ceoln @ceoln@qoto.org

A new investigation shows that far-Right trolls, the police, and the media who parroted their lies were all wrong - and protesters in #Portland were right.

"The research agency Forensic Architecture collaborated with survivors on a reconstruction of the attack, analyzing helmet-camera video recorded by one of the victims, police radio traffic obtained through public records requests, and the testimony of 11 witnesses – including the volunteer armed guard who stopped the rampage by shooting and disarming the gunman.

The accumulated evidence flatly contradicts what Portland’s police chief told the public and city council staff in the days after the attack: that the gunman, 43-year-old Ben Smith, had opened fire only after he had been confronted by “armed protesters”.

That false characterization of the unarmed victims as aggressors, which was repeated in dozens of local and national news reports, remains uncorrected on the website of the Portland police bureau (PPB) even today, as the survivors mark the second anniversary of Smith murdering their friend, June Knightly."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/19/blm-march-portland-shooting

@GottaLaff @atrupar Don't they realise that Trump and the other #CPAC speakers come across as insane maniacs? Or is that precisely the impression they want to give? These are very weird and #dangerous people, as well as being well funded and exceptionally well coordinated too. Quite frightening. #farright

@xwex @GottaLaff @atrupar if Mid Romney wasn't 200 pounds of bullshit in an expensive suit, he'd name names, dates and places he had those conversations and force the issue. But he is, so here we are.

I'm scrolling through @atrupar's and Acyn's video clips of #Trump's vile spew at CPAC, now in its 2nd hour..

Sorry to be redundant, but if Biden said even ONE thing in any of those clips, it would be over for him.

Yet Trump has duped The News & all too many voters into accepting him "as is."

I don't. At all. And I am not laughing at him. He's lethal. He's toxic. He's malignant.

And the GOP Fascist Party is right there with him.

We MUST do everything we can to end this nightmare.

Study links fermented foods with brain growth

Study puts fermentation, not fire, as pivot point behind our ancestors’ increasing cranial capacity.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/02/did-fermented-foods-fuel-brain-growth/

Racing, Striving, Accelerating, Winning. And Reading. - Bribery to read teaches that reading is unpleasant, Science of reading is not settled science and kids are not all alike. https://teacherinastrangeland.blog/2024/02/24/racing-striving-accelerating-winning-and-reading/ via @nancyflanagan #Reading

@mekkaokereke Reading the transcripts about the officer in OJ's hearing makes it TRANSPARENTLY clear to what extent the LAPD is just a street gang with government funding. They're not even trying to hide it. They're proud of it.

air horn levels are 61% and rising

(61%) ■■■■■■□□□□

The increase of "Du" vs "Sie" in Germany after I moved away in 2005 remains puzzling to me (even if welcome). I just don't get the current norms at all. A bank employee used "Du" with me, so I assume Du is fine almost everywhere now? Or maybe it's regional - this was Southern Germany, would people really do this in say Hamburg, too?

Oh we’re doing “your admins can see your DMs” again?

You’ll never guess what’s true about literally every website that has a DM feature

We've seen so many interviews with trump fans, but so far heard very little directly from Americans trying to deal with the wreckage left behind by Dobbs v Jackson. Biggest story in our lifetimes, and journalism is paralyzed, unable to find the beat.

http://scripting.com/2024/02/21.html#a141513

Heritage’s recommendations for a 2nd Trump term:

(1) cripple the American immigration system
(2) force states and localities into compliance with federal administrative schemes
(3) intimidate immigrants legally living in the U.S.
https://www.niskanencenter.org/project-2025-unveiling-the-far-rights-plan-to-demolish-immigration-in-a-second-trump-term/

Of Moscow, New York and partisan perception

What was most startling about Tucker Carlson’s recent trip to Russia was his gushing over how wonderful Moscow is

While parts of Moscow offer a small elite an opulent lifestyle, Russia as a whole is more than a bit ramshackle. Around a fifth of homes don’t even have indoor toilets. For many Russians, life is poor, nasty, brutish and short: Life expectancy is substantially lower than in the U.S.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/opinion/economy-putin-tucker-carlson.html

current thirst levels are 66%

(66%) ■■■■■■□□□□

#otd 1848 the Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, was first published. I am reading selections from these #books today to commemorate. #history #bookstodon

A convicted Ponzi schemer who had his 24-year sentence commuted by Trump has been indicted in what authorities say is his third investment scam.

https://www.nj.com/ocean/2024/02/convicted-ponzi-schemer-whose-sentence-was-commuted-by-trump-indicted-again.html

"We find that, since their invention, cars and automobility have killed 60–80 million people and injured at least 2 billion. Currently, 1 in 34 deaths are caused by automobility."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692324000267

@flexghost a friend told me that she was still mad that Joe Biden hasn’t canceled any debt. In her mind, because he hadn’t canceled all debt (but especially her debt) he hadn’t done anything. When I pointed to his effort that was predictably struck down by the Supreme Court, her answer is that the President should just ignore rulings he doesn’t like.

Back in reality, Biden has canceled $138 billion for almost 4 million people and the SAVE program will cancel more.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/02/21/fact-sheet-president-biden-cancels-student-debt-for-more-than-150000-student-loan-borrowers-ahead-of-schedule/