Category: Uncategorized

Trump has taken his ex-executive privilege lawsuit against Bennie Thompson, the Capitol riot committee, and the National Archives to the Supreme Court. Read the petition here. He’s also requested a stay against delivery of the material from the archives to the committee Thursday, the last day of the 14 day temporary stay issued by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on December 9th.

Oakboro Town, North Carolina Police Department Chief TJ Smith has been placed on unpaid leave by town administrators for directing officers to go to a “clinic” that would issue genuine COVID-19 vax cards without actually vaccinating them, CNN reports. A letter from Oakboro Town Administrator Doug Burgess told Smith he’s off the job for two weeks without pay and on probation for six months thereafter. “To make a long story short, in retrospect, I made a mistake” Smith said in a statement to the Stanly News & Press. “After I got off the phone with that friend, I called two other officers (not in my department) and passed on information about what was described as a ‘self-vaccination’ clinic. I got one phone call, hung up and made two others. I didn’t sit back and digest the information, ruminate on it, or otherwise give it much thought. I just passed it on.”

An Arizona man is dead and another driver is hospitalized with serious injuries after a domestic altercation turned car chase turned head-on collision on I-10 in Phoenix early Thursday, Fox 10 Phoenix reports. Arizona Department of Public Safety said the incident occurred when the unidentified man in his pickup truck attempted to ram his girlfriend’s vehicle as she was fleeing eastbound from a domestic dispute at approximately 1:30 AM Thursday. The pickup truck then spun out into the westbound lane where it struck a Dodge Durango head-on.

“There was an altercation with his vehicle and his girlfriend’s vehicle, and they did have contact. We don’t know at this point if he intentionally went [the] wrong way, or if there was an accident, and he was struck by that third vehicle. The girlfriend did not suffer any physical injuries, obviously very chaotic and a traumatic event for her. The male driver of the SUV who was a victim of the wrong way, he suffered a severe injury, it does not appear to be life-threatening at this time. He was transported to a local hospital” said a DPS spokesman.

“Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA)_ for Merck’s molnupiravir for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in adults with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options authorized by the FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate. Molnupiravir is available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset” – FDA statement.

Texas man Matthew Tunstall, the accused operator of a bipartisan scam PAC scheme was still making pro-Trump robocalls to collect fraudulent donations even after he and two accomplices were indicted, CNN’s KFile reports. At least 128,000 calls were places between November 9th – the day Tunstall was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to make a false statement to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), multiple counts of wire fraud, and multiple counts of money laundering – and November 30th, per data from NoMoRobo. The calls spliced audio clips of Trump speeches into a call to donate to the fake Campaign to Support the President PAC. KFile previously traced Tunstall and pals to a left-wing PAC scam in 2017.

5 things to watch on Fox Nation this Christmas holidayhttps://t.co/6HOY3dhlbC

— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 23, 2021

Dayvon Johnson, 11, of Muskogee, Oklahoma is being honored for his heroism in two separate rescues of civilians in distress last Thursday, the Enid News and Eagle reports. First, while in school, Johnson used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge a water bottle cap that had become stuck in the throat of some dumbass kid who had opened the bottle with his mouth. Later the same day, as he was walking home, Johnson came across a burning home with an elderly disabled woman struggling to escape. He then ran up to the porch and helped her to her truck while firefighters responded. For his bravery, Johnson was named an honorary officer by the Muskogee Police Department and an honorary deputy by the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office. It is unknown if either law enforcement agency conferred the sixth grader with an honorary badge and gun.

Undated photo released on December 7th by North Korea’s KCNA state news agency, via Reuters.

The 57-year-old Madagascar secretary of state for police survived a helicopter crash and a 12-hour swim in the Indian Ocean through the night to reach the shore, the Washington Post reports.

Serge Gelle, the secretary of state for police, was one of four people in the helicopter that was surveying the wreckage of a ship loaded with migrants; 83 people were killed in that wreck over the weekend.  As the flight approached the accident site, it got hit by a strong blast of wind and lost altitude, crashing into the water.

An air force mechanic on the flight, Jimmy Laitsara, also survived the crash and was able to make it to shore.  The director of security for the prime minister was killed in the crash, and the status of the pilot was unknown. 

Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that healthcare workers in the state must get the coronavirus vaccine booster shot by February 1st or they risk losing their jobs, the Associated Press reports.

California was the first state to require healthcare workers to be vaccinated.  It now joins New Mexico as the first states requiring the group to get the vaccine booster.

Newsom said other groups that the state requires to be vaccinated–like teachers and state workers–will not immediately face a booster mandate.  He also announced a plan to provide two test kits to every student in California schools.

Former Republican Speaker of the House (and man whose alleged helium huffing gave him the voice of a Muppet) Newt Gingrich claims that there have been no verified deaths from the Omicron variant. [Quick fact check: The first American died of the Omicron variant two days ago. More than a dozen deaths have been reported in the UK.]

A Maricopa County judge has ruled that voters can determine the fate of a Republican-sponsored tax cut bill that cut the tax rate for the wealthiest Arizonans by nearly half.  The bill was passed earlier this year by the GOP-controlled legislature and signed by Republican Governor Doug Ducey.

The Associated Press reports that opponents to Senate Bill 1828 wants to have a voter referendum during the November 2022.  The judge ruled that the tax cuts–which would change the state tax rate from a progressive 2.59% to 4.5% rate to a flat 2.5% rate–cannot go into effect until voters cast ballots in the referendum.

Arizona’s constitution allows citizens to vote to approve or repeal legislation passed by the legislature and signed by the governor via referenda if the proposal gets signatures from at least 5% of the number of people who voted in the last election.  The petitioners filed the referendum with the state with 220,000 signatures, almost double the 118,000 needed to qualify.

Authorities in Hong Kong removed a 26-foot tall monument to the people who were killed by the Chinese government at Tiananmen Square in June 1989, a sign that the government in Beijing is strengthening its grip on the once-British enclave, the Washington Post reports.

Known as the “Pillar of Shame,” the statue was created by Danish artist Jens Galschiot and depicts a crush of human bodies, representing the unknown number of people killed by Chinese government officials attempting to quell a massive human rights protest.

Because of its unique status as a former British territory on mainland China, Hong Kong enjoys a modicum of freedoms not available to people outside the enclave.  Thanks to those freedoms, the statue was allowed to be one of a handful of memorials to Tiananmen Square on Chinese soil.

Unlike anyone today who would erect a statue of defeated Confederate general Robert E. Lee, the people who stocked a time capsule in 1887 that was placed under Lee’s statue in Richmond didn’t hold any special sentiment for the Confederacy.  In fact, there wasn’t a single item of Confederate material found in the box.

The capsule was uncovered as workers demolished the pedestal on which the statue stood for more than a century.  Contemporary newspaper accounts from when the time capsule was placed in the pedestal told of various pieces of Confederate memorabilia was put in the box–as well as what would be a rare find:  a photograph of the corpse of Abraham Lincoln in his coffin.

But as the Washington Post reports, when officials opened up the time capsule today, they found three waterlogged books from the late 1800s, a pamphlet or two, a ghostly photo and a British coin.  Not a single item of military garb or a “stars and bars” flag.

The Department of Justice and Balfour Beatty Communities agreed to a plea deal Wednesday which will see the company, one of the largest providers of rental units on US military bases, pay $65 million in restitution, settlement, fines and fees for keeping properties in below-satisfactory conditions and falsifying maintenance records to show otherwise, Reuters reports.

Residents of military housing owned by Balfour Beatty frequently dealt with rodent and bug infestations, mold, water leaks and other problems that the landlord should have remedied.  Instead, Balfour Beatty falsified maintenance and call records to make it appear that complaints and other problems were handled promptly.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan accepted the plea agreement Wednesday, ordering Balfour Beatty to pay a $65 million penalty.  The company will also be on probation for three years, and the judge ordered it to hire an independent compliance monitor who will report to the court and to the Department of Defense.

With federal courts repeatedly upholding the vaccine mandates put forth by the Biden Administration, state governors and employers after lower courts have issued contradictory rulings, the Supreme Court has scheduled a special session for next month to hear arguments about the vax-or-test mandates, the Washington Post reports.

The hearing, scheduled for January 7th, is unusual for the Supreme Court to take up so quickly.  The complaint is led by Republican governors, business groups and religious organizations.

Appearing on Fox News Primetime, Jim Jordan did not directly answer the question of whether or not he would cooperate with the House Capitol riot committee’s request to interview him over his interactions with Trump before and during the riot. Jordan said his staff are “reviewing” the letter and spewed some nonsense over “altered text messages” before quickly changing the subject to a general rant about the Biden Administration.

Rescuers found Madix, a black cat with yellow eyes and a lot of luck, from the rubble of a three-story office building that collapsed during the tornado that struck Mayfield, Kentucky nine days ago, the Associated Press reports.

Sonny “Hoot” Gibson, the owner of the building, was surveying the debris pile Sunday afternoon when he heard a “meow” coming from it, hoping it was Madix, his office cat that like to greet visitors.  “I don’t know how anything could’ve survived not just the tornado but the destruction that came along with it,” he said.

Madix was uninjured, but was hungry and thirsty after his eight day ordeal.  He’ll retire from his day job to be a housecat at Gibson’s home.

.@RepCawthorn, a man who professes to be a Christian, should step down from Congress and work on his marriage.

Not all marriages can be saved and there are biblical reasons for divorce, but it does not appear from this statement any genuine biblical reason is invoked.

Praying. https://t.co/OepbUZosB8

— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) December 22, 2021

Cook Political Report’s resident redistricting expert Dave “I’ve Seen Enough” Wasserman says the 2023 US House reapportionment is actually more or less a wash. “On the current trajectory, there will actually be a few *more* Biden-won congressional districts after redistricting than there are now (224/435)” says Wasserman in a Twitter thread analyzing the state of play.

Wasserman says that with aggressive gerrymandering in both blue and red states increasing the number of 2020 Biden +5 seats from 138 to 144 and Trump +5 seats from 106 to 117, the real casualty is “highly competitive” seats, down to 19 from 34 in the prior decade. “The biggest threat to Dems’ House majority isn’t redistricting; it’s Biden’s approval rating” says Wasserman.

Like we’ve said here before, it’s ridiculous to expect Dem-run states to just unilaterally disarm on Gerrymandering when – for example – Utah is splitting Salt Lake City into four different districts to make their state 4R and 0D. More than enough states have these lame bipartisan redistricting commissions that either leave everything static or worse – get ignored by GOP-run legislatures. Of course we’d rather see every state use real bipartisan redistricting commissions with the absolute final word than have New York sharpie out five GOP seats in retaliation.

Overall outlook: Generic ballot polls are looking a little less shitty lately for Dems, a few even show them in the black. Just on Wednesday a Zogby survey put Dems ahead of the GOP 44 to 40 while a YouGov Economist poll showed Dems leading 43 to 36. In the last Midterm in 2018 an 8.4% national popular vote win by Dems mapped to a 41 seat gain in the House – a result that a lot of pollsters called mostly accurately beforehand (the RCP average was +7.3 Dems). All said there are not a whole lot of things that need to go right for the Dems to hang on to the House. That’s not to say it’ll be easy, but the right combo of MAGA misbehavior (guaranteed, but it’s a question of severity) turning off suburban voters and Biden’s approval improving (tougher given the complete shitshow America finds itself in beyond his control) and it juuuuuust miiiiight work out.