https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1341901806771777539?s=20


TRUMP pardons CHARLES KUSHNER, PAUL MANAFORT & ROGER STONE.


https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs/status/1341904800737325057?s=20





https://twitter.com/nytmike/status/1341902038607790080?s=20


BREAKING: Charlie Kushner, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Margaret Hunter, Topeka Sam, James Batmasian, John Boultbee, Peter Atkinson, Mark Shapiro, Irving Stitsky, John Tate, Jesse Benton, Gary Brugman, Mary McCarty, Christopher Wade [w/
@maggieNYT
]

On Tuesday, the White House released a list of people to be appointed by Donald Trump to "key posts" in the administration. Among them is Marcus Bachmann, who runs a Christian counseling clinic in Minnesota that carries out so-called conversion therapy, an unproven and widely rejected practice through which LGBTQ people are told that their orientation or gender is wrong and is something they can and should change.

The American Psychiatric Association has long opposed "conversion therapy" and says it is harmful to LGBTQ people and has "not been scientifically validated." In the United States, 20 states have bans on "conversion therapy" for minors.

Trump chose Bachmann to be a member of the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, an advisory body to the president and the Department of Health and Human Services originally instituted in 1961 by John F. Kennedy. Bachmann is the husband of Michele Bachmann, the far-right former member of Congress and 2012 presidential candidate.

News investigations over the past decade have revealed information about the therapists and "treatment" at Bachmann's clinic, which rebranded itself from Bachmann & Associates to Counseling Care in 2013. The therapists vocally disapprove of queer people and tell them they can learn to be straight if they try hard enough and pray on it.

https://americanindependent.com/donald-trump-appointments-marcus-bachmann-conversion-therapy-lgbtq/

https://twitter.com/ESCochrane/status/1341878694713970689?s=20


Stmt from Rep. Bacon, when asked about these comments > "I stand by what I said. The President’s Secretary of Treasury helped negotiate this bill and encouraged us to support it. Furthermore, the President was updated on this bill every step of the way by GOP Leadership..."






https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1341876865871601664?s=20


GOP official: “The Trump tantrum has nothing to do with check size or spending—he was fully aware of the the negotiations carried out in his behalf by Meadows and Mnuchin and never said a peep. This is about McConnell and Thune acknowledging the inevitable...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Florida forward Keyontae Johnson, who collapsed on the court during a game Dec. 12 at Florida State, has been diagnosed with a heart inflammation that may be related to an earlier infection for COVID-19.

Following the collapse that left Johnson unresponsive, he was transferred last Monday from Tallahassee Memorial to UF Health in Gainesville, where an MRI on his heart led to a diagnosis of acute myocarditis, according to a person with first-hand knowledge. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

Johnson, the SEC preseason player of the year, is expected to be out for a minimum of three months and likely will miss the rest of the 2020-21 season. His parents, Nika and Marrecus Johnson, announced Tuesday he was being released from the hospital and would spend Christmas with them as a family.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/sec/2020/12/22/floridas-keyontae-johnson-heart-acute-myocarditis-covid-19/4019276001/

https://twitter.com/burgessev/status/1339952996835348483?s=21


Dems claiming Toomey blowing up talks

Dem aide: "An agreement was in sight to deliver aid to the American people until Sen. Toomey and Republicans inserted an 11th hour purely political, unrelated provision to tie Biden’s hands and risk throwing the economy into a tailspin ...

https://twitter.com/burgessev/status/1339953263639191556?s=21


"The Toomey provision would be an unprecedented change to the law to strip the Fed chair of one of their most important tools to quickly respond to any future economic crisis."

This is about winding down Fed's emergency lending ... not a great sign right now

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1338951205628899328?s=20


Keyontae Johnson's parents say he is in stable condition, breathing on his own and speaking

They said he even FaceTimed with the team Folded hands

https://twitter.com/seungminkim/status/1338990151121461253?s=20


President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Gina McCarthy, who ran the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama and now leads a major advocacy group, to coordinate the new administration’s domestic climate agenda from a senior perch at the White House.

McCarthy is president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has sued the Trump administration more than 100 times, successfully overturning its attempts to delay energy efficiency rules and protections for threatened species.

McCarthy, 66, who spearheaded the Obama administration’s efforts to curb greenhouse gases from power plants and vehicles, will be responsible for implementing Biden’s plan to weave climate policy throughout the federal government. Ali Zaidi, 33, New York’s deputy secretary for energy and environment, will be her deputy.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/15/gina-mccarthy-climate-change-czar-biden/

Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church is among the large local congregations that received multi-million dollar loans as part of the federal government’s COVID-19 stimulus package.

Lakewood received a $4.4 million loan through the Paycheck Protection Program, a part of the federal CARES Act that provided loans to pay employee wages or for other basic operational costs such as utilities.

The program marked the first time federal lawmakers allowed for direct financial assistance to houses of worship.


Lakewood officials said earlier this year that they had not applied for a loan through the PPP, and the church was not included on the list of recipients released by the Small Business Administration early in the summer. The SBA later reopened the program, and its most recent data shows that Lakewood’s loan was approved in mid-July.


https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/religion/article/Joel-Osteen-s-Lakewood-Church-got-4-4M-in-15800887.php

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338614499981602819?s=20

Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family...


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1338614514493878273?s=20

...Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen, an outstanding person, will become Acting Attorney General. Highly respected Richard Donoghue will be taking over the duties of Deputy Attorney General. Thank you to all!

Florida men's basketball player Keyontae Johnson is in a medically induced coma after collapsing during a game over the weekend, his grandfather, Larry DeJarnett, told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.

DeJarnett said in a phone interview that his grandson was transported to Gainesville, Florida on Monday after receiving his initial treatment in Tallahassee, where he collapsed early in Saturday's game between the Gators and Florida State.

DeJarnett said doctors hoped to bring Johnson out of the coma Monday afternoon.

"They’re just not sure," DeJarnett told USA TODAY Sports. "He may have had activity in the brain, so they induced the coma. They put him on medication to keep him sedated."



https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/sec/2020/12/14/florida-keyontae-johnson-medically-induced-coma-collapse/6545308002/


Here's the post with video the day he collapsed. https://www.democraticunderground.com/100214701462

His grandfather said he wasn't sure if Keyontae had ever had COVID. Members of his team were quarantined and that's all he knows.



Does anybody know what this means "he may have had activity in the brain, so they induced the coma"?