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Speaker of Georgia House demands investigation into Fulton County election irregularities

John Solomon
Just the News
Sun, 18 Jul 2021 11:28 UTC
Ralston
© Bob Andres/BANDRES@AJC.COM
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge
Georgia's Speaker of the House David Ralston is demanding an investigation to "determine if any irregularities or willful fraud occurred" in the state's largest metropolis last November, saying recent revelations about problems with vote counting in Fulton County merit an independent probe.

Ralston sent a letter late last week to Fulton County election officials requesting that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation be allowed to conduct the investigation.

The request comes after Just the News reported last month that an independent observer for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger noted two dozen pages of irregularities in the Atlanta vote counting center last Nov. 3, including double scanning of ballots, insecure transportation of ballots and possible voter privacy violations.

Raffensperger told Just the News he believes the problems in Fulton County are so extensive that the state should take over running elections in the Atlanta area.

Separately, a watchdog group called VoterGA, which won court access to absentee ballot data, said last week its review found that Fulton County's hand count audit of the November election was riddled with "massive errors and provable fraud."

Ralston said the recent reports of problems require a "thorough examination and explanation."
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Bullseye

The Cult Dynamics of Wokeness

James Lindsay
New Discourses
Wed, 21 Jul 2021 18:43 UTC
cult member woke
© Nafis Abman/Pexals
You must understand racism and admit that you cannot understand racism. You must admit to your complicity in racism and pledge to do better knowing that it is impossible to do better. You must be an ally but accept that you will always do your allyship wrong.

Before I got involved in studying Critical Social Justice like I do now, I mostly studied the psychology of religion. I took particular interest in the more authoritarian and cultish elements that can spring up within otherwise more reasonable faith traditions. Cult indoctrinations, in particular, tend to follow very predictable stages. First, there is initiation; then there is indoctrination; and then there is reprogramming. These three phases are distinct and must be understood on their own terms.

I. Cult Initiation

One thing I learned through all that study is that most fundamentalist religious (in the colloquial, not technical sense) and cult conversions, especially in adults, occur by using doctrine to resolve some core emotional vulnerability. That is, cult doctrine, and I include extreme fundamentalist interpretations of religious doctrines as cultish, exists to resolve a particularly powerful emotional vulnerability in an unhealthy way (this adds another layer of defense for responsible faith, which does so in a healthy way to the degree that it does the same things).
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Sheriff

New chief selected to head Capitol Police

Nicholas Sherman
Just the News
Mon, 19 Jul 2021 06:55 UTC
J Thomas Manger
© Gary Cameron/Reuters
J. Thomas Manger, new Chief of US Capitol Police
A police official who has run large departments in both Maryland and Virginia has been chosen as the new chief of the United States Capitol Police, according to a report.

The official is J. Thomas Manger, who served for 15 years as chief in Montgomery County, Maryland, and before that as the head of Fairfax, Virginia, police department, two people briefed on the matter told the Associated Press Monday.

The two people briefed on the situation were not able to speak about it publicly, the outlet reported. It is unclear when Manger will officially be declared as the new chief.

The search for a new police chief was led by the Capitol Police Board, which includes the House and Senate sergeant at arms and the Architect of the Capitol, who led the search.

Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman was elevated for the role after the agency's previous top official, Steven Sund, left the force the day after the Jan. 6 riot.

Comment: See also:

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NPC

Culture wars: City council in UK to investigate Parkin and Yorkshire Tea links to slavery

Isabella Marsans
Daily Express
Wed, 21 Jul 2021 18:53 UTC
parkin
© Getty/PA
Parkin is a traditional ginger cake northern Brits have been enjoying since the 18th century. However, the cake may have connections to colonialism and the slave trade because of its ingredients.

The Black Lives Matter movement that swept the nation last year following the tragic death of George Floyd has prompted Leeds City Council to investigate the true history behind the beloved cake in order to educate the younger generation.

"Our work will aim to reflect these issues, looking at them from a contemporary perspective in an effort to tell their whole stories," Leeds City Council told the Telegraph.

"Historically, some of the ingredients used to make these 'local' products were gained through the triangular slave trade (for example, sugar)."
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Passport

Male, Female, or X: Argentina to issue gender-neutral passports


RT
Wed, 21 Jul 2021 18:46 UTC
argentina passport
© Reuters / Jorge Dan
Argentina will start issuing gender-neutral passports to non-binary citizens, becoming the first Latin American country to do so. The cards will feature an 'X' in place of the traditional 'M' or 'F' gender descriptors.

The issuance of the first gender-neutral passports was announced in a decree by President Alberto Fernandez on Tuesday, with a public announcement expected on Wednesday morning.

Argentina's Gender Identity Law was passed in 2012, and allowed citizens to change their gender without first undergoing psychiatric evaluation or physical transition. It also allowed them to identify as a non-binary third gender, though official documents such as ID cards, passports and tax forms still required them to choose from male or female.
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Colosseum

Ukrainian poet & professor 'fired' from university post after sparking wrath of far-right for supporting Russian language


RT
Wed, 21 Jul 2021 17:44 UTC
protest russian language ukraine
© Sputnik / Stringer
Protesters take part in a rally against the Buzhansky bill on the extension of teaching in Russian in Ukrainian schools, in Lviv, Ukraine.
A popular Ukrainian writer, translator and cultural studies academic has claimed she was dismissed from her job at one of the country's top universities because of her "political dissent" and collaboration with Russian colleagues.

Evgeniya Bilchenko, who taught at the National Drahomaniv Pedagogical University, announced on Facebook on Tuesday that she had been "fired." According to her, authorities "moved to eliminate her entire department" but were unable to cite any problems with "proficiency or immoral acts." She presented a rating alongside her dismissal letter, in which she was ranked as the best educator in the faculty. Another post had been offered to her, she argued, saying this was most likely just a formality.

Comment: The Ukraine neonazi program is rolling right along. Downhill to disaster.

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Wolf

Suspects claim undercover FBI informants played key role in plot to kidnap Michigan governor: Accuse govt of entrapment


RT
Wed, 21 Jul 2021 17:22 UTC
whitmer kidnap fbi entrapment
© Reuters / Seth Herald / File
Militia members accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer stand in front of the governor’s office after a protest at the state capitol building, in Lansing, Michigan, April 30, 2020.
Several of the men accused of planning to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer say they were entrapped by the FBI, with government documents suggesting that at least 12 undercover informants played major roles in the scheme.

A lengthy investigation by BuzzFeed News - published on Tuesday and based on court filings, text and audio transcripts, and more than two dozen interviews with sources close to the case - claimed that the 12 informants and undercover agents "played a far larger role" in the kidnapping plot than was previously known.

Comment: It's not like the show hasn't played out before. Some even suggest the FBI deliberately sets up and takes down "plots" so "they remember why they need us".

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X

Change your ways or resign, Indigenous leaders tell Pallister government in Manitoba


National Post
Mon, 19 Jul 2021 00:01 UTC
Chief Garrison Settee
© Kevin King/Postmedia
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee speaks from the steps of the Manitoba Legislative building in Winnipeg last November.
'Today, we are not here to topple any statues. We are here to topple a government that is racist, a government that has no place in this legislature.'

Several Indigenous leaders are calling on Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government to either overhaul its approach to First Nations issues or resign.

Grand Chief Garrison Settee of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 northern First Nations, stood alongside others on the steps of the legislature Monday as fallout continued from Premier Brian Pallister's remarks about Canadian history.

Comment:





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Rocket

Billionaire back-slapping: Branson congratulates Bezos on 'impressive' space flight


RT
Tue, 20 Jul 2021 15:36 UTC
Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos
© Reuters / Joe Skipper and Isaiah J. Downing
Richard Branson (L) and Jeff Bezos (R)
Virgin tycoon Richard Branson congratulated fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos for a successful flight to the edge of space. The hearty congratulation appears to have ended the recent rocket-waving contest between the pair.

"Well done @blueorigin, @jeffbezos, Mark, Wally and Oliver. Impressive! Very best to all the crew from me and all the team at @virgingalactic," Branson tweeted on Tuesday, shortly after Bezos and his three-man civilian crew touched down in a West Texas desert following a short flight to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere.


Comment: Billionaires are weird.

See also:

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Attention

Prison for anti-vaxxers? People who promote refusal of vaccines should be made criminally responsible, suggests Russian official

Jonny Tickle
RT
Tue, 20 Jul 2021 14:16 UTC
russia covid vaccine center
© Sputnik
Law enforcement officers register to receive a dose of Russia's Gam-COVID-VAK (trademark "Sputnik V") coronavirus vaccine at the vaccination point in Gostiny Dvor, in Moscow, Russia.
With Russia's campaign to inoculate its citizens against Covid-19 being hampered by widespread anti-vaccination sentiment, a local official has proposed introducing penalties for those who call for others to refuse taking part.

In a letter seen by RT, the First Deputy Chairman of the Leningrad Region Civic Chamber asked federal Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuychenko to introduce criminal liability for spreading anti-vaxx propaganda, noting that some people promote fake information about the potential dangers of vaccines.

"I ask you to assess the idea of amending the Criminal Code to include responsibility for those calling for others to refuse vaccination on non-medical grounds," Vladimir Petrov wrote, also noting that there should be an extra penalty for medical professionals who disseminate false and harmful information about vaccination.

Comment: The key here is spreading knowingly false information. From the wording here, it would seem that if someone was spreading information they believed to be true, the penalties wouldn't apply.

See also:

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