Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Trump must put up $450 million in NY fraud case or shut up & have his properties seized by AG James
Donald Trump is no win the "find out" stage of his long life of fraud. He must put up more than $450 million in either cash or a bond if he wants to stop New York Attorney General Leticia James from beginning to satisfy the money judgment against him by seizing his property. Insultingly, Trump just told the court he will only put up a bond in the amount of $100 million because he does not want to have to sell his properties to put up the rest of the money he owes. The New York courts are very likely to tell Donald that that is not the way it works.
US Capitol Arrest Update: Kuehne SENTENCED CHRISTOPHER KUEHNE 50 YEAR OLD KANSAS
IDENTIFY, INVESTIGATE, PROSECUTE, INCARCERATE
KEEP AMERICANS SAFE FROM DOMESTIC TERRORISTS!
Christopher Kuehne was sentenced for his participation in the January 6, 2021 attack and attempted insurrection at the United States Capitol.
US Capitol Arrest Update: Yang SENTENCED TYNG YANG 61 YEAR OLD ILLINOIS
KEEP AMERICANS SAFE FROM DOMESTIC TERRORISTS!
Tyng Yang was sentenced for his participation in the January 6, 2021 attack and attempted insurrection at the United States Capitol.
US Capitol Arrest Update: Zerkle SENTENCED JACOB ZERKLE 51 YEARS OLD ARIZONA
IDENTIFY, INVESTIGATE, PROSECUTE, INCARCERATE
KEEP AMERICANS SAFE FROM DOMESTIC TERRORISTS!
Jacob Zerkle was sentenced for his participation in the January 6, 2021 attack and attempted insurrection at the United States Capitol.
Trump fan who assaulted officers with a hockey stick on Jan. 6 sentenced to prison MICHAEL JOSEPH FOY 33 years old MICHIGAN
IDENTIFY, INVESTIGATE, PROSECUTE, INCARCERATE
KEEP AMERICANS SAFE FROM DOMESTIC TERRORISTS!
WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump enthusiast who believed the former president's lies about the 2020 election was sentenced on Wednesday to more than three years in federal prison for assaulting law enforcement officers with a hockey stick during the brutal battle at the lower west tunnel of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack.
Michael Joseph Foy was arrested in January 2021 and was initially held in pretrial detention. He was found guilty of felony charges in June. Federal prosecutors sought more than eight years in federal prison for Foy, saying he assaulted officers with a hockey stick and a sharpened metal pole after traveling to Washington with a "TRUMP 2020" flag.
But U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is overseeing Trump's delayed federal trial on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 election loss by conspiring to obstruct Congress and disenfranchise American voters — said Wednesday that the Justice Department's request was "unreasonable" and didn't factor in Foy's prior military service and other factors in his life in the lead-up to Jan. 6. Chutkan ultimately landed on a sentence of 40 months, meaning that Foy will end up serving an additional two years and a few months in federal prison.
Foy, according to the FBI, had previously shown up to the TCF Center in Detroit after the 2020 election, where Trump supporters spun up on lies about the elections process harassed poll workers and banged on windows to try to stop absentee ballots from being counted. In court on Wednesday, his attorney said that Foy's mother and stepfather were "ardent Trump supporters" who also bought into Trump's lies about the election, which made him more susceptible to the misinformation that Trump and his allies were spreading.
Elizabeth Mullin, one of the federal public defenders representing Foy, argued that giving him a lengthy sentence wouldn't stop future potential rioters from responding to false claims and heated rhetoric from political candidates going forward. A sentence for a random Jan. 6 rioter, she argued, wouldn’t have that much of a deterrent effect when prominent figures — including the presumptive Republican nominee for president — continue to spread lies about the 2020 election. Chutkan avoided getting roped into a discussion of the former president’s culpability for the Capitol attack ahead of the trial she'll oversee.
“I’m not getting into that,” Chutkan said with a smile, prompting laughter in the courtroom.
“Also not getting into that,” she added, when the defense attorney discussed members of Congress who acted upon Trump’s election lies and continue to promote them.
Chutkan did take umbrage at the suggestion that Foy had only planned to use the hockey stick he brought from Michigan as a flagpole.
"This isn't a hockey town," Chutkan said, quipping that fans of the Washington Capitals "may disagree." Foy's attorney conceded that Foy ultimately used the hockey stick as a weapon at the Capitol.
In a video played during his sentencing, Foy described himself as a “30-year-old loser” who was living at his mom's house in the lead-up to the attack, which is when Foy fell for what his attorney described as “the dire propaganda” of the former president. Foy thanked Chutkan for helping him get “much-needed mental health help” after he was first arrested.
"Not a day goes by where I didn't say to myself 'I'm not going to let you down,'" Foy told Chutkan during the hearing.
Chutkan said that Foy had every right to peacefully protest and that he had the right even now to believe whatever lies about the 2020 election that he chooses. But she suggested she hoped Foy had now come to realize that he had “embraced” false beliefs “based on misinformation.” Foy was not being punished for his false beliefs, she reiterated. “I’m punishing you for what you did,” she told him.
Chutkan said what happened on Jan. 6 was "terrifying," that she was "horrified every single time" she watched videos from that day. Deterrence "is a very important factor" to prevent future rioters from acting on any future lies from political candidates, she said.
“I’ve seen so many people before me who never lifted a hand in violence before Jan. 6," Chutkan said. “There have to be significant consequences."
Man who attacked police with hockey stick during Capitol riot gets over 3 years in prison
https://www.local10.com/news/politics/2024/02/28/man-who-attacked-police-with-hockey-stick-during-capitol-riot-gets-over-3-years-in-prison/
Man who assaulted officers with hockey stick on Jan. 6 sentenced to prison
excerpt:
The press release stated Foy pushed his way through a mob of protesters to the entrance of the Lower West Terrace tunnel of the Capitol building, where he picked up a sharp metal pole and “threw it over the head of rioters into the body of a police officer.”
The pole knocked the officer into the archway and Foy proceeded to use his hockey stick to attack the police, according to the release. Video footage showed Foy swinging his hockey stick and hitting officers at least 11 times within 16 seconds, including an officer who was already injured on the ground and another who was knocked backward.
Court documents say that Foy swung his hockey stick over his head and downward at police officers as if he were chopping wood with an ax. Body-worn camera, taken from a police officer prone on the ground, shows Foy swinging down onto the officer’s exposed body. Court documents say Foy attacked an officer in the face, head, neck, and body area, and not in self-defense.
The press release said he shouted “let’s go” to other rioters after assaulting multiple officers with the hockey stick. He then proceeded to climb through the shattered window, bringing his hockey stick with him.
BIBBITY BOEBERT IS A SOAP OPERA!
UNFIT FOR PUBLIC OFFICE! COLORADO: WAKE UP!
Lauren Boebert's 18-year-old son Tyler Boebert arrested, faces five felony charges, police sayLauren Boebert's 18-year-old son Tyler Boebert arrested, faces five felony charges, police say
Tyler Boebert, the 18-year-old son of Rep. Lauren Boebert, was arrested Tuesday in Colorado related to a string of alleged property thefts and vehicle trespasses, police said.
The police department in Rifle, Colorado, posted on Facebook that Tyler Boebert was arrested at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday and he faces five felony counts. The charges include four felony counts of criminal possession of identification documents and one felony count of conspiracy to commit a felony, according to police.
According to the Garfield County Jail, Boebert was being held on 22 possible charges, including misdemeanors.
Tyler Boebert was listed as an inmate at the jail as of Wednesday morning, but later in the evening, he had been released after posting a $1,250 bond, the Garfield County clerk and recorder confirmed. He is due back in court on April 11.
In a statement, Lauren Boebert said "I love my son Tyler, who has been through some very difficult, public challenges for a young man and the subject of attention that he didn't ask for. It breaks my heart to see my child struggling and, in this situation, especially when he has been provided multiple opportunities to get his life on track."
Lauren Boebert continued that "as an adult and father, Tyler will take responsibility for his actions and should be held accountable for poor decisions just like any other citizen." Her office announced in June 2023 that Tyler had become a father to a baby boy.
The arrest is the latest in a string of legal troubles in Boebert's family. In January, her ex-husband, Jayson Boebert, was arrested in connection to two separate incidents. Earlier this month, Lauren Boebert was granted a temporary restraining order from Jayson Boebert after alleging he threatened to harm her and entered the family's home without permission.
Lauren Boebert also made headlines last year when she was removed from a Denver theater during a performance of "Beetlejuice." The theater said two patrons were removed for vaping, "causing a disturbance for the area with noise, singing, using their cell phone," and Boebert later apologized.
Boebert is serving her second term as a representative from Colorado's 3rd District, although she recently announced she would be running in a different district for reelection after facing a potentially tough reelection battle.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lauren-boebert-son-arrested-tyler/
RALPH NADER: 10 Questions Corporate Media Isn’t Asking About Israel-Gaza But Should
10 Questions Corporate Media Isn’t Asking About Israel-Gaza But Should
There has been so much reporting since October 7, but we are still missing answers for key issues.
Last October 27, I suggested subjects the mainstream media needed to cover relating to the saturation bombing of Gaza and its defenseless civilian families and infrastructure. Looking at these topics now, four months later, despite massive reporting, the attention to these subjects is still thin and more deserving of reporting than ever.
1. How did Hamas, with tiny Gaza surrounded by a 17-year Israeli blockade, subjected to unparalleled electronic surveillance, with spies and informants, and augmented by an overwhelming air, sea and land military presence, manage to get the weapons and associated technology for their October 7th surprise raid? Readers still do not know how and from where these weapons entered Gaza year after year.
2. What is the connection between the stunning failure of the Israeli government to protect its people on the border and the policy of P.M. Netanyahu? Recall the New York Times (October 22, 2023) article by prominent journalist, Roger Cohen, to wit: “All means were good to undo the notion of Palestinian statehood. In 2019, Mr. Netanyahu told a meeting of his center-right Likud party: ‘Those who want to thwart the possibility of a Palestinian state should support the strengthening of Hamas and the transfer of money to Hamas. This is part of our strategy.’” (Note: Israel and the U.S. fostered the rise of Islamic Hamas in 1987 to counter the secular Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)). Readers still need more information about the context of Netanyahu’s declared support for Hamas over the years and his connection to the buildup of Hamas funding and weaponry.
3. Why is Congress preparing to appropriate over $14 billion to Israel in military and other aid without any public hearings and without any demonstrated fiscal need by Israel, a prosperous economic, technological and military superpower with a social safety net superior to that of the U.S.? USDA just reported over 44 million Americans struggled with hunger in 2022. This, in the midst of a childcare crisis. Should U.S. taxpayers be expected to pay for Netanyahu’s colossal intelligence/military collapse? As an elderly Holocaust survivor told the New York Times “It should never have happened” in the first place.
4. Why hasn’t the media reported on President Biden’s statement that the Gaza Health Ministry’s body count (now over 7000 fatalities) is exaggerated? Indications, however, are that it is a large undercount by Hamas to minimize its inability to protect its people. Israel has fired over 8,000 powerful precision munitions and bombs into Gaza so far. These have struck many thousands of inhabited buildings – homes, apartments buildings, over 120 health facilities, ambulances, crowded markets, fleeing refugees, schools, water and sewage systems, and electric networks – implementing Israeli military orders to cut off all food, water, fuel, medicine and electricity to this already impoverished densely packed area the size of Philadelphia. For those not directly slain, the deadly harm caused by no food, water, medicine, medical facilities and fuel will lead to even more deaths and serious injuries.
Note that over three-quarters of Gaza’s population consists of children and women. Soon there will be thousands of babies born to die in the rubble. Other Palestinians will perish from untreated diseases, injuries, dehydration, and from drinking contaminated water. With crumbled sanitation facilities, physicians are fearing a deadly cholera epidemic.
Israel bombed the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border. Only a tiny trickle of trucks are now allowed there by Israel to carry food and water. Fuel for hospital generators still remains blocked.
The undercount of fatalities/injuries is far greater now. The official figure is about 30,000 lives lost, with hundreds dying every day under the rubble. There is too little media interest in more realistic estimates. Undercounting lessens the pressure on Washington officials’ co-belligerents in the White House to call for a permanent ceasefire.
5. Why can’t Biden even persuade Israel to let 600 desperate Americans out of the Gaza firestorm?
6. Why isn’t the mass media making a bigger issue out of Israel’s long-time practice of blocking journalists from entering Gaza, including European, American and Israeli journalists? The only television crews left are Gazan-residing Al Jazeera reporters. Israeli bombs have already killed 26 journalists in the Gaza Strip since October 7th. Is Israel targeting journalists’ families? The Gaza bureau chief of Al Jazeera, Wael Al-Dahdouh’s family was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday. Israeli commanders now have killed over 100 journalists in addition in some cases to their entire families and continue to block foreign journalists except for a few brief “guided tours” in Israeli armored vehicles.
7. Why isn’t the mainstream U.S. media giving adequate space and voice to groups advocating a ceasefire and humanitarian aid? The message of Israeli peace groups’ peaceful solutions are drowned out by the media’s addiction to interviews with military tacticians. Much time and space are being given to hawks pushing for a war that could flash outside of Gaza big time. Shouldn’t groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the Arab-American Institute, Veterans for Peace and associations of clergy have their views and activities reported? Still being underreported are the activities all over the country of the Veterans for Peace and large labor unions demanding a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid.
8. Why is the coverage of the war overlooking the Geneva Conventions, the United Nations Charter and the many provisions of international law that all the parties, including the U.S., have been violating? (See the October 24, 2023 letter to President Biden). Under international law, Biden has made the U.S. an active “co-belligerent,” of the Israeli government’s vocal demolition of the 2.3 million inhabitants in Gaza, who are mostly descendants of Palestinian refugees driven from their homes in 1948. (See, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide). Coverage has expanded to include the U.S. vetoes on the Security Council and to global reporting on the International Court of Justice proceedings on South Africa’s calling for the Court to address Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
9. What about revealing human-interest stories? For example: How do Israeli F-16 pilots feel about their daily bombing of the completely defenseless Gazan civilian population and its life-sustaining infrastructures? The reporting on the military orders given to Israeli soldiers in Gaza who are slaying indiscriminately thousands of innocents of all ages and snipers attacking people and children in hospitals is inadequate. Why are no Hamas fighters taken as prisoners of war? Is there an order of “take no prisoners” even after capture? What are the courageous Israeli human rights and refuseniks thinking and doing in a climate of serious repression of their views as a result of Netanyahu’s defense collapse on October 7th? The open letter to President Biden on December 13, 2023, by 16 Israeli human rights groups appeared as a paid notice in the New York Times but received very little notice to its clarion call to stop the catastrophe in Gaza. (See the letter here).
10. Where is the media attention on the statements from Israeli military commentators, who, for years have declared high-tech US-backed, nuclear-armed Israel to be more secure than at any time in its history? Israel is reasserting its overwhelming military domination of the Middle East region, fully backed by U.S. militarism. The Israeli government is putting ads in U.S. newspapers wildly exaggerating long-subdued Hamas as an “existential” threat. Without Netanyahu strangely failing to keep the border guarded on October 7, 2023, what followed would not have happened!
Historians remind us that in a grid-locked conflict over time, it is the most powerful party’s responsibility to lead the way to peace.
Establishing a two-state solution has been supported by many Palestinians. All the Arab nations, starting with the Arab League peace proposal in 2002, support this solution as well. It is up to Israel and the U.S., assuming annexation of what is left of Palestine is not Israel’s objective. (See, the March 29, 2002 New York Times article: Mideast Turmoil; Text of the Peace Proposals Backed by the Arab League).
More media attention on this subject matter is much needed.
Ralph Nader is a consumer advocate and the author of “The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future” (2012). His new book is, “Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lies and Lawbreaking Betray All” (2020, co-authored with Mark Green).
This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Originally published in CommonDreams.org
Thank You, Mr Biden, For Letting Gaza Kids Starve
Thank You, Mr Biden, For Letting Gaza Kids Starve
Voices from Gaza speak about their hunger and ask why has the world turned their backs on them?
Gaza continues to starve. The north of Gaza is experiencing the worst famine thanks to the Israeli blockade and the fact the Biden administration is turning a blind eye and continues to fund the deadly war on Gaza.
The Strip is being attacked from the air, sea and on the ground. The Israeli government is determined to starve the Palestinian population into submission – more like death – in pursuit of Hamas and Islamic Jihad resistance fighters.
Meanwhile the world looks on! But since it is the Americans who are mainly funding the war, it should be the White House that should tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant enough is enough!
The social media has been inundated with news of the ongoing starvation campaign of Gaza with many tags on the X platform including #Gaza, #GazaGenocide, #Gaza Genocide, #gazahunger, #SaveGazaFrom Hunger, #Palestine, #FreePalestineFromIsraelNOW.
There is much videos about people starving and dying because of the incessant hunger. These include those posted by Palestinians in the north of Gaza.
‘I haven’t eaten in a week’
“….do you know it has been a week since I last eaten…a whole week without eating anything,” a young man bellows in the videoclip.
“…the price of a bag of flour costs $500 but it’s not available…I’ve been eating hay and barley,” but there is nothing left anymore with his eyes watering.
“…there are no human rights, no women rights, no children rights, no religious rights and no Arab countries have been allowed to send supplies into the Gaza Strip, especially into Gaza City,” he says with a sense of horror.
“…here people have stayed weeks at a time without eating. Can you imagine your mother or your brother without food. This city is under total siege.
If you the occupier [Israel] have a problem with the [Palestinian] resistance, what does that have to do with us, why are you doing this to us. Presently, there is no food and drinks in Gaza City, there are no rights here…”
‘We are eating animal feed but that has run out’
“For the people who don’t know, we, in north Gaza, have been in the last five months without rice, without flour, without vegetables, without any foodstuffs” a young woman says in another videoclip.
“No supplies have been able to reach here, even in the markets there is nothing, we reverted to eating fodder, bird seeds and cat food…
But despite this we said its ok, at least there is something we can eat to block our hunger, despite the fact its taste is bad, and gives us a bellyache. There was simply alternative despite the fact it was animal feed.
I remember what our parents used to say that nobody sleeps hungry, nobody starves to death in his country. But today, every night we sleep hungry. I never thought one day we will go hungry or sleep on an empty stomach.
What have we done to deserve this, what have the children done to deserve this. If we are not killed by the strikes, we will be starved to death.”
‘I have five children to feed’
“It’s been five days now since I last eaten but I can’t find any food. People say they have been grinding animal feed to stay alive but I have not been able to find such fodder to grind,” a man with a large family says.
“I have no way of feeding myself, I have five children but I can’t feed them…
I can’t leave this place, we are under harsh conditions, I am not able to walk down the street, how am I supposed to provide for them.
I hit my kid every night so he could get to sleep, this make me feel bad but what can I do? Just who is going to stand with us.”
‘Final death warning’
“This is the final warning. This is literally the final warning. Journalists in the north [of Gaza] sent us what they are eating and how they can’t find anything to grind to eat,” says another man in a desperate tone.
“The situation is disastrous in a way that the human mind can’t imagine or understand.
We never imagined we would get here as an Islamic and Arab nation to see our people and brothers dying of hunger and we can’t do anything about it. What are you? Who are you?
The people of Jordan and Egypt are not able to pressure for aid to enter the Gaza Strip?
There is in Rafah 1.4 million people on the border of Egypt. They can’t pass over even a bottle of water or even let it enter. What more do you want to see?
Do you have no God, religion, worship, no traditions, no customs, nothing. What are you made of? Who will stay? Who will not offer his soul, his blood, his money, his land, everything he owns for Gaza?”
Dr Marwan Asmar is a writer based in Amman, Jordan
https://countercurrents.org/2024/02/thank-you-mr-biden-for-letting-gaza-kids-starve/
Informed Comment
Thousands Protest in Israel, Demand Netanyahu Step Down, new Elections, Hostage Deal Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that the Israeli police dispersed a crowd of demonstrators from a major Tel Aviv thoroughfare, Kaplan Street, after they attempted to block it, and that the police used water cannons on the crowd. At least 21 persons were arrested. It is thought to be […] |
Gaza: Will Biden go Big on Diplomacy or on Military Destruction? ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – On the horizon, shimmering like some heavenly ideal, is a grand bargain to end the war in Gaza, establish an independent Palestinian state, and stabilize the Middle East. Also on the horizon, blazing like an infernal nightmare, is the prospect of an escalation of the current war in […] |
Why Planting Forests alone is no Panacea for the Climate Crisis By James Weber, University of Reading; and James A. King, University of Sheffield | – (The Conversation) – Tackling climate change by planting trees has an intuitive appeal. They absorb the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere without using expensive technology. The suggestion that you can plant trees to offset your carbon emissions is […] |
Old posts you may have missed
AIPAC has $90 million to spend against us ....ASK QUESTIONS!
AIPAC is an ANTI-DEMOCRACY organization, well funded and targeting anyone who dares speak out against the US UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT OF ISRAEL.
AIPAC has worked to defeat candidates whose only 'sin' is to question SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL.
AIPAC is also known to tell LIES....MISREPRESENT A CANDIDATES position...
Does ISRAEL determine US POLICY?
Does AIPAC have a right to dictate US FOREIGN AID?
ISRAEL is the single largest US WELFARE RECIPIENT....WHY?
ARE THEY POOR?
Do Americans sacrifice FREE SPEECH for ISRAEL?
ISRAEL is killing PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS...should Americans remain silent?
Reports show AIPAC’s war chest only continues to grow day by day since last October, and they’re preparing to use it to try and unseat the Squad this year. With our February fundraising deadline approaching in three days, can you pitch in any amount to fuel our fight against AIPAC during this critical election year?
The Lever recently reported that internal AIPAC documents show the right-wing lobby group now has at least $90 million to spend against our progressive incumbents.
That obscene amount of money came from “a cross-section of the U.S. elite, including pro sports teams owners; heads of private equity firms; real estate titans; a Maryland congressman now running for the U.S. Senate; the former CEO of Victoria’s Secret; the co-founder of the dance-exercise company Zumba; and the creator of Squishmallows.” According to Rolling Stone, they also received $11 million from billionaire OnlyFans owner Leonid Radvinsky and his wife.
It’s beyond clear: AIPAC is funded by millionaires and billionaires, corporate interests, as well as Trump and other GOP mega-donors, and they want to wipe out our progressive Squad from Congress in order to maintain the status quo and push a pro-war agenda.
Not on our watch. We’ve taken on the AIPAC network before and won when we elected Squad members like Jamaal Bowman and Summer Lee, and through the power of grassroots fundraising, we can do it again to re-elect them this year.
If you've stored your info with ActBlue Express, we'll process your contribution instantly:
We appreciate each and every dollar you give to fuel our critical work and defend our progressive movement.
In solidarity,
Alexandra Rojas
Executive Director
Do not worry if you cannot afford to make a contribution — we understand that this is a difficult time. There are other ways to make an impact in support of peace and equality in Israel and Palestine: please urge your member of Congress to support a ceasefire through Adalah Justice Project’s petition or by calling them using Jewish Voice for Peace’s dialer here. Your voice matters in this critical moment. |
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