all

No tricks: Half-term Halloween treats retailers to a +17.7% boost to UK store footfall

With Halloween coinciding with school half-term and the religious festival of Diwali this year, UK shoppers embraced spooky season, delivering a boost to in-store shopper traffic, the latest data from Sensormaic Solutions, the leading retail traffic consulting and analytics group from Johnson Controls, shows.




all

Futura forges alliance with Shipster to create end-to-end software solution

Shipster, a custom shipping integration platform, and Futura Retail Solutions, an advanced retail and warehouse management software, have announced a strategic partnership to target growing omni-channel retail markets.




all

Half-term Halloween delivers devilish boost to digital sales, rising +32.2% year-on-year

Online retailers saw a significant increase in online Halloween sales, bolstered by the event (31 Oct) falling during school half-term as well as coinciding with Diwali, according to data from Wunderkind, the AI-driven performance marketing solution.




all

Retail payroll teams struggling with seasonal hiring, but too few are leveraging technology to alleviate the burden

With the holiday season fast approaching, retail payroll teams around the world are bracing for the strain of seasonal hiring.




all

Democrats Find Relief Among Allies at 'Fahrenheit 9/11'

While it is unclear whether Michael Moore's film will influence swing voters, the first wave of the movie's attendees was solidly anti-Bush.




all

An Update on All of Trump's Crimes and Alleged Crimes


 On August 27, 2024, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith announced a Superseding Indictment Against Donald Trump arising from Trump's misconduct on January 6, 2021. The January 6 Insurrection already led to over 1400 indictments, 950 convictions, and landed over 600 protestors in jail. The Superseding Indictment seeks to restate the crimes alleged against former President Trump in light of the Supreme Court's novel and unprecedented decision in United States v. Trump granting Presidents a new-fangled immunity for official acts. In sum, according to the outstanding website January 6: And Why  it Matters:

While the core of the case remains unchanged with the four original charges intact, the revised indictment refines the scope of the accusations. Notably, it excludes certain claims, such as those involving attempts to use the Justice Department to support Trump’s false election fraud allegations.

This case will not go away absent an order to Jack Smith that he desist from prosecution. That will not happen unless Donald Trump assumes the Presidency. On the other hand, Trump will likely move to dismiss the Superseding Indictment and the trial judge could well partially grant that motion. Whatever remains of this case will very likely go to trial well after election day on November 5, 2024, and even if a jury convicts Trump litigation will continue about the scope of Presidential immunity leading to further Supreme Court review.

But what about the other criminal cases against Donald Trump?

In one criminal action brought in  Florida federal court, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed an appeal with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals of the dismissal of all charges relating to Trump's alleged pilfering and mishandling of government documents including classified documents. Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that Smith's appointment as Special Prosecutor did not comply with lawSpecial Counsel Smith just filed an appellate brief and Trump will file a response; but, this appeal will not conclude before the election and any decision will then face Supreme Court review. Consequently, the election could well decide this matter instead of a jury.

In another criminal action in New York state court, a jury Trump helped pick from his native state, unanimously found Trump guilty of all 34 felony counts alleged against him. Trump's guilt rested on evidence beyond a reasonable doubt. According to Politico:

On May 30, 2024, Trump became the first U.S. president to become a convicted felon. After a six-week trial . . . he was found guilty of falsifying business records in connection with a payoff to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who claimed she had a sexual encounter with him. By buying Daniels’ silence, the payoff avoided a possible sex scandal in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign. Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal attorney and “fixer” at the time, sent the $130,000 hush-money payment to Daniels in October 2016, and then, while Trump was president, he reimbursed Cohen in a series of installments processed by Trump’s company. A unamimous 12-person jury found that Trump fraudulently disguised those installments as corporate legal expenses in violation of New York law.

In short, Trump defrauded voters in election 2016 by covering up his adulterous affair with a porn star. 

Currently, Judge Juan Merchan will rule on the impact of the Supreme Court's new-fangled immunity defense on September 16, 2024, and will sentence Trump for these felony convictions for these 34 felony convictions on September 18, 2024. Experts disagree on the likelihood of prison for these felonies.

Trump also faces felony charges in Georgia for alleged criminal efforts to change the outcome of election 2020 in Georgia. As stated at Politico:

Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election were perhaps most aggressive in the state of Georgia. Multiple recounts confirmed that Joe Biden narrowly prevailed in the race for the state’s 16 electoral votes. But Trump and his allies spread lies about voter fraud, urged Georgia officials and state lawmakers to reverse Biden’s win and plotted to send fake electors to Washington. On Jan. 2, 2021, Trump called Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and urged him to “find” 11,780 votes — the number needed to overcome Biden’s victory. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis charged Trump and 18 of his allies for these efforts, alleging a wide-ranging criminal enterprise.

Essentially Trump refused to accept the reality of his defeat in Georgia and allegedly resorted to criminal measures to change the outcome. Trump filed an appeal arguing that District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed due to a a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor. Willis' team filed an appeal of a dismissal order of six counts of the indictment. Trump also filed a motion asserting Presidential Immunity. Consequently, this criminal action is hopelessly stalled and will not be resolved for years.

The above summary of the criminal actions pending against Trump suggests the following:

1)    Somewhere American law went wrong. The people no long hold sufficient confidence in the fairness and impartiality of our system of justice. Otherwise, Trump supporters would not so readily fall prey to the Big Lie that all these criminal proceedings arise from a vast Democratic and deep state conspiracy to get Trump. No evidence supports this Big Lie. We need to rebuild confidence in the American criminal justice system.

2)    The rule of law in America failed to hold President Trump accountable for the wrongdoing in connection with contesting the election of 2020, and especially the Insurrection of January 6, 2020. Many others sit in jail. Still more pleaded guilty. There is little doubt Trump led those efforts. He did so openly on television, and in recorded phone calls. Yet, Trump suffered no adverse legal consequences for his role. This failure of the rule of law must lead to reform. Citizens must view criminal justice as fair and non-partisan. It also needs to apply swiftly, even to the rich and powerful.

3)    We need enhanced legal education in primary and secondary schools as well as at the college level. The judicial power in the US is highly fragmented. The split starts with 51 differing sovereigns each with a largely independent judicial power. Yet, many apparently believe that Joe Biden or the Democratic Party holds the ability to influence the independent judicial branch across jurisdictions. This, despite a complete lack of evidence of any improper influence. We should certainly reinforce the independence of the judicial power while simultaneously increasing transparency and accountability. At the same time citizens require more education regarding the structure and protections already in place to maintain a fair and non-partisan criminal justice system.

4)    A Trump victory at the polls will destroy the quest for a fair and non-partisan criminal justice for decades to come, as he has promised to eliminate independence in criminal enforcement at the federal level and to use the system to exact retribution and revenge upon his political opponents





all

Trump's Cruel and Racist Attack on All Immigrants: Operation Wetback II


No campaign promise will impose more mass oppression than the zero due process mass round-ups that Donald Trump touts at every rally. 

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance continually promise an almost unimaginable assault on American (legally here or otherwise) workers if elected. They want to bring back Operation Wetback from the 1950s but at a much greater magnitude. These promises play a leading role in their campaign for the White House and make an appearance in each and every campaign rally. In fact, at one recent rally Trump promised a "bloody" round-up and removal operation. These round-ups also feature prominently in the GOP platform so the entire party supports mass round-ups.

The original Operation Wetback rounded-up American workers with no due process and summarily dropped them across the border into Mexico. Undocumented as well as legal workers suffered a militarized round-up across the nation. The operation even ensnared unknown numbers of US Citizens and broke-up families consisting of US Citizens and legal workers along with undocumented workers. It amounted to a terror campaign to get immigrants to self-deport. This brazenly racist effort serves as Trump's model.

Trump and Vance promise to round-up as many as 20 million American workers a million at a time. Vance would round-up legal and illegal immigrants alike. Like Eisenhower's approach, legality does not matter, only skin color, which explains the utter cruelty of its implementation.

The mass deportation program the Eisenhower Administration in the 1950s pursued is the closest and best historical corollary to such a proposal:

The only historical comparison to a mass deportation programme came in 1954, when as many as 1.3 million people were deported as part of Operation Wetback, named after a derogatory slur then commonly used against Mexican people. . . . The programme, under President Dwight Eisenhower, ran into considerable public opposition-partly because some US citizens were also deported - as well as a lack of funding. It was largely discontinued by 1955. Immigration experts say that the earlier operation's focus on Mexican nationals and lack of due process makes it incomparable to what a modern-day mass deportation programme would look like. 

President Trump, however, proposes a militarized and no due process round-up that likely would leave the 1950s program in the dust. In a Time magazine interview Trump said: "So if you look back into the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower . . . was very big on illegal immigration not coming into our country. And he did a massive deportation of people." The former President assumes he can do the job with the National Guard, but Trump promises to use the military if necessary, claiming that no federal law prohibits the use of the military against non-civilians. Indeed, it appears that Trump will accord those ensnared in this military operation zero due process,, as he makes clear in this video, from his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). He states: "We will pick them up and we will throw them out of our country and there will be no questions asked."

Trump will also not rule out the use of detention camps. Trump's top immigration advisor, the notoriously racist Stephen Miller, said: "Because of the logistical challenges…you would need to build an extremely large holding area for illegal immigrants that at any given points in time . . . could hold upwards of 50, 60, 70,000 illegal aliens while you are waiting to send them . . . somewhere that would be willing to accept them.” Presumably, citizens ensnared in these round-ups would hold some means of getting released.

Make no mistake, Trump promises cruel and brutal treatment for those rounded-up, otherwise why would he work so hard to dehumanize and demonize migrants? Alfonso Aguilar, of the American Principles Project's Latino Partnership, states: "The Eisenhower mass deportation policy was tragic, human rights were violated. People were removed to distant locations without food and water. There were many deaths, unnecessary deaths. Sometimes even U.S. citizens of Hispanic origin, of Mexican origin were removed. It was a travesty. It was terrible. Immigrants were humiliated." In her book Impossible Subjects, Mae Ngai writes that many Mexicans were deported by ship. A congressional investigation, according to the book, compared the conditions on the ship to that of an "eighteenth century slave ship."

Trump and his MAGA cult consistently dehumanize migrants and propagate the most heinous lies about them--calling them animals and wrongfully accusing them of eating pets. They do this to pave the way for unspeakable evil. This evil plotting constitutes the core of their campaign and features in every rally and every campaign event. Dehumanization and demonization is the way to get many people to engage in deeply immoral and evil misconduct.

Miller himself admits that much of this will occur pursuant to a "shock and awe blitz of Executive Orders" such that the slow-moving courts will not keep pace with the Trump plan. Miller promises that the next Trump Administration will not include those counseling compliance with law; instead, officials will prepare to move quickly on Day 1.“Trump will unleash the vast arsenal of federal powers to implement the most spectacular migration crackdown,” Miller led the Trump Administration's family separation policy which courts found unlawful but which still inflicted permanent cruelty upon children, many of whom remain separated from their families. As of mid-2024, Trump's policy of family separation still violates the law and about 1100 children still remain separated from their families despite a federal injunction to the contrary, and despite a Biden task force charged with repairing this manifest cruelty

Many of the barriers and guardrails that stopped Trump from pursuing unlawful conduct such as these round-ups are now weakened or simply gone. The judiciary includes many more Trump appointees compared to 2016. Trump now prepares for a second term with a greater focus on appointing compliant and obedient underlings. Indeed, he wants to eliminate the civil service. His lawyers already laid out arguments for the use of little used laws like the Alien Enemies Act

Worse yet this fast-moving mass round-up campaign will combine with Trump's promise to abolish birthright citizenship to create a perfect storm of lawless cruelty, which I will focus upon in my next post.




all

Bootgate explained: How Ron DeSantis’s alleged cowboy boot hidden heels became a campaign controversy




all

Where's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown? How to watch your favorite Peanuts Halloween special tonight




all

‘The Substance’ is streaming today just in time for Halloween, here’s how to watch




all

How to watch all the classic Christmas movies in 2024




all

'A Carol For Two,' 'Holiday Mismatch' and more: How to watch the new Hallmark holiday movies coming out this weekend




all

Basketball buff Bowden scoops awards

From playing to coaching, refereeing to teaching — this Lane Cove teen has shown she is an asset to basketball.




all

Thunderous fun for all

Cricket stars from Sydney Thunder thrilled their fans in Kellyville on Sunday morning.




all

Bowling alley gets go ahead

A SPORTS centre, bowling alley, and cafe will transform a bare 12,000sq m western Sydney corner block that fronts a problematic traffic spot.




all

Small steps, giant leap to manhood

A GROUP of teens braved the dark and cold on Friday for a 24-hour challenge as part of Panthers on the Prowl’s pilot program, Building Young Men.




all

He was clinically dead for 40 minutes

Graeme Webb was clinically dead for more than 40 minutes. A year on, the Hammondville man who has been dubbed the Miracle Man, relives his story and talks about how life has changed.




all

Taking a punt on American football

JODIE Pearson agrees “petite” is a fair description of her 58kg, 170cm frame. So why would she risk a battering in the brutal sport of American football?




all

Awesome four inducted into Hall of Fame

The Penrith Panthers celebrated their 50th season gala dinner with the induction of four revered Panthers into the Panthers Hall of Fame.




all

Skills on show at NSW netball titles

MT DRUITT Netball Association’s flag flew proudly at the 2016 Netball NSW State Age Championships.




all

Young blues player is having a ball

Greenacre resident William Fine Paiaaua Kei, 16, scored the winning try for the Under-16s NSW side in the curtain-raiser for the first grade match.




all

Is It Okay to Illegally Stream Movies?




all

All - Bluesky Directory

Starter packs Bluesky




all

A new era dawns. America’s tech bros now strut their stuff in the corridors of power | Carole Cadwalladr | The Guardian




all

Daring Fireball: How It Went




all

All the data can be yours — Jerome Paulos




all

(3) cmerry???? on X: "@Squad_sussex96 She was chasing a bunch of other rich boys too. Willys friends called her The Mattress ????I think the options dried up for both so they both had to settle for each other ???? https://t.co/VpRCXfE63B" / X

She was chasing a bunch of other rich boys too. Willys friends called her The Mattress I think the options dried up for both so they both had to settle for each other




all

Come si mantiene una mente brillante molto a lungo? I comportamenti che fanno nascere nuovi neuroni (e fate attenzione all'udito) | Corriere.it




all

Peenemünde: Von Vorpommern ins All - Raumfahrtfirma soll Jobs schaffen

»Ein Raumfahrtunternehmen will sich in Vorpommern ansiedeln und arbeitet an einem leistungsstarken Antrieb. Das könnte bald gut bezahlte Jobs in die strukturschwache Region locken.«




all

(3) John LeFevre on X: "I don't care about the Royal Family, but the Kate Middleton (Princess of Wale) story is wild: - In high school, she and her sister (Pippa) were called the "Wisteria Sisters" for being shameless social climbers. &

I don't care about the Royal Family, but the Kate Middleton (Princess of Wale) story is wild: - In high school, she and her sister (Pippa) were called the "Wisteria Sisters" for being shameless social climbers.   - She got into a relatively prestigious college (Edinburgh) and then switched to a less prestigious school (St. Andrews) after it was announced that Prince William would be attending. - She delayed starting by a year to be in the same class as William, and then changed her major to Art History to match his.  - She dumped her boyfriend after being told that Prince William said she was "hot." - Her mom gave William an ultimatum that he needed to propose, which Kate then helped plan.  Mission accomplished.




all

Who really won the US election? The fossil fuel companies and other polluting industries.





all

Exclusive — Sen. Ron Johnson Hopes for Delay of Senate Leadership Vote, Calls McConnell Push ‘Grotesque’

Senate Republicans are set to gather behind closed doors on Wednesday to select a new party leader after securing the majority—and as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) serves his final days as Senate minority leader.

The post Exclusive — Sen. Ron Johnson Hopes for Delay of Senate Leadership Vote, Calls McConnell Push ‘Grotesque’ appeared first on Breitbart.





all

Exclusive — Speaker Johnson Orders Entire Biden Administration to Preserve and Retain All Records and Documents

House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday ordered the entire administration of President Joe Biden to preserve all records and communications in the waning days of the outgoing Democrat administration as former President Donald Trump’s team prepares to take over.

The post Exclusive — Speaker Johnson Orders Entire Biden Administration to Preserve and Retain All Records and Documents appeared first on Breitbart.





all

Caught In The Act: Metallica, Pantera, Mammoth WVH Rock Chicago

Rob Grabowski and Tom Antonson caught Metallica, Pantera and Mammoth WVH In The Act during the Chicago stop of the M72 Tour at Soldiers Field on August 9th. Check out Rob's photos and Tom's review!




all

Travel News, Trips and Tips: Fall Travel Essentials

Check out these items that we recommend as take-alongs for all of your autumn travel adventures. And yes, you'll love them at home too!




all

Halloween Special: Put These Halloween Goodies in Your Trick-or-Treat Bag

With all the costumes and candy and scary good fun, Halloween is one of the most enjoyable holidays. Here are some items that we think will make your spooky parties even more fun, and we begin with a monstrously good soundtrack




all

Hot In The City: Halloween Fun in Phoenix

Here are our suggestions for a couple of things to do during the spooky Halloween season in the Phoenix metropolitan area: Candytopia and Glowing Pumpkins.




all

Rock Reads: Halloween Edition

This spooky season cuddle up with a good boo, er, book; there's no better way to keep the ghosties and ghoulies at bay and have a great time doing so.




all

All Recent Reviews and Interviews

Most recent Reviews and Interviews




all

Team Bermuda Place 6th Overall In Florida

Bermudian powerboat racers Steven Bridges and David Selley finished sixth overall in their class in the Race World Offshore Key West World Championship in Key West, Florida. Competing in a fleet of 14-boats in the Super Stock class, the pair bounced back from their DNF in the opening race on Friday with a fifth-place finish […]




all

CA Assembly’s Happiness Report | What Does ‘Happiness’ Really Mean? | Café Xocolatl and Choquiero Chocolate

The California State Assembly’s select committee on happiness releases a new report. What does it mean to study happiness and how it interacts with public policy? Finally, a Sacramento cafe and chocolatier making treats with Latin cacao.




all

Gut-Behrami wins downhill to extend lead over Shiffrin in World Cup overall standings

Lara Gut-Behrami has won a shortened World Cup downhill to close in on the injured Sofia Goggia in the discipline standings. She is on a four-race winning streak and overtook the absent Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall standings last weekend.




all

Mikaela Shiffrin announces return and whether she thinks she can still win the overall title

Even as a record-tying sixth overall crystal globe slips away, Mikaela Shiffrin does not expect a return to the World Cup before the March 9-10 tech series in Are, Sweden.






all

Ballmer kondigt vertrek bij Microsoft aan

Steve Ballmer zal als CEO opstappen bij Microsoft. De wel erg enthousiaste baas van het techbedrijf vindt het tijd voor vernieuwing in de organisatie en die vernieuwing moet door een verse CEO worden begeleid. Ballmer lag onder vuur gezien de tegenvallende resultaten de laatste tijd.




all

Interview met Steve Ballmer (deel 1): Heeft hij spijt?

Onze collega van ZDNet mocht 15 minuten lang Steve Ballmer interviewen over zijn vertrek bij Microsoft. Er werd gesproken over de beslissing waar hij het meest spijt van heeft en wat hij van de toekomst verwacht.