Tracker

Why not? After all, the mass shootings are down lately.

If you are expecting the Tories and/or Pallister to accept responsibility for the pandemic mishandling and avoidable deaths, you will be waiting for a looong time. The usual tactics are to deny, deflect, claim unavoidability and when the crisis is over, to say that its over, so no point in bringing it up again.

Exclusive: Trump-endorsed radio show has promoted ex-CIA agent's call for right-wing rebellion Suppose there were a best-selling author, historian, essayist, public speaker, TV commentator, adviser to Ron Paul, secessionist advocate, Christian nationalist, Vladimir Putin apologist and expert on terrorism who was married to a senior intelligence official. Suppose he were a frequent commentator on an influential radio show with close ties to President Donald Trump, his family and his administration. Suppose this Trump-connected radio show routinely directed its listeners to this person’s blog, on which he wrote that it was “quite near time” for “well-armed citizens who voted for Trump” to “kill those seeking to impose tyranny,” of whom there was a “long and very precise list” that included journalists, activists, pundits, abortion providers, Republican and Democratic elected officials, federal judges, law professors, FBI agents, intelligence officials and Justice Department officials, along with “all who support them.” There is such a man, and such a show, on which he has declared that former President Barack Obama “deserves to be hung.” The broadcast promotes his blog (archived here), where for years, he has advocated the right of, and the approaching “necessity” for, “armed rebellion” by citizens seeking to “end the tyranny of their elected representatives,” and listed people cast as “tyrants” and “expendables” whom Trump voters should prepare to “eliminate” by stockpiling arms and ammunition. Michael Frank Scheuer, 66, of McLean, Virginia, a former CIA intelligence official and the author of four books, is the man. And John Fredericks Radio is the influential, nationally syndicated talk radio show that provides Scheuer a platform as a regular commentator and occasional host. In many ways, the show is a favored voice of Team Trump, as evidenced by its preferential access to Trump family members and White House officials, its payments from the Trump campaign, and “testimonials” from the president and people close to him. So it would appear significant that Scheuer has appeared on the show with increasing frequency for the last four years, including more than 25 times since January 2017. Each time, the show promotes his blog, where his violent rhetoric has been escalating. Exclusive: Trump-endorsed radio show has promoted ex-CIA agent's call for right-wing rebellion | Salon.com

I think so.

As an aside, you may not know that the Actress who played Ellen was living in Winnipeg for a time (and may still be for all I know) and involved with dinner theater. Also, the family had a son who was a total fitness freak- Gym Boy.

It sure as spit looks that way. As even-handed as the law is supposed to be, the American prosecutors have to tread carefully around Trump. He is a public figure with the means to hire the best of lawyers to defend him and a slew of rabid followers. Thus, they will proceed with caution (hence the use of a grand jury) and will file charges when they as certain they have the SOB dead to rights.

If I follow your logic, it makes no sense to have insurance on your house or car. After all, they're OK at the moment, right? Why plan for the eventuality that you might run into trouble? The system was NOT broken before Pallister came to power. There were inefficiencies, and there will always be, both on healthcare and every organization, but the province has been through this slash and burn of healthcare twice now- once with Pallister and under Filmon. The difference was that there was no pandemic for Filmon, but healthcare suffered- just less obviously.

Manhattan DA convenes grand jury for possible criminal charges in Trump case: report Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. has convened a special grand jury to weigh possible criminal charges against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, and its officers or employees, possibly including Trump family members employed by the former president's business, and decide whether or not to indict. "The move indicates that District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.'s investigation of the former president and his business has reached an advanced stage after more than two years," The Washington Post reports, which describes Vance's investigation as "expansive." "It suggests, too, that Vance believes he has found evidence of a crime — if not by Trump then by someone potentially close to him or by his company." Manhattan DA convenes grand jury for possible criminal charges in Trump case: report - Alternet.org Kansas Republican Accused Of Kicking Teen In Testicles Says It Was God’s Plan TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A high school student reported that a Kansas House member working as a substitute teacher manhandled him and kicked him in the testicles during class, and the lawmaker told authorities that God told him to do it, according to a sheriff’s deputy’s written statement. The deputy’s affidavit, released to reporters Tuesday, said the boy showed him a golf ball-sized “road rash” and a 3-to-4 inch scratch on his back that he said appeared after Republican state Rep. Mark Samsel, of Wellsville, pushed him up against a classroom wall on April 28. Samsel, 36, was charged last week with three misdemeanor counts of battery following his “rude, insulting or angry” interactions with two students, ages 15 or 16, during an art class at Wellsville High School. He has pleaded not guilty. Each of the charges is punishable by up to six months in jail. The affidavit said Samsel acknowledged during an interview that he had “demonstrated a kick” after one boy disrupted class. He told the deputy he did not kick the boy and that the student had “embellished the heck out of it.” The boy told the deputy that after Samsel pushed him against the wall and kicked him, “his back and testicles were in pain” for approximately 15 minutes, the affidavit said. “I would just say that all an affidavit is, is a very brief recitation of allegations, and that they’re all allegations at this point,” said Samsel’s attorney, Christopher Scott. “He is innocent unless proven guilty.” Samsel did not answer a phone call, and it was not possible to leave him a message Tuesday. The Wellsville school district has banned Samsel from its property and events for a year. There’s no indication that Samsel might face disciplinary action from the House, which can censure or expel a member, and its top Republican leaders have said the courts “must be allowed to work.” On Monday, Scott asked the magistrate not to release the affidavit, but the judge released a redacted version. The sheriff’s deputy said in the document that he asked the lawmaker why he had put his hands on the boy, and Samsel pointed to the ceiling. When the deputy asked Samsel whether God told him to do so, Samsel answered, “Twice.” “He stated he knew it was wrong and he shouldn’t do it, he stated he did not want to do it,” the affidavit said. “He stated, ‘The whole world is telling me not to do it, God said, Yes.’ Mark believes this was God’s plan.” Kansas Republican Accused Of Kicking Teen In Testicles Says It Was God's Plan | HuffPost

Better once again but still not good enough.

If memory serves, the coaching had gotten so bad that, by mid-game, Dougie 97 was calling the defences.

Wuhan Researchers Were Hospitalized With COVID-19 Symptoms Pre-Pandemic: Reports A month before China reported its first COVID-19 cases in 2019, three researchers at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology fell ill and had to be hospitalized, according to a previously undisclosed U.S. intelligence report The Wall Street Journal cited on Sunday. Sick researchers were previously mentioned in a Jan. 15 U.S. State Department fact sheet that didn’t say they had to be hospitalized. The fact sheet only stated that researchers had fallen sick in November 2019 “with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illness” and that the Chinese Communist Party had prevented them from being interviewed. CNN also later confirmed the intelligence report’s details, citing two people who were reportedly briefed on the intelligence. Wuhan Researchers Were Hospitalized With COVID-19 Symptoms Pre-Pandemic: Reports | HuffPost

And the pastor is Leon Fontaine a former used-car dealer who found a more lucrative pastime.

Basically a blood and guts documentary using every cliche known to directors.

Better but far from good.

An oxymoron like feminine logic and military intelligence.

Much as I dislike Pallister, when he said that the impact of the pandemic would depend on Manitobans, he was right to an extent, but said it poorly. If there are enough covidiots who defy common sense and the law, they will wreak havoc on those of us who are doing it right. Police cannot be everywhere and if religious and community "leaders" voice support for refusing to recognize the pandemic as legitimately serious and/or denying the need for vaccination, we are all going to suffer for the stupidity of a relative few. Send the pastors to jail for the max. Its the only way to make them listen.

Your lips to God's ear. We all live in hope of a better day to come.

All this fond reminiscing about the good old days of the Mack era does make me wonder what the board who chose him was smoking at the time. Mack had to know that he was horribly ill-suited to be GM.

These people who are clogging the ICUs all over the province are also dooming other who have life-threatening health crises such as cardiac events from having access to the ICU care that is required and more of these will die than necessary. You cannot pee in one part of the pool and expect it will remain there.

Gonna make the Crown's job very very easy.

Trump’s Justice Department Secretly Got CNN Reporter’s Phone, Email Records, Network Says The Trump administration secretly obtained the phone and email records of CNN’s Pentagon correspondent, the news network reported Thursday, the latest evidence of the former president’s efforts to target journalists who reported government leaks during his tenure. CNN said Thursday that the Justice Department sought and obtained the records of Barbara Starr for a two-month period between June 1, 2017, and July 31, 2017. The DOJ informed Starr earlier this month that it had targeted her Pentagon extension, the CNN phone booth in the building and her home and cellphones, as well as her personal and professional email accounts. Starr is a veteran journalist who has worked at CNN since 2001. During the time covered as part of the records seizure, Starr had been working on stories about the U.S. military’s options in North Korea and stories about Syria and Afghanistan. She was never the target of an investigation, CNN added. She confirmed the news on Twitter later Thursday. It’s unclear why her phone and email activity were targeted, but The Washington Post later reported that the effort to obtain the records was approved in 2020, citing a Justice Department spokesperson. Trump's Justice Department Secretly Got CNN Reporter’s Phone, Email Records, Network Says | HuffPost

These newly released text messages could spell big trouble for Matt Gaetz The investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) alleged involvement with a minor may be taking a different turn due to the discovery of potentially incriminating text messages sent between the Florida lawmaker and his associate, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg. According to The Daily Beast, the text messages "reveal how people with key information about an alleged underage sex ring were scrambling as the feds closed in—and they bolster the evidence in a growing scandal that could take down the congressman." The conversations are said to have taken place between Greenberg and radio host "Big Joe" Ellicott over the encrypted messaging network, Signal. In their discussion, the two men Ellicott admitted that he was concerned about others in their group facing the possibility of "legal jeopardy for having sex with a 17-year-old girl." Although messages in the app are set to disappear after 30 seconds due to the app's encrypted design, Greenberg screenshotted the conversation which preserved the conversations. The publication notes that Ellicott "wrote that a mutual friend, a woman who figures prominently in Greenberg's Venmo transactions, 'knew [the minor] was underage the whole time, had sex with her, and they both went [to] see other guys.'" The latest report on the incriminating text messages shared between Greenberg and Ellicott comes just one day after Politico reported on a grand jury subpoena that included the radio host's name. These newly released text messages could spell big trouble for Matt Gaetz - Alternet.org Filed on Dec. 28, 2020, the subpoena stated that "the grand jury is investigating alleged crimes 'involving commercial sex acts with adult and minor women, as well as obstruction of justice' and seeks any communications, documents, recordings, and payments the individual had with Ellicott, Gaetz, and Greenberg from January 2016 until now." Since Gaetz is under investigation for his alleged involvement with a minor, there is speculation about the damning text message conversations could impact his case and link him to the underaged girl. Politico reports: "The grand jury subpoena provides new information on who federal investigators are looking into, as well as additional details on the kinds of information authorities, are seeking — documents, video recordings, and communications — as they looked into the Republican lawmaker earlier this year. The subpoena, as well as Greenberg's cooperation with prosecutors, appears to increase the legal peril the congressman is facing."

You are not alone. Somehow the arrival of spring (such as it is at the moment) when we would normally be released from the icy clutches of winter has emphasized how restricted we still are. The selfish behaviours of a relative few has caused this and there is little we the public can do.

Pence and Pompeo headline launch of think tank founded by Korean 'cultist' whose church Says 'Christian era has ended." Mike Pence, the former Trump vice president, and Mike Pompeo, the former Trump secretary of state, headlined an event called the "Rally of Hope" to celebrate the launch of a Korean cultist's alleged "think tank" earlier this month. That event was encapsulated in a just-released propaganda-like video. Hak Ja Han Moon is the head of what was once called the Unification Church, a Christian offshoot "cult" (according to some who say they "escaped" it,) best known for mass weddings and for its founding and ownership of the right wing newspaper The Washington Times. The church, now called the Unification Movement, was founded by her late husband, Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Their acolytes believe the Moons are the Messiahs and the "True Parents" of humanity. "Though American conservatives have long made common cause with the Unification Church," Mother Jones' David Corn reports, "the head of the outfit that pulled together this event declared not too long ago that the 'Christian era has ended' —which means Pence and Pompeo, whose self-professed religious devotion is a prominent part of their respective political profiles, were (knowingly or not) collaborating with and bolstering a group that says it is supplanting the Christianity they embrace." Also speaking were former Trump Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and Trump ally Newt Gingrich. "During his videotaped speech," Corn reports, "Pence claimed that Think Tank 2022 is 'bringing the wisdom of leaders in government, business, religion, civil society' and that thanks to this new endeavor, 'the dream of peaceful cooperation and unity will be closer to reality than ever before.' (Pence spoke at a previous and similar Rally of Hope in March.) Pompeo, who was introduced as a 'devout Christian,' hailed former President Donald Trump's assorted engagements with Kim Jong Un, the tyrannical and murderous leader of North Korea." Pence and Pompeo headline launch of think tank founded by Korean 'cultist' whose church Says 'Christian era has ended’ - Alternet.org

QAnon believers see Trump's mounting legal troubles as part of 'the plan' As Donald Trump's legal problems continue to mount, some would think that his dire straits would be a refutation to the predictions and conspiracy theories disseminated by the QAnon movement, but true to QAnon form, adherents to the movement are saying it's all part of "the plan." As VICE News points out, this claim is popping up on pro-Trump message boards where QAnon adherents are claiming the news is meant to distract from Arizona's audit of votes from the 2020 election and derail Trump's chances at winning in 2024. "Do you think they realize how much MOAR powerful Trump will be after being falsely arrested?" a Telegram user called TruthHammer wrote. "You don't think Trump left office without enough classified dirt on every one of his enemies, do you?" a Patriots.win user called queenicarius wrote. According to VICE, the perceived continuous persecution of Trump is causing some within the QAnon movement to increasingly call for violence. "Honestly if [New York Attorney General Letitia James] ever even seriously tried to put Trump in prison on any bullsh*t I am pretty sure there would be at least a million Patriots marching on that prison and tearing it apart," wrote Patriots.win user EvilGuy. QAnon believers see Trump's mounting legal troubles as part of 'the plan' | Salon.com