Possible depiction of suspects

Cops in the town of Lippstadt, Germany are looking for witnesses after at least two Lego-loving assholes broke into a toy store through the walls and stole a roughly a hundred construction sets made by the iconic Danish brand, the AP reports. The Lego bricks themselves were taken while the boxes were left behind, which may or may not have left a trail of clues for investigators to step on.

Few conservatives are willing to say this out loud, but it’s true. History shows the far more lethal threat to America is tyranny and communism.

Freedom is worth protecting at all costs. Our founders pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to defend liberty. https://t.co/RyDwAAmTsD

— Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) November 30, 2021

A report in the Guardian about Trump desperately making phone calls to his lieutenants in the “war room” in the Willard Hotel on January 6th walks right up to the line of saying essentially “Trump knew Pence was not going to play along with stopping the electoral vote count, so in order to physically prevent the session from happening he either ordered the attack on Congress or he let it happen”. The headline “Trump called aides hours before Capitol riot to discuss how to stop Biden victory” clearly implies as such and – while not surprising in the least – is a fairly explosive assertion of his intent to simply prevent Congress from completing their constitutionally required mandate and buy more time to figure out alternative means to remain in power.

“It was not clear whether Trump discussed on the call about the prospect of stopping Biden’s certification by any means if Pence refused to insert himself into the process, but the former president is said to have enjoyed watching the insurrection unfold from the dining room. But the fact that Trump considered ways to stop the joint session may help to explain why he was so reluctant to call off the rioters and why Republican senator Ben Sasse told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt that he heard Trump seemed ‘delighted’ about the attack” writes the Guardian’s Hugo Lowell, summarizing the implications of his report – the leak from which it came may have been timed to underscore to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals the importance of the Capitol riot select committee’s case for obtaining Trump’s internal communications from that day.

Eric Zemmour, a xenophobic far-right TV host officially announced his campaign for the French presidency on Tuesday, the New York Times reports. Zemmour, a Trump wannabe who uses all the same tropes about a nation in decline because of Muslim immigrants and identity politics, has twice been charged and convicted of inciting racial or religious hatred with his comments. Despite being the son of Sephardic Jewish immigrants from Algeria himself, Zemmour is an apologist for the World War II Vichy regime, having published a book in 2014 which sought to exonerate Philippe Pétain and his collaborators for the deportation of French Jews to Holocaust death camps in Nazi Germany.

“Three federal appeals judges are set to hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could determine whether Jan. 6 investigators can piece together Donald Trump’s mindset and movements as a mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol. D.C. Circuit Judges Ketanji Brown Jackson, Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins are wading into a dispute over Trump’s lawsuit against the Jan. 6 select committee and the National Archives, the custodian of his White House records. House investigators are attempting to obtain a voluminous batch of documents concerning Trump’s meetings, call records and decisions in the weeks preceding the riot – documents they say are essential both to understanding how Trump tried to subvert the 2020 election and to preventing new threats to the transfer of power” – Politico.

Reuters:  “The head of drugmaker Moderna said COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus as they have been against the Delta variant.

“‘There is no world, I think, where (the effectiveness) is the same level . . . we had with Delta,’ Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel told the Financial Times in an interview. “I think it’s going to be a material drop. I just don’t know how much because we need to wait for the data. But all the scientists I’ve talked to . . . are like ‘this is not going to be good”.'”

Exploiting the tragedy of people who became victims of criminal pseudo-medical experiments in Auschwitz in a debate about vaccines, pandemic and people who fight for saving human lives is shameful. It is disrespectful to victims & a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decline.

— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) November 30, 2021

Associated Press:  “Actor Matthew McConaughey isn’t running for Texas governor after months of publicly flirting with the idea of becoming the latest celebrity candidate. The Academy Award winner said in a video posted Sunday night that political leadership was not a route he was choosing to take ‘at this moment.’ McConaughey, 52, said he would instead focus on supporting businesses and foundations that create pathways for others to succeed.

“The Texas governor’s race is already shaping up to be one of the nation’s highest-profile contests in 2022. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is seeking a third term and Democrat Beto O’Rourke, coming off failed bids for the U.S. Senate and president, announced month that he was getting in the race. The ‘Dazed and Confused’ and ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ star had never said what party — if any — he would run under while acknowledging that he was mulling a run for governor in his home state. McConaughey had also shied away from going into policy specifics and positions on contentious issues in Texas.

“’Politicians? The good ones can help us to get to where we need to go, yeah,’ McConaughey said in the video posted to Twitter. ‘But let’s be clear, they can’t do anything for us unless we choose to do for ourselves.'”

“I’m deeply concerned about the break-in & vandalization of my Dearborn office today. Our door & windows were smashed & memorabilia – especially John’s items – was broken. Thankfully, my staff & I are safe & no one was hurt, but we must also recognize the impact attacks like this one & constant threats have had on my staff & all Congressional staff.

“This needs to stop now. The motive for today’s incident is unclear, but what I can tell you is that the disrespect, violence, & division need to end in this country. We need to practice civility and kindness, not divisiveness and anger. My office has been receiving threats for months & we take them very seriously. This vandalization really hits home. Regardless of if your views differ from mine or from your neighbor’s, we need to learn to hear each other out & work together to solve the issues facing our nation.

“Violence & vandalism aren’t the answer. I’m grateful for the Dearborn Police & United States Capitol Police who keep us safe. We are working with them to identify who is responsible & hold them accountable. In the meantime, please be safe & please spread a little kindness.” –Democratic Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell via Twitter

CNN:  “With the stroke of midnight, Barbados cut its last remaining bonds to the British monarchy after nearly 400 years. In a vibrant celebratory ceremony on Monday evening, the Caribbean island removed Queen Elizabeth II as head of state and inaugurated its first-ever President. Official festivities marking the island’s historic transition from realm to republic took place in National Heroes Square in the heart of the capital of Bridgetown. Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, had come from London for the occasion and watched as the Royal Standard flag was lowered from the flagpole and the new Presidential Standard raised in its place.

“Moments later, the Queen’s own former representative, Governor-General Sandra Mason — a well-respected 73-year-old former jurist — was sworn in as President by the Chief Justice. It was exactly 55 years to the day since Barbados declared independence from Britain. After taking in a 21-gun salute to mark the historic switch, Mason later bestowed the country’s highest-ranking honor, the Order of Freedom, upon the Prince of Wales — a move designed to highlight the continued close relationship between Barbados and the United Kingdom.

“Barbados’s decision marks the first time in nearly three decades that a realm has opted to remove the British monarch as head of state. The last nation to do so was the island of Mauritius in 1992. Like that country, Barbados intends to remain part of the Commonwealth — a 54-member organization of mostly former British territories designed to foster international cooperation and trade. Prince Charles, who had arrived late on Sunday as Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s guest of honor, told the people of Barbados it was “important” to him to witness the ceremonial changeover.”

“Y’know, we’ve had this pandemic for two years, Laura,” Arkansas Republican Senator (and animated Q-tip) Tom Cotton says.  “I don’t remember inflation or supply chain shortages or labor shortages that we’ve seen this year in the first year of the pandemic.  What changed?  Joe Biden and the Democrats took power in January.”

Cotton doesn’t remember the numerous reports of shortages at stores during the beginning of the pandemic?  Or the stories of hospital staff having to reuse masks because there were no fresh ones?  Oh, and Tommy, inflation is due to a shortage of products.   And the labor shortage is actually a GOOD thing because it means higher wages and worker independence.  You don’t remember those things in the first year of the pandemic because Trump tanked the economy to the tune of negative gas prices and 20 million laid off in one month.

ABC News:  “An actor charged with storming the U.S. Capitol as a member of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group nearly talked his way into remaining in jail after a judge heard on Monday that the Florida man was challenging the court’s authority over him. A prosecutor said he wasn’t planning to seek pretrial detention for James Beeks of Orlando, Florida, until learning in court that the actor didn’t accept the court’s jurisdiction over him.

“Beeks, who has performed in a traveling production of the musical ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and as a Michael Jackson impersonator, initially rejected being represented by an attorney and made comments that the judge called ‘gobbledygook.’ ‘A defendant who rejects the jurisdiction of the court, rejects being subject to the laws of the United States, rejects the rule of law is not typically released pretrial because that person cannot be trusted to comply with the conditions of pretrial release,” Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell warned Beeks during a hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C.

“The production company that employs Beeks said he recently informed the company that he is a ‘sovereign citizen,’ according to prosecutors. During Monday’s hearing, Beeks denied being part of the ‘sovereign citizen’ extremist movement, which believes the U.S. government is illegitimate. His chances of being released from jail seemed to wane as he offered answers that the judge said she couldn’t understand. Then another lawyer, Michelle Peterson, intervened for Beeks. Beeks then let Petersen represent him and was ordered released from jail after agreeing to follow the court-imposed conditions of release, such as agreeing to GPS monitoring, not possessing a gun and not having any contact with members of the Oath Keepers.”

“I don’t think anybody has hurt, has hurt the credibility of the CDC, has hurt the credibility of doctors more than Dr. Fauci because throughout this pandemic, he has been dishonest, he’s been political, he’s been partisan and, and the American people know it, and, and, and, the, the, why….” says Senator Ted Cruz (R-Quintana Roo).

Note:  Dr. Anthony Fauci is the American physician-scientist and immunologist serving as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President.  Dr. Fauci has no connection to the CDC.

“Today, CDC is strengthening its recommendation on booster doses for individuals who are 18 years and older. Everyone ages 18 and older should get a booster shot either when they are 6 months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna series or 2 months after their initial J&J vaccine.

“The recent emergence of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) further emphasizes the importance of vaccination, boosters, and prevention efforts needed to protect against COVID-19. Early data from South Africa suggest increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, and scientists in the United States and around the world are urgently examining vaccine effectiveness related to this variant. I strongly encourage the 47 million adults who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated as soon as possible and to vaccinate the children and teens in their families as well because strong immunity will likely prevent serious illness. I also want to encourage people to get a COVID-19 test if they are sick. Increased testing will help us identify Omicron quickly.

“And finally, to stop the spread of COVID-19 we need to follow the prevention strategies we know work.”  —press release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“This comes within the context of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, which had nothing whatsoever to do with race, but for more than a year, our national media have framed it as some sort of referendum on American race relations and white supremacy,” Fox News host (and person who always leaves his credit card at home when going out on a group lunch, but he’ll hit ya back later) Tucker Carlson declares.  “They made it all about race.  It’s possible that Daryl Brooks bought into the propaganda.  It seems to be all over his Facebook account.  So the media may be responsible for these murders, having convinced this man and certainly a lot of other people in the country that the Kyle Rittenhouse case was about race.  They had a role in this, in other words.”

Pay attention to how Carlson craftily takes something that he cannot prove or apparently doesn’t have evidence of–the claim that Daryl Brooks drove his vehicle into the Waukesha holiday parade because of political reasons–into a full-blown claim that the media “may be responsible for” those killed… even though there’s no evidence of a that motive at all. 

Miami Herald: “The Republican-controlled Florida House on Monday released its first set of redistricting maps, and they were immediately criticized by elections experts for violating state redistricting rules and derided by Democrats as ‘a fully-baked cake’ that lacked transparency. The maps, which will be discussed in workshops Thursday of the House legislative and congressional redistricting subcommittees, were drawn by staff based on the Fair District standards of the Florida Constitution and court precedent, said House Redistricting Chair Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, in a memo to House members.

“But House Democrats criticized the process, saying that there has been little public input with no public hearings as the maps were developed by staff behind closed doors. ‘What we’re seeing is basically a product that is virtually done,’ said Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Hollywood. ‘It does show you how much the lack of transparency in this process, when basically a fully-baked cake comes out of the oven and no one has any idea how we got there — and certainly the public has no idea. A lot of this work is going to be done behind closed doors.’

Associated Press:  “Four children, including an infant, and their grandmother were found shot to death in a Southern California home and the children’s father was arrested on suspicion of killing them, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. The victims were found Sunday night in a home in the city of Lancaster in the high desert Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles.

“The children’s mother discovered the bodies and called 911, Lt. Brandon Dean told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Three houses away, Grace Beltran and her son Gerard were awakened by first responders’ flashing lights. Grace Beltran said a woman was running back and forth in their front yard, screaming, ‘My babies are gone! They’re all dead!’ Within a few minutes of the mother arriving home, the children’s father, Germarcus David, 29, turned himself in to deputies at the Lancaster sheriff’s station, Dean said.

“David was arrested after being interviewed by investigators and was held in lieu of $2 million bail. It was not immediately known if David had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. He was expected to make an initial appearance at the Antelope Valley Courthouse on Tuesday. The grandmother, a girl and three boys suffered gunshot wounds to the upper torso and paramedics pronounced all of the victims dead at the scene. Authorities did not identify them but Waki Jones, who worked with the family through his Lancaster daycare service, told the Los Angeles Times that the two eldest children were Amaya, 12, and Demarcus, 9.”

“And so in that moment what you see on Dr. Fauci–this is what people say to me–he doesn’t represent science to them,” Fox News contributor (and woman trying to be the sober version of Jeanine Pirro) Lara Logan says.  “He represents Josef Mengele.  Dr. Joseph Mengele, the Nazi doctor who did experiments on Jews during the Second World War in the concentration camps and I am talking about people all across the world are saying this.”

Boston Globe:  “A former Providence school principal was caught working in two different schools — in two different states — at once, clocking in to his job in Providence in person before logging in to a Washington, D.C., school virtually. Michael Redmond, who was hired as E-Cubed Academy’s new principal in July 2020, admitted to continuing to work virtually as the assistant principal at the Stephen E. Kramer Middle School in Washington, D.C., for 17 weeks after he started working full-time for Providence Public Schools.

“According to a violation notice issued by the District of Columbia’s Board of Ethics and Government Accountability earlier this month, Redmond admitted to working on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. at Providence Public Schools while also working weekdays from 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. for D.C. Public Schools. Redmond, who resigned from D.C. Public Schools on Nov. 30, 2020, earned approximately $41,000 in District government wages during those 17 weeks — an annual salary of $125,434 — on top of the $120,720 annual salary he was drawing as the principal of E-Cubed Academy.

“‘DCPS was alerted to this concern in the fall of 2020. Consistent with our protocols, we immediately began an investigation and reported the allegation to D.C.’s Board of Ethics and Government Accountability for investigation,’ said Enrique Gutierrez, a spokesman for the D.C. public schools district. According to the notice, Redmond violated four counts of the District of Columbia’s Code of Conduct, including “receiving compensation for [outside] teaching activities during regular working hours, without using annual leave, compensatory leave, exempt time off, or leave without pay.”

CNN:  “The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection is poised to vote on a criminal contempt of Congress referral for former top Department of Justice official, Jeffrey Clark, the panel announced Monday. The committee plans to meet Wednesday night to vote on a report recommending that the full House refer Clark to the Justice Department on criminal contempt charges. A House vote has not yet been scheduled.

“If the committee moves to hold Clark in contempt, he would become the second person to potentially face criminal charges for refusing to provide critical information to investigators under subpoena. Trump ally Steve Bannon is currently awaiting trial for a misdemeanor criminal contempt charge after he refused to show up for a deposition or provide documents to the committee, citing executive privilege claims made by former President Donald Trump.

“As a sympathizer to election fraud conspiracy theories, Clark became Trump’s most useful asset inside the Justice Department in the days before January 6. Clark pushed to pursue unfounded claims of voter fraud in the weeks after the November election. And, according to officials who interacted with Clark, he was in touch with Trump repeatedly. Kenneth Klukowski, former senior counsel to Clark, also has been subpoenaed by the committee.”