Sunday, April 2, 2023

And another day of new evidence, NATO membership, another stress test for America, ‘battle plans’ to ‘attack Mexico,’ police targeting minority neighborhoods, the deepfake porn economy, and hopefully more regular updates soon comes to a close:

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell, 1984

"As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest." — Nelson Mandela

DOJ has new evidence of potential obstruction in Trump Mar-a-Lago documents case. Investigators have information that indicates Trump personally reviewed some of the documents in his Mar-a-Lago home after receiving a subpoena from the Justice Department, people familiar with the investigation told the Post, out of an apparent wish to hold on to some things. While the former president’s team returned some classified documents following the May 2022 subpoena, the FBI’s August search turned up more that hadn’t been returned.

Finland cleared to join NATO as hold-out Turkey ratifies its membership. “This will make the whole NATO family stronger & safer,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter in welcoming Turkey’s action.

Trump’s Indictment Is Yet Another Stress Test for America. His authoritarianism threatened the republic; this unprecedented case will place new pressure on the American system.

Trump Asks Advisers for ‘Battle Plans’ to ‘Attack Mexico’ if Reelected. Trump and his MAGAfied Republican Party are pushing plans for military action against drug cartels in Mexico — with or without the Mexican government's consent. The fixation with military action on Mexican soil is not limited to Trump, however. The CRA paper is credited to Ken Cuccinelli, a former Trump official who now backs Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to be the next president of the United States. And a range of GOP lawmakers and figures are proposing legislation aimed at unleashing the U.S. military on Mexico, suggesting that if a Republican wins in 2024, the new president will have ample support — and even possibly face party pressure — for waging war on North American soil. — MAGAs only know war. Vote for them in 2024 and this will be the beginning.

The lawsuit that threatens everything from cancer screenings to birth control, explained. So, as of Thursday morning, health insurers are no longer required to cover many forms of preventive care — including, once again, screenings for deadly diseases such as cancer and drugs that can prevent the spread of potentially deadly viruses such as HIV…The result is that health coverage in the United States could get worse — potentially much worse — in the near future, thanks to the Republican Party’s successful capture of the federal judiciary.

Deputies accused of shoving guns in mouths of 2 Black men. Several deputies from a Mississippi sheriff’s department being investigated by the Justice Department for possible civil rights violations have been involved in at least four violent encounters with Black men since 2019 that left two dead and another with lasting injuries, an Associated Press investigation found. Two of the men allege that Rankin County sheriff’s deputies shoved guns into their mouths during separate encounters. In one case, the deputy pulled the trigger, leaving the man with wounds that required parts of his tongue to be sewn back together. In one of the two fatal confrontations, the man’s mother said a deputy kneeled on her son’s neck while he told them he couldn’t breathe.

Kansas City Police targeted minority neighborhoods to meet illegal ticket quotas, lawsuit says. The lawsuit says that officers were told to go to minority neighborhoods to write tickets because it would be “easier to write multiple citations on every stop.” At the same time, command staff advised officers that they should “approach every car with the mindset to be ready to kill everybody in the car,” the suit says. Command staff also allegedly told officers to only respond to calls in white neighborhoods in north and south Kansas City, “because those are the folks who are actually paying for the police,” the suit says. Officers were allegedly told to not respond to minority areas north of Bannister Road, west of Interstate 435 and south of the Missouri River, “because those people do not vote the same way as the people out south, east, and north,” the suit says.

Found through Google, bought with Visa and Mastercard: Inside the deepfake porn economy. The nonconsensual deepfake economy has remained largely out of sight, but it's easily accessible and some creators can accept major credit cards. Most deepfake videos are of female celebrities, but creators now also offer to make videos of anyone. A creator offered on Discord to make a 5-minute deepfake of a “personal girl,” meaning anyone with fewer than 2 million Instagram followers, for $65. 

Wisconsin officials ban Miley Cyrus, Dolly Parton song from class concert. Administrators at a Wisconsin elementary school stopped a first-grade class from performing a Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton duet promoting LGBTQ acceptance because the song “could be perceived as controversial.” Students at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha had prepared a rendition of “Rainbowland” for their spring concert, but school officials struck the song from the lineup last week. Parents in the district say the decision was made because the song encourages LGBTQ acceptance and references rainbows.

Refrigerators have gotten really freaking good. Thanks, Jimmy Carter. It’s not just the refrigerator that’s transformed. Clothes washers and dishwashers have also become more powerful while using less energy and water. LED lights use 75 percent less energy and last 25 times longer than incandescent. And when US energy-related carbon emissions peaked in 2007, one overlooked factor for that peak was better efficiency. All this progress is thanks, in part, to former President Jimmy Carter, who entered hospice at age 98 in late February. While in office, he pioneered many of these gains in US efficiency. From 1977 to 1980, Carter proposed and signed a series of laws that raised the floor for efficiency in the home. One of the most pivotal included creating the Department of Energy, and setting up the appliance standards program that exists today. They cover 65 categories that make up 90 percent of home energy usage, including washing, drying, lighting, refrigeration, heating, cooling, and cooking.

Life’s short. Live, love, create, and help others.

Until next time, my friends. Stay safe and stay sane. Good night.