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welcome to amerikkkans
home of the deplorables, despicables, & disgusting americans
a shithole's FINEST trash
jan 18, 2021
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.
James A. Baldwin
David Cross: “At least 25% of America has always been ignorant, racist, xenophobic and backwards, people prone to demagoguery. That’s not a surprise,” he says. “The surprise is that there’s this loud, brash, arrogant narcissist giving these people a voice and making them feel proud.”
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Mark Twain: “How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be ‘American’ before (or in contradistinction to) being cultivated, being enlightened, being humane, & having the same intellectual discipline as other civilized countries? It is really too easy a disguise for our shortcomings to dress them up as a form of patriotism!”
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Soph0571@Du: Could you get any less American than that?
We all know when Trump rants incoherently to America he is talking to certain sections of white America. This cohort of the electorate are so fervent in their adoration because this racist wanker has reaffirmed some very sad and rather ridiculous idea that somehow, they are more American than everyone else. It is all a bit stupid really, I mean has anyone ever suggested that they are not American. Of course not. Their problem is that they cannot accept that in the same way they are American so are the Muslims they despise, the women they denigrate, the LGBTQ community they scorn, the Hispanics they work to keep down, the African Americans they shoot. In fact, I would suggest that those who still support Trump at this stage are less American than everyone else. They have demonstrated that they despise the constitution and would happily forsake their democratic freedoms for a great big orange faced wannabee tyrant. Could you get any less American than that?
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President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a son of the South, said: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
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white trash's america
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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1947, Albert Camus reflected on Nazism and authoritarianism through the metaphor of misery and suffering caused by a plague:
The evil in the world comes almost always from ignorance, and goodwill can cause as much damage as ill-will if it is not enlightened. People are more often good than bad, though in fact that is not the question. But they are more or less ignorant and this is what one calls vice or virtue, the most appalling vice being the ignorance that thinks it knows everything and which consequently authorizes itself to kill. The murderer's soul is blind, and there is no true goodness or fine love without the greatest possible degree of clear-sightedness.
...white Americans have lived in a country where the celerity with which they mask their racism matters as much as the color of their skin. One might look forward, unhappily, to white conservatives disassociating themselves from this massacre by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white trash"—meaning, in effect, that they've profited enough from their racism that they can afford to dress it up better; or look forward to white liberals disassociating themselves by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white conservative" hypocrites—meaning, in effect, that they've profited enough from their racism that they can afford to dress it up better still; or to white leftists disassociating themselves by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white liberal" hypocrites.
Why Are White Racists Always Called “White Trash"?
By Frank Guan
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Headlines: ignorance, racism, and stupidity: america's trinity
of the bottom 70%
white trash digest
ignorance galore!!!
YOU CAN FOOL SOME OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME BUT STUPID PEOPLE YOU CAN FOOL ALL THE TIME!
funding the klan!!!
ARIZONA GOP CHAIR URGED VIOLENCE AT THE CAPITOL. THE MERCERS SPENT $1.5 MILLION SUPPORTING HER.
The billionaire Republican megadonors have funded numerous organizations now peddling baseless claims about the election.
Matthew Cunningham-Cook - the intercept
January 14 2021, 7:45 a.m.
THE STORMING OF the U.S. Capitol on January 6 has brought to the fore a host of activists on the extreme right whose violent rhetoric helped to create the conditions for an assault that left five dead. One of the most prominent of those activists is Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward.
On December 19, Ward fired off a tweet urging President Donald Trump to “cross the Rubicon,” referring to the historical event that led to Julius Caesar declaring a dictatorship in ancient Rome. The tweet was shared by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. On January 4, Ward’s Arizona Republican Party retweeted Ali Alexander, one of the organizers of the event that culminated in the Capitol siege, who said that he was “willing to give my life for this fight”; the Arizona GOP said, “He is. Are you?” Later that day, the Arizona GOP tweeted, “This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something.”
At a rally that also occurred on December 19, Alexander praised Ward, saying “I want to thank Chairwoman Kelli Ward and the Arizona Republican Party. I work in seven states, and there is no party like the Arizona GOP Party, so let’s thank Kelli Ward.” Alexander added that Ward’s Arizona GOP was “like no other.” Ward spoke at the rally.
Ward’s role could bring attention to her biggest financiers in politics: hedge fund manager Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer. The Mercers were the largest donors to Ward’s super PAC in both the 2016 and 2018 election cycles, giving $1.5 million in total as well as over $33,000 in direct contributions to her campaigns.
The Mercers have funded numerous other organizations now peddling baseless claims about the election.
Rebekah Mercer is a principal investor in the Parler social media network and has an equity stake in Breitbart News, which has propagated false information about the election being stolen, and she is a close associate of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and current Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway as well as Flynn. Robert Mercer was a major investor in Cambridge Analytica, which mined data on behalf of the Trump campaign and shared office space with Mercer-funded conservative advocacy group Reclaim New York.
On Monday, CNBC reported that the Black Conservatives Fund, a super PAC that Robert Mercer gave $150,000 to in 2014, promoted the march on Capitol Hill. Alexander, one of the siege organizers, was a former “senior adviser” to the Black Conservatives Fund.
In 2017, the Mercers gave $200,000 to the Gatestone Institute, which has advanced theories about a stolen election. The following year, they gave $8.1 million to DonorsTrust, which recently donated $1.5 million to white nationalist hate group VDARE, which has also advanced evidence-free theories surrounding the 2020 election results. In 2017, the Mercer Family Foundation donated $1.725 million to the Government Accountability Institute, whose research director, Eric Eggers, appeared on Sean Hannity’s radio show at the end of November, suggesting that fraudulent activity had tilted the election to Joe Biden. In 2018, they followed up with an additional $500,000. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who has also used violent rhetoric around the election, has received $21,600 in campaign contributions from the Mercer family.
In 2016, the Mercers spent over $22 million on efforts to support Trump and other Republicans like Ted Cruz, who helped lead a dozen senators to baselessly challenge the election results. While they spent much less publicly this election cycle, they still pumped over $1.8 million into efforts to elect Republicans. Robert Mercer donated over $300,000 to the Republican National Committee and an additional $1.5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s super PAC. McCarthy, R-Calif., was the highest-ranking member of Congress who sought to challenge the election results on January 6.
GIVEN THE DELAY of nonprofits in releasing tax statements and the ease of hiding dark-money donations, it will be several years before the public will have a complete sense of how much the Mercers spent to influence the election.
For example, the Mercers have a close relationship with right-wing Catholic activist Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society. Leo, the society’s top lobbyist and co-chair, in turn is closely associated with dark-money group the Judicial Crisis Network and its affiliate the Concord Fund, which pumped $3.7 million into the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2020. Neither group discloses its donors.
NBC recently revealed that the Rule of Law Defense Fund, an arm of the RAGA, had sent out robocalls announcing that “at 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal.”
The elected leadership of the RAGA has denied culpability for the robocalls. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who heads the RLDF, said in a statement this week that he was “unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week’s rally. Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chair of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions.”
While the RLDF sought to blame it on employees, the group’s dissemination of information about the rally points to tacit support from high-profile conservatives and donors.
The RLDF’s executive director, Peter Bisbee, was a longtime official of the Federalist Society, which has received over $6.5 million since 2013 from the Mercer Family Foundation — roughly a quarter of its annual budget. Marshall and Leo were listed as “leaders” in the Lawyers for Trump group when it was launched in July, along with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who have both peddled baseless claims about the 2020 election.
The Judicial Crisis Network is the largest donor to the RAGA, giving over $11 million in the last two cycles. The RLDF has received significant support from the Judicial Crisis Network as well.
“You can’t have the mass radicalization that we’ve seen without extraordinarily wealthy people funneling money in,” said Michael Edison Hayden, a spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Finally, the Mercers have donated $3.8 million to Citizens United, which is headed by David Bossie, Trump’s 2016 deputy campaign manager, who Trump tapped on November 6 to lead his efforts to challenge the election results in the states.
Leo, Rebekah Mercer, Ward, and the Arizona Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment.
“The Mercers have been more than willing to finance efforts to blow up the political system altogether. That seems to be part of what they’ve done,” said Brendan Fischer, the director of federal reform at the Campaign Legal Center.
On December 19, Ward fired off a tweet urging President Donald Trump to “cross the Rubicon,” referring to the historical event that led to Julius Caesar declaring a dictatorship in ancient Rome. The tweet was shared by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. On January 4, Ward’s Arizona Republican Party retweeted Ali Alexander, one of the organizers of the event that culminated in the Capitol siege, who said that he was “willing to give my life for this fight”; the Arizona GOP said, “He is. Are you?” Later that day, the Arizona GOP tweeted, “This is what we do, who we are. Live for nothing, or die for something.”
At a rally that also occurred on December 19, Alexander praised Ward, saying “I want to thank Chairwoman Kelli Ward and the Arizona Republican Party. I work in seven states, and there is no party like the Arizona GOP Party, so let’s thank Kelli Ward.” Alexander added that Ward’s Arizona GOP was “like no other.” Ward spoke at the rally.
Ward’s role could bring attention to her biggest financiers in politics: hedge fund manager Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer. The Mercers were the largest donors to Ward’s super PAC in both the 2016 and 2018 election cycles, giving $1.5 million in total as well as over $33,000 in direct contributions to her campaigns.
The Mercers have funded numerous other organizations now peddling baseless claims about the election.
Rebekah Mercer is a principal investor in the Parler social media network and has an equity stake in Breitbart News, which has propagated false information about the election being stolen, and she is a close associate of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and current Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway as well as Flynn. Robert Mercer was a major investor in Cambridge Analytica, which mined data on behalf of the Trump campaign and shared office space with Mercer-funded conservative advocacy group Reclaim New York.
On Monday, CNBC reported that the Black Conservatives Fund, a super PAC that Robert Mercer gave $150,000 to in 2014, promoted the march on Capitol Hill. Alexander, one of the siege organizers, was a former “senior adviser” to the Black Conservatives Fund.
In 2017, the Mercers gave $200,000 to the Gatestone Institute, which has advanced theories about a stolen election. The following year, they gave $8.1 million to DonorsTrust, which recently donated $1.5 million to white nationalist hate group VDARE, which has also advanced evidence-free theories surrounding the 2020 election results. In 2017, the Mercer Family Foundation donated $1.725 million to the Government Accountability Institute, whose research director, Eric Eggers, appeared on Sean Hannity’s radio show at the end of November, suggesting that fraudulent activity had tilted the election to Joe Biden. In 2018, they followed up with an additional $500,000. Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., who has also used violent rhetoric around the election, has received $21,600 in campaign contributions from the Mercer family.
In 2016, the Mercers spent over $22 million on efforts to support Trump and other Republicans like Ted Cruz, who helped lead a dozen senators to baselessly challenge the election results. While they spent much less publicly this election cycle, they still pumped over $1.8 million into efforts to elect Republicans. Robert Mercer donated over $300,000 to the Republican National Committee and an additional $1.5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s super PAC. McCarthy, R-Calif., was the highest-ranking member of Congress who sought to challenge the election results on January 6.
GIVEN THE DELAY of nonprofits in releasing tax statements and the ease of hiding dark-money donations, it will be several years before the public will have a complete sense of how much the Mercers spent to influence the election.
For example, the Mercers have a close relationship with right-wing Catholic activist Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society. Leo, the society’s top lobbyist and co-chair, in turn is closely associated with dark-money group the Judicial Crisis Network and its affiliate the Concord Fund, which pumped $3.7 million into the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2020. Neither group discloses its donors.
NBC recently revealed that the Rule of Law Defense Fund, an arm of the RAGA, had sent out robocalls announcing that “at 1 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal.”
The elected leadership of the RAGA has denied culpability for the robocalls. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who heads the RLDF, said in a statement this week that he was “unaware of unauthorized decisions made by RLDF staff with regard to this week’s rally. Despite currently transitioning into my role as the newly elected chair of RLDF, it is unacceptable that I was neither consulted about nor informed of those decisions.”
While the RLDF sought to blame it on employees, the group’s dissemination of information about the rally points to tacit support from high-profile conservatives and donors.
The RLDF’s executive director, Peter Bisbee, was a longtime official of the Federalist Society, which has received over $6.5 million since 2013 from the Mercer Family Foundation — roughly a quarter of its annual budget. Marshall and Leo were listed as “leaders” in the Lawyers for Trump group when it was launched in July, along with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who have both peddled baseless claims about the 2020 election.
The Judicial Crisis Network is the largest donor to the RAGA, giving over $11 million in the last two cycles. The RLDF has received significant support from the Judicial Crisis Network as well.
“You can’t have the mass radicalization that we’ve seen without extraordinarily wealthy people funneling money in,” said Michael Edison Hayden, a spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Finally, the Mercers have donated $3.8 million to Citizens United, which is headed by David Bossie, Trump’s 2016 deputy campaign manager, who Trump tapped on November 6 to lead his efforts to challenge the election results in the states.
Leo, Rebekah Mercer, Ward, and the Arizona Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment.
“The Mercers have been more than willing to finance efforts to blow up the political system altogether. That seems to be part of what they’ve done,” said Brendan Fischer, the director of federal reform at the Campaign Legal Center.
THE FAKE PATROITS!!!
HERE ARE THE DONORS TO TEA PARTY GROUP THAT HELPED ORGANIZE PRE-RIOT RALLY
The Tea Party Patriots Foundation funders include the Jewish Community Federation and late billionaire Republican donor Sanford Diller.
Aída Chávez - THE INTERCEPT
January 13 2021, 4:00 a.m.
DONORS TO THE Tea Party Patriots Foundation, one of the groups that helped organize the January 6 rally preceding the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, include the Jewish Community Federation and late billionaire Republican donor Sanford Diller, according to a 990 form submitted to the IRS by the tax-exempt nonprofit in 2019.
The right-wing organization was listed on the March to Save America website alongside groups like Stop the Steal, Turning Point Action (an affiliate of Turning Point USA), and Women for America First, according to a report last week from Documented, a watchdog group that investigates corporate influence. The March to Save America website is down, but archived versions list several participating organizations. Supporters of President Donald Trump gathered for a mass event outside the Capitol last week, aiming to coincide with challenges to Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. The rally culminated in a mob attack on the Capitol that left five people dead.
The Tea Party Patriots’ tax filing was obtained by Eli Clifton, the a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, who shared it with The Intercept.
In a statement, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said her group did not fund the rally and denounced the violence that followed it. “Neither Tea Party Patriots Foundation, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, nor Tea Party Patriots Action spent any money on the rally,” Martin said. “We condemn the violence. We are shocked, outraged, and saddened at the turn of events on January 6. One of the reasons we revere our Constitution is that it created a framework that allows for the resolution of political conflict in a peaceful manner.”
The Intercept sought to reach out to people listed on the form. The form lists a person named Lewis Stahl and a man by that name is in prison for tax evasion. There was no available contact information for the Will Moose Fund or the John 3:16 FDN.
DonorsTrust, a little-known organization that has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into right-wing causes over the years and given wealthy contributors the ability to do so anonymously, donated to the Tea Party Patriots a total of $103,000, according to the filing. DonorsTrust has bankrolled a range of causes in the conservative movement, from climate change denial to the right’s attacks on organized labor. Wealthy conservatives use these tax-exempt charities and similar organizations — known as “donor-advised funds” — as a go-between to pump money into controversial groups and causes since they can direct their donations without legal obligations to name their donors. (DonorsTrust did not respond to requests for comment.)
The Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund was among the biggest donors on the Tea Party Patriots list, giving the group a total of $100,000. The Jewish Community Federation, which also functions as a donor-advised fund, previously contributed $15,000 to Turning Point USA. In a now-deleted tweet, Charlie Kirk, leader and founder of Turning Point USA, claimed that Turning Point Action would be sending more than 80 buses “full of patriots” to the Washington rally.
Of the Tea Party Patriots donation, the Federation said in a statement, “This was a grant made in 2017 by the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund to support a donor’s philanthropy. We conducted due diligence prior to approving the grant to ensure the grantee was a qualified 501(c)(3). We have not received a grant request for this organization since 2017.”
While the donations from these funds aren’t direct, donor-advised funds still have the power to vet contributions. “Donors can only make non-binding recommendations” from their fund, according to JCF’s fund policies, and “they cannot control when and how the Federation will make grants nor control decisions about which grantees will receive funding.”
The form said a person named Tad Taube donated $70,000 to the Tea Party Patriots, and a philanthropist from the San Francisco Bay area with that name did not respond to requests for comment. John Binkley is listed as giving $29,000. John Binkley from Alaska, a Republican former state senator who launched a failed gubernatorial run and served as one of the state’s three electors to the Electoral College, denied that he had made any donations to any Tea Party groups. And Sanford Diller, a billionaire Republican donor who died in February 2018, made the second-biggest contribution on the list at $150,000.
Martin, the Tea Party Patriots co-founder, tweeted late last year that she would be speaking at the “Stop the Steal” rally and promoted the event in the weeks leading up to it. She called for “peaceful” protest as the rally became violent. A few hours earlier, Martin had tweeted, “We will not allow them to steal this election!” — though the tweet did not name the perpetrators.
The Tea Party Patriots, which was formed in 2009 and describes itself as the “nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party organization,” is funded by two nonprofits and a political action committee.
The right-wing organization was listed on the March to Save America website alongside groups like Stop the Steal, Turning Point Action (an affiliate of Turning Point USA), and Women for America First, according to a report last week from Documented, a watchdog group that investigates corporate influence. The March to Save America website is down, but archived versions list several participating organizations. Supporters of President Donald Trump gathered for a mass event outside the Capitol last week, aiming to coincide with challenges to Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. The rally culminated in a mob attack on the Capitol that left five people dead.
The Tea Party Patriots’ tax filing was obtained by Eli Clifton, the a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, who shared it with The Intercept.
In a statement, Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said her group did not fund the rally and denounced the violence that followed it. “Neither Tea Party Patriots Foundation, Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, nor Tea Party Patriots Action spent any money on the rally,” Martin said. “We condemn the violence. We are shocked, outraged, and saddened at the turn of events on January 6. One of the reasons we revere our Constitution is that it created a framework that allows for the resolution of political conflict in a peaceful manner.”
The Intercept sought to reach out to people listed on the form. The form lists a person named Lewis Stahl and a man by that name is in prison for tax evasion. There was no available contact information for the Will Moose Fund or the John 3:16 FDN.
DonorsTrust, a little-known organization that has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into right-wing causes over the years and given wealthy contributors the ability to do so anonymously, donated to the Tea Party Patriots a total of $103,000, according to the filing. DonorsTrust has bankrolled a range of causes in the conservative movement, from climate change denial to the right’s attacks on organized labor. Wealthy conservatives use these tax-exempt charities and similar organizations — known as “donor-advised funds” — as a go-between to pump money into controversial groups and causes since they can direct their donations without legal obligations to name their donors. (DonorsTrust did not respond to requests for comment.)
The Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund was among the biggest donors on the Tea Party Patriots list, giving the group a total of $100,000. The Jewish Community Federation, which also functions as a donor-advised fund, previously contributed $15,000 to Turning Point USA. In a now-deleted tweet, Charlie Kirk, leader and founder of Turning Point USA, claimed that Turning Point Action would be sending more than 80 buses “full of patriots” to the Washington rally.
Of the Tea Party Patriots donation, the Federation said in a statement, “This was a grant made in 2017 by the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund to support a donor’s philanthropy. We conducted due diligence prior to approving the grant to ensure the grantee was a qualified 501(c)(3). We have not received a grant request for this organization since 2017.”
While the donations from these funds aren’t direct, donor-advised funds still have the power to vet contributions. “Donors can only make non-binding recommendations” from their fund, according to JCF’s fund policies, and “they cannot control when and how the Federation will make grants nor control decisions about which grantees will receive funding.”
The form said a person named Tad Taube donated $70,000 to the Tea Party Patriots, and a philanthropist from the San Francisco Bay area with that name did not respond to requests for comment. John Binkley is listed as giving $29,000. John Binkley from Alaska, a Republican former state senator who launched a failed gubernatorial run and served as one of the state’s three electors to the Electoral College, denied that he had made any donations to any Tea Party groups. And Sanford Diller, a billionaire Republican donor who died in February 2018, made the second-biggest contribution on the list at $150,000.
Martin, the Tea Party Patriots co-founder, tweeted late last year that she would be speaking at the “Stop the Steal” rally and promoted the event in the weeks leading up to it. She called for “peaceful” protest as the rally became violent. A few hours earlier, Martin had tweeted, “We will not allow them to steal this election!” — though the tweet did not name the perpetrators.
The Tea Party Patriots, which was formed in 2009 and describes itself as the “nation’s largest grassroots Tea Party organization,” is funded by two nonprofits and a political action committee.
Trump 'diehards' threatening to 'kill all the D.C. traitors' on day of the president's rally: report
January 02, 2021
Tom Boggioni - raw story
Buried deep in a report claiming Donald Trump has no intention of walking away meekly after Congress certifies the 2020 presidential election on January 6th, the Daily Beast reports that "diehard' fans of the president are openly threatening violence the day they descend upon Washington D.C. for a "Stop the Steal" rally the president is promoting.
With the president suggesting to aides he may make a public address to the gathering-- meant to counter the election certification process on the Senate floor -- fans of the president are boasting they will bring a "literal war" to the streets of D.C.
According to the report, "the protesters' mood ahead of the Jan. 6 protest has turned even more desperate."
"Trump diehards from across the country have organized their travel to Washington on 'The Donald' forum," the Beast's report states. "One of the hottest topics on the site is how protesters can bring guns to D.C., which would count as a local crime in nearly all circumstances under Washington's strict gun laws. Others have talked about breaking into federal buildings or committing violence against law enforcement officers who try to stop them from storming Congress."
One comment that received approving nods stated, "I'm thinking it will be literal war on that day. Where we'll storm offices and physically remove and even kill all the D.C. traitors and reclaim the country."
The report notes that noted Trump supporter Proud Boy Joe Biggs, boasted on Parler, "Watch out, January 6 — you ain't gonna know who the f*ck it is standing beside you."
The Beast also reports that Trump fans are discussing dressing up as Antifa protesters so the anti-fascist group will be blamed for any violence.
With the president suggesting to aides he may make a public address to the gathering-- meant to counter the election certification process on the Senate floor -- fans of the president are boasting they will bring a "literal war" to the streets of D.C.
According to the report, "the protesters' mood ahead of the Jan. 6 protest has turned even more desperate."
"Trump diehards from across the country have organized their travel to Washington on 'The Donald' forum," the Beast's report states. "One of the hottest topics on the site is how protesters can bring guns to D.C., which would count as a local crime in nearly all circumstances under Washington's strict gun laws. Others have talked about breaking into federal buildings or committing violence against law enforcement officers who try to stop them from storming Congress."
One comment that received approving nods stated, "I'm thinking it will be literal war on that day. Where we'll storm offices and physically remove and even kill all the D.C. traitors and reclaim the country."
The report notes that noted Trump supporter Proud Boy Joe Biggs, boasted on Parler, "Watch out, January 6 — you ain't gonna know who the f*ck it is standing beside you."
The Beast also reports that Trump fans are discussing dressing up as Antifa protesters so the anti-fascist group will be blamed for any violence.
White supremacists plotted attacks on US power plants, FBI alleges
Ohio teen ‘suggested buying ranch for militant training’
Court documents mistakenly unsealed last week
Associated Press - THE GUARDIAN
Wed 23 Dec 2020 08.06 EST
White supremacists plotted to attack power stations in the south-eastern US, and an Ohio teenager who allegedly shared the plan said he wanted the group to be “operational” on a fast-tracked timeline if Donald Trump were to lose his re-election bid, the FBI alleges in an affidavit that was mistakenly unsealed.
The teen was in a text group with more than a dozen people in the fall of 2019 when he introduced the idea of saving money to buy a ranch where they could participate in militant training, according to the affidavit, which was filed under seal along with a search warrant application in Wisconsin’s eastern US district court in March.
The documents were inadvertently unsealed last week before the mistake was discovered and they were quickly sealed again.
The teenager wanted the group to be “operational” by the 2024 election because he believed it was likely a Democrat would win, but “the timeline for being operational would accelerate if President Trump lost the 2020 election,” according to the affidavit. An informant told investigators that the teen “definitely wanted to be operational for violence, but also activism”.
The Ohio teen, who was 17 at the time, also shared plans with a smaller group about a plot to create a power outage by shooting rifle rounds into power stations in the south-eastern US. The teen called the plot “Light’s Out” and there were plans to carry it out in the summer of 2021, the affidavit states.
One group member, a Texas native who was a Purdue University student at the time, allegedly sent the informant a text saying “leaving the power off would wake people up to the harsh reality of life by wreaking havoc across the nation”.
The affidavit identifies three people by name and references others who were allegedly communicating with or part of the group. The Associated Press is not naming any of the individuals because charges have not been publicly filed.
None of the three men immediately replied to emails, texts or voicemails left on Tuesday seeking comment. The father of one of the men had no comment.
Federal prosecutors in Ohio are taking the lead on the case. Jennifer Thornton, a spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office in the southern district of Ohio, said she could not provide additional information because the investigation is ongoing, but “we want to emphasize that there is no imminent public safety threat related to this matter.”
The affidavit details an investigation into group members, who allegedly share white supremacist ideology.
The document outlines how they communicated over encrypted messaging applications before three of them eventually met up in person. They also allegedly shared recommended reading on white supremacist literature, required a “uniform” to symbolize their commitment and talked about making weapons. The affidavit says the Ohio teen put Nazi flags in his room, but his mother told him to take them down.
Some group members also indicated that they were prepared to die for their beliefs. One man from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, allegedly told the Ohio teen: “I can say with absolute certainty that I will die for this effort. I swear it on my life.” The teen replied: “I can say the same,” the court documents state.
According to the affidavit, the Wisconsin man also told an undercover FBI employee in February that the group was interested in taking “direct action” against the system and said, “If you truly want a fascist society I will put in the effort to work with you but recruitment is long and not going to be easy.”
He then outlined a “radicalization” process to instill a “revolutionary mindset” which ended with recruits proving they are more than just talk. He allegedly wrote that if it seemed too tough, “I recommend leaving now, we are extremely serious about our goals and ambitions.”
The affidavit says the Ohio teen also spoke numerous times about creating Nazi militant cells around the country like those of the neo-Nazi network the Atomwaffen Division.
Atomwaffen Division members have promoted “accelerationism”, a fringe philosophy espousing mass violence to fuel society’s collapse. More than a dozen people linked to the group or an offshoot called the Feuerkrieg Division have been charged with serious crimes in recent years.
This investigation apparently began after a fourth man, from Canada, was stopped while trying to enter the US. The man told border agents that he was going to visit the Ohio teen, whom he had recently met over an encrypted app, according to the affidavit. Agents found Nazi and white supremacist images on his phone.
The teen was in a text group with more than a dozen people in the fall of 2019 when he introduced the idea of saving money to buy a ranch where they could participate in militant training, according to the affidavit, which was filed under seal along with a search warrant application in Wisconsin’s eastern US district court in March.
The documents were inadvertently unsealed last week before the mistake was discovered and they were quickly sealed again.
The teenager wanted the group to be “operational” by the 2024 election because he believed it was likely a Democrat would win, but “the timeline for being operational would accelerate if President Trump lost the 2020 election,” according to the affidavit. An informant told investigators that the teen “definitely wanted to be operational for violence, but also activism”.
The Ohio teen, who was 17 at the time, also shared plans with a smaller group about a plot to create a power outage by shooting rifle rounds into power stations in the south-eastern US. The teen called the plot “Light’s Out” and there were plans to carry it out in the summer of 2021, the affidavit states.
One group member, a Texas native who was a Purdue University student at the time, allegedly sent the informant a text saying “leaving the power off would wake people up to the harsh reality of life by wreaking havoc across the nation”.
The affidavit identifies three people by name and references others who were allegedly communicating with or part of the group. The Associated Press is not naming any of the individuals because charges have not been publicly filed.
None of the three men immediately replied to emails, texts or voicemails left on Tuesday seeking comment. The father of one of the men had no comment.
Federal prosecutors in Ohio are taking the lead on the case. Jennifer Thornton, a spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office in the southern district of Ohio, said she could not provide additional information because the investigation is ongoing, but “we want to emphasize that there is no imminent public safety threat related to this matter.”
The affidavit details an investigation into group members, who allegedly share white supremacist ideology.
The document outlines how they communicated over encrypted messaging applications before three of them eventually met up in person. They also allegedly shared recommended reading on white supremacist literature, required a “uniform” to symbolize their commitment and talked about making weapons. The affidavit says the Ohio teen put Nazi flags in his room, but his mother told him to take them down.
Some group members also indicated that they were prepared to die for their beliefs. One man from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, allegedly told the Ohio teen: “I can say with absolute certainty that I will die for this effort. I swear it on my life.” The teen replied: “I can say the same,” the court documents state.
According to the affidavit, the Wisconsin man also told an undercover FBI employee in February that the group was interested in taking “direct action” against the system and said, “If you truly want a fascist society I will put in the effort to work with you but recruitment is long and not going to be easy.”
He then outlined a “radicalization” process to instill a “revolutionary mindset” which ended with recruits proving they are more than just talk. He allegedly wrote that if it seemed too tough, “I recommend leaving now, we are extremely serious about our goals and ambitions.”
The affidavit says the Ohio teen also spoke numerous times about creating Nazi militant cells around the country like those of the neo-Nazi network the Atomwaffen Division.
Atomwaffen Division members have promoted “accelerationism”, a fringe philosophy espousing mass violence to fuel society’s collapse. More than a dozen people linked to the group or an offshoot called the Feuerkrieg Division have been charged with serious crimes in recent years.
This investigation apparently began after a fourth man, from Canada, was stopped while trying to enter the US. The man told border agents that he was going to visit the Ohio teen, whom he had recently met over an encrypted app, according to the affidavit. Agents found Nazi and white supremacist images on his phone.
dealing with white trash!!!
Black delivery driver blocked into Oklahoma neighborhood by HOA president
by: Jessica Bruno and Nexstar Media Wire
May 13, 2020 / 07:45 PM PDT
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A viral video shows a delivery driver being held against his will in an Oklahoma City area neighborhood Monday, blocked in by a man who identified himself as the homeowners association president.
Travis Miller, a home appliance and furniture delivery driver, captured the encounter on Facebook Live while driving through the neighborhood of Ashford Hills.
“I want to know where you’re going,” says the resident whose car is blocking Miller’s way.
“It’s none of your business. I’m going out, that’s where I’m going,” Miller replies.
“Got me blocked in so I can’t leave,” Miller says to the camera, showing the man’s white Subaru blocking the road out of the gated community.
“My name is David Stewart,” the man blocking him says, adding that he is the homeowners association president.
“I don’t care what your name is, move out the way,” Miller says.
About thirty minutes in, another homeowner joins Stewart.
“All we want to know is why you’re in here and who gave you the gate code. That’s all we need to know,” the man says.
Miller told sister station KFOR he did not want to share his customer’s personal information.
While he waited for Stewart to move his car, Miller said Stewart told him he was calling the police. Officers never showed up, and, about an hour later, Stewart moved his car.
“They must have contacted the customer because the customer came around and (Stewart) moved out the way,” Miller said.
Miller is seen on the video with tears streaming down his face calling the police himself.
“He said that he called the cops back and let them know that everything was clear but I didn’t want to leave and have it seem like I was fleeing the scene or anything like that,” Miller said to dispatch.
Miller spoke to KFOR over the phone on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what prompted him to, or what has happened in that neighborhood, for him to respond the way he did,” Miller said.
His Facebook clip quickly went viral.
Miller, and many people who commented, felt it was racially motivated.
Stewart did not respond to telephone calls or answer the door at his listed address.
“I just know that emotionally, it was hard to maintain restraint, especially when I’m dealing with death in the family, two family members within two days of each other,” Miller said. “I just did the best I could to make sure I didn’t make a bad situation worse.”
KFOR also tried to reach Stewart on Facebook but he never replied.
Travis Miller, a home appliance and furniture delivery driver, captured the encounter on Facebook Live while driving through the neighborhood of Ashford Hills.
“I want to know where you’re going,” says the resident whose car is blocking Miller’s way.
“It’s none of your business. I’m going out, that’s where I’m going,” Miller replies.
“Got me blocked in so I can’t leave,” Miller says to the camera, showing the man’s white Subaru blocking the road out of the gated community.
“My name is David Stewart,” the man blocking him says, adding that he is the homeowners association president.
“I don’t care what your name is, move out the way,” Miller says.
About thirty minutes in, another homeowner joins Stewart.
“All we want to know is why you’re in here and who gave you the gate code. That’s all we need to know,” the man says.
Miller told sister station KFOR he did not want to share his customer’s personal information.
While he waited for Stewart to move his car, Miller said Stewart told him he was calling the police. Officers never showed up, and, about an hour later, Stewart moved his car.
“They must have contacted the customer because the customer came around and (Stewart) moved out the way,” Miller said.
Miller is seen on the video with tears streaming down his face calling the police himself.
“He said that he called the cops back and let them know that everything was clear but I didn’t want to leave and have it seem like I was fleeing the scene or anything like that,” Miller said to dispatch.
Miller spoke to KFOR over the phone on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what prompted him to, or what has happened in that neighborhood, for him to respond the way he did,” Miller said.
His Facebook clip quickly went viral.
Miller, and many people who commented, felt it was racially motivated.
Stewart did not respond to telephone calls or answer the door at his listed address.
“I just know that emotionally, it was hard to maintain restraint, especially when I’m dealing with death in the family, two family members within two days of each other,” Miller said. “I just did the best I could to make sure I didn’t make a bad situation worse.”
KFOR also tried to reach Stewart on Facebook but he never replied.
taxpayers funding white supremacists!!!
BUSTED: Violent neo-Nazi steps down from CEO post at government-contracted surveillance company after being outed
May 9, 2020
By Matthew Chapman - raw story
According to KUTV, Banjo CEO Damien Patton has resigned after reports surfaced of his past affiliation with white supremacist groups, and his involvement in a drive-by shooting of a synagogue two decades ago.
“According to a story by Matt Stroud of OneZero Media, Banjo CEO and co-founder Damien Patton, 47, pleaded guilty in 1992 for assisting a KKK leader in a drive-by shooting of a Jewish synagogue. It was a story initially reported by The Tennessean in 1992,” said the report. “More than 1,000 pages of court records, reviewed by OneZero, but not independently confirmed by 2News, show Patton was an active participant in white supremacist groups in his youth. Patton admitted to also participating in talks on white supremacy, where he advocated for the elimination of blacks and Jews.”
“I’m deeply honored to have worked alongside the Banjo team and am proud of all we have accomplished thus far,” said Patton in his resignation announcement. “I am confident Banjo’s greatest days are still ahead and will do everything in my power to ensure our mission succeeds. However, under the current circumstances, I believe Banjo’s best path forward is under different leadership.”
Banjo, a Utah-based tech firm, has worked with the government to provide artificial intelligence systems that screen people for public safety agencies. It was referred to by Inc.’s Will Bourne as “the most influential social media company you’ve never heard of.” In recent years, Patton and the company have made boasts at major tech conferences that their algorithm allows them to “know things before anyone else.”
Following the investigations into Patton, the state of Utah has suspended Banjo’s contract.
This is not an isolated incident. In recent years, reports have surfaced of the extent to which far-right activists have sought to insert themselves into big tech and surveillance. Clearview AI, another prominent tech firm that provides facial recognition to ICE, the FBI, and local police departments around the country, has extensive ties to fringe pro-Trump conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazis.
“According to a story by Matt Stroud of OneZero Media, Banjo CEO and co-founder Damien Patton, 47, pleaded guilty in 1992 for assisting a KKK leader in a drive-by shooting of a Jewish synagogue. It was a story initially reported by The Tennessean in 1992,” said the report. “More than 1,000 pages of court records, reviewed by OneZero, but not independently confirmed by 2News, show Patton was an active participant in white supremacist groups in his youth. Patton admitted to also participating in talks on white supremacy, where he advocated for the elimination of blacks and Jews.”
“I’m deeply honored to have worked alongside the Banjo team and am proud of all we have accomplished thus far,” said Patton in his resignation announcement. “I am confident Banjo’s greatest days are still ahead and will do everything in my power to ensure our mission succeeds. However, under the current circumstances, I believe Banjo’s best path forward is under different leadership.”
Banjo, a Utah-based tech firm, has worked with the government to provide artificial intelligence systems that screen people for public safety agencies. It was referred to by Inc.’s Will Bourne as “the most influential social media company you’ve never heard of.” In recent years, Patton and the company have made boasts at major tech conferences that their algorithm allows them to “know things before anyone else.”
Following the investigations into Patton, the state of Utah has suspended Banjo’s contract.
This is not an isolated incident. In recent years, reports have surfaced of the extent to which far-right activists have sought to insert themselves into big tech and surveillance. Clearview AI, another prominent tech firm that provides facial recognition to ICE, the FBI, and local police departments around the country, has extensive ties to fringe pro-Trump conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazis.
Colorado lockdown protester arrested for pipe bombs
May 4, 2020
By Travis Gettys - raw story
A Colorado lockdown opponent was arrested for possession of pipe bombs.
Federal agents executed search warrants Friday morning at the Loveland home of Bradley Bunn, where investigators said they found four pipe bombs and potential pipe bomb components, reported ABC News.
The 53-year-old Bunn had been helping to organize an armed protest demanding the state government end its coronavirus restrictions.
Authorities began investigating Bunn after they were alerted to angry and aggressive social media posts encouraging others to bring military-style weapons to a May 1 demonstration at Colorado’s capitol building.
Investigators soon learned that Bunn might have pipe bombs, and he was arrested before he could attend the demonstration.
If convicted, Bunn faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
Federal agents executed search warrants Friday morning at the Loveland home of Bradley Bunn, where investigators said they found four pipe bombs and potential pipe bomb components, reported ABC News.
The 53-year-old Bunn had been helping to organize an armed protest demanding the state government end its coronavirus restrictions.
Authorities began investigating Bunn after they were alerted to angry and aggressive social media posts encouraging others to bring military-style weapons to a May 1 demonstration at Colorado’s capitol building.
Investigators soon learned that Bunn might have pipe bombs, and he was arrested before he could attend the demonstration.
If convicted, Bunn faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
another idiot exposed!!!
California official calls for reopening so coronavirus can kill off the old and the weak: ‘It would also free up housing’
April 30, 2020
By Sky Palma - raw story
In the wake of a Facebook post where he suggested that society should allow people who are weak, elderly, or homeless to succumb to coronavirus, a California politician is on the receiving end of some serious blowback.
In the April 23 post, Antioch planning commissioner chair Ken Turnage II said that coronavirus is like a forest fire that burns “old trees, fallen brush and scrub-shrub sucklings” that drain resources, adding that society will “strengthen” when the pandemic “is all settled.”
“We would have significant loss of life, we would lose many elderly, that would reduce burdens in our defunct Social Security System, health care cost (once the wave subsided), make jobs available for others and it would also free up housing in which we are in dire need of,” Turnage wrote in the post that has since been deleted. “We would lose a large portion of the people with immune and other health complications. I know it would be loved ones as well. But that would once again reduce our impact on medical, jobs, and housing.”
According to the East Bay Times, the comment thread on the post filled up with people rebuking Turnage’s remarks.
“Except we are not trees, and dead human beings do not fertilize the living,” one person wrote. “This is very callous and sad. Even still, I hope you and yours survive this, just as I hope we all do.”
“This was a favored position of the Nazis,” wrote another. “Getting rid of the ‘useless eaters’ they called it. Before the Nazis went after the Jews and Gypsies and the Polish they decided it would be a good idea to get rid of the useless eaters: the old, demented, disabled, mentally ill, physically ill and institutionalized.”
City Councilwoman Monica Wilson called for Turnage’s resignation during a City Council meeting on Tuesday, saying Turnage’s comments “undermine the great work our city is doing to protect our citizens,” and that lifting shelter-in-place orders just for the benefit of the economy is “contrary to our shared values.”
Turnage, however, says his comments were misinterpreted and were “not malicious, or racist” and had “nothing to do with money or business.”
In the April 23 post, Antioch planning commissioner chair Ken Turnage II said that coronavirus is like a forest fire that burns “old trees, fallen brush and scrub-shrub sucklings” that drain resources, adding that society will “strengthen” when the pandemic “is all settled.”
“We would have significant loss of life, we would lose many elderly, that would reduce burdens in our defunct Social Security System, health care cost (once the wave subsided), make jobs available for others and it would also free up housing in which we are in dire need of,” Turnage wrote in the post that has since been deleted. “We would lose a large portion of the people with immune and other health complications. I know it would be loved ones as well. But that would once again reduce our impact on medical, jobs, and housing.”
According to the East Bay Times, the comment thread on the post filled up with people rebuking Turnage’s remarks.
“Except we are not trees, and dead human beings do not fertilize the living,” one person wrote. “This is very callous and sad. Even still, I hope you and yours survive this, just as I hope we all do.”
“This was a favored position of the Nazis,” wrote another. “Getting rid of the ‘useless eaters’ they called it. Before the Nazis went after the Jews and Gypsies and the Polish they decided it would be a good idea to get rid of the useless eaters: the old, demented, disabled, mentally ill, physically ill and institutionalized.”
City Councilwoman Monica Wilson called for Turnage’s resignation during a City Council meeting on Tuesday, saying Turnage’s comments “undermine the great work our city is doing to protect our citizens,” and that lifting shelter-in-place orders just for the benefit of the economy is “contrary to our shared values.”
Turnage, however, says his comments were misinterpreted and were “not malicious, or racist” and had “nothing to do with money or business.”
america's trash is happy!!!
Coronavirus Bungling Breathes New Life into Terrorist Movements
MASS DESTRUCTION
It is now all too clear what things look like when governments and societies fail to prepare for the worst. Neo-Nazis and jihadists are rejoicing.
Rita Katz - daily beast
Apr. 26, 2020 5:06AM ET
From neo-Nazis to jihadists, the COVID-19 pandemic has proved to many terrorists that the United States is not the ever-prepared, all-knowing power it once appeared to be, and nor are many of its Western allies.
As the world looks on in awe at the governmental, economic, and societal vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19, terrorists are taking note, and because a novel coronavirus was able to cripple the planet, bad actors are taking the idea of weaponizing disease more seriously than they have for years. Some have discussed ways to use the coronavirus itself to promote their various anarchic and apocalyptic agendas.
Over the last few years, ISIS-linked media groups have called for “bio terror” as revenge for events like the 2019 massacre at mosques in New Zealand, and launched all-out media campaigns promoting bioweapons. One disturbingly detailed video from July of 2018, titled “Bio-Terror,” directly suggests hantaviruses, cholera, and typhoid as weapons for lone wolf terrorists. The video, produced by a prominent ISIS-linked media group, even advises how to disseminate these “silent destructive weapon[s]” in “enemy nations.”
In the past, despite fears about terrorist intentions, the SITE Intelligence Group and others determined terrorists were unlikely to pull off any significant bio-attack. As my organization wrote in a 258-page report for the Department of Defense in 2006, many jihadi bioterrorism brainstorms showed “a poor understanding of chemical and biological agents.” But the novel coronavirus is renewing interest in what once appeared only a theoretical threat, and perhaps even suggesting more viable methods to conduct biological terrorism.
The so-called Islamic State has been watching the COVID-19 pandemic with great interest. In a recent issue of its online weekly, Naba, it told followers the pandemic disproves the myth “that nothing is absent from the ear and eye of intelligence… and nothing happens without the will of [their] rule.” Which is to say in the view of ISIS, the United States and other Western powers not only are not all-seeing, they are flying blind.
When it comes to weaponizing biological agents, the current pandemic is a proof of concept demonstration about the potential impact of a new or undetected disease. As the same ISIS-linked “Bio-Terror” video from 2018 put it, plagues like those it suggested “cannot be detected or tracked… escaped or avoided.”
Similar sentiments and incitements come from neo-Nazi and white nationalist terrorists, as SITE detailed in a recent report on the far-right’s COVID-19 response. One far-right channel’s post, distributed among many others, used a Getty image of a gas-mask-wearing protester with a Molotov cocktail, reading:
Now the facade’s all cracked and all we can see is the world for what it is.
There’s no “system” which can stop such a pathetic little thing as a virus, this microbe is singlehandedly responsible for shattering man-made concepts, currencies, transactions and beliefs.
Far-right terrorists have been particularly aggressive, embracing COVID-19 itself as a weapon, directing their community members to “go visit your local synagogue and hug as many jews as possible, cough on all the door knobs.” While such messages may sound insincere—even ludicrous—recent events show far-right terrorists are quite willing to attack during this pandemic using any means at their disposal.
Timothy Wilson, a neo-Nazi who sought to bomb a hospital in Missouri, was sharing exactly these sorts of messages. One he posted from another user as early as Jan. 29 called on far-right activists to infect politicians, police officers, and medical personnel with the coronavirus:
-spit on every doorknob or doorbar or handle or whatever you touch
-lick fruit and vegetables in the local grocery store and put it back
-spit into a super soaker and start blasting people
-cough in people’s faces
-go to your local town hall and start spitting in politicians faces and shooting them with the super soaker
-when you get arrested, spit and cough all over the car and cops
-don’t wash your hands (i forgot to mention this earlier)
-try to infect as many police officers as you can
-if they bring you to a hospital if your symptoms worsen, infect the doctors as well; rip off their facemasks and spit at them
Wilson was killed last month in a shootout with the FBI, which reported he was motivated “by racial, religious, and anti-government animus” and had considered several targets for a truck bombing. He “ultimately settled on an area hospital in an attempt to harm many people, targeting a facility that is providing critical medical care in today's environment.”
Wilson’s story fits into the growing record of far-right attacks in recent years that show we cannot dismiss the willingness of individuals to act.
The energy going into the far-right’s capitalization on the COVID-19 crisis is extraordinary. Some of the activists have even taken the time to create fake CDC-branded public health posters, presenting as safe various activities that are likely in fact to spread the disease.
Encouraging the spread of a plague in one’s own homeland might seem contrary to the interests of white nationalists, but it actually fits well with many of their objectives. Far-right extremists increasingly embrace a political philosophy called “accelerationism,” which encourages terrorists to accelerate the forces destroying society so that they may rebuild their own in the ashes. To that end, every effect of this crisis—from the social isolation and the economic meltdown to the crisis of public health and confusion about basic information—is a potential situation to be exploited or tool to be weaponized.
Groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, meanwhile, have much experience capitalizing on crisis. They read every development, study public perception, and hone their outreach accordingly. And, given the suicide bombings, incarceration, and other lengths jihadi terrorists endorse and endure while pursuing so-called “martyrdom,” do we believe motivated ISIS supporters would hesitate to infect themselves with Ebola or some other contagion to spread it further?
Just last week, for example, Tunisian counterterrorism police arrested an ISIS operative for inciting followers with COVID-19 symptoms to infect security personnel.
To an ISIS member or accelerationist neo-Nazi, the spectacle of novel coronavirus paralyzing the most powerful nations on earth is a source of inspiration. Suicide bombs and mass shootings pale by comparison. On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 hijackers killed 2,977 people. The number of COVID-19 dead in New York City alone surpassed that number weeks ago. Nationwide, more than 50,000 have died; worldwide, more than 200,000 as of this writing.
And while the toll mounts, contradictory advice from public figures, scarce medical supplies, and conflicting mitigation measures among different levels of government show that America and other countries lack the infrastructure and preparedness to handle potential bioterrorism threats.
It is imperative that governments confront the fact that these can happen, and the likelihood they will. What’s required is some big-picture rethinking about terrorism in contexts not typically addressed in the past: public health infrastructure is a fundamental part of domestic security; health-care facilities and food distribution outlets are now plausible targets for terrorists.
We are still in an early moment when we can greatly mitigate these threats if we prioritize them, organize preventive measures and responses, and act with urgency. As the world takes to increasingly desperate and draconian measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, it is all too clear what things look like when governments and societies fail to prepare for the worst.
As the world looks on in awe at the governmental, economic, and societal vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19, terrorists are taking note, and because a novel coronavirus was able to cripple the planet, bad actors are taking the idea of weaponizing disease more seriously than they have for years. Some have discussed ways to use the coronavirus itself to promote their various anarchic and apocalyptic agendas.
Over the last few years, ISIS-linked media groups have called for “bio terror” as revenge for events like the 2019 massacre at mosques in New Zealand, and launched all-out media campaigns promoting bioweapons. One disturbingly detailed video from July of 2018, titled “Bio-Terror,” directly suggests hantaviruses, cholera, and typhoid as weapons for lone wolf terrorists. The video, produced by a prominent ISIS-linked media group, even advises how to disseminate these “silent destructive weapon[s]” in “enemy nations.”
In the past, despite fears about terrorist intentions, the SITE Intelligence Group and others determined terrorists were unlikely to pull off any significant bio-attack. As my organization wrote in a 258-page report for the Department of Defense in 2006, many jihadi bioterrorism brainstorms showed “a poor understanding of chemical and biological agents.” But the novel coronavirus is renewing interest in what once appeared only a theoretical threat, and perhaps even suggesting more viable methods to conduct biological terrorism.
The so-called Islamic State has been watching the COVID-19 pandemic with great interest. In a recent issue of its online weekly, Naba, it told followers the pandemic disproves the myth “that nothing is absent from the ear and eye of intelligence… and nothing happens without the will of [their] rule.” Which is to say in the view of ISIS, the United States and other Western powers not only are not all-seeing, they are flying blind.
When it comes to weaponizing biological agents, the current pandemic is a proof of concept demonstration about the potential impact of a new or undetected disease. As the same ISIS-linked “Bio-Terror” video from 2018 put it, plagues like those it suggested “cannot be detected or tracked… escaped or avoided.”
Similar sentiments and incitements come from neo-Nazi and white nationalist terrorists, as SITE detailed in a recent report on the far-right’s COVID-19 response. One far-right channel’s post, distributed among many others, used a Getty image of a gas-mask-wearing protester with a Molotov cocktail, reading:
Now the facade’s all cracked and all we can see is the world for what it is.
There’s no “system” which can stop such a pathetic little thing as a virus, this microbe is singlehandedly responsible for shattering man-made concepts, currencies, transactions and beliefs.
Far-right terrorists have been particularly aggressive, embracing COVID-19 itself as a weapon, directing their community members to “go visit your local synagogue and hug as many jews as possible, cough on all the door knobs.” While such messages may sound insincere—even ludicrous—recent events show far-right terrorists are quite willing to attack during this pandemic using any means at their disposal.
Timothy Wilson, a neo-Nazi who sought to bomb a hospital in Missouri, was sharing exactly these sorts of messages. One he posted from another user as early as Jan. 29 called on far-right activists to infect politicians, police officers, and medical personnel with the coronavirus:
-spit on every doorknob or doorbar or handle or whatever you touch
-lick fruit and vegetables in the local grocery store and put it back
-spit into a super soaker and start blasting people
-cough in people’s faces
-go to your local town hall and start spitting in politicians faces and shooting them with the super soaker
-when you get arrested, spit and cough all over the car and cops
-don’t wash your hands (i forgot to mention this earlier)
-try to infect as many police officers as you can
-if they bring you to a hospital if your symptoms worsen, infect the doctors as well; rip off their facemasks and spit at them
Wilson was killed last month in a shootout with the FBI, which reported he was motivated “by racial, religious, and anti-government animus” and had considered several targets for a truck bombing. He “ultimately settled on an area hospital in an attempt to harm many people, targeting a facility that is providing critical medical care in today's environment.”
Wilson’s story fits into the growing record of far-right attacks in recent years that show we cannot dismiss the willingness of individuals to act.
The energy going into the far-right’s capitalization on the COVID-19 crisis is extraordinary. Some of the activists have even taken the time to create fake CDC-branded public health posters, presenting as safe various activities that are likely in fact to spread the disease.
Encouraging the spread of a plague in one’s own homeland might seem contrary to the interests of white nationalists, but it actually fits well with many of their objectives. Far-right extremists increasingly embrace a political philosophy called “accelerationism,” which encourages terrorists to accelerate the forces destroying society so that they may rebuild their own in the ashes. To that end, every effect of this crisis—from the social isolation and the economic meltdown to the crisis of public health and confusion about basic information—is a potential situation to be exploited or tool to be weaponized.
Groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, meanwhile, have much experience capitalizing on crisis. They read every development, study public perception, and hone their outreach accordingly. And, given the suicide bombings, incarceration, and other lengths jihadi terrorists endorse and endure while pursuing so-called “martyrdom,” do we believe motivated ISIS supporters would hesitate to infect themselves with Ebola or some other contagion to spread it further?
Just last week, for example, Tunisian counterterrorism police arrested an ISIS operative for inciting followers with COVID-19 symptoms to infect security personnel.
To an ISIS member or accelerationist neo-Nazi, the spectacle of novel coronavirus paralyzing the most powerful nations on earth is a source of inspiration. Suicide bombs and mass shootings pale by comparison. On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 hijackers killed 2,977 people. The number of COVID-19 dead in New York City alone surpassed that number weeks ago. Nationwide, more than 50,000 have died; worldwide, more than 200,000 as of this writing.
And while the toll mounts, contradictory advice from public figures, scarce medical supplies, and conflicting mitigation measures among different levels of government show that America and other countries lack the infrastructure and preparedness to handle potential bioterrorism threats.
It is imperative that governments confront the fact that these can happen, and the likelihood they will. What’s required is some big-picture rethinking about terrorism in contexts not typically addressed in the past: public health infrastructure is a fundamental part of domestic security; health-care facilities and food distribution outlets are now plausible targets for terrorists.
We are still in an early moment when we can greatly mitigate these threats if we prioritize them, organize preventive measures and responses, and act with urgency. As the world takes to increasingly desperate and draconian measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, it is all too clear what things look like when governments and societies fail to prepare for the worst.
Coronavirus conspiracy theories and fake videos are fueling a rise in racism: research
April 25, 2020
By The Conversation - raw story
Communities coming together to help those in need has been a strong theme of the COVID-19 pandemic. But at the same time that many people are seemingly appreciating those around them, our new research has found that COVID-19 has led to a rise in online Islamophobic hate speech.
My colleague, Roxana Khan-Williams, and I have examined the impacts of COVID-19 on social media. We’ve found that COVID-19 has been used by the far-right to peddle Islamophobic hate.
Our study provides a snapshot of the type of language used online about Muslims and COVID-19. And what we’ve found is that stereotypes fuelled by conspiracy theories, memes and fake videos create the perfect climate for the demonetization of Muslims.
One video, for example, shared on the Tommy Robinson News channel on the messaging app Telegram, alleges to show a group of Muslim men leaving a secret mosque in Birmingham to pray. Despite the fact the video is fake and West Midlands Police have confirmed the mosque is closed, it has been watched over 14,000 times.
At risk of attacks
As someone who has spent their academic career researching Islamophobia, I am not surprised or shocked to see this level of vitriolic hate. But it does demonstrate how quickly the internet can act as an echo chamber – and how easily such narratives become normalised.
Even more worrying, is that this type of Islamophobic bigotry found on social media reinforces the “them versus us narrative” by using issues such as deprivation, poverty, social cohesion and social mobility as a Muslim problem. Indeed, many of the online posts we analysed targeted Muslims because of social and economic issues. All of which leaves Muslims more at risk of Islamophobic attacks when lockdown lifts.
The tweet below, for example, specifically labels Muslims as “muzrats”, a word used to describe Muslims as vermin and a disease.
We also found that levels of Islamophobia increase around certain events. Ramadan, for example, seems to have led to a wave of conspiracy theories around Muslims – with claims the virus is likely to spread around this time.
We also found the depiction of British Muslims on social media was synonymous with “deviance” and being a “problem-group”. And that a number of fake news stories featured claims that Muslims are flouting social distancing measures to attend mosque. One picture, for example, taken outside a Leeds mosque appears to show Muslims breaking the rules of lockdown, despite this having been taken two weeks before the official lockdown began.
In another example of fake news, a Twitter user claimed to have spoken to his local mosque in Shrewsbury. The user claimed to be “horrified” to find out this mosque was still open, adding that people inside could be “super spreaders” of the virus, and urged the police to act. The police have confirmed, however, that there is no mosque in Shrewsbury.
Similarly, a picture emerged on Twitter that seemed to show Muslims praying on the streets of central London and not adhering to social distancing rules. Again, the story was debunked as the picture had been taken several weeks ago.
‘Muslims are the enemy’
The problem with such disinformation is that it can lead to wider retribution against Muslims. On one Facebook post, for example, messages from users indicated they wanted Muslims “off the streets!!”, another added that Muslims are “praying in groups then driving taxis afterwards”.
We also found evidence of users focusing on grooming events in Rotherham to call British Muslims “deviant”. Another user stated that “all over the world these ignorant religious idiots are responsible for spreading this further”. This led to wider dehumanising language around wanting British Muslims to go “back home”.
Evidence suggests that BAME people seem to be the most impacted by COVID-19. Figures show that 35% of almost 2000 patients in intensive care units are from a BAME background, compared to 14% of the UK population. And the sad truth is that, as we fight the pandemic offline, a pandemic is also spreading online.
Social media companies must do more to tackle this and remove posts that are clearly using dehumanising language. If not, the risk is that this could escalate to attacks and incidents when restrictions on movement are lifted.
My colleague, Roxana Khan-Williams, and I have examined the impacts of COVID-19 on social media. We’ve found that COVID-19 has been used by the far-right to peddle Islamophobic hate.
Our study provides a snapshot of the type of language used online about Muslims and COVID-19. And what we’ve found is that stereotypes fuelled by conspiracy theories, memes and fake videos create the perfect climate for the demonetization of Muslims.
One video, for example, shared on the Tommy Robinson News channel on the messaging app Telegram, alleges to show a group of Muslim men leaving a secret mosque in Birmingham to pray. Despite the fact the video is fake and West Midlands Police have confirmed the mosque is closed, it has been watched over 14,000 times.
At risk of attacks
As someone who has spent their academic career researching Islamophobia, I am not surprised or shocked to see this level of vitriolic hate. But it does demonstrate how quickly the internet can act as an echo chamber – and how easily such narratives become normalised.
Even more worrying, is that this type of Islamophobic bigotry found on social media reinforces the “them versus us narrative” by using issues such as deprivation, poverty, social cohesion and social mobility as a Muslim problem. Indeed, many of the online posts we analysed targeted Muslims because of social and economic issues. All of which leaves Muslims more at risk of Islamophobic attacks when lockdown lifts.
The tweet below, for example, specifically labels Muslims as “muzrats”, a word used to describe Muslims as vermin and a disease.
We also found that levels of Islamophobia increase around certain events. Ramadan, for example, seems to have led to a wave of conspiracy theories around Muslims – with claims the virus is likely to spread around this time.
We also found the depiction of British Muslims on social media was synonymous with “deviance” and being a “problem-group”. And that a number of fake news stories featured claims that Muslims are flouting social distancing measures to attend mosque. One picture, for example, taken outside a Leeds mosque appears to show Muslims breaking the rules of lockdown, despite this having been taken two weeks before the official lockdown began.
In another example of fake news, a Twitter user claimed to have spoken to his local mosque in Shrewsbury. The user claimed to be “horrified” to find out this mosque was still open, adding that people inside could be “super spreaders” of the virus, and urged the police to act. The police have confirmed, however, that there is no mosque in Shrewsbury.
Similarly, a picture emerged on Twitter that seemed to show Muslims praying on the streets of central London and not adhering to social distancing rules. Again, the story was debunked as the picture had been taken several weeks ago.
‘Muslims are the enemy’
The problem with such disinformation is that it can lead to wider retribution against Muslims. On one Facebook post, for example, messages from users indicated they wanted Muslims “off the streets!!”, another added that Muslims are “praying in groups then driving taxis afterwards”.
We also found evidence of users focusing on grooming events in Rotherham to call British Muslims “deviant”. Another user stated that “all over the world these ignorant religious idiots are responsible for spreading this further”. This led to wider dehumanising language around wanting British Muslims to go “back home”.
Evidence suggests that BAME people seem to be the most impacted by COVID-19. Figures show that 35% of almost 2000 patients in intensive care units are from a BAME background, compared to 14% of the UK population. And the sad truth is that, as we fight the pandemic offline, a pandemic is also spreading online.
Social media companies must do more to tackle this and remove posts that are clearly using dehumanising language. If not, the risk is that this could escalate to attacks and incidents when restrictions on movement are lifted.
america's trash!!!
Liberty University police issue arrest warrants for NYT, ProPublica reporters
BY JOE CONCHA - the hill
04/09/20 01:00 PM EDT
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. on Wednesday said that arrest warrants had been issued for reporters from The New York Times and ProPublica after both publications wrote stories criticizing his decision last month to partially reopen his Virginia-based college.
Photos of the arrest warrants for New York Times freelance photographer Julia Rendleman and ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis were published on the website of conservative radio host Todd Starnes. The warrant alleges each committed misdemeanor trespassing on campus while gathering information for their respective stories.
Falwell's decision on March 24 to reopen the private evangelical Christian university campus as all other universities in the state remained closed amid the coronavirus crisis came nearly two weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) issued a state of emergency, prompting widespread criticism.
The move sparked widespread criticism.
Five days after the campus reopened, The New York Times reported that, according to the school's director of student health services, nearly a dozen students had reported symptoms similar to those experienced in positive coronavirus cases.
According to the school's website, no cases of the virus have been confirmed on campus.
Liberty's website also denied the veracity of the Times report, calling it "false and misleading."
"Dr. Thomas Eppes, who was quoted in the Times’ story, denies he ever told the reporter that Liberty had about a dozen students were sick with symptoms that suggest COVID-19," reads an article on Liberty's website. "He gave figures for testing and self-isolation that are consistent with Liberty’s numbers but the New York Times preferred to go forward with sensational click-bait that increases traffic."
The university said that the reporters committed “trespassing on posted property.”
"The arrest warrants are issued by a magistrate based on information derived from an investigation conducted by Liberty University Police Department, the police agency with primary jurisdiction, based on reports of criminal trespassing on posted property made by Liberty University," the university told The Hill in an email.
The New York Times and ProPublica have each stood by their reporting.
"Our freelance photographer was engaged in the most routine form of news gathering: taking a picture of a person who was interviewed for a news story," said a Times spokesperson in an email to The Hill. "We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the university's decision to convene classes in the midst of the pandemic.”
"We have not heard from the university or any authority from the commonwealth of Virginia," Dick Tofel, ProPublica president, told The Hill in regard to the arrest warrant. "We also have not heard anything from the university saying there is anything wrong in the story."
Liberty was founded in 1971 and has an average undergraduate enrollment of 45,000 students across 7,000 acres in Lynchburg.
Photos of the arrest warrants for New York Times freelance photographer Julia Rendleman and ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis were published on the website of conservative radio host Todd Starnes. The warrant alleges each committed misdemeanor trespassing on campus while gathering information for their respective stories.
Falwell's decision on March 24 to reopen the private evangelical Christian university campus as all other universities in the state remained closed amid the coronavirus crisis came nearly two weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) issued a state of emergency, prompting widespread criticism.
The move sparked widespread criticism.
Five days after the campus reopened, The New York Times reported that, according to the school's director of student health services, nearly a dozen students had reported symptoms similar to those experienced in positive coronavirus cases.
According to the school's website, no cases of the virus have been confirmed on campus.
Liberty's website also denied the veracity of the Times report, calling it "false and misleading."
"Dr. Thomas Eppes, who was quoted in the Times’ story, denies he ever told the reporter that Liberty had about a dozen students were sick with symptoms that suggest COVID-19," reads an article on Liberty's website. "He gave figures for testing and self-isolation that are consistent with Liberty’s numbers but the New York Times preferred to go forward with sensational click-bait that increases traffic."
The university said that the reporters committed “trespassing on posted property.”
"The arrest warrants are issued by a magistrate based on information derived from an investigation conducted by Liberty University Police Department, the police agency with primary jurisdiction, based on reports of criminal trespassing on posted property made by Liberty University," the university told The Hill in an email.
The New York Times and ProPublica have each stood by their reporting.
"Our freelance photographer was engaged in the most routine form of news gathering: taking a picture of a person who was interviewed for a news story," said a Times spokesperson in an email to The Hill. "We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the university's decision to convene classes in the midst of the pandemic.”
"We have not heard from the university or any authority from the commonwealth of Virginia," Dick Tofel, ProPublica president, told The Hill in regard to the arrest warrant. "We also have not heard anything from the university saying there is anything wrong in the story."
Liberty was founded in 1971 and has an average undergraduate enrollment of 45,000 students across 7,000 acres in Lynchburg.
Coronavirus outbreak
a real "PATRIOTic" right winger!!!
Florida man who raised funds for border wall hawks millions of face masks
Brian Kolfage and other brokers around the world claim to have access to N95 masks outside normal supply channels
Reuters - the guardian
Wed 1 Apr 2020 11.28 EDT
Brian Kolfage, a Florida military veteran, recently convinced Americans to donate millions of dollars for a privately built wall on the US-Mexico border.
Now he has jumped into a new venture: hawking millions of protective face masks that are in critically short supply during the coronavirus pandemic.
About a month ago, Kolfage formed a business called America First Medical, which offers on its website and in social media pitches to broker large-volume sales of high-grade masks known as N95s. He said he charges about $4 each – several times the pre-pandemic prices but a few dollars less than some hospitals, nursing homes and first responders are now paying.
Though he hasn’t yet found buyers, Kolfage says he has found masks all over the world, including stockpiles hidden away in warehouses in Japan and eastern Europe. If a deal goes through, he will collect a commission between 1% and 3%, depending on the size of the order, he said.
He said he was performing a public service. “We’re the ones out there kissing the frogs and doing all the work that these hospitals and others can’t do,” Kolfage, 38, told Reuters. “We’re the ones making these connections. If the hospital wants to pay the money, that’s up to them.”
Kolfage aims to be one of the new mask middlemen. As Covid-19 has spread around the world, an improvised, chaotic market has sprung up. Brokers claim to have access to tens or even hundreds of millions of masks generally outside the normal supply channels and at prices much higher than the former retail price of about $1 each.
High-volume deals – even with low-percentage commissions – could bring big paydays for the middlemen.
But the frenzy also has broken down standard quality controls, opening the market to an influx of masks of uncertain origin and effectiveness, medical suppliers and healthcare industry officials say.
---
Reuters spoke to five new mask brokers, three in the United States and two in China, which is the world’s largest mask manufacturer and accounts for about half of global production. These middlemen described a wild marketplace.
Jake Mei, an owner of a pump supply firm in Houston, Texas, said in one LinkedIn posting that he had 8m masks, two models made by industrial giant the 3M Company, for sale, at $4.10 to $4.20 a mask. “Good price and quick delivery!” he promised. In an interview, however, he said he was having trouble finding inventory.
None of the middlemen would disclose suppliers or customers, and Reuters could not independently confirm their access to vast stashes.
Kolfage told Reuters that the masks he finds – which he says are not from China – are of good quality, certified by the US Food and Drug Administration. And he was not price gouging, he said, but rather charging a commission far lower than other brokers.
Reuters is aware of prices higher than his, including those that New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, recently said had risen from 85 cents to $7 apiece, making a crisis situation harder to manage.
---
A US Department of Justice spokesman declined to comment on the mask trade.
Some mask brokers appear to be counterfeiters or selling substandard knock-offs, according to a major manufacturer, 3M of St Paul, Minnesota, and a major hospital supplier, Premier Inc, of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Chaun Powell, Premier’s vice-president of strategic supplier engagement, said solicitations were pouring in and some customers take a punt: “It really demonstrates the level of desperation in our supply chain. They’re trying to evaluate which is better – to have a faulty mask or no mask.”
Kolfage and other brokers told Reuters they are running clean operations.
Kolfage is a newcomer to the mask market.
A US air force veteran who lives with his family in Florida, Kolfage lost his legs and right arm in a rocket attack during the Iraq war. After owning and selling rightwing news websites, he set up a fundraiser that capitalized on Trump’s quest to build a barrier on the southern border called We Build the Wall. The effort pulled in $25m from donors starting in December 2018.
So far, Kolfage has built two wall sections on private land, in New Mexico and Texas. He said he did not take any compensation for a year but now is now being paid $10,000 a month as president of the not-for-profit running the wall project.
In his new venture, he said, it’s all about speed. On 3 March, the day his website was registered, Kolfage posted a picture on Instagram of piles of boxes labeled 3M sitting in a warehouse, saying he had 300m N95s available to ship to the United States.
“Trying to reach the US government and arm up our docs with the proper equipment. Message me please,” he wrote, tagging Trump and the Department of Homeland Security.
The supplies, Kolfage said, were owned by a wealthy businessman who wanted to sell the whole lot for $3 each out of Japan and triple his investment. US giant 3M said Kolfage is not one of the company’s authorized dealers.
Now he has jumped into a new venture: hawking millions of protective face masks that are in critically short supply during the coronavirus pandemic.
About a month ago, Kolfage formed a business called America First Medical, which offers on its website and in social media pitches to broker large-volume sales of high-grade masks known as N95s. He said he charges about $4 each – several times the pre-pandemic prices but a few dollars less than some hospitals, nursing homes and first responders are now paying.
Though he hasn’t yet found buyers, Kolfage says he has found masks all over the world, including stockpiles hidden away in warehouses in Japan and eastern Europe. If a deal goes through, he will collect a commission between 1% and 3%, depending on the size of the order, he said.
He said he was performing a public service. “We’re the ones out there kissing the frogs and doing all the work that these hospitals and others can’t do,” Kolfage, 38, told Reuters. “We’re the ones making these connections. If the hospital wants to pay the money, that’s up to them.”
Kolfage aims to be one of the new mask middlemen. As Covid-19 has spread around the world, an improvised, chaotic market has sprung up. Brokers claim to have access to tens or even hundreds of millions of masks generally outside the normal supply channels and at prices much higher than the former retail price of about $1 each.
High-volume deals – even with low-percentage commissions – could bring big paydays for the middlemen.
But the frenzy also has broken down standard quality controls, opening the market to an influx of masks of uncertain origin and effectiveness, medical suppliers and healthcare industry officials say.
---
Reuters spoke to five new mask brokers, three in the United States and two in China, which is the world’s largest mask manufacturer and accounts for about half of global production. These middlemen described a wild marketplace.
Jake Mei, an owner of a pump supply firm in Houston, Texas, said in one LinkedIn posting that he had 8m masks, two models made by industrial giant the 3M Company, for sale, at $4.10 to $4.20 a mask. “Good price and quick delivery!” he promised. In an interview, however, he said he was having trouble finding inventory.
None of the middlemen would disclose suppliers or customers, and Reuters could not independently confirm their access to vast stashes.
Kolfage told Reuters that the masks he finds – which he says are not from China – are of good quality, certified by the US Food and Drug Administration. And he was not price gouging, he said, but rather charging a commission far lower than other brokers.
Reuters is aware of prices higher than his, including those that New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, recently said had risen from 85 cents to $7 apiece, making a crisis situation harder to manage.
---
A US Department of Justice spokesman declined to comment on the mask trade.
Some mask brokers appear to be counterfeiters or selling substandard knock-offs, according to a major manufacturer, 3M of St Paul, Minnesota, and a major hospital supplier, Premier Inc, of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Chaun Powell, Premier’s vice-president of strategic supplier engagement, said solicitations were pouring in and some customers take a punt: “It really demonstrates the level of desperation in our supply chain. They’re trying to evaluate which is better – to have a faulty mask or no mask.”
Kolfage and other brokers told Reuters they are running clean operations.
Kolfage is a newcomer to the mask market.
A US air force veteran who lives with his family in Florida, Kolfage lost his legs and right arm in a rocket attack during the Iraq war. After owning and selling rightwing news websites, he set up a fundraiser that capitalized on Trump’s quest to build a barrier on the southern border called We Build the Wall. The effort pulled in $25m from donors starting in December 2018.
So far, Kolfage has built two wall sections on private land, in New Mexico and Texas. He said he did not take any compensation for a year but now is now being paid $10,000 a month as president of the not-for-profit running the wall project.
In his new venture, he said, it’s all about speed. On 3 March, the day his website was registered, Kolfage posted a picture on Instagram of piles of boxes labeled 3M sitting in a warehouse, saying he had 300m N95s available to ship to the United States.
“Trying to reach the US government and arm up our docs with the proper equipment. Message me please,” he wrote, tagging Trump and the Department of Homeland Security.
The supplies, Kolfage said, were owned by a wealthy businessman who wanted to sell the whole lot for $3 each out of Japan and triple his investment. US giant 3M said Kolfage is not one of the company’s authorized dealers.
FBI: Mo. man killed in confrontation was planning to bomb a hospital amid coronavirus pandemic
wbay.com
Updated: Thu 6:02 AM, Mar 26, 2020
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (WDAF/Tribune/CNN) - A Missouri man who was allegedly plotting a bombing is dead after a shooting incident with the FBI.
Federal authorities said Timothy Watson, 36, was part of a domestic terror investigation because he was preparing an attack on a hospital.
Watson was reportedly upset with the government’s actions toward the spread of coronavirus and was planning a bombing at a Kansas City-area hospital that was providing critical care during the current coronavirus pandemic.
The FBI also said Watson was a potentially violent extremist who was spurred by racist and anti-governmental rhetoric.
According to an FBI press release, Watson “decided to accelerate his plan to use a vehicle-born improvised explosive device in an attempt to cause severe harm and mass casualties.”
Federal agents attempted to arrest Watson when he arrived at a location to get what he believed to be a truck bomb.
Wilson was armed at the time and shots were fired. No one else was injured in the shooting.
“There was a bunch of SUVs, black, and there was people wearing, HAZ-MAT stuff and white outfits and masks and stuff. I had no idea what that was,” said Marty Feuerborn, a business owner who witnessed the FBI response.
An investigation into the matter is being conducted by the FBI’s inspection division.
Federal authorities said Timothy Watson, 36, was part of a domestic terror investigation because he was preparing an attack on a hospital.
Watson was reportedly upset with the government’s actions toward the spread of coronavirus and was planning a bombing at a Kansas City-area hospital that was providing critical care during the current coronavirus pandemic.
The FBI also said Watson was a potentially violent extremist who was spurred by racist and anti-governmental rhetoric.
According to an FBI press release, Watson “decided to accelerate his plan to use a vehicle-born improvised explosive device in an attempt to cause severe harm and mass casualties.”
Federal agents attempted to arrest Watson when he arrived at a location to get what he believed to be a truck bomb.
Wilson was armed at the time and shots were fired. No one else was injured in the shooting.
“There was a bunch of SUVs, black, and there was people wearing, HAZ-MAT stuff and white outfits and masks and stuff. I had no idea what that was,” said Marty Feuerborn, a business owner who witnessed the FBI response.
An investigation into the matter is being conducted by the FBI’s inspection division.
these people really are stupid!!!
One of the largest anti-vaxxer groups in the nation is gearing up to resist the eventual coronavirus vaccine
March 18, 2020
By Sky Palma - raw story
The state of Texas has one of the largest anti-vaccine groups in the nation and they’re not happy about Governor Greg Abbott’s declaration of a state-wide emergency in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak.
“If they fast-track some vaccine for coronavirus, how are all of us going to defend ourselves?” a woman named Sarah posted in a local anti-vaccine Facebook group. “I’ll let them vaccinate my daughter over my dead body.”
According to TexasMonthly, the growing health crisis has anti-vaxxers in the state spreading rumors about impending “forced” vaccination programs, which is a common theme in anti-vaxxer rhetoric.
“This school year, nearly 73,000, or 1.35 percent, of Texas students opted out of getting at least one required vaccine for nonmedical reasons, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services,” TexasMonthly reports. “That number does not include home schooled children.”
In 2003, the Texas State Legislature passed a law that allows families to opt out of vaccinations by claiming “reasons of conscience, including religious belief.” But according to Allison Winnike, who is the president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership, Texas has the authority to make an eventual coronavirus vaccine mandatory — “mandatory,” meaning that there will be penalties for not complying, not “forced,” as anti-vaxxers like to claim.
Whether or not the anti-vaccine community will be a hindrance in the state’s efforts at tackling the outbreak remains to be seen.
Read the full report over at TexasMonthly.
“If they fast-track some vaccine for coronavirus, how are all of us going to defend ourselves?” a woman named Sarah posted in a local anti-vaccine Facebook group. “I’ll let them vaccinate my daughter over my dead body.”
According to TexasMonthly, the growing health crisis has anti-vaxxers in the state spreading rumors about impending “forced” vaccination programs, which is a common theme in anti-vaxxer rhetoric.
“This school year, nearly 73,000, or 1.35 percent, of Texas students opted out of getting at least one required vaccine for nonmedical reasons, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services,” TexasMonthly reports. “That number does not include home schooled children.”
In 2003, the Texas State Legislature passed a law that allows families to opt out of vaccinations by claiming “reasons of conscience, including religious belief.” But according to Allison Winnike, who is the president and CEO of The Immunization Partnership, Texas has the authority to make an eventual coronavirus vaccine mandatory — “mandatory,” meaning that there will be penalties for not complying, not “forced,” as anti-vaxxers like to claim.
Whether or not the anti-vaccine community will be a hindrance in the state’s efforts at tackling the outbreak remains to be seen.
Read the full report over at TexasMonthly.
Trump-loving megachurch begs followers to pack into the pews amid coronavirus outbreak: ‘If we die — we die for Christ’
March 16, 2020
By Sky Palma - raw story
A South Florida megachurch pastor wants his congregation to know even though the coronavirus continues to spread, they should be coming to church to worship anyway, and any fear they might have of packed spaces is coming from a “demonic spirit.”
“Do you believe God would bring his people to his house to be contagious with the virus? Of course not,” pastor Guillermo Maldonado said, according to the Miami Herald. But as the Herald points out, Maldonado’s service wasn’t as packed as it usually is.
“This service is usually packed. So now they’re home in a cave afraid of the virus, that you want to transmit the virus,” Maldonado lamented. “If we die, we die for Christ. If we live, we live for Christ, so what do you lose?”
Other places of worship in the area have followed the advice of health officials to avoid mass gatherings of “over 250” in an effort to stem the infection rates and have shuttered services. But Maldonado seems to have the opposite intent. In a now-deleted Facebook post, he warned his followers that they have two choices — “Come in and receive your healing, or stay home and miss out.”
Maldonado has visited the White House several times during Trump’s presidency and earlier this year hosted a “Evangelicals for Trump” rally.
During his service on Sunday, Maldonado told his followers that they have a greater chance of contracting the regular flu. But according to experts, that comparison is not legitimate. Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is deadlier than the flu. In China, early data showed that it was 10 times deadlier.
But Maldonado insists there’s nothing to worry about.
“Do you mean you call me irresponsible for bringing the people of God to the House of God where the power and the presence of God is?”
“Do you believe God would bring his people to his house to be contagious with the virus? Of course not,” pastor Guillermo Maldonado said, according to the Miami Herald. But as the Herald points out, Maldonado’s service wasn’t as packed as it usually is.
“This service is usually packed. So now they’re home in a cave afraid of the virus, that you want to transmit the virus,” Maldonado lamented. “If we die, we die for Christ. If we live, we live for Christ, so what do you lose?”
Other places of worship in the area have followed the advice of health officials to avoid mass gatherings of “over 250” in an effort to stem the infection rates and have shuttered services. But Maldonado seems to have the opposite intent. In a now-deleted Facebook post, he warned his followers that they have two choices — “Come in and receive your healing, or stay home and miss out.”
Maldonado has visited the White House several times during Trump’s presidency and earlier this year hosted a “Evangelicals for Trump” rally.
During his service on Sunday, Maldonado told his followers that they have a greater chance of contracting the regular flu. But according to experts, that comparison is not legitimate. Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is deadlier than the flu. In China, early data showed that it was 10 times deadlier.
But Maldonado insists there’s nothing to worry about.
“Do you mean you call me irresponsible for bringing the people of God to the House of God where the power and the presence of God is?”
Oklahoma couple tried to ‘exorcise’ demons from 7-year-old son by waterboarding him
March 9, 2020
By Travis Gettys - raw story
An Oklahoma couple is accused of torturing their son in an attempt to “exorcise” demons from the boy.
Concerned friends notified police after noticing welts on the 7-year-old boy’s head and body, along with bruises on his wrists, and investigators learned the couple had become convinced the child was possessed by demonic spirits, reported KFOR-TV.
“Apparently, for whatever reason, the parents believe that one of the children may have been demon-possessed, and they were trying to perform an exorcism by waterboarding the child,” said Sgt. Gary Knight, of Oklahoma City Police.
The abuse focused on one particular boy, and the couple allegedly sent text messages outlining their plans for an exorcism, police said.
Police said the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs when they questioned him, and they said he was acting erratic and paranoid.
The woman told officers they sometimes drugged the boy with “benzos and cough syrup.”
“There’s indication the child may have been beaten, abused, possibly given things to help them sleep or relax while this was all going on,” Knight said.
Investigators said the boy was sometimes placed in a laundry basket and then drop-kicked, and he had multiple injuries consistent with abuse.
Witnesses also said they saw him “blindfolded, soaked in sweat and wearing a heavy coat.”
All children in the home have been taken into protective custody, but no arrests had been made over the weekend.
Concerned friends notified police after noticing welts on the 7-year-old boy’s head and body, along with bruises on his wrists, and investigators learned the couple had become convinced the child was possessed by demonic spirits, reported KFOR-TV.
“Apparently, for whatever reason, the parents believe that one of the children may have been demon-possessed, and they were trying to perform an exorcism by waterboarding the child,” said Sgt. Gary Knight, of Oklahoma City Police.
The abuse focused on one particular boy, and the couple allegedly sent text messages outlining their plans for an exorcism, police said.
Police said the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs when they questioned him, and they said he was acting erratic and paranoid.
The woman told officers they sometimes drugged the boy with “benzos and cough syrup.”
“There’s indication the child may have been beaten, abused, possibly given things to help them sleep or relax while this was all going on,” Knight said.
Investigators said the boy was sometimes placed in a laundry basket and then drop-kicked, and he had multiple injuries consistent with abuse.
Witnesses also said they saw him “blindfolded, soaked in sweat and wearing a heavy coat.”
All children in the home have been taken into protective custody, but no arrests had been made over the weekend.
The far right
Sweep of arrests hits US neo-Nazi group connected to five murders
Five senior members of Atomwaffen Division charged with federal crimes in recent weeks, including harassing journalists and activists
Jason Wilson
the guardian
Fri 6 Mar 2020 03.00 EST
A sweep of arrests of a neo-Nazi group in the US has dealt a major blow to an organization associated with at least five murders and raised questions as to whether the extreme far-right movement the group is at the center of has been largely undone by pressure from law enforcement, journalists and anti-fascist activists.
Five senior members of Atomwaffen Division (AWD) have been charged with federal crimes in the past weeks, including former leaders and a man who was concurrently a member of the similar neo-Nazi terror group the Base. The recent charges involve members in four states in connection with two separate criminal cases.
In Virginia, a Texas man, John Denton, 26, was charged over an alleged “swatting” conspiracy – a practice involving making false reports about a targets address in the hope police will stage an armed raid on the address.
Denton – reported by ProPublica in 2018 as “involved in nearly every aspect of the organization” as its leader – is known inside Atomwaffen by the alias “Rape”. He allegedly coordinated swatting attacks in 2018 and 2019 on journalists, Old Dominion University, and a historically black church.
Four more members were charged with conspiracy to threaten journalists and people associated with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in Washington state.
One of those arrested, Taylor Parker-Dipeppe, 20, was a former Florida chapter co-leader under the alias “Azazel”. Recent social media materials given to the Guardian by Australian anti-fascist group the White Rose Society show a muscular, bearded young man with fresh neo-Nazi tattoos.
Two more of those charged lived in Washington. Kaleb Cole, 24, alias “Khimaere”, who was the Washington chapter leader, and Cameron Shea, 24, alias “Krokodil”,have long histories in the neo-Nazi movement.
Cole is described in court documents as a former co-leader of the group. He had guns seized last October under Washington’s so-called “red flag” laws. He and another Washington Atomwaffen member and close associate, Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh, 23, were apprehended in November by Texas police, who found several firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and marijuana in their vehicle.
Bruce-Umbaugh was charged with and pleaded guilty to possessing weapons together with a controlled substance.
Cole visited eastern Europe with Bruce-Umbaugh in 2018, and the two made pilgrimages to sites associated with Nazism, posing for photographs with an Atomwaffen flag at the Auschwitz death camp. In 2019, he was detained for 42 days under Canada’s anti-terror laws and banned from the country.
Shea was described in court documents as a “high-level member and primary recruiter” for the group. Information obtained from confidential sources by the Guardian shows he was also a member of the like-minded group the Base for several months in late 2018.
A fourth arrestee, Johnny Garcia, was known in the movement as “Roman”.
According to court documents, the men allegedly cooperated in specifically targeting journalists with lurid violent threats, bearing slogans like “These people have names and addresses”, and “You have been visited by your local Nazis”. The plan was in response to reports on the group in late 2018 in outlets including the Seattle Times.
The men have been charged with conspiracy, stalking, and postal offenses.
Already, six members of Atomwaffen have been convicted since 2018 on charges including firearms offenses, planning terrorist attacks, hate crimes, and murder.
Not all charged members may stand trial. Devon Arthurs, accused of killing two other members of Atomwaffen, remains involuntarily in Florida state hospital. Nicholas Giampa, accused of killing his former girlfriend’s parents, has yet to stand trial. Initially he was unable to stand trial because of the effects of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Atomwaffen was the first of a number of Neo-Nazi groups which emerged from 2015 and later that embraced a so-called “accelerationist” ideology, which preaches that western society is corrupt and violent acts sowing chaos will speed up its downfall and allow a white supremacist state to be built in its place.
They drew increasingly on the writings of the American neo-Nazi James Mason. Mason prescribed violent terrorism and a leaderless cellular structure, and praised the convicted murderer Charles Manson.
Mason became an advisor to Atomwaffen, and has appeared in propaganda videos made by the group.
Accelerationist groups also embraced a distinctive aesthetic which took in half-balaclava skull masks, bold and gruesome graphic design, and slickly edited propaganda videos, frequently depicting armed training camps.
All of those groups have now been subjected to significant legal consequences after their activities, their internal communications, and their identities were repeatedly exposed by antifascist researchers and investigative journalists.
The FBI appeared to be accelerating its efforts to crack down on the groups even before director Christopher Wray defined white supremacist extremists as a “national threat priority” which was “on the same footing” as Isis in early February. There have been at least 13 arrests of members of such groups since last October.
The better part of Atomwaffen’s leadership structure is now awaiting trial. Eight members of the Base have been arrested, and the identity of their leader exposed. Smaller groups, like Feuerkrieg Division, have now publicly called a halt to recruiting.
Five senior members of Atomwaffen Division (AWD) have been charged with federal crimes in the past weeks, including former leaders and a man who was concurrently a member of the similar neo-Nazi terror group the Base. The recent charges involve members in four states in connection with two separate criminal cases.
In Virginia, a Texas man, John Denton, 26, was charged over an alleged “swatting” conspiracy – a practice involving making false reports about a targets address in the hope police will stage an armed raid on the address.
Denton – reported by ProPublica in 2018 as “involved in nearly every aspect of the organization” as its leader – is known inside Atomwaffen by the alias “Rape”. He allegedly coordinated swatting attacks in 2018 and 2019 on journalists, Old Dominion University, and a historically black church.
Four more members were charged with conspiracy to threaten journalists and people associated with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in Washington state.
One of those arrested, Taylor Parker-Dipeppe, 20, was a former Florida chapter co-leader under the alias “Azazel”. Recent social media materials given to the Guardian by Australian anti-fascist group the White Rose Society show a muscular, bearded young man with fresh neo-Nazi tattoos.
Two more of those charged lived in Washington. Kaleb Cole, 24, alias “Khimaere”, who was the Washington chapter leader, and Cameron Shea, 24, alias “Krokodil”,have long histories in the neo-Nazi movement.
Cole is described in court documents as a former co-leader of the group. He had guns seized last October under Washington’s so-called “red flag” laws. He and another Washington Atomwaffen member and close associate, Aiden Bruce-Umbaugh, 23, were apprehended in November by Texas police, who found several firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and marijuana in their vehicle.
Bruce-Umbaugh was charged with and pleaded guilty to possessing weapons together with a controlled substance.
Cole visited eastern Europe with Bruce-Umbaugh in 2018, and the two made pilgrimages to sites associated with Nazism, posing for photographs with an Atomwaffen flag at the Auschwitz death camp. In 2019, he was detained for 42 days under Canada’s anti-terror laws and banned from the country.
Shea was described in court documents as a “high-level member and primary recruiter” for the group. Information obtained from confidential sources by the Guardian shows he was also a member of the like-minded group the Base for several months in late 2018.
A fourth arrestee, Johnny Garcia, was known in the movement as “Roman”.
According to court documents, the men allegedly cooperated in specifically targeting journalists with lurid violent threats, bearing slogans like “These people have names and addresses”, and “You have been visited by your local Nazis”. The plan was in response to reports on the group in late 2018 in outlets including the Seattle Times.
The men have been charged with conspiracy, stalking, and postal offenses.
Already, six members of Atomwaffen have been convicted since 2018 on charges including firearms offenses, planning terrorist attacks, hate crimes, and murder.
Not all charged members may stand trial. Devon Arthurs, accused of killing two other members of Atomwaffen, remains involuntarily in Florida state hospital. Nicholas Giampa, accused of killing his former girlfriend’s parents, has yet to stand trial. Initially he was unable to stand trial because of the effects of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
Atomwaffen was the first of a number of Neo-Nazi groups which emerged from 2015 and later that embraced a so-called “accelerationist” ideology, which preaches that western society is corrupt and violent acts sowing chaos will speed up its downfall and allow a white supremacist state to be built in its place.
They drew increasingly on the writings of the American neo-Nazi James Mason. Mason prescribed violent terrorism and a leaderless cellular structure, and praised the convicted murderer Charles Manson.
Mason became an advisor to Atomwaffen, and has appeared in propaganda videos made by the group.
Accelerationist groups also embraced a distinctive aesthetic which took in half-balaclava skull masks, bold and gruesome graphic design, and slickly edited propaganda videos, frequently depicting armed training camps.
All of those groups have now been subjected to significant legal consequences after their activities, their internal communications, and their identities were repeatedly exposed by antifascist researchers and investigative journalists.
The FBI appeared to be accelerating its efforts to crack down on the groups even before director Christopher Wray defined white supremacist extremists as a “national threat priority” which was “on the same footing” as Isis in early February. There have been at least 13 arrests of members of such groups since last October.
The better part of Atomwaffen’s leadership structure is now awaiting trial. Eight members of the Base have been arrested, and the identity of their leader exposed. Smaller groups, like Feuerkrieg Division, have now publicly called a halt to recruiting.
White Man Threatens to Kill Black Wisconsin Police Officer: ‘You’re Black. I’m Superior to You.’
By Ashleigh Atwell - atlanta black star
March 3, 2020
Belligerent white man tells black police officer he’s ‘superior’ because he is a white man. (Photo: Dane County Sheriff’s Office)
A Wisconsin police department wants a man charged with a hate crime after he allegedly threatened a Black police officer.
James Schultz, 44, was arrested on Feb. 24 after he caused a ruckus at a Best Western Hotel in Madison, reported Channel 3000. The man reportedly caused “multiple” disturbances at the establishment, which resulted in the police being called.
When they arrived, Schultz reportedly was still belligerent and made racist statements toward a Black officer. The officer told Schultz he would be cited for trespassing, and the suspect did not take it well.
I’m white, you’re black. I’m superior to you, motherf—-r. … I’m going to kill you. … You can’t touch me,” he said, according to Madison Police spokesman Joel DeSpain.
Schultz was arrested and charged with battery, disorderly conduct and threatening a law enforcement officer. He reportedly made racist comments on his way to jail.
The police department wants a hate crime enhancer added to his charges.
James Schultz, 44, was arrested on Feb. 24 after he caused a ruckus at a Best Western Hotel in Madison, reported Channel 3000. The man reportedly caused “multiple” disturbances at the establishment, which resulted in the police being called.
When they arrived, Schultz reportedly was still belligerent and made racist statements toward a Black officer. The officer told Schultz he would be cited for trespassing, and the suspect did not take it well.
I’m white, you’re black. I’m superior to you, motherf—-r. … I’m going to kill you. … You can’t touch me,” he said, according to Madison Police spokesman Joel DeSpain.
Schultz was arrested and charged with battery, disorderly conduct and threatening a law enforcement officer. He reportedly made racist comments on his way to jail.
The police department wants a hate crime enhancer added to his charges.
WHITE CEO FIRED AFTER RACIAL VERBAL ATTACK ON BLACK UBER DRIVER CAUGHT ON TAPE
by Justin Barton - black enterprise
February 7, 2020
The white former CEO of organic fertilizer company Agroplasma USA, based in Tempe, Arizona, has been fired after being caught on camera racially abusing a black Uber driver.
The altercation started when Uber driver Randy Clarke told the former CEO, Hans Berglund, that he had a policy of passengers not sitting in the front seat of his car unless there are three passengers or more. That’s when Berglund, originally from Sweden, insisted he sit in the front. According to ABC15.com, Berglund then said, “Are you fucking serious with me? Is it because I’m White? And you’re a fucking Nigger? You are a fucking idiot.”
Clarke, 25, said “I was in a state of shock, I almost wanted to laugh. Some people need to be educated about people who don’t look like them. But in this case, the fact that he blatantly said the N-word, I just couldn’t let that go,” Clarke told 12 News.
The video showed Clarke asking Berglund to sit in the back seat and if he did not agree to it, Clarke would initiate a refund. They both agreed to cancel the ride and when Clarke asked Berglund to leave his car, that’s when Berglund used the N-word.
Agroplasma released a statement to ABC15, saying the company was firing Berglund as CEO.
“In light of the events of this past Friday, Agroplasma CEO Hans Berglund has been relieved of his duties while the company performs a full internal investigation. The incident is not at all reflective of Agroplasma’s values and ethics. Our relationships with our employees, customers and the community are the cornerstones of our success, and we are doing everything in our power to rebuild their trust and repair the harm that has resulted from this incident,” the statement read, adding that Jeffrey Ziehmer was being appointed as interim CEO.
After the incident, Berglund told ABC15, “I deeply regret and apologize for the hurtful and derogatory language I used during the altercation with Mr. Clarke. I firmly believe that there is no excuse for the use of racial slurs under any circumstance, so I will not offer any. It is my sincere hope that Mr. Clarke hears and accepts my apology and believes me when I say it is honest and heartfelt.”
Uber responded to ABC15 by saying, “Discrimination has no place on the Uber app or anywhere. What’s been described is a clear violation of our Community Guidelines and we launched an investigation as soon as we learned of it.”
The altercation started when Uber driver Randy Clarke told the former CEO, Hans Berglund, that he had a policy of passengers not sitting in the front seat of his car unless there are three passengers or more. That’s when Berglund, originally from Sweden, insisted he sit in the front. According to ABC15.com, Berglund then said, “Are you fucking serious with me? Is it because I’m White? And you’re a fucking Nigger? You are a fucking idiot.”
Clarke, 25, said “I was in a state of shock, I almost wanted to laugh. Some people need to be educated about people who don’t look like them. But in this case, the fact that he blatantly said the N-word, I just couldn’t let that go,” Clarke told 12 News.
The video showed Clarke asking Berglund to sit in the back seat and if he did not agree to it, Clarke would initiate a refund. They both agreed to cancel the ride and when Clarke asked Berglund to leave his car, that’s when Berglund used the N-word.
Agroplasma released a statement to ABC15, saying the company was firing Berglund as CEO.
“In light of the events of this past Friday, Agroplasma CEO Hans Berglund has been relieved of his duties while the company performs a full internal investigation. The incident is not at all reflective of Agroplasma’s values and ethics. Our relationships with our employees, customers and the community are the cornerstones of our success, and we are doing everything in our power to rebuild their trust and repair the harm that has resulted from this incident,” the statement read, adding that Jeffrey Ziehmer was being appointed as interim CEO.
After the incident, Berglund told ABC15, “I deeply regret and apologize for the hurtful and derogatory language I used during the altercation with Mr. Clarke. I firmly believe that there is no excuse for the use of racial slurs under any circumstance, so I will not offer any. It is my sincere hope that Mr. Clarke hears and accepts my apology and believes me when I say it is honest and heartfelt.”
Uber responded to ABC15 by saying, “Discrimination has no place on the Uber app or anywhere. What’s been described is a clear violation of our Community Guidelines and we launched an investigation as soon as we learned of it.”
stupid people come in all colors!!!
South Dakota lawmaker pushing bills to ban same-sex marriage and make getting
divorced more difficult
February 3, 2020
By David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement - raw story
One South Dakota Republican state legislator is pushing several bills he has authored that would attack the entire LGBTQ community, and make it harder for anyone, regardless of who they married, to get divorced.
South Dakota state Rep. Tony Randolph‘s HB 1215 would make it illegal for two people of the same gender to marry. It would also ban benefits from being given to existing married same-sex couples, ban protections for LGBTQ people, ban any recognition of transgender people, ban conversion therapy, and even ban “drag queen storytime.”
One line in Rep. Randolph’s bill exposes what he thinks of LGBTQ people, looping them in with “zoophilia.”
The bill says: “The state may not enforce, endorse, or favor policies that” “Condone or affirm homosexual, transgender, zoophilia, objectophilia, polygamy, or sexual orientation doctrines.”
The policy director for the ACLU of South Dakota calls it “the legislative version of ‘saying the quiet part out loud.'”:
Libby Skarin
@LibbySkarin
Replying to @LibbySkarin
HB 1215 is the legislative version of “saying the quiet part out loud.” It lays bear what’s really happening in South Dakota. We are seeing an all out assault on the LGBTQ and two spirit communities.
Transgender advocate and triathlete Chris Mosier weighs in:
The Chris Mosier✔
@TheChrisMosier
The #SDleg is out of control - lawmakers there have a clear agenda to attack, suppress, and remove LGBTQ+ people from South Dakota. HB1215 is the latest.
2:05 PM - Jan 30, 2020
Rep. Randolph is not satisfied attacking just LGBTQ people. He’s also trying to make it harder for anyone in South Dakota to divorce.
HB 1158 would eliminate “irreconcilable differences” as a legal reason for filing for divorce. It would also swap “Conviction of felony” with a new reason: “Criminal conviction that resulted in incarceration.”
Last week a bill supported but not authored by Rep. Randolph easily passed through the South Dakota House.
HB 1057 would make it illegal for physicians to perform gender confirmation surgery on transgender youth or teens, and even make it illegal to prescribe hormones to them.
It would also legally define “sex” as “the biological state of being female or male, based on sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles.”
Randolph is also the author of legislation that would make sex education “opt-in,” requiring parental approval before students are allowed to attend. HB 1162 would also direct that South Dakota sex education classes “Stress the importance and benefits of abstinence from all sexual activity before marriage,” “Stress the importance of fidelity after marriage for preventing certain communicable diseases and strengthen the bond between spouses,” and “Communicate that sexual abstinence is the only effective method of eliminating the risk of unplanned or out-of-wedlock pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases.”
That bill would also make sex education classes extremely ineffective:
“Sexual abstinence programs may not include models of instruction, based on risk reduction, encouraging or promote or provide instruction on the use of contraceptives products or methods. Materials and instruction may not be excessively graphic or explicit and may not include explicit descriptions of sexual activity that encourage erotic, lewd, or obscene behavior.”
South Dakota state Rep. Tony Randolph‘s HB 1215 would make it illegal for two people of the same gender to marry. It would also ban benefits from being given to existing married same-sex couples, ban protections for LGBTQ people, ban any recognition of transgender people, ban conversion therapy, and even ban “drag queen storytime.”
One line in Rep. Randolph’s bill exposes what he thinks of LGBTQ people, looping them in with “zoophilia.”
The bill says: “The state may not enforce, endorse, or favor policies that” “Condone or affirm homosexual, transgender, zoophilia, objectophilia, polygamy, or sexual orientation doctrines.”
The policy director for the ACLU of South Dakota calls it “the legislative version of ‘saying the quiet part out loud.'”:
Libby Skarin
@LibbySkarin
Replying to @LibbySkarin
HB 1215 is the legislative version of “saying the quiet part out loud.” It lays bear what’s really happening in South Dakota. We are seeing an all out assault on the LGBTQ and two spirit communities.
Transgender advocate and triathlete Chris Mosier weighs in:
The Chris Mosier✔
@TheChrisMosier
The #SDleg is out of control - lawmakers there have a clear agenda to attack, suppress, and remove LGBTQ+ people from South Dakota. HB1215 is the latest.
2:05 PM - Jan 30, 2020
Rep. Randolph is not satisfied attacking just LGBTQ people. He’s also trying to make it harder for anyone in South Dakota to divorce.
HB 1158 would eliminate “irreconcilable differences” as a legal reason for filing for divorce. It would also swap “Conviction of felony” with a new reason: “Criminal conviction that resulted in incarceration.”
Last week a bill supported but not authored by Rep. Randolph easily passed through the South Dakota House.
HB 1057 would make it illegal for physicians to perform gender confirmation surgery on transgender youth or teens, and even make it illegal to prescribe hormones to them.
It would also legally define “sex” as “the biological state of being female or male, based on sex organs, chromosomes, and endogenous hormone profiles.”
Randolph is also the author of legislation that would make sex education “opt-in,” requiring parental approval before students are allowed to attend. HB 1162 would also direct that South Dakota sex education classes “Stress the importance and benefits of abstinence from all sexual activity before marriage,” “Stress the importance of fidelity after marriage for preventing certain communicable diseases and strengthen the bond between spouses,” and “Communicate that sexual abstinence is the only effective method of eliminating the risk of unplanned or out-of-wedlock pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases.”
That bill would also make sex education classes extremely ineffective:
“Sexual abstinence programs may not include models of instruction, based on risk reduction, encouraging or promote or provide instruction on the use of contraceptives products or methods. Materials and instruction may not be excessively graphic or explicit and may not include explicit descriptions of sexual activity that encourage erotic, lewd, or obscene behavior.”
the white trash march!!!
‘Can you imagine a group of black men walking around with masks and guns?’ Virginia rally sparks questions of racism and privilege
January 20, 2020
By David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement - raw story
Caroline Patrickis
✔
@Cpatrickis
Crowd from above at the Richmond 2A protest
It’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and for several hours now countless mostly white, mostly male pro-gun, anti-gun control activists have been marching throughout the streets of Richmond, Virginia, claiming to merely be exercising their Second Amendment rights. Many appear to be dressed in military garb, including camouflage, masks, and donning various types of firearms over their shoulders or at their side.
Some Virginians have been so concerned about the possibility of violence that Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and banned guns from the capitol. His ban survived a state supreme court challenge. Some say the ban does not appear to have been enforced.
Thousands are marching, including some white nationalists, far-right militia members, anti-government extremists, and neo-Nazis. As NBC News reports, members of some of those groups from across the country have been planning on attending.
---
Many online noted the reception from pro-gun advocates might be far different if the activists were Black instead of white, given the nation’s history – and that of Virginia.
Walter Shaub✔
@waltshaub
Imagine how Fox News would cover this if these guys weren’t white. Imagine what Trump would tweet. Imagine how much danger they’d be in. But these guys are allowed to silence counter protesters by showing up armed to the teeth after some of their allies have threatened violence.
RELATED: WATCH: Virginia gun rights activist trashes MSNBC reporter’s live shot by shouting F-bombs
RELATED: ‘Emasculated’ Virginia gun nuts mocked for ‘purchasing toys, dressing up in costumes, and playing fantasy games’
Some Virginians have been so concerned about the possibility of violence that Governor Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency and banned guns from the capitol. His ban survived a state supreme court challenge. Some say the ban does not appear to have been enforced.
Thousands are marching, including some white nationalists, far-right militia members, anti-government extremists, and neo-Nazis. As NBC News reports, members of some of those groups from across the country have been planning on attending.
---
Many online noted the reception from pro-gun advocates might be far different if the activists were Black instead of white, given the nation’s history – and that of Virginia.
Walter Shaub✔
@waltshaub
Imagine how Fox News would cover this if these guys weren’t white. Imagine what Trump would tweet. Imagine how much danger they’d be in. But these guys are allowed to silence counter protesters by showing up armed to the teeth after some of their allies have threatened violence.
RELATED: WATCH: Virginia gun rights activist trashes MSNBC reporter’s live shot by shouting F-bombs
RELATED: ‘Emasculated’ Virginia gun nuts mocked for ‘purchasing toys, dressing up in costumes, and playing fantasy games’
A Pilot and a Racist Trump Supporter All Wrapped in One:#MAGA Pilot Arrested for Racist Airport Graffiti
Zack Linly - the root
1/18/20
I mean... not that we needed yet another story tying Trump support to good-old-fashion American racism, but we got one via a 53-year-old pilot for Endeavor Air, a regional subsidiary of Delta, in today’s “Yep, Water is Still Wet as Hell” news.
James E. Dees, whose name was probably not intentionally made to sound eerily similar to Robert E. Lee (although, who am I to speculate?), was arrested Friday after police say he tagged bathrooms, elevators and cars at the Tallahassee International Airport with racial slurs and messages supporting President Donald Trump, USA Today reported.
According to the Tallahassee Police Department, a covert camera in the airport caught Dees in the act of painting graffiti that read “#MAGA,” “Send them all back” and included various racial slurs directed at African-Americans and Hispanics.
To make matters worse, this, apparently, wasn’t Dees’ first rodeo. In fact, this angry white man, this pilot, who may have held scores of black and brown lives in his hands at 30 thousand some odd feet in the sky at any given time, had been suspected of 20 different instances of this kind of vandalism tracing back to just two days before Christmas 2018, according to court records.
On Dec. 12, investigators believed they captured footage of the graffiti in progress. Dees, who at that time had only been identified as a pilot, entered the elevator in the airport’s parking lot at about 5 p.m.
Dees was captured after a surveillance camera was hidden in an elevator at the airport following the spate of graffiti.
On Jan. 7, Dees was approached by Tallahassee Police officers as he waited for his outbound flight. When officers told about the camera he didn’t see getting his bigotry on tape, he admitted he was behind the graffiti.
He copped to vandalizing vehicles in the parking lot as well as walls in the elevator and in the men’s bathroom. He told police he has been going through a “really rough time,” and has anger issues. (You guys reading at home may not know this but “anger issues” is general whitey speak for “racism.” I tried to get the translation to the Whypipo Urban Dictionary but, apparently, nobody’s created that yet.)
According to the report, Dees (for whatever damn reason) wasn’t arrested at the scene. He was told he was allowed to leave, and he began to board the flight. But he, instead, returned and told police he was not in the “right state of mind” to fly a plane, and he left the airport.
Yep, you read that right: the cops were about to allow a confessed racist to go back to work leaving God knows how many passengers of color in his care. Meanwhile TSA is confiscating my shaving cream at the check point, presumably, to keep fellow flyers safe from my clean-shaven hansom-ness.
Dees is being charged with nine counts of criminal mischief and posted bond around 1 p.m. EST Friday. The damage is estimated to be close to $200.
If convicted, the Perry, Florida, resident faces a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. One would hope he’d also be fired but, well, let’s just say I may be avoiding flights through Tallahassee for a while.
James E. Dees, whose name was probably not intentionally made to sound eerily similar to Robert E. Lee (although, who am I to speculate?), was arrested Friday after police say he tagged bathrooms, elevators and cars at the Tallahassee International Airport with racial slurs and messages supporting President Donald Trump, USA Today reported.
According to the Tallahassee Police Department, a covert camera in the airport caught Dees in the act of painting graffiti that read “#MAGA,” “Send them all back” and included various racial slurs directed at African-Americans and Hispanics.
To make matters worse, this, apparently, wasn’t Dees’ first rodeo. In fact, this angry white man, this pilot, who may have held scores of black and brown lives in his hands at 30 thousand some odd feet in the sky at any given time, had been suspected of 20 different instances of this kind of vandalism tracing back to just two days before Christmas 2018, according to court records.
On Dec. 12, investigators believed they captured footage of the graffiti in progress. Dees, who at that time had only been identified as a pilot, entered the elevator in the airport’s parking lot at about 5 p.m.
Dees was captured after a surveillance camera was hidden in an elevator at the airport following the spate of graffiti.
On Jan. 7, Dees was approached by Tallahassee Police officers as he waited for his outbound flight. When officers told about the camera he didn’t see getting his bigotry on tape, he admitted he was behind the graffiti.
He copped to vandalizing vehicles in the parking lot as well as walls in the elevator and in the men’s bathroom. He told police he has been going through a “really rough time,” and has anger issues. (You guys reading at home may not know this but “anger issues” is general whitey speak for “racism.” I tried to get the translation to the Whypipo Urban Dictionary but, apparently, nobody’s created that yet.)
According to the report, Dees (for whatever damn reason) wasn’t arrested at the scene. He was told he was allowed to leave, and he began to board the flight. But he, instead, returned and told police he was not in the “right state of mind” to fly a plane, and he left the airport.
Yep, you read that right: the cops were about to allow a confessed racist to go back to work leaving God knows how many passengers of color in his care. Meanwhile TSA is confiscating my shaving cream at the check point, presumably, to keep fellow flyers safe from my clean-shaven hansom-ness.
Dees is being charged with nine counts of criminal mischief and posted bond around 1 p.m. EST Friday. The damage is estimated to be close to $200.
If convicted, the Perry, Florida, resident faces a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. One would hope he’d also be fired but, well, let’s just say I may be avoiding flights through Tallahassee for a while.
Involuntary Celibates are an ‘emerging domestic terrorism threat’: Texas warns of an ‘Incel Rebellion’
January 11, 2020
By Bob Brigham - raw story
Misogynistic men who identify as part of the “Involuntary Celibate” movement are domestic terrorism threats, according to a new report.
The Texas Department of Public Safety included the warning in their 2020, “Texas Domestic Terrorism Threat Assessment” (PDF).
“Although not a new movement, Involuntary Celibates (Incels) are an emerging domestic terrorism threat as current adherents demonstrate marked acts or threats of violence in furtherance of their social grievance,” the report noted. “Once viewed as a criminal threat by many law enforcement authorities, Incels are now seen as a growing domestic terrorism concern due to the ideological nature of recent Incel attacks internationally, nationwide, and in Texas.”
“What begins as a personal grievance due to perceived rejection by women may morph into allegiance to, and attempts to further, an Incel Rebellion. The result has thrust the Incel movement into the realm of domestic terrorism,” the report explained.
“The violence demonstrated by Incels in the past decade, coupled with extremely violent online rhetoric, suggests this particular threat could soon match, or potentially eclipse, the level of lethalness demonstrated by other domestic terrorism types,” the report warned.
The Texas Department of Public Safety included the warning in their 2020, “Texas Domestic Terrorism Threat Assessment” (PDF).
“Although not a new movement, Involuntary Celibates (Incels) are an emerging domestic terrorism threat as current adherents demonstrate marked acts or threats of violence in furtherance of their social grievance,” the report noted. “Once viewed as a criminal threat by many law enforcement authorities, Incels are now seen as a growing domestic terrorism concern due to the ideological nature of recent Incel attacks internationally, nationwide, and in Texas.”
“What begins as a personal grievance due to perceived rejection by women may morph into allegiance to, and attempts to further, an Incel Rebellion. The result has thrust the Incel movement into the realm of domestic terrorism,” the report explained.
“The violence demonstrated by Incels in the past decade, coupled with extremely violent online rhetoric, suggests this particular threat could soon match, or potentially eclipse, the level of lethalness demonstrated by other domestic terrorism types,” the report warned.
Virginia gun nuts are threatening civil war in the wake of Democrats’ election win: report
January 10, 2020
By Sky Palma - raw story
After winning control of Virginia’s state government this November, Democrats promised to pass a series of run-of-the-mill gun control laws, including background checks and a ban on military-style assault weapons — policy proposals that sparked the furor of the state’s gun rights activists. Now, some of these activists are warning of violence, even sending death threats to multiple lawmakers, Lois Beckett reports for The Guardian.
“At heated public meetings across the state and in long social media comment threads, some gun rights supporters are openly discussing the possibility of civil war,” Beckett writes. “Many have warned of the need to fight back against ‘tyranny’ or have compared Democratic lawmakers to the British forces during the revolutionary war.”
Extremist gun rights groups also attract militias and white supremacists who hope to use the growing pro-gun protest movement “as a potential flash point that could lead to civil war and social breakdown, according to an analyst at the Anti-Defamation League.”
“Some observers worry these tensions may come to a head on 20 January, when a lobby day against gun control at Virginia’s state capitol is expected to attract thousands of people, including members of anti-government groups from other states,” writes Beckett. “Local residents are concerned the day could turn violent, like the 2017 Unite the Right rally in nearby Charlottesville, Virginia.”
Read Beckett’s full report over at The Guardian.
“At heated public meetings across the state and in long social media comment threads, some gun rights supporters are openly discussing the possibility of civil war,” Beckett writes. “Many have warned of the need to fight back against ‘tyranny’ or have compared Democratic lawmakers to the British forces during the revolutionary war.”
Extremist gun rights groups also attract militias and white supremacists who hope to use the growing pro-gun protest movement “as a potential flash point that could lead to civil war and social breakdown, according to an analyst at the Anti-Defamation League.”
“Some observers worry these tensions may come to a head on 20 January, when a lobby day against gun control at Virginia’s state capitol is expected to attract thousands of people, including members of anti-government groups from other states,” writes Beckett. “Local residents are concerned the day could turn violent, like the 2017 Unite the Right rally in nearby Charlottesville, Virginia.”
Read Beckett’s full report over at The Guardian.
This is from September 17, 2009
Never let them pass it off as “Trumpism”
resign fool!!!
Jersey City Board of Education official blames the Jews for deadly attack on kosher deli
December 17, 2019
By Sky Palma - raw story
A member of the Board of Education in Jersey City is under fire after she made posts on social media that seemingly blamed Jews for the deadly attack on a kosher deli this Tuesday.
“Where was all this faith and hope when Black homeowners were being threatened, intimidated and harassed by I WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE brutes of the jewish community? (sic) They brazenly came on the property of Ward F Black homeowners and waved bags of money,” Joan Terrell wrote on Facebook, according to screenshots obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Terrell was reportedly responding to an article about an event that was attended by faith and community leaders to honor the attack’s victims. She also floated a conspiracy theory that claimed “6 rabbis were accused of selling body parts.”
“Mr. Anderson and Ms. Graham went directly to the kosher supermarket,” she wrote, referring to the shooters. “I believe they knew they would come out in body bags. What is the message they were sending? Are we brave enough to explore the answer to their message? Are we brave enough to stop the assault on the Black communities of America?”
Calls for Terrell to resign were swift, one of them coming from the city’s mayor, Steven Fulop.
“I saw this and I’m saddened by the ignorance her comments demonstrate,” he tweeted. “Her comments don’t represent Jersey City or the sentiment in the community at all. The African American community in Greenville has been nothing short of amazing over the last week helping neighbors.”
“Where was all this faith and hope when Black homeowners were being threatened, intimidated and harassed by I WANT TO BUY YOUR HOUSE brutes of the jewish community? (sic) They brazenly came on the property of Ward F Black homeowners and waved bags of money,” Joan Terrell wrote on Facebook, according to screenshots obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Terrell was reportedly responding to an article about an event that was attended by faith and community leaders to honor the attack’s victims. She also floated a conspiracy theory that claimed “6 rabbis were accused of selling body parts.”
“Mr. Anderson and Ms. Graham went directly to the kosher supermarket,” she wrote, referring to the shooters. “I believe they knew they would come out in body bags. What is the message they were sending? Are we brave enough to explore the answer to their message? Are we brave enough to stop the assault on the Black communities of America?”
Calls for Terrell to resign were swift, one of them coming from the city’s mayor, Steven Fulop.
“I saw this and I’m saddened by the ignorance her comments demonstrate,” he tweeted. “Her comments don’t represent Jersey City or the sentiment in the community at all. The African American community in Greenville has been nothing short of amazing over the last week helping neighbors.”
Georgia mayor being recalled for racism resigns from office: report
December 14, 2019
By Bob Brigham - raw story
Hoschton Mayor Theresa Kenerly resigned in a special city council meeting held on Saturday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Saturday.
“The resignation came just days after Councilman Jim Cleveland resigned saying he‘d rather leave office on his own terms than face voters in a recall election next month,” the newspaper reported. “Both resignations follow an AJC investigation launched seven months ago into claims that an African American candidate for city administrator was sidetracked by Mayor Theresa Kenerly because of his race.”
“Both long-serving officials had weathered calls for their resignation and a bipartisan campaign that would have put the question before voters in a recall vote next month,” the newspaper reported. “Members of both the Jackson County Republican and Democratic parties called for both officials to leave office.”
“In November, voters elected [Adam] Ledbetter and Shantwon Astin to seats on the City Council, forcing out another of Kenerly’s allies at City Hall. Ledbetter, who is white, and Astin, who is black, campaigned together on restoring the reputation of the city,” the newspaper noted.
“The resignation came just days after Councilman Jim Cleveland resigned saying he‘d rather leave office on his own terms than face voters in a recall election next month,” the newspaper reported. “Both resignations follow an AJC investigation launched seven months ago into claims that an African American candidate for city administrator was sidetracked by Mayor Theresa Kenerly because of his race.”
“Both long-serving officials had weathered calls for their resignation and a bipartisan campaign that would have put the question before voters in a recall vote next month,” the newspaper reported. “Members of both the Jackson County Republican and Democratic parties called for both officials to leave office.”
“In November, voters elected [Adam] Ledbetter and Shantwon Astin to seats on the City Council, forcing out another of Kenerly’s allies at City Hall. Ledbetter, who is white, and Astin, who is black, campaigned together on restoring the reputation of the city,” the newspaper noted.
The False Romance of Russia
American conservatives who find themselves identifying with Putin’s regime refuse to see the country for what it actually is.
Anne Applebaum - the atlantic
DECEMBER 12, 2019
Sherwood Eddy was a prominent American missionary as well as that now rare thing, a Christian socialist. In the 1920s and ’30s, he made more than a dozen trips to the Soviet Union. He was not blind to the problems of the U.S.S.R., but he also found much to like. In place of squabbling, corrupt democratic politicians, he wrote in one of his books on the country, “Stalin rules … by his sagacity, his honesty, his rugged courage, his indomitable will and titanic energy.” Instead of the greed he found so pervasive in America, Russians seemed to him to be working for the joy of working.
Above all, though, he thought he had found in Russia something that his own individualistic society lacked: a “unified philosophy of life.” In Russia, he wrote, “all life is focused in a central purpose. It is directed to a single high end and energized by such powerful and glowing motivation that life seems to have supreme significance.”
Eddy was wrong about much of what he saw. Joseph Stalin was a liar and a mass murderer; Russians worked because they were hungry and afraid. The “unified philosophy of life” was a chimera, and the reality was a totalitarian state that used terror and propaganda to maintain that unity. But Eddy, like others in his era, was predisposed to admire the Soviet Union precisely because he was so critical of the economics and politics of his own country, Depression-era America. In this, he was not alone.
In his landmark 1981 book, Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba, Paul Hollander wrote of the hospitality showered on sympathetic Western visitors to the Communist world: the banquets in Moscow thrown for George Bernard Shaw, the feasts laid out for Mary McCarthy and Susan Sontag in North Vietnam. But his conclusion was that these performances were not the key to explaining why some Western intellectuals became enamored of communism. Far more important was their estrangement and alienation from their own cultures: “Intellectuals critical of their own society proved highly susceptible to the claims put forward by the leaders and spokesmen of the societies they inspected in the course of these travels.”
Hollander was writing about left-wing intellectuals in the 20th century, and many such people are still around, paying court to left-wing dictators in Venezuela or Bolivia who dislike America. There are also, in our society as in most others, quite a few people who are paid to help America’s enemies, or to spread their propaganda. There always have been.
But in the 21st century, we must also contend with a new phenomenon: right-wing intellectuals, now deeply critical of their own societies, who have begun paying court to right-wing dictators who dislike America. And their motives are curiously familiar. All around them, they see degeneracy, racial mixing, demographic change, “political correctness,” same-sex marriage, religious decline. The America that they actually inhabit no longer matches the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant America that they remember, or think they remember. And so they have begun to look abroad, seeking to find the spiritually unified, ethnically pure nations that, they imagine, are morally stronger than their own. Nations, for example, such as Russia.
The pioneer of this search was Patrick Buchanan, the godfather of the modern so-called alt-right, whose feelings about foreign authoritarians shifted right about the time he started writing books with titles such as The Death of the West and Suicide of a Superpower. His columns pour scorn on modern America, a place he once described, with disgust, as a “multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial, multilingual ‘universal nation’ whose avatar is Barack Obama.” Buchanan’s America is in demographic decline, has been swamped by beige and brown people, and has lost its virtue. The West, he has written, has succumbed to “a sexual revolution of easy divorce, rampant promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, assisted suicide—the displacement of Christian values by Hollywood values.”
This litany of horrors isn’t much different from what can be heard most nights on Fox News. Listen to Tucker Carlson. “The American dream is dying,” Carlson declared one recent evening, in a monologue that also referred to “the dark age that we are living through.” Carlson has also spent a lot of time on air reminiscing about how the United States “was a better country than it is now in a lot of ways,” back when it was “more cohesive.” And no wonder: Immigrants have “plundered” America, thanks to “decadent and narcissistic” politicians who refuse to “defend the nation.” You can read worse on the white-supremacist websites of the alt-right—do pick up a copy of Ann Coulter’s Adios America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole—or hear more extreme sentiments in some evangelical churches. Franklin Graham has declared, for example, that America “is in deep trouble and on the verge of total moral and spiritual collapse.”
What a terrible place all of these people are describing. Who would want to live in a country like that? Or, to put it differently: Who wouldn’t sympathize with the enemies of a country like that? As it turns out, many do. Certainly Buchanan does. Russian cyberwarriors work with daily determination to undermine American utilities and electricity grids. Russian information warriors are trying to deform American political debate. Russian contract killers are murdering people on the streets of Western countries. Russian nuclear weapons are pointed at us and our allies.
Nevertheless, Buchanan has come to admire the Russian president because he is “standing up for traditional values against Western cultural elites.” Once again, he feels the shimmering lure of that elusive sense of “unity” and purpose that complicated, diverse, quarrelsome America always lacks. Impressed with the Russian president’s use of Orthodox pageantry at public events, Buchanan even believes that “Putin is trying to re-establish the Orthodox Church as the moral compass of the nation it had been for 1,000 years before Russia fell captive to the atheistic and pagan ideology of Marxism.”
He is not alone. The belief that Russia is on our side in the war against secularism and sexual decadence is shared by a host of American Christian leaders, as well as their colleagues on the European far right. Among them, for example, are the movers and shakers behind the World Congress of Families, an American evangelical and anti-gay-rights organization that Buchanan has explicitly praised. One of the WCF’s former leaders, Larry Jacobs, once declared that “the Russians might be the Christian saviors of the world.” The WCF even has a Russian branch, which is run by Alexey Komov, a man in turn linked to Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian oligarch who has hosted far-right meetings all across Europe. At the WCF’s most recent meeting, in Verona, senior Russian priests mingled with leaders of the Italian far right, the Austrian far right, and their comrades from the American heartland.
Carlson’s support for Russia, by contrast, takes the form of snarling sarcasm rather than open admiration. Much as Jane Fonda once posed, just for the provocative kick of it, with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, Carlson has started teasing his viewers and his critics with his amusingly contrarian views on Russia. “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia?” he asked recently. A couple of days later, he tried it again: “I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”
Ironically, during the Reagan administration, Carlson’s father ran Voice of America, the radio station that broadcast American values into the U.S.S.R. Or maybe this is not an irony, but rather an explanation. In his book, Hollander described the prestige that Albanian communism once enjoyed in Sweden and Norway. Few Scandinavians had ever been there, but that didn’t matter: “Albania is picked up simply because it seems to be a club with a particularly sharp nail at the end of it with which to beat one’s own society, one’s own traditions, one’s own parents.” Now Carlson is using Russia as a club with which to beat his own society and his own traditions.
Fortunately for all such critics, they don’t have to spend much time in the country they are “rooting” for, because there is no greater fantasy than the idea that Russia is a country of Christian values. In reality, Russia has one of the highest abortion rates in the world, nearly double that of the United States. It has an extremely low record of church attendance, though the numbers are difficult to measure, not least because any form of Christianity outside of the state-controlled Orthodox Church is liable to be considered a cult. A 2012 survey showed that religion plays an important role in the lives of only 15 percent of Russians. Only 5 percent have read the Bible.
If American Christians would find little to cheer for in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, American white nationalists would be disappointed too. Carlson has wondered aloud about America’s racial mix, asking, “How precisely is diversity our strength?” He would have a real dilemma in Russia. Nearly 20 percent of Russian citizens do not even identify as Russian, telling pollsters that they belong to different nationalities, ranging from Tartar and Azeri to Ukrainian and Moldovan; more than 6 percent of Russians are Muslims, as opposed to 1.1 percent of the U.S. population. And that might be a gross underestimate of the actual number of Russian Muslims, since in some parts of the country, Muslims are off-limits to census takers. Remember all those phony stories about Swedish and British neighborhoods that are supposedly no-go zones ruled by Sharia law? Russia has an actual province, Chechnya, that is officially ruled by Sharia law. The local regime tolerates polygamy, requires women to be veiled in public places, and tortures gay men. It is a no-go zone, right inside Russia.
As for Putin himself, there is no evidence that this former KGB officer has actually converted, but plenty of evidence that Putin’s recent public displays of Christianity are just as cynical as Stalin’s vaunted love for the working classes. Among other things, they are useful precisely because they can hoodwink naive foreigners. But you don’t need to listen to me say so. Listen, instead, to the words of a young Russian, Yegor Zhukov, who was put on trial for publishing videos critical of the regime. In an extraordinary courtroom speech, he addressed the loud support for “the institutions of the family” that Putin often offers in Russia, and contrasted it with reality:
An impenetrable barrier divides our society in two. All the money is concentrated at the top and no one up there is going to let it go. All that’s left at the bottom—and this is no exaggeration—is despair. Knowing that they have nothing to hope for, that no matter how hard they try, they cannot bring happiness to themselves or their families, Russian men take their aggression out on their wives, or drink themselves to death, or hang themselves. Russia has the world’s [second] highest rate of suicide among men. As a result, a third of all Russian families are single mothers with their kids. I would like to know: Is this how we are protecting the institution of the family?
The reality of Russia isn’t the point, just as the reality of Stalinism wasn’t the point, not for Sherwood Eddy and not for George Bernard Shaw. The American intellectuals who now find themselves alienated from the country that they inhabit aren’t interested in reality. They are interested in a fantasy nation, different and distinct from their own hateful country. America, with its complicated social and political as well as ethnic diversity, with its Constitution that ensures we will never, ever all be forced to feel as if “all life is focused in a central purpose”—this America no longer appeals to them at all.
Most of them know that this fantasy foreign nation they admire seeks to put an end to all of that. It seeks to undermine American democracy, beat back American influence, and curtail American power. But to those who dislike American democracy, despair of American influence, and are angered by American power? That, truly, is the point.
Above all, though, he thought he had found in Russia something that his own individualistic society lacked: a “unified philosophy of life.” In Russia, he wrote, “all life is focused in a central purpose. It is directed to a single high end and energized by such powerful and glowing motivation that life seems to have supreme significance.”
Eddy was wrong about much of what he saw. Joseph Stalin was a liar and a mass murderer; Russians worked because they were hungry and afraid. The “unified philosophy of life” was a chimera, and the reality was a totalitarian state that used terror and propaganda to maintain that unity. But Eddy, like others in his era, was predisposed to admire the Soviet Union precisely because he was so critical of the economics and politics of his own country, Depression-era America. In this, he was not alone.
In his landmark 1981 book, Political Pilgrims: Travels of Western Intellectuals to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba, Paul Hollander wrote of the hospitality showered on sympathetic Western visitors to the Communist world: the banquets in Moscow thrown for George Bernard Shaw, the feasts laid out for Mary McCarthy and Susan Sontag in North Vietnam. But his conclusion was that these performances were not the key to explaining why some Western intellectuals became enamored of communism. Far more important was their estrangement and alienation from their own cultures: “Intellectuals critical of their own society proved highly susceptible to the claims put forward by the leaders and spokesmen of the societies they inspected in the course of these travels.”
Hollander was writing about left-wing intellectuals in the 20th century, and many such people are still around, paying court to left-wing dictators in Venezuela or Bolivia who dislike America. There are also, in our society as in most others, quite a few people who are paid to help America’s enemies, or to spread their propaganda. There always have been.
But in the 21st century, we must also contend with a new phenomenon: right-wing intellectuals, now deeply critical of their own societies, who have begun paying court to right-wing dictators who dislike America. And their motives are curiously familiar. All around them, they see degeneracy, racial mixing, demographic change, “political correctness,” same-sex marriage, religious decline. The America that they actually inhabit no longer matches the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant America that they remember, or think they remember. And so they have begun to look abroad, seeking to find the spiritually unified, ethnically pure nations that, they imagine, are morally stronger than their own. Nations, for example, such as Russia.
The pioneer of this search was Patrick Buchanan, the godfather of the modern so-called alt-right, whose feelings about foreign authoritarians shifted right about the time he started writing books with titles such as The Death of the West and Suicide of a Superpower. His columns pour scorn on modern America, a place he once described, with disgust, as a “multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial, multilingual ‘universal nation’ whose avatar is Barack Obama.” Buchanan’s America is in demographic decline, has been swamped by beige and brown people, and has lost its virtue. The West, he has written, has succumbed to “a sexual revolution of easy divorce, rampant promiscuity, pornography, homosexuality, feminism, abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, assisted suicide—the displacement of Christian values by Hollywood values.”
This litany of horrors isn’t much different from what can be heard most nights on Fox News. Listen to Tucker Carlson. “The American dream is dying,” Carlson declared one recent evening, in a monologue that also referred to “the dark age that we are living through.” Carlson has also spent a lot of time on air reminiscing about how the United States “was a better country than it is now in a lot of ways,” back when it was “more cohesive.” And no wonder: Immigrants have “plundered” America, thanks to “decadent and narcissistic” politicians who refuse to “defend the nation.” You can read worse on the white-supremacist websites of the alt-right—do pick up a copy of Ann Coulter’s Adios America: The Left’s Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole—or hear more extreme sentiments in some evangelical churches. Franklin Graham has declared, for example, that America “is in deep trouble and on the verge of total moral and spiritual collapse.”
What a terrible place all of these people are describing. Who would want to live in a country like that? Or, to put it differently: Who wouldn’t sympathize with the enemies of a country like that? As it turns out, many do. Certainly Buchanan does. Russian cyberwarriors work with daily determination to undermine American utilities and electricity grids. Russian information warriors are trying to deform American political debate. Russian contract killers are murdering people on the streets of Western countries. Russian nuclear weapons are pointed at us and our allies.
Nevertheless, Buchanan has come to admire the Russian president because he is “standing up for traditional values against Western cultural elites.” Once again, he feels the shimmering lure of that elusive sense of “unity” and purpose that complicated, diverse, quarrelsome America always lacks. Impressed with the Russian president’s use of Orthodox pageantry at public events, Buchanan even believes that “Putin is trying to re-establish the Orthodox Church as the moral compass of the nation it had been for 1,000 years before Russia fell captive to the atheistic and pagan ideology of Marxism.”
He is not alone. The belief that Russia is on our side in the war against secularism and sexual decadence is shared by a host of American Christian leaders, as well as their colleagues on the European far right. Among them, for example, are the movers and shakers behind the World Congress of Families, an American evangelical and anti-gay-rights organization that Buchanan has explicitly praised. One of the WCF’s former leaders, Larry Jacobs, once declared that “the Russians might be the Christian saviors of the world.” The WCF even has a Russian branch, which is run by Alexey Komov, a man in turn linked to Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian oligarch who has hosted far-right meetings all across Europe. At the WCF’s most recent meeting, in Verona, senior Russian priests mingled with leaders of the Italian far right, the Austrian far right, and their comrades from the American heartland.
Carlson’s support for Russia, by contrast, takes the form of snarling sarcasm rather than open admiration. Much as Jane Fonda once posed, just for the provocative kick of it, with a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun, Carlson has started teasing his viewers and his critics with his amusingly contrarian views on Russia. “Why shouldn’t I root for Russia?” he asked recently. A couple of days later, he tried it again: “I think we should probably take the side of Russia, if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine.”
Ironically, during the Reagan administration, Carlson’s father ran Voice of America, the radio station that broadcast American values into the U.S.S.R. Or maybe this is not an irony, but rather an explanation. In his book, Hollander described the prestige that Albanian communism once enjoyed in Sweden and Norway. Few Scandinavians had ever been there, but that didn’t matter: “Albania is picked up simply because it seems to be a club with a particularly sharp nail at the end of it with which to beat one’s own society, one’s own traditions, one’s own parents.” Now Carlson is using Russia as a club with which to beat his own society and his own traditions.
Fortunately for all such critics, they don’t have to spend much time in the country they are “rooting” for, because there is no greater fantasy than the idea that Russia is a country of Christian values. In reality, Russia has one of the highest abortion rates in the world, nearly double that of the United States. It has an extremely low record of church attendance, though the numbers are difficult to measure, not least because any form of Christianity outside of the state-controlled Orthodox Church is liable to be considered a cult. A 2012 survey showed that religion plays an important role in the lives of only 15 percent of Russians. Only 5 percent have read the Bible.
If American Christians would find little to cheer for in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, American white nationalists would be disappointed too. Carlson has wondered aloud about America’s racial mix, asking, “How precisely is diversity our strength?” He would have a real dilemma in Russia. Nearly 20 percent of Russian citizens do not even identify as Russian, telling pollsters that they belong to different nationalities, ranging from Tartar and Azeri to Ukrainian and Moldovan; more than 6 percent of Russians are Muslims, as opposed to 1.1 percent of the U.S. population. And that might be a gross underestimate of the actual number of Russian Muslims, since in some parts of the country, Muslims are off-limits to census takers. Remember all those phony stories about Swedish and British neighborhoods that are supposedly no-go zones ruled by Sharia law? Russia has an actual province, Chechnya, that is officially ruled by Sharia law. The local regime tolerates polygamy, requires women to be veiled in public places, and tortures gay men. It is a no-go zone, right inside Russia.
As for Putin himself, there is no evidence that this former KGB officer has actually converted, but plenty of evidence that Putin’s recent public displays of Christianity are just as cynical as Stalin’s vaunted love for the working classes. Among other things, they are useful precisely because they can hoodwink naive foreigners. But you don’t need to listen to me say so. Listen, instead, to the words of a young Russian, Yegor Zhukov, who was put on trial for publishing videos critical of the regime. In an extraordinary courtroom speech, he addressed the loud support for “the institutions of the family” that Putin often offers in Russia, and contrasted it with reality:
An impenetrable barrier divides our society in two. All the money is concentrated at the top and no one up there is going to let it go. All that’s left at the bottom—and this is no exaggeration—is despair. Knowing that they have nothing to hope for, that no matter how hard they try, they cannot bring happiness to themselves or their families, Russian men take their aggression out on their wives, or drink themselves to death, or hang themselves. Russia has the world’s [second] highest rate of suicide among men. As a result, a third of all Russian families are single mothers with their kids. I would like to know: Is this how we are protecting the institution of the family?
The reality of Russia isn’t the point, just as the reality of Stalinism wasn’t the point, not for Sherwood Eddy and not for George Bernard Shaw. The American intellectuals who now find themselves alienated from the country that they inhabit aren’t interested in reality. They are interested in a fantasy nation, different and distinct from their own hateful country. America, with its complicated social and political as well as ethnic diversity, with its Constitution that ensures we will never, ever all be forced to feel as if “all life is focused in a central purpose”—this America no longer appeals to them at all.
Most of them know that this fantasy foreign nation they admire seeks to put an end to all of that. It seeks to undermine American democracy, beat back American influence, and curtail American power. But to those who dislike American democracy, despair of American influence, and are angered by American power? That, truly, is the point.
Fort Worth teacher who asked Trump to deport students said her tweets were protected by the First Amendment. Texas officials agreed.
December 3, 2019
By Texas Tribune - raw story
Commissioner of Education Mike Morath wrote that Georgia Clark did not waive her First Amendment rights when she signed her contract with Fort Worth ISD.
A former Fort Worth teacher argued in an appeal to the state that her tweets asking President Donald Trump to “remove” undocumented immigrants from her school were protected speech.
The Texas Education Agency agreed.
In a decision issued Nov. 25, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath wrote that the teacher, Georgia Clark, should get her job back at Carter-Riverside High School and receive back pay and benefits, or receive one year’s salary.
Clark and her attorney could not be reached for comment.
Siding with Clark, Morath rejected Fort Worth ISD’s argument that Clark waived her First Amendment rights upon signing an employment contract.
Clark was fired after sending a series of tweets to the president in May, writing that Fort Worth ISD “is loaded with illegal students from Mexico.”
“Anything you can do to remove the illegals from Fort Worth would be greatly appreciated,” she tweeted to Trump. Hispanic students account for almost 87% of enrollment at Carter-Riverside High School, according to state data.[...]
A former Fort Worth teacher argued in an appeal to the state that her tweets asking President Donald Trump to “remove” undocumented immigrants from her school were protected speech.
The Texas Education Agency agreed.
In a decision issued Nov. 25, Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath wrote that the teacher, Georgia Clark, should get her job back at Carter-Riverside High School and receive back pay and benefits, or receive one year’s salary.
Clark and her attorney could not be reached for comment.
Siding with Clark, Morath rejected Fort Worth ISD’s argument that Clark waived her First Amendment rights upon signing an employment contract.
Clark was fired after sending a series of tweets to the president in May, writing that Fort Worth ISD “is loaded with illegal students from Mexico.”
“Anything you can do to remove the illegals from Fort Worth would be greatly appreciated,” she tweeted to Trump. Hispanic students account for almost 87% of enrollment at Carter-Riverside High School, according to state data.[...]
Actual Nazi who got 26% of the vote in his first bid is running for Congress again as a Republican
December 2, 2019
By Sky Palma - raw story
Holocaust denier and actual Nazi, Arthur Jones, is taking another shot at a running for Congress, just two years after his first bid saw him getting 26 percent of the vote, CBS Chicago reports.
Arthur, who hails from Lyons, Illinois, is running as a Republican in Chicago’s 3rd congressional district. His opponent in the upcoming 2020 race will be fellow Republican Mike Fricilone.
Jones’ website, which hasn’t been recently updated, rails against immigrants and demands that English be made America’s “official language,” and claims that “any two-legged vagabond from any Third-world, non-white, or non-Christian country is given preference whether they arrived legally or illegally. Either, learn America’s language, our culture, and respect our laws or get out of our country.”
During his first bid for Congress, Jones openly shared his antisemitism proudly and posted articles on his campaign website that called the Holocaust an “extortion racket” and Kosher certification a “Jewish scam.”
Arthur, who hails from Lyons, Illinois, is running as a Republican in Chicago’s 3rd congressional district. His opponent in the upcoming 2020 race will be fellow Republican Mike Fricilone.
Jones’ website, which hasn’t been recently updated, rails against immigrants and demands that English be made America’s “official language,” and claims that “any two-legged vagabond from any Third-world, non-white, or non-Christian country is given preference whether they arrived legally or illegally. Either, learn America’s language, our culture, and respect our laws or get out of our country.”
During his first bid for Congress, Jones openly shared his antisemitism proudly and posted articles on his campaign website that called the Holocaust an “extortion racket” and Kosher certification a “Jewish scam.”
south carolina justice!!!
He Defended the Confederate Flag and Insulted Immigrants. Now He’s a Judge.
Former state Rep. Mike Pitts made anti-immigrant and racially charged remarks seemingly at odds with South Carolina’s judicial code. He sailed through an appointment process as a magistrate nominee with little scrutiny and no debate.
by Joseph Cranney, The Post and Courier - pro publica
Nov. 29, 5 a.m. EST
When South Carolina lawmakers confirmed a batch of new magistrates this year, one nominee stood out from the pack: Mike Pitts.
The former state House member had made a name for himself in Columbia as a staunch defender of the Confederate flag, and on Facebook he has penned anti-immigration screeds and used racially charged language. In May, for example, he posted a photo of New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, an African American Democrat running for president. His caption: “Cory Booker alway [sic] looks like he just hit crack real hard.”
None of this, however, prompted any discussion in June, when the state Senate confirmed Pitts along with 33 other nominees for the lower courts.
Unlike South Carolina’s felony and appellate court judges, magistrates are not subjected to legislative hearings before lawmakers sign off on their appointments. In fact, there’s rarely any public debate at all. Nominations typically sail through the upper chamber with a single voice vote.
Although magistrates oversee mostly misdemeanor matters, their authority is substantial; each year, they decide hundreds of thousands of cases, including criminal ones that can send someone to prison for months or saddle them with thousands of dollars in fines.
But the confirmation process allows new recruits to escape public scrutiny and sitting magistrates to remain on the bench even after they’ve been disciplined for misconduct, an investigation by The Post and Courier and ProPublica found.
Some appointees have gone on to make racist and sexist comments from the bench.
Magistrate Willie Bethune in Clarendon County, for example, said a defendant was attractive and asked her to show off her bellybutton. He was later accused of pressuring that woman into giving him sexual favors. While he denied the charges, he resigned amid an investigation by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which polices judges and lawyers in the state.
Charleston Magistrate James Gosnell, who is white, used a racial slur during a bond hearing for an African American defendant and was reprimanded by the disciplinary office; he described it as an ill-considered attempt to get the man to change his path in life. The judge remains on the bench today, reappointed in May.
Beaufort County Magistrate Peter Lamb called crack cocaine “a black man’s disease” and later resigned. As part of an agreement with the state Supreme Court, he acknowledged misconduct in that instance — and in others — and promised to never seek judicial office again, without permission.
The Post and Courier and ProPublica found Pitts’ Facebook page while researching the backgrounds of all 319 magistrates in South Carolina. Like many magistrates, Pitts, a retired police officer, doesn’t have a law license; to qualify for nomination to the lower courts, applicants need only to earn an undergraduate degree and pass a basic competency exam. Several of his posts appear at odds with key tenets of the state’s judicial code of conduct, which stresses impartiality and strict avoidance of words or actions that demonstrate bias or prejudice.
In a November 2017 post, he complained about people “from the Middle East” in Walmart and wrote, “after being subject to this incident I now support shutting down all immigration until we stop the demise of our culture.” And he has been recently photographed wearing a shirt reading, “Welcome to America Learn the Damn Language!”
In another post, Pitts criticized transgender people, saying “they aren’t sure what the hell they are.”
Pitts, a Republican who recently took the bench, didn’t respond to messages left by phone and email.
Civil rights advocates condemned Pitts’ remarks.
Brenda Murphy, president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said her group is “totally against” the idea of Pitts donning the robe. “We would not want someone who has made those comments appointed as a magistrate in a local community,” she said.
Some state lawmakers also questioned Pitts’ fitness for the bench.
Republican state Rep. Gary Clary, a former state circuit judge, said the posts could be “grounds for recusal” in cases where people of color or transgender people appear before Pitts.
“That’s the reason judges don’t normally have Facebook and Twitter accounts,” Clary said. “You are supposed to be fair and impartial.”
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a Democrat, went further.
“None of us were aware of these posts, or his ethnic and racially insensitive comments, which I think disqualify him as a fair or impartial judge,” Harpootlian, a longtime trial lawyer, said after The Post and Courier described Pitts’ posts.
“If I was Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent, I would be fearful of appearing in front of him.”
A spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster said no one brought the posts to his attention before McMaster, a Republican, signed off on Pitts’ appointment this year. The governor declined to expand on the issue.
Chief Justice Donald Beatty of the South Carolina Supreme Court, who oversees all of the state’s court officials, also declined to comment.
A Republican who served 13 years in the legislature, Pitts has long stoked controversy. When state leaders pressed to remove the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds in 2015 after the mass shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, Pitts was a chief opponent.
The former state House member had made a name for himself in Columbia as a staunch defender of the Confederate flag, and on Facebook he has penned anti-immigration screeds and used racially charged language. In May, for example, he posted a photo of New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, an African American Democrat running for president. His caption: “Cory Booker alway [sic] looks like he just hit crack real hard.”
None of this, however, prompted any discussion in June, when the state Senate confirmed Pitts along with 33 other nominees for the lower courts.
Unlike South Carolina’s felony and appellate court judges, magistrates are not subjected to legislative hearings before lawmakers sign off on their appointments. In fact, there’s rarely any public debate at all. Nominations typically sail through the upper chamber with a single voice vote.
Although magistrates oversee mostly misdemeanor matters, their authority is substantial; each year, they decide hundreds of thousands of cases, including criminal ones that can send someone to prison for months or saddle them with thousands of dollars in fines.
But the confirmation process allows new recruits to escape public scrutiny and sitting magistrates to remain on the bench even after they’ve been disciplined for misconduct, an investigation by The Post and Courier and ProPublica found.
Some appointees have gone on to make racist and sexist comments from the bench.
Magistrate Willie Bethune in Clarendon County, for example, said a defendant was attractive and asked her to show off her bellybutton. He was later accused of pressuring that woman into giving him sexual favors. While he denied the charges, he resigned amid an investigation by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which polices judges and lawyers in the state.
Charleston Magistrate James Gosnell, who is white, used a racial slur during a bond hearing for an African American defendant and was reprimanded by the disciplinary office; he described it as an ill-considered attempt to get the man to change his path in life. The judge remains on the bench today, reappointed in May.
Beaufort County Magistrate Peter Lamb called crack cocaine “a black man’s disease” and later resigned. As part of an agreement with the state Supreme Court, he acknowledged misconduct in that instance — and in others — and promised to never seek judicial office again, without permission.
The Post and Courier and ProPublica found Pitts’ Facebook page while researching the backgrounds of all 319 magistrates in South Carolina. Like many magistrates, Pitts, a retired police officer, doesn’t have a law license; to qualify for nomination to the lower courts, applicants need only to earn an undergraduate degree and pass a basic competency exam. Several of his posts appear at odds with key tenets of the state’s judicial code of conduct, which stresses impartiality and strict avoidance of words or actions that demonstrate bias or prejudice.
In a November 2017 post, he complained about people “from the Middle East” in Walmart and wrote, “after being subject to this incident I now support shutting down all immigration until we stop the demise of our culture.” And he has been recently photographed wearing a shirt reading, “Welcome to America Learn the Damn Language!”
In another post, Pitts criticized transgender people, saying “they aren’t sure what the hell they are.”
Pitts, a Republican who recently took the bench, didn’t respond to messages left by phone and email.
Civil rights advocates condemned Pitts’ remarks.
Brenda Murphy, president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said her group is “totally against” the idea of Pitts donning the robe. “We would not want someone who has made those comments appointed as a magistrate in a local community,” she said.
Some state lawmakers also questioned Pitts’ fitness for the bench.
Republican state Rep. Gary Clary, a former state circuit judge, said the posts could be “grounds for recusal” in cases where people of color or transgender people appear before Pitts.
“That’s the reason judges don’t normally have Facebook and Twitter accounts,” Clary said. “You are supposed to be fair and impartial.”
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, a Democrat, went further.
“None of us were aware of these posts, or his ethnic and racially insensitive comments, which I think disqualify him as a fair or impartial judge,” Harpootlian, a longtime trial lawyer, said after The Post and Courier described Pitts’ posts.
“If I was Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent, I would be fearful of appearing in front of him.”
A spokesman for Gov. Henry McMaster said no one brought the posts to his attention before McMaster, a Republican, signed off on Pitts’ appointment this year. The governor declined to expand on the issue.
Chief Justice Donald Beatty of the South Carolina Supreme Court, who oversees all of the state’s court officials, also declined to comment.
A Republican who served 13 years in the legislature, Pitts has long stoked controversy. When state leaders pressed to remove the Confederate flag from Statehouse grounds in 2015 after the mass shooting at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church, Pitts was a chief opponent.
Trump administration
‘His beliefs are appalling’: email scandal sparks calls for Stephen Miller to resign
Members of Congress, civil rights groups and a conservative columnist among those demanding Trump adviser step down
Amanda Holpuch in New York
the guardian
Thu 21 Nov 2019 04.00 EST
More than 80 members of Congress, 55 civil rights groups, three Democratic presidential candidates and one conservative columnist are among those demanding that the White House senior adviser Stephen Miller resign, or be fired, in the wake of a leaked email scandal.
The communications had revealed the top aide’s obsessive focus on injecting white nationalist-style talking points on immigration, race and crime into the far-right website Breitbart, both during and after Donald Trump’s successful bid for the White House.
In the past week, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has released multiple reports showing Miller promoted racist fears, disseminated conspiracy theories and injected a white nationalist agenda into the website Breitbart News.
The SPLC said the findings come from a 900-email correspondence between Miller and Katie McHugh, a former writer for Breitbart. McHugh was fired in 2017 for making anti-Muslim comments and has since renounced the far right.
The day the first batch of emails was released, Tiana Lowe, a columnist at the conservative newspaper the Washington Examiner, criticized the SPLC, but said “interns have been fired for less” than what was revealed about Miller in the emails.
“We can’t say with certainty what hate is or isn’t in Miller’s heart, but we know that he was happy enough to use the work of hatemongers and kill the GOP’s last shot at immigration reform, apparently because it would help predominantly Mexican immigrants,” Lowe wrote. “It’s long past time for Trump to dump Miller.”
That same day, the Democratic presidential hopeful Julián Castro, tweeted: “Donald Trump put a Neo-Nazi in charge of immigration policy. Both him, and Stephen Miller, are a shame to our nation.”
In the ensuing days, fellow Democratic hopefuls Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar tweeted that Miller should resign.
Ilhan Omar, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, tweeted that the emails proved what she had said earlier in the year: “Stephen Miller is a white nationalist.”
Omar’s comment touched on a frequent theme in the calls for Miller to resign: that before SPLC published the emails, there were many public incidents in which Miller displayed animosity towards people of color and immigrants.
The country’s largest American Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), said Miller should resign immediately, and if he does not, the president should fire him.
“Now we have the emails to back up previous perceptions of his racism and xenophobia,” said Robert McCaw, Cair’s director of government affairs,. “Miller must resign immediately.”
Miller, one of the few people to remain in the administration since Trump took office in January 2017, is understood to be the architect behind hardline immigration policies including family separation and the Muslim ban.
Before joining Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Miller worked for Jeff Sessions, then a Republican senator for Alabama. Sessions was known for being a strident opponent to legal and illegal immigration.
The White House did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. In statements to the media, they have not denied the emails came from Miller or addressed the content of the emails.
Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said that the SPLC was an “utterly discredited, long-debunked far-left smear organization” and Hogan Gidley, the deputy White House press secretary, claimed the criticism was related to Miller’s Jewish identity. “He loves this country and hates bigotry in all forms – and it concerns me as to why so many on the left consistently attack Jewish members of this administration,” Gidley told the New York Times.
The criticism, however, has not died down.
Leaders of congressional caucuses which advocate for issues affecting the Hispanic, Black and Asian-Pacific communities as well as the progressive wing of Congress, issued a joint statement calling Miller a white nationalist and demanding his resignation.
“His beliefs are appalling, indefensible and completely at odds with public service,” the statement said.
“We feel like it is up to us to point out the obvious – someone who writes, talks and governs like a white nationalist is in fact a white nationalist,” the caucuses wrote. “Stephen Miller is a white nationalist and he has no business serving in the White House.”
As of 15 November, more than 80 members of Congress had called for Miller’s resignation. The Democratic New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez started a petition for people to support his resignation.
Some 55 civil rights groups, including Cair, the NAACP, SPLC and Lambda Legal have signed a letter to Trump demanding he remove Miller.
“Stephen Miller represents white supremacy, violent extremism and hate – all ideologies that are antithetical to the fundamental values that guide our democracy,” the letter said. “Allowing him to remain a White House adviser is a betrayal of our national ideals of justice, inclusion and fairness.”
The communications had revealed the top aide’s obsessive focus on injecting white nationalist-style talking points on immigration, race and crime into the far-right website Breitbart, both during and after Donald Trump’s successful bid for the White House.
In the past week, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has released multiple reports showing Miller promoted racist fears, disseminated conspiracy theories and injected a white nationalist agenda into the website Breitbart News.
The SPLC said the findings come from a 900-email correspondence between Miller and Katie McHugh, a former writer for Breitbart. McHugh was fired in 2017 for making anti-Muslim comments and has since renounced the far right.
The day the first batch of emails was released, Tiana Lowe, a columnist at the conservative newspaper the Washington Examiner, criticized the SPLC, but said “interns have been fired for less” than what was revealed about Miller in the emails.
“We can’t say with certainty what hate is or isn’t in Miller’s heart, but we know that he was happy enough to use the work of hatemongers and kill the GOP’s last shot at immigration reform, apparently because it would help predominantly Mexican immigrants,” Lowe wrote. “It’s long past time for Trump to dump Miller.”
That same day, the Democratic presidential hopeful Julián Castro, tweeted: “Donald Trump put a Neo-Nazi in charge of immigration policy. Both him, and Stephen Miller, are a shame to our nation.”
In the ensuing days, fellow Democratic hopefuls Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar tweeted that Miller should resign.
Ilhan Omar, a Democratic congresswoman from Minnesota, tweeted that the emails proved what she had said earlier in the year: “Stephen Miller is a white nationalist.”
Omar’s comment touched on a frequent theme in the calls for Miller to resign: that before SPLC published the emails, there were many public incidents in which Miller displayed animosity towards people of color and immigrants.
The country’s largest American Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair), said Miller should resign immediately, and if he does not, the president should fire him.
“Now we have the emails to back up previous perceptions of his racism and xenophobia,” said Robert McCaw, Cair’s director of government affairs,. “Miller must resign immediately.”
Miller, one of the few people to remain in the administration since Trump took office in January 2017, is understood to be the architect behind hardline immigration policies including family separation and the Muslim ban.
Before joining Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, Miller worked for Jeff Sessions, then a Republican senator for Alabama. Sessions was known for being a strident opponent to legal and illegal immigration.
The White House did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment. In statements to the media, they have not denied the emails came from Miller or addressed the content of the emails.
Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said that the SPLC was an “utterly discredited, long-debunked far-left smear organization” and Hogan Gidley, the deputy White House press secretary, claimed the criticism was related to Miller’s Jewish identity. “He loves this country and hates bigotry in all forms – and it concerns me as to why so many on the left consistently attack Jewish members of this administration,” Gidley told the New York Times.
The criticism, however, has not died down.
Leaders of congressional caucuses which advocate for issues affecting the Hispanic, Black and Asian-Pacific communities as well as the progressive wing of Congress, issued a joint statement calling Miller a white nationalist and demanding his resignation.
“His beliefs are appalling, indefensible and completely at odds with public service,” the statement said.
“We feel like it is up to us to point out the obvious – someone who writes, talks and governs like a white nationalist is in fact a white nationalist,” the caucuses wrote. “Stephen Miller is a white nationalist and he has no business serving in the White House.”
As of 15 November, more than 80 members of Congress had called for Miller’s resignation. The Democratic New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez started a petition for people to support his resignation.
Some 55 civil rights groups, including Cair, the NAACP, SPLC and Lambda Legal have signed a letter to Trump demanding he remove Miller.
“Stephen Miller represents white supremacy, violent extremism and hate – all ideologies that are antithetical to the fundamental values that guide our democracy,” the letter said. “Allowing him to remain a White House adviser is a betrayal of our national ideals of justice, inclusion and fairness.”
White Nationalists Caught Shooting Propaganda Video at Emmett Till Memorial, Then Scatters When Alarm Sounds
By Tanasia Kenney - atlanta black star
November 4, 2019
A memorial honoring Emmett Till was dishonored over the weekend by a group of white nationalists attempting to shoot a propaganda video at the historic site in Mississippi.
The video, released by Sumner Courthouse and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center on Saturday, shows the men filming a video in front of the memorial, which has been a repeated target for racist vandalism in recent years.
The group was caught red-handed, thanks to a newly installed surveillance system that was updated when crews erected a bulletproof memorial at the site late last month, Patrick Weems, executive directed for the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, told NBC News.
In the clip, a group of five white people can be seen gathered at the sign in Sumner, Mississippi with the state flag, as well as another flag depicting the St. Andrews cross. Two other people are standing off to the side, appearing to record with their cellphones.
A man in the video describes the memorial as a “monument that represents the civil rights movement for blacks.”
He then asks: “What we want to know is, where are all of the white people?”
Moments later, the group is sent scattering as security alarms for the memorial begin to sound.
Weems said the sirens, a new security feature, are a part of the updated surveillance system that was installed after a previous marker honoring Till, 14, was riddled with bullet holes on several occasions. He added that Saturday’s incident was the first of what looked “to be white nationalists making a propaganda video.”
Weems also told NBC News that the flag bearing the St. Andrews cross is linked to an Alabama-based neo-Confederate group called the League of the South.
Till, a Black teen visiting from Chicago, was kidnapped and lynched by two white men in 1955 after he supposedly had whistled at a white woman. His body was recovered days later in the Tallahatchie River.
It would be several decades before Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman who claimed Till made advances toward her, confessed to lying about the events that led to the teen’s brutal murder.
The Justice Department re-launched the investigation into Till’s lynching last year and remains among the active cases under review by the agency. However, the teen’s relatives have grown weary waiting for justice.
“We want them to go ahead and do something,” the Rev. Wheeler Parker, 80, who was with Till the night he was abducted, told the Associated Press earlier this year. “What’s the holdup?”
Till’s newest memorial was dedicated Oct. 19 and remains under surveillance by local authorities after Saturday’s incident.
The video, released by Sumner Courthouse and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center on Saturday, shows the men filming a video in front of the memorial, which has been a repeated target for racist vandalism in recent years.
The group was caught red-handed, thanks to a newly installed surveillance system that was updated when crews erected a bulletproof memorial at the site late last month, Patrick Weems, executive directed for the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, told NBC News.
In the clip, a group of five white people can be seen gathered at the sign in Sumner, Mississippi with the state flag, as well as another flag depicting the St. Andrews cross. Two other people are standing off to the side, appearing to record with their cellphones.
A man in the video describes the memorial as a “monument that represents the civil rights movement for blacks.”
He then asks: “What we want to know is, where are all of the white people?”
Moments later, the group is sent scattering as security alarms for the memorial begin to sound.
Weems said the sirens, a new security feature, are a part of the updated surveillance system that was installed after a previous marker honoring Till, 14, was riddled with bullet holes on several occasions. He added that Saturday’s incident was the first of what looked “to be white nationalists making a propaganda video.”
Weems also told NBC News that the flag bearing the St. Andrews cross is linked to an Alabama-based neo-Confederate group called the League of the South.
Till, a Black teen visiting from Chicago, was kidnapped and lynched by two white men in 1955 after he supposedly had whistled at a white woman. His body was recovered days later in the Tallahatchie River.
It would be several decades before Carolyn Bryant Donham, the woman who claimed Till made advances toward her, confessed to lying about the events that led to the teen’s brutal murder.
The Justice Department re-launched the investigation into Till’s lynching last year and remains among the active cases under review by the agency. However, the teen’s relatives have grown weary waiting for justice.
“We want them to go ahead and do something,” the Rev. Wheeler Parker, 80, who was with Till the night he was abducted, told the Associated Press earlier this year. “What’s the holdup?”
Till’s newest memorial was dedicated Oct. 19 and remains under surveillance by local authorities after Saturday’s incident.
A US citizen says he had acid thrown in his face after being told to go back to his country
By Hollie Silverman and Amanda Watts, CNN
Updated 7:15 AM ET, Mon November 4, 201
(CNN)A man has been arrested after allegedly throwing acid in the face of a US citizen, who says his attacker told him to "go back to (his) country."
Milwaukee police say they arrested a 61-year-old man in connection with the attack against Mahud Villalaz that caused second-degree burns. Charges will be brought forward to the District Attorney's Office in the next couple of days, Milwaukee Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Sheronda Grant confirmed to CNN.
The attack occurred after the two men got into an argument Friday night, and the suspect threw acid on Villalaz, the police department said.
Villalaz told CNN affiliate WISN the argument was over how Villalaz had parked his car.Villalaz said his attacker called him an "illegal" and told him to "get out of this country" before throwing acid in his face, WISN reported
"I believe (I) am a victim of a hate crime because (of) how he approached me," Villalaz told WISN.
Villalaz is a 42-year-old welder who has been in the United States for 19 years, according to Darryl Morin, president of Forward Latino. Morin is helping the family manage media requests and deal with the incident, he told CNN.
Morin said Villalaz is a United States citizen originally from Peru.
"He's doing ok," Morin told CNN about Villalaz's condition. "He's in relatively good spirits understanding how bad things could have been."
Morin said Villalaz had to explain the incident to his wife and two young children. "They weren't able to understand how somebody could do this to a person without knowing them."
The attack is now "being probed as a hate crime," according to a statement from Alderman Jose Perez.
"The acid attack last night near 13th and Cleveland was a heinous crime that will have a long-term impact on the life of the victim," Perez said in the statement. "This was senseless violence, it needs to stop."
Perez added the community is encouraged that the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.The Milwaukee Police Department did not specify whether hate crime charges are possible, telling CNN "this is still an open investigation."
Milwaukee police say they arrested a 61-year-old man in connection with the attack against Mahud Villalaz that caused second-degree burns. Charges will be brought forward to the District Attorney's Office in the next couple of days, Milwaukee Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Sheronda Grant confirmed to CNN.
The attack occurred after the two men got into an argument Friday night, and the suspect threw acid on Villalaz, the police department said.
Villalaz told CNN affiliate WISN the argument was over how Villalaz had parked his car.Villalaz said his attacker called him an "illegal" and told him to "get out of this country" before throwing acid in his face, WISN reported
"I believe (I) am a victim of a hate crime because (of) how he approached me," Villalaz told WISN.
Villalaz is a 42-year-old welder who has been in the United States for 19 years, according to Darryl Morin, president of Forward Latino. Morin is helping the family manage media requests and deal with the incident, he told CNN.
Morin said Villalaz is a United States citizen originally from Peru.
"He's doing ok," Morin told CNN about Villalaz's condition. "He's in relatively good spirits understanding how bad things could have been."
Morin said Villalaz had to explain the incident to his wife and two young children. "They weren't able to understand how somebody could do this to a person without knowing them."
The attack is now "being probed as a hate crime," according to a statement from Alderman Jose Perez.
"The acid attack last night near 13th and Cleveland was a heinous crime that will have a long-term impact on the life of the victim," Perez said in the statement. "This was senseless violence, it needs to stop."
Perez added the community is encouraged that the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.The Milwaukee Police Department did not specify whether hate crime charges are possible, telling CNN "this is still an open investigation."
white trash speaks!!!
‘We’ve got a queer running for president!’ Tennessee official bursts into a racist, anti-gay rant at council meeting
October 22, 2019
By Matthew Chapman - raw story
On Monday in Sevier County, Tennessee, during a county commission meeting to discuss a pending vote to become a gun sanctuary city, Commissioner Warren Hurst exploded in a racist, homophobic tirade that stunned onlookers.
“It’s time we wake up people, it’s time, it’s past time,” said Hurst, in footage originally captured by WVLT News. “We got a queer running for president, if that ain’t about as ugly as you can get. Look what we got running for president in the Democratic party. We can go over here to [Sevier County Sheriff] Hoss’ jail and get better people out of there than those running for Democratic [sic] to be president of the United States.”
Presumably Hurst is referring to South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is a married gay man.
Many in the audience clapped at Hurst’s speech, but one woman got up and stormed out, saying “Excuse me. This is not professional. This is bullshit.”
Hurst continued on. “I’m not prejudice [sic], a white male in this country has very few rights and they’re getting took more every day.”
Hurst later insisted to reporters that he isn’t racist, and some of his best friends are African-Americans.
“It’s time we wake up people, it’s time, it’s past time,” said Hurst, in footage originally captured by WVLT News. “We got a queer running for president, if that ain’t about as ugly as you can get. Look what we got running for president in the Democratic party. We can go over here to [Sevier County Sheriff] Hoss’ jail and get better people out of there than those running for Democratic [sic] to be president of the United States.”
Presumably Hurst is referring to South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is a married gay man.
Many in the audience clapped at Hurst’s speech, but one woman got up and stormed out, saying “Excuse me. This is not professional. This is bullshit.”
Hurst continued on. “I’m not prejudice [sic], a white male in this country has very few rights and they’re getting took more every day.”
Hurst later insisted to reporters that he isn’t racist, and some of his best friends are African-Americans.
Trump Is Tinder for the White Nationalist Explosion That John Tanton Stoked
BY Steven Gardiner, Truthout
PUBLISHED October 6, 2019
A fter a decade of avoiding addressing the growth of white nationalist violence, the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged its threat and issued a “Strategic Framework” document that clarifies “the dangers posed by domestic terrorists, including racially- and ethnically-motivated violent extremists, particularly white supremacist violent extremists.” The department will, among other “priority actions,” form partnerships with local stakeholders, seek partnerships with private sector tech companies to combat the spread of violent ideologies online, and increase grants to local law enforcement to combat all kinds of “extremism.”
The move runs contrary to President Trump’s repeated minimizing of white nationalism and seems to be the result of both years of prodding from researchers and the sheer amount of carnage inflicted. The pivot should be welcomed, but we must recognize that it is not just white nationalist violence that is a problem, but also the related politics of racial and ethnic exclusion that have animated the current administration from its inception.
The Trump administration has now reached agreements with three Central American countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — that requires would-be asylum seekers passing through those countries apply for asylum there instead of proceeding to the U.S. This comes fast on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the Trump administration to block most asylum seekers at the southern border — one of dozens of policies, from limiting immigrants’ access to services to increased detention, recommended by anti-immigrant groups founded by the late John Tanton.
Since his death in July, Tanton has been eulogized as the architect of the contemporary anti-immigration movement. Tanton was an ophthalmologist based in Petoskey, Michigan, whose dread of so-called cultural contamination, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, led to his founding or funding of 13 organizations, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), dedicated to restricting the flow of immigrants to the U.S. or protecting “American culture” from foreign influences.
Twenty-five years before the El Paso gunman wrote a manifesto opposing a supposed “invasion” of immigrants and killed 22 people and injured two dozen more, Tanton co-authored The Immigration Invasion with Holocaust denier Wayne Lutton. Tanton acted as a bridge between explicit white nationalism obsessed with race as a biological reality and the realm of public policy. The line between policies that seek to restrict immigration flows for environmental, economic or “cultural cohesion” reasons and open racists who see the influx of immigrants of color as the greatest threat to white people both racially and culturally is often anything but clear. Tanton himself circulated a memo intended only for movement insiders in which he wrote, “As whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?”
Explicitly white nationalist organizations have, in symmetry with the work of the groups Tanton founded, increasingly seen non-white immigration as both the biggest threat to their vision of a “whites only” homeland and their best chance to win allies in the political mainstream. Much of the traction gained by the anti-immigrant policy organizations in the 1990s (and supplemented in the following decade by the Tea Party) led the Tanton-founded and funded groups to disavow explicit white nationalism. This does not mean, of course, that the more mainstream groups never slip into racist rhetoric, such as CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian’s analysis that, “Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough,” or NumbersUSA President Roy Beck’s assertion that immigrants are “enabling pools” of crime and terrorism. FAIR’s current president, Dan Stein, has said that repealing explicitly racist immigration laws from the 1920s is a “way to retaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance” that “will continue to create chaos down the line”
What should astonish us is that President Trump and his supporters are now far less discreet in their white nationalist dog-whistles than movement stalwarts like Krikorian and Beck. With Trump’s references to Mexican “criminals, drug dealers, rapists,” condemnation of immigrants from “shithole countries,” justification for excluding refugees from Muslim-majority countries because he claims they are “terrorists,” and most recently, turning away Bahamian refugees after Hurricane Dorian and maligning them as “very bad people,” “gang members” and “drug dealers,” Trump has lowered the bar all the way to ground on fear-mongering and resentment of immigrants. And, just so it is clear whom he means by immigrants, the president — echoing Pat Buchanan, another bridge figure between white nationalism and the more accepted “anti-immigrant” movement — noted that, “We should have more people from places like Norway.”
If Tanton was warning of an explosion resulting from whites believing that their lives are declining (read: losing demographic majority), Trump waging an explicitly anti-immigrant and obviously racist rhetoric campaign is tinder. The manifesto writers and mass murderers who have inflicted so much carnage in places such as Pittsburgh, Poway and El Paso, throw Trump’s words back at him when they assess no one is going far enough to protect the U.S. from what they imagine as “white genocide” being plotted and enabled by Jews, liberals and socialists.
They are communicating that if there is really an “invasion,” then it’s time for violence.
Those of us for whom such delusions trigger dread and revulsion, however, must not rest in outrage. Tanton’s vision of defending an imagined “white culture,” shared with the explicit white nationalists, is now being realized in both U.S. border policies and bigoted violence. Anyone and everyone who believes in inclusive democracy is now under a heavy obligation to work together to stop white nationalism, whether we find it in the form of racist violence, the enabling rhetoric or the policies that treat those seeking a new home as “enemies.”
The move runs contrary to President Trump’s repeated minimizing of white nationalism and seems to be the result of both years of prodding from researchers and the sheer amount of carnage inflicted. The pivot should be welcomed, but we must recognize that it is not just white nationalist violence that is a problem, but also the related politics of racial and ethnic exclusion that have animated the current administration from its inception.
The Trump administration has now reached agreements with three Central American countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — that requires would-be asylum seekers passing through those countries apply for asylum there instead of proceeding to the U.S. This comes fast on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the Trump administration to block most asylum seekers at the southern border — one of dozens of policies, from limiting immigrants’ access to services to increased detention, recommended by anti-immigrant groups founded by the late John Tanton.
Since his death in July, Tanton has been eulogized as the architect of the contemporary anti-immigration movement. Tanton was an ophthalmologist based in Petoskey, Michigan, whose dread of so-called cultural contamination, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, led to his founding or funding of 13 organizations, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), dedicated to restricting the flow of immigrants to the U.S. or protecting “American culture” from foreign influences.
Twenty-five years before the El Paso gunman wrote a manifesto opposing a supposed “invasion” of immigrants and killed 22 people and injured two dozen more, Tanton co-authored The Immigration Invasion with Holocaust denier Wayne Lutton. Tanton acted as a bridge between explicit white nationalism obsessed with race as a biological reality and the realm of public policy. The line between policies that seek to restrict immigration flows for environmental, economic or “cultural cohesion” reasons and open racists who see the influx of immigrants of color as the greatest threat to white people both racially and culturally is often anything but clear. Tanton himself circulated a memo intended only for movement insiders in which he wrote, “As whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?”
Explicitly white nationalist organizations have, in symmetry with the work of the groups Tanton founded, increasingly seen non-white immigration as both the biggest threat to their vision of a “whites only” homeland and their best chance to win allies in the political mainstream. Much of the traction gained by the anti-immigrant policy organizations in the 1990s (and supplemented in the following decade by the Tea Party) led the Tanton-founded and funded groups to disavow explicit white nationalism. This does not mean, of course, that the more mainstream groups never slip into racist rhetoric, such as CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian’s analysis that, “Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough,” or NumbersUSA President Roy Beck’s assertion that immigrants are “enabling pools” of crime and terrorism. FAIR’s current president, Dan Stein, has said that repealing explicitly racist immigration laws from the 1920s is a “way to retaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance” that “will continue to create chaos down the line”
What should astonish us is that President Trump and his supporters are now far less discreet in their white nationalist dog-whistles than movement stalwarts like Krikorian and Beck. With Trump’s references to Mexican “criminals, drug dealers, rapists,” condemnation of immigrants from “shithole countries,” justification for excluding refugees from Muslim-majority countries because he claims they are “terrorists,” and most recently, turning away Bahamian refugees after Hurricane Dorian and maligning them as “very bad people,” “gang members” and “drug dealers,” Trump has lowered the bar all the way to ground on fear-mongering and resentment of immigrants. And, just so it is clear whom he means by immigrants, the president — echoing Pat Buchanan, another bridge figure between white nationalism and the more accepted “anti-immigrant” movement — noted that, “We should have more people from places like Norway.”
If Tanton was warning of an explosion resulting from whites believing that their lives are declining (read: losing demographic majority), Trump waging an explicitly anti-immigrant and obviously racist rhetoric campaign is tinder. The manifesto writers and mass murderers who have inflicted so much carnage in places such as Pittsburgh, Poway and El Paso, throw Trump’s words back at him when they assess no one is going far enough to protect the U.S. from what they imagine as “white genocide” being plotted and enabled by Jews, liberals and socialists.
They are communicating that if there is really an “invasion,” then it’s time for violence.
Those of us for whom such delusions trigger dread and revulsion, however, must not rest in outrage. Tanton’s vision of defending an imagined “white culture,” shared with the explicit white nationalists, is now being realized in both U.S. border policies and bigoted violence. Anyone and everyone who believes in inclusive democracy is now under a heavy obligation to work together to stop white nationalism, whether we find it in the form of racist violence, the enabling rhetoric or the policies that treat those seeking a new home as “enemies.”
New study finds people who have low emotional IQs tend to be racist right-wingers
September 6, 2019
By Sky Palma - raw story
According to a recent study published in the journal Emotion, people who score low on emotional intelligence tests tend to hold right-wing and bigoted views more often than not.
As Big Think points out, the study is the first of its kind when it comes to people with emotional deficits and right-wing views, whereas previous studies focused on people with intelligence deficits and their predisposition to right-wing ideologies.
Researchers took 983 Belgian undergraduates and assessed their political views and gave them three tests: the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding, the Situational Test of Emotion Management, and the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test. Participants who had lower emotional IQ scores scored higher when it came to “right-wing authoritarianism” and “social dominance orientation” — revealing that they’d be more willing to submit themselves to political authority and favor inequality within social groups.
Additionally, low emotional IQ scorers were more likely to agree with statements such as “the white race is superior to all other races.”
“The results of this study were univocal. People who endorse authority and strong leaders and who do not mind inequality — the two basic dimensions underlying right-wing political ideology — show lower levels of emotional abilities,” study author Alain Van Hiel told PsyPost.
Van Hiel warned that the results should be interpreted with caution.
“One cannot discredit any ideology on the basis of such results as those presently obtained,” he said. “Only in a distant future we will be able to look back upon our times, and then we can maybe judge which ideologies were the best. Cognitively and emotionally smart people can make wrong decisions as well.”
As Big Think points out, the study is the first of its kind when it comes to people with emotional deficits and right-wing views, whereas previous studies focused on people with intelligence deficits and their predisposition to right-wing ideologies.
Researchers took 983 Belgian undergraduates and assessed their political views and gave them three tests: the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding, the Situational Test of Emotion Management, and the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test. Participants who had lower emotional IQ scores scored higher when it came to “right-wing authoritarianism” and “social dominance orientation” — revealing that they’d be more willing to submit themselves to political authority and favor inequality within social groups.
Additionally, low emotional IQ scorers were more likely to agree with statements such as “the white race is superior to all other races.”
“The results of this study were univocal. People who endorse authority and strong leaders and who do not mind inequality — the two basic dimensions underlying right-wing political ideology — show lower levels of emotional abilities,” study author Alain Van Hiel told PsyPost.
Van Hiel warned that the results should be interpreted with caution.
“One cannot discredit any ideology on the basis of such results as those presently obtained,” he said. “Only in a distant future we will be able to look back upon our times, and then we can maybe judge which ideologies were the best. Cognitively and emotionally smart people can make wrong decisions as well.”
A racist hate site is posting photos of Jewish students and staffers — and university officials are extremely concerned
September 4, 2019
By Travis Gettys - raw story
Two universities contacted the FBI after hundreds of Jewish students and staffers had their photos dumped online by a notoriously anti-Semitic white nationalist.
Student journalists from Brandeis University and Yeshiva University have reported the photos posted online on the anti-Semitic and racist VNN Forum associated with white nationalist Alex Linder, who has frequently endorsed violence against Jewish people, reported The Daily Beast.
Linder praised the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue last year in Pittsburgh, and one of the site’s senior members killed three people in an attack on a Jewish community center five years ago near Kansas City.
A source familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast that Yeshiva University officials had reported the posting to the FBI field office in New York, which then contacted agents in St. Louis, which has jurisdiction over Linder’s hometown in Missouri.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny whether Linder or the Vanguard News Network were under investigation.
The discussion thread showing the photos has been deleted from the forum.
The photos were posted by a user under the likely pseudonym Stewart Meadows, who has made more than 4,300 posts since joining the site in May 2018.
He has posted photos of various Jewish people, most of whom are women, for more than a year.
The Brandeis student newspaper first reported the photos, which included current and former students and staffers, and campus security issued a statement claiming they found no evidence of a “direct threat.”
Yeshiva’s student newspaper reported the photos the following day, and the university’s campus security urged students to “ignore the site.”
But the targets of the online campaign are concerned about Linder’s history, and his outspoken endorsement of and association with anti-Semitic violence.
Linder’s site has lost much of its traffic since Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a Ku Klux Klan leader in the 1980s and a VNN regular, killed three outside a Jewish community center in Overland Park, Kansas, and was sentenced to death.
Student journalists from Brandeis University and Yeshiva University have reported the photos posted online on the anti-Semitic and racist VNN Forum associated with white nationalist Alex Linder, who has frequently endorsed violence against Jewish people, reported The Daily Beast.
Linder praised the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue last year in Pittsburgh, and one of the site’s senior members killed three people in an attack on a Jewish community center five years ago near Kansas City.
A source familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast that Yeshiva University officials had reported the posting to the FBI field office in New York, which then contacted agents in St. Louis, which has jurisdiction over Linder’s hometown in Missouri.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny whether Linder or the Vanguard News Network were under investigation.
The discussion thread showing the photos has been deleted from the forum.
The photos were posted by a user under the likely pseudonym Stewart Meadows, who has made more than 4,300 posts since joining the site in May 2018.
He has posted photos of various Jewish people, most of whom are women, for more than a year.
The Brandeis student newspaper first reported the photos, which included current and former students and staffers, and campus security issued a statement claiming they found no evidence of a “direct threat.”
Yeshiva’s student newspaper reported the photos the following day, and the university’s campus security urged students to “ignore the site.”
But the targets of the online campaign are concerned about Linder’s history, and his outspoken endorsement of and association with anti-Semitic violence.
Linder’s site has lost much of its traffic since Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a Ku Klux Klan leader in the 1980s and a VNN regular, killed three outside a Jewish community center in Overland Park, Kansas, and was sentenced to death.
Trumper Crop
Are you a right-wing extremist? This quiz may help — and you've got company
British military has a quiz for identifying dangerous right-wingers. Trump and other world leaders would fail
CHAUNCEY DEVEGA - Salon
JUNE 5, 2019 12:00PM (UTC)
Right-wing extremism threatens the security, safety and prosperity of countries around the world. Democracies — especially those in crisis — are especially vulnerable to right-wing extremism when it hides behind the benign-sounding banner of "populism."
On one extreme of the global right-wing movement are terrorists and other evildoers such as the Nazis or white supremacists who recently attacked mosques and synagogues in New Zealand, Pittsburgh and Southern California. On the other extreme are "respectable" right-wing politicians who use normal politics to take power. In the middle of this continuum are many millions of people who are either active members of the New Right or are sympathetic to its goals and aims.
In total, right-wing extremism is a multi-spectrum threat which extends from the president of the United States all the way down to street hooligans.
In response to several high profile incidents involving Nazis among its ranks, the British Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the British Army developed a chart to help officers identify right-wing extremists.
This chart, "Extreme Right Wing (XRW) Indicators & Warnings," was developed in 2017 and circulated as a leaflet for officers in the British military. Its existence became public last week when a copy appeared on right-wing websites. The British Ministry of Defense has confirmed the authenticity of the chart.
The XRW chart contains 20 examples of behavior which could indicate right-wing extremist values and suggest that a person is being radicalized into joining that dangerous movement.
Some of these warnings are:
Donald Trump, the Republican Party's elected officials and many of the leading voices in the right-wing media, as well as rank-and-file conservatives and other Trump supporters, meet many if not most of those criteria.
In a mix of mockery and concern, the usual right-wing voices are objecting that the XRW) chart is too broad and somehow "unfair," and stands as further proof of a conspiracy against "conservatives."
These objections fail in a number of ways.
The facts: the British Ministry of Defense chart is an accurate description of the individual behavior and collective worldview of today's right-wing extremists.
The New Right and its defenders are operating from a broken logic where everyone's sin is somehow no one's sin. In reality, the increasing prominence of right-wing extremism is simply a symptom of much larger social and political problems in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Ultimately, the apparent popularity of an idea or thing in politics or other areas of life does not indicate its merit.
One must also be cautious in these discussions of "right-wing extremism": This language can disguise how common and increasingly "normal" such toxic values have become in the United States and elsewhere.
This is a function of what historian Nancy MacLean details in her book "Democracy in Chains": The American right has successfully executed a long-term plan to drag the country farther to the right, with the goal of undermining and eventually ending its multiracial democracy. This corruption of democracy is in many ways most effective when it is done gradually. In this way right-wing extremism becomes the norm, a cancer in the body politic that metastasizes to a point where it becomes fatal to democracy.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." History often does this in an upside-down, cruel fashion. This week Donald Trump is touring Britain and Europe on the 75th anniversary of the American-led Allied landings of D-Day. This is the president who has abdicated American global leadership, harmed longstanding alliances, and given aid and comfort to the descendants of Nazism and other authoritarians around the world.
America, which was once celebrated as the world's greatest democracy, has now slumped toward fascism. During World War II and then the Cold War, the United States helped to save Europe and the world from fascism and authoritarianism. Perhaps it is now time for America's allies to reciprocate by helping to save American democracy from Donald Trump and all that he represents.
On one extreme of the global right-wing movement are terrorists and other evildoers such as the Nazis or white supremacists who recently attacked mosques and synagogues in New Zealand, Pittsburgh and Southern California. On the other extreme are "respectable" right-wing politicians who use normal politics to take power. In the middle of this continuum are many millions of people who are either active members of the New Right or are sympathetic to its goals and aims.
In total, right-wing extremism is a multi-spectrum threat which extends from the president of the United States all the way down to street hooligans.
In response to several high profile incidents involving Nazis among its ranks, the British Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the British Army developed a chart to help officers identify right-wing extremists.
This chart, "Extreme Right Wing (XRW) Indicators & Warnings," was developed in 2017 and circulated as a leaflet for officers in the British military. Its existence became public last week when a copy appeared on right-wing websites. The British Ministry of Defense has confirmed the authenticity of the chart.
The XRW chart contains 20 examples of behavior which could indicate right-wing extremist values and suggest that a person is being radicalized into joining that dangerous movement.
Some of these warnings are:
- Describe themselves as 'Patriots'
- Refers to Political Correctness as some left wing or communist plot
- Describe multicultural towns as 'lost'
- Looks at opponents as 'Traitors'
- Use the term 'Islamofascism'
- Make generalisations about Muslims and Jews
- Have XRW extreme group stickers or badges on clothing and personal items
- Make inaccurate generalisations about 'the Left' or Government
- Talk of an impending racial conflict or 'Race War'
- Threaten violence when losing an argument, although claiming that XRW groups protest peacefully
- Become increasingly angry at perceived injustices or threats to so called 'National Identity'
Donald Trump, the Republican Party's elected officials and many of the leading voices in the right-wing media, as well as rank-and-file conservatives and other Trump supporters, meet many if not most of those criteria.
In a mix of mockery and concern, the usual right-wing voices are objecting that the XRW) chart is too broad and somehow "unfair," and stands as further proof of a conspiracy against "conservatives."
These objections fail in a number of ways.
The facts: the British Ministry of Defense chart is an accurate description of the individual behavior and collective worldview of today's right-wing extremists.
The New Right and its defenders are operating from a broken logic where everyone's sin is somehow no one's sin. In reality, the increasing prominence of right-wing extremism is simply a symptom of much larger social and political problems in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Ultimately, the apparent popularity of an idea or thing in politics or other areas of life does not indicate its merit.
One must also be cautious in these discussions of "right-wing extremism": This language can disguise how common and increasingly "normal" such toxic values have become in the United States and elsewhere.
This is a function of what historian Nancy MacLean details in her book "Democracy in Chains": The American right has successfully executed a long-term plan to drag the country farther to the right, with the goal of undermining and eventually ending its multiracial democracy. This corruption of democracy is in many ways most effective when it is done gradually. In this way right-wing extremism becomes the norm, a cancer in the body politic that metastasizes to a point where it becomes fatal to democracy.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." History often does this in an upside-down, cruel fashion. This week Donald Trump is touring Britain and Europe on the 75th anniversary of the American-led Allied landings of D-Day. This is the president who has abdicated American global leadership, harmed longstanding alliances, and given aid and comfort to the descendants of Nazism and other authoritarians around the world.
America, which was once celebrated as the world's greatest democracy, has now slumped toward fascism. During World War II and then the Cold War, the United States helped to save Europe and the world from fascism and authoritarianism. Perhaps it is now time for America's allies to reciprocate by helping to save American democracy from Donald Trump and all that he represents.
EXTREMISTS
CousinIT - demo underground
amerikkkans funnies
THOMAS JEFFERSON CALLED THEM "RUBBISH" PEOPLE
BEN FRANKLIN CALLED THEM "WASTE" PEOPLE
TRUMP CALLS THEM his "base"
These idiots are the people who lack the intelligence and morality to understand they are just FOOLS.
White Supremacists show their stupidity once again.....
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DJT - lie-brary
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