https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/nyregion/jersey-city-shooting.html

The firefight that left six people dead is believed to have been motivated by anti-Semitic and anti-police sentiments, an official said.

By Michael Gold and Ali Watkins

An assailant involved in a prolonged firefight in Jersey City, N.J., that left six people dead, including one police officer, had published anti-Semitic and anti-police posts online and investigators believe the attack was motivated by those sentiments, a law enforcement official familiar with the case said on Wednesday.

Investigators also found a manifesto-style note inside the assailants’ van, the law enforcement official and another official familiar with the case said.

The document, which was described as brief and “rambling,” suggested no clear motive for the shooting. Investigators also found a live pipe bomb inside the vehicle, the law enforcement official said.

The law enforcement official could not provide more details about the suspect’s online posts or where they had been published. He said that investigators were still reviewing that information.

So far, the authorities have not identified the attackers, who were killed in the firefight. None of the three victims inside the store have been publicly identified by officials. The Jersey City police officer who was killed was identified on Tuesday as Detective Joe Seals, a 15-year law enforcement veteran and a father of five.

</snip>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/11/william-barrs-deceptions-are-more-dangerous-than-you-think-heres-latest/

By Greg Sargent
Opinion writer

Dec. 11, 2019 at 9:57 a.m. EST

President Trump is openly telegraphing that he fully expects his attorney general to validate one of his biggest lies: that the real crime in 2016 wasn’t Russia’s sabotaging of our election but rather the decision by law enforcement to investigate it.

New public comments from William P. Barr provide Trump with ample grounds for being confident that Barr will deliver for him.

But Barr’s latest claims about the Russia investigation rest on a serious misrepresentation that has not gotten the focus it deserves — and is more pernicious than it first appears.

<snip>

Barr’s cynicism helps Trump
It’s galling in the extreme that Barr would piously claim concern for preserving the sanctity of our elections while hand-waving away the massive outside disruption effort as a central reason the investigation was legitimately launched.

This also serves numerous Trump political purposes. It helps Trump make the fact of that Russian attack disappear — and by extension the betrayal of our country his campaign engaged in when it did actively work to coordinate and benefit from it.

This has been a central Trump goal for years: Son-in-law Jared Kushner dismissed the Russian effort as “a couple of Facebook ads,” and campaign manager Brad Parscale insisted Russia “never” helped Trump.

In fact, this was a serious and disruptive attack on our democratic processes and on liberal democracy itself. Barr is helping make all that go poof.

This also serves to downplay the threat of another outside attack and Trump’s eagerness to benefit from that, too, which he has openly telegraphed. And anything that obscures that eagerness helps Trump dodge accountability for his use of his office to extort another foreign power into helping rig the next election, for which he’s being impeached.

</snip>

https://twitter.com/matthewamiller/status/1204782088039391238
Matthew Miller ✔ @matthewamiller

Lindsey Graham's position is that the FBI should have briefed the guy who publicly invited the Russians to interfere in the election about the fact his campaign was under investigation for working with the Russians to interfere in the election.

10:16 AM - Dec 11, 2019

https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/status/1204779988614090752
Nancy Pelosi ✔ @SpeakerPelosi

Americans are sick & tired of paying as much as ten times more for their prescription drugs as people in other countries. This week, the House votes to set the record straight by passing H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act.

Nancy Pelosi is live

10:08 AM - Dec 11, 2019

https://twitter.com/v1ck_mendoza/status/1204576978709315584
Vick™ @1ck_mendoza

this really just happened at Sears at Hilltop 🤦🏻?♂️

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8:41 PM - Dec 10, 2019

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_W.


Bill Wilson, Alcoholics Anonymous

William Griffith Wilson (November 26, 1895 – January 24, 1971), also known as Bill Wilson or Bill W., was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

AA is an international mutual aid fellowship with about 2 million members worldwide belonging to approximately 10,000 groups, associations, organizations, cooperatives, and fellowships of alcoholics helping other alcoholics achieve and maintain sobriety. Following AA's Twelfth Tradition of anonymity, Wilson is commonly known as "Bill W." or "Bill." In order to communicate among one another, members of "AA" will often ask those who appear to be suffering or having a relapse from alcoholism if they are "friends of Bill". Although this question can be confusing, because "Bill" is a common name, it does provide a means of establishing a rapport with those who are familiar with the saying and in need of help. After Wilson's death in 1971, and amidst much controversy within the fellowship, his full name was included in obituaries by journalists who were unaware of the significance of maintaining anonymity within the organization.

Wilson's sobriety from alcohol, which he maintained until his death, began December 11, 1934. In 1955 Wilson turned over control of AA to a board of trustees. Wilson died of emphysema complicated by pneumonia in 1971. In 1999 Time listed him as "Bill W.: The Healer" in the Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.

<snip>

A spiritual program for recovery
In November 1934, Wilson was visited by old drinking companion Ebby Thacher. Wilson was astounded to find that Thacher had been sober for several weeks under the guidance of the evangelical Christian Oxford Group. Wilson took some interest in the group, but shortly after Thacher's visit, he was again admitted to Towns Hospital to recover from a bout of drinking. This was his fourth and last stay at Towns hospital under Doctor Silkworth's care and he showed signs of delirium tremens. It was while undergoing treatment with The Belladonna Cure that Wilson experienced his "White Light" spiritual conversion and quit drinking. Earlier that evening, Thacher had visited and tried to persuade him to turn himself over to the care of a Christian deity who would liberate him from alcohol. According to Wilson, while lying in bed depressed and despairing, he cried out, "I'll do anything! Anything at all! If there be a God, let Him show Himself!" He then had the sensation of a bright light, a feeling of ecstasy, and a new serenity. He never drank again for the remainder of his life. Wilson described his experience to Dr. Silkworth, who told him, "Something has happened to you I don't understand. But you had better hang on to it".

Wilson joined the Oxford Group and tried to help other alcoholics, but succeeded only in keeping sober himself. During a failed business trip to Akron, Ohio, Wilson was tempted to drink again and decided that to remain sober he needed to help another alcoholic. He called phone numbers in a church directory and eventually secured an introduction to Dr. Bob Smith, an alcoholic Oxford Group member. Wilson explained Doctor Silkworth's theory that alcoholics suffer from a physical allergy and a mental obsession. Wilson shared that the only way he was able to stay sober was through having had a spiritual experience. Smith was familiar with the tenets of the Oxford Group and upon hearing Wilson's experience, "began to pursue the spiritual remedy for his malady with a willingness that he had never before been able to muster. After a brief relapse, he sobered, never to drink again up to the moment of his death in 1950". Wilson and Smith began working with other alcoholics. After that summer in Akron, Wilson returned to New York where he began having success helping alcoholics in what they called "a nameless squad of drunks" in an Oxford Group there.

In 1938, after about 100 alcoholics in Akron and New York had become sober, the fellowship decided to promote its program of recovery through the publication of a book, for which Wilson was chosen as primary author. The book was given the title Alcoholics Anonymous and included the list of suggested activities for spiritual growth known as the Twelve Steps. The movement itself took on the name of the book. Later Wilson also wrote the Twelve Traditions, a set of spiritual guidelines to ensure the survival of individual AA groups. The AA general service conference of 1955 was a landmark event for Wilson in which he turned over the leadership of the maturing organization to an elected board.

In 1939, Wilson and Marty Mann visited High Watch Farm in Kent, CT. They would go on to found what is now High Watch Recovery Center, the world's first alcohol and addiction recovery center founded on Twelve Step principles.

</snip>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholics_Anonymous

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship with the stated purpose of enabling its members to "stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." AA is nonprofessional, self-supporting, and apolitical. Its only membership requirement is a desire to stop drinking. The AA program of recovery is set forth in the Twelve Steps.

AA was founded in Akron, Ohio when in 1935 one alcoholic, Bill Wilson, talked to another alcoholic, Bob Smith, about the nature of alcoholism and a possible solution. With the help of other early members, the book Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism was written in 1939. Its title became the name of the organization and is now usually referred to as "The Big Book". AA's initial Twelve Traditions were introduced in 1946 to help the fellowship be stable and unified while disengaged from "outside issues" and influences.

The Traditions recommend that members remain anonymous in public media, altruistically help other alcoholics, and that AA groups avoid official affiliations with other organizations. They also advise against dogma and coercive hierarchies. Subsequent fellowships such as Narcotics Anonymous have adapted the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions to their respective primary purposes.

AA membership has since spread internationally "across diverse cultures holding different beliefs and values", including geopolitical areas resistant to grassroots movements. Close to two million people worldwide are estimated to be members of AA as of 2016.

</snip>

https://people.com/tv/philip-mckeon-dies-at-age-55/

By Natalie Stone December 10, 2019 03:30 PM



Child actor Philip McKeon has died. He was 55.

After battling a longtime illness, he died Tuesday morning in Texas, family spokesman Jeff Ballard confirmed to PEOPLE.

“We are all beyond heartbroken and devastated over Phil’s passing,” Ballard said in a statement. “His wonderful sense of humor, kindness and loyalty will be remembered by all who crossed his path in life.”

The elder brother of Facts of Life actress Nancy McKeon, Philip is best known for his role as Tommy Hyatt on Alice, in which he starred opposite Linda Lavin from 1976-1985. The CBS sitcom was based on Martin Scorsese’s 1974 rom-com Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, in which Alfred Lutter played the titular character Alice Hyatt’s son Tommy. However, Philip replaced Lutter after the pilot.


Philip McKeon and Alice cast CBS VIA GETTY

Following his role on the sitcom, he worked at Los Angeles station KFWB News 98 in its news department for 10 years before later moving to Wimberly, Texas, where he hosted his own radio show and relocated to be closer to family. His other credits include the 1987 slasher film Return to Horror High and appearances in CHiPs, Fantasy Island and The Love Boat.

</snip>

https://twitter.com/CarolynBMaloney/status/1204505076175450119
Carolyn B. Maloney ✔ @CarolynBMaloney

Bolsonaro called an environmental terrorist by Congresswoman.#ClimateCrisis #FridaysForFuture #GreenNewDeal

Sky News ✔ @SkyNews

Greta Thunberg called a 'brat' by Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro http://news.sky.com/story/greta-thunberg-called-a-brat-by-brazils-president-jair-bolsonaro-11883240 …

3:56 PM - Dec 10, 2019

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1204439465361575941
Aaron Rupar ✔ @atrupar

Hogan Gidley says Trump and Lavrov will talk about "election security" 👀

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11:35 AM - Dec 10, 2019