Vice-President Kamala Harris has a ONE PERCENT (1%) edge in the popular vote and a 226 to 219 electoral college vote (ECV) lead over Donald Trump entering the final weekend before the US election. 270 ECVs are needed to win. But why is this race between a successful VPOTUS, former California State Attorney-General, and US Senator against a failed business and family man even this close?
Nothing, except Donald Trump is white.
So, why is this race so close?
White supremacist racist bigots, ignorance, and religious intolerance, fueled by right-wing hate radio and Fox News, supported and funded by oligarchs such as Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Otherwise, a criminally-convicted wastrel who was sued for sexual assault and twice impeached as POTUS should be watching the election from home with less than 10% support of the American people. Trump has no logical economic policy for the hard-working American taxpayer other then touting the need for tariffs and being proud of avoiding paying income taxes (as well as military service), calling those Americans who do pay taxes and die for the US “suckers.”
Donald Trump, a deeply dysfunctional man with catastrophic character flaws, is an avatar for white people who believe in the innate superiority of their race. This makes him a perfect reflection of his supporters (AKA MAGAts) who believe America is being usurped by minorities, Latinos, Chinese, Muslims, etc etc. White Americans are becoming a minority in the US and MAGA is code for Make America White Again.
Family members, like Mary Trump (L), a psychologist and niece to Donald Trump, know how nefarious he is and have been warning the American public about his deviancy, as well as his mental and cognitive decline.
MAGAts defile the US Capitol Rotunda on 6 Jan 2021 in Washington, DC. On 1 Nov, two lunatics were found guilty and one sentenced for their idiotic participation. In the nearly four years since then, more than 1,532 MAGAts have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to attacking the US Capitol, including more than 571 racists charged with feloniously assaulting or impeding law enforcement. The FBI investigation remains ongoing. Special Counsel Jack Smith is prosecuting this case against Donald Trump. (Photo: NBC News)
Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Republican Dan Coats suspects that Russian President Vladimir Putin is blackmailing Donald Trump.
The Kremlin is desperate for Trump to win in order to withdraw lifesaving US military and economic support for Ukraine. In the same vein, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is eager for a Trump victory which will allow the Likud Party to continue its policy of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians without interference from Washington. America’s immediate neighbors do not want to see a Trump win. Canada and Mexico have elected progressive leaders to run their countries.
House Majority Leader famously rebuked then-POTUS Trump: “With you, Mr. President, all roads lead to Putin!”
Inexplicably, Donald Trump took hundreds of thousands of classified documents from the White House and stored them at his Mar-A-Lago Florida estate. Special Counsel Jack Smith is prosecuting this case as well.
Donald Trump makes no attempt whatsoever to hide his disdain for people of color. Years ago in NYC, the Trump Organization refused to lease apartments to people of color.
Military veterans, once stalwart supporters of the GOP, have begun to turn away from the Donald Trump/JD Vance ticket, and with good reason.
But some influential Republicans continue to support Trump, as well as hillbilly JD Vance.
For example, disgraced and convicted GOP ex-Congressman George Santos (L) supports VPOTUS candidate JD Vance (R). Like Trump, JD Vance is a reflection of his supporters.
The Republican Party, the NRA, and ALEC have turned America into one vast warzone. According to the CDC, in 2022, there were more than 48,000 firearm-related deaths in the US. These are wartime casualties without having to invade another country. By contrast, Canada (with a population of approximately 40 million people), recorded 297 victims of firearms-related homicides in 2021.
The Republican Party answer to this national crisis?
GOP VPOTUS JD Vance candidate offered his policy prescription for the plague of firearms violence victimizing innocent people by blithely dismissing school shootings in the US as “a fact of life.” Donald Trump nonchalantly said after a school shooting in Iowa: “We have to get over it.”
US Army medics treating a casualty. Democrats want universal health coverage for all Americans; Republicans want gun rights enshrined for white people. (Photo: defense.gov)
This ersatz AI-generated image above of wishful thinking circled the globe many times over. Trump wants to be POTUS again to avoid the litany of criminal and civil charges against him.
And no matter what happens on this fateful Tuesday or what chicanery Republican operatives try at the election polls and tabulating centers, Donald J. Trump has an appointment with the Honorable Judge Juan Mercan on 26 Nov to answer for his 34 NYS felony convictions for falsifying business records. Merchan is the first judge in history to preside over the criminal indictment and conviction of a US President, and the first judge to hold a President in criminal contempt of court. This is a handsome man and sharp jurist.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who successfully prosecuted war criminals at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, is not going away any time soon. This is a capable, uncompromising professional.
Americans and the world have suffered enough Trump-fatigue this past decade. Remarkably, the world’s oldest man to seek the Presidency, suffering from steep mental and cognitive decline, as well as what appears to be morbid obesity, said he would run again in 2028. Oof!
Sources:
Trump’s Intelligence Chief Suspects Putin Blackmailing Trump | Crooks and Liars
Read the newly released evidence in the Jan. 6 case against Trump | PBS News
Judge questioned how Trump didn’t notice classified docs in bedroom (nbcnews.com)
Canada: RCMP Dismantle ‘Largest, Most Sophisticated’ Drug Mega-Lab
Aerial view of the drug “mega-lab.” (Photo: RCMP)
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) seized 1,100 pounds of illegal narcotics, including the deadly opiate fentanyl, during a raid at a major drug megalab in British Columbia.
(Map: researchgate.net)
The raid took place in a rural area of southeastern British Columbia at what police referred to as “the largest and most sophisticated fentanyl and methamphetamine drug superlab in Canada.”
RCMP officers seized 119 pounds of fentanyl, 860 pounds of methamphetamine, 77 pounds of cocaine and 33 pounds of MDMA during the raid, much of it destined for international export. (Photo: RCMP)
“The combined fentanyl and precursors seized at this facility could have amounted to over 95,500,000 potentially lethal doses of fentanyl, which have been prevented from entering our communities, or exported abroad,” police said.
Authorities also recovered almost 90 firearms, “massive amounts” of drug precursor chemicals, ammunition, firearm silencers, high-capacity magazines, body armor, and $500,000 in cash during the operation, which was assisted by members of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). (Photo: RCMP)
Prior to the late-October raid, officials also seized an additional 683 pounds of methamphetamine associated with the super lab and destined for export.
This raid denied this transnational organized crime group an estimated $485 million dollars in profits.
Police arrested Gaganpreet Randhawa who faces six charges related to firearms and possession of a controlled substance.
Sources:
Police dismantle ‘largest and most sophisticated’ drug superlab in Canada – UPI.com
Israel ‘Emptying Gaza Completely’
A year of war in Gaza has undermined international law and threatens to make the strip uninhabitable, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese. She is making the case at the UN that Israel’s Nakba offensive be classified a genocide.
Palestinians gather at the site of IDF strikes on houses and residential buildings in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip on 20 Oct 2024. (Photo: Reuters / Abdul Karim Farid)
More than 1.8 million Palestinians in Gaza are experiencing extremely critical levels of hunger, according to the UN. Seventy percent of crop fields and livelihoods have been destroyed during the Israeli military offensive, AKA Nakba 2024.
The war, which has claimed 42,000 lives in Gaza and left hundreds of thousands wounded, has also spread to the West Bank and Lebanon. Civilians as well as UN peacekeepers have been targeted by the IDF. At this rate of carnage, approximately 50,000 Palestinians will have been killed by year’s end.
“I used the word ‘catastrophe’ for the first time back in Oct 2023,” Francesca Albanese said, “when Israel had killed 8,000, 6,000 people in the first weeks of the conflict and destroyed entire neighborhoods, bakeries, churches, and targeted UN buildings and universities. This is not the way wars are conducted.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, says a regional ceasefire is urgent. (Photo: AP / Salvatore Di Nolfi)
The Special Rapporteur argues that Israel’s military actions form part of a systematic attempt to displace Palestinians that goes back decades – and which she calls a genocide.
“Israel occupies that land, according to the International Court of Justice, unlawfully,” Albanese said.
“So, Israel unlawfully occupies a territory, oppressing its people, who of course retaliate. Then they wage a war against them. It doesn’t work that way.”
Ms. Albanese warns that the trauma of 7 Oct 2023 has deepened Israeli animosity towards Palestinians and spurred calls for vengeance, providing the government with an opportunity to escalate its actions in the occupied territories with the goal of making them unhospitable.
“As we speak, Israel is running extermination raids neighborhood per neighborhood in the areas that were already forcibly evacuated, ethnically cleansed of nearly one million people in northern Gaza.”
“Only 400,000 people remained, who have been starved, abused and bombed. What the people in Gaza have gone through is really unspeakable, and now it is emptying the land completely.”
UN leaders have called for a ceasefire and denounced starvation, mass displacements, atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The IDF recently demolished an UNRWA office in Gaza and the Israeli Knesset approved a controversial bill to ban them from operating on Israeli territory. Albanese called for the UN to consider suspending Israel as a member state over Nakba 2024.
Meanwhile, anti-Likud protestors demonstrated in Tel Aviv at the Israeli Defense Ministry. Many criticized PM Benjamin Netanyahu, a man indicted by the ICC for war crimes.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv call for the release of hostages held captive since 7 Oct 2023. (Photo: 2 Nov 2024 / AFP)
Flag-waving demonstrators in the country’s commercial hub held placards with slogans including “Deal now,” “Stop the war” and “We won’t abandon them,” and beat drums and chanted “Why are they still in Gaza?”
“There have been countless opportunities to end this crisis, and each one was torpedoed by the government,” said demonstrator Zahiro Shahar Mor (52), a bank employee from Tel Aviv.
Critics have questioned why a truce has still not materialized now that Israel has achieved many of its war aims, including last month’s killing of Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar, who was supposedly an obstacle to reaching a truce. Yahya Sinwar was not afforded a day in an Israeli court to answer for his alleged crimes against the Israeli people and was killed extra-judicially (XJK) by the IDF.
Ifat Kalderon, a prominent antigovernment protester afraid for her cousin still held in Gaza, blamed Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
“Each hostage deal they start to talk about, Netanyahu sabotages. He always blamed Sinwar, but now there is no Sinwar. But every time he finds another reason,” the 50-year-old stylist said.
“It’s a bloody war, we need to stop it. Enough. So many soldiers are dying. And ordinary citizens,” she said, referring to civilians from both sides of the conflict paying with their lives.
The IDF held thousands of Palestinian detainees in security detention without hearing or trial prior to the 7 Oct 2023 attack to seize Israeli bargaining chips. The Mossad chief immediately advised Israeli PM Netanyahu to affect an immediate prisoner swap and one trade was concluded in Nov 2023. Afterwards, the Likud regime used the 7 Oct 2023 raid as a casus belli to de-populate the Gaza Strip. The odious son-in-law of ex-president Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, already slipped that the Gaza Strip has prime beachfront property for luxury resorts (as you read previously here on Coriolanus).
Some at the rally — organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group — brought up the plight of Israel’s soldiers, who are exhausted more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Others hoped for international intervention, including from the US, which holds a presidential election Tuesday. The sane people of Israel must vote out the Likud Party. (Photo: AFP)
Sources:
https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1l/k1lr8ngem8
Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territory ‘unlawful’: UN world court | UN News
Protesters demonstrate in Tel Aviv to demand end of war, return of hostages (voanews.com)
Bangladesh: Four Dengue Patients Die; 1,154 Hospitalized in Last 24 Hrs
Tiger mosquitoes spread diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika virus which, until recently, were typically only present in parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Four dengue patients died and 1,154 patients were admitted to different hospitals during the last 24 hours.
“During the period, 397 dengue patients were hospitalized in Dhaka city while 757 patients were admitted to different hospitals outside the capital,” reported the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
This year, the total number of cases rose to 60,574 and 290 deaths from dengue disease.
Last year, Bangladesh suffered 1,705 dengue-related deaths and a total of 321,179 dengue cases.
Mankind’s acme predator, the mosquito, continues to spread illness and death in SW Asia. The tiger mosquito (an invasive species) has also set up home in 13 countries in the EU, including France, Spain, and Greece, with experts linking their presence to a rise in dengue fever in Europe.
Climate change is creating favorable conditions for the tiger mosquito to spread, said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The recent catastrophic flooding in Spain may provide more breeding grounds for the tiger mosquito and other predators.
Sources:
Four dengue patients die, 1,154 hospitalized in last 24 hrs | News (bssnews.net)
Spread of tiger mosquito behind rise of dengue fever in Europe (bbc.com)
Ukraine Eager to Pre-Emptively Strike North Koreans in Russia; China Unhappy, but Silent
North Korean supremo Kim Jong-Un keeps the $2,000 monthly salary of each soldier and receives uranium and technology for his nuclear program from Russia. President Putin gets cannon fodder for “meat attacks” against Ukrainian defenders. How easily these two maniacs throw people’s lives away like trash. (Rebel Pepper / RFA)
The recent North Korean record-long ICBM test suggests Russia is aiding Pyongyang’s missile program. (Photo: Lee Jin-man / AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spent months urging Western suppliers to allow Kiev to use their advanced weaponry to strike deeper inside Russia. This week he accused them of inaction in response to the 8,000 North Korean soldiers which the Kremlin “fully intends” to deploy in combat against Ukrainian troops. The Biden Administration, which announced a $425 million package of fresh security assistance to Ukraine under the presidential “drawdown authority,” its 69th tranche of defense equipment since late 2021, is concerned about escalation with Russia. The USSECDEF argued that deep strikes against Russia wouldn’t tip the balance of the war towards Kiev. So, the powerful HIMARS system can only be used defensively on Ukrainian territory.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces could benefit greatly by using Western-provided long-range mass casualty weapons to strike the North Korean troops “the firstest with the mostest.” Such devastating attacks would both attrit and demoralize the unseasoned North Koreans before they even get a chance to see combat. The Ukrainian PSYOP program has been instructing North Korean soldiers how to safely surrender. South Korean intelligence is reportedly assisting Kiev and Seoul may provide them mass-casualties in response.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, 10 Jan 2019. Neither supremo looks happy and this is before Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. (Photo: KCNA / via Reuters)
“Beijing is clearly uncomfortable with the news that North Korean soldiers have been deployed to Russia to assist Moscow’s war in Ukraine for a number of reasons,” said Patricia Kim, a fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington.
Beijing sees a tightening Russia-North Korea alignment as reducing its own influence with those states, and worries that any military assistance Pyongyang gets from Moscow in return for deploying troops might make it more aggressive in Northeast Asia.
“China has no interest in the rise of a militarily strengthened and emboldened North Korea that might take greater risks and bring chaos to the region.”
A bolder Pyongyang would add to the troubles stoked by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, which has been a main source of regional tension for decades. Pyongyang recently refused Beijing’s assistance after massive floods wreaked the northern portion of the Hermit Kingdom. Kim Jong-Un is reportedly unhappy with China’s crackdown on revenue-supplying North Koreans in China. North Korean escapees have re-iterated a common refrain in North Korea: “Japan is our enemy of 100 years, China is our enemy of 1,000 years.”
Sources:
Is China peeved – or pleased – by North Korean troops in Ukraine? – Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)
White House Says New Ukraine Aid On The Way, As Kyiv Braces For Fresh Attack (rferl.org)
Iceland: Preschool E. coli Outbreak Traced to Mixed Ground Beef
(Photo: Art Bicnick)
An E. coli outbreak at Mánagarður preschool in Reykjavík has been traced to mixed beef and lamb ground meat, which was insufficiently cooked. Eleven children were being monitored at Hringurinn children’s hospital.
According to a statement released on the website of the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority (MAST), the E. coli infection originated from mixed beef and lamb ground meat provided by Kjarnafæði, one of the largest food processing companies in Iceland.
The preparation of the meat during cooking was insufficient. This is the conclusion reached by an investigation conducted by Matís – a government-owned independent research company – and MAST. RÚV reported yesterday that the head cook of Mánagarður had tendered their resignation.
The MAST statement notes that the meat was not sold to the general public but was exclusively supplied to large kitchens, such as those in restaurants, cafeterias, and preschools. When suspicions regarding the meat were raised, MAST contacted Kjarnafæði, which promptly notified all clients who received meat from the same batch used at Mánagarður.
“The recall revealed that the buyers had already used it in their operations, though no reports of infection or illness have been noted among other consumers,” the statement reads.
Eleven children were being monitored at Hringurinn Children’s Hospital with four of them in serious condition in the ICU. One child recovered and was discharged.
The Reykjavík Health Inspectorate visited Mánagarður, taking numerous samples of foods used in meal preparation that day, including meat and vegetables. All food samples tested negative for E. coli, except for the ground meat.
Some children who typically do not eat meat also fell ill, though the transmission method remains unconfirmed in these cases. These children may have contracted the infection from other students who attended the preschool after becoming ill but before the facility was closed.
E. coli bacteria are part of the natural gut flora of humans and animals and can be introduced into water, meat, vegetables and other foods during their production. Different types of E. coli exist. Most types of E. coli are harmless, but Shigatoxin-producing E. coli (STEC) carry genes that register for toxins that can cause illness (virulence genes). However, their strains can be pathogenic. Hygiene and proper handling of meat and adequate cooking by users/consumers is therefore key to prevent infection with E. coli, including STEC from meat.
Sources:
Preschool E. coli Outbreak Traced to Mixed Ground Beef (icelandreview.com)
E. coli O145 confirmed in children and mixed minced meat | Food and Veterinary Authority (mast.is)
Four Raccoons Escape from Zoo in England
A zoo in England is asking members of the public to be on the lookout for four female raccoons that escaped from the facility Friday morning.
The Amazon World Zoo Park, near Sandown on the Isle of Wight, said the raccoons managed to escape their enclosure late Thursday night or Friday morning.
Referred to as the “Island” by residents, the Isle of Wight is the largest and second-most populous island in England and a designated UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. In 1970, Jimi Hendrix performed one of his last public concerts on the Isle of Wight, enjoyed by 600,000 to 700,000 spectators.
“If you have a sighting please do not approach them, they are not normally aggressive but will be scared,” the zoo advised on social media.
Officials asked nearly residents to check sheds and bonfire pits, as the animals “sleep during the day and become active at dusk.”
Rowena Welsh, a supervisor at the zoo, said a search has been launched for the masked fugitives.
“They are new here. Everyone is out searching and we have tracker dogs and drones looking for them,” she said.
Source:
Four raccoons escape from zoo in England – UPI.com
Coriolanus shall return to the stage in a few weeks after the election. In the meantime: “Good night, and good luck.”
The late, great CBS war correspondent Edward R. Murrow (25 Apr 1908 – 27 Apr 1965). Those of you unfamiliar with his life and career should read his biography or enjoy the 2005 movie “Good Night, and Good Luck.”
Coriolanus 