onthedarkside

Off topic post about Biden removed.

Off topic attempt to derail the thread has been removed. This is not about the US or the West's democracy

Reported off topic posts and replies removed. This is not about Libya or Africa

Off topic post that led to a number of replies and baiting posts removed.

meme troll post removed

Inflammatory post removed

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said Thursday that if elected president, he will consider pardoning all the Jan. 6 defendants — including former President Trump — on his first day in office. “On day one, I will have folks that will get together and look at all these cases, who people are victims of weaponization or political targeting, and we will be aggressive in issuing pardons,” DeSantis said on “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” podcast when asked about whether he will consider pardoning Jan. 6 defendants, including Trump, who is currently facing a federal investigation over his role on Jan. 6. “I would say any example of disfavored treatment based on politics, or weaponization would be included in that review, no matter how small or how big,” he added. https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4020983-desantis-says-hell-consider-pardoning-jan-6-defendants-including-trump/

A New York state judge has set a trial date for Steve Bannon’s fundraising fraud case for May of next year. In a brief court hearing Thursday, the judge said Bannon’s trial would begin May 27, 2024 – roughly two months after former President Donald Trump will be on trial before the same judge, Juan Merchan, in a separate case related to falsifying business records tied to hush money payments. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy, money laundering and scheme to defraud. He was first indicted on federal charges in 2020 but pardoned by Trump in his final days in office. READ MORE https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/25/politics/steve-bannon-trial-date/index.html

Texas schoolchildren as young as four years old are being given Winnie-the-Pooh cartoon books, teaching them to “run, hide, fight” if a gunman enters their building. Parents and teachers in the Dallas area have expressed alarm and concern that the Stay Safe book, produced by a law enforcement consulting firm in Houston, has been sent home in the backpacks of children in pre-kindergarten and elementary classes. The book features the honey-loving bear created by AA Milne and illustrator EH Shepard instructing kids about how to react to a mass shooting. READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/25/winnie-the-pooh-books-teaches-texas-kids-run-hide-fight-shooting

An Internal Revenue Service criminal investigator who has accused Justice Department officials of slow-walking a long-running probe into President Joe Biden’s son Hunter’s tax affairs has cut off communication with a key congressional committee amid questions about the veracity of his claims and his motivations for coming forward. The special agent, Gary Shapley, is a veteran of the IRS criminal investigations department who on Thursday revealed his identity in an interview with CBS News. Mr Shapley is set to give evidence in a closed session before the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday. That panel, which has jurisdiction over the IRS, is led by Representative Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican. READ MORE https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/hunter-biden-irs-agent-whistleblower-b2345259.html

Two of Donald Trump’s employees moved boxes of papers the day before FBI agents and a prosecutor visited the former president’s Florida home to retrieve classified documents in response to a subpoena — timing that investigators have come to view as suspicious and an indication of possible obstruction, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump and his aides also allegedly carried out a “dress rehearsal” for moving sensitive papers even before his office received the May 2022 subpoena, according to the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive ongoing investigation. Prosecutors in addition have gathered evidence indicating that Trump at times kept classified documents in his office in a place where they were visible and sometimes showed them to others, these people said. READ MORE https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/25/trump-classified-documents-mar-a-lago/ No paywall archive link

Off topic post discussing vote counts in US has been removed

When the Kremlin says something, it should always be taken with a grain of salt. When it says something about its military prowess, one should take the claim with an entire salt mine. For years, Russia’s Kinzhal missile was portrayed by the Kremlin’s propaganda machine as an invincible, cutting-edge hypersonic weapon, symbolizing Russia’s supremacy in advanced military tech. The realities of the battlefield, however, have shown the true capabilities of the missile, also known as Kh-47M2. READ MORE https://kyivindependent.com/russias-kinzhal-missile-is-not-hypersonic-nor-is-it-invincible/

Troll post reported/removed

Racist slur post reported and removed

Off topic post on a separate Biden speech that has no bearing on this thread removed.

UPDATE: Florida Mom Behind Amanda Gorman Book Ban Has Proud Boy Links Salinas, who filed complaints against five books, appears to be connected to multiple far-right organizations, attending events with Moms for Liberty and the Proud Boys. Salinas did not return requests for comment. The Miami-Dade Moms for Liberty chapter did not immediately return a request for comment. Salinas was removed by security from a Miami-Dade school board meeting in July 2022, according to video of the event, during an intervention by Moms For Liberty. https://www.thedailybeast.com/florida-mom-behind-amanda-gorman-book-ban-has-proud-boy-links

UPDATE: Twitter Spaces crashes repeatedly during DeSantis 2024 announcement Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign announcement was mired by repeated technical glitches on Twitter Wednesday evening, in a black eye for the social media platform. The highly-anticipated announcement, set to be made via a conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk and tech entrepreneur David Sacks on Twitter's "Spaces" feature, was delayed as it appeared the platform was overwhelmed. Twitter's mobile app repeatedly crashed and users complained that they were unable to hear the broadcast. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/twitter-spaces-crashes-repeatedly-during-desantis-2024-announcement

Some of Trump’s close associates are bracing for his indictment and anticipate being able to fundraise off a prosecution, people in the former president’s circle said, as clashes within the Trump legal team have led to the departure of a key lawyer. In recent weeks prosecutors working for Smith have completed interviews with nearly every employee at Trump’s Florida home, from top political aides to maids and maintenance staff, the people said. Prosecutors have pressed witnesses—some in multiple rounds of testimony—on questions that appeared to home in on specific elements Smith’s team would need to show to prove a crime, including those that speak to Trump’s intentions, and questions aimed at undermining potential defenses Trump could raise, they said. READ MORE https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/special-counsel-is-wrapping-up-trump-mar-a-lago-probe-99cd2517 No paywall archive link

In a new memo obtained first by NBC News, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said MAGA Republicans in the House led by Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer are “admitting” that congressional investigations into the Biden family’s finances are an attempt to damage the president politically. "[E]xtreme MAGA House Republicans are being caught doing something they rarely do: telling the truth,” he said. “They are admitting through their own words and deeds that these so-called ‘investigations’ are actually intended not to reveal facts but to hurt the President’s political standing.” Comer’s comments linking the probes to Biden’s poll numbers in a Fox News interview made this explicit, Sams continued. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/white-house-memo-says-gop-telling-truth-investigation-motives-rcna86078

Tina Turner - one of rock's great vocalists and most charismatic performers - has died aged 83. Her spokesperson said: "Tina Turner, the 'Queen of Rock 'n' Roll' died peacefully today at the age of 83 after a long illness in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland. "With her, the world loses a music legend and a role model." https://news.sky.com/story/tina-turner-dies-aged-83-12888593

President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to pass stronger gun laws, including a ban on assault rifles, while commemorating the anniversary of the elementary school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers exactly one year earlier in Uvalde, Texas. “We still need to ban AR-15 firearms — assault weapons — once again,” Biden said at the White House. “We can’t end this epidemic until Congress has some common-sense gun safety laws that keep weapons of war off our streets.” The president also called for the ban of high-capacity magazines, establishing universal background checks, national red flag laws and firearm storage requirements. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/24/biden-gun-legislation-year-after-texas-school-shooting-00098652

A pedophile slur has been reported/removed

Unapproved video removed with misinformation from a known conspiracy theorist

Confidence that China's economy can rebound from Covid restrictions is untethered to economic realities, Rockefeller International chair Ruchir Sharma wrote in the Financial Times. "Something is rotten in the Chinese economy, but don't expect Wall Street analysts to tell you about it," he said, listing several indicators that point to underlying weakness. For example, Wall Street's assumption of 5% GDP growth would suggest corporate revenue growth of 8%, but it rose by 1.5% in the first quarter. READ MORE https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/china-economy-growth-model-reopening-demand-boom-covid-debt-stimulus-2023-5