Contrast the #oregonstandoff verdict with what's being done to protesters on the #DakotaAccessPipeline #StandingRock #BREAKING pic.twitter.com/wAdjBRgjvY
— Oregon's Beaten Path (@OregonsPath) October 27, 2016
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Art, Fun, & Nonsense.
Contrast the #oregonstandoff verdict with what's being done to protesters on the #DakotaAccessPipeline #StandingRock #BREAKING pic.twitter.com/wAdjBRgjvY
— Oregon's Beaten Path (@OregonsPath) October 27, 2016
Rudy Giuliani speaks to MSNBC (screen grab).
Oh, it’s Giuliani again, being the very best drama llama he can be, and not only denying any racism on his part, or on Trump’s part, but there is no racism, no, none at all. Wait, yes, there is a bit of racism, on Clinton’s part. That’s it.
“Racist? The last thing in this world that Donald Trump is is a racist,” Giuliani scoffed. “The man likes white people, he likes black people, he likes Hispanic people, he plays golf with them.”
I bet he’d even let them use one of his bathrooms, right Rudy? Who knew that golf canceled out racism, I didn’t know that.
“To say that Donald Trump is a racist is outrageous!” Giuliani replied indignantly. “To call anybody a racist is outrageous. I can’t stand that.”
“Hold on,” Ruhle interrupted. “There are people that you can call racist.”
Giuliani, however, pivoted: “It’s Hillary Clinton who says to us, we all have implicit bias.”
“Hillary, I got news for you, I don’t,” he added. “Maybe you do. I have no racial guilt. Not a single bit of it, which is why I’m willing to tell the truth about black crime and what has to be done about it.”
Oh yes, to point out racist behaviour and attitudes is just so much worse than the effects of racism, yep. The wounded bellow of white privilege, hear it bluster and sob. As for ‘no racial guilt’? Please. Yes, Rudy, you have implicit bias, we all do. What you don’t seem to have is any sense of shame. Or any ability to think, let alone critically.
“And there is no mayor in this history of this city that saved more black lives than me. Nobody even close.”
Why do I get the idea that Giuliani’s idea of saving black lives is putting a whole lot of black people in prison?
Full story here.
Donald Trump’s close financial ties to Energy Transfer Partners, operators of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline, have been laid bare, with the presidential candidate invested in the company and receiving more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from its chief executive.
Trump’s financial disclosure forms show the Republican nominee has between $500,000 and $1m invested in Energy Transfer Partners, with a further $500,000 to $1m holding in Phillips 66, which will have a 25% stake in the Dakota Access project once completed. The information was disclosed in Trump’s monthly filings to the Federal Election Commission, which requires candidates to disclose their campaign finance information on a regular basis.
The financial relationship runs both ways. Kelcy Warren, chief executive of Energy Transfer Partners, has given $103,000 to elect Trump and handed over a further $66,800 to the Republican National Committee since the property developer secured the GOP’s presidential nomination.
On 29 June, Warren made $3,000in donations to Trump’s presidential campaign. The limit for individual contributions to a candidate is $2,700 per election and it’s unclear whether Trump returned $300 to Warren. Trump’s campaign was contacted for comment.
Warren made a further $100,000 donation to the Trump Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee among Trump’s campaign, the RNC and 11 state parties, on 29 June. A day earlier, the Energy Transfer Partners chief executive doled out $66,800 in two separatedonations to the RNC.
Full story at the Guardian. All I have right now is a lot of fucking cussing, and feeling like I’m going to vomit. Crispy fuckin’ Christ onna stick. I’m going back to work.
Attorney General Roy Cooper (D) and Gov. Pat McCrory (R) debating earlier this month. CREDIT: AP Photo/Gerry Broome.
NC continues to lose out on the economic front, some might say NC has been hemorrhaging jobs and money since the beginning of HB2, but as usual, McCrory continues to defend this attempt at legalizing bigotry and hatred. There simply isn’t any way for McCrory to save face at this point, but his refusal to back down and withdraw HB2 points to him being a very small man indeed, one who cannot, and will not admit he was wrong. I will give him this, he’s a fine example of what happens when a person embraces bigotry to the exclusion of all else. McCrory is now down six points, but I expect he still thinks he’ll win. I imagine he’ll lose, not only because he has lost his state so very much economically, but out of the sheer embarrassment on the part of many North Carolinians.
This week, North Carolina found out it is not getting 730 new jobs and a quarter-billion-dollar impact that it was the top contender for. The reason? Its anti-LGBT law, HB2, which bans trans people from using the bathroom and bars municipalities from protecting LGBT people from discrimination.
CoStar Group Inc., a real estate analytics company, had been shopping around cities to build a new research operations headquarters, and the contenders were Charlotte, Richmond, Atlanta, and Kansas City. The Atlanta Business Chronicle heard from sources that Charlotte was the favorite. But the jobs are going to Richmond.
According to David Dorsch, CoStar Group’s commercial real estate broker, “The primary reason they chose Richmond over Charlotte was HB2.” CoStar Group was itself, a bit mum, simply confirming the jobs were going to Richmond — and no expansions were planned anywhere else. But Dorsch was adamant that the jobs were another casualty of the discriminatory law. “The best thing we can do as citizens in North Carolina is to show up on Nov. 8 and think about which party is costing us jobs and which one is not.”
[…]
But McCrory’s administration denies there’s been any backlash whatsoever. His Commerce Secretary, John Skvarla, insisted this week that HB2 “hasn’t moved the needle one iota.” Indeed, he claimed that the state is financially and operationally in the “best position” it’s ever been.
Oh sure, that’s why McCrory “redirected” half a million dollars from the state’s emergency disaster fund, because you’re in the best position. FFS.
They’re not in total denial, though. Skvarla also admitted that the state made PayPal give back a ceremonial wooden bowl that McCrory had given to the company as a gift celebrating the original plan to expand in North Carolina. As the Observer described it, “state officials did what any jilted ex might: Asked for their stuff back.”
You can not make this stuff up, you just can’t. One would think McCrory and his cronies were a gang of foot-stomping 6 year olds. I expect that’s unfair to 6 year olds, most of them probably much more mature than McCrory.
McCrory, who is fighting for re-election in two weeks and is down six points, continues to defend HB2 and deny that it’s a problem. His opponent, Attorney General Roy Cooper (D), refuses to defend the law in court and staunchly opposes it. In a recent debate, Cooper called out McCrory’s version of reality: “Gov. McCrory continues to go across the state and tell people it is not hurting our economy. He attacks businesses who are opposed to it and says everything is going fine. Governor, what planet are you on?”
I would guess most of us would like an answer to that one.
Think Progress has the full story.
Protestors face off with the Riot Police across the fenceline near a Dakota Access construction site. CREDIT: Facebook/Rob Wilson.
Concerned and angered by the use of dogs, pepper spray, military tactics and strip searches against unarmed water protectors at the construction sites of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II is asking the U.S. Department of Justice to step in.
“I am seeking a Justice Department investigation because I am concerned about the safety of the people,” Archambault said in a statement. “Too often these kinds of investigations take place only after some use of excessive force by the police creates a tragedy. I hope and pray that the Department will see the wisdom of acting now to prevent such an outcome.”
In a formal letter, Archambault called on U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to investigate the alleged civil rights violations, outlining the ways in which the protectors’ safety is being compromised and their First Amendment rights jeopardized.
[…]
Archambault said protesters and tribal members have told him that “the militarization of law enforcement agencies has escalated violence at the campsite,” even as the tribe’s lawful efforts to keep the 1,172-mile-long pipeline from being routed through sacred burial sites and underneath the Missouri River a half mile from its reservation have drawn worldwide support.
“Firsthand accounts and videos filmed by participants reveal a pattern of strong-arm tactics targeting Native Americans and peaceful protestors,” the Standing Rock Sioux said in the statement. “The abuses include strip searches, violent security dog attacks, pepper-spraying of youth and intimidation by law enforcement.”
Archambault’s letter went further, describing roadblocks, checkpoints and unwarranted stops, all of which “are clearly targeted at Indian people, and are designed to intimidate free speech.”
Add to that the “constant surveillance, with low-flying planes and helicopters constantly overhead at the camps of the water protectors,” the confiscation of at least one drone and the shooting down of another, even those being used by journalists, plus the actual arrests of journalists such as Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman, add up to a “larger effort by local law enforcement to intimidate the press and to prevent the full and fair reporting of the activities of law enforcement on this matter,” Archambault’s letter said.
“Rather than seeking to keep the peace, law enforcement personnel are clearly working in tandem with private security of Dakota Access,” the chairman wrote, adding that the tactics not only evoke the civil rights movement of 50 years ago but also bring up the collective memory of the U.S. government’s “long and sad history of using military force against indigenous people.”
Via ICTMN. In related news: Justice Dept Reaffirms It Will Not Grant DAPL River-Crossing Permits Anytime Soon.
Xavier University student in blackface.
On Monday night, a Snapchat photo of a female Xavier student wearing blackface with the caption “Who needs white when black lives matter” circulated on social media, leading to anger and frustration among students.
The following morning, another violent and graphic photo made the rounds. Individuals hanged a skeleton wearing a traditional West African dashiki from the window of the Fenwick building, which houses primarily sophomore year students.
The skeleton, which was arranged in such a way to replicate the act of lynching, was placed in a window that faces one of the college’s main lawns and was set up alongside a Donald Trump 2016 “Make America Great Again” flag.
@FOX19 Blatant racism at #XavierUniversity black face and a skeleton dressed in a dashiki with a noose around its neck!! Please share pic.twitter.com/2CjhdtVyl2
— Erica Smith (@urekaxoxo) October 25, 2016
The image of the skeleton in the window next to the Trump flag sends an important message. It is absolutely a message to non-white students on the college’s campus.
It is also an incredibly important statement on the state of this country in 2016 and the dangers of a Trump presidency — one that dangerously emboldens the growing white nationalist movement.
This is what bothers me, by magnitudes of order, when it comes to people making all manner of excuses for supporting Trump. This is now outright fascism, you can’t in honesty call it anything else, and it’s brainbreaking to see so many people simply shrug incidents like this off, or try to come up with excuses as to why this isn’t white nationalism and/or fascism. As someone sliding down the old age ladder, it’s seriously disturbing to see this isht in high schools and universities. There’s supposed to be hope in the new generations, not despair.
I’ll spare you the pain of looking at the tweet stream: “Germanic heritage” and “Halloween, Duh”.
Full story here.
I guess you could call this the precursor to TrumpTV – TrumpFacebook. The Trump campaign has launched a nightly “news” show on Facebook Live to counter that so-called media bias, and they are all excited about what they call bypassing that horrible left wing media, oh my yes.
“[We’re] excited to be bypassing the left-wing media,” host Boris Epshteyn said in opening the inaugural segment, which he co-hosts with fellow Trump adviser Cliff Sims from Trump Tower.
The first 6:30 p.m., 30-minute stream featured Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer, communications director and chief strategist of the Republican National Committee, Mediaite reported. Conservative pundit Tomi Lahren of the Blaze delivered an opinion segment titled “Final Thoughts.”
Oh, well, that will certainly be fair and unbiased. I just rolled my eyes so hard my spine almost popped out.
Trump’s children and various surrogates are expected to take part as well on subsequent installments.
The show, which will air nightly during weeknights in the lead-up to the Nov. 8 election, is to serve as a lead-in to Trump’s nightly campaign rallies, which also will be streamed live.
“This is a historic movement. Together, we will once again make a government by, for, and of the people! Help us close out the final weeks of this campaign strong and win,” Trump posted on Facebook Monday.
Epshteyn and Sims said the broadcast is a way to capture Trump’s social media prowess, the Hill reported.
Oh, the social media prowess of the alpha male of God, oooooh. If this social media prowess is in any way connected to the constant mess of tantrums on twitter, everyone better sharpen their mockery spears, they are going to get much use.
“We all know how strong the left wing media bias is. This is us delivering our message to voters,” Epshteyn told Wired. “It has nothing to do with Trump TV. It’s about using 21st-century technology and communication in a way that’s effective.”
Before last week’s final debate with Democrat Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Facebook Live broadcast garnered 200,000 simultaneous viewers, which CNNMoney said is high compared to other viewership figures on the web. After it was archived, viewership rose to 8.6 million Facebook users, CrowdTangle data indicated, topping debate streams from ABC and Fox.
Well, all the people jumping off the Fox ship have to have somewhere to go, I suppose.
Via Raw Story.
Nevada voter named Barbara speaks to CBS News (screen grab).
Following the third presidential debate, Face the Nation host John Dickerson spoke to a group of voters in Nevada about why they supported either Trump or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
A voter named Barbara explained that she was motivated to support Trump because “morality and values” were important to her.
“Based on what the country was based on,” she said. “I think that the laws that Obama has passed, the way the country has — I call it down turning. Some of the other people are proud of it and happy for it. I personally am against it, the homosexuals, the abortions. All the stuff, I am against.”
“When Donald Trump says ‘Make American Great Again,’ is that what you hear?” Dickerson wondered. “That it’s going to go back to before the time that you’re now describing?”
“That’s part of it,” Barbara agreed.
No, Barbara, morality and values aren’t important to you in the least. You wouldn’t know morals, values, or ethics if they leaped up and bit your nose. What is important to you? The need to control, dominate, and oppress others. The need to be sitting on top of the people heap. The need to be a judgmental asshole, pointing a finger in accusation and screaming about prayer. People like yourself Barbara, have this awful sadistic need to stomp all over other people you perceive as lesser, giving them the convenient label of sinner. You dream of an America that never was, like most ignorant white asses. I have a bit of news for you, Barbara – all your stuff, I am against. I suggest you run and hide, because all the liberal, queer, and thinking people, they are coming to get you, Barbara.
Full story here.
Courtesy Louis Magriel/Reno Gazette-Journal.
The 18-year-old man who drove through a crowd of 40 protestors was charged Friday with provoking assault and released on a $1,000 bond, police said.
Five people were injured when Nick Mahaffey rammed his white Nissan pickup truck into a group of Columbus Day protestors in Reno, Nevada, last week.
Police also charged two protesters involved in the incident. James Fletcher and Samuel Harry were both charged with simple battery, CBS News reported.
Facebook / Twitter
Via ICTMN.
I have mentioned, often, that in uStates, the highest percentage of extrajudicial killings are of Indigenous people. To say this isn’t well known would be quite the understatement. It isn’t known at all, and when people do find out, they don’t much care. The Guardian has kept track, along with all the other groups of people who are consistently killed by cops. Very few of these murders get any press at all. The murder of Loreal Tsingine got a little bit, and so did the murder of John T. Williams. Those people who read Indian publications are aware of most of the others, but they don’t get any write up at all. Indigenous people also have the highest rates of dying in captivity, and cops casually toss off excuses like “hey, she overdosed on meth”, as they did in the case of Sarah Lee Circle Bear, who was only 24 years old. The cops neglected to explain how she could have died from a meth overdose while in custody for two days. Sarah’s case, and that of so many others, has been a cause of deep outrage in Indigenous circles, but once again, if you aren’t reading native publications, you aren’t likely to know about any of them.
Chase Iron Eyes started NLM in 2014, but once again, it’s been a slow take because about the only people who care about native lives are natives. In These Times has a very good article about Native deaths at the hands of law enforcement, and the bigotry Natives face every single day. Please, go read. Please, share. I thank you.
Donald Trump in Cleveland prayer huddle — (YouTube screen grab)
Over at The Oak Initiative (never heard of it before today, yet another dominionist Christian joint), a case is being made for God’s Alpha Male, which is, of course, Trump.
Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Trump could be a modern-day Cyrus and as President a great defender of the Christian religion and the church. Only time will tell.
I suppose it would be a plus if Mr. Trump had the external character of President Jimmy Carter, who had one marriage, was a Southern farmer and Baptist Sunday School teacher. But then again, Mr. Carter as President didn’t work out too well, remember?
The Carter/Trump comparison is an excellent example of the two-fold nature of a man’s character. Jimmy Carter was the first well-known “born again” Christian in our modern era to run for the Presidency, yet was one of the worst Presidents. Carter had impeccable outward character of speech, fidelity, and humility, yet he greatly lacked in the internal character traits of what God intended for men. Trump on the other hand is often flawed in visible outward character, but excels in his internal manly attributes. By internal standards, he exhibits tremendous alpha male characteristics of courage, fearlessness, and aggressiveness blended with a natural ability to lead people. These internal God-given traits are what would make Trump an exceptional President leading and protecting a nation.
Let me end this letter to encourage you in faith and practice to understand that God’s ways are not our ways and He often does things and works His plan with vessels we cannot understand. For who can know the mind of God?
Oooh, he’s just bristling with internal manly manliness! If anyone can whip those beta males in line, it would be him, oh yes. Sure, he’s crude, and toxic, nastier than all hells, and shallow as pond scum, but the manly, you cannot ignore the manly! Trump’s being a con-man, fraud, and criminal? Oh, just manliness at work! I think we need more nasty women. Also standing up for the poor maligned Alpha Male of all Males is Jesse Lee Peterson, who is not content with ‘nasty women’, oh no. No, women are Accusers, which he is at pains to point out, is a kenning for…Satan! Oooh. Yeah, I’m just shakin’ here. Apparently, like all women, I have lived my whole life for no other purpose than to falsely accuse every single man I have run across. I’ve been busier than I thought.
“Every man is guilty now, every man, and these accusers pour that out at will,” Peterson said on his radio program yesterday. “They get angry about something, you don’t return their call or text, they can just accuse you, because generation after generation of young girls have been taught to do this.”
In a clip from the show that Peterson posted on his YouTube channel, which he labeled “Trump’s ‘Sexual Assault’ Accusers Are Literally Satan’s Daughters,” he accompanied this assertion with an image of Bill Cosby.
“Did you know that Satan was called ‘the Accuser’?” he asked. “That was his primary name. Satan’s primary name was ‘the Accuser.’ Just let that sink in. Satan’s primary name is ‘the Accuser.’ And that’s what we have in our country now, accusers.”
Peterson lamented that boys today go out and “in their minds they are having a good time not realizing that the accuser is lurking.”
Sigh. And here I thought this was going to be yet another busy day of painting, but no. I am going to have to go seek out men to destroy. A woman’s work, never done.
This was left on my apartment door today at University House. Absolutely disgusting. pic.twitter.com/aBdjH8gRF1
— cip (@ClarkePerkins) October 20, 2016
LSU political science junior Clarke Perkins tweeted Wednesday night that her door decoration was damaged and “go back 2 Africa N— monkeys” was written on its side.
Perkins said she noticed that the decoration was damaged when she was leaving her apartment at University House at 6 p.m.
She shared a photo of the decoration online on Twitter Wednesday night. The tweet gained traction, being retweeted more than 2,200 times by Thursday afternoon, prompting LSU President F. King Alexander to release a statement.
“I am sorry this happened to you,” Alexander tweeted. “If the culprit is not a student, we will contact the district attorney for swift action. Let me be clear: LSU will not tolerate this behavior.”
Perkins said she met with Alexander in person Thursday. She said he plans to put pressure on University House and demand that the apartment complex takes steps to protect students.
University House is an off-campus complex on West Chimes Street just north of LSU’s campus. A spokesperson for University House said that they will release a statement Thursday.
Perkins said that she does not know whether she or her four other roommates were specifically targeted. She said she has lived at the apartment since Fall 2015 and has never had an issue before. She is now considering her other housing options.
For me, it’s early, and I have not had tea yet, so not much to say here. What is there to say? This sort of garbage is happening more and more, with bigots feeling happy and smug, wallowing in their poison troughs.
Via KTBS.