Massacre of African refugees in Spanish colonial enclave of Melilla just ahead of NATO’s Madrid Summit, a mere coincidence?

Spain is seeking NATO protection for Melilla, where the massacre occurred, and Ceuta, its other colonial enclave on the North African coast. The NATO Summit has declared irregular migration from Africa to be a threat to the “state security” of its members

Massacre of African refugees in Spanish colonial enclave of Melilla just ahead of NATO’s Madrid Summit, a mere coincidence?

Trump swindles the deplorables

As much as I’m enjoying the January 6th committee’s careful assembly of evidence proving former President Trump is a [douchebag]. I wasn’t seeing much in the way of a criminal offense until this week’s underreported story about how Trump used his “STOP THE STEAL” fundraising appeals to grift his supporters out of $250 million, none of which was, in fact, used to fight election fraud.

Ann Coulter: Trump swindles the deplorables

Related:

Trump’s $250 million grift: Calling Attorney General Leslie Rutledge to enforce Deceptive Trade Practices Act:

But there was also this, from the New York Times account, which bears closer scrutiny:

Investigators went further on Monday, detailing how the Trump campaign and its Republican allies used claims of a rigged election that they knew were false to mislead small donors and raise as much as $250 million for an entity they called the Official Election Defense Fund, which top campaign aides testified never existed.

“Not only was there the big lie,” said Representative Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat who played a key role in the hearing, “there was the big rip-off.”

Money ostensibly raised to “stop the steal” instead went to Mr. Trump and his allies, including, the investigation found, $1 million for a charitable foundation run by Mark Meadows, his chief of staff; $1 million to a political group run by several of his former staff members, including Stephen Miller, the architect of Mr. Trump’s immigration agenda; more than $200,000 to Trump hotels; and $5 million to Event Strategies Inc., which ran the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the Capitol riot.

Aides said Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Mr. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., was paid $60,000 to speak at that event, a speech that lasted less than three minutes.

“It is clear that he intentionally misled his donors, asked them to donate to a fund that didn’t exist and used the money raised for something other than what he said,” Ms. Lofgren said of Mr. Trump.

White supremacists are riling up thousands on social media

White supremacists are riling up thousands on social media

The social media posts are of a distinct type. They hint darkly that the CIA or the FBI are behind mass shootings*. They traffic in racist, sexist and homophobic tropes. They revel in the prospect of a “white boy summer.”

These type of threats and racist ideology have become so commonplace on social media that it’s nearly impossible for law enforcement to separate internet ramblings from dangerous, potentially violent people, Michael German**, who infiltrated white supremacy groups as an FBI agent, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Facebook and Instagram owner Meta banned praise and support for white nationalist and separatists movements in 2019*** on company platforms, but the social media shift to subtlety makes it difficult to moderate the posts.

Related:

*FBI Infiltration of Right-Wing Groups (PATCON, ETC)

**Mike German – Brennan Center For Justice

**FBI Agent Mike German Discusses Years Undercover Investigating Skinheads, Aryans and More

***FACEBOOK ALLOWS PRAISE OF NEO-NAZI UKRAINIAN BATTALION IF IT FIGHTS RUSSIAN INVASION

Just tell them that you’re fighting, against the Russians, if they try to censor you?! 🤷🏼‍♀️

Democrats challenge nominating papers of Trump-backed Republican governor candidate Tim Michels

Democrats challenge nominating papers of Trump-backed Republican governor candidate Tim Michels

Related:

Donald Trump endorses Tim Michels for Wisconsin governor, inserting himself into competitive GOP primary:

The backing of Michels from Trump comes a week after Michels adopted a more aggressive stance toward the 2020 election, reversing himself and calling for the abolition of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Tim Michels Says He ‘Always Spent 183 Days’ a Year in Wisconsin

Tim Michels Home: $17 Million Connecticut Mansion, New York Penthouse Raise Residency Questions:

[Tim] Michels’ wealth was largely accumulated through public projects and taxpayer money, including more than $1 billion from the State of Wisconsin; his company builds roads and pipelines. Some contracts have been controversial, including alleged double bidding.

The couple purchased a New York penthouse while the subway project was happening. However, the subway project had ended before the LLC we’ve tied to them purchased two Connecticut homes worth millions. Their daughter and youngest son graduated from high schools out east after the subway project’s completion.

The campaign has painted Michels as a blue-collar figure rooted in Wisconsin who baled hay as a kid, graduated from small-town Lomira High School, joined the Army, and then worked for the family company headquartered in Brownsville, Wisconsin. In his announcement speech, Michels stood before red utility vehicles and posed with construction workers. An east coast lifestyle full of yachting and polo clubs is clearly not the image the campaign is after.

Ukraine Aid Package Puts America Last + Some Notes on the astroturfed Heritage Action for America

Ukraine Aid Package Puts America Last

Today, Heritage Action, a conservative grassroots organization with two million grassroots activists, released a statement from Executive Director Jessica Anderson ahead of the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote on a $40 billion Ukraine aid package.

The legislation does not include several important measures – there are no spending offsets, no accountability for where each dollar will be spent, and no guarantees for equal contributions from European neighbors. Additionally, the aid package only lasts through September of this year, meaning Congress will be expected to reconsider the legislation after only about three months.

They claim to be a grassroots organization but they were created by Heritage Foundation!? That’s astroturfing! Who’s policies are they advocating for?! Theirs?! I highly doubt that it’s for the working class (see below, for just one example)!!

Recognizing that elected leaders are more responsive to adopting policy solutions when they know the American people already support them, Heritage created Heritage Action for America. Heritage Action works with lawmakers to implement Heritage Foundation solutions while it also organizes nearly 20,000 Sentinel activists and more than 2 million local grassroots activists around the nation to push for their adoption. Heritage Action ensures that citizens are speaking up and their elected officials hear their voices.

About Heritage

They push for private school choice and are anti-union (I’m not arguing for school closures, with the below quote, but showing it as an example of their views)!!

The only way out of this mess is to free families from the clutches of the teachers’ unions. Funding students directly would empower families to access educational alternatives. The good news is that the unions’ political games could further the movement to fund students instead of systems, which already enjoyed significant growth in 2021.

Her continued push to keep schools closed may be just what wide-spread school choice needs to become reality—and to rescue a generation from misguided and politicized COVID policies. In this sense, the power-hungry teachers unions might just destroy their own empire.

More COVID School Closures Spell the End of Teachers Unions Empire

School Choice Cons:

Three big problems with school ‘choice’ that supporters don’t like to talk about

The hidden downsides of school ‘choice’

Anyway, in three months, Congress will probably vote on another aid package for Ukraine (doesn’t matter who wins between Russia and Ukraine, they’ll still send Ukraine money, whether it’s for weapons or reconstruction)! 🙄