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Created
Wed, 08/11/2023 - 02:30
Prosecutors: Trump “stands alone in history” Famous? Infamous? What’s the difference? So long as Donald Trump can wiggle out of accountability yet again, this time for conspiracy to overthrow the 2020 presidential election. His attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the federal charges brought against him over events leading to the Jan. 6 insurrection. Law & Crime: Urging a federal judge to disregard Donald Trump‘s latest attempt to cast off his indictment in Washington, D.C., for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, prosecutors at the special counsel’s office argue Trump’s criminality “stands alone” in history and that even if he genuinely believed the 2020 election was stolen, he still used “fraud and deceit” as a means to achieve illicit ends. In his 79-page motion filed Monday, Jack Smith challenges Trump’s attempts to rewrite history and recast himself as victim. What he did leading up to Jan.
Created
Wed, 08/11/2023 - 01:35

Perhaps you’ve heard of “Makin’ Thunderbirds,” a hard-bitten rock & roll song by Bob Seger that I listened to 30 years ago while in college. It’s about auto workers back in 1955 who were “young and proud” to be making Ford Thunderbirds. But in the early 1980s, Seger sings, “the plants have changed and you’re lucky if you work.” Seger caught the reality of an American manufacturing infrastructure that was seriously eroding as skilled and good-paying union jobs were cut or sent overseas, rarely to be seen again in these parts. If the U.S. auto industry has recently shown sparks of new life (though we’re not making T-Birds or Mercuries or Oldsmobiles or Pontiacs or Saturns anymore), there is one... Read more

Source: Weapons ‘R’ Us appeared first on TomDispatch.com.

Created
Wed, 08/11/2023 - 01:00
If you’re ineligible to run for president…. If Donald Trump wants admission to the dictators’ club with Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán and Kim Jong Un, he’ll have to prove himself worthy. That’s his plan. You laugh? Just you wait. Right now he’s busy being prosecuted. The former and would-be president’s antics on the witness stand Monday in his Manhattan financial fraud trial were as Michael Cohen predicted. Question his net worth and he’ll lose it. Trump was so fixated on maintaining his Richie Rich image that according to press accounts he never once mentioned the 2020 election being stolen from him. It’s that important to him. Trump rambled. He blustered. He bragged. He insulted the judge and New York Attorney General Letitia James. New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron multiple times urged Trump’s attorneys to get their client under control. It was as useless as expecting a fussy two-year-old to behave in a fancy restaurant. Former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks said of Trump’s courtroom misbehavior, “This is why we need cameras in the courtroom.
Created
Wed, 08/11/2023 - 00:40

Israel is losing the information war. But that is not because they aren't trying. MintPress' Alan MacLeod breaks down how the government of Israel has spent millions of dollars on targeted ads aimed at Westerners, all in an attempt to whitewash a genocide.

The post Behind Israel’s Propaganda Campaign, with Alan Macleod appeared first on MintPress News.

Created
Wed, 08/11/2023 - 00:00

Q: I’ve just learned I have COVID. Should I—

A: Wait. Are you over seventy, and/or are you functioning without an immune system, and/or did you actually listen when we told you to get a booster?

Q: Uh, no, no, and yes.

A: Ah, you’re one of the boring COVID cases then. Go ahead. Ask your questions.

Q: Basically, is there anything I need to do now that I know I have COVID?

A: You should stay home. Unless you don’t have symptoms. If you don’t, you can go out. Or you can stay home then too. Either or.

Q: Should I mask?

A: Yes?

Q: You don’t sound super sure about that.

A: If you want to mask, mask.

Q: Are you guys masking?

A: No. Well, except Linda in phlebotomy.

Q: Have any of you had COVID?

A: Yes. Dozens of times. Linda missed three consecutive months of work in 2020. It was bonkers.

Q: Okay, so I guess I’ll mask. Do I need to stay home from work?

A: Can you work from home?

Q: No, I’m a teacher.

A: Oh, thank you. Our future is literally in your hands.

Created
Tue, 07/11/2023 - 23:54
Open Rights Group has responded to the proposed amendments to the Investigatory Powers Act, announced in the King’s Speech today. The amendments could mean that global tech companies are forced to get permission from the UK government if they want to make changes to security features of their products and services. This is likely to […]
Created
Tue, 07/11/2023 - 23:46
Introduction ORG would like to express concern regarding the proposed changes, which seem to be squarely aimed at reducing the possibility of the introduction of encryption to protect user data from unwanted access. The Home Office appears to regard encryption, especially “end to end encryption” (E2EE), where a service provider is unable to see the […]
Created
Tue, 07/11/2023 - 18:28

The Grayzone has obtained a letter signed by former President Trump’s fanatically pro-settler ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and sent to New York University leadership demanding the school crack down on free speech to satisfy Israeli interests. A letter sent to NYU leadership claims the school is “no longer a safe space for Jewish students” while demanding policies that would shatter free speech on campus. The letter was signed by David Friedman, Trump’s rabidly pro-settlement ambassador to Israel, as well […]

The post Leak shows ex-Trump ambassador to Israel threatening NYU over Palestine protests first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post Leak shows ex-Trump ambassador to Israel threatening NYU over Palestine protests appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Tue, 07/11/2023 - 15:27
Hate, Anger, Contempt And Our Leadership

Yesterday I wrote a very angry article about the genocide Israel is committing in Gaza, with the full aid and complicity of most Western nations, including the US and my own country, Canada.

As I noted in comments, it’s the angriest I’ve been since 2015 when Syriza crumbled to European austerity. The day that happened I was furious. I wrote an angry post and went for a walk, still boiling with anger. About half an hour later I thought “this is ridiculous, it isn’t helping the Greeks and I don’t like it” and the anger went away.

It was odd, in the sense that we often have thoughts and feelings we don’t like, but usually they don’t go away just because think “I’d rather not feel this way.”