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Now the Alt-Right is Targeting Young Boys with Pokémon Nazi Challenge

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“Gotta Catch ‘Em All” Sounds Very Different When Pikachu Is Dressed Like Hitler

Caution: Disturbing image, language below.

Last week the White Supremacist (“alt-right”) website The Daily Stormer announced it had begun sponsoring the distribution of Nazi propaganda to children playing Pokémon Go. Crediting the idea to “an enterprising stormer”, the website is encouraging supporters to distribute the flyers (pictured below) to white children hanging out at Pokémon gyms.

Vocativ first reported the story last week and since that time, Daily Stormer writer and proud racist Andrew Anglin doubled down on his efforts as he pushed back against supporters who took issue with co-opting the beloved game. Anglin claims flyers with racist slurs and Nazi imagery will draw in large numbers of preteens and teens because “…young boys like rebellious things. It excites them. It makes them interested. The flyer, in my view, was perfectly designed to appeal to young boys, and I think we’re going to get a huge response once people start handing them out.”

The flyer in question shows a Pikachu character dressed to look like Hitler and starts with a vile and vicious call out: 

 hey_white_boy.jpg

The back side of the flyer continues, 

The race war is coming. The Jews are going to release the [n-word] on you, they’re going to burn down your cities. They’re going to rape your mother and your sister, they’re going to butcher you all. 

We need to organize and we need to do it quickly. 

The first step is to vote for DONALD TRUMP. You are probably too young to vote, but you need to do everything you can to support his rise as GOD EMPEROR.

Not all White Supremacists seem to be on board with this extreme approach to recruitment, however. Responding to the “several negavite comments’” he’s received, Anglin says on his blog that, no matter how harsh the flyer may be, it doesn’t matter. Once people learn “that very extreme right-wing people exist, lesser extreme right-wing people become more socially acceptable in their minds.” In other words, as long as there are people like Anglin around, Donald Trump’s less extreme views on white supremacy will become acceptable in the mainstream world. 

Further down, Anglin pushes the philosphy that his extreme beliefs are appealing in and of themselves. “In extreme situations, such as that which exists in modern America, people tend to be more drawn to extremism and extreme solutions.” He says most people have long since stopped paying attention because “Trump has been called a racist six million times.”

We’re so desensitized to the claims of bigotry and racism that even “If the media were to present these flyers and say ‘look, racist Alt-Right Neo-Nazi Pokemon conspiracy!!!!’ it would simply be more noise.”

Anglin’s extremism is, oddly, so extreme to some people they’ve accused him of being “some kind of secret Jewish agent.” To prove how absurd the accusation is, Anglin writes, “Why don’t you go see if you can find someone accusing Allen Ginsberg of being a secret Nazi agent. If not, than there is some very serious misunderstanding going on (at the very least).” 

But why Pokémon, and why childish arguments and tactics? As Anglin himself says, “The Daily Stormer was designed to appeal to teenagers, but I have long thought that we needed to get pre-teens involved in the movement. At that age, you can really brainwash someone easily. Anyone who accepts Nazism at the age of 10 or 11 is going to be a Nazi for life.”

 

Image by Eduardo Woo via Flickr and a CC license
Hat tip: Wonkette

 

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News

Family Food Costs Hit Record High Despite Trump Touting Cheaper Holiday Dinner

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As Americans prepare for Thanksgiving, President Donald Trump is promoting Walmart’s 25% cheaper holiday meal as evidence that grocery prices are falling. But the discount reflects a smaller, bargain-focused menu with fewer items and fewer name-brand products — lowering the cost of a one-time holiday feast without addressing the broader fact shoppers are seeing at the checkout line, that overall food prices have hit a record high this year.

The fact-checkers at Snopes reported on Friday that the cost of feeding a family of four for one month hit an all-time high of $1,030 this year. Snopes cited data from the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C. think tank, whose October American Affordability Tracker compiled figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A separate report released Friday by Groundwork Collaborative, The Century Foundation, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) found that many Thanksgiving basics have risen sharply, contradicting the claim that the Thanksgiving holiday meal is generally cheaper.

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“The full holiday meal is up nearly 10% this year, more than triple the overall rate of inflation,” the report found. It stated that onions are up 56%, creamed corn is up more than 20%, butternut squash and collard greens have risen over 12%, and french-fried onion topping for a green bean casserole has climbed 15%.

Meanwhile, citing “the highest inflation in decades,” CNN reported on Friday that the “Trump administration’s unprecedented tariffs, the immigration crackdown and global natural disasters have rattled the food supply chain. Grocery prices rose in August at their fastest pace in three years and increased again in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

“This is coming on the heels of the highest inflation in decades,” the news network noted.

Americans should not expect grocery prices to drop before Thanksgiving, The New York Post revealed on Friday.

“Grocery prices will remain stiff across the board through Thanksgiving despite President Trump’s recent cancellation of tariffs on beef, bananas and more — and coffee drinkers shouldn’t expect relief until after Christmas.”

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Image via Reuters

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Trump to Hold Million-Dollar-a-Plate Fundraisers Amid Affordability Push

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As President Donald Trump and his administration continue their focus on touting affordability — insisting prices for many everyday food items have dropped while consumers lament grocery store prices — the President will be hosting two one-million-dollar-a-plate fundraisers for his super PAC early next year.

Inflation remains high at 3.0%. The unemployment rate is now the highest it’s been in nearly four years. Prices for items like beef, coffee, and bananas have increased by double-digit percentages. Major corporations have announced plans to lay off thousands or tens of thousands of workers. And millions of Americans are seeing their health care premiums for next year skyrocket, as Congress leaves D.C. for Thanksgiving break.

The president, meanwhile, has insisted there is little to no inflation, and calls affordability a Democratic “con job,” as he hosted the crown prince of Saudi Arabia this week for a lavish black-tie White House dinner.

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“President Trump, who has been hosting fund-raising dinners at a pace unseen by any second-term president, is scheduled to hold two more early next year, according to copies of the invitations seen by The New York Times,” the Times reported on Friday. “Mr. Trump is slated to attend two high-dollar ‘candlelight dinners’ — one at Trump National Golf Club near Washington on Jan. 31, the second at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 27.”

The Times also reports that politicians’ super PACs generally spend funds on the politicians’ own elections, but Trump is term-limited, according to the U.S. Constitution. While he has flirted with running for a third term, he recently acknowledged it is not permitted.

The White House has said Trump will be more focused on the cost of living in the new year.

Last month, a local CBS affiliate reported that “President Trump is expected to headline a $1 million-per-person candlelight dinner at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Oct. 17. The event is hosted by the Trump-aligned super PAC, MAGA, Inc., which raised $177 million in the first half of the year. The event is expected to have an impact on next year’s midterm elections.”

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Image via Reuters

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‘Very Serious Violation of the Law’: Trump Says Military Looking Into Democrats’ Video

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One day after calling for six Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for “seditious behavior,” President Donald Trump is now claiming the military is looking into a video they recorded reminding members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Intelligence Community of their duty to refuse unlawful orders.

“I think it’s a very serious violation of the law,” President Trump told Fox News Radio.

“I know they’re looking into it militarily,” Trump claimed.

“I think Pete Hegseth is looking into it, too,” he said of the Secretary of Defense. “I don’t know for a fact, but I think the military is looking into it — the military courts.”

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The six lawmakers — four House Democrats and two Senate Democrats — in a recorded video said, “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law, or our Constitution.”

Trump lashed out on Thursday.

“It’s called seditious behavior at the highest level,” he charged. “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be Arrested and put on trial. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example must be set.”

“Seditious behavior, punishable by death!” he continued.

Some of the Democrats are speaking out.

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On Friday, U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), who is one of the six lawmakers, was asked if she believed illegal orders have been given.

“Well, what I will say is that over the last nine or ten months, about 600 pieces of lawsuits have been filed in response to executive orders or orders in general, that this president and this administration has made. Of those, 150 or so have been ruled as being unlawful, many of them by judges that have been appointed by President Trump.

“So, yes, you know, those kinds of things are going on,” she noted.

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Image via Reuters

 

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