Quietly they slip in and out of our lives without us really noticing. This year they have been in our hospitals, our assisted living facilities, our grocery stores, our schools, our post offices and so many other places.
The true spirit of Christmas, giving.
May you all have a safe and peaceful Christmas!
28 comments:
A very large explosion in Nashville this morning. Apparently it was an RV packed with some kind of explosive. Police were called to the scene by a report of a suspicious vehicle. The bomb detonation team was in route when the explosion occurred.
Looking at the pictures on CNN the damage was extensive.
This happened in the business district on Christmas before dawn. If I were the police I would look into who placed the call to call them in.
The call came in before 6:00 and the explosion occurred at 6:30. That means that the people most likely to be on site were the police.
They will be looking at the location as a possible target. But I still have to wonder...
"… the people most likely to be on site were the police."
That does seem to have been the plan, yeah.
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Looks like your Vikings are out of the run for the playoffs as of tonight. They wanted it a lot, but they weren't getting the tacklin' done, at least, not today. And wantin' it ain't enough; gotta tackle too.
Well, that explosion in Nashville just keeps getting stranger and stranger. Now they are saying it was a suicide. They think they have identified the bomber. But it doesn't seem to be international terrorism. There was a recorded message warning people there would be an explosion.
I think I will stop speculating and wait to see what the investigators come up with. It's just weird.
Yeah, the Vikings didn't do very well this year at all. I have kind of given up on them. I have been disappointed too many times.
"Now they are saying it was a suicide."
They'd been saying all day Saturday that they'd found human "remains" in the blast debris, but they refused to go further than that, refused to make the obvious speculations in public, until they'd identified a specific, targeted suspect.
David Ignatius, who's not usually considered an alarmist type, is now warning about moves by the Trump White House to possibly instigate a last-minute crisis in preparation for the 6 January 2021 congressional "certification" of the November election. Ignatius points to recent dismissals and appointments (like within the last two months recent--since Trump lost the November election) to key national security postings within the government, especially within the Departments of Defense and of Justice, and to plans now being laid by Trump supporters in the white supremacist and militant fascist groups to generate a timely public crisis--violence in the streets--in order to justify a planned declaration by Trump of a National Emergency and his invocation of the 1800s era "Insurrection Act" to prevent any congressional certification of Joe Biden as the 46th President.
In essence, Ignatius is warning us that Trump and his dedicated Trumpkins might be (stress might be) plotting an actual "auto-coup" to seize control of the county on or about 6 January. WashingtonPost
(I don't see it happenin'; it's been pointed out that Trump is a coward--he ain't got the balls to go through with it. But, Ignatius isn't usually considered an alarmist type either, and he did get the editors at the Washington Post to print this. So, I figured I'd mention it.)
I am starting to think my first theory was off base. Yes, I still think they wanted the police on site, but I don't think they were looking to hurt other people.
They just did an interview with the first police officers on site. There was a recorded message warning about the bomb. But there was also a song played, which the officers mentioned.
The song was Downtown by Petula Clark. When you listen to it it reads like a suicide note or a cry of pain that the person wanted people to hear. It's so sad.
On the other hand… The bomber did manage to knock out communications, internet and telephone, across a wide area (greatly exceeding the Nashville area, exceeding Tennessee state even) for the whole day.
This is true. But they did find human remains, so I am speculating that there was someone, or multiple someone's, in the RV when it exploded. The officer said all windows were covered so he could not see inside. The message was a woman's voice. So either this woman was also an expert at bomb making or there was more than one person involved.
I still think the song was a message. And considering that this all began when police arrived I think someone was watching.
They do have a residence and person of interest they are checking out.
Then Trump might use “military capabilities” to rerun the Nov. 3 election in swing states,
I have always felt that we won't have "won the battle" until Jan. 20th. I was listening to a former military officer on CNN earlier. He was saying that he would not have carried out an unlawful order, even if it came from the president.
The thing with coups is that you need the military to back you up.
"The thing with coups is that you need the military to back you up."
Or, at least, to not get in ones way. I can envision the American military taking a totally "hands off" approach and letting a Trumpkin coup collapse in defeat and despair (the generals confident that Trump can't actually pull it off without their active assistance).
They have identified the bomber as Anthony Warner. His were the remains found. He was 63 years old and lived in Antioch, TN. Motive is not known at this time.
They believe he acted alone.
I still think it was a straight up suicide and the song he played holds the answer. I would look for something in his life that would have caused depression.
Everyone focuses on the At&t building as the target. Maybe, or maybe it was just that there may be no one in the building over Christmas, unlike other buildings that were a mix of commercial and residential.
CBS early morning news is offering up the theory that the Nashville explosion may have been a "a suicide mission", and that Warner may have thought he was saving his neighbors from "5G spying technology" (at least temporarily) whilst garnering publicity for his favorite conspiracy theory involving same.
From yesterday:
"See you in Washington, DC, on January 6th. Don’t miss it.
Information to follow!"
TrumpTweet
He seems to think he has a plan.
Yeah, I've heard some people are thinking Warner's actions have something to do with conspiracy theories. I don't know, so far his neighbors say he was a hermit and the extent of their relationships was waving over the fence. His family are staying pretty quiet. He had just retired from a computer consulting job. Maybe he had some depression and paranoia going on.
He seems to think he has a plan.
I knew he would be reluctant to admit defeat, but this is just getting tiresome. Does he actually believe his lies? Is he that afraid of what may happen to him legally after he leaves office? Or is he digging his heels in at the behest of someone else?
I'm starting to wonder if Trump doesn't also have some mental issues beside possible early signs of dementia.
"…this is just getting tiresome."
Neither Trump nor his dedicated Trumpkins seem to be getting tired of it. Indeed, they seem to be preparing for sustained conflict with the "Quisling" Republicans who've not supported Trump in his fight to undo Trump's defeat at the polls (as well as with the incoming Biden administration).
I'm not sure Trump's institutional Republican supporters expected to be called upon to carry on the Trumpkin fantasy after he was driven from office in the 2020 elections (in spite of their looking the other way when they were called upon to impeach him). They're seemingly not yet dealing with the reality of having Trump still out there, berating them from the sidelines for not having backed his play to seize the Presidency.
(I told ya'll before, long ago it seems now, although it's just been a month or so, that Trump was expecting someone to come save him like his father had always done. (And then later his creditors, who discovered to their own great dismay that they were in too deep and he was in too shallow for them to foreclose on him.) He's not gonna forget his disappointment at having those expectations dashed.)
One of the things that was included in the Defense bill that Trump vetoed.
With veto-proof majorities, Congress recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill generally meant to shore up U.S. defense spending. This year’s iteration folded in a piece of legislation known as the Corporate Transparency Act, which targets something specific: anonymous shell companies, tools that have allowed criminal networks, human rights abusers, and tax evaders around the world to flourish while hiding their financial tracks.
The bill, which is currently awaiting the President’s signature, will require that the true, human owners of companies formed in the U.S. disclose their identities at the point of formation and upon any change—effectively banning anonymous shell companies. Currently, the U.S. is the easiest place in the world to form an anonymous shell company that can be used for money laundering, crime, and corruption.
So one wonders, what was the real reason Trump vetoed this bill?
The House has voted to override Trump's veto. He is not pleased. The question remains, will the Senate?
"Currently, the U.S. is the easiest place in the world to form an
anonymous shell company that can be used for money laundering,
crime, and corruption."
Also used (especially in the super-PAC versions) for unlimited anonymous political 'donations' to parties, politicians, and political causes. (Federal campaign finance laws to the contrary notwithstanding. They're shot full of gaping holes, often holes opened up by the federal courts' more 'conservative' judges (so self-styled) who're consistently very solicitous of the traditional rights of the very rich to buy all the politicians they might need or want.)
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"The question remains, will the Senate?"
It looks like that issue's on hold pending McConnell's decision on what he deems most likely to improve the chances of the two Republicans running in the Georgia runoffs. Right now McConnell's got it tangled up with a bunch of poison-pill amendments, while he's considering his options and his goals.
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The new, more transmissible covid variant (known as 'B.1.1.7') that's dominating in England these days was detected yesterday in Colorado, in a young male who's not traveled abroad--"community spread" they call that.
So, it's here, and it's on the loose.
Josh Hawley is going to force a vote on the electoral college results.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said Wednesday he will object when Congress counts the Electoral College votes next week, which will force lawmakers in both the House and Senate to vote on whether to accept the results of President-elect Joe Biden's victory.
Hawley is the first senator to announce plans to object to the results, which is significant because both a House member and senator are required to mount an objection when Congress counts the Electoral College votes on January 6.
Right now McConnell's got it tangled up with a bunch of poison-pill amendments, while he's considering his options and his goals.
It looks like McConnell has separated the vote on overriding Trump's veto of the Defense bill and the $2000.00 stimulus checks.
Last I heard the Senate will vote on whether or not to override Trump's veto today.
McConnell has introduced a separate bill linking the $2,000.00 stimulus checks with Trump's desire for a commission on voter fraud and the internet company's liability issue. Your "poison-pill", which the Democrats will not swallow. So I rather think the $2,000.00 stimulus check is toast...for now.
"Josh Hawley is going to force a vote on the electoral college
results."
Should be an easy 'nuff vote for any Democrats in the Senate. But, it may be that there are some Republicans who'll wish the vote came much closer to the 2022 elections so they can see how persistent is Trump's hold on the GOP going forward.
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"I rather think the $2,000.00 stimulus check is toast...for now."
Certainly seems that way.
Bernie Sanders had threatened to drag out the override of Trump's veto on the pending defense spending legislation, using that threat as leverage for a vote on the $2,000 payments. McConnell responded later in the day by saying he saw "no realistic path" for approval of those payments.*
McConnell will win that one--Sanders can drag out the veto override on the defense bill, but he can't stop it.
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* McConnell's statement translates as "Hell No; I ain't bucklin' to pressure from Bernie Sanders!"
(Maybe the Republicans won't win the runoffs in Georgia, but that's historically not been the way to bet on runoff elections in Georgia. Historically, the way to bet is to bet the Republicans will win. Still, if the Democrats can win both of those seats then the $2,000 stimulus checks might make a comeback with the new Democratic Senate.)
The Georgia runoff election may be a test ow how much younger people are motivated to vote. It sounds like there has been a fairly high turnout this time around of that age group.
But I am not getting my hopes up.
"Josh Hawley is going to force a vote on the electoral college
results."
Hawley skipped attendance during the conference call which now substitutes for the weekly Republican caucus luncheon gathering. His absence came as a surprise to McConnell, who clearly expected him to be on-line during the call. (McConnell called on him to explain himself to the assembled Republican caucus--several times before discovering that Hawley had skipped the call and not bothered to tell him about that decision--Politico.)
Discord in the Republican Senate caucus. Happy New Year.
I saw that. I have to think that it pissed off McConnell. It appears that McConnell has pushed back against what Hawley & Co. are doing. He's not stupid. I still don't like him, though. He helped create this situation.
Discord in the Republican Senate caucus.
I don't think it is just the Senate caucus. I think your prediction of a splintered Republican party is now coming to pass. Donald Trump has just exacerbated the fissure.
Now it is a test to see if democracy within the United States is strong enough to withstand the lies and machinations of Donald Trump and his followers.
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