October 16, 2020

Florida man charged with setting fire to Planned Parenthood center

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man accused of setting fire to a Planned Parenthood center this past weekend was arrested Wednesday, authorities said.

Everett Little, 20, of Fort Myers, was charged with arson, criminal mischief and using an incendiary device, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

“That act was caught on camera, and through Crime Stoppers, he’s behind bars,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a Facebook post. “Those tips led to an arrest, and we were fortunate that those tips came in.” .............(more)

https://weartv.com/news/local/florida-man-charged-with-setting-fire-to-planned-parenthood-center

October 16, 2020

'It's all fake': Trump's manufacturing jobs promises ring hollow in midwest

(Guardian UK) “Ididn’t back down from my promises – and I’ve kept every single one,” Donald Trump told the Republican national convention in August as he campaigned for a second term. As the election nears, some of America’s hard-hit manufacturing workers are not convinced.

Shannon Mulcahy of Whitestown, Indiana, voted for Trump in the last election. This time his rival Joe Biden will get her vote. For 18 years she worked at the Rexnord steel bearings plant in Indianapolis before it shut down in 2017, moving operations to Mexico. Mulcahy was one of 300 workers who lost their jobs.

Trump publicly criticized the plant’s closure in 2016 and 2017, blaming the decision on the Obama administration and threatening to increase taxes on products made by companies like Rexnord in retaliation for moving jobs abroad. But in 2018 the company cited $55m in savings from US tax reform in the wake of Trump’s tax cuts in December 2017.

Mulcahy said she feels betrayed by the jobs promises Trump made throughout his 2016 election campaign. Since losing her job, Mulcahy has struggled with depression while trying to find other work. She’s managed to find a new job, though it pays significantly lower than what she was making at the plant. ............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/oct/16/manufacturing-jobs-trump-promises-midwest

October 16, 2020

QAnon: a timeline of violence linked to the conspiracy theory

(Guardian UK) The QAnon conspiracy theory has been linked to several violent acts since 2018, with QAnon supporters arrested for threatening politicians, breaking into the residence of the Canadian prime minister, an armed standoff near the Hoover dam, a kidnapping plot and two kidnappings, and at least one murder.

QAnon adherents believe that Donald Trump is trying to save the world from a cabal of satanic pedophiles. The conspiracy theory’s narrative includes centuries-old antisemitic tropes, like the belief that the cabal is harvesting blood from abused children, and it names specific people, including Democratic politicians and Hollywood celebrities, as participants in a global plot. Experts call these extreme, baseless claims “an incitement to violence”.

The conspiracy theory’s claims have put ordinary people at risk. The FBI identified QAnon in 2019 as a potential domestic terror threat and the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point described it as a “novel challenge to public security”.

QAnon supporters believe that there will soon be mass arrests, and members of the cabal will be brought to justice. If supporters of the conspiracy theory begin to lose faith in Trump’s ability to stop the cabal of child abusers, said Travis View, one of the hosts of the QAnon Anonymous podcast, that might inspire them to begin taking more direct violent action themselves. .............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/15/qanon-violence-crimes-timeline

October 16, 2020

Michigan Republican linked to organizer of rally where militia allegedly plotted to kidnap Whitmer

(Salon) Michigan Republican Senate candidate John James received campaign contributions and was photographed with the organizer of the rally where conspirators accused of planning to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allegedly plotted with a militia to recruit more members.

James, along with Vice President Mike Pence, was photographed with Ryan D. Kelley, a Grand Rapids real estate agent who heads the American Patriot Council, in since-deleted social media images reviewed by Salon. President Donald Trump was also pictured with Kelley in a photo posted to his Facebook profile.

Kelley was the organizer of the "Well-Regulated Militia" rally at the Michigan capitol in June. The FBI alleged in court documents that the leader of the group who plotted the attack on Whitmer met with militia leader Ty Garbin and a confidential source at the rally to discuss a plan and recruit more members.

Federal Election Commission records also show that Kelley has donated thousands to James' campaign. James, who lost his 2018 Senate bid, is virtually tied with incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., in the latest New York Times/Siena College poll. ...........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/16/michigan-republican-linked-to-organizer-of-rally-where-militia-allegedly-plotted-to-kidnap-whitmer/

October 16, 2020

Don't let Trump's GOP enablers off the hook: Denouncing him now is taking the easy way out

Don't let Trump's GOP enablers off the hook: Denouncing him now is taking the easy way out
A wave of Republicans like Ben Sasse will claim they never supported Trump. Don't let them get away with it

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
OCTOBER 16, 2020 1:58PM


(Salon) It was inevitable that many Republican officials would abandon Donald Trump once it became obvious that he might lose. Rats can always be expected to desert a sinking ship, of course, but establishment Republicans have a longstanding habit of unswerving loyalty to their leaders when they are in power and then rejecting them the minute they lose popularity, often while complaining that they failed because they weren't conservative enough.

Recall that at the end of the George W. Bush administration, as the Iraq war wore on and the economy faltered, the president's approval rating dropped to the high 20s. It was quite a comedown for a president who had once ridden high at 90% in the wake of 9/11 and was heralded as the reincarnation of Winston Churchill by many in the news media. Today he is something of a GOP cipher and his father, a one-termer, even more so.

Ronald Reagan, of course, was a revered conservative figure for many years, but that was mostly the result of a group of so-called "Reagan Revolutionaries" led by anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist who were disturbed by Reagan's low ratings after his term was up and made a concerted effort to turn it around with initiatives such as the "Reagan Legacy Project" which set out to put a Ronald Reagan memorial in every county in the United States.

But for the most part, the reason Republicans are quick to abandon their presidents is because they most often leave office in ignominy and failure. Think about it: Hoover, Nixon, Ford, Bush and Bush. Really, in the last century all they have as political heroes are Eisenhower and Reagan, and the latter took a full-blown campaign to turn him into an icon. And needless to say, despite his belief that he belongs on Mt. Rushmore, I think we know which group President Trump will be joining. In fact, he is in a class all of his own. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/16/dont-let-trumps-gop-enablers-off-the-hook-denouncing-him-now-is-taking-the-easy-way-out/

October 16, 2020

Ernst was once a rising star in the GOP. Her support for Trump may get her voted out after one term

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) seems headed toward a re-election loss after just one term in the U.S. Senate.

The Iowa Republican became a rising star after her nine-point election win in 2014, but Ernst is now trailing Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield by about five points in recent polls, reported Vox.

"She's had six years, and she's forgotten Iowans," said Greenfield. "She has sold out Iowans for her big corporate donors."

Iowa voters seem to agree, saying that Ernst hasn't done enough for her home state in Congress, and her support for President Donald Trump's agenda has turned off voters in the state's growing suburbs.

"Suburban women have said, 'To hell with this' and voted up and down the ticket for us," said one Democratic strategist. "We've also picked up some men outside of suburbia who wanted to see a federal check on Trump. I think that's part of the trend we're seeing in the Senate race." .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/10/16/ernst-was-once-a-rising-star-in-the-gop-her-support-for-trump-may-get-her-voted-out-after-one-term_partner/

October 16, 2020

I haven't seem much of the Barrett confirmation hearings, but it seems that DiFi....

.... is under attack from progressive legal groups for undercutting fellow Democrats and asking softball questions.
Has anyone noticed that to be the case?

October 15, 2020

A buttload of cash

BRASILIA, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Chico Rodrigues was caught in a police raid with money hidden between his butt cheeks on Wednesday, a judicial source briefed on the matter told Reuters, amid an investigation into the misuse of COVID-19 response funding.

In the senate, Rodrigues represents the state of Roraima and has also been chosen as deputy leader for the agenda of the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, who won the presidency campaigning heavily on ending the corruption of previous governments.

Rodrigues confirmed in a statement that his house was raided, without giving details. He denied wrongdoing and said he had been clean throughout his 30 years in politics.

His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cash allegedly found down his pants, an incident that was widely reported in major Brazilian newspapers, citing unnamed sources. ...........(more)

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chico-rodrigues-cash-butt-cheeks-brazil_n_5f887603c5b681f7da1f9093?

October 15, 2020

US tennis: Sam Querrey faces backlash after family flees Russia in private jet following covid diagn

American tennis player Sam Querrey has fled Russia in a private jet with his wife and son after they all tested positive for the coronavirus and were placed in isolation by government authorities.

Mr Querrey was in St Petersburg for the St Petersburg Open, but he, his wife, and eight-month-old son tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, just one day before the main draw play started. When they arrived in the country four days prior, they all tested negative.

After testing positive, the tennis player and his family were asked to isolate together in a hotel room.

Doctors then attempted to examine the family on Monday but Mr Querrey did not open the door for them, saying his baby son was sleeping, the St Petersburg Open wrote in a statement. He and his family then left the hotel prior to the second scheduled examination on Tuesday. ...........(more)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sam-querrey-coronavirus-positive-russia-st-petersburg-open-private-jet-b1049334.html

October 15, 2020

Earth's New Gilded Era

(The Atlantic) Consider the cantaloupe. It’s a decent melon. If you, like me, are the sort who constantly mixes them up, cantaloupes are the orange ones, and honeydews are green. If you, like me, are old enough to remember vacations, you might have had them along with their cousin, watermelon, at a hotel’s breakfast buffet. Those spreads are not as bad as you remember, especially when it’s hot out; add a couple of cold bagels and a pat of unmelted butter and it’s a party.

Maybe you want the cool, refreshing mildness of a melon cup at home. Unless there’s a good fruit stand nearby and cantaloupe is in season, that means taking a trip to the grocery store. Maybe you’ll stroll down aisles kept just cool enough to make the skin on your arms prickle. You’ll browse refrigerated produce shelves doused in cold water every so often. Then you’ll find it: the perfect cantaloupe. It’s round and rough, with no dimples or spots. When you thump it, there’s a satisfying, muffled thud. It’s a sweet one.

Consider how the cantaloupe got there. It likely took a long ride to the supermarket or the hotel kitchen in a truck cooled to just above freezing. Maybe, like many melons, it was planted, picked, and packed on a plantation in the town of Choluteca, in southern Honduras, before it began its careful ballet of climate control.

Workers told me they aren’t allowed phones in the fields in Choluteca, so they don’t always know exactly how hot it is. But during the growing season on the Fyffes melon plantation, temperatures hover in the mid-30s in Celsius—the mid-to-upper 90s in Fahrenheit. The sun broils the open spaces where workers chop the melons from their stems. The heat is overwhelming and omnipresent, an overseer whose hand is always heavy, and whose eye is never distracted.

....(snip)....

Scientists and people with good sense around the world recognize the manifold perils of a climate crisis: an onslaught of tropical systems in the Atlantic Ocean, the relentless burn of wildfires in California and Oregon, the hundred-year floods that now encroach annually. Less appreciated, perhaps, are the direct effects of that increasing warmth on human bodies and communities. Heat is already often deadly, and even below fatal thresholds it is a grinding attrition that saps personal and economic vitality a little more each day. In the coming century, when wealth inequality will likely increase and the spaces where humans can live comfortably will shrink, the heat gap between rich and poor might be the world’s most daunting challenge. It will reflect existing wealth disparities, but will also deepen them. It will destroy some bodies, while others are spared. It will spark uprisings and set the stage for conflict, both between and within nations. In a hot world, the heat gap will be a defining manifestation of inequality. ..............(more)

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/10/heat-human-rights-issue-21st-century/616693/