Friday, May 08, 2020

Morning Coffee - You or I would be in prison by now.

“I saw that publishing all over the world was deeply constrained by self-censorship, economics and political censorship, while the military-industrial complex was growing at a tremendous rate, and the amount of information that it was collecting about all of us vastly exceeded the public imagination.” – Julian Assange

*May 8, 1945: VE Day
Seventy-five years ago this month, Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies, bringing to a close the European war. On that day in 1945, huge crowds took to the streets to drink and dance the night away in Paris and Brussels, just as they did in London. But according to the French newspaper Libération, “It was only the young who felt exuberant” – among the older generations there was, instead, an air of indefinable melancholy.

Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations… has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.”

On to today's news

Obama Knew About Wiretapped Flynn Phone Calls, Former Top Official Claimed In  Declassified Docs
"After the briefing, Obama asked Yates and Comey to “stay behind,” and said he had “learned of the information about Flynn” and his conversation with Russia’s ambassador about sanctions. Obama “specified that he did not want any additional information on the matter, but was seeking information on whether the White House should be treating Flynn any differently, given the information.”"
'any differently?' Flynn was the incoming National security Advisor for president-elect Trump. It was Flynn's job to speak with any foreign officials.

DOJ Drops Case Against Michael Flynn
"Timothy Shea, the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., said in a court filing  Thursday that the FBI interview with Flynn did not have “a legitimate investigative  basis” to the counterintelligence probe.

“The Government has concluded that the interview of Mr. Flynn was untethered to,  and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn,”  Shea said in the filing."
It's no secret that Obama despised Gen. Flynn. What did Obama know and when did he know it?

“What is our goal?” Priestap asked, “Truth/Admission or to get him(Flynn) to lie,  so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”
New Red Flags Emerging From FBI's Handling of Michael Flynn's Case
"FBI supervisors, however, are not supposed to rewrite other agents’ 302 forms. Nor  are 302 forms supposed to be edited by FBI personnel who were not present at the  interview, and both of these things happened in the Flynn case. “I've probably  written in the close to the low thousands of 302s. I've probably supervised or  overseen thousands upon thousands of more of those,” James Gagliano, retired 25- year veteran of the FBI and current CNN analyst, told RealClearInvestigations.  “This is not how we do business as an FBI supervisor. I never, ever materially  altered a 302.”"
You or I would be in prison by now.



Why Was Flynn Targeted? – A Timeline Review of the Three Phases….
Lamp posts are for fascists.

Rosenstein ‘Scope’ Memo Confirms Baselessness of Trump–Russia Probe
"Finally, three years coming, the Justice Department is showing a little more leg  on the Rosenstein “scope” memo — the directive by which then–deputy attorney  general Rod Rosenstein defined the parameters of the investigation he’d appointed  Special Counsel Robert Mueller to conduct.

Of course, the games never end in the Trump–Russia probe, so there’s a hitch."
You or I would be in prison by now.

Trump on Obama Administration: ‘They’re Human Scum’
I cannot spare this man. He fights.

WATCH: Texas Salon Owner Walks Out Of Jail And Immediately Bursts Into Tears Of Joy
"The Salon A La Mode owner was jailed Tuesday for seven days after refusing  District Judge Eric Moye’s request to apologize and admit that her insistence on  keeping her business open was “selfish.”"
No, she's not Rosa Parks, but the Texas Salon Owner is cut from the same bolt of  cloth.



Is the CDC Meddling with the 2020 Election?
"“The guidance contained detailed advice for making site-specific decisions related  to reopening schools, restaurants, summer camps, churches, daycare centers and  other institutions,” the AP reported. “It had been widely shared within the CDC and  included detailed ‘decision trees,’ flow charts to be used by local officials to  think through different scenarios.”

As one would expect, the guidance is a labyrinth of costly, unconstitutional, and  draconian recommendations that would result in a permanent paranoid police state  for the foreseeable future."
It's almost as if a feature, not a bug.

CDC Guide for Reopening the Country 'Shelved' by Trump Administration
THANK YOU, Mr. President!


Report: New York City Was Primary Source of Coronavirus in U.S. in Early March
"New York officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de  Blasio, have been criticized for a slow response to the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, Cuomo only ordered that New York City subways be cleaned thoroughly  last week."
Malfeasance or incompetence? Or incompetent malfeasance? Either way, you or I would  be in prison by now.

Because science!

Lamp posts are for fascists.

Finally, more disgusting racialism from my long-ago former employer:

Never once in article below did KC Star reference the ethnicity of criminals or victims, but in article above it's white faces killed black man. Allegedly. A predictable style book ya got there, Star.

Kansas City had seven homicides in five days. One was an 18-year-old shot Sunday
"There have been 60 killings so far in 2020, according to data maintained by The Star, which includes police shootings. At this time last year, there were 48.

...“I have been incredibly distressed by the fact that even as our city has been shut down for going on almost two months, we continue to see a steady pace of violent crime,” (KC Mayor Quinton Lucas) said."
You mean criminals violate the law so they can go outside to violate the law and murder? This is my shocked face, Mayor.

H/t: Woodpile Report




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