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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
June 29, 2020
Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump over drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani
By Nada AlTaher, Sam Kiley and Tara John, CNN
Updated 1444 GMT (2244 HKT) June 29, 2020
(CNN)Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.
Trump is one of 36 people Iran has issued arrest warrants for in relation to the death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Fars, but the Tehran attorney general Ali Alqasi Mehr said Trump was at the top of the list.
Mehr claimed Trump would be prosecuted as soon as he stands down presidency after his term ends, Fars reported.
Iran also said it had asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice for these 36 individuals, semi-official state news agency ISNA reported, though it was unlikely that Interpol would grant the request.
In a statement to CNN, Interpol said it "would not consider requests of this nature." It explained that it was not in accordance with its rules and constitution, which states "it is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character."
more...
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/29/middleeast/iran-arrest-warrant-donald-trump-intl/index.html
Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump over drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani
Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump over drone strike that killed Qasem Soleimani
By Nada AlTaher, Sam Kiley and Tara John, CNN
Updated 1444 GMT (2244 HKT) June 29, 2020
(CNN)Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump over the drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in January, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday.
Trump is one of 36 people Iran has issued arrest warrants for in relation to the death of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), according to Fars, but the Tehran attorney general Ali Alqasi Mehr said Trump was at the top of the list.
Mehr claimed Trump would be prosecuted as soon as he stands down presidency after his term ends, Fars reported.
Iran also said it had asked Interpol to issue a Red Notice for these 36 individuals, semi-official state news agency ISNA reported, though it was unlikely that Interpol would grant the request.
In a statement to CNN, Interpol said it "would not consider requests of this nature." It explained that it was not in accordance with its rules and constitution, which states "it is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character."
more...
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/29/middleeast/iran-arrest-warrant-donald-trump-intl/index.html
June 29, 2020
Sun Belt Time Bomb Threatens Trump’s Re-Election
June 29, 2020 at 6:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Sun Belt Time Bomb Threatens Trump's Re-Election
https://politicalwire.com/2020/06/29/sun-belt-time-bomb-threatens-trumps-re-election/Sun Belt Time Bomb Threatens Trump’s Re-Election
June 29, 2020 at 6:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
“The explosion of Covid-19 cases in Sun Belt states is becoming another albatross for President Donald Trump’s reelection hopes — and creating a new opening for Joe Biden and Democrats in November,” Politico reports.
“Republican governors in Florida, Arizona and Texas followed Trump’s lead by quickly reopening their states while taking a lax approach to social distancing and mask-wearing. Now each of them is seeing skyrocketing coronavirus caseloads and rising hospitalizations, and Republican leaders are in retreat.”
“It’s hard to overstate the gravity of the situation for Trump: Lose any one of the three states, and his reelection is all but doomed. Liberal outside groups and the Biden campaign have launched digital and TV ads in Florida, Arizona and Texas hitting Trump for allowing a second wave of coronavirus. The developments have buttressed Biden’s main argument against Trump: that he’s incapable of bringing stability or healing in a time of crisis.”
“Republican governors in Florida, Arizona and Texas followed Trump’s lead by quickly reopening their states while taking a lax approach to social distancing and mask-wearing. Now each of them is seeing skyrocketing coronavirus caseloads and rising hospitalizations, and Republican leaders are in retreat.”
“It’s hard to overstate the gravity of the situation for Trump: Lose any one of the three states, and his reelection is all but doomed. Liberal outside groups and the Biden campaign have launched digital and TV ads in Florida, Arizona and Texas hitting Trump for allowing a second wave of coronavirus. The developments have buttressed Biden’s main argument against Trump: that he’s incapable of bringing stability or healing in a time of crisis.”
June 29, 2020
Quote of the Day
June 29, 2020 at 6:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments
"I can't believe it. I am so emotional, Medgar's wings must be clapping."
https://politicalwire.com/2020/06/29/quote-of-the-day-2604/Quote of the Day
June 29, 2020 at 6:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments
“I can’t believe it. I am so emotional, Medgar’s wings must be clapping.”
— Myrlie Evers, widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, quoted by MCIR, after the Mississippi legislature voted to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag.
— Myrlie Evers, widow of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, quoted by MCIR, after the Mississippi legislature voted to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag.
June 28, 2020
Super-Spreading Churches Are Next Problem
June 28, 2020 at 7:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Super-Spreading Churches Are Next Problem
https://politicalwire.com/2020/06/28/super-spreading-churches-are-next-problem/Super-Spreading Churches Are Next Problem
June 28, 2020 at 7:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
“One month after President Trump ordered the nation’s governors to immediately reopen churches, his administration is facing a difficult dilemma,” Politico reports.
“Clusters of Covid-19 cases are surfacing in counties across the U.S. where in-person religious services have resumed, triggering questions about whether his administration should reassess its campaign to treat houses of worship the same as other essential businesses, or leave them alone and risk additional transmission of the deadly coronavirus — including in communities that are largely supportive of the president.”
“Clusters of Covid-19 cases are surfacing in counties across the U.S. where in-person religious services have resumed, triggering questions about whether his administration should reassess its campaign to treat houses of worship the same as other essential businesses, or leave them alone and risk additional transmission of the deadly coronavirus — including in communities that are largely supportive of the president.”
June 28, 2020
snip//
Yes, but: Some congressional Republicans have continued to push back on face coverings, with lawmakers including Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mark Green (R-Tenn.) seen without masks in recent weeks.
Congressional Republicans push to wear masks amid coronavirus cases spike
omg, they need protecting but many of their constituents don't? 
https://www.axios.com/congress-republicans-mask-coronavirus-cases-surge-f4df2909-51f1-4169-9742-e2333b885a77.html
Congressional Republicans push to wear masks amid coronavirus cases spike
Rebecca Falconer
More congressional Republicans are advocating for face coverings and rigorous testing for the novel coronavirus, per the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: Cases are surging in several Republican-led states, notably in Florida, Arizona and Texas, and scientific evidence shows face coverings can help control the spread of COVID-19.
But President Trump told Axios last week masks are "a double-edged sword." He's called testing "overrated" and said Tuesday he stands by comments he made at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last weekend that he told officials to "slow the testing down," adding: "I don't kid."
snip//
Yes, but: Some congressional Republicans have continued to push back on face coverings, with lawmakers including Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mark Green (R-Tenn.) seen without masks in recent weeks.
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), a physicians said Friday he could "cite many other professionals" who do not recommend masks, per Yahoo News
The Hill reports that House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), chair of the select committee overseeing the federal response to the pandemic, said Friday to Scalise, the panel's ranking Republican: "If you wish to continue having these meetings in person, you're going to have to adhere to the attending physician [guidance to wear masks] or I will not have the meetings in person."
The Hill reports that House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), chair of the select committee overseeing the federal response to the pandemic, said Friday to Scalise, the panel's ranking Republican: "If you wish to continue having these meetings in person, you're going to have to adhere to the attending physician [guidance to wear masks] or I will not have the meetings in person."
June 27, 2020
Trump’s reality TV presidency is being crushed by reality
Trump is falling in the polls because he’s failing the country.
By Ezra Klein@ezraklein Jun 26, 2020, 8:00am EDT
snip//
Trump has spent the past three years and 158 days playing president on TV and social media. But he has not spent that time doing the job of the president. A strong economy that carried over from Barack Obama’s presidency hid Trump’s dereliction of duties. But then a crisis came, and presidential leadership was needed, and the American people saw there was no plan, and functionally no president.
Every insider account of Trump’s presidency — from Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury to Bob Woodward’s Fear to Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker’s A Very Stable Genius to Anonymous’s A Warning to Omarosa Manigault Newman’s Unhinged to John Bolton’s The Room Where It Happened — has painted fundamentally the same picture: a chaotic, lawless administration orbiting around a reckless, distractible, corrupt, overmatched, and disinterested chief executive.
snip//
Both Trump and congressional Republicans are treating the condition of the country as something that has been done to them. In part, this is simply an extension of a strategy that showed some chance of working six months ago: Ride the economic expansion that began under Obama to victory in 2020. It wasn’t clear it would be enough — Trump trailed Biden then, too — but it was plausible.
Then, however, the tide turned, and so the posture of taking credit became a reality of absorbing blame. That a serious, determined approach to governance could have won public support — as has proven true for Republican and Democratic governors alike — seems not to have dawned on Trump. For all his strongman pretensions, he and his national allies are afflicted by a passivity that’s proving lethal, for both their constituents and their careers.
“How can you be a governing party if one of your principles is being against government?” asks Stevens. “It’s that line of Ronald Reagan’s: The most dangerous words are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ This was a time we needed the federal government to save people’s lives, and it just imploded.”
This is the problem Trump faces in 2020, and it will not be solved by tweets or Facebook strategy. He is falling in the polls because he is failing the country.
Ezra Klein: Trump's reality TV presidency is being crushed by reality
https://www.vox.com/2020/6/26/21303547/donald-trump-2020-polls-coronavirus-biden-reelection-losingTrump’s reality TV presidency is being crushed by reality
Trump is falling in the polls because he’s failing the country.
By Ezra Klein@ezraklein Jun 26, 2020, 8:00am EDT
snip//
Trump has spent the past three years and 158 days playing president on TV and social media. But he has not spent that time doing the job of the president. A strong economy that carried over from Barack Obama’s presidency hid Trump’s dereliction of duties. But then a crisis came, and presidential leadership was needed, and the American people saw there was no plan, and functionally no president.
Every insider account of Trump’s presidency — from Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury to Bob Woodward’s Fear to Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker’s A Very Stable Genius to Anonymous’s A Warning to Omarosa Manigault Newman’s Unhinged to John Bolton’s The Room Where It Happened — has painted fundamentally the same picture: a chaotic, lawless administration orbiting around a reckless, distractible, corrupt, overmatched, and disinterested chief executive.
snip//
Both Trump and congressional Republicans are treating the condition of the country as something that has been done to them. In part, this is simply an extension of a strategy that showed some chance of working six months ago: Ride the economic expansion that began under Obama to victory in 2020. It wasn’t clear it would be enough — Trump trailed Biden then, too — but it was plausible.
Then, however, the tide turned, and so the posture of taking credit became a reality of absorbing blame. That a serious, determined approach to governance could have won public support — as has proven true for Republican and Democratic governors alike — seems not to have dawned on Trump. For all his strongman pretensions, he and his national allies are afflicted by a passivity that’s proving lethal, for both their constituents and their careers.
“How can you be a governing party if one of your principles is being against government?” asks Stevens. “It’s that line of Ronald Reagan’s: The most dangerous words are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ This was a time we needed the federal government to save people’s lives, and it just imploded.”
This is the problem Trump faces in 2020, and it will not be solved by tweets or Facebook strategy. He is falling in the polls because he is failing the country.
June 27, 2020
Furloughed from her job, she's now the 'Lasagna Lady' who cooks free meals for first responders and friends
By Gabriel Kinder, CNN
Updated 8:07 AM ET, Fri June 26, 2020
(CNN)When Michelle Brenner lost her job because of the pandemic, she decided to use her extra time and a family lasagna recipe to create a free food movement in her Washington community.
So far, she has made more than 1,275 pans of lasagna for friends, neighbors, first responders, and anyone in need of a good fresh meal -- without charging anyone.
For Brenner, this is a labor of love, and she has no plans to stop.
"I knew it was my time in my life to give back to the people who paved life's path for me to have the 45 years of life that I've had," she told CNN.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/us/coronavirus-lasagna-lady-food-donations-trnd/index.html
Furloughed from her job, she's now the 'Lasagna Lady' who cooks free meals for first responders...
Furloughed from her job, she's now the 'Lasagna Lady' who cooks free meals for first responders and friends
By Gabriel Kinder, CNN
Updated 8:07 AM ET, Fri June 26, 2020
(CNN)When Michelle Brenner lost her job because of the pandemic, she decided to use her extra time and a family lasagna recipe to create a free food movement in her Washington community.
So far, she has made more than 1,275 pans of lasagna for friends, neighbors, first responders, and anyone in need of a good fresh meal -- without charging anyone.
For Brenner, this is a labor of love, and she has no plans to stop.
"I knew it was my time in my life to give back to the people who paved life's path for me to have the 45 years of life that I've had," she told CNN.
more...
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/us/coronavirus-lasagna-lady-food-donations-trnd/index.html
June 27, 2020
A Company Run by a White House “Volunteer” With No Experience in Medical Supplies Got $2.4 Million From the Feds for Medical Supplies
A $2.4 million deal to supply the Bureau of Prisons with surgical gowns was the second multimillion dollar contract for coronavirus supplies that went to somebody who did work for the White House but had little relevant experience.
by Derek Willis and Yeganeh Torbati June 26, 6 a.m. EDT
A company created by a former Pentagon official who describes himself as a White House volunteer for Vice President Mike Pence won a $2.4 million dollar contract in May — its first federal award — to supply the Bureau of Prisons with surgical gowns.
Mathew J. Konkler, who worked in the Department of Defense during the George W. Bush administration, formed BlackPoint Distribution Company LLC in August 2019 in Indiana, state records show, but had won no federal work until May 26. The Bureau of Prisons chose the company with limited competition for a contract to supply surgical gowns to its facilities.
It is at least the second contract awarded to a company formed by an individual who had worked in or volunteered for the Trump administration; a company formed by Zach Fuentes, a former White House deputy chief of staff, won a $3 million contract just days after forming to supply face masks to the Indian Health Service. The masks did not meet FDA standards for use in health care settings, and an IHS spokesman said this week that the agency is trying to return the masks to Fuentes. Members of Congress called for investigations into the contract, and the Government Accountability Office now plans to review the deal “in the coming few months, as staff become available,” spokesman Charles Young said last week.
A lawyer for Fuentes’ company said the firm fulfilled all of its obligations to IHS under the contract.
BlackPoint Distribution’s website does not mention Konkler but describes its work as “locating, verifying and successfully delivering vital products and equipment in the midst of extremely challenging environments.” The domain name was registered on April 9, 2020. In its incorporation documents, Konkler is listed as the CEO of BlackPoint Distribution. The only contact information on the site is a web form and an email address. Emails sent to it were returned as undeliverable, and Konkler did not return multiple phone calls and messages seeking comment.
On the website for BlackPoint Creative LLC, another Indiana firm where Konkler serves as managing partner, his bio says that “since 2018, Mr. Konkler has also served as a volunteer at the White House on the staff of the Vice President, Michael R. Pence.”
more...
https://www.propublica.org/article/a-company-run-by-a-white-house-volunteer-with-no-experience-in-medical-supplies-got-2.4-million-from-the-feds-for-medical-supplies
Company Run by WH "Volunteer"... Got $2.4 Million From the Feds for Medical Supplies
https://www.propublica.org/article/a-company-run-by-a-white-house-volunteer-with-no-experience-in-medical-supplies-got-2.4-million-from-the-feds-for-medical-suppliesA Company Run by a White House “Volunteer” With No Experience in Medical Supplies Got $2.4 Million From the Feds for Medical Supplies
A $2.4 million deal to supply the Bureau of Prisons with surgical gowns was the second multimillion dollar contract for coronavirus supplies that went to somebody who did work for the White House but had little relevant experience.
by Derek Willis and Yeganeh Torbati June 26, 6 a.m. EDT
A company created by a former Pentagon official who describes himself as a White House volunteer for Vice President Mike Pence won a $2.4 million dollar contract in May — its first federal award — to supply the Bureau of Prisons with surgical gowns.
Mathew J. Konkler, who worked in the Department of Defense during the George W. Bush administration, formed BlackPoint Distribution Company LLC in August 2019 in Indiana, state records show, but had won no federal work until May 26. The Bureau of Prisons chose the company with limited competition for a contract to supply surgical gowns to its facilities.
It is at least the second contract awarded to a company formed by an individual who had worked in or volunteered for the Trump administration; a company formed by Zach Fuentes, a former White House deputy chief of staff, won a $3 million contract just days after forming to supply face masks to the Indian Health Service. The masks did not meet FDA standards for use in health care settings, and an IHS spokesman said this week that the agency is trying to return the masks to Fuentes. Members of Congress called for investigations into the contract, and the Government Accountability Office now plans to review the deal “in the coming few months, as staff become available,” spokesman Charles Young said last week.
A lawyer for Fuentes’ company said the firm fulfilled all of its obligations to IHS under the contract.
BlackPoint Distribution’s website does not mention Konkler but describes its work as “locating, verifying and successfully delivering vital products and equipment in the midst of extremely challenging environments.” The domain name was registered on April 9, 2020. In its incorporation documents, Konkler is listed as the CEO of BlackPoint Distribution. The only contact information on the site is a web form and an email address. Emails sent to it were returned as undeliverable, and Konkler did not return multiple phone calls and messages seeking comment.
On the website for BlackPoint Creative LLC, another Indiana firm where Konkler serves as managing partner, his bio says that “since 2018, Mr. Konkler has also served as a volunteer at the White House on the staff of the Vice President, Michael R. Pence.”
more...
https://www.propublica.org/article/a-company-run-by-a-white-house-volunteer-with-no-experience-in-medical-supplies-got-2.4-million-from-the-feds-for-medical-supplies
June 27, 2020
Texas cities say state is making pandemic worse
By Reid Wilson - 06/27/20 06:28 AM EDT
City officials in Texas say the state’s government has hindered their ability to fight the coronavirus outbreak that is rapidly rising to a crisis as hospitals fill.
Local officials say executive orders from Gov. Greg Abbott (R) have limited their efforts to fight the growing number of cases; they are especially incensed by Abbott’s move to strip local police of the ability to issue tickets to anyone who refuses to wear a mask in public.
Five days after Hidalgo issued her order on April 22, Abbott used an executive order to prevent local governments like Harris County, home to Houston and more than 25,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, from issuing fines.
Abbott's office declined to comment beyond the public statements he has made.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/504779-texas-cities-say-state-is-making-pandemic-worse
Texas cities say state is making pandemic worse
Texas cities say state is making pandemic worse
By Reid Wilson - 06/27/20 06:28 AM EDT
City officials in Texas say the state’s government has hindered their ability to fight the coronavirus outbreak that is rapidly rising to a crisis as hospitals fill.
Local officials say executive orders from Gov. Greg Abbott (R) have limited their efforts to fight the growing number of cases; they are especially incensed by Abbott’s move to strip local police of the ability to issue tickets to anyone who refuses to wear a mask in public.
“I had the authority and I did require [masks in public] months ago,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo (D) told The Hill in an interview. “We had great compliance, because law enforcement would show up and educate and folks would get it.”
Five days after Hidalgo issued her order on April 22, Abbott used an executive order to prevent local governments like Harris County, home to Houston and more than 25,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, from issuing fines.
“I no longer have the authority to require functionally anything,” Hidalgo said. “All I've been able to do is issue recommendations. All along, I kept my messaging that people really needed to not be going to bars and restaurants and clubs.”
Abbott's office declined to comment beyond the public statements he has made.
more...
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/504779-texas-cities-say-state-is-making-pandemic-worse
June 27, 2020
The editorial in question argued that Trump had done little to present a vision for what his next four years in office will look like, while also criticizing the president for instead campaigning on petty grievances.
Chuck Grassley openly begs WH officials to stage intervention with Trump -- or else face defeat
Specifically, he suggests someone read the editorial to iq45.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/06/chuck-grassley-openly-begs-white-house-officials-to-stage-intervention-with-trump-or-else-face-defeat/
Chuck Grassley openly begs White House officials to stage intervention with Trump — or else face defeat
Published 18 hours ago
on June 26, 2020
By Brad Reed
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Friday openly pleaded with White House officials to stage an intervention with President Donald Trump and make clear to him that he is going to lose badly unless he changes course.
Writing on Twitter, Grassley urged White House officials to make Trump read a Wall Street Journal editorial that warned the president is on track to face a “historic repudiation” at the ballot box.
“Will somebody with access to the Oval Office read the WSJ editorial ‘The Trump Referendum’ to President Trump,” Grassley wrote. “We won’t have more good SCOTUS justices or the best economy in 50 years like we have had if he doesn’t follow that advice.”
The editorial in question argued that Trump had done little to present a vision for what his next four years in office will look like, while also criticizing the president for instead campaigning on petty grievances.
“Mr. Trump’s base of 35 percent or so will never leave, but the swing voters who stood by him for three and half years has fallen away in the last two months,” the editorial stated. “This includes suburban women, independents, and seniors who took a risk on him in 2016 as an outsider who would shake things up. Now millions of Americans are close to deciding that four more years are more risk than they can stand.”
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