Sunday Reads: What Sweden?

Yup, that cartoon is correct. tRump taking a dump on democracy.

I write this with a lingering migraine and depression that is going through the roof. So since my fingers can barely move without the will to make them…here are a few links to look through this afternoon.

Above are two promos for a new video on Maya Angelou…via PBS. It looks good…take a peek at that.

Flint water linked to Legionnaires’ outbreak, CDC findings may suggest.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention genetic testing may help prove that untreated Flint River water contributed to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in and around the city, the MLive site reports.

More than 100 individuals, of whom 12 have died, have contracted the bacterial disease in the Flint area since the outbreak began in 2014. Michigan state officials suspected in early 2015 that Legionnaires’ cases may have been linked to Flint’s 2014 decision to begin using the Flint River as a source of tap water but didn’t make that suspicion public until nine months later. City, state, and federal officials’ failures to properly treat and monitor Flint’s tap water after the Flint River switch are also believed to have caused an epidemic of lead contamination.

The relevant CDC test found that a sample of water taken from the McLaren Flint hospital matched a sample taken from a Legionnaires’ patient who is not known to have received services at the hospital. The reason that’s important is because the state of Michigan is attempting to make the argument, disputed by McLaren officials, that the high number of Legionnaires’ cases during the outbreak that involved the hospital were attributable to the failures of its own internal water system. If bacteria found at McLaren match a patient who never spent time there, however, one logical possibility is that both the McLaren sample and the patient sample derive from a third, original source—like untreated Flint River water.

Eight Signs That Someone Is a White Terrorist – Juan Cole – Truthdig

1. If you appoint yourself to carry out surveillance of a mosque congregation who have never given any evidence of being violent, you might be a white terrorist.

2. If you don’t know the difference between gentle Sufi mysticism and violent extremism, you might be a white terrorist.

3. If you plot to burn down a mosque, you might be a white terrorist.

The rest of the 8 signs at the link….

From Newsweek, via Reuters: FBI Pursuing at Least 3 Separate Probes of Russian Hacking

And one more, this one about James Comey Has Some Goddamn Explaining to Do | GQ

It is four days old, but still ask important questions.

Now for some recent links on this Swedish thing…

‘Sweden, who would believe this?’: Trump cites non-existent terror attack | US news | The Guardian

Trump invents Sweden Terror Attack, Lies about Immigrant Crime | Informed Comment

But it looks like tRump was just watching crap FoxNews again:

Here are 21 facts that explain who Trump mouthpiece Stephen Miller really is

Even among the right-wing ideologues doing the actual presidenting in this administration, Stephen Miller stands out for the copious amounts of Kool-Aid he mainlines. Speaking to the New York Times, a Trump team colleague described Miller as “fiercely loyal” to the president, “a true believer in every sense of the word.” Though he joined the campaign in its early days, penning many of the apocalyptic speeches that won fear-drunk Republican hearts and minds, Miller recently got a lot more visibility after a string of television appearances in defense of the Muslim ban. At each stop, Miller showed a flair for the dramatic: he lied, he dodged, he put on his best tyrant’s voice and proclaimed the executive branch above the law. It seemed contrived and forced, like a politically precocious, weasley teenager’s idea of how to command a crowd. According to those who know Miller’s history, that’s not so far off the mark.

In other asshole news: Milo Yiannopoulos to give keynote address at CPAC next week: reports

Two stories with some legal notes:

Republicans Are Using An Arcane Tool To Handcuff Federal Agencies | The Huffington Post

Americans discover a new must-read for the Trump age: the US constitution | US news | The Guardian

And an article about tRump’s emotional state: Trump has ‘cabin fever’ in White House – Business Insider

This little story from NYTs: Opening the Heart’s Floodgates, With a Paw – The New York Times

I could not read the whole thing. Right now I am in a fix, I wanted to adopt this little mutt puppy that was born on the night we thought my mother was dying…back the day after Christmas.  But, now…my mom and dad are refusing to let me bring her home. My mom would be okay with another pug puppy…a 2000.00 pug puppy, but not the puppy that I’ve gotten attached to over the past 2 months. Anyway…that is that.

That is all for today, this is an open thread.