Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

C0RI0LANUS

C0RI0LANUS's Journal
C0RI0LANUS's Journal
February 24, 2025

USPS Rank-and-File Members Call for Mass Mobilization of Working Class to Oppose Illegal Firings


USPS letter carriers went on a wildcat strike in 1970.


On Sunday, the US Postal Service Workers Rank-and-File Committee, an affiliate of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, held a well attended online meeting aimed at organizing mass action by the working class to defend the US Postal Service and oppose the mass firing of federal workers and gutting of essential services by President Donald Trump and his fascistic partner in crime, billionaire Elon Musk.

Over 150 people from around the world, including postal workers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, participated in Sunday’s discussion. Participants discussed and adopted a resolution titled “Oppose the Mass Firing of Federal Workers and Defend Postal Jobs!” The resolution was overwhelmingly supported, with 99 percent of attendees voting in favor.

“If Trump’s conspiracy is to be defeated, and it can be, it must come through mass independent action from below by the working class.”


-edit-



Air Traffic Controllers went on a strike in 1981.





Source:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/02/24/czii-f24.html
February 23, 2025

One Airman Dead, Another Wounded in Shooting Near New Mexico Air Force Base

Source: USAF PAO Press Release

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – Security Forces members assigned to the 377th Security Forces Squadron responded to an incident at approximately 2AM Saturday, 22 Feb resulting in a shooting incident. One Airman received a nonfatal gunshot wound to the hand and was transported to UNM Medical Center for treatment. He has since been released with no life-threatening injuries.

The other Airman was found dead at the scene. The cause of death and the incident remains under investigation by local authorities.

Kirtland Truman Gate Pass office remains closed until further notice.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

Read more: https://www.kirtland.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4074588/one-airman-dead-and-another-hospitalized-outside-kirtland-release-2/



The Air Force Office of Special Investigations was leading the probe along with the FBI and Albuquerque PD. Authorities said there is currently no threat to the public.



In an average year, 433 people die and 618 are wounded by guns in New Mexico. The "Land of Enchantment State" has the 12th-highest rate of gun violence in the US. In New Mexico, 46.2% of adults have at least one gun at home. Firearms licenses in 2021: 122,968

Until the US begins to regulate firearms, shootings will continue throughout the country like a warzone. "President Plancecrash" recently signed an E.O. reversing federal firearms regulations, a step completely in the opposite direction of what the American people need.



(Photo: armslist.com)


Sources:

https://everystat.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Gun-Violence-in-New-Mexico-1.pdf

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/gun-ownership-rates-by-state/32/



February 22, 2025

Police Officer, Gunman Dead in Shooting at UPMC Hospital in Pennsylvania

Source: NBC News, NY Post

A police officer was killed and a gunman died in a shootout at a central Pennsylvania hospital Saturday, according to officials.

West York Borough police announced that Officer Andrew Duarte died while responding to a 10:43 a.m. call about an active threat at UPMC Hospital in York, PA.

No patients were injured during the shooting, and the five-story, 104-bed hospital has been secured, according to a statement by Pennsylvania State Police. It’s unclear if there were any other injuries.

“At this time, the shooter is deceased and there is no danger to the public. The hospital is secured,” police said.

-edit-

Read more: https://nypost.com/2025/02/22/us-news/cop-gunman-dead-in-shooting-at-upmc-hospital-in-pennsylvania-authorities/






No patients were injured during the shooting at the five-story, 104-bed UPMC Hospital in York, PA. (Photo: AP)



Patrolman Andrew Duarte had served with the West York Borough Police Department for over two years and previously served with the Denver Police Department for five years. This was a good-looking young man who seemed quite happy. (Photo: public domain)

In an average year, 1,759 people die and 4,020 are wounded by guns in Pennsylvania. The Keystone State has the 20th
highest rate of gun violence in the US. Pennsylvania firearm licenses in 2021: 348,167. An estimated 40.7% of adults in Pennsylvania have guns in their homes.

By contrast the entire country of Canada with approximately 41.6m people suffered 289 homicides by firearms in 2023.


NRA-rated A+ US Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at the 2015 CPAC convention. (Photo: Adweek)

Sources:

https://everystat.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Gun-Violence-in-Pennsylvania-2024-05.pdf

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/gun-ownership-rates-by-state/

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510006901

February 22, 2025

Is This A Woman or a Man?


Ms. Hunter Schafer (Getty Images)

The BBC title of the original article: "Trans Euphoria Star Says New Passport Lists Her as Male."

Hunter Schafer, a transgender woman and star of hit HBO teen drama Euphoria, has said a new US passport lists her as male, despite selecting female when she filled out the paperwork. Ms. Schafer said she changed her gender markers for her driver's license and passports when she was a teenager, but that her birth certificate was never amended. The US State Department, which issues passports, says on its website that it will "only issue passports with an M or F sex marker that match the customer's biological sex at birth."

-edit-

So are DHS airport inspectors or border patrol agents going to conduct strip searches or genetic tests on Ms. Schafer at the POEs?



Whatever happened to the time-honored American tradition of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?"

Source:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg4klq45ngvo
February 22, 2025

Ukraine-Russia Update


(Image: RFE/RL.org)

Cuban mercenaries have been fighting for Russia, like Frank Dario Jarrosay Manfuga (36) above who joined Russia's army in Jan 2024 and was captured in Mar 2024.

A former geography teacher he later became a professional musician to increase his income.
"I never intended to kill anyone. I never wanted to participate in a war. I have a family," said Manfuga, who claimed he was tricked into boarding a Russia-bound plane with the promise of a job in construction. He has no desire to return to Russia or Cuba and Manfuga's claim that he was duped could not be verified.

An estimated 5,000 Cuban soldiers are fighting for Russia,” Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat, co-founder of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, a U.S.-based NGO advocating for democratic change in communist Cuba reported. “This network could not function without the Cuban regime’s approval.” Unlike North Koreans, Cuban fighters in Russia have left a significant social media footprint, with many openly embracing the Kremlin’s militarism and ideology.


-edit-

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has promoted Sergei Atroshchenko, who ordered the bombing of a drama theater in Mariupol on 16 Mar 2022, to the rank of Major-General.


Unindicted war criminal Major-General Sergei Atroshchenko.




The Mariupol Theater was used as a bomb shelter.



The AP reports as many 600 Ukrainians were killed in a deliberate strike against defenseless civilians. (Photo: CNN)

After occupying Mariupol, Russian forces began demolishing the drama theater building to destroy evidence of the war crime.

-edit-



The Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police detained a saboteur who prepared a terrorist attack in the center of Odessa on 20 Feb.

The saboteur set up an IED near the car of the special prosecutor. Law enforcement officers pursued and detained the perpetrator, an 18-year-old resident of Odessa. He was recruited by Russian intelligence through a Telegram channel in search for "easy" money. On the instructions of the Russian special services, the saboteur personally constructed an improvised explosive device (IED) with a capacity of 300g in TNT equivalent.



To increase the lethality, the suspect stuffed the explosives with metal nuts and planted it under the military prosecutor's car. Opposite the "target", the attacker installed a hidden mobile phone with a remote access function for the FSB. Later, the Russian special service remotely activated the explosives, injuring a passer-by.



During exploitation of the crime scene, a mobile phone with evidence of his communication with his Russian handlers was seized from the detainee.

Ukrainian secret services continue to thwart Russian assassination attempts within their homeland. This suspect, like other young miscreants, prepared the IED for money, not out of love for Mother Russia or hatred of Ukraine. No doubt that Major-General Sergei Atroshchenko is on the Special Prosecutor's list or in the cross-hairs of the Ukrainian espionage network for either justice or vengeance. Ukrainian military intelligence has previously liquidated HVT war criminals within Russia. The case of the Cuban mercenaries underscores their need for money and loyalty to Russia, as well as demonstrating that Moscow still needs manpower.



ICC-indicted war criminal Vladimir Putin and his twice-impeached protege, "President Planecrash."

Sources:

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-cuban-recruits-fighters-ukraine-mercenaries/33315782.html

https://english.nv.ua/nation/putin-promotes-atroshchenko-to-military-general-after-mariupol-theater-bombing-50492041.html

https://ssu.gov.ua/novyny/sbu-ta-natspolitsiia-po-hariachykh-slidakh-zatrymaly-ahenta-fsb-yakyi-na-zamovlennia-rf-pidirvav-avto-viiskovoho-prokurora-v-odesi

February 22, 2025

South Carolina Man to be Killed in First Firing Squad Execution in 15 Years


Brad Sigmon. (Photo: Courtesy of Brad Sigmon legal team)


A South Carolina man on death row has chosen to be killed by firing squad, and if his execution goes forward next month, it would be the first time in 15 years that capital punishment in the US is carried out by gunfire. Brad Sigmon (67) is scheduled to be shot to death on 7 Mar, part of a spate of rapid killings the state has pursued in the last six months as it revives executions after a 13-year pause.

South Carolina now directs those on death row to choose how they will be killed -- electric chair, lethal injection or shooting. If they decline to make a selection, the state electrocutes them. Attorneys for men on South Carolina's death row have previously objected to firing squads, raising concerns about the pain caused by shootings and arguing the method constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. But Sigmon selected a firing squad in part because of concerns about the state's lethal injection methods, his attorneys said.


-edit-


Utah and Idaho are also considering the use of firing squads (I wrote an OP about this several weeks ago). One rifleman is anonymously given a powerful blank cartridge so he can think that he wasn't the one who killed the prisoner. (Photo: NY Post / Shutterstock)








Source:


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/21/brad-sigmon-death-penalty-firing-squad
February 22, 2025

Inside Britain's Fascist Fight Clubs: Secret Footage Shows Far-Right Group Preparing for 'Race War'



A white supremacist group masquerading as a fitness club has been secretly working to build a far-right militia, holding training sessions in plain sight.

An undercover investigation by ITV News has revealed how ‘Active Club England’ is following a blueprint established by neo-Nazi networks in the US and Europe, using extreme fitness and fraternity as a front to recruit and radicalize members for a so-called "race war".

ITV News has uncovered how a recruitment drive in the wake of the 2024 summer riots attracted dozens of new members. By capitalizing on social unrest, the group expanded to more than 100 members, with one branch drawing enough new followers to begin fortnightly training sessions at a park in Vauxhall, south London, just steps from MI6 headquarters.



Last year Scotland Yard's counter-terror chief said there had been a "startling" rise in the number of children in London becoming lured into terrorist activity with arrests now running at double the 20-year average.



Fight club members regularly took part in boxing training sessions in London and had to meet strict fitness standards. (Credit: ITV News)


Jay Barlow was sentenced in Sep 2024 for the possession of a knife and a racist offence against a police officer. (Credit: Metropolitan Police)


Rundo was arrested in a Romanian gym in 2023. (Credit: X/@Shtuni)


There are hundreds of these right wing maniacs ready to commit violence against immigrants, people of color, Muslims, and Jews in the UK, and some have already been arrested. Worse, these neo-Nazis are preparing for an ominous "race war." One thug laments on the difficulties of obtaining firearms in the UK, unlike the ease found in other countries. Britain's MI5 and Scotland Yard have their hands full dealing with these dangerous lunatics. The Kremlin has been linked to supporting rightwing, white supremacist groups throughout Europe and no doubt Elon Musk's social platforms are facilitating their hate messages.





Link to source and videos: https://www.itv.com/news/2025-02-11/undercover-footage-shows-far-right-group-preparing-for-race-war

Source:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/terrorism-arrests-children-london-far-right-islam-metropolitan-police-b1129874.html

February 21, 2025

Three Shot Dead Outside Driver's Licensing Office in Louisville, KY; Suspect at Large

Source: ABC News

Three people were shot and killed in a parking lot outside a driver's licensing office in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday, police said.

A male victim died at the scene while two female victims died at a hospital, Louisville police said. No suspect is in custody, police said. Witnesses said the suspect appeared to flee the scene, according to police.

"There does not seem to be a public threat," police said at a news conference.

Authorities didn't discuss any potential connection between the victims.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/3-shot-dead-drivers-licensing-office-louisville-suspects/story?id=119052937





The killer is on the loose and the police said "there does not seem to be a public threat?"

In an average year, 827 people die and 1,857 are wounded by guns in Kentucky. The Bluegrass State has the 11th-highest rate of gun violence in the US. Gun deaths and injuries cost Kentucky $9.6 billion each year, of which $183.4 million is paid by taxpayers.

In Kentucky, 54.6% of adults have firearms at home. Licenses in 2021: 108,833



This photo of an unidentified child at a shooting range was taken in Kentucky years ago. (Photo: Scott Olson / Getty Images)

Sources:

https://everystat.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Gun-Violence-in-Kentucky-2024-05.pdf

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/gun-ownership-rates-by-state/26/

Profile Information

Gender: Do not display
Member since: Thu Feb 24, 2022, 06:04 PM
Number of posts: 3,015
Latest Discussions»C0RI0LANUS's Journal