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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
November 17, 2020
.... because that's the world's worst-kept secret.
Lindsey Graham has been around a long time and knows better than to do what he did re: the Georgia ballots.
So is he drunk with power and not worried about consequences? Or is he deeply involved in something treasonous?
It's gotta be more than the whole Lady G thing .....
.... because that's the world's worst-kept secret.
Lindsey Graham has been around a long time and knows better than to do what he did re: the Georgia ballots.
So is he drunk with power and not worried about consequences? Or is he deeply involved in something treasonous?
November 17, 2020
On Monday’s edition of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — a Republican facing pressure from his own party to throw out ballots in a state Joe Biden is narrowly carrying — opened up about the abuse and threats he and his family are receiving as he just attempts to do his job.
“You also told The Washington Post, Mr. Secretary, that you and your wife have actually faced death threats over the election results,” said anchor Wolf Blitzer. “This as you’re quarantining right now, after your wife tested positive for coronavirus. So how are you both doing?” ...................(more)
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/georgias-gop-election-chief-reveals-how-trump-supporters-sent-unsettling-and-graphic-threats-to-his-wifes-phone/?
Georgia's GOP election chief reveals how Trump supporters sent 'unsettling' and 'graphic' threats to
On Monday’s edition of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — a Republican facing pressure from his own party to throw out ballots in a state Joe Biden is narrowly carrying — opened up about the abuse and threats he and his family are receiving as he just attempts to do his job.
“You also told The Washington Post, Mr. Secretary, that you and your wife have actually faced death threats over the election results,” said anchor Wolf Blitzer. “This as you’re quarantining right now, after your wife tested positive for coronavirus. So how are you both doing?” ...................(more)
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/11/georgias-gop-election-chief-reveals-how-trump-supporters-sent-unsettling-and-graphic-threats-to-his-wifes-phone/?
November 16, 2020
JUPITER — If you've seen the railroad construction lately along Alternate A1A, you probably know what it means.
Brightline is coming north.
The passenger rail company with dreams of connecting Miami to the Orlando area has been busy this fall laying a second railroad track through northern Palm Beach County. Service to Orlando is unlikely to begin until at least late 2022, but Jupiter officials are already at work hashing out how the high-speed rail line will look in town.
Fences, landscaping and a quiet zone are all on the table. Officials discussed their plans at a Jupiter Town Council meeting earlier this month. ............(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/infrastructure/news/21162667/fl-brightline-update-fences-quiet-zones-planned-for-jupiter-as-construction-continues
FL: Brightline update: Fences, quiet zones planned for Jupiter as construction continues
JUPITER — If you've seen the railroad construction lately along Alternate A1A, you probably know what it means.
Brightline is coming north.
The passenger rail company with dreams of connecting Miami to the Orlando area has been busy this fall laying a second railroad track through northern Palm Beach County. Service to Orlando is unlikely to begin until at least late 2022, but Jupiter officials are already at work hashing out how the high-speed rail line will look in town.
Fences, landscaping and a quiet zone are all on the table. Officials discussed their plans at a Jupiter Town Council meeting earlier this month. ............(more)
https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/infrastructure/news/21162667/fl-brightline-update-fences-quiet-zones-planned-for-jupiter-as-construction-continues
November 16, 2020
America's flawed democracy: the five key areas where it is failing
The US system has survived four years of a norm-busting president by the skin of its teeth – which areas need most urgent attention?
Ed Pilkington
@edpilkington
Mon 16 Nov 2020 03.00 ESTLast modified on Mon 16 Nov 2020 03.02 EST
(Guardian UK) On 7 November the United States pulled back from the brink of re-electing a president who has repeatedly shown disdain for democratic norms and institutions. Donald Trump has fused his own business interests with the White House, dubbed the media “enemies of the people”, embraced foreign strongmen, sidelined science and politicized the justice department, falsely cast doubt on the electoral process and is currently distinguishing himself as the first sitting president since 1800 to frustrate a peaceful transition of power.
But as great escapes go, this one came bone-rattlingly close to collapsing. More people voted for Trump in the 2020 election – some 71 million Americans – than for any other presidential candidate in US history, other than Joe Biden himself. It took gargantuan determination to unseat him, with historically high turnout and black voters leading the way. And it happened in spite of, not because of, the unique features of US democracy.
The election exposed deep flaws in how Americans choose their leaders. Some of those flaws are as old as the nation itself, while others are more modern creations that have been weaponized by Trump and the Republicans. Combined, they present an existential threat to America’s reputation – and survival – as the oldest constitutional democracy on the planet.
....(snip)....
1. The electoral college
The US is recovering from a severe bout of stress, caused by nerve-shattering waiting for the swing states to be called. The 2020 presidential election will go down in people’s memories as unbearably close.
It wasn’t close at all.
....(snip)....
2. Voter suppression
Huge turnout in the 2020 election was all the more impressive given barriers to voting. “We have seen this cycle an effort by the Republican party to make it harder, wherever possible, to vote – especially for black and minority populations,” Bassin said.
He added: “I don’t know of another advanced democracy in the world where one of the two major political parties has invested in voter suppression as a core strategy.” ........(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/16/america-flawed-democracy-five-key-areas
America's flawed democracy: the five key areas where it is failing
America's flawed democracy: the five key areas where it is failing
The US system has survived four years of a norm-busting president by the skin of its teeth – which areas need most urgent attention?
Ed Pilkington
@edpilkington
Mon 16 Nov 2020 03.00 ESTLast modified on Mon 16 Nov 2020 03.02 EST
(Guardian UK) On 7 November the United States pulled back from the brink of re-electing a president who has repeatedly shown disdain for democratic norms and institutions. Donald Trump has fused his own business interests with the White House, dubbed the media “enemies of the people”, embraced foreign strongmen, sidelined science and politicized the justice department, falsely cast doubt on the electoral process and is currently distinguishing himself as the first sitting president since 1800 to frustrate a peaceful transition of power.
But as great escapes go, this one came bone-rattlingly close to collapsing. More people voted for Trump in the 2020 election – some 71 million Americans – than for any other presidential candidate in US history, other than Joe Biden himself. It took gargantuan determination to unseat him, with historically high turnout and black voters leading the way. And it happened in spite of, not because of, the unique features of US democracy.
The election exposed deep flaws in how Americans choose their leaders. Some of those flaws are as old as the nation itself, while others are more modern creations that have been weaponized by Trump and the Republicans. Combined, they present an existential threat to America’s reputation – and survival – as the oldest constitutional democracy on the planet.
....(snip)....
1. The electoral college
The US is recovering from a severe bout of stress, caused by nerve-shattering waiting for the swing states to be called. The 2020 presidential election will go down in people’s memories as unbearably close.
It wasn’t close at all.
....(snip)....
2. Voter suppression
Huge turnout in the 2020 election was all the more impressive given barriers to voting. “We have seen this cycle an effort by the Republican party to make it harder, wherever possible, to vote – especially for black and minority populations,” Bassin said.
He added: “I don’t know of another advanced democracy in the world where one of the two major political parties has invested in voter suppression as a core strategy.” ........(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/16/america-flawed-democracy-five-key-areas
November 16, 2020
Fox News host Tucker Carlson apologized Friday for one of his fake news stories that a dead man had voted in Georgia.
He admitted he was absolutely wrong, and that it was the dead veteran’s widow who voted in Georgia, and not her late husband.
Georgia officials tracked down the vote that Carlson milked on his show as he claimed it was illegal and cast by World War II veteran James Blalock of Covington, who died in 2006. Carlson was parroting a Trump campaign tale harping about the same vote.
“Mr. Blalock was a mailman for 33 years, until he passed away in 2006. Fourteen years later, according to state records, he was still mailing things,” Carlson said snidely as he opened his program Thursday. “James Blalock cast a ballot in last week’s election.” .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-fox-fact-vote-fraud-story_n_5fb07725c5b68baab0fccf65
Are you telling me Tucker Carlson is a lying sack of mierda?
Fox News host Tucker Carlson apologized Friday for one of his fake news stories that a dead man had voted in Georgia.
He admitted he was absolutely wrong, and that it was the dead veteran’s widow who voted in Georgia, and not her late husband.
Georgia officials tracked down the vote that Carlson milked on his show as he claimed it was illegal and cast by World War II veteran James Blalock of Covington, who died in 2006. Carlson was parroting a Trump campaign tale harping about the same vote.
“Mr. Blalock was a mailman for 33 years, until he passed away in 2006. Fourteen years later, according to state records, he was still mailing things,” Carlson said snidely as he opened his program Thursday. “James Blalock cast a ballot in last week’s election.” .........(more)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tucker-carlson-fox-fact-vote-fraud-story_n_5fb07725c5b68baab0fccf65
November 15, 2020
(Salon) APennsylvania postal worker who initially alleged that a postmaster had tampered with mail ballots — an accusation embraced by Republicans as evidence of an unfair election — told federal investigators in a recorded interview that his sworn affidavit had been written by Project Veritas, and that he could no longer stand by his statement.
After congressional investigators said on Tuesday that the postal worker, Richard Hopkins, had "completely" recanted his allegation, Project Veritas posted a video of Hopkins denying that he had done so.
"I'm here to say I did not recant my statements," Hopkins said in the video. "That did not happen."
The next day, Project Veritas posted a two-hour audio clip of Hopkins' interview with U.S. Postal Service investigators, apparently in the belief that it would bolster Hopkins' case and show that investigators had manipulated him into confessing.
The audio recording, which Hopkins himself made secretly and Salon has reviewed, does not indicate that, however. Hopkins repeatedly disavows any first-hand knowledge of misconduct by the postmaster, saying instead that his allegation was largely an assumption, drawn from pieces of a conversation he overheard amid the noise of a mail processing facility. ......(more)
https://www.salon.com/2020/11/14/project-veritas-could-face-legal-liability-for-postal-workers-ballot-fraud-allegations-experts-say/
Project Veritas could face legal liability for postal worker's ballot fraud allegations, experts say
(Salon) APennsylvania postal worker who initially alleged that a postmaster had tampered with mail ballots — an accusation embraced by Republicans as evidence of an unfair election — told federal investigators in a recorded interview that his sworn affidavit had been written by Project Veritas, and that he could no longer stand by his statement.
After congressional investigators said on Tuesday that the postal worker, Richard Hopkins, had "completely" recanted his allegation, Project Veritas posted a video of Hopkins denying that he had done so.
"I'm here to say I did not recant my statements," Hopkins said in the video. "That did not happen."
The next day, Project Veritas posted a two-hour audio clip of Hopkins' interview with U.S. Postal Service investigators, apparently in the belief that it would bolster Hopkins' case and show that investigators had manipulated him into confessing.
The audio recording, which Hopkins himself made secretly and Salon has reviewed, does not indicate that, however. Hopkins repeatedly disavows any first-hand knowledge of misconduct by the postmaster, saying instead that his allegation was largely an assumption, drawn from pieces of a conversation he overheard amid the noise of a mail processing facility. ......(more)
https://www.salon.com/2020/11/14/project-veritas-could-face-legal-liability-for-postal-workers-ballot-fraud-allegations-experts-say/
November 15, 2020
(Salon) The next coronavirus stimulus bill needs to be at least four times larger than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) $500 billion proposal, economists told Salon.
Congress remains deadlocked on a bill after McConnell repeatedly rejected the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act passed by the House back in May, and the $2.2 trillion compromise offer House Democrats approved last month.
McConnell said this week that a bill "dramatically larger" than his $500 billion proposal is "not a place I think we're willing to go." Yet economists say the country needs at least $2 trillion to help the economy recover back to where it was before the pandemic, just as the US enters the worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic yet.
McConnell's delays threaten to worsen the issues that the stimulus bill is supposed to relieve.
"The delay in providing the stimulus almost surely will increase the amount of money necessary to restore the economy," Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel-prize winning economist and Columbia University professor, told Salon. "Balance sheets of households and firms get eroded and firms go bankrupt. Digging yourself out of a deep hole is much more expensive than preventing a decline into a deep hole — another instance in which the aphorism an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is applicable." ............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2020/11/15/to-truly-recover-us-needs-400-more-coronavirus-relief-than-mcconnell-is-offering-economists-say/
To truly recover, US needs 400% more coronavirus relief than McConnell is offering, economists say
(Salon) The next coronavirus stimulus bill needs to be at least four times larger than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) $500 billion proposal, economists told Salon.
Congress remains deadlocked on a bill after McConnell repeatedly rejected the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act passed by the House back in May, and the $2.2 trillion compromise offer House Democrats approved last month.
McConnell said this week that a bill "dramatically larger" than his $500 billion proposal is "not a place I think we're willing to go." Yet economists say the country needs at least $2 trillion to help the economy recover back to where it was before the pandemic, just as the US enters the worst wave of the coronavirus pandemic yet.
McConnell's delays threaten to worsen the issues that the stimulus bill is supposed to relieve.
"The delay in providing the stimulus almost surely will increase the amount of money necessary to restore the economy," Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel-prize winning economist and Columbia University professor, told Salon. "Balance sheets of households and firms get eroded and firms go bankrupt. Digging yourself out of a deep hole is much more expensive than preventing a decline into a deep hole — another instance in which the aphorism an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is applicable." ............(more)
https://www.salon.com/2020/11/15/to-truly-recover-us-needs-400-more-coronavirus-relief-than-mcconnell-is-offering-economists-say/
November 15, 2020
(Guardian UK) When the premier of Queensland held her regular Covid-19 update on Friday she couldn’t help letting a smile creep across her face.
“Now, here’s a good one,” Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters. “I think all Queenslanders are going to be happy about it.”
She went on to announce that Brisbane’s Suncorp stadium would host a capacity 52,500 crowd for the forthcoming State of Origin rugby league decider against New South Wales next week.
“The cauldron can be filled to 100% capacity,” she said. ..............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/15/packed-crowds-and-euphoric-leaders-australia-revels-in-covid-free-days
Packed crowds and euphoric leaders: Australia revels in Covid-free days
(Guardian UK) When the premier of Queensland held her regular Covid-19 update on Friday she couldn’t help letting a smile creep across her face.
“Now, here’s a good one,” Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters. “I think all Queenslanders are going to be happy about it.”
She went on to announce that Brisbane’s Suncorp stadium would host a capacity 52,500 crowd for the forthcoming State of Origin rugby league decider against New South Wales next week.
“The cauldron can be filled to 100% capacity,” she said. ..............(more)
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/15/packed-crowds-and-euphoric-leaders-australia-revels-in-covid-free-days
November 15, 2020
Germany plans to set up hundreds of centers across the country in December to prepare for mass vaccination against the coronavirus, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported.
Citing its survey among health ministries of the nation’s 16 federal states, the newspaper said exhibition halls will play a key role in the effort with the first confirmed location in the northern city of Bremen. Discussions with the logistics industry about the distribution of the vaccine doses are still at early stages, according to the report.
Health Minister Jens Spahn has signaled that his country is looking to secure 100 million doses of the vaccine being developed by German company BioNTech and its big pharma partner Pfizer Inc., saying it’s likely to be ready in the first quarter of next year.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her weekly video address on Saturday that healthcare workers as well as those who demand care, including in nursing homes will be the first to receive the vaccine once it’s available. She warned the nation about difficult winter months ahead as the pandemic shows little signs of easing. ..............(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-14/germany-plans-hundreds-of-vaccine-centers-in-december-welt-says?srnd=premium
Germany Plans Hundreds of Vaccine Centers in December, Welt Says
Germany plans to set up hundreds of centers across the country in December to prepare for mass vaccination against the coronavirus, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported.
Citing its survey among health ministries of the nation’s 16 federal states, the newspaper said exhibition halls will play a key role in the effort with the first confirmed location in the northern city of Bremen. Discussions with the logistics industry about the distribution of the vaccine doses are still at early stages, according to the report.
Health Minister Jens Spahn has signaled that his country is looking to secure 100 million doses of the vaccine being developed by German company BioNTech and its big pharma partner Pfizer Inc., saying it’s likely to be ready in the first quarter of next year.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her weekly video address on Saturday that healthcare workers as well as those who demand care, including in nursing homes will be the first to receive the vaccine once it’s available. She warned the nation about difficult winter months ahead as the pandemic shows little signs of easing. ..............(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-11-14/germany-plans-hundreds-of-vaccine-centers-in-december-welt-says?srnd=premium
November 14, 2020
Back in July, Brian Duffy of Pinellas Park, Florida was arrested for assaulting a clerk at a local 7-Eleven.
Apparently, the 40-year-old Duffy "back-handed" a Slurpee drink out of the employee's hand, which according to the police report "flew onto the victim's person." Duffy denied to the cops swatting the Slurpee out of the victim's hand, though he did admit there was “an incident” where he “was being charged too much for a drink.”
The battery charge was later upped to a felony as Duffy's long record includes a prior misdemeanor battery conviction, and convictions for an assortment of other crimes, including theft, trespassing, cocaine possession, violating a protective order, possession of synthetic marijuana, violating probation, and leaving the scene of an auto crash. .........(more)
https://www.radio.com/kluv/latest/florida-man-paroled-after-felony-battery-with-slurpee
Florida man paroled after felony battery on 7-Eleven clerk with Slurpee
Back in July, Brian Duffy of Pinellas Park, Florida was arrested for assaulting a clerk at a local 7-Eleven.
Apparently, the 40-year-old Duffy "back-handed" a Slurpee drink out of the employee's hand, which according to the police report "flew onto the victim's person." Duffy denied to the cops swatting the Slurpee out of the victim's hand, though he did admit there was “an incident” where he “was being charged too much for a drink.”
The battery charge was later upped to a felony as Duffy's long record includes a prior misdemeanor battery conviction, and convictions for an assortment of other crimes, including theft, trespassing, cocaine possession, violating a protective order, possession of synthetic marijuana, violating probation, and leaving the scene of an auto crash. .........(more)
https://www.radio.com/kluv/latest/florida-man-paroled-after-felony-battery-with-slurpee
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
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