Category Archives: Just strange

Fail!, human rights, Just strange

Bill Barr announces 200 arrests made in Operation Legend | The Kansas City Star – Spin and more lies by AG Barr

Since LeGend was killed June 29, about 30 people have been criminally charged in the Western District of Missouri, court records indicate.

Their alleged crimes have ranged from wire fraud and drug conspiracy to failing to register as a sex offender and receiving child pornography. The federal judicial district encompasses 66 counties, including Jackson, Clay and Cass counties.

 

Source: Bill Barr announces 200 arrests made in Operation Legend | The Kansas City Star

Fundamentalist terror, human rights, Just strange, News to use

Portland mayor demands Trump remove federal agents from city | US news | The Guardian

“Once CBP agents approached the suspect, a large and violent mob moved towards their location. For everyone’s safety, CBP agents quickly moved the suspect to a safer location,” the agency said.

However, the video shows no mob.

In another case, Mark Pettibone, 29, said a minivan rolled up to him around 2am on Wednesday and four or five people got out “looking like they were deployed to a Middle Eastern war”.

Pettibone told the Associated Press he got to his knees as the group approached. They dragged him into the van without identifying themselves or responding to his questions and pulled his beanie over his eyes so he couldn’t see, he said.

“I figured I was just going to disappear for an indefinite amount of time,” Pettibone said, adding that he was put into a cell and officers dumped the contents of his backpack, with one remarking: “Oh, this is a bunch of nothing.”

After he asked for a lawyer, Pettibone was allowed to leave.

 

Source: Portland mayor demands Trump remove federal agents from city | US news | The Guardian

Fail!, healthcare, Just strange, pandemic, SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus data disappeared after Trump administration shifted control from CDC

The CDC’s web page for data on available hospital and ICU beds has been replaced with a note that reads: “Data displayed on this page was submitted directly to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and does not include data submitted to other entities contracted by or within the federal government.”

“We don’t have this critical indicator anymore,” Panchadsaram said. “The intent of just switching the data streams towards HHS, that’s fine. But you got to keep the data that you’re sharing publicly still available and up to date.”

 

Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University, which runs one of the most popular third-party coronavirus data dashboards, said the policy change won’t impact the Hopkins site because they’ve managed to source their data directly from states. She added, however, that the policy change raises questions about the transparency of the data and the role of the CDC in the ongoing U.S. response.

Source: Coronavirus data disappeared after Trump administration shifted control from CDC

denier, Fail!, Fundamentalist terror, Just strange

Trump Pushed CIA to Give Intelligence to Kremlin, While Taking No Action Against Russia Arming Taliban

In speaking about both the Kremlin’s arms and bounty programs, Brett McGurk, who served as Special Presidential Envoy until December 2018, told me, “Both should have been flagged and raised in Trump’s frequent engagements with Putin. It’s even worse if Pompeo was raising the arming issue with Lavrov (as he claims) or Khalilzad with his counterpart, but Trump never raised the issue with Putin. That makes whatever Pompeo may have said irrelevant, as the Russians dismiss anything Americans officials say if not backed from the top.”

Source: Trump Pushed CIA to Give Intelligence to Kremlin, While Taking No Action Against Russia Arming Taliban

Just strange, pandemic, Profiteering

A Company Run by a White House “Volunteer” With No Experience in Medical Supplies Got $2.4 Million From the Feds for Medical Supplies — ProPublica

Mathew J. Konkler, who worked in the Department of Defense during the George W. Bush administration, formed BlackPoint Distribution Company LLC in August 2019 in Indiana, state records show, but had won no federal work until May 26. The Bureau of Prisons chose the company with limited competition for a contract to supply surgical gowns to its facilities.

It is at least the second contract awarded to a company formed by an individual who had worked in or volunteered for the Trump administration; a company formed by Zach Fuentes, a former White House deputy chief of staff, won a $3 million contract just days after forming to supply face masks to the Indian Health Service. The masks did not meet FDA standards for use in health care settings, and an IHS spokesman said this week that the agency is trying to return the masks to Fuentes. Members of Congress called for investigations into the contract, and the Government Accountability Office now plans to review the deal “in the coming few months, as staff become available,” spokesman Charles Young said last week.

Source: A Company Run by a White House “Volunteer” With No Experience in Medical Supplies Got $2.4 Million From the Feds for Medical Supplies — ProPublica

Fail!, human rights, Just strange

Defense Secretary Faces White House Pressure on Aides and a Military Promotion – The New York Times – meanness knows no bounds

The White House had made clear to officials in the Pentagon’s Office of Personnel and Readiness, which handles such staffing, that Mr. Trump did not want to see Colonel Vindman promoted, the officials said. In fact, when they saw an earlier draft version of the list two weeks ago, National Security Council staff members even told their Defense Department counterparts they had evidence of misconduct by Colonel Vindman.