GOP's Gaetz Under Investigation for Sex Trafficking

The Justice Department is investigating GOP Representative Matt Gaetz for possible sexual relations with a 17-year-old girl, three people briefed on the matter told The New York Times.

The 39-year-old conservative and Donald Trump ally is also under investigation for possibly paying for her to travel with him across state lines, which would violate federal sex trafficking laws because of her age.

According to the Times’ sources, the DOJ launched its investigation in the final months of the Trump presidency.  In response to the allegations, Gaetz told the Times that the DOJ informed his legal team he was the subject of the probe but not the target, and added he believed there may be some bad faith accusations at play.  “I have a suspicion that someone is trying to recategorize my generosity to ex-girlfriends as something more untoward,” he said. 

If found guilty of the crime, Gaetz could face a heavy sentence. Notably, he was the sole member of Congress in 2017 to vote against a law giving the federal government more power to prosecute human trafficking, saying his constituents did not want him to “create more federal government.”

The shocking news comes a little over a year since Gaetz faced public accusations of his participation in a demeaning "sex game"  where male Florida legislators would award one point for having sex with a lobbyist, two points for a staffer, three for another legislator and six for a married legislator. Gaetz denied having knowledge of or participating in such a game.

Ahead of the disclosure of the sex trafficking investigation, Gaetz privately told his inner circle he was considering retiring from Congress to take a job at the right-wing outlet Newsmax. 

If It Wasn't Obvious Enough

 

Social Justice Warriors Are Starting to Get Out of Hand

A Spanish translator says his version of a poem read at President Joe Biden's inauguration was rejected because he had the wrong "profile".

22-year-old Amanda Gorman was the youngest poet ever to perform at a presidential inauguration in January.  Her five-minute poem ("The Hill We Climb"), received praise from around the world following months of debate about racial justice in the US and abroad.  Víctor Obiols, whose previous work includes translations of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, was asked to translate Gorman's poem and a foreword by Oprah Winfrey into Catalan. But after he completed the project, the publishers said they wanted a translator who was "a woman, young, activist and preferably black".

The poem's Dutch translator also recently stepped down after online criticism.  Dutch poet Marieke Lucas Rijneveld was a "dream candidate", who at 29 became the youngest author to win the International Booker prize in 2020 with debut novel The Discomfort of Evening. Outspoken on issues including gender equality and mental health, Rijneveld identifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns they/them.  But we was forced out after an outcry because the renowned author is not black.

The editor of Barcelona publisher Univers told reporters that after the translation was complete, the company received a request from the U.S. publisher Viking Books for the work to be carried out by a female activist with African-American origins, if possible.  The decision came after a controversy in the Netherlands that a white poet had been chosen to translate The Hill We Climb into Dutch.

"They did not question my abilities," Víctor Obiols said, noting that the publisher had promised to pay him for his work.  "But if I cannot translate a poet because she is a woman, young, black, an American of the 21st Century, neither can I translate Homer because I am not a Greek of the eighth century BC. Or could not have translated Shakespeare because I am not a 16th-Century Englishman," he added.

No new translator has been announced for the project.

 

Don't Ya Know It

 

Georgia GOP Didn't Like How Brown and Black People Voted-- So They Are Going to Shut Them Out

This week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp—who just three years ago was elected amid a widely-derided effort to suppress voting as well as a well-documented abuse of power while overseeing his own election as secretary of state— ushered in the most sweeping disenfranchisement of black and brown voters seen in this country since the enactment of Jim Crow laws over 100 years ago.

 

 

The bill was rushed through both GOP-controlled houses of the Georgia legislature and in a move seemingly cloaked in shame, Kemp (flanked by six other white men) obliviously signed into law the most onerous restrictions on voting rights seen since Trump was defeated in one of the most fairly-conducted and interference-free presidential elections conducted this century. 

Without any sense of shame, the seven white men oversaw the enactment of the new voting restrictions underneath a painting of a notorious slave plantation, while black state Rep. Park Cannon was arrested outside his office on felony charges while knocking on the door to witness the signing herself.

Sparking widespread condemnation and numerous comparisons to Jim Crow by Democrats and voting advocates, the law's passage also prompted Black voting advocates to immediately file a federal lawsuit challenging many of its provisions.

he GOP's new law excluded some of the most extreme proposals to restrict voting such as measures to eliminate automatic voter registration and the ability of voters under age 65 to vote by mail without an excuse, and it includes a few provisions that could expand voting access, but a far larger number of measures restrict access to voting and give Republicans greater partisan control over election administration itself. The new law includes provisions that:

• Require voter ID for requesting and returning an absentee ballot by mandating that voters include their ID number or a photocopy—officials would use the ID number to verify voters' identities, which some election officials argued was less secure than the current signature-verification process;
• Set the deadline for requesting absentee ballots at 11 days before Election Day instead of three while also preventing counties from mailing out ballots until four weeks before Election Day, which risks some voters not getting their ballots on time;
• Allow online absentee ballot requests;
• Ban election officials from mailing out unsolicited absentee ballot request forms to all voters after Raffensperger did so in the 2020 primary;
• Penalize third-party groups that send unsolicited absentee ballot requests if doing so includes any voters who already requested a ballot;
• Significantly limit absentee ballot drop boxes by requiring they be located inside of early voting locations, making them only available during regular business hours, and capping the number of drop boxes at whichever is the fewer of one per every 100,000 active registered voters or one per early voting site in each county;
• Allow election officials to start preparing absentee ballots for counting two weeks before Election Day to ensure a timely count;
• Standardize early voting days and hours across counties during primaries and general elections by expanding availability in many small rural counties that are heavily white and conservative but limiting availability in larger counties that are diverse and Democratic-leaning;
• Sharply reducing early voting in general election runoffs by cutting the two weeks of runoff early voting down to just five business days and no weekends; this will particularly affect Black voters, who are disproportionately likely to use weekend voting days;
• Ban mobile voting buses that are currently allowed for early voting;
• Require large polling places servicing precincts with more than 2,000 registered voters that experience wait times of longer than an hour to add more voting machines or be split into multiple sites; this provision doesn't appear to require similar action to relieve long lines in smaller precincts;
• Ban people other than poll workers from giving food and water to voters waiting in line;
• Disqualify voters from voting in the wrong polling place but in the right jurisdiction unless they show up specifically after 5 PM on Election Day and sign a statement saying they couldn't make it to their assigned precinct in time;
• Allow Georgians to initiate an unlimited number of challengers to voters' eligibility, which a right-wing voter suppression group unsuccessfully tried to do to tens of thousands of voters last year, and give challenged voters very little time to defend themselves;
• Limit the secretary of state's powers by removing him from chairing the state Board of Elections and replacing him with a legislative appointee as chair, additionally enabling GOP lawmakers to take greater control over local election boards on the pretext that they are "underperforming;"
• Bar local election officials from directly receiving grant funding from private philanthropic organizations to help pay for election administration after many counties did so in 2020;
• Shorten the runoff period for federal general elections from nine weeks to four weeks and adopt instant-runoff voting for military and overseas voters to ensure that doing so doesn't conflict with federal law that requires absentee ballots be sent to overseas voters no later than 45 days before any federal election date; and
• Replace all-party primaries in special elections with regular party primaries.
  

 More than ever, it should be Biden's top priority to end the filibuster and use whatever means necessary to pass H.R. 1 (the For the People Act) and ensure that all Americans have equal access to the ballot box.

Lana Del Rey - White Dress

Pickle-Packing Perv Popped on Private Property

A Florida man, naked from the waist down, was arrested recently after police spotted him pleasuring himself with a pickle, according to an arrest affidavit.

Responding to a suspicious person call, a cop saw 47-year-old Eric Detiege lying on his back in front of a townhouse in Oldsmar, a city in the Tampa Bay area.  Detiege, unencumbered by pants or underwear, had his penis in one hand and “a large uneaten pickle in his other hand.” Detiege, the cop added, was “using the pickle to penetrate his rectum while he was masturbating.”

Detiege was arrested on a misdemeanor exposure of sexual organs charge. He is being held in the Pinellas County jail in lieu of $150 bond. Detiege, whose address is listed as the Flying Cloud Mobile Home Park in Tampa, had prior convictions for theft, disorderly conduct, resisting police, and criminal mischief. Jail records note that Detiege has “Only God can judge me” tattooed on his arm.

Mental Health Break

 

Why the Fuck Does Anyone Need an AR-15?

Ten people were shot and killed in the parking lot and aisles of a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket on Monday afternoon. Among those killed was a police officer who entered the store in response to reports of shots fired. Witnesses reported hearing up to thirty shots.  21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa of Arvada, Colorado, was taken into custody and will be charged with ten counts of murder.  The number of rapid fire shots suggests a semiautomatic weapon, and CNN cites a law-enforcement official as saying that the weapon was an AR-15 style rifle.

The shooting comes less than two weeks after Colorado blocked the city of Boulder from enforcing a local ordinance banning AR-15 style weapons and magazines with a greater than 10 shot capacity, as reported by the Denver Post. Just six days before the shooting, the NRA celebrated the ruling in a tweet calling it “an NRA victory in Colorado.”  More like a victory for mass murders.

In 2000, around 85,000 AR-15 style rifles were sold. In 2005, after the assault weapons ban ended, the number jumped to 125,000. By 2008, sales exceeded 300,000. In 2012, sales exceeded 1 million for the first time. They’ve never fallen below that line since. The AR-15 now accounts for about a third of all rifles sold. And while 2020 may have dented most items in the economy, it was a record year for firearms sales.

Two decades ago, these were rare rifles owned by a small percentage of Americans who owned guns. A short time ago, the majority of rifles fell into two categories—.22 rimfire rifles used primarily for target shooting and small game; larger caliber centerfire rifles, many of them bolt or lever action, used in hunting deer and large game. Something like the AR-15 was an exotic item, even for people who owned guns.

The AR-15 (and similar assault weapons) were designed to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time. There is no defense against such a weapon. Not only was one of those who died an armed police officer, it’s a fair bet that others in the store were armed.  Concealed carry is legal everywhere in Colorado. None of that would matter, because this type of rifle is designed to allow the murder of multiple people before there can be any possible response. Millions of Americans have purchased rifles that are only really good at killing millions of other Americans.

 

Coronavirus Art - Padua, Italy

 

Ethiopian Massacre Under the Auspices of a Nobel Peace Prize Winner

In Tigray, a northern region of Ethiopia, lies the town of Dengelat, in a craggy valley ringed by steep, rust-colored cliffs.  People seeking shelter from government-sponsored violence against citizens in the Tigray sought shelter at Maryam Dengelat, a historic monastery complex famed for a centuries-old, rock-hewn church.

On the last day of November, scores of religious pilgrims came to Dengelat for the Orthodox festival of Tsion Maryam, an annual feast to mark the day Ethiopians believe the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the country from Jerusalem. The holy day was a welcome respite from weeks of violence, but it would not last.

A group of Eritrean soldiers opened fire on Maryam Dengelat church while hundreds of congregants were celebrating mass, eyewitnesses say. People tried to flee on foot, scrambling up cliff paths to neighboring villages. The troops followed, spraying the mountainside with bullets.

The soldiers went door to door, dragging people from their homes. Mothers were forced to tie up their sons. A pregnant woman was shot, her husband killed. Some of the survivors hid under the bodies of the dead.  The mayhem continued for three days, with soldiers slaughtering local residents, displaced people and pilgrims. Finally, on December 2, the soldiers allowed informal burials to take place, but threatened to kill anyone they saw mourning.

A young man (whom CNN referred to as Abraham) volunteered to perform the burials.  Abraham covered the bodies with earth and thorny tree branches, praying that they wouldn't be washed away, or carried off by prowling hyenas and circling vultures.  Finally he placed their shoes on top of the burial mounds, so he could return with their parents to identify them.  "Their hands were tied ... young children ... we saw them everywhere. There was an elderly man who had been killed on the road, an 80-something-year-old man. And the young kids they killed on the street in the open. I've never seen a massacre like this and I don't want to [again]," Abraham said.  "We only survived by the grace of God."  Abraham said he buried more than 50 people that day, but estimates more than 100 died in the assault.

They're among thousands of civilians believed to have been killed since November, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for resolving a long-running conflict with neighboring Eritrea, launched a major military operation against the political party that governs the Tigray region. He accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which ruled Ethiopia for nearly three decades before Abiy took office in 2018, of attacking a government military base and trying to steal weapons. The TPLF denies the claim.

The conflict is the culmination of escalating tensions between the two sides, and the most dire of several recent ethno-nationalist clashes in Africa's second-most populous country.  After seizing control of Tigray's main cities in late November, Abiy declared victory and maintained that no civilians were harmed in the offensive. Abiy has also denied that soldiers from Eritrea crossed into Tigray to support Ethiopian forces.

 

 But the fighting has raged on in rural and mountainous areas where the TPLF and its armed supporters are reportedly hiding out, resisting Abiy's drive to consolidate power. The violence has spilled over into local communities, catching civilians in the crossfire and triggering what the United Nations refugee agency has called the worst flight of refugees from the region in two decades.   Read more wrenching details from CNN's report on the massacre here.

Florida Town Victimizes Single Latina Mother With Cruel Indifference

Sandy Martinez has a car. So do her two adult children and her sister. When all four cars were parked at Martinez's home in Lantana, Florida, two of them sometimes extended slightly over the edge of the driveway, which is flanked by her lawn and a walkway. Because that violation of Lantana's municipal code is punishable by a fine of $250 per day, the city is demanding more than $100,000 from her, plus another $63,500 for cracks in the driveway and a fence that was blown over in a storm.

In a lawsuit that Martinez filed with help from the Institute for Justice, she argues that such an enormous bill for trivial code violations—amounting to nearly four times her annual income—runs afoul of Florida's constitution. "The government cannot lock you into a lifetime of debt and cripple you financially for minor infractions that do not threaten health or safety," says Institute for Justice attorney Ari Bargil. "Florida's Constitution forbids fines that are 'excessive' or 'shock the conscience.' And that's exactly how to describe six-figure fines for petty violations—unconscionable."

Martinez's street has no curbs and is not wide enough to accommodate parked cars. She and her relatives therefore could not legally or safely park on the street, leaving the driveway as the only option. But as the complaint notes, "parking on one's own front yard space, even a tiny bit, is illegal in Lantana."

On May 6, 2019, Martinez received a citation for "vehicles parked on unapproved surface/grass/walkway."  After a hearing five weeks later, the city imposed an accumulated fine of $11,500.  Martinez repeatedly tried to arrange a visit by a code enforcement officer to show that she had corrected the violation-- but after those efforts were unsuccessful.  Her daily fines, however, continued to accumulate for 407 days, and the total now exceeds $100,000. Nobody had told her that would happen.

In addition to the parking situation, the city faulted Martinez for driveway cracks that the complaint describes as "minor and purely cosmetic."  Because Martinez "did not have the time or money to fix [the driveway] right away," the lawsuit says, she was hit with $75 daily fines for 215 days, totaling $16,125—"far greater than the cost of an entirely new driveway."

And then there was the fence.  Because it was downed by a major storm, the repair was covered by insurance.  But the claim took quite a while to process, and meanwhile Martinez could not afford to fix the fence. The delay resulted in $125 daily fines for 379 days, totaling $47,375—"several times the cost of the repair and substantially more than the cost of a completely new fence."

All told, Martinez is on the hook to the town of Lantana for $165,250, plus interest. Although she "is now fully in compliance and has not had any new cases opened against her," the lawsuit says, the only way she could begin to cover that debt would be selling her home.  But even that option is not feasible, because she "would never realize nearly enough profit from the sale of the Home to pay both her mortgage and the City's fines."

As much as Martinez might want to escape Lantana and its draconian decrees, she is stuck where she is. "Given Sandy's career and current income, she will be unable to move for many years, if ever," the complaint says. "If she moves, she will owe so much money that she will be unable to start anew anywhere else. She cannot seek a job anywhere not in driving distance of her current home. When she is older, she will not be able to retire at a different residence. The crippling fines she faces trap Sandy in a place she wants to leave."

Shockingly, Martinez's cruel punishment will continue even after she is dead and gone.  While she is currently protected from foreclosure for the fines by Florida's homestead exemption, the city can seize the house once she dies. "But for the City's fines against her, Sandy would be able to pass her home to her children upon her death as long as she continues to pay her mortgage," the lawsuit notes. "However, as a result of the fines against her, Sandy's children will not inherit the home."

The lawsuit notes that none of Martinez's code violations presented "a legitimate threat to the health and safety of the general public in Lantana." It argues that the penalties violate the state constitution's ban on "excessive fines" because they are "grossly disproportionate" and "shock the conscience."

Lantana, Florida has a significantly higher percentage of black and brown population versus Palm Beach County, where it is located.  17% of Lantana residents live below the poverty line, 40% higher than the poverty rate of the county.  The median household income in Lantana is $41K vs. $53K for Palm Beach.   Lantana is run by a five-member town council, who are basically a bunch of old white people who probably can't be counted on to see things through the eyes of barely-making-it single Latina mother.

Martinez thinks "it's ridiculous that Lantana would charge me over $100,000 for parking on my own grass that I paid for." She says the fines "basically make me a renter in my own home," adding, "I hope that by successfully challenging these fines, I can ensure that no one else has to go through something similar."

Martinez's case is part of the Institute for Justice's broader attack on local code enforcement practices that generate revenue by imposing outrageous fines for trivial offenses, such as $30,000 for tall grass in Dunedin, Florida, and $90,000 for trucks parked on rural property in Eagle, Wisconsin. "Municipal code enforcement in America is completely out of control," says Institute for Justice attorney Michael Greenberg. "All over the country, hardworking people regularly face financial ruin from daily code enforcement penalties that quickly snowball into tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our constitutional protection from excessive fines prohibits precisely this sort of abuse." 

 

Tom Jones - No Hole in My Head

Vaccine Smoke Screen

In a ruling reminiscent of medieval speculation over the number of angels that could dance on the head of a pin, the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans has issued a split decision on the religious acceptability of major COVID-19 vaccines. It has deemed the Pfizer and Moderna versions okay but called the new Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine “morally compromised” because it was derived from cloned stem cells distantly related to tissue from fetuses aborted back in the 1970s.

The archdiocese issued a statement stating that while the decision regarding whether to get a vaccine is an individual choice, “the latest vaccine from Janssen/Johnson & Johnson is morally compromised as it uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing.”

Several COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers used cells originally derived from tissue from an aborted fetus in the 1970s, but the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines used the cell lines only to test their vaccines, making the “connection to abortion … extremely remote,” the statement said.

At least one Catholic leader, Bishop Joseph Strickland of the Diocese of Tyler, has argued that even the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are “produced immorally” because they used the cells and must be rejected as well.  Pope Francis, speaking for the Vatican one month before the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was announced, appears to disagree.

What a bunch of ding-a-lings-- only God knows how much blood will end up on their hands because people will start avoiding the vaccine.

 

Grand Ole Petulance

The new hot issue the right wing has latched onto this year is “cancel culture.” In other words, if you call someone out for their open-hatred of other people, they claim you are really attacking them for being Republican!

In the past, conservatives have typically responded to cultural isolation by trying to create an alternate Hollywood-- and this time around, they resorting to the same playbook.  After a lackluster speech at the 2016 GOP convention, a divorce, and a failed run for Congress, Antonio Sabato, Jr. claims he was forced to move to Florida to work construction. The ‘90s soap star and former underwear model announced plans to establish a right-wing studio after he was allegedly “blacklisted.”

He’s not alone. Despite having extensive family connections in Hollywood, Ben Shapiro is a failed screenwriter. In a January announcement dripping in resentment, Shapiro declared his Daily Wire website will move into the entertainment business. In February, Shapiro then made a large production of supporting and hiring Gina Carano, who was fired and dropped by her agent after making trans-phobic and anti-Semitic posts on social media. 

For those unfamiliar with the controversy, Gina Carano had a pretty good gig playing Cara Dune on Disney+’s hit show The Mandalorian. Apparently, she is not a great actress, as she has repeatedly had her lines shortened, cut and even dubbed over by other actresses. Already on thin ice, Carano decided to make enemies of her fans. Last year, she waded into the Black Lives Matter movement by “liking” several social media posts attacking them. She mocked people who wore masks, and promoted Donald Trump’s election fraud conspiracy.

She also insulted her co-stars. Pedro Pascal has a sister who came out as transgender, and even after a discussion with Carano were she feigned support, she stabbed him in the back. Carano used her Twitter profile to make fun of the trend of including one’s preferred pronouns in email signatures or social media profiles.

 Not satisfied with the number of fans she’d already alienated, Carano then shared anti-Semitic posts despite being asked by her bosses to be more discreet.  But she couldn't help herself-- and she also falsely declared that being a Republican was comparable to being Jewish in the time leading up to the Holocaust. She even posted a photo of a bloodied Jewish woman, getting beaten by Nazis, to represent her point.

Lucasfilm finally had enough of her and let her go. In any other job, she would have been fired long before it had gotten to this point. Putting her blatant bigotry aside, you’d  think conservatives would just appreciate the calculated business decision: The liability of keeping her greatly outweighed any benefit. She was not a fan favorite, expressed no desire to improve her craft, and was way more trouble than she was worth. In the end, Carano had only herself to blame. 

Brian Kilmeade, host of Fox & Friends, loves to attack the “Hollywood elite,” but his own website talks about him trying to become a stand-up comedian for 10 years. (I can’t even imagine.) Kilmeade literally begged Jimmy Kimmel to help him get work in Hollywood. Dana Loesch, spokeswoman for the NRA before it filed for bankruptcy, has always railed against "movie stars, singers, comedy shows and awards shows," even though she tried very hard to join their ranks. A Hollywood producer told a story of one sitcom Dana pitched to him that would have starred herself as a “young, hot mom who does a far-right radio show.” He found her to be “obsessed with potential fame and money,” and told her to get lost.

Even Shapiro’s mentor, Andrew Breitbart, admitted he came to Hollywood “with the hope that I’d eventually become a comedy writer.” He failed miserably as well.  George Clooney described Steve Bannon as a "schmuck who literally tried everything he could to sell scripts in Hollywood." This included a "Shakespearian rap musical" on the L.A. riots that was just as awful as it sounds.  

“Comedian” Steve Crowder relentlessly made fun of a Vox reporter for being gay and Mexican. Jesse Watters viciously insulted Asian-Americans in an appalling “comedic” segment on Fox News. Ann Coulter goes after … well, everyone. It’s not really comedy so much as it’s targeting a group that’s different, then insulting and laughing at them, known as “punching down.”

It’s a whole lot easier to tell yourself that you can’t find work because of your beliefs than because of your abilities. None of these people are good at comedy or writing. They are, however, very good at insulting and degrading marginalized groups and their allies. Unfortunately, that’s what a lot of people on the right think comedy is supposed to be.

Happy St. Pats

 

Indeed . . .

 

India's Modi Continues His War Against Privacy

India’s government has threatened to jail employees of Facebook, its WhatsApp unit and Twitter, as it seeks to quash political protests and gain far-reaching powers over discourse on foreign-owned tech platforms, people familiar with the warnings say.

The warnings are in direct response to the tech companies’ reluctance to comply with data and takedown requests from the government related to protests by Indian farmers that have made international headlines, the people say. At least some of the written warnings cite specific, India-based employees at risk of arrest if the companies don’t comply, according to some of the people.

The threats mark an escalation of India’s efforts to pressure U.S. tech companies at a moment when those companies are looking to th  e world’s second-most-populous nation for growth in the coming years.Some of the government’s requests for data involve WhatsApp, which is hugely popular in India and promises users encrypted communication, unable to be read by outside parties.

A WhatsApp spokesman said the company complies with data requests that are “consistent with internationally recognized standards including human rights, due process and the rule of law.” A Facebook spokesman said the company “responds to government requests for data in accordance with applicable law and our terms of service.”

Twitter “will continue to advocate for the fundamental principles of the Open Internet,” a company spokesman said, adding: “Threats to these principles are on the rise around the world, which is of deep concern.”

India has been making new rules that grant its leaders power over online discourse to a degree unmatched elsewhere among open societies, legal analysts say.  The rules require the tech companies to appoint executives who are resident in India to deal with government requests, including a contact person for “24x7 coordination with law-enforcement agencies and officers to ensure compliance” with orders, the rules say.  The rules would also compel companies to remove content that undermines national security, public order and “decency or morality.”

Companies must also help identify the originator of messages. A government representative said the rules would require platforms to track and store records of specific messages as they traveled among users.  Legal observers say the rules don’t provide a clear legal way to challenge requests to take down content or provide user data. Under India’s legal system, such requests don’t require prior approval by a court.

 

Coronavirus Art - Nyon, Switzerland

 

Florida's DeSantis is Giving Vaccines Meant for Black Folks to Wealthy White People

It shouldn't come as any surprise that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis cares more about the rich than the economically vulnerable. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis has not only downplayed the virus, but prioritized the health and safety of those he can profit from. 

While a majority of Florida’s eldest residents have struggled to not only sign up but receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, almost all wealthy people 65 years and older were vaccinated by mid-January, according to a community newsletter obtained by the Miami Herald. Additionally, the wealthy being vaccinated were ensured that despite most of the state being unable to receive their first dose, they would have access to both the first and second dose of the vaccine.

But that’s not all. After prioritizing vaccinating the white and rich, DeSantis’ political committee raised at least $2.7 million in the month of February alone. Records indicate this is the highest amount he has raised in a single month since he first ran for governor in 2018. After the community was vaccinated, former Republican governor of Illinois Bruce Rauner, who is also a resident of Ocean Reef, wrote the DeSantis campaign a check for $250,000.

While it is unclear where these communities got their vaccine doses from, according to the Florida Division of Elections, the only people from Key Largo who gave to DeSantis’ political committee live in Ocean Reef, the community that was prioritized for COVID-19 vaccines. 

A spokesperson for DeSantis’ office told the Miami Herald the governor was not involved in selecting the Ocean Reef Club for early vaccination distributions but did not explain how they received them. “Florida was the first state to prioritize seniors,’’ she said. “The state has utilized a variety of approaches including walk-up, drive-thru, and faith-based initiatives to ensure vaccine access to all eligible Floridians, particularly in underserved communities. These efforts have resulted in Florida vaccinating over 50% of our state’s senior population — the highest of any state in the nation.”

But while DeSantis’ office claims that they have been prioritizing vaccinating seniors, data indicates otherwise. The reality is DeSantis has been prioritizing wealthy and white seniors, with vaccinations meant for rural Black communities being given to wealthy white people. State records indicate that while 17% of the state’s population is Black, by the end of February only 5.6% of those vaccinated in the state were Black. Investigations into the racial disparities of vaccinations and DeSantis’ political selection process are being called for. 

But Ocean Reef isn’t the only example in which those vaccinated early in Florida were connected to DeSantis. Last month DeSantis set up a pop-up vaccine clinic for Manatee County residents. However, instead of offering the vaccinations to all those eligible in the county as advertised, the clinic was limited to people living in only two zip codes: 34202 and 34211. Those zip codes represent the most affluent areas in the county, with a majority white community. Additionally, it was noted that one of the communities with access to the vaccines DeSantis provided is home to the family of one of his biggest campaign donors.

Instead of apologizing and acknowledging his actions, DeSantis threatened to cancel the vaccine clinic after criticism from lawmakers that he was excluding some residents in the county and prioritizing the wealthy, Daily Kos reported. He then set up two other pop-up clinics with similar zip code restrictions in Charlotte and Sarasota counties, the Herald-Tribune reported. By selecting communities that get the vaccine, DeSantis not only makes political moves to his benefit but allows these residents to bypass state and local vaccine registration systems. 

With one of the highest rates of coronavirus infection, Florida still lags behind in its prevention and vaccination efforts. Since the start of the pandemic, DeSantis has actively ignored efforts to stop the spread of the virus and seems to have no intention of changing his motives. 

 

Nick Jones - Spaceman

River of Trouble for Jordan

Congressman "Gym" Jordan (R-Ohio) is in trouble again.  Roger Sollenberger of The Daily Beast reports that the Federal Elections Commission has issued ten (10) notices flagging discrepencies totaling almost $3 million in Jordan’s campaign committee’s books. 

Jordan's campaign committee received ten notices from the Federal Election Commission flagging discrepancies on its books totaling nearly $3 million and dating back over two years. … experts say that the dollar amount—errors totaling some $2.87 million—may trigger an FEC investigation.

The notices ... came in reply to more than a dozen amended reports correcting errors that the campaign caught in a sweeping review of filings, going as far back as 2018.  One of the filings discloses errors in spending and fundraising totaling $1,470,286.48.  The commission gave the campaign until early April to reply, and the letters say that a failure to “adequately respond” could draw an audit or enforcement action.

The story is an untimely setback for Jordan, an Always-Trumper who has been looking for any opportunity he can find to unseat Kevin McCarthy as the Republican leader of the House.  Jordan joined in the Big Lie, and did so very publicly, leading the charge to block certification of the presidential election results on the day of the Capitol Insurrection.  

Untimely scandals have always dogged Jordan’s career.  As former assistant men’s wrestling coach at Ohio State, he was later reported by the New York Times, NBC News, and other sources, to be implicated as a possible silent accomplice of Dr. Richard Strauss, the team physician who serially sexually abused team members.  It was an open secret among team members, who claim it is impossible that Jordan did not know about it.  

 

British TV Host Can't Get Over Being Ghosted by Princess Meghan

So who exactly is that tool on British television who got himself bum-rushed out of a job over his ridiculous beef with Meghan Markle?  You might remember him from a short-lived stint on CNN over ten years ago-- the idiotic (and ethically-challenged) Piers Morgan, who seems to have made a name for himself over his public animosity towards Markle while simultaneously licking the proverbial ass of the rest of the royal family.

Piers Morgan first hit the big time when he was appointed by Rupert Murdoch as the editor of the British tabloid News of the World in January 1994, a post he held for only 16 months after he violated the U.K.'s editors code of conduct and was pushed out by Murdoch himself.

Morgan then became editor of the Daily Mirror in late 1995.  Within a year, he was forced to apologize on national television for publishing the headline (rendered in all upper case) "Achtung Surrender! For You Fritz Ze Euro Championship Is Over" on June 25, 1996, the day before England lost to Germany in the Euro '96 football semi-final.

In 2002, Morgan was found to have violated the U.K. Editors Code of Conduct yet again for secretly buying stock in a computer company that the Mirror had recommended as a "buy" in its financial section.  It was later revealed the Morgan had emptied his bank account in executing the transaction and bought the shares in his wife's name.  Morgan was fired as editor of the Mirror two years later for authorizing the publication of fake photographs of British soldiers purportedly torturing Iraqi prisoners. To this day, Morgan has refused to apologize or admit the photos were faked, even though the Mirror later admitted they were a hoax.

The following year, Morgan (in partnership with a friend) acquired the Press Gazette.  The paper was court-ordered into administrative receivership by the end of 2006.  In 2007, Morgan was filmed falling off a Segway, breaking three ribs.  Four years prior, a Mirror headline had mocked former U.S. President George W. Bush for falling off a Segway, saying "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off wouldn't you, Mr. President?"

Morgan next focused on a television career, most notably appearing as a judge on Britain's Got Talent, winning the 2008 celebrity edition of Donald Trump's reality show, and then following Larry King on CNN as host of its live talk show.  After three years, Morgan's CNN show was cancelled due to poor ratings.  Shortly thereafter, Morgan returned to the U.K. to begin his stint as co-host of Good Morning Britain.  His tenure was marked by controversy and tumultuous relationships with his co-presenters.

In 2011, Morgan got caught up in the government Inquiry into Britain's phone-hacking scandal.  He initially testified that he had no reason to believe that phone hacking had occurred at the Mirror while he was editor.  British political blogger Paul Staines alleged that while editor of the Daily Mirror in 2002, Morgan published a story concerning the affair of Sven-Goran Eriksson and Ulrika Jonsson while knowing it to have been obtained by phone hacking.   In 2012, Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman testified that he had lunch with Morgan in September 2002 during which Morgan outlined the means of hacking into a mobile phone.   The official findings of the inquiry were eventually released, in which Lord Justice Leveson said that Morgan's testimony under oath on phone hacking was "utterly unpersuasive".

During his tenure at Good Morning Britain, Morgan has been the subject of hundreds of thousands of complaints to the U.K.'s television regulatory authority.  He gained particular infamy when he became openly hostile to Meghan Markle after she ended their friendship in 2016.  Initially, Markle and Morgan had become platonic friends over social media, beginning in 2015.   After she began dating Prince Harry, she wisely cut off communications with Morgan, who (by that time) had a long history of shady practices, as well as trading off his relationships with his celebrity acquaintances.

For a while, Morgan talked in good humor over his short-lived relationship with Markle.  Just before her wedding to Harry, Morgan said that Markle's father was "foolish" and had 'only himself to blame' for missing his daughter's wedding day.  But just days later, he made a shocking U-turn and slammed his once good friend for not rushing to be with her sick father after he was unable to travel to her wedding following heart surgery.  "I still like Meghan, notwithstanding her disconcerting tendency to ‘ghost’ people when they’ve served their purpose," tweeted Morgan, who had not been invited to the wedding despite once enjoying declaring himself to be "great buddies" with Markle.

Relations became increasingly strained as Piers repeatedly laid into Meghan and Harry over the next few years.  When the royal couple announced they were stepping down as senior royals, Piers branded them "grasping, selfish, scheming Kardashian-wannabes."  Morgan's vitriol against Markle became so pointed that many have speculated that his bitterness was rooted in infatuation or (possibly) romantic feelings for her.  Whether or not that's true, there is no denying that he now loathes a woman whose race, beauty, demeanor and sensibility he was once attracted to.  After the Winfrey interview, Morgan called Meghan (and Harry) "the world’s most tone-deaf, hypocritical, narcissistic, deluded, whiny brats".

The day after the Winfrey interview aired in Britain, Morgan was called out on Good Morning Britain by his co-host Alex Beresford for his relentless attacks on Markle.  “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle — you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this program.  And I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle or had one and she cut you off,” Beresford said. “She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has, but yet you continue to trash her.”  Morgan stunned viewers by walking off the set during the live broadcast, saying, “OK, I’m done with this.”  The next day, he resigned.  Let's hope he gets over Meghan-- after all, she's more than 15 years his junior and she does have a husband, I might add.  God save the drama queen!