World Condemns Israel’s Attack on Iran; Gaza Nakba Continues with 22 Palestinian Deaths; IDF Destroying Lebanese Healthcare System

The world condemned Israeli military strikes on twenty targets hitting Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran, Iran, which killed at least soldiers. The Iranian army said the attacks resulted in “limited damage.”

Amongst the countries rebuking the pariah state: Qatar, Turkiye, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, UAE, Oman, Tunisia, and Malaysia. This international roll call of repudiation is incomplete. The US, Germany, France, Egypt, Russia, and UK generically condemned all violence in the Middle East without specifically criticizing the Likud Regime in Jerusalem.

A cloud of smoke erupts following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on 19 Oct 2024. (Photo: AFP)

Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s rampage closer to home continued. In Lebanon, 41 people were killed and 133 wounded in Israeli attacks across the country and another medical center near Tyre was struck. A paramedic was killed and 12 wounded. Beirut says the IDF intentionally targets healthcare facilities and personnel. Since mid-Sep 2024, 164 paramedics have been killed and 275 injured. At least 55 hospitals have been attacked and approximately 58 healthcare facilities have been shuttered. Under the Geneva Convention, attacking medical personnel or hospitals is a war crime.

Gaza medical personnel report that at least 22 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks, 18 of them in northern Gaza. The UN fears “atrocity crimes” are being carried out in northern Gaza as Israel’s siege and “non-stop” bombing of the territory enters a fourth week.

In support of their Shia allies in Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah fired rocket salvoes on five residential areas in northern Israel, including the outskirts of Krayot near Haifa. There were no reports of Israeli casualties or damage.

The Presidential elections are days away and many Americans are unhappy with US support for the Pariah State. American taxpayers, who don’t have universal health coverage like Israelis, have sent Jerusalem $317.9 billion dollars in military and economic aid since 1951. They now watch the Likud Party and the IDF de-populate the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in what US Senator Bernie Sanders describes as “ethnic cleansing.”

(Undated image courtesy of Forward Magazine).

The Persians, which gave the world chess according to many historians, as well as the word “zigzag,” have been clever to avoid falling into Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s trap of causing American casualties in the Middle East. In mafia terms, Netanyahu has made it “personal” with Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah (LH), and Palestinians. Similarly, when then-President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of revered Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the Republican commander-in-chief crossed a line and made it “personal” with Iran.  Coriolanus would find it hard to believe if Iran or LH targeted a US Democratic leader with kinetic action. Iran worked with Senator John Kerry on the JCPOA nuclear agreement, which Trump recklessly withdrew the US from. Cyber-penetrations or hacking against any US candidate is to be expected. But right-wing fanatics like Donald Trump, imbecilic John Bolton, and the odious Benjamin Netanyahu probably have lifetime lethal fatwas issued against them, much like traitors and defectors from Russia. President Vladimir Putin and his network of active and retired KGB agents assassinate these traitors years after their defection.  The allegations of Russian bounties on US personnel in Afghanistan and the health attacks on CIA, DIA, and State Dept officers via the “Havana syndrome” were taken personally by the USIC as these nefarious actions also “crossed a line.”     

Sources:

(3) Updates Live: Israel attacks Iran, two killed; Hezbollah targets Israeli bases (aljazeera.com)

How much aid does the US give to Israel? (usafacts.org)

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) at a Glance | Arms Control Association

The FBI Needs Our Help

With the US Presidential election less than two weeks away, the FBI is requesting the help of the American public in identifying fugitive militants who attacked the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021. Specifically, Coriolanus has learned the suspects pictured here may be of particular interest to the FBI. If you recognize any of these miscreants, whether from seeing them at a restaurant or bar, on an airline flight, on vacation somewhere, in an office building, elevator, a shooting range, in the supermarket, school campus, PTA meeting, in a shopping center, at a gas station, in a public park, in a subway car, anywhere, please contact the FBI at http://tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-225-5324. Even providing the FBI a state or general location would be a tremendous lead for them.

The FBI is seeking to identify this person below involved at the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021. If this person looks familiar contact FBI at http://tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-225-5324.
(Reference # 70 AFO)

In the 45 months since 6 Jan 2021, more than 1,532 suspects have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 571 seditionists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

The FBI is also providing a reward for anyone with information regarding this suspect who placed a pipe bomb near the US Capitol on 5 Jan 2021.

Sources:

Capitol Violence Images — FBI

Elon Musk, US Defense Contractor, in Secret Communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a linchpin of US space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. The discussions, confirmed by several current and former US, European, and Russian officials, touch on personal topics, business, and geopolitical tensions.

At one point, Putin asked the billionaire to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Musk initially supported Ukraine’s military with Starlink but later restricted its use, aligning with Russia’s interests. Russian officials have pressured Musk on several fronts, including potential threats to his businesses, while Kremlin disinformation campaigns use Musk’s social platform X to influence US politics. Musk’s deep connections to US military projects, including SpaceX’s $1.8 billion classified contracts, raise national security alarms over his close ties to Putin. Elon Musk is now a key backer of Trump’s 2024 campaign and could hold a major role in a future Trump administration. His social platform ‘X’ is a virulent transmitter of neo-Nazi hate messages, fake news, and white supremacist ideologies, as this author wrote several months ago (please see link below).

Elon Musk has donated millions to GOP Political Action Committees (PACs).

One person aware of the conversations said the US government faces a dilemma because it is so dependent on the billionaire’s technologies. SpaceX launches vital national security satellites into orbit and is the company NASA relies on to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Like fellow white supremacist oligarch Donald Trump who is in secret communication with the Kremlin, we learn so is megalomaniac Elon Musk. Musk was also a guest of Israeli PM Benajamin Netanyahu during his address to the US Congress earlier this year. Any US defense contractor in secret communication with a foreign power would be investigated by our hard-working colleagues at the FBI. Yet somehow Elon Musk, gets a free pass.

Elon Musk, a South African, can potentially be denaturalized of his US citizenship under Chapter Two of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) for fraud and misrepresentation. When applying for his American citizenship, Elon Musk misrepresented himself to immigration authorities, not disclosing his right-wing affiliations. Musk, who saw the narrow economic benefits for white people in apartheid-era South Africa, has a similar vision for the US.

US counterintelligence agents are busy enough with Russia, China, and Israel (whom CIA considers the top CI threat to them in the Middle East). Now US CI agents must monitor Elon Musk and his enormous technological empire within the US.

Sources:

Exclusive | Elon Musk’s Secret Conversations With Vladimir Putin, a WSJ Investigation – WSJ

Nazism, Bigotry, Disinformation Thriving Under Elon Musk’s X Platform (dailykos.com)

Chapter 2 – Overview of Fraud and Willful Misrepresentation | USCIS

Elon Musk spoke with Vladimir Putin directly, Pentagon official says | The Independent

Is Israel the CIA’s top counterintelligence threat in the Near East? | The Times of Israel

Vietnam: Food-borne Illnesses Sicken Scores Again

Vietnam has a population of 105,758,975 people; GDP per capita $13,700 (2023 est.) (Map and data: CIA)

46 workers at Shinsung Vina Company suffered from abdominal pain, vomiting, and fever. Suspecting food poisoning, authorities took samples from the patients. 25/25 samples (100%) were positive for Escherichia coli (E.coli); 1/25 samples were positive for Staphylococcus aureus (Staphylococcus aureus). The authorities could not identify what caused the food poisoning because the menu had many dishes. Most of the patients have since been discharged from the hospital.

On 20 Oct, the company held a party for more than 1,100 workers, the menu included steamed black tiger shrimp with coconut water, lemon calves, fried squid with butter, grilled chicken with honey, grilled lentils with vegetables. A few hours later, people began getting sick; a total of 91 people were hospitalized.

E.coli bacteria often appears in fresh produce, beef, fresh milk, juices, cheeses, raw fruits and vegetables… Symptoms of E. coli are usually nausea and vomiting, diarrhea with water or blood depending on the type of E. coli. Patients can start presenting symptoms three to four days after ingesting foods containing bacteria.

E. coli bacteria infect people of all ages, but young children and the elderly are prone to severe complications such as urea hemolysis syndrome. This damages red blood cells and can lead to kidney failure.

Image simulating E.coli bacterial cells. Photo: Napolilaw

On 24 Oct, 15 students of in Nguyen Ngoc Binh, Dai Loc district, suffered from abdominal pain, vomiting, and fatigue after eating yogurt.

The children were taken to the Northern Mountainous General Hospital of Quang Nam for emergency treatment. (Photo: Son Thuy)

Some of the patients have been discharged from the hospital. Two students remain hospitalized with intestinal inflammation. The exact cause of the illness has not been determined, but yogurt and other food samples were ordered collected for testing.

On 11 Oct, five students in Ho Chi Minh City suffered from acute gastroenteritis with abdominal pain after eating lunch at school.

Previously, 40 students Lao Cai College had digestive disorders, vomiting, headache, and was admitted to the emergency hospital after dinner at the school canteen. Their dinner menu is not clear. Test results later showed that the patients were infected with Salmonella bacteria in salted cucumbers, leaf rolls, fried chicken, and water spinach soup.

As previously posted here on Coriolanus, Vietnam has a problem with food safety which the World Health Organization (WHO) attempted to address years ago, apparently not successfully.  

Sources:

Bac Giang workers hospitalized due to E.coli bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus – VnExpress Health Newspaper

15 students suspected of poisoning after eating yogurt – VnExpress Health Newspaper

Food Safety in Viet Nam (who.int)

Gunmen Kill Ten Police in Attack in Southern Iran

(Undated photo of Iranian policemen courtesy of Meghdad Madadi / Tansim News Agency)

An attack on a police patrol in southeastern Iran has left ten officers dead, the Interior Ministry reported. The attack occurred in Gohar Kuh, in Sistan-Baluchistan Province, some 1,200 kms southeast of the capital, Tehran. No group has claimed responsibility so far. The Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), reported an attack on “two police patrols returning to their police station.” Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni has ordered an investigation into the incident, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Sistan-Baluchistan has been rocked by a spate of deadly attacks targeting security forces in recent months. Those previous attacks have been claimed by Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch separatist militant group that is believed to be operating out of neighboring Pakistan. 

Iran has a population of  88,386,937 people made up of Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Lurs, Balochs, Arabs, Turkmen, and Turkic tribes. GDP per capita: est. $16,200. (Map: researchgate.net; Data: CIA)

As posted here on Coriolanus, this area of Iran is a hotspot of ethnic animosity. This murderous ambush coincides with Israel’s arrack on Iran. This is most likely unrelated and there is no open-source reporting linking Israel with anti-Iranian Balochs. Notable, Israel does support a different anti-Iranian terrorist proxy called the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) which Jerusalem has employed to assassinate Iranian scientists.

Sources:

Gunmen Kill 10 Police In Attack In Southern Iran (rferl.org)

Israel teams with terror group to kill Iran’s nuclear scientists, U.S. officials tell NBC News

People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – Wikipedia

Assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists – Wikipedia

Trifecta of Pre-US Election Lunacy

This is raw naked mental illness. (Photo of Rain Monroe from social media).

Now Rain Monroe is crowd-sourcing to raise $5,000 to remove this tattooed blight from her forehead.

The 21-year-old “content creator” from London says the “hate” is getting to her – and she needs thousands of dollars to remove it.

Rain Monroe with her sign raising money for the tattoo removal. (Picture: Jam Press)

In another sign of the apocalypse, 20 million viewers watched Joe Rogan interview Donald Trump on youtube.com. Trump and Rogan received more attention than the historically well-watched World Series Game One between the Yankees and the Dodgers, which brought in 15.2 million viewers. Game One was the most-watched World Series opener since 2017.

(Montage courtesy of heavy.com)

Blatherskite Donald Trump, whose mental and cognitive faculties have been observed to be in steep decline, discussed assassinations, UFOs, and conspiracy theories with this multi-million dollar paid podcaster who denies being racist. For those who may not know, Joe Rogan is the man who horrifically said on his national podcast that “walking into a movie theater in a predominantly Black neighborhood was like entering the Planet of the Apes.” Viral clips of Rogan historically using the “N” word also pollute the internet.

Years ago, Joe Rogan was the host of a TV show called Fear Factor where contestants had to pass three trials of fire to win a cash prize. Joe Rogan sadistically enjoyed watching contestants being forced to do disgusting things like putting insects in their mouths or lying in a bathtub full of snakes. (File photo)

The last incredible third of pre-election lunacy involves the pre-eminent Washington Post newspaper. Their editorial page has decided not to make a presidential endorsement for the first time in 36 years. The reason cited was to create “independent space” where the newspaper does not tell people for whom to vote. This is quite a breath-taking decision. By not endorsing VPOTUS Kamala Harris, they are giving twice-impeached Donald Trump, convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in NYS, civilly liable for sexually abusing and libeling E. Jean Carroll, a man in secret communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a free pass and thereby endorsing Project 2025.

Hollywood film director Rob Reiner posted:

“The Washington Post editorial board is a disgrace. For the newspaper that exposed the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal to not take a position and endorse a candidate in the most consequential Presidential election in 165 years is reprehensible.”

More than 700 current and former national security officials support VPOTUS Kamala Harris, but not the editorial staff of the Washington Post.

Whose side is the Washington Post on?

Former Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein said the decision to not endorse Kamala Harris Is “disappointing.” Here they are circa 1973 investigating the Watergate Hotel break-in that would topple the presidency of Republican Richard M. Nixon.  

Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman portray Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in All the President’s Men (1976) made famous for the line “follow the money.” The film was based on their 1974 book and selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Sources:

https://whatsthejam.com/influencers-and-models/woman-with-trump-tattoo-on-forehead-now-fundraising-5000-for-removal/

Trevor Noah Slams Joe Rogan’s ‘Planet of the Apes’ Non-Apology – PRIMETIMER

Trump’s Rogan episode hits 20M views in 20 hours on YouTube (nypost.com)

Bring on the bugs, because ‘Fear Factor’ is back – Daily News

Jury finds Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in civil case | CNN Politics

More Than 700 Current and Former National Security Officials Back Harris – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein on Post Decision to Not Endorse President (hollywoodreporter.com)

Two US Truckers Adopt Cat (or Cat Adopts Two Truckers)

Russia Bombs Civilian Target in Kharkiv, Killing Six, As Zelenskiy Begs West to Lift Weapons Restrictions

Paramedics carry a victim rescued from an apartment building after a Russian air strike in Kharkiv on 30 Aug.

Ukraine needs “strong decisions” from its partners to stop the terror that Russia is perpetrating in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on 30 August after a Russian air strike on Kharkiv hit a high-rise residential building and playground, killing six people. One of the victims killed was a 14-year-old girl and the overall number of injured was 47.

“This strike was a Russian guided aerial bomb. A blow that would not have happened if our defense forces had the ability to destroy Russian military aircraft where they are based. We need strong solutions from our partners to stop this terror,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram. He also again emphasized that agreements Ukraine has made with its partners on providing air-defense systems must be fulfilled.

Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has an active international arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, will be blithely visiting Mongolia on 3 Sep. The trip will be Putin’s first to a country that is a member of the ICC since the arrest warrant was issued in March 2023. Putin will travel to Mongolia at the invitation of President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh to participate in ceremonies marking the 85th anniversary of the joint victory of the Soviet and Mongolian armies over Japan on the Khalkhin Gol River, a Kremlin statement said.

Sources:

Russia Bombs High-Rise In Kharkiv, Killing 6, As Zelenskiy Begs West To Lift Weapons Restrictions (rferl.org)

‘No Worries’ About Putin’s Visit To Mongolia, Kremlin Says, Despite ICC Warrant For His Arrest (rferl.org)

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Orders Suspension of X After Elon Musk Misses Legal Deadline

With supreme oligarchic arrogance, Elon Musk threatened to reactivate X accounts and shared a manipulated image showing Brazilian Supreme Justice Alexandre de Moraes behind the bars of a prison cell, threatening that one day “this picture of you in prison will be real.”

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of the social media platform X across the country after it missed a deadline to name a local legal representative. The decision was handed down two days after Moraes ordered X and its owner Elon Musk to appoint a Brazilian representative within 24 hours or face suspension until one is named.

According to Brazilian law, social media platforms must have someone available in their country to receive takedown notice information in alleged cases of misinformation. X has not had someone in this position since it closed its offices in Brazil, alleging that Moraes had asked it to censor political opponents in violation of “Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law.”

Justice de Moraes also ordered Apple and Google to take steps preventing the downloading of the X application from their app stores in Brazil and instituted a a fine of nearly $9,000 for any person or company in Brazil that uses X.

In his ruling, Moraes blasted what he called X’s lack of moderation policies, citing an “imminent danger” of extremist groups using the platform to disseminate “Nazi, racist, fascist, hateful and anti-democratic” messages leading up to this year’s municipal elections.”

Moraes had previously ordered all X accounts blamed for spreading disinformation, many of them supporters of former conservative president Jair Bolsonaro, must be blocked while they investigate the charges. The Brazilian Supreme Court also froze the bank accounts of Musk’s space satellite service Starlink in the country.

Authorities in the UK and Australia have previously expressed their distaste for Elon Musk for harboring extremist right-wing communicators and spreaders of malicious disinformation on X. Whether the UK or Australia take action against Elon Musk, like a French investigating magistrate took action against Telegram CEO Pavel Durov or Justice de Moraes did here, remains to be seen.

Too bad the US does not have a Supreme Court like Brazil.

Sources:

Brazilian supreme court justice orders suspension of X across country – UPI.com

Elon Musk confirms Brazil X office closure

American Police Brutality Continues: Former MPD Sergeant Sentenced Five Years for Fatally Shooting D.C. Motorist 

27-year-old An’Twan Gilmore in 2021. LaShunna Gilmore, the cousin of Mr. Gilmore, had a message for Enis Jevric: “I hope that you learn to be a better person.” (Public domain image)

Enis Jevric (42), a former Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), was sentenced in federal court to 60 months in prison and five years supervise release for the August 2021 shooting death of 27-year-old An’Twan Gilmore. Jevric pleaded guilty on 23 Feb 2024 to violating Mr. Gilmore’s constitutional rights by using deadly excessive force. Jevric also pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter under D.C. law.

Shortly before 3AM on 25 Aug 2021, Jevric and 17 other MPD officers responded to a report of a man asleep in the driver’s seat of a vehicle stopped at an intersection. Officers approached the car and noticed that the sleeping driver had a handgun in his waistband. After officers had been on scene for about ten minutes and had cleared the avenues of civilian pedestrian and vehicle traffic, Jevric approached the car and directed another officer to knock on its windows to rouse Mr. Gilmore. When Mr. Gilmore awoke, the car moved forward several feet, stopped briefly, and then moved forward again. As it did so, Jevric fired his MPD-issued firearm at the car four times. The car then rolled farther and Jevric fired at it six more times. Three of Jevric’s shots struck Mr. Gilmore, who died a short time later from his wounds. No other officer fired at Mr. Gilmore. When officers pulled the bleeding, unresponsive, and unconscious Gilmore out of the car after it came to a rest, Gilmore’s firearm was in the same spot it had been observed, tucked into his waistband, underneath his buckled seatbelt.

As part of his guilty plea, Jevric admitted that his conduct constituted unconstitutional, unreasonable force, and that he acted willfully, in reckless disregard of Mr. Gilmore’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force by police. He also admitted that his conduct created an extreme risk of death to Mr. Gilmore and was a gross deviation from a reasonable standard of care.

Remarkable that 17 police officers initially responded to a stopped vehicle incident, followed up by a senior officer who would recklessly fire a total of ten rounds at the victim and the car.

Sources:

District of Columbia | Former MPD Sergeant Sentenced to 60 Months in Prison for Fatally Shooting a D.C. Motorist  | United States Department of Justice

Family of man killed by DC Police speaks out | wltx.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_the_District_of_Columbia

Trump Re-Election Campaign: “A Real $hitshow”

The wheels of Donald Trump’s campaign clown car are falling off.

As former Bush advisor David Frum wrote about Donald Trump after the July RNC Convention: “This crew is totally beatable.” With approximately two months to go until the Presidential election, the Trump Campaign is thrashing about like an angry, wounded acid-blooded xenomorph from the iconic movie Alien. A blogger recently noted the GOP has become a “real $hitshow.”

The latest misstep following the cheap publicity stunt at America’s most revered cemetery came from Trump who recently said he believes the six-week abortion ban in his home state of Florida was “too short.” Republicans in the swing state just north of there were quick to angrily respond.

“This is completely and utterly grotesque and indefensible,” said Cole Muzio, head of the Georgia anti-abortion group Frontline Policy Council. Georgia conservative pundit Erick Erickson piled on: “If Donald Trump loses, today is the day he lost. The committed pro-life community could turn a blind eye, in part, to national abortion issues. But for Trump to weigh in on Florida as he did will be a bridge too far for too many.”

This week Megachurch leader and MAGA acolyte Robert Morris, who has served as religious adviser to Trump, confessed to “inappropriate sexual behavior” after a woman accused him of molesting her starting when she was 12. The disgraced, hypocritical sky-pilot resigned this week from the Gateway Church in the Dallas TX area and whether the victim is seeking criminal or civil remedies is not yet known.

Meanwhile, Walmart’s is marketing a Trump campaign hat with a glaring typo: “Take American Back.”

But there are more calamities. Recently a so-called “Never Walz” group bought a booth at the Minnesota State Fair in order to hand out their propaganda. But these MAGA supporters neglected to buy the “Never Walz” domain name. Pray take a peek inside: https://www.neverwalz.com/ 

Super-icons ABBA demanded that the Trump campaign stop using their music at rallies. Abba’s request came the same day that White Stripes guitarist and singer jack White blasted Trump’s people for using his songs, too, calling the campaign “fascists.”  Foo Fighters, Céline Dion, Beyoncé, Johnny Marr of the Smiths, the estate of the late singer Sinéad O’Connor and the family of the late soul singer Isaac Hayes have all previously asked Trump to stop playing their songs. Hayes’ family even filed a lawsuit against Trump.

Meanwhile, justice is slowly but surely closing in on Donald Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s carefully crafted re-indictment should concern Trump’s legal team. And the 45th President lost a massive civil liability case in NYS at the hands of AG Letitia James. Thanks to Johnny Palmadessa, here is the Live Trump Debt Counter:

Donald Trump’s Debt: Live Counter (trumpdebtcounter.com)

Despite these Trumpian disasters, Team Kamala must continue what they are doing and not take the foot off the pedal.  In football parlance, the Democrats must “run up the score” with overkill touchdowns to counter potential Republican voter suppression efforts in states like Texas, Arizona, Ohio, Florida, Georgia, and others.

Sources:

‘Today’s the day he lost’: Georgia Republicans furious at Trump’s latest comments – Raw Story

ABBA, other music icons, demand Trump stop campaigning with their music – UPI.com

MAGA pastor Robert Morris’ sexual abuse scandal underscores the right’s LGBTQ hypocrisy (msnbc.com)

This Crew Is Totally Beatable – The Atlantic

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/04/politics/voting-laws-restrictive-map-october/index.html

On 30 August 1983: Guion Bluford Becomes First Black American in Space

File Photo Courtesy of NASA.

In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first Black American astronaut in space aboard the Challenger as part of the STS-8 mission. Bluford participated in four Space Shuttle missions, his final in 1992.

Astronaut candidates Ron McNair, Bluford, and Fred Gregory wearing Apollo spacesuits, May 1978.

Bluford was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1997, the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2010,[14] and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2019. In 2020, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine awarded Colonel Bluford the Ohio Distinguished Service Medal: Ohio’s highest non-combat decoration for service.

Sources:

Guion Bluford – Wikipedia

On This Day, Aug. 30: Guion Bluford becomes 1st Black American in space – UPI.com

Germany: Far-Right AfD Party Eyeing Potential First Win in Eastern German State Elections

German authorities identified over 32,200 right-wing extremists in 2019. Much of the rise has to do with authorities counting groups affiliated with the far-right AfD for the first time. (Source: DW.com)

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is predicted to come first in at least one of two state elections in Thuringia and Saxony on Sunday, putting pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s federal coalition over the economy, immigration, and support for Ukraine. Germany holds federal elections October 2025.

The 11-year-old AfD, which has greater support in the formerly communist-run east, will be unlikely to be able to form a state government even if it does win, as it is polling short of a majority and other parties refuse to collaborate with it. But it will be the first time a far-right party has the most seats in a German state parliament since World War Two and its strength will complicate coalition building and could allow it to block constitutional changes and appointments of some judges.

The AfD is led in Thuringia by Bjoern Hoecke, a man that some in the party considered so extremist they tried to expel him. The former history teacher has called Berlin’s memorial to Nazi Germany’s Holocaust of Europe’s Jews a “monument of shame” and was convicted earlier this year for using a Nazi slogan at a party rally.

Business leaders have warned of the threat of far-right extremism to Europe’s largest economy, saying it could make it harder to attract skilled labor and investment. German politicians say populist rhetoric has fueled physical attacks against moderate or progressive politicians.

Any right-wing electoral win in the West is a win for the Kremlin. As in France and elsewhere, the rise of anti-establishment parties in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ensuing cost-of-living crisis are complicating coalition-building and governability. Any win for the AfD, big or small, will stoke xenophobic hatred for immigrants and minorities as seen in the UK this summer.

Map: 2024 CIA World Factbook.

Source:

Far-right AfD on track for its first win in eastern German state vote | Reuters