Bwahaha

(Newsweek) Organizers of a Kentucky rally in support of former President Donald Trump featuring several prominent allies and conspiracy theorists expected some 10,000 people to show up this weekend. Instead, less than 300 were in attendance when local journalists attempted to cover the proceedings.

The "We the People Reunion" was held at the Muhlenberg County Agriculture & Convention Center Fairgrounds in Powderly, Kentucky, on Friday and Saturday. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, retired General Michael Flynn, attorney Lin Wood and others were among the featured speakers, according to the event and ticket page online.

Local channel WFIE 14 News sent a team to shoot video at the event on Friday but was later asked to leave, according to a report broadcast by the NBC News affiliate. The news channel reported that promoters had expected a crowd of about 10,000 people but less than 300 were in attendance from what their journalists saw. Event organizers reportedly refused to speak to WFIE about the rally.

Read More: https://www.newsweek.com/pro-trump-rally-expecting-10000-attendees-sees-only-few-hundred-show-1628299

(CNN) It was 230 years ago Sunday that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves.

He titled it the "deed of gift." It was, by far, experts say, the largest liberation of Black people before the Emancipation Proclamation more than seven decades later.

On September 5, 1791, when Carter delivered his deed, slavery was an institution, a key engine of the new country's economy. But many slaveholders -- including founding fathers George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who knew Carter -- had begun to voice doubts. That was the extent of their umbrage.

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"I think the story of Robert Carter III is incredibly important," she said, "and not just to glorify another rich, White man, but to show how personal convictions can be stronger than the status quo, that doing the right thing is often hard but important and that people matter -- that people are more important than the work that they perform."

(Read more) https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/05/us/robert-carter-iii-deed-of-gift-slavery-anniversary/index.html

*Long article, but here is a snip....

(Salon) As wrote in my Boston Globe op-ed, what I'm saying to Merrick Garland is: Wake up! You've got to do something to hold this man accountable. Now somebody could say, well, what about the presumption of innocence? How do you know he's guilty? All I can say in response is that we've heard with our own ears, and Donald Trump has never denied, that he said to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, "Just find me 11,780 votes." To me that is compelling proof that Trump was essentially trying to erase his legitimate loss by creating votes that were not his. That is stealing the election.

Moreover, it's an attempted coup when Trump twists the arm of his acting attorney general and tells him, "Just say that the presidential election was corrupt, and I'll take care of the rest with my friends in Congress." On its face, that is proof of corrupt intent beyond reasonable doubt. It is also proof of a plan to take over the country without legitimately winning. That's a crime.

So the question is: Why is it taking so long? One possible answer is that it's not easy to get a conviction of a president. What appears compelling to a layperson is going to be difficult in practice. It will also be difficult to put down the riots that the very announcement of an indictment may bring. There may be a great deal of worry about fomenting civil war to no good end, because we will not succeed in holding the president accountable.

In the end, all I can do is make the counter-argument that if you're worried about the consequences of going ahead with this evidence against Trump and perhaps not convicting him, then you had better start worrying about the consequences of not going ahead with this evidence — and telling presidents in the future, including this president, who undoubtedly is going to try to seize power again one way or another, that they can get away with this. If that is the message, then the rule of law has basically been thrown out the window.

Read More: https://www.salon.com/2021/08/30/laurence-tribe-if-garland-doesnt-prosecute-trump-the-rule-of-law-is-out-the-window/

Whaaaat? I live to watch her 9:00 show!

(Daily Beast) Rachel Maddow has been MSNBC’s most high-profile on-air personality for more than a decade, long embodying the network’s liberal ethos and raking in an obsessive following for her nightly primetime broadcast.

But when MSNBC viewers tune in next year, she may not be there.

According to six people familiar with the situation, Maddow, 48, is seriously considering leaving the network when her contract ends early next year as negotiations drag on and the temptation to take her brand elsewhere or start her own lucrative media company has grown.

Insiders who spoke with The Daily Beast said while the star host has occasionally entertained other offers in the past, she has in recent months increasingly expressed openness to exiting when her deal ends, citing a desire to spend more time with her family and the toll of hosting a nightly program since 2008. Maddow seems unlikely to jump to a rival television news network. Instead, she has been intrigued by opportunities in the streaming and podcasting space, which would allow her more freedom, time for her personal life, and for other projects, people familiar with her thinking said.

The high-profile TV host has gotten aggressive in exploring her next career moves: In recent months, she left her longtime agents at Napoli Management Group, linking up with powerful talent agency Endeavor and its CEO Ari Emanuel and ​​president Mark Shapiro, who are representing her in contract negotiations with NBCUniversal.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/rachel-maddow-considers-leaving-msnbc?ref=wrap

*I remember Rachel Maddow discussing this on her show - lots of questions about why he just walked away from his job like that....


(CNN)The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday will interview Byung "BJay" Pak, the former US attorney in Atlanta who departed abruptly from the role amid then-President Donald Trump's attacks on Georgia's election results.

The circumstances of Pak's exit are among the lingering mysteries from that chaotic early January stretch of events. There are some indications that he was pushed out by the White House for his refusal to pursue the bogus voter fraud claims that Trump was pushing in Georgia as Congress' certification of the election approached. After Pak's surprise January 4 resignation, Trump replaced him with his US attorney in Savannah, bypassing the normal chain of succession.

Documents released by the House in an investigation of Trump's pressure on the Justice Department to substantiate his election fraud claims show Pak resigning after a key weekend in which Trump considered overhauling DOJ leadership because they hadn't found widespread fraud.

Pak is one of six former DOJ political appointees whom the Biden administration green-lighted to talk to the committee about Trump's election fraud push. He will be interviewed virtually and behind closed doors.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/politics/pak-trump-georgia-election-testimony/index.html

(Local10News) BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – The Broward County School Board voted 8-1 in favor of keeping their mask requirement for students and staff members at the start of the upcoming 2021-22 school year.

Board member Lori Alhadeff was the dissenting vote in the special meeting held Tuesday.

“Wearing masks inside schools regardless of vaccine status is required to deal with the changing realities of virus transmission. It is a necessary precaution until children under 12 can receive a COVID-19 vaccination and more Americans 12 and older get vaccinated,” Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said in a statement following the vote. “We continue to be concerned about this variant, but our No. 1 priority remains a safe in-person school year in schools that can stay open.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban of mask mandates has led to a major battle, with state officials now threatening to withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members who defy the governor’s executive order.

That order also threatens to take away funding from school districts that force students to wear a mask.

Read more: https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/08/10/broward-school-board-discusses-future-of-mask-mandates-at-its-schools/

*Yep. Just what Ron DeathSentence deserves! (Actually he deserves worse)

(TalkingPointsMemo) Floridians don’t seem wild about Gov. DeSantis’s pro-COVID policy agenda. A new poll out this morning shows DeSantis’s public support falling roughly ten points since May. The new poll is from St Pete Polls and shows DeSantis with 44% approval and 49% disapproval.

We can’t say with certainty that it’s an apples to apples comparison since the earlier poll was from a different pollster polling on behalf of the state Chamber of Commerce. It’s also the case that DeSantis’s public approval has tended to ebb and crest along with the vicissitudes of COVID, unsurprisingly. So it could bounce back. But it suggests voters have not been impressed by DeSantis’s performance during the recent surge of COVID infections and hospitalizations in the state.

Back in May the Florida Chamber of Commerce poll showed DeSantis with 55% and 40% disapproval. (Read More)
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/support-for-desantis-drops-amidst-pro-covid-policy-push

*A friend of mine re-posted this (not sure who the original author was) about Simone Biles and Kerri Strug, it made me weep as I thought of them.

This realization I had about Simone Biles is gonna make some people mad, but oh well.

Yesterday I was excited to show my daughters Kerri Strug's famous one-leg vault. It was a defining Olympic moment that I watched live as a kid, and my girls watched raptly as Strug fell, and then limped back to leap again.

But for some reason I wasn't as inspired watching it this time. In fact, I felt a little sick. Maybe being a father and teacher has made me soft, but all I could see was how Kerri Strug looked at her coach, Bela Karolyi, with pleading, terrified eyes, while he shouted back "You can do it!" over and over again.

My daughters didn't cheer when Strug landed her second vault. Instead they frowned in concern as she collapsed in agony and frantic tears.

"Why did she jump again if she was hurt?" one of my girls asked.

I made some inane reply about the heart of a champion or Olympic spirit, but in the back of my mind a thought was festering: *She shouldn't have jumped again*

The more the thought echoed, the stronger my realization became. Coach Karolyi should have gotten his visibly injured athlete medical help immediately! Now that I have two young daughters in gymnastics, I expect their safety to be the coach's number one priority. Instead, Bela Karolyi told Strug to vault again. And he got what he wanted; a gold medal that was more important to him than his athlete's health.

I'm sure people will say "Kerri Strug was a competitor--she WANTED to push through the injury." That's probably true. But since the last Olympics we've also learned these athletes were put into positions where they could be systematically abused both emotionally and physically, all while being inundated with "win at all costs" messaging. A teenager under those conditions should have been protected, and told "No medal is worth the risk of permanent injury." In fact, we now know that Strug's vault wasn't even necessary to clinch the gold; the U.S. already had an insurmountable lead.

Nevertheless, Bela Karolyi told her to vault again according to his own recounting of their conversation:
"I can't feel my leg," Strug told Karolyi.
"We got to go one more time," Karolyi said. "Shake it out."
"Do I have to do this again?" Strug asked.
"Can you, can you?" Karolyi wanted to know.
"I don't know yet," said Strug. "I will do it. I will, I will."

The injury forced Strug's retirement at 18 years old. Dominique Moceanu, a generational talent, also retired from injuries shortly after. They were top gymnasts literally pushed to the breaking point, and then put out to pasture. Coach Karolyi and Larry Nassar (the serial sexual abuser) continued their long careers, while the athletes were treated as a disposable resource.

Today Simone Biles--the greatest gymnast of all time--chose to step back from the competition, citing concerns for mental and physical health. I've already seen comments and posts about how Biles "failed her country", "quit on us", or "can't be the greatest if she can't handle the pressure."

Those statements are no different than Coach Karolyi telling an injured teen with wide, frightened eyes: "We got to go one more time. Shake it out."

The subtext here is: "Our gold medal is more important than your well-being."
Our athletes shouldn't have to destroy themselves to meet our standards. If giving empathetic, authentic support to our Olympians means we'll earn less gold medals, I'm happy to make that trade.

Here's the message I hope we can send to Simone Biles: You are an outstanding athlete, a true role model, and a powerful woman. Nothing will change that. Please don't sacrifice your emotional or physical well-being for our entertainment or national pride. We are proud of you for being brave enough to compete, and proud of you for having the wisdom to know when to step back. Your choice makes you an even better example to our daughters than you were before. WE'RE STILL ROOTING FOR YOU!

(Salon) Former Trump "fixer" Michael Cohen made a bold declaration on Wednesday when he tweeted that he thinks that Jared Kushner has already flipped on his father-in-law in conversations with prosecutors. Cohen referenced a 2017 CNN report about Jared Kushner being the so-called "secretary of everything," because Trump handed everything off to him to accomplish.

"Interesting how Jared Kushner (#SecretaryOfEverything) name appears to be absent from all the controversy, indictments and arrests. Is he next to fall or a cooperating witness? Knowing what a snake he is, I bet the latter!" tweeted Cohen.

Tom Barrack's indictment will potentially lead to other indictments, as former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade explained on MSNBC earlier this week.

Meanwhile, rumors have been swirling that both Kushner and Ivanka are distancing themselves from the former president. Kushher, according to reports, wants to focus on his book and continue to pat himself for his diplomatic efforts in the Middle East -- including some initiatives that benefited the government of the United Arab Emirates, which Barrack is accused of illegally lobbying for.

Read More: https://www.salon.com/2021/07/22/michael-cohen-thinks-jared-kushner-already-flipped-on-trump_partner/

Hong Kong (CNN) The abduction of 2-year-old Guo Xinzhen in eastern China in 1997 sparked a desperate, seemingly never-ending nationwide search by his parents that inspired filmmakers to bring their story to the big screen.

But this week -- 24 years after his disappearance -- the search for Guo finally came to an end.

Police in Liaocheng City, Shandong province, said Monday they had found Guo, now an adult living in neighboring Henan province -- and had reunited him with his parents. Video footage of the reunion on Sunday, released by police, shows the family in tears and embracing tightly, crying out, "We found you, you've come back."

Police said they had arrested two people who confessed to kidnapping and trafficking Guo. Guo had been abducted near his home by an unfamiliar woman, his parents told police in 1997. Authorities collected blood, DNA samples and other evidence -- but with limited technology at the time, the case remained unsolved, the police said on their official social media account on Tuesday. The case was never closed, and police say they continued investigating throughout the 24 years.

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Child abduction and trafficking has long been a rampant problem in China, with many parents never finding their missing children. Activists and experts say the problem was exacerbated by China's one-child policy, which has been relaxed in recent years. In May, the government announced it would begin allowing couples to have up to three children. But for decades, because of the strict policy and China's patriarchal society, it was common for couples to desire a boy -- driving a black market for trafficked infant boys, while girls are often sold to foreign adoptive parents, falsely labeled as orphans.

(Read More) https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/14/china/china-abducted-child-reunited-intl-hnk-scli/index.html