PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO)-- There's a big check going into the bank accounts of some staff in Pueblo's School District 60. Monday, District 60 employees received an email saying some would receive a $1,000 incentive stipend if they were fully vaccinated by Nov. 10. For unvaccinated staff, however, they won't see a dollar of that bonus.

The district told KRDO the $1,000 is being called an incentive stipend for keeping classrooms safe.

"We find ourselves in a pretty unique situation, and this is just one way that we can tell our teachers, thank you for being responsible, [for doing] their best to provide a safe and healthy environment where we can teach in person," District 60 spokesperson Dalton Sprouse said.

For vaccinated teachers, it's a great surprise during the holiday season.

"I was putting a timer on my phone for my students and saw that there were emails, so I picked up my phone, saw the email, and got really excited," Jeanette Valdez said with a grin.

Valdez teaches at Minnequa Elementary School. That email she saw was the announcement from District 60, telling her she was getting $1,000 for being vaccinated.

She says the payout is a nice gesture, but in her eyes, getting the vaccine was a no-brainer.


"I did it because I wanted to be safe for kids here at this school. Our kids are what comes first," Valdez said. "I did not want to be out of the classroom and I did not want them to be out of the classroom."

According to the district, the money for the bonus comes from leftover COVID relief funding. District 60 received roughly $43 million from the American Rescue Plan fund.

While many teachers are excited about the incentive, some non-vaccinated teachers told KRDO they don't think it was fair they were left out.

"It was like a slap in the face to me," Janet Hidalgo, who says she is unvaccinated for medical reasons, told KRDO. "It's not easy work in education. We don't get paid enough right now. So to dangle $1,000 over somebody's face saying 'get your vaccine' is bribery to me."


Right now, District 60 does not have a vaccine mandate in place.

 https://krdo.com/news/202 .. -a-1k-stipend/

Ghislaine Maxwell's first accuser known as 'Jane' resumed testimony Wednesday under cross examination from the defense

She claimed Epstein drove her to Mar-A-Lago to meet Donald Trump when she was 14 years old

Jane said she recalls taking flights with Prince Andrew on Epstein's private planes

Maxwell's lawyer Laura Menninger questioned the alleged victim - who is using the pseudonym Jane - and attempted to undermine the accuser's memory

Menninger then told the court that Jane does not recall whether Maxwell ever touched her. 'That's not true,' Jane said

On Tuesday she said under oath that she was 14 years old when she first had 's*xual contact' with Jeffrey Epstein

She told Prosecutor Alison Moe that Ghislaine Maxwell was in the room during the abuse and joined in

She detailed how Epstein would have her 'straddle his face', 'pinch his n*pples' and took her into a pool house and then 'proceeded to masturbate on me'



 https://www.dailymail.co. .. -Trump-14.html

 https://www.protocol.com/ .. ebt-collectors


 https://www.consumerfinan .. e-impacts-you/


The barrage of robocalls is about to get worse with a new frontier of attack: social media accounts

As if social media didn't have enough problems, a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule has gone into effect that allows debt collectors to reach out to people on Twitter, Instagram or wherever else they have online social accounts, as long as the DMs are private.

The new rules prohibit these companies from posting publicly on timelines, and they also have to identify themselves as debt collectors and provide an opt-out option.

The CFPB called the new rules a clarification of the 1977 standards. "1977. Bell-bottoms were popular fashion, Elvis passed away, the very first Star Wars movie was released, Jimmy Carter became president, and Steve Jobs introduced the world to the idea of the personal computer with the launch of the Apple II. We can all agree that a lot has changed since then," then-CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger wrote in an October 2020 statement announcing the creation of the rules.

"We are finally leaving 1977 behind and developing a debt collection system that works for consumers and industry in the modern world," she wrote

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. — A South Carolina gun store owner faces an involuntary manslaughter charge after police said he shot one of his employees in the face in an attempted prank.

Jon Whitley, who owns Coastal Firearms in the Wando area, was arrested Monday nearly a month after the death of Stefan Mrgan.

Authorities found Mrgan inside the storeÂ’s lobby with a gunshot wound to his lower face on Nov. 2, news outlets reported.

A police affidavit states that Whitley placed a replica Glock BB gun among real firearms in the store with the intent of pranking Mrgan. Instead, Whitley mistakenly picked up and fired a real gun at Mrgan, according to an incident report.

Whitley is a retired major in the South Carolina National Guard and former reserve deputy for the Charleston County SheriffÂ’s Office, The Post and Courier reported.

Mrgan, 36, was a former member of the Army Special Forces, according to the newspaper.

Court records show Whitley was granted a $15,000 personal recognizance bond by a judge Monday.




 https://www.wsoctv.com/ne .. C3HRJU7OB77JI/

Over the past 14 years, the Central Intelligence Agency has secretly amassed credible evidence that at least 10 of its employees and contractors committed s*xual crimes involving children.

Though most of these cases were referred to US attorneys for prosecution, only one of the individuals was ever charged with a crime. Prosecutors sent the rest of the cases back to the CIA to handle internally, meaning few faced any consequences beyond the possible loss of their jobs and security clearances. That marks a striking deviation from how s*x crimes involving children have been handled at other federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Drug Enforcement Administration. CIA insiders say the agency resists prosecution of its staff for fear the cases will reveal state secrets.

The revelations are contained in hundreds of internal agency reports obtained by BuzzFeed News through Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.

One employee had s*xual contact with a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old. He was fired. A second employee purchased three s*xually explicit videos of young girls, filmed by their mothers. He resigned. A third employee estimated that he had viewed up to 1,400 s*xually abusive images of children while on agency a*signments. The records do not say what action, if any, the CIA took against him. A contractor who arranged for s*x with an undercover FBI agent posing as a child had his contract revoked.

Only one of the individuals cited in these documents was charged with a crime. In that case, as in the only previously known case of a CIA staffer being charged with child s*xual crimes, the employee was also under investigation for mishandling classified material.

The CIA did not answer detailed questions, saying only that the agency “takes all allegations of possible criminal misconduct committed by personnel seriously.”

A spokesperson for the Eastern District of Virginia, where many of the criminal referrals were sent, also did not answer detailed questions, saying the district “takes seriously its responsibility to hold accountable federal government employees who violate federal law within our jurisdiction.”

Four former officials who are familiar with how internal investigations work at intelligence agencies told BuzzFeed News there are many reasons that prosecutors might not pursue a criminal case. One of them, familiar with the workings of the CIAÂ’s Office of the Inspector General, said the agency is concerned that in a criminal case, it could lose control of sensitive information.

The former official, who reviewed the declassified inspector general reports, characterized the concern from CIA lawyers as, “We can’t have these people testify, they may inadvertently be forced to disclose sources and methods.”

The official, who noted the agency has had a problem with child abuse images stretching back decades, said they understand the need to protect “sensitive and classified equities.” However, “for crimes of a certain class whether it’s an intelligence agency or not, you just have to figure out how to prosecute these people.”

Want to support more reporting like this? Become a BuzzFeed News member today.

s*xual crimes involving children, including the viewing of images of abuse, have been uncovered at other agencies that handle sensitive information. In a November 2009 report, the Department of Defense acknowledged that dozens of Pentagon staff members or contractors had such images. In 2014, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community found that two officials from the National Reconnaissance Office, which oversees AmericaÂ’s spy satellites, acknowledged viewing images of child s*xual abuse during polygraph examinations.

At a symposium in 2016, Daniel Payne, a top Pentagon security official, said that when workers’ computers were examined, “the amount of child pr0n I see is just unbelievable.”


The child abuse revelations are drawn from an unprecedented release of reports by the CIAÂ’s Office of the Inspector General.

BuzzFeed News gained access to these documents after a decadelong pursuit, which included 13 public records requests and three separate Freedom of Information Act lawsuits.

Those requests, the earliest of which date back to 2012, were for investigations closed by the Office of the Inspector General, which acts independently of the agency to examine misconduct by employees or contractors.

New requests were filed each subsequent year. At first the CIA did not respond to the requests; then, it said it would take years to provide any documents. Those requests were followed in 2014, 2015, and 2020 by lawsuits, and the agency entered into negotiations about what documents to release. The coronavirus pandemic delayed the process by a year, but the agency finally began to release the documents in March and will release the final set in December.

BuzzFeed News is publishing the reports here for public review.

Among more than 3,000 pages, covering the years 2004 to 2019, are investigations big and small involving billing irregularities by contractors, a spy who expensed a visit to an overseas “gentleman’s club,” and an employee who used government computer systems to resell more than 700 items purchased at yard sales.

Other reports have been the subject of previous news coverage, such as the CIAÂ’s involvement in the production of the film Zero Dark Thirty, the torture of detainees held at black site prisons, and a decades-old operation in Peru that led to the death of missionaries.

More recent reports show that a CIA employee was investigated in October 2018 for using agency computer systems and databases to conduct “unofficial searches” on her brother, and that the inspector general substantiated allegations in a January 2018 memorandum that another CIA employee violated the Hatch Act, which limits political activity by civil servants in the executive branch.

The documents also reveal the pattern of s*xual abuse cases, whereby internal investigators unearthed evidence of s*xual crimes involving children but federal prosecutors brought no charges.

As is typical of intelligence documents, the records have been heavily redacted. Among the information that has been hidden are the names of the accused employees and contractors and details about their jobs at the CIA. The agency cites privacy reasons, national security, and a federal law that exempts the CIA from disclosing details about its operations.


Obtained via FOIA
A heavily redacted report from the CIA inspector general
“Not knowing the identities of the suspects is a hindrance in identifying these cases and why they were declined,” the spokesperson for the Eastern District of Virginia said.

Of the 10 workers who the inspector general found had committed s*xual crimes involving children, five were fired or resigned. Four others were referred to a personnel board or the Office of Security, which investigates classified leaks and is responsible for the safety of CIA facilities.

The outcome of one case — in which 10 child s*xual abuse images were discovered on a CIA computer that had been left unattended — is unknown. The employee to whom that device was a*signed said he switched computers while he was overseas. He denied using it to view such material.

In an eleventh case, the inspector general received a complaint in November 2016 that an employee used a government computer to view child s*xual abuse images. Although the investigators couldn’t corroborate the allegation, they discovered that he had shown a “consistent interest and pattern of [redacted] conversations involving s*xual activities between adults and minors.”

The inspector general alerted security officials and the Directorate of Science and Technology because the accusation raised “potential security and accountability issues.” Details of how the case was resolved, and any penalties the employee faced, are redacted.

Beyond the CIAÂ’s handling of these cases, questions linger over why US attorneys chose not to charge anyone, even when they seemed to have significant evidence.

Prosecutors generally have wide discretion over whether to bring criminal charges. They can judge the evidence too old or weak, consider a crime victimÂ’s desire to proceed with prosecution, and weigh the chances of convincing a jury.

“The occupation or employer of the suspect does not factor into that evaluation,” the spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said. “While we cannot comment on the reasons why specific cases were declined, we do take very seriously any allegation that our prosecutors declined a potential case based on an improper a*sessment of the relevant factors.”

It appears that at least half of the s*xual abuse investigations originated with a confession. The documents do not spell out the circumstances surrounding those statements, or whether they emerged during grueling “full-scope” polygraph examinations that can probe every part of CIA employees’ and contractors’ lives.

During those screenings, one former intelligence official told BuzzFeed News, it is not uncommon for a candidate to admit unlawful behavior in order to prove they aren’t lying — only later to realize that their statement might have sunk their chance to work for the agency and even put them in legal jeopardy.

Such statements are sent to the inspector general, which then tries to collect evidence proving the crime occurred. But that gives the subject time to delete or destroy evidence, said the former official.

That’s what happened in January 2010, when a CIA contractor logged into a chatroom using an agency IP address and solicited s*x from an FBI agent posing as a child. The contractor acknowledged an obsession with child s*xual abuse images, but by the time the inspector general obtained a search warrant and seized the man’s computer, someone had “removed the hard drives and thrown them away,” according to the reports.




An excerpt from a CIA IG's report
Obtained via FOIA


An excerpt from a CIA IG's report
Obtained via FOIA
Another CIA employee signed an affidavit admitting he used a government laptop to view photographs and videos of girls as young as 10 being abused by an “older guy.”

The employee acknowledged that he first began seeking child s*xual abuse images while he was in college, and viewed as many as 1,400 while on a*signment for the agency. He told CIA investigators that he was “truly sorry” but also said “he did not understand that it was a violation of agency policy to access child pr0nography until he took the Agency Information Security Course.”

When the inspector general examined the man’s computers, however, no such images were visible. A federal prosecutor declined to charge the man in “favor of administrative action” by the CIA. The personnel board’s recommendation is redacted.

But in several of the cases, prosecutors had plenty to go on.

During an investigation that ended in August 2009, an official with a security clearance acknowledged having s*xual contact with two girls, ages 2 and 6, and downloading illicit images while working for the CIA. The inspector general started a broad inquiry and attempted to identify the victims.



An excerpt from a CIA IG's report
Obtained via FOIA
The investigators found that he had “extensively” downloaded abuse material, such as 63 videos of children between 8 and 16. The man regularly used government Wi-Fi to download the material, he distributed it to others, and he brought the photos back into the US after he returned from a trip overseas.

Despite the admissions and the evidence that investigators found on his devices, prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia declined to take up a criminal case. They told the inspector general there were “taint issues,” a term that is sometimes used to refer to mishandled evidence. The attorneys also said that the girls in those videos had not been “previously identified child pr0nography victims,” making it harder to prove they were minors.




An excerpt from a CIA IG's report
Obtained via FOIA
By contrast, in the only two cases known to have led to criminal charges, both parties were also accused of serious offenses related to classified information.

According to an Aug. 6, 2013, inspector general report, an investigation into a CIA contractor suspected of being in possession of child s*xual abuse images turned up classified material stored on his personal hard drive and “numerous technical documents related to the Agency's systems” on his laptop. The contractor was fired and stripped of his security clearance. He later pleaded guilty to the child abuse charges and registered as a s*x offender. The report says the contractor was sentenced, but the details, along with his name, were redacted.

In the other case, CIA software engineer Joshua Schulte was charged in 2018 with possession of child s*xual abuse images as part of a much larger investigation into the largest leak of classified information in the agencyÂ’s history. Known as Vault 7 and published by WikiLeaks, the trove of documents revealed secret tools that the CIA used to hack into computers. It was prosecuted under the Espionage Act.

Schulte faces a separate trial on the child s*xual abuse charges. He has pleaded not guilty. ●


 https://www.buzzfeednews. .. ret-files-foia

 https://www.google.com/am .. rosecutors.amp


Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena demanding, as part of a criminal investigation, the financial records of several fundraising organizations founded by former federal prosecutor and Trump attorney Sidney Powell in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

The grand jury subpoena was issued by the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia in September and demanded communications and other documents regarding the fundraising of several groups, including Defending the Republic, according to The Washington Post


Defending the Republic, which claims 501(c) 4 nonprofit status, was one of the sites founded by Powell to collect donations after she alleged that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump


At the time, the site claimed that "over $500,000 must be raised in the next twenty-four hours for these suits to be filed. Millions more will need to be raised to ensure victory."


The subpoena was reportedly signed by a*sistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gaston, who is also a part of the investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol

She was involved with the contempt of Congress charges leveled against former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who refused to appear for a deposition in front of the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Bannon also failed to hand over requested documents in the face of the committeeÂ’s subpoena, according to DOJ.


Howard Kleinhendler, an attorney who represents Defending the Republic, dismissed the claims about the group in a statement to the Post.

"We have always known the more effective we are, the more the false attacks will intensify. Defending the Republic has and will continue to f*ght for #WeThePeople who make this country work," Kleinhendler said.

"Defending the Republic and the PAC will not be diverted from their missions by lies, innuendo and other distractions. We believe in the law, the Rule of Law, and we intend to follow it and work to reinstate and preserve it."


Powell and others also alleged mass voter fraud related to Dominion Voting Systems, for which she was slapped with a federal defamation lawsuit

KEY POINTS
-CEOs and corporate insiders have sold a record $69 billion in stock in 2021, as looming tax hikes and lofty share prices encourage many to take profits.
-As of Monday, sales by insiders are up 30% from 2020 to $69 billion, and up 79% versus a 10-year average, according to InsiderScore/Verity.
-The selling is likely to increase even more as December is often an active month for sales due to tax planning.

CEOs and corporate insiders have sold a record $69 billion in stock in 2021, as looming tax hikes and lofty share prices encourage many to take profits.

From Satya Nadella at Microsoft to Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, CEOs, founders and insiders have been cashing in their stock at the highest pace on record. As of Monday, sales by insiders are up 30% from 2020 to $69 billion, and up 79% versus a 10-year average, according to InsiderScore/Verity, which excludes sales by large institutional holders.

The selling is likely to increase even more as December is often an active month for sales due to tax planning.

While some market watchers see insider selling as a warning sign and signal of a market top, many of the stocks sold by the insiders — including Tesla and Amazon — have continued to surge after the selling. And most of the stocks were sold as part of prescheduled selling plans, known as 10b5-1 programs.

The bulk of this year’s sales have been highly concentrated among a few large sellers, including Musk and Bezos, who each sold around $10 billion in stock this year. Ben Silverman, director of research at InsiderScore/Verity said the top four “super sellers” — Musk, Bezos, the Waltons and Mark Zuckerberg — account for 37% of this year’s total.

“The increase in the dollar value of insider sales in 2021 can be attributed to multiple factors, with historically high stock valuations being the primary driver,” he said. “The presence of ‘super sellers’ during the period has help pump up sales total.”

Musk sold another $1.05 billion in Tesla stock last week as part of his options exercise and tax payments. His sales since his famous Twitter poll on Nov. 6 now total $9.85 billion, with about half for options-related taxes and the rest for a straight cash-out.

Jeff Bezos sold a total of $9.97 billion in Amazon stock this year. While his activity is roughly in line with his stock sales last year, they are four times larger than his sales in 2019 and far higher than his sales of $1 billion a year in earlier years. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the sales are part of a 10b5-1 plan.

The Walton family has sold $6.18 billion in Walmart stock this year through their family trust and investment vehicle. The family sells shares periodically to maintain their ownership levels and to fund their philanthropic efforts. Mark Zuckerberg has sold $4.47 billion in Meta stock this year as part of a 10b5-1 plan. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have each sold about $1.5 billion of their Alphabet shares as part of 10b5-1 plans.

Beyond the scheduled selling programs, however, taxes and high valuations are also fueling the sales. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sold off nearly half of his Microsoft shares last month for about $285 million. The company said in a statement that the sale was for “personal financial planning and diversification reasons.”

But Nadella will also save on taxes by selling now rather than next year. Starting Jan. 1, the state of Washington will impose a 7% tax on capital gains over $250,000. Nadella could save up to $20 million in state taxes by selling ahead of the tax hike. Bezos could save up to $700 million in Washington state taxes because he sold before January.

Federal taxes are also likely to increase for high earners, leading some CEOs to cash in to avoid the hikes. The House has proposed a new 5% surtax on income over $10 million and 8% on income over $25 million.

“Potential tax rate and code changes at the federal and state level are likely a motivator for some sellers,” Silverman said.

Perhaps the biggest factor driving up the sales total, however, is high stock valuations. Adam Aron, the CEO of AMC Entertainment, which is up more than 1,500% this year, sold 625,000 shares of AMC stock last month for about $25 million. He plans to sell a total of 1.25 million shares as part of what he told investors on an earnings call was “prudent estate planning” given the “potentially soaring capital gains tax rates and significant changes to what can be passed on to one’s heirs.”

 https://www.cnbc.com/2021 .. eir-stock.html

 https://www.dailymail.co. .. d-illness.html

The new Covid variant Omicron could turn out to be a 'Christmas gift' if it causes milder illness, a German health expert claimed today after South African doctors said the strain appears to cause less severe symptoms.

Medics in South Africa said the strain is causing mild symptoms — such as a headache and tiredness — than previous versions of the virus and hasn't led to a single hospitalisation or death.

Professor Karl Lauterbach, a clinical epidemiologist who is in the running to be Germany's next health minister, said the early reports means Omicron could be a Christmas gift and may even speed up the end of the pandemic.


He suggested that it has so many mutations — 32 on the spike protein alone, twice as many as Delta — which could mean it is optimised to infect and be less lethal, in line with how most respiratory viruses evolve.

Professor Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert at the University of East Anglia, said the theory 'may prove to be true' but said that high levels of previous infection and vaccination may be offering protection against the strain.

This would also be a positive sign, because it shows that the highly-mutated variant is not completely unrecognisable to the immune system of Covid survivors or vaccines.

Scientists have long-warned the coronavirus is unlikely to ever be eradicated but will instead transition into a milder cold-like virus.

However, experts warned today that they need at least two weeks to determine what impact the Omicron variant will have, due to the time it takes for someone to become seriously unwell after catching the strain.

Scientists also need at least two weeks to work out whether Omicron's worrying mutations could make it more infectious than Delta and resistant to vaccines will translate in the real world.

And most cases have so far been in younger people, who experience milder symptoms from the virus compared to older adults.

It comes as Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Christmas plans could be put in jeopardy by the new strain, raising fears Britons could be stung with last-minute curbs like last year.

Ms Sturgeon confirmed six cases of the variant have been recorded in Scotland, some of which do not have links to abroad, suggesting Omicron is now spreading in the community.

She called for the UK — which has nine confirmed cases of the variant — to toughen up its approach by ordering all arrivals to self-isolate at home for eight days instead of two to curb the spread of the new strain. But Boris Johnson rejected the plan and said the Government will review its approach in three weeks.

Ethan Crumbly





RIP to those that lost they life

1:49 & 4:12 (tried to join the army for trump)


Fake a*s bravado

LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - A patch of virtual real estate in the online world Decentraland sold for a record $2.4 million worth of cryptocurrency, the buyer crypto investor Tokens.com (COIN.NLB) and Decentraland said on Tuesday.

Decentraland is an online environment - also called a "metaverse" - where users can buy land, visit buildings, walk around and meet people as avatars.

Such environments have grown in popularity this year, as the pandemic caused people to spend more time online. read more

Interest surged last month when Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its focus on developing virtual reality products for the metaverse.

Decentraland is a specific type of metaverse that uses blockchain. Land and other items in Decentraland are sold in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a kind of crypto a*set.

Crypto enthusiasts buy land there as a speculative investment, using Decentraland's cryptocurrency, MANA.

A subsidiary of Tokens.com, called the Metaverse Group, bought a patch of real estate for 618,000 MANA on Monday, which was around $2,428,740 at the time, a Decentraland spokesman and a statement by Tokens.com said.

Reuters also saw the land's purchase recorded on the NFT marketplace OpenSea.

Decentraland said it was the most expensive purchase of a plot of virtual real estate on the platform.

The land is in the "Fashion Street" area of Decentraland's map and Tokens.com said it would be used to host digital fashion events and sell virtual clothing for avatars. read more

It is made of 116 smaller parcels, measuring 52.5 square feet each, making the land 6,090 virtual square feet in size.

Andrew Kiguel, CEO of Tokens.com, said the a*sets would complement the real estate already held by Metaverse Group.

In June, a plot of virtual land in Decentraland sold for 1,295,000 MANA, worth $913,228 at the time. The buyers built a virtual shopping centre to sell digital clothing, but Reuters has visited this site multiple times since and not seen any shoppers. read more

MANA is highly volatile. It has gained around 400% this month according to Coinbase, spiking after Facebook's name change.

 https://www.reuters.com/m .. on-2021-11-23/

On Oct. 20, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds announced a crackdown on unemployment benefits. She required recipients to double their job-search activity, and she imposed strict audits—with the threat of cutting off payments to anyone who fell short—to ensure that “no Iowan who is receiving unemployment benefits unnecessarily remains on the sidelines” of the job market.

Nine days later, however, Reynolds signed legislation that pays vaccine refusers to do just that: sit on the sidelines. Under the new law, anyone “discharged from employment for refusing to receive a vaccination against COVID-19 … shall not be disqualified for benefits.”
Reynolds is one of many Republican politicians who openly advocate, and in some states have successfully imposed, a two-tiered system of unemployment insurance. ItÂ’s not a left-wing policy of money for everyone or a right-wing policy of money for no one. ItÂ’s a policy of pernicious hypocrisy: welfare for vaccine refusers, tough love for everyone else.

Under these new laws, any worker who gets fired for broadly defined “misconduct,” such as flunking an employer-imposed drug test, is disqualified from unemployment benefits—but employees who refuse COVID vaccination are glorified, protected, and subsidized. The state must guarantee, in Reynolds’ words, that these reckless freeloaders “will still receive unemployment benefits despite being fired for standing up for their beliefs.”

The GOP’s coddling of vaccine refusers makes a joke of its rhetoric about self-reliance. This summer, for instance, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ended the federal government’s supplemental COVID-era unemployment benefits. “We are paying people to stay home. That needs to change,” he declared. But two weeks ago, Lee signed legislation that pays vaccine refusers to stay home. Under Tennessee’s new policy, the state’s normal rule about employees fired for “misconduct”—that they lose their eligibility for unemployment benefits—can no longer be applied to anyone who is terminated for “refusing to receive a vaccination for COVID-19.”

In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he, too, would end bonus payments to unemployed Floridians. These payments, he argued, had created a perverse “incentive structure” that discouraged people from working. But DeSantis signed legislation two weeks ago that sets up a similar incentive structure, exclusively for people who defy COVID vaccine requirements (albeit with lower payments than when the federal government was still offering an extra $300 per week in benefits). Under the new law, vaccine refusal can’t “be deemed misconduct for the purpose of reemployment a*sistance.” In fact, the Florida law says that if you’re unemployed and you’re offered a job that requires vaccination, you can turn it down and stay on the dole.

Last week, Kansas adopted the same policy: You can keep drawing unemployment checks while declining job opportunities, as long as you specifically refuse “work that requires compliance with a COVID-19 vaccine requirement.” And if you were recently fired for refusing vaccination—or if you were previously denied unemployment benefits because you refused job offers that entailed vaccination—the state now promises that you’ll be “retroactively paid benefits” going back to the beginning of September. This bonus payout is yours, as a special kind of welfare recipient, even if you have “not requested retroactive payment of such benefits.” Tennessee has enacted a similar clause promising “retroactive payment of unemployment benefits,” without a specified time limit.

Prior to the enactment of these laws, the standard policy about job termination for “misconduct” in most states—i.e., that such offenders were disqualified from unemployment compensation—was generally understood to cover vaccine refusal. Kansas law, for instance, defined misconduct as “a violation of a duty or obligation reasonably owed the employer as a condition of employment including, but not limited to, a violation of a company rule, including a safety rule.” Under Florida law, misconduct included “disregard of the reasonable standards of behavior which the employer expects of his or her employee.” Tennessee’s law was almost identical. Refusing vaccination, in the midst of a respiratory pandemic that has k*lled millions of people, was a pretty obvious safety violation. Now it’s been elevated to a sacred right.

The new state laws also make a mockery of religion. Under Florida’s statute, if an employee simply “presents” a statement “indicating that the employee declines COVID-19 vaccination because of a sincerely held religious belief,” “the employer must allow the employee to opt out of the employer’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.” Iowa’s policy is similar. The Kansas law orders employers to accept such requests for religious exemptions “without inquiring into the sincerity of the request.” By framing vaccine refusal as religious freedom—while making it impossible to ascertain whether the refusal is truly grounded in religion—the GOP is wrapping its constituency of antisocial moochers in a cloak of martyrdom.

Republicans also argue that vaccine refusers deserve special treatment because it’s wrong, as a matter of personal autonomy, to let employers dictate workers’ health decisions. As DeSantis put it two weeks ago, “We are respecting people’s individual freedom.” But that’s not how DeSantis treats marijuana. Under Florida law, if you flunk an employer-imposed drug test, that’s “misconduct,” and it bars you from unemployment benefits if you’re fired. And if you apply for a new job—but you’re rejected for failing a drug test “required as a condition of employment” in that job—you’re further disqualified from unemployment benefits “for refusing to accept an offer of suitable work.”

Let’s pause to appreciate the Orwellian majesty of this sequence. 1) You, a responsible citizen, have gotten your COVID shots and want to be productive, so you apply for a job. 2) The prospective employer demands that you take a drug test. You test positive for marijuana, so the employer rejects you. 3) Based on the employer’s rejection of you—not your rejection of the employer—Florida declares that you have refused the job offer and are therefore disqualified from unemployment benefits. However, 4) your neighbor, who was fired for refusing COVID vaccination and has turned down two subsequent job offers that required COVID vaccination, continues to collect unemployment checks.

Meanwhile, under the same Florida law, employees who leave their jobs because they’re afraid of getting COVID become ineligible for unemployment benefits, unless they can prove to the DeSantis administration that this fear constituted “good cause” to quit. They’re treated more harshly than people who quit because they’re afraid of a federally approved vaccine.

This is how Republicans define “personal responsibility.”

Iowa has the same rule about employer drug tests. Its law specifically names marijuana as a substance that merits disqualification of the user from unemployment benefits. Under the Kansas statute, a “positive breath alcohol test or a positive chemical test” is “conclusive evidence of gross misconduct,” with extra penalties—beyond ordinary misconduct—for anyone seeking unemployment a*sistance. And in Tennessee, losing your job for “refusal to take a drug test or an alcohol test” can be “deemed to be a discharge for misconduct connected with work,” rendering you ineligible for a*sistance. When Republicans claim that their defense of vaccine refusers is based on a principled commitment to the physical autonomy of employees—as they did at a Senate press conference on Tuesday—don’t believe a word of it.

This isnÂ’t a party of personal autonomy, moral responsibility, free enterprise, limited government, or self-reliance. ItÂ’s a party that has casually tossed aside each of these values, first for Donald Trump and then for COVID. TodayÂ’s GOP believes that the government should control workplace policies and should subsidize freeloaders who endanger their communities. ItÂ’s the party of socialism for anti-vaxxers.

 https://slate.com/news-an .. heir-jobs.html

28:29

I don't know wtf happened but wipipo big mad

 https://www.mediaite.com/ .. ate-challenge/


Donald Trump really wants to be on television — as evidenced by a follow-up message to Monday’s televised debate challenge to, well, anyone it seems, who is willing to discuss his baseless allegations of election fraud

In a newly released statement Tuesday morning, Trump claimed, “It’s really interesting, everybody wants me on television, I get the highest ratings by far, they need ratings to survive, and yet I put out a challenge to debate me about the massive election fraud, which took place in the 2020 Presidential Election, and there are no takers—think of it, zero takers for the so-called ‘ratings machine.'”


There is a LOT going on in that sentence. Not only is it a world-class run-on, but it opens with a curious, and perhaps undermining boast of “It’s really interesting.” You know someone feels the need to ramp up interest when they open with the proclamation that what they are saying is, allegedly, really interesting.

The other part is the obvious conflict he admits himself.* He claims that everybody wants to put him on television, before admitting that nobody wants to put him on television…IN THE VERY SAME SENTENCE.* Read Trump’s full statement below:







On Monday, Trump issued a challenge to “heads of the various papers or even far-left politicians” to a televised debate over what he has baselessly claimed to be election fraud, or has he has tried to rebrand as “the Real Big Lie.”


“I am willing to challenge the heads of the various papers or even far-left politicians, who have perpetuated the Real Big Lie, which is voter irregularities and fraud on a massive and determinative scale,” he wrote. “This includes members of the highly partisan Unselect Committee of Democrats who refuse to delve into what caused the January 6th protest—it was the Fake Election results!”


The truth is that a debate over election fraud claims would rate very well. But it’s also true that the claims of a “rigged” or “stolen” election are so specious, that it would be irresponsible to provide a platform to Trump to discuss, particularly with his consistent and voluminous disregard for the truth

The 15-year-old Oxford High School sophomore accused of fatally shooting three classmates and injuring at least eight other people used a handgun his dad purchased four days earlier on Black Friday, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said late Tuesday evening.

The weapon used was a 9mm Sig Sauer SP 2022 pistol, Bouchard said. The suspect had at least two, 15-round magazines, including one with seven remaining rounds when authorities apprehended the suspect.

"When they took it from him, he had a loaded firearm. He was coming down the hall. That again, I believe, interrupted what potentially could have been seven more victims," Bouchard said.

The sheriff said the suspect fired at least 12 rounds, a preliminary estimate based on shell casings found at the school. Earlier in the day, Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe suggested the suspect fired anywhere from 15 to 20 rounds. That could indicate the shooter reloaded the handgun at least once during the shooting.

Bouchard said the suspect's father allegedly bought a third magazine that law enforcement have not yet found, but he suspects it will be found at the school.

Bouchard did not name the suspect, noting he is a minor and has not yet been charged with a crime. He said the suspect, who is being held at a county juvenile detention facility, and his parents have retained an attorney and declined to speak with law enforcement.

Bouchard did not say where exactly the handgun was purchased and whether it was a new weapon or previously owned by someone else. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a*sisting with the investigation, but a spokeswoman late Tuesday referred comment to the sheriff's office.

Someone posted photos of the gun allegedly used at Oxford High School and targets on social media in the days leading up the Tuesday's shooting. Bouchard confirmed the suspect appeared to make an online post with an image of the gun used, but the sheriff repeatedly stressed his office was not aware of any credible threats of violence ahead of the shooting.

"It's my understanding, again, that this was a recent weapon purchase, that he had been shooting with it. And they posted pictures of (a) target and the weapon," Bouchard said.

Multiple parents told the Free Press thattheir children enrolled at the school heard rumors of some violence ahead of school Tuesday; some took it seriously enough to prevent their children from attending classes in person.

Bouchard said he could not speak to the suspect's familiarity or ability with the handgun.

"Obviously, you don't have to be terribly accurate if you're right next to someone," Bouchard said.

Law enforcement searched the suspect's home Tuesday, located in Oxford, and seized the suspect's cellphone. While Bouchard said he was not sure what else law enforcement found at the home, he appeared open to the idea that the suspect's parents could face charges related to the use of the father's gun.

"That will all be up to the prosecutor," Bouchard said, when asked whether the parents of the suspect could face charges.

The crime scene is sprawling and the investigation will take time to complete, Bouchard said. He confirmed the school does not have metal detectors.

 https://www.freep.com/sto .. ht/8817406002/

Clarence Avant, a legendary music exec who was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, had a tragedy at home Tuesday night ... a home invasion where his wife of 54 years -- Jacqueline Avant -- was shot and k*lled ... TMZ has learned.

It happened in the Trousdale Estates ... a high-end area neighboring Beverly Hills. Law enforcement tells TMZ, Beverly Hills PD got a call at 2:30 AM for a home invasion. The caller told the dispatcher someone had been shot. By the time they arrived, Jackie had already been rushed to a nearby hospital.

A family source tells us the people who broke into the house fired shots and hit Jackie. Clarence was home at the time. We do not know if he was hurt.

Jackie and Clarence's daughter is Nicole Avant, who is married to Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos.

Clarence is known as the Godfather of Black Music. He's been regularly celebrated by the likes of Jay-Z and Diddy, L.A. Reid and Babyface. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame back in October.

Jackie served as the President of the Neighbors of Watts, a support group that focused on child care. She was also on the Board of Directors of UCLA's International Student Center.

Jacqueline was 81.

 https://www.tmz.com/2021/ .. asion-robbery/

Dutch health authorities announced on Tuesday that they found the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus in cases dating back as long as 11 days, indicating that it was already spreading in western Europe before the first cases were identified in southern Africa. The RIVM health institute said it found Omicron in samples dating from November 19 and 23.

Those findings predate the positive cases found among passengers who came from South Africa last Friday and were tested at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport.

"It is not yet clear whether the people concerned [in the earlier cases] have also been to southern Africa," the RIVM said, adding that the individuals had been informed of their Omicron infections and that local health services had started contact tracing.

"In the coming period, various studies will be conducted into the distribution of the Omicron variant in the Netherlands," the institute said, noting that it would also re-examine more samples from previous COVID test results.

Belgium and Germany have also said that sample tests confirm the variant was in those countries before South African health officials alerted the world on November 24 to its existence.

South African scientists have been praised for first detecting the new variant and alerting global health authorities to it last week. But Omicron has now spread to about 20 other countries, and amid mounting concern that it could be significantly easier to pass from person to person, and that it could have at least some resistance to current treatments and vaccines, many nations have imposed travel restrictions on passengers from southern African nations.

South African politicians and scientists have said they feel as though they're being punished for their advanced COVID-19 screening program, which caught the variant and enabled other nations to respond quickly to it, but has resulted in the travel bans which largely target southern African nations.

Japan and France confirmed their first cases of the new variant on Tuesday as countries around the world scrambled to close their doors, and scientists raced to test existing drugs against it.

It remained unclear on Tuesday whether the Omicron strain makes people more severely ill than the already-well-known variants, but the World Health Organization has warned that the global risk it poses is "very high" based on early evidence.

WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it could lead to surges around the world with "severe consequences."

On Monday, President Biden and his top medical policy advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said the variant was not a cause for panic, but that it was a cause for concern. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already taken action, expanding its vaccine guidance on Monday night to recommend that all U.S. adults get a booster shot.

 https://www.cbsnews.com/n .. -alert-raised/

MOBILE, Ala. -- An Alabama woman who says she was falsely arrested for shoplifting at a Walmart and then threatened by the company after her case was dismissed has been awarded $2.1 million in damages.

A Mobile County jury on Monday ruled in favor of Lesleigh Nurse of Semmes, news outlets reported.

Nurse said in a lawsuit that she was stopped in November 2016 when trying to leave a Walmart with groceries she said she already paid for, according to AL.com. She said she used self-checkout but the scanning device froze. Workers didnÂ’t accept her explanation and she was arrested for shoplifting.

Her case was dismissed a year later, but then she received letters from a Florida law firm threatening a civil suit if she didnÂ’t pay $200 as a settlement, according to her lawsuit. That was more than the cost of the groceries she was accused of stealing.

Nurse said Walmart instructed the law firm to send the letters — and that she wasn’t the only one receiving them.

“The defendants have engaged in a pattern and practice of falsely accusing innocent Alabama citizens of shoplifting and thereafter attempting to collect money from the innocently accused,” the suit contended.

WKRG reported that the trial featured testimony that Walmart and other major retailers routinely use such settlements in states where laws allow it, and that Walmart made hundreds of millions of dollars this way in a two-year period.

Defense attorneys for Walmart said the practice is legal in Alabama. A spokesperson told AL.com that the company will be filing motions in this case because it doesn’t “believe the verdict is supported by the evidence and the damages awarded exceed what is allowed by law.”

 https://abcnews.go.com/US .. llion-81463335