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DonViejo's JournalGiuliani blames Biden's 'secret police' after Trump Justice Department considers warrant...
Giuliani blames Biden's 'secret police' after Trump Justice Department considers warrant for his emailsDecember 22, 2020
David Edwards
Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, on Tuesday accused President-elect Joe Biden of using "secret police" to investigate him.
NBC News first reported this week that federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have considered issuing a warrant for Giuliani's emails as part of a probe into his dealings in Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that prosecutors are also interested in Giuliani's bank records.
In a tweet on Tuesday, Giuliani suggested that Biden was behind the effort to prosecute him.
"I'm proud to be number one on Biden Vindictive government list," Giuliani wrote. "Sounds like the DOJ anti-Trumpers can't wait for Biden to make DOJ the GOVERNMENT Secret Police like they were under Obama."
https://twitter.com/RudyGiuliani/status/1341418729100423169
https://www.rawstory.com/giuliani-secret-police/
Michael Flynn should face court martial for 'incitement to insurrection': Ex-Colin Powell CoS
Michael Flynn should face court-martial for 'incitement to insurrection': Ex-Colin Powell chief of staff
December 22, 2020
Alex Henderson, AlterNet
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is among the far-right Republicans saying President Donald Trump should declare martial law and reconduct the 2020 election because of widespread voter fraud. Many elections officials and national security experts, however, have stressed that there is no evidence that such fraud occurred or that President-elect Joe Biden didn't win the 2020 presidential election fairly. And when Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, spoke to MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Monday night, December 21, he expressed his outrage over Flynn's martial law suggestion and recommended that he face court martial.
Wilkerson told Hayes, "I have to commend all those people out there in every state who worked so hard to deliver a free and fair election. At the same time I saw that, I have to say my fears are somewhat significant with a former lieutenant general in the United States Army saying what Flynn said with regard to martial law and going to the battleground states and essentially reconducting the election. Were I the secretary of defense, I'd call him back to active duty — which is in the prerogative of the secretary of defense — and I'd court martial him."
The former Colin Powell chief of staff, who considers Flynn a "disgrace to his uniform," added, "at a minimum, I'd cite him for incitement to insurrection. This is not something that a military officer should do…. He needs to be rebuked. He needs to be reprimanded. And it needs to be done officially."
The 75-year-old Wilkerson was also highly critical of pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell and former Breitbart Media Chairman Steve Bannon — two other extremists who have been making baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. "These other people like Bannon and Powell and so forth, they're sycophants who are seeking whatever they can gain from the magic aura of this man before it dissipates. It frightens me as to the things they could do if the 25th Amendment or something like it is not implemented and we don't remove (Trump) from office."
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https://www.rawstory.com/elections/michael-flynn/
'If He Gets to Be President': Lindsey Graham Doubts Joe Biden Election Win, Calls For Special...
‘If He Gets to Be President’: Lindsey Graham Doubts Joe Biden Election Win, Calls For Special Counsel to Probe Hunter
By Ken MeyerDec 22nd, 2020, 9:29 am
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) gave air to the possibility that Joe Biden won’t get to be president because of the ongoing tax investigation into his son, Hunter.
Graham sat for an interview with Fox & Friends on Tuesday, where he was asked about outgoing Attorney General Bill Barr’s announcement that he has “no plan” to launch a special counsel for the Hunter tax probe. While he praised Barr for his time as AG, Graham disagreed with Barr’s decision against a special counsel before tearing into Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings.
This led to Graham floating the notion that Joe Biden’s presidency will be undermined before it begins:
I want somebody to look at all the overseas activity of Hunter Biden, see if this compromised the foreign policy of President Biden — if he gets to be president — and the guy in Delaware doesn’t have that mandate. So I respectfully disagree. If it were up to me, I would take the U.S. Attorney in Delaware and give him the entire Hunter Biden portfolio so he could look at everything Hunter Biden did throughout the world, which is pretty massive, industrial-sized influence peddling. I think we need a special counsel because I worry that what Hunter Biden did may have compromised our ability to effectively wage foreign policy.
more + video
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/if-he-gets-to-be-president-lindsey-graham-doubts-joe-biden-election-win-calls-for-special-counsel-to-probe-hunter/
Front-line workers, adults over 75 should be next in line for coronavirus vaccine, federal panel...
Source: Washington Post
Front-line workers, adults over 75 should be next in line for coronavirus vaccine, federal panel says
These include first responders, teachers, day-care staff, grocery store workers and prison guards
By Lena H. Sun and Isaac Stanley-Becker
Dec. 20, 2020 at 3:33 p.m. EST
Grocery store workers, teachers, day-care staff and other people on the front lines of America’s workforce should be next to get coronavirus vaccine, along with adults over 75, a federal advisory panel said Sunday.
The recommendations, which come two days after regulators authorized a second coronavirus vaccine, will guide state authorities in deciding who should have priority to receive limited doses of vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
The groups designated Sunday total about 49 million people and were deemed the next highest priority by the expert advisory panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because the vaccine remains in short supply.
An estimated 30 million front-line essential workers labor in meat plants, grocery stores, prisons, public transit and other key areas, and cannot work remotely. They are a priority because they play a critical role in keeping society functioning, and they live or work in high-risk, high-transmission communities.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/12/20/covid-vaccine-front-line-workers
'PROVE ME NUTS!' Giuliani Goes on Wild Rant Pushing Voting Machine Conspiracies After Companies...
'PROVE ME NUTS!' Giuliani Goes on Wild Rant Pushing Voting Machine Conspiracies After Companies Threaten Legal Action
By Josh Feldman Dec 20th, 2020, 1:29 pm
Rudy Giuliani continued to dig in on conspiracy theories about voting machines on Sunday, after a series of legal threats to himself and others who have made similar claims.
Claim after claim Giuliani and others have brought to court have been rejected by judges, including ones appointed by President Donald Trump. Republican officials in the states they have contested have defended the integrity of the elections in their states, but Giuliani continued digging in on his insistence that it’s going to turn out President Donald Trump won.
Giuliani raised his voice on his radio show Sunday as he complained that the voting machines were not “honest” and that states don’t want to take up his wild claims.
He “guaranteed” that once the voting machines are inspected, “Donald Trump will be president of the United States.”
more + video
https://www.mediaite.com/radio/prove-me-nuts-giuliani-goes-on-wild-rant-pushing-voting-machine-conspiracies-after-companies-threaten-legal-action/
Britain tightens lockdowns over virus mutation with 'significantly faster' transmission rates
Source: Washington Post
By William Booth
Dec. 19, 2020 at 11:41 a.m. EST
LONDON — Faced with a new mutation of the coronavirus with "significantly faster" transmission rates, Prime Minister Boris Johnson tightened pandemic restrictions, including banning travel abroad in some parts of the country and rolling back relaxed rules over the holiday period.
The new mutation, or variants, was first detected in southeast England in September and is becoming more prevalent in new cases.
England’s Chief medical officer Chris Whitty said scientists consider this new strain to move more quickly between people.
Whitty said there is no evidence at this time to suggest the new strain is more deadly or able to elude vaccines designed to defeat it.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/coronavirus-mutation-britain-lockdown/2020/12/19/fd010eea-4206-11eb-b58b-1623f6267960_story.html
Switzerland just became the 29th country to get marriage equality
Source: LGBTQ Nation
But pro-LGBTQ organizations say that it is still possible for a national referendum on marriage equality to be forced.
By Alex Bollinger Friday, December 18, 2020
Switzerland just became the 29th country on the planet to legalize marriage equality
Earlier today, the Swiss National Council – the lower house of the Alpine country’s legislature – approved a bill to allow same-sex couples to get married and to allow lesbian couples access to sperm banks in Switzerland.
“It’s a historic victory for the rights of the LGBTIQ community,” said Amnesty International in a statement.
Earlier this month, the Council of States – the upper house of Switzerland’s legislature – passed a law that would legalize marriage equality with a 22-15 vote, finally passing marriage equality legislation after it was first proposed by the Green Party in 2013.
Read more: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/12/switzerland-just-became-29th-country-get-marriage-equality
Huge new study shows trickle-down economics makes inequality worse, researchers say
The concept of cutting taxes to generate more revenue was a key foundation of Reaganomics.
By Anagha Srikanth | Dec. 17, 2020
It started as a joke.
"The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickles down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the driest little spot. But he didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellows' hands," humorist Will Rogers wrote in a column for the St. Petersburg Times.
The phrase stuck, and it’s become a political calling card of sorts over the years to suggest that tax cuts for businesses and the rich were for the benefit of the lower class and society as a whole. But a new paper found that this isn't actually the case.
"Major reforms reducing taxes on the rich lead to higher income inequality," concluded David Hope and Julian Limberg of the London School of Economics and Political Science. "In contrast, such reforms do not have any significant effect on economic growth and unemployment."
The study found that major tax cuts for the rich increased the top 1 percent’s share of pre-tax national income by a "sizeable" amount, but don't significantly affect other markers of economic performance, including GDP per capita and the unemployment rate.
more
https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/poverty/530731-huge-new-study-shows-trickle-down-economics-makes-inequality
CDC report reveals ways Head Start child care programs have prevented COVID-19 outbreaks
Meanwhile, a third wave of the pandemic is surging.
By Anagha Srikanth | Dec. 18, 2020
Five months after the national debate over sending children back to school and other child care programs amid the coronavirus pandemic, the results are in; while several universities and school systems were forced to shut down after COVID-19 outbreaks on campus, a new report shows the success of preventative measures taken by federal childcare programs.
"Support to staff members and parents were critical components for these programs to help minimize the potential for negative consequences that can be associated with child care center closure, including providers’ loss of jobs and wages, parents’ challenges when returning to work, and children’s diminished educational, social, and nutritional opportunities," said a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that studied seven of eight Head Start programs nationwide, representing 55 centers.
The Trump administration pushed for schools to reopen this summer and even sought to exert influence over the CDC, which has gone back and forth on guidance. After Head Start programs closed in April and May, the federally funded programs reopened with a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning. Three of these programs identified nine cases in three centers, with one to four cases per center, during May and June, according to the report, and closed for two weeks afterwards.
In interviews with Head Start directors in Alaska, Georgia, Maine, Missouri and Wisconsin, the CDC found that flexibility with staff — including medical leave, remote working options and enhanced benefits — allowed those at increased risk to stay home without "fear of job loss or other consequences." The report also offered a list of mitigation strategies ranging from everyday prevention actions to response to illness as well as communications and support.
more
https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/education/530848-cdc-report-reveals-ways-head-start-childcare-programs
GOP senator blocks bill to provide $1,200 stimulus checks
Source: The Hill
BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 12/18/20 12:24 PM EST
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson (Wis.) on Friday blocked an effort to pass a second round of stimulus checks, arguing coronavirus relief needs to be targeted and raising concerns about the country's debt.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) tried to get consent, which requires the cooperation of every senator, to pass his bill that would provide $1,200 for individuals who make up to $75,000 — the exact same language that Congress passed as part of the CARES Act in March.
"What I'm proposing is what every senator has supported already, this year. ... What I'm proposing will give working folks in my state and across this country a shot ... at getting back up on their feet," Hawley said from the Senate floor.
But Johnson objected. Under the Senate's rules any one senator can request to pass a bill but any other senator can object and block it.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/530843-gop-senator-blocks-bill-to-provide-1200-stimulus-checks
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