Category Archives: Just strange

What Donald Trump Learned From Joseph McCarthy’s Right-Hand Man – The New York Times

The year was 1977, and Mr. Cohn’s reputation was well established. He had been Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Red-baiting consigliere. He had helped send the Rosenbergs to the electric chair for spying and elect Richard M. Nixon president. Then New York’s most feared lawyer, Mr. Cohn had a client list that ran the gamut from the disreputable to the quasi-reputable: Anthony (Fat Tony) Salerno, Claus von Bulow, George Steinbrenner. But there was one client who occupied a special place in Roy Cohn’s famously cold heart: Donald J. Trump. For Mr. Cohn, who died of AIDS in 1986, weeks after being disbarred for flagrant ethical violations, Mr. Trump was something of a final project. If Fred Trump got his son’s career started, bringing him into the family business of middle-class rentals in Brooklyn and Queens, Mr. Cohn ushered him across the river and into Manhattan, introducing him to the social and political elite while ferociously defending him against a growing list of enemies. Decades later, Mr. Cohn’s influence on Mr. Trump is unmistakable. Mr. Trump’s wrecking ball of a presidential bid — the gleeful smearing of his opponents, the embracing of bluster as brand — has been a Roy Cohn number on a grand scale. Mr. Trump’s response to the Orlando massacre, with his ominous warnings of a terrorist attack that could wipe out the country and his conspiratorial suggestions of a Muslim fifth column in the United States, seemed to have been ripped straight out of the Cohn playbook.

Source: What Donald Trump Learned From Joseph McCarthy’s Right-Hand Man – The New York Times

Rebel US diplomats won’t be heard on Syria, ex-ambassador says – France 24 – “51 Neo-Cons in US State Department attempting – along with Neo-Con elements in the press – to con public that US should go to war with Syria!”

It is a message telling Secretary of State John Kerry that the current policy is failing and that it cannot succeed, that it will continue to fail. It is a memo that says that more must be done to put pressure on the Assad government. It is suggesting that we need limited American strikes against Assad government targets so that Assad understands the ceasefire must be respected, and that there must be compromises and more acceptance of the moderate Syrian opposition in the negotiations.

Source: Rebel US diplomats won’t be heard on Syria, ex-ambassador says – France 24

Alleged killer of British MP was a longtime supporter of the neo-Nazi National Alliance | Southern Poverty Law Center

According to records obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center Mair was a dedicated supporter of the National Alliance (NA), the once premier neo-Nazi organization in the United States, for decades. Mair purchased a manual from the NA in 1999 that included instructions on how to build a pistol. Mair, who resides in what is described as a semi-detached house on the Fieldhead Estate in Birstall, sent just over $620 to the NA, according to invoices for goods purchased from National Vanguard Books, the NA’s printing imprint. Mair purchased subscriptions for periodicals published by the imprint and he bought works that instruct readers on the “Chemistry of Powder & Explosives,” “Incendiaries,” and a work called “Improvised Munitions Handbook.” Under “Section III, No. 9” (page 125) of that handbook, there are detailed instructions for constructing a “Pipe Pistol For .38 Caliber Ammunition” from components that can be purchased from nearly any hardware store. The NA may be best-known for the work of its now-deceased founder, William Pierce, a former physics professor who also wrote racist novels. One, The Turner Diaries, tells the post-apocalyptic fictional story of a white man fighting in a race war that may have provided inspiration for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh. The Daily Telegraph also reported that Mair was a subscriber to S. A. Patriot, a South African magazine published by White Rhino Club, a pro-apartheid group. The club describes that magazine’s editorial stance as opposed to “multi-cultural societies” and “expansionist Islam.” According to the Daily Telegraph, a January 2006 blog post attributed to the group described Mair as “one of the earliest subscribers and supporters of S. A. Patriot.”

Source: Alleged killer of British MP was a longtime supporter of the neo-Nazi National Alliance | Southern Poverty Law Center

Dozens of U.S. Diplomats, in Memo, Urge Strikes Against Syria’s Assad – The New York Times {New Neo-Con Spin to “force” US to start another failed Middle East War?}

{The Foreign Service is a corps of some 13,000 employees}

 

More than  have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its persistent violations of a cease-fire in the country’s five-year-old civil war. The memo, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times by a State Department official, says American policy has been “overwhelmed” by the unrelenting violence in Syria. It calls for “a judicious use of stand-off and air weapons, which would undergird and drive a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process.”

Source: Dozens of U.S. Diplomats, in Memo, Urge Strikes Against Syria’s Assad – The New York Times

Line In The Sand | Southern Poverty Law Center

Sheriff Palmer, who is running for his fifth four-year term this November, is a dramatic example of a new kind of radical that is springing up around the country — the so-called “constitutional sheriff.” In fact, in 2012 Palmer became the very first to be named “Sheriff of the Year” by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA), a far-right group that calls itself “the last line of defense standing between the overreaching government and your Constitutionally guaranteed rights.” The CSPOA has long claimed the support of more than 400 sheriffs.The group says it is part of “a growing movement of public officials who are drawing a line in the sand” by “interposing themselves between the sometimes overreaching Federal Government and your constitutionally guaranteed rights.” It claims that local county sheriffs can stop outside law enforcement officials from enforcing laws they deem unconstitutional. “The sheriff,’ it says, “is the highest elected official in the county and has the authority to stop this insanity.”Ammon BundyAmmon Bundy (AP Images/Rick Bowmer)At a time when anger at the federal government over issues like land use and environmental regulation in the rural West is running higher than it has in years, the CSPOA and a closely related group, the Oath Keepers, are working tirelessly to make inroads into the ranks of American law enforcement. Sheriffs around the country report that they regularly hear from the groups, by phone, fax and other means, as they attempt to enlarge support for their positions. The country has rarely, if ever, seen such a concerted and long-term effort to bring sheriffs and other law enforcement officials to an ideology that proposes to openly defy federal law.

Source: Line In The Sand | Southern Poverty Law Center

Thinking About Hillary — A Plea for Reason — Medium

My current conviction is that the main fuel that powers the anti-Hillary crowd is sexism. And yes I’m serious. So go ahead and roll your eyes. Get it over with. But I think the evidence supports my view, and I’ve seen no other plausible explanation. And just to be clear, I don’t think it’s ONLY sexism. But I do think that this is the primary force that has generated and maintained most of the negative narratives about Hillary.

Source: Thinking About Hillary — A Plea for Reason — Medium

Donald Trump revokes press credentials for ′phony and dishonest′ Washington Post | News | DW.COM | 13.06.2016 – for real – you just can’t make this stuff up – unless… lol

Trump made the announcement on social media on Monday, shortly after lashing out at the paper for its coverage of his statements on this weekend’s shooting in Orlando, Florida. “Based on the incredibly inaccurate coverage and reporting of the record setting Trump campaign, we are hereby revoking the press credentials of the phony and dishonest Washington Post,” Trump’s team posted on the candidate’s Facebook page. Trump also announced the decision via Twitter.

Source: Donald Trump revokes press credentials for ′phony and dishonest′ Washington Post | News | DW.COM | 13.06.2016

Two injured after man fires air gun at refugee home – The Local – Breaking WTF News!

The 21-year-old man targeted the shelter from his third-floor apartment just 40 metres away in the shooting on Sunday, police said in a statement. The mother of the Macedonian girl had noticed that her child was hurt in the leg but initially thought someone had thrown stones or sand at her. But shortly after, a witness saw the suspect shooting from his apartment, wounding an 18-year-old Syrian in the leg. Police searched the man’s apartment and removed an air rifle and munition. The suspect was however not detained as “there were no grounds for arrest”, a police spokesman told AFP. “It is unclear if the act was politically motivated,” added police, adding that investigations were ongoing.

Source: Two injured after man fires air gun at refugee home – The Local

Anti-migrant party makes foreigners face of PR push – The Local

The populist party have made a name for themselves bashing migrants, whether they be Muslims, or Bulgarians and Romanians, who AfD claim move to Germany with the aim of living off its welfare system. The two models, Carla Caucean and Adi Ene, both come from Romania, one of the EU’s newest member states, reports jetzt.de. It appears that the AfD, too, never meant to make Eastern Europeans the face of its campaign. The images were downloaded from the stock image website iStock. When contacted by weekly magazine Kontext, the AfD in Baden-Württemberg said they had been given the pictures by a branch of the party in another part of Germany. Shortly afterwards the advert disappeared from their Facebook page. The AfD have something of a talent for shooting themselves in the foot.

Source: Anti-migrant party makes foreigners face of PR push – The Local