Category: Uncategorized

Delicious! Gab’s Torba Is In A Pissing Contest With One Bill Mitchell — Over Anti-Semitism.

~ condor ~ Leave a comment

Mr. Torba (purportedly a christian) is the hater-in-chief that runs gab.com.

He just told Bill Mitchell to go join Parler, if violently vile antisemitic hate speech bugs him.

Of course, all day long, Tangerine posts much the same — at both venues.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for either venue to finally realize that this sort of speech drives the central audience away.

But in the mean time, I’ll sit back and enjoy the slowly evolving train wreck that is the both of them.

Cheers.

Biden Administration Effectively Ends “Goon Squad” / ICE Raids — At Workplaces, Overnight…

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It was always clear. To anyone with. . . eyes, at least (and to anyone who had ever worked a dangerous shift): the whole point — for the prior administration — was cruelty, and terror.

Terrorize the workplace dissenters — the ones doing dirty and dangerous work, at low wages, primarily in the South. [Middle school kids not knowing if their mom and dad would ever return home, after being yanked off the shop floor.]

Make the remaining workers agree to horrendous working conditions — in industrial chicken processing plants, fertilizer and dog food factories, mines and farm field workers — or face more mass deportations. In sum, silence. . . anyone who dared to assert US OSHA (or NLRB) regulations in their workplaces. All while lining the pockets of Tangerine’s big donors — who owned these insidious businesses. [Almost no US born white people wanted to / were willing to work in those awful conditions, in the first place. So the ruse about protecting native US workers’ job opportunities was. . . utterly false.]

And so, for four long years, ICE under Trump was acting much as the 1880s Pinkertons did — in the Ludlow, Colorado mining and rail strikes / workers’ uprisings. But no more — here is NPR on it tonight.

. . .”Under the previous administration, these resource-intensive operations resulted in the simultaneous arrest of hundreds of workers,” DHS said about the change. While the raids attracted attention and made headlines, the agency says they “were used as a tool by exploitative employers to suppress and retaliate against workers’ assertion of labor laws.”

The announcement is part of a shift in strategy under the Biden administration that puts a new emphasis on going after businesses and employers that violate labor laws. In addition to halting mass raids, it supports the idea of exercising prosecutorial discretion to spare workers from charges if they witness or are the victims of abuse or exploitation in the workplace.

 ”We will not tolerate unscrupulous employers who exploit unauthorized workers, conduct illegal activities, or impose unsafe working conditions,” Mayorkas said in a news release about the shift. . . .

During the Trump administration, ICE carried out several massive workplace raids that the then-president touted as a centerpiece of his crackdown on undocumented immigration. One operation in 2018 resulted in the arrest of 146 employees at a meat processing company in northeast Ohio. That raid was followed by an operation in 2019 in which ICE agents arrested approximately 680 people at food processing plants in Mississippi. . . .

The darkness. . . is indeed coming to an end. And Amazon should take heed (new union referenda / elections ordered) — especially in Alabama. Out.

नमस्ते

Update, On NAACP’s “Clean Up” — Of Bill Barr / Tangerine’s Lawless (And Failed) Police “Star Chamber” Attempts

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The NAACP continues to receive the documents evidencing Baby T’s violation of open meetings / records acts, on the federal level — as he and Billy Barr tried to militarize local police forces, into political repression brute squads. [My earlier backgrounder may be found, here.]

The Legal Defense Fund of the NAACP will win its attorneys’ fees from all us taxpayers, here — probably into the $3 to $4 million range. Thanks again, B-bay-T. Here’s the latest joint status report. Next status report/hearing due on November 11:

. . .On February 24, 2021, after granting Plaintiff’s motion for several of its claims that Defendants violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act in forming and operating the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, the Court ordered Defendants to release documents that are subject to disclosure under FACA Section 10(b) related to the Commission and its working groups. See Order, ECF No. 67.

Defendants have made productions to Plaintiff thus far as required by the Court’s order and are continuing to search for other information required to be disclosed. Defendants have also informed Plaintiff that they do not intend to withhold materials required to be disclosed under Section 10(b), consistent with the Court’s order, on the basis of any legal privilege. . . .

On October 4, 2021, Plaintiff sent Defendants a demand for attorneys’ fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act. Defendants are reviewing those materials and believe that negotiations regarding potential resolution of fees may be fruitful. Accordingly, the parties respectfully request leave to submit another joint status report within 30 days — on or before November 11, 2021. . . .

Now you know — onward, grinning.

नमस्ते

This Somehow Seems Appropriate — On US Indigenous Peoples’ Day… But A “Crete” Edition?

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The caveats, upfront: an extraordinary claim ought to be backed by extraordinary. . . evidence. And this doesn’t meet that standard, just yet. The claim out of a beach on the northwestern end of Crete is that several hominids walked in the sand about 6 million years ago, there. That would predate “Lucy” in what is now Tanzania, Africa. . . by over 2 million years. [Almost certainly, there are some pro-european forces at work here, as well. . . even if only in the semi-scientific writings — of these London-based journalists.]

But do recall that Lucy is an actual skeleton — pretty large portions of one, in fact. Bones. With cranial features and dimensions, in addition to a footprint. There are (so far) no fossilized bone fragments, on Crete.

True, the fossilized prints in the sandstone do look like they may have a ball on the mid foot, and a suggestion of an arch, as well as a straight (as opposed to opposed) big toe (or thumb, as apes then had). But without any suggestion of a skull, it seems a stretch to infer that these were the “original version” hominids, from whom Lucy either descended directly — or became some later off-shoot branch. So for now, I am willing to grant that this is a very-early version of. . . something walking upright — but I’m not ready to align this band with the clearly humanoid Lucy finds, reliably dated some two million years later. Here’s a bit (out of London’s Monday morning papaers):

. . .Around 50 of the track marks were identified near the village of Trachilos on the western edge of the Greek island of Crete back in 2002. . . .

They were found in a type of sedimentary rock that formed at the shore of the ancient Mediterranean Sea. . . .

The ‘Trachilos footprints’ are almost 2.5 million years older than the tracks attributed to an ancient pre-human species called Australopithecus afarensis, from Laetoli in Tanzania, Africa. A. afarensis is the species to which the famous early human ancestor ‘Lucy’ belongs. . . . .

In fairness, not much more should be claimed. They are footprints — but where they fit in the line that ultimately becomes. . . us, is completely unproven. They are very old — but it is even possible that it was a mutated grouping of apes. . . and not much more.

Clearly they died out, as Crete became an isolated island of its own. And no evidence puts these same feet in what became central Europe — or Asia, or Africa, for that matter. . . before Lucy. So we wait. . . grinning. Ever, grinning: more to come.

नमस्ते

Tangent: Are “Sterile Neutrinos”… Really Just Dark Matter? Fermi Labs May Soon Yield The Answer.

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We have occasionally discussed (on another of our outlets) the wide array of amazing physics being discovered, month by month, at FermiLabs in Batavia.

Do go watch this latest full episode of PBS’s Nova, for a wonderful journey down the rabbit hole — where neutrinos alone. . . may go (first aired this week, nationwide).

And it may well turn out, that the fourth form of neutrino. . . is actually the dark matter that makes up 95 per cent of the known Universe’s mass.

Not detectable — but we know it must be out there. . . exerting forces we cannot even imagine as yet. Amazing.

नमस्ते

Cosmic Gall

Neutrinos, they are very small.
They have no charge and have no mass
And do not interact at all.
The earth is just a silly ball
To them, through which they simply pass,
Like dustmaids down a drafty hall
Or photons through a sheet of glass.
They snub the most exquisite gas,
Ignore the most substantial wall,
Cold-shoulder steel and sounding brass,
Insult the stallion in his stall,
And, scorning barriers of class,
Infiltrate you and me! Like tall
And painless guillotines, they fall
Down through our heads into the grass.
At night, they enter at Nepal
And pierce the lover and his lass
From underneath the bed — you call
It wonderful. . . I call it crass.

Collected Poems 1953 | –1993,
— John Updike

John’s Buddies, On Gab.Com — Support This “Q.Anon 76” Guy…

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So… we will now simply dissect Q.Anon 76’s latest post, over at the far right hate site called Gab.

It seems this malignant Q.Anon 76 racist is upset that poor Kyle Rittenhouse had to post $200,000 in bail in Kenosha, Wisconsin (paid by far right gun groups, and a hard right coffee magnate, as we understand it), after gunning down three protestors in the street. He pursued the first victim, and shot him at close range, and immediately admitted by cell phone to a friend he knew he had killed an unarmed man.

Kyle had no right to be out after curfew; he had no right to be in possession of an AR-15; he was openly lying on videotape, about protecting someone’s property (no one had hired him; and “defense of property” cannot lawfully excuse wanton pre-meditated killings, in the street — on public property). He was defending… nothing. He was hunting… peaceful protesters. With a semi-automatic rifle. He had been ordered to leave, by police; he had a legal duty to retreat when confronted, since he clearly possessed superior firepower, and was on a public right-of-way — all unlawfully.

Contrast this to the minor on the right — we won’t name him. He is in the wrong, too. But he was bullied endlessly at school (and was reportedly robbed by these kids, as well), and shot at his tormentors. That is wrong, of course. No one died. It was wrong, but two are indisputably… dead, from Kyle’s own hand.

But to say the kid of color benefits from any form of privilege (Q anon 76’s claim)… of any kind (his own family made bail)… is insane.

Kyle Rittenhouse will do a minimum of 20 years, after he is convicted in early 2022.

And he richly deserves that fate.

Out.

Texas SB-8 Enjoined By Federal District Court, In Austin Tonight…

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This unconstitutional “law” will no longer be in effect — nor return, any time soon.

Ultimately, the Supremes will have to rule here. But for now, Texas doctors retain the right to follow their patients’ wishes, without interference from bounty hunters like the moron at right.

TRIGGER WARNING — some of the first twenty or so pages of the opinion may be emotionally difficult reading — it involves empirical but first hand discussions of trends in intimate partner violence and incest in Texas. But it needs to be seen. Here’s a bit of the 113 pages:
. . .A person’s right under the Constitution to choose to obtain an abortion prior to fetal viability is well established. Fully aware that depriving its citizens of this right by direct state action would be flagrantly unconstitutional, the State contrived an unprecedented and transparent statutory scheme to do just that. The State created a private cause of action by which individuals with no personal interest in, or connection to, a person seeking an abortion would be incentivized to use the state’s judicial system, judges, and court officials to interfere with the right to an abortion. Rather than subjecting its law to judicial review under the Constitution, the State deliberately circumvented the traditional process. It drafted the law with the intent to preclude review by federal courts that have the obligation to safeguard the very rights the statute likely violates. . . .

Approximately one quarter of women in the United States will have an abortion by the age of forty-five. (Id. at 8). In Texas alone, providers performed more than 50,000 abortions last year. . . . “Abortion is also one of the safest medical procedures. Fewer than 1% of pregnant people who obtain abortions experience a serious complication. And even fewer abortion patients — only approximately 0.3% — experience a complication that requires hospitalization. Abortion is far safer than pregnancy and childbirth. The risk of death from carrying a pregnancy to term is approximately 14 times greater than the risk of death associated with abortion. In addition, complications such as blood transfusions, infection, and injury to other organs are all more likely to occur with a full-term pregnancy than with an abortion.” (Gilbert Decl., Dkt. 8-2, at 9). . . .

“Many Texans obtain abortions because they are unable to meet their basic needs. Pregnant patients who seek abortion care are often low-income and below the federal poverty line. 14.7% of working Texans live in poverty, and 34.5% are low income. This number is even higher for women of color; 19.1% of Black women and 20.5% of Latina women live in poverty in Texas. These patients are in dire financial circumstances and often struggle to pay for needs like housing, food, and medical care. As a result, these patients believe that obtaining an abortion is the best decision for themselves and for their families.” (Gilbert Decl., Dkt. 8-2, at 10).

“The majority of pregnant people who have abortions are already parents: sixty-one percent of pregnant patients who obtain abortions already have at least one child. They do not desire — and . . . may not be able to afford or properly care for — another child. . . . Other patients seek abortions because having another child is not right for them and their families at the present time. Sixty-six percent of abortion patients intend to have at least one child in the future. Some Texans become pregnant when they are young or still in school and want to wait to have children later in life. Some become pregnant with a partner with whom they do not wish to share a child. Others may be managing their own unrelated health issues, such as substance abuse disorders, and may determine that having a child would not be the best choice for them in their current condition.” (Id. at 10–11).

“For patients who have been abused, being pregnant often subjects them to increased surveillance and decreased control over their lives. Being pregnant also may make it more likely that their abusers will perpetrate more physical violence against them. Terminating the pregnancy may be critical for their physical health and psychological well-being.” Id. at 11. A provider in Oklahoma credibly relates his experiences with survivors of rape seeking abortion in his clinics because the medical procedure is no longer available to them in Texas: “One of the most heart-wrenching cases I have seen recently was of a Texas minor who had been raped by a family member and traveled (accompanied by her guardian) all the way from Galveston, Texas — a 7- to 8-hour drive, one way — to get her abortion in Oklahoma because she was more than six weeks pregnant and could not get an abortion in Texas. And this patient is not the only sexual assault survivor from Texas that I have treated recently. I provided an abortion to another woman from Texas who had been raped and could not get an abortion in Texas because of S.B. 8. She was upset and furious that she could not get an abortion close to home and in her own state. She had to figure out how to take extra time off from work to make the trip to Oklahoma, as well as find childcare for her children. I know of at least one other patient from Texas on our schedule for this upcoming week who has indicated that their pregnancy was a result of sexual assault. . . .” (Yap Decl., Dkt. 8-9, at 9). . . .

[Texas] has requested, in the event the Court preliminarily enjoins enforcement of S.B. 8, that the Court stay any injunction until the State has the opportunity to seek appellate review. The State has forfeited the right to any such accommodation by pursuing an unprecedented and aggressive scheme to deprive its citizens of a significant and well-established constitutional right. From the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution. That other courts may find a way to avoid this conclusion is theirs to decide; this Court will not sanction one more day of this offensive deprivation of such an important right. . . .

It is raw — and it is cruel. Texas seems to think the only life to consider is the one that has NOT achieved viability by any stretch of any imagination. And it seeks to substitute the state as the arbiter, as opposed to the involved humans. That is. . . disgusting, from a moral perspective. This “law” will not stand. Full-stop.

नमस्ते

[Social Media Law Tangent:] In The Realm Of Silly Suits — This Might Be… The Silliest.

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Preposterously, Tangerine seeks an injunction under Florida law, against Twitter — the object of which would be to force Twitter to reinstate his account privileges. That word — “privileges” — is all one needs to know about why this case is a dead-bang loser.

Whatever else may be said about Twitter — for good or ill — it offers an entirely free. . . privilege, of participating. Not a “right” — of any sort. It is, in sum, akin to a private club. [Maybe even a little better than a private club, because Tangerine may read the goings on — without a handle, whereas no one not a member can watch the private dinners and weddings at Mar-A-Lago.]

If anyone were to tell Tangerine that he must admit to membership in his Bedminster or Mar-A-Lago golf clubs, one AOC (in the ball gown at right, to boot!). . . he would lose his tiny mind. And the law would not favor AOC (absent a showing that the decision was made on race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ status or gender). Viewpoint (to frame it most charitably to Baby-T) is not. . . a protected class or status, no matter what Tangerine says.

And Twitter offers a revokable series of day passes to its system (as the FB outage yesterday made very clear). A moron who lies and offends the guests that Twitter wants to sell ads to. . . is quite properly subject to seeing his privileges revoked. The end.

नमस्ते

[U] Should We Expect To Hear… From “Anonymous” Shortly — After Yesterday’s FB Whistleblower Came Forward, On “Sixty Minutes”?

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UPDATED 10.05.21 AM: It was likely self-inflicted. End update.

While this could all be just a dumb-founding coincidence. . . I suspect it. Is. Not.

One day after CBS aired some pretty credible, on the record material by an inside-Facebook whistleblower, we see that it — and many of its affiliated properties — have been 404-ed, at once.

I suspect we will soon hear from a hackivist (or three): The MSM has it thus, at the moment:

. . .Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp have apparently all gone down simultaneously, in a major outage.

The social network and the Facebook-owned platforms all stopped working around 11:30 a.m. ET Monday morning according to the site Down Detector.

Users going to Facebook’s site saw an error page or an onscreen message that said, “Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on it and we’ll get it fixed as soon as we can.”

Instagram and WhatApp are not showing new or updated content. On Instagram, messages including “Couldn’t Refresh Feed” or “5xx Server Error” appeared. . . .

Now you know. . . onward, grinning. [I long ago disabled all my FB feeds / repostings. It has been just a dead shell — for five years, minimum, now.]

नमस्ते

Two Things, Apparently In Opposition… May Well Be True — At Once.

~ condor ~ 1 Comment

The New York Times has a much better opinion piece out, on Elizabeth Holmes’ object lessons, this morning. She is neither a martyr, nor a 100% demon (though she is likely closer to the latter than the former).

That is in contrast to the last opinion in that newspaper I mentioned, about two weeks ago. That women are still placed behind men, and especially in life sciences and tech, is an absolutely true — and awful feature, not a bug — of US workplace (and overall) society:

. . .Although it feels somewhat shameful to admit now, I was [while an undergrad at Harvard] a little jealous of what Ms. Holmes had achieved. She wasn’t struggling up a ladder; she’d leapt straight to the top. She came off as intellectual and nerdy, unlike the sleek Instagram-filtered “girl bosses” with their marketing shticks. I didn’t realize we could do that. . . .

If there isn’t a way for women to thrive at the top, it doesn’t get easier downstream. In 2020, women earned 82 cents to each dollar men earned. And despite all the recent hand-wringing around how our performances are leaving men behind academically, a recent study found that women a decade out of business school working full-time at for-profit companies were making just 74 cents to each dollar made by men. . . .

And, Ms. Holmes will soon face up to 20 years in federal custody, a fate she brought upon herself, all by. . . herself (when one is a girl boss, one must also accept that one has. . . agency). Both are true.

Onward, smiling. . . at a new term, at the Supremes — a blockbuster docket on tap, to be sure, here on the first Monday. . . in October [even with the most conservative six, in many decades, taking their seats]. And yet, I think Roe v. Wade will survive. I do.

नमस्ते