Coronavirus Art - Uva, Russia

And So It Seems . . .

Trump Appointees Bilked Taxpayers Out of Over $100K

Two former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were kept on payroll by political appointees of Donald Trump after they were ousted, the agency’s watchdog found.

According to reports, former chief of staff Ryan Jackson and former White House liaison Charles Muñoz directed nearly $38,000 in payments to the employees, according to a report from the EPA’s inspector general first obtained by Politico. The report also stated that Muñoz received an improper raise and submitted “fraudulent timesheets,” costing the agency nearly $96,000.

“Mr. Muñoz explained that the 'fix,' which he believed was Mr. Jackson's idea, was to tell the EPA's Human Resources Management Division that [the person] was on an extended telework schedule so that [they] would receive pay,” the report said.  “Mr. Muñoz explained that he believed Mr. Jackson would not be happy if he had not followed Mr. Jackson's order to get additional pay for [the person] after [their] termination," the watchdog continued.

According to The Washington Post, one of the employees in question was Madeline Morris, who was terminated as scheduler for former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt in August 2017.  Morris has publicly said that she believed she was fired because she raised concerns that making changes to Pruitt’s schedule over a trip to Italy was unlawful.   The report found that Jackson directed Muñoz to tell human resources that Morris was on an extended telework schedule, and that Muñoz amended her time-and-attendance reports so that she could continue getting paid.

The other employee was Kevin Chmielewski, who was forced to leave in 2018 after serving as deputy chief of staff of operations. Chmielewski continued receiving pay through April 2018, despite not working for the EPA after February of that same year.

Chmielewski leaked documents and provided information that prompted several EPA investigations. He previously told The Hill that he would “take the credit” for Pruitt’s downfall.  Chmielewski later sued the EPA, claiming that he was “removed for retaliatory reasons.”

Pruitt resigned as administrator in July 2018 amid multiple high-profile scandals surrounding his spending and management at the agency.

Canadian Catholic Churches Seemingly Burned in Retribution for Killings of Indigenous Children

Two Catholic churches burned down in indigenous communities in western Canada, coming on the heels of two other church burnings just days earlier.

The fires at St Ann's Church and the Chopaka Church began within an hour of each other in British Columbia.   Officers said both buildings were completely destroyed, and they were treating the fires as "suspicious".  Five days earlier, two other Catholic churches in the province were destroyed in fires, as Canada marked National Indigenous People's Day.  "The investigations into the previous fires and these two new fires are ongoing with no arrests or charges," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Jason Bayda said.

It comes after hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered at sites of former residential schools in Canada.  The government-funded compulsory schools were run by religious groups in the 19th and 20th centuries with the aim of assimilating indigenous youth.  Indigenous groups have demanded a nationwide search for more graves.

In May, the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation announced the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a school in British Columbia.  They found them at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, which was opened under Roman Catholic administration in 1890 and closed in 1978.

And on Thursday, the Cowessess First Nation said it had found 751 unmarked graves at a former residential school in Saskatchewan. The Marieval Indian Residential School was also operated by the Roman Catholic Church.

Deaths in Canada's compulsory boarding schools were due in large part to the squalid health conditions inside. Students were often housed in poorly built, poorly heated, and unsanitary facilities.  Between 1863 and 1998, more than 150,000 indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in these schools throughout Canada.

A commission launched in 2008 to document the impact of this system found that large numbers of indigenous children had never returned to their home communities. The commission's landmark report said the practice had amounted to cultural genocide. The Canadian government has formally apologised for the system.

 

Tucker Carlson Shoots Himself in the Foot Yet Again

Fox News host Tucker Carlson invited controversy yet again by calling Gen. Mark Milley, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer  “a pig” and “stupid” after the general defended the teaching of critical race theory in the military.

At a congressional hearing, Milley said he thought it was important for members of the military to be open-minded and well-read, including on the subject of critical race theory.  “I’ve read Mao Tse-tung. I’ve read Karl Marx. I’ve read Lenin. That doesn’t make me a communist,” Milley said. “So what is wrong with understanding? Having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend?”

“Mark Milley is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” the Carlson said on his show. “He didn’t get that job because he’s brilliant or because he’s brave, or because people who know him respect him. He is not, and they definitely don’t.  Milley got the job because he is obsequious. He knows who to suck up to, and he’s more than happy to do it. Feed him a script and he will read it.”

After playing a clip of Milley’s comments at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Carlson commented that he found it “hard to believe that man wears a uniform, he’s that unimpressive.  He’s not just a pig, he’s stupid,” he added after played a second clip.

Milley, who has been in the Army for more than 40 years, served in Iraq and Afghanistan and holds degrees from Princeton, Columbia and the Naval War College.

It’s not even the first time this year that Carlson has insulted service members. In March, he earned rebukes from top defense leaders after he showed a pregnant woman in uniform and called it a “mockery of the U.S. military.” 

Carlson faced a wave of backlash online following his comments. Critics included Rep. Ted Lieu, a California Democrat; Joe Walsh and Lincoln Project Executive Director Fred Wellman.

John Mayer - Last Train Home

Unvaccinated Woman Dies From COVID; Family Still Refuses to Get the Shot

The family of an unvaccinated county employee in Florida who died after COVID-19 swept through the government office building where she worked is still refusing to get vaccinated, even though their mother’s inoculated coworkers did not get sick at all.

58-year-old Mary Knight passed away last week from complications related to COVID-19, Manatee County authorities announced.  Knight had worked for the county on and off for 15 years. A second unvaccinated co-worker, 53-year-old Alphonso Cox, also died last week after coming down with COVID-19. Three others in the office who were unvaccinated and contracted the virus became so ill they were hospitalized, but narrowly survived.

None of their vaccinated coworkers were affected at all, County Administrator Dr. Scott Hopes said in a statement.

Hart's daughter Molly doesn’t believe that COVID-19 was responsible for killing her mom and told reporters, “No one in my family will be getting the vaccine.”  It is not known whether Molly Hart has either a college degree or even a high school diploma.  Molly believes that stress killed her mom, not COVID.  According to Molly, "A healthy body and immune system [do] not need the vaccine.” (This is false, according to public health experts.)

The county administration building was shut down in the aftermath of the outbreak.  When it reopened, mask-wearing shockingly continued to be optional for vaccinated and unvaccinated workers, said Manatee officials. 

About 43 percent of Manatee County residents have been fully vaccinated. In May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed an executive order banning so-called vaccine passports, forbidding businesses to require proof of vaccination from customers, and suspended all statewide mask mandates. He also declared that he would pardon anyone who was punished by Florida counties or municipalities for violating public health restrictions.

“We really need everybody to get onboard with this, whether it’s vaccination testing, prevention, all of it is so, so, so, so important,” Florida Department of Health public information officer Christopher Tittel told FOX13. “The vaccinations, they only work if people get vaccinated.”

Hungarian Government Continues Campaign of Hate Against Homosexuality

There is growing international condemnation of a new Hungarian law that bans any depiction homosexuality to those under 18.  Under the new law, the Harry Potter films, Bridget Jones Diary, and episodes of the NBC sitcom "Friends" would have to be aired after 10 pm.  Sitcoms like "Modern Family" and films such as "Billy Elliott" and "Philadelphia" would be banned altogether.  

Fourteen EU governments including France, Germany, Spain and Ireland have condemned the new law as a "flagrant form of discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression". The UK has also spoken out against it. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says it will be examined for any breach of EU law.

Hungary's footballers play their final Euro 2020 group game in Munich against Germany on Wednesday evening and Mayor Dieter Reiter had planned to light up the Allianz Arena in rainbow colous as a gesture of solidarity.

Viktor Orban's ultra-conservative government has hit back against the international outcry, insisting the law only aims to protect children.  The Hungarian government champions conservative family values, and the new law is the latest thread in a tapestry of laws stigmatizing same-sex relationships.  Last year, the government banned most same-sex couples from every adopting children.

An Ipsos public opinion survey earlier this year suggested that 46% of Hungarians accepted same-sex marriage - up from 30% only eight years ago.  Hungarian national team goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi spoke out recently in support of more tolerance for "rainbow families".   Civil rights groups have also been buoyed by a wave of support, including two sizeable demonstrations against the law, and by the outpouring of international solidarity.

 

Hate and White Privilege Still Alive and Strong in San Diego

Community members are outraged after a high school team experienced blatant racism during a championship game Saturday. The game took place between Orange Glen High School and Coronado High School in California. After the game, which Coronado won, Orange Glen Head Coach Chris Featherly said Coronado Head Coach J.D. Laaperi made disrespectful remarks toward both him and his players, but that’s not all. Coronado supporters took the sports rivalry to another level when they threw tortillas at Orange Glen players, who are mostly Latino, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Videos shared on social media depict at least two players from Coronado, a predominantly white school, throwing tortillas. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, witnesses shared that there were several heated moments on and off the court during the game that preceded the tortilla incident.

Members of the Orange Glen team, specifically the Latino players, were extremely disturbed, Orange Glen Assistant Coach Lizardo Reynoso told CBS San Diego. "They understand that there's a lot of racism and hate going on today, but to top that off with a defeat after working so hard all year, it's like a slap in the face," Reynoso said.

While the school district vowed to take action and apologized for the incident, not every member of Coronado's team believed the incident was wrong. The Chicano Federation shared an Instagram post by a Coronado High School basketball account that claimed the tortilla toss is not racist but known as a tradition at other schools. The since-deleted post compared tossing tortillas at players to tossing confetti.  

According to a statement by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), this ideology is shared by members of the Coronado Parent-Teacher-Organization (PTO) Facebook who claimed that “throwing tortillas is like heaving ‘Frisbees’ or ‘graduation caps’ into the air as a ‘celebratory action’.” 

“Coronado supporters are trying to play the victim here saying the reaction to the tortilla tossing is ‘extremely upsetting’ to them. Try walking in the shoes of those struck by their projectiles,” the statement issued by LULAC National President Domingo Garcia continued.

“We should have universal condemnation of this activity,” Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher said on Twitter while sharing her own daughter’s experience of racism as a student-athlete. “Parents in SD County know that racist taunts against latino athletes are too commonplace. It’s time to stop it.

“Teach your kids not to be racist,” she continued. “Tortillas are for eating, not throwing.” Gonzalez-Fletcher also called for CIF officials to strip the school of its championship. 

GOP Shit

Anti-Vaxxers Getting More Aggressively Violent

For over a month, internet trolls have unleashed a new wave of hate speech toward Houston vaccine researcher Peter Hotez, a longtime nemesis of the anti-vaxx movement.

The website Natural News, which promotes false conspiracy theories about 5G and Bill Gates, posted a story about Hotez at the top of its website. “Echoing the fascism of genocidal maniacs like Hitler and Stalin,” it said, “Peter Hotez displays his own brand of insanity by equating vaccine skeptics with cyber criminals and nuclear terrorism.”

The author, Mike Adams, called on his followers to “pray for this sad monster of a man” to “seek forgiveness for the crimes against humanity being committed by whatever twisted, dark soul currently occupies his once-human body.” The story included Hotez’s contact information.

“We have been contacted by a few individuals who are opposed to vaccines,” Kaylee Dusang, a spokesperson for Baylor university, said.  Natural News’ followers, he wrote, had sent messages evoking Nazism, “comparing me to Mengele, sending image after image of Nuremberg.” Hotez posted a sample image sent to him: The 1946 photo shows a Nazi about to be hanged for the commission of war crimes.

Last year, Facebook banned Natural News for publishing coronavirus disinformation created by content farms from North Macedonia and the Philippines. Facebook said it found that foreign trolls then posted Natural News’ content in an effort to artificially inflate their reach.

Since the publication of his 2018 book “Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism” — partly a memoir about his daughter — Hotez has been a focus of anti-vaccine protests and death threats. In November 2019, during an infectious disease conference in New York, anti-vaxx protesters surrounded him, and hotel security had to whisk him out of the hotel.

Hotez’s long battle against anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists kicked into high gear during the COVID pandemic. In January, in the journal PLOS Biology, he warned scientists to beware “an anti-science confederacy” composed of U.S. “medical freedom” initiatives, Russian disinformation and far-right extremist groups in Western Europe.

 

 

 

Happy Juneteenth!

Galveston, TX mural from Juneteenth Legacy Project co-founder Samuel Collins III

James - Beautiful Beaches

So the GOP is Now Officially Anti-Police and Pro-Slavery?

Yesterday, 21 House Republicans voted against giving a Congressional Gold Medal to those officers who protected them from harm during the Capitol Insurrection.  They are:

1. Lauren Boebert of Colorado
2. John Rose of Tennessee
3. Andy Harris of Maryland
4. Thomas Massie of Kentucky
5. Bob Good of Virginia
6. Louie Gohmert of Texas
7. Barry Moore of Alabama
8. Ralph Norman of South Carolina
9. Matt Rosendale of Montana
10. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
11. Chip Roy of Texas
12. Paul Gosar of Arizona
13. Andy Biggs of Arizona
14. Warren Davidson of Ohio
15. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
16. Matt Gaetz of Florida
17. Greg Steube of Florida
18. Andrew Clyde of Georgia
19. Jody Hice of Georgia
20. Mary Miller of Illinois
21. Michael Cloud of Texas
    

Rep. Andrew Clyde (GA) even went so far as to refuse to shake the hand of DC police officer Michael Fanone, who was beaten by the rioting mob.  Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA) said that Fanone ran into Clyde at the Capitol, introduced himself as “someone who fought to defend the Capitol” and put out his hand.  “Clyde refused to shake it. To honor Trump, [House Republicans] will dishonor the police,” Swalwell tweeted.

On the same day, 14 Republicans voted against the Juneteenth holiday, which celebrates the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the U.S.  Those jerks are:

1. Andy Biggs of Arizona
   
2. Mo Brooks of Alabama
   
3. Andrew Clyde of Georgia
   
4. Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee
   
5. Paul Gosar of Arizona
   
6. Ronny Jackson of Texas
   
7. Doug LaMalfa of California
   
8. Thomas Massie of Kentucky
   
9. Tom McClintock of California
   
10. Ralph Norman of South Carolina
    
11. Mike Rogers of Alabama
    
12. Matt Rosendale of Montana
    
13. Chip Roy of Texas
    
14. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin
    

The holiday is named to mark June 19 of 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston, TX to take command of federal troops who had recently landed in Texas to enforce the emancipation of slaves, which was declared by President Lincoln nearly three years earlier.  The Senate previously passed the bill under unanimous consent after Sen. Ron Johnson said that he would not object to its passage.  The bill now goes to President Biden for signature.

 

Coronavirus Art - Tripoli, Lebanon

 

King Kong and Godzilla: The Real Story

Brazil's Bolsaonaro Continues to Deny the COVID Crisis, Agreeing to Host Copa America Despite the Worsening Pandemic

Most Brazilians don’t want it. Major sponsors have fled. Even players balked at the idea. But ready or not, the Copa America, one of Latin America’s most important sporting spectacles, has come to town. The international soccer tournament, which Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro approved with little warning late last month, began yesterday against a backdrop of controversy and fear.

A third wave of the coronavirus, which is still killing on average nearly 2,000 Brazilians per day, is on the near horizon. Hospitals are again barreling toward capacity. The decision to host an international sporting event at such a moment has divided this traditionally soccer-obsessed country, further inflaming political differences amid an ongoing humanitarian disaster that has already killed nearly a half-million Brazilians.

A prominent sports announcer called Bolsonaro’s decision to host the tournament a “slap in the face of Brazilians.” A senator leading an inquiry into Bolsonaro’s pandemic response called the tournament a “championship of death.” Players on the Brazilian team put out a letter saying they were “disappointed” in Copa America. Polls have shown more than 60 percent of Brazilians are against hosting the tournament. Scientists are warning Brazil is again teetering at the precipice and can scarcely afford to ignore the warning signs. 

“We are having more than 70,000 cases per day,” said Domingos Alves, director of the Health Intelligence Laboratory at the University of São Paulo in Ribeirão Preto. “We aren’t going into a third wave. We are in a third wave.”

“It’s ridiculous that we would have Copa America in Brazil amid the epidemiological situation that we’re going through,” he added.

Bolsonaro, who has spent the length of the coronavirus pandemic diminishing its significance, begs to disagree. The nationalist president says it’s long since time Brazil got back to business as usual. And when Colombia and Argentina backed out of their commitments to host the tournament, citing coronavirus concerns, he stepped forward, saying "I’m sorry for the deaths, but we have to live.” 

In a country where politics and soccer have long mingled, analysts see political desperation in Bolsonaro’s sudden decision. In recent weeks, the country has been absorbed by a congressional probe investigating his administration’s erratic behavior during the coronavirus pandemic. Several witnesses have provided deeply damaging testimony, detailing his administration’s failures to purchase vaccines and its quixotic commitment to the anti-malarial medication hydroxychloroquine long after it was shown to be ineffective against the virus.

Bolsonaro’s approval rating has dropped to 24 percent, according to the polling firm Datafolha, the lowest rating of his presidency. The right-wing nationalist, who won the presidency by campaigning against corruption and crime, is trailing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in early polls ahead of next year’s presidential election.

It is widely believed he saw an opportunity to change the narrative — and the damaging daily news reports of congressional testimony — by bringing to Brazil the one thing most people here follow more closely than politics: soccer.

“He needed to throw up a smokescreen to hide the information that is coming out and confirming to all who had any doubt what his administration has been doing during the pandemic,” said Alexandre Bandeira, a political strategist in the capital Brasilia. “It’s an attempt to sell the image inside and outside of Brazil that it has overcome the pandemic, even if the numbers don’t say that.”

The critical care medical systems in nearly half of Brazil’s states are at 90 percent capacity or above. The average number of daily deaths is again rising.  Only 11 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated, as the inoculation campaign has repeatedly been mired in delays and supply shortages.  “The overall situation is, without doubt, one of an uncontrolled pandemic,” the Brazilian research institution Fiocruz said in a report this week.

Scientists say it’s not the sporting events themselves that are most dangerous. It’s the crowds many fear are certain to form.  “Safety measures can possibly guarantee safety in some of the game’s locations,” said Suzana Lobo, president of the Brazilian Association of Intensive Medicine. “But Brazilians are very passionate about soccer. This could result in family crowds, in bars and in the roads to watch and cheer on the games.”

Spurred by a more transmissible variant and loosened restrictions, a rupture to Brazil’s medical system has already occurred once this year.  People were turned away from hospitals and died without care all over the country.  Doctors ran out of vital medications.  Patients were intubated without sedatives. Others perished without oxygen.  Cemeteries ran out of room to put the bodies.  They were some of the darkest weeks in Brazil’s history.

The country, public health experts warn, must take the virus seriously if it doesn’t want to plunge back into that abyss.  “In this critical moment, with hospitals full and the risk of running out of supplies, any increase in the number of cases or hospitalizations is very scary,” Lobo said.

 

 

Every Day's Pride Day at the Home Depot

Modi Continues His Attack on Media and Freedom of Speech in an Effort to Deflect Criticism of His Handling of the Exploding COVID Crisis in India

India's government has instructed social media companies to remove any content that refers to the "Indian variant" of Covid-19.

Platforms were asked to "remove all the content that names, refers to, or implies 'Indian variant' of coronavirus from your platform immediately", the Press Trust of India reported.   "It has come to our knowledge that a false statement is being circulated online which implies that an 'Indian variant' of coronavirus is spreading across the countries. This is completely FALSE," AFP news agency quoted the same letter as saying.

Even though the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the variant as B.1.617, geographical terms have been used to describe a number of other variants, including the UK and Brazil.  B.1.617, a more transmissible variant, was first detected in India last year and has spread to dozens of countries. A number of nations have severely restricted arrivals from India.  Practically speaking, it would be extremely difficult to take down all references to "Indian variant" on the internet-- and what Modi's government is seeking is complete censorship over all reporting across the world.

India's government is extremely sensitive to criticism, due to its poor handling of the Covid-19 crisis.  It also drew anger last month after it ordered Twitter to remove posts critical of some of its actions during the pandemic.

The country has been hit hard by the new variant since late March and is now second only to the US in terms of overall infections, at more than 26 million, according to Johns Hopkins University research.  Covid-related deaths are close to 300,000, behind only the US and Brazil, although experts widely believe that India's fatalities are considerably higher.

India's government this year introduced guidelines it said were intended to curb misuse of social media and the spread of misinformation.  If the government deems that any material appearing on a social media platform is "unlawful", the company can be prosecuted if it does not remove the content. The rules in essence mean companies cannot evade responsibility for what users post.

Many accused the Modi government of yet another attack on freedom of speech and this latest move fuels concerns over Modi's  persistent attacks on the freedom of the press.  Last month, the government told Twitter and Facebook to remove some posts critical of Modi's handling of Covid-19. It also recently criticized Twitter for labeling some tweets by Indian politicians "manipulated media", which the platform uses referring to possible fabrications and deceptions.

 

 

 

 

 

Bimini - God Save This Queen

Nicaraguan Dictator Eliminating Opposition Ahead of Fall Elections

Four opposition figures have been arrested in Nicaragua in what government critics have called a hunt for critics of Dictator Daniel Ortega.

Two of those detained on Tuesday are potential candidates in the election in November, in which Ortega is expected to run for a fifth term.  Their arrests bring the total of presidential hopefuls in detention to four. 

In a space of 12 hours, the following opposition figures were arrested:

• Félix Maradiaga, academic and political activist who was planning to run as an opposition candidate in the presidential election
• Juan Sebastián Chamorro, economist and presidential hopeful
• José Adán Aguerri, economist and head of the Committee on Economic Integration
• Violeta Granera, sociologist and opposition activist

Two more presidential hopefuls - former ambassador Arturo Cruz and Cristiana Chamorro - were detained in the past week.

Chamorro was charged with money laundering days after announcing that she would seek to become the presidential candidate for the opposition Citizen's Alliance.  She is seen by many in the opposition as their best hope of defeating Ortega at the ballot box. Her mother Violeta Chamorro beat him in the 1990 presidential poll.

Christiana Chamorro and Granera are under house arrest, while Juan Chamorro and Aguerri are in police detention.  A lawyer for Maradiaga said his client was being held at an undisclosed location and had been badly beaten as he was taken into custody.

With the exception of Cristiana Chamorro, all have been arrested under a controversial treason law passed in December by Nicaragua's National Assembly, which is dominated by government allies.  Under the law, the government has the power to ban candidates from running for office if they are deemed to be traitors to Nicaragua. Anyone designated a traitor can be sent to prison for up to 15 years.  Critics say the law is designed to stop opposition politicians from standing in the election.

Christiana Chamorro's brother, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, said that Daniel Ortega was removing anyone who might challenge him. "This is just an attack against basic rights of political competition. In the past he had several hundreds of political prisoners as hostages. Now he has captured four aspiring presidential candidates as hostages."

Shortly before being led away by police, Maradiaga said he would not give up fighting. "What we have done is fight alongside the Nicaraguan people, and we will continue to do so," he said.  Juan Chamorro vowed to resist in a video he recorded before being summoned by the authorities: "This is a good fight, for good causes. Let's not let a criminal dictatorship take away our rights any longer.".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coronavirus Art - Toronto, Canada

 

Story of Rainbow Cookies Brings Sunshine

A Texas bakery hit by anti-gay hate proved that revenge is best served warm, crunchy and delicious.

Confections, a shop in Lufkin, TX, posted an image of heart-shaped cookies iced with the rainbow flag last week to mark Pride Month.   Almost immediately, the shop's Facebook page was deluged with hate and the owners revealed that they lost a significant amount of followers because of the rainbow heart cookie they posted.  "We received a very hateful message on our business page canceling a [very] large order of summer themed cookies for tomorrow morning (that we just finished decorating)," the shop said. 

But the lament turned into an SOS ― and it was answered by thousands of supporters. The response prompted “tears of joy,” Confections wrote.  "We are overwhelmed by all the sweet words of support posted, messaged and emailed. There are so many it may take us a while to get through them all. Thank you so much to all our new followers, 2,500 of y’all!!  We will open today at 10 and will have the canceled [cookie] order individually bagged and ready to sell, $3 each"  The bakery shared a photo of a long customer line:

Brian Cuban, a Texas lawyer and recovery advocate who’s the brother of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, also got involved.   “When things slow down a bit, let us know if shipping is possible. I’d like to support you,” Cuban said, according KYTX. “If shipping isn’t possible, I’ll buy some by phone/email and you can donate my cookies to a local LGBTQ org or children’s charity.”  

By Saturday, Confections was sold out of its entire inventory ― neither a crumb nor a hater in sight. On Sunday, the shop reported it was hard at work making rainbow bows and said it was working on routing donations to nursing homes. Cookies and love beat hate every time.

 

Joe Manchin is Blocking Voting Rights for Millions of Americans

Democrat Joe Manchin from West Virginia has announced that he is acting against the interests of West Virgnians and the rights of all Americans by voting against federal legislation to protect Americans’ right to vote. In an op-ed for his hometown paper the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Manchin claimed he would oppose the For the People Act, which the House passed but has failed to make it to the Senate. The legislation would expand ballot access by creating automatic voter registration throughout the country, restore the voting rights of the formerly incarcerated, expand early voting, and modernize voting systems.

Trump and GOP supporters who believe the 2020 election was "stolen" have given Republican legislatures shared talking points in enacting harmful legislation to restrict the right to vote in at least 14 states, by The Washington Post’s count. In Arkansas and Montana, Republican governors signed bills into law to create or further restrict identification requirements for voting in person and through absentee ballots. Arizona, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming followed suit.

Manchin has also been vocal in his opposition to ending the Senate filibuster.  Ending the outdated practice of the filibuster would actually allow bills to pass with a majority of the chamber vote (which is how it is actually supposed to work).  

What Manchin fails to mention is how the cherished filibuster has been used historically to strip voting rights from Black communities throughout the country, with concentrated voter suppression efforts in the South.  Journalist Ari Berman wrote a Mother Jones article describing the first filibuster Southern Democrats used to block civil rights legislation, specifically a House bill to send federal supervisors to protect voting, registration, and ballot tallies in the South in 1890. At the time, the Ku Klux Klan had been using violence and lynchings to intimidate Black communities who were given newly-protected voting rights through passage of the 14th Amendment.

What Manchin fails to realize is that the vast majority of West Virginians not supported the COVID relief bill and the jobs bill, they also support the voting rights bill (by even a larger margin):

 Manchin, who incorrectly believes that the founding fathers created the filibuster, thinks that the filibusters promotes bipartisanship (it doesn't-- it just blocks legislation, preventing progress).  He also incorrectly believes that the For the People Act is partisan legislation (it isn't- it promotes/expands access to voting for both Republican and Democratic voters).  

Manchin is a multi-millionaire who never has to worry about being bullied by cops, paying rent, being denied the right to vote, or having the cash to see a doctor. He fetishizes bipartisanship, which is the same at this point as making a deal with the devil. None of this is new, but it’s disappointing just how delusional he’s become. 

 

How Not to Get Twitter to Stop

 

The Chinese Government Isn't the Only One Spying on Its Citizens

It should come as no surprise to those in the west what hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers discovered recently-- that their TV sets have been spying on them.   It turns out Beijing-based Gozen Data, a leading Chinese TV viewership analytics firm, has been collecting personal data in real time using smart TVs — without users' consent.

The practice was first exposed when a user on V2EX, an online forum for tech enthusiasts, noticed their Skyworth-brand smart TV had become slow and analyzed the code of back-end programs to figure out why. What they found was a program that scans the user's Wi-Fi every 10 minutes and uploads a wide range of information to Gozen Data's website.

"What smart devices are used at home; whether your phone is at home; who is visiting and using your Wi-Fi; what's the name of your neighbor's Wi-Fi; all of these are constantly being collected and uploaded," the user wrote on April 22. The finding was later reposted on Weibo, attracting widespread concern.

Discussions about illegal data-collecting practices are common in China, but mostly center on smartphone apps, which Chinese regulators have been scrutinizing over the past year. This appears to be the first high-profile, publicly-disclosed instance of data security concerns centering on smart TVs.

Gozen Data says it has been working with smart TV makers since 2014 to embed its data collection program. Its reach appears vast-- before the scandal broke, Gozen Data's website said its data collection service covered 149 million households, 140 million smart TVs and 457 million people in China.  The problem is, almost no TV watchers have known about the practice. Despite its reach, Gozen Data is not a widely-known name within China. After the news became widespread, Gozen removed the coverage numbers from its website.

Gozenj claimed that the data it collects is used to analyze a user's likes and enable personalized advertising-- but who can really be sure in a country like China?  Gozen Data's website has taken down mentions of which TV makers partner with the company.  Skyworth, the Chinese company that manufactured the particular smart TV set found to be uploading personal data, released an announcement  that it had immediately disabled all Gozen Data services. A data partnership between Skyworth and Gozen that has been in place since 2014 has also been terminated.

The social media outrage against Gozen takes place amid a nationwide transition into smart-home lifestyle.  As Chinese companies continue to introduce home appliances that connect to the internet, concerns about data security are on the rise. On Weibo, many users shared complaints on the security risks that exist when everything (including kitchen appliances, water heaters, lighting and personal electronics) all go "smart." "It's really unnecessary for many traditional appliances to connect to the Wi-Fi," says one comment. Chinese companies eyeing a lucrative market are forging ahead anyway.

 

Bleachers - Stop Making This Hurt

Serial Killer Uncovered in El Salvador

The remains of at least 24 people have been uncovered at the home of a former police officer in El Salvador.  The graves found on his property may hold up to 40 bodies - most of them thought to be women or girls, officials say. Exhuming all the bodies could take another month.  Police believe that the discovery reveals a secret murder ring operating over a decade.  

El Salvador has one of Latin America's highest rates for femicide, the murder of a woman because of her gender.  The Central American country recorded 70 killings of women last year. There were 111 in 2019, police data showed.  Violence against women in Latin America, including femicides, worsened during the coronavirus pandemic, according to aid groups.

 Hugo Ernesto Osorio Chávez, 51, was detained in Chalchuapa for killing a 57-year-old woman and her 26-year-old daughter. The former police officer, who had previously been investigated for sex crimes, confessed to killing the pair.

But when forensic teams searched his house about 48 miles north of the capital, San Salvador, they found at least seven pits containing bodies, some of which may have been buried as long as two years ago.  The authorities said the discovery suggested the existence of a murder ring that may have lasted for a decade.  At least 10 people are facing charges.

The suspects include former policemen, former soldiers and people smugglers, said Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, director of El Salvador's national civil police, La Prensa newspaper reports.  It is believed that Osorio Chavez might have been killing people for a decade.

"He told us that he found victims on social media and sought them out, luring them with the American dream," Mr Arriaza Chicas was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.  Prosecutors say the victims may include girls aged nine, seven and two.  Dozens of people who believed their missing relatives could be among the bodies have been gathering outside the house, as forensic workers dressed in white suits removed skeletons from the ground.

 

Coronavirus Art - Seattle, Washington

 

100 Years On From Tulsa

Today is the 100th anniversary of the 1921 attack on Tulsa’s Black Wall Street.  As has been reported by many recently, it was not a "race riot," it was a massacre.  The historical record documents a sustained and murderous assault on black lives and property. This assault was met by a brave but unsuccessful armed defense of their community by some black World War I veterans and others. 

 

During the night and day of the attack, deputized whites killed nearly 300 African Americans. They looted and burned to the ground 40 square blocks of 1,265 African American homes, including hospitals, schools, and churches, and destroyed 150 businesses. White deputies and members of the National Guard arrested and detained 6,000 black Tulsans who were released only upon being vouched for by a white employer or other white citizen.  Over 9,000 African Americans were left homeless and lived in tents well into the winter of 1921.  Property damage amounted to more than $1.5 million in real estate and $750,000 in personal property (about $34 million in today's dollars).

 

It was pure envy, and a vow to put progressive, high-achieving African Americans in their place that would cause the demise of the Black Mecca many white Tulsans called “Little Africa,” and its destruction began the way much terrorism, violence, and dispossession against African Americans did during that era.  A young white woman accused a young Black man of attempted sexual assault, which gave local mobs and white men acting as police just cause to invade the unsuspecting community.

Survivors of the massacre described how even policemen had joined the mob; others said that National Guardsmen fired a machine gun into the Black community and a plane dropped sticks of dynamite. In an eyewitness account discovered in 2015, Greenwood attorney Buck Colbert Franklin described watching a dozen or more private planes drop burning balls of turpentine on Greenwood's rooftops.