top of the heap to third world status in one generation
- Thread starter Gry
- Start date
Why are Republicans Quicker to Steal Our Votes than to Take Our Guns?
“Both Texas and Georgia are actually Blue states; the only reason Republicans have as much power as they do in each is because of massive voter roll purges and voter suppression laws.”
hartmannreport.com
The Last Time Oligarchs Tried to Take Over America It Led to Civil War
Is America in the final stage of the 40-year transition from a forward-looking & still-evolving democratic republic into a white supremacist ethnostate ruled by a small group of fascist oligarchs?
hartmannreport.com
Outside Groups Spent $285,000 Backing Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC Alone Just Dropped Nearly $2 Million to Attack Him.
AIPAC just dropped nearly $2 million in outside spending to attack New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman in his Democratic primary against George Latimer.
theintercept.com
moose eater
Well-known member
It used to be said that our government represented "the best government money could buy."Outside Groups Spent $285,000 Backing Jamaal Bowman. AIPAC Alone Just Dropped Nearly $2 Million to Attack Him.
AIPAC just dropped nearly $2 million in outside spending to attack New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman in his Democratic primary against George Latimer.
Now it's one of the most dishonest, heinous, and self-serving, and the money and people that bought it seem to like it that way.
The Supreme Scheme: How Alito & Thomas Are Fueling the Ongoing Trump Coup
Why both Thomas — whose bribe-taking in exchange for his votes on Citizens United and other cases is well documented — and his rightwing buddy Sam Alito must resign or face impeachment...
hartmannreport.com
The Supreme Scheme: How Alito & Thomas Are Fueling the Ongoing Trump Coup
Why both Thomas — whose bribe-taking in exchange for his votes on Citizens United and other cases is well documented — and his rightwing buddy Sam Alito must resign or face impeachment...
The Supreme Scheme: How Alito & Thomas Are Fueling the Ongoing Trump Coup
Why both Thomas — whose bribe-taking in exchange for his votes on Citizens United and other cases is well documented — and his rightwing buddy Sam Alito must resign or face impeachment...
Why is the Guy Who Told Us to Drink Bleach a Step Away from Being President?
Trump's political Teflon coating is at least a hundred times more effective than Reagan’s was in his wildest dreams. Why?
hartmannreport.com
Why the GOP Deploys the “Mudsill Theory” to Destroy Social Mobility in America
Thus, today’s Republicans are finally close to fulfilling Hammond’s and Reagan’s vision (while ironically repudiating America’s first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln)…
hartmannreport.com
Ex-CIA officer accused of spying for China pleads guilty in a Honolulu courtroom
Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, 72, has been in custody since he was arrested in August 2020.
www.nbcnews.com
why ? because many in the GOP can see the writing on the wall for them in re future elections and are willing to embrace fascism in an effort to hang onto what they see as their "rightful Anglo-centric God-given power". given the Supreme Courts blatant embrace (if not outright endorsement) of racially-based gerrymandering, they could probably back away from sedition for a few more years...Why is the Guy Who Told Us to Drink Bleach a Step Away from Being President?
Trump's political Teflon coating is at least a hundred times more effective than Reagan’s was in his wildest dreams. Why?
Costa Rica: A Haven for Social Democracy and a Blue Zone
This March, we decided to revisit the country to see how things were changing in the face of political pressure and climate change...
wisdomschool.com
Costa Rica is a wonderful place.
What Will Be Trump's "October Surprise"?
Such an action could swing our election toward Trump, but also risks provoking a third world war...
hartmannreport.com
The Press: What Has Happened to the Lifeblood of our Democracy?
How did America reach this point where about half our country thinks up is down, black is white, and Republicans are best trusted with our money and national security?
hartmannreport.com
GenghisKush
Well-known member
Pittsburg police tear gas, pepper spray, shoot man who wouldn't leave hotel room
Pittsburg police shoot Ashton Porter in February 2022 after he wouldn't leave his hotel room. Video: Lawyers for the People.PITTSBURG, Calif. - A man filed a federal excessive force lawsuit on Tuesday after Pittsburg police pepper sprayed, tear-gassed and shot him twice in a hotel room that he was too scared to leave while suffering from a mental health crisis.
Ashton Porter survived those injuries on Feb. 24, 2022, but "no reasonable person would claim that experiencing a mental health crisis is a crime befitting the punishment of being shot multiple times," wrote his attorneys, Adante Pointer, Patrick Buelna and Ty Clarke.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court against the city of Pittsburg and individual officers, including Officer Ernesto Mejia-Orozco, Lt. William Hatcher, Sgt. Cory Smith and Chief Brian Addington.
In addition, the suit alleges that police sent a specialized crisis team home and took over the situation themselves.
Pittsburg's city attorney and the current police chief did not immediately respond for comment.
Addington responded that he doesn't comment on pending litigation.
As the lawsuit lays out the story, Porter flew to the Bay Area from the state of Georgia and began experiencing a mental health crisis while staying at the Hampton Inn on California Avenue.
What specific illness he suffers from was not detailed or why he had come to the East Bay.
Hotel employees called 911 to say that Porter would not leave his room.
Porter had told them that he was scared and needed time, the lawsuit states.
Over the phone, Porter can be heard yelling for help.
Police arrived and asked Porter to leave the room.
He wouldn't, which began a "prolonged interaction" that involved the use of pepper spray, tear gas, battering rams and eventually bullets, the lawsuit states.
Pittsburg police use battering ram to open hotel door. February 2022. Bodycam via Lawyers for the People
Porter's wife, Gianna, took an overnight flight to the Bay Area to try to help calm down her husband.
When she arrived, she was allowed to speak to her husband through the door of the hotel for a few minutes before she was told to go downstairs, the suit states.
The Contra Costa County's mental health team as well as the mobile crisis team also arrived within a few hours.
During this time, Porter kept telling the officers he was scared and was concerned that people were "out to get him," the lawsuit states.
Hatcher "dismissed" the mental health team for unknown reasons, taking over all communications with Porter, according to the lawsuit and body camera video.
"Hatcher began implementing… [the] plan to aggressively force Mr. Porter out of his room, rather than de-escalate the situation," the lawsuit alleges.
First, police hit the door with a battering ram, "fueling Mr. Porter's fears that he was under attack," according to the suit.
Next, police deployed four rounds of pepper spray and then six rounds of tear gas into Porter's room.
Porter was having trouble breathing and was becoming "increasingly more convinced that the officers outside of his room would harm him if he left the room," the suit states.
Hatcher then commanded two SWAT teams to prepare for breaking into the room and deploying something called "hot gas," the lawsuit states.
Porter eventually was flushed out of his hotel room.
At that moment, at least one SWAT team member deployed two rounds of rubber bullets, which struck Porter.
Porter recoiled, flinging his arms in the air and twisting at the waist.
Pittsburg SWAT teams gear up to use tear gas to flush Ashton Porter out of his hotel room. February 2022. Body cam video
Less than two seconds later, Mejia-Orozco shot Porter with bullets.
Porter fell to the ground.
Police dragged Porter into the elevator and down to the hotel lobby.
Mejia-Orozco later told Internal Affairs investigators that he shot Porter who was "sprinting" down the hall with a knife.
But the video from the officer's body camera "does not support this version of events," the lawsuit states.
Mejia-Orozco was in charge of the lethal force aspect of the operation, the suit contends.
He is the same officer who choked Humberto Martinez to death in 2016, which resulted in Pittsburg settling that case for $7.3 million in 2020. He was also one of the Pittsburg police officers arrested in 2023 by the FBI on suspicion of wire fraud.
Somehow, Porter survived, but has suffered significant injuries, the lawsuit states.
A day after he was shot at the hotel in 2022, Porter was charged with several felony counts of assaulting an officer.
All charges against Porter were dropped on May 6.
Ashton Porter was shot at a Pittsburg hotel. February 2022
Pittsburg police tear gas, pepper spray, shoot man who wouldn't leave hotel room
Pittsburg police shoot Ashton Porter in February 2022 after he wouldn't leave his hotel room. Video: Lawyers for the People.
Medicare Advantage: Why Are We Paying for "Sham" Insurance?
So, here we are, handing billions of dollars a month to insurance industry executives so they can buy new Swiss chalets, private jets, and luxury yachts...
hartmannreport.com
