a lot of people are going to have to go to jail.

FBI says “extremists” motivated by Pizzagate, QAnon are threats

The modern era of the Internet has given us a seemingly never-ending bounty of farfetched conspiracy theories. Some of the loudest of those fringe movements have become pervasive enough and serious enough to qualify as domestic terror threats, the FBI says.

Yahoo News today published an internal FBI document it obtained warning of "conspiracy-theory-driven domestic extremists."

The memo, dated May 30, describes "anti-government, identity-based, and fringe political conspiracy theories" as likely to motivate extremists "to commit criminal or violent activity."

In the memo, the FBI says the document is the first bureau product to explicitly discuss the future threat from domestic extremists driven by modern conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories of some kind or another are nearly as old as communication itself, but the always-online era has accelerated their growth and broadened their spread.

"Although conspiracy theory-driven crime and violence is not a new phenomenon," the memo continues, "Today's information environment has changed the way conspiracy theories develop, spread, and evolve."

In the FBI's assessment, the bureau warns, these conspiracy movements "very likely will emerge, spread, and evolve in the modern information marketplace over the near term, fostering anti-government sentiment, promoting racial and religious prejudice, increasing political tensions, and occasionally driving both groups and individuals to commit criminal or violent acts," especially as we move into the 2020 election season.

The FBI, later in the document, defines "very likely" as a greater than 80% chance of something occurring.

Trump officials have redirected resources from countering far-right, racism-fueled domestic terrorism



In the aftermath of mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, President Trump vowed Monday to give federal law enforcement “whatever they need” to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic terrorism.

But the Department of Homeland Security, which is charged with identifying threats and preventing domestic terrorism, has sought to redirect resources away from countering anti-government, far-right and white supremacist groups.

The shift has come despite evidence of a growing danger. Last year, every extremist killing in the United States involved a follower of far-right hate groups or ideology, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. The FBI has noted a sharp increase in domestic terrorism cases involving white supremacists.

In June, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, told Congress that “white supremacist extremist violence” is “an evolving and increasingly concerning threat.”

Under Trump, 85% of the “countering violent extremism” grants awarded by Homeland Security explicitly targeted Muslims and other minority groups, including immigrants and refugees, more than under the Obama administration, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan policy institute at the New York University School of Law.

Homeland Security officials did not respond to requests for comment Monday, but the former officials said the department is working on a draft of a plan that includes a focus on domestic terrorism and mass casualty events.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson dismisses white supremacy as 'a hoax'

Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host who regularly echoes Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant “invasion” rhetoric, has described white supremacy in America as a “hoax” and a “conspiracy theory”.

Coming just days after a Texas man allegedly killed 22 people in El Paso after posting a manifesto complaining of a “Hispanic invasion”, the prime-time news star defended the president from criticisms of his rhetoric by disputing that Trump ever “endorsed white supremacy or came close to endorsing white supremacy”.
Historian who confronted Davos billionaires leaks Tucker Carlson rant
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“If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, problems this country has, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia probably. It’s actually not a real problem in America,” Carlson told his audience on Tuesday night.

Claiming that the white supremacy issue was being used by Democrats as a political tool, Carlson continued: “This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax, it’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power.”

Big Pharma is using faux generics to keep drug prices high, critics say

Brand-name drug makers are using "authorized generics" to keep drug prices high and stifle competition, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.

Authorized generics are defined by the US Food and Drug Administration as brand-name drugs that are simply repackaged and marketed without the brand name. They’re made by the same company that makes the brand-name drug and usually sold at a discount relative to the brand-name version.

Traditional generic drugs, on the other hand, are versions of a drug that are equivalent to a brand-name drug in active ingredients and effects but may have slight variations, such as in inactive ingredients like fillers and flavors. Generics are made by different companies from those that make the brand-name versions.

High-profile examples of authorized generics include Mylan’s cheaper form of its EpiPen, a life-saving epinephrine autoinjector that curbs deadly allergic reactions. In 2016, under political and public pressure to lower drug prices, Mylan introduced the authorized generic of EpiPen priced at $300 for a two-pack. That’s half the price of a two-pack of the brand-name version, which has a list price of around $600. But it’s still a staggering hike from EpiPen’s original cost of around $50 per injector in 2007. That year, Mylan bought the rights to EpiPen and then raised the price more than 400% in the years that followed. The authorized generic is essentially triple the price of what two injectors used to cost.

Drug companies argue that because authorized generics are priced lower than brand-name drugs, the faux generics lower overall prices and spur competition. But critics note that the prices can still be inflated, as in the EpiPen case. Moreover, because brand-name drugs’ list prices are often subject to rebates and discounts by middlemen, the authorized generics’ lower prices sometimes have no impact on how much drug companies net for their drugs.

Tricks and games

Another example is Eli Lilly’s authorized generic form of Humalog insulin, as Kaiser Health News points out. In March, Eli Lilly announced it would sell the authorized generic for $137 a vial, about half the price of the brand-name version’s $275 price. The company’s CEO reportedly said that seemingly compassionate move was made to address the “many patients [who] are struggling to afford their insulin.”

But the slashed price won’t affect Lilly’s bottom line, according to a senior pharmacy benefits executive who spoke to KHN under the condition of anonymity. After rebates, $137 is about what Eli Lilly gets for Humalog now, the executive said.

"It’s a parlor trick," the executive added. "They’re bending to political pressure, but are they taking any money out of the system? They’re not."

And, as others have noted, the price is still wildly inflated. A vial of brand-name Humalog has a list price of $55 in Germany, for instance. In 2001—before Lilly began hiking the price—the list price for a vial of Humalog in the US was $35.

Norway mosque attack: Bruised suspect Manshaus appears in court

A 21-year-old Norwegian man has appeared in court in Oslo, accused of terrorism in connection with a gun attack on a mosque at the weekend.

His face and neck marked by bruises and scratches, Philip Manshaus was also charged with attempted murder, as well as the murder of his stepsister.

Prosecutors are seeking to extend his custody for another four weeks.

He appeared to smile at photographers before the judge opened the case behind closed doors.

Mr Manshaus is accused of opening fire at the Al-Noor Islamic Centre in Baerum, west of the capital Oslo, on Saturday.

Shortly after the attack, the body of his 17-year-old stepsister was found at a house in Baerum.

There were three people inside the centre at the time of the attack and the gunman was overpowered before police arrived.

. . .

Police said the suspect appeared to have far-right and anti-immigrant views. Ahead of the attack, a message was posted on the EndChan forum purporting to be from Philip Manshaus.

EndChan said its moderators had deleted a thread and its "primary domain" was taken offline after the shooting.

U.S. Rep. Steve King defends call for abortion ban, says rapes and incest helped populate the world

U.S. Rep. Steve King on Wednesday defended his call for a ban on all abortions by questioning whether there would be “any population of the world left” if not for births due to rape and incest.

Speaking before a conservative group in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, the Iowa congressman reviewed legislation he has sought that would outlaw abortions without exceptions for rape and incest. King justified the lack of exceptions by questioning how many people would be alive if not for those conceived through rapes and incest.

“What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did that?” King asked, according to video of the event, which was covered by The Des Moines Register. “Considering all the wars and all the rape and pillage that’s taken place … I know I can’t certify that I’m not a part of a product of that.”

He added: “It’s not the baby’s fault for the sin of the father, or of the mother.”

A King spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

The nine-term Republican congressman, who represents a sprawling, largely rural 39-county district, has been criticized repeatedly for comments he’s made over the years, especially on issues related to race and immigration.

Cool theocracy you have there America.

What the hell happened to Charles Adler?

Lessons on becoming a pariah, from Michael Coren

. . .

During the Alberta election, Adler asked Jason Kenney why "knuckle-draggers" were attracted to his party, and why candidate Mark Smith was still in the fold.

A six-year-old recording had emerged with Smith making repugnant remarks about the LGBTQ community, and women who have abortions.

Some of Adler's listeners evidently assumed, and wanted, the interview to be soft and even reverential.

That's when the attacks on Adler began, and they've continued with increasing nastiness and regularity.

An hysterical reaction

Never one to back down from irrational opposition, Adler went on to ask Andrew Scheer on Twitter why he had allowed "any ambiguity" about where he stood on conversion therapy, and rightly condemned it as being "peddled by charlatans."

A few days ago, he asked the Conservative leader to distance himself from western separatism, and this week he tweeted that he was "through" with the Conservatives, after he was told by one right-wing type that his change of ideas must be due to "Alzheimer's." Adler's father had died from it, and the attack was obviously too personal to tolerate.

The social media mob, ever grotesque, had grabbed their metaphorical torches and was marching on Castle Adler.

Personally, I think all this makes him a more interesting and compelling journalist, and the edits or evolution in his views are minor and very much part of an intellectual continuum. The reaction has been disproportionate and hysterical.

. . .

Here's the question that applies to Charles Adler as well as to myself. Why does change so intimidate and anger certain people?

It's one thing to regret someone's move, to reject them as an ally, or to be disappointed in them; but the hysteria and the obsession that Adler is witnessing, and which to a lesser extent I still face even now, goes beyond the reasonable.

I believe it to be personal. People are threatened by what they see, and implicitly realize that what they considered sacrosanct and beyond doubt is in fact entirely worthy to be deconstructed. Their comfort zone has been challenged, their security in certainty dented. So rather than listening to the message, they try to discredit the messenger.

Every now and again, someone will post a column or video by me from seven or eight years ago to somehow prove that "Michael Coren is a monster" and "Look, he used to have different opinions." That's the whole point! Nope, not a monster, simply a flawed person who in his mid-50s realized that he didn't have all of the answers, and sometimes had the wrong ones.

While Rep. King is technically correct, it doesn't make it right. In fact it's quite the opposite. The guy is a total waste of skin.