Finally Friday Reads: Heavy Rains and Readings

“Yes, it’s quite insane. I think it hurts my brain.” John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

I stayed up too late last night watching Hurricane Helene come on shore.  It’s difficult to explain that dual feeling of relief that it went east of you while realizing the number of people whose lives have been turned upside down.  I get a flashback full of feelings about my hurricane and tornado experience. I’ve been fortunate to date even though Hurricane Katrina upended my life; it was nothing compared to many, many others’ lives.

I remember sitting on the dorm hall floor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln during the massive 1975 Omaha Hurricane. I was one of the few with a TV and a phone in my room.  Those of us who had such luxuries were surrounded by others who took turns trying to call home and watching to see if there was news available on the limited number of channels then on my tiny black and white portable. The only way we really got to know was to pack up and go back home.  Almost everyone I knew living along the 72nd Street corridor had severe damage. Fortunately, living in Hurricane Alley meant you had basements.  Friends of mine in apartments did less well.  I’ve also driven alongside, almost into, and surrounded by tornadoes.  I became interested in severe weather early in my teens when I watched an oversized double garage door spin over my house in Omaha from the basement window while strumming and singing, “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.”  This was 1968.   Irony and sarcasm have always been my friend and best defense when in the middle of these terrifying events.

I am still waiting to hear from family and friends. Even though Helene was still a Cat 2 Hurricane in Georgia, JJ and her family are okay. We’ll be hearing more from many folks north of Florida who also took a hit of intense rain and wind.  Thank goodness the guy with the Sharpie isn’t in charge of the Federal response to all of this in all those states. And yes, De Santis has those white boots on again.

The severe damage and the death toll in Florida today should humble us all. We can build all kinds of places, but the sciences of climatology and meteorology show that we can only do so much with these massive storms.  “Hurricane Helene ravages the Southeast, killing at least 22 and leaving millions without power. The storm made landfall overnight as a Category 4 hurricane, bringing devastating flooding and high-speed winds.”  This is from NBC News.

Hurricane Helene killed at least 22 people and left millions without power across the Southeast before weakening on its way north Friday morning, officials said.

Widespread damage was expected in Florida’s Big Bend region, where Helene made landfall as a Category 4 shortly after 11 p.m. ET on Thursday. It was the strongest storm to ever strike the area, which connects Florida’s panhandle and peninsula.

Water levels in some parts of the region reached more than 15 ft. above ground level, the National Hurricane Center said, citing preliminary storm surge models.

In Perry, Florida, where officials urged residents who refused to evacuate to write their information on their bodies for identification, police chief Jamie Cruse braced himself for the storm’s aftermath as first responders began rescue operations.

“We’re starting to get the first glimpse of what we actually have laying on the ground and what we’re going to be dealing with,” he told NBC News. “The only regret I have at this moment is we weren’t aggressive enough in the notification to tell people to evacuate the areas that were prone to flooding.”

“I just hope that when we finally discover what we’re dealing with that we don’t have a big loss of life,” he added.

Officials in Clearwater, further south along Florida’s Gulf Coast, also feared the worst after seeing overnight footage of first responders rescuing elderly locals in knee-deep flood water.

“We had some homes burn to the ground out on the island. There were some folks that we just couldn’t get to because of high waters to rescue,” Clearwater mayor Bruce Rector told NBC’s “TODAY” show.

By Friday morning, Floridians woke up to extensive damage from the devastating flooding, high-speed winds, and heavy rain.

Helene’s name will be retired and she will be one for the records. “Helene is now a tropical depression, catastrophic flooding still likely.”  This is also from NBC News. More deaths are being reported in Georgia.  Atlanta and Valdosta, Georgia, have a lot of flooding and are powerless.

Helene, now a tropical depression, is located 125 miles southeast of Louisville, Kentucky, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, moving northwest at 28 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center’s 2 p.m. ET advisory.

All tropical storm warnings have been discontinued and there are now no coastal watches or warnings in effect.

It’s forecast to slowdown and will stall over the Tennessee Valley through the weekend.

Helene will still produce more rainfall for the Central and Southern Appalachians, resulting in “catastrophic and potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding.” Tornadoes are possible today across eastern South Carolina, central and eastern North Carolina and southern Virginia.

Many blessings to you, my American Family, on your recovery journey.

One journalist has published the Iran-hacked JD Vance dossier. X and Thread censored it after Klippenstein announced that he had published it on social media. “Read the JD Vance Dossier. We’re publishing the supposed Iran-hacked document. Here’s why.” This is from Ken Klippenstein.

Behold the dossier.

It reportedly comes from an alleged Iranian government hack of the Trump campaign, and since June, the news media has been sitting on it (and other documents), declining to publish in fear of finding itself at odds with the government’s campaign against “foreign malign influence.”

I disagree. The dossier has been offered to me and I’ve decided to publish it because it’s of keen public interest in an election season. It’s a 271-page research paper the Trump campaign prepared to vet now vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance. As far as I can tell, it hasn’t been altered, but even if it was, its contents are publicly verifiable. I’ll let it speak for itself.

“The terror regime in Iran loves the weakness and stupidity of Kamala Harris, and is terrified of the strength and resolve of President Donald J. Trump,” Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, responded when I asked him about the hack.

If the document had been hacked by some “anonymous” like hacker group, the news media would be all over it. I’m just not a believer of the news media as an arm of the government, doing its work combatting foreign influence. Nor should it be a gatekeeper of what the public should know.

On August 19, the U.S. intelligence community issued a statement on Iranian election interference, including cyber operations attempting to gain sensitive information. “This includes the recently reported activities to compromise former President Trump’s campaign, which the IC [intelligence community] attributes to Iran.”

On September 18, the intelligence community issued another statement going into further detail about Iran’s efforts. “Iranian malicious cyber actors” were still undertaking efforts since June, the press release says, “to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Donald Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations.”

The intelligence community would not confirm to me whether the stolen campaign materials included the Vance Dossier. “We don’t have anything beyond what’s noted in the September 18 joint statement,” Lauren Frost, a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, told me this week.

You may download and read the document at Klippenstein’s Substack at the above link.

Today, Newsweek stood up. “JD Vance Dossier—What We Know.”

The alleged vetting documents of Ohio Senator JD Vance before he was chosen as the Republican vice presidential candidate have been made public after they were allegedly obtained via an Iranian hack on Donald Trump‘s campaign.

Journalist Ken Klippenstein published the 271-page report into Vance which was carried out by the Trump team on his Substack on Thursday.

The Vance dossier is said to have been part of a trove of sensitive materials which Iranian hackers stole from Trump’s campaign team. At least three news organizations—Politico, The New York Times and The Washington Post—were said to have received the documents, but refused to report on them.

Klippenstein said he disagreed with the suggestion that publishing the materials allegedly obtained by Iranian hackers amounted to helping a foreign country influence the outcome of the 2024 election. The FBI previously confirmed that Iran had attempted to disrupt both the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns.

…

The report is a detailed examination of Vance’s background based on hundreds of his public statements, media interviews and available official records.

The document highlights the potential vulnerabilities Vance could face if selected as Trump’s running mate, including his previous stances and political views.

The dossier delves deep into times Vance has publicly criticized Trump over the years. Included in the document, for instance, is the transcript of an October 2016 appearance on Charlie Rose, where Vance said he was a “Never Trump guy.”

The document also cites social media posts apparently to highlight issues surrounding Vance being added to the 2024 GOP presidential ticket.

The dossier includes a reference to a tweet Vance reportedly sent in 2016 asking “what percentage of the American population has @RealDonaldTrump sexually assaulted?” The post said to be from Vance has since been deleted. Trump has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault. He has denied all the allegations against him.

The document also notes Vance’s positions on numerous issues including potentially contentious views, or what the dossier cites as “controversial” such as supporting higher taxes for people without children.

Vance’s phone number, home address, photos of his properties and email address are in the document, but have been redacted.

Klippenstein’s account on X, formerly Twitter, was suspended soon after he published the Vance dossier on his Substack.

In a statement, X said: “Ken Klippenstein was temporarily suspended for violating our rules on posting unredacted private personal information, specifically Sen. Vance’s physical addresses and the majority of his Social Security number.”

Newsweek has contacted X for further comment via email.

Users on X are prevented from sharing a link to Klippenstein’s Substack page where he posted the dossier.

Time magazine has this interesting breaking news of proposed legislation by Rep. Adam Schiff.”Exclusive: New Bill Would Prevent Trump From Quashing His Criminal Cases.”

A prominent House Democrat is introducing legislation Friday that would prevent former President Donald Trump from dismissing his ongoing criminal prosecutions if he were to win the presidency again.

The new bill, shared exclusively with TIME ahead of its release, is being led by Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic nominee for California’s Senate seat who has been a leading Trump antagonist. He says his bill, which would prevent a sitting President from quashing a criminal prosecution against him or herself, aims to ensure that no President can use their position to evade accountability.

“This is about protecting our democracy and ensuring a President can’t place themselves above the law,” Schiff tells TIME in a statement. “There is every indication that Donald Trump will use the Justice Department to do away with any effort to hold him accountable.”

There’s a reason Schiff feels urgency to introduce the bill now. Trump is currently facing multiple criminal prosecutions, including charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. “The need for swift passage of this bill could become even more pressing,” Schiff says, “depending on the outcome of the election.”

Some more shocking news on Vance with the vice-presidential debate on the horizon.  This is from The Daily Beast. “Vance’s Pre-Debate Prep Includes Christian Nationalist Who Called Harris a Witch. The veep hopeful will hold a town hall with a notorious televangelist who said last year that opponents of Donald Trump would soon suffer “sudden deaths” at the hands of God.”  You never know if you should laugh, cry, or throw a rotten tomato at these guys. This is written by Josh Fiallo.

JD Vance’s embrace of far-right Christian nationalists will reach a whole new level this weekend.

Donald Trump’s running mate is set to spend one of his final afternoons before Tuesday’s vice presidential debate by hosting a town hall with Lance Wallnau, a notorious conspiracist who recently praised the 2021 Capitol riot as “an election fraud intervention.”

Vance is set to appear alongside Wallnau at 1 p.m. Saturday, platforming the self-described “prophet” who said in earnest this month that Kamala Harris is a “Jezebel spirit” who uses “witchcraft” to emasculate Trump.

“She can look presidential and that’s—and we’ll get to this later—that’s the seduction of what I would say is witchcraft,” Wallnau said of Harris after her Sept. 10 debate. “That spirit, that occult spirit, is operating on her and through her.”

This is from Right Wing Watch. “Lance Wallnau Blames the Seduction of Witchcraft for Kamala Harris’ Success written by  Kyle Mantyla.” This guy makes me want Insane Asylums back.

Shortly after President Joe Biden announced in July that he would not be running for reelection and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, self-proclaimed Christian nationalist and unabashed Trump cultist Lance Wallnau immediately began posting videos in which he warned that Harris represents “the spirit of Jezebel” and declared that she is “the devil’s choice.”

When Harris bested former President Donald Trump in a debate earlier this week, Wallnau was quick to blame it on “witchcraft,” and then doubled down on that attack Wednesday when he appeared on the “FirePower” show, hosted by fellow Trump cultists Mario Murillo and Todd Coconato.

“What you’re seeing now is a real Jezebel,” Wallnau declared. “When you’ve got somebody operating in manipulation, intimidation and domination—especially when it’s in a female role trying to emasculate a man who is standing up for truth—you’re dealing with the Jezebel spirit. … So, with Kamala, you have a Jezebel spirit, a characteristic in the Bible that is the personification of intimidation, seduction, domination and manipulation.”

“She can look presidential,” he continued. “That’s the seduction of what I would say is witchcraft. That’s the manipulation of imagery that creates an impression contrary to the truth, but it seduces you into seeing it. So that spirit, that occult spirit, I believe is operating on her and through her.”

While Harris is supposedly operating under an occult Jezebel spirit, Wallnau claimed that Trump has “an Elijah mantle on him, probably from the intercession of a million Christians.”

“So, we have to double down in intercessory prayer in the warfare mode of Pentecostals,” Wallnau proclaimed. “We need to close ranks and actually begin to get in a superlative agreement over what we believe we’re hearing God say he wants to manifest, because this election is coming five days after Halloween—another high holy day for all the Satanist crazy people.”

“We’ve got to lean into this thing because the Elijah mantle can break the spell of witchcraft off America,” he concluded. “God can tear the veil and unless that veil is torn, we have a lot working against us.”

Yes, this guy is real. I put the CBS interview up to demonstrate he’s not a movie character.  I’m not sure what’s wrong with these people, but I want them nowhere around any human being.  They are insane. They run wicked cults that target the vulnerable, and it’s sickening.

This is the sheet music, and yes, I own one. It’s from 1969.

Acting Icon Dame Maggie Smith Has Died at 89, and all of us are old enough that she did more than the Harry Potter Movies and Downton Abbey.  “The two-time Oscar winner had a long and distinguished career on stage and on screen, but “Harry Potter” and “Downton Abbey” made her uneasily famous.” This is from the Daily Beast.

The formidable dowager Violet Crawley, Maggie Smith’s scene-stealing character in Downton Abbey, made Smith a bona fide celebrity.

“It’s ridiculous. I led a perfectly normal life until Downton Abbey,” said Smith, who has died at 89. “I’m not kidding. I’d go to theaters. I’d go to galleries. Things like that, on my own, and now I can’t. And that’s—you know—awful. It’s all… It’s truly television. I mean, I’ve been working around for a very long time before Downton Abbey. And life was fine. Nobody knew who the hell I was. Now, it’s all—it has changed.”

…

Dame Margaret Natalie Smith CH DBE was born Dec. 28, 1934 in Ilford, Essex. Her own version of her life thereafter was terse but to the point: “One went to school, one wanted to act, one started to act, and one’s still acting,” she said. “I love it. I’m privileged to do it, and I don’t know where I’d be without it.”

She was first nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Desdemona in the 1965 film version of Othello (in an Academy first, all four principal actors in the movie were Oscar nominees). She had originated the role in the National Theatre Company’s production in London in 1964.

Four years later she won the best actress Oscar for the title role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and ten years later won a best supporting actress Oscar for California Suite, for which she also won a Golden Globe.

So, the closer we come to November 5th, the more insane it will get with the Party of Weirdos doing what they do.  My birthday is the day before, and the only thing I want as a gift is for everyone and their cousins to go and vote for the Democratic Party up and down the ballot.  It’s as essential as bombing NAZIs, taking the beaches, and writing The Constitution at this point. We lose all of that if they don’t win.  And you don’t have to take it from me.

Three more prominent Republicans ‘put country over party’ and endorse Harris. Numerous former Republican elected officials have voiced support for Harris over Donald Trump in this election.

Why Harris’ support from retired U.S. military leaders matters. The highly decorated four-star general who commanded U.S. forces in Afghanistan has endorsed Kamala Harris, and he has plenty of related company.

More Than 700 Current and Former National Security Officials Back Harris. A letter signed by former secretaries of state and defense endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and said former President Donald J. Trump poses a threat to the nation’s defense and its democratic system.

To say all this is unusual is an understatement.

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?