Samantha Bee reminds of the complicity of Hollywood in creating anti-Asian prejudice in the way that for so long they cast white people to play Asian characters, often in stereotypical ways. I did not know that even John Wayne had once played Genghis Khan. Or to be more accurate, he played himself as usual, with different makeup.
As the trials start to unfold for those who took part in the January 6th insurrection, we see the various defenses being brought forward. One that is being tried is “I was following Trump’s leadership”. One of those trying it in order to get out on bail is a 51-year old geophysicist from Colorado named Jeffrey Sabot who, after returning home, tried to destroy evidence by zapping his phone in the microwave (would that even work?) and making other moves. His problem is that he is seen on videos attacking a police officer at the Capitol. He then decided to flee to Switzerland (which with the US does not have an extradition treaty) and say that he was going to ski.
But after arriving in Boston and going to the airport to leave the country, he panicked when he saw police officers whom he thought were coming for him so he left the airport and drove south in a rented car, throwing his phone over a bridge along the way. But he was caught and arrested anyway.
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The PBS investigative program Frontline has been investigating hate groups in American for the last few years and I linked to two earlier documentaries that they produced in 2018. One was Documenting Hate: Charlottesville and the other was Documenting Hate: New American Nazis. Hence they were well positioned to explore the roots of the insurrection that occurred on January 6th because its chief correspondent A. C. Thompson already knew many of the key players in those groups.
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A woman in Florida (of course!) was asked by a Walgreens store employee to wear a mask but simply walked past. When another female customer, who happens to be a Muslim, told her that an employee was talking to her, she let loose an incredibly ugly and racist tirade. She then made the classic maneuver that identifies her as a Karen by calling the police and saying that she is the victim under threat. You should watch the video to the end when the tables are turned on her when the police do not take her side and her swagger disappears to be replaced by whimpering.
Derek Chauvin is currently on trial for the murder of George Floyd after restraining him with a form of chokehold by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes. Three other officers stood by, not only doing nothing to stop Chauvin but making sure that no member of the gathered crowd that was pleading for Floyd to be released were able to do anything either. Eric Garner also died in 2014 after being placed in a chokehold by a police officer.
It turns out that back in 2006, a Black police officer intervened when a white colleague placed a Black man in a chokehold, likely saving his life. So what happened to her? She was later fired and forfeited her pension. She sued but a court upheld her firing. But just this week, over a decade later, that ruling was reversed by a higher court that took what happened to Floyd and Garner into account.
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Joe Biden has announced that the US and its NATO allies will withdraw all their troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021.
US president Joe Biden has declared it was time “to end America’s longest war” as he announced that nearly 10,000 US and Nato troops would return home from Afghanistan in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of 9/11.
Addressing the world from the White House, Biden said 2,500 US troops plus a further 7,000 from “Nato allies” including 750 from the UK would gradually leave the country starting on 1 May. “The plan has long been in together, out together,” he added.
“We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan, hoping to create ideal conditions for the withdrawal and expecting a different result,” Biden said in a late afternoon speech.
True freedom loving Merkins who see wearing masks during a pandemic as a horrendous violation of their rights should patronize this place where all the precious freedoms of everyone are respected.
The US is temporarily halting giving this vaccine, pending further study, because of the potential danger of blood clots. Six women developed a rare form of blood clots after receiving this vaccine and one died.
The acting FDA chief, Janet Woodcock, said: “We’re recommending this pause while we work together to full understand these events.” The decision was taken in coordination with the CDC.
US health agencies have recommended states pause the administration of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, after reports of rare and severe blood clots emerged in six women. More than 6.8m doses have been administered nationally.
The concerns mirror those of drugs agencies in Europe and Australia over the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has not been authorized in the US. There have been no significant safety concerns raised about the two other vaccines that make up the majority of US supply, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Woodcock said: “Right now, I’d like to stress these events appear to be extremely rare. However, Covid-19 vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government. We take all reports of adverse events related to the vaccine very seriously.”
The FDA and CDC said in a joint statement: “People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their healthcare provider.”
He uses the George Floyd trial and the shooting this week of Daunte Wright to make some very sharp points about how police behavior will never change as long as they keep getting away with things like this. The resignations of the police officer who shot Wright and her police chief and the firing of one of the police officers who pepper sprayed and threatened Caron Nazario is perhaps a sign that the wall of immunity is showing at least some cracks.