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beardedmrbean · 7 months

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A disturbing recurrence in 2023: Individuals hiding behind anonymous usernames (especially on 4chan) making online threats to kill Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

The latest incident, a Pennsylvania man arrested for threatening Volusia Sheriff’s deputy Royce James, is the first not directly addressed to the sheriff; however, it adds to the several directed at the official this year.

The situation began in February, after Chitwood and other county leaders called out a group known as the Goyim Defense League for a variety of antisemitic activities reported in Volusia County, including displaying antisemitic signs on a pedestrian overpass leading to the Daytona International Speedway the weekend of the Daytona 500.

Leaders speak out: Sheriff calls out 'punk thugs' who spread antisemitic propaganda in Volusia County

In addition to the most recent threat, six others have been made against Chitwood this year, mostly from individuals outside of Florida.

Some of those extradited even received a not-so-friendly greeting from the sheriff himself as they arrived in Volusia County.

Here is a look at each case:

1. New Jersey man accused of threatening to murder Chitwood

The first threat came in the beginning of March, when Richard Golden, 38, of Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, was charged with second-degree felony written threats to kill or injure.

According to the sheriff’s office, Golden used the 4chan chatroom to write: “Just shoot Chitwood in the head and he stops being a problem. They have to find a new guy to be the problem. But shooting Chitwood in the head solves an immediate problem permanently. Just shoot Chitwood in the head and murder him.”

During a press conference announcing the arrest, Chitwood said Golden was an unemployed, anti-law enforcement person who was living in a back bedroom at his mother's house.

"Once he is extradited, he will be housed at the happiest place on earth, the Volusia County Branch Jail,” Chitwood said.

Last week, a judge denied a request by Golden’s defense to dismiss the charge against him, arguing that his comments were not a “true threat.”

2. California man accused of threatening to kill Chitwood

At the end of March, San Diego police arrested Tyler Meyer, 30, at a home where he lived with his mother.

Meyer was the second individual charged with threatening the Volusia sheriff in 2023.

Meyer was charged with making a written threat to kill or injure, a second-degree felony.

He is also accused of posting his threat on 4chan: “It’s too bad Mike Chitwood isn’t safe now that I’m planning to kill him. I’m going to shoot Mike Chitwood. I’m going to kill him by shooting him to death.”

Meyer was extradited to Volusia County in April.

"Tyler, I'm Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood," the sheriff said as Tyler Meyer descended an airport escalator with two law enforcement escorts by his side. "Welcome to Volusia County, Florida. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you," Meyer replied.

Chitwood at rally: Nazis a no-show for rally against Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood. But he showed up.

Meyer posted a $100,000 bond on May 19 and was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail, according to court records.

3. Connecticut man third 4chan user accused of threatening Chitwood

Cristhian Zapata, of Ansonia, Connecticut, was arrested by the Shelton Police Department on a felony warrant for making a written threat to kill Chitwood.

According to police, Zapata, 23, wrote on 4chan: “I WILL KILL CHITWOOD, MARK MY WORDS.” _______________________

Remember kids, it's not as anonymous as you think it is and 'in minecraft' doesn't actually work.

Authorities traced Zapata’s message to his Connecticut home, where he lived with his sister, her fiancé and her child.

According to the sheriff’s office, Zapata’s sister told authorities that her brother was fascinated with Adolf Hitler and was always on his computer, often participating in extremist chat rooms and “talking to unknown people about conspiracy theories and white supremacist ideology.”

Zapata was extradited in May, and although Chitwood was not present at his arrival, he tweeted: "Sorry I wasn’t able to join the welcoming committee this time. Enjoy your stay.”

Zapata pleaded no contest Sept. 27 to written threats to kill or do bodily injury. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

4. Canadian man accused of threatening Chitwood

Calgary, Alberta, police arrested Tony Stromberg, of Calgary, in June after authorities said he “made repeated threats over Twitter, via email, and in phone calls to sheriff’s office employees.”

He is also accused of sending emails threatening to murder the sheriff and his family members, according to the sheriff’s office.

More threats: Police respond to threat made against Islamic Center of Daytona Beach Friday afternoon

"In a follow-up email in March, Stromberg wrote that he had made an 'obviously much more credible threat' but was disappointed that 'not one police car let alone FBI car has pulled up to my house,'” said sheriff's office spokesman Andrew Gant.

Stromberg will not be extradited to Volusia County; he was charged with uttering threats to cause death and is expected to be tried in Canada.

5. Deltona man accused of threatening to kill Chitwood

Ethan Russell, 22, of Deltona was already in jail when in July he was charged with threatening to kill Chitwood.

Russell had been in jail since May for trespassing at a construction site where he attempted suicide, according to the arrest report.

He had also been put on probation three years ago for threatening to conduct a mass shooting, and threatening to bomb and burn down federal buildings and high schools.

Sheriff responds: Antisemitic group demands $100,000 in gold from Volusia sheriff. He's sending pacifiers

Russell wrote in a letter that he would run Chitwood over with a car, and if that didn't kill him, he said he would beat him to death and burn his body with napalm, according to the arrest report.

6. Alaska man already indicted on murder charges accused of threatening to ‘blind and kill’ Chitwood

Joshua Wahl, 31, of Dillingham, Alaska, who had already been indicted for two counts of murder in his home state, was again indicted this week for threatening the Volusia sheriff.

He was indicted on one count of cyberstalking and four counts of transmitting threats in interstate commerce.

Wahl is accused of making the threats both via email and through 4chan between March and April, which included to “blind and kill,” according to the sheriff’s office.

“Not every loser threatening violence on the internet gets caught, but I’m glad one more is getting a dose of reality,” Chitwood said in response to the indictment.

It is unclear when Wahl will be extradited to Volsuia County.

#nunyas news

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criticalthinkingisalostskill · 2 months

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Biden Justice Department Asks Court to Keep the Names of Jack Smith’s Top Staff Secret

“The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.” Patrick Henry wrote. That is the concern we face today with unlawful government secrecy.

The U.S. Department of Justice is asking a federal court to allow the agency to keep secret the names of top staffers working in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office that is targeting former President Donald Trump and other Americans.

We filed a FOIA lawsuit in May 2023 after the Justice Department rejected a December 9, 2022, FOIA request for ”staff rosters, phone lists, or similar records depicting all employees hired by or detailed to office of Special Counsel Jack Smith” (Judicial Watch Inc. v U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:23-cv-01485)).

After months of delay, the Biden Justice Department finally acknowledged on April 12, 2023, that it possessed two staff rosters responsive to our request, but, citing a supposed “dearth of FOIA public interest,” was withholding the rosters under privacy and law enforcement exemptions. We explained in our motion that we were only seeking the names of top-level staffers – those at the GS-14 level and above – and did not seek email addresses or phone numbers.

In our motion, Judicial Watch quotes President Joe Biden’s remarks at a November 9, 2022, White House press conference and provide the background and justification for the FOIA request:

“Well, we just have to demonstrate that [Donald Trump] will not take power – if we – if he does run. I’m making sure he, under legitimate efforts of our Constitution, does not become the next President again.” - President Joe Biden

On November 18, 2022, [three days after Trump announced he would run for president again in 2024], Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to investigate potential criminal wrongdoing by former President Donald J. Trump. The appointment came nine days after President Biden announced his effort to “mak[e] sure” Trump did not become president again. The unprecedented investigation – and now prosecutions – by an incumbent president of his immediate predecessor, opponent in the last election, and leading opponent in the upcoming election raises numerous questions about who Special Counsel Smith chose to assist him in this highly charged endeavor. Are these persons opponents or supporters of the former president, aligned with one of the two major political parties, or otherwise biased or conflicted, or are they unbiased, nonpartisan professionals?

Further, we cite the Fani Willis and the other anti-Trump investigation scandals in explaining the public interest in knowing who is involved in this unprecedented prosecution:

Two recent examples highlight the importance of knowing the identities of the SCO’s staffers. Notorious FBI employees Peter Stzrok and Lisa Page were both members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of then-President Trump…. Stzrok was the lead FBI investigator assigned to the probe, and Page was a “general attorney” on Special Counsel Mueller’s staff…. During the investigation, it was discovered that Strzok and Page had exchanged voluminous texts disparaging then-candidate Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, commenting that “we’ll stop” Trump from becoming president, and citing having an “insurance policy” in case he did…. A subsequent report by the U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General was highly critical of the exchanges, noting with respect to the “we’ll stop it” text in particular:

[W]hen one senior FBI official, Strzok, who was helping to lead the Russia investigation at the time, conveys in a text message to another senior FBI official, Page, “No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it” in response to her question “[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!”, it is not only indicative of a biased state of mind but, even more seriously, implies a willingness to take official action to impact the presidential candidate’s electoral prospects. This is antithetical to the core values of the FBI and the Department of Justice.

Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis, who also has brought criminal charges against the former president, is now reportedly under investigation herself for allegedly choosing her paramour, Nathan Wade, to lead the prosecution…. Although Wade’s identity was already known, it led to the discovery of new, previously unknown information that bears on the public perception of the prosecution. It helps the public to know “what their government is up to.” This case is no different.

In our motion, we further explain:

Defendant’s argument that disclosing the more-than-one-year-old rosters could reasonably be expected to interfere with the SCO’s work because it could lead to the SCO’s staff being threatened and harassed is entirely conclusory, little more than speculation, and lacks meaningful evidentiary support. It also ignores the fact that the names of at least 23 SCO staffers are readily available from public sources, yet the public availability of these names and in some instances email addresses and a cell phone number does not seem to have had any discernable impact on the functioning of the SCO…. Its prosecution of the former president and the two other individuals certainly appears to be proceeding apace, and Defendant has neither claimed nor demonstrated otherwise.

We conclude that the government’s exemption claims fail and that the Justice Department’s request to close the case is “plainly insufficient to satisfy its burden of proving that its withholdings are lawful.”

Our motion includes a declaration that lists 23 individuals working for Special Counsel Smith who were identified using publicly available court filings; an additional four names were located in media reports.

Special Counsel Jack Smith isn’t above the law, and the American people have the right to know who is working on his unprecedented and politicized anti-Trump investigation. Given the scandalous revelations about the Fani Willis prosecution team targeting Trump, it is especially urgent that Americans know just who the top people on Jack Smith’s staff are.

We’re involved in other matters regarding President Trump.

Through the New York Freedom of Information Law, in July 2023, we received the engagement letter showing New York County District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg paid $900 per hour for partners and $500 per hour for associates to the Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher law firm for the purpose of suing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) in an effort to shut down the House Judiciary Committee’s oversight investigation into Bragg’s unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Through FOIA, we uncovered information about Special Counsel’s Mueller’s budget and staff. We also sued for and obtained records for the budget of Special Counsel John Durham. A Judicial Watch lawsuit also uncovered calendar entries of Mueller special counsel prosecutor Andrew Weissmann showing he led the hiring effort for the investigation that targeted President Trump.

In January 2024, we filed a lawsuit against Fulton County, Georgia for records regarding the hiring of Nathan Wade as a special prosecutor by District Attorney Fani Willis. Wade was hired to pursue unprecedented criminal investigations and prosecutions against former President Trump and others over the 2020 election disputes.

Before his appointment to investigate and prosecute Trump, Jack Smith previously was at the center of several other controversial issues, the IRS scandal among them.

In 2014, a Judicial Watch investigation revealed that top IRS officials had been in communication with Jack Smith’s then-Public Integrity Section about a plan to launch criminal investigations into conservative tax-exempt groups. Government officials were looking to step up a probe into requests for tax-exemption from organizations with conservative sounding names like “Tea Party” and other “political sounding names,” according to a later report by the Treasury Department’s inspector general. Jack Smith appears to have been a key player in this attempt to silence conservative voices.

According to the documents we obtained, Jack Smith directed the head of the Justice Department’s Election Crimes Branch, Richard Pilger, to meet with the director of the IRS’s Tax-Exempt Organizations division, Lois Lerner. In one email we obtained, Lerner discusses an idea that the Justice Department could build “false-statement cases” against tax-exempt conservative groups.

We later obtained additional documents detailing a planning meeting between Justice Department, FBI and IRS officials about possible criminal prosecutions. Thanks to our disclosures, House investigators discovered that the IRS improperly turned over confidential tax records of nonprofit organizations to the FBI—sparking a public uproar and forcing the return of the records to the IRS. Read more about the case here.

https://myjw.pr.judicialwatch.org/link.php?AGENCY=jw&M=55814187&N=67116&L=28702&F=H&drurl=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuanVkaWNpYWx3YXRjaC5vcmcvYWJjcy1pcnMtbWVzcy1qdXN0aWNlLWRlcHQtdGFpbnRlZC8/dXRtX3NvdXJjZT1kZXBsb3llciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PUFOVFU0TVRReE9EYyUzRCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249d2Vla2x5K3VwZGF0ZSZ1dG1fdGVybT1tZW1iZXJz&hash=7eaa4d7e25f74bbc8b9cb71344675bda2d18751e23a812663ba77960fa44c7b0.

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ridenwithbiden · 8 months

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YES ! Schedule 3 not Schedule 1, and this is only the beginning.

#Biden is moving us towards #Legalization And this is in just 1 year.

"WASHINGTON - The Department of Health and Human Services has moved to reclassify #Marijuana as less harmful than cocaine or heroin, a possible first step toward wider legalization, according to reports.

In a letter obtained by Bloomberg News, a Health and Human Services Department official wrote to Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Anne Milgram that marijuana should be classified as a schedule three substance, which consists of drugs “with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence.”

It is currently a schedule one substance, which are drugs with no accepted medical use and have a “high potential of abuse,” according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

President Joe Biden had asked Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Attorney General Merrick Garland to review how marijuana is classified under federal law last year.

Late in the day, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement: "Following the data and science, HHS has expeditiously responded to President Biden’s directive to HHS Secretary Becerra and provided its scheduling recommendation for marijuana to the DEA on August 29, 2023."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday in a press briefing that both agencies are engaged in an “independent process” that is “guided by evidence.”

Biden also had taken steps to ease the restrictions of marijuana last year, including announcing a pardon of all prior offenses for the possession of marijuana and urging governors to do the same in states.

As of April, 38 states and the District of Columbia allow for the medical use of marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 23 states and the District of Columbia, states have passed measures to regulate cannabis for adult non-medical use."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: HHS calls for moving marijuana to a lower-risk category

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solatgif · 10 months

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TGIF: Roundup for July 7, 2023

SOLA Network is grateful to offer a free one-day event for church leaders thinking about the possibility of a long-term home for their church. Wednesday, August 2, at Living Hope Community Church in Brea, California, 9:45am – 12:30pm. Learn more and reserve a spot!

Save the date! “Writing the Next Chapter,” the 2024 Asian American Leadership Conference, will take place on April 23-24 in Orange County, California. More info coming soon.

This newsletter is one of the many ways you can keep in touch with us. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram.

Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator

Enter to win these excellent books! Thanks to Crown & Covenant Publishers for providing these books for our giveaway, in partnership with my newsletters for @diveindigdeep and FCBC Walnut.

Grassmarket Press is a new imprint from Crown & Covenant Publications that aims to provide readable resources on Reformed and Presbyterian theology and practice—for regular people.

What is Love? is an encouragement to stop and listen, to consider that which the Scriptures call the lightning flash of the Lord.

I Have a Confession is an introduction to confessions and what they’re supposed to do (and not do), focusing on the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy makes the case that the Christian Sabbath is not about what we’re forbidden from doing, but what we get to do: honor and enjoy God’s gift of rest, and share it with others

Articles From Around The Web

Connie Nelson: Back to Basics: The Beauty of the Ordinary in Relational Discipleship to Gen Z Students

“With a prevailing attitude of love that seeks to see and understand our students, we become a wordless witness that frames and reinforces the very gospel message we speak.”

Brett McCracken: ‘Past Lives’: Mature Wisdom in an Indie Romance

“It’s a very un-Hollywood love story, upending the predictable script (“Follow your heart”) that has long dominated romantic narratives.”

John Piper: My Most Influential Teacher: A Tribute to Daniel Fuller (1925–2023)

“There was absolutely no academic gamesmanship. This was life and death.”

Our new Books and Reviews page is your one-stop resource for all of your reading needs. It features Asian American authors and issues, book recommendations, and interviews.

Books, Podcasts, Music, And More

9Marks: On the Strategic Value of Missions Work in Global Cities

Mack and Ryan interview Scott Logsdon and Will Sutton on the strategic value of missions work in global cities.

TGC Glo Podcast: Pursuing Biblical Community in a Digital Age

Blair Linne, Aixa de López, Sharon Dickens, and Soojin Park discuss the trend of online church engagement, why some of us might find online church more comfortable, God’s design for connection and community, and why isolation is dangerous for our hearts.

Aaron Lee: Related Works

Book Review: Worship, Feasting, Rest, Mercy: The Christian Sabbath by Daniel Howe. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.

For Father’s Day, check out our Dads & Fatherhood collection! Featured authors include Cory Ishida, Daniel K. Eng, Tom Sugimura, Larry Lin, David J. Park, and P. J. Tibayan.

Featured This Week On SOLA Network

SOLA Network: SOLA Book Recommendations for College Students (and Beyond)

Book recommendations on Seeking Faith (or I Have a Lot of Questions); Finding My Faith (or I’ve Grown Up In Church, but I Still Don’t Get It); and Growing My Faith (or Being a Christian is Hard).

Peter Lim, Jason Min, Kevin Yi: Reflections on the White House Listening Session with Asian American Christian Leaders

Jason Min: Most Asian American churches I’ve been a part of have been fairly apolitical usually because of a fear of being perceived as too political or a general unfamiliarity with navigating topics like these. At least within our community, it’s clear that the younger generation desires to have more of these kinds of conversations in the church and seeks a faith that is more civically engaged.

Young W. Yi: How To (and How Not To) Pray for Our Country and Leaders

“I will pray for the way of Christ to shine bright and above all other ways — whether American, cultural, or religious — for only the way of Christ can bring salvation to man.”

SOLA Network: The Best Christian Books by Asian American Authors in 2022

Looking for books to add to your summer reading list? Dive into our collection of captivating and thought-provoking books by Asian American authors that explore faith, culture, and personal journeys.

TGIF: Roundup for June 30, 2023

The SOLA Network: A Resource for Parents and Youth Pastors / Deuteronomy for the Asian American Christian / “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?” / The Next Generation: Forming Middle and High School Students for Lifelong Faith / Comforting and Empowering the Poor Through Christlike Love

General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.

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pipelinelaserraygun · 1 year

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youtube

On occasion, God sends advanced Intel to 🪖 HIS ground troops, that's only understandable AFTER certain events transpire. And NOT BEFORE: 🤔 Encoding that's cryptic, for a time.

The announcement of a summer 2023 CINEMATIC Blockbuster: "Flashpoint"‼️

youtube

MUST 👁️👁️ SEE❣️

Cinema-Con 2023 was THIS week, and 🦇 the "Flash" was 🍿 screened in its entirety, ahead of its June 🌎 global release. By MANY accounts, the movie is loaded with ⚡ Intel decryption that we've been waiting for, since 2017: Encoded for 6 YEARS.

A reminder: the Almighty consistently EMBEDS secret marching orders 📦 delivered through Pop Culture.

youtube

Consider 🎬 timing/release: TWO events during April, '23 that are BOTH referring to a "Flashpoint". My analysis: we're reaching a Moment in Time, a NEXUS/crossroads that could affect ALL 🧬 Life.

Here is President Trump, speaking at Flashpoint, 2023 on April 25th.

💤 🤡 joey💩 uses handlers.

Who is holding REAL Intel?

I think I have it 👊🏾.

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xtruss · 1 year

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Life Of Ex-Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf In Photos

Former Pakistani President Parvez Musharraf died on Sunday. He was 79. He was the Pakistani Army chief at the time of Kargil War. He overthrew the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to assume power in 1999, which he held until 2008. He supported the US-led War on Terror and participated in failed peace talks with India. He visited India to hold talks with the Indian leadership. Under his presidency, Pakistan also hosted the Indian men's cricket team and Musharraf famously asked former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to not cut his long hair.

— Outlook India | 05 February 2023

Pervez Musharraf Passes Away! Then Pakistan Gen. Pervez Musharraf gestures at a news conference, Thursday March 23, 2000, in Islamabad. Gen. Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/B.K. Bangash, File

In this file photo, Pakistan's then President Pervez Musharraf with then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpyee in Agra. Musharraf passed away due to prolonged illness. | PTI Photo

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his wife Sehba pose in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra. An official said Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed U.S. war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died. | Photo: AP/Sherwin Crasto, File

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, center, and his wife Sehba Musharraf, 3rd right, pose with Pakistani children clad in traditional dresses during the 54th anniversary celebration of Pakistan's Independence Day at Presidential palace in Islamabad, Pakistan on Aug 14, 2001. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/B.K.Bangash, File

In this file photo, Pakistan's then President Pervez Musharraf with indian cricketer M.S. Dhoni during the ODI match played between India and Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan. Musharraf passed away due to prolonged illness. | Photo: PTI

Then U.S. President George W. Bush, right, shakes hands with then Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on Sept. 22, 2006, at the end of a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington. Gen. Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/Gerald Herbert, File

Afghanistan interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai, right, welcomes Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on April 2, 2002, at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. That was Musharraf's first visit to Kabul. An official said Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed U.S. war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died. | Photo: AP/Suzanne Plunkett, File

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, right, chats with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan at Pakistan Human Development Forum on Jan 24, 2002 in Islamabad, Pakistan. An official said Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan military ruler who backed U.S. war in Afghanistan after 9/11, has died. | Photo: AP/B.K.Bangash, File

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, left, gives a news conference in Islamabad, Pakistan with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf on Oct. 16, 2001. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/John McConnico, File

General Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan, left, talks to Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat on Aug. 23, 2001, at the Presidential palace in Islamabad, Pakistan. Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup and later led a reluctant Pakistan into aiding the U.S. war in Afghanistan against the Taliban, has died, an official said. He was 79. | Photo: AP/Hussein Hussein, File

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alaminshorkar76 · 2 years

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#IFTTT #Blogger

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kege97 · 2 years

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How ridiculous was the Trump administration? Another former White House official is blowing the whistle.

The White House announced lately that the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States had reached 1 million, which evolved into a grim milestone. The US government cannot absolve itself from the blame for the pandemic that broke out and spread rapidly across the United States in just two years. An increasing number of insiders have begun to reflect on and criticize its bizarre handling of the pandemic in its early days.

In her book, Deborah, who points her finger at the Trump administration, recounts how the administration played down the harm, delayed data collection, failed to recognize the importance of asymptomatic transmission, and acted anti-intellectually to spread misinformation facing the pandemic.

Trump watches TV while listening to the briefing

Trump himself compared it to the common flu on Twitter, facing the pandemic. In Deborah's view, Trump's administration and himself were unprepared for the pandemic and even shrugged off predictions of possible damage of the pandemic.

Birx describes her first meeting with Trump, on March 2, 2020, when she tried to explain to him that the virus “is not the flu”. Trump listened for a minute, briefly challenged her, then literally changed the channel on one of the TV screens he had simultaneously been watching.

Trump and Deborah Birx, April 22, 2020. AP

After joining the panel in March 2020, Deborah found that the United States was "dangerously behind the eight ball" on virus data collection.

In 2020, she wrote, data in some states was often being sent by fax and then passed along to the CDC.

Trump thundered: The virus is under control

In the early days of the pandemic, the Trump administration focused on patients with flu symptoms. The ignorance of asymptomatic infected people led to the hidden spread of the virus and the rapid spread of the epidemic.

Birx wrote that even before she signed on to the White House team, she suspected that asymptomatic spread was contributing to the quick rise in COVID-19, although the evidence was slim.

That view is becoming clear as New York City has seen a surge in cases.

Deborah Birx and Trump, AP

In August 2020, after Deborah told CNN that the virus was "extraordinarily widespread," Trump called her and thundered: "It's under control."

After Birx told CNN in August 2020 that the virus was "extraordinarily widespread," Birx wrote, Trump called her and demanded the name of the person who booked the interview, saying "That's it! Do you understand me? Never again! The virus is under control."

Trump: There are more cases because there are more tests

At the time, the United States, which lacked precise data on COVID-19 and did not recognize the stealthily spreading of the virus among asymptomatic patients, urgently needed large-scale testing.

Deborah saw the worst caused by the Trump administration's sluggish efficiency.

Writing about a meeting with American COVID-19 testing manufacturers early in her tenure, Birx said that learning that the White House had dragged its feet on meeting with manufacturers, on top of limited tests and slow test processing, represented a "worst-case scenario."

Later on, Trump's rhetoric on testing shifted — he suggested that the United States had high case numbers because it tested so many people.

Trump and Deborah Birx , Getty Images

“Try disinfectant injections”

Trump has also made many anti-intellectual claims.

At a White House press conference on April 23, 2020, DHS officials said that Novel Coronavirus survival rates are significantly lower in high-light, high-temperature conditions; Some disinfectant components have a noticeable effect on killing Novel Coronavirus.

Trump promptly suggested some "astonishing" treatments, including "ultraviolet radiation" and "disinfectant injections " to kill the virus.

"So supposing we hit the body with a tremendous — whether it's ultraviolet or just a very powerful light — and I think you said that hasn't been checked. And then I said, supposing you brought the light inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way, and I think you said you're going to test that, too."

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..."

Deborah's face as Trump talked about his treatment advice Recalling the day, Deborah said she wanted to disappear.

Birx froze, hands clenched on her lap. “I looked down at my feet and wished for two things: something to kick and for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.”

Since the pandemic began, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the United States has repeatedly exceeded worst-case predictions.

On May 21, Popular Science reported that the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States in a single day is now around 300, which is three times the daily death toll from car accidents in the United States.

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yooyojason · 2 years

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How ridiculous was the Trump administration? Another former White House official is blowing the whistle.

e White House announced lately that the death toll of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States had reached 1 million, which evolved into a grim milestone. The US government cannot absolve itself from the blame for the pandemic that broke out and spread rapidly across the United States in just two years. An increasing number of insiders have begun to reflect on and criticize its bizarre handling of the pandemic in its early days.

Trump watches TV while listening to the briefing

Trump and Deborah Birx, April 22, 2020. AP

After joining the panel in March 2020, Deborah found that the United States was "dangerously behind the eight ball" on virus data collection.

In 2020, she wrote, data in some states was often being sent by fax and then passed along to the CDC.

Trump thundered: The virus is under control

Birx wrote that even before she signed on to the White House team, she suspected that asymptomatic spread was contributing to the quick rise in COVID-19, although the evidence was slim.

That view is becoming clear as New York City has seen a surge in cases.

Deborah Birx and Trump, AP

In August 2020, after Deborah told CNN that the virus was "extraordinarily widespread," Trump called her and thundered: "It's under control."

Trump: There are more cases because there are more tests

At the time, the United States, which lacked precise data on COVID-19 and did not recognize the stealthily spreading of the virus among asymptomatic patients, urgently needed large-scale testing.

Deborah saw the worst caused by the Trump administration's sluggish efficiency.

Later on, Trump's rhetoric on testing shifted — he suggested that the United States had high case numbers because it tested so many people.

Trump and Deborah Birx , Getty Images

“Try disinfectant injections”

Trump has also made many anti-intellectual claims.

Trump promptly suggested some "astonishing" treatments, including "ultraviolet radiation" and "disinfectant injections " to kill the virus.

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..."

Deborah's face as Trump talked about his treatment advice

Recalling the day, Deborah said she wanted to disappear.

Birx froze, hands clenched on her lap. “I looked down at my feet and wished for two things: something to kick and for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.”

Since the pandemic began, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the United States has repeatedly exceeded worst-case predictions.

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12234t46e5r · 2 years

Text

How ridiculous was the Trump administration? Another former White House official is blowing the whistle.

Trump watches TV while listening to the briefing

Trump and Deborah Birx, April 22, 2020. AP

After joining the panel in March 2020, Deborah found that the United States was "dangerously behind the eight ball" on virus data collection.

In 2020, she wrote, data in some states was often being sent by fax and then passed along to the CDC.

Trump thundered: The virus is under control

Birx wrote that even before she signed on to the White House team, she suspected that asymptomatic spread was contributing to the quick rise in COVID-19, although the evidence was slim.

That view is becoming clear as New York City has seen a surge in cases.

Deborah Birx and Trump, AP

In August 2020, after Deborah told CNN that the virus was "extraordinarily widespread," Trump called her and thundered: "It's under control."

Trump: There are more cases because there are more tests

At the time, the United States, which lacked precise data on COVID-19 and did not recognize the stealthily spreading of the virus among asymptomatic patients, urgently needed large-scale testing.

Deborah saw the worst caused by the Trump administration's sluggish efficiency.

Later on, Trump's rhetoric on testing shifted — he suggested that the United States had high case numbers because it tested so many people.

Trump and Deborah Birx , Getty Images

“Try disinfectant injections”

Trump has also made many anti-intellectual claims.

Trump promptly suggested some "astonishing" treatments, including "ultraviolet radiation" and "disinfectant injections " to kill the virus.

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..."

Deborah's face as Trump talked about his treatment advice

Recalling the day, Deborah said she wanted to disappear.

Birx froze, hands clenched on her lap. “I looked down at my feet and wished for two things: something to kick and for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.”

Since the pandemic began, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the United States has repeatedly exceeded worst-case predictions.

1 note · View note

fov12 · 2 years

Text

How ridiculous was the Trump administration? Another former White House official is blowing the whistle.

Trump watches TV while listening to the briefing

Trump and Deborah Birx, April 22, 2020. AP

After joining the panel in March 2020, Deborah found that the United States was "dangerously behind the eight ball" on virus data collection.

In 2020, she wrote, data in some states was often being sent by fax and then passed along to the CDC.

Trump thundered: The virus is under control

Birx wrote that even before she signed on to the White House team, she suspected that asymptomatic spread was contributing to the quick rise in COVID-19, although the evidence was slim.

That view is becoming clear as New York City has seen a surge in cases.

Deborah Birx and Trump, AP

In August 2020, after Deborah told CNN that the virus was "extraordinarily widespread," Trump called her and thundered: "It's under control."

Trump: There are more cases because there are more tests

At the time, the United States, which lacked precise data on COVID-19 and did not recognize the stealthily spreading of the virus among asymptomatic patients, urgently needed large-scale testing.

Deborah saw the worst caused by the Trump administration's sluggish efficiency.

Later on, Trump's rhetoric on testing shifted — he suggested that the United States had high case numbers because it tested so many people.

Trump and Deborah Birx , Getty Images

“Try disinfectant injections”

Trump has also made many anti-intellectual claims.

Trump promptly suggested some "astonishing" treatments, including "ultraviolet radiation" and "disinfectant injections " to kill the virus.

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..."

0 notes

darktimetravelhideout · 2 years

Text

How ridiculous was the Trump administration? Another former White House official is blowing the whistle.

Trump watches TV while listening to the briefing

Trump and Deborah Birx, April 22, 2020. AP

After joining the panel in March 2020, Deborah found that the United States was "dangerously behind the eight ball" on virus data collection.

In 2020, she wrote, data in some states was often being sent by fax and then passed along to the CDC.

Trump thundered: The virus is under control

Birx wrote that even before she signed on to the White House team, she suspected that asymptomatic spread was contributing to the quick rise in COVID-19, although the evidence was slim.

That view is becoming clear as New York City has seen a surge in cases.

Deborah Birx and Trump, AP

In August 2020, after Deborah told CNN that the virus was "extraordinarily widespread," Trump called her and thundered: "It's under control."

Trump: There are more cases because there are more tests

At the time, the United States, which lacked precise data on COVID-19 and did not recognize the stealthily spreading of the virus among asymptomatic patients, urgently needed large-scale testing.

Deborah saw the worst caused by the Trump administration's sluggish efficiency.

Later on, Trump's rhetoric on testing shifted — he suggested that the United States had high case numbers because it tested so many people.

Trump and Deborah Birx , Getty Images

“Try disinfectant injections”

Trump has also made many anti-intellectual claims.

Trump promptly suggested some "astonishing" treatments, including "ultraviolet radiation" and "disinfectant injections " to kill the virus.

"I see the disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside or almost a cleaning? " Trump continued.

When Trump asked if we could use high temperature and high lights to kill the virus, Deborah, who was also in the room, responded: "It's not as a treatment..."

Deborah's face as Trump talked about his treatment advice

Recalling the day, Deborah said she wanted to disappear.

Birx froze, hands clenched on her lap. “I looked down at my feet and wished for two things: something to kick and for the floor to open up and swallow me whole.”

Since the pandemic began, the number of people infected with COVID-19 in the United States has repeatedly exceeded worst-case predictions. On May 21, Popular Science reported that the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States in a single day is now around 300, which is three times the daily death toll from car accidents in the United States.

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xtruss · 2 years

Text

Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade; States Can Ban Abortion

— By Mark Sherman | Associated Press | Friday June 24th, 2022

Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, April 23, 2021. Seated from left are Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left are Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years — a decision by its conservative majority to overturn the court's landmark abortion cases. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday stripped away the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion that had stood for nearly a half-century. The decision by the court’s conservative majority overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling and is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states.

The ruling, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion opponents, made possible by an emboldened right side of the court fortified by three appointees of former President Donald Trump.

Both sides predicted the fight over abortion would continue, in state capitals, in Washington and at the ballot box. Justice Clarence Thomas, part of Friday’s majority, urged colleagues to overturn other high court rulings protecting same-sex marriage, gay sex and the use of contraceptives.

Pregnant women considering an abortion already were dealing with a near-complete ban in Oklahoma and a prohibition after roughly six weeks in Texas. Clinics in at least two other states, Wisconsin and West Virginia, stopped performing abortions after Friday’s decision.

Abortion foes cheered the ruling, but abortion-rights supporters, including President Joe Biden, expressed dismay and pledged to fight to restore the rights.

“It’s a sad day for the court and for the country,” Biden said at the White House. He urged voters to make it a defining issue in the November elections, declaring, “This decision must not be the final word.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, agreed about the political stakes.

“An entirely new pro-life movement begins today. We are ready to go on offense for life in every single one of those legislative bodies, in each statehouse and the White House,” Dannenfelser said in a statement.

The ruling came more than a month after the stunning leak of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito indicating the court was prepared to take this momentous step.

It puts the court at odds with a majority of Americans who favored preserving Roe, according to opinion polls.

Alito, in the final opinion issued Friday, wrote that Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that reaffirmed the right to abortion, were wrong had to be be overturned.

“We therefore hold that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion. Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote, in an opinion that was very similar to the leaked draft.

Joining Alito were Thomas and Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett. The latter three justices are Trump appointees. Thomas first voted to overrule Roe 30 years ago.

Four justices would have left Roe and Casey in place.

The vote was 6-3 to uphold the Mississippi law, but Chief Justice John Roberts didn’t join his conservative colleagues in overturning Roe. He wrote that there was no need to overturn the broad precedents to rule in Mississippi’s favor.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — the diminished liberal wing of the court — were in dissent.

“With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,” they wrote, warning that abortion opponents now could pursue a nationwide ban “from the moment of conception and without exceptions for rape or incest.”

The ruling is expected to disproportionately affect minority women who already face limited access to health care, according to statistics analyzed by The Associated Press.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the Justice Department will protect providers and those seeking abortions in states where it is legal and also “work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care.”

In particular, Garland said that the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Mifepristone for medication abortions.

More than 90% of abortions take place in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, and more than half are now done with pills, not surgery, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

Mississippi’s only abortion clinic, which was at the center of Friday’s case, continued to see patients Friday. Outside, men used a bullhorn to tell people inside that they would burn in hell. Clinic escorts wearing colorful vests used large speakers to blast Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” at the protesters.

Mississippi is one of 13 states, mainly in the South and Midwest, that already have laws on the books to ban abortion in the event Roe was overturned. Another half-dozen states have near-total bans or prohibitions after 6 weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

In roughly a half-dozen other states, the fight will be over dormant abortion bans that were enacted before Roe was decided in 1973 or new proposals to sharply limit when abortions can be performed, according to Guttmacher.

West Virginia and Wisconsin, where clinics paused abortions, have bans dating from the 1800s.

The decision came against a backdrop of public opinion surveys that find a majority of Americans oppose overturning Roe and handing the question of whether to permit abortion entirely to the states. Polls conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and others have consistently shown about 1 in 10 Americans want abortion to be illegal in all cases. A majority are in favor of abortion being legal in all or most circumstances, but polls indicate many also support restrictions especially later in pregnancy.

Outside the barricaded Supreme Court, a crowd of mostly young women grew into the hundreds within hours of the decision. Some shouted, “The Supreme Court is illegitimate,” while waves of others, wearing red shirts with “The Pro-Life Generation Votes,” celebrated, danced and thrust their arms into the air.

The Biden administration and other defenders of abortion rights have warned that a decision overturning Roe also would threaten other high court decisions in favor of gay rights and even potentially contraception.

The liberal justices made the same point in their joint dissent: The majority “eliminates a 50-year-old constitutional right that safeguards women’s freedom and equal station. It breaches a core rule-of-law principle, designed to promote constancy in the law. In doing all of that, it places in jeopardy other rights, from contraception to same-sex intimacy and marriage. And finally, it undermines the Court’s legitimacy.”

And Thomas, the member of the court most open to jettisoning prior decisions, wrote a separate opinion in which he explicitly called on his colleagues to put the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage, gay sex and contraception cases on the table.

But Alito contended that his analysis addresses abortion only. “Nothing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion,” he wrote.

Whatever the intentions of the person who leaked Alito’s draft opinion, the conservatives held firm in overturning Roe and Casey.

In his opinion, Alito dismissed the arguments in favor of retaining the two decisions, including that multiple generations of American women have partly relied on the right to abortion to gain economic and political power.

Changing the makeup of the court has been central to the anti-abortion side’s strategy, as the dissenters archly noted. “The Court reverses course today for one reason and one reason only: because the composition of this Court has changed,” the liberal justices wrote.

Mississippi and its allies made increasingly aggressive arguments as the case developed, and two high-court defenders of abortion rights retired or died. The state initially argued that its law could be upheld without overruling the court’s abortion precedents.

Screenshot of Page 1, Associated Press

Justice Anthony Kennedy retired shortly after the Mississippi law took effect in 2018 and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020. Both had been members of a five-justice majority that was mainly protective of abortion rights.

In their Senate hearings, Trump’s three high-court picks carefully skirted questions about how they would vote in any cases, including about abortion.

— Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko, Fatima Hussein, Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston, Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi, Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, and Leah Willingham in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

0 notes