Florida Senator (and puppet wishing he could be a real boy) Marco Rubio wrote in an op/ed for the New York Post that Corporate America has abandoned American ideals because they’re no longer blindly following GOP talking points and instead, they’re promoting voting rights and racial equity.

“Many in corporate America feel no obligation to act in the best interest of our country,” Rubio asserts.  “Historically, corporate America played an integral role in building thriving communities, stable families and a strong nation. US companies made a comfortable lifestyle available to millions of working- and middle-class Americans.

“To help our corporations fulfill their patriotic role, the GOP especially enacted business-friendly policies,” Rubio continues.  “We kept tax rates low, slashed red tape where appropriate and limited the reach of labor unions. But somewhere along the line, corporations began prioritizing short-term financial windfalls and ruthless offshoring. ”

Apparently, Rubio just now came to the realization that excessive corporate profits do nothing to help Americans, and he’s ready to throw corporations under the bus, but not for financial malfeasance.  Now, Rubio says, corporations are sticking their collective noses in areas where they have no business:  American culture. 

In an exclusive report, Reuters reveals that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was getting information from four members of the far-right nationalist group the Proud Boys prior to the January 6th domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, but that information was primarily about activities of antifa.

FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Senate Judiciary Committee on the January 6th attack that he wished they had more information coming from the Proud Boys, but he failed to advise them that they already had cooperating informants within the organization.  Reuters learned that the information the FBI was gaining from Proud Boys leaders primarily related to the activities of antifa, a loosely-affiliated collection of left-wing activists.

At least four members of Proud Boys have provided information to the FBI, some as early as 2019.  The disclosed connection to the right-wing group raises questions about how the Bureau was leveraging their contacts within the group.

The Bulwark: “Cato the Elder’s prescription for Rome’s greatest enemy was stringent. He concluded every speech with this singular imperative: Carthago delenda est – Carthage must be destroyed. Until, at last, it was. Now American democracy has a more lethal antagonist. Regardless of ideology, our imperative must be the political destruction of today’s Republican party. Until then, all the rest – trying to reform the GOP; founding a third party; or imagining a sweet spot in the political center – are dangerous distractions. The GOP’s pathologies run too deep to temporize. Their most glaring manifestation is but a symptom: enthrallment to a dangerous, unstable, bigoted, and nihilistic narcissist possessed by autocratic cravings, a contempt for law, and a poisonous disdain for all other human beings – epitomized by his murderous neglect of a deadly pandemic which needlessly killed over half a million Americans and by his incitement of, and pleasure in, a deadly attack on our Capitol by extremists inflamed by his lies and determined keep him in power.”

“All that is toxic in Trump, and more, defines the GOP’s essence – and would if he disappeared tomorrow. Today’s Republican party is addicted to racism, sexism, nativism, cultural revanchism, fundamentalism, extremism, and authoritarianism. It scorns science; subverts governance; and reinvents reality. Its leaders traffic in ostentatious mendacity. It reduces ‘conservatism’ to a retrograde tribalism steeped in fear and anger. Its congressional wing exists to satisfy donors. It has no coherent policy or purpose save perpetuating its power through minority rule. It is, in short, an existential threat to our survival as a pluralist democracy. Other than that, I deeply admire it.”

Hours before the planned release of the bodycam footage of the shooting death of 42-year-old Black man Anthony Brown, who was driving away from sheriff’s deputies when he was shot in the back, the government of Elizabeth City, North Carolina has declared a state of emergency in hopes of controlling protestors, WAVY TV-10 reports.

Seven Pasquotank County deputies have been put on leave and three have been fired in the wake of the homicide, which happened Wednesday as deputies attempted to serve a warrant on Brown.  Brown eluded police and started to drive away from the deputies, one of whom opened fire on the departing vehicle, shattering the rear window and hitting Brown in the back, killing him.  Pasquotank Sheriff Tommy Wooten said the three officers who resigned were not involved in the shooting, and one of them was nearing a pre-planned retirement.

Authorities implemented the state of emergency starting at 8 a.m. Monday, and announced that the Brown family would view the footage Monday morning, after which the video will likely be released to the public. 

Orders for US key capital goods increased in March, increasing expectations that the nation’s economy is rebounding from the 2020 recession following positive reports in unemployment claims and retail sales, Reuters reports.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft increased by 0.9% from the previous month in March after falling 0.8% in February, when severe winter weather shut down parts of the United States.  The year-over-year growth was 10.4%.

According to Reuters, In March, core capital goods orders were boosted by machinery, primary and fabricated metal products, as well as computers and electronic products. But orders for electrical equipment, appliances and components dropped 1.5%.

“Lawyers for Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based company the Arizona Senate hired to lead a recount of Maricopa County’s 2.1 million general election ballots, are asking a judge to keep secret its procedures for the recount and shut out the public as well as the press from a hearing in which the documents might be discussed. Judge Christopher Coury asked the company on Friday to turn over its plans and procedures amid concerns about the security of the county’s ballots and voter privacy. But the company argued on Sunday that filing the documents in court publicly would compromise the security of its recount. And it argued that the records include protected trade secrets. The company also maintained that the documents are protected by legislative privilege, as it is working on behalf of the state Senate” the Arizona Republic reports.

“The push to keep details of the recount process under wraps comes as part of a lawsuit that the Arizona Democratic Party and County Supervisor Steve Gallardo filed against the state Senate to stop the recount altogether, contending it violates various state election laws. The prospect that a court might block voters from seeing how their ballots will be handled during the unprecedented undertaking adds to mounting concerns about its transparency, given that its funders remain a mystery and news briefings were immediately placed on an indefinite hiatus. The lawsuit took another turn Sunday evening when Coury recused himself from the case, noting a lawyer who had recently signed on to represent Cyber Ninjas had worked in his office within the past few years. Coury previously had scheduled a hearing on the case for Monday morning, but it will have to be reassigned to another Maricopa County Superior Court judge. Coury ordered, during a hearing on Friday – the first day of the recount – that the process follow all state laws. He even left open the option of stopping the recount until Monday if the Democratic Party could post a $1 million bond to cover any potential costs from the delay.”

I’m announcing today that I will not be a candidate for any office in the next election cycle. Read more ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/IruVtnjZl7

— Doug Collins (@RepDougCollins) April 26, 2021

The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will take up an appeal to a New York gun rights case seeking to expand the right to carry weapons in public, the first major gun rights case the Court will hear since seizing a 6-3 majority, the Associated Press reports.

Gun rights advocates appealed a lower-court ruling that upheld New York State’s restrictions on getting a carry permit in the states.  Seven other states–California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island–have similar restrictions.

Traditionally, the courts have upheld state and local restrictions on carrying guns.  “Our review of more than 700 years of English and American legal history reveals a strong theme: government has the power to regulate arms in the public square,” conservative judge Jay Bybee wrote in a 7-4 decision for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.  The late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia wrote in Heller that restrictions are Constitutional.

“The wifi password here at the House GOP retreat in Orlando is ‘Biden Border Crisis'” reports Punchbowl News editor Jake Sherman from the scene of the cult gathering.

This is in keeping with the time-honored tradition of official Republican events having some bitchy complaint as the wireless network password. A December 2020 Trump rally in Georgia’s password was ‘RiggedElection!‘. The 2019 House GOP caucus retreat in Baltimore’s password was set as ‘Socialism_Is_Very_Very_Bad‘. A 2015 Republican presidential primary debate’s was ‘StopHillary!‘.

As I’ve said before, it’s pretty on-brand that rather than coming up with a blithe positive message like “GOProcks!!” or “Vote4LowerTaxes”, Republicans choose to focus more on their enemies and grievances than their own supposed appeal to voters. Even something as mundane as a wifi password speaks volumes to the confidence they have in their own messaging these days.

AP: “If the nation is in the midst of a historic reckoning on racism, most leaders of the Republican Party are not participating. On the day last week that a jury convicted the police officer who killed George Floyd, Republicans in Washington focused much of their energy on condemning the longest-serving Black woman in Congress. In the days since, former President Donald Trump attacked what he called the ‘racist rants’ of basketball icon LeBron James. And some of Trump’s staunchest supporters on Capitol Hill are considering forming a new group that initially planned to champion ‘Anglo-Saxon political traditions.'”

“Beyond simple rhetoric, Republican state lawmakers are pushing forward with new voting restrictions that disproportionately affect people of color and are resisting legislation designed to prevent police brutality. The moves reflect a stark political reality: As America grows more diverse, the Republican Party continues to be led almost entirely by white people, particularly men, who cater to an overwhelmingly white base. And despite fierce criticism from civil rights leaders and growing concern from business leaders who are traditional allies, many Republicans see no problem. ‘It’s unfortunate that more in the Republican Party are not willing to stand up for what I would define as creating a more just and humane system,’ Martin Luther King III told The Associated Press. ‘It makes you wonder if they really even care.'”

“Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, launched a campaign for Senate on Monday, giving Democrats their first candidate in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Rob Portman, who is not running for re-election. The 10-term congressman first made his intentions known in a filing with the Federal Election Commission that identifies him as a Senate hopeful. Ryan, 47, briefly competed for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, offering himself as a champion of working-class voters in the industrial Midwest. He’s also known nationally for his unsuccessful effort to unseat then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in 2017.”

“He has been openly exploring a Senate bid since Portman announced in January he would not seek re-election when his term expires next year. Ryan reported raising $1.2 million for his federal House campaign during the first quarter of the year. That money, which puts him on par with the fundraising reported by two of the top Republican Senate candidates, can be applied toward his new campaign. Ohio has trended Republican in most statewide contests over the past 30 years, with the state’s other senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown, being the rare exception. Former President Trump won Ohio by 8 percentage points in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections” – NBC News.

CBS News: “In its third-ever attempt at leaving the surface of Mars, NASA’s tiny test helicopter traveled farther and faster than it ever has before – even in testing on Earth. The historic moment came just days after its second journey. The Ingenuity helicopter broke several records on Sunday morning, rising 16 feet into the air before flying about 164 feet, just over half the length of a football field, at a top speed of about 4.5 miles per hour – up from about 1.1 miles per hour during previous flights last week. ‘While that number may not seem like a lot, consider that we never moved laterally more than about two-pencil lengths when we flight-tested in the vacuum chamber here on Earth,'”

“Håvard Grip, Ingenuity Mars helicopter chief pilot at JPL, said ahead of the historic flight. He said the helicopter is finally able to ‘experience freedom in the sky.’ NASA said the Ingenuity team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was ‘ecstatic to see the helicopter soaring out of view.’ ‘Today’s flight was what we planned for, and yet it was nothing short of amazing,’ Dave Lavery, the project’s program executive, said in a statement. ‘With this flight, we are demonstrating critical capabilities that will enable the addition of an aerial dimension to future Mars missions.'”

“It’s April 2021, and Donald Trump still can’t get past his grudge with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey for refusing to overturn the 2020 election results in his state. The ex-president is still so bothered by Ducey’s refusal to try to throw out Democratic votes in Arizona that he’s told associates he would gladly and personally spoil any of Ducey’s future political plans.”

“In recent weeks, the twice-impeached former president has gone so far as to tell some close associates that if Ducey decided to run for Senate and managed to lock up the Republican nomination in 2022, he would consider traveling to Arizona to campaign for Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, according to two people familiar with the ex-president’s private rantings. Neither of the sources believed the former president was being entirely serious, in the sense that Trump and his current political operation aren’t going to be ‘caught dead campaigning to keep the Senate more Democrat[ic],’ as one of them said. But his offhand remarks drove home the point of how much Trump wishes to see the Arizona governor run out of the Republican Party” – Daily Beast.

CNN: “The headquarters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny’s anti-corruption organization has been suspended, pending a court decision on whether to designate the group as an extremist organization. Ivan Zhdanov, director of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), tweeted on Monday that the decision to suspend the group’s activities was made by Moscow’s chief prosecutor. The development comes after Navalny on Friday announced he was ending his weekslong hunger strike, following a warning from doctors close to him that he was close to death. Navalny had been on hunger strike since March 31, demanding ‘proper medical care’ and to be examined by an independent doctor – something his team claims he was unable to get in the penal colony in Pokrov.”

“Internet service was down for about 900 customers in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., after a beaver chewed through a crucial fibre cable, causing “extensive” damage.” says a report from the CBC.   “In a statement, Telus spokesperson Liz Sauvé wrote that in a “very bizarre and uniquely Canadian turn of events,” crews found that a beaver chewed through the cable at multiple points, causing the internet to go down on Saturday at about 4 a.m. “Our team located a nearby dam, and it appears the beavers dug underground alongside the creek to reach our cable, which is buried about three feet underground and protected by a 4.5-inch thick conduit. The beavers first chewed through the conduit before chewing through the cable in multiple locations,” the statement said.”

Unlike what we would expect in the US, the outage did not result in any calls for resignations or investigations of local government officials or utility managers, nor were there any calls to overthrow the government for “insufferable tyranny” because people had to do without Facebook for a few hours.  Reports indicate most Canadians responded to the incident with statements such as: “Oh well, ya know these things happen.  We’ll get by.  Hey ya know, why don’t you turn off the computer and read something or have a Molsons.”

Imagine owning a business where the employees come in one day and destroy everything you've worked so hard to achieve.

That's the Biden Administration.

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) April 25, 2021

Yes it is, just like the Biden Administration, and Trump was the crazed employee who jumped on the forklift and trashed the warehouse. Now Biden’s getting everything rebuilt.

“The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday it had voted unanimously to adopt rules requiring public disclosure of broadcast television and radio content sponsored or provided by foreign governments. The disclosure would be required at the time of a broadcast if a foreign governmental entity paid a radio or television station, directly or indirectly, to air material. Current rules do not specify when and how foreign government sponsorship should be publicly disclosed. We know that foreign entities are purchasing time on broadcast stations in markets across the country, including Chinese government-sponsored programming and Russian government-sponsored programming right here in our nation’s capital,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, the Biden appointed acting chairwoman of the FCC.

Anchorage Daily News: “Alaska Airlines said Saturday that it has banned state Sen. Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River, from its flights for continuing to refuse to follow mask-wearing requirements for travelers. ‘We have notified Sen. Reinbold that she is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy, spokesman Tim Thompson said ‘This suspension is effective immediately, pending further review. Federal law requires all guests to wear a mask over their nose and mouth at all times during travel, including throughout the flight, during boarding and deplaning, and while traveling through an airport’. The ban cast uncertainty on how Reinbold rejoins the Alaska Senate when legislation resumes Monday.”

“No other airline has regularly scheduled direct flights between Anchorage and Juneau. But it appeared as though Reinbold was pursuing an alternate travel solution: On Saturday night, Reinbold told an anti-mask group that she was ‘en route to Juneau’ and had pulled her car over to the side of the road to talk. ‘I have an unexpected trip that I am taking that is a little bit confidential,’ Reinbold told the group. She did not answer a text message asking whether she was driving to Haines or Skagway, which had scheduled ferry service to Juneau on Sunday afternoon. Driving to either location requires going through Canada, which has implemented strict pandemic travel restrictions.”

“Newark Police officers did not fire a single shot during the calendar year 2020, and the city didn’t pay a single dime to settle police brutality cases. That’s never happened, at least in the city’s modern history. At the same time, crime is dropping, and police recovered almost 500 illegal guns from the street during the year, NJ.com reports.

“This is significant,” says Aqeela Sherills, head of the Newark Community Street Team, a group of mostly former offenders who work to defuse violence in the city’s most violent wards. “It speaks to how reform has really taken hold in the city.”

Get vaccinated, America.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 25, 2021