raw talent, having all of his parts glued securely together and a low center of gravity, which made him difficult to bring down. He was very, very good, but he could have been a legend in the CFL. He impressed me as someone who never thought he would survive long enough to plan for the future or condition himself for it.

But he works cheap.