April 18, 2024

Florida man arrested after allegedly pelting roommate with pizza dough

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A Florida man was arrested earlier this month after he allegedly pelted his roommate with pizza dough because he was making coughing sounds he didn't like.

Joseph Tresselt, 32, was charged with criminal mischief and simple battery after the incident that unfolded at a St. Petersburg apartment on April 11, according to an arrest affidavit from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

At around 7:20 p.m., Tresselt was making pizza. The arrest affidavit said that Tresselt said he "heard voices telling him how to make the pizza."

Tresselt's roommate started to make coughing sounds, which "irritated" him. ............(more)

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/florida-man-arrested-after-allegedly-pelting-roommate-with-pizza-dough

April 18, 2024

House GOP announce plans to bring back Right to Work, Snyder-era economic policies

(Michigan Advance) A day after state House Democrats won two special elections to regain a majority, Republicans on Wednesday announced a plan “to grow local economies” that included rolling back regulations and reversing some key Democratic policies.

“The state is lacking a coordinated economic growth plan,” House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) said. “Unfortunately, after five years of [Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer, I don’t think that we are going to get that from her.”

The 30-minute news conference was held in the state Capitol and included Hall and several of his GOP colleagues. The Republican caucus, according to Hall, looks to introduce several bills as early as next week, although they are unlikely to gain traction in the Democratic-led chamber.

In 2022, Democrats won control of the state House and Senate simultaneously for the first time since 1984. The state’s executive branch offices are also headed by Democrats. In special elections held on Tuesday, state House Democratic candidates Peter Herzberg and Mai Xiong scored victories in two Southeast Michigan districts, which means Democrats will soon have a 56-54 majority again. ..................(more)

https://michiganadvance.com/2024/04/17/house-gop-announce-plans-to-bring-back-right-to-work-snyder-era-economic-policies/

April 17, 2024

Naps or tantrums? Trump's trial dilemma

Sleepy Don's dilemma: Napping in court could help Trump win the case, but it hurts him with his base
Trump trial tantrums get MAGA wallets to open, but could turn a jury against him

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 17, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Toddlers are superior to Donald Trump in all ways, but they share one trait with the old man: A tendency to veer wildly between throwing tantrums or crashing into naps.

....(snip)....

There was much merriment in the political press over this because Trump is forever accusing his opponent, President Joe Biden, of being "sleepy." As usual with Trump, every accusation is a confession. Trump's campaign appears to be especially chagrined by this, claiming it's "100% Fake News coming from ‘journalists’ who weren’t even in the court room." (Every word of that statement, needless to say, is a lie.) Trump's team has been working overtime to weave an illusion for his MAGA base that he is not the tired and cranky old man clearly visible in the pictures, but more like a hyperactive toddler or perhaps a petulant teenager. The campaign sent out an email Monday afternoon falsely claiming Trump "stormed out of court." Even while Trump was dozing off, someone pretended to be him posting on Truth Social. Presumably, they believe Trump's loyalists are dumb enough to picture their orange savior furiously typing on his phone under the defendant's table.

....(snip)....

These lies are all an elaborate theatrical performance for the MAGA base, so they can keep telling themselves that their beloved ex-president is acting exactly how they like him: Like a 4-year-old flailing on a grocery store floor because Mom said they cannot have another candy bar. Trump supporters mistake petulance for strength. To keep the donations flowing, so Trump's fancy lawyers can get paid, it's crucial for him to pantomine belligerence, even if what is actually on display in court is a weary old man.

....(snip)....

That Trump is just a man — and a tired, old man at that — is the information Trump is most eager to conceal from his supporters. His entire mystique to the MAGA crowd is based on their faith that he's somehow impervious to the normal forces that work on the rest of us. His ability to project immunity from consequences for his crimes is a huge part of his appeal to his worshippers, of course. But he also wants them to believe that he is above petty concerns like sleep or eating right, much less that he's affected by the process of aging. The aspirational fantasy Trump sells his folllowers is one where his bad actions and stupid behaviors never catch up with him. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/17/sleepy-dons-dilemma-napping-in-could-help-win-the-case-but-it-hurts-him-with-his-base/

April 17, 2024

The Supreme Court Has Ruled to Let Louisiana Keep Hunting DeRay McKesson

The Supreme Court Has Ruled to Let Louisiana Keep Hunting DeRay McKesson
The court has decided to let the BLM activist be held liable for organizing a protest in 2016, endangering the right to dissent in three Southern states.

ELIE MYSTAL


(The Nation) As Donald Trump appears in court this week for yet another trial—this time over his alleged hush money payments to actress Stormy Daniels and his attempts to cover the trail—it is common for white-wing sycophants to say Trump is being “persecuted.” He’s not, of course. Trump is being prosecuted for his various alleged crimes and misdeeds. If he’d like to be prosecuted less, my suggestion would be to stop committing so many crimes or things that look like crimes.

If you want to see somebody who is being persecuted, I suggest you look no further than DeRay McKesson. McKesson is an activist dedicated to ending police brutality. He’s been involved in the Black Lives Matter movement for nearly a decade, and for those efforts, he’s been relentlessly harassed by whites in the state of Louisiana and on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Court. Now, the Supreme Court has given the harassment its blessing.

In 2016, McKesson helped to organize a Black Lives Matter protest near the police headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after the cops there murdered Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old Black man whom they shot six times, despite having pinned him to the ground and utterly immobilized him. During that protest, somebody threw a rock. That rock struck a police officer, severely injuring him.

....(snip)....

That’s the situation McKesson is facing now. After a lot of procedural back-and-forth between the Louisiana state court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit eventually rejected many of John Doe’s claims against McKesson (like the completely unsupported claim that McKesson colluded with the rock-thrower who, again, nobody freaking knows). But the court left one claim intact: that McKesson was negligent in organizing a protest near a police station and thus should have been aware that violence was likely. McKesson appealed that ruling too, but on Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal. ................(more)

https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/supreme-court-deray-mckesson-blm-protest/

April 16, 2024

Former GOP insider: Trump has "reprogrammed a generation" to fight against democracy

Former GOP insider: Trump has "reprogrammed a generation" to fight against democracy
Former Trump aide Miles Taylor: "The risk of political violence is high" — no matter who wins this election

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 16, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) The first of Donald Trump’s four criminal trials is finally underway in Manhattan. This trial, on campaign-finance charges related to Trump's alleged "hush money" payments to Stormy Daniels, is truly historic, marking the first time in American history that a current or former president has been tried for criminal offenses.

....(snip)....

Miles Taylor served as chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term. He spoke out early about Trump's unfitness for office, as author of the 2018 New York Times “Anonymous” editorial. Since then, Taylor has written two books, “A Warning” and “Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from Trump’s Revenge.” His new paperback edition of “Blowback” has just been published, incorporating an argument that Trump's second administration will be far more competent and formidable in its assault on American democracy and the rule of law than the first one was.

....(snip)....

How do you assess Donald Trump and his MAGA movement’s danger to the safety and future of the country and our pluralistic democracy?

Look, I’m still a conservative. This isn’t about a Republican coming to the White House. I don’t even think Trump is a real Republican. It’s about a man who’s said he wants to use government as a tool of revenge — and to advance his own self-interest. That sort of intent — sitting atop the spy agencies and military apparatus of the government — writes its own horror story.

....(snip)....

Why do you think the news media and political elites haven't made the global dimension of this threat to our democracy much clearer?

Attacks on Western democracy from within were not on my bingo card post-9/11. I fear the wayward ex-president will get his way eventually in trying to chip away at the community of democracies. He needn’t win back the White House to execute his vision. Trump has done something more insidious. By co-opting the Republican Party, he has reprogrammed a generation of devotees with his anti-constitutional and anti-democratic views. Copycats will try to fulfill his unfinished plans well beyond his lifespan, an undertaking made possible because GOP leaders have anesthetized their consciences and normalized Trump-like conduct for a decade. ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/16/former-insider-has-reprogrammed-a-generation-to-fight-against-democracy/

April 16, 2024

Thanks to a genetic breakthrough, a rare rhino species may be rescued from extinction

Thanks to a genetic breakthrough, a rare rhino species may be rescued from extinction
New research from the San Diego Zoo using just 12 frozen cells suggests we can protect the northern white rhino

By MATTHEW ROZSA
Staff Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 16, 2024 5:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) As humans continue to encroach on our planet, we are driving a mass extinction that some experts call a "biological holocaust." Since more and more species are dying, it creates an increasing number of genetic bottlenecks, which make animal and plant survival even more difficult.

Take for example the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), which can be divided into two sub-species that are genetically very similar — but one is relatively thriving while the other is on the brink of extinction.

Scientists using state-of-the-art genetics technology hope to change that — and their recent research published in the journal Evolutionary Applications suggests they might be able to pull it off.

Such a feat would not be unprecedented. The southern white rhinoceroses, which is currently the most abundant rhinoceros species in the world, had been culled down to a population of merely 50 to 200 individuals in the early 20th century. Thanks to rigorous conservation efforts, however, the southern white rhinoceros population had rebounded to roughly 20,000 individuals by 2014 (a surge in poaching around that time has since reduced their population to roughly 18,000). .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/16/thanks-to-a-genetic-breakthrough-a-rare-rhino-species-may-be-rescued-from-extinction/

April 16, 2024

Donald Trump was already a mess -- now he's falling asleep during his own trial

Donald Trump was already a mess — now he's falling asleep during his own trial
Only a few hours into the New York hush-money trial, Trump couldn't stay awake. This guy's in big trouble

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 16, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) "Study in contrasts" is an entirely inadequate phrase to describe the different experiences of President Joe Biden and Donald Trump over the weekend. Regardless of one's opinion about the conflict in the Middle East, there's no doubt that Biden spent Saturday overseeing an impressive multinational effort to shoot down hundreds of Iranian drones, preventing what could have been a devastating attack on Israel. Meanwhile, Trump spent Saturday night babbling for more than an hour at a crowd of thousands in Pennsylvania, who gamely ignored their leader's incoherence enough to cheer whenever he dropped some of the buzzwords they know so well from Fox News.

Trump has never been big on making sense, but close observers have noticed that he's suffering a rapid decline from his already low standards lately. Saturday was a particularly cringeworthy demonstration, with Trump frequently drifting off into nonsense and stumbling over his own words.

....(snip)....

Being in court every day is hard enough for normal people, but Trump is likely to make it much harder on himself with his bad personal habits, starting with his well-documented unwillingness to sleep like a normal person. While most of us were sound asleep at 5:30 on Monday morning, Trump was going full-tilt on Truth Social, with his usual mix of hysterical lies, poor grammar and random capitalization. He's also frequently known to post social media tirades at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning.

....(snip)....

As rich as he claims to be, Trump lacks many of the resources other wealthy defendants, or even ordinary people, might have. He's 77 years old and doesn't take care of his health, probably because thinks doing that would be doing an admission that he's not the genetic superman he so often claims to be. Most people have a network of family and friends to rely on, but the people around Trump are mostly leeches and hangers-on, not folks who genuinely have compassion for him. He was eventually able to hire top-notch lawyers for this case, but that was a struggle. As the Washington Post reports, "most prominent white-collar practices have no interest in taking on such a controversial and combative client as Trump." .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/16/donald-was-already-a-mess-now-hes-falling-asleep-during-his-own-trial/

April 16, 2024

"I wish I had been wrong": Miles Taylor on the dire threat of Trump 2.0

"I wish I had been wrong": Miles Taylor on the dire threat of Trump 2.0
Trump regime's anonymous whistleblower says the ex-president is now "more unhinged" and even more dangerous

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 15, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Donald Trump’s first criminal trial is finally scheduled to begin this week in Manhattan, on charges of paying hush money to adult-film performer Stormy Daniels. With three other criminal cases pending in Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., the corrupt ex-president faces at least the hypothetical possibility of incarceration, in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars he already owes in civil penalties and legal expenses. As a practical matter, given Trump’s advanced age and his precarious political position, a prison sentence in any of these criminal trials would be likely to end his career in public life and amount to a de facto life sentence.

....(snip)....

These same so-called adults, such as former White House chief of staff John Kelly, are now admitting publicly that Trump’s danger to America and the world was far worse than was generally known. In a recent interview with CNN, Kelly confirmed that Trump had expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Unlike many others at the highest levels of Trump’s regime, Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security, spoke out early about Trump's unfitness for office, as author of the 2018 New York Times “Anonymous” editorial. Since then, Taylor has written two books, “A Warning” and “Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from Trump’s Revenge.” His new paperback edition of “Blowback” has just been published, incorporating an argument that Trump's second administration will be far more competent and formidable in its assault on American democracy and the rule of law than the first one was.

....(snip)....

You recently emailed me to say that we need to talk because “things have changed” regarding the danger of Donald Trump. What did you mean by that?

.....I wish I had been wrong, but Donald Trump has borne out my predictions. Since the publication of "Blowback," he has let slip his true intentions again and again. Trump admitted he wanted to use the Justice Department against his enemies if re-elected, saying the “genie” had already been let “out of the box.” He admitted he would purge civil servants en masse, vowing “retribution” to “destroy the deep state” by “firing all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus.” He admitted he would reinstate policies like the so-called travel ban to the United States that would be “even bigger than before.” He hinted that he would seek to deploy the military on U.S. soil to enforce his edicts. (“The next time, I’m not waiting.”) He even admitted he would govern like a dictator, at least on “Day One.” ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/15/i-wish-i-had-been-wrong-miles-taylor-on-the-dire-of-20/

April 15, 2024

If you remember the 2008 documentary "Food, Inc.", there's now a Pt. II

OP's comment: The first one is one of my favorite documentaries. Looking forward to this one.

"The curtain was pulled back": The producers of "Food Inc. 2" on why transparency in food matters
Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser say our food system still has some serious problems — but they can be fixed

By JOY SAHA
Staff Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 14, 2024 1:29PM (EDT)


(Salon) “Food, Inc. 2,” the long-awaited sequel to the 2008 Oscar-nominated documentary "Food, Inc,” follows in the footsteps of its revelatory predecessor. The horrifying yet thought-provoking showcase, courtesy of directors Melissa Robledo and Robert Kenner, once again meshes science, data and emotions to illustrate how our industrialized food system has gotten worse nearly 15 years later.

Much of the focus is on corporate consolidation, which has become a dire problem amid a raging global pandemic that further weakened an already vulnerable system. Several meatpacking plants — notably Tyson Foods facilities — essentially transformed into COVID super spreaders due to corporate corruption and an executive order issued by the Trump administration. In particular, “Food, Inc. 2” spotlights a Tyson meat slaughterhouse based in Waterloo, Iowa, where 13,000 out of 25,000 workers tested positive for COVID. It’s just one of many examples of how corporate power continues to fuel disparities in various sectors of society: health, economics, the environment and so much more.

Special attention is also placed on ultra-processed foods, a new category of dangerous foods that have increased in popularity and consumption in recent years. Such foods (think ice cream, chips, candies, sweetened carbonated beverages and some breakfast cereals) currently make up an estimated 73% of the US food supply. Ultra-processed foods, the documentary reveals, are major money makers for big businesses. They aren’t mass-produced solely because they taste good. They’re primarily made for capitalistic motives.

In addition to Robledo and Kenner, “Food, Inc. 2” sees the return of journalists Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, this time as co-producers. The duo famously co-narrated the first film and has since covered the food system at large, including workers’ rights and antitrust law. Despite the troubling situation, Pollan and Schlosser are confident that the system can be changed for the better. The documentary itself ends on an inspiring note, urging viewers to visit a campaign website that includes ways to take immediate action. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/14/the-curtain-was-pulled-back-the-producers-of-food-inc-2-on-why-transparency-in-matters/

April 15, 2024

"I wish I had been wrong": Miles Taylor on the dire threat of Trump 2.0

"I wish I had been wrong": Miles Taylor on the dire threat of Trump 2.0
Trump regime's anonymous whistleblower says the ex-president is now "more unhinged" and even more dangerous

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 15, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) Donald Trump’s first criminal trial is finally scheduled to begin this week in Manhattan, on charges of paying hush money to adult-film performer Stormy Daniels. With three other criminal cases pending in Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., the corrupt ex-president faces at least the hypothetical possibility of incarceration, in addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars he already owes in civil penalties and legal expenses. As a practical matter, given Trump’s advanced age and his precarious political position, a prison sentence in any of these criminal trials would be likely to end his career in public life and amount to a de facto life sentence.

....(snip)....

These same so-called adults, such as former White House chief of staff John Kelly, are now admitting publicly that Trump’s danger to America and the world was far worse than was generally known. In a recent interview with CNN, Kelly confirmed that Trump had expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Unlike many others at the highest levels of Trump’s regime, Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security, spoke out early about Trump's unfitness for office, as author of the 2018 New York Times “Anonymous” editorial. Since then, Taylor has written two books, “A Warning” and “Blowback: A Warning to Save Democracy from Trump’s Revenge.” His new paperback edition of “Blowback” has just been published, incorporating an argument that Trump's second administration will be far more competent and formidable in its assault on American democracy and the rule of law than the first one was.

....(snip)....

You recently emailed me to say that we need to talk because “things have changed” regarding the danger of Donald Trump. What did you mean by that?

.....I wish I had been wrong, but Donald Trump has borne out my predictions. Since the publication of "Blowback," he has let slip his true intentions again and again. Trump admitted he wanted to use the Justice Department against his enemies if re-elected, saying the “genie” had already been let “out of the box.” He admitted he would purge civil servants en masse, vowing “retribution” to “destroy the deep state” by “firing all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus.” He admitted he would reinstate policies like the so-called travel ban to the United States that would be “even bigger than before.” He hinted that he would seek to deploy the military on U.S. soil to enforce his edicts. (“The next time, I’m not waiting.”) He even admitted he would govern like a dictator, at least on “Day One.” ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/15/i-wish-i-had-been-wrong-miles-taylor-on-the-dire-of-20/