The Political Thread

[Deezy]

Invest in generators.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/14/us/baltimore-bridge-collapse-ntsb-report/index.html

The cargo ship Dali that crashed into Baltimore’s Key Bridge in March had a pair of catastrophic electrical failures minutes before the crash and had experienced two blackouts a day earlier, according to a preliminary report released Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The 24-page report details investigators’ early factual findings on the March 26 disaster that took down the 1.6-mile long steel structure, killing six construction workers on the bridge and severing access to critical shipping routes in and out of the Port of Baltimore.

 

[Chris]

Alsobrooks defeats Trone in Senate primary, will face Hogan in November

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks defeated David Trone for a chance to become Maryland’s first Black U.S. senator.

www.baltimoresun.com

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, backed by Maryland’s governor and other leading Democrats, defeated wealthy, self-funded Democrat David Trone for a chance to become the state’s first Black U.S. senator.

If she defeats the Republican nominee, former Gov. Larry Hogan, in November, she would also become only the fourth Black woman in U.S. Senate history and join Maryland’s currently all-male congressional delegation.

Alsobrooks beat Trone on Tuesday despite the fact that he massively outspent her in what became the costliest Senate primary in state history.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/15/cpi-inflation-april-2024-consumer-prices-rose-0point3percent-in-april.html

Inflation eased slightly in April, providing at least a bit of relief for consumers while still holding above levels that would suggest a cut in interest rates is imminent.

The consumer price index, a broad measure of how much goods and services cost at the cash register, increased 0.3% from March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Services reported Wednesday. That was slightly below the Dow Jones estimate for 0.4%.

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/15/politics/joe-biden-debate/index.html

Washington CNN — President Joe Biden’s campaign is calling on former President Donald Trump to join him for two presidential debates hosted by news organizations and has formally informed the Commission on Presidential Debates that Biden will not participate in its previously scheduled fall debates.

In the letter, the campaign proposed debate dates in June and September.

“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again,” Biden said in a direct-to-camera video released Wednesday.

“Well, make my day, pal, I’ll even do it twice. So let’s pick the dates, Donald – I hear you’re free on Wednesdays,” Biden continued, alluding to Trump’s court schedule. In the letter, Biden’s campaign acknowledged that the first debate would likely take place after Trump’s criminal hush-money trial has concluded.

In a post to Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump accepted the revised schedule: “I am Ready and Willing to Debate Crooked Joe at the two proposed times in June and September,” adding that he would “strongly recommend” more than the two debates proposed. A senior Trump adviser told CNN they are “ready to debate” Biden, and reviewing the terms but are eager for an onstage match-up.

 

[Chris]

Slovakia’s prime minister is expected to survive assassination attempt, deputy says

The message posted to his account said that Fico “has been shot multiple times and is currently in life-threatening condition."

apnews.com

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon and taken to hospital.

Reports on TA3, a Slovakian TV station, said that Fico, 59, was hit in the stomach after four shots were fired outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlova, some 150 kilometers northeast of the capital, where the leader was meeting with supporters. A suspect has been detained, it said. Police sealed off the scene.

 

[Chris]

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/15/drug-overdoses-decline-fentanyl

By the numbers: Drug overdose deaths fell 3% from 111,029 in 2022 to 107,543 last year, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• After rising sharply during the pandemic's first two years, overdose deaths had appeared to plateau in 2022.
• The number of deaths involving fentanyl and other potent synthetic opioids, which account for the vast majority of fatal overdoses, declined from 76,226 in 2022 to 74,702 last year.
• But deaths from cocaine and stimulants like methamphetamine continued to tick up, as they are increasingly mixed with fentanyl, creating a new wave in the evolving drug epidemic. About 1 in 3 fatal overdoses last year involved stimulants, while just over 1 in 4 involved cocaine.

 

[Leon TrotSky]

Slovakia’s prime minister is expected to survive assassination attempt, deputy says

The message posted to his account said that Fico “has been shot multiple times and is currently in life-threatening condition."

apnews.com

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was wounded in a shooting Wednesday afternoon and taken to hospital.

Reports on TA3, a Slovakian TV station, said that Fico, 59, was hit in the stomach after four shots were fired outside the House of Culture in the town of Handlova, some 150 kilometers northeast of the capital, where the leader was meeting with supporters. A suspect has been detained, it said. Police sealed off the scene.

And of course, because he supports Russia's genocidal war and is antivax, brainlets are producing conspiracy theories about how this was teh Evul NATO/WEF/whoever

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

French government preparing for a state of emergency after violence in New Caledonia

France’s government is considering imposing a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia to curb deadly violence on the island.

www.google.com

God dayum, France is looking close to a civil war if New Caledonia is any indicator.

 

[Chris]

Slovak authorities charge 'lone wolf' with assassination attempt on the prime minister

Fico was in serious but stable condition, a hospital official said, after the populist leader was hit multiple times in an attempt on his life that shook the small country.

apnews.com

BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovak authorities charged a man Thursday with attempting to assassinate populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, saying the suspect acted alone in a politically motivated attack that laid bare the extreme polarization that has gripped the small central European country.

Fico, 59, was in serious but stable condition a day after being shot multiple times in the stomach, a hospital official said. President-elect Peter Pellegrini said he spoke to Fico at the hospital but confirmed his condition “remains very serious.”

 

[Chris]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/16/politics/house-panels-contempt-garland-biden-audio/index.html

President Joe Biden moved to assert executive privilege over recordings of his interview with special counsel Robert Hur as House Republicans press ahead with contempt proceedings against Attorney General Merrick Garland over his refusal to turn over the files, a major escalation in a dispute over the recordings between the House GOP and the executive branch.

 

[Death By Looch]

• Texas Governor Greg Abbott pardons Daniel Perry, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a man at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. (The New York Times)

Texas Governor Pardons Man in Fatal Shooting of Protester in 2020

The man, Daniel S. Perry, was convicted of killing a protester during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Austin.

www.nytimes.com

Are you fuckin' kidding me...

 

[Death By Looch]

Meanwhile in North Carolina...

North Carolina senate passed a bill that will ban medical masks in public spaces. The Assembly majority supports the bill.

NC bill removing health and safety exception for wearing masks passes Senate

The “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals” bill passed the NC Senate on Wednesday.

www.wsoctv.com

Why they want to ban medical masks? Because of all the bad masked criminals and mobs going around while hiding behind all kinds of different masks.

But also...

There is an exemption to allow the KKK to wear hoods of course. While the excuse they use for this bill is targeting protesters it is obvious how this will have wider implications especially for disabled people of color or those with visual differences

Yea...

 

[Grimoire Lenin]

I feel like this violates a few amendments, not sure which though.

 

[Death By Looch]

Nah, you must be mistaken. It's for the fight against crime after all.