One of the problems plaguing many American cities, especially in the Northeast and Midwestern “rust belt” states is a shortage of decent, affordable housing for working class peoples. More aggressive formation and use of public benefit corporations could become an effective means of improving the quality of housing stock in our nation’s cities, creating job-training opportunities for urban youth, and chasing out slumlords by making their properties non-competitive in urban rental markets. A public benefit corporation is a type of for-profit company that receives reduced tax rates in certain states. Part of their corporate charter includes a stated goal of trying to provide some kind of public good. The argument that follows is a description of how such a corporation may function.

Vietnam’s Health Ministry announced Saturday that a new variant of the coronavirus, with components of the UK and Indian strains, has been discovered in the country, causing a rapidly spreading outbreak, the Washington Post reports.

“The new variant is very dangerous,” said Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.  Vietnam has been a success story in fighting the coronavirus, with only 6,700 cases and 47 deaths in a country of nearly 100 million people, even though just 0.1% of the population has been vaccinated.

Recently, outbreaks have been found in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, accounting for about 60% of the overall cases in the country.  The nation has instituted quarantine camps for those infected as well as strictly-enforced lockdowns in places where outbreaks pop up.

Nate Silvester, a Fox News media darling for posting a Tik Tok video showing him supposedly responding to a report of two Black men fighting and asking for guidance from NBA star LeBron James, was fired from the Bellevue (Idaho) Marshal’s Office for repeated violations of department policy.

A Tik Tok video Silvester made, while in uniform and apparently sitting in a police car, showed him making mocking statements about not responding to an assault between two Black men, asking the dispatcher to find out what LeBron James would do.

James had previously spoken out about how police responded to a call regarding 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, who was shot by a Columbus police officer when she threatened another girl with a knife.  Initial witness statements said Bryant wasn’t armed at the time she was shot by a police officer arriving on the scene, but subsequent footage from a police body cam showed her preparing to stab another person before an officer opened fire, killing her.

Around the nations, scores of police dogs are being forced into retirement because their skills are obsolete and no longer needed given that more and more states are legalizing marijuana, the Associated Press reports.

The Commonwealth of Virginia, which will legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana on July 1st, will retire 13 drug-sniffing dogs.  Apollo, Aries, Bandit, Blaze, Jax, Kane, Mater, Nina, Reno, Sarge, Thunder, Zeus and Zoey are being adopted by their handlers, the canine director for the Virginia State Police said.

Training a police dog can cost $15,000, and it is virtually impossible to un-train a dog to signal when it hits on marijuana, even though other drugs may or may not be present.  A new generation of drug dogs are being trained to find other illegal drugs like ecstasy; cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines.

“Congressional Republicans and Democrats agree on precious little these days, but there’s growing bipartisan fervor – you could even call it impatience – related to President Biden’s business-as-usual approach to the 2022 Winter Olympics in China. Biden faces pressure from both sides of the aisle to use the Games, which open in early February 2022, as a launchpad for criticism of China over what his administration agrees is ‘genocide’ targeting the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority. Today, a pair of lawmakers – Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) – are reportedly introducing legislation aimed at punishing corporations that sponsor the Games by barring them from federal contracts” – Washington Post.

AP: “Falsehoods about the election helped bring insurrectionists to the Capitol on Jan. 6, and now some who are facing criminal charges for their actions during the riot hope their gullibility might save them or at least engender some sympathy. Lawyers for at least three defendants charged in connection with the violent siege tell The Associated Press that they will blame election misinformation and conspiracy theories, much of it pushed by then-President Donald Trump, for misleading their clients. The attorneys say those who spread that misinformation bear as much responsibility for the violence as do those who participated in the actual breach of the Capitol.”

“‘I kind of sound like an idiot now saying it, but my faith was in him,’ defendant Anthony Antonio said, speaking of Trump. Antonio said he wasn’t interested in politics before pandemic boredom led him to conservative cable news and right-wing social media. ‘I think they did a great job of convincing people.’ After Joe Biden’s victory in last year’s presidential election, Trump and his allies repeatedly claimed that the race was stolen, even though the claims have been repeatedly debunked by officials from both parties, outside experts and courts in several states and Trump’s own attorney general. In many cases, the baseless claims about vote dumps, ballot fraud and corrupt election officials were amplified on social media, building Trump’s campaign to undermine faith in the election that began long before November.”

“The tide of misinformation continues to spread, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson wrote Wednesday in a decision denying the release of a man accused of threatening to kill U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. ‘The steady drumbeat that inspired defendant to take up arms has not faded away,’ Berman wrote in her ruling ordering Cleveland Grover Meredith Jr. to remain in custody. ‘Six months later, the canard that the election was stolen is being repeated daily on major news outlets and from the corridors of power in state and federal government, not to mention in the near-daily fulminations of the former president.’ The defendants represent only a fraction of the more than 400 people charged in the failed attempt to disrupt the certification of Biden’s victory. But their arguments highlight the important role that the falsehoods played in inspiring the riot, especially as many top Republicans try to minimize the violence of Jan. 6 and millions of others still wrongly believe the election was stolen.”

Leadfoot Promotions, a Florida concert promoter, is staging a punk rock show in St. Petersburg offering tickets for $18 if you show proof you are fully vaccinated; a ticket for unvaccinated people will go for $999.99, NBC News reports.

“We’re just trying to do a show safely. And they should go out and get vaccinated to protect themselves and their families and their community,” Paul Williams of Leadfoot told a local radio station.  So far, they have sold scores of discounted tickets but not one at the unvaccinated price.

Williams wanted to host a concert but make sure the crowd would be safe from spreading the coronavirus.  Knowing that he could not legally exclude unvaccinated people due to Florida law, he devised the promotion, even though Florida law also bans so-called vaccine passports. 

“Attention, Costco shoppers: Those free samples are about to make a complete comeback. The retailer revealed during its third quarter earnings call it will bring back full sampling as well as its food court and seating, in another sign of the U.S. slowly shifting toward normal amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard Galanti, chief financial officer and executive vice president at Costco, said the retailer will introduce full sampling in phases. About 170 of Costco’s approximately 550 locations will bring back full sampling by the first week of June, with the rest of locations returning to full sampling by the end of June. Last summer, Costco brought back free samples after suspending the initiative due to the pandemic. However, they were limited to prepackaged items kept behind plexiglass shields” – USA Today.

Screenshot of Nashville Hatwrks’s Friday Instagram post of an unnamed employee or owner of the establishment, later deleted, per WZTV in Nashville. The patch is not currently available on their website. The rest of their Instagram page is full of insane MAGA memes and bullshit.

“I’m more concerned about the bad publicity that Dalton, Georgia, is getting. Dalton, Georgia, is recognized throughout the world for the development of the carpet. That’s what most people know it by. But now it’s being known by the idea that everybody in Dalton was a supporter of Marjorie Greene – and they were not” – Republican voter in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district, quoted by CNN.

So it’s a Friday night and I’m trolling around on Twitter, and I end up on Rudy Giuliani’s Twitter page and what do I see? This:

An often-disciplined officer in the Baltimore Police Department tweeted a graphic photo of a murder victim Friday morning, showing the face and body of a man who had apparently been struck on the head, the Baltimore Sun reported.

A one-time homicide detective, 27-year-veteran of the police force Sgt. Robert F. Cherry was transferred to midnight-shift street patrols last month.  After responding to a Friday morning, Cherry tweeted out the photo of the victim with the post, “This is but one of many incidents of violence in Baltimore city that our police officers deal with … and this young Black man was NOT shot by police.  Let’s STOP the violence and Save Lives.”  He then posted the phonne number of the BPD’s tip line.

In response to one a comment stating that the image was grotesque and disturbing, condemning him for posting it, Cherry replied, “Typical Woke Baltimore … ‘Take down the photo, it’s traumatic’ . .. but no one is asking ‘How can I help solve this brutal murder and bring justice to this deceased Black man?’”

Daily Beast: “Jim Caviezel, best known for playing Jesus in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and his starring role in CBS’ Person of Interest, made people do a double take when he appeared at a right-wing conference in April to promote his forthcoming anti-child trafficking movie. It wasn’t entirely shocking that Caviezel was at the Health and Freedom Conference, which was attended by former President Donald Trump’s usual posse, including the conspiracy theory-loving trio of Mike Lindell, attorney Lin Wood, and former Trump lawyer Sidney ‘Kraken’ Powell. The actor has proudly been one of few outspoken conservative Christians in Hollywood, counting Steve Bannon as a good friend and often closing out interviews by reciting one of Ronald Reagan’s speeches.”

“But while talking about his new movie Sound of Freedom, Caviezel went on a wild tangent about a QAnon conspiracy theory called ‘adrenochroming.’ The event’s 4,500-strong crowd had a decent showing of raised hands when asked if they were familiar with the term. Essentially, it’s an insane theory rooted in anti-Semitism (and the Pixar film Monsters, Inc.) that liberal elites and members of Hollywood are secretly killing children in order to harvest adrenochrome from their blood for psychedelic experiences, satanic rituals, and even to extend their lifespan. Here’s how Caviezel explained it. ‘I’ll just simplify it,’ he began. ‘When you are scared, you produce adrenaline. You’re an athlete, you get in the fourth quarter, you have adrenaline that comes out. If a child knows he’s going to die, his body will secrete this adrenaline. They have a lot of terms that they use that [Tim Ballard] takes me through, but it’s the worst horror I’ve ever seen. The screaming alone, even if I’d never, ever, ever, ever saw it, it’s beyond.'” ‘These people that do it,’ he paused, seeming to hold back tears. ‘There’ll be no mercy for them.’ The crowd burst into applause. So how did Caviezel wind up getting sucked into one of the more fringe conspiracy theories of QAnon?”

• I’d like to celebrate Southern history by erecting a statue to General William T. Sherman holding a torch in Atlanta, with a plaque reading, “Burn the motherfucker down.”  And another one in Savannah.  And put a statue of a Union soldier on every plantation house property liberated by US forces in 1865.  That’s true American heritage that should be honored and celebrated.  
• Republicans may say that they believe the truth shall set them free, but they know their silence will get them money.
• The only thing funnier than Andrew Giuliani claiming that he’s been in politics over five decades is Andrew Giuliani thinking he can run the nation’s largest city because he was a spoiled brat on television when he was three.  Apparently, it wasn’t “just a phase.”
• It’s not baffling in the least that the GOP voted against the January 6th commission.  It clearly would come out with conclusions unfavorable to individual Republicans and the GOP as a whole.  With Democrats running investigations in the House and Senate, Republicans will now never stop bitching about partisanship, which they caused.
  Read More ▶ “Random thoughts Friday, Volume XXI”

Rebekah Jones, the former Florida Department of Health employee who garnered national attention by alerting media about inconsistencies in the number of coronavirus cases reported by the state, has been granted whistleblower status by the state Department of Health’s Inspector General, the Miami Herald reports.

Jones was fired from her state job for unauthorized contact with the media after she alerted journalists that the numbers the state was officially reported differed from the numbers being collected by local health officials.  She then set up an independent website showing the consolidated data taken from publicly-available resources.

Jones then had her home raided by Florida State Police who claimed she was illegally accessing state IT systems, a claim she denied, saying that the raid was retaliation from the administration of Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

“As two separate investigations into the Trump Organization heat up, a series of subpoenas issued by the New York attorney general and the Manhattan district attorney shows how prosecutors are probing one particular land deal. The subpoenas, which have not been publicly released until now, have been issued during the past 18 months to three towns just north of NYC. Investigators asked for a trove of documents related to Donald Trump’s failed attempts to develop a luxury golf course on a 212-acre, forested estate that spans across those three towns and includes several mansions. The requested documents and subsequent court filings show that investigators are examining whether The Trump Organization inflated the value of the property for a charitable tax write-off.”

“The Daily Beast has learned the state Attorney General’s Office issued a round of subpoenas in November 2019. Investigators demanded copies of ‘zoning, property planning, or other building and construction permissions’ sought by Trump’s firm for the property, Seven Springs LLC. At question is the dense forest that surrounds a towering, 60-room, century-old, sandstone chateau that includes three pools, carriage houses, and is imposing enough to justify its own forecourt and fountain. When locals fought Trump’s building plans, Trump decided to give away his land rights to a conservation group – allowing him to take a hefty $21.1 million tax deduction in 2015, according to a filing made by investigators last August. But the pivotal question remains: Was the gifted land really worth that much if nothing was built on it?” – Daily Beast.

Arizona Republic: “The Arizona Senate, apparently not satisfied with one recount, is close to signing a deal for its second review of Maricopa County’s 2020 general election ballots. The effort would expand the ongoing audit and is expected to use a new and largely untested technology. This second recount of all 2.1 million ballots would be done electronically, running the original digital images of ballots through a program that would count all votes cast for every race on the ballot.”

“This is a different approach from the ongoing recount, which is being done by hand. Senate Republican leaders are negotiating with Citizens Oversight, a California-based election transparency nonprofit, according to Senate liaison Ken Bennett. Adding a second count is important for comparison purposes, Bennett said. The cost of such a deal is unknown at this point. The organization’s founder told The Arizona Republic this week that his company has never been hired to audit an election, and the technology has never been used in an official election audit.”

Durham reportedly spent just $1.5m during first six months of Trump-Russia FBI probe | Just The News https://t.co/NCv1to4TKQ

— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) May 28, 2021