Lot Of “Smaller” Mass Shootings This Month – Here’s Today’s

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Crime, Gun ControlLeave a Comment

Yahoo: Multiple people have been killed at a Maryland Rite Aid distribution center when a female shooter opened fire Thursday.  The lone shooter, who has not been identified, is currently in critical condition, but it’s not clear how she was injured, reports said. At least three people are dead and two more wounded during the shooting spree just after 9 a.m. The suspect was armed with a … Read More

Dr. Ford Calls For FBI Investigation Before She Appears

Ken AshfordCongress, Republicans, Sex Scandals, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

NY Times: The woman who has accused President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault all but ruled out appearing at an extraordinary Senate hearing scheduled for next week to hear her allegations, insisting on Tuesday that the F.B.I. investigate first. Speaking through lawyers, Christine Blasey Ford said she would cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee and left open the … Read More

Kavanaugh And His Accuser To Testify About Alleged Rape

Ken AshfordPolitical Scandals, Republicans, Sex Scandals, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of an attempted rape that occurred 35 years ago has a name and an identity:  Christine Blasey Ford. Actually, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California. A biostatistician, she “specializes in the design and analysis of clinical trials and other forms of intervention evaluation.” Speaking publicly … Read More

Letter Alleges Brett Kavanaugh Tried To Rape When In High School. Is The Nomination Jeopardized?

Ken AshfordCongress, Political Scandals, Republicans, Supreme Court, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

NY Times: WASHINGTON — A secretive letter shared with authorities by the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee charges that a teenage Brett M. Kavanaugh and a male friend trapped a teenage girl in a bedroom during a party and tried to assault her, according to three people familiar with the contents of the letter. According to the letter, … Read More

Once Again, The GOP-Led NC Legislature Gets Foiled By The Courts In Their Attempt To Gerrymander

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Constitution, Election 2018, Local Interest, RepublicansLeave a Comment

Yesterday, a federal district court once again struck down North Carolina’s Republican-drawn congressional map as a partisan gerrymander in violation of the Constitution. This ruling reaffirmed the court’s January decision, which the Supreme Court vacated and told them to reconsider in June under a different legal theory of who has standing to sue. Indeed, while the Supreme Court said each district would have to be challenged individually … Read More

From Here To November: Buckle Up

Ken AshfordElection 2018, L'Affaire Russe, Supreme Court, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Paul Waldman wrote yesterday that the next eleven weeks are going to be decisive for the Trump presidency. He notes first that Michael Cohen appears to either be on the cusp of indictment or cooperation and that could spell all kinds of new headaches for Trump both politically and legally. He’s already been proved right about that…. BREAKING: @MichaelCohen212 has reached a … Read More

Fox Prime Time Not Even Trying To Hide Racism Now

Ken AshfordRace, Right Wing and Inept Media, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

Ingraham basically blamed brown people for ruining the country she once loved.  Her remarks bear more than a passing resemblance to the notorious white supremacist “14 Words” slogan about how “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” But Former KKK Grandwizard David Duke liked it, so…. But Ingraham’s blatantly racist sentiment has been expressed … Read More

The Drunk Spy

Ken AshfordGun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Alleged Russian spy Mariia Butina talked openly about her contacts with Russian intelligence officials when she got drunk, CNN reported yesterday. According to people who knew her at American University where she attended graduate school, on at least two occasions Butina bragged about her Russian government connections after she had imbibed and even said the Russian government was connected to her … Read More

Breaking: Trump Bigwigs Make Show Of Combating Russian Election Meddling (But The Press Is The Enemy Of The People)

Ken AshfordCybersecurity, Election 2018, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

About time too. After 18 months of getting kicked in the balls, the WH rolls out its national security team to discuss what they are doing to defend elections and protect against attacks by hostile actors (including information operations that target American public) About time, guys. — Molly McKew (@MollyMcKew) August 2, 2018 Yup. DNI Dan Coats, at WH briefing, … Read More

Facebook: We Found Campaign Influence Operations For Upcoming Elections

Ken AshfordCybersecurity, Election 2018, L'Affaire RusseLeave a Comment

Facebook has detected an ongoing influence operation targeting Americans with content related to the politically contentious issues of immigration enforcement and white supremacism, according to a report from the New York Times:  Like the Russian interference campaign in 2016, the recently detected campaign dealt with divisive social issues. Facebook discovered coordinated activity around issues like a sequel to last year’s deadly “Unite … Read More

Trump Was Briefed About Russian Interference Two Weeks Before He Became President

Ken AshfordCybersecurity, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

NY Times: Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election. The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the … Read More

More Cleanup On Aisle Trump

Ken AshfordCybersecurity, L'Affaire Russe, Russia, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Yesterday, the day after Trump’s unconvincing walkback of believing Putin over the US intelligence community, this happened at a press pool spray: The exact exchange that just occurred in the White House 👇 REPORTER: Is Russia still targeting the US, Mr. President? TRUMP: Thank you very much. No. (Shakes head) REPORTER: No? You don’t believe that to be the case? … Read More

The Spy Who Loved Me

Ken AshfordCybersecurity, Gun Control, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

This is some serious Cold War movie stuff: A Russian woman charged this week with serving as a foreign agent has been in regular contact with Russian intelligence, the Justice Department says, and she attempted to offer sex in exchange for a position with an organization she targeted. Prosecutors included that information in court documents as part of their request … Read More