Prickly City by Scott Stantis for July 30, 2020

I found the Tweet, Winslow said he liked Season 8 of Game Of Thrones.

Mob behavior isn’t peculiar to political persuasion…

The Right Wing focus on ‘Cancel Culture’ is simply another, and lesser aspect of their ongoing psychological projection of what they do…

…on to their mostly imaginary idea of the left.

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The Trump administration has repeatedly portrayed antifa as a major threat in the US, despite little to no evidence backing up this assertion.

In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Attorney General William Barr presented antifa as central to recent unrest in the US.

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Though Barr has repeatedly said that antifa is intricately involved with violence and unrest connected to recent protests across the US, there’s virtually no evidence to back this up.

Investigations of arrest records linked to the protests found few people were affiliated with organized groups.

In June, for example, NPR reviewed court documents of 51 individuals facing federal charges connected to the unrest, and none were alleged to have links to antifa.

As Barr inflates the threat of antifa, recent intelligence assessments found that far-right individuals associated with the “boogaloo” movement may soon target Washington, DC.

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Data on extremism in the US also shows that antifa, a loosely affiliated network of left-wing, anti-fascist activists, has not been found responsible for a single death in the past 25 years, based on database assembled by researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and reviewed by The Guardian.

During the same time period (1994-present day), US-based far-right and white supremacist groups conducted attacks that left at least 329 people dead.

Since 9/11, jihadists have killed 107 people in the US, while far-right terrorism has killed 112 people, according to the New America think tank.

Far-right extremists killed at least 38 people in 2019…✁ (out of room..)

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https://www.businessinsider.com/barr-gop-present-antifa-major-threat-but-no-evidence-killings-2020-7

Thankfully, Government Sponsored ‘Cancelling’ of a constitutional right in order to get released from jail, for practicing one’s constitutional right isn’t going to be a thing… for now.

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A judge-imposed condition that required about a dozen protesters arrested this month by federal officers to not participate in any public demonstrations or public assemblies while on release is expected to be dropped, prosecutors and public defenders said Wednesday.

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But U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta added the no-protest provision when a defendant balked at the proposed curfew, prohibiting the person from attending any protests, rallies or public assemblies while on release.

Another magistrate judge, Jolie A. Russo, followed suit, according to attorneys familiar with the cases.

All agree it’s unconstitutional.

Oregon’s U.S. Attorney’s Office is joining with federal public defenders to ask that the condition be modified to a less restrictive one.

Nora Benavidez, a spokeswoman from PEN America, a nonprofit organization that celebrates literature and free expression, said any restrictions “forcing First Amendment-abiding protesters to sign away their right to demonstrate to be released” were “gross violations” of free speech and assembly.

Her statement came in response to a ProPublica story Tuesday on the conditions imposed.

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https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/07/no-protest-condition-for-people-facing-federal-charges-in-portland-demonstrations-will-be-dropped.html

Whoops! Did I say Governmental ‘Canceling’ wasn’t going to be a thing?

Pre-Crime!

When you don’t actually have a crime!

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The demonstration had nearly wrapped up when police suddenly blocked off the overpass and began placing people under arrest, according to protesters.

By “kettling” the protesters on the bridge — a crowd control tactic that’s been used in recent months — police may have prevented the demonstrators from peacefully dispersing since many were so close to their endpoint, Conrad said.

They could have been let off with a citation so they could return home, Conrad said.

“It was only in this last block or two in the march itself — when folks were heading back to the starting point — that really all hell broke loose,” Conrad said. “That’s troubling from a lot of different perspectives.”

Omaha Police Capt. Mark Matuza told the Omaha World-Herald that the protest was stopped because it “leaned toward the potential of getting violent,” but the Omaha Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as to what led them to believe that potential existed.

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https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/935zg8/police-arrested-120-anti-racism-protesters-in-omaha-and-barely-anyones-talking-about-it

The bonfire of the dissenters casts a lovely glow on the ashes of the 1st Amendment, does it not? Well done, cancel culture warriors!

Stanty, less us know, when you intend to post something resembling this planet and not Opposite Earth.

I don’t suppose it would be possible … nah, this one is going to be flogged until the strip gets cancelled.

https://thebulwark.com/trumps-new-ad-is-amazing/

Are we waiting til tomorrow to discuss ‘Delay the Election’?…

There’s an amusing give-and-take between Stantis and Ted Rall at Counterpoint today. I won’t give it away, but the subject is sports. I don’t seem to be able to link to the post (it comes to my inbox as an email), but here’s the link to subscribe (free):

https://counterpoint.substack.com/

I’m kind of lukewarm about Counterpoint in general, but there it is and I don’t seem to be canceling it (despite the blatant existence of the phrase “cancel culture”!), so I’m not exactly dis-recommending it.

Can’t understand the crap storm over the 8th season of Game of Thrones, But you guys have at it.

Are Homeless People a race? Asking for a friend.

It sounds like Senator Hunny Bunny is back.

What’s all this cis-gender “him” and “her” stuff?