October 20, 2020

Dump supporter pulls all stops in last 2 weeks

This November’s election, we’ve seen vandalism against political signs and even theft, but on Albuquerque family’s sign was stolen in a manner that shocked them. This family woke up to two surprises: their political sign was stolen and secondly, a naked man took off with it.

“We were at home sleeping in our beds when this transpired,” said Albuquerque local Kathryn Stuart.

For the first time ever, Stuart and her family put up a political sign in their yard. But over the weekend, this sign went missing. Stuart and her seven-year-old son checked their Ring camera to find out what happened and well, saw too much.

“There is a gentleman who is not wearing a stitch at all, not even shoes, who strolls as bold as he pleases up our driveway, pauses for a moment, looks right into the camera, and steals our Biden/Harris sign,” said Stuart. “It doesn’t come out right away, easily so you see him jerk quite angrily in the video and walks away, holding our sign.”

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/video-naked-man-steals-biden-harris-sign-from-albuquerque-yard/

October 19, 2020

"I ran political advertising for Twitter. It's time for platforms to mute Trump."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/10/19/twitter-mute-donald-trump/

In just the past week, President Trump has retweeted a QAnon conspiracy theory alleging that Joe Biden and Barack Obama had SEAL Team 6 killed, called on supporters to form an army of poll watchers, asserted repeatedly that mailing in your ballot will result in a rigged election and tweeted four times in 11 minutes falsely tying unrest in Portland, Ore., to Biden.

Trump’s place as the first Twitter president is secure. He has used the platform to govern via tweeted policy announcements, to berate adversaries both domestic and abroad, to communicate with (and occasionally disparage) his own administration officials and to exhort his supporters to action. Trump has also effectively used Twitter to distract, deflect and drive the news narrative nearly every day since he descended the golden escalator in Trump Tower to launch his campaign in 2015.
...
This is not unprecedented. Some nations impose a “silence period” before elections, during which campaigns pause all television and digital advertising (outside of get-out-the-vote activities). India, a nation with a sad history of violence between people and parties, uses this cooling-off period to allow voters to contemplate their decision without the cacophony of campaign communications.

In this case, however, the cooling-off period is necessary for the one candidate whose apparent sole motivation is to sow chaos and confusion around the ongoing election. Trump has already told his most dangerous supporters to “stand by.” Twitter and Facebook shouldn’t allow him to use their platforms to give violent actors the green light.

October 19, 2020

U.S. charges Russian intelligence officers in several high-profile cyberattacks

Source: Washington Post

The United States on Monday unsealed criminal charges against six Russian intelligence officers in connection with some of the world’s most damaging cyber attacks, including disruption of Ukraine’s power grid and releasing a mock ransomware virus — NotPetya — that infected computers globally causing billions of dollars in damage.

The alleged hackers are all members of the same military intelligence agency — the GRU — which was previously charged in connection with efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. But the new indictment does not charge these members with U.S. election interference.
...
The charges lay out a breathtaking series of attacks and attempts attributed to the group, also known as Unit 74455 and which cybersecurity researchers have dubbed the Sandworm Team. That group, authorities say, also hacked computers supporting the 2018 Winter Olympics in Seoul, hacked and leaked emails of individuals involved in French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron’s campaign in 2017, and targeted the international and British organizations investigating the poisoning of former GRU officer Sergei Skripal in 2018 in Britain.
...
In particular, it infected computers at dozens of hospitals, doctors’ offices and medical facilities in western Pennsylvania as well as a large drugmaker and a FedEx subsidiary, which collectively suffered nearly $1 billion in losses, officials said.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/russia-cyberattacks-election-interference/2020/10/19/51a84208-1208-11eb-bc10-40b25382f1be_story.html

October 18, 2020

Turns out Twitter isn't so bad when you read tweets that aren't from *

https://twitter.com/joebiden/status/1317844887614771200?s=21

October 16, 2020

Bar code error found in thousands of absentee ballot envelopes

Source: Santa Fe New Mexican

TAOS — A bar code error on the return envelopes for thousands of absentee ballots for Taos County and San Juan County voters sent election officials scrambling to resolve the problem Thursday.

Instead of the return envelope with the absentee ballot going to the county clerk to be counted, the incorrect bar code sends it back to the individual voter.

"The USPS is aware of this issue and has put a procedure in place to ensure all ballots are delivered to the county clerk," Alex Curtas, a spokesman for the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office, said in an email Friday.

"Voters who may have been affected by this issue should use NMVOTE.ORG to track their ballot or call their county clerk’s office to confirm receipt of their ballot. Voters should also be aware that they can drop their absentee ballot off at any polling location in their county," Curtas said.


Read more: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/bar-code-error-found-in-thousands-of-absentee-ballot-envelopes/article_15b8d982-0fe3-11eb-b82b-b34a0854bef1.html

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The error was made by 3rd party vendor Robis Elections and affects over 10,000 ballots in 2 counties. Staggering in its incompetence.

October 16, 2020

Woman who nodded, gave thumbs up behind Trump in Miami ran pro-Trump campaign in 2018

A woman who gained internet fame for nodding and giving President Donald Trump the thumbs up sign during his Miami town hall on Thursday night could have used the free airtime two years ago — because she was running for Congress as a pro-Trump candidate.

Mayra Joli, an immigration attorney and pro-Trump activist who once declared herself Miami’s “master of selfies” during her 2018 campaign, was seated behind the president during his hour-long town hall. After the event, she greeted the president, according to a video posted to her Facebook page.

“We have your back! You see, you see you are the best,” Joli said to Trump shortly after the event finished.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/election/article246492520.html

No surprise here.

October 14, 2020

NY Post background:

November 1976, it was announced that Australian Rupert Murdoch had bought the Post from Schiff with the intention she would remain as a consultant for five years.[33] It later emerged that Murdoch bought the newspaper for US$30.5 million.[4] The Post at this point was the only surviving afternoon daily in New York City and its circulation under Schiff had grown by two-thirds, particularly after the failure of the competing World Journal Tribune. However, the rising cost of operating an afternoon daily in a city with worsening daytime traffic congestion, combined with mounting competition from expanded local radio and TV news cut into the Post's profitability, though it made money from 1949 until Schiff's final year of ownership, when it lost $500,000. The paper has lost money ever since.[9]

In late October 1995, the Post announced plans to change its Monday through Saturday publication schedule and begin issuing a Sunday edition,[34] which it last published briefly in 1989.[35] On April 14, 1996, the Post delivered its new Sunday edition at the cost of 50 cents per paper by keeping its size to 120 pages.[36] The amount, significantly less than Sunday editions from The New York Daily News and The New York Times, was part of Post's efforts "to find a niche in the nation's most competitive newspaper market".[37][36]

In December 2012, Murdoch announced that Jesse Angelo had been appointed publisher.[38]

Because of the institution of federal regulations limiting media cross-ownership after Murdoch's purchase of WNEW-TV (now WNYW) and four other stations from Metromedia to launch the Fox Broadcasting Company, Murdoch was forced to sell the paper for $37.6 million in 1988 to Peter S. Kalikow, a real-estate magnate with no news experience.[39] In 1988, the Post hired Jane Amsterdam, founding editor of Manhattan, inc., as its first female editor, and within six months the paper had toned down the sensationalist headlines.[40] Within a year, Amsterdam was forced out by Kalikow, who reportedly told her "credible doesn't sell ... Your big scoops are great, but they don't sell more papers." [41]

When Kalikow declared bankruptcy in 1993,[39] the paper was temporarily managed by Steven Hoffenberg,[39] a financier who later pleaded guilty to securities fraud;[42] and, for two weeks, by Abe Hirschfeld,[43] who made his fortune building parking garages. After a staff revolt against the Hoffenberg-Hirschfeld partnership—which included publication of an issue whose front page featured the iconic masthead picture of founder Alexander Hamilton with a single teardrop running down his cheek[44][45]—the Post was again purchased in 1993 by Murdoch's News Corporation. This came about after numerous political officials, including Democratic governor of New York Mario Cuomo, persuaded the Federal Communications Commission to grant Murdoch a permanent waiver from the cross-ownership rules that had forced him to sell the paper five years earlier.[39] Without that FCC ruling, the paper would have shut down.“
(emphasis mine)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Post

October 13, 2020

Protesters pull down controversial obelisk in Santa Fe plaza

Source: KRQE

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Santa Fe crews are at the Plaza cleaning up what’s left of the obelisk protestors tore down. A protest at the Santa Fe Plaza got tense on Monday afternoon with protestors toppling the obelisk. It comes after three days of protests, where some chained themselves to the controversial monument; The obelisk has stood there since the 1800s.

“Whether we like it or not history it’s history and any nation that forgets its past has no future,” said Curtis Valdez of Santa Fe.

City workers were constructing a barrier around it Monday to protect it but protestors managed to wrap ropes around it and rip it down. Video from the Santa Fe New Mexican shows no police on-site as protestors took over. Witnesses told the New Mexican that police were there earlier in the day to forcibly remove demonstrators who were laying on the monument but they left. This comes after a three-day occupation at the Plaza, protestors angry that this obelisk still stands.

It was erected in 1866 to honor Civil War-era soldiers who died in battle. It’s been criticized for being oppressive to Native Americans. Earlier this year, Mayor Alan Webber ordered the obelisk removed, it was too heavy, so only the plaque was removed. The mayor promised further discussion on its future. Monday on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, these protestors supporting Native Americans took drastic measures. Some people applaud the move, others are angry.
(More)

Read more: https://www.krqe.com/news/protests/controversial-obelisk-in-santa-fe-plaza-torn-down/

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The monument honored Confederate traitors as well as Union soldiers. Glad to see it gone. We’re remembering the past and rejecting the Whitewash.

October 12, 2020

This is what voter suppression looks like

“There was no line where I live this year. None. I didn’t wait one second. I walked in and voted. This despicable disparity is on purpose. This is what voter suppression looks like.“ —Walter Shaub

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1315701601349373957?s=21

October 10, 2020

Shooting suspect confirmed as nurse called to speak at White House

Source: WSAZ

UPDATE 10/9/2020 @ 11:00 a.m.

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Williamson Police tell WSAZ the shooting victim underwent surgery and is expected to be okay. The criminal complaint lists the suspect as Amy Thorn, but WSAZ has confirmed that Amy is also known as Amy Johnson and Amy Ford.

Records obtained through the West Virginia Board of Registered Nurses indicate that Amy Jolene Johnson has been a registered nurse since at least 2003.

WSAZ spoke to Amy Ford earlier this year when she traveled to NYC to work during the pandemic.

Ford was also recognized at the Republican Convention in August.

According to a criminal complaint, Amy Thorn, 39, shot Jonda Whitt near 841 Vinson street in Williamson.

Thorn is charged with malicious wounding.

Read more: https://www.wsaz.com/2020/10/08/shooting-in-williamson-sends-woman-to-the-hospital/

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This POS, like the McCloskeys, spoke at the fascist convention in August. Going to go out on a limb and assume the yokel shot her victim over the drug dealer they were both sleeping with.