Monthly Archives: March 2021

UNSHOCKING: Study Finds QAnon/Anti-Vax Overlap

The Washington Post reports: Facebook is conducting a vast behind-the-scenes study of doubts expressed by U.S. users about vaccines, a major project that attempts to probe and teach software to identify the medical attitudes of millions of Americans, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. The research is a large-scale attempt to understand the spread of ideas that contribute …

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Fauci Urges Trump To Tell His Supporters To Get Vax

Axios reports: NIAID Director Anthony Fauci told “Fox News Sunday” that “it would make all the difference in the world” if former President Trump urged his supporters to take the coronavirus vaccine. Republicans — particularly men in the party — are the least likely demographic to say they plan to get vaccinated against the virus, recent polls suggest. “If he …

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Rioter Boasted He And Others Were Carrying Firearms

Politico reports: A Texas man who joined a mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6 told two rioters he had set up a security company as a front to access law enforcement-grade weaponry that could be used to “take back our country,” according to private, encrypted messages revealed Saturday by prosecutors. Guy Reffitt, who drove from Texas to Washington, D.C., …

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FL Republicans Seek To Ban Salaries For School Boards

Florida Politics reports: Rep. Sam Garrison wants to put the salary of school board members on the ballot in the next General Election, turning the elected positions from paid to volunteer. On Friday at the the House Secondary Education & Career Development Subcommittee meeting, members voted along party lines to move forward with a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 1461) that …

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Kobach Pitched Lawmakers On “COVID-Killing” Device

The Kansas Reflector reports: In early October, Kris Kobach, Kansas’ former Secretary of State, and Daniel Drake, a Wichita-based venture capitalist-turned-CEO, made a sales pitch to Kansas legislators. The duo wheeled in what looked to lawmakers like a “refrigerator” — a shiny metal box Drake called a “revolutionary” device that would “kill COVID” and bring “several hundred jobs back to …

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Cawthorn Unable To Comprehend First Amendment

“Greg Steube and I are leading a charge to reform that terrible Section 230 that gives them basically this full-on immunity where the American people are unable to go after Big Tech when they assault out First Amendment rights. If our bill passes, and we know the Democrats are not going to allow us to do that because this is …

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Abrams Blasts GA’s “Jim Crow” Voter Suppression Bills

Axios reports: Voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams told CNN on Sunday that a slew of bills introduced by Georgia Republicans that generally restrict voter access in the state are “a redux of Jim Crow.” Republicans in the state say the measures aim to curtail voting fraud. The legislation would end no-excuse absentee voting, move ballot drop boxes and limit in-person …

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Third Wave Sends Italy To “Hard Lockdown” Thru Easter

CBS News reports: A year after COVID-19 struck Italy, more than half of the country’s residents were set to be placed back under hard lockdown restrictions from Monday, March 15 at least through Easter. Restrictions are being tightened in response to yet another rise in case numbers — Italy is entering a third wave of coronavirus infections. Speaking at a …

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NYT: Cops “Shrugged Off” Proud Boys Until Too Late

The New York Times reports: A protester was burning an American flag outside the 2016 Republican convention in Cleveland when Joseph Biggs rushed to attack. Jumping a police line, he ripped the man’s shirt off and “started pounding,” he boasted that night in an online video. But the local police charged the flag burner with assaulting Mr. Biggs. The city …

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FBI: Rioter Stole Cop’s Badge, Buried It In His Backyard

The Hill reports: A person charged in connection with the Capitol riot is being accused of assaulting a Washington, D.C., police officer and taking his badge back to his home in New York, where he allegedly buried it in his backyard. Thomas Sibick is accused of grabbing officer Michael Fanone’s badge and radio as the officer was pulled into a …

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Pelosi: Republicans “Vote No And Take The Dough”

ABC News has the transcript: STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s start with the COVID relief package. I outlined some of the benefits just now. But there was unanimous opposition on the Republican side. Most said the package was too large, not targeted at COVID relief. And our next guest, Senator John Barrasso, argues that it will overheat the economy and fuel inflation. What’s …

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Fauci: We’re Not In The End Zone, Don’t Spike The Ball

NBC News reports: Dr. Anthony Fauci warned state leaders against the “risky business” of eliminating public health measures, raising concerns on Sunday’s Meet the Press that the nation could see a new surge in cases if it lets its guard down. “Even though the decline was steep, we absolutely need to avoid the urge to say; ‘Oh, everything is going …

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Record 2.98 Million Vax Doses Administered Yesterday

Mediaite reports: The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines is picking up steam, as Saturday saw a record high number of 4.6 million Americans reported to have received a dose, jumping the average rate to just over 2.5 million doses a day for the last seven days. According to Bloomberg’s Covid-19 tracker, a total of 106 million doses have been administered …

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FBI Nabs Proud Boy Thanks To His Chatty Girlfriend

Law & Crime reports: Christopher Worrell‘s live-in girlfriend told acquaintances that Worrell was in the Proud Boys and that she traveled with him to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, one acquaintance told the FBI. Worrell is now facing a litany of federal charges for allegedly carrying a “dangerous weapon” on restricted grounds just outside the U.S. Capitol. An FBI …

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FEMA To Help Manage Minors In Growing Border Crisis

The Associated Press reports: The Biden administration is turning to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help managing and caring for record numbers of unaccompanied immigrant children who are streaming into the United States by illegally crossing the border with Mexico. FEMA will support a governmentwide effort over the next three months to safely receive, shelter and transfer minor children …

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Yo-Yo Ma Gives Impromptu Concert After Vax [VIDEO]

ABC News reports: Over this past year, world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been working to provide comfort and support to those who may be struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Saturday, he transformed a Massachusetts vaccination clinic into a temporary concert hall, in a moment that residents called a symbolic representation of “the light at the end of the tunnel.” …

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California Republican Group Honors Charged Rioter

The Sacramento Bee reports: Jorge Aaron Riley, the Republican activist who is one of three Sacramento-area residents facing charges in the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol, was honored this week by the Sacramento Republican Assembly for his long service on the group’s board. Riley, who won his release from custody last month in Washington, D.C., is featured in …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Variety reports: If the Grammys had a dress code this year, it might be: Wear your cardigan to the disco. It’s sweater weather, but also the season of the Studio 54 minidress, as Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa look likeliest to make headlines for picking up top honors Sunday night after the close of the Grammys. The album, record and …

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Notorious Oath Keeper Granted Pre-Trial Release

Politico reports: Thomas Caldwell, 65, was ordered moved from the D.C. jail to home confinement after Judge Amit Mehta said the fact that Caldwell never went into the Capitol with a so-called “stack” of other Oath Keepers rendered the government’s case against the Navy veteran somewhat weaker than that against some of the other eight defendants in the case. Caldwell’s …

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Biden Marks Anniversary Of Breonna Taylor’s Killing

NBC News reports: A large group of demonstrators gathered on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the death of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in her apartment by police officers executing a no-knock search warrant. “All eyes are on Louisville today,” Bianca Austin, Taylor’s aunt, told the crowd. “And we are here to represent Breonna with dignity and …

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