politics

As Stephanie Grisham spoke at the Democratic National Convention, a screen behind her displayed a text exchange she said she'd had with Melania Trump on Jan. 6, 2021.

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An apparent screenshot of text messages between Grisham and first lady [Melania Trump appeared on a large screen as Grisham spoke. The messages show Grisham asking Melania Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, if the first lady wanted to tweet that there is no place for lawlessness and violence.

Grisham said Melania Trump simply responded, “No.”

Grisham said she was the first senior staffer to resign that day, as the DNC crowd applauded.

“I couldn’t be a part of the insanity any longer,” she said.

Early data comes as Trump reportedly concerned Kamala Harris nomination speech will outshine his from RNC

The first night of the ongoing Democratic National Convention in Chicago had signficantly better ratings than the opening of the Republican National Convention last month, according to overnight data.

The DNC had 11.4 percent of sampled households watching in 44 major metro areas across seven networks on Monday, compared with the RNC’s 9.4 percent rating, a difference of over 20 percent, according to TV analyst Michael Mulvihill, president of insights and analytics at FOX Sports, FOX Entertainment, and Tubi.

In a statement on X, the analyst warned that the data was just preliminary.

To be clear:

• The Republican AGs are funded by the oil industry
• They're sueing to block climate laws from going into effect

Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers. On a hospital visit one time when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad that the cameras were not watching him.”

She continued: “He used to tell me: ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie, say it enough and people will believe you.’”

She repeated a story she has told before: that during the January 6 insurrection, she asked Melania Trump whether she could tweet that there was “no place for lawlessness or violence”, and the first lady gave a one-word reply: “No.”

Passive exposure to fentanyl, from skin contact or breathing in secondhand particles in the air, is a myth. There are media reports of law enforcement officers administering Narcan to themselves or each other all the time, but that does not mean they were in any danger. It means they administered Narcan.

CO culture is to do this indiscriminately, without knowing how to properly administer Narcan nor identify an opioid overdose. In one of the other two New York incidents, for example, officers were administered Narcan following suspected exposure near a prisoner “behaving irrationally,” which is language COs often use to describe overdose involving synthetic cannabinoids. In an opioid overdose, which is the only kind that responds to Narcan, by definition the person is unresponsive.

On August 9, a mailroom supervisor at USP Atwater, a high-security Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in California, died at a local hospital after he reported feeling ill earlier that day. The cause of death is still unknown and has not been linked to exposure to any contraband drugs in the mailroom, but media and the BOP itself have characterized it that way. Visits at Atwater have been suspended.

In prisons and jails across the country, contact with the outside world is being steadily replaced with virtual contact. Used books; all books; CDs; greeting cards and postcards; photographs; all mail except legal mail. And visits. All of this is accomplished the same way: Take a physical form of connection to the outside world, say friends and family of prisoners are exploiting it to smuggle in dangerous synthetic drugs, and replace it with a digital version offered by private contractor for a small fee. Or just take it away.

Archived at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/YOegp

He may not be in office, but Donald Trump has been speaking with the powers that be about Israel’s war on Gaza—but it’s not in an effort to end the genocide.

Instead, Trump has allegedly been talking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to avert a cease-fire deal, fearing that doing so could help Vice President Kamala Harris win in November, according to PBS.

“The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel, urging him not to cut a deal right now, because it’s believed that would help the Harris campaign,” said PBS’s Judy Woodruff Monday night. “So, I don’t know where—who knows whether that will come about or not, but I have to think that the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, and that’s to work on that one.”

A dishonest creationist debating tactic shouldn’t go unchallenged in American life. Or in national politics

June’s fateful Biden vs. Trump debate led not just to the sudden ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Donald Trump’s performance also saw the return of a familiar tactic in American public discourse, the “Gish gallop”—an avalanche of nonsense presented as fact—on the debate stage. A favorite of creationists, the gallop’s trot into the political arena needs calling out as we head into the home stretch of the 2024 election.

Coined by the National Center for Science Education’s founding director Eugenie Scott in 1994, the Gish gallop takes its name from the creationist Duane Gish, who frequently challenged biologists to debates about evolution. His tactic consisted of talking fast and with confidence, bombarding opponents with falsehoods, non-sequiturs and enough cherry-picked factoids to confuse the audience. Scientists debating him faced the challenge of sifting half-truths from outright lies and finding the right evidence to refute them systematically, all within the few minutes allowed in response. Which effectively meant that when the bell went off, the Gish gallop left the scientist “stumped” and Gish declaring victory for creationism. Such a spectacle leaves the audience less informed than they were before the debate, all at the hands of a debater whose only goal is to discredit their opponent and “win” the debate.

Trump's campaign co-opted the star’s song “Freedom” just days after accusing Harris of “copying” him.

Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan has joked about body slamming Vice-President Kamala Harris in front of a fired up crowd, and questioned her racial identity.

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"Do you want me to drop the leg on Kamala?!" he shouts, referring to one of his iconic wrestling moves.

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Hogan continued to make more comments about Ms Harris including one about her Indian heritage.

Kamala Harris is bi-racial - her mother was from India and her father is Jamaican.

"Is Kamala a chameleon? Is she Indian?" Hogan asked the crowd, before using an outdated and stereotypical greeting associated with Native American Indians.

The video stops after he could be heard saying he "was going to get heat for that one".

Florida’s official tourism website quietly removed a landing page for the state’s LGBTQ-friendly travel destinations sometime in the past four months.

The website for the state’s tourism marketing corporation, VisitFlorida.com, had an “LGBTQ Travel” section that no longer exists, according to archived versions of the site viewable on the Internet Archive. The landing page previously featured blog posts and videos related to the state’s gay-friendly beaches, Pride events and LGBTQ road trip ideas.

“There’s a sense of freedom to Florida’s beaches, the warm weather and the myriad activities — a draw for people of all orientations, but especially appealing to a gay community looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance,” the landing page used to read. “Whether you’re a couple seeking a romantic getaway or a modern family searching for kid-friendly fun, here are some LGBTQ-friendly destinations for you, throughout the Sunshine State.”

Day 1 was a barn burner. I personally think Day 2 was fine, but not to the same level. We'll see where day 3 takes us!

Scheduled speakers:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/dnc-lineup-speakers-schedule-kamala-harris-b2599581.html

"As is customary, Harris’s running mate will take to the podium on day three.

Tim Walz will formally accept the party’s nomination just 15 days after he was unveiled as Harris’s pick, completing his whirlwind rise to international fame.

The day’s other high-profile speakers will include 42nd president Bill Clinton, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Former VP hopefuls Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will also take to th stage, along with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Another Republican, Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, is set to join the speaking roster."

Streaming info:

https://demconvention.com/news/press-releases/how-to-watchdemocratic-national-convention-announces-streaming-partners-and-first-ever-vertical-streaming-platforms/

Russian President Vladimir Putin has seemingly invited conservatives chafing under "neoliberal ideals" in their home countries to move to Russia, where he claimed "traditional values reign supreme," and Alex Jones suggested he might take him up on the offer.

The Russian president signed a decree offering assistance to foreigners seeking temporary residence in his country and expanding the quota approved by the nation's government and setting aside a requirement for knowing the Russian language, history and basic laws, and Jones urged his followers to consider sanctuary there.

Kennedy has been funded by a bunch of billionaires who thought his name would funnel votes away from Biden. But the brain worms mad him weird enough that Democratic voters aren't willing to vote for him in significant numbers.

American laws and values do not permit Secretary Austin or anyone else to erase the judicial impact of the torture the U.S. inflicted on the defendants. One might say that for this reason prosecutorial failure was baked into the initial design of the commissions. Given this, there is no just or even effective resolution other than Austin’s withdrawal of his objection to the acceptance of the plea agreements. We urge him to exercise his authority to restore the plea deal, if that is possible at this point, and to use the opportunity to educate the public by explaining why a plea deal is the best the system can possibly hope to produce, given the history of torture, and to move swiftly through the defendants to resolve cases though additional guilty pleas, transfers, and any other means of emptying the Guantanamo Bay prison camp on the path toward shutting it down for good.

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240821121023/https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/Secreary-Austin%27s-Fateful-GTMO-Plea-Deals-Decision