Tracker

New Report Details Trump's Dramatic Efforts To Undercut 2020 Election In Waning Days Top Justice Department officials and White House attorneys threatened to resign en masse if then-President Donald Trump followed through on plans to aggressively pursue unfounded claims of election fraud in his final days in office, according to an upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee report examining his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The New York Times first published details of the document late Wednesday, which includes the most detailed information yet about a meeting on Jan. 3 in which Trump fought with top officials in hopes of installing a loyalist as his acting attorney general. The plan was part of his final attempt to retain power after his loss to Joe Biden by more than 6 million votes and came amid his ongoing, and false, claims that widespread voter fraud had cost him the race. According to the report cited by the Times, White House counsel Pat Cipollone likened Trump’s effort to a “murder-suicide pact” and threatened to resign alongside his deputy. Trump later relented and didn’t follow through with the plan. New Report Details Trump's Dramatic Efforts To Undercut 2020 Election In Waning Days | HuffPost Latest News

How the once-feared mu variant all but disappeared In September, news broke that a new coronavirus mutation — the mu variant, formally known as B.1.621 — could potentially evade vaccine-induced immunity. "This variant has a constellation of mutations that suggests that it would evade certain antibodies, not only monoclonal antibodies, but vaccine- and convalescent serum-induced antibodies," President Joe Biden's COVID-19 adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told reporters in September. "But there isn't a lot of clinical data to suggest that. It is mostly laboratory in-vitro data." At the time, the idea of a vaccine-resistant variant sent a shockwave of fear through the world. The dreaded delta variant was already known to be more resistant to vaccines than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. Could mu, which was first discovered in Colombia, be worse than delta? Indeed, mu appeared to have specific mutations that have been associated with resistance to immunity, as well a mutation known as P681H that has been linked to accelerated transmission. Now, nearly a month later — long after the World Health Organization dubbed the mu variant one "of interest" that needed to be monitored — data from outbreak.info shows the mu variant hasn't been detected in the U.S., nor anywhere in the world, since September 21, 2021. Does that mean the mu is no longer a threat? The short answer is: probably. But Joseph Fauver, an associate research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health, wouldn't go as far as saying it's been "eradicated," as some news outlets have reported either. "To say it was 'eradicated' would imply that we, humans, went out of our way to make that happen … but as far as mu or B.1.621 longer being around, yeah, I would totally buy that," Fauver said. Fauver clarified: "What actually happened was that it was effectively out competed by delta." How the once-feared mu variant all but disappeared | Salon.com

‘**** These People’: Bodycam Shows Minneapolis Cops Praised for ‘Hunting’ Protesters After George Floyd Death Minneapolis police officers tasked with restoring order and defusing tensions amid the city’s George Floyd protests last year made a sport of “hunting” demonstrators, newly released bodycam footage shows. The footage, released at the request of a defense attorney for a St. Paul man who was cleared of all charges after he fired back at Minneapolis SWAT team members in an unmarked vehicle, shows officers treating protesters more like enemy combatants—all because they were out after curfew. “**** these people,” Minneapolis Police Commander Bruce Folkens can be heard telling one officer who said it had been a “busy night.” “It’s nice to hear that we’ve moved to—tonight it was just nice to hear ‘We’re gonna go find some more people.’ Instead of chasing people around… you guys are out hunting people now. It’s just a nice change of tempo,” Folkens told the officer, per the Minnesota Reformer. The “busy night” saw officers unleash rubber bullets on demonstrators out after curfew on May 30, 2020, just five days after the police killing of George Floyd sparked infuriated protests. Jaleel Stallings was among those to come under attack by officers firing marking rounds without warning. After police in an unmarked van fired rubber bullets at Stallings, striking him with one in the chest, the Army veteran returned fire with a handgun he was licensed to have. Stallings later said he had no idea the occupants of the van were law enforcement and that he had fired back in self-defense. The bodycam footage released Tuesday by his attorney, Eric Rice, shows Minneapolis police officers punching and kicking him as they took him into custody, with one calling him a “piece of ****.” He appeared to try to explain the misunderstanding to the officers, repeatedly saying “Listen, listen, sir,” as they pinned him to the ground. He faced a slew of charges in the wake of that incident—including second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, and second-degree riot—but he was cleared on all counts at a July trial. The footage also showed Minneapolis police officers puncturing vehicle tires while out on the prowl, and unleashing rubber bullets at a gas station owner and several ordinary citizens who were simply guarding the gas station. After a SWAT officer pepper-sprayed a Vice News reporter directly in the face even after he had displayed his press credentials, officers railed against the media, with one complaining that “they think they can do whatever they want.” Lt. Johnny Mercil joked about the encounter, saying, “Hold on a second, let me check your credentials, make a few phone calls to verify…” “There’s a [expletive] curfew,” he said. Members of the press were exempt from the governor’s curfew order amid protests. In the wake of the video’s release Tuesday, Garrett Parten, a spokesman for the MPD, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune an internal-affairs investigation had been launched. Bodycam Footage Shows Minneapolis Police Officers Praised for ‘Hunting’ Protesters After George Floyd Killing (thedailybeast.com)

Physically healthy if not emotionally.

You do not have to be a chicken to detect a rotten egg.

If there is another, would they have to change their names to Cha-Cha houses?

But bullet proof backpacks for kids are so cheap these days....

All's well that ends well, to quote the Bard of Avon (no connection to cosmetics)

All these resurrections of old TV shows confirms the dearth of creativity in the TV industry.

Overpants or underpants? Or both?

French Report Finds 330,000 Children Were Victims Of Church Sex Abuse PARIS (AP) — An estimated 330,000 children were victims of sex abuse within France’s Catholic Church over the past 70 years, according to a major report released Thursday that is France’s first major reckoning with the devastating phenomenon. The figure includes abuses committed by some 3,000 priests and other people involved in the church — wrongdoing that Catholic authorities covered up over decades in a “systemic manner,” according to the president of the commission that issued the report, Jean-Marc Sauvé. The head of the French bishops conference asked forgiveness from the victims. The group is meeting Tuesday to discuss next steps. The commission urged the church to take strong action, denouncing “faults” and “silence.” It also called on the French state to help compensate the victims, notably in cases that are too old to prosecute via the courts. About 80% of the victims were boys.

Bad Odor there.

Ain't no "could be" about it. Assassinating the leader who fails to deliver a majority is a Tory tradition. I'm just surprised that it took so long to come to this.

With that kind of brilliant logic, we ought to do away with DWI laws, and allow people to make their own decisions and not mandate sober driving.

FBI raids Long Island home of NYPD sergeants’ union head Ed Mullins and Manhattan headquarters Federal investigators descended Tuesday on the Long Island home of controversial Sergeants Benevolent Association president Ed Mullins in a sweep that also targeted the NYPD union’s Lower Manhattan headquarters. A parade of FBI agents, clutching boxes and a black garbage bag, emerged from the SBA offices and loaded their cargo into a waiting minivan before heading off. One of the boxes appeared to hold a hard drive, and another was filled with what looked like electronics equipment removed hours after the stunning news of the probe became public. While the details of the investigation remained under wraps, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed to The News that the agency was “carrying out a law enforcement action in connection with an ongoing investigation” into the SBA shortly after the coordinated seizures began. “Ed Mullins, who famously called me a ‘first-class *****’ for daring to ask questions about the SBA, just got a first-class raid from the FBI,” tweeted Rep. Ritchie Torres as word of the investigation spread. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment as to the purpose of the raids or its target. FBI raids LI home of NYPD union head Ed Mullins and NYC offices - New York Daily News (nydailynews.com)

Not necessarily. problems come in many different forms and many are as problematic as alcohol dependency/abuse or worse. A lot worse.

A succinct reply.

But would I be able to sit through the whole movie without having to pee? Depends.

Orange you glad that we have Oleary as a backup?

The length of the suspension will depend on whether this was an isolated incident of poor judgement or a symptom of a larger, endemic problem.

Maybe Manitobans need to be reminded of what a PC party will do when not constrained by logic or compassion.

Apparently the longest Bond film of all- about 2 1/2 hours.

Far-right commentator who contracted COVID threatens Dr. Fauci: 'Give me liberty or I give you death' Far right extremist commentator Josh Bernstein, an anti-vaxxer who recently contracted COVID after threatening a "lead injection" for anyone who tried to vaccinate him, appears to have issued an obscenity-laden death threat against Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President. "Let me tell you something you sick twisted garden gnome," Bernstein says in the video below which was posted by the watchdog group by Right Wing Watch. "Okay? Our rights don't come from you. They don't come from the NIH, they don't come from the Center for disinformation control, they don't come from the Wuhan Health Organization, and they certainly don't come from this fraudulent extremist authoritarian regime government, either," Bernstein declared, referring to the National Institutes of Health, and apparently the CDC , the World Health Organization, and the Biden administration. "They come from God. That's where they come from, and not you, or any government, or any intel person or agency is going to do anything about it," he warned. "You know, I've always said Patrick Henry had it half right: 'Give me liberty or give me death.' Bullshit. Give me liberty or I give you death. That's right. Signed, sealed and ******* delivered. So all I got to say about that. Tread lightly." Far-right commentator who contracted COVID threatens Dr. Fauci: 'Give me liberty or give you death' - Alternet.org

Under current laws, you do not have to be over .08 or .05 to be charged with DWI- all you need do is show behavioural signs of impairment, be in the care and control of a motor vehicle (including a boat) while impaired or refuse to provide a sample. OTC medications, street drugs, prescription meds, fatigue and dehydration as well as emotional or physical distress can render the effects of alcohol debilitative.