There's battle lines being drawn.
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.
Young people speaking their minds
getting so much resistance from behind

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Linkee-poo Tuesday

"Nuclear power is the Immovable Object of generation sources. It can take days just to bring a nuclear plant completely online, rendering it useless as a tool to manage the fluctuations in the supply and demand on a modern energy grid." There's still no viable solution for spent reactor cores or radioactive coolant (in this case, liquified salt).

"Glacial lakes have grown rapidly around the world in recent decades, according to satellite images that reveal the impact of increased meltwater draining off retreating glaciers." We're boned.

"Twitter on Sunday removed a tweet shared by President Trump that contained false information about coronavirus statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the company saying it violated its rules."

"Over the weekend, President Donald Trump shared two posts that falsely claimed COVID-19 deaths are not as high as previously thought… The tweets misconstrue federal data on COVID-19 victims."

"Europe can live with COVID-19 without a vaccine by managing outbreaks with localised lockdowns, the World Health Organization's director for the region said, adding he did not expect a return to full national-level restrictions." So you have to ask, just what are they preparing us for? (Hint, if people are getting re-infected a vaccine won't work.)

"President Trump on Monday declined to condemn the actions of the 17-year-old suspect in the shooting of three protesters against police brutality in Kenosha, Wis., claiming, without evidence, that it appeared the gunman was acting in self-defense." Any normal person could condemn Rittenhouse.

"In a highly contentious interview on CNN Sunday morning, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) repeatedly refused to condemn Kyle Rittenhouse, the Donald Trump fan accused of shooting and killing two Black Lives Matter protestors early this week." Also note the video the president is referring to was filmed after Rittenhouse killed one person.

"President Donald Trump is slated to visit Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, going against the wishes of officials requesting he stay away from the city, which is still coping from the recent shooting of an unarmed Black man by law enforcement and subsequent demonstrations that have turned deadly." This is called "throwing gasoline on the fire."

"President Trump said Monday that he is not planning to meet with members of Jacob Blake’s family while in Kenosha, Wis., because they wanted to have 'lawyers involved,' which he called 'inappropriate.'… '“I spoke with the pastor, wonderful man, the family’s pastor. I thought it would be better not to do anything where there are lawyers involved,' Trump told reporters Monday when asked why he wasn’t planning to meet with the Blake family during his trip to Wisconsin on Tuesday."

"Fox News host Laura Ingraham appeared to cut off President Donald Trump during an interview in which he compared police officers accused of brutality with missing a golf putt."

"A supporter of a right-wing group who was shot dead on a Portland, Oregon, street was mourned by both friends and President Donald Trump as a victim of mob violence while an online fundraising effort raised tens of thousands of dollars in his memory… Just hours before he was shot in the chest Saturday night, 39-year-old Aaron 'Jay' Danielson and a friend were seen heading downtown to protect a flag-waving caravan of Trump supporters. They wore hats with the insignia of Patriot Prayer, a group that has clashed with left-wing protesters in Portland for years, and appeared armed with knives and paintball guns." Let me be clear, shooting people with paintballs when not involved in the sport involving paintballs, is an act of violence and is meant as a stand in for bullets. Also, as the person being shot with a paintball, how am I supposed to know it's not a real gun they raised?

Meanwhile, on Bullshit Mountain… "Patriot Prayer founder on shooting death of supporter in Portland: He 'would never hurt anybody and no one should have ever hurt him'."

"McDonald’s Corp has been sued by 52 Black former franchise owners who accused the fast-food giant of racial discrimination by steering them to depressed, crime-ridden neighborhoods and setting them up for failure."

"Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby to temporarily assume the powers of the presidency during President Donald Trump's unannounced visit to Walter Reed hospital in November 2019, according to a copy of New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt's forthcoming book obtained by CNN… Schmidt does not specify the sourcing for this reporting beyond 'I learned.'"

"Without question, stimulus negotiations have slowed down and become more acrimonious with the emergence of White House chief of staff and former House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows joining Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as chief co-negotiator for the administration (which, in turn, is representing congressional Republicans). Perhaps it’s a coincidence that Meadows’s arrival coincides with this stagnation, but most people familiar with his history don’t think so, the Hill reports…" They have no intent to govern.

"Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is set to testify Tuesday before the House subcommittee investigating the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic amid an impasse over a new stimulus package to address the economic and public health fallout from the pandemic."

"In one of the most revealing 24 hours of the general election and the sprint to Election Day, one presidential nominee condemned violence and destruction from all sides of the political spectrum… The other presidential nominee seemed to defend violence from the right."

"Scalise joined Fox & Friends on Monday morning, which comes a day after Twitter flagged him for pushing a 'manipulated' video that falsely insinuates Biden supports calls to defund the police. Scalise’s video did this by deceptively altering the words of Ady Barkan, an activist nearly paralyzed by ALS, who demanded an apology from Scalise for impersonating his computerized voice and distorting his comments."

"Current and former national security officials are raising concerns over Attorney General William Barr's recent decision to remove the head of a Justice Department office that helps ensure federal counterterrorism and counterintelligence activities are legal – and replace him with a political appointee with relatively limited experience." You know, like you'd do if you were hoping to obfuscate foreign interference.

"A divided federal appeals court panel dealt a severe blow to the U.S. House of Representatives’ investigative power Monday, ruling that the House can’t go to court to enforce subpoenas because there is no statute giving that chamber the authority to do so… The 2-1 ruling marked the second time a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel essentially voided a subpoena the House issued last year to Donald McGahn demanding the former White House counsel testify about his dealings with President Donald Trump related to the investigation into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia." Expect the appeal.

"A federal appeals court ruled Monday against Michael Flynn and the Justice Department in their request to quickly shut down his criminal case… The 8-2 decision restores power to a judge to question the Justice Department's moves in the politically divisive case, when Attorney General William Barr dropped charges against President Donald Trump's former national security adviser earlier this year despite twice pleading guilty to lying under oath to lying to the FBI."

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