The former Tennessee health official who was fired for promoting coronavirus vaccines received a dog muzzle from an anonymous sender as a veiled threat in the days before she was fired for efforts to get children vaccinated, CNN reports.

The week before she was fired, Dr. Michelle Fiscus, a pediatrician who served as Tennessee’s medical director of vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization, received a package containing a dog muzzle.  The shipping slip contained no message and it did not identify the purchaser.  Fiscus called Amazon to find out who sent it, but the company declined to identify the buyer.  Fiscus reported the delivery to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

“At first, I thought that was a joke and contacted a few friends, and then, when no one claimed it, I realized that that was something that was sent to me as some kind of a message,” Fiscus told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.  She said she told her husband, “They obviously didn’t know me because they sent me a size three which is for beagles and I’m obviously a pit bull, which requires a size six.”

“Black Lives Matter condemns the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans, and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo. This cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government, is at the heart of Cuba’s current crisis… The people of Cuba are being punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination. United States leaders have tried to crush this Revolution for decades. Instead of international amity, respect, and goodwill, the U.S. government has only instigated suffering for the country’s 11 million people – of which 4 million are Black and Brown. Cuba has historically demonstrated solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent, from protecting Black revolutionaries like Assata Shakur through granting her asylum, to supporting Black liberation struggles in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and South Africa. Now, we look to President Biden to end the embargo, something Barack Obama called for in 2016. This embargo is a blatant human rights violation and it must come to an end” – Black Lives Matter via Instagram.

This is fucking stupid. Whatever damage you think the US embargo is causing to the Cuban people – and there’s plenty of room to have that argument – at the end of the day it’s their shitty, incompetent authoritarian government that brought it upon them. They only “historically demonstrated solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent” and supported “Black liberation struggles” because that was how the Soviets and Cubans conducted proxy wars against the then-disintegrating European colonial empires in the 60s and 70s. Angolans and Mozambicans got their independence, great, but don’t act like it was out of simple altruism that Cuba pitched in. The regime there doesn’t deserve anything resembling praise at all. Who gives a shit about their healthcare system? Why focus on the good they’ve done when it’s far outweighed by the bad?

DOJ press release: “A Palm Beach County resident has pled guilty to one count of hiring someone to murder a woman in her West Palm Beach home During a hearing yesterday in federal district court in Ft. Lauderdale, 51-year-old Daniel Slater admitted that his original plan was to kill not only the woman, but also her husband. From May to June 2020, Slater met with an associate who agreed to commit the murders. They discussed logistics, including bringing in a third person to assist. At some point during their discussions, Slater and his associate drove by the victim’s home, during which Slater instructed his associate on how to carry out the murders when the time came.”

“For instance, Slater pointed out which of the home’s windows to shoot through to kill the couple. Slater also instructed his associate to spray-paint the house to make it appear as if members of the Black Lives Matter movement had committed the crime. Slater agreed that as payment for the murders, he would forgive a debt that his associate owed him. Slater also agreed to pay the fees of the third person they talked about bringing in to help. In the end, the planned murders did not occur, and the intended victims suffered no physical harm.”

“Nancy Pelosi is a known nut job. Her enraged quotes that she was afraid that I would use nuclear weapons is just more of the same. In fact, I was the one that got us out of wars, not into wars. And I was the one who got respect for our Country again, not like now when the leaders of the entire World are laughing at us. They didn’t laugh when I was there!” – Trump Statement.

Emperor Fat-fuck-itus is of course responding to this preview of “I Alone Can Fix It” in the Washington Post which detailed a conversation between Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley and Pelosi: “After the failed insurrection on Jan. 6, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called Milley to ask for his guarantee that Trump would not be able to launch a nuclear strike and start a war. ‘This guy’s crazy,’ Pelosi said of Trump in what the book reported was mostly a one-way phone call. ‘He’s dangerous. He’s a maniac.’ Once again, Milley sought to reassure: ‘Ma’am, I guarantee you that we have checks and balances in the system,’ he told Pelosi.”

The Guardian: “Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a ‘mentally unstable’ Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents. The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present. They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow’s strategic objectives, among them ‘social turmoil’ in the US and a weakening of the American president’s negotiating position. Russia’s three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin’s signature.”

“By this point Trump was the frontrunner in the Republican party’s nomination race. A report prepared by Putin’s expert department recommended Moscow use ‘all possible force’ to ensure a Trump victory. Western intelligence agencies are understood to have been aware of the documents for some months and to have carefully examined them. The papers, seen by the Guardian, seem to represent a serious and highly unusual leak from within the Kremlin. The Guardian has shown the documents to independent experts who say they appear to be genuine. Incidental details come across as accurate. The overall tone and thrust is said to be consistent with Kremlin thinking.”

“Here’s some of what happened while the world was distracted by the coronavirus: Hungary banned the public depiction of homosexuality. China shut Hong Kong’s last pro-democracy newspaper. Brazil’s government extolled dictatorship. And Belarus hijacked a passenger plane to arrest a journalist. COVID-19 has absorbed the world’s energies and isolated countries from one another, which may have accelerated the creep of authoritarianism and extremism across the globe, some researchers and activists believe. ‘COVID is a dictator’s dream opportunity,’ said Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American human rights lawyer who has been indicted on charges including treason in the ostensibly democratic southeast Asian nation, where Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power for more than three decades.”

“Human Rights Watch accuses Cambodia’s government of using the pandemic as cover to imprison political opponents without due process. Scores have been indicted and face mass trials. When it comes to government opposition, ‘the fear of COVID, on its own and as a political weapon, has substantially restricted mobility for a gathering or movement to take shape,’ Seng said. The biggest global public health emergency in a century has handed power to government authorities and restricted life for billions of people. Luke Cooper, a London School of Economics researcher and author of the book ‘Authoritarian Contagion,’ said the vast economic, health and social resources poured into fighting the pandemic mean ‘the state is back as a force to manage society and to deliver public goods.’ Restrictions on civil liberties or political opponents have been stepped up during the pandemic on several continents” the AP reports.

The notable exception to this of course was Trump in 2020. For a President who screamed bloody murder over a “caravan” of people looking for work picking vegetables or washing dishes and who wanted to declare Antifa a terrorist organization to hype up an imaginary national security threat from a bunch of cosplayers, when you step back, it was kind of surprising that he just wanted to pretend the Coronavirus did not exist or would magically disappear. Really can’t think of any explanation for his failure to capitalize on the pandemic to sustain his regime than simple laziness and cowardice. He didn’t want to put the work into crushing his enemies and tried to play it “safe”.

Daily Beast: “Former President Donald Trump has spent the last few weeks full of regret about Jan. 6 – but not because of the riot he inspired. Instead, Trump has complained that he should have ordered the White House flag flown at half-staff for Ashli Babbitt, the U.S. Capitol rioter and QAnon believer who was fatally shot while attempting to break into a refuge for lawmakers fleeing a pro-Trump mob, according to a person with direct knowledge and another source familiar with the matter. As recently as in the past two weeks, Trump had mentioned that one reason Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, deserved such an honor was because of her nearly decade-and-a-half service in the military, the source with direct knowledge recalled.”

“Four days after the insurrection, Trump eventually did order the flag at the White House and other federal buildings lowered, in honor of Capitol Police officers who died after the riot, but only after pressure from lawmakers and other politicians. Trump’s private comments mark the latest of his attempts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, casting Babbitt in the role of a martyr unjustly slain by a rogue police officer – rather than the rioter captured on video trying to breach a secure area of the Capitol at the head of a mob. A spokeswoman for Trump didn’t provide comment for this story on Wednesday. Babbitt, 35, was shot and killed by an officer on Capitol Hill as she and other MAGA devotees attempted to break into the Speaker’s Lobby. A day before the riot, Babbitt tweeted that Jan. 6 would mark ‘the Storm’ – the long-awaited day QAnon supporters imagined Trump would arrest or execute his political enemies and impose a fascist dictatorship.”

Every 18.6 years, the moon completes a cycle in which the satellite’s orbit moves through various planes relative to Earth’s equator.  While an average stargazer likely doesn’t notice it, the pattern influences the tides around the world.

According to a NASA report published in the journal “Natural Climate Change,” this “wobble” of the moon will combine with worsening sea rise due to climate change conditions to cause frequent flooding due to unusually high tides, impacting coastal cities and developments as well as islands.

“We’re going to have sort of a double-whammy,” William Sweet, an oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and author of the study, said Wednesday. “It means that coastal communities — unless they adapt and fortify — are likely to expect even greater flooding than they might otherwise.”

Fox News host (and person who complains to waiters that his water has too much ice) Sean Hannity says while giving airtime to coronavirus and vaccine denier Republican Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson that he “believes in science” and “I want my audience to live.  I don’t want anyone dyin’ from this thing [the coronavirus].  It’s dangerous.  Take it seriously.”

In rebuttal, I present… Sean Hannity.  From the transcript of his May 1st show, titled, “Hannity blasts Biden’s mask ‘masquerade’,” where Hannity mocks Biden for wearing a mask.

There are coincidental events, and then there are causal events.

The fact that Republican leaders and conservative media are denigrating coronavirus vaccination efforts have a direct causal relationship to the outbreaks of coronavirus in the nation, which not-coincidentally are largely in Deep Red areas.

Now, GOP leaders are feeling the pressure to find a way to gracefully do a 180 and start to encourage vaccinations–without making themselves and/or their Party like hypocrites, the New York Times reports.

Some current Republican leaders–like Senators Mitch McConnell, Mitt Romney and John Cornyn–were early advocates for vaccines.  But others who hog conservative media attention–like Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ted Cruz, joined by Fox News host Tucker Carlson–tell people to refuse vaccinations, spreading lies and conspiracies that are endangering their constituents’ lives.

The White House has announced the formation of a specific task force to determine not just appropriate moves to defend against hackers utilizing ransomware, but also offense actions to prevent and retaliate against those hackers, Politico reports.

Anne Neuberger, the Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, will lead the task force, which will draw on the skills, intelligence and resources of multiple federal agencies from within the US intelligence community, as well as all federal agencies’ IS/IT operations.

The task force will develop ways to defend government systems, critical infrastructure, and private companies from malware attacks, including ways to recover from an attack. 

“That fucking guy Jim Jordan. That son of a bitch… While these maniacs are going through the place, I’m standing in the aisle and he said ‘We need to get the ladies away from the aisle. Let me help you.’ I smacked his hand away and told him, ‘Get away from me. You fucking did this'” – Liz Cheney quoted in “I Alone Can Fix It” by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, via The Daily Beast.

“This is a Reichstag moment, The gospel of the Führer” – Mark Milley, same book, via CNN.

Indicted Trump Organization CFO David Weisselberg has stepped down as one of the two trustees controlling the trust that runs the Trump Organization, papers filed with New Jersey state regulators reveal.

Per the Washington Post reports, as of last week, Weisselberg is no longer a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the organization Trump set up in 2017 after he took office.  The other trustee who is now controlling the former president’s company:  Donald Trump, Jr.

The move seems to be a preemptive one, done in case Weisselberg is found guilty of any of the 15 felonies he’s charged with relating to fraudulent business practices the Trump Organization employed to avoid tax payments for income Weisselberg received.  The Trump Org noted on the notice that it intended to remove Weisselberg from the boards of two golf courses Trump owns in New Jersey.

Las Vegas Review-Journal: “FBI agents have been questioning witnesses in an investigation into campaign finances of City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, the Review-Journal has learned. Among those interviewed was City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, a former close ally, who had a falling-out with Fiore last summer. Agents questioned Seaman openly at City Hall on July 6 – a day when all City Council members were being briefed by staff on the issues coming before the next day’s council meeting, informed sources said. The agents showed up unannounced and flashed their badges. ‘I can confirm that they were at City Hall and that they interviewed me about Fiore,’ Seaman said Monday. She declined further comment. Sources said agents are investigating Fiore’s campaign finances, but their focus is unclear. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment Monday. ‘As a matter of policy, the FBI can’t confirm or deny investigations,’ the spokeswoman said. Fiore, the Nevada GOP national committeewoman, did not respond to requests for comment. In that role, Fiore is responsible for the party’s fundraising in the state.”

“The FBI investigation dates back to at least January, when agents executed a search warrant at her 6205 Red Pine Court home in northwest Las Vegas, sources said. A neighbor who declined to be identified said at the time that agents wearing FBI emblazoned jackets showed up about 6 a.m. in an armored truck and several SUVs. Agents walked out of the home a couple of hours later with a box of papers. At one point Fiore also walked out of the home carrying paperwork, the neighbor said. Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald could not be reached for comment. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman declined to comment, saying, ‘I don’t know anything.’ The Review-Journal reported in March 2019 that Fiore had not been shy about spending campaign and political action committee funds on goods and services that push the limits of the state’s campaign finance law.”

“The Alabama Supreme Court has refused to review the case of a former youth pastor sentenced to more than 1,000 years in prison for sex crimes against young boys. Paul Edward ‘Acton’ Bowen is serving time in Kilby Correctional Facility where he was admitted in December 2019 after he entered guilty pleas in Etowah County to 28 counts of sexual abuse involving six male victims ages 13 to 16. His minimum release date is 2980. Bowen asked for a review of his case, but the justices denied the request with no written opinion. In addition to Etowah County, the fallen evangelist entered guilty pleas to additional charges in Jefferson County. Bowen pleaded guilty to traveling to meet a child for sexual purposes, second-degree sodomy, enticing a child for immoral purposes and second-degree sexual abuse. He was sentenced to 20 years on the first two charges, 10 years on third and a year on the fourth, all to run concurrently. The Gadsden native was the founder of Acton Bowen Outreach Ministries. At the time of his arrest, he was a self-described speaker, best-selling author and visionary” AL.com reports.

JoeMyGod gives an excellent rundown of Bowen’s ties to MAGA world, how Roy Moore’s attorney resigned from the board of Bowen’s ministry when his deviancy was first revealed publicly, Bowen’s obviously failed attempt to control himself by installing the Covenant Eyes anti-porn blocker on his computer (made famous by Josh Duggar’s wife’s failed attempt to do the same for her husband), and how he was just like Mike Pence in that he vowed to never be alone with a woman who wasn’t his wife – just replace ‘woman’ with ‘boy under 16’ – and failed at that too.

Seeking a “resident consulting taco consultant,” McCormick & Company is looking to hire a “Director of Taco Relations” to research taco trends and report back to the company the latest taco taste trends.

While it’s only a temporary position lasting four months, the Hunt Valley, Maryland-based company wants the selected applicants to answer such pressing questions as “Which are better, hard shell or soft shell?”, “Is there a way to turn any dish into a taco?”, “How taco spice flavors can be used to outside of a taco?” and “What does the future of tacos look like?”

“The ultimate responsibility for the Director of Taco Relations is to bring together and unify all taco lovers, young and old, in the name of tacos!” the job description states.  The top job responsibility is “Keep tabs on taco trends, trolling TikTok, partaking in virtual calls to learn more about unique taco offerings from taco chefs across the country. Share these findings with the McCormick team to keep everyone taco-ing about tacos.”

I want everyone in South Carolina and across America to know I have Chick fil-A’s back.

I hope we don’t have to, but I will go to war for the principles Chick fil-A stands for.

Great food.
Great service.
Great values.

God bless Chick fil-A!

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 14, 2021

CNN: “Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance, a venture capitalist and author of the bestselling book ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ disparaged then-President Donald Trump as a ‘moral disaster’ whose administration had ‘no domestic policy agenda besides tax cuts’ in Twitter direct messages from summer 2017. Vance made the comments, which were sent to a former friend from law school and obtained and verified by CNN’s KFile, in the context of stating his opposition to the American Health Care Act – the Republican plan to replace Obamacare, which passed the House but not the Senate. Vance said he would attempt to personally lobby members of Congress to kill the bill.”

‘Can you imagine running as an anti-AHCA populist who thinks Trump is a moral disaster,’ Vance wrote. ‘Where’s my constituency?’ In other anti-Trump comments from 2016, 2017 and 2018 found by CNN’s KFile in a review of Vance’s media appearances, he agreed that then-candidate Trump was a fraud who he didn’t think cared about people and said he might vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 if he really believed Trump could win. ‘I cannot stand Trump because I think he’s a fraud. Well, I think he’s a total fraud that is exploiting these people,’ Kentucky radio host Matt Jones said to Vance in August 2016. ‘I do too,’ Vance replied. ‘I agree with you on Trump, because I don’t think that he’s the person. I don’t think he actually cares about folks. I think he just recognizes that there was a hole in the conversation and that hole is that people from these regions of the country, they feel ignored. They feel left out and they feel very frustrated. And I think of course in a lot of ways they feel that way for totally justifiable reasons. So it’s a problem that Trump has been the vessel of a lot of that frustration.'”

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said consumers will see higher prices in the coming months, but those will stabilize or drop as short-term problems in the supply chain resolve themselves, the Associated Press reports.

Powell noted that the current inflation is due to the economy springing back from a historic slow down during the coronavirus pandemic.  He also pointed out that the bulk of price increases came from product categories related to the country reopening.  Because the price increases were based on temporary factors, Powell said the Fed would not be taking any action.

“By inflation, we mean year after year after year prices go up,” Powell said. “If something is a one-time price increase… you wouldn’t react to something that is likely to go away.  We really do believe that these things will come down of their own accord.”

The Democratic-led House Oversight Committee, chair by New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, has opened an investigation into the Arizona ballot “audit” and is requiring Cyber Ninjas to open up its records to its own audit.

According to a letter sent to Cyber Ninjas CEO Douglas Logan, the company must hand over records relating to how Republicans in the state settled on the company, which has no know previous election audit experience, to conduct the audit of Maricopa County ballots.

The committee also wants to see any communication the company had with the following persons:  Donald Trump; any Trump Administration official; any Trump campaign official; Rudy Giuliani (or any Giuliani representative); Sidney Powell, Lin Wood, Patrick Byrne (presumably the former Overstock.com CEO and not the Bigfoot hunter); Mike Flynn; and Mike Lindell.