“This letter follows up on the Committee’s July 14, 2021, request to Cyber Ninjas for documents related to the company’s participation in an ‘audit’ of ballots cast in Maricopa County, Arizona, in the 2020 election. Cyber Ninjas has refused to comply with the Committee’s requests and instead raised a litany of unjustified objections in an apparent effort to avoid producing documents that the Committee needs to investigate the company’s conduct. We write today to advise you to end your obstruction immediately and comply with the Committee’s requests. Our July 14, 2021, letter detailed the Committee’s concerns about your company’s role in the highly unusual and dubious audit taking place in Maricopa County. Our concerns stem from Cyber Ninjas’ apparent lack of experience in conducting election-related audits, constant reports that the company engaged in sloppy and insecure audit practices that compromised the integrity of ballots and voting equipment, and evidence that you and several individuals funding the audit have not displayed impartiality, but rather sought to promote the ‘big lie’ of debunked election fraud allegations in the November 2020 presidential election. In light of these serious concerns, the Committee requested documents and communications related to Cyber Ninjas’ audit procedures, funding sources, and related issues.”

“These documents were due on July 28, 2021. The Committee accommodated Cyber Ninjas’ request to extend the deadline until August 9, 2021. Rather than producing the requested documents, Cyber Ninjas sent a letter objecting to all nine of the Committee’s requests. Cyber Ninjas also sent 336 pages of material that was already publicly available, as noted in the company’s response letter, and that failed to address the Committee’s serious concerns… As a further discretionary accommodation to Cyber Ninjas, the Committee will grant one additional extension, until August 27, 2021, to produce responsive documents voluntarily. If your company, which purports to be acting in a lawful manner pursuing the public interest, continues to obstruct the Committee’s investigation, the Committee will be forced to consider other steps to obtain compliance” – Letter from House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney to CyberNinjas Chief Executive Dipshit Doug “There might be Bamboo in there” Logan.

“The leader of the far-right Proud Boys – Henry ‘Enrique’ Tarrio – was sentenced Monday to 155 days in jail after admitting that he burned a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a historic black church during a pro-Trump demonstration in December” reports NBC’s Geoff Bennett.

In the largest expansion of voting rights in the state since 1971, a three-judge panel ruled in a 2-1 vote to grant voting rights to convicted criminals who are out of prison but still under supervised release, Carolina Public Press reports.

The ruling extends voting rights to at least 55,000 North Carolinians, the largest such expansion since 1971 when the voting age was dropped from 21 years old to 17.  It is also thought to be the largest expansion for Black people in the state since the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“The court as of today is granting plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction that prohibits the state defendants from refusing to register to vote any person on community supervision, whether a state felony conviction or a federal conviction,” North Carolina District Judge Lisa Bell said.

In a release announcing that the officer who shot domestic terrorist Ashli Babbitt would not face disciplinary action, the US Capitol Police noted that the officer’s actions “potentially saved Members and staff from serious injury and possible death.”

Ignoring orders to stop, Babbitt attempted crawl through a broken window in a set of doors that had been barricaded by officers trying to defend the Speaker’s Lobby in the Capitol.  Members were exiting into the Lobby as insurrectionists attacked the complex.  The officer in question, who is not publicly named due to threats to him and his family, shot Babbitt as she tried to breach the broken window.

“The actions of the officer in this case potentially saved Members and staff from serious injury and possible death from a large crowd of rioters who forced their way into the U.S. Capitol and to the House Chamber where Members and staff were steps away,” the statement reads.  “USCP Officers had barricaded the Speaker’s Lobby with furniture before a rioter shattered the glass door. If the doors were breached, the rioters would have immediate access to the House Chambers. The officer’s actions were consistent with the officer’s training and USCP policies and procedures.”

“Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) announced that her team is planning to hold a ‘rally & voter registration drive’ with right-wing social media personality Scott Presler this Wednesday. Presler is a conspiracy theorist who has used his social media presence to promote the QAnon conspiracy theory in dozens of posts. Stefanik’s partnership with Presler is yet another example of Republicans embracing the violence-linked QAnon conspiracy theory and its promoters. Presler works for the Republican group Rise PAC. Right-wing media outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News have celebrated his work for Republicans in recent years. Stefanik, the third-ranked Republican in the House, announced on August 18 that ‘American Patriot @ScottPresler will be joining #TeamElise’ and the Saratoga County Republican Committee of New York ‘for a rally and voter registration drive’ on August 25 and thanked him for his work” Media Matters reports.

JoeMyGod, editor of his eponymous site and National Zero’s inspiring forerunner in darkly comic center-left news aggregators, describes Pressler as a “homocon”.

https://twitter.com/MikeCollinsGA/status/1429786854287679493

The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake examines the boos at Trump’s Saturday night Alabama rally, first when Mo Brooks, desperate for MAGA freaks to have faith in elections again now the he’s running for Senate, and Trump himself getting booed for trying to push his fans to get vaxxed, noting the two assholes were just reaping the mania they themselves had helped sown, concluding:

“Getting those people on board with vaccinations is now much more difficult, because they have staked out their position – just as it will be very difficult to get people off the election lies now that they’ve been told ad nauseam. If your allies are telling people their democracy has been stolen from them or that an injection might be dangerous or unnecessary, it takes effort to combat that and counteract it. That effort has been almost wholly absent from members of Trump’s party. They have pretended they cannot do much besides give their own thumbs-up to the vaccine, even as colleagues like Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) spew misinformation. They’ve pointed to their own more-circumspect comments about supposed election irregularities, while doing almost nothing to address or combat claims by Trump and his allies that go significantly further.”

“They are clearly terrified of saying anything that would create a rift in their party. They want to win elections and don’t need dissension. But Saturday night demonstrated how difficult it will be to combat the conspiracy theories that have infected the Republican Party’s base – particularly if Trump, who minds his base relentlessly, responds to the rebuke by backing away from vaccines. These conspiracy theories need to be inoculated against early on, before the virus can take hold. But sometimes the will to do that, it seems, just isn’t there.”

“Robert Mueller Informant and perjurer Steve Bannon doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. Steve didn’t make money on Wall Street nor did he make money in Hollywood. He’s a grifter – a fat ugly inarticulate poorly groomed alcoholic With delusions of grandeur. He has never elected anybody to any public office in his life most particularly not Donald Trump who is his own man in implemented his own strategy. Despite being an informant for Robert Mueller they indicted him anyway and he will soon be recharged in New York on new charges. You’ll see me as his trial in the front row And I will not leave until he is convicted and jailed” – Roger Stone via Telegram.

Stone also included a link to an article by the Palmer Report of all places in the post.

The Defense Department will issue guidance mandating Coronavirus vaccines for all members of the military now that the Pfizer vax has been approved by the FDA, the AP reports.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he spent Saturday briefing Donald Trump on his efforts to review Wisconsin’s presidential election – two months after the former president said Vos and other Republican leaders weren’t doing enough on that front. Vos, of Rochester, said he was invited to travel by private plane with Trump to his rally in Alabama. In a statement, Vos said he provided Trump with ‘details about our robust efforts in Wisconsin to restore full integrity and trust in elections.’ The talk with Trump comes at a politically difficult time for Vos, who faces conflicting pressures over how to review an election that both election officials and courts have determined Joe Biden narrowly won.”

“Just before Wisconsin’s annual Republican convention in June, Trump issued a statement accusing Vos and other GOP leaders of ‘working hard to cover up election corruption.’ ‘Don’t fall for their lies! These REPUBLICAN ‘leaders’ need to step up and support the people who elected them by providing them a full forensic investigation. If they don’t, I have little doubt that they will be primaried and quickly run out of office,’ Trump said in his statement. Vos responded by saying Trump was misinformed. ‘While our attempts to make common sense election reforms to close loopholes and standardize procedures were vetoed by Governor Evers, we have doubled down on our top-to-bottom investigation by Special Counsel Justice Michael Gableman. We will do whatever it takes to help Justice Gableman uncover reports of systematic fraud in our forensic audit,’ Vos said in his statement. However, Vos has not provided specifics on what he wants to do.”

“Secretary of State John Thurston’s press secretary attended Mike Lindell’s election-fraud symposium last week in South Dakota at state expense. Press secretary Chris Powell said Friday that he went because a number of people asked Thurston’s office to attend the event. But Thurston’s Republican challenger, Rep. Mark Lowery of Maumelle, said he doesn’t believe state resources should have been used to attend the symposium” Arkansas Online reports.

“Lindell, founder and chief executive officer of My Pillow Inc., has promoted former President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election that Trump lost to President Joe BidenChris Powell said in a written statement that he attended the symposium in Sioux Falls, SD, from Aug. 10-12 because in the weeks and months leading up to the event, ‘the Secretary had numerous concerned constituents reach out and request that our office attend the conference.’ ‘Mike Lindell’s organization invited elected officials, media and cybersecurity professionals from all states to attend,’ Powell said in response to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s query about who invited him to the symposium. Asked what he learned at the symposium, Powell said, ‘A mix of information was presented demonstrating different types of data analysis on the 2020 elections as well as historical election analysis.’ Asked whether Thurston agrees with Lindell’s claims that the 2020 election was rigged, Powell said that election processes and procedures vary from state to state, ‘therefore the Secretary feels that it would be inappropriate for him to comment on elections results of other states.'”

“Approval of President Joe Biden’s job performance has dropped over the past month, particularly his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. As the number of COVID-19 cases across the country rises, approval of Biden’s handling of the pandemic is waning.”

“Fifty-four percent approve of his handling of COVID-19, while 45% disapprove. Last month, 66% approved of Biden’s handling of the pandemic. Overall, 54% percent of Americans approve of how Biden is handling his job in general, and 46% disapprove. In July, 59% had a positive view of his job performance, and 41% had a negative view. The public is evenly divided over Biden’s handling of the economy with 49% approving and 49% disapproving” – AP.

Washington Post: “Federal regulators Monday granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine – a milestone that could help increase inoculation rates and spark a wave of vaccine mandates by employers and universities amid a surge of new cases and hospitalizations fueled by the ferocious delta variant, according to two individuals with direct knowledge of the decision. The Food and Drug Administration action marks the first licensing of a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has swept the United States in repeated and punishing waves since early 2020, exhausting nursing staffs, filling intensive care units and raising fears among the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. Critics for weeks had demanded that the FDA move faster on approving the vaccine, arguing that the millions of inoculations administered since late last year under an emergency authorization demonstrated the shots’ safety and effectiveness. But even as the FDA redoubled its efforts, increasing staff and computer resources dedicated to the review, the agency insisted on six months’ follow-up data for people enrolled in the pivotal clinical trial.”

“Protesters have stormed the London headquarters of ITN, the company which produces ITV News and Channel 4 News. Footage broadcast to social media showed police lined up to block off the entrance to the building on Gray’s Inn Road. But large numbers of demonstrators, apparently gathered as part of a demonstration against coronavirus vaccine passports, already appear to be inside the building. In one clip, a demonstrator could be heard shouting: ‘They’re coming for our children.’ ‘Officers are on scene engaging with building security and removing those who have gained entry,’ the Metropolitan Police said” – The Independent.

Note: These right wing Limey wankers are not “Make America Great Again” terrorists, but “Make Albion Great Again” terrorists. “Make Anglia Great Again” is an acceptable alternative.

"187" is slang for murder. This graffiti can be seen at antifa's autonomous zone currently in downtown Portland near the Salmon Street Fountain. pic.twitter.com/H0d3RNDKC5

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) August 23, 2021

52% of respondents to a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted August 18th through the 20th who said they’re the parents of school-aged children said no when asked if the vaccine should be required for eligible children age 12 and over, while 48% said yes. By 2020 vote the sample broke down to 77% of Biden voters yes, 23% no, and Trump voters 18% yes, 82% no. Read more here.

AP: “At least 22 people were killed and rescue crews searched desperately Sunday amid shattered homes and tangled debris for dozens of people still missing after record-breaking rain sent floodwaters surging through Middle Tennessee. Saturday’s flooding in rural areas took out roads, cellphone towers and telephone lines, leaving families uncertain about whether their loved ones survived the unprecedented deluge. Emergency workers were searching door to door, said Kristi Brown, a coordinator for health and safety supervisor with Humphreys County Schools. Many of the missing live in the neighborhoods where the water rose the fastest, said Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis, who confirmed the 22 fatalities in his county. The names of the missing were on a board in the county’s emergency center and listed on a city department’s Facebook page.”

“‘I would expect, given the number of fatalities, that we’re going to see mostly recovery efforts at this point rather than rescue efforts,’ Tennessee Emergency Management Director Patrick Sheehan said. The dead included twin babies who were swept from their father’s arms, according to surviving family members, and a foreman at county music star Loretta Lynn’s ranch. The sheriff of the county of about 18,000 people some 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Nashville said he lost one of his best friends. Up to 17 inches (43 centimeters) of rain fell in Humphreys County in less than 24 hours Saturday, shattering the Tennessee record for one-day rainfall by more than 3 inches (8 centimeters), the National Weather Service said.”

Rachel Maddow, the anchor of MSNBC’s top show, has signed a multi-year contract extension with the cable network, ending speculation that she was going to leave to pursue independent projects, the New York Times reports.

With her contract expiring next year, Maddow was reportedly highly pursued by other networks and media outlets.  Her hesitation to stay at MSNBC was rooted in her desire to pursue podcasting and streaming projects that would fit longer formats.

The 48-year-old Maddow got her primetime slot in 2008.  Her show is MSNBC’s top ratings draw on the network, and it was the number one show in all cable frequently during the 2020 election season.  Maddow’s new contract will allow her to pursue independent projects within the NBCUniversal networks.

“Sen. Ron Johnson called out the Biden administration’s health agencies Sunday for shortcutting the usual safety reviews in a rush to give final approval to COVID-19 vaccines, including failing to account for thousands of deaths and adverse reactions among people worldwide who got the shots. In a letter to the administration’s top health officials, the Wisconsin Republican warned against the Food and Drug Administration’s pending approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected Monday. He said the fast-track decision appeared more political than scientific since it skipped the usual formal advisory committee meeting and did not fully account for the reports of deaths and disabilities suffered by people after being vaccinated.”

“‘I see no need to rush the FDA approval process for any of the three COVID-19 vaccines. Expediting the process appears to only serve the political purpose of imposing and enforcing vaccine mandates,’ Mr. Johnson wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times. Indeed, the Biden administration appeared eager to use the approval to pursue mandates. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told ‘Fox News Sunday’ that moving the Pfizer vaccine from ’emergency’ to ‘full approval’ would make mandates more appealing. ‘There are universities and businesses that have been considering putting in vaccine requirements in order to create a safer, a workplace, a learning environment,’ he said” reports The Washington Times.

Which is all good and great, but you know, it wouldn’t be RonAnon if an instance of him taking a contradictory stance weren’t immediately fucking available with a simple Google search.

Two opposing groups of Civil War II buffs performed a grippingly realistic preeneactment of the future domestic conflict in Portland, Oregon on Sunday. The cosplayers, representing the opposing sides that have yet to be formally declared and thus named in the destructive conflict that begins circa 2028, used non-lethal weaponry but nevertheless showed an intense dedication to their craft and role-played to an extreme degree all in the name of future historical authenticity.