Extreme Commanders

Judge Orders Elections Board to Certify Democrat’s Victory in Contested N.C. Race

A federal judge on Monday ordered the North Carolina Board of Elections to certify the results of a contentious State Supreme Court race, rejecting efforts from the Republican challenger to throw out thousands of votes.

The ruling is the most significant legal victory yet for the Democratic incumbent, Justice Allison Riggs, as the case has ping-ponged through state and federal courts and tested the boundaries of post-election litigation.

Two recounts confirmed that she won in November by 734 votes. But the Republican candidate, Judge Jefferson Griffin, has for months sought to reverse his loss by calling into question the eligibility of thousands of voters.

On Monday, the federal judge, Richard E. Myers II of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, ordered that all the challenged ballots should be counted. Not doing so would violate the constitutional due process rights of those voters, he said.

“You establish the rules before the game,” Judge Myers, a Trump appointee, wrote in his 68-page ruling. “You don’t change them after the game is done.”

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Florida's Plan to Replace Migrant Workers With Children Falls Apart

A bill that would have loosened child labor laws in Florida has died in the state Senate.

The proposal came as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, touted using teenagers as a replacement for the labor of migrants who are in the country illegally.

Newsweek has contacted DeSantis' office for comment via email.

President Donald Trump has pledged to deport millions of people in the United States with no legal status, while critics say deportations on such a scale could lead to labor shortages.

The bill would have permitted 16- and 17-year-olds to work overnight on school days and work longer than an eight-hour day before a school day. Some 14- and 15-year-olds would also have been allowed to work those hours.

Proponents said the bill aligned with federal child labor law and would help combat labor shortages, but critics warned that it posed serious risks of exploitation.

If approved, Senate Bill 918 would have removed restrictions on the number of hours that 16- and 17-year-olds can work per week during the school year.

It would also have scrapped required 30-minute meal breaks and allowed children as young as 14 who are homeschooled or enrolled in virtual school to work overnight shifts.

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Not so much politics as sheer stupidity...and dangerous stupidity to boot:

NOAA Warns of Attacks on Radar Systems by Militia That Thinks They Are ‘Weather Weapons’

Bad news for weather agencies around the nation: there is a shit storm brewing in the minds of the most conspiracy-addled people you know, and their offices are right in the path. According to an internal memo sent by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) security office on Monday, an anti-government militia group has declared Doppler radar systems to be “weather weapons” and is threatening to attack them, CNN reported.

The group responsible for the attack warning that impacts National Weather Service (NWS) locations across the country is Veterans on Patrol, an anti-government, anti-immigration, Christian nationalist organization founded in 2015. They have apparently been encroaching upon NWS offices, both physically and virtually, in recent weeks, and the situation has gotten concerning enough for NOAA to put its network on notice. “This group is advocating for anyone and everyone to join them in conducting penetration drills on NEXRAD sites to identify weaknesses which can be used to ultimately destroy the sites,” the agency’s email said, per CNN.

NEXRAD refers to Next Generation Weather Radar, NOAA’s network of 160 high-resolution Doppler weather radars that are operated jointly by NWS, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the US Air Force. Despite the name and the newfound interest being taken by the militia group, NEXRAD is not new. It’s been in place since the 1990s, and is a key technology for predicting tornadoes and thunderstorms.

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Watching Patty Murray grill an imbecilic incompetent Kash Patel at the congressional hearing on authorizing yearly fbi budget.

Just one of the glaring non-partisan issues she raised was the top brass in the FBI are required by law to submit a thorough budget proposal, for which there is a legally required, previously designed, template providing necessary information to obtain budget approval.

It was required, by law, to be in congresses hands over a week ago. None has been provided. Zero.

What Kash had turned in was what he called a "skinny budget temporary proposal" which was a single paragraph of crazy maga talking points featuring the FBI's need $10 billion, and to focus on moving resources to battle immigration and go after media, legal and academic institutions, and other sources who are critical of and oppose trump policies and his "mandate."

She noted how the FBI has re-directed funds and personnel devoted to bipartisan legislation passed years ago to investigate and inform Congress and the public (as Christopher Wray had been doing) on disinformation campaigns conducted, in particular, by n. Korea, Russia, Iran, and China. Those areas of concern are remaining unattended as the resources are now devoted to "other needs" that the president feels are more important. (going after Trump's critics and immigration at the top of the list).

Kash continued to repeat he doesn't have the legally required budget plan nor has any idea when it may be done.

He's waiting for "interagency" collaboration on it and other personnel to do it and kept saying he can provide no timeline nor did he ever respond to Murray's repeatedly noting how unacceptable this is and how it's actually violating a law passed by Congress.

To hell with these vermin and everyone who voted for such a disgusting, toxic, corrupt, mentally unstable, traitorous, moronic, shit show.

Trump Judges Strike Down Alabama Congressional Map as Racially Discriminatory

In a scathing ruling, a panel of three federal judges Thursday struck down Alabama’s 2023 congressional map as a violation of both the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The judges — two of whom were appointed by President Donald Trump — excoriated the state for what they called “a deliberate decision to double down on the dilution of Black Alabamians’ votes.“

The unanimous decision strikes a blow for fair representation for Black voters in the state, and could lead to new restrictions on how Alabama makes future changes to its map.

The case dates back to November 2021, when voters and advocates sued to stop a map drawn by legislators after the 2020 census, arguing that it diluted the strength of Black voters in the state.

After a federal court and the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the map, the Alabama legislature defiantly enacted another map that was missing two majority Black districts.

The three-judge panel in the Northern District of Alabama found evidence of intentional racial discrimination in enacting the revised map, and ruled that the state should have two majority Black districts.

“[T]ry as we might, we cannot understand the 2023 Plan as anything other than an intentional effort to dilute Black Alabamians’ voting strength and evade the unambiguous requirements of court orders standing in the way,” the panel wrote.

Click on the link for the full article

Sad, it seems Fetterman's stroke has affected himm profoundly:

‘Why Does Everybody Hate Me?!’ John Fetterman Left Staffer in Tears After Melting Down During Meeting: Report

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) reportedly slammed the table and erupted during a meeting with Pennsylvania teachers union reps last week — just one day before New York Magazine published a blistering exposé raising serious questions about his mental health.

Two sources briefed on the closed-door meeting told the Associated Press on Thursday that the senator devolved into an emotional outburst, slamming his hands on a desk and shouting.

“Why does everyone hate me, what did I ever do?” he allegedly said.

The meeting then ended abruptly when a staffer called it to a close and ushered the union officials out of Fetterman’s Washington office. That staffer reportedly broke down in tears in the hallway, visibly shaken by the scene.

The timing could hardly have been worse. Just a day later, New York Magazine’s Intelligencer published a lengthy piece featuring former aides and advisers raising alarm bells over Fetterman’s mental health.

One of the most damning sources was a 2024 letter from his former chief of staff, Adam Jentleson, to Fetterman’s neuropsychiatrist. In it, Jentleson warned that the senator was veering off his recovery plan and exhibiting “long, rambling, repetitive and self-centered monologues.”

Click on the link for the full article

A summary of the Intelligencer piece (their article is blocked by a paywall):

5 Most Shocking Details From Bombshell John Fetterman Exposé

1. Fetterman Allegedly Walked into Traffic and Was Almost Hit by a Car

In February 2023, Fetterman joined other members of the Senate for a caucus retreat at the Library of Congress.

Fetterman, fresh off a hard-fought victory in the cycle’s marquee race, should have been riding high. Only he wasn’t. A staffer recalled getting a text from a person at the retreat asking if their boss was okay. Fetterman was sitting at a table by himself, slowly sipping a Coke and refusing to talk with anybody. Later that day, another staffer heard an alarming report from a journalist: Fetterman had just walked, obliviously, into the road and was nearly struck by a car.

2. Fetterman’s Wife Tearfully Pleaded for Him to Alter His Stance on Gaza

Not long after Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Fetterman began to openly express his unconditional support for the country. Some of his staffers anonymously published a letter calling his support for Israel a “gutting betrayal.”

In early November, just weeks after the attack, Gisele arrived at her husband’s Senate office and, according to a staffer present, they got into a heated argument.

“They are bombing refugee camps. How can you support this?” the staffer recalled her saying with tears in her eyes.

“That’s all propaganda,” Fetterman replied.

Later, a still visibly upset Gisele pulled the staffer aside. She asked him if members of Fetterman’s team were pushing him to take these stances for political reasons. The staffer told her that the opposite was true: Many of them were as upset as she was. “If you’re pushing back on this, there’s no hope,” the staffer recalled her saying. “This is horrible news.”

3. Fetterman Began to Neglect His Strict Medical Regimen Following a Mental Health Episode

Not long after Fetterman allegedly walked into the road in February 2023, he was admitted into Walter Reed Hospital. At the end of his six-week stay, his mental health dramatically improved and doctors developed a comprehensive plan that included medication and regular blood checks. That plan, staffers said, seemed to have been abandoned that fall — right around the time Gaza became a focal point:

The endless fights over Israel, which saw Fetterman draw further into himself, coincided with setbacks in his recovery regimen. At that point, Fetterman hadn’t gotten his blood drawn for months, despite bloodwork being a crucial component of the plan. In the final weeks of 2023, a Senate physician called the office, according to a staffer, to say that he had seen Fetterman “acting bizarrely” near the underground trolleys that shuttle people between the Capitol and nearby office buildings. He had witnessed Fetterman, seemingly unaware of his surroundings, walk directly into a group of people, nearly bowling them over.

4. Staffers Wouldn’t Let Anyone See Fetterman Some Days for Fear of Him Saying “Really Fucked-Up Shit”

One staffer told me there would be entire days when they couldn’t let anyone outside the office be around him because he was in “some sort of state” and might say “really fucked-up shit to constituents.” Sometimes he would just “shut down,” according to one former staffer. He was saying “unhinged shit,” according to one text, and spending more time on social media. Stern wrote to the group that it seemed to him like Fetterman was “spiraling” and that his constant “doomscrolling” — “I think he’s on essentially all day now?” — would only make things worse.

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Earle-Sears ‘morally opposed’ to Virginia’s reproductive rights amendment, note shows

Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears signed Virginia’s in-progress reproductive rights constitutional amendment, but noted her personal objection to it in a handwritten note on the bill.

As president of the Senate, she is legally required to sign bills that the legislature passes but she doesn’t have to add any comment to her signatures. Documents obtained by The Mercury show her explanation for why she is against Virginia’s effort to protect reproductive rights like abortion, in vitro fertilization and contraception access in Virginia’s Constitution.

“I am morally opposed to this bill; no protection for the child,” she wrote above her signature.

It is the second known message Earle-Sears has penned on a bill she signed but disagreed with — the first being her note of objection scrawled on a bill last year that would prohibit officials from denying marriage licenses to same-sex or interracial couples, as The Virginia Scope first reported. It is also one of the clearest signals Earle-Sears has sent concerning her views on abortion and reproductive health care since beginning her campaign for governor.

With Earle-Sears gubernatorial opponent Abigail Spanberger in support of reproductive healthcare access — to include abortions, contraception and fertility treatments — their divergences on the issue may be a deciding factor for some voters later this year.

Click on the link for the full article

Trump isn’t the only one targeting federal employees. House Republicans are pushing cuts to pension benefits


After months of contending with the Trump administration’s multi-pronged effort to downsize the federal workforce, government employees are now facing the possibility of another major change that could push even more of them out the door.

House Republicans are looking to make several big adjustments to federal workers’ retirement benefits to help pay for the party’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package. The House Oversight Committee last week approved a plan that would squeeze $50 billion in savings out of the retirement system over the next decade.

“They’re going to charge people more for the benefit, and then they’re going to reduce the benefit by changing the formula for how the benefit is calculated,” Jacqueline Simon, policy director of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal workers union, told reporters on Monday.

The cuts could lead workers eligible for retirement to head for the exits in an effort to lock in their current benefits, union leaders say.

Congressional Republicans have long wanted to overhaul federal staffers’ pension system, as did President Donald Trump during his first term. But their efforts typically did not advance far.

In the current political environment, however, the policy push may have a greater chance of succeeding.

Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill” has not yet been finalized and must still be approved by the full House and the Senate.

Rep. James Comer, the committee’s chair, described the effort as a way to save Americans money.

“The simple truth is that a significant amount of the costs associated with all of these benefits are funded by hardworking taxpayers in the private sector and increasingly now federal government borrowing,” Comer said in his opening remarks when the committee examined the plan.

At least one House Republican has already come out against the measure. Ohio Rep. Mike Turner joined Democrats in voting against the committee’s plan last week.

“I oppose any and all efforts to reduce federal spending by taking money from the hard-earned pensions of federal workers,” he said in a statement. “These pensions are not giveaways – they are promises to federal workers in exchange for their dedicated service.”

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You've got to hand it to them: GOP wants to restrict porn

A pair of congressional Republicans have introduced new legislation that would enlist the federal government in the latest target in the conservative war against free speech: banning online porn.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Rep. Mary Miller of Illinois are behind the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act. The law would redefine obscenity as it is currently defined at the federal level by the Communications Act of 1934 and amend the 1973 Supreme Court decision defining pornography known as the “Miller Test.” It's a three-pronged test to decide if something is obscene: Does the material appeal to prurient interests, is it patently offensive, and does it lack serious value?

“Obscenity isn’t protected by the First Amendment, but hazy and unenforceable legal definitions have allowed extreme pornography to saturate American society and reach countless children,” Lee told the conservative Daily Caller.

Ironically, the Republicans are presenting their legislation as a measure to protect children but gave an exclusive advance preview of the bill to the Daily Caller. The Daily Caller has been notorious over the years for making light of child sexual abuse—when it isn’t publishing white supremacists or conspiracy theories.

The GOP bill would redefine the federal definition of obscenity and task federal officials with shutting down the transmission of porn across state lines.

The federal courts have traditionally found that pornography is constitutionally protected free speech under the First Amendment, and that transmitting content over state lines does not trigger standards surrounding “obscenity.”

But the proposed law is in line with ongoing Republican attacks on free speech.

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20 police raided a gay bar for a “compliance check.” Then the patrons did something surprising.

In a moment of resistance and queer solidarity, a drag show went on despite patrons and performers being kicked out of a bar by about 20 police officers in bulletproof vests.

Police raided Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ venue P Town Bar on Friday in the middle of a drag event.

Drag artist Indica was performing alongside trans model and nightlife legend Amanda Lepore when police began to gather in the back of the establishment, QBurgh reported. When Indica finished her rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” police directed patrons to exit the bar but did not explain why beyond saying it was a “compliance check.”

“We waited 30 minutes outside for them to inspect every crevice,” Indica told QBurgh. But the patrons and performers refused to let the cops quash their spirit and instead created their own public performance space.
Video captured during the wait shows the crowd belting Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club while Indica dances up and down the sidewalk, collecting tips.

QBurgh described the moment as one of “resistance, solidarity, and improvisational beauty” and one that “reminded everyone there that drag isn’t just entertainment, it’s political. And when the music stops, the queens don’t.”

State police told QBurgh the raid was instigated by the Allegheny County Nuisance Bar Task Force. It is not known who made the initial complaint that led the cops there.

Witnesses said officers would not look the queens in the eye and would not answer their questions about why things like this never happen at straight bars.

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