W. Niederhut

Trump is cracking down on anti-fascists. My father was an anti-fascist. I haven't shared this with the forum before, but here's a photo of my dad's anti-fascist tank battalion-- the U.S. 753rd-- landing on the coast of Southern France in August of 1944 (in Operation Dragoon.)

Such an important story-- the contrast between JFK's response to the Birmingham riots and Trump's incendiary Tweets about "vicious dogs" and "shooting the looters." Among other differences, JFK was able to establish a meaningful, constructive rapport with MLK and the black community in Birmingham. In contrast, Trump has no credibility with black (or Hispanic) communities in America. None. For the past four years, Trump has repeatedly denied the serious problem of police violence against black men in America, and has denigrated the Black Lives Matter movement, including Colin Kaepernick. In the depositions of NFL owners during Kaepernick's successful lawsuit against the NFL, Dallas Cowboy's owner Jerry Jones revealed that Trump had aggressively urged the NFL owners to ban the BLM protests, and told them that bashing Kaepernick, "LIFTS ME."

Minnesota AG Keith Ellison has announced on MSNBC that he will be investigating the "Umbrella Man" evidence. But the Umbrella Man video is still not getting any coverage in the M$M, to my knowledge. https://crooksandliars.com/2020/05/keith-ellison-white-supremacists-may-be

FWIW, this blogger, Edward Champion, has posted some additional information (and photos) about the mysterious Minneapolis Umbrella Man. Agents Provocateurs in Minneapolis? Who Are the Umbrella Man and the Pink Shirt Pizza Guy? http://www.edrants.com/agents-provocateurs-in-minneapolis-who-are-the-umbrella-man-and-the-pink-shirt-pizza-guy/

Are we witnessing some sort of partly staged "Reichstag fire" in America this weekend? I noticed that Trump immediately attacked the "liberals" in Minnesota after the riots started. And CNN was the site of the fires in Atlanta.

Ron, They are finally re-opening the new, improved Cottonwood Pass-- from Buena Vista to Taylor Park and Tincup-- this coming Monday, June 1st. My sister's ex-husband has been supervising that CDOT project for the past three years. It's a major shortcut over the Continental Divide, (compared to the long drive over Monarch Pass and up the Taylor River Canyon from Gunnison.)

Sure looks like Pederson to me. I wonder what the experts in photographic/facial analysis here on the Education Forum think. Also, I wonder if his height is identical to that of the Umbrella Man in the video.

Now I'm really beginning to wonder if police-affiliated agents provocateurs were involved in any other "incendiary" activities last night. Vox published a story yesterday about the fact that 92% of the mostly Caucasian Minneapolis police officers live in suburban communities outside of Minneapolis.

The 2016 Trump/Flynn position on Syria was, essentially, correct, IMO. I believed that much in November of 2016. Every time "ISIS" was accused of a terrorist attack in those days, (in Europe or the U.S.) the Obama administration would bomb the Syrian Army! It was obvious that our real objective in Syria was to overthrow Assad and Balkanize the area. Operation Timber Sycamore was terrible policy, as was the Obama administration's Neocon military policy to destabilize Libya. But why did Flynn lie about his December 29, 2016 phone call to Kisylak? From the transcript* of the phone call, Flynn was actively trying to mitigate the effect of the newly-imposed Obama administration sanctions, imposed in response to Russian "cyber stuff"-- i.e., interference in the U.S. elections. * Flynn wants to convey the following [to Moscow]: Do not allow this administration to box us in right now! Kislyak says the have conveyed it very clearly. Flynn: So, depending on what actions they take over this current issue of cyber stuff, where they are looking like they are going to dismiss some number of Russians out of the country. I understand all that and I understand that the information that they have and all that. But I ask Russia to do is to not, if anything, I know you have to have some sort of action, to only make it reciprocal; don't go any further than you have to because I don't want us to get into something that have to escalate to tit-for-tat. Do you follow me?

I think it's premature, since our COVID numbers have not been consistently declining for two weeks. (Most people under 50 are still not wearing masks in the park by my house.) But there is a lot of pressure on Gov. Polis to re-open, and he's trying to appease the state's conservative Republican counties, in particular. Several of them-- including populous Douglas and El Paso Counties -- were already granted early waivers. Currently, Polis is being sued by the Castle Rock restaurant (in Douglas County) that opened on Mother's Day, for suspending their license. He announced on Colorado Public Radio today that local travel bans to the mountains are being lifted and that, "Some communities in Colorado are welcoming visitors, while others are not. Please respect their wishes, etc." How vague is that one? (I'm picturing hoards of hikers going wherever they want.) Here in Denver, I played golf today for the first time since I broke my collar bone seven weeks ago, and the course was completely packed-- but not as crowded as my neighborhood park(!) Everyone was wearing masks around the pro shop area and "social distancing" on the course. Check-ins were handled strictly by cell phones (from the parking lot.)

Snopes is currently listing the Under Cover Cop/Jacob Pederson story as "Unproven." But it's certainly strange. Why is this mysterious white guy wearing a gas mask and carrying an umbrella while calmly smashing windows at an Auto Zone store, shortly before the police started launching tear gas at the protesters? https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/officer-jacob-pederson-protests/

If I recall correctly, some journalist (s) was also arrested in a police dragnet shortly after Mike Brown was murdered in Ferguson, Missouri-- just before the Ferguson protests began to dominate the national mainstream media headlines.

If only the spectators had cellphones with video cameras in Dealey Plaza on 11/22/63 !! I think it was Will Smith who said recently that, "Racism isn't getting worse in America, it's getting FILMED!" As for the Auto Zone window-breaking cop in Minneapolis, has this story been told in the M$M?

Speaking of fake news, Ron, it appears that Florida Gov. DeSantis is suppressing his state's COVID mortality data. * I'm also posting a link about the fired scientist, Rebekah Jones, who created Florida's highly-acclaimed COVID database website.** (Jones issued this public statement in response to a coordinated GOP smear campaign involving DeSantis, Mike Pence, and the Tampa Bay Daily Republican A** Wiper.) * More Evidence That Florida's Low Number Of COVID Deaths Isn't Exactly A 'Miracle' Florida forced medical examiners to stop reporting death results, and now we know why. https://crooksandliars.com/2020/05/more-evidence-desantis-reported-number-covid-deaths **Statement issued by Rebekah Jones for public release geojones.org/2020/05/22/public-statement/?fbclid=IwAR0ajEq20BD29ZmwUUnImSgVA7_8yILARl8sWXiybpVT7DbDqXf5CADshuY

In COVID-19 era, Bill Gates is world’s most-interesting person Gates is the boogeyman in the fevered minds of many a delusional Trumper. The global lunacy community — anti-vaxxers, science-deniers, Russian agents — has spread so many conspiracy theories regarding Gates that misinformation about him is now among the most widespread of all coronavirus falsehoods. https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/25/egan-in-covid-19-era-bill-gates-is-worlds-most-interesting-person/amp/ by Timothy Egan May 25, 2020 “It tires me to talk to rich men,” said Teddy Roosevelt, himself a product of wealth. “You expect a man of millions, the head of a great industry, to be a man worth hearing. But as a rule, they don’t know anything outside their own businesses.” Had T.R. spent time with Bill Gates, the polymath who predicted the pandemic in a TED Talk, he likely would have made an exception. Gates is everywhere these days, a lavender-sweatered Mister Rogers for the curious and quarantined. With the United States surrendering in the global war against a disease without borders, Gates has filled the void. The U.S. is isolated, pitied, scorned. Gates, by one measure, is the most admired man in the world. Beyond the $300 million that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given to blunt the spread of the virus, Gates has made himself a spokesman for science. It needs one. While President Donald Trump spouts life-threatening nonsense, Gates calmly explains how a spike protein of coronavirus fits into the urgent hunt for a vaccine. He’s the prophet who warned in 2015 that a pandemic was a greater risk to humankind than nuclear war. Five years before that, he challenged the world health community to commit to a decade of vaccines and anted up $10 billion to get it started. In 2018, he took the stage in Beijing with a jar of human poop. This, at the Reinvented Toilet Expo, was his way of stressing that about 500,000 young children die every year from diseases linked to poor sanitation — a problem his foundation has tackled. Do I need to know that he and Melinda enjoy “This is Us,” the sap-heavy television series? No. But as they’ve already given away more than $50 billion as self-described “impatient optimists working to reduce inequality,” I’ll take their gloss on pop culture over an update on Kim Kardashian’s lip gloss. Big Philanthropy can be about diplomatic power and muscle under the guise of charity. But there’s an inescapable truth about the world’s second-richest man’s decision to give away his fortune: The Gates Foundation has helped save millions of lives. With the coronavirus, which Gates has called “the most dramatic thing ever in my lifetime by a lot,” his approach is to inject a turbocharger of money at many different levels. The foundation calls it “catalytic philanthropy.” To speed up the steps needed to get a vaccine to the world, for example, he’s funding the construction of factories to manufacture seven possible coronavirus vaccines, even if most of them fail. Many tycoons tend to get miserly and cold-hearted as they age. Gates has evolved in the opposite direction. Early on, the co-founder of Microsoft was arrogant, insufferable, whiny and socially distant when that was considered offensive — a monopoly capitalist without the imagination of his rival and friend Steve Jobs. His initial efforts at philanthropy — giving computers away to underserved libraries and schools — opened him up to criticism (largely unfair) that the donations were part of a scheme to expand the market for Microsoft products. Gates soldiered on, making himself an expert in infectious diseases. He helped to create a market for lifesaving drugs that are often ignored by Big Pharma. It’s uncanny how spot on he was in that 2015 speech. The greatest threat to the world was “not missiles but microbes,” he said. “You have a virus where people feel well enough while they’re infected so they get on a plane,” he said. The first major U.S. outbreak, in a nursing home just 11 miles from Gates’ house near Seattle, made him regret that he had not spoken out even more. He had warned Trump, just before he took office, of the seismic dangers of a pandemic. Now, of course, Gates is the boogeyman in the fevered minds of many a delusional Trumper. The global lunacy community — anti-vaxxers, science-deniers, Russian agents — has spread so many conspiracy theories regarding Gates that misinformation about him is now among the most widespread of all coronavirus falsehoods. The crackpots who have targeted Gates include Roger Stone, Laura Ingraham and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Would you get in a lifeboat with that trio? The world needs a strong American response precisely because the disease has become a huge American problem. With less than 5% of the world’s population, the United States accounts for more than 30% of the planet’s coronavirus cases. When Trump snubs the World Health Organization, he hurts American citizens. The safer route for a billionaire trying to avoid social media predators is idle-rich vacuity. But Gates, who had urged nations to simulate “germ games not war games,” will not sit this one out from the safety of a yacht. He’s smart enough to see that this virus does not pick sides.

I think Rob found it in the tanks... 🤥

Possibly, but I doubt that stopping the chloroquine has made any difference in the Trump's ghastly marriage. If there's a theme song for Donald Trump's relationship with Melania in recent years, it must be the old Beatles' classic, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." 🤥

Well, I'm shocked, shocked to hear that Rob has posted more scurrilous, right wing nonsense. Meanwhile, in defense of Donald Trump, I read that, when they told him that hydroxychloroquine could keep Malaria away, Trump thought they were talking about his wife. 🤪

I wonder if Nixon had a hand in the dirty tricks played on Khrushchev in L.A.

Kirk, This is a fascinating documentary. For some reason, while watching it, I kept thinking about Khrushchev's role in the critical WWII Battle of Stalingrad, and about the abrupt, diametric shift in American mass media representations of the Soviet Union after the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. Stalingrad was the most gargantuan battle in world history, and was the turning point in WWII-- the battle that, ultimately, broke Hitler's war machine. After Stalingrad, the course of WWII was all downhill for Hitler-- a 1,000 mile roll back of the Wehrmacht from the Volga to Berlin. By the time of Khrushchev's 1959 visit, American society had been saturated in M$M Red Scare propaganda, HUAC hearings, and black-listings for almost 15 years. Little wonder that Khrushchev-- a hero of the Great Patriotic War that destroyed the Nazi Wehrmacht-- was offended by the openly hostile reception he received in a nation that had been a major ally and beneficiary of the Soviet Union in WWII. For this, we can all thank the Dulles brothers, Wall Street, the CIA, and the post-WWII military-industrial complex. As I understand it now, JFK understood Russia's sacrifices in the defeat of Naziism, and was trying to de-escalate the Cold War when he was murdered by men who played major roles in starting it, escalating it, and perpetuating it. Watching Khrushchev in these American film clips, it seems fairly clear that he was, essentially, trying to prevent the Cold War from going thermonuclear.

PASS THE CORONA !! Memorial Day Weekend Pool Party in the Ozarks

The COVID curve isn't really "flattening" in many parts of the U.S.-- especially in rural counties that strongly support Trump, according to William Frey at the Brookings Institute. And now Trump is calling for church-goers to re-congregate ASAP, presumably with singing of hymns and mutual respiration of COVID-infested droplets, etc. Billy Graham's son, Franklin, said recently that Evangelicals need to put aside their fear of COVID and trust in God. I was wondering if Franklin has also advised his flock to stop worrying about car accidents and to cease wearing seat belts.

I tried to buy a copy of Poulgrain's Incubus of Intervention 2 or 3 years ago, after the subject of JFK, Sukarno, and Indonesia came up here. Couldn't find a copy for sale. Very strange. Thanks for posting this new info, Anthony.

Geez... Saw this one over at the Democratic Underground this evening. 🤥 My question. Will this prompt Rob Wheeler to post another non sequitur about Robert Mueller and Gibson Island?

Reality Check: Susan Rice Email Shows Obama Administration Caught Following The Rules https://crooksandliars.com/2020/05/reality-check-susan-rice-email-shows-obama May 21, 2020 CNN's John Avlon does a reality check segment on the Susan Rice email released this week. "In search of a scandal to fit the slogan 'Obamagate,' earlier this week Republican senators requested that the acting director of national intelligence declassify an email that a former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice had sent herself on Inauguration Day," he said. "The implication is that this would be a smoking gun that unlocked the conspiracy to spy on the incoming administration. But rarely have we seen the supposed smoking gun fizzle as fast as the declassified Susan Rice email. It memorialized the Oval Office meeting which included then-Vice President Joe Biden after an intelligence briefing on Russia's interference in our election." The issue, he said, was the then-undisclosed contacts between Michael Flynn and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak -- which got Flynn fired for lying 24 days into the administration and led to his guilty plea before his prosecution was abandoned by Barr this month. "Instead of wrongdoing, Rice's email said that President Obama emphasized his continued commitment to ensuring every aspect of this issue was handled by intelligence and law enforcement communities by the book," Avlon said. (Oh, oops! So much for the big scandal!) "According to Rice, President Obama stressed that he's not asking about initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. In the portion that had previously been classified, Obama asked then-FBI Director James Comey if concerns about Flynn's contacts with the Russians meant that the National Security Council should not pass sensitive information to Flynn. Rice wrote that Comey replied 'potentially,' adding he had no indication thus far that Flynn has passed classified information to Kislyak. But he noted that the communication level is unusual. "Yes, it is unusual to have an incoming national security advisor have repeated undisclosed contacts with an ambassador from a country that had just interfered in our elections to benefit the president-elect. As summed up, the Rice email shows the Obama team were caught red-handed following the rules. Now in a sane political world, Republican senators would have made like Emily Litella and said -- Never mind. "But we live in the Trump era. So instead, Senator Ted Cruz tweeted, 'Wow, ongoing spying from an outgoing POTUS, on an ingoing POTUS directed by Obama himself is unprecedented ' -- nope. The email showed nothing of the sort. But the tweet showed how little facts matter in this silly season. "Now, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell just said he's backing a new round of subpoenas against Obama administration officials. But if the truth is what he's really after, McConnell could request the Flynn-Kislyak conversations, as Rice and others have suggested -- or explain his resistance to making a bipartisan statement condemning the Russia interference before the elections, as the latest Senate Intelligence committee report shows. "Or we could all just admit that this effort to investigate the Obama administration is an attempt to distract and deflect from the Trump administration's own self-inflicted scandals. And that's your reality check."