Hundreds of local residents gathered in Goodale park yesterday, August 14th, to express their sorrow and outrage over the death of 32 year old Heather Heyer and the wounding of 19 other anti-fascist protestors at the neo-nazi rally held in Charlottesville Saturday.
In the lead up to a planned nazi rally in Charlottesville Virginia today, August 12th, a huge outpouring of resistance to hate swept the community. In addition to hundreds of anti-fascist activists traveling there from around the country, local and student activists planned a weekend of events. Additionally faith leaders held anti-hate services and businesses refused to serve identifiable members of so called alt-right groups.
The Center-Right wing of the Democratic party has maintained that Russian intelligence hacked the something or everything that was responsible for the 2016 election loss of the presidency. They began this tirade of misrepresentation before the actual Democratic National Convention. When Hillary Clinton proved unpalatable to the actual Democratic base as opposed to moderated Republicans and this translated into her narrow defeat last November the unverified claims became so-called “Russian Election Hacking.”
On June 5th of this year the Intercept published a report that included leaked documents from the NSA, as the Intercept has done with Edward Snowden's leaks and others. The report detailed an alleged attempt by Russian intelligence to gain access to computers used for email purposes by an American manufacturer of election equipment. Later that same day, an NSA contract employee, former Senior Airwoman Reality Winner, was arrested for leaking to the media. She is being held without bail.
Two days ago, on August 1st, Clintonville residents awoke to racist fliers and business cards, in bags with peppermints, in their yards and mailboxes. They were shocked. Further anecdotal discussion on social media indicates that the homes of non-white residents were targeted specifically. The mainstream media, led by channel 4, got their ratings boost as anchorwomen clutched their pearls.
A Roomba is one of the cutest things the internet put a cat on. This article was delayed by an endless parade of cat playing with roomba videos, dog barking a roomba videos, and plain old cat videos because the author likes cats. Beneath the feline powered viral marketing campaign there is a hidden agenda and that agenda is as bad for you and your privacy as feeding a gremlin after dark or making bed from living tribbles.
Officer Zach Rosen shot Henry Green dead in cold blood on his own street last year. He was not indicted and the city and county cared little, waiting as long as they could and refusing to meet with his family. This year Zach Rosen was seen on video running from out of frame to kick a suspect in the head while he was held down by another officer. He got no punishment whatsoever until the video went viral. Then he got a short with pay suspension.
Donald Trump is demanding voting records from every state and being refused. His presidential commission on “voter fraud” is an obvious attempt a legalized and systematic voter suppression. Voter fraud, where someone votes twice or under another person's name, rarely actually happens. In terms of having a material effect on elections it is a statistical non-entity. Trump's efforts are clearly aimed at creating more hurdles and keeping more people from the polls.
Turning Point USA has been clawing it's way to the top of the campus conservative movement in the United States over the last year. As a an allegedly national “student” group it claims “We believe in free markets, limited government, and fiscal responsibility.” In reality, it seems more like a vehicle for political control of student life, a vehicle for a rising wave of Neo-McCarthyism, and increasingly a portal for training members of this country's growing neo-nazi movement. The group is having their statewide conference tomorrow, April 15th, at the downtown Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The shortest answer is very few new things at first glance. Second answer, there is at least one gem – which is there is still a domestic spying effort. Third answer, all of Uncle Sam's children share their toys with one another, work together, operate domestically and invited their British friends. The mainstream press, lead by the government owned NPR, was quick to say “The NSA collected American data; no evidence the CIA is doing so.” when discussing how the leak wast less revealing then being “Snowden 2.0.”