And another day of the ‘Art of the steal,’ a coming MAGA storm, Virginia Thomas agrees to interview, plotting escape from Trumpism, Putin threatens nukes, protests in Iran, and ‘feasting’ on profits’ as the ‘planet burns’ comes to a close:
“Currently, both of the top two 2024 Republican frontrunners are under criminal investigation. So much for the party of law and order.” — The Lincoln Project
Deaths
US: 1,080,356
World: 6,534,565
Cases
US: 97,721,719
World: 618,589,452
Trump docs probe: Court lifts hold on Mar-a-Lago records. The ruling from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit amounts to an overwhelming victory for the Justice Department, clearing the way for investigators to continue scrutinizing the documents as they consider whether to bring criminal charges over the storage of of top-secret records at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. In lifting a hold on a core aspect of the department’s probe, the court removed an obstacle that could have delayed the investigation by weeks, if not months.
‘Art of the steal’: Trump accused of vast fraud in NY suit. Former president Donald Trump padded his net worth by billions of dollars and habitually misled banks and others about the value of prized assets like golf courses, hotels and his Mar-a-Lago estate, New York’s attorney general said Wednesday in a lawsuit that seeks to permanently disrupt the Republican’s ability to do business in the state. Attorney General Letitia James dubbed it: “The art of the steal.”
Donald Trump and the Birth of QMaga: A Storm Is Coming. Those of us paying attention the past few years know that the answer to the oft-repeated question— have we reached the bottom of Trumpism?—is, there’s no bottom. Donald Trump and the Republican Party proved that once again in recent days, as Trump merged MAGA extremism with the conspiratorial lunacy of QAnon, and nary a Republican batted an eye. In retrospect, the melding of MAGAism with QAnon—and toss in a helping of Christian nationalism—seemed inevitable. The QAnon conspiracy theory holds that the world is controlled by a cabal of satanic, baby-eating, sex-trafficking pedophiles—which includes, of course, top Democrats, assorted elites, Hollywood celebrities, and the Pope—and that Trump is engaged in titanic combat behind the scenes to crush this evil power and save humanity (and lots of babies). Under assorted variants of this nuttery, Trump is being aided by John F. Kennedy Jr. (who did not die in a 1999 plane crash), and he will be restored to power in a final cataclysmic battle that involves mass arrests of Lucifer’s allies (lock ‘em up in Gitmo!) and televised executions. Trump fully embraced the QAnon insanity last week, and this means that the Republican Party now supports a man who advances a dangerous derangement that exceeds his Big Lie about the 2020 election and that further delegitimizes American democracy and debases political discourse. And this party has a good shot at gaining control of Congress in seven weeks.
Why Do You Think I’m a Threat To America? As America becomes more multiracial, bigots and political opportunists like Trump and the leadership of the GOP see this as an opportunity rather than as a threat to America. And, indeed, demagogues have used this strategy throughout history to seize political power, usually at the cost of great bloodshed and political and cultural upheaval, a price they’re openly willing to pay so long as it’s not their blood that’s spilled…These are the tools fascists and dictators use. Viktor Orbán used fear and hatred of Syrian refugees as a lever into political office, just as Hitler identified the “enemy within” as being Jews and immigrants to Germany. The abuse of desperate and fragile human beings in crisis is one of worst political crimes possible…The bottom line is that if you’re supporting this long (and incomplete) list of horribles, you are a threat to America…Voting for Republicans is, tragically, voting against America -- It’s really just that simple.
Virginia Thomas agrees to interview with Jan. 6 panel. Conservative activist Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, her lawyer said Wednesday. Attorney Mark Paoletta said Thomas is “eager to answer the committee’s questions to clear up any misconceptions about her work relating to the 2020 election.”
The Super-Rich Are Already Plotting Their Escape From Trumpism. Fear of authoritarian rule and political violence has led to a run on dual citizenships. But the two lawyers more recently began seeing a new trend, Lesperance says. Namely, “clients engaging us not for tax reasons, but rather to have an alternative should the US turn into MAGA America.”...They are concerned, roughly in this order, Lesperance says, about the state of American democracy (voter suppression, rejection of election outcomes, MAGA subversion), the outlawing of abortion and what the court may do next, and the specter of domestic terrorism and mass shooting events. They aren’t necessarily liberal...“They’re sitting there saying, ‘I have a giant target on my back. So, yes, I’m gonna vote. Yes, I’m gonna join organizations and fund organizations to get voter registration. I’ll call that fire prevention,'” he says. “‘But I’m also gonna get fire insurance. And you know, depending on the outcome in the midterms, and what outcome comes in the general, I want to be able to bug out, and I want to take my family.’”
House passes election law overhaul in response to Jan. 6. The bill, which is similar to bipartisan legislation moving through the Senate, would overhaul an arcane 1800s-era statute known as the Electoral Count Act that governs, along with the U.S. Constitution, how states and Congress certify electors and declare presidential election winners. While that process has long been routine and ceremonial, Trump and a group of his aides and lawyers unsuccessfully tried to exploit loopholes in the law in an attempt to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Democrats are pushing to pass the bill before the end of the year and ahead of the 2024 election cycle as Trump is considering another run...The final vote was 229-203, with nine Republicans joining all Democrats in voting for the bill. None of the nine Republicans is returning to Congress next year.
Putin sets partial military call-up, won’t ‘bluff’ on nukes. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists in Russia on Wednesday, risking a deeply unpopular step that follows a string of humiliating setbacks for his troops nearly seven months after invading Ukraine.
1,300 arrested for protesting Putin’s mobilization as others scramble for flights out of Russia. For the first time, many draft-age Russian men and their families are contending with the prospect of fighting and dying in a conflict the Kremlin just intensified.
Wave of protests in Iran reflects seething anger over how its regime treats women. She traveled to Tehran to visit relatives, a dark-haired 22-year-old woman from Iran’s Kurdistan region. But outside a subway station, the “morality police” arrested Mahsa Amini for allegedly failing to fully cover her hair, and pulled her into a police van. Three days later, she was dead..."Many people are pointing out that this could be my daughter, my sister, my wife," said Hadi Ghaemi, the executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. "This has shaken people, that every time a woman leaves home, she might not come back.”
‘Our world is in peril’: At UN, leaders push for solutions. “We are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, adding that “our world is in peril — and paralyzed.”...He and others pointed to conflicts ranging from Russia’s six-month-old war in Ukraine to the decades-long dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Speakers worried about a changing climate, spiking fuel prices, food shortages, economic inequality, migration, disinformation, discrimination, hate speech, public health and more.
Climate change could wipe $108 billion from U.S. property market, study finds. The report found that nearly 650,000 privately owned parcels of land over more than 4 million acres will fall below tide lines within the next 30 years. The analysis indicates that sea level rise could reduce the value of that private land by more than $108 billion by the end of the century.
Border apprehensions exceed 2 million this year: Enforcement increases as GOP buses migrants elsewhere. The number of arrests or detentions of migrants at the border this fiscal year remains at a record high, according to data released Monday -- as Republicans level sharp criticism at the Biden administration, even as the White House says it is working to humanely manage immigration and stresses its limited influence over those seeking to enter the country.
Feds accuse 47 people of stealing cash meant to help feed needy kids in 'staggering' Covid scheme. Prosecutors say the suspects in the $250 million fraud used the money to buy commercial real estate, luxury cars, fancy homes and even coastal property in Kenya.
Tax fossil fuel companies ‘feasting’ on profits as ‘planet burns’ and power bills soar, UN chief urges. Rich economies should hit oil and gas companies with new windfall taxes to provide help for countries suffering from climate change, and people struggling with soaring energy and food bills, UN Secretary General António Guterres said Tuesday.
America's Christian majority is on track to end. The study modeled four scenarios for how religious affiliation could change, and in every case it found a sharp drop in Christianity. — And the sooner it ends the better.
Cancer death rates continue to fall, driven by new treatments and improved screening. There are more cancer survivors in the U.S. than ever before, thanks to advances in cancer research.
How chronic sleep loss can increase the risk of heart disease. Cutting sleep short on a regular basis may harm immune stem cells, potentially increasing the risk of inflammatory disorders and heart disease, a small new study suggests.
Earth's ant population of 20 quadrillion outnumbers humans by 2.5 million times, study finds. In total, that's 20 quadrillion — or 20,000,000,000,000,000 — ants. -- That's a lot of ants!
Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.
Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.
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