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friendly_iconoclast
friendly_iconoclast's Journal
friendly_iconoclast's Journal
March 3, 2021
Anybody know what 'internet archiving site' the article references? Seems to me that there's a lot of doxxing that needs doing...
US militia group draws members from military and police, website leak shows
Source: The Guardian
A Guardian investigation of a website leak from the American Patriots Three Percent shows the anti-government militia group have recruited a network across the United States that includes current and former military members, police and border patrol agents.
But the leak also demonstrates how the radical group has recruited from a broad swath of Americans, not just military and law enforcement. Members include both men and women, of ages ranging from their 20s to their 70s, doing jobs from medical physics to dental hygiene and living in all parts of the country...
...According to members who spoke to the Guardian, the website from which the list was leaked was set up by national leaders of Patriot Movement group, which is affiliated with the broader Three Percenter movement.
Names, phone numbers and even photographs of members were obtained by activists who then posted the data to an internet archiving site, and the Guardian cross-referenced these with public records and other published materials...
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/03/us-militia-membership-military-police-american-patriot-three-percenter-website-leak
Anybody know what 'internet archiving site' the article references? Seems to me that there's a lot of doxxing that needs doing...
February 22, 2021
That last bit is important: a trustee would be able to turn over rocks that the NRA management would *very* much like
to remain in place- I'm thinking 'evidence of money laundering, failure to register as foreign agents, and slush funds for upper management'.
And that's just for starters...
ABC News: NRA is 'out of ammo' as it faces a legal mess of its own making, many experts say
Enjoy this while I tune up my nanoviolin:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/nra-ammo-faces-legal-mess-making-experts/story?id=75949839
The gun group is facing a New York state lawsuit that alleges "fraud and abuse."
By Lucien Bruggeman
February 22, 2021
...Judge Harlin Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas is now weighing motions filed by James' office and others to dismiss the NRA's bankruptcy case claim. Legal experts interviewed by ABC News posit that the chances of a dismissal are strong, particularly given the NRA's insistence that the organization remains financially viable -- a position that undermines the traditional purpose of a Chapter 11 claim.
Adam Levitin, a bankruptcy professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said the NRA's plan to seek bankruptcy protection amounts to little more than a "Hail Mary pass."
"If the alternative is that the New York attorney general shuts down the NRA, what do they have to lose with this strategy?" Levitin said. "They are out of ammo."
But another scenario could pose an entirely different threat to the beleaguered gun group: If Hale allows the NRA's bankruptcy claim to march forward, he may then choose to appoint a trustee to investigate allegations of fraud -- or even assume control of the organization...
By Lucien Bruggeman
February 22, 2021
...Judge Harlin Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas is now weighing motions filed by James' office and others to dismiss the NRA's bankruptcy case claim. Legal experts interviewed by ABC News posit that the chances of a dismissal are strong, particularly given the NRA's insistence that the organization remains financially viable -- a position that undermines the traditional purpose of a Chapter 11 claim.
Adam Levitin, a bankruptcy professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said the NRA's plan to seek bankruptcy protection amounts to little more than a "Hail Mary pass."
"If the alternative is that the New York attorney general shuts down the NRA, what do they have to lose with this strategy?" Levitin said. "They are out of ammo."
But another scenario could pose an entirely different threat to the beleaguered gun group: If Hale allows the NRA's bankruptcy claim to march forward, he may then choose to appoint a trustee to investigate allegations of fraud -- or even assume control of the organization...
That last bit is important: a trustee would be able to turn over rocks that the NRA management would *very* much like
to remain in place- I'm thinking 'evidence of money laundering, failure to register as foreign agents, and slush funds for upper management'.
And that's just for starters...
February 18, 2021
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/republicans-rig-elections-democrats-hr1-b1803592.html
Republicans are working 'to rig every election from 2022 onwards'. If Democrats don't pay attention,
...it'll happenhttps://www.independent.co.uk/voices/republicans-rig-elections-democrats-hr1-b1803592.html
There are currently 165 separate pieces of legislation pending in 33 states to restrict access to the ballot. The three states with the most proposals — Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia — were carried by Biden in 2020, but are Republican-controlled
Andrew Feinberg Washington DC https://twitter.com/AndrewFeinberg
With Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in the rearview mirror, the Biden administration is moving forward with an aggressive legislative agenda. That starts with relief from the coronavirus pandemic. But with the House poised to take action on a sweeping ethics and election reform package next month, current and former Congressional staffers and experts are warning that legislation to strengthen democracy needs to be pursued with the same vigor as any infrastructure or stimulus package.
In a letter to House members on Tuesday, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the House will take up H.R. 1, the For the People Act, during the week of March 1, after spending the last week of February on passage of the Biden-backed American Rescue Plan, a massive wilderness protection bill, and the Equality Act, which bans discrimination against LGBT Americans.
“This legislation, which the House passed in 2019, is the centerpiece of Democrats’ agenda to make government more transparent and accountable to the people it serves,” Hoyer wrote. “From protecting voting rights to reforming campaign finance, from requiring higher ethical standards for public officials to engaging in nonpartisan redistricting reform, H.R. 1 aims to renew Americans’ faith that their government will always work for the people.”
Sponsored by Maryland Representative John Sarbanes along with all but four members of the House Democratic Caucus, the For the People Act was House Democrats’ signature piece of legislation during the 116th Congress. The sweeping 791-page bill aims to “expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy.”...
Andrew Feinberg Washington DC https://twitter.com/AndrewFeinberg
With Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in the rearview mirror, the Biden administration is moving forward with an aggressive legislative agenda. That starts with relief from the coronavirus pandemic. But with the House poised to take action on a sweeping ethics and election reform package next month, current and former Congressional staffers and experts are warning that legislation to strengthen democracy needs to be pursued with the same vigor as any infrastructure or stimulus package.
In a letter to House members on Tuesday, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the House will take up H.R. 1, the For the People Act, during the week of March 1, after spending the last week of February on passage of the Biden-backed American Rescue Plan, a massive wilderness protection bill, and the Equality Act, which bans discrimination against LGBT Americans.
“This legislation, which the House passed in 2019, is the centerpiece of Democrats’ agenda to make government more transparent and accountable to the people it serves,” Hoyer wrote. “From protecting voting rights to reforming campaign finance, from requiring higher ethical standards for public officials to engaging in nonpartisan redistricting reform, H.R. 1 aims to renew Americans’ faith that their government will always work for the people.”
Sponsored by Maryland Representative John Sarbanes along with all but four members of the House Democratic Caucus, the For the People Act was House Democrats’ signature piece of legislation during the 116th Congress. The sweeping 791-page bill aims to “expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and implement other anti-corruption measures for the purpose of fortifying our democracy.”...
February 15, 2021
'Filibuster delenda est'- The filibuster *must* be eliminated ASAP to stop GOP vote suppression...
...and prevent them turning our country into Panem.
Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictional_world_of_The_Hunger_Games
February 14, 2021
The massive GOP betrayal of our democracy requires a forceful Democratic response
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/13/massive-gop-betrayal-our-democracy-requires-forceful-democratic-response/...Now that the vast majority of Senate Republicans voted to acquit former president Donald Trump of inciting violent insurrection, as we all knew they would, Democrats should immediately respond as follows:
1. Pass H.R.1 and S.1 with all deliberate speed.
2. Be prepared to nuke the legislative filibuster if and when Republicans obstruct it in the Senate.
3. Get the package into law as quickly as possible.
Those are the House and Senate bills that would expand voting rights, make voting easier in numerous ways and place limits on GOP counter-majoritarian tactics, which Republicans are cheerfully escalating in numerous states.
Here’s what the moment requires, above all: Democrats must accept the full implications of the GOP’s ongoing and intensifying radicalization. And they must be prepared to act upon them...
1. Pass H.R.1 and S.1 with all deliberate speed.
2. Be prepared to nuke the legislative filibuster if and when Republicans obstruct it in the Senate.
3. Get the package into law as quickly as possible.
Those are the House and Senate bills that would expand voting rights, make voting easier in numerous ways and place limits on GOP counter-majoritarian tactics, which Republicans are cheerfully escalating in numerous states.
Here’s what the moment requires, above all: Democrats must accept the full implications of the GOP’s ongoing and intensifying radicalization. And they must be prepared to act upon them...
February 8, 2021
Gov't Mule feat. John Scofield (Sco-Mule) - Afro Blue
February 7, 2021
https://newrepublic.com/article/161266/qanon-classism-marjorie-taylor-greene
The mentioned NYT article, and a dead-on criticism of same from the comments:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/technology/biden-reality-crisis-misinformation.html
The Democratic Party Has a Fatal Misunderstanding of the QAnon Phenomenon
Their belief that this surreal conspiracy has arisen because of the poor education of its adherents is based in classism, not realityhttps://newrepublic.com/article/161266/qanon-classism-marjorie-taylor-greene
On Thursday, the House voted to strip Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments, putting an end to one chapter of what’s sure to be an ongoing saga in the chamber’s Republican caucus. In a meandering nonapology in the hours before the vote, Greene, who has endorsed an impressive array of conspiracy theories, including QAnon and claims that Hillary Clinton had raped, mutilated, and consumed the blood of a child, characterized negative coverage of her as—surprise, surprise—more “cancel culture” run amok. While Greene’s rise bodes poorly for the country, some have already decided her newfound celebrity is good news for the Democratic Party’s electoral prospects. On Tuesday, Politico reported that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee intends to focus on QAnon in its messaging, ahead of the 2022 midterms, in the hopes that the specter of more Greenes in Congress will push more people away from the GOP. “They can do QAnon, or they can do college-educated voters,” DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney said. “They cannot do both.”
Actually, they can. Trying to tether the GOP more tightly to the extremism it’s cultivated makes sense, and the strategy may help prevent some moderate suburbanites from returning to the party’s inordinately big tent. But polls have shown few differences on QAnon between voters with and without college degrees—Civiqs’s latest survey, for instance, registers 72 percent opposition and 5 percent support for the theory among graduates. The split is 71 to 5 among nongraduates and 78 to 3 among postgraduates. And, notably, Americans without college degrees are less likely than graduates to have heard of QAnon in the first place. If this is a surprise, consider the fact that Greene herself went to college. And when she runs for reelection next year, she’s sure to enjoy the support of many college-educated Republicans who, whether they personally believe in QAnon or not, want to keep as many right-wing firebrands as they can in Congress. Those who think such voters will inevitably doom the party would do well to remember the 2010 midterms—despite the Tea Party’s rhetoric and antics, Republicans took the House in a historic wave.
Of all the “big lies” distorting our politics, one of the largest and most popular—back in 2010 and now—has been the notion that our political divisions are the product of under- or miseducation. The Republican Party’s flight into lunacy, it’s often suggested, has a fairly simple cause. The unwashed aren’t getting The Facts in school or from their media sources, and it’s up to the enlightened to shower The Facts upon them—perhaps, as some “disinformation” experts recently suggested to The New York Times, with a “reality czar” at the White House manning the hose. This was the explanation many turned to as the Trump era began, and it was the explanation many turned to for how it ended...
...This week, The Atlantic published what amounted to a rebuttal. According to court records and media coverage reviewed by the University of Chicago’s Robert Pape and the Chicago Project on Security and Threats’ Keven Ruby, a full 40 percent of the 193 people charged with breaking into the Capitol grounds were business owners or white-collar workers. “Unlike the stereotypical extremist, many of the alleged participants in the Capitol riot have a lot to lose,” they wrote. “They work as CEOs, shop owners, doctors, lawyers, IT specialists, and accountants.”...
Actually, they can. Trying to tether the GOP more tightly to the extremism it’s cultivated makes sense, and the strategy may help prevent some moderate suburbanites from returning to the party’s inordinately big tent. But polls have shown few differences on QAnon between voters with and without college degrees—Civiqs’s latest survey, for instance, registers 72 percent opposition and 5 percent support for the theory among graduates. The split is 71 to 5 among nongraduates and 78 to 3 among postgraduates. And, notably, Americans without college degrees are less likely than graduates to have heard of QAnon in the first place. If this is a surprise, consider the fact that Greene herself went to college. And when she runs for reelection next year, she’s sure to enjoy the support of many college-educated Republicans who, whether they personally believe in QAnon or not, want to keep as many right-wing firebrands as they can in Congress. Those who think such voters will inevitably doom the party would do well to remember the 2010 midterms—despite the Tea Party’s rhetoric and antics, Republicans took the House in a historic wave.
Of all the “big lies” distorting our politics, one of the largest and most popular—back in 2010 and now—has been the notion that our political divisions are the product of under- or miseducation. The Republican Party’s flight into lunacy, it’s often suggested, has a fairly simple cause. The unwashed aren’t getting The Facts in school or from their media sources, and it’s up to the enlightened to shower The Facts upon them—perhaps, as some “disinformation” experts recently suggested to The New York Times, with a “reality czar” at the White House manning the hose. This was the explanation many turned to as the Trump era began, and it was the explanation many turned to for how it ended...
...This week, The Atlantic published what amounted to a rebuttal. According to court records and media coverage reviewed by the University of Chicago’s Robert Pape and the Chicago Project on Security and Threats’ Keven Ruby, a full 40 percent of the 193 people charged with breaking into the Capitol grounds were business owners or white-collar workers. “Unlike the stereotypical extremist, many of the alleged participants in the Capitol riot have a lot to lose,” they wrote. “They work as CEOs, shop owners, doctors, lawyers, IT specialists, and accountants.”...
The mentioned NYT article, and a dead-on criticism of same from the comments:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/technology/biden-reality-crisis-misinformation.html
"If President Biden wants to bring extremists and conspiracy theorists back to reality, he can start by making that reality worth coming back to."
Simplistic and Pollyanna. The overwhelming majority of the people who stormed the Capitol could afford to travel. They could afford plane tickets and to stay in hotels in one of the most expensive cities in the country. They could afford fancy weapons and ammo, which they were happy to brandish as they were threatening people's lives.
These are not the great dispossessed of the country. These are not the underserved and underprivileged. And they aren't uneducated. On the contrary. They are spoiled, malevolent, sociopathic brats who have been fed a diet of lies and quack theories by a former president and a GOP only too happy to whip them into a frenzy. Some of them are military vets or current military members, trained to kill and looking for an outlet for their violent impulses.
They are a danger to this country. And unless we call them out for what they are and punish them severely -- including their enablers in the GOP -- they will come back to bite us again and again and again and again.
Simplistic and Pollyanna. The overwhelming majority of the people who stormed the Capitol could afford to travel. They could afford plane tickets and to stay in hotels in one of the most expensive cities in the country. They could afford fancy weapons and ammo, which they were happy to brandish as they were threatening people's lives.
These are not the great dispossessed of the country. These are not the underserved and underprivileged. And they aren't uneducated. On the contrary. They are spoiled, malevolent, sociopathic brats who have been fed a diet of lies and quack theories by a former president and a GOP only too happy to whip them into a frenzy. Some of them are military vets or current military members, trained to kill and looking for an outlet for their violent impulses.
They are a danger to this country. And unless we call them out for what they are and punish them severely -- including their enablers in the GOP -- they will come back to bite us again and again and again and again.
February 6, 2021
More here:
Inside the case: Watch testimony behind the Phoenix protest gang charges
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/protest-arrests/inside-the-case-watch-testimony-behind-the-phoenix-protest-gang-charges
Politically Charged: Officials create 'fictional gang' to punish Phoenix protesters
Long, but well worth a read. This is Putin-style bullshit that'll spike your blood pressure...
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/protest-arrests/politically-charged-officials-create-fictional-gang-to-punish-phoenix-protesters
Amy Kaper promises she is not a gang member.
The 29-year-old graduate student does not run drugs, traffic guns, or work in any organized crime ring.
But, she did protest police violence last year.
For that, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Phoenix Police Department are aggressively prosecuting Kaper — and a group of 17 other defendants, including three minors — for being part of a criminal street gang following an October 17 protest in downtown Phoenix.
In fact, officers and prosecutors allege the group is as dangerous — and in some ways more dangerous — than notorious gangs like the Crips, Bloods, and Hells Angels...
The 29-year-old graduate student does not run drugs, traffic guns, or work in any organized crime ring.
But, she did protest police violence last year.
For that, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Phoenix Police Department are aggressively prosecuting Kaper — and a group of 17 other defendants, including three minors — for being part of a criminal street gang following an October 17 protest in downtown Phoenix.
In fact, officers and prosecutors allege the group is as dangerous — and in some ways more dangerous — than notorious gangs like the Crips, Bloods, and Hells Angels...
More here:
Inside the case: Watch testimony behind the Phoenix protest gang charges
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/protest-arrests/inside-the-case-watch-testimony-behind-the-phoenix-protest-gang-charges
February 6, 2021
More here:
Inside the case: Watch testimony behind the Phoenix protest gang charges
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/protest-arrests/inside-the-case-watch-testimony-behind-the-phoenix-protest-gang-charges
Politically Charged: Officials create 'fictional gang' to punish Phoenix protesters
Long, but well worth a read. This is Putin-style bullshit that'll spike your blood pressure...
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/protest-arrests/politically-charged-officials-create-fictional-gang-to-punish-phoenix-protesters
Amy Kaper promises she is not a gang member.
The 29-year-old graduate student does not run drugs, traffic guns, or work in any organized crime ring.
But, she did protest police violence last year.
For that, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Phoenix Police Department are aggressively prosecuting Kaper — and a group of 17 other defendants, including three minors — for being part of a criminal street gang following an October 17 protest in downtown Phoenix.
In fact, officers and prosecutors allege the group is as dangerous — and in some ways more dangerous — than notorious gangs like the Crips, Bloods, and Hells Angels...
The 29-year-old graduate student does not run drugs, traffic guns, or work in any organized crime ring.
But, she did protest police violence last year.
For that, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Phoenix Police Department are aggressively prosecuting Kaper — and a group of 17 other defendants, including three minors — for being part of a criminal street gang following an October 17 protest in downtown Phoenix.
In fact, officers and prosecutors allege the group is as dangerous — and in some ways more dangerous — than notorious gangs like the Crips, Bloods, and Hells Angels...
More here:
Inside the case: Watch testimony behind the Phoenix protest gang charges
https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/protest-arrests/inside-the-case-watch-testimony-behind-the-phoenix-protest-gang-charges
February 4, 2021
Wonder which TLA it was...
Harry Dunn: Suspect Anne Sacoolas 'worked for US intelligence'
Source: BBC
The woman accused of killing Harry Dunn was working for a US intelligence agency at the time of the crash, a court has heard.
Mr Dunn, 19, died when his motorbike was in a crash with a car near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire in 2019.
Suspect Anne Sacoolas returned to the US, claiming diplomatic immunity, and an extradition request was blocked.
A court in Virginia has heard her work was "especially a factor" in her leaving the UK...
...Speaking after the hearing, family spokesman Radd Seiger called on the UK government to "urgently reinvestigate" whether Mrs Sacoolas had diplomatic immunity, given "the admission in open court by Mrs Sacoolas's counsel that she was employed by US intelligence services at the time of the crash".
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-55927568
Wonder which TLA it was...
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