by ti-amie austerity is theft
@wideofthepost
With a *$600* relief check, you could pay the median monthly rent for January in approximately zero states.
by ti-amie Robert Reich @RBReich
Can I let you in on a secret? We have the money to extend unemployment benefits and send the American people $1,200 direct payments.
The Pentagon spends $2,000,000,000 a day.
by ponchi101 Yes, but remember you have to protect yourself against the Afghani Taliban and Isis, and their arsenal of... 1978 Toyota Land Cruisers with a .50 machine gun in the back?
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Dec 17, 2020 5:29 pm
Robert Snell
@robertsnellnews
by ti-amieUS fraternities busted for 'large-scale' drug ring
US prosecutors have charged 21 people, including current and former university students, with operating a cross-country drug ring within fraternities.
Officials in North Carolina allege that the fraternities, which are male student social clubs, trafficked huge quantities of drugs from California.
Prosecutors say the group "poisoned" other students at events and parties with a large variety of illegal drugs.
The group allegedly used encrypted apps to funnel over $1.5m (£1.1m) in profit.
"This is not the situation where you have single users, where you have a 19-year-old sipping a beer or you have someone who is taking a puff of a joint on the back porch of a frat house," said US Attorney Matthew GT Martin at a news conference on Thursday.
"These are 21 hardened drug dealers."
Those arrested range in age from 21 to 35, prosecutors said. At least 11 of them had enrolled in North Carolina universities including Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Appalachian State University. Seven have already pleaded guilty to some of the charges.
Officials say many of the drug deals were conducted behind closed doors in fraternity houses - "frat houses" - and involved the sale of cannabis, cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, mushrooms, steroids, human growth hormones and other street drugs.
"There were sales going on inside these houses, dealers set up inside these houses, poisoning fellow members of their fraternity, fuelling a culture," Mr Martin added. "That's why I say today is about saving lives because this reckless culture has endangered lives."
Among the charges they face are conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and and distribution of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet (305m) of a public or private college or university.
The investigation began in 2018, with prosecutors later finding that drug sales were being conducted within the Gamma Delta, Kappa Sigma and Beta Theta Pi fraternity groups.
According to officials, 22 Phi Gamma Delta "pledges" - younger students seeking initiation into the group - pooled their money together one year to buy an ounce of cocaine for a spring break vacation.
The charging document alleges that between March 2017 and March 2019, the supplier in California shipped two kilos of cocaine and 200lbs of marijuana each week to the group in North Carolina.
All three of the universities involved have vowed to assist investigators. The three fraternities have all released statements promising to hold accountable any members who were involved.
by ponchi101 Wait.
Isn't this the script for ANIMAL HOUSE? I mean, at least one of the sub-plots...
Next thing you know, we will find out about unusual initiation rituals at these fine houses of education.
by ti-amieA Well-Known White Supremacist Has Been Arrested For Allegedly Kidnapping A 12-Year-Old And Police Believe There Are More Victims
Nathan Daniel Larson, who police described as a white supremacist and known advocate of pedophilia, has been the subject of national media attention in the past.
Clarissa-Jan Lim
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on December 19, 2020, at 7:16 p.m. ET
Police in California say they have arrested a 40-year-old man, who they called a white supremacist and known advocate of pedophilia, for grooming a 12-year-old girl and allegedly coercing her to run away from home and fly across the country to meet him.
Nathan Daniel Larson of Virginia is currently being held in Denver County Jail and faces a misdemeanor charge of harboring a minor. He also faces felony charges in Fresno, California, — where the girl lives — for kidnapping, child abduction, soliciting child pornography from a minor, and meeting a child for the intention of sex.
Police believe that Larson has victimized more children in the past, and are urging anyone to come forward if they have information.
According to a release from the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, the girl was first reported missing on Dec. 12.
Investigators interviewed friends and family, and an acquaintance of the girl mentioned that she had met an older man on social media in October, police said at a press conference. She was coerced into running away with him, and caught a flight to Virginia.
Investigators then found out that a man, who was later identified as Larson, and a young girl boarded a plane heading to Washington, DC. The flight was scheduled for a layover in Denver, where local police then arrested him.
Law enforcement rescued the girl and arranged for her to be reunited with her family in Fresno. She was uninjured, police said.
"There was some activity including at the airport that was inappropriate between her and the suspect," law enforcement said. "That's going to help bolster the current charges that we have through the DA's office."
Officials discovered more information after Larson was taken into custody, according to the release. He allegedly flew to Fresno and went to the girl's house, coercing her to sneak out late at night. He called a ride share to pick her up, according to police, and they went to the Fresno airport together. Larson allegedly made her wear a wig and told her to act as if she was disabled and unable to speak so that she would not talk to anyone at the airport.
Larson has been the subject of national media attention in the past. He pleaded guilty to sending a letter to Secret Service threatening to kill the president in 2008 (when George W. Bush was president and Barack Obama president-elect), and served 16 months in federal prison.
He also ran for local office in Virginia three times. Each time, he was either solidly defeated or withdrew.
According to the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, Larson runs a website encouraging child rape and sharing such material. While communicating with the 12-year-old girl in the past two months, "Larson was able to convince the Fresno girl, through manipulation and grooming, to send him pornographic images of herself," the sheriff's office said.
"Due to the sophisticated nature of how Larson groomed this Fresno girl, detectives believe he has victimized other children in the past, but those cases have never been reported to law enforcement," the sheriff's office said.
Larson faces life in prison if convicted of the felony charges in Fresno.
by ti-amieRV that exploded in Nashville broadcast a message warning of imminent blast, police say
FBI, ATF leading investigation; three people were hospitalized with noncrititcal injuries
By
Derek Hawkins and
Paulina Firozi
Dec. 25, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. EST
The recreational vehicle that exploded in downtown Nashville Christmas morning broadcast a message from a loudspeaker warning of an imminent blast before it detonated, according to police, who called the incident an “intentional act.”
A vehicle burns near the site of an explosion in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day. (Andrew Nelles/Tennessean.Com/USA Today Network/Reuters)
The explosion in the city’s Arts District destroyed storefronts, scattered ash and debris through the streets, and sent at least three people to the hospital with noncritical injuries, police said.
Police block off Nashville's iconic Broadway while investigating the explosion, which is believed to be intentional. (William DeShazer for The Washington Post)
Law enforcement officials said in a midday news conference that a recorded announcement emanating from the RV warned people to evacuate the area in the minutes leading up to the blast.
In a video posted on social media, which the Washington Post has not independently verified, a voice can be heard saying, “This area must be evacuated now. If you can hear this message, evacuate now.” That was followed by the sounds of an explosion, and the video of the street scene turned to a blur.
Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters that “there were announcements coming from the RV, that’s the extent of what we can say at this point.” He said that police took the warning seriously, evacuated people from a residential area, and that “we think lives were saved by those officers.”
Three people were injured, including one officer who was knocked off his feet, Aaron said. He said “we know of no other imminent danger to the city,” adding that bomb-sniffing dogs were combing the area as a precaution.
Several of the buildings have structural damage, officials said. Police do not know whether anyone was in the RV when it exploded, “so I can’t tell you at this point whether there is a fatality in this scenario,” Aaron said.
Supervisory Special Agent Joel E. Siskovic said the FBI is leading the investigation, working with state and local authorities. He declined to say whether there were any suspects.
"Please tell us what you know," he said. "We need your leads. We need your help."
City Councilman Freddie O'Connell, who represents the area, tweeted that "dozens" of his constituents had lost their homes on a frigid holiday morning with snow expected.
"We will work together to get through this and rebuild," O'Connell tweeted.
Photos posted to social media by the city’s fire department showed broken windows, damaged trees and extensive property damage along a stretch of 2nd Avenue North in Nashville. Local TV stations showed footage of walls blown off of buildings.
“The main thing right now is public safety to make sure that everyone in the surrounding area is accounted for and, at the same time, ensuring that the city itself is safe from any other potential incident,” said Michael Knight, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Nashville, which is also probing the incident.
Investigators are working to create a timeline of events both before and after the explosion, Knight said.
Authorities responded to the area around 6 a.m. local time after receiving a report of shots fired on Second Avenue North.
When they arrived, Aaron said, they didn’t see any immediate evidence of gunshots but encountered a “suspicious” RV parked near an AT&T building and called a bomb squad to assist.
Officers went door to door, telling residents to evacuate, even turning around one man who was out walking his dog, Aaron said. Moments later, around 6:30 a.m., the RV detonated near the intersection of Second Avenue North and Commerce Street, smashing windows, signs and garage doors in the city’s Arts District and sending a ball of bright orange flames into the sky.
The police department’s hazardous devices unit was en route when the explosion occurred, Aaron said.
“We do believe the explosion was an intentional act,” Aaron said. “This investigation will be taking place throughout the day.”
Three people were taken to hospitals, Nashville Fire Department spokesman Joseph Pleasant said.
“None of those transports at this point are critical,” he said. “We don’t have any significant injuries to report.”
Emergency personnel work at the scene of the explosion. (Mark Humphrey/AP)
Photos and videos from the scene showed shattered glass, strips of metal, tree branches and other debris littering the street, which is home to office buildings and a row of bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
“We have no indication there are secondary devices. However, out of an abundance of caution, we have a number of dogs that are conducting sweeps of that immediate downtown area at present,” Aaron said. He added that police would search downtown buildings, focusing on structures along Second Avenue, to ensure nobody was hurt inside.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said he had toured the site, describing broken glass and insulation having been blown into the trees.
“It looks like a bomb went off on Second Avenue,” he said, while cautioning people against drawing conclusions prematurely.
“This is not how anybody wanted to spend Christmas morning,” he told reporters. “We are very lucky that there were not more injuries.”
“One more event in Nashville’s 2020,” he added.
The explosion was felt at nearby residential facilities, including a hostel and a condo building called the Exchange Lofts. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic and Christmas, there were far fewer people at those buildings than usual.
Windows and doors were blown out at the hostel, a low-cost residence for travelers, and the handful of guests were evacuated. At the upscale Exchange Lofts, where condos are typically owned as second homes by business executives, the impact of the explosion was recorded by a Nest security camera in a unit owned by music executive Aaron Trevethan.
In the video, the tranquil seen (sic) of couches and chairs arrayed around a flat-screen television is suddenly interrupted by sounds of a blast, which sent bright flashes of light through the windows, caused debris to fall from the ceiling, and resulted in a swaying effect captured by the camera.
Trevethan, who was at his California home when he was alerted early Christmas morning about the blast, said it is hard to tell the extent of damage from the video because “everything shook so bad.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said in a tweet that he would “supply all of the resources needed to determine what happened and who was responsible.” He thanked first responders and called on Tennesseans to join him and his wife “in praying for those who were injured.”
The Justice Department said in a statement that acting attorney general Jeff Rosen had been briefed on the incident and had “directed that all DOJ resources be made available to assist in the investigation.”
A vehicle burns near the site of the explosion. (Andrew Nelles/Tennessean.Com/USA Today Network/Reuters)
White House spokesman Judd Deere told The Washington Post in an email that President Trump has been briefed and is receiving updates. “The President is grateful for the incredible first responders and praying for those who were injured,” Deere wrote.
Matt Zapotosky and Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.
by ti-amie David Begnaud
@DavidBegnaud
CBS News reports a law enforcement source said one theory investigators are looking at, regarding the Nashville Christmas Day explosion, is the possibility that AT&T may have been the target or some other building or infrastructure in the area of the explosion.
The RV housing the explosive device was parked at the AT&T building in downtown Nashville since Christmas Eve a day before the explosion.
The blast caused considerable damage to AT&T, which apparently is a communication switch hub, knocking out internet & cell phone service throughout a wide area from Nashville to Alabama.
Investigators believe the explosion was an intentional act. They are speculating that human life was not the prime target as the explosion occurred on a Christmas morning when it was quiet & not many people in downtown Nashville and the recorded announcements from the RV prior...
... to the blast warning people that an explosion was imminent and then warning people to evacuate now as the time of the explosion grew closer to detonation.
Debatably Blonde
@JEandJL
Replying to
@DavidBegnaud
So we know that Trump failed to protect Americans from domestic terrorism and we also know somebody managed to take out TN telecommunications with a single RV bomb shortly after Russia hacked into our national security system.
David Begnaud @DavidBegnaud
BREAKING:
@jeffpeguescbs reports for CBS News: Anthony Quinn Warner, 63, is the person of interest in the Nashville Christmas Day explosion. At least 2 tips were called in to
@FBI about Warner, prior to the explosion. Quinn is a Nashville area resident
11m
Federal agents are at Warner’s address in the Nashville area, right now.
by ponchi101 "...believe the explosion was intentional"?
by Jeff from TX Some are saying it is tied to Dominion Voting Systems:
This came from Facebook via the Populist Press via Twitter -
Populist Press
Bombed AT&T Building Has Connections To Dominion…
Saturday December 26, 2020 11:46 AM
The rabbit hole connected with Dominion Voting Systems got a little deeper.
Multiple reports have shown there is a clear connection between the bombed AT&T building and Dominion Voting Systems.
According to Wikipedia and other outlets, Cerberus Capital Management owned the AT&T Building in 2007
Twitter
This might just be a strange coincidence...but
The ATT building in Nashville that was blown up today was owned by Cerebus Capital. Owners of Dominion Voting Systems,(the company many people are accusing of voter fraud) are former executives from Cerebus.
by ti-amieNashville blast: investigators examine whether bomber had 5G paranoia
Blast caused damage to dozens of buildings and hurt three people as police reportedly search home of a person of interest
Richard Luscombe
Sun 27 Dec 2020 17.11 GMTFirst published on Sun 27 Dec 2020 16.38 GMT
Investigators are reportedly examining whether a suicide bomber with a fear of 5G technology could be behind a Christmas morning explosion in Nashville’s historic downtown that injured three people.
The blast, which caused extensive damage to dozens of buildings in Tennessee’s biggest city, took place outside a facility owned by the telecommunications company AT&T and knocked out or impaired mobile phone services in several other cities.
Federal agents spent the weekend looking into a 63-year-old man who owned an RV motorhome similar to the one that detectives believe was turned into a mobile bomb and driven to the scene.
Meanwhile, a Nashville television news channel reported that a person of interest, named as Anthony Warner from a south eastern suburb of the city, worked as an information technology consultant for a real estate company.
Steve Fridrich, a realtor who contacted the FBI after hearing the man’s name on a news bulletin, told WSMV TV that federal agents had asked him if Warner had a paranoia about 5G technology.
According to WSMV, sources close to the law enforcement investigation have said that among the various tips and lines of inquiry was one that suggested Warner bought into a conspiracy theory that 5G technology was being used to spy on Americans.
The FBI has not named a suspect, but searched Warner’s home in the Nashville suburb of Antioch after bomb squad technicians cleared the property. Earlier, a spokesperson said that human remains were retrieved from the site of the explosion, and that the agency was not actively looking for any more suspects.
DNA results on the human tissue was expected shortly.
Douglas Korneski, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Memphis field office, said that hundreds of agents were sifting through at least 500 tips and leads, and that it was too soon to focus on any particular theory.
“It’s just going to take us some time,” he said at a Saturday evening press conference. “We’re looking at every possible motive [and] our investigative team is turning over every stone.”
Asked whether the AT&T building could have been a possible target, Korneski said, “We’re looking at every possible motive that could be involved.”
On Sunday, the mayor of Nashville appeared to indicate that the 5G conspiracy theory could be relevant to the investigation. “To all of us locally, it feels like there has to be some connection with the AT&T facility and the site of the bombing,” John Cooper said on CBS’ Face the Nation.
“That’s just local insight, because it’s got to have something to do with the infrastructure.”
Cooper has been liaising closely with federal and local law enforcement agencies conducting the investigation, and also the Republican Tennessee governor Bill Lee, who has asked Donald Trump for a federal disaster declaration.
The president, meanwhile, was playing golf in Florida on Sunday and the White House had not responded to Lee’s request.
The blast occurred early on Christmas morning as police officers, called to the scene by reports of gunshots, attempted to evacuate local residents. A sinister recording blaring from the RV featuring a woman’s voice, interspersed with snippets of music, warned an explosion was imminent.
Two officers suffered non life-threatening injuries as the blast sent black smoke and flames billowing from the heart of downtown Nashville’s central tourist district.
Civil and emergency communications networks in Nashville and several other cities, including Louisville, Knoxville, Birmingham and Atlanta, were affected.
AT&T said Sunday it was rerouting service to other facilities as the company worked to restore its heavily damaged building. The company said in a statement that it was bringing in resources to help recover affected voice and data services and expects to have 24 additional trailers of disaster recovery equipment at the site by the end of the day.
Ray Neville, president of technology at T-Mobile, another mobile phone network provider, said on Twitter: “We continue to see service interruptions. Restoration efforts continue around the clock & we will keep you updated on progress.”
The outages briefly grounded flights at Nashville international airport, although service had returned mostly to normal by Saturday night. The federal aviation administration (FAA) issued flight restrictions around the airport until 30 December.
Cooper signed a civil emergency declaration for areas of Nashville affected by the explosion, including a curfew.
by ti-amie Were human remains found in the RV?
I read something about human remains being found and that Warner may have blown himself up.
by ponchi101 Fairly strange indeed. That they found human remains seems to be true. But I wonder how much human remains may have been found after a blast like that.
by ti-amie The terrorist apparently died in the explosion. It seems that there is a picture floating around too. However, thanks to Parler, we know the person was an "escape goat"
Don Winslow @donwinslow
I'm going to wait until the photo is double confirmed.
Linda Childers @lindarchilders
Replying to @donwinslow
According to Parler, he was just an “escape goat.”
by ti-amieAuthorities identify Anthony Warner as Nashville bomber, say his remains were found in the wreckage
Neighbors describe Warner as a “recluse" with an interest in home security.
By
Michael Kranish,
Paulina Firozi,
Brandon Gee and
Meryl Kornfield
Dec. 27, 2020 at 5:13 p.m. EST
Anthony Quinn Warner was responsible for the Christmas morning explosion that rocked downtown Nashville, officials said Sunday, and he was killed in the blast.
Investigators matched human remains found at the scene with Warner’s DNA, confirming suspicions that he blew himself up in a recreational vehicle, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch told reporters. Law enforcement said they were still investigating a motive behind the incident.
Authorities had assembled Saturday at Warner’s home in Antioch, Tenn., located about 10 miles southeast of the explosion site. Several neighbors described seeing an RV similar to the one that blew up on Friday morning in the backyard of the Antioch home.
Warner, 63, was unmarried and rarely ventured from his home, according to neighbors, living for years with his parents and then by himself. He once owned an alarm company, and he protected his home with an array of security cameras, rarely returning a neighborly wave and not responding to an offer of Christmas dinner, neighbors said in interviews.
“To describe him as a recluse would be an excellent word,” said Rick Laude, who has lived near Warner since 2010. “You could wave at him and he was like, what are you waving at me for?”
Warner lived for years with his parents, and for some time after his father died in 2011, he remained with his mother, Betty Christine Lane, before moving into a nearby house, neighbors said. Lane could not be reached for comment.
In November, Warner transferred his property at 115 Bakertown Rd. to a Los Angeles woman for “$0,” according to property records of a quitclaim deed. The woman said in a brief telephone interview that the FBI told her not to discuss the matter and declined to comment.
At one time, Warner ran an alarm company, according to his cousin, who runs a haunted-house attraction about a mile from Warner’s home. “He was into phones and electronics,” like his father, Robert Warner said of his cousin.
“He has always been a quiet person,” Robert Warner said. “When we had the family reunions, he brought the RV, or he had a boat.” Robert Warner said that he had not talked to his cousin in about 10 years, and he said many members of the family had lost touch with him.
Steve Schmoldt, whose property is on the other side of the fence from Warner’s residence, said that Warner had “always just been kind of a loner.” Schmoldt said that Warner used to have dogs, and they talked about pets, but he said such conversations were rare. He recalled how his wife brought Warner a Christmas dinner but said Warner never answered the door.
Three weeks ago, Schmoldt said, he saw Warner climbing an extension ladder to work on a large antenna on his house. “He was like an IT guy,” Schmoldt said, referring to information technology. “He has quite a few security cameras around his house.” Neighbors also noticed that Warner power-washed the RV, which until recent days they had not seen leaving the property.
A Nashville real estate firm, Fridrich & Clark Realty, confirmed that Warner worked there as a computer consultant for about 15 years before announcing his retirement earlier this month. “The Tony Warner we knew is a nice person who never exhibited any behavior which was less than professional,” co-owner Steve Fridrich wrote in a statement.
The RV detonated in front of an AT&T transmission building in downtown Nashville, damaging more than 40 businesses and causing widespread disruptions to cell service and Internet connections.
No one aside from Warner died in the blast, which officials credited to police officers who evacuated buildings moments after arriving on the scene and leading up to the RV explosion.
The officers heard a strange recorded warning, which started to play a 15-minute countdown, coming from the RV. Officers started knocking on doors, contacting dispatch to get access codes to buildings, clearing them floor by floor, warning residents who answered to gather family members and safely evacuate.
“That’s stuff that I’ll never forget, the sound of the announcement saying … ‘Evacuate now,’” said Amanda Topping, one of five officers who spoke to reporters during a morning news conference. “Just odd. And I’m pacing back and forth because I kept on having to turn pedestrians around.”
The RV began to play music — officer Tyler Luellen told reporters he later learned it was “Downtown” by Petula Clark. The officers prepared themselves, some going back to their cars for heavier gear.
“As I’m getting ready to walk toward [other officers], walking back toward the RV … I literally hear God tell me to turn around and check on Topping, who was by herself,” officer James Wells said. “As I turn around — for me it felt like I only took three steps, the music stops. As I’m walking back toward Topping, I just see orange and I hear a loud boom. I’m just telling myself, stay on your feet, stay alive.”
Around midday Sunday, AT&T said in a statement that more than 75 percent of the cell sites affected by the explosion had been restored. “Mobility service in the Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama areas is now operating normally,” the company said.
While it is unknown whether the AT&T building was the intended target, experts on critical infrastructure said the Christmas morning episode makes clear that federal and local authorities and the private sector ought to find ways to reduce their vulnerability, either through moving key pieces to more fortified locations or building in redundancies.
“I think this is a wake-up call and a warning for all of us about how vulnerable our infrastructure is, how relatively easy it is for a single individual to do this,” Frank Figliuzzi, former assistant director of counterintelligence at the FBI, said on “Face The Nation.”
“We are very vulnerable to these kinds of attacks,” said Adam Rose, a professor at the University of Southern California and director of the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events.
He added that there are limited options to build resiliency in today’s highly interconnected world, underscoring the need for customers to have their own backup communications systems to the extent possible — such as a home fiber-optic Internet connection in addition to a personal hotspot, for instance.
Tennessee officials have called for federal support in the wake of the bombing. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said on Twitter that she had spoken with President Trump about the need for federal aid.
“I told him we would appreciate prompt attention to it,” she said in a video message. “And the president has been so good to Tennessee, I have no doubt he will move quickly on this.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) asked Trump on Saturday for federal assistance in response to the explosion, noting that the downed communication systems and damage to businesses were too much for the state to handle alone. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Blackburn, along with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), wrote to Trump in support of Lee’s request.
FEMA spokeswoman Janet Montesi said the request “is currently under review.”
Nashville Mayor John Cooper, during a CBS News interview, referred to the area impacted by the explosion as “part of our historic identity of Nashville, this kind of late Victorian streetscape that ended up being bombed.”
“The businesses there, they’ve just — going through covid, they’ve had the worst nine months that you could have as a business,” he said. “And then now to be affected by a bombing. Of course, we’re going to need help, and we may need some help in hardening our infrastructure.”
Jennifer Jenkins, Yeganeh Torbati, Toluse Olorunnipa, Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
by ti-amie I saw the picture referenced above but as Don Winslow says it hasn't been confirmed so I won't post it here.
by ti-amieNashville bomber’s girlfriend told police in 2019 he was making explosives in his RV, documents show
Law enforcement officers on Dec. 26 investigate the house belonging to Anthony Quinn Warner, a 63-year-old man who has since been identified as the Nashville bomber. (Terry Wyatt/Getty Images)
By
Derek Hawkins
Dec. 30, 2020 at 11:51 a.m. EST
Local and federal law enforcement agents were told more than a year ago that the tech worker who detonated a bomb in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning was making explosives in his recreational vehicle, but said they were unable to investigate further after he failed to respond to multiple knocks on his door, according to police documents.
Nashville police visited Anthony Quinn Warner’s home on Aug. 21, 2019, after a woman who identified herself as his girlfriend told officers that he “was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence,” according to an incident report and synopsis from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. The visit was first reported by the Tennessean.
An attorney for the couple, Raymond Throckmorton, also told police at the time that Quinn “frequently talks about the military and bombmaking” and was “capable of making a bomb,” the report says. The responding officers notified their superiors and the FBI, according to the synopsis, but a background check on Quinn didn’t turn up any information.
An FBI spokesman said the agency had found “no records at all” after it received a request from MNPD on Aug. 22, 2019, to look into Warner. The FBI also processed a Defense Department inquiry, “which was also negative,” the spokesman said.
Earlier this week, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch told reporters that Warner, “was not on our radar” before the Christmas morning bombing.
Investigators are still working to identify what motivated the 63-year-old recluse to pack his RV with explosives and broadcast an eerie warning message telling residents to evacuate before detonating the vehicle outside an AT&T transmission hub in the city’s busy entertainment quarter. Among other theories, they’re looking into possibilities that he had a fascination with aliens or 5G conspiracy theories.
The incident report sheds little new light on Warner’s mind-set but indicates that he may have been planning the explosion for 16 months or more.
According to the law enforcement documents, police visited the girlfriend’s home on the morning of Aug. 21, 2019, after Throckmorton told officers she made suicidal threats to him on the telephone and was sitting on her front porch.
When officers arrived, they found the woman with two unloaded pistols sitting next to her. She told them the weapons belonged to “Tony Warner” and that she did not want them in the house any longer, according to police.
In the same conversation, the woman told them Warner was making bombs in his RV, the report states. Throckmorton appeared to back her up, telling officers Warner “knows what he is doing and is capable of making a bomb,” according to the report. After the interview, an ambulance picked up the woman for voluntary psychological evaluation, the report states.
The same day, police went to Warner’s home, about 1.5 miles from the woman’s house. They said they noticed the RV parked in the backyard but said they couldn’t see inside because it was blocked by a fence. Officers also reported seeing several security cameras and an alarm sign on the property. The officers reported that they knocked on Warner’s door multiple times, but he did not respond.
“They saw no evidence of a crime and had no authority to enter his home or fenced property,” police said in the synopsis.
Officers told supervisors about the incident and sent a report to the Hazardous Devices Unit for follow up, according to police.
On Aug. 22, police sent a narrative to the FBI, which soon reported back that agents had found “no records on Warner at all,” police said. Subsequent reports from the Defense Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives turned up nothing, according to police.
Around the same time, the Nashville Hazardous Devices Unit contacted Throckmorton, according to the synopsis.
“The recollection of that call is that Warner did not care for the police,” police said in the synopsis. “At no time was there any evidence of a crime detected and no additional action was taken.”
Calls to residential numbers listed for Throckmorton and the woman who reported Warner went to disconnected lines, and texts to cellphone numbers were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.
Meghan McCain had a baby and now realizes that the US needs paid maternity leave, she explains on The View. She says personal experience helped open her eyes.
McCain: "I started getting angry that conservatives in particular, given we are the party of family values.. that we are leaving women in this country without the capacity and ability to heal physically [after childbirth]"
McCain: "maybe it takes personal experience sometimes to get on board"
YES ... think about that...
I should clarify that she did get paid time off -- she apparently wanted to only take six weeks and then needed more b/c of medical issues, then it just clicked for her that most women don't have that luxury.
Like most people who call themselves conservatives until it happens to them nothing is real. I guess she figures women and men who've been lobbying for it for years were just a bunch of lazy bums.
BTW her husband runs the Federalist.
by ponchi101 Just like when they oppose gay marriage and rights, and then a son comes out. All of the sudden, hey, why not?, we will even join them walking down the aisle!
They are the most self-centered, empathy-incapable, solipsistic people on Earth. Nothing less.
by JazzNU Significant number, but a drop in the bucket for Boeing
by ponchi101 Maybe not so much in these times. They have had a bunch of cancellations and I still wonder if I would agree to fly in a Max. I would like to see a couple of years before I have to board one.
by ponchi101 Related to Politics, of course, but:
Dominion sues Sidney Powell for $1.3 Billion, for defamation. In a lawsuit that I guess can be won by a freshman. And I don't mean a Law College Freshman, I mean a freshman.
by JazzNU Not related to Wednesday! Just a racist 22 year old telling on herself. A disastrous interview to rival the likes of Sandusky and JonBenet Ramsey's mom.
Go ahead and visit Twitter and search for either Daddy or Gayle. Your welcome.
And it has nothing to do with the fact that Tiny lost. Sure. The poor babies!!!
by ti-amie
Texans sent the federal government $261 billion in taxes in 2016, and the state government received $39.5 billion in grants in return, or about 15 percent of our total federal tax tab. Those grants were the state’s second-largest revenue source, providing more than a third of its net revenue in that year. (State taxes, by contrast, supplied nearly 44 percent.)
by ponchi101 I understand that Texas is fairly self sufficient. Lots of industry there, as opposed to the other red states that live of the blue states that are profitable. Plus, they have a coast and access to another country (Mexico).
Economically, they can secede. The issue is moral. After all, they were not talking about secession in 2016, but they did in 2008.
I wonder why.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Sorry. I got lost. Who are these women? WHAT are these women?
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 15, 2021 10:33 pm
Sorry. I got lost. Who are these women? WHAT are these women?
Actors.
by ti-amie
Lauren Camera @laurenonthehill
There are thousands of meme queens across the country. Let me introduce you to another one – my former best friend.
We grew up together, were inseparable throughout high school, drove to school together every morning, went on vacations with each other’s families. Sometimes i went to church with her family and sometimes she came to church with mine. We were in each other’s weddings.
She graduated from a good college and went into finance. She didn’t like it much. She moved to California with her husband, went to nursing school and became a delivery nurse. She loved it.
She had a baby, and then had two more. But she had a difficult time finding reliable childcare, and not being near any family, she found it increasingly impossible to juggle work and children.
She left her job and began selling women’s clothing through LulaRoe – one of those pyramid scheme-like companies that’s very good at duping SAHMs into opening their own online boutique.
As often happens with childhood friends, we drifted apart. This happened increasingly quickly after she moved to California. But as is also the case with childhood best friends, we stayed in touch via text, especially for birthdays and at holidays.
She has never been active politically, but the 2016 election stirred something in her. She proudly posted that she was part of the “Never Clinton” cabal. But she never posted about being pro-Trump. In fact, I don’t think she liked him much at the time, or even voted for him.
It happened very slowly at first. The Facebook and Instagram posts were only semi-offensive and far and few between. I had the privilege of being able to shrug it off. Besides, I had a lot going on too – a new baby and demanding job, thousands of miles away.
But then came the pizzagate posts, the posts about the Clintons, Obamas, Gates and others running a pedophile ring, eating babies. Lots of pro-life posts and warnings about child trafficking.
Whatever was happening to her intensified dramatically in March and April of 2019, around the time that the coronavirus shuttered schools and businesses across the U.S.
The posts became angry, racist and more and more bizarre. Photos “proving” Michelle Obama is a man, explainers about Bill Gates trying to change our DNA through vaccinations, full on COVID-19 denial.
Suddenly she was professing to be a patriot fighting for our country, began worshiping President Trump and reposting memes disparaging Joe Biden, his family and other Democrats. What threw me off the most was just how angry and mean she was being.
I’ve always tried to maintain a firewall between my career as a reporter and the politics of family and friends. That’s something I’m actively reassessing after what’s transpired these last 10 months.
I flagged almost everything she posted to Instagram as false through the site’s reporting system, but never confronted her personally. Her account was temporarily frozen a handful of times, so I know others were reporting her too.
She always came back, meaner, angrier and more sure that she was on the right side of history.
Things came to a head for me personally on Friday, when she posted memes supporting the rioters and the insurrection, posted images of a militarized Washington, DC, and made references to future, imminent attacks.
I messaged her that what she was posting was disgusting and dangerous, that this city is my family’s home and that the person I knew her to be was better than this.
I wasn’t expecting an apology or a change in heart. I didn’t have any grand illusions of rekindling a friendship and driving off into the sunset for a girls weekend.
But I certainly wasn’t expecting the wrath of hate the spewed my way within three seconds of messaging her.
“Just you wait,” she fired back. “I know exactly what’s happening. Sad you don’t.”
“And don’t for one second say you know [me],” she wrote. “I tried to keep you but there was just nothing left between us. I’m sorry you have no idea what’s happening but your precious Biden will be behind bars.”
“Did you know the inauguration is canceled? Did you know the insurrection act was signed 1/9? Do you know how many assassination attempts have been made on OUR president in the last 4 years? Do you know that the riots were planned by BLM AND ANTIFA?”
“Did you know that the election was stolen by the Vatican and 5 other huge key players?”
“You think your [SIC] a journalist but you are just as brainwashed as the people watching MSM.”
“STAY HOME. DONT GO TO WORK. KEEP YOUR KIDS HOME. YOUR CITY IS GOING TO BE A WARZONE.”
There’s more, but you get the idea. I didn’t argue. I knew immediately how far gone she was. I wrote, “I love you,” and then she blocked me on all social media.
If you’re reading this and you think you don’t have friends and family this is happening to, I promise you’re wrong. Check in with the people you love, make sure they’re doing ok.
I also want to thank reporters like
@BrandyZadrozny @oneunderscore__and others, whose meticulous reporting on the dark corners of the Internet is something everyone should have been giving much more attention.
I don’t know how the Biden administration solves this. I really don’t. I don’t know if they can. Is it even their problem to solve? But hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and I will always hope to get my friend back.
by ti-amie Anyone who watches House Hunters is familiar with the couple with 2-3 children looking for more space. The husband will invariably want someplace where the neighbors can't look over the fence and see what they're doing, a place isolated and away from too many people. Sometimes the wife goes along with this and sometimes she will say she wants to be able to talk to other mothers and have her children interact with other kids. Many times the women lose the fight.
I know these things are scripted and that the couple has to actually have a house in contract but before I stopped watching a lot I saw this more and more.
It's a social and mental health issue but with the US health system overwhelmed because of C19 the social isolation many of these women experience is not at the top of the to do list.
It's been years in the making.
by JazzNU It's been a long month, and it's not even over.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 It would be the best and fastest way.
But...
I had once a car accident, in which I was rear-ended. Totally not my fault. So the insurance company for the other person gave me a card like that. Which, if I wanted to take the money from an ATM, charged me for the withdrawal, and if wanted to pay stuff, did too. So I really never got ALL my money. The insurance company kept some, VISA kept some.
You know, the scum of the earth. Do that to 50 million Americans and you can see that one dollar here, another there, and they will make a killing, for basically doing nothing.
by ti-amie It's really bad. Send folks a check. Or direct deposit.
by dave g Hmmm. Mine came in the mail as a check. Do we have any verification of other people getting their stimulus money in VISA cards?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 (Don't jump to conclusion, P, don't jump to conclusions...)
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 6:49 pm (Don't jump to conclusion, P, don't jump to conclusions...)
Big Internet outages hit the East Coast, causing issues for Verizon, Zoom, Slack, Gmail
Internet outages and slowed services hit many areas of the East Coast just as the work and school day was ramping up Tuesday.
By
Rachel Lerman
Jan. 26, 2021 at 1:33 p.m. EST
People across the East Coast were having trouble accessing core Internet services Tuesday morning, just as they were logging on for work and school.
Users reported trouble loading Gmail, Slack and Zoom — apps that have become necessities to keep work-from-home life running smoothly during the coronavirus pandemic. Downdetector, which tracks reports of outages, showed widespread issues with Verizon, Google, Zoom, YouTube, Slack, Amazon Web Services and others Tuesday just before noon.
On Twitter, which many still were able to access, people reported they were seeing issues with their Verizon Fios Internet service. Verizon’s customer support team said on Twitter Tuesday that a fiber had been cut in Brooklyn, which could possibly account for some of the issues. The support account on Twitter quickly became inundated with customers asking why their internet was slow and bumpy.
It was not immediately clear what was causing the outages, though many people pointed to issues with their Verizon Fios service. Amazon Web Services’ status page showed its service, which provides computing power to large swaths of the Internet, was experiencing an issue with an external provider. On its status page, it said that it is “investigating connectivity issues with an internet provider, mainly affecting the East Coast of the United States, outside of the AWS Network.” Slack and Google said there were no issues with their own services.
Verizon and Zoom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
The outage also disrupted school districts’ online teaching programs, which have become essential in the past year.
In Northern Virginia, the outages wreaked havoc in online classrooms, bringing the virtual school day to a standstill. In Alexandria City Public Schools, which serves 16,000 and is currently offering online-only instruction, many teachers could not dial into Zoom to lead their Tuesday afternoon classes.
And in Fairfax County Public Schools, whose 186,000 students make it the largest school system in the state, students were unable to log into virtual lessons, according to a tweet from the school division. Like neighboring Alexandria, Fairfax is pursuing 100 percent remote learning.
“FCPS is aware that many people in our region are experiencing internet outages,” the school’s Twitter account wrote. “We will provide updates as we know more.”
Prince William County Public Schools in Virginia tweeted just after noon Tuesday that it is “aware of Internet connection problems with Verizon FIOS impacting students and staff.”
by ti-amie I'll say this. A fiber cut in Brooklyn would not (should not) affect the east coast down to Miami as this does per this info from Thousand Eyes. https://www.thousandeyes.com/outages/
A cut in Brooklyn sounds like a contractor who didn't go through the proper channels for his/her permit. Remember the Nashville bombng?
I'm not saying this is the same but knocking out a major hub somewhere could cause this.
by JazzNU
dave g wrote: ↑Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:02 am
Hmmm. Mine came in the mail as a check. Do we have any verification of other people getting their stimulus money in VISA cards?
My mom got a VISA card back in late spring. We have no clue why she got a card and not a check. Entirely too many hoops to figure out for just the average person. I figured it out fine and came up with a plan for her to not lose much in the total, but honestly, it's a bad idea and they shouldn't use them. In theory, I think they might make sense and seem easy, ubt in practice it screws people out of some of the amount, and realizing you are going to lose money may not be obvious to all, especially senior citizens, functioning illiterates, and those without regular internet access. If you don't realize you'll be losing money with different transactions, you'll wind up losing even more than is necessary, which I'm guessing happened frequently.
If you do get a VISA card - read the fee sheet online. I believe I determined the best way would be to do one ATM withdraw for a few hundred, the first one was not subject to a fee. That let the amount fall below $1000, I believe that may have been the cap on a per transaction basis the first time. Then go to the bank and see a teller and ask for a full withdraw of the remaining amount, which would be a small one time fee.
by ponchi101 The card I got (the example above) specifically stated I COULD NOT got to my bank and withdraw the money in one lump sum and therefore pay only one withdrawing fee.
I always have said that the VISA logo is a pigeon, not a dove. And you are the statue.
by ti-amie Taking sticking it to the man to the next level. The stock is now trading at $370 a share.
What the Hell Is Going On With GameStop’s Stock?
How an army of Reddit users massively inflated the price of a flailing video game chain—in no small part to stick it to Wall Street.
By ALEX KIRSHNER
JAN 26, 202110:42 AM
In April, GameStop was a struggling video game and electronics retailer trying to sort out its future as the pandemic worsened consumer trends that were already working against it. The chain was losing money and staring down a long-underway shift in the gaming industry that pushed business away from GameStop’s brick-and-mortar model. (It turns out people don’t like walking into stores during a pandemic to buy games they could just download from home.) The company had posted $470 million in losses in 2019, eight years after reporting a $340 million profit. Right as the pandemic hit, it announced it would close 300 locations permanently. GameStop’s stock price on April 1 was $3.25.
It’s not clear things have improved much for GameStop. The company is actually closing more stores than it expected at the onset of the pandemic. But one thing has changed for the better: When trading ended on Monday, GameStop stock had hit $76.79—four times its price to end 2020 and 23 times its price from the early days of the pandemic. (The stock then jumped to $96.67 on Tuesday morning before dropping into the 80s as its roller-coaster run continued onward.)
GameStop has not, as far as anyone knows, completed the greatest comeback story in the history of free enterprise. But it has had one of the most memorable runs on the stock market ever. It’s a story that encapsulates quite a lot about life in 2021: the democratization of financial markets, the mobilization of a giant online community, and the ability of obsessed amateurs to alter reality when they put their minds to it, especially when there isn’t much else to do.
The tale of GameStop’s stock price—and the central role of a subreddit called r/WallStreetBets—will be taught in business schools one day, no matter how it ends. The stock had been in steady decline since late in 2015, when the company reported disappointing earnings. GameStop, which was founded in 1984, had a simple business model: selling video games and equipment out of its physical locations. That became less lucrative as it became more common for gamers to buy games online, generally from non-GameStop sources, and download them directly to their consoles or PCs. The pandemic crash in March brought the stock to an all-time low, and a slight rebound over the spring and summer lagged behind the major indexes.
In August, the well-known investor Ryan Cohen—founder of online pet food giant Chewy—took a 13 percent stake in GameStop. In November, he wrote a harshly worded letter to the company’s board, lambasting it for not keeping up with “the transition from physical hardware to digital streaming,” among other errors. He took specific aim at GameStop’s CEO and blamed the company for squandering billions of dollars and “a massive amount of market share.”
The letter generated a lot of press. By January, GameStop appointed Cohen and two associates from his investment company to serve on a newly expanded board. Cohen’s arrival turned GameStop into a “cult stock,” one financial analyst explained to Bloomberg News, where retail investors believed he’d be a corporate savior. Two days after the announcement that Cohen had joined the board, GameStop’s stock surged more than 50 percent, going from $20.42 to $31.40 after reaching as high as $38.65. That’s when the company’s story went from typical to bizarre.
Around this time, institutional investors, apparently including at least one well-known hedge fund, took out massive short positions against the stock, which trades as GME. These investors figured that amateur investors saw Cohen’s big name and ignored the difficult fundamentals facing the business, overvaluing the stock as they bought it up in droves. So the professional investors tried to make money off GME’s decline by borrowing the stock, selling it high, buying it back low, and pocketing the difference, minus the fees to borrow the stock.
Lots of investors tried to short-sell the stock. (How many investors have “long” and “short” positions is not difficult to figure out.) As of Monday, 71.2 million shares of GameStop stock involved a short position, per Bloomberg, more than the total amount of publicly tradable shares, something that’s only possible because not all shares of GME are available for purchase.
One group that noticed the shorts on the stock was r/WallStreetBets. The Wall Street speculation community has more than 2 million members, hundreds of thousands of whom are online at any given time, to say nothing of lurkers. In September, an enterprising subredditor had posted a seven-point treatise titled “Bankrupting Institutional Investors for Dummies, ft GameStop.” The subredditor noted the stock already had a significant short exposure (months before Cohen joined the board) and predicted that short sellers would be forced to abandon their positions and, in buying back their stocks, drive the price up. R/WallStreetBets users delighted in the idea and took it as a chance to egg one another on.
Hype around GME continued bubbling up around r/WallStreetBets over the ensuing weeks, from posters who apparently saw it all along as a profit opportunity. The stock’s boom has made some of them big money. The most famous is a user calling themselves “(expletive)” who had apparently turned a six-figure investment into nearly $14 million by this Monday.
Others may have just wanted to screw short sellers, who are by definition rooting for shareholders and companies to suffer. They’re also often considered to be sophisticated investors, cast against the determined amateurs populating internet forums. At the end of November, the subreddit ascertained that hedge fund Melvin Capital Management was shorting GameStop, and the community rallied with fury against the New York–based fund.
“When these boomers made their bet, GME wasn’t a big thing on WSB yet,” one poster wrote. “I don’t feel bad at all taking money from these rich greedy hedge fund managers.”
They’re not even playing with their own money,” another wrote.
“I’m an old millennial. I’m tired of getting screwed by the globalist elites,” said another. “This isn’t left or right republican or Democrat. It’s the 1% versus everyone else.”
Whether for profit or ideological reasons, the Redditors are winning. They’ve bought the hell out of GME, and short sellers have begun to abandon their positions en masse, leading the stock to go up even more as they buy it back. It’s a classic short squeeze. Melvin Capital was down 15 percent for the year on Jan. 22, according to the Wall Street Journal, leading the fund to take a $2.75 billion rescue package from other rich investors. On that day alone, short sellers against GameStop lost $1.6 billion, financial analytics firm S3 Partners said.
It’s not clear how the story ends. Some professional analysts think the stock is due for a crash. Citron Research managing partner Andrew Left has argued the stock will fall to $20 per share. He tried to explain his reasoning in a livestream last week but couldn’t because his Twitter account got locked after too many people tried to guess his password. He posted the video on YouTube and said GameStop backers were sending pizzas to his house and signing him up for dating profiles. Left decided to stop bashing GameStop, citing harassment by the “angry mob.”
It isn’t just a technological shift that has worked against GameStop. Gaming companies now offer subscription plans, like Xbox’s Game Pass, that have made individual game purchases obsolete for some players. Future consoles might not even have a slot for a disc, further pushing the industry into downloaded games. GameStop does have a loyal fan base that enjoys the experience of walking into a store and buying a title. It also has a large trade-in business, though it’s not clear how the post-pandemic world will affect that.
All of which is to say: GME’s future could go any number of ways, but the reason its stock price quadrupled in three and a half weeks isn’t that its business fundamentals are just that great. It’s that, under a strange set of colliding circumstances, one group of stock traders sees GameStop as the perfect weapon against another.
If this feels outrageous, it might only be because a bunch of supposedly unwashed Reddit users are involved. After all, GameStop isn’t the first stock to be subject to a giant short squeeze or to see its resulting value make little sense. When Porsche bought up a bunch of Volkswagen stock in 2008, short sellers scrambled to get out of their positions and briefly made VW the world’s most valuable company. It’s not clear why Porsche’s boardroom should have any more authority to dictate what happens in the market than a group of internet users operating in public view.
Certainly, GameStop isn’t the first stock to move heavily based on what a specific group of people has to say about it. Financial professionals spend all day talking about stocks on their Bloomberg terminals and yelling at one another on the phone about them. If one considers the Redditors to be untowardly moving the market by talking in public, aren’t professional traders doing the same when they talk in private? Is there any difference between internet dorks hyping a stock and some hedge fund magnate going on CNBC to explain why the market will do as he’s predicted?
Viewed through another lens, the rebels of r/WallStreetBets are doing old-fashioned internet organizing of the guerrilla kind you might find in politics today. TikTok teens and K-pop stans can sabotage the ticketing operation of a presidential rally. As long as there are enough amateur investors to throw weight around, they can decide whether a stock moves up or down. (Unfortunately, as with other internet hordes, some from this one have a taste for harassment.)
Viewed through still another lens, someone on Reddit who’s investing for profit is merely doing what professional Wall Streeters do every day. Anyone doing it to sabotage the pros on the other side of the GME deal is betting with their heart, not unlike internet gamblers betting on sports or presidential politics.
The GameStop saga isn’t just a lesson in the internet’s broadening of access to markets, but in how the pandemic has accelerated that trend. A significant share of the bets on GME’s stock going up have taken the shape of call options, where an investor pays a smaller amount up front for the right to buy a stock at a certain price by a certain date. For instance, the viral Redditor whose GameStop holdings are now worth nearly $14 million apparently spent $25,000 to buy options on 80,000 shares (at about 31 cents per share) that give them the right to buy the stock at $12 until April 16. The value of those options at the end of the day Monday was $5.2 million.*
Call options are not new, but they’ve become a smash hit among casual investors on the internet during the pandemic. As white-collar professionals sat cooped up in their homes and watched their disposable income grow with less to spend money on last spring and summer, user-friendly investment apps like Robinhood saw significant growth. Young traders reportedly gravitated toward options, which can generate quick windfalls but are riskier than standard stock purchases. (If you pay $3 for the right to buy a stock at a particular price, and the stock doesn’t exceed that price to give you a quick profit, then your three bucks were a total loss.) Plenty of inexperienced investors have lost their shirts this way during the pandemic. Others decided to buy options on GameStop, and some of them have made life-changing money.
Does any of this make sense? Not really. But it makes no less sense than the stock market itself sitting near record highs each day just as expiring federal unemployment benefits are pushing 8.1 million Americans into poverty and U.S. senators are balking at an enhanced stimulus package. It wasn’t the GameStop stock’s Reddit hype team that first decided the market needed little tether to the daily realities facing most people, or even to a specific video game retailer.
by ti-amie Sebastian
@SebZwO
I don't think "it's currently gamified" really gets to the point.
It was always a game. The usual players just aren't used to be on the losing end.
by ponchi101 Kurt Vonnegut Jr said it ages ago. They are "The Casinos in Wall Street".
About driving a hedge fund that SHORTED a company into insolvency: awright. Can you do another?
(Shorting should be illegal. It is basically betting that somebody else will go bankrupt, and profiting from that).
by ti-amie I'm betting there will be regulations put into effect to stop this from happening again. The Republicans will push for them and they'll be in effect before stimulus checks and improved UI are.
by ponchi101 Don't think they can. Shorting is one of the way that these scum make a lot of money. I would love for shorting to be outlawed, but Wall Street loves it too much.
They will find a way to recoup their losses. They always do.
by JazzNU It's not just GameStop, they started doing it with other retail stocks. Twitter does these event summaries and then related Tweets so you can catch up on what is happening. But their summary is the most complete this time, so copying it here so you can have an idea of the other stocks.
Shares of AMC Entertainment surge more than 200% as feverish buying continues from retail traders
On Wednesday morning, AMC Entertainment shares increased by more than 200% during premarket trading and hit more than $15 per share, nearly seven times the average analyst price target. AMC joins GameStop, BlackBerry, Bed Bath & Beyond, Etsy and a list of heavily shorted stocks that have recently seen eye-opening gains thanks to encouragement from individual investors on Reddit’s WallStreetBets. Hedge funds that are short on the other side have been rushing to cover their losses.
Photo via @Forbes
by ti-amie This is how I understand shorting.
I buy a widget worth $5. Someone comes along and says it's really worth $10 when it's not. This someone gets people to buy at the $10 rate. I then sell when it hits $10 making, about a $3.00 profit after fees and taxes. So they do this on a massive scale and make money because the widget's value will fall back to $5.00 or less?
I really don't understand. And I'm sure my example is wrong.
by ponchi101
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:26 am
It's not just GameStop, they started doing it with other retail stocks. Twitter does these event summaries and then related Tweets so you can catch up on what is happening. But their summary is the most complete this time, so copying it here so you can have an idea of the other stocks.
Shares of AMC Entertainment surge more than 200% as feverish buying continues from retail traders
On Wednesday morning, AMC Entertainment shares increased by more than 200% during premarket trading and hit more than $15 per share, nearly seven times the average analyst price target. AMC joins GameStop, BlackBerry, Bed Bath & Beyond, Etsy and a list of heavily shorted stocks that have recently seen eye-opening gains thanks to encouragement from individual investors on Reddit’s WallStreetBets. Hedge funds that are short on the other side have been rushing to cover their losses.
Photo via @Forbes
OMG. You just made my night!!! Where is the rum...
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:28 am
This is how I understand shorting.
I buy a widget worth $5. Someone comes along and says it's really worth $10 when it's not. This someone gets people to buy at the $10 rate. I then sell when it hits $10 making, about a $3.00 profit after fees and taxes. So they do this on a massive scale and make money because the widget's value will fall back to $5.00 or less?
I really don't understand. And I'm sure my example is wrong.
Your example is mostly right. Shorting means you are investing because instead of thinking that it will gain in price, you think it will lose and you are trying to make money off of those losses. It is a very risky trading strategy, because as happened today, there is not technically a ceiling that a stock ceiling it can reach, so while you're betting it will lose in value and thus make you money, if you're wrong, it can really come back to bite you. Typically, the amount you would lose isn't going to be as significant as this of course, because swings in prices aren't usually anywhere near this dramatic. For this GameStop situation, you had investors such as the main hedge fund they took down, heavily invested in shorting the stock and so the losses were monumental.
But it's not necessarily that the company isn't worth the stock price all of the time. A lot of things go into the stock price. Many times, because of the nature of these assholes, they know what they are doing. If there's a lot of short selling for a stock, that alone can help to drive down a stock price in the short term at least, so they are helping to drive the stock in the direction they are looking to go. But they are also aware of other behaviors of the market or corporate owners and taking advantage of them.
Also, speaking from entirely too much knowledge of this, let me say, the last 3 months is hardly the time to claim GameStop is an extinct and dying retailer. They've had some of their best sales months recently, after struggling like other retailers during the early months of the pandemic. They've closed hundreds of stores in the last year, and they needed to, they seemed to have a Blockbuster kind of location store model where they were everywhere and that's truly not necessary anymore, so that was probably a much needed kick they needed to trim their store numbers. But as one of the main PS5 retailers in the US, they've been rebounding significantly since November. Look up the ridiculous PS5 craze if you don't have a teenager in your life and you haven't been stuck trying to score the ungettable console. GameStop has had regular drops of stocks (today included, I was a sucker yet again refreshing that damn site constantly trying to get one) and have been slammed the entire holiday season selling out of PS5s and X-Box consoles the moment they are out. Literally not figuratively. They are sold out in matter of seconds. So it's interesting that the stock price appeared to barely reflect this. Definitely a split between dealing with them in the real world and what Wall Street says about them.
by mmmm8
ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed Jan 27, 2021 11:58 pm
I'm betting there will be regulations put into effect to stop this from happening again. The Republicans will push for them and they'll be in effect before stimulus checks and improved UI are.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 12:08 am
Don't think they can. Shorting is one of the way that these scum make a lot of money. I would love for shorting to be outlawed, but Wall Street loves it too much.
They will find a way to recoup their losses. They always do.
I think Ti was talking about outlawing this type of collusion among small investors rather than outlawing short-selling?
I find the whole situation hilarious.
by ponchi101 Shorting 101.
Investor A has stock in some company.
Hedge fund B wants to short it. So, HFB "borrows" the stock, at a price, plus a fee to Investor A. They commit to return the stock by certain date.
HFB then sells the stock in the market. This is done at a price, of course.
Because HFB felt that the stock would drop in price, by the time they have to return the stock to Investor A, they have to go back and buy the stock again. If the stock has indeed dropped in price, that is where they make the profit. They sold for (example) $100 and bought back at $20. The difference is all theirs.
Because of this bet that the stock would drop is what drives the transaction, HFB has a huge interest in seeing the stock price drop. Remember, they are bound to return the stock, regardless of the price, to investor A. What used to be a correcting mechanism has now become a bet that profits from companies that go through financial pains and now, because the shorting is public, face the reality that people know somebody is betting they will bankrupt. HFB makes a huge profit the more the company suffers. So shorting has become predatory; HFB has the interest in seeing the stock (and the company) fail and as they are usually huge funds, they have the power for the company to do so. They succeed from the misery of others.
The catch in this gamestop saga is: they HAVE TO BUY THE STOCK BACK, REGARDLESS OF PRICE. So, if all these small investors gang together and drive the price UP, they will make a profit. They know that at a given date, somebody has to buy huge amounts of stock. Investor A could also be interested; after all, he will be receiving stock that is now way more valuable than when he lent it.
So the Hedge Fund is the one in the bind. Thousands of little piranhas are now biting the big shark, and it is ALL LEGAL. The Reddit People have done nothing more than buy stock, and hold it until a given day. And if WS or the SEC outlaw that, it would be the equivalent of outlawing the market.
So, for once, good for the little guys.
---0---
Been watching CNN this morning and none of the financial experts have said anything about this. They are only saying that some people will lose money, without explaining that it will be the hedge fund. Tiptoeing around the real subject.
by JazzNU All kinds of blocks up today, for sure Robinhood and TD Ameritrade put up restrictions. Guessing all the Robinhood type companies will be under heavy pressure to follow suit, though this is quite the opportunity for new business if they resist. Since you do need a company to trade with, not sure if this will work or what, but it's definitely interesting to watch it unfold.
by JazzNU One of the main Wall Street Bets people that is directing people on Twitter is from Colombia...
by mmmm8
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:21 pm
One of the main Wall Street Bets people that is directing people on Twitter is from Colombia...
Ponchi?
by mmmm8
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:14 pm
All kinds of blocks up today, for sure Robinhood and TD Ameritrade put up restrictions. Guessing all the Robinhood type companies will be under heavy pressure to follow suit, though this is quite the opportunity for new business if they resist. Since you do need a company to trade with, not sure if this will work or what, but it's definitely interesting to watch it unfold.
We (my S.O. is doing the trading but it's a joint account) use Schwab and while they didn't restrict, the system slowed down A LOT yesterday and today. This is really screwing with a lot of stuff not just the Gamestop situation and the platforms that restricted trading. We're down quite a bit today when we should be up based on our portfolio....
Someone filed a class action suit against Robinhood with the Southern District of NY. They're going to lose a lot of business simply because of the irony of their company name in this situation.
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:21 pm
One of the main Wall Street Bets people that is directing people on Twitter is from Colombia...
Ponchi?
I mean, seems possible... he was just talking about the scam that Visa is, doesn't feel like a stretch that he'd be helping to lead the charge to take down some hedge funds.
by ponchi101 It is not me. If it were me, and I had this sort of knowhow, water dropping airplanes would be flying over Wall Street. The place would be on fire.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 28, 2021 8:37 pm
It is not me. If it were me, and I had this sort of knowhow, water dropping airplanes would be flying over Wall Street. The place would be on fire.
Well if nothing else, you've confirmed that the idea that it was you wasn't that outlandish
by ti-amie Elizabeth Warren making mincemeat of some hapless newsperson. I love it.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:35 am
Elizabeth Warren making mincemeat of some hapless newsperson. I love it.
...
Love Kamala. She will be a great vice president and will be a great president.
But Elizabeth Warren is the best politician at not suffering fools. And she is the smartest person in politics in the USA. No contest.
by JazzNU Disagree. I love Elizabeth, but really think that's overstating things, it is most definitely a contest, one I'm not sure she wins. I'd agree she's the best politician at not suffering fools on financial matters of all kinds.
by Suliso I have no idea who's the smartest politician in US, but would just like to remind that the smartest is not necessarily the one who talks the most.
by ponchi101
JazzNU wrote: ↑Fri Jan 29, 2021 4:44 am
Disagree. I love Elizabeth, but really think that's overstating things, it is most definitely a contest, one I'm not sure she wins. I'd agree she's the best politician at not suffering fools on financial matters of all kinds.
Bypassing the joke that the bar is low, who would you consider to be "smart" politicians?
By this I mean people that are intelligent in an overall way, not that play politics in a smart fashion. For example: we can say anything we want about Mitch McConnell, and he is truly a man with a very personal trait of "evil", but it would be foolish to say he is not smart "politically": he usually gets what he wants, keeps being re-elected despite a career of almost no achievements for his constituency, and maneuvers the cesspool he inhabits with great dexterity.
Hilary is another super smart person. Bill, on the other hand, is a smart politician. AOC is a smart person, but not a smart politician, and to me seems unable to gauge pros and cons properly. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are verifiable idiots that navigate politics well.
Who are the smart politicians in the USA? The people that bring new, interesting ideas to solve problems? Because to me that is one of the issues in US politics. The GOP's sole solution to everything is: "Give a tax cut to the rich". And I really do not know what ideas the DEMS bring to the table, other than generic calls for a more equal society.
by dryrunguy I don't think the United States has ever had a smarter politician (both in terms of genuine smarts and playing the political game) than Barack Obama.
by ponchi101 I will grant you is a very smart person. I believe he is too decent to be a superbly smart politician. I will grade him as plain smart.
He misplayed Merrick Garland's nomination, he misplayed the Syrian chemical bombing attacks, he misplayed the election of 2016 (not informing the American public of the interference the intelligence community knew was going on).
He has too much hope in people.
And he has not one ounce of ruthlessness in him. Good as a person, it puts him at a disadvantage against the likes of McConnell.
by Suliso
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Fri Jan 29, 2021 4:50 pm
I don't think the United States has ever had a smarter politician (both in terms of genuine smarts and playing the political game) than Barack Obama.
How about someone like Henry Kissinger? Probably the most influential US Secretary of State of the 20th century.
by Suliso As for recent presidents other than Obama few of them particularly intelligent in the classical sense. Maybe Bush the elder?
by JazzNU I'm not sure why you are separating being a smart person and being a smart politician. Your claim was that she was the "best politician."
I'm absolutely stuck on you calling a Rhodes Scholar not a super smart person, merely a smart politician.
I don't think we see this in the same way, which is fine. But I don't think Elizabeth is the best politician, I think she has an impressive mind when it comes to finances and economics, but there are many, many other parts to being a politician. I would easily put Kamala over her in terms of being a savvy politician. Just because she can't best Liz on finances, doesn't change that. Politicians deal with much more than just that. I'd put both behind Barack and Bill.
There are plenty of people with ideas. But I think maybe you're focusing too much on those that are constantly in the spotlight. AOC? Doesn't warrant a mention in this conversation to me, so it makes me think you're focusing on people who get the most media attention. Though since you brought her up, I'd say she's a much better politician than she is a smart person. I think she's intelligent overall, but her true gift is in her own branding, which falls under politics to me.
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Jan 29, 2021 5:59 pm
How about someone like Henry Kissinger? Probably the most influential US Secretary of State of the 20th century.
Uh no. The man that many have made the case should be brought up on war crimes is definitely a hard pass from me.
by ponchi101 Well, this is sort of a GOAT's debate. No way it can be settled.
I also think Kamala is very smart. To tell you the truth, I would have preferred a "Harris/Biden" ticket, but that had political problems. And I do think Biden has a good chance of not finishing his term, which would put the country in very good hands.
I brought AOC as an example of how NOT to measure in this conversation. I think she is smart, but not so much politically and unable of flexibility. It was a negative example; I agree with your comment.
Kissinger? Very smart, indeed. He will have a lot to say while he burns in hell.
by ti-amie I see AOC as an ideologue not a politician. A politician would've had a plan in place for the people who live in the area of Queens where Amazon was going to be located. She and her supporters did laps and then moved on to something else leaving those people exactly where they were before she came on the scene. Getting slapped by Nancy Pelosi who is a master politician/tactician when it came to committee assignments might be the beginning of her road to becoming a politician.
I would put Nancy above all of them. The job of Speaker requires skill in managing people, deciding political priorities and outthinking the folks trying to plunge a knife in your back. If Nancy was now Majority Leader the Insurrection Caucus would be heading for the hills.
by Suliso AOC doesn't strike me as smart at all. Unless you're talking pure self promotion.
As for Harris from a political point of view she didn't do all that well when she run for the president herself. Let's see if it's all different in the next primaries. There will be intra party competition unless Biden dies in office.
by ti-amie
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:51 pmAOC doesn't strike me as smart at all. Unless you're talking pure self promotion.
As for Harris from a political point of view she didn't do all that well when she run for the president herself. Let's see if it's all different in the next primaries. There will be intra party competition unless Biden dies in office.
I agree with the highlighted part.
by Suliso Globally would be difficult for any of these people to compete with Angela Merkel.
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:58 pm
Globally would be difficult for any of these people to compete with Angela Merkel.
Not even close. From Wiki:
Merkel was educated at Karl Marx University, Leipzig, where she studied physics from 1973 to 1978.[31] While a student, she participated in the reconstruction of the ruin of the Moritzbastei, a project students initiated to create their own club and recreation facility on campus. Such an initiative was unprecedented in the GDR of that period, and initially resisted by the University; however, with backing of the local leadership of the SED party, the project was allowed to proceed.[39] At school she learned to speak Russian fluently, and was awarded prizes for her proficiency in Russian and mathematics. She was the best in her class in mathematics and Russian, and completed her school education with the best possible average Abitur grade 1.0.[40]
by Suliso Merkel has a PhD in quantum chemistry. I once looked up one of her academic papers (didn't really understand, not my area). Her husband is a retired professor of physics in Berlin.
by ti-amie Who said scientists can't function in the real world?
She was also involved with the Stasi in the former East Germany.
by the Moz Over the last 15 years Merkel has been (mostly) solid & effective in her dual roles as German Chancellor and de facto head of the EU
And she has her own song...
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Jan 29, 2021 9:21 pm
Who said scientists can't function in the real world?
She was also involved with the Stasi in the former East Germany.
The Wiki page states the opposite:
"Near the end of her studies, Merkel sought an assistant professorship at an engineering school. As a condition for getting the job, Merkel was told she would need to agree to report on her colleagues to officers of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi). Merkel declined, using the excuse that she could not keep secrets well enough to be an effective spy.[41]"
Anyway, I think we agree she is in another level, intellectually.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 In short, they were presented with the bill and needed some time to come up with the money.
by JazzNU Stephanie Ruhle said this is what happened yesterday. Part of the problem is that while she was predicting this is what happened with a high level of certainty, Robinhood took a very long time coming up with that explanation and instead went with something that looked like a combo of Wall Street pressure and protecting big investors. So even though this is very likely true, people are having a hard time believing it because it should've been the first thing they announced yesterday when things were halted.
by ti-amie I like Stephanie Ruhle a lot. I feel she is one of MSNBC's underused talents.
by ti-amie I've been thinking we need a thread on financial stuff but big stories don't come that often. This is here because Amazon is based in the US. Notice the announcement came after the markets closed.
by ti-amie
by Suliso I wonder how many of those small investors managed to cash in on the GameStop rally they engineered. Even to a novice like me it's obvious that the stock price was bound to eventually crash and will likely end exactly where the Wall street tycoons expect it to end. As I understand it the reason short sellers were hurt so badly is because their trades are time bound (have to return stock at a given date no matter the price). They couldn't wait out wild price swings like normal investors could.
by ponchi101 You are correct. A "short" is really nothing more than a bet, and it has an expiration date. By that date, you have to buy back.
The moment the short expired, GameStop was once again worth what the market would say. And now, with no shorts out there, it is basically worthless. It is Blockbuster, or Blackberry. The business model is obsolete.
by ti-amie
by ti-amieNew report finds toxic heavy metals in popular baby foods. FDA failed to warn consumers of risk.
Gerber, Beech-Nut, HappyBABY and Earth’s Best Organic baby foods contained arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, report found
By
Laura Reiley
Feb. 4, 2021 at 8:45 a.m. EST
A congressional report found many of the products made by the country’s largest commercial baby food manufacturers contain significant levels of toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury, which can endanger infant neurological development.
The report released Thursday from the House Oversight Committee’s subcommittee on economic and consumer policy found heavy metals in rice cereals, sweet potato puree, juices and sweet snack puffs made by some of the most trusted names in baby food.
Gerber, Beech-Nut, HappyBABY (made by Nurture) and Earth’s Best Organic baby foods (made by Hain Celestial Group) complied with the committee’s request to submit internal testing documents.
Campbell Soup, which sells Plum Organics baby foods, Walmart (its private brand is Parent’s Choice) and Sprout Foods declined to cooperate, according to members of the subcommittee.
The committee said the findings show the need for more stringent regulation of commercial baby food, including FDA standards for heavy metals, as well as mandatory testing for heavy metals.
“Over the last decade advocates and scientists have brought this to the attention of the Food and Drug Administration,” subcommittee Chair Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) told The Washington Post. “The FDA must set standards and regulate this industry much more closely, starting now. It’s shocking that parents are basically being completely left in the lurch by their government.”
by ti-amie I wouldn't say I'm a health nut but I made my daughter's baby food. I don't remember any particular reason I did it back then except that I was home and thought it was easier than running to the store.
by ponchi101 But remember. The smallest government is the best government.
In a world that gets more complicated by the minute.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU ^^ What did I say? Get in early if you have money to invest, a blossoming industry.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 The West/North-west of the USA is a different country.
BTW. This was not posted here, which is another major step in making things better, not solving anything and everything by sending the police and slapping handcuffs on everybody: Oregon Just Decriminalized All Drugs
Portugal did that at least 5 years ago. Needless to say, Portugal has become hell on earth.
Not.
by mmmm8 Portugal did it in 2001. To great results, drug-related HIV infections fell 90% (one of their key goals was to drive down HIV infections), less drug-related crime, fewer drug related deaths and... less drug use!
Like Oregon, they not only decriminalized drugs but also put in harm reduction programs, treating drug use as a healthcare issue rather than a crime issue.
by ponchi101 I did not know it was that long ago. But indeed, the success has been total. Of course, as long as some societies simply are bent in punishment, no data will convince anybody.
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 12:43 am
I did not know it was that long ago. But indeed, the success has been total. Of course, as long as some societies simply are bent in punishment, no data will convince anybody.
It's that but it's also money that's involved with drugs. Not only the narco money and things that busy but the budget that goes into "fighting drugs," supporting related military/police, customs, border control and other agencies and operations, etc. As always, it the common good against well-organized powerful interests. The latter will almost always win.
by JazzNU @Ponchi I posted a gif the other day. I'm not posting it again, but I'm thinking it. LOL!
► Show Spoiler
We discussed the Oregon decriminalization of drugs post-election on TAT 1.0 when it passed and you told us about Portugal then too.
Completely disagree about West/Northwest being a different country. People sure like to think that's the case though.
by ponchi101 The USA is really four countries. The North west is one. The North East is another. The south is different, and the central/midwest the fourth.
The mentalities are different all over.
by JazzNU Like I said, people sure like to think that, but it's not really all that different. Accessories and design may differ on the surface, but the base is very much the same.
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 1:19 am
The USA is really four countries. The North west is one. The North East is another. The south is different, and the central/midwest the fourth.
The mentalities are different all over.
The US is actually 56 countries.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Not belittling what happened, but this reporter doesn't seem to be all that familiar with tech. The passwords are a problem, the Windows 7 part isn't.
The number of Window 7's licenses still in use is high, especially the Pro version. Think it's over 100 million last time I read something about it a month or two ago. Widely regarded as the best, most stable OS version they had, and one that you can still keep safe, including paying Microsoft for their extended security update support. It'd be no different than if they were running Windows 10. So, unless she's reporting they are running an OS that hasn't gotten a security update in a year and was therefore more vulnerable to hacks, this part is a non-issue.
by ponchi101 Agree. 7 was super stable, and a solid platform. They will always be tainted by '98, Millennium and Vista, but XP and 7 started solid OS.
And I an guessing that you meant "NOT" all that familiar, JazzNu.
by shtexas Single digit temperatures in Texas and they are doing rolling blackouts. It is about to go under 50 degrees in the house. Meanwhile, my boss called me from a wealthier zip code and they haven't had their power cut at any point.
by ti-amie I saw some folks on Twitter asking why, if Texas is so eager to secede they begged POTUS for emergency aid.
by skatingfan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 6:24 pm
I saw some folks on Twitter asking why, if Texas is so eager to secede they begged POTUS for emergency aid.
Or why they're so upset that Mark Cuban stopped playing the national anthem?
by shtexas
shtexas wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 6:02 pm
Single digit temperatures in Texas and they are doing rolling blackouts. It is about to go under 50 degrees in the house. Meanwhile, my boss called me from a wealthier zip code and they haven't had their power cut at any point.
This is inhumane. It is absolutely freezing inside. The rolling blackouts are not rolling. They are on the same neighborhoods. It is a blackout. Period! No relief in sight.
by ponchi101 Gather everybody in one room. All possible blankets. Close doors. Do not drink alcohol.
Hope you won't need to go to that extreme.
by MJ2004 The last time we had a long term power outage in the winter we ended up going to a hotel with power. Not sure if that’s an option for you. Anything under 50 degrees is just too cold. Stay safe!
by shtexas
MJ2004 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:51 am
The last time we had a long term power outage in the winter we ended up going to a hotel with power. Not sure if that’s an option for you. Anything under 50 degrees is just too cold. Stay safe!
The problem with going to a hotel is the icy roads. We cannot drive in it around here.
We got 3 1/2 hours on this morning before they cut it.
I have no issue doing my part IF Oncor was doing an equitable controlled rolling blackout. But, they are not. We are doing far more than our part. Others have never been out at all. Because of that, we are stuck with 6 1/2 to 7 hours with no power to make up for the others always having power. Oncor apparently does not have the equipment or know-how to do it properly.
by ti-amie I've been reading that Texas can't get power from the other two grids because they decided in 1936 that they were against gub'mint regulation through FERC?
I also see some were trying to blame frozen wind turbines for the issues but officials said the following:
by ponchi101 The colder it is, the denser the gas, the harder it is to push it.
Simple physics. And if the pipes in Texas are not insulated, good luck.
by ponchi101 Trading of any commodity, stock or financial mechanism cannot be performed in micro-second increments that are in reality irrelevant to human comprehension.
This thing that the spot market for gas skyrocketed proves it.
The markets need regulation as they were originally intended, almost 150 years ago.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:47 pm
Trading of any commodity, stock or financial mechanism cannot be performed in micro-second increments that are in reality irrelevant to human comprehension.
This thing that the spot market for gas skyrocketed proves it.
The markets need regulation as they were originally intended, almost 150 years ago.
I was hoping yo would talk about the spot market and what it is especially as it relates to natural resources.
by JazzNU
by JazzNU ^^ Remember Enron? Yeah.
by JazzNU @shtexas and anyone else in the cold, this person posted a way to make radiant heat. People are saying it works well, and also ways to modify it if you don't have the things they listed. Take a look at the thread, maybe it can help.
by ponchi101 I thought that the whole point of PAYING for your utilities was that the provider DID OWE YOU ITS PRODUCT.
Strange way to blast socialism. Even if you pay for it, they still don't have to provide it.
These people are really deranged. And of course, Texans will keep electing them.
by JazzNU Wow!
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 The only point Kurt is missing is: GOP voters WILL NOT WATCH ANYTHING OTHER THAN FOX. So they will never find out the truth.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 4:47 am
The only point Kurt is missing is: GOP voters WILL NOT WATCH ANYTHING OTHER THAN FOX. So they will never find out the truth.
You're wrong about that. They will definitely watch OAN, Newsmax, and/or Blaze. I'm sure they are all telling their viewers that coal is the way of the future.
by shtexas Thanks everyone. On long enough last evening to make a hot dinner. Then, off. So, went to bed. Woke up about 5:30 am warm and toasty. Off again now.
by ponchi101 Glad that you are safe. The news picture a very difficult situation.
by skatingfan Rush Limbaugh has died. Suddenly 2021 doesn't seem so bad.
by ponchi101 Oh no! Who is going to defend truth and principle from now on!? Are we only left with Carson and Sean?
(Not worthy of a bottle of but certainly a )
by shtexas
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:04 pm
Glad that you are safe. The news picture a very difficult situation.
Just WOW! I hardly hold a high opinion of this opportunistic sniveling little rat, but clearly it had room to fall because I was a little taken aback by the reckless carelessness of that statement. I'm guessing his racist ranch is self sufficient and he just doesn't give a damn about anyone else's plight. He's reached Tom Delay bottom basement levels of assholedom in my book of terrible Texas politicians with this BS.
by shtexas Perry was Governor when 2011 happened and he did nothing. Abbott went on Fox News to peddle lies while we suffered in the cold. I'm not sure who is worse.
by JazzNU
by shtexas I was wondering how many dead bodies they may find in homes.
It was that cold inside. I was wearing six layers (I could barely move) and was under 4 quilts and blankets. with a wool cap on my head and scarf around my face, and I was still freezing.
shtexas wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:27 pm
It was that cold inside. I was wearing six layers (I could barely move) and was under 4 quilts and blankets. with a wool cap on my head and scarf around my face, and I was still freezing.
If the power goes out again, make certain you are also covering your hands and feet. A lot of warmth is lost through your extremities. If you have a way to cover your ears if the hat doesn't cover them, do that too.
Scarfs. Now this is something I always did during the winters when I lived in Chicago. If you have two scarves, tie one underneath, so that's it's laying around your neck, against your skin under one layer. And then tie the second scarf normally as a top layer. If you only have one scarf, see about using a t-shirt as the inner layer to help block a bit more of that cold air reaching your body.
4 quilts and blankets? That's good. Are you using one wrapped more tightly around your body and then the others are covers over that? That's a good approach if they aren't doing enough to keep you warm. Kind of like making the first into the shape of a sleeping bag around you. Speaking of which, you should use any and all camping gear safe to use indoors that you own.
Whatever room you are centralized in, if it has doors, you can put blankets or towels in the bottom of the door to trap the heat in as much as possible. Even if you have power, it's a good idea to get this ready, you want to trap as much of the warm air as possible once you do get heat. I'd also suggest this for the main bathroom you are using.
If you have gas cooking, boil water on the stove periodically. The warm air and humidity helps greatly. If you have electric cooking, consider doing this anyway towards the end of whatever outage rotation you are on, because the air is probably seriously dry given the temps you've had and it'll help and the additional warmth will linger a bit if the power gets shut off again. Two large uncovered pots on the stove is my usual.
Unfortunately I've gone through multiple power outages during ice and snowstorms over the years, so this is all stuff I've done to get by until the power returns.
shtexas wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:27 pm
It was that cold inside. I was wearing six layers (I could barely move) and was under 4 quilts and blankets. with a wool cap on my head and scarf around my face, and I was still freezing.
If the power goes out again, make certain you are also covering your hands and feet. A lot of warmth is lost through your extremities. If you have a way to cover your ears if the hat doesn't cover them, do that too.
Scarfs. Now this is something I always did during the winters when I lived in Chicago. If you have two scarves, tie one underneath, so that's it's laying around your neck, against your skin under one layer. And then tie the second scarf normally as a top layer. If you only have one scarf, see about using a t-shirt as the inner layer to help block a bit more of that cold air reaching your body.
4 quilts and blankets? That's good. Are you using one wrapped more tightly around your body and then the others are covers over that? That's a good approach if they aren't doing enough to keep you warm. Kind of like making the first into the shape of a sleeping bag around you. Speaking of which, you should use any and all camping gear safe to use indoors that you own.
Whatever room you are centralized in, if it has doors, you can put blankets or towels in the bottom of the door to trap the heat in as much as possible. Even if you have power, it's a good idea to get this ready, you want to trap as much of the warm air as possible once you do get heat. I'd also suggest this for the main bathroom you are using.
If you have gas cooking, boil water on the stove periodically. The warm air and humidity helps greatly. If you have electric cooking, consider doing this anyway towards the end of whatever outage rotation you are on, because the air is probably seriously dry given the temps you've had and it'll help and the additional warmth will linger a bit if the power gets shut off again. Two large uncovered pots on the stove is my usual.
Unfortunately I've gone through multiple power outages during ice and snowstorms over the years, so this is all stuff I've done to get by until the power returns.
Many thanks.
I realize that many have it worse. At least we got power in intervals. There are some melting snow to flush their toilets.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie LET THEM EAT ICE!
by ponchi101 A heinous human being. To the core.
by ti-amie
by mmmm8
shtexas wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:45 am
Many thanks.
I realize that many have it worse. At least we got power in intervals. There are some melting snow to flush their toilets.
Just to add to Jazznu's tips, you can also "insulate" your windows if there is any draft coming in by putting towels at the bottom or even by using packing tape (there's weather-proofing tape as well but I think you can't really get to the store or get deliveries at the moment).
Fill your bathtub with hot water to keep the bathroom warmer and also just in case you might lose water.
Keep the stove on when you have electricity to raise the temperature (but not if you're asleep in case something glitches and a fire starts)
Looks like temperatures are going to get better by the weekend and you're looking to be back in the 70s next week!
by JazzNU
shtexas wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:45 am
Many thanks.
I realize that many have it worse. At least we got power in intervals. There are some melting snow to flush their toilets.
Just because others have it worse, doesn't mean what you're having to go through is okay. One of the things about when we go through this up here, is there is an end in sight. Roads are being cleared. And most times, 24 hours in, there is a date for power restoration along with there being somewhere you can go - a family or friend's house in another area, a hotel, somewhere. With so little snow removal equipment and just not being equipped for the temps, it seems just terrible in Texas and Louisiana right now. Like, I was watching the Weather Channel and I saw what I think is a somewhat busy intersection and it was part of the blackout. That just rarely happens here even several hours into the ice/snow event, if there's an outage of length, a generator is running those lights by then.
I have family in Dallas, they are on what appears to have been a better rolling blackout rotation than you for most of the last 48 hours, a little more regimented. But her son, it's not nearly as clear a rotation like you. But another cousin in Austin just has nothing, not rolling, and had to get to his son's house when it was clear nothing was coming back on and he has no idea when it will be back on as of last night. Seems like a real mixed bag down there. But my family down there has the advantage of being from somewhere up here north, so snow and cold weather isn't foreign to them. One cousin in Dallas moved just in the last 2 years and is really happy she didn't toss all her snow equipment and winter clothes.
Feel free to complain. I totally get it. Power outages suck, but they are just so much worse in cold weather. Hope you're staying warm.
by shtexas We haven't had any more shut-offs. Warm now. I got a knock at the door because one of the duplexes across the street had a broken water pipe. This guy was actually going up and down the neighborhoods with his water key to turn off any residences with water gushing. No one was home over there and he wanted to let someone know he had to shut it off to prevent further damage.
There are a lot of helpful people like that. When we had that tornado on 2019, a giant tree (from that same duplex) fell across the road, blocking it. Suddenly, two trucks pull up and out comes their equipment to cut it up and clear the road. There are people who actually live for that stuff and I am thankful for them.
On another note, I am thankful for politicians like Beto, who set up a system of volunteers to call senior citizens and provide them rides to warming centers and a hot meal if needed. CancunCruz could learn from him there is always something you can do.
by ti-amie In a better world Cruz flying off to Cancun would end his career. The Repubs have gerrymandered so viciously that even if someone like Beto wins the popular vote Cruz could conceivably win.
by JazzNU Awesome! So glad you're warm now. I hope there are no more issues.
Your terrible politicians need to answer for all this when it's over. Rafael leaving for a damn Mexican vaca in the middle of all this is just beyond.
by ti-amie He's blaming his daughters!
Let's see his round trip ticket. Congratulations to the travelers who scooped all of the major news organizations.
by ti-amie
by shtexas You can't make this stuff up.
by ti-amie Whataboutism at its finest.
Sen. Ted Cruz confirms he flew to Mexico as Texas grapples with power outages caused by severe weather
By
Felicia Sonmez,
John Wagner and
William Wan
Feb. 18, 2021 at 1:34 p.m. EST
Sen. Ted Cruz confirmed Thursday that he traveled to Cancun, Mexico, as millions of Texas residents were without power amid blackouts from the freezing weather.
In a statement, the Texas Republican said he flew with his daughters Wednesday and would be returning Thursday amid an uproar and calls to resign over the family trip.
“With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” Cruz said.
Photos that rapidly circulated on social media overnight showed a man who could be the senator at an airport and on an airplane. In some photos, a gray face mask was visible that appeared to be similar to one that Cruz was wearing at President Biden’s inauguration.
According to the social media postings, Cruz appeared to be in the Houston airport, preparing to board a United Airlines flight from Houston to Fort Lauderdale with continuing service to Cancun.
In Texas, more than 3 million customers were still in the dark Wednesday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks outages nationwide. As of Thursday morning, that figure was about 500,000.
The Texas Democratic Party called on Cruz to resign over the incident. In a statement, party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said Cruz “is proving to be an enemy to our state by abandoning us in our greatest time of need.”
“Ted Cruz jetting off to Mexico while Texans remain dying in the cold isn’t surprising but it is deeply disturbing and disappointing,” Hinojosa said. “Cruz is emblematic of what the Texas Republican Party and its leaders have become: weak, corrupt, inept, and self-serving politicians who don’t give a damn about the people they were elected to represent. They were elected by the people but have no interest or intent of doing their jobs.”
A Democratic super PAC, American Bridge, also called for Cruz’s resignation.
“Senator Cruz should do his constituents a favor and stay on the beach instead of getting paid by taxpayers to do a job he clearly has no interest in doing,” the group’s president, Bradley Beychok, said in a statement.
Cruz was first elected to the Senate in 2012, narrowly beat former congressman Beto O’Rourke (D) to win reelection in 2018 and is widely considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate. He ran unsuccessfully for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 and, after being among Donald Trump’s sharpest critics during the primaries, went on to become one of his staunchest defenders in Congress, helping to spearhead efforts to challenge Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.
While outrage at Cruz was mounting online, his former opponent, O’Rourke, highlighted his own efforts to assist Texans during the crisis.
“We made over 151,000 calls to senior citizens in Texas tonight,” O’Rourke said in a Wednesday night tweet. “One of our [volunteers] talked to a man stranded at home w/out power in Killeen, hadn’t eaten in 2 days, got him a ride to a warming center and a hot meal. Help us reach more people, join us tomorrow.”
In an interview Monday with San Antonio-based radio host Joe “Pags” Pagliarulo, Cruz said he was fortunate not to have lost power at his Houston home. He urged his fellow Texans to stay home because of the danger posed by the storms.
“This storm is dangerous, and there’s a second storm expected to hit this week, which will make things even worse,” he said. “So if you can stay home, don’t go out on the roads. Don’t risk the ice.”
Cruz added that he had spoken over the weekend with a meteorologist who said the combination of storms could lead up to 100 people in the state losing their lives this week alone.
“So don’t risk it,” Cruz said. “Keep your family safe, and just stay home and hug your kids.”
Cruz has also previously criticized Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D), who in November hosted a wedding and then traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, as coronavirus cases surged across Texas.
“Hypocrites. Complete and utter hypocrites,” Cruz said in a December tweet, referring to Adler and other Democrats who had flouted guidelines on travel and large group gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rates the risk of covid-19 in Mexico at level 4 — the agency’s highest level of warning — and says on its website: “Travelers should avoid all travel to Mexico.”
If people must travel for work or family reasons, CDC officials say passengers to Mexico should get tested one to three days before and wear a mask at all times during their trip.
New rules put in place by the Biden administration require all passengers on planes returning to the United States to have a negative coronavirus test result before boarding their flight.
According to CDC guidelines, once Cruz returns, he should stay home for seven days to quarantine, and get tested three to five days after traveling. If he chooses not to get tested, he should stay in quarantine for 10 days to avoid possibly infecting others.
Cruz is just the latest in a series of public officials apparently caught breaking rules and vacationing in ways they shouldn’t during the pandemic.
During Thanksgiving, Deborah Birx, coronavirus response coordinator for the Trump White House, told Americans to “be vigilant” and pleaded with them to limit celebrations to “your immediate household.” But the day after Thanksgiving, Birx traveled to a vacation home in Delaware along with three generations of her family from two households, the Associated Press reported.
That same week, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (D) tweeted out advisories asking constituents to “stay home as much as you can,” “avoid travel” and “host virtual gatherings instead of in-person dinners.” Half an hour later, Hancock got on a plane to visit family in Mississippi.
“It was unwise, it was hypocritical, it was a mistake that I deeply regret and deeply apologize for,” Hancock told local news outlets.
by Suliso Completely unconnected to this asshole, but I was just wondering if a former president (let's say Obama) goes for a vacation abroad (let's say to Mexico) is he able to take his secret service protection with him or those perks end at the border and he has to arrange any assistance if desired privately? Any of you know?
by ponchi101 It varies depending on the person. Obama can't go anywhere without a Secret Service detail. Cruz most likely can go abroad without one.
The Secret Service decides on an individual case. It is also based on info from intelligence offices gauging how much of a risk the person is.
by ti-amie Here's our hero on his way back to Texas... /s
by JazzNU Former presidents take Secret Service detail everywhere, including when they travel abroad.
Cruz is not a Secret Service protectee.
by Suliso
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 7:15 pm
Former presidents take Secret Service detail everywhere, including when they travel abroad.
I thought so although I guess it would require a permission from the receiving country. I think it's also possible to specifically refuse this protection, Jimmy Carter didn't use it anywhere the last 20 years or so.
by JazzNU No, Jimmy Carter still has Secret Service protection. I know he's flown commercial in the past though, most former presidents fly private, so maybe that's what you're remembering.
by ponchi101 All former presidents keep the SS protection.
I mentioned Obama because he and Michelle get an inordinate number of threats as compared to the other former presidential couples. He really cannot go to the supermarket without his deployment.
by ti-amie This is something that, to my knowledge, hasn't been talked about much.
via @K. Sennholz MD
THREAD:
Let me explain why this Texas situation is so bad, so much worse than many people think and why the flooding-will-ruin-homes-thing makes this catastrophic...
When a home floods, normally you call the "flooded home" guys, they bring massive fans, pull out wet carpet, tear out wet drywall, and in about 2 to 4 days, your house is dry. You can then repair it and move on with your life.
If you can't do that because, say, the "Flooded home" guys are all busy, or there are not enough drying fans, or you don't have resources to do it... and if you live in a warm climate, within 3 days everywhere that is wet will turn to mold.
Then adjacent moist areas will turn to mold. If it is wet enough, the home may require gutting. Or the home may require being totally torn down. Or, if Apartment building, demolished.
The question on the table is: How many homes/apartment buildings/ businesses are now soaked with water?
We can calculate how many of those will be ruined for no way to dry them fast enough.
Consider tens of thousands of ruined homes. Or a hundred thousand.
Or more. Bizs, apartments, homes, all ruined, with no one to fix them. Sitting rotting, smelling.
Even if YOU had a generator, turned off water, saved your home, your entire neighborhood could be devastated destroying the value of your home.
This is Catastrophic disaster.
The question is: How many homes are now flooded?
That would give us a better idea of the problem. But right now, we just do not know that answer.
If we act quickly to move 1000s of people & fans there, we could save many homes.
This is a time-sensitive situation.
Just as I warned in Feb 2020 that every HOUR we did not mask and distance, 1000s or tens of 1000s would die & no one listened,
this, too,very time-sensitive.
Every home we can save, that's a half a million dollars.
Every Apartment building we can save.... millions.
We have precisely 6 days (3 more days of cold, 3 days until mold wins).
by JazzNU Not trying to bring the room down, but the number of flooded homes will increase. Frozen pipes are bad and they can cause a ton of problems at that time as we have seen, but they can also cause plenty of problems once they thaw. Something about the pressure from the thaw makes them burst sometimes. There will be more people with problems unfortunately.
by skatingfan
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:05 pm
Not trying to bring the room down, but the number of flooded homes will increase. Frozen pipes are bad and they can cause a ton of problems at that time as we have seen, but they can also cause plenty of problems once they thaw. Something about the pressure from the thaw makes them burst sometimes. There will be more people with problems unfortunately.
While, Houston has drainage issues at the best of times, and having frozen things melt are not the best of times.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Will they ever learn? Stand up, and say it: I screwed up, badly. I am sorry.
Be a man.
by shtexas So now his house didn't have power. A few days ago he told a radio station they were lucky and had power.
by dryrunguy
shtexas wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 2:25 am
So now his house didn't have power. A few days ago he told a radio station they were lucky and had power.
You believe a damn thing he says? Ted Cruz is an amoral slug. And no one around him possesses the courage to whip out the salt shaker. It would be the merciful thing to do.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amieTed Cruz’s Cancún Trip: Family Texts Detail His Political Blunder
The Texas senator faced fierce blowback for fleeing his state as a disaster unfolded. Text messages sent by his wife revealed a hastily planned trip away from their “FREEZING” family home.
By Shane Goldmacher and Nicholas Fandos
Feb. 18, 2021
Updated 7:43 p.m. ET
Like millions of his constituents across Texas, Senator Ted Cruz had a frigid home without electricity this week amid the state’s power crisis. But unlike most, Mr. Cruz got out, fleeing Houston and hopping a Wednesday afternoon flight to Cancún with his family for a respite at a luxury resort.
Photos of Mr. Cruz and his wife, Heidi, boarding the flight ricocheted quickly across social media and left both his political allies and rivals aghast at a tropical trip as a disaster unfolded at home. The blowback only intensified after Mr. Cruz, a Republican, released a statement saying he had flown to Mexico “to be a good dad” and accompany his daughters and their friends; he noted he was flying back Thursday afternoon, though he did not disclose how long he had originally intended to stay.
Text messages sent from Ms. Cruz to friends and Houston neighbors on Wednesday revealed a hastily planned trip. Their house was “FREEZING,” as Ms. Cruz put it — and she proposed a getaway until Sunday. Ms. Cruz invited others to join them at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancún, where they had stayed “many times,” noting the room price this week ($309 per night) and its good security. The text messages were provided to The New York Times and confirmed by a second person on the thread, who declined to be identified because of the private nature of the texts.
For more than 12 hours after the airport departure photos first emerged, Mr. Cruz’s office declined to comment on his whereabouts. The Houston police confirmed that the senator’s office had sought their assistance for his airport trip on Wednesday, and eventually Mr. Cruz was spotted wheeling his suitcase in Mexico on Thursday as he returned to the state he represents in the Senate.
As the Cruzes were away, millions of Texans were still without electricity, many had no running water and the icy air that swept into the state was so severe that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been activated to send supplies, including generators. Some searched neighborhoods for discarded fallen trees to burn for warmth.
“What’s happening in Texas is unacceptable,” Mr. Cruz told a television crew at the Cancún airport. He was wearing a Texas state flag mask and a short-sleeved polo shirt tucked into his jeans; the temperature in Cancún was above 80 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, and in the 30s in Houston.
After landing back in the United States, Mr. Cruz offered a new statement with a different tone from earlier in the day, when he had tried to explain the vacation without regrets and left the impression that it might have always been a one-day trip for him. Speaking to reporters after his arrival home, he conceded that the trip was “obviously a mistake” and said he had begun having “second thoughts” as soon as he boarded the plane to Mexico intent on a few days of remote work in the sun.
“The plan had been to stay through the weekend with the family,” he said, framing the decision as a parent’s attempt to placate his two daughters, ages 10 and 12, after a “tough week.”
“On the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our families,” Mr. Cruz said. “But I also have a responsibility that I take very seriously of fighting for the state of Texas.”
“As it became a bigger and bigger firestorm, it became all the more compelling that I needed to come back,” he added.
Mr. Cruz’s critics quickly circulated hashtags mocking his trip: #FlyinTed, a play on former President Donald J. Trump’s derisive nickname for Mr. Cruz during the 2016 primary race, and #FledCruz, among them. Some Democratic groups sought to fund-raise off the episode, and the state Democratic Party renewed its calls for Mr. Cruz’s resignation.
“This is about as callous as any politician can get,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, the Texas Democratic Party chairman. Mr. Hinojosa said he was shocked but not surprised by Mr. Cruz’s international excursion: “He’s a politician that really has never cared much about anybody but himself.”
Untimely vacations and opulent splurges have long ensnared politicians in scandals and public-relations headaches: the international trips arranged by the disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff in the early 2000s for members of Congress; Chris Christie, then the governor of New Jersey, sitting on a state beach in 2017 after he had ordered such beaches closed because of a government shutdown; and, more recently, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California dining without a mask during the pandemic last year at the high-end restaurant the French Laundry.
Mr. Cruz’s decision to leave his state in the middle of an emergency was an especially confounding one for an ambitious politician who has already run for president once and is widely seen as wanting to run again in 2024 or beyond.
“It was clearly an error in judgment,” said Ray Sullivan, an Austin-based Republican strategist who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Rick Perry. While a senator cannot personally restore the power grid, Mr. Sullivan said, “people expect their elected officials to be fully engaged during a crisis.”
Mr. Cruz, 50, narrowly won re-election in 2018 against Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic former congressman, carrying less than 51 percent of the vote. In that race, Mr. Cruz had aggressively highlighted his efforts during a past emergency, Hurricane Harvey. He is not up for re-election until 2024.
While the city of Houston was gripped by the freezing weather on Wednesday, a member of Mr. Cruz’s staff contacted personnel with the Houston Police Department at George Bush Intercontinental Airport ahead of his flight requesting “assistance upon arrival,” according to Jodi Silva, a department spokeswoman.
Ms. Silva said the police had “monitored his movements” before he departed. Officers were seen accompanying him upon his Thursday return.
Mr. Cruz insisted in his statement on Thursday that he and his staff had been “in constant communication” with state and local leaders during his brief Cancún trip.
“This has been an infuriating week for Texans,” he said.
In his statements, Mr. Cruz noted that the private school his daughters attend in Houston was closed this week. But some other parents at the school were incensed when they heard about his international trip because of the pandemic and school policies that have discouraged such travel abroad.
Two parents provided a copy of the written school policy for students not to return to classrooms for seven days after international travel, or to take a coronavirus test three to five days after returning, which would keep the Cruz children out of school for the following week. (Separately, an aide to Mr. Cruz said he had taken a virus test before his return flight on Thursday; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires a negative result.)
When Ms. Cruz wrote to the group text chain of neighbors trying to weather the extreme conditions early Wednesday, she said the family had been staying with friends to keep warm, but quickly pivoted to offering an invitation to get away.
“Anyone can or want to leave for the week?” she wrote. “We may go to Cancún.” She teased a “direct flight” and “hotels w capacity. Seriously.” Ms. Cruz promptly shared details for a Wednesday afternoon departure, a Sunday return trip and a luxurious stay at the oceanfront Ritz-Carlton in the meantime.
No one appeared to bite, but Ms. Cruz did extend a more practical offer. “We have gas stove so at least we can heat water little that there is happy to help anyone we can too,” she wrote.
The Times shared the contents of the messages with Mr. Cruz’s Senate office, but his aides did not comment. Ms. Cruz did not return a call seeking comment.
Mr. Cruz has long rankled members of both parties as a self-promoter since his arrival on Capitol Hill in 2013. Later that year, he became the leading actor in the drama that forced a government shutdown over the Affordable Care Act, and in 2016, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, famously joked during a speech, “If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.”
But if Mr. Cruz annoyed his colleagues, he just as quickly won over the Tea Party wing of the G.O.P. He ran as an anti-establishment champion in the party’s 2016 presidential primary and finished as the runner-up to Mr. Trump, brandishing his colleagues’ disdain as a badge of honor.
Representative Lizzie Fletcher, a Democrat who represents Mr. Cruz’s Houston neighborhood in Congress, said on Thursday that the state was facing an “all-hands-on-deck situation” and that its leaders were needed to help marshal the federal response on the ground.
Ms. Fletcher was out of power herself until Wednesday and charged her phone in her car to continue to make calls to the House speaker, FEMA and other agencies — too busy, she said, to think about Mr. Cruz’s “decision to leave the state at this time.”
“Leadership matters,” she said.
Mr. Cruz had been acutely aware of the possible crisis in advance. In a radio interview on Monday, he said the state could see up to 100 deaths this week. “So don’t risk it,” he said. “Keep your family safe and just stay home and hug your kids.”
Mr. Cruz had attacked a Democrat, Mayor Stephen Adler of Austin, in December for taking a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, while telling constituents to “stay home” during the pandemic.
“Hypocrites,” Mr. Cruz wrote on Twitter. “Complete and utter hypocrites.”
by JazzNU I feel like I'm missing something with Texas and generators. Not individuals, but municipalities and businesses. Texas is no stranger to hurricanes. What do they do when one comes in and they lose power for an extended period of time? I've been surprised at how many gas stations have gas, but no power. Is it that even though maybe the same thing occurred when Hurricane Harvey hit, for instance, no changes were made to plan for future disasters? Hurricane Sandy certainly exposed some flaws in the system when everything wasn't working just right, but many of those things have been addressed so as to hopefully have a better response if something similar occurs again. What am I missing about Texas? Is this like the winterizing that was advised but never implemented?
by ti-amie
JazzNU wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:45 pm
I feel like I'm missing something with Texas and generators. Not individuals, but municipalities and businesses. Texas is no stranger to hurricanes. What do they do when one comes in and they lose power for an extended period of time? I've been surprised at how many gas stations have gas, but no power. Is it that even though maybe the same thing occurred when Hurricane Harvey hit, for instance, no changes were made to plan for future disasters? Hurricane Sandy certainly exposed some flaws in the system when everything wasn't working just right, but many of those things have been addressed so as to hopefully have a better response if something similar occurs again. What am I missing about Texas? Is this like the winterizing that was advised but never implemented?
Someone posted a very long but informative thread about what is going on in Texas on the bird thingie. Long story short they don't believe in government.
by mmmm8 The other fun thing with Cruz is that the area in and around Cancun is in a middle of a COVID surge.
Abbott, Patrick and Cruz probably forgot that Biden delivered on sending help
by ponchi101 What else is needed for these buffoons to get their butts sued into oblivion? What part of the definition of NEGLIGENCE have they not met?
by JazzNU
mmmm8 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 6:20 pm
The other fun thing with Cruz is that the area in and around Cancun is in a middle of a COVID surge.
The number of people vacationing in Mexico during the pandemic has been astounding. Doesn't seem to matter what stage things are at here or there, just trying to go on vacation apparently.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:51 pm
Someone posted a very long but informative thread about what is going on in Texas on the bird thingie. Long story short they don't believe in government.
The person that wrote the thread doesn't believe in government, or the leaders elected in Texas don't believe in government? I've seen the latter countless times in recent days. "Stop electing politicians to run your government, that don't believe in government" and various variations. Which is valid. I'm just confused about some of the problems they are having in light of being at least somewhat accustomed to hurricanes.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:51 pm
Someone posted a very long but informative thread about what is going on in Texas on the bird thingie. Long story short they don't believe in government.
The person that wrote the thread doesn't believe in government, or the leaders elected in Texas don't believe in government? I've seen the latter countless times in recent days. "Stop electing politicians to run your government, that don't believe in government" and various variations. Which is valid. I'm just confused about some of the problems they are having in light of being at least somewhat accustomed to hurricanes.
The so called leaders in Texas don't believe in government. I will post the thread because the person is really pissed off.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 The debasing of gestures that once had real meaning.
Then again, he received that medal from Tiny so by now any gesture done by any government, state or local, is meaningless.
by ti-amie futtiguem@futtigue Feb 18
People defending Ted Cruz with (expletive) like "well what's he supposed to do, go out there with a wrench and fix the power himself??" make me want to (expletive) scream until I die.
These people have already accepted the idea that the government cannot and will NOT provide anything except boots and guns. That the state can't or shouldn't respond to a crisis in any way.
futtigue
@futtigue
· Feb 18
Replying to @StevenWillcox2 @SawyerHackett and 3 others
If your argument is that he should not be expected govern or organize a state response during a time when his state is in crisis, then I have to wonder, why does he collect a paycheque at all? What is his function?
So here's a fun story, about trains, Quebec, and the 1998 Ice Storm that (expletive) up power in a number of provinces and states. The point of telling this is not to gloat over Texas, or brag about our superior resistance to the cold. 98 was a tragedy. People died. But,
This should provide an example of what real political action can do - in a time post Katrina, and during Covid and this current storm, where it seems people like Ted Cruz are determined to do notjing but accumulate personal wealth at all costs.
They derailed a effing train. In Boucherville. They laid tracks down in the middle of the street and drove it a kilometer. Deisel electric locomotives are just big generators. They rigged it to provide emergency power to keep people warm and alive.
This story is inspiring. I was 8 years old during this storm and was only without power for less than 18 hours. But next door in Quebec, some northern towns went a week+ without power, in the worst of winter. And political action in a crisis did this.
Political actors in Texas could do:
- use portable power generation capabilities of ntl guard to run warming centers, provide food
- use nuclear submarines
ground power connections to provide power to coastal areas
- repurpose graders and farm equipment for road clearing
Things they are doing instead
- (expletive)
- going on the news to cry about the green new deal (???)
- going on vacation
I want to be 100% clear here. I don't tell this story to shame Texans for not being ingenious or prepared. Canadians died in 98 too. We could have done more.
I'm recalling this story to show the solutions that the state CAN provide to crises, when they want to.
The key is, when they WANT to. Plenty of First Nations communities in Canada have been boiling their water for years, and it doesn't seem like the federal government here wants to fix it. Trudeau has no problem with the State building other pipelines - when they carry oil.
Anyways, if I said on here what I would like to see happen to Cruz, I probably wouldn't have a Twitter account for much longer.
It's depressing how we have resigned ourselves to the idea that our governments can't or shouldn't DO ANYTHING.
What happens when your Government is held accountable to actually DO something. Things in Texas don't need to be this way. Katrina didn't need to happen the way that it did. Half a million didn't need to die of Covid.
When the power lines were back up. They just drove the loco back up the street and re-railed it. Drove it away. Incredible. How many hospitalized people on dialysis, or requiring assisted breathing, were saved because they still had power that week? How many did this save.
In post-Soviet Russia, nuclear submarines were used TWICE to provide shore power for Siberian
towns. American SSBNs also have ship-to-shore connections. It wouldnt be simple, but what the (expletive) is the point of having a trillion dollar Navy if it cant do THIS (expletive) once in a while.
Want to be mad forever? Remember how quickly Blackwater and the National Guard were put to work to build open air prisons for "looters" during Katrina. But for 5 days at memorial hospital, people took shifts hand-ventillating patients 24/7, wondering where the helicopters were.
How quick, competent and efficient the American military and beauracracy can be during a crisis!... When they want to lock up minorities.
Also, in the early 00s, if I recall correctly there was serious discussion about using an American nuke sub to power a hospital in Guam after a tropical storm, but diesel gensets were flown in instead. Too bad Texas is landlocked. Oh, wait,
ok ok I'm taking a break
He posted more images of the train if you want to see more. Also, there a whole other rabbit hole thread he links to. Enjoy.
by JazzNU This is too true. And yeah, if you missed it, he requested a police escort from the airport, taking resources away from those in actual need.
by shtexas 34 degrees feels like a heatwave. Just hoping the thaw doesn't reveal or cause pipe damage.
by shtexas
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 19, 2021 6:32 pm
What else is needed for these buffoons to get their butts sued into oblivion? What part of the definition of NEGLIGENCE have they not met?
It's criminal
by skatingfan
by JazzNU That price gouging this extreme is allowed in Texas after a disaster is truly wild. Texas is getting mightily exposed this week on what deregulation really means after months of business leaders like Elon Musk complaining about regulation and saying Texas does it right.
by JazzNU Anyone seen or heard from Dubya in recent days? After having a decent 4 years because he wasn't as bad as the epic disaster we just got rid of in the WH, if covered correctly, people will start to remember again how awful he really was. He helped usher in this version of deregulation with Enron and Ken Lay.
by shtexas Lovely. I am not on auto pay and am on an averaging system that may help a little.
I went to the grocery today. Decently stocked, but no milk. Stopped by Braums for an ice cream cone and their delivery truck had just pulled up. So, I ate my ice cream in the car and went back in for it. Some people were so rude to the employees there. They treated them like inferiors. It was gross. I don't know how the employees remained courteous. It takes a while to unload, count your inventory and put it out. Anyway, those employees are my heroes today and I will stop by more often.
by skatingfan Dunking on Ted Cruz never gets old.
by ponchi101 Things that cannot be left to the free market:
Utilities
Public Transportation
Health
Security personnel
It is not so difficult to grasp. You simply cannot switch electrical grids overnight. So the free market does not work.
by JazzNU If you don't read the final article in those Tweets, that $17,000 bill is even worse than it seems. Just unconscionable.
From the article:
Ty Williams and his family in Arlington were among the lucky ones during this week's storm and never lost power. However, he did pay the price in the form of a $17,000 electric bill for three meters over five days of use. He is a customer of a company called Griddy.
by ti-amie
AY Allgood @ayallgood
Replying to @NotHoodlum and @k_fernholz
Isn't the Tiffany security guy Melania's BF?
Hoodlum @NotHoodlum
Yup. That would be Hank Siemers.
Tiffany's was doing a reno on their main location on 57th & 5th so this was never a permanent location for the store. Let's see who moves in.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 20, 2021 10:07 pm
Things that cannot be left to the free market:
Utilities
Public Transportation
Health
Security personnel
It is not so difficult to grasp. You simply cannot switch electrical grids overnight. So the free market does not work.
by ti-amie
by MJ2004 The idea of fracking scares me more than just about anything else we do to this planet. The implications on groundwater and other unknowns could be monumental down the road.
by ti-amie
MJ2004 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 21, 2021 7:08 pm
The idea of fracking scares me more than just about anything else we do to this planet. The implications on groundwater and other unknowns could be monumental down the road.
Fracking is Exhibit A in just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.
by ponchi101 With the current world oil prices, it is unviable in almost all places. It is an expensive process, therefore the break even point is really not financially appealing.
At the moment. And we know how that changes.
Reminder: This is the source of Jessica Pegula's family's immense wealth and the reason I call her the Fracking Princess. Don't be fooled by that Buffalo Bills and Sabres smokescreen.
by shtexas 75 degrees in Dallas yesterday! Crazy.
by ponchi101 Worst possible combo. Now you get all the mud and related problems.
Open all your windows and blast the fans. Get all that moisture out. Glad to hear you have made it through.
by ti-amieWife of drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ arrested on US drug charges
By MICHAEL BALSAMO
FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2019 file photo, Emma Coronel Aispuro, center, wife of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, leaves federal court in New York. The wife of Mexican drug kingpin and escape artist Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has been arrested on international drug trafficking charges at an airport in Virginia. The Justice Department says 31-year-old Emma Coronel Aispuro, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport on Monday and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The wife of Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested on Monday at an airport in Virginia on international drug trafficking charges, the Justice Department said.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and is expected to appear in federal court in Washington on Tuesday.
She is charged in a single-count criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana in the U.S. The Justice Department also accuses her of helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015 and participating in the planning of a second prison escape before Guzman was extradited to the U.S. in January 2017.
As Mexico’s most powerful drug lord, Guzman escaped through an entry under the shower in his cell to a milelong (1.6-kilometer-long) lighted tunnel with a motorcycle on rails. The planning for the escape was extensive, prosecutors say, with his wife playing a key role.
Court papers charge that Coronel Aispuro worked with Guzman’s sons and a witness, who is now cooperating with the U.S. government, to organize the construction of the underground tunnel that Guzman used to escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico to prevent him from being extradited to the U.S. The plot included purchasing a piece of land near the prison, firearms and an armored truck and smuggling him a GPS watch so they could “pinpoint his exact whereabouts so as to construct the tunnel with an entry point accessible to him,” the court papers say.
Guzman was sentenced to life behind bars in 2019. His Sinaloa cartel was responsible for smuggling mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States during his 25-year reign, prosecutors said in recent court papers. They also said his “army of sicarios,” or “hit men,” was under orders to kidnap, torture and kill anyone who got in his way.
by MJ2004 Sorry- I don’t always check the non-tennis sports threads. I see your posts now. Feel free to remove my posts if you want to avoid duplicate threads.
by ti-amie
MJ2004 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:07 pm
Sorry- I don’t always check the non-tennis sports threads. I see your posts now.
The followoing argument ensued between a Maga and someone asking a valid question
A.J. Delgado
@AJDelgado13
It's a Catholic school. They have every right to expel her kids.
Second, OMG, her sons must be mortified.
Third, how was girlfriend pulling in $150,000 a MONTH for this?
kellsflanney@kellsflanney
Replying to @AJDelgado13
Why? Does she go there? WTF does this have to do with her kids and their education?
Do people in the adult film industry automatically forfeit their kids’ education choices, too?
I’ll bet a whole lotta men, who film and produce actual porn...don’t have this issue. Face with rolling eyes
Film, produce, star in, sell, advertise, or WATCH!!!! I would say that porn keeps the confessionals full, except that I doubt people even confess that anymore. It's ubiquitous, commonplace, and has become totally normalized. And the Catholic church claiming any moral ground (see continuing cases of abuse, and abuse cover up, all throughout the world, see homophobia, see extreme misogyny) is just about the most ludicrous stance possible to take. Maybe if they were actually against porn because it exploits women (and men), they could be taken seriously, but then they'd have to redo the whole Mary is either a prostitute or a virgin thing, and start allowing women to be equal to men in the Church, and that is not happening any time soon. Total utter garbage.
Kevin
by JazzNU
Amid lawsuits, Delaware River Basin Commission makes fracking ban permanent
The formal ban came a month after a federal judge set an October trial date to hear a challenge to the drilling moratorium.
by Andrew Maykuth
The Delaware River Basin Commission on Thursday approved a permanent ban on hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells along the river, doubling down in the face of new legal challenges.
The DRBC’s vote maintains the status quo — it formally affirms a drilling moratorium imposed in 2010 by the commission, the interstate agency that manages water use in the vast Delaware watershed. But environmentalists hailed the frack ban as historic.
The commission said it had the authority to ban fracking in order to control future pollution, protect the public health, and preserve the waters in the Delaware River Basin. For more than debate, environmental activists have rallied substantial public opposition in the basin to pressure the commission to enact the ban.
The formal ban came a month after a federal judge set an October trial date to hear a challenge from landowners to the drilling moratorium, which is now a permanent ban. Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers, along with Damascus Township in Wayne County, also filed a separate federal legal action last month alleging that the moratorium illegally usurps state legislators’ authority to govern natural resources.
Representatives of the governors of four states that are drained by the river — Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York, all governed by Democrats — voted in favor of the ban. The fifth commission member, a federal government representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, abstained because he said the corps needed additional time to “coordinate” with the new Biden administration.
The new DRBC rules prohibit high-volume hydraulic fracturing for fossil fuels within the 13,539-square-mile basin. The commission put off a decision on whether to allow the treatment of wastewater from fracking outside the basin. It also postponed a decision on whether to allow water from the Delaware basin to be used in fracking outside the basin.
Fracking involves the injection of water and chemicals under high pressure deep underground to unlock natural gas trapped in tight geologic formations, such as shale. The process has unleashed a fossil fuel boon of cheap energy, but it has attracted a backlash from environmentalists because of associated health and environmental harms.
The DRBC imposed a fracking moratorium in 2010 but never finalized drilling regulations. In 2017, the commission changed direction and moved to draft regulations to formally ban fracking in the basin. After a series of public hearings in 2018, the commission delayed a decision until Thursday.
The ban effectively impacts activity only in Pennsylvania, because New Jersey and Delaware have no natural gas that can be developed and New York, whose southern tier adjoins some of Pennsylvania’s richest shale fields, has banned fracking statewide. In Pennsylvania, hydraulic fracturing is conducted extensively and legally across a broad swath of the state underlain by Marcellus and Utica shale formations, and has transformed the state into the nation’s second-largest gas producer.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, in a statement read by a deputy, said Thursday that fracking poses significant risks to the water resources of the Delaware River Basin, and prohibiting the activity “is vital to preserving our region’s recreational and natural resources and ecology.”
Patrick McDonnell, Pennsylvania’s secretary of environmental protection, read a statement from Gov. Tom Wolf that said he cast the state’s vote in favor of the ban “after careful analysis and consideration of the unique geographic, geologic and hydrologic characteristics” of the river basin. He also noted that the ban fulfilled a Wolf 2014 campaign pledge.
McDonnell said the commission was acting under authority of the Delaware River Basin Compact, the 1961 interstate agreement to manage water resources in the Delaware basin. That’s an important distinction because the lawsuits challenging the DRBC’s actions allege that the commission is acting beyond its legal authority by banning a practice that is governed exclusively by Pennsylvania law.
In the lawsuit last month, State Sens. Gene Yaw (R., Lycoming) and Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne) and the Pennsylvania Republican Caucus alleged that the moratorium — now a ban — undermines the General Assembly’s prerogative to make laws managing the state’s resources. They also said that the DRBC’s action amounts to an illegal taking of property from Pennsylvania owners of mineral rights and from taxing authorities.
Matthew H. Haverstick, a Philadelphia lawyer who filed the suit on behalf of the Republican caucus, said the DRBC’s action Thursday does not alter the underlying argument in the lawsuit.
“It’s still a taking that was never authorized by Pennsylvania under the compact,” said Haverstick, a partner with the Kleinbard LLC law firm. “So the core issues from my standpoint remain.”
In a separate suit heading to trial in October in U.S. District Court in Scranton, a Wayne County landowner group alleges that the DRBC doesn’t have jurisdiction over gas drilling. The suit alleges that the DRBC regulates no other land use or industry like gas drilling, and points to the experience in the neighboring Susquehanna River basin, where it said a decade of drilling has not caused “discernible impacts” on water quality.
Business and the gas industry advocates denounced the DRBC’s ban as an overreach. The American Petroleum Institute Pennsylvania said the commission’s decision “ignores a robust regulatory system and strict industry standards that ensure the environment, public health and local communities are protected.”
Environmentalists, citing the dangers of drilling and the climate impacts of more fossil fuel production, lauded the commission’s actions and dismissed the lawsuits from “extremist” opponents as frivolous.
“We have been calling for a decision for years now and been making the point that really the time is now,” said Maya van Rossum, the head of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an advocacy group that has intervened in the lawsuits.
National Parks Conservation Association that the fracking ban would spare the Delaware Water Gap and the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River areas, saying the parks attracted three million visitors in 2019 and generated nearly $130 million in economic activity.
“It is imperative that we protect our parks, our resources, and the people who love and depend on them from the devastating environmental impacts of fracking,” said Halle Van der Gaag, the association’s senior manager for Pennsylvania and Delaware programs.
Fracking permanently banned in Delaware River Basin
By Michael Sol Warren
Fracking is permanently banned in the Delaware River region.
At a special meeting Thursday morning, the Delaware River Basin Commission approved new regulations prohibiting the use of the controversial drilling technique in its jurisdiction.
The agency also passed a resolution to develop new rules regarding the importation of fracking wastewater into the Delaware River watershed from other regions, and the exportation of the region’s water for fracking elsewhere. The draft versions of those regulations are to be drawn up and published by the end of September.
The DRBC is a regional agency tasked with protecting the water quality of the Delaware River and its tributaries, which provide water for more than 13 million people. The DRBC is made up of the governors of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representing the federal government.
All of the states voted in favor of the permanent fracking ban. The Army Corps abstained, with Brig. Gen. Thomas Tickner explaining that the agency needed more time to coordinate with the newly empowered Biden administration.
“Fracking poses significant risks to the water resources of the Delaware River Basin, and prohibiting high volume hydraulic fracturing in the basin is vital to preserving our region’s recreational and natural resources and ecology,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement. “Since the beginning of my administration, New Jersey has been a leader in environmental protection and justice, climate action and clean energy.
“More than 13 million people rely on the waters of a clean Delaware River Basin that is free of the chemicals used in fracking. Our actions, including the further rulemaking outlined today to address fracking wastewater, will protect public health and preserve our water resources for future generations.”
Shawn LaTourette, the acting commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, cast the state’s votes in place of Murphy.
“The waters of the Delaware River Basin are a resource that belongs to the people, and we are duty-bound to ensure its care,” LaTourette said in a statement. “In this case, that means taking measures to avoiding the risk that the negative effects of high-volume hydraulic fracturing could threaten the people’s right to clean, drinkable, fishable waters.”
Thursday’s decision is the most significant action taken on fracking in the region since 2010, when the DRBC instituted a temporary moratorium on the practice in the Delaware River watershed. The DRBC began working toward a permanent ban in 2017. That push got a boost in 2018, when Murphy was joined by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and Delaware Gov. John Carney in signing a letter calling for a permanent fracking ban in the watershed.
Earlier this month, Republican state lawmakers and industry groups in Pennsylvania sued the DRBC in federal court over its fracking regulations. They argue the agency is overstepping its bounds by creating such rules.
There is no fracking in New Jersey, though the practice was banned here between 2012 and 2013, and the state contains no geologic formations that lend themselves to fracking.
But the technique has unleashed a boom of natural gas production in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region.
Environmental activists have spent years pushing for a permanent fracking ban, citing direct environmental harm caused by the practice in Pennsylvania, the indirect effects of dumping fracking waste in New Jersey and elsewhere, and the global consequences of burning fossil fuels. Former Gov. Chris Christie vetoed multiple efforts to ban fracking waste disposal in the Garden State.
Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, hailed the action as a massive victory for its cause. She noted the original ban proposal would have allowed fracking waste to be imported, and getting that language removed from the final rule was a critical win.
“To all the people who said we should accept the regulatory proposal that banned fracking but still sacrifice our watershed to the toxic frack wastewater and water exports I say never underestimate the power of the people,” van Rossum said in a statement.
“Looking at also banning dumping of waste and water withdrawals is critical to stop fracking,” said Jeff Tittel the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “By not allowing waste to come here, fracking companies will have less places to take their waste so less fracking will happen across the country.”
Environmental groups framed the DRBC action as a potential stepping stone toward a ban on fracking nationally. Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Watch, said it was disappointing to see the federal government abstain from the vote.
Hauter expressed disappointment that Biden, who refused to endorse a fracking ban during his presidential campaign, didn’t direct the Army Corps to vote yes.
“The White House chose political expediency today over protecting the drinking water of 15 million people,” Hauter said. “Biden should listen to communities and science and support a ban on fracking everywhere.”
But the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group that advocates for fracking development in the region, framed the vote as a broken promise by both Biden and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to the Keystone State’s residents.
“We were hopeful that President Biden would keep his vague commitment to not ban fracking, as he told Pennsylvania voters over and over. The Biden administration’s lack of action today, along with the president’s economically devastating anti-energy executive orders — which have already put tens of thousands of skilled union laborers out of work — does absolutely nothing to help America,” David Callahan, the coalition’s president, said in a statement.
But hey corporations are people so the average Jane of Joe can do something similar right? Right?
by ponchi101 Massive bankruptcy filings from 1/2 of Texas population?
I guess you are right. Why not?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Let's hope this doesn't happen.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU That's very sad. And it's getting no coverage. Reminiscent of that Nebraska flooding a couple of years ago that we barely heard about. But hopefully not as bad.
by ti-amie Choices. This thread? Politics thread? Dante thread?
by ponchi101 We are this close to needing THE WTF TOPIC.
I thought those documents had been released a long time ago. I mean, these people cannot face any charges less than genocide.
by Suliso I think the author in the article below is being a "Captain Obvious". Like it or not Biden's government will have to confront reality and increase enforcement as well in addition to a well meant amnesty for those in the country for decades.
Biden immigration policies cause a predictable border crisis. Why didn't he plan for it?
Playing to the Democratic base on the issue while ignoring the need for more enforcement has merely exacerbated the problem.
By W. James Antle III, politics editor, Washington Examiner
President Joe Biden is facing a crisis at the border, even if the White House would prefer not to use that word. Ambassador Roberta Jacobson, the administration’s coordinator for the southern border, certainly tried her best to avoid the term on Wednesday when she said, “We have to do what we do regardless of what anybody calls the situation.”
Immigration still has to be managed, as Biden's administration is rapidly being reminded, otherwise it exposes the migrants to a high level of personal risk.
She was referring to a massive surge of migrants along the U.S. border with Mexico that federal authorities are struggling to keep up with. And that crisis — or situation — is at least partly of the Biden administration’s making.
The president campaigned on easing immigration controls, including a moratorium on deportations, an end to former President Donald Trump’s “wait in Mexico” policy for asylum-seekers and halting construction of the border wall. That platform gave migrants good reason to believe it would be easier to get into the United States if he were elected.
Since taking office, Biden has also given them good reason to think they might be allowed to stay, as his immigration bill would offer legal status and a pathway to citizenship to much of the U.S. undocumented population.
Biden needs to admit that his eagerness to roll back Trump’s immigration policies without a meaningful plan to deal with the predictable migration increase has led to chaos at the border. While many voters wanted a kinder, gentler approach than Trump’s, Democrats cannot simply wish away the need for effective border security and immigration regulation short of declaring open borders — a deeply unpopular idea carrying numerous economic and security risks.
Playing to the wishes of the Democratic base while ignoring the need for more enforcement has merely exacerbated the problem at the border and is becoming impossible to deny, much as the Biden administration would like to. It’s not only a problem in terms of the United States being ill-equipped and under-resourced to handle the surge. It also leads migrants to take risks on dangerous terrain and increases the likelihood that unaccompanied minors will end up in perilous conditions.
The numbers are stark. More than 100,000 migrants attempted to enter the U.S. in February, more than three times the amount for February 2020 and the highest level for the month in five years. “Internal DHS/HHS reports show the crisis at the border is significantly worse than Biden admin has acknowledged,” Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff tweeted Wednesday. “There are now 3,500 unaccompanied minors in grim Border Patrol detention cells, a record.” And more than 1,000 minors have exceeded the amount of time they can be detained before being transferred to a shelter, according to the New York Times.
The White House has hesitated to get into the specifics in public. Questioned about the accuracy of the 3,500 figure at a daily press briefing, Biden press secretary Jen Psaki replied, “I’m not going to confirm numbers from here.” But tacitly the administration has conceded there’s a relationship between the migration surge and Biden’s change in both tone and policy. “Surges tend to respond to hope,” Jacobson acknowledged, “and there was a significant hope for a more humane policy after four years of, you know, pent-up demand.”
Unfortunately, the swiftness of Biden’s changes has been combined with inadequate preparations for a swell in numbers that should have been anticipated and essentially no attention to border security measures that would help deter and contain them.
All this is unfolding against the backdrop of the larger immigration debate in the U.S. The last major stab at compromise between those who want to let in more foreigners and allow illegal immigrants to stay and those who want to limit entries and remove those who’ve entered without permission came in 1986. President Ronald Reagan, a conservative icon, signed into law an amnesty for millions of undocumented immigrants already in the country in exchange for some increased enforcement on the theory that it would settle the matter.
Many conservatives believed that the increased enforcement never came, and it’s indisputable that the undocumented population continued to grow throughout the 1990s, hardening conservative views. When GOP President George W. Bush sought to reassure his party that there would be tougher border security as part of a bipartisan bill that would also give many migrants leniency, House Republicans close to the conservative grassroots rejected it.
But the policy combination of easier legal immigration, legal status for the undocumented under certain conditions and improvements to border security — popularly known as “comprehensive immigration reform” — had staying power. When Democratic President Barack Obama succeeded Bush, he too supported similar proposals and tried to do more on the enforcement front to reassure wary Republicans.
But Obama’s enforcement efforts did not entice additional Republicans to come around on immigration legislation, such as a revamped version of Bush’s legislation. Instead, it inflamed progressive activists who found the enforcement against disproportionately nonwhite migrants racist, terming Obama the “deporter in chief.”
Obama then angered the right when he used his executive authority to grant deportation protection to some young undocumented immigrants through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, despite previously expressing doubts that he had the power to do so.
When Trump was elected, he broke from the Bush-Obama immigration consensus entirely — trying to end DACA, step up deportation and impose stricter limits on refugees, asylum-seekers and legal immigrants. In other words, Democrats moved left and Republicans moved right. That is the divide into which Biden now steps.
The president campaigned on dissociating the country from a Trump immigration policy associated with border walls, “kids in cages” and ugly rhetoric. But migration still has to be managed, as his administration is rapidly being reminded, otherwise it exposes the migrants to a high level of personal risk. And unaccompanied children are still ending up in detention centers, whether we call them “cages” or not.
The Biden administration hopes that it can, through aid to the migrants’ countries of origin, address the “root causes” of mass migration while also retaining America’s welcoming image. But we have learned in recent years that Washington’s capacity to shape outcomes in foreign countries and manage migrant inflows have serious limitations and come with real costs. In cleaning up a migration mess of its own creation, the Biden White House can’t ignore these lessons just because Trump didn’t.
Suliso wrote: ↑Sun Mar 14, 2021 4:45 pm
I think the author in the article below is being a "Captain Obvious". Like it or not Biden's government will have to confront reality and increase enforcement as well in addition to a well meant amnesty for those in the country for decades.
By now, that is going to be very hard to do and be able to please the DEMS base. You are correct in that Biden will have to face reality, but one more aspect of the reality is that the US economy relies heavily in the cheap labor that immigrants supply. No secret there (talk about Captain Obvious) but nobody talks about that. Like always, how do you strike the balance? You need immigrants, but a very large number of people don't want them. And the sole way of handling it involves some tough choices and severe enforcement.
With the current political scenario, no way the incumbent can please everybody.
by Suliso Yes, you do need immigrants but nowhere nears as many as would come if there was effectively no border. In Europe it's the same situation.
by dryrunguy Wait... That wall ain't workin'?
by ti-amie Eight (8) Asian women have been shot and killed in Atlanta.
Jon Shirek @JonShirek
Again, no confirmation whether the shootings at massage spa in Cherokee Co late this afternoon may be related to the shootings at two massage spas soon after in Atlanta. Four dead in Cherokee. Four dead in ATL.
(video)
by ponchi101 Why bother even waiting for the Q-Anon links to be found?
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:49 am
Why bother even waiting for the Q-Anon links to be found?
You may well be right, ponchi. But that might be a bit presumptuous. I don't think we can rule out garden variety male violence perpetrated by a man who was either jilted or spurned by an Asian woman. Or some other variation on that theme.
What's really sad is that, in the end, we'll probably learn that many or all of these women were trafficked, after being promised well-paying jobs as domestic or factory workers only to be forced into massage parlor or sex industry work against their will. For most of the victims, we'll probably never know their real names--just the names they were "known" by... And for at least some of them, their families will never know what really happened to them. They will have just... disappeared... never to be heard from again.
by dryrunguy Just catching up on the news. I'm reading that 6 of the 8 people who died were Asian, and 1 was a man. I'm guessing the man was probably a customer or staffer who tried to intervene or was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
by dryrunguy Damn it. I almost had it right. So, the Atlanta massage parlor shooter told police he shot these women because THEY provided an outlet for HIS sex addiction. See how that works in some male brains? It was THEIR fault that HE had a sex addiction.
by ti-amieSuspect in Atlanta shootings that left eight dead might have frequented spas, authorities say
By
Timothy Bella,
Paulina Firozi and
Keith McMillan
March 17, 2021 at 1:27 p.m. EDT
Shootings at three Atlanta-area spas on Tuesday left eight people dead, including six Asian women, prompting widespread concern that the killings could be the latest in a surge of hate crimes against Asian Americans.
Police said the lone suspect told investigators he has a “sexual addiction” and that the spas were "a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate.” But the authorities added it was too early to be certain that the slayings were not racially motivated.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, was arrested after a brief manhunt Tuesday. Authorities said Long admitted he was responsible for the slayings, and they believe he acted alone.
Here’s what to know:
Police identified the four victims killed in Cherokee County, and added that a fifth suffered wounds that are not life-threatening.
Long was reportedly on his way to Florida to carry out additional shootings, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) said.
Baker said Wednesday that Long claimed during interviews that the acts of violence were not racially motivated. Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said that it remains unclear whether the shootings could be classified as a hate crime.
Vice President Harris called the shootings “tragic” and expressed condolences to the families of the eight people killed. “We grieve for the loss,” she said. “It speaks to a larger issue, which is violence in our country and to never tolerate it.”
Georgia state Sen. Michelle Au (D) said that regardless of what authorities determine to be the motive, “it is taking place in a landscape where Asian-Americans are increasingly terrified and fearful for their lives and their safety because of these escalating threats against against our people.”
Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds speaks at a news conference Wednesday in Atlanta. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
1:27 p.m. Atlanta rampage fits patterns seen in prior mass killings
By Mark Berman
Some details offered by authorities about the shooting rampage in the Atlanta area fit patterns seen in other mass killings.
Researchers have found that mass killers and active shooters are usually male, typically target places known to them and are often fueled by grievances. These grievances can involve attackers blaming others for their issues or otherwise perceiving some wrong, researchers have found.
Law enforcement officials said Wednesday that the suspect in the shootings at the three Atlanta-area spas “may have frequented some of these places in the past.” They also suggested during a news briefing that he described the spas as “a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,” one official said.
An FBI study in 2018 looking at active shooters found that most of those examined had a grievance that “may not have been reasonable or even grounded in reality, but it appeared to serve as the rationale for the eventual attack, giving a sense of purpose to the shooter.” Mass attackers also typically unnerve people around them beforehand, alarming at least someone in their lives before the outburst of violence, researchers have found.
Authorities also said that the shooting suspect told investigators that the killings were not racially motivated. In some recent high-profile cases, attackers or people charged in mass killings have been explicit about their intentions and sentiments, including during and after mass killings in Pittsburgh, El Paso and Charleston, S.C.
The suspected attacker in Pittsburgh allegedly said he wanted to “kill Jews” while rampaging inside a synagogue. Police said the man charged with killing people at an El Paso Walmart told them that he was targeting “Mexicans” that day. And the man who massacred Black parishioners inside a Charleston church detailed his racist motivations at length.
by ti-amie There are, I would guess, thousands of sex workers in the Atlanta area but he decided to target spas where the majority of the workers are of Asian descent.
Yeah. Right.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 So, this what we can do when we have a bad day? I mean, worst thing I do is get that third cocktail late in the evening but, if these are the new guidelines, well, I guess that sorority down the road is fair game, right?
(And no, there is no sorority down the road).
by ti-amie I thought the same thing Ponchi. When you have a bad day there are now endless possibilities you can choose from to relieve your stress.
I mean if you don't like the way your neighbor looks or the kids are too loud, well, do you.
by Suliso It's a ridiculous statement, but at least those of you in US have always been free to shoot up any place you like. Of course with certain consequences as this guy will find out soon enough.
by ti-amie They're already portraying him as a pastors son who was tempted and led into sex addiction by "exotic" foreign women. Make of that what you will.
As I type this I don't think the names of any of the deceased have been released. It's been reported that many of the women work under assumed names but if the Korean Embassy has already said four of the deceased are their nationals someone knows their real names. The two non Asians haven't been ID'd either.
by ti-amie
Someone else having a bad day?
by ponchi101 AITA or is the lunacy scale increasing daily?
Should the American Psychoanalytical Association start some sort of "Doomsday Clock", the day when 50% + 1 of all Americans go irreversibly cuckoo? I mean, in Venezuela we frequently talked about "The C Day"*, the day everything would finally go to pieces, but this is like pedal to the metal, no seat-belts, no headlights on, a fifth of Jack in your hand, driving to hell.
Off Topic
* In Vennieland, our equivalent to f*** is "coño", which is used in as many ways and can range from hilarious to offensive. So, "El dia del C***". Which, of course, did happen.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:42 pmAITA or is the lunacy scale increasing daily?
Yes.
As for the second question, I'd also go with yes, but it will likely decrease soon enough. The pandemic has apparently brought out some crazy and that will likely decrease as restrictions ease. For the Q people. They need to be deprogrammed. We at one point had too many that were part of cults, and that number decreased greatly. I expect the same for this over the next few years.
by ti-amie
This could lend credence to the argument some are making that the terrorist was coached before making his statement.
by JazzNU It's been 24 hours and I'm still very angry about the "it was a really bad day for him." This sympathetic BS from the police reminds me way too much of Dylann Roof getting (expletive) Burger King after killing people at the South Carolina church.
by dmforever
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Mar 18, 2021 8:17 pm
It's been 24 hours and I'm still very angry about the "it was a really bad day for him." This sympathetic BS from the police reminds me way too much of Dylann Roof getting (expletive) Burger King after killing people at the South Carolina church.
Word. It's especially egregious given the previous post. I really hope this dude gets fired.
Kevin
by ti-amie
by ti-amieA nationwide horror: Witnesses, police paint a picture of a murderous rampage that took 8 lives
By
Tim Craig,
Mark Berman,
Hannah Knowles and
Marc Fisher
March 18, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. EDT
ATLANTA — Robert Aaron Long's family had finally had it. Long, 21, was so obsessed with sex — watching hour upon hour of pornography online, visiting the kinds of spas where the customers bought "massages with happy endings" — that on Monday night, his parents kicked him out of the house, according to police and a friend who confirmed the account.
The next day, police said, Long bought a handgun. And then, as dusk fell over metropolitan Atlanta on Tuesday evening, Long launched himself on what authorities say was a premeditated trail of terror. He drove to three Atlanta-area Asian spas, where he shot nine people, killing eight of them.
He was on a mission, he would later tell police, to stem his addiction to sex. The spas were “a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate,” said Capt. Jay Baker, a spokesman for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
That restatement of the confessed shooter’s motive was meant to allay fears that Long had embarked on a racially motivated campaign of terror against Asian women, but it instead raised disturbing questions about the murderer’s animus toward women and the racial attitudes that fueled his decision to target Asian spas.
Long was on his way to Florida to continue his massacre when police cornered him on Interstate 75 and arrested him Tuesday night.
By the time he was captured, Long was the subject of nationwide horror about the murder of eight people — six of them Asian women. Many Americans were already on edge before Tuesday’s news; the country remained in the throes of social upheaval resulting from police killings of Black Americans and attacks on Asian Americans that surged after President Donald Trump took to calling the coronavirus the “China virus” or “kung flu.”
Tuesday’s attacks instantly unleashed a gut-wrenching collective anxiety — was this another outburst of racial hatred?
Long’s journey from membership in a religious social club at his suburban high school to a murderous rampage, ostensibly driven by his addiction to sex, remains fuzzy. What is already clear is that this latest in a seemingly never-ending series of mass shootings hit the country where it hurt most — in its anguished struggles over race, sex and the allure of gun violence.
Sometime earlier on Tuesday, Long got into his black 2008 Hyundai Tucson and drove from his hometown of Woodstock, Ga., about 12 miles north to the city of Canton, where he bought a 9 millimeter pistol at Big Woods Goods, a shop devoted mainly to hunting supplies, an attorney for the store confirmed.
Even before Long, who is White, left home, the area was on alert for attacks targeting Asian Americans. On Monday morning, state Sen. Michelle Au (D) had raised the alarm. Speaking to fellow senators at the state Capitol, Au, an anesthesiologist and first-generation Chinese American who was elected last fall, called the jump in crimes against Asian Americans since the pandemic began last year “a new chapter in a very old story.”
“All I’m asking right now, as the first East Asian state senator in Georgia, is simply to fully consider us as part of our communities,” she said. “We need help, we need protection, and we need people in power to stand up for us against hate.”
A man with a gun
Around 4 p.m. on a chilly, damp day in Acworth, a suburb of 20,000 people about 45 minutes north of Atlanta, a man dressed in black pants and a magenta-and-black hoodie parked his car outside Young’s Asian Massage.
The man — later identified as Long — sat in his car for upward of an hour, according to Alex Acosta, whose wife owns a boutique next door to the spa. The shops are part of a small commercial strip that also includes a vape store, record shop, beauty salon and tool store.
At about 4:50 p.m., surveillance cameras caught Long entering Young’s, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.
The spa has been open despite the pandemic. A note on the front door set the minimalist rules: “If you have cold or flu symptoms. Wait for your massage at a later time. We are attempting to avoid the spread of any virus. Sorry for any inconvenience and please understand our position with this.”
At Gabby’s Boutique next door to Young’s, Rita Barron was helping customers when she heard a “pah-pah-pah” noise and women screaming, she said.
“Oh my God, what is that?” she said. Later, she would learn that a bullet had punched through her wall.
But in the moment, Barron, 47, didn’t think shooting. She thought maybe the spa workers next door had dropped something heavy. Coming out of the bathroom, Acosta, Barron’s husband, wondered if perhaps an animal had gotten inside, causing a ruckus.
Acosta went outside to check and ran into three spa workers with whom he struggled to communicate. He said they did not speak fluent English, and he is most comfortable speaking Spanish.
But a few terrifying words made it through: A man with a gun. People shot.
Acosta urged the women not to go back inside. He rushed back into the boutique and told his wife to call 911.
At 4:54 p.m., Cherokee County dispatched police to Young’s after receiving calls about gunshots and injured people.
Yet several owners of nearby shops said they heard nothing and had no idea anything was amiss until police and ambulances swarmed the area.
Officers walked into a bloody scene, bodies on the floor and the wounded staggering about. Outside the shop, moments after police arrived, Acosta saw a man who looked like he had been shot in the face: There was blood between his eyes, and he made it only five steps before falling.
Authorities carried two Asian women out of the spa and laid them on the pavement, Acosta said. He couldn’t tell if they were alive — one was bleeding from her head, the other from her neck or chest. A White man and woman who were shot seemed to be treated inside the spa, he said.
One of the bleeding women carried out was the spa’s owner, he said. He didn’t know her name, though he had once visited her house to do some construction work. The owner, Xiaojie Tan, 50, who died in the attack, was a licensed massage therapist, according to Georgia state records.
Within minutes, ambulances arrived and hurried the three survivors down Interstate 75 to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, where two of them later died.
The dead ranged in age from 33 to 54. Two were Asian and two were White, police said. The lone survivor, 30-year-old Elcias R. Hernandez-Ortiz, an immigrant from Guatemala, was apparently outside the spa, near a money exchange shop that he frequented, when he was shot, his wife told The Washington Post.
Delaina Yaun, a 33-year-old waitress at a Waffle House, was inside with her husband, Mario, receiving a couple’s massage when she was shot and killed, according to a GoFundMe page set up to support her family. Her husband escaped.
The other people killed at Young’s were Paul Andre Michels, 54, of Atlanta, and Daoyou Feng, 44, said police, who declined to say which of the victims were employees of Young’s.
In Acworth, word spread quickly that the victims included several Asian women. Adrian Lopez, owner of Big Savings Tool & Liquidation, five doors down from Young’s, concluded that the attack was racially motivated.
Before the shootings, Lopez’s big worry was that someone might rob his store. Now, he said, Latinos needed to be on guard and express unity with their Asian neighbors.
“I feel as a Spanish man, if that happens to them, we are going to be next,” said Lopez, who emigrated from Mexico 18 years ago. Three of the six businesses on the strip are owned by Latino merchants.
Shortly after they arrived, police began collecting images of the alleged shooter recorded by nearby surveillance cameras.
Acosta shared the boutique’s surveillance footage with authorities. He realized that the shooter’s car had been parked outside the spa for almost an hour before the man entered Young’s. After the shootings, the man who had gone into the spa got back in the Hyundai and sped away.
Police posted photos from the surveillance footage online in hopes of crowdsourcing the shooter’s identity.
It worked with remarkable speed. According to police, Long’s father called 911 and said that it might well be his son they were seeing on TV and on social media. A second, anonymous caller said that Long had been tossed out of his parents’ place the previous evening and warned that he was “emotional,” according to a police incident report.
Cherokee County Sheriff Frank Reynolds drove over to Woodstock to see the family. The parents were, he said, “very distraught and . . . very helpful.”
The parents described their son as a young man who had struggled with his sex addiction, even spending time in a rehab program. Long had visited massage parlors and “sees them as an outlet for him, something that he shouldn’t be doing — an issue with porn,” said Baker, the spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
Tyler Bayless said he lived with Long for five months during 2019 and 2020 at Maverick Recovery, a sober-living facility in Roswell. Bayless was trying to recover from an alcohol and drug addiction, and Long was there for what he called “sex addiction.”
“He hated the pornography industry,” Bayless said. “He was pretty passionate about what a bad influence it was on him. He felt exploited by it, taken advantage of by it.”
One more thing, the family told the sheriff: Long had a cellphone with him, and its tracking program was turned on.
Police took off after the fleeing suspect.
As Cherokee officers zoomed down I-75, back at their headquarters, word arrived from Atlanta. More people had been shot, also at Asian spas.
'Everybody heard the gunshots'
5:47 p.m.: About 30 miles south of Young’s, in the Piedmont Heights neighborhood of Atlanta, a woman who worked at the Gold Spa called 911.
For nearly two minutes, the caller, who spoke with a heavy accent, and the 911 operator struggled to understand each other.
“Repeat the address,” the operator said.
“Yeah, we’re in a robbery right now, so, can help please come?” the caller replied.
“Ok, repeat the address . . . You need police, fire or ambulance?”
“Huh?”
“Police, fire or an ambulance?”
“I don’t know . . . There’s a robbery here — that guy, he’s like — need police now.”
They went back and forth about the location, the name of the business and description of the bad guy.
“They have a gun,” the caller said, sounding strained, almost breathless.
“Where is he at in the building?” the operator replied.
“This is Gold Spa.”
“I know,” the operator said. “Where is the person who is robbing the spa? Where is he right now?”
“I don’t know, I’m hiding right now.”
They established that the shooter was a White man.
“What is he wearing?” the operator asked.
“I don’t know — please come, okay?” the caller replied.
Police were dispatched even as the call was ongoing.
The Gold Spa — and another, Aromatherapy Spa — sit atop a hill on a heavily traveled street where a strip club and several other spas, all on the same block, are open 24/7, coexisting with a Cathedral of St. Philip Thrift Store and a Champ’s Chicken.
Anthony “Ant” Smith, an employee at Studio 219 Ink, a piercing shop next door to Gold Spa, said Tuesday was especially busy for him. It was Studio 219’s weekly special, offering customers basic piercings for $10.
Smith said neither he nor his half-dozen customers who had been waiting in the parking lot for their turn heard any gunfire.
Instead, his clients “just started coming in saying something must be going on because the police and firetrucks had pulled up,” Smith said.
By the time Smith finally looked outside, at about 5:30 p.m., he saw police searching the area, appearing to be especially interested in the foliage that lines the parking lot behind Gold Spa.
“I looked out and saw this mayhem,” Smith said. “They had blocked off all of the streets and were searching in the bushes.”
Smith pulled out his phone and tapped on the Citizen app, which delivers real-time information on police movements. The app reported a possible armed robbery at Gold Spa. Smith returned to his customers.
Gold Spa never attracted much attention from its neighbors, shopkeepers said. Occasionally, Smith saw an Asian woman in the parking lot feeding stray cats.
Javan Young, a manager at Studio 219, also heard nothing. He was about to take his 6 p.m. break when he saw “all the officers pull up and jump out guns blazing,” he said.
At night, Young said, the spa usually had an armed security guard on-site, but during the day, he’d never seen that.
5:49: Responding to the 911 call about a “business robbery in progress” at Gold Spa, Atlanta police found three dead women, all apparently shot and killed.
As officers started to document the scene at Gold Spa, at 5:57, a second 911 call came in from just down the road, at Aromatherapy Spa.
The 911 caller, a woman named Nina, seemed to have a connection with the spa but wasn’t on the premises. She said a friend had called to tell her that a man had entered the spa and now there’d been gunshots, and “the lady’s like passed out, in front of the door. Everybody’s scared, so everybody’s hiding, so I don’t know what’s going on exactly, but I need the ambulance or something.”
“I didn’t understand exactly,” the 911 operator said. “So, what happened?”
“Everybody heard the gunshots, and some ladies got hurt,” Nina said.
The women in the spa were hiding behind desks, in the back of the facility, wherever they thought they might not be found.
As the four-minute call continued, police and paramedics made their way to Aromatherapy Spa, arriving at 6 p.m., according to police dispatch records.
Inside, officers found another woman dead from gunshot wounds.
By the time Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant heard the details of the two murder scenes in his city, his investigators knew about the similar incident in Acworth.
Three Asian spas, eight deaths, and now video footage showing that the same car seen at the Acworth scene was present at the two spas on Piedmont Road in Atlanta.
As bulletins flashed across the Internet, Asian American organizations and politicians began raising the alarm about what appeared to be attacks on one already-anxious community. In Atlanta, New York, Seattle and other cities, police fanned out to check on Asian spas and Asian American-owned businesses.
And on I-75 south of Atlanta, Long was speeding toward Florida.
Calls for hate crimes investigation
Shortly before 8 p.m., Reynolds, the Cherokee County sheriff, told his counterpart and buddy in Crisp County, a couple of hours south of Atlanta, that a possible homicide suspect was heading toward his territory.
Crisp Sheriff H.W. “Billy” Hancock radioed his deputies: Watch out for a black Hyundai Tucson with Georgia tags, according to an incident report.
About 150 miles south of Atlanta, Crisp deputies and state troopers saw the Hyundai. A state trooper moved into position to execute a PIT — “precision immobilization technique” — a controversial method of stopping a suspect’s car by using the police vehicle to bump against it, forcing it to spin out.
Long came to a halt and gave up without a fight, police said. He was placed in the rear of a state trooper’s car and handcuffed. Police said they found a 9mm firearm in Long’s car.
By 8:30 p.m., Long had been booked into the Crisp County Detention Center and changed into a jail uniform. As he waited to be put in a cell, he “asked if he was going to be here for the rest of his life,” according to the police report.
Long was taken to a padded cell and placed on suicide watch, the report said.
Investigators from the Cherokee sheriff’s office arrived and interviewed Long. They said he confessed to the shootings and insisted that the murders were not racially motivated.
Rather, he said that the spas were a temptation to him.
“We believe that he frequented these places in the past,” Reynolds said, “and may have been lashing out.”
Long told police that he had been heading to Florida, where he intended to attack more spas.
“This could have been significantly worse,” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) said.
At 9:55 p.m., the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus tweeted that its members were “horrified by the news coming out of GA at a time when we’re already seeing a spike in anti-Asian violence. #StopAsianHate.”
Across the country, Asian American advocates called for the shootings to be investigated as hate crimes. Four of the murdered women were of Korean descent, according to a statement from South Korea’s foreign ministry.
'I'm so sorry'
On Wednesday morning, Long was transported back to Cherokee County and placed in its detention center. He was charged with four counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault for the killings in Cherokee County and then four homicide counts for the bloodshed in Atlanta. If convicted, Long could face the death penalty.
A scheduled hearing for Long in Cherokee County was canceled when he waived his right to an initial appearance, according to his attorney’s law firm. He is being held without bail.
On Wednesday afternoon, five bouquets of flowers rested at the front of the door of Young’s Asian Massage in Acworth. It was St. Patrick’s Day and someone also left a basket of shamrocks, along with a handwritten note that said, “From people who care. Woodstock Acworth.”
The note ended with the only sentiment so many could muster: “I’m so sorry.”
Craig reported from Atlanta; Berman, Knowles and Fisher from Washington. Missy Ryan in Washington and Alex Kellogg and Jonathan Krohn in Atlanta contributed to this report.
by ti-amie He drove 27m from one Asian owned Spa to another.
P1
by ti-amie P2/L
by ponchi101 Dr Grubbs would be very welcomed in this forum.
by dryrunguy Help me out here... Why does it have to be an either/or situation? Why do we have to choose how to interpret this horrific episode as a hate crime against Asians or a hate crime against women?
It very well may have been BOTH.
I don't understand why people are being pushed to pick a side. It's as if we have to choose one or the other. You either choose to support the Asian community, or you choose to support women. You can't support both. Why is that?
::
Meanwhile, I want to know what kind of porn he watched. By any chance, was it porn involving Asian women? If so, that would be a fairly significant piece of the puzzle, no?
by ti-amie I think what's making it hard for people to say that it was "just" a crime against women is the fact that in the 27 miles he drove from one spa to another he passed dozens of strip joints and porn palaces but didn't do anything until he got to another Asian run shop.
by dryrunguy
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 4:33 am
I think what's making it hard for people to say that it was "just" a crime against women is the fact that in the 27 miles he drove from one spa to another he passed dozens of strip joints and porn palaces but didn't do anything until he got to another Asian run shop.
A lot of people are saying it was a crime against women. A lot of people are saying it was a crime against Asians.
No one seems to be acknowledging the potential intersection of race and gender in this case.
by ti-amie A lot of AAPI women are speaking out about how their fetishization has put them in danger. I've been reading their comments for the last two days.
And that is a whole other conversation.
by dryrunguy
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 4:53 am
A lot of AAPI women are speaking out about how their fetishization has put them in danger. I've been reading their comments for the last two days.
And that is a whole other conversation.
IT'S A THING. They are absolutely right. But I'm not sure it's another conversation. It might be THIS conversation.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 4:53 am
A lot of AAPI women are speaking out about how their fetishization has put them in danger. I've been reading their comments for the last two days.
And that is a whole other conversation.
IT'S A THING. They are absolutely right. But I'm not sure it's another conversation. It might be THIS conversation.
It's up to the women affected by this. I don't say that to be mean but a bunch of Western women can't take the lead on this. It's a problem for other women of color too but right now this issue is at the forefront and may open the door for other women to speak out on the issue and how fetishization affects them.
by dryrunguy And this popped up in this morning's NY Times e-newsletter. Headline: How Racism and Sexism Intertwine to Torment Asian-American Women.
by dryrunguyHow Racism and Sexism Intertwine to Torment Asian-American Women Many viewed the shooting rampage in Atlanta that left eight people dead as the culmination of a racialized misogyny that they say has long been directed at them.
After eight people, six of them Asian women, were fatally shot this week in a rampage near Atlanta, a law enforcement official said that in the gunman’s own words, his actions were “not racially motivated,” but caused by “sexual addiction.”
The official, Capt. Jay Baker of the Sheriff’s Office in Cherokee County, where one of the three massage businesses targeted by the gunman was located, cautioned that the investigation was in its early stages. But the implication was clear: It had to be one motive or the other, not both.
That suggestion was met with incredulity by many Asian-American women, for whom racism and sexism have always been inextricably intertwined. For them, racism often takes the form of unwanted sexual come-ons, and sexual harassment is often overtly racist.
With reports of anti-Asian attacks surging after the Trump administration repeatedly emphasized China’s connection to the Covid-19 pandemic, there is evidence that most of the hate, unlike other types of bias crime, has been directed at women.
“People on here literally debating if this was a misogynistic attack against women or a racist attack against Asians,” Jenn Fang, the founder of a long-running Asian-American feminist blog, Reappropriate, wrote in a scathing Twitter thread. “What if — wait for it — it was both.”
Captain Baker’s briefing on the attacks on Wednesday included an assertion that the accused gunman, who is white, had been having “a really bad day,” which many women took as yet another way of excusing violence against them. His comments were widely criticized, and he was found to have promoted sales of an anti-Asian T-shirt.
The Sheriff’s Office later said in a statement that the captain’s remarks were “not intended to disrespect any of the victims” or to “express empathy or sympathy for the suspect.”
But the apology seemed to do little to quell a sense that the authorities were missing the point.
“Law enforcement and society in general tends to really not understand how racism and hate and prejudice is directed toward Asian-Americans, and certainly not understand how it’s directed toward Asian-American women,” said Helen Zia, an activist and author who has tracked anti-Asian violence. “So the instant reaction is generally to discount and dismiss it.”
There is a long history of misogyny and violence directed specifically at Asian women by men of all races — including Asian men. Asian-American women have long been stereotyped as sexually submissive, portrayed in popular culture as exotic “lotus blossoms” and manipulative “dragon ladies,” or as inherently superior to other women in a way that erases their individuality. They have been subjected to backlash for any failure to conform to those stereotypes and trolled for choosing non-Asian partners.
Despite vast economic inequality among Asian-Americans, they are often assumed to be accomplished, financially successful members of a “model minority,” a fabrication sometimes used to denigrate other racial groups by contrast.
Sung Yeon Choimorrow, the executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, an advocacy group, said that when she first came to the United States to attend college in 2000, she was “stunned, dumbfounded, horrified” by the way she was frequently approached by male strangers who professed to love Korean women.
“It is the ‘Me so horny, I love you long time,’ in like weird accents, and ‘Oh, are you Korean? I love Korea,’” she said, adding that she began to wonder if American men were crazy. They would “go into this whole thing about how they served in the military in Korea and how they had this amazing Korean girlfriend that was just like me. And will I be their girlfriend?”
The men, she said, ranged in age from the very young to the very old, and seemed never to understand that their attention was not flattering. “I’ve experienced racism. I’ve experienced sexism. But I never experienced the two like that as I have when I came to the United States.”
She said many Asian-American women viewed Tuesday’s shooting rampage as the culmination of this racialized misogyny.
“I’m telling you, most of us didn’t sleep well last night,” she said. “Because this was what we had feared all along — we were afraid that the objectification and the hypersexualization of our bodies was going to lead to death.”
Federal data suggest that across the country, the victims of most violent hate crimes are men. Yet a recent analysis by a group called Stop AAPI Hate, which collects reports of hate incidents against Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, said that out of nearly 3,800 incidents recorded in 2020 and 2021, more than two-thirds of the reports came from women.
Hate crimes against Asian women are almost certainly undercounted, and Ms. Zia said one reason is that those with a sexual dimension tend to be classified as sex offenses, in effect erasing the racial aspect. Stereotypes of Asian women as submissive may embolden aggressors, she said. “We’re seen as vulnerable,” she said. “You know — the object that won’t fight back.”
Very little is known about the motives of the Atlanta gunman, but organizations that track hate crimes have paid increasing attention to misogyny as a “gateway drug” to other types of extremism, such as violent racism, in the wake of mass shootings at yoga and fitness studios frequented by women and the slaughter of 10 people in Toronto in 2018 by a self-described “incel,” or involuntary celibate.
The deaths of 77 people in Norway in a shooting and bombing attack in 2011 were widely portrayed as a result of right-wing extremism, but the attacker, Anders Breivik, also viewed feminism as a significant threat.
In 2018 the Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism began to track what they call male supremacist terrorism, fueled by aggrieved male entitlement and a desire to preserve traditional gender roles, according to a brief by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. The Anti-Defamation League published a report called “When Women Are the Enemy: The Intersection of Misogyny and White Supremacy.”
Scholars say the fetishization of Asian women, and a corresponding emasculation of Asian men, have long histories shaped by United States law and policy. The Page Act of 1875, which ostensibly banned the importation of women for prostitution, effectively prevented Chinese women from entering the United States, while laws prohibiting mixed-race marriages left male Chinese immigrants perpetual bachelors.
Kyeyoung Park, a professor of anthropology and Asian-American studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Asian immigrants have historically been viewed exclusively through the lens of their labor or businesses.
In the case of the spas in Georgia, she said capitalism based on racial exploitation has been intertwined with the sexualization of Asian women, and particularly Korean women, over many decades. The police have not said whether any of the three spas had ties to sex work.
“I think the origin of these massage parlors can be traced back to Korean War brides and military wives,” Dr. Park said.
Overseas, poverty and the privations of war gave rise to a prostitution industry that provided inexpensive sex to American servicemen in Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, compounding stereotypes of Asian women as exotic sex objects or manipulators trying to entrap American husbands.
Sexual imperialism was not limited to Americans; the Japanese also forced Chinese, Filipino and Korean women into prostitution as so-called comfort women in the 1930s and ’40s.
Many women who were in the sex trade were brought to the United States as brides, and some of them who were later separated or divorced from their husbands started massage parlors, a history that likely helped shape a perception of all Asian-run spas as illicit and the women who work in them as sex workers, Dr. Park said.
The fetishization of Asian women was reinforced in popular culture, most notably with the lines spoken by a sex worker in a scene in “Full Metal Jacket,” a Vietnam War movie, as two soldiers try to bargain down her price: “Me so horny. Me love you long time.”
Divorced from their origin, those lines have become a come-on used in what Ellen Wu, a historian at Indiana University Bloomington and the author of “The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority,” called a “racially specific type of catcalling.”
“A few words pack an entire history into a sentence,” she said.
Several advocates said they had spent the last year combating the notion that hate and violence against Asian-Americans, and particularly Asian-American women, were something new.
“There are many women who have died because of sexual violence directed at them that was also racialized, but it has never been at the scale where the whole country is watching and talking about it,” Ms. Choimorrow said. “And what really upsets me is that it has taken something this tragic for me to be able to tell the story.”
by Suliso I wonder what kind of solution could there be in a medium term to issues like described above. Hard to imagine...
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Which would have been the same exact words that would have been bravely spoken from the POTUS 4 months ago.
Sorry.
What a change (for the better).
by ti-amie
by ti-amieSurveillance video shows Atlanta suspect entered first spa more than an hour before shooting
By
Elyse Samuels,
Tim Craig and
Timothy Bella
March 19, 2021 at 6:06 p.m. EDT
The suspect in the shootings at three Atlanta-area spas entered Young’s Asian Massage more than an hour before gunfire was reported at the business, the beginning of a rampage that left eight people dead, most of them Asian women, surveillance video obtained by The Washington Post shows.
The video shows that Robert Aaron Long first spent an hour sitting in the parking lot outside the shop. He then entered and 1 hours and 12 minutes elapsed before he was seen leaving the establishment and getting into his car. Several minutes later, people appear in the parking lot and police arrive. The length of time that Long spent inside Young’s was previously unknown. It’s unclear what he was doing for the hour after he was seen entering the spa and before the shooting began.
Through visual analysis of the surveillance video, The Post determined that the man seen in the footage is Long, as the images match photos of the suspect released by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office. During the 1 hour and 12 minutes after Long entered the building, the video shows cars driving up, and people coming and going. The video does not appear to be manipulated.
The timing of Long’s departure in the footage came four minutes ahead of the first reports of gunshots to 911, which came at 4:54 p.m., according to a 911 call log and the Cherokee Sheriff’s office. (The time codes that appear in the upper left corner of the surveillance video are four hours off. Four hours is also the time difference between Eastern and Coordinated Universal Time or UTC.) At the time of those reports, a separate video obtained by The Post, shot by Marcus Lyon, a 31-year-old customer of the business, shows several victims laying motionless on the ground in front of the shop.
When asked about the surveillance video, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office declined to provide details to The Post about when Long was shown to have entered Young’s and what is known about what preceded the shooting.
“We are unable to give out that information,” an official told The Post, before being directed to Capt. Jay Baker, the spokesman for the sheriff’s office. Baker, who is no longer the spokesman for the case after he was widely criticized for saying the shooting suspect was having “a really bad day,” did not immediately return a request for comment.
Police arrived at the scene Tuesday at a time when Young’s regularly had more customers, according to business metrics tracked by Google.
Authorities have so far released only limited details about Long’s movements on the day of the shooting. Some details have emerged, including from an attorney for a store in Canton, Ga., who confirmed that Long bought a 9mm pistol there the same day.
Multiple messages left for Young’s were not immediately returned.
Lyon, a delivery driver in Kennesaw, Ga., who was at Young’s for the first time, said nothing felt out of the ordinary when he arrived around 4:40 p.m. Tuesday. He said that while he didn’t notice Long in the spa, the trauma of what happened has left him wondering if he just didn’t see him.
“I keep replaying it in my mind these last couple days,” he said. “I didn’t think this could happen. It’s crazy.”
Hannah Knowles, Jorge Ribas and Mark Berman contributed to this report.
by dryrunguy I think we know what he was probably doing before he started shooting, right? Just one more time?
by ti-amie The guy who shot nine people dead in church a few years ago prayed with them before he started shooting.
by ti-amie I edited some of the first post.
Molly CrabappleFlag of Puerto Rico
@mollycrabapple
Delania Yaun was one of the eight people murdered by a fundamentalist, racist...in Atlanta. Cops arrested her husband Mario at the scene and held him for four hours in handcuffs so tight they injured his wrists. They would not tell him if she was dead
Delania Yaun was white. Her husband Mario González is Mexican. Police refused to believe González was married to a white woman, brutalized him, and refused to even let him see his dead wife's body
I haven't seen this covered outside the Spanish media
Hispano Tiroteo Atlanta: Sobrevivió a la masacre y cuenta su historia
EN EXCLUSIVA: Hispano que sobrevivió a la masacre en Atlanta revela su historia en una de las salas de masaje donde perdió a su esposa.
mundohispanico.com
by JazzNU At least some of these places don't appear to be that kind of massage parlor. Licensed massage therapists and licensed cosmetologists and couples getting massages together aren't very common at that kind of spa unless Atlanta has another kind of thing going on.
by Suliso Also victims seem to be a bit old to provide that kind of services.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 You can look at those news and actually be happy. It means they know the only way to win elections is by cheating.
by JazzNU Florida being Florida because Desantis DGAF about anything other than revenue
by patrick Yep, all about revenue and contributions from donors that has to be in billions at least.
by Suliso Having not grown up religious I was reading the article below with an amazement. There might or might not have been a specific Asian hate element in this particular crime, but surely this twisted religiousness is also to blame for a lot of ills in the society. Without it the guy would likely have had a girlfriend and all those other women would be alive...
Atlanta Suspect’s Fixation on Sex Is Familiar Thorn for Evangelicals
The man accused of killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent, blamed “sexual addiction,” a disputed term used in parts of evangelical culture.
By Ruth Graham
March 20, 2021
When Brad Onishi heard that the man accused of a rampage at three Atlanta-area spas told detectives that he had carried out the attacks as a way to eliminate his own temptations, the claim sounded painfully familiar.
Dr. Onishi, who grew up in a strict evangelical community in Southern California that emphasized sexual purity, had spent his teenage years tearing out any advertisements in surfing magazines that featured women in bikinis. He had traded his online passwords with friends to hold himself accountable. “We had a militant vigilance: Don’t let anything in the house that will tempt you sexually,” Dr. Onishi, now an associate professor of religious studies at Skidmore College, recalled.
The evangelical culture he was raised in, he said, “teaches women to hate their bodies, as the source of temptation, and it teaches men to hate their minds, which lead them into lust and sexual immorality.”
Robert Aaron Long, the suspect in the massacres that left eight people dead, told the police this week that he had a “sexual addiction,” and he had been a customer at two of the spas that he targeted. He was so intent on avoiding pornography that he blocked several websites on his computer and had sought help at a Christian rehab clinic. A former roommate said that Mr. Long agonized over the possibility of “falling out of God’s grace.”
When Mr. Long, 21, was arrested on Tuesday on his way to Florida, the police said, he told officers he had planned to carry out another attack on a business connected to the pornography industry.
Many people saw clear signs of misogyny and racism in the attacks, in which six of the victims were women of Asian descent.
But Mr. Long’s characterization of his motivations was also very recognizable to observers of evangelicalism and some evangelicals themselves. He seemed to have had a fixation on sexual temptation, one that can lead to despair among people who believe they are failing to follow the ideal of refraining from sex and even lust outside heterosexual marriage.
Combating pornography and improper sexual desire is an enduring theme within contemporary conservative evangelicalism. In churches, men partner in “accountability groups” to hold each other responsible for avoiding sexual temptation and other moral dangers. Others use “accountability software” like Covenant Eyes, which monitors screen activity and sends reports about pornography usage to a designated “ally.” Countless books promise spiritual and practical strategies for breaking free of the habit.
Historically, some evangelical leaders have also drawn a direct line between pornography and violence. James Dobson, the influential founder of Focus on the Family, recorded a video interview with Ted Bundy the day before the serial killer’s execution in 1989. Mr. Bundy’s message was that an “addiction” to pornography fueled his crimes.
“What a tragedy!” Mr. Dobson wrote later, referring to Mr. Bundy’s violence. “There is a possibility, at least, that it would not have occurred if that 13-year-old boy had never stumbled onto pornographic magazines in a garbage dump.”
In recent decades, many conservative evangelical leaders and their churches have begun to speak more frankly about sex. “It’s very openly talked about that God created sexuality, it’s something not to be ashamed of, and that God made it for his purposes,” said Anson McMahon, a pastor in Buford, Ga., who was a guest speaker at several summer trips for young people in the early 2000s at the Baptist church later attended by Mr. Long.
But if conversations around sexual issues have become more frank, the message that sex is reserved for straight married couples has remained unchanged.
Many Christians trace their condemnation of pornography back to Jesus. “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” he is quoted saying in the Gospel of Matthew.
For Protestants in particular, whose faith prioritizes correct internal beliefs and spiritual attitudes, that passage has contributed to a worldview in which inappropriate sexual thoughts are just as sinful as wrong actions.
The problem with pornography, in this view, is how it affects the person’s mind and heart.
“Masturbation in and of itself, the act is a biological act,” said Heath Lambert, the lead pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Fla., and author of a book for evangelical men struggling with pornography use. “What’s wrong is lust. What’s wrong is what happens in my heart.”
The attacks at the spas violated all church teachings, Dr. Lambert said, and he thought the obvious root of the violence was the pornography that the accused gunman “was using and trying to get away from.”
White evangelicals do not use pornography more than other demographics, said Samuel Perry, a sociologist at the University of Oklahoma who has researched the role of pornography in the lives of conservative Protestants. In fact, white evangelicals who regularly attend church look at pornography less than the general population.
But they report significantly more anguish around the practice. Almost 30 percent of white evangelicals say they feel depressed after using pornography, compared with 8.6 percent of white liberal Protestants and 19 percent of white Catholics, according to a survey Dr. Perry co-conducted in February as part of the Public Discourse and Ethics Survey. White evangelicals are also significantly more likely to report that they are “addicted” to pornography.
Dr. Perry described a phenomenon in some parts of evangelical culture that he called “sexual exceptionalism,” in which sexual sins are implied to be more serious than other categories.
“So many men boil down how they’re doing spiritually to how often they have looked at porn recently,” Dr. Perry said, reflecting on his research in evangelical settings. “Not whether they’d grown in their love toward others, given generously of their time, or spent time connecting with God, but if they masturbated.”
For some with experience in evangelical youth culture, Mr. Long’s fixation on sexual temptation was a reminder of a damaging approach to teaching young people how to address sexuality.
“It presents a very demeaning view of manhood,” said Rachael Denhollander, an evangelical advocate for sexual abuse victims. “Every time you teach a woman in the presence of a young man that it’s her responsibility to keep a man from lusting and that she has the power to keep him from sexual perversion by what she wears and what she does, what he hears is that it’s her fault.”
Jeff Chu, a writer in Michigan, attended an evangelical junior high and high school that, like many similar schools, enforced strict rules for the lengths of girls’ skirts with the goal of encouraging modesty. “It was so rarely about the men controlling their own desires, and so often about women not being temptresses,” Mr. Chu recalled. “So many of us who haven’t fit within the norms of that culture, whether it’s women or queer people, we’re always seen as the problem.”
And while the police said that Mr. Long claimed he was not racially motivated, some saw a connection between strict sexual beliefs and violence against Asian women in particular.
“Purity culture teaches young men to view young women who do not try to maintain modesty as sinister forces,” Dr. Onishi said. “It’s hard not to think about the fact that Asian women have been sexualized and set up to be viewed through the lens of an exotic other who is sexually desirable.”
Despite evangelicalism’s preoccupations with individual sexual morality, its leaders’ failures are so numerous as to have become cliché. In the most recent high-profile example, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries announced last month that its eponymous founder had a pattern of groping and exposing himself to massage therapists, among other sexual misconduct. Mr. Zacharias, who died in 2020, owned two day spas in the Atlanta area.
Mr. Long sought treatment for what he described to the police as a “sex addiction” at HopeQuest, an evangelical treatment center in Acworth, Ga., the city where one of the attacks took place. The center advertises its treatment of “sex addiction” and “pornography addiction” in addition to drugs, alcohol and gambling. The center lists indications for sex addiction including “‘crossing lines’ of personal beliefs or values in his/her behaviors, which results in extreme emotional distress and feelings of guilt and shame.”
The language of addiction is used often in evangelical circles to describe someone who uses pornography or engages in other sexual behaviors that violate their own values, but does not necessarily rise to the level of clinical addiction, Dr. Perry said.
“Sex addiction” is not an established psychiatric diagnosis, and there is a debate in the mental health community about how to define and treat compulsive sexual behavior.
“There’s no evidence-based treatment for sex addiction,” said Joshua Grubbs, an assistant professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University and a clinical psychologist. Evangelical sex addiction treatment tends to emphasize total abstinence from any sexual behavior outside heterosexual marriage. “They don’t take into account that humans are creatures with a drive for sex,” Dr. Grubbs said.
Mr. Long and his family were active members at Crabapple First Baptist Church in Milton, Ga., which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. In the church’s youth group for high school students, Mr. Long was “one of those core young men involved in everything we did,” said Brett Cottrell, a former youth and missions pastor at the church.
In November, an associate pastor at the church, Luke Folsom, preached a sermon on the “battle” against sin. He quoted a verse from the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus tells his followers that it may be worth gouging out an eye if it causes them to sin.
He continued, addressing the use of pornography directly. “Cut it out by getting rid of your smartphone, getting rid of internet connection, anything and everything that would allow you to do it,” he said. “Your soul is at stake.”
Lust, he added, is “a heart problem, not just an eye problem.”
The church, which declined a request for an interview with its leaders, issued a statement on Friday that condemned the violence at the Atlanta-area spas, as well as the suspect’s “stated reasons for carrying out this wicked plan.”
The church also emphasized that the gunman alone was to blame for his actions. “The women that he solicited for sexual acts are not responsible for his perverse sexual desires nor do they bear any blame in these murders,” the church stated. “These actions are the result of a sinful heart and depraved mind.”
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 11:42 pm
AITA or is the lunacy scale increasing daily?
Should the American Psychoanalytical Association start some sort of "Doomsday Clock", the day when 50% + 1 of all Americans go irreversibly cuckoo? I mean, in Venezuela we frequently talked about "The C Day"*, the day everything would finally go to pieces, but this is like pedal to the metal, no seat-belts, no headlights on, a fifth of Jack in your hand, driving to hell.
Off Topic
* In Vennieland, our equivalent to f*** is "coño", which is used in as many ways and can range from hilarious to offensive. So, "El dia del C***". Which, of course, did happen.
There is a reason things like white nationalism and other "ism" movement are subject to scientific studies that look at their spread as an epidemic, the same way an infectious disease spreads.
by dryrunguy
Suliso wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:53 am
Many Christians trace their condemnation of pornography back to Jesus. “I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” he is quoted saying in the Gospel of Matthew.
It goes back further than that. It started with the concept of Eve-teasing. The world would never have fallen into sin and would never have needed Jesus to die on the cross to redeem us for our sins if Eve hadn't seduced Adam into taking a bite out of an apple. It was Eve's fault, and Adam was helpless and powerless compared to her wiles.
Now, back to the very last paragraph of the article you posted. That's a really nice statement from the church. There's just one problem--I would bet money that what they SAID in that statement and what gets PREACHED from the pulpit on any given Sunday are two completely conflicting things. One of the most pervasive, underlying teachings of evangelicalism is that women are to blame for pretty much everything--and men are helpless. Thanks to Eve.
::
A sidebar: Why does evangelicalism focus so much attention and resources on stopping human sex trafficking? (Notice: I specifically identified human SEX trafficking--not human trafficking in general. You'll be very hard pressed to find an evangelical organization dedicated to ending human trafficking. But evangelical organizations dedicated to stopping human SEX trafficking are all over the place.) It's not because they want to save women and girls from abuse and death. That's just incidental. The real objective is to reduce the amount of temptation to which men may be exposed.
by Suliso There is a lot of temptation walking around on a hot day in our cities, let alone beaches.
I feel a bit sorry for them, but then again they're too weird. Who said that traditional patriarchy is a bad place only for women? Doesn't seem like a paradise for young men either. At least not the evangelical form of it...
by ponchi101 You were lucky. You grew up in a society where atheism was accepted. Those of us that grew up in largely religious societies heard that story a thousand times: women were nothing but Temptation.
And I was not even into the evangelicals. I was surrounded by the Opus Dei. Same stuff, different name, but not as powerful in the mind washing skills.
by ti-amie Don't many men who commit domestic violence tell their partners before, during or after that it's their fault they're beating them?
by ti-amie
by dryrunguy
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:16 pm
Don't many men who commit domestic violence tell their partners before, during or after that it's their fault they're beating them?
Not just men. When my brother was beating his ex-wife, my mother frequently put at least some of the blame on my ex-sister in law because she was constantly "pushing his buttons"...
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:16 pm
Don't many men who commit domestic violence tell their partners before, during or after that it's their fault they're beating them?
Not just men. When my brother was beating his ex-wife, my mother frequently put at least some of the blame on my ex-sister in law because she was constantly "pushing his buttons"...
Women are starting to speak up about mothers-in-law- who absolve their sons of any and everything.
I think it was one of the relationship posts on Reddit where a women who is a surgeon and works long hours is having issues with her husband, who works "normal" hours and makes less than her (she said this) who won't lift a finger to do housework and when she comes home feels she shouldn't "just sleep" and expect him to do anything around the house because that's her role as a woman. His mother backs him 100%. Oh, and she can't hire a housekeeper.
This junk is internalized by both sexes and is not just a problem in "those countries".
by dryrunguy As many of you know, I work for a woman-dominated company. Women don't just make up the overwhelming majority of our employees; women also constitute the overwhelming majority of our corporate leadership, including our president.
Anyway, please forgive me if I have mentioned this before, but COVID has been an enlightening experience for many of my women colleagues, especially the younger/junior level staff. COVID has shown that, when two parents are shut in, the husbands/boyfriends (most of whom tend me be fairly progressive in their politics, as I have been told) assume that they should be able to work their normal 8-hour work day without interruption or distraction, and all responsibility for child care should fall on the wife/girlfriend. Who is also supposed to work a normal 8-hour work day.
It has been both a fascinating and a depressing revelation to observe.
EDIT: Oh, and in case you're wondering, the same burden on women also applies to pets. That includes walks (unless the man of the house needs a break), vet visits, feeding, etc.
by mmmm8 Dry - all credit to you for noticing, but I will say as a woman, this is something any professional woman could have attested to before the pandemic. It's certainly part of the conversations I've had with pretty much every female colleague that has had children, although some positioned it as being super excited their husband/partner took on some minor responsibility.
It's also something I knew as a child. While my dad did more than I think 75% of fathers did even in the "equal rights" USSR, the emotional work (what needs to happen with regards to the child (or pet), when, and how) always fell on my mom. It was the same or worse in all the families I knew except where there was a single father (there were also a few families where the grandparents did all the childraising despite the presence of both parents).
I'd be really curious how much of a shift there's really been in Scandinavia, where men do better with parental leave, taking care of kids, etc., in terms of that "emotional work."
by dryrunguy
mmmm8 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 22, 2021 12:44 am
Dry - all credit to you for noticing, but I will say as a woman, this is something any professional woman could have attested to before the pandemic. It's certainly part of the conversations I've had with pretty much every female colleague that has had children, although some positioned it as being super excited their husband/partner took on some minor responsibility.
It's also something I knew as a child. While my dad did more than I think 75% of fathers did even in the "equal rights" USSR, the emotional work (what needs to happen with regards to the child (or pet), when, and how) always fell on my mom. It was the same or worse in all the families I knew except where there was a single father (there were also a few families where the grandparents did all the childraising despite the presence of both parents).
I'd be really curious how much of a shift there's really been in Scandinavia, where men do better with parental leave, taking care of kids, etc., in terms of that "emotional work."
Indeed. I was being COVID-specific. I am disappointed more men didn't evolve, especially progressive men, given the difficult times. But yes, this has always been a thing.
by ti-amie Best Thread Ever re the above Part 1
by ti-amie Part 2
Miss Potkin
@MissPotkin
Mar 18
(expletive) HELL, IT’S HAPPENING!
by ti-amie Part 3
by ti-amie A woman I follow said that she has heard this kind of story from so many of her patients and suggests doing what this woman did. The answer she gets is "I can't".
Quarantine may change all of that.
Obviously this is a British woman but she is my hero.
by dryrunguy That was all sorts of awesome, Amie. Thanks for sharing.
by ponchi101 Must be that I have lived by myself on many occasions, but that guy needs to be shot. And I don't mean vaccinated (the husband)
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Different take - This is unnecessarily passive aggressive. She doesn't appear to be on the verge of divorce or kicking her kids out (though this certainly may have been a large step in the direction of the former). Is this guy great? No, obviously he should get off his ass and split the housework with her. Are her kids pitiful? Seems like it. She's to blame for some of that and as far as I can tell, she's not understanding that. She's the mother grown women complain about when talking about men because the mothers that raised them and did everything for them. They should've been helping clean up after themselves since they were toddlers if she didn't want to become their maid. Not necessarily surprising that she appeared to marry this kind of man.
This is a sad setup she's got going on here. Glad this appeared to have worked. But am I cheering this? Not like you guys are. I'm amused, but don't truly find this kind of thing productive. Seemed great to start, but as it went on, it felt very much like there are better approaches than this to me. I'm always amazed at how much plenty of women in particular will go out of their way to avoid a confrontation of any kind. That is so not me.
by Suliso I think most of us were just finding it amusing. I'm not a guy like this, but I'd certainly also not want a woman like that.
A slide show of the latest carnage, this time in Colorado.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Apparently there was live video posted. I'm guessing it's been taken down.
by ti-amie This video has been shown on MSNBC. This is a screen shot.
Profanity warning.
by ti-amie The Boulder police haven't confirmed this is the shooter.
They do say the suspect is being treated at the hospital.
by dryrunguy "I can't believe it's happening in Boulder," he told CBS Denver.
Why NOT? It's happening everywhere else, ya dumb twit.
by ti-amie
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:26 am
"I can't believe it's happening in Boulder," he told CBS Denver.
Why NOT? It's happening everywhere else, ya dumb twit.
Sad isn't it?
by JazzNU
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 1:26 am
"I can't believe it's happening in Boulder," he told CBS Denver.
Why NOT? It's happening everywhere else, ya dumb twit.
Maybe it was just the moment so it wasn't the clearest thought. Did he mean, he can't believe it's happening in Boulder because he can't believe it's happening AGAIN in Colorado? I'm not trying to be mean here, but two of the most famous mass shootings occurred in Colorado, in very close proximity to Boulder in fact, so this just doesn't make any sense. It's not that it's just happened everyone else so why not there, it's happened right in Boulder's backyard.
by dryrunguy It might be a testament to the fact that U.S. brains have notoriously short, detrimental, and selective memories. I don't know.
I just don't know how these words can actually trip off of any American's tongue. Baffled.
by ponchi101 JazzNU beat me to it. Google maps tells you that the distance from Aurora to Boulder is 35 miles.
It was bound to happen; with this level of violence in the USA, you will see repetitions. This uniquely American phenomenon of the white male that enters a random location and shoots strangers keeps spreading. By now, the sole solution would be an Australian-type ban on their beloved AR15's and similar. We know how that will not happen.
And I hope you are not insulted but: where this a different country and the USA would slap a "travel advisory" on it. I have a link to the State Department's travel advisory and they slap a category 4 (the highest) on plenty of locations that have never made the news in this form. Because this does not happen almost anywhere else.
by JazzNU And Boulder is pretty close to Columbine too!
Are mass shootings happening all over? Yes, and unfortunate truth. But let's not push past that it is seriously bizarre for this one tight geographical area in Colorado being home to 3 of the most deadly mass shootings in the country.
by JazzNU There's also this small issue. It is remarkable how many mass murderers caught and apprehended at the scene are unharmed at arrest.
by dryrunguy Police have released the name of the shooter. Based on his name, I don't think he's white. All they said was that he was 21 years old and had lived most of his life in the United States.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 4:48 pm
Police have released the name of the shooter. Based on his name, I don't think he's white. All they said was that he was 21 years old and had lived most of his life in the United States.
Hard to go off a name. The fool in Florida sending pipe bombs had tall tales about his heritage. But for the purposes of arrest, it really only matters what you outwardly look like. This may not be a white guy, but that's what he looked like to most everyone watching those videos when he was arrested and was walked away unharmed.
by JazzNU Islamophobia will be entertaining the chat now by all accounts. I'm sure the Republicans will ramp up the fear as high as they possibly can to try to distract from any and all calls for gun control.
by ti-amie We had this discussion somewhere here on the New Board recently. Things haven't changed I see.
by JazzNU Not sure what Tammy is doing. But DeSantis is going to be the President-Elect come 2024 if she and others keep this kind of thing up. She's been making herself notable for all the wrong reasons of late. Neera's nomination fell apart, doesn't mean efforts were made. Also, did I miss the memo and Vivek Murthy's heritage has suddenly changed?
by ti-amie
JazzNU wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:02 pm
Not sure what Tammy is doing. But DeSantis is going to be the President-Elect come 2024 if she and others keep this kind of thing up. She's been making herself notable for all the wrong reasons of late. Neera's nomination fell apart, doesn't mean efforts were made. Also, did I miss the memo and Vivek Murthy's heritage has suddenly changed?
The issue is South Asians vs Northern Asians. Northern Asians don't consider South Asians "Asian". Of course I'm speaking in general terms. We had a whole discussion about how at one point my job tried to set up an "Asian Society" and chaos ensued. Duckworth is following this mind set. And don't even try to add Filipino's to the mix.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:23 pm
The issue is South Asians vs Northern Asians. Northern Asians don't consider South Asians "Asian". Of course I'm speaking in general terms. We had a whole discussion about how at one point my job tried to set up an "Asian Society" and chaos ensued. Duckworth is following this mind set. And don't even try to add Filipino's to the mix.
Oh I remember. And I know. But if you see her full comments, she's acting like she's more inclusive. But she clearly does mean what you're saying, but her words say something different. I don't see how this can go well for her. Not even sure she's gonna make it out of the IL primary if she keeps down the track she's been on.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
So he brought an arsenal to attack - who exactly?
by dryrunguy Oh. Nothing excessive about that at all.
by ponchi101 I said it before: how small must your penis be?
Seriously: how can a country admit that a man carrying this level of firepower DOES NOT mean that you have a huge problem?
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 1:38 am
I said it before: how small must your penis be?
Seriously: how can a country admit that a man carrying this level of firepower DOES NOT mean that you have a huge problem?
This morning's NY Times newsletter had a commentary about it. There's no way to link to it, so I just copied and pasted it here. I bolded the part that really stood out to me. It encapsulates my thinking on the issue, but I have NEVER seen it stated so flatly and directly before. It's an incredibly sad statement to read.
::
‘We know which laws work’
It’s a dismal ritual of American life: A mass shooting occurs — sometimes more than one, in quick succession. The country mourns the victims. And nothing changes.
I expect the same will happen following the killings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colo. But it is still worth taking a few minutes to lay out the basic facts about gun violence. The key one is simply this: The scale of gun deaths in the United States is not inevitable. The country could reduce the death toll, perhaps substantially, if it chose to.
1. The toll approaches pancreatic cancer’s
When gun violence is counted as a single category — spanning homicides, suicides and accidents — it kills about 40,000 Americans a year.
That’s far behind the country’s biggest killers, like heart disease (about 650,000 annual deaths) or Alzheimer’s (about 125,000). But it is broadly comparable to the toll from many well-known causes of death, including an average flu season (35,000), vehicle accidents (39,000), breast cancer (42,000), liver disease (43,000) or pancreatic cancer (45,000).
2. More guns mean more deaths
Republican members of Congress often claim otherwise. After the Boulder shootings, John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, dismissed calls for restricting gun availability, saying, “There’s not a big appetite among our members to do things that would appear to be addressing it, but actually don’t do anything to fix the problem.”
But there is overwhelming evidence that this country has a unique problem with gun violence, mostly because it has unique gun availability.
It’s not just that every other high-income country in the world has many fewer guns and many fewer gun deaths. It’s also that U.S. states with fewer guns — like California, Illinois, Iowa and much of the Northeast — have fewer gun deaths. And when state or local governments have restricted gun access, deaths have often declined, Michael Siegel of Boston University’s School of Public Health says.
“The main lesson that comes out of this research is that we know which laws work,” Siegel says. (Nicholas Kristof, the Times columnist, has written a good overview, called “How to Reduce Shootings.”)
3. Mass shootings aren’t the main problem
They receive huge attention, for obvious reasons: They are horrific. But they are also not the primary source of gun violence. In 2019, for example, only about one out of every 400 gun deaths was the result of a mass shooting (defined as any attack with at least four deaths). More than half of gun deaths are from suicides, as Margot Sanger-Katz of The Times has noted.
Still, many of the policies that experts say would reduce gun deaths — like requiring gun licenses and background checks — would likely affect both mass shootings and the larger problem.
4. Public opinion is complicated
Yes, an overwhelming majority of Americans support many gun-regulation proposals — like background checks — that congressional Republicans have blocked. And, yes, the campaign donations of the National Rifle Association influence the debate.
But the main reason that members of Congress feel comfortable blocking gun control is that most Americans don’t feel strongly enough about the issue to change their votes because of it. If Americans stopped voting for opponents of gun control, gun-control laws would pass very quickly. This country’s level of gun violence is as high as it is because many Americans have decided that they are OK with it.
5. The filibuster is pro-gun
Gun control is yet another issue in which the filibuster helps Republican policy priorities and hurts Democratic priorities. On guns (as on climate change, taxes, Medicare access, the minimum wage, immigration and other issues), Republicans are happier with the status quo than Democrats. The filibuster — which requires 60 Senate votes to pass most bills, rather than a straight majority of 51 — protects the status quo.
If Democrats were to change the filibuster, as many favor, it isn’t hard to imagine how a gun-control bill could become law this year. With the filibuster, it is almost impossible to imagine.
by ponchi101 And why are Americans Ok with the guns' status quo? Because, and here I have no data to base this statement, I would like to know which demographics are affected the most.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 25, 2021 3:34 pm
And why are Americans Ok with the guns' status quo? Because, and here I have no data to base this statement, I would like to know which demographics are affected the most.
Also, what states make the most money from gun trafficking? I know the east coast best. The I95 corridor is the main route for guns being transported from the South - Florida, Georgia, The Carolina's, Virginia to the North East. As we've recently been reminded it's easier to buy a gun than to vote in some of these states. Most of the guns being transported end up in the hands of gang members or other folks with criminal intent. If strict gun control was mandated what would the residents of these states do?
The press reports on gang shootings and rage shootings but not on the deaths of people who unfortunately decide to end their lives.
by JazzNU It's more than just that though. John Oliver did a piece on how gun control is hard to enact. Not sure if you guys remember it, but part of it is the simplicity of the NRA's argument. They don't have to make fancy arguments, they have to get people to show up and say No. The other side, it's nuanced, people don't want too many rights taken away, they want to make sure we're not going overboard, that people can still hunt, protect their homes, etc, it's more complex. And the NRA members show up and they just say No. Not hard to remember No.
by JazzNU Here's the Last Week Tonight from a few years ago on the difficulty of enacting gun control measures
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU If I didn't recognize Sahil's name, I'd assume that had to have been a joke from The Onion. Just WOW.
by ponchi101 Meth was homegrown? Ok, he might not be on meth as he speaks, but at a minimum he is wasted. What does he think, meth grows in a tree?
by ti-amie I figured he has a relative in the business...
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Suliso I was just reading about the upcoming once 17 years cicada invasion. Any of you living in the affected areas? That should be some spectacle.
by dryrunguy
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:51 pm
I was just reading about the upcoming once 17 years cicada invasion. Any of you living in the affected areas? That should be some spectacle.
The last one, at least here, was a whole bunch of nothing. But I'll never forget the one before that. That would have been 1987, the summer before I went to college. For the entire summer, my sheep were absolutely COVERED with cicadas. Every day. It didn't bother the sheep because they had about an inch of wool. But it definitely looked like a Biblical plague.
Maybe the difference was that was in Ohio, but I don't know why there was such a big difference between the two.
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:51 pm
I was just reading about the upcoming once 17 years cicada invasion. Any of you living in the affected areas? That should be some spectacle.
Those damn cicadas annoy me every year. Will it be worse this year? Not sure. I don't recall it being much worse the last time this one came around, but given the timing, I too was likely in a different state and that may have been enough of a difference.
I've been more wary of the return of the spotted lantern fly.
by Suliso Well, it's one of those once in 17 years groups. Whether you'll see them depends on where exactly in Pennsylvania you live.
Earlier post from the same guy. Don't want to highlight them too much, but sometimes you get to see the (expletive) craziness of Q theory and here's a great snapshot on the mental gymnastics they do to reach their convoluted theories.
by ti-amie Jazz that literally made my head hurt.
How do you even begin to refute "thinking" like that?
by ponchi101 That's the problem. When you have gone that deep into the crazy, where do you start?
Excuse my ignorance here. Reform of the milk price formula means what exactly? I would guess they need an increase in the price. Costs of a lot of things have increased, but milk has remained steady so easy to imagine hard to operate farms with the 1980 revenue. But truly not sure if that's what is meant since there is milk that costs $5 too.
by dryrunguy Small-scale dairy cattle farming has been on decline for many years now. Small dairy farmers cannot compete with corporate dairy farms that are able to achieve massive economies of scale when it comes to everything... This is not anything new. Though I can imagine COVID may have made it even worse.
by ponchi101 When I worked for USDA I once made an analysis of milk prices in Venezuela Vs in the USA. The share of the final price of milk at the supermarket, as kept by the farmers, was only 10% (Vennieland was around 40%). So milk farmers in the US really are having a hard time making a profit. And that was in the 1990's. No doubt that by now it is much harder.
by skatingfan
JazzNU wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 12:13 am
Excuse my ignorance here. Reform of the milk price formula means what exactly? I would guess they need an increase in the price. Costs of a lot of things have increased, but milk has remained steady so easy to imagine hard to operate farms with the 1980 revenue. But truly not sure if that's what is meant since there is milk that costs $5 too.
This is why Canada has supply management, and every dairy farm has a production limit & so a guaranteed income. My understanding is that there is too much supply in the dairy system in the US which has suppressed prices, and that's why the US wanted more access to the Canadian market.
by ponchi101 The entire American system is based on suppressing production. The US system is capable of producing so much of almost all agricultural products that if all farmers, or even Big Agra, were able to produce at 100% of their capabilities, the oversupply would make prices collapse. It sounds not good, as some people will say that there are hungry people in the world and we actually need more food, but the reality is that without the USDA subsidy and price control system in place, small farmers would be wiped out immediately.
The system is set up so that farmers get subsidies by leaving areas of their land untouched, and therefore not producing. Together with the Commodities' Futures Market, it allows the smaller farmers to stay in business. In the past, prior to the creation of futures, all harvests would reach the market at the same time, causing crashes in prices that left entire regions wiped out.
The system isn't perfect, and Europe has a similar system of subsidies for its farmers. But it is the only way, so far, to avoid the periodic price crashes that hurt everybody because, after a price crash and large percentages of farmers are wiped out of the market, the next crop would not be planted and you would have BOOM & BUST cycles, in which nobody won.
by JazzNU
skatingfan wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 9:00 am
This is why Canada has supply management, and every dairy farm has a production limit & so a guaranteed income. My understanding is that there is too much supply in the dairy system in the US which has suppressed prices, and that's why the US wanted more access to the Canadian market.
Thanks for all the replies. Definitely too much supply in the US. That part I did know, while there may have been too much years ago as well, the problem is much more pronounced now. The nut "milk" market is booming here.
by Suliso Both US and EU could produce a lot more food if there was any need. In general there is no lack of food in the World. What is lacking is financial means for some populations to buy enough of it plus war induced distribution problems.
by Deuce Humans are the only species that drink milk from other species. Someone, somewhere along the way, decided that there was a financial profit to be made by doing this, and the industry was born. And then marketing took over, of course.
The fact that humans are the only species to do this tells me that nature intended milk to nourish the young of one's own species.
by Suliso Nature also intended you to live naked and die at around 40 if you're lucky.
by ponchi101
Deuce wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:59 pm
Humans are the only species that drink milk from other species. Someone, somewhere along the way, decided that there was a financial profit to be made by doing this, and the industry was born. And then marketing took over, of course.
The fact that humans are the only species to do this tells me that nature intended milk to nourish the young of one's own species.
We are not. You have obviously seen dogs and cats drink milk. Any other mammal species that is offered milk will take it. The only reason they don't do it is because they lack the smarts.
Also, evolution gave us the enzymes to process bovine lactose.
If you are going to claim that financial profit drives that industry, it drives ALL agricultural industries. No farmer plants an excess crop for fun.
by MJ2004 I read more about this topic than probably anyone here when I became dairy intolerant. Should humans be drinking milk? Should they not? There is tons of speculation and pseudo-science around this topic, but no real scientific evidence that consuming dairy, in moderation, is problematic. I read a lot of "evidence" about the evils of consuming dairy, but it didn't convince me. My conclusion is that it's fine as long as your body can tolerate it and you don't overdo it. I'm just glad my intolerance has receded and I can be part of the dairy-consuming human race again.
Deuce wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 9:59 pm
Humans are the only species that drink milk from other species. Someone, somewhere along the way, decided that there was a financial profit to be made by doing this, and the industry was born. And then marketing took over, of course.
The fact that humans are the only species to do this tells me that nature intended milk to nourish the young of one's own species.
We are not. You have obviously seen dogs and cats drink milk. Any other mammal species that is offered milk will take it. The only reason they don't do it is because they lack the smarts.
Also, evolution gave us the enzymes to process bovine lactose.
If you are going to claim that financial profit drives that industry, it drives ALL agricultural industries. No farmer plants an excess crop for fun.
Dogs and cats drink milk from other species only because we give it to them. They don't do it naturally at all.
And neither do humans. Humans drink milk from other species only because the marketing tells them to, not because it comes naturally to us.
Of course all farmers do it for profit. My point was simply that someone, somewhere along the way, had this crazy idea that he could make money by convincing humans to do something that was not done across any species on the planet. Who knows where the crazy idea came from...
As for being naked... it's human nature to seek/create bodily protection from the elements - it's part of the survival instinct. This is quite different from choosing to consume the physically nurturing sustenance of another species.
And if any of you are of the comfortable belief that your milk comes from the cow that is comfortably relaxing in the pasture day in, day out, until the old farmer gets his stool and bucket and begins squeezing those udders with his hands - you are grossly mistaken. Unless you know the old farmer personally, there's a 99.9% chance that your milk comes from factory farms.
Factory farms have no resemblance to the farms of the past. Farming is very much industrialized today. Mechanical machines are milking the cows, who are usually confined to areas only about twice the size of their bodies - not only when they are being milked, but pretty much all the time.
Factory farming has absolutely nothing to do with nature - the only thing that factory farming is interested in is to produce as much financial profit as is possible, no matter the consequences (pollution, animal abuse, etc.).
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 2:11 am
Humans drink milk from other species only because the marketing tells them to, not because it comes naturally to us.
Or... maybe because it tastes great and we've benefited as a species from the greater nutritional benefits it brings us?
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 2:11 am
Humans drink milk from other species only because the marketing tells them to, not because it comes naturally to us.
Or... maybe because it tastes great and we've benefited as a species from the greater nutritional benefits it brings us?
Or... maybe the 'nutritional benefits' claim is part of the marketing BS...
People might also wish to know that it takes 1000 gallons of water to produce 1 gallon of milk.
For anyone interested in the effects and consequences of animal industrial and factory farming today, the often systematically stifled information contained in this film is interesting...
Here is a brief 5 minute synopsis of the film - the complete film is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime...
“The purpose of cow’s milk is to turn a 65 pound calf into a 400 pound animal as rapidly as possible. Cow’s milk is baby calf growth fluid. It is the lactatious secretions of a large bovine mammal who just gave birth.”
by Suliso Making and using dairy products has been part of our culture for 5,000+ years. Longer than money has been in existence let alone industrial farming.
by Deuce Lots of things that were done 5000 years ago were not healthy - and some of those things are still occurring today. Regardless of when humans began drinking animal milk, it was not a common thing to do until relatively recently - and we are still the only species which drinks the milk of other species.
And, yes, somewhere along the way, someone figured that they could make money from convincing people to partake in this odd and unnatural practice - and that’s the likely reason for its current presence.
But we’re living today. And today, cows (and other animals) are artificially altered and manipulated to produce as much milk (profits) as possible. And so your milk comes from animals which are artificially altered and modified (usually chemically) to produce unnaturally high quantities of milk - just like in the rest of the animal farming industry, with artificial growth hormones, overfeeding, etc. The animal farming industry today is also rife with incredible cruelty and abuse - which the majority of people very voluntarily (and sadly) close their eyes to, because it’s quite uncomfortable to contemplate their complicity. Human beings despise discomfort, and no matter how real the source of their discomfort is, they will avoid thinking about it at all costs - especially when they are complicit.
The animal products consumed in the developed world today have no relation to the hunter-gatherers, etc. of yesteryear.
With industrial and factory farming, and the overpopulation of humans, the negative consequences of dairy are much, much greater today.
by Suliso You're free to adopt vegan lifestyle. Us trying to convince each other further would be pointless.
by ponchi101 Yet, here we are, living longer lives than ever, having to deal with obesity as opposed to starvation, having to deal with too many people as opposed to vanishing populations. The evils of modern agriculture.
A surprising stat: the tallest people in the world? Bosnians, Netherlands and Montenegro. The largest milk consumers in the world? Finland, Montenegro and the Netherlands. Perhaps there is a relation there.
by Suliso Something else - our ancestors became smarter to a large extent by consuming more meat. Modern agriculture needs to be industrial to some extent. No way to feed 7 billion people otherwise. No doubt it could be taken in a very unhealthy direction (see all the junk food) if not properly regulated. Remember virtually everything (99%+) you touch or see or eat today is a product of modern industry directly or indirectly.
by JazzNU
by ti-amie Just think - US rail service may enter the 20th century
by ti-amie
by Suliso
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:45 pm
Just think - US rail service may enter the 20th century
That will be difficult... If someone were to ask my advice I'd propose to concentrate majority of the rail portion money to enhancing rail based public transport in the nations largest cities. Long distance intercity rail is cool, but only makes a lot of sense if there is good public transport in the destination.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:45 pm
Just think - US rail service may enter the 20th century
That will be difficult... If someone were to ask my advice I'd propose to concentrate majority of the rail portion money to enhancing rail based public transport in the nations largest cities. Long distance intercity rail is cool, but only makes a lot of sense if there is good public transport in the destination.
That's why I was amazed that people thought that Mayor Pete's portfolio was a minor one. NYC's MTA is already salivating at the money it'll get to make improvements in our antiquated system. I expect folks in other cities are doing the same.
by Suliso If greater NYC were to get a huge amount of money (say 50 billion over 5 years) for enhancing transport what would you like to see them do?
by ti-amie Add light rail systems where needed in transportation deserts. Update the subway system and improve bus service so you don't wait 20m for a bus and then a caravan arrives.
It's the little things.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 6:09 pm That's why I was amazed that people thought that Mayor Pete's portfolio was a minor one. NYC's MTA is already salivating at the money it'll get to make improvements in our antiquated system. I expect folks in other cities are doing the same.
Still incredibly minor. The size of South Bend is a postage stamp at best.
by mmmm8 Designated bus-only lanes
Fix constantly breaking subway signals and maybe I could see consistently clean subway stations in my lifetime.
by Suliso No grander plans in your mind? Like new subway and commuter rail lines, replacing all subway cars older than 20 years etc.
by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:54 pmYou're free to adopt vegan lifestyle. Us trying to convince each other further would be pointless.
^ Yet you persist...
Ok...
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:54 pm
Something else - our ancestors became smarter to a large extent by consuming more meat.
^ Are you seriously saying that, without meat, their intelligence would have been stunted?!
The fact is that 'intelligence' has evolved in humans over time - and would have done so with or without eating meat, of course. I know several extremely intelligent vegetarians and vegans...
Back in the days of our ancestors, eating meat was a very common thing - more so than it is today, per capita. It was the thing to do. There were few people eating alternatively. Had the great majority been vegetarians back then, the level of intelligence would have evolved in the same manner over time.
Or perhaps intelligence would have evolved at a greater pace had the majority of our ancestors been vegetarians... "My refusing to eat flesh occasioned an inconvenience, and I was frequently chided for my singularity, but, with this lighter repast, I made the greater progress, for greater clearness of head and quicker comprehension." - Benjamin Franklin
'Intelligence' is also very subjective. Many would say that our 'intelligence' today is ruining the planet, because we use it so selfishly. And so how 'intelligent' are we, really?
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:54 pmModern agriculture needs to be industrial to some extent. No way to feed 7 billion people otherwise. No doubt it could be taken in a very unhealthy direction (see all the junk food) if not properly regulated. Remember virtually everything (99%+) you touch or see or eat today is a product of modern industry directly or indirectly.
^ Junk food is in no way the only problem with food today. Not by a long shot.
And I reiterate that the majority of people voluntarily close their eyes to the negative consequences of many things - especially when they are complicit. Animal industrial farming is one such thing. Most people would be horrified if they saw what goes on. And they know this - so they deliberately don't look, and thus 'trick' their conscience into believing that A) it isn't happening, and B) they aren't responsible for it. “You have just dined; and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in a graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:37 pm
Yet, here we are, living longer lives than ever, having to deal with obesity as opposed to starvation, having to deal with too many people as opposed to vanishing populations. The evils of modern agriculture.
^ The astronomical advances in medicine might have something to do with that.
"While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?” ~ George Bernard Shaw
'Intelligence' is also very subjective. Many would say that our 'intelligence' today is ruining the planet, because we use it so selfishly. And so how 'intelligent' are we, really?
...
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:37 pm
Yet, here we are, living longer lives than ever, having to deal with obesity as opposed to starvation, having to deal with too many people as opposed to vanishing populations. The evils of modern agriculture.
^ The astronomical advances in medicine might have something to do with that.
"While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?” ~ George Bernard Shaw
We are pretty intelligent. I know that this is a common "last resource" by the existentialists, doubting our intellect yet, this discussion is taking place between several people that are located thousands of kilometers away from each other, simply because our intelligence and our ability to manipulate tiny electrons allows us to send our thoughts and ideas basically everywhere around the world. In less than 2,000 years, the dream of telepathy has been achieved tenfold. We cannot only send our thoughts, we can send what we see and what we hear. Somewhere beyond Pluto, a little box the size of a piano travels onwards, sending us images and data from billions of miles away. Not too shabby.
All this ties to the fact that we started to eat meat. The correlation is uncanny: Homo Erectus, with a cranial cavity of about 300CC, started to eat meat. Cranial cavities have expanded ever since, although right now they are decreasing a bit. You also only have to look at meso-American and Andean populations, with very little meat in their diets, and see their weights and sizes compared to African or Asia-European stock. The sizes are much more favorable to the meat/lactose eating groups.
One issue that vegetarians miss is simple: those same animals that Bernard Shaw is so sensitive about would have been killed by another carnivore. It is the fate of all animals in nature, "red in tooth and claw". With extremely few exceptions, until very recently every animal would die either by the claws and teeth of a bigger animal, or would be weakened by disease and, again, would die in the mouth of some other creature.
Another point that non-meat-eaters miss is that the animals that "accepted" domestication made a trade: their "domesticated" genes are in no danger of extinction because attaching yourself to that bipedal primate gave those same genes protection. Bovines, equines, canines and felines (the small ones) are under no risk of fading away, courtesy of their liaison with H. Sapiens. Zebras, basically impossible to domesticate, pale in numbers when compared to horses, domesticated a long time ago. Industrial agriculture is just one spoke of the wheel upon which our civilization rides.
Off Topic
It boils down to that simple question posed by Pinker: if you could chose what time and era you would be born, but not be able to chose the place, you would chose now. Every single civilization and culture of the 21st century is better off than any same group 200 years ago. Are we in nirvana? Of course not. But progress does not work that way. A few steps forward (or the graph inching upwards) maybe one back (the graph dips). But over the last 500 years, our progress has been phenomenal.
Yep, we are not that dumb. We are so smart, actually, that we can discuss the things that we do wrong, and take corrective actions. We have been getting better at that for a few centuries now. No need to throw everything overboard.
by Deuce
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:44 pm
We are pretty intelligent. I know that this is a common "last resource" by the existentialists, doubting our intellect yet, this discussion is taking place between several people that are located thousands of kilometers away from each other, simply because our intelligence and our ability to manipulate tiny electrons allows us to send our thoughts and ideas basically everywhere around the world. In less than 2,000 years, the dream of telepathy has been achieved tenfold. We cannot only send our thoughts, we can send what we see and what we hear. Somewhere beyond Pluto, a little box the size of a piano travels onwards, sending us images and data from billions of miles away. Not too shabby.
... And anyone can provide thousands of examples of how we use our so-called 'intelligence' for harmful means.
Yes, we have this wacky internet thing. But the internet has also produced a huge increase in the sexual exploitation of children, in youth suicides, it has helped terrorists recruit members... and on and on it goes.
The internet also spreads nonsense and lies more rapidly and to a much wider audience than ever before. “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end... We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate…. As if the main object were to talk fast and not to talk sensibly. We are eager to tunnel under the Atlantic and bring the Old World some weeks nearer to the New; but perchance the first news that will leak through into the broad, flapping American ear will be that the Princess Adelaide has the whooping cough.” - Henry Thoreau
It's so easy to isolate the positives of something - such as human intelligence - and neglect to mention the massive negatives associated with it, for the purpose of furthering an agenda.
You cannot isolate 'positive intelligence' from 'negative intelligence'. The fact is that human intelligence is responsible for many wonderful things. And it is also responsible for many negative and tragic things - because the intelligence is intertwined with selfishness, greed, and insecurity.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:44 pm
All this ties to the fact that we started to eat meat. The correlation is uncanny: Homo Erectus, with a cranial cavity of about 300CC, started to eat meat. Cranial cavities have expanded ever since, although right now they are decreasing a bit. You also only have to look at meso-American and Andean populations, with very little meat in their diets, and see their weights and sizes compared to African or Asia-European stock. The sizes are much more favorable to the meat/lactose eating groups.
^ This is a tired and typical argument of meat eaters - that it is healthier to eat meat than not to. There are millions of very healthy vegetarians on the planet - just as there are millions of unhealthy meat eaters. And you can point to studies which claim to 'prove' that meat eaters are healthier... And I can point to at least as many studies which 'prove' that vegetarians are healthier...
Yawn...
Maybe we'll have to decide this on the tennis court - you and I... We're about the same age, and we've both been playing for a long while. We have to set it up for a neutral location, where the weather does not advantage either one of us... and just play until one of us drops. This will then prove to the entire world which diet is healthiest.
"One farmer says to me, "You cannot live on vegetable food solely, for it furnishes nothing to make bones with"; and so he religiously devotes a part of his day to supplying his system with the raw material of bones; walking all the while he talks behind his oxen, which, with vegetable-made bones, jerk him and his lumbering plow along in spite of every obstacle." - Henry Thoreau
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 11:44 pm
One issue that vegetarians miss is simple: those same animals that Bernard Shaw is so sensitive about would have been killed by another carnivore. It is the fate of all animals in nature, "red in tooth and claw". With extremely few exceptions, until very recently every animal would die either by the claws and teeth of a bigger animal, or would be weakened by disease and, again, would die in the mouth of some other creature.
Another point that non-meat-eaters miss is that the animals that "accepted" domestication made a trade: their "domesticated" genes are in no danger of extinction because attaching yourself to that bipedal primate gave those same genes protection. Bovines, equines, canines and felines (the small ones) are under no risk of fading away, courtesy of their liaison with H. Sapiens. Zebras, basically impossible to domesticate, pale in numbers when compared to horses, domesticated a long time ago. Industrial agriculture is just one spoke of the wheel upon which our civilization rides.
^ I don't think non meat eaters 'miss' anything - and I find that rather condescending on your part.
Animals kill other animals for survival. It is pure instinct. Humans (today) kill other animals for pleasure and financial profit. The pleasure is to the palate.
Human intelligence (speaking of which) has figured out how to survive without consuming animals. And so, it cannot be said that consuming animals is necessary for human survival. Not at all.
And, as mentioned, the manners in which we exploit and treat animals today is far worse than in yesteryear. There is no longer a respect for the animal. Industrial farming treats animals as inanimate objects, while they abuse and torture them, making them suffer horribly before the final kill. Because this is the most financially expedient way. Money - not respect or compassion - makes every decision in industrial farming.
And I refuse to contribute to that, simply.
Human beings love to deceive themselves. The huge majority buy their meat with the same lack of consciousness as they buy a box of crackers. Were people made to watch the entire process of how their meat got to the neatly packaged container they buy at the grocery store, they would have second thoughts. It's like garbage collection - people put their garbage out to the curb where a magic truck comes to take it away to nevernever land - as if it simply vanishes into thin air. No thought of landfills killing the planet, etc. Out of sight, out of mind - just like factory farming. But if people had to bury their garbage in their own back yard, you can bet your ass that people would produce much, much less garbage.
This self-deception, which humans are experts at, is a prime example of 'negative intelligence'.
"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian." - Paul McCartney.
While I don't believe that everyone would be vegetarian if the ugly realities of slaughterhouses and factory farms were inescapable, I do believe that a large majority would be. Because I believe that compassion is an inherent human trait. I have seen many meat eaters literally run away, or become sick, when viewing what happens in a typical slaughterhouse. When not conveniently escaping the reality, and facing it instead, the majority of people - including the majority of meat eaters - are disgusted. Because of human compassion. This is precisely why they train themselves to not think about it; to deceive themselves to believe a pretty illusionary comfort rather than the ugly truth.
I view being a vegetarian or vegan as simply living consciously, with this intrinsic human compassion - without the self-deception of conveniently fooling ourselves that what is truly occurring in industrial animal farming isn't really happening, and without deceiving ourselves that we are somehow not complicit in what is happening in industrialized animal farming today.
It boils down to that simple question posed by Pinker: if you could chose what time and era you would be born, but not be able to chose the place, you would chose now. Every single civilization and culture of the 21st century is better off than any same group 200 years ago. Are we in nirvana? Of course not. But progress does not work that way. A few steps forward (or the graph inching upwards) maybe one back (the graph dips). But over the last 500 years, our progress has been phenomenal.
Yep, we are not that dumb. We are so smart, actually, that we can discuss the things that we do wrong, and take corrective actions. We have been getting better at that for a few centuries now. No need to throw everything overboard.
^ Not me. I'd have much preferred to live a few hundred years ago. While my life may have been shorter, and there would be far fewer conveniences, the overall quality of life would have been better in my view.
Yes, the human population is thriving. It’s too bad that the planet can’t support this many humans, though. Because, as the human population increases, the destruction of the planet also increases, proportionally. Our human ‘progress’, so called, comes at a huge cost.
As humans have taken more and more space on the planet, today, over 1 million plant and animal species are currently at severe risk of extinction.
Since 1970, the populations of birds, mammals, and reptiles have been reduced by 60%.
Extinction is now happening 100 times faster than the natural evolutionary rate.
And this all has severe consequences for every living thing - including us. But, of course, most humans voluntarily close their eyes to it, because it's uncomfortable to contemplate. And because we are complicit.
In any event, this is a silly "What if", as the question proposed by Pinker inherently attempts to slant the response in favour of the author's agenda.
by mmmm8
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 7:02 pm
No grander plans in your mind? Like new subway and commuter rail lines, replacing all subway cars older than 20 years etc.
If they do these basics/necessities, they'll be out of money again.
by ti-amie It looks like the war on drugs missed some folks...
BTW people from Grosse Pointe do not say they're from Detroit. #justsaying
by ponchi101 Sorry, but then these are dumb smugglers. Why would you want to send a fishing boat 100 miles offshore to pick up the drone? Do what the Mexican/Colombian cartels do: get the drone to smoothly sale towards the shore, run aground there, and then simply pick up the drugs with regular divers (heck, you don't even need scuba, if it has run aground you just need snorkels). The Colombian cartels have been using semi-submersible, fiberglass submarines for years. They pain them blue so they are almost invisible to aircrafts, the fiberglass gives them buoyancy and better stealth against radar, and because they are semi-submergible that are powered by standard diesel engines that give them very long range. The GPS thing by now is super common and cheap.
These guys went for overkill.
by JazzNU
by ti-amie A deadly distraction from Gaetz Gate. A capitol police officer has been killed.
The driver of the car was shot and later died.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Serious question. In which way are you NOT in a Civil War? You have people attacking your Congress. This lunatic was obviously a lone wolf but what happens when some groups get more organized? Remember the attack on the Pakistan Hotel years ago? What happens when some bunch of lunatics decide to load a car with explosives?
by ti-amie The attacker was from Indiana, Noah Green, who identified with the Nation of Islam, 25 years old. Suicide by cop?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie There is such a stigma against mental health care in some communities. This killer said in his last FB post that religion was all he had to hold on to. He also seemed to say he quit his job because of "afflictions". I don't know what that means now. I know what it meant back in the day when I was a child. It was a term people used to politely say someone had mental health issues.
It could mean something very different today.
(I already hear ponchi in my head).
by ponchi101 Then I won't write it.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:42 pm
Then I won't write it.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
by ti-amie Sigh
by ponchi101 You are going to fly those planes dropping water to put out the fires. Might as well start flying them now to prevent them.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 2:54 am
You are going to fly those planes dropping water to put out the fires. Might as well start flying them now to prevent them.
Good point. But what's dramatic about that? A raging fire with brave pilots flying over it dropping water while prisoners do hand to hand combat with it gets clicks not preventive measures.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 2:54 am
You are going to fly those planes dropping water to put out the fires. Might as well start flying them now to prevent them.
I don't think that does anything fwiw. I remember there being Stanford scientists trying to create a retardant fluid that would serve as a prevention method and they were doing it in part because nothing like it existed. Not sure where they are in their research. I know they developed it after the Camp Fire.
by Suliso I suspect it would be pretty bad for wildlife... Also the amount of water needed to artificially water the entire forest would be vast.
by ponchi101 Ok, let me get real. There is no way to water a forest so I was half-joking. The sole way to begin preparations is to start cutting "fire cutters" in the forest, which are basically chopping down lines of trees all around so that, when the fire starts, the fire fighters can confine them to specific areas.
The other thing to do it simply stop people from entering the forest, as, regardless of how well intentioned they are, people create fires. A plastic wrapper that becomes a lens, a not properly put out BBQ fire, a flicked cigarettes, etc. By now, there will be very few things to do.
by ti-amie
She had 28 years on the force so I'm assuming they let her retire with her pension intact.
by Suliso Unfortunately fires start for natural reasons too. In fact in some ecosystems forests need to burn for regeneration.
by ponchi101 That was my major (environmental tech)
It is not in a few. All forests need to burn every once in a while. Entire ecosystems get cleaned up that way, but the most classical way for "natural" fires to start is lightning. Other than that, it is kind of hard.
I gather we agree that this is tied to CC, the underlying subject here. But California's desertification is getting to be a true problem of world-wide consequences. CA produces way too much of America's agriculture so, the more forests disappear, the drier it will be. No need to explain here where that eventually will lead.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 7:28 pm
She had 28 years on the force so I'm assuming they let her retire with her pension intact.
Surely part of why she resigned. Sounds like she's been president of the police union, she'd be well aware of how to play this to best keep her pension. Also, she can likely just go to another area if she doesn't want to retire. So many do the exact same thing.
by JazzNU The program launched yesterday. If you or someone you know could use the assistance, look into what is needed to apply.
by the Moz It is grotesque that after she killed that man she wasn't immediately sacked and charged. How is 'I shot him by accident' any kind of anything? And as a veteran of the force to say 'holy s, I just shot him' is callous and shameful.
by Deuce You draw your gun mistakenly when you meant to draw your taser after 28 years of experience?!
If this is factual, she should have been fired about 27 years and 9 months ago.
by ponchi101
Deuce wrote: ↑Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:41 pm
You draw your gun mistakenly when you meant to draw your taser after 28 years of experience?!
If this is factual, she should have been fired about 27 years and 9 months ago.
You drew your TASER so fast and shot so fast you did not realize it was your gun?
Serious here: since when "it was an accident" is an excuse?
"Oh, sorry, I was buttering my toast with this Japanese sushi knife and when I turned around I disemboweled him by accident. Oops!"
by Deuce Based on the body-cam video and corresponding audio, it does seem that it was an accident; that she did think she had her taser in her hand, and not her gun.
Very shortly after she shot him, the way she said "I just shot him" is the giveaway - she seemed genuinely shocked that she had just shot him.
That said, a mistake should never cost another person his life. Let alone when you have 28 years of experience.
Was that 28 years of experience behind a desk? How much experience did she have on the streets?
If she had 28 years of experience on the streets, and made a mistake like that, then she should have never been on the streets.
As tragic as that was, I do believe it was done mistakenly. An inexcusable error, obviously - but an error nonetheless.
This other incident below, though no-one was killed, is more disturbing to me... Because there was no mistake - this was very obviously very deliberate.
That this kind of thing keeps occurring, even when cops KNOW that there are recording devices everywhere, and that cops are being closely scrutinized everywhere these days, indicates to me that the arrogance and need for power and control is so strong in some cops (far too many) that it overrides any rational thinking or common sense which would tell them that they can no longer get away with this abusive, dangerous garbage.
Watch the entire uncut, unedited video at the beginning of the article...
by ponchi101 Serious here. Why are USA cops so quick to SHOOT TO KILL? I remember reading a piece in which it stated that in Norway (I know, basically an advanced Alien Civilization but bear with me) in 2014, the entire police force shot TWO SHOTS in the entire year, and both were for warning (shot in the air).
Why are American Police so trigger happy? Never a warning shot, never a warning shout. It is an immediate escalation to "execution".
I know the racial connotations behind this, but today there is another news of another white officer deadly shooting of a young (white) man that had an air rifle.
It is like police officers in America train at the OK Corral.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:47 pm
Serious here. Why are USA cops so quick to SHOOT TO KILL? I remember reading a piece in which it stated that in Norway (I know, basically an advanced Alien Civilization but bear with me) in 2014, the entire police force shot TWO SHOTS in the entire year, and both were for warning (shot in the air).
Why are American Police so trigger happy? Never a warning shot, never a warning shout. It is an immediate escalation to "execution".
I know the racial connotations behind this, but today there is another news of another white officer deadly shooting of a young (white) man that had an air rifle.
It is like police officers in America train train at the OK Corral.
There was a post on Twitter yesterday about how so many cops are now being trained by mercenaries or ex military and are being taught to treat everyone as "the enemy". I'm not sure I bookmarked it. If I didn't I'll never find it. If I do I'll post it here.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie I guess the thinking is along the lines of "don't say we didn't warn you". Will Texas join the ranks of "those countries" that inflict random, any time of the day blackouts on their citizens?
by ponchi101
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:47 pm
Serious here. Why are USA cops so quick to SHOOT TO KILL? I remember reading a piece in which it stated that in Norway (I know, basically an advanced Alien Civilization but bear with me) in 2014, the entire police force shot TWO SHOTS in the entire year, and both were for warning (shot in the air).
Why are American Police so trigger happy? Never a warning shot, never a warning shout. It is an immediate escalation to "execution".
I know the racial connotations behind this, but today there is another news of another white officer deadly shooting of a young (white) man that had an air rifle.
It is like police officers in America train at the OK Corral.
Ok, it seems I have to correct this. The officer apparently did call TASER several times, warned the person, and then drew the weapon.
She is being charged with involuntary manslaughter. It is still a tragedy but there are some nuances.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:47 pm
Serious here. Why are USA cops so quick to SHOOT TO KILL? I remember reading a piece in which it stated that in Norway (I know, basically an advanced Alien Civilization but bear with me) in 2014, the entire police force shot TWO SHOTS in the entire year, and both were for warning (shot in the air).
Why are American Police so trigger happy? Never a warning shot, never a warning shout. It is an immediate escalation to "execution".
I know the racial connotations behind this, but today there is another news of another white officer deadly shooting of a young (white) man that had an air rifle.
It is like police officers in America train at the OK Corral.
I don't have a good answer for you, but I have an answer nonetheless.
So I had this professor who was the chief of the independent board that reviewed all cases like this in Chicago. Chicago is so corrupt they've had to have a board like this for years.
I asked him basically this question. What's with all the killings? I posited, when the situation isn't dire, for instance, when the suspect is running from you, why are you still killing them? Why not shoot them in the leg, injure them slightly to slow them down. But something other than killing your suspect so often. And his answer was, and it's overwhelmingly the case throughout most of the country, is that if you discharge your weapon, it's shoot to kill. You're not supposed to discharge your weapon in any instance unless it's so dire your life is at stake.
Apparently, they view this as the best way to remove the what they perceive to be a dangerous threat. The idea of shooting someone in the leg or some other less vital area is a Hollywood notion only according to them (it's not, as we all know, other countries don't have this issue and don't shoot to kill as their standard practice).
Now obviously, this does not happen in practice. Their lives are not always in danger when they discharge their weapons, we've seen that time and time again. They shoot at low risk suspects, at fleeing suspects, at suspects who are following orders, etc. But until the training changes and the standard shifts away from shoot to kill, we'll keep seeing this. We'll also keep seeing this unless and until we get convictions on these police officers. They have no incentive to change their ways when what happens every goddamn time is that they walk no matter the circumstances or evidence presented.
I have not heard about ex-military doing training influencing things, but I wouldn't think that's the root of the problem. That seems like it would be more of a recent thing that could be influencing current training, and not saying it's not a factor. But shootings of this kind have been occurring for decades. It's just that there was no video before and a lot of white people were highly skeptical of the stories that black suspects were telling. Readily available video recordings changed the tide on that, and it became, oh yikes, maybe they weren't exaggerating about how they were being treated all these years.
by Suliso What's with all the Norse Gods and everything? They didn't do anything to deserve being taken over by white supremacists like that...
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:47 pm
Serious here. Why are USA cops so quick to SHOOT TO KILL? I remember reading a piece in which it stated that in Norway (I know, basically an advanced Alien Civilization but bear with me) in 2014, the entire police force shot TWO SHOTS in the entire year, and both were for warning (shot in the air).
Why are American Police so trigger happy? Never a warning shot, never a warning shout. It is an immediate escalation to "execution".
I know the racial connotations behind this, but today there is another news of another white officer deadly shooting of a young (white) man that had an air rifle.
It is like police officers in America train at the OK Corral.
I don't have a good answer for you, but I have an answer nonetheless.
So I had this professor who was the chief of the independent board that reviewed all cases like this in Chicago. Chicago is so corrupt they've had to have a board like this for years.
I asked him basically this question. What's with all the killings? I posited, when the situation isn't dire, for instance, when the suspect is running from you, why are you still killing them? Why not shoot them in the leg, injure them slightly to slow them down. But something other than killing your suspect so often. And his answer was, and it's overwhelmingly the case throughout most of the country, is that if you discharge your weapon, it's shoot to kill. You're not supposed to discharge your weapon in any instance unless it's so dire your life is at stake.
Apparently, they view this as the best way to remove the what they perceive to be a dangerous threat. The idea of shooting someone in the leg or some other less vital area is a Hollywood notion only according to them (it's not, as we all know, other countries don't have this issue and don't shoot to kill as their standard practice).
Now obviously, this does not happen in practice. Their lives are not always in danger when they discharge their weapons, we've seen that time and time again. They shoot at low risk suspects, at fleeing suspects, at suspects who are following orders, etc. But until the training changes and the standard shifts away from shoot to kill, we'll keep seeing this. We'll also keep seeing this unless and until we get convictions on these police officers. They have no incentive to change their ways when what happens every goddamn time is that they walk no matter the circumstances or evidence presented.
I have not heard about ex-military doing training influencing things, but I wouldn't think that's the root of the problem. That seems like it would be more of a recent thing that could be influencing current training, and not saying it's not a factor. But shootings of this kind have been occurring for decades. It's just that there was no video before and a lot of white people were highly skeptical of the stories that black suspects were telling. Readily available video recordings changed the tide on that, and it became, oh yikes, maybe they weren't exaggerating about how they were being treated all these years.
This, plus they need to hire different people. A lot of law enforcement officers have ties with white supremacist groups (and by have ties with, I mean they belong to). The need to somehow have psych evals that exclude, instead of include, people with really strong racist tendencies.
And if I may, I get why people use the "he's a military officer/medic" thing to strengthen their argument against police violence, but that shouldn't matter. The minute you start ranking the victims on whatever subjective scale is important to you, you start making some victims more or less worthy of police brutality. It all has to stop.
Kevin
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:34 pm
What's with all the Norse Gods and everything? They didn't do anything to deserve being taken over by white supremacists like that...
Neither did Wagner, and yet he was adopted by Hitler and all Nazis as heroic music.
by dryrunguy I said it years ago on the old board, and I'll say it again...
I have A LOT of questions about the TYPE OF PERSON who is actually ATTRACTED to a career in law enforcement.
by the Moz
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 15, 2021 1:05 am
I said it years ago on the old board, and I'll say it again...
I have A LOT of questions about the TYPE OF PERSON who is actually ATTRACTED to a career in law enforcement.
Here here
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:47 pm
Serious here. Why are USA cops so quick to SHOOT TO KILL? I remember reading a piece in which it stated that in Norway (I know, basically an advanced Alien Civilization but bear with me) in 2014, the entire police force shot TWO SHOTS in the entire year, and both were for warning (shot in the air).
Why are American Police so trigger happy? Never a warning shot, never a warning shout. It is an immediate escalation to "execution".
I know the racial connotations behind this, but today there is another news of another white officer deadly shooting of a young (white) man that had an air rifle. It is like police officers in America train at the OK Corral.
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:34 pm
What's with all the Norse Gods and everything? They didn't do anything to deserve being taken over by white supremacists like that...
Norway and Sweden, heavens on earth as they are, have a more than negligible issue with white supremacy, so I wonder if it comes from the skinheads there.
Or it's just an Aryan thing and that's the mythology that's closest?
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:34 pm
What's with all the Norse Gods and everything? They didn't do anything to deserve being taken over by white supremacists like that...
Neither did Wagner, and yet he was adopted by Hitler and all Nazis as heroic music.
Wagner was an ardent anti-Semite.
by ponchi101 I stand corrected.
by Suliso Someone went postal again (8 dead). This time in Indianapolis.
by ponchi101 By now, there is very little to say. An almost exclusive American phenomena, the sole variation being the number of victims per event.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 2:02 pm
By now, there is very little to say. An almost exclusive American phenomena, the sole variation being the number of victims per event.
This makes five in five weeks.
by Suliso Google say 45 mass shootings in US last month (4 or more dead and wounded).
by Deuce And the more attention they're given, the more they will continue - and even increase.
by ti-amie
Deuce wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 2:21 pm
And the more attention they're given, the more they will continue - and even increase.
Deuce wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 2:21 pm
And the more attention they're given, the more they will continue - and even increase.
Should they be ignored?
Yes, they absolutely should be ignored by the media.
What purpose does it serve to report them, other than to provide people with fodder for gossip?
The only people who need to know when they happen are the families of the people involved. For the rest of us, it is literally just gossip - so we can all talk about 'how terrible it is', etc.
That's nowhere near a justifiable reason to report them.
As media coverage of these events increases, the number of these events increases. That's not at all a co-incidence. The internet has, of course, helped to put an even brighter spotlight on them.
A lot of the people who commit these mass killings do so at least partially because they want to be 'famous' - or, rather, infamous. Many of them send letters or E mails to TV stations right before they commit the act. Others, if they are cornered, ask to negotiate through the media. It's quite clear that they want the world to pay attention to them.
If the media refused to give them a stage, which acts as a type of incentive, or motivation, then these mass killings would occur less often. It's the same dynamic as when the school bully is ignored, he'll stop bullying. But as long as he keeps getting a reaction from people, he'll continue.
by Suliso How do you not report if your local school is being shot up and 1/3 of kids are dead?
by Deuce Yes - keep reporting them and giving them attention and sensationalizing them.
And I absolutely 100% guarantee that the number of these types of events will continue to increase - as history has shown.
Yes, they absolutely should be ignored by the media.
...
If the media refused to give them a stage, which acts as a type of incentive, or motivation, then these mass killings would occur less often. It's the same dynamic as when the school bully is ignored, he'll stop bullying. But as long as he keeps getting a reaction from people, he'll continue.
Sorry Deuce, but I don't know how many times you have dealt with bullies. Bullies stop when they are confronted and punched back. Other than that, they continue with the terror.
What would be your proposed solution? Ignore the problem until it "goes away"?
by Suliso Some things have to be reported regardless of consequences. It's unfortunate, but can't hide the truth like that. It would be on Facebook and Youtube anyway. Besides if nothing happened how do you ask public for help in catching these people?
by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 3:07 pm
Some things have to be reported regardless of consequences. It's unfortunate, but can't hide the truth like that. It would be on Facebook and Youtube anyway. Besides if nothing happened how do you ask public for help in catching these people?
Yes... that's worked fabulously so far, huh?
The media has been reporting these things since the beginning. And, as media has increased, the coverage has increased. And, as the coverage has increased, the number of mass killings has increased. 2+2=4. There is a direct correlation.
If an approach isn't working, you change it and try something else - period. Especially when people's lives are at stake. It's not rocket science.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 3:06 pm
Sorry Deuce, but I don't know how many times you have dealt with bullies. Bullies stop when they are confronted and punched back. Other than that, they continue with the terror.
What would be your proposed solution? Ignore the problem until it "goes away"?
I certainly would not equate sensationalistic media coverage with punching a bully. If anything, media coverage is simply stroking the bully's ego.
And I maintain that bullies do what they do in order to get a reaction; to have an effect on others. If people show that they're not affected, the bully will go off and seek other people who ARE affected by his actions.
I said that THE MEDIA should ignore these events - because media coverage has proven over and over to have no positive effect, and, in fact, only incites more and more of these events, because the people who commit these mass killings are not rationally thinking people.
That's very different from saying that everyone should ignore these events. The police, medical professionals, court systems, etc. obviously should not ignore these events.
I can't think of any positive effect the media coverage of these events accomplishes. It's simply fodder for gossip. And people are so bloody brainwashed today to accept this and not question it.
On the other hand, the correlation between increased media coverage and the increased number of mass killings is an easy and rather obvious one to make.
At this point, it's pretty obvious that ceasing all media coverage of these events will not do any harm. And there is certainly evidence that it will help to diminish their number.
There is nothing to lose - so why don't we try it to see what happens? Because of our insatiable appetite for sensationalism and gossip?
Sigh...
by ti-amie If you don't report them people will just make ish up. After all what are conspiracy theories but peoples imaginations run amuck?
For example:
"Were 20 people shot and killed by unknown forces? Has a foreign army invaded our shores? Why won't the media cover these atrocities? Arm yourself or you and your family may be next."
by ti-amie The NRA trial is underway in NYC. It's going pretty much as you would expect. LaPierre is on the stand now. This is funny though.
by Deuce
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 3:48 pm
If you don't report them people will just make ish up. After all what are conspiracy theories but peoples imaginations run amuck?
For example:
"Were 20 people shot and killed by unknown forces? Has a foreign army invaded our shores? Why won't the media cover these atrocities? Arm yourself or you and your family may be next."
That's an extremely poor excuse to keep the media coverage going.
People are being killed by the dozen by people who do not think rationally. The people who commit these killings do not think of the consequences - obviously. They are trying to send a message. And if they believe - in their irrational minds - that their message will be transmitted to millions of people via the media, then media coverage becomes motivation and incentive for more and more of these troubled people to commit more and more of these killings.
You can give me any reason you like that media coverage of these events should continue. And not one of those reasons will come close to justifying its continuation - because, as history shows, that will guarantee that more and more people are killed. And there is nothing worse than that.
by ponchi101 It would seem you have it backwards, and mixing correlation with causation. The media covers these events because they happen, they do not happen because the media covers them.
And about history showing this: quite the opposite. The cases in Australia, Dumblane and Oslo show that AFTER an event like this one happens, IF proper laws are passed, the events cease. All three events were covered to such an extent that even a movie has been made about one of them (Oslo). Yet, they have not been repeated.
by dryrunguy This shooting is different, though. Last I read, they are having a difficult time identifying this guy. Most of these guys WANT you to know who they are/were. So that detail alone makes this event markedly different.
The other thing that's odd is that several witnesses reported that the man walked in and was shouting--but no one could understand anything he was saying. Either he was shouting in something other than English or he was shouting gibberish.
by mmmm8 Don't have to go far.... I'm two blocks from Times Square right now
Man with AK-47 assault rifle arrested in Times Square subway station
An Ohio man was busted with an AK-47 assault rifle and a gas mask inside a Times Square subway station Friday afternoon, law enforcement sources said.
The 18-year-old, whose identity was not immediately released, was taken into custody without incident around 12:30 p.m. on the mezzanine level of the subway station off the A, C and E line, the sources said.
Sources say the man was sitting down and charging his cellphone inside the station with the weapon out next to him in plain sight when a uniformed transit cop spotted him.
The AK-47 was unloaded, but the teen had a fully loaded magazine in his backpack, along with the gas mask, according to the sources.
He told police he thought carrying an unloaded rifle with the ammunition stored separately is legal in New York City, a high-ranking police source said.
by Suliso Lucky for you all he wasn't into shooting anyone. I've been thinking for many years that the most vulnerable place for a mass shooting in US is NYC subway in a rush hour. There would be hundreds of victims... Hopefully police has considered this too.
by mmmm8
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:23 pm
Lucky for you all he wasn't into shooting anyone. I've been thinking for many years that the most vulnerable place for a mass shooting in US is NYC subway in a rush hour. There would be hundreds of victims... Hopefully police has considered this too.
There was a bomb attack a couple years ago in a very busy walkway inside the Times Square station during rush hour... I usually don't go through Times Square station even though my office is very close, but that morning I did because of a doctor's appointment and walked through that walkway. It was on the news while I was still in the doctor's waiting room, so I *just* missed it. Miraculously, only 1 person was injured (must have been a really badly made bomb).
by Togtdyalttai One more argument for the media reporting on shootings: I think that ultimately the only way we can start to minimize the number of shootings is to have stricter gun laws. Stricter gun laws are not going to happen in a vacuum. (They might not happen anyway, but that's more for the politics thread.) The media needs to inform the public so they can together pressure Congress to exact change.
by ti-amie
mmmm8 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:14 pm
Don't have to go far.... I'm two blocks from Times Square right now
Man with AK-47 assault rifle arrested in Times Square subway station
An Ohio man was busted with an AK-47 assault rifle and a gas mask inside a Times Square subway station Friday afternoon, law enforcement sources said.
The 18-year-old, whose identity was not immediately released, was taken into custody without incident around 12:30 p.m. on the mezzanine level of the subway station off the A, C and E line, the sources said.
Sources say the man was sitting down and charging his cellphone inside the station with the weapon out next to him in plain sight when a uniformed transit cop spotted him.
The AK-47 was unloaded, but the teen had a fully loaded magazine in his backpack, along with the gas mask, according to the sources.
He told police he thought carrying an unloaded rifle with the ammunition stored separately is legal in New York City, a high-ranking police source said.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 4:39 pm
It would seem you have it backwards, and mixing correlation with causation. The media covers these events because they happen, they do not happen because the media covers them.
And about history showing this: quite the opposite. The cases in Australia, Dumblane and Oslo show that AFTER an event like this one happens, IF proper laws are passed, the events cease. All three events were covered to such an extent that even a movie has been made about one of them (Oslo). Yet, they have not been repeated.
^ I don't buy that for a second.
Firstly, America is not Australia, Scotland, or Norway. American culture is a very different mindset.
Secondly, to me (and others), it is incredibly obvious that media coverage fuels these mass killings rather than helps to stifle them - for the reasons I've already stated several times. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about this.
And so, quite obviously what has been done over the past several decades isn't working. Mass killings are forever increasing. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result.
It's time to do something different. And that something is to not report these things in the media. There is nothing to lose by taking this route, as these events have been increasing with increased media coverage, and have been well beyond terrible for a long time now.
Unless the killer is running around loose (which is quite rare), the public has no need to know about these events - except to gossip about it, and that certainly cannot be classified as a need. But this culture is addicted to gossip, sadly.
The only people who need to know are the families of the people directly involved.
Togtdyalttai wrote: ↑Fri Apr 16, 2021 8:46 pm
One more argument for the media reporting on shootings: I think that ultimately the only way we can start to minimize the number of shootings is to have stricter gun laws. Stricter gun laws are not going to happen in a vacuum. (They might not happen anyway, but that's more for the politics thread.) The media needs to inform the public so they can together pressure Congress to exact change.
^ Once again, how has this approach worked thus far?
The facts show that this approach is not working at all in decreasing the number of mass killings. The number is consistently on the increase - and so this approach is actually helping to worsen the situation.
People need to wake up! The situation is beyond dire - it's time to try something DIFFERENT. Even if it means that we'll miss out on the fodder for gossip!
by dryrunguy I haven't seen it mentioned here, but I read a report last night (can't find it) stating that the mother of the Indianapolis shooter (now identified, a 19-year-old white male who could pass for Dylan Roof's twin brother) called police about a year ago to warn them her son may want to die "suicide by cop". So they interviewed him and confiscated his rifle. Months later, he legally purchased two semiautomatic weapons.
HOW ON EARTH was that possible? I don't care where someone falls on the gun rights debate, but anyone with two functioning brain cells would acknowledge that allowing this type of thing to happen is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea.
by ti-amie
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:24 pm
I haven't seen it mentioned here, but I read a report last night (can't find it) stating that the mother of the Indianapolis shooter (now identified, a 19-year-old white male who could pass for Dylan Roof's twin brother) called police about a year ago to warn them her son may want to die "suicide by cop". So they interviewed him and confiscated his rifle. Months later, he legally purchased two semiautomatic weapons.
HOW ON EARTH was that possible? I don't care where someone falls on the gun rights debate, but anyone with two functioning brain cells would acknowledge that allowing this type of thing to happen is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea.
Second Amendment. I wonder where he purchased the weapons?
People need to wake up! The situation is beyond dire - it's time to try something DIFFERENT. Even if it means that we'll miss out on the fodder for gossip!
I would expect that one thing we can agree on is that NOTHING, DIFFFERENT OR REGULAR, is being tried.
Let's grant your point. That is not being tried, and with social media and FB, Twitter and IG readily available, trying it will leave news about shootings to be dispersed via Social Media. That could lead to the conspiracy theories that are so popular in the USA.
No laws are being tried. No legislation, no registration of people that should not buy guns, nothing is being tried. Bill Maher said it on Friday: the sole thing that has been tried is "Thoughts and Prayers".
And that is not working.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Deuce O say can you sob...
by ti-amie
The reporter was Kaitlan Collins. Here's her Wiki bio.
Kaitlan L. Collins is an American journalist and Chief White House Correspondent for CNN. Previously, she was the White House correspondent for the website The Daily Caller.
by JazzNU Kaitlan has a decent reputation in recent years, so this is surprising. Didn't know about the Daily Caller connection though and not sure it's that well known about her. This isn't going over well for her, in the process of getting ratio'd from what I can tell.
by ponchi101 The most possibly boring WH and WH Press Secretary possible. As it should be.
How refreshing, not living on the edge of wondering when the POTUS will walk out to the lawn and say "The missiles are on their way".
by MJ2004
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:44 pm
How refreshing, not living on the edge of wondering when the POTUS will walk out to the lawn and say "The missiles are on their way".
Spoken by someone who was shaped by Dr. Strangelove in his formative years.
by ti-amie
I have no idea what Maxine Waters said or when she said it.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:44 pm
How refreshing, not living on the edge of wondering when the POTUS will walk out to the lawn and say "The missiles are on their way".
Spoken by someone who was shaped by Dr. Strangelove in his formative years.
Nope. Martin Sheen in "The Dead Zone", when Christopher Warren shakes his hand and he sees the future.
But Dr. Strangelove will do (an absolute favorite)
I have no idea what Maxine Waters said or when she said it.
Maxine said that if the verdict was not "GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY" people should not leave the streets.
She is being called by many outlets as not being conducive to a peaceful response. Because, of course, if Chauvin walks free there is nothing wrong with the American Judicial System.
Off Topic
I will admit, thought, that she could have followed the WH's pattern. But her reasons she must have (and are well known)
I have no idea what Maxine Waters said or when she said it.
I don't know what was said. But regardless, highly inappropriate for the judge to make a comment such as this.
by Deuce I always love it when a judge tells the jury to ignore something they've heard or seen...
It's like telling the 14 year old boy to just forget about what he saw when he opened the bedroom door to see his parents in the the throes of having passionate sex.
by ti-amie
by dryrunguy Derek Chauvin found guilty on all counts. If we didn't do it now, we never would.
by ponchi101 I still had some doubts it would happen.
Now, there are some cases out there that need to be dealt with. Let's hope this sets precedent.
by Suliso By the way any of you understand why was he charged for three different things for the same crime? I would have guessed only one count - second degree murder.
by ti-amie
by skatingfan
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:04 pm
By the way any of you understand why was he charged for three different things for the same crime? I would have guessed only one count - second degree murder.
Something to do with the way the statutes are written in Minnesota.
by Deuce It's not just in Minnesota. I've seen multiple (different) charges - and convictions - for one offence in Canada.
I've heard that prosecutors sometimes do this in case they don't get a conviction on the first charge, they can hope for a conviction on another charge(s).
It doesn't seem right - especially when convictions come back on more than one charge for the same offence.
I've always thought that the prosecution has to weigh all the evidence, and then decide what to charge the person with. I simply don't understand how they can stack the deck in their favour by laying more than one charge for the same offence - unless it's something like kidnapping and assault, which amounts to two charges for TWO offences. But to have 2 or more related charges for one offence doesn't seem right - and then to have 2 or more related convictions for one offence is just mind boggling.
by ponchi101 If you want to talk about the legal profession being illogical, don't stop there.
Concurrent sentences. Who came up with that one?
by ti-amie What a difference an new AG makes. The former guy's AG/DOJ, Barr, blocked the execution of the search warrants on Ghouliani. Now this.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Apr 30, 2021 1:15 am
What a difference an new AG makes. The former guy's AG/DOJ, Barr, blocked the execution of the search warrants on Ghouliani. Now this.
Much more importantly than idiot Duggar, in the last few days the Justice Department announced an investigation into the Louisville PD and they've filed federal hate crime charges against Ahmaud Arbery's murderers. Both of which should have been done no later than Spring of 2020.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
This is one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. The man needs to be on a psych hold.
by ponchi101 I didn't even have to look up his affiliation...
by ti-amie
Why would a family member get involved if he/she is not part of the nuclear family? I can think of a situation where a family member would object but do they really want to go there?
by ponchi101 Remember that the key aspect of abortion is that the people that oppose it do not understand the concept of "minding your own business". A totally private matter becomes an entire nation's fixation Then their cognitive dissonance goes into overdrive and they demand that you respect "THEIR" freedom.
Some brains are truly wired differently.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun May 02, 2021 9:38 pm
This is one of the most disturbing things I've ever read. The man needs to be on a psych hold.
Agreed. And as I wondered what in the world is going on in Kansas I was reminded when I got to the spousal exemption from rape part of the article that I shouldn't ask these types of questions about Kansas. Cause it's Kansas.
They could've done much, much better than a misdemeanor charge and $1k bail given all that was described.
by ti-amieBiden administration blocks Trump-era rule affecting gig workers
By Nandita Bose, Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with the staff as he visits the Las Gemelas Taqueria restaurant for carry-out lunch on Cinco de Mayo in the Union Market neighborhood in Washington, U.S., May 5, 2021.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
The Biden administration on Wednesday blocked a Trump-era rule that would have made it easier to classify gig workers who work for companies like Uber and Lyft as independent contractors instead of employees, signaling a potential policy shift toward greater worker protections.
Shares of companies that employ gig labor such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash immediately pared gains. At 10:58 a.m. ET (1458 GMT) Uber shares traded down 1.8%, Lyft was down 4.4% and DoorDash fell 2.8%.
“By withdrawing the independent contractor rule, we will help preserve essential worker rights and stop the erosion of worker protections that would have occurred had the rule gone into effect,” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said in a statement.
“Too often, workers lose important wage and related protections when employers misclassify them as independent contractors,” he said.
Walsh told Reuters in an interview last week that a lot of U.S. gig workers should be classified as “employees” who deserve work benefits. His comments hurt stocks of companies that employ gig labor.
Walsh said in the interview that his department would have conversations in coming months with companies that employ gig labor to make sure workers have access to consistent wages, sick time, healthcare and “all of the things that an average employee in America can access.”
An Uber spokesman acknowledged on Wednesday the current employment system is outdated.
“It forces a binary choice upon workers: to either be an employee with more benefits but less flexibility, or an independent contractor with more flexibility but limited protections.”
He said the company believes it can offer the best of both worlds.
A DoorDash spokeswoman said “dashers work fewer than four hours per week on average and they overwhelmingly tell us how important the flexibility to earn on their own schedule is to them.”
Lyft did not immediately comment.
Gig workers are independent contractors who perform on-demand services, including as drivers, delivering groceries or providing childcare – and are one-third more likely to be Black or Latino, according to an Edison Research poll.
The rule by former President Donald Trump’s administration, finalized in early January before he left office on Jan. 20, would have hampered workers’ ability to earn a minimum wage and overtime compensation – protections offered under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
It was supposed to take effect in March, but did not because it was being reviewed by the Labor Department under President Joe Biden, a Democrat who succeeded the Republican Trump. The withdrawal will be effective on Thursday.
The FLSA includes provisions that require covered employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage for every hour they work and overtime compensation at not less than 1-1/2 times their regular rate of pay for every hour they work over 40 in a workweek. FLSA protections do not apply to independent contractors.
“The independent contractor rule was in tension with the FLSA’s text and purpose,” the Labor Department said.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed May 05, 2021 6:32 pmBiden administration blocks Trump-era rule affecting gig workers
By Nandita Bose, Reuters
...
“It forces a binary choice upon workers: to either be an employee with more benefits but less flexibility, or an independent contractor with more flexibility but limited protections.”
Sure. More flexibility to find ANOTHER, SECOND JOB because you can't live on the wages you make from your first gig-job.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Folks can blame unemployment insurance for labor shortages but remember that IKEA guy raging about what you have to put up with working retail? Why go back to that when there are other options?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 When somebody punches you in the face, you are in a fight, regardless of whether you reply or not, regardless of whether you say you are in a fight or not.
It would be so refreshing for Biden to simply go out and say it. The USA is at war with Russia because Russia keeps attacking you. And if they were able to perform this attack on a pipeline, you can start guessing what further damage they can inflict.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 5:34 pm
When somebody punches you in the face, you are in a fight, regardless of whether you reply or not, regardless of whether you say you are in a fight or not.
It would be so refreshing for Biden to simply go out and say it. The USA is at war with Russia because Russia keeps attacking you. And if they were able to perform this attack on a pipeline, you can start guessing what further damage they can inflict.
I would also say what that person above said: when the other guy was in office a lot of safeguards were done away with. There were a lot of pundits who said that an attack like this on US infrastructure - oil and gas pipelines as well as electrical grids, could happen. And here we are.
by ti-amie Interesting exchange at a presser held by American Airlines. I don't know what all of the abbreviations mean. DFW = Dallas/Fort Worth. BOS = Boston.
˜”*° JonNYC °*”˜
@xJonNYC
Replying to
@xJonNYC
saw a comment on one of the blogs or wherever saying this isn't "legal" -- nothing illegal about pulling fuel off and aircraft, it's done everyday, if an aircraft was over-fueled they'll remove fuel, goes back on fueling truck
8:02 PM · May 10, 2021·Twitter Web App
by ti-amie
William Evanina
@BillEvanina
CEO of The Evanina Group // Former Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) // Candid transparency and integrity!
by ponchi101 I would go further. Every company should have, at a minimum, a contract with a cybersecurity expert whose sole job should be to try to hack you and identify vulnerabilities.
Since starting this forum, I have been studying a lot. PHP comes in with many vulnerabilities identified and some simple coding to ensure no break-ins. But since there are over 200 PHP commands, good luck knowing them all.
Just as an example: this is the code I had to write to make sure any input string is "sanitized":
That creates a list of invalid characters. And then: $post_text = filter_var(str_replace($inv_chars, "", $post['post_text']), FILTER_SANITIZE_STRING, FILTER_FLAG_STRIP_HIGH);
Why? Because dave was smart enough to write one post in which all he did was to insert an apostrophe: " ' ". That crashed the parser.
And dave is a friend. Imagine somebody really trying to shut down your site.
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 5:34 pm
When somebody punches you in the face, you are in a fight, regardless of whether you reply or not, regardless of whether you say you are in a fight or not. It would be so refreshing for Biden to simply go out and say it. The USA is at war with Russia because Russia keeps attacking you. And if they were able to perform this attack on a pipeline, you can start guessing what further damage they can inflict.
Besides being refreshing, what else would it accomplish? Why risk potential escalation and give Putin more public attention when there is little geopolitical gain? IMHO would be a very cheap and dangerous move to boost domestic approval rating.
by mmmm8
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 8:52 pm
Interesting exchange at a presser held by American Airlines. I don't know what all of the abbreviations mean. DFW = Dallas/Fort Worth. BOS = Boston.
˜”*° JonNYC °*”˜
@xJonNYC
Replying to
@xJonNYC
saw a comment on one of the blogs or wherever saying this isn't "legal" -- nothing illegal about pulling fuel off and aircraft, it's done everyday, if an aircraft was over-fueled they'll remove fuel, goes back on fueling truck
8:02 PM · May 10, 2021·Twitter Web App
CLT is Charlotte, NC
HNL = Honolulu
LHR = London Heathrow
by Suliso So much for defunding the police idea...
Besides being refreshing, what else would it accomplish? Why risk potential escalation and give Putin more public attention when there is little geopolitical gain? IMHO would be a very cheap and dangerous move to boost domestic approval rating.
It would let companies know that working with Russia can lead to problems, not from the USA govt but from Russian entities. It would allow the same companies to take precautions.
For example, there is no way anybody can convince me that Kazpersky, which has become a major player in the AntiVirus industry, is not a producer of viruses. I have tested it next to Norton and McAffee and the results are very odd. That is, I suspect, how they operate.
Also, you are not risking potential escalation because the escalation is happening. That is now bullies work: if you do not punch back, they keep bullying you. If this administration does nothing, Russia will continue its attacks.
Besides being refreshing, what else would it accomplish? Why risk potential escalation and give Putin more public attention when there is little geopolitical gain? IMHO would be a very cheap and dangerous move to boost domestic approval rating.
It would let companies know that working with Russia can lead to problems, not from the USA govt but from Russian entities. It would allow the same companies to take precautions.
For example, there is no way anybody can convince me that Kazpersky, which has become a major player in the AntiVirus industry, is not a producer of viruses. I have tested it next to Norton and McAffee and the results are very odd. That is, I suspect, how they operate.
Also, you are not risking potential escalation because the escalation is happening. That is now bullies work: if you do not punch back, they keep bullying you. If this administration does nothing, Russia will continue its attacks.
I didn't say do nothing. I said, don't declare a world war. Increase sanctions, continue adding people and organizations to the Magnitsky list, hack back.
Trust me, international companies operating in Russia or working with the Russian market are very very well aware and have been since they opened operations in Russia. No news here.
And the US government has already flagged Kaspersky Lab for spyware, back in 2017. Its product s banned from use anywhere n the federal government.
by ponchi101 I guess we are not reading each other well. I did not say declare world war, just declare that Russia is working against the well being of the USA.
I did not know that Kaspersky had been caught with the spyware issue. I still wonder how people trust them with their Anti-Virus.
Also, and this just came to my mind: remember all the Trumpists with their T-shirts reading "I would rather be a communist than a democrat" (communist being code for Russian)? Maybe a few would change their mind.
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 11, 2021 1:33 pm
I guess we are not reading each other well. I did not say declare world war, just declare that Russia is working against the well being of the USA.
I did not know that Kaspersky had been caught with the spyware issue. I still wonder how people trust them with their Anti-Virus.
Also, and this just came to my mind: remember all the Trumpists with their T-shirts reading "I would rather be a communist than a democrat" (communist being code for Russian)? Maybe a few would change their mind.
"The USA is at war with Russia because Russia keeps attacking you"
(Yes, I fast forwarded to World war because that's what would be risked here).
I didn't know communist was code for Russian. Russia hasn't been communist (officially AND unofficially) for 30 years. Either way, not sure we want a bunch of motivated militant Trumpists runnng around...
by ponchi101 I thought that for old timer GOP's, commie rat meant Russian and/or Russian sympathizer.
Again, I believe we are in semantics. Saying "The USA is at war with Russia because Russia keeps attacking you" is not declaring war. Is saying, in a clear display of adulthood, "They started".
Changing countries, it is the same situation as with Venezuela. Venezuela is at war with the USA, because the Vennie government will do anything it can to hurt the USA's interests. In that case, it matters little because that is a mouse picking up a fight with a Rottweiler, but the relation is far from cordial.
In the case of Russia, I guess we are clear there.
Off Topic
The adulthood part is a joke
.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Speaking of infrastructure...
From Arkansas
Gee if the South secedes who is going to fix those bridges? Thank goodness POTUS is making sure the funds go where they're supposed to and into someone's off shore account.
by ti-amie
Mental health issues.
by ti-amieRansomware attack on D.C. police resumes with more internal files released
By
Peter Hermann and Dalton Bennett
May 11, 2021 at 6:58 p.m. EDT
Add to list
Hackers who apparently infiltrated the D.C. police department’s computer network and went quiet for more than a week have published additional personnel files of officers, revealing sensitive information.
The group, called Babuk, also threatened to reveal documents on criminal investigations, secret informants and gang members if the District does not pay it a ransom. It posted a password-protected file that it said contained such documents.
“You still have the ability to stop it,” the group wrote in its latest message to police. As of Tuesday night, the group had not posted the password to that file.
District officials did not respond Tuesday evening to a request for comment on the latest release of files.
City officials have confirmed that personnel files previously made public by the group were genuine, and they warned more than 3,600 officers that their personal information had been compromised and advised them to put fraud alerts on their accounts.
In an email sent to members of the department last month, Police Chief Robert J. Contee III also said those affected directly by the data theft would be contacted individually and offered guidance. “I recognize this is extremely stressful and concerning to our members,” Contee wrote.
Officials also said they had stopped further theft of data, though it appears Babuk had already stolen a trove of documents.
The FBI has been helping in the investigation.
The files the hacking group has released thus far are those generated when officers applied to the force. Each one contains hundreds of pages and includes results of polygraph tests, financial information, home addresses, medical histories, interviews with character references and criminal background checks.
The group also claims that it has files containing information that would expose confidential informants and those with titles such as “known shooters,” “most violent person,” “RAP feuds,” “gang conflict report” and “strategic crime briefings.”
District officials have said little publicly about the intrusion and their efforts to combat it. They have not commented on how much money Babuk is demanding to delete the information or whether the District intends to pay.
The group first made contact with the District in late April but later took down posts on its website referring to D.C. police.
by ti-amieFuel shortages crop up in Southeast, gas prices climb after pipeline hack
While Colonial Pipeline works to restore service after last week’s cyberattack, some gas stations in Virginia, Georgia, Florida and other states are reporting dry pumps and long lines
By
Taylor Telford, Will Englund and Rory Laverty
May 11, 2021 at 6:05 p.m. EDT
Lines of panicked drivers overwhelmed gas stations in the Southeast on Tuesday, as rising prices fed fears of shortages in the aftermath of a ransomware attack that forced the nation’s largest fuel pipeline offline.
In Atlanta, 1 of every 5 gas stations was reported to be out of fuel Tuesday evening.
“Look how crazy we’re all getting, over every little thing,” said Allan Hardy, a plumber who had driven from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to Wilmington, N.C., and saw long lines at every service station on the road, save for those that had already run out of gas. “And the only reason this shortage isn’t worse is that a lot of people aren’t working right now. Today it’s our oil pipeline, but what will it be tomorrow? If this kind of thing comes at another time, you just can’t gauge how bad it might get.”
In Washington, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the Southeast can expect a “crunch” that will take several days to alleviate.
“We have gasoline,” she said during a White House briefing. “We just have to get it to the right places. And that’s why I think the next couple of days will be challenging.”
She said Colonial Pipeline officials had told her that a decision on a “full restart” could come as soon as Wednesday evening.
The Colonial Pipeline system, which moves about 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel, shut down Friday after hackers thought to be based in the former Soviet Union infiltrated servers and encrypted its data, demanding a fee to restore access. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was at the White House briefing, said American organizations have lost more than $350 million this year as a result of ransomware attacks.
“The threat is not imminent,” he said. “It is upon us.”
Now consumers are seeing some of the fallout as Colonial pushes to resume service by the end of the week.
As of Tuesday, governors in North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia had declared states of emergency and taken steps to relax fuel transport rules to ease pain at the pump.
More than 7 percent of gas stations in Virginia, 8 percent in North Carolina and 5 percent in Georgia were without fuel late Tuesday afternoon, according to Patrick De Haan, an oil analyst at Gas Buddy. A number of stations in Florida, Alabama and South Carolina also reported dry pumps. De Haan said fuel demand in these states spiked 40 percent on Monday, and cautioned against panic-buying, which will only exacerbate the shortages.
“It is vital that motorists do not overwhelm the system by filling their tanks,” De Haan said in analysis.
But plenty of motorists weren’t listening.
The owner of Masonboro Country Store in Wilmington, Musa Agil, said lines began forming just after 6 a.m. and had not abated all day, blocking the flow of traffic on two-lane Masonboro Loop Road. He spent the day “managing traffic and trying to keep the peace” as some motorists cut lines and others filled up a dozen tanks and jugs.
By 3 p.m. Agil was down to his last 200 gallons and told the packed parking lot that he would soon have to shut down. “Some people are selfish, taking more gas than they need,” he said. “But most people are just scared.”
Granholm said there is “no cause for hoarding gasoline” because the pipeline will be “substantially” back online by the weekend. But local news outlets from Florida to North Carolina reported long lines and dry pumps.
The national average for a gallon of gasoline stood at $2.98 on Tuesday, according to AAA. That’s an 8-cent jump on the week, and a penny shy of prices not seen since November 2014.
Granholm had a warning for service station operators: “We will have no tolerance for price-gouging,” she said, and she urged consumers to inform their state attorney general’s office if they suspect it is taking place.
Some Republican officeholders took shots at the Biden administration over the shutdown, despite earlier reticence among some in Congress to criticize former President Trump’s close relationship with Vladimir Putin. Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) told Fox News, “The Biden administration must finally step up and acknowledge that their weak stance on Russia has real-world consequences.”
At a gas station just down the road from Agil’s, drivers spread blame for the debacle all around: at the Biden administration; at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and the Green New Deal; at the gas stations and oil companies supposedly hoarding and gouging; and at the Russians and their hackers. Finally one man in a black pickup truck pointed the finger somewhere closer to home.
“This is our fault,” Devin Singer of Wilmington said. “This whole thing. The people’s fault. Same thing with the whole toilet paper shortage. Everybody wants something and nobody has it, so we all freak out and then nobody can get it. It’s mass hysteria.”
Mayorkas said the Biden administration is prepared, if necessary, to waive the Jones Act, which normally forbids foreign-flagged ships from carrying cargoes between U.S. ports. The Federal Railroad Administration is analyzing the possibility of shipping gasoline or jet fuel by train, Granholm said.
“These are not easy solutions,” she cautioned. “The pipe is the best way to go.”
The Colonial Pipeline carries fuel from Gulf Coast refineries to customers on the East Coast. The company says the pipeline provides fuel for 50 million Americans and several major airports.
“This shutdown will have implications on both gasoline supply and prices, but the impact will vary regionally. Areas including Mississippi, Tennessee and the east coast from Georgia into Delaware are most likely to experience limited fuel availability and price increases, as early as this week,” Jeanette McGee, AAA spokeswoman, said in a statement. “These states may see prices increase three to seven cents this week.”
The FBI issued a statement confirming that DarkSide, a criminal ransomware group based in Eastern Europe, was behind the cyberattack.
Ransomware attacks have become a global scourge, affecting banks, hospitals, universities and municipalities in recent years. Almost 2,400 organizations in the United States were victimized last year alone, one security firm reported. But the attackers are increasingly targeting industrial sectors because these firms are more willing to pay up to regain control of their systems, experts say.
Roughly 43 percent of infrastructure organizations victimized by such attacks submit to ransom demands, more than any other industry, according to the Sophos 2021 “State of Ransomware” report. The report said that 64 percent of infrastructure organizations surveyed saw a spike in cyberattacks in 2020 and that 57 percent of IT managers felt such attacks had become too sophisticated for them to fend off effectively on their own.
“The unfortunate truth is that infrastructure today is so vulnerable that just about anyone who wants to get in can get in,” Dan Schiappa, Sophos chief product officer, said in comments emailed to The Post. He called infrastructure an easy and lucrative target. “They’re hitting where it hurts, hedging bets on a large payout.”
“In cyberspace,” Mayorkas said, “one is only as strong as one’s weakest link.”
Analysts have focused on the vulnerabilities of America’s aging infrastructure; the Colonial Pipeline system was installed in the 1970s. But some warn that new technologies are also at risk of cyberattack.
Power grid infrastructure is a likely target, said Pavel Molchanov, an energy analyst with Raymond James. The principal advantages of the smart grid — digitization and decentralization — also offer more pathways for cybercriminals to target, he said.
Elias Bou-Harb, an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, has studied electric vehicle charging stations, and in an unpublished paper he writes: “The EV charging ecosystem — one of the world’s most proliferating ecosystems — suffers from critical vulnerabilities within its most fundamental entities.” In the rush to install charging stations across the country, he wrote, vendors have paid too little attention to keeping them secure from hackers.
by ponchi101 Sorry. Not the Suez canal? It is not just agricultural products. Commodities, equipment, lots of manufacturing goes up and down the Miss-Missouri waterway. It is vital for the American economy.
Months to repair? I wonder which would be more economical: blow the bridge down and remove it, or the losses of months of the Mississippi being shut down.
by ti-amie The price of everything is going to go through the roof.
I wonder if that type of steel work is still done in the US though?
by mmmm8 But we don't need no infrastructure!
by Suliso
mmmm8 wrote: ↑Fri May 14, 2021 3:35 pm
But we don't need no infrastructure!
It's completely overrated. I think you could use another tax cut, though.
by ponchi101 Overrated? When I go to the USA from Colombia, sure, the roads look fine, the bridges look fine. The airports are an embarrassment (mostly), but it is OK.
Then you go from Europe to the USA, and the roads don't look that great. Germans would laugh at most roads.
And I am really puzzled here: you have a country with a $30 Trillion debt, and you want MORE tax cuts? You yourself said it before: why simply do not CUT ALL TAXES and print money? Or are you joking?
by Suliso I thought my sarcasm was obvious...
by ponchi101 Glad to see I am not the only one that is emoji-impaired...
by mmmm8 Just for 100% clarity, I was also being sarcastic
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Why not go one step further in the cruelty and ask them to choose CALIBER, number of riflemen, blindfolded or not or, if they choose the chair, choose voltage and AC or DC.
All these GOP governors would fail any psychological test if they were to submit to one.
by Togtdyalttai I'm okay with this change. I oppose the death penalty in general, but if you're going to have it then I don't care which method you use among those three. I think at that point it's a philosophical issue and there are more impactful issues to be concerned with.
by ponchi101 Don't you think that this is a bit medieval? I wonder what kind of challenge can be done based on the "cruel and unusual punishment" concept. The person sentenced now has to "suffer" through the decision process of "how do I want to die".
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 9:24 pm
Don't you think that this is a bit medieval? I wonder what kind of challenge can be done based on the "cruel and unusual punishment" concept. The person sentenced now has to "suffer" through the decision process of "how do I want to die".
The cruelty is the point.
by ti-amie As I was getting ready to post this I wondered so many times it has to do with a mass shooting of some kind?
This from the LAT article:
“We received information that there are explosive devices that are located inside the building,” said Deputy Russell Davis of the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department. “We activated our bomb squad, which is currently out on scene.”
“We received information that there are explosive devices that are located inside the building,” said Deputy Russell Davis of the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department. “We activated our bomb squad, which is currently out on scene.”
Sources said the suspect is believed to have killed himself after the mass shooting. Multiple weapons and ammunition were reportedly found inside his home.
by dmforever
Togtdyalttai wrote: ↑Mon May 17, 2021 7:46 pm
I'm okay with this change. I oppose the death penalty in general, but if you're going to have it then I don't care which method you use among those three. I think at that point it's a philosophical issue and there are more impactful issues to be concerned with.
I think the point is not about the two different methods, but rather that the condemned person has to choose.
Kevin
by ponchi101 About the mass shootings: Is it me or are they escalating on violence and scope? By that I mean, these people are PLANNING these events in a more elaborate way to create more casualties. Now they are including bombs? Other than they act as lone wolves, in which way are they NOT like a terrorist organization?
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu May 27, 2021 1:23 pm
About the mass shootings: Is it me or are they escalating on violence and scope? By that I mean, these people are PLANNING these events in a more elaborate way to create more casualties. Now they are including bombs? Other than they act as lone wolves, in which way are they NOT like a terrorist organization?
We've said it elsewhere on the site but the mental health issues surrounding the lock down need to be addressed. I agree ponchi. He didn't wake up and grab his gun before running out to his job. This was planned. Setting his house on fire was a planned diversion. That there could've been weapons and bombs in the house is next level insanity.
This summer is going to be really scary.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
Maybe if they had beefed up their security? The steaks were too high to let this happen.
I'll see myself out.
by ponchi101 No, please. You were one cut above your duty
by ti-amie More on the effects of the JBS cyber attack.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:28 pm
No, please. You were one cut above your duty
Thanks. I guess they didn't have the chops to handle this.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:28 pm
No, please. You were one cut above your duty
Thanks. I guess they didn't have the chops to handle this.
Anyone with (sirloin) tips is encouraged to call the 1-877-NYSTRIP hotline.
by dryrunguy On a serious note, meat prices here have been through the roof for quite some time. I'm not sure what was behind it before this, but even cheap cuts like a pair of Denver steaks could be purchased for $6-$7. As of several weeks ago, here you're talking about $21 for a pair of Denver steaks. I'm SO glad we purchased 1/2 of a beef calf from the neighbor several months back. And even THAT cost much more than it did the last time we bought 1/2 of a beef calf.
by ti-amie
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Jun 01, 2021 8:38 pm
On a serious note, meat prices here have been through the roof for quite some time. I'm not sure what was behind it before this, but even cheap cuts like a pair of Denver steaks could be purchased for $6-$7. As of several weeks ago, here you're talking about $21 for a pair of Denver steaks. I'm SO glad we purchased 1/2 of a beef calf from the neighbor several months back. And even THAT cost much more than it did the last time we bought 1/2 of a beef calf.
I order from Crowd Cow and we'd ordered so much I figured we could skip a month (May) and we did. What an idiotic move. Prices, as dry said, had already started to creep up, and they were high to begin with.
Woman opens fire on family of 6 heading to vacation in road-rage attack, MO cops say
A family of six came under fire along a stretch of Missouri highway last week while on their way to vacation, and a 22-year-old mother is accused of pulling the trigger.
According to police, the family from Tennessee was heading to Kansas City on I-55 in their Nissan Pathfinder on Friday when a Ford Focus started tailgating the SUV. The Pathfinder driver braked to tell the Focus to slow down or go around, KMOV reported. The Focus sped up, got next to the Pathfinder, and the passenger, Shanyka Fouche, pulled out a gun and began shooting, police told KMOV.
Bullets flew into the cabin of the family’s Pathfinder, striking the dad in his hip, KSDK reported. One round also hit a tire, popping it, the station reported. No one else was hurt, and the dad is expected to recover. The car sped off, but the oldest of the couple’s children, ranging from 2 to 11 years old, managed to memorize the car’s plate number, KTVI reported. Police were able to track the vehicle and pulled it over about an hour later.
“As he was getting shot at he thinks enough to look at the license plate and memorizes the license plate of the car which enabled us to use On Star,” Pevely Police Chief Alan Eickhoff told the TV station. “He is actually the hero of this incident.”
When officers arrested Fouche, they found two small children in the car, including a 2-year-old, outlets report. According to KSDK, the 2-year-old is Fouche’s child. Fouche is facing 10 charges, including assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and armed criminal action, the outlet reported.
She is being held at the Jefferson County Jail without bond.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Something really needs to be done about these Swiss Army Knives.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:31 pm
Something really needs to be done about these Swiss Army Knives.
...
You should start selling bumper stickers with this. It summons up perfectly the situation.
by ti-amie There was another shooting Swiss Army Knife attack today over masks indoors at a supermarket.
by ti-amie
by Suliso I've been to Portland many times when I lived in Oregon. Don't remember any big safety issues or much homelessness there in my time...
Portland was once a byword for tattooed vegan microbrewers
Now Oregon’s biggest city has become infamous for something else
Plywood windows can be only so inviting. On what seems to be every block, they still decorate downtown Portland a year after racial-justice protests began peacefully, turned violent, and were met with tear-gas and federal shock troops. They have not been removed because of sporadic bouts of anarchy euphemistically called “direct action”. A recent May Day riot left another round of vandalised buildings and broken windows in its wake.
The federal courthouse remains boarded-up; an Apple store has installed fortifications fit for the demilitarised zone (“Apple stands with you in the fight for racial and social justice”, says a sign outside); Tiffany & Co has put up large, rather chic boards that try to lift the mood by declaiming meaningless platitudes like “Love is love”. Colourful social-justice art adorns much of the plywood, endorsing Black Lives Matter or other progressive causes. (“Expression against oppression” declares one; “Capitalism, why are you like this?” groans another.) Homeless encampments spread along the pavements.
Portland’s woes are especially acute, but they resemble those of many prosperous west-coast cities: a febrile political climate where social-justice activism is ascendant, rising crime rates, declining trust in the police and widespread street homelessness. These pose a threat to the cities’ engine of prosperity.
Before covid-19 downtown Portland housed 100,000 jobs, the heart of the city’s (and to a large extent, the state’s) economy. Its reputation has taken a bruising hit. The Urban Land Institute, a think-tank, runs annual surveys ranking the desirability of cities to property developers. In 2017 Portland ranked third. Now it has dropped to 66th out of 80. Polling in May for the Oregonian newspaper found that 53% of residents in the metro area felt safe downtown during the day; only 20% felt safe there at night. More than 60% of residents worry about protests, crime and homelessness. Ratings for the city government’s handling of those are pitiful. As in most American cities, violence is up markedly. There were 55 homicides in 2020, the most in 26 years. This year looks even worse. Already there have been more than 40 murders.
Data on population and unemployment show that the city’s recovery from covid-19 has not been unusually slow, notes John Tapogna of econorthwest, a consultancy. A mass exodus of businesses does not appear to be under way. But a decline in reputation can certainly lead to one. Working out how to recover from a brutal year requires a sense of what went wrong. And yet there is little agreement on that.
The optimists see the tumult as temporary. “Our major employers downtown have said that they’re committed. We’ll start to see people coming back. And as we have more street life, I think we'll have fewer street problems,” says Mingus Mapps, a former urban-politics professor and member of the city council. Hotel bookings are up, he notes, and “we’re demilitarising our public-safety systems”. Andrew Hoan, president of the Portland Business Alliance, the chamber of commerce, is also upbeat: “It's not that there's this moment like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis [but] we’re seeing longer and longer gaps between when we noticed destruction, or bad behaviour occurs, or political violence is breaking out.”
Then there are the pessimists, divided into mutually loathing “woke” and “anti-woke” camps. Portland is a progressive town, with a vocal activist class that sees institutions like policing and capitalism as irredeemably racist and oppressive. Because the unrest is a symptom of legitimate grievance, it may not dissipate unless entire systems are dismantled. “I have never once cried over a window. I do cry over the murder of people who look like me,” Gregory McKelvey, a progressive campaign operative, told the local Willamette Week.
Mr McKelvey was the campaign manager for the progressive challenger Sarah Iannarone, who narrowly lost to the more centrist incumbent mayor, Ted Wheeler, in an election in November. Ms Iannarone’s campaign advocated defunding the police, arguing that “it is time to stop wasting money and stop putting good money after bad” and accusing the force of inflicting “waste and violence” on the community. She got 41% of the vote—just five points shy of victory.
The other pessimists think that Portland’s accommodation of anarchy and lawlessness in the name of social justice augurs bleak times ahead. “What’s happening is unchecked progressivism, resulting in bad governance that is jeopardising the ability of normal citizens to go about normal life,” says Bret Weinstein, a prominent critic of lefty identity politics. “When municipal authorities withdraw the police—because the claim is that the police are the source of violence—what we then get is the emergence of a policing authority among the anarchists, and it is always brutal.”
The police department is similarly despondent. “The message of social justice and racial equality was overrun, it was overtaken by a group of anarchists,” says Daryl Turner, president of the police union. Many police officers have left, either retiring or resigning. Local progressive organisations like Unite Oregon campaigned for the city government to defund the police by at least 50%, rather than the more modest $3m cut (about 1%) already made.
The Oregonian’s polling from May also found that 50% of residents thought policing needed to be increased downtown; only 15% thought it should be decreased. Mr Turner predicts that things will get worse before they get better. “The city is in a state of hopelessness,” he says. In a few months’ time, it will be clear whether such pessimism has firm foundations.
by JazzNU Very shocked there weren't any dissenters. On to the House.
by patrick That is the upset of the political year especially after they did not want a 1-6 commission.
by the Moz Window dressing is far easier to commit to than a substantive reckoning.
by ti-amie We'll give you Juneteenth since most of you already celebrate in some way but allow you to vote? No way.
by ti-amie I heard this on the Slate Money podcast last week but Felix Salmon has put this article out with lots of detail.
1 big thing: America's pandemic of unemployment fraud
COVID-19, and the government’s response to it, created a perfect storm for unemployment fraud — which Axios reported could have accounted for half of all the payments made throughout the pandemic.
Why it matters: The government has not officially audited the issue. But there are good reasons to believe that the number is enormous.
At an estimated $400 billion, which is where it's pegged by security company ID.me, the fraud would account for almost 2% of annual GDP.
The big picture: When the pandemic hit, all unemployment applications had to be made online. While going to an office and pretending to be someone is difficult and dangerous, the same kind of impersonation is much easier — and largely risk-free — if you're filing your application from Russia or China.
By the numbers: A successful unemployment application can easily net $20,000, over time. In Washington state, for instance, the regular maximum unemployment benefit is $844 per week. Add on $300 per week in extra federal unemployment benefits during the pandemic, and you get to $20,000 in less than 18 weeks.
How it works: In March 2020, international criminal syndicates already owned — or could easily purchase — massive databases of Americans' personal information, gleaned from thousands of data breaches over the years. New breaches during the pandemic, including one at the Texas DMV, helped to keep up the flow of personal data.
Because the states didn't effectively share information, a single identity could be used for unemployment benefits in dozens of states. In the pandemic, people moving from one state to another after they were laid off was common, so an out-of-state applicant wouldn't necessarily raise red flags.
The easiest program to defraud was Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, say experts. The program was designed for gig-economy workers and other independent contractors, and therefore didn't require employer confirmation of a layoff.
All unemployment programs have seen large-scale fraud, however, and criminals simply moved to other programs when anti-fraud controls were put in place.
Unemployment Insurance fraud, for instance, is a bit harder to pull off because of the involvement of employers. But it's still rampant. One rapper who was dumb enough to rap on YouTube about the money he was making from UI fraud was charged with stealing $1.2 million in jobless benefits.
2. What the federal government is doing
The U.S. government is clear that unemployment fraud is a huge problem, and has budgeted $2 billion to try to fix it.
Where it stands: The Department of Labor inspector general reported last month that 20 states did not perform what was required of them in terms of detecting improper payments, and 44 states did not do what was recommended (but not required).
The inspector general cites an "improper payment rate" of 10.6% — but that is not an estimate of the amount of fraud that took place during the pandemic. Instead it is a lower bound — the lowest fraud rate that was seen before the pandemic.
The report says that the rate during the pandemic was probably "much higher" but hazards no guesses as to just how high it was.
The Labor Department itself "has not estimated an improper payment rate for UI benefits provided in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," notes the inspector general.
What they're saying: “Widespread fraud at the state level in pandemic unemployment insurance during the previous administration is one of the most serious challenges we inherited," said White House economist Gene Sperling in a statement provided to Axios.
President Joe Biden said last month: "There is perhaps no oversight issue inherited by my administration that is as serious as the exploitation of relief programs by criminal syndicates using stolen identities to steal government benefits. Last year, this type of criminal behavior robbed American families of billions of dollars."
The other side: House Republicans Darrell Issa, James Comer, and Gary Palmer are today demanding a Congressional hearing on this issue.
“As much as $400 billion may have been lost to fraud by way of falsified claims for COVID-related unemployment benefits," Palmer says in a statement provided to Axios. "Identity theft has become rampant and foreign crime rings have stolen hundreds of billions of dollars."
"This is one of the greatest thefts of American tax dollars in history, totaling more than the entire 2021 budgets of the Army and Navy combined, and more than the combined budgets of eight American states. It’s beyond time for Congress to exercise more oversight of these benefit processes to ensure that Americans are never again the victims of fraud on this unacceptable scale."
3. What happened in Arizona
Data: Arizona Department of Economic Security; Chart: Axios Visuals
Arizona has been particularly public about the anti-fraud controls in its unemployment office.
By the numbers: Arizona has said that it saw 570,400 initial PUA claims filed in the week ending October 10, 2020. A month later, after hiring ID.me to filter new applications, that number had plunged by 99% to 6,700.
In December, the ID.me contract was expanded to include continuing PUA claims — which at that point were numbering 268,556 per week. One week later, the number of continuing PUA claims had fallen to 85,174 — a decrease of 68.3%.
Something very similar happened with the main Arizona unemployment insurance program. In the week of February 6, the state saw 75,041 new UI claims. Then it brought in ID.me. The following week, the number of new UI claims fell by 96.3% to 2,759.
What they're saying: “When it became clear that fraud was rising within this program, we added identity verification to the regular UI system February 6,” Arizona Department of Economic Security press secretary Tasya Peterson tells Axios. The move, she says, “has significantly reduced the number of fraudulent claims received.”
4. What happened in other states
Data: Department of Labor; Chart: Axios Visuals
Experiences similar to Arizona's can be seen across the country.
Florida's official dashboard shows 111,904 unemployment claims in the week ending Jan. 30, and then 10,480 the following week, when fraud controls were introduced — a drop of 90.6%.
In Colorado, according to the official state dashboard, 2,107,988 claims have been sent to ID.me for testing. Of those, 268,060 — or just 12.7% — have been verified.
In Nebraska, the overall fraud rate within the unemployment program was 65.97%, according to a report from the state auditor.
The Department of Labor's data site provides information on all the states.
In New York, weekly PUA claims averaged 43,863 in the four weeks to March 20. Then fraud-prevention measures were put in place, and the average immediately dropped to 3,421 — a fall of 92.2%.
In California, PUA claims hit 405,878 in the week of August 29, and 440,882 in the week of September 5. After October 1, when it became harder for fraudsters to game the system, the numbers immediately crashed — there were just 14,843 in the week ending October 3 — and have stayed low ever since.
The big picture: Fraud doesn't happen evenly. Every state has a different system for claiming benefits, and tends to see a surge in fraudulent claims when a criminal syndicate manages to hack that particular system. (Pennsylvania, for instance, saw a large spike in fraudulent claims in May 2020.)
If fraud rates fall dramatically in one program or in one state, that doesn't mean fraud overall has fallen — it is just as likely to have moved to a different program or location.
5. How fraud shows up in economic statistics
Data: BLS, The Century Foundation; Chart: Axios Visuals
The fraud is not hard to see in economic statistics, once you realize it's there.
By the numbers: Before the pandemic, continued unemployment claims — the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits for two weeks or longer — were counted at 2,152,733. That was one-third of the official number of unemployed Americans, as measured in the monthly household employment survey, which was 6,504,000.
Since the CARES Act boosted unemployment benefits, however, continued claims have consistently been significantly higher than the total number of unemployed. In August, for instance, there were 29,570,321 continued claims, well over double the official unemployment count of 13,742,000.
The excess number of claims is theoretically possible, since certain Americans are eligible for unemployment even if they're not counted as officially unemployed. The number of unemployed, for instance, is generally undercounted.
The new federal unemployment benefits were also large enough that many Americans applied for them even if they might not have filed for unemployment in the past.
Nevertheless, the economic statistics are entirely consistent with widespread unemployment fraud.
How it works: During the pandemic — between the week of March 21, 2020, and the week of June 5, 2021 — there have been a total of 83,506,986 initial claims for unemployment insurance. On top of that, there have been 27,315,075 initial claims for PUA, according to data compiled by The Century Foundation.
Add them up, and you get more than 110 million layoffs over the course of the pandemic — out of a total workforce of about 15o million people.
Where it stands: Recently, America has been experiencing a period of massive labor shortages, where employers have been desperate for workers and certainly haven't been laying them off in large numbers. Yet initial unemployment claims are still running at more than three times their pre-pandemic level.
There were 5,230,478 initial claims between April 3 and June 5 of this year, plus another 924,627 PUA claims, for a total of 6,155,105 layoffs.
Compare that to the same period in 2019, when there was much less talk of a labor shortage. Back then, initial claims totaled 2,001,137 — less than a third of this year's number.
6. The anti-fraud software provider: ID.me
ID.me, a private company founded to make it as easy as possible for individuals to prove who they say they are, was most recently valued at $1.5 billion. It has emerged over the course of the pandemic as the leading provider of anti-fraud software for state unemployment offices.
How it works: The company says it does not directly profit from fraud. Quite the opposite: CEO Blake Hall tells Axios that it costs his company $7 for each video chat session, and makes $0.50 for every applicant who goes through the system without needing to talk to one of his employees.
At the moment, about 14% of applicants end up in video chat. "We signed contracts and will follow through with the government," he says, but "I’m losing money on all these deals."
The big picture: ID.me, like all fraud prevention, inevitably makes it harder for some people to claim benefits. In an ideal, fraud-free, world, it wouldn't need to exist.
Fraudsters can and do get past ID.me's defenses — that's statistically inevitable. But they also naturally gravitate to where their fraud is easiest. And with roughly half the states still having very weak protection against this kind of fraud, that is where the criminals are concentrating their efforts.
Axios contacted ID.me as part of the reporting on our last story, because the company is a key part of the states' anti-fraud architecture. We received no PR pitch or press release from them.
Of note: The big budgetary win for the information security sector has already happened as part of the American Rescue Plan, which earmarks $2 billion for cybersecurity funding for unemployment programs.
What they're saying: "The American Rescue Plan is the first time we've felt like help is on the way," Hall says in a statement to Axios. "The current administration and Congress could not have done more in the time they have had to address the fraud plaguing these programs."
7. When Tupac Shakur and Dianne Feinstein filed for unemployment
Tupac Shakur was real. Dianne Feinstein, not so much.
One footnote about the Arizona claims data: I'm using the state's own numbers, rather than the Labor Department numbers for Arizona, which aren't identical but have much the same shape. I can't explain the discrepancy.
by ti-amie Isn't part of Oregon trying to become part of Idaho? And isn't he from Arizona or New Mexico?
by JazzNU Yes to the Oregon to Idaho part, not sure about the rest. Those Oregonians will not be getting their wish.
by ti-amie American Airlines Is Cancelling Scores Of Flights Due To Lack Of Pilots
by Gary Leff on June 19, 2021
American Airlines has cancelled over 100 flights already today. The most common reason is ‘flight crew unavailable’. Many other flights show cancelled due to ‘operational decision’ which appears to be giving that flight’s pilots to another aircraft (in other words, also ‘flight crew unavailable’). In contrast, as of this writing United has cancelled eight flights today and Delta has cancelled two.
The issue appears to be concentrated on the Boeing 737 fleet. American’s schedule seems too big for the crew they have available, especially since they’re only midway through the process of bringing inactive pilots back online.
Government subsidies meant they couldn’t furlough anyone. However they didn’t need all of their pilots to fly planes, since they were operating fewer flights.
They didn’t keep those pilots who were staying home active and qualified to fly. And they’re not all back yet, either. In fact as of last week they’re only about halfway through re-qualifying pilots with a five day course (two days in-classroom, three days in simulator).
Let’s be clear. Taxpayers were had. The primary argument for $79 billion in federal airline subsidies over the past 15 months was that this would keep airlines ‘ready’ for when passengers returned. American Airlines took its share of the money but did not keep its pilots current. And now that passengers are back, the airline is cancelling flights as a result. I want my money back.
American announced two months ago that they’d need to hire pilots this fall but didn’t prioritize re-trainings. And while you might argue ‘they needed to save money’ even though the federal government gave them over $10 billion (annualized cost per job saved for the second and third payroll bailouts was over $1 million), they were still converting these Boeing 737s to cram in more seats throughout the pandemic (Project Oasis). Keeping pilots current so they wouldn’t have to cancel flights might have been given… higher priority.
I’ve reached out to American Airlines hoping they will offer an explanation for the cancellations, and insight into when they expect the situation to resolve itself. Lack of available crew usually doesn’t manifest itself until the end of the month, and we’re still just in the middle.
by JazzNU Couldn't furlough anyone "until September 30, 2020" I believe, an important distinction. When that date hit, they basically took the money and ran, not sure why they are trying to pretend we don't know what they were doing then or now.
by ponchi101 The American Airlines Industry (not the company) screwing everybody. How unusual.
Flew in AA back from ATL. On a 3.5 hours flight, covering noon, we were offered pretzels and a soda. Not even a small sandwich. They are super.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie If the comments were made on a private FB group or whatever they call them one of Guerrero's "friends" isn't.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
by ti-amie Do we know who owns the building yet or the name of the construction company that oversaw its construction?
by JazzNU
Researcher: High-rise that collapsed was sinking, due for recertification
The 12-story beachfront condominium tower in Miami-Dade County that collapsed early Thursday morning was built in 1981 on reclaimed wetlands and a Florida International University researcher told USA Today that the building had been sinking at an alarming rate.
The building had 136 units, 55 units of which were in the two wings that collapsed.
“I looked at this morning and said ‘Oh my God.’ We did detect that,” Shimon Wdowinski, professor in the Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University, told the newspaper.
Wdowinski said his research found the building was sinking at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year in the 1990s, and the sinking could have slowed or accelerated in the time since. The study was not done for the purpose of determining the soundness of the building but as part of an ongoing project to identify which parts of Miami could be most impacted by sea-level rise and coastal flooding.
“It was a byproduct of analyzing the data. We saw this building had some kind of unusual movement,” he told the newspaper.
The I-TEAM also learned the condominium association was in contact with engineers and architects preparing to complete its 40-year building recertification, which is required by Miami-Dade County to ensure that buildings remain structurally safe.
Work to re-roof the building began in April and was ongoing.
“There was work on the building being done to meet the 40-year standard,” Miami-Dade County Commission member Salley Heyman said. “That is something that has been put in place not just for the county, but for all municipalities and we have a strict building code since Hurricane Andrew for updates and improvements.”
The inspection is to determine the general structural condition of the building and the general condition of its electrical systems. A written recertification report must be prepared, certifying each building or structure is safe for continued occupancy.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue officials confirmed at least one person found dead in the rubble killed, 35 were able to get out after the Champlain Towers South building near 88th Street and Collins Avenue in Surfside partially collapsed shortly before 2 a.m. Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez confirmed early Thursday afternoon that 53 people are accounted for while 99 people remain unaccounted for and that search and rescue operations continue.
A hotel next to the condominium high-rise was evacuated because it was so close to the collapse.
During an appearance in Tampa before traveling to Surfside, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to speculate on potential deaths but said from videos and from calls with local officials, “this was a really, really catastrophic incident.”
“I know there has been some documented loss of life, but I think that this is going to be a really difficult day as they go through,” DeSantis said. “Hopefully, they’re able to save a lot more people because they have done a heck of a job so far.”
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett, appearing later with DeSantis outside the scene, said rescue workers were doing their best to find survivors in the rubble.
Earlier, Burkett told reporters he suspects a grim day ahead for families and rescue workers.
“I think we need to bring some heavy equipment in, and that part of it is heartbreaking,” Burkett said.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said five state agencies were assisting local officials, including the State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Department of Transportation, as the collapse has affected traffic across the area.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy that will require our attention in the hours, days and weeks to come, and we will provide the needed support and comfort to our fellow neighbors and residents as they navigate this enormously difficult time,” Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-North Miami Beach, wrote in a prepared statement.
News Service of Florida contributed to this story.
by ti-amie I watched video of the building falling. It looked like the end of "Fight Club" which looked like what I saw live when the WTC towers fell.
by MJ2004 I've seen a few articles touching on this point. It's early still, but the question is already out there.
Sea level rise due to climate change eyed as contributing factor in Miami-area building collapse
As the search for survivors of the collapse of a 12-story beachfront condominium in Surfside, Fla., continued on Friday, building experts began looking at the possibility that sea level rise caused by climate change may have contributed to the disaster that has left at least four people dead and 159 missing.
From a geological standpoint, the base of South Florida’s barrier islands is porous limestone. As the oceans encroach on land due to sea level rise and the worsening of so-called king tides, groundwater is pushed up through the limestone, causing flooding. That brackish water, which regularly inundates underground parking garages in South Florida, can potentially lead to the deterioration of building foundations over time.
“Sea level rise does cause potential corrosion and if that was happening, it’s possible it could not handle the weight of the building,” Zhong-Ren Peng, professor and director of the University of Florida’s International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design, told the Palm Beach Post. “I think this could be a wakeup call for coastal developments.”
While it is too early to say whether climate change is to blame for the collapse of the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South, or if it also threatens thousands of similar structures along Florida’s coastline, sea levels rose by 3.9 inches between 2000 and 2017 in nearby Key West, according to a 2019 report by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.
Future projections are much more dire.
“Just using the U.S. government projections, we could be at 11 to over 13 feet [of sea level rise] by the end of the century,” Harold Wanless, director of the University of Miami’s geological sciences department and a leading expert on sea level rise, told Yahoo News. “There’s only 3 percent of Miami-Dade County that’s greater than 12 feet above sea level.”
The Champlain Towers South, which had been built on reclaimed wetlands, was found to have sunk by roughly 2 millimeters per year between 1993 and 1999, the Washington Post reported.
“It appears to be something very localized to one building, so I would think the problem was more likely to be related to the building itself,” Shimon Wdowinski, a professor at Florida International University’s department of earth and environment, told the Post.
Though federal and state investigators will attempt to pinpoint the cause of the collapse, rising seas and flooding from king tides (exceptionally high tides that occur during a full or new moon) will certainly be examined as a possible contributing factor.
But even if climate change is ruled out as a significant contributor to this particular instance of structural failure, there is no avoiding the fact that if seas continue to rise, the habitability of much of South Florida will be put in question.
“People have to understand how serious this is going to be quickly, in the next two or three decades,” Wanless said. “We’re just seeing the beginning of this accelerated ice melt.”
-Yahoo News
by ti-amie
MJ2004 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 6:37 pm
I've seen a few articles touching on this point. It's early still, but the question is already out there.
Sea level rise due to climate change eyed as contributing factor in Miami-area building collapse
As the search for survivors of the collapse of a 12-story beachfront condominium in Surfside, Fla., continued on Friday, building experts began looking at the possibility that sea level rise caused by climate change may have contributed to the disaster that has left at least four people dead and 159 missing.
From a geological standpoint, the base of South Florida’s barrier islands is porous limestone. As the oceans encroach on land due to sea level rise and the worsening of so-called king tides, groundwater is pushed up through the limestone, causing flooding. That brackish water, which regularly inundates underground parking garages in South Florida, can potentially lead to the deterioration of building foundations over time.
“Sea level rise does cause potential corrosion and if that was happening, it’s possible it could not handle the weight of the building,” Zhong-Ren Peng, professor and director of the University of Florida’s International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design, told the Palm Beach Post. “I think this could be a wakeup call for coastal developments.”
While it is too early to say whether climate change is to blame for the collapse of the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South, or if it also threatens thousands of similar structures along Florida’s coastline, sea levels rose by 3.9 inches between 2000 and 2017 in nearby Key West, according to a 2019 report by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact.
Future projections are much more dire.
“Just using the U.S. government projections, we could be at 11 to over 13 feet [of sea level rise] by the end of the century,” Harold Wanless, director of the University of Miami’s geological sciences department and a leading expert on sea level rise, told Yahoo News. “There’s only 3 percent of Miami-Dade County that’s greater than 12 feet above sea level.”
The Champlain Towers South, which had been built on reclaimed wetlands, was found to have sunk by roughly 2 millimeters per year between 1993 and 1999, the Washington Post reported.
“It appears to be something very localized to one building, so I would think the problem was more likely to be related to the building itself,” Shimon Wdowinski, a professor at Florida International University’s department of earth and environment, told the Post.
Though federal and state investigators will attempt to pinpoint the cause of the collapse, rising seas and flooding from king tides (exceptionally high tides that occur during a full or new moon) will certainly be examined as a possible contributing factor.
But even if climate change is ruled out as a significant contributor to this particular instance of structural failure, there is no avoiding the fact that if seas continue to rise, the habitability of much of South Florida will be put in question.
“People have to understand how serious this is going to be quickly, in the next two or three decades,” Wanless said. “We’re just seeing the beginning of this accelerated ice melt.”
-Yahoo News
Horrible situation and as MJ highlighted, one that was known since the '90's.
by ponchi101 It has been known since the 80's, when I was there studying. The shallowness of Florida's water table means that it is super susceptible to any intrusion by the rising sea level. One issue is that the sewage system really does not work and offers all the worst options: you can't build septic tanks because they flood immediately and, if you use them, you contaminate the water table.
All the foundations of any building in Florida must be by now soaked. However, this has been well known for a long time so the building code has taken this in consideration.
Personally, if you offer me any house or condo in S. Florida (and by that I mean anything south of Lake Okeechobee) for $10,000, I pass. Florida's day of reckoning will come, and it might be soon.
by Suliso I wouldn't buy a house in coastal Florida. Just saying...
by JazzNU I listen to a sports radio show that is based in Miami. They've joked for years (but are also dead serious) that Miami and South Florida will be underwater in the next couple of decades. So yeah, likely a contributing factor. The guys I'm listening to are not rocket scientists by any stretch, so this isn't some underground secret just discovered by what happened to this building.
They've known for a good while what the deal is down there, they just didn't care. There's money in not caring, because there's money in building down there with the millions that have relocated there in the last 20 years in search of warmer weather. Condos in the building have recently sold in the $600-700k range.
by ti-amie
JazzNU wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:39 pm
I listen to a sports radio show that is based in Miami. They've joked for years (but are also dead serious) that Miami and South Florida will be underwater in the next couple of decades. So yeah, likely a contributing factor. The guys I'm listening to are not rocket scientists by any stretch, so this isn't some underground secret just discovered by what happened to this building.
They've known for a good while what the deal is down there, they just didn't care. There's money in not caring, because there's money in building down there with the millions that have relocated there in the last 20 years in search of warmer weather. Condos in the building have recently sold in the $600-700k range.
Yep
by Suliso There are and will be other places to seek warmer climate in US.
by ti-amie
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:46 pm
There are and will be other places to seek warmer climate in US.
True but for years now South Florida has attracted wealthy South Americans, Central Americans and the well off as well as the less wealthy from the Caribbean. A lot of it has to do with weather.
There are also the snow birds from the northern United States who come for tax benefits (they have to live there six months of the year I think).
Those populations will be hard pressed to find what they get in Florida.
by Suliso Sure, I know why people have moved to South Florida. Just saying I wouldn't and also that these people will eventually find some other place. Where eaxctly I'm not sure.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:03 pm
Sure, I know why people have moved to South Florida. Just saying I wouldn't and also that these people will eventually find some other place. Where eaxctly I'm not sure.
Sorry to interrupt the Derek Chavin news, which is more important.
Georgia. Atlanta is becoming fast a new destination for wealthy and not so wealthy S. Americans. Sure, no beach front but the coast is not that far away (Savannah, for example).
For South Americans Climate Change is not a "real" issue. Real issues are deranged leftists governments taking over, or deranged right wing governments that do not do anything but for the rich.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Now, something I would like to see.
This makes it clear that there are, at least, some theoretical probabilities that if you are a police officer and kill a minority person while on duty, you may end up in jail, and for a considerable time. The thing will be: will there be a decrease in the number of such cases? Or will Chauvin be an exemption?
In theory, at least a few of the cases in the recent past may have been because the officers felt total immunity. Now it is different. Will there be a change of behavior by police officers and police departments around the USA?
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 7:46 pm
There are and will be other places to seek warmer climate in US.
There are also the snow birds from the northern United States who come for tax benefits (they have to live there six months of the year I think).
Those populations will be hard pressed to find what they get in Florida.
This is completely correct. And in terms of getting what they want elsewhere, for the most part, they simply can't. The deal with Florida is that, especially for those moving from many parts of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and the Upper Midwest - is that Florida is affordable and at the same time, rarely rural. They can get something near a beach in many parts of the state for under $500k. In some cases, they can do it for under $350k, like be within a couple of blocks. And that's now (or before 2020 - prices have spiked in the pandemic), they could get it cheaper than that for the last 20 years. In some areas, in and around Miami, it's more expensive, but for the most part, not as much as what it costs to live in the best neighborhoods NYC, Boston, Philly, DC, and Chicago. So, they go to Florida, some are snowbirds, some just relocate. Texas, Alabama and Mississippi are the only other places with beachfront in the same price range and it has never attracted northerners in the same way. North and South Carolina attract some, but not like Florida does when it comes to those wanting to be near the beach because it is not quite year-round beach weather.
I get what you're saying @suliso, and I wouldn't buy beachfront anywhere really, but especially in Florida, but we're in the minority in thinking that way. It doesn't make a bit of sense, but I can't begin to tell you how much the terrible hurricanes in the last decade or two have done next to nothing in discouraging the moves or the decisions when buying, they still want beachfront or as close as they can afford. You can see it play out on just about every single beach episode on HGTV.
by Suliso I'd not mind beachfront either, my parents live about 500 m from the beach. Just not South Florida with hurricanes, rising sea level and horrible humidity. Also I like somewhere I can walk.
Been idly pondering where we'd like to retire (in ca 20 years). Latvia cold + my girlfriend not Latvian, Switzerland expensive... Been thinking of places like Andalucia or Malta, but who knows what we think in two decades.
by JazzNU About George Floyd's Murderer - I'm staying away from most of the coverage because I just don't have the energy today. But I'm satisfied. I was afraid they would try to give him 10 to 15 years. I told myself months ago if he got 20 years, I'd be satisfied. So that's what I am. I need him to get like 50 to get to a level of being happy. But he's got more charges coming up so there's reason to hope that he'll be behind bars longer than this. Prison isn't a nice place for ex-cops, so I truly hope he rots away there for a good long while.
by MJ2004
JazzNU wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 9:11 pm
Prison isn't a nice place for ex-cops, so I truly hope he rots away there for a good long while.
Unless they put him in solitary, he may not be given the chance to rot.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
“We didn’t understand that these islands actually migrate until the 1970s,”
This complex was built in 1981.
by ponchi101 A lot of real estate value has become effectively zero. It is just a matter of how wide will this area be.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU I know I sound like a monster, but news outlets shouldn't be fueling false hope here. It's rarely helpful to do so. "Missing" is too hopeful a term and divorced from reality. It's been several days. "Missing and presumed dead" needs to be how the unaccounted for are referenced moving forward.
by shmrck14 I can't find the link now but the most compelling info I saw related to the Surfside collapse was related to improper construction of the pool. The Miami Herald is unsurprisingly crushing it with their coverage. There was an engineering report from a few years ago that showed the pool was improperly draining because it was not properly angled, was totally flat. The pool was over the underground garage and residents had reported there was always water in the garage and it's thought that this could be a leading cause - cracks in the concrete, rebar showing
by Deuce 'Surveillance video' pretty much always means unmanned cameras which are installed and left alone.
But this 'surveillance video' has obvious camera shake (could possibly be the wind, although it very much mimics the way that a person would hold the camera) - and it even pans to the right, as if to center the collapse within the frame.
Strange.
by Deuce False hope can actually be helpful in easing the blow. It's similar psychologically to having a loved one die very suddenly vs. having a loved one die after a serious illness. If one has time to prepare, it can ease the blow.
Of course, it depends on the individuals involved, as well as the circumstance. But I don't see it doing any harm.
They're not saying that these people ARE still alive - they're simply saying that it's possible that people are still alive. Their loved ones are obviously clinging to this hope - but they also realize that there's a chance that the people won't be found alive. This can help ease the blow by extending it over a longer period of time, as opposed to it hitting like a brick.
I view hope as being a positive element.
I also believe that there IS still hope in this situation. It has been seen before that people have been found alive underneath rubble after earthquakes, etc. So I see nothing wrong with telling people that there is still hope - both because there is, and because it can help ease the blow if their loved ones are in fact found dead.
by ti-amie When they announce that it's no longer a search and rescue but a recovery mission then the tone in the media will change.
by ti-amie Was there water you ask?
by ti-amie Damage to the structure you ask?
by ti-amie This is so depressing
by ti-amie
by ti-amie This is a great look at what forensic engineers see so far in the building collapse in Florida. It's worth a bit of time to see what they've put together so far.
Visual Forensics
Video, images and interviews deepen questions about role of pool deck in condo collapse
by ponchi101 How much are we talking in the class action suit? $1BN?
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 7:20 pm
How much are we talking in the class action suit? $1BN?
Why so low?
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:19 pm
This is so depressing
People don't want to hear it, but also the right call. The national news has done an incredibly poor job of covering this case. They either don't know the particulars or aren't interested in going into them because it doesn't fit the narrative they chose.
He should've never gotten the guilty verdict to start with. I was shocked when it came down. I was shocked when the first appellate court didn't overturn it. This is the first time I haven't been shocked because this is the first time the actual rule of law was followed in this case.
This is correct from Barb up until the last line. Again, a misunderstanding of what happened because it fits the narrative because he's a jackass now and associated with Trump. That was not what he was back then. Unfortunately, the fallout from all of this kind of helped him get to be as bitter and angry as he is now. Bruce Castor is not to blame here in the way they keep saying. If Bruce Castor doesn't make the deal not to prosecute, then she would never have gotten her civil settlement, which was what she wanted at that time. Weak doesn't even begin to describe her case, people pretending otherwise, again, don't seem to know the actual details of this case.
It was a completely different DA who wanted to make a public show with this prosecution who torched Due Process, not Bruce Castor.
by Deuce
ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:19 pm
This is so depressing
This is further proof (as if we need more proof) that the law is indeed an ass.
"Hey - tell us that you're guilty, and we promise to not use your confession against you to convict you of your crime."
What kind of idiocy is this?
None of us was in the room with Cosby when the claimed rape took place... but everything I've heard, seen, and read on the subject points to him being guilty as sin. And, though I haven't been privy to hearing him actually say it, he has apparently even admitted to doing it (drugging women and then doing sexual things to them).
If you're guilty, you're guilty - period. Especially so when you admit it. From that point, NOTHING else should matter - certainly not some fancy manipulation of laws.
Laws are supposed to be there to ensure fairness and justice is accomplished, not to twist and manipulate and abuse so that a guilty person can get away with their crimes.
The 'justice system' should be mighty ashamed of itself.
.
by ponchi101 The law also has to work in logical ways.
Assume you are facing 35 years in prison. You are scared of that. Somebody tells you that if you confess, you will not go. Some people, especially those that have traditionally been less in the eye of the law, may say yes just to stop the process, even if you are really not guilty.
"Good" has to play by the rules. If not, it pretty soon slides into bad.
by Deuce Yeah - "If you confess and admit your guilt, you will not face any punishment."
Sure.
How can anyone call a system which allows this kind of manipulation and abuse a 'justice system'?
It's disgusting.
If you're guilty, you're guilty - period. Especially when you admit your guilt. It's not complicated.
And you serve the punishment that your crime deserves.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 10:58 pm
The law also has to work in logical ways.
Assume you are facing 35 years in prison. You are scared of that. Somebody tells you that if you confess, you will not go. Some people, especially those that have traditionally been less in the eye of the law, may say yes just to stop the process, even if you are really not guilty.
"Good" has to play by the rules. If not, it pretty soon slides into bad.
Right. This was a rather obvious due process violation that people aren't happy with because they don't like the end result. But it's actually the exact same due process violation these same people that are upset tend to want to be held paramount, because if it is not, the people we typically would advocate for are doomed.
If anyone is under the impression that the rights in this country have been created, upheld, or reinforced protecting the best of society, then I've got some unfortunate news for you.
One of my favorite quotes - Principles only mean something if you stick by them when they're inconvenient. This isn't the result that feels right, but it is the correct result if you have any belief in the fundamentals of the US Constitution.
Due process rights were upheld today. And that's a very good thing even if you can't see that right now because of what that ruling means.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 10:58 pm
The law also has to work in logical ways.
Assume you are facing 35 years in prison. You are scared of that. Somebody tells you that if you confess, you will not go. Some people, especially those that have traditionally been less in the eye of the law, may say yes just to stop the process, even if you are really not guilty.
"Good" has to play by the rules. If not, it pretty soon slides into bad.
Right. This was a rather obvious due process violation that people aren't happy with because they don't like the end result. But it's actually the exact same due process violation these same people that are upset tend to want to be held paramount, because if it is not, the people we typically would advocate for are doomed.
If anyone is under the impression that the rights in this country have been created, upheld, or reinforced protecting the best of society, then I've got some unfortunate news for you.
One of my favorite quotes - Principles only mean something if you stick by them when they're inconvenient. This isn't the result that feels right, but it is the correct result if you have any belief in the fundamentals of the US Constitution.
Due process rights were upheld today. And that's a very good thing even if you can't see that right now because of what that ruling means.
From one of the "Sisters in Law" Barb McQuade
by Deuce This is why many people hate lawyers.
The lawyer who is most manipulative 'wins'. It has nothing to do with what is right, or with truth, or with honesty - it's the side that can manipulate the system the most that 'wins'.
Because the system allows this abuse - and even encourages it.
And the system claims to be a system where 'justice shall prevail'.
What an absolute crock of dung that is.
Any result which allows a guilty person to escape punishment - or which punishes an innocent person - is a wrong result, and can never be justified.
Nothing else matters.
Nothing.
by ti-amie
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:38 am
This is why many people hate lawyers.
The lawyer who is most manipulative 'wins'. It has nothing to do with what is right, or with truth, or with honesty - it's the side that can manipulate the system the most that 'wins'.
Because the system allows this abuse - and even encourages it.
And the system claims to be a system where 'justice shall prevail'.
What an absolute crock of dung that is.
Any result which allows a guilty person to escape punishment - or which punishes an innocent person - is a wrong result, and can never be justified.
Nothing else matters.
Nothing.
Someone made the point on the Bird App yesterday that this is the reason Cosby never showed remorse. His lawyers assured him the conviction would be overturned and he waited it out.
There are also those who think the timing of this is suspect and was meant to distract people from the Weisselberg case and the 1/6 Committee.
What pissed me off was hearing one of his lawyers play the race card after the release. The local all news station was airing it live. I turned it off.
by JazzNU
by JazzNU
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 The Boy Scouts HAVE $850MM?
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 12:43 am
The Boy Scouts HAVE $850MM?
Look...
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 12:43 am
The Boy Scouts HAVE $850MM?
Billions. Girl Scouts too. Don't know what to tell you, but yeah they do.
by JazzNU
by ponchi101 I hope the owners had major insurance. Otherwise, that is at a minimum a $300K loss.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 7:02 pm
I hope the owners had major insurance. Otherwise, that is at a minimum a $300K loss.
Insurance company: Here's your policy. You just have to sign and we're done.
Condo owner: What if my building, through negligence, collapses, I survive but my property is destroyed?
Insurance company: You're joking right? You've been watching too many weird movies. Sign here.
by JazzNU We were just having this discussion yesterday. How many buildings will get condemned after checks? Because if it's a lot, even more likely that insurance figures out a way to call this an act of God and not pay out much of anything if you don't have the correct rider.
Now, I also said, if any of these buildings are rental unit buildings, that's one thing, they have something to recoup and to sue for. These condo owners? We've already seen them giving plenty of detail, and as part owners of their buildings, the number of times they've voted to defer maintenance is not a good sign on recouping much of anything. And in that Surfside building, 2 bedroom condos were selling between $600-700k recently.
by ti-amie What will be interesting is if any of the owners were renting to other people or using their units as AirBNB residences. I also wonder if any of the missing are people in the above categories?
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 7:29 pm
What will be interesting is if any of the owners were renting to other people or using their units as AirBNB residences.
Owner: "Well you were renting. Do you have renter's insurance?"
Renter: "Uh, no, but..."
Owner: "Then you're SOL."
That's about how that feels like it'll go to me
by MJ2004 So this happened today about 15 minutes down I-95 from our current home, in the town we used to live in. We drove home from Maine today and witnessed the monster traffic jam in the opposite direction (holiday traffic headed towards Maine) after they re-opened the road. idjuts.
11 arrested from armed group of men claiming not to recognize laws after standoff
The men are 'claiming to be from a group that does not recognize our laws,' police in Wakefield said.
WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- Police arrested 11 from an armed group of men claiming to "not recognize our laws" after a standoff with police in Massachusetts that shut down a major highway during the busy holiday weekend and prompted shelter-in-place orders.
The bizarre incident played out Saturday morning after a state trooper saw a group of eight to 10 men in military-style uniforms refueling their vehicle on the side of 1-95 around 1:30 a.m. in Wakefield, about 10 miles north of Boston.
The men -- who carried tactical gear like body cameras and helmets and had long guns slung over their shoulders -- told the trooper they were on their way to Maine from Rhode Island for "training."
During the traffic stop, two arrests were made. The rest of the group, identifying themselves as "Moorish American Arms," fled into a wooded area. Nine were detained by 10:45 a.m. local time, and two more suspects were found in their vehicles.
All 11 suspects are expected to appear in district court Tuesday morning, Suffolk County District Attorney Marian Ryan said at a press briefing Saturday. Ryan said the individuals, all men, will appear on firearm and other charges.
The standoff shut down part of I-95 in Wakefield in both directions, prompting heavy traffic as people hit the road for the Fourth of July weekend. It remains partially closed.
Residents in Wakefield and nearby Reading were advised to lock their doors and shelter in place. Wakefield police said in its statement that no threats had been made but the men were considered armed and dangerous. No injuries or shots fired have been reported.
Massachusetts officials said the group claimed it "does not recognize our laws." ABC News is asking federal officials whether or not this group is known for extremism.
Mass State Police Col. Christopher Mason said the "self-professed leader" of the group wanted it to be known that they are not antigovernment.
"I think the investigation that follows from this interaction will provide us more insight into what their motivation, what their ideology is," Mason said.
In a video posted to social media Saturday morning, a man who did not give his name, but said he was from a group called Rise of the Moors, broadcast from Interstate 95 in Wakefield near exit 57.
"We are not antigovernment. We are not anti-police, we are not sovereign citizens, we're not Black identity extremists," said the man who appeared to be wearing military-style equipment. "As specified multiple times to the police that we are abiding by the peaceful journey laws of the United States."
The website for the group says they are "Moorish Americans dedicated to educating new Moors and influencing our Elders."
The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies the Moorish sovereign citizen movement as a "collection of independent organizations and lone individuals" that "espouse an interpretation of sovereign doctrine that African Americans constitute an elite class within American society with special rights and privileges that convey on them a sovereign immunity placing them beyond federal and state authority."
It is unclear if the group in the Wakefield standoff follows this doctrine.
"Members of the Moorish sovereigns, called Moors, have come into conflict with federal and state authorities over their refusal to obey laws and government regulations. Recently, Moorish sovereign citizens have engaged in violent confrontations with law enforcement," according to the SPLC.
Last month, a Los Angeles man who identified himself as a Moorish sovereign was arrested in Newark, New Jersey, after locking himself inside a woman's home and declaring it his ancestral property.
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.
by ponchi101 You have to test the water. There has got to be something in the water that makes people this crazy.
by MJ2004 In Massachusetts it would be more likely to be in the Dunkin' coffee.
by JazzNU These militias or whatever they want to call themselves are so very out of control. And of course our gun control laws don't help anything.
Two other random thoughts while reading this.
1) I didn't remember that Wakefield was in Suffolk County. Better that it will be handled there.
2) This could be the most non-violent, non-scary thing that happened, and I'd still want them punished unless it was for a supremely good cause. There's a special place in hell for causing a traffic jam on I-95 at anytime, let alone on a holiday weekend, like it needs help with that.
@MJ, hope you had a good trip to Maine.
by Suliso Do I understand correctly that this time for a change the weirdos were black dudes?
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:22 pm
Do I understand correctly that this time for a change the weirdos were black dudes?
From what I've seen, the most accurate description thus far is that they aren't white and most likely brown. They are apparently calling themselves Moors and their look appears to follow that if the photos circulating on social media are accurate (zero guarantee on that).
by MJ2004
JazzNU wrote: ↑Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:16 pm
I didn't remember that Wakefield was in Suffolk County. Better that it will be handled there.
@MJ, hope you had a good trip to Maine.
Wakefield is in Middlesex County. It was a mistake in the article - Marian Ryan is the Middlesex County, not Suffolk County, DA.
Thanks Jazz, we had a nice week up in the St. George peninsula. Given this morning's jam (we rented from Sat-Sat), holiday headaches in general, and next week's weather forecast, sooo glad we went last week and not this coming week.
by ti-amie
by MJ2004
by Suliso This really is uniquely American. I've never heard of similar movements in EU. Our extremists are usually ethnic based or religious.
by ti-amieCondo Wreckage Hints at First Signs of Possible Construction Flaw
Engineers studying the collapsed Florida tower said there seemed to be less steel reinforcement in certain areas than would have been expected from the 1979 design drawings.
By James Glanz, Mike Baker and Anjali Singhvi
July 3, 2021
Engineers who have visited or examined photos of the wreckage of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex have been struck by a possible flaw in its construction: Critical places near the base of the building appeared to use less steel reinforcement than called for in the project’s original design drawings.
The observation is the first detail to emerge pointing to a potential problem in the quality of construction of the 13-story condo tower in Surfside, Fla., that collapsed last month, killing at least 24 and leaving up to 121 still unaccounted for.
Reached by phone, Allyn E. Kilsheimer, a forensic engineering expert hired by the town of Surfside to investigate the collapse, said the investigation was still in its early stages. But he confirmed there were signs that the amount of steel used to connect concrete slabs below a parking deck to the building’s vertical columns might be less than what the project’s initial plans specified.
“The bars might not be arranged like the original drawings call for,” Mr. Kilsheimer said in an interview. He said he would need to inspect the rubble more closely to determine whether in fact the slab-to-column connections contained less steel than expected.
R. Shankar Nair, a member of the National Academy of Engineering and former chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, was among the other engineers who reviewed photographs and saw inconsistencies between the design and the steel that remained visible in the columns.
by mmmm8 I've always been freaked out by residential buildings on stilts or with more than one level of parking in the basement. Especially in climates with natural elements a potential factor. I logically understand they've been engineered to work, but just don't believe all circumstances are foreseen and/or there was no human error. This all doesn't help my fears.
by JazzNU Florida Twitter has been talking about the ground in many parts of South Florida being built on a bedrock of porous limestone. With an ocean and sea surrounding it and rising sea levels. Yikes.
Simple mathematics will show that keeping everyone when earning collapse would work only for deep pocketed corporations. Let's have a very simplified example. I alone own a mid size company employing 100 people with an average income of 40k per year and overall per employee cost of business of 75k per year. That would be a total expenditure of 7.5 millions. In an average year we earn 8.5 million leaving about a million for me, say 0.6 million after taxes. Very good life and I could still absorb small fluctuations (10-15%) without downsizing. Now let's consider a pandemic - business collapses by 70%. We only earned 2.5 millions. Let's assume business costs have also decreased to 55k per year, but salaries stay the same. That means we're in a read by 3 million dollars per year or 4.5 million since the beginning of the pandemic. That's 7.5 years of my previous after tax income, no chance of me having that kind of savings. Only possible by going heavy in debt or massive government help.
Note that I deliberately modeled a company with high labor costs and tight margins as would be common in hospitality, entertainment, retail etc. Tech companies earn vastly more per employee, but those were also not that affected by this crisis.
by ponchi101 Sure. Your math is flawless.
But what Miss Peck says about companies treating people like widgets is also true. "We have to answer to our shareholders" will always win.
by Suliso
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:06 pm
But what Miss Peck says about companies treating people like widgets is also true. "We have to answer to our shareholders" will always win.
Yeah, but that applies mostly to 1,000+ employee publicly traded companies.
by JazzNU Product recall just came out, pretty damn urgent given the heat waves we have across the country. Please share this info with your family and friends. Both Tweets have links that list the products clearly, the CNET has photos of the products as well.
by ti-amie
Gee I wonder who wa$ the in$pector who found a gift ba$ket under the table?
by ponchi101 Better for it to collapse now than when the next hurricane hits and the entire root flies off into Georgia.
I said it before. I would not buy real estate in FL now, regardless of the price. Buying DOGECOIN looks safe in comparison.
by ti-amie
by dryrunguy Thanks for posting that, Amie. It grieves me to know that, 6 months from now, some multi-billion dollar company will probably start building an oil pipeline directly over their graves--just because it can and just because it would be massively disrespectful.
by ti-amie
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 7:35 pm
Thanks for posting that, Amie. It grieves me to know that, 6 months from now, some multi-billion dollar company will probably start building an oil pipeline directly over their graves--just because it can and just because it would be massively disrespectful.
I want to disagree but I can't...
by Deuce This made me cry, literally.
It is at once so beautiful, and so tragic.
But I'm still bitter and they are not forgiven for this. This country is so very embarrassing on every level where my ancestors are concerned.
by ti-amie This is why they're trying outlaw teaching of history that doesn't jibe with what they want to think of themselves. There's a long thread on Twitter about what they're doing in Texas. I'll see if I can find it again.
by ti-amie
Here in NYC there's an air quality alert due to the smoke from this fire. The current level is 158 and it's 87 degrees Fahrenheit.
What can "the proper" policies to restrain a violent person can be? Sincerely curious.
Flying keeps getting to be more and more of a nightmare. All the security processes and then, you can still have an a**hole in the plane.
BTW. Why is this only happening in the USA? Or have there been reported instances in other countries.
by dryrunguy It's not an excuse by any stretch of the imagination... But that guy was drunk off his gourd. I mean, well done on both sides.
The saddest part is that he allegedly sexually assaulted two flight attendants. But it's the flight attendants who get it trouble because they taped him to his seat. Now tell me... Who REALLY suffered here?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie I was wondering why Nicole Wallace was sitting in for Rachel. Now It makes a bit of sense. If Rachel wants to play games MSNBC is letting her know its good at it too.
by ponchi101 She is good, but replaceable. Nicole, Stephanie or Joy get the job done equally well.
by ti-amie
Take the insurance money and run thing that happens quite a bit.
by ti-amie This discussion has been going on for a few days on my Twitter TL.
by dmforever
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 8:32 pm
This discussion has been going on for a few days on my Twitter TL.
It never ceases to amaze me just how racist and xenophobic the US is. Most countries see being bi or multi lingual as either an asset or a necessity. Not us.
Also, a nonLatinx person taking Spanish 1 and spitting out "Como estas?" would be lauded by the same people who prohibit Latinx people from actually speaking Spanish.
Sigh.
Kevin
by ponchi101 It cuts both ways. The USA has a clear racist component. But, for example, it does not have an official language, and you can get multiple federal and state documents in a language other than English (you can get your driver's license with a Spanish test in NM, for example). That is different than most countries, where you do have an official language. Most of L. America has Spanish as their official language and, if you want to apply for citizenship (again, an example) the test is in Spanish. if you don't speak the language, you will not be accepted. It is that simple.
The rejection of non-local language speaking people is not a sole American trait. Many, many countries will not accept people to be citizens if they do not speak the local language. The USA, in that aspect, is actually ahead of many other countries.
by dmforever
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:09 pm
It cuts both ways. The USA has a clear racist component. But, for example, it does not have an official language, and you can get multiple federal and state documents in a language other than English (you can get your driver's license with a Spanish test in NM, for example). That is different than most countries, where you do have an official language. Most of L. America has Spanish as their official language and, if you want to apply for citizenship (again, an example) the test is in Spanish. if you don't speak the language, you will not be accepted. It is that simple.
The rejection of non-local language speaking people is not a sole American trait. Many, many countries will not accept people to be citizens if they do not speak the local language. The USA, in that aspect, is actually ahead of many other countries.
Maybe I didn't understand the previous posts. It wasn't about people not speaking English. It's about them not being able to, in addition to speaking English, speak Spanish as well.
Also, when comparing with Latin America, I would say that the better comparison would be with Spanish and Indigenous languages. And yes, that is racist too.
If I've got it wrong, please let me know.
Kevin
by ponchi101 No, we are talking about different facets of a similar issue. You got it right when you see the separation between indigenous people and Spanish speakers in L. America, although that gap is mutual. Many indigenous people don't want to mingle with the rest of society.
by dmforever
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:51 pm
No, we are talking about different facets of a similar issue. You got it right when you see the separation between indigenous people and Spanish speakers in L. America, although that gap is mutual. Many indigenous people don't want to mingle with the rest of society.
My view is that in most situations of dominant cultures, especially where the dominant culture has colonized the country/area/land, it's hard to really judge what the dominated culture/group would want, since they are usually unwelcomed and discriminated against both on an individual level and an institutional level. I'l let you be the judge of Latin America since you are from there.
Kevin
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 19, 2021 9:09 pm
It cuts both ways. The USA has a clear racist component. But, for example, it does not have an official language, and you can get multiple federal and state documents in a language other than English (you can get your driver's license with a Spanish test in NM, for example). That is different than most countries, where you do have an official language. Most of L. America has Spanish as their official language and, if you want to apply for citizenship (again, an example) the test is in Spanish. if you don't speak the language, you will not be accepted. It is that simple.
The rejection of non-local language speaking people is not a sole American trait. Many, many countries will not accept people to be citizens if they do not speak the local language. The USA, in that aspect, is actually ahead of many other countries.
The US Citizenship interviews are in English and test English-language knowledge.
But I do agree there are a lot of provisions in different languages, although primarily driven by states not on the federal level.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Liquid oxygen to treat water?
by skatingfan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 9:37 pm
Liquid oxygen to treat water?
Orlando chooses to purify its water with liquid oxygen since it removes hydrogen sulfide, a gas that can give water a strong scent of rotten eggs.
by ponchi101 Plus, H2S above 100 PPM is poisonous.
But first time I have heard of this.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 11:28 pm
Plus, H2S above 100 PPM is poisonous.
But first time I have heard of this.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had never heard of this. Wow.
by Suliso
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 11:28 pm
Plus, H2S above 100 PPM is poisonous.
But first time I have heard of this.
Yes, but humans can smell it from 1 ppm.
by ponchi101 Oh, sure. I know about it because in the O&G industry, in exploration, H2S is one of our very dangerous conditions. You can smell it at 1 PPM, but above 10 PPM it "kills" your sense of smell and you then believe you are safe when it is the opposite, the concentration is above safe levels. In some locations, and in all wells, personnel carry H2S detectors, in case there is a release and all have to get out.
What I had not heard about was the treatment with liquid oxygen. That was really new to me.
by JazzNU If you're in the Mid-Atlantic or New England, please be prepared for this coming your way. Even if you're not on this map, like my area, but are close enough, you likely have Tropical Storm and Flash Flood warnings due to the torrential rain that is expected from this sustem. Get everything charged and do the rest of your emergency prep ahead of time. Including the more local CT one since it gives a few numbers for a better idea. Stay safe.
by MJ2004 We're waiting for it, the rain should start here around 2am.
by dryrunguy It seems eerily reminiscent of Sandy. Just a little further east. Very scary. Stay safe, MJ, and everyone else.
by MJ2004 The rain started here early this morning. The projections have shifted west, with the storm center to hit Connecticut, RI, Western MA, Long Island. For any TATeurs in those areas, stay safe also!
by JazzNU This is heartbreaking
by ti-amie Such a horrible situation!
by ti-amieTennis instructor accused of flashing Nazi salute at Birmingham schools meeting loses his job
Posted By Steve Neavling on Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 11:22 am
Paul Marcum, who witnesses say flashed a Nazi salute and chanted “Heil Hitler” at a raucous Birmingham Board of Education meeting last week, has lost his job as a tennis instructor at the Sports Club of West Bloomfield.
Marcum worked at the health and fitness club every fall but he won’t be allowed to return this year, the owner tells Metro Times, declining further comment.
Marcum also owns Paul Marcum’s Tennis Service LLC and lives in Bloomfield Hills, according to state records.
Police are investigating Marcum after witnesses said he flashed the Nazi salute and repeated “Heil Hitler” Wednesday evening while a Black woman and Jewish woman were at a podium showing their support for the school district’s new mask mandate.
Police interviewed Marcum at the meeting and later talked with witnesses. Metro Times couldn’t reach police for comment Monday morning.
The meeting turned chaotic as anti-maskers booed and jeered the district’s decision to require students to wear face coverings inside school buildings.
In a letter following the meeting, Superintendent Embekka Roberson notified parents of the Nazi salute and said the district will not tolerate hate.
“Birmingham Public Schools emphatically denounces and will not tolerate any act of racism, disrespect, violence, and/or inequitable treatment of any person, including actions and statements made at Board of Education meetings. It is in situations when people feel strongly about a matter, and emotions run high, that we most need to model appropriate behaviors for our students,” Roberson wrote. “Last night’s meeting did not consistently display the behaviors that we expect from our students and community.”
Both tweets reference the same WSJ article which is paywalled. I wonder where the people are going?
by JazzNU
This Illinois County Is Losing People Faster Than Anywhere in the U.S.
JOHN MCCORMICK AUGUST 25, 2021
The exodus amounted to roughly 3,000 people and lowered the county’s population to 5,240. The declining numbers are putting added pressure on already stressed local government finances and leaving the remaining residents questioning whether there’s any future here. A yearslong plan to revive Cairo’s port may be the area’s last hope.
“There is nothing here for people and the whole downtown is gone,” said Loretta Hilt, 74 years old, a lifelong resident here who commutes to Kentucky to work as a senior center cook. “I hope it can be saved.”
Alexander County is an extreme example of the nation’s general growth pattern over the past decade: Big counties grew as small ones shrank. That was particularly true along the Lower Mississippi River, a swath of fertile land that runs from southeastern Missouri and Illinois downriver through Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. The area has struggled for decades with unemployment, poverty, lower life expectancy and population loss.
Counties like Alexander outside the Chicago metropolitan area contributed to the overall loss of population in Illinois between 2010 and 2020, the first time the state recorded a decline between decennial census counts since joining the union in 1818. Mississippi and West Virginia were the only other two states to lose population.
Eight of the nine counties in the Illinois portion of the Chicago metropolitan area saw population gains between 2010 and 2020, while 86 of the 93 counties in the state outside the nation’s third-largest metro area saw declines.
Once home to about 25,000 at its peak in 1940, Alexander County now has a population only slightly larger than when it was a key Civil War outpost.
Cairo (pronounced KAY-ro) has been the epicenter of the county’s loss. A once bustling river port, the town has suffered for decades from the decline of shipping, coal mining, government and manufacturing jobs.
During the past decade, the town alone shed almost 1,100 residents, a 39% population decline to its current 1,733 people. There is no grocery store or fast-food chains and the only nursing home, one of the town’s larger employers, closed last year.
A decision by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2017 to close two World War II-era public housing complexes in Cairo resulted in the relocation of close to 200 families.
Amid abandoned houses and the charred rubble of former businesses there still are two banks, a couple convenience stores, a car dealership and a liquor store in Cairo. A longtime barbecue joint serves as the town’s sole sit-down restaurant.
Compared with all Illinois counties, Alexander County has the second-lowest median household income—$36,806—and the second-highest poverty rate, 25.3%, the latest Census Bureau estimates show. The county’s unemployment rate in June—the most recent month available—was 9.2%, well above the national average of 5.9% that month.
Numerous other factors have also contributed to the county’s decline. In 2011, months of heavy rain and snowmelt led to some of the worst Mississippi River flooding in nearly a century, resulting in several hundred homes and businesses in the county being vacated. A state prison that employed about 300 workers closed the following year.
Chalen Tatum is one of those whose employment was affected by the prison closure. A lifelong resident of Alexander County, he now commutes about an hour to his maintenance job at another state prison.
“People have been moving out for a long time, searching for jobs,” said Mr. Tatum, who until a few years ago was the chairman of the county board of commissioners.
Residents say the county has also been hurt by its proximity to Missouri and Kentucky, both lower-tax states than Illinois. There is no gas station here in Cairo, they say, because the Illinois gasoline tax is more than double the rate in Kentucky and more than triple what’s charged in Missouri.
Still, Cairo’s location at the fusion of two great rivers is again offering hope.
A plan backed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to spend $40 million in state money for a terminal and other port improvements in the town is offering the potential of about 500 union construction jobs in late 2022 or 2023. Preliminary engineering is under way and the state has released $4 million so far for what would be one of the largest investments in southern Illinois in decades.
Roughly 80% of all inland barge traffic in the U.S. passes Cairo, according to Alexander-Cairo Port District. To the south of here, barges don’t need to pass through lock and dam structure as they do to the north, speeding transit to the Gulf of Mexico and allowing for larger and more efficient loads.
“We’ve just got to figure out a way for some of this money that flows by here to stop here,” said Larry Klein, the port district’s board chairman and a lifelong resident.
The proposed 350-acre port, located near two major interstates and rail lines, would be able to handle up to 350,000 shipping containers a year and millions of tons of agricultural products. Once built, there would be jobs in operations as well as tax-and-fee income for local coffers.
Cairo is close to 400 miles south of Chicago, but less than 170 miles north of Memphis. The city, where Black residents are the majority, was slow to embrace civil rights.
In the 1970s, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found Cairo had failed to end discrimination in public jobs and government agencies. It also determined that little had been done to limit bias in the private sector.
“We don’t have racial strife here, as we did in the Civil Rights era,” said Tyrone Coleman, a former Cairo mayor and president of the local NAACP chapter. “But life has become a struggle because of the lack of the necessities of life.”
The Cairo Public Utility Company, a not-for-profit corporation, has stepped in to fill some of the retail gaps. Besides providing natural gas, electricity and sewage treatment, it also operates a hardware store and lumber yard.
Thomas Simpson, who grew up in Cairo and has been mayor since 2019, said he is optimistic that the town is in a rebuilding stage. The area is rich with history from the Civil War, the civil-rights movement and shipping. He pointed to the renovation of an 1865 mansion he hopes will become a bed-and-breakfast. The house sits on Washington Avenue, a road known as “Millionaire’s Row” when the town boomed with wealth from river and agricultural trade.
This Illinois County Is Losing People Faster Than Anywhere in the U.S.
JOHN MCCORMICK AUGUST 25, 2021
The exodus amounted to roughly 3,000 people and lowered the county’s population to 5,240. The declining numbers are putting added pressure on already stressed local government finances and leaving the remaining residents questioning whether there’s any future here. A yearslong plan to revive Cairo’s port may be the area’s last hope.
“There is nothing here for people and the whole downtown is gone,” said Loretta Hilt, 74 years old, a lifelong resident here who commutes to Kentucky to work as a senior center cook. “I hope it can be saved.”
Alexander County is an extreme example of the nation’s general growth pattern over the past decade: Big counties grew as small ones shrank. That was particularly true along the Lower Mississippi River, a swath of fertile land that runs from southeastern Missouri and Illinois downriver through Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. The area has struggled for decades with unemployment, poverty, lower life expectancy and population loss.
Counties like Alexander outside the Chicago metropolitan area contributed to the overall loss of population in Illinois between 2010 and 2020, the first time the state recorded a decline between decennial census counts since joining the union in 1818. Mississippi and West Virginia were the only other two states to lose population.
Eight of the nine counties in the Illinois portion of the Chicago metropolitan area saw population gains between 2010 and 2020, while 86 of the 93 counties in the state outside the nation’s third-largest metro area saw declines.
Once home to about 25,000 at its peak in 1940, Alexander County now has a population only slightly larger than when it was a key Civil War outpost.
Cairo (pronounced KAY-ro) has been the epicenter of the county’s loss. A once bustling river port, the town has suffered for decades from the decline of shipping, coal mining, government and manufacturing jobs.
During the past decade, the town alone shed almost 1,100 residents, a 39% population decline to its current 1,733 people. There is no grocery store or fast-food chains and the only nursing home, one of the town’s larger employers, closed last year.
A decision by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2017 to close two World War II-era public housing complexes in Cairo resulted in the relocation of close to 200 families.
Amid abandoned houses and the charred rubble of former businesses there still are two banks, a couple convenience stores, a car dealership and a liquor store in Cairo. A longtime barbecue joint serves as the town’s sole sit-down restaurant.
Compared with all Illinois counties, Alexander County has the second-lowest median household income—$36,806—and the second-highest poverty rate, 25.3%, the latest Census Bureau estimates show. The county’s unemployment rate in June—the most recent month available—was 9.2%, well above the national average of 5.9% that month.
Numerous other factors have also contributed to the county’s decline. In 2011, months of heavy rain and snowmelt led to some of the worst Mississippi River flooding in nearly a century, resulting in several hundred homes and businesses in the county being vacated. A state prison that employed about 300 workers closed the following year.
Chalen Tatum is one of those whose employment was affected by the prison closure. A lifelong resident of Alexander County, he now commutes about an hour to his maintenance job at another state prison.
“People have been moving out for a long time, searching for jobs,” said Mr. Tatum, who until a few years ago was the chairman of the county board of commissioners.
Residents say the county has also been hurt by its proximity to Missouri and Kentucky, both lower-tax states than Illinois. There is no gas station here in Cairo, they say, because the Illinois gasoline tax is more than double the rate in Kentucky and more than triple what’s charged in Missouri.
Still, Cairo’s location at the fusion of two great rivers is again offering hope.
A plan backed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to spend $40 million in state money for a terminal and other port improvements in the town is offering the potential of about 500 union construction jobs in late 2022 or 2023. Preliminary engineering is under way and the state has released $4 million so far for what would be one of the largest investments in southern Illinois in decades.
Roughly 80% of all inland barge traffic in the U.S. passes Cairo, according to Alexander-Cairo Port District. To the south of here, barges don’t need to pass through lock and dam structure as they do to the north, speeding transit to the Gulf of Mexico and allowing for larger and more efficient loads.
“We’ve just got to figure out a way for some of this money that flows by here to stop here,” said Larry Klein, the port district’s board chairman and a lifelong resident.
The proposed 350-acre port, located near two major interstates and rail lines, would be able to handle up to 350,000 shipping containers a year and millions of tons of agricultural products. Once built, there would be jobs in operations as well as tax-and-fee income for local coffers.
Cairo is close to 400 miles south of Chicago, but less than 170 miles north of Memphis. The city, where Black residents are the majority, was slow to embrace civil rights.
In the 1970s, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights found Cairo had failed to end discrimination in public jobs and government agencies. It also determined that little had been done to limit bias in the private sector.
“We don’t have racial strife here, as we did in the Civil Rights era,” said Tyrone Coleman, a former Cairo mayor and president of the local NAACP chapter. “But life has become a struggle because of the lack of the necessities of life.”
The Cairo Public Utility Company, a not-for-profit corporation, has stepped in to fill some of the retail gaps. Besides providing natural gas, electricity and sewage treatment, it also operates a hardware store and lumber yard.
Thomas Simpson, who grew up in Cairo and has been mayor since 2019, said he is optimistic that the town is in a rebuilding stage. The area is rich with history from the Civil War, the civil-rights movement and shipping. He pointed to the renovation of an 1865 mansion he hopes will become a bed-and-breakfast. The house sits on Washington Avenue, a road known as “Millionaire’s Row” when the town boomed with wealth from river and agricultural trade.
Thank you. What a sad story.
by JazzNU Because we're apparently not dealing with enough disasters right now
by Suliso That town was mentioned in Tom Sawyer book... Overall I think lousy weather contributed to population loss in Illinois.
by ponchi101 Environmentally and planet wise, smaller towns disappearing is good. It takes less energy and resources to fuel a large city than to fuel many smaller towns with an equivalent population. You also don't have many, many people driving to far away places to get stuff, be it supplies or a job.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 28, 2021 5:35 pm
Environmentally and planet wise, smaller towns disappearing is good. It takes less energy and resources to fuel a large city than to fuel many smaller towns with an equivalent population. You also don't have many, many people driving to far away places to get stuff, be it supplies or a job.
The industrial Mid West is slowly disappearing. The farm belt has become industrialized to the point the small mom & pop farm is barely hanging on. But hey let's keep interviewing the retirees and others who hang out in diners instead of focusing on where these folks are going and what they expect when they get to their new locations.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Suliso I wonder what's the appeal in living in New Orleans these days except if you have deep family roots there.
by dryrunguy
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:56 pm
I wonder what's the appeal in living in New Orleans these days except if you have deep family roots there.
The music and food alone are reason enough. But even then, for me, New Orleans is a wonderful place to VISIT--not live. The two times I've been there, at the end of the visit, I was ready to go home.
by mmmm8
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 6:56 pm
I wonder what's the appeal in living in New Orleans these days except if you have deep family roots there.
A colleague temporarily moved there with some friends for the pandemic. She went to college there so knows it well and I guess it was a cheaper option than NYC with more outdoor stuff year-round. She's been there over a year now.
She evacuated ahead of the storm.
by ti-amie I think people either love New Orleans or hate it. We went for a few days in May a couple of years ago and we loved it to the point that we were talking about purchasing a home for two families. Other people go and as soon as they step off the plane are ready to leave. In the end it's location, in the deep south, calmed us down.
by Suliso I've never been there so I was just wondering. Bad climate, frequent natural disasters, general poverty of the region. Of course I've heard about the food and music too.
by ponchi101 The poverty issue is skewed. Not everybody in N.O. is poor. With the Mississippi draining into the gulf there, there are tremendously important industries there for agricultural trade and exports. Grain elevators and therefore an entire support structure is there. Lots of support and high tech industry for the rigs and oil industry in the gulf. Just a bit above N.O. you also have a lot of oil refineries and related industry.
You could make the same claim about Galveston in TX, and wonder how come people stay there. In the end, for the same reason people always stay someplace: money.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:41 pm
The poverty issue is skewed. Not everybody in N.O. is poor. With the Mississippi draining into the gulf there, there are tremendously important industries there for agricultural trade and exports. Grain elevators and therefore an entire support structure is there. Lots of support and high tech industry for the rigs and oil industry in the gulf. Just a bit above N.O. you also have a lot of oil refineries and related industry.
You could make the same claim about Galveston in TX, and wonder how come people stay there. In the end, for the same reason people always stay someplace: money.
This. Even during our short stay you could see that wealthy people live in the city proper.
by dryrunguy It's funny, suliso. Ever since I saw your question about living in New Orleans, I've been thinking about all of the memories I have of the city. I have been there twice. Both trips revolved around New Year's Eve.
The first time I was single, and parts of that visit are a blur. (New Orleans is a FUN place to be when you are a young single man.) But I loved the French Quarter, the packed streets at night, the packed bars, the food, the music, drunk people passed out on the sidewalk, people and cops getting their pictures taken over drunk people passed out on the sidewalk, the culture, meeting the High Priestess of the Southeastern Voodoo Association and buying a voodoo doll at her shop (a housewarming voodoo doll because I had just moved into a new apartment in D.C.--she refused to sell me the one I really liked because she said I had a vengeful spirit), the beads, etc.
The second time I visited, I was attached. It was an entirely different experience that focused on the food, the music, the vibe of the place, the shopping, the architecture, etc. But still a lot of fun.
Looking back on it now, given the current circumstances, much of this feels highly unattractive.
::
But as you point out, there's also the side of New Orleans stricken with rampant poverty, desperation, crime, and the harsh reality that you literally have nowhere else to go because you have neither the means nor the opportunity. These were the folks who were disproportionally affected by Katrina--and now Ida, almost certainly. These were the folks who lost everything. And many of them were among the bodies we saw floating down the streets as we watched in horror in the days after Katrina.
by Suliso Thanks for all the different perspectives about New Orleans. It's curious that most visits have been in winter. I've spent two summers in Philly and they were ugly enough weather wise, I'd not be looking forward to July in Louisiana.
I think the only person from the state I've ever met is a Nokia engineer originally from Baton Rouge. We met hiking in Georgia. Clearly from a rich family.
by Suliso I meant Georgia, the country by the way
by JazzNU Music and food for sure. But I'm a little surprised no one specifically mentioned the people in New Orleans (and Baton Rouge to a certain extent). The people are wonderful. They have sort of a rare mix of the inclusiveness more common in the Northeast paired with Southern charm and hospitality. They are great and a definite reason many love it there. The Creole/Cajun history and culture has a lot to do with this.
I have several friends from Louisiana, most from New Orleans, and they all went back after leaving for college because they love it there so much, they had other options, they just love it there, and they especially love the spirit of the people there.
I visited in the summer, Philly is child's play in comparison when it comes to heat, but especially humidity, which is straight up stifling in ways I can't properly articulate in NO in the summer. Much worse than Houston, and worse than even Orlando. And you don't see the poverty unless you go to it, if that makes sense. It's not hitting you in the face in many portions of the city.
by ponchi101 People in N.O.
A friend went there (mid 1990's) on business, with some colleagues. One of them losses his phone. Next day, they assume that most likely he lost it in the taxi. What to do? It takes them a while to figure out that if they call the phone, the driver might pick it up. Which he does and explains he had indeed waiting for the call because, after all, he could not tell which rider had dropped it.
So the man walks into the hotel lobby, laughing out loud and in a full voice, yells at them "you guys must be the dumbest M.F. on Earth! You sure are dumb! It took you one full day to figure out to call YOUR OWN PHONE!"
The man was full smiles and did not accept any money or even the taxi fare because he was actually dropping somebody at the same hotel.
I have plenty of more stories in N.O. that are just as nice.
by Suliso I see there are pluses in living there I hadn't considered.
by mmmm8 On the opposite side of the people of New Orleans (and I've met many wonderful people there and overall like the vibe and culture)... the last time I was there, we were doing a Diversity and Inclusion training for a client... the stories of specific as well as systemic discrimination I heard - particularly about the wealthy neighborhoods/suburbs - were really atrocious. Besides the weather, that detail made me never want to spend any serious time in NOLA.
Also, one of our Uber drivers was very, very high.
Do love the food, music, and overall spirit.
by dryrunguy So, the worst of what's left of Ida, which is a lot, is just about behind those of us here in south central Pennsylvania. It's still raining pretty heavy here, but it should finish around 8 p.m., EST.
I've heard at least two large trees fall in the woods behind my house. That's not because of wind--there isn't much. It's because of the soft ground and the fact that mountains are inherently NOT level. I have one small leak in my roof--not a big deal yet. I keep checking my basement. I haven't forgotten what the leftovers of Katrina did to my basement 16 years ago. My pond can take about 1 more foot of water before it will start to overflow at the south end. That happened once before and flooded by neighbors' barn (which is downhill from the south end of the pond). The two drains can't keep up with the combination of rain and water coming down from the mountain. Either that or one or both of the drains are clogged with debris.
But if this is as bad as this storm gets, I'll take it. Fingers crossed.
by ponchi101 Keep us posted. I hope it will not reach any dangerous level.
by ti-amie
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:57 pm
So, the worst of what's left of Ida, which is a lot, is just about behind those of us here in south central Pennsylvania. It's still raining pretty heavy here, but it should finish around 8 p.m., EST.
I've heard at least two large trees fall in the woods behind my house. That's not because of wind--there isn't much. It's because of the soft ground and the fact that mountains are inherently NOT level. I have one small leak in my roof--not a big deal yet. I keep checking my basement. I haven't forgotten what the leftovers of Katrina did to my basement 16 years ago. My pond can take about 1 more foot of water before it will start to overflow at the south end. That happened once before and flooded by neighbors' barn (which is downhill from the south end of the pond). The two drains can't keep up with the combination of rain and water coming down from the mountain. Either that or one or both of the drains are clogged with debris.
But if this is as bad as this storm gets, I'll take it. Fingers crossed.
Be safe.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
Just...wow
by ti-amie
by dryrunguy Oh FFS...
by ti-amie
by dryrunguy
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:57 pm
So, the worst of what's left of Ida, which is a lot, is just about behind those of us here in south central Pennsylvania. It's still raining pretty heavy here, but it should finish around 8 p.m., EST.
I've heard at least two large trees fall in the woods behind my house. That's not because of wind--there isn't much. It's because of the soft ground and the fact that mountains are inherently NOT level. I have one small leak in my roof--not a big deal yet. I keep checking my basement. I haven't forgotten what the leftovers of Katrina did to my basement 16 years ago. My pond can take about 1 more foot of water before it will start to overflow at the south end. That happened once before and flooded by neighbors' barn (which is downhill from the south end of the pond). The two drains can't keep up with the combination of rain and water coming down from the mountain. Either that or one or both of the drains are clogged with debris.
But if this is as bad as this storm gets, I'll take it. Fingers crossed.
We did get some water in the basement. Not a lot. But enough to inconvenience me for a few hours at the end of a work day. The wet-vac was able to get most of it. Now the dehumidifier (2 feet above the floor) is trying to get the rest before mold sets in.
The bad news is, given all the rain we got over the past 24 hours, but mostly about 6-8 hours ago, it'll be a few days before we know if we're in the clear from all the underground water.
I wish we could share some of this rain with the regions that actually need it. We don't.
I wish we could share some of this rain with the regions that actually need it. We don't.
What California, Oregon or Cape Hope would not give for this torrential downpours.
Straight out of the CC forecast of 20 years ago. Everything would be more intense. If a drought, longer, if a hurricane, stronger, if raining, harder.
by ti-amie NYS officials held a presser in the NYC borough of Queens where 8 of the 9 dead were from. They emphasized that going forward everything was going to be more intense just as ponchi phrased it. That borough has never had a good drainage/sewer system and has tons of many times illegal basement apartments in single family homes.
We are still under a flood watch and all non essential travel is being discouraged. What an amazing night.
by ti-amie
by mmmm8
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:56 pm
NYS officials held a presser in the NYC borough of Queens where 8 of the 9 dead were from. They emphasized that going forward everything was going to be more intense just as ponchi phrased it. That borough has never had a good drainage/sewer system and has tons of many times illegal basement apartments in single family homes.
We are still under a flood watch and all non essential travel is being discouraged. What an amazing night.
It was definitely the worst since Sandy yesterday. I think where I was Flushing/College Point in Queens had the worst flooding - water was waist deep. When I got to Manhattan, it was just like a normal rainstorm had passed. I know subway stations got flooded and some of the roadways, etc. But I haven't seen anything about any residential street issues in Manhattan (or the Bronx, to be fair).
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Sep 02, 2021 4:56 pm
NYS officials held a presser in the NYC borough of Queens where 8 of the 9 dead were from. They emphasized that going forward everything was going to be more intense just as ponchi phrased it. That borough has never had a good drainage/sewer system and has tons of many times illegal basement apartments in single family homes.
We are still under a flood watch and all non essential travel is being discouraged. What an amazing night.
It was definitely the worst since Sandy yesterday. I think where I was Flushing/College Point in Queens had the worst flooding - water was waist deep. When I got to Manhattan, it was just like a normal rainstorm had passed. I know subway stations got flooded and some of the roadways, etc. But I haven't seen anything about any residential street issues in Manhattan (or the Bronx, to be fair).
In my neck of the woods the Major Deegan River has reappeared. It's usually an expressway. The still picture shown by the NYTimes is the flooded Deegan Expressway
Reports are Crotona Park in the East Bronx was a lake.
by JazzNU So, I fared well in the storm. If you watch any of the news and see the EF2 that hit in Fort Washington/Upper Dublin? It's the town next to me, an area I'm in several times a week, just a mile or two away. The original town named when they initially spotted and confirmed the tornado is literally 3 blocks away. So, I got lucky in that I only have some flooding in the basement. Typically I'd be annoyed, but I'm feeling mighty lucky and grateful. Exhausted from trying to get all the water out and stressed and weary from the last 36 hours, but otherwise fine and whatever the end result, the house is intact, it has its roof and siding, the huge trees are still standing, and the car is still out front, so even if I end up having to get some new carpet or furniture in the basement, it's comparatively great for this area. So can't complain (but can hate this bitch Ida with a vengeance).
@dry, really great to hear you're okay and the damage to your property appears minimal. Hope everyone else is doing okay as well.
I'll be back around in a couple of days.
by ti-amie George Carlin rant re pro lifers from 1996.
by ponchi101 Carlin stopped being a comedian so early in his career. Yes, he was funny, but almost everything he ever said was true.
by ti-amieFlorida man wearing body armor fatally shoots four people, including an infant in mother's arms, sheriff says
By Gregory Lemos and Eric Levenson, CNN
Updated 2:51 PM ET, Sun September 5, 2021
(CNN)A man outfitted in body armor who described himself as a "survivalist" fatally shot four people, including an infant in their mother's arms, outside Lakeland, Florida, early Sunday morning in what the local sheriff called an "active shooter rampage."
The man then engaged in a firefight with law enforcement officers before he was taken into custody, and he later attempted to take a gun from an officer at a hospital, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
Afterward, deputies found four people dead: a man, a woman and the infant inside the home, and another woman inside a second house on the property, Judd said. An 11-year-old girl had also been shot multiple times and was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital for surgery. Another child, originally reported as missing, was located alive and well, he said.
"This man killed four people this morning, tried to kill our deputies and then gave up," Judd said. The suspect described himself as "a survivalist" and confessed to being on meth, he said.
"He came here for a gun battle," Judd said. "We don't know why."
The quintuple shooting began Saturday evening when a woman called authorities about a suspicious vehicle and said that a man who was parked outside her house told her, "God sent me here to speak with one of your daughters," Judd told reporters on Sunday.
A deputy responded within six minutes and did not find the suspect or the car at the residence, he said.
About nine hours later, at about 4:30 a.m., a deputy two miles away heard two volleys of automatic gunfire. Deputies responded and calls reporting an active shooting began coming in as well, the sheriff said.
On arrival, deputies discovered a truck on fire and heard popping noises in the front yard.
"We saw an individual totally outfitted in body armor and looked as if he was ready to engage us all in an active shooter situation," Judd said. The suspect immediately ran back into the house, he said.
"At that moment in time, we heard another volley and a woman scream and a baby whimper," Judd said.
A lieutenant tried to make entry into the front of the house, but it was barricaded. The lieutenant then went to the back of the house and entered, and the suspect shot at the lieutenant, who returned fire and backed out of the house, Judd said.
At that point, things went silent and the suspect came out with his hands up, Judd said. The suspect, who had been shot once, was taken into custody.
While in custody, he told deputies that he was a "survivalist." The term generally refers to a person who proactively prepares for a post-apocalyptic world.
The suspect was taken to Lakeland Regional Hospital where, at one point, he jumped up and tried to grab an officer's gun, Judd said. He was eventually subdued and is being treated. Judd said the suspect will be booked upon release.
Judd said there were "at least dozens if not hundreds" of rounds fired between the suspect and deputies.
"It was a tough situation and it entailed at least two shootouts in close quarter with the suspect," he said.
Photos posted by the Polk County Sheriff showed the extent of the damage to the home on Sunday morning. A glass door appears completely shattered, two windows and a wall are riddled with bullet holes and a burnt truck sits outside the home.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun Sep 05, 2021 7:05 pm
The man then engaged in a firefight with law enforcement officers before he was taken into custody
Code for WHITE MALE.
by ti-amie
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by dryrunguy It's been 20 years, and I STILL cannot watch the reading of the names. Not even 15 seconds of it.
by ti-amie
All but one former US President made it to this 9/11 memorial. Mr Carter is in frail health and no one expected him to attend.
The other one is commentating a boxing match between two older boxers.
by ti-amie Hillary is so short!
by ponchi101 The demarcation day between the 20th and 21st century.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 11, 2021 6:53 pm
The demarcation day between the 20th and 21st century.
Wow. I've never thought of it like that but you're right.
by ti-amie I should note that standing next to FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden is former Mayor Bloomberg. His companion is the tall woman who's name escapes me then Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Schumer.
by the Moz 3 former missing...Carter Bush Jr & the Donald.
by ponchi101 Also missing: America's major, Giuliani. As he was major of the city then, that is noticeable.
Not that he is being missed, but telling.
by ti-amie
by skatingfan
the Moz wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:36 pm
3 former missing...Carter Bush Jr & the Donald.
Bush Jr. was at the ceremony, just wasn't in that photo.
by ti-amie
the Moz wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:36 pm
3 former missing...Carter Bush Jr & the Donald.
Carter wasn't expected to attend.
Donald had an exhibition boxing match between a 55 year old and a 40 something year old. #priorities
by MJ2004
skatingfan wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:28 pm
Bush Jr. was at the ceremony, just wasn't in that photo.
Would be shocking if he were not.
by Deuce
the Moz wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 2:36 pm
3 former missing...Carter Bush Jr & the Donald.
I'm not a fan of his, but in fairness, Bush did actively participate. He was in Shanksville...
Jimmy Carter is in his mid-90s and in fragile health - certainly a legitimate reason to not participate publicly.
Trump was occupied at a boxing match between two guys who are too old to box...
Sigh...
by Jeff from TX Actually, Trump made an unannounced visit to a fire station and police station (as I am sure that y'all have heard) in NYC on 9/11. He did need something to make sure that he had the spotlight to himself - sharing isn't in his vocabulary.
by dryrunguy
Jeff from TX wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 12:05 am
Actually, Trump made an unannounced visit to a fire station and police station (as I am sure that y'all have heard) in NYC on 9/11. He did need something to make sure that he had the spotlight to himself - sharing isn't in his vocabulary.
And, based on what I've read so far, he basically gave a campaign speech. You know, just because that would be the most disrespectful thing to do under the circumstances.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Imagine someone submitting this as a script for a movie or TV show before all of this became public. Now I bet they're falling over themselves to start production on the movie or limited series show on pay cable. The only character missing is the chippy.
Alex Murdaugh surrenders in alleged suicide-for-hire plot as police launch new probe into housekeeper’s death
Alex Murdaugh, right, is accused of hiring a hit man to shoot him dead so his son could collect a life insurance payout, investigators say. (WCSC)
By
Katie Shepherd and Jessica Lipscomb
Today at 7:36 a.m. EDT
The patriarch of a South Carolina legal dynasty at the center of multiple police investigations turned himself in Thursday to face charges related to insurance fraud.
Richard Alexander “Alex” Murdaugh, a prominent attorney in the Lowcountry region, is accused of hiring a hit man to shoot him dead so his son could collect a $10 million life insurance payout, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The agency also announced on Wednesday that it has opened a separate investigation into the 2018 death of a housekeeper at Murdaugh’s home.
The same agency is investigating the killings of Murdaugh’s wife and son, who were shot to death outside the family’s Islandton, S.C., home in June.
Murdaugh pulled up to the Hampton County Law Enforcement Center on Thursday morning. He is expected to have a court hearing in Hampton County, S.C., on Thursday.
Police said Murdaugh confessed on Monday to “the scheme of having [a hit man] murder him for the purpose of his son collecting a life insurance policy.” Murdaugh had hoped that his surviving son, 25-year-old Buster Murdaugh, would receive $10 million after his death, according to an affidavit.
But the plan went awry, and Murdaugh survived. He called 911 after a bullet grazed his head on Sept. 4, telling police he had been changing a tire on the side of the road when an unknown gunman fired at him from a truck.
SLED arrested 61-year-old Curtis Edward Smith of Walterboro, S.C., on Tuesday and charged him with assisted suicide, assault and battery of a high aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, insurance fraud, and conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Smith was jailed at the Colleton County Detention Center, police said.
“Mr. Smith admitted to being present during the shooting of Mr. Murdaugh and to disposing of the firearm afterwards,” police said in an affidavit.
According to court records, Murdaugh had represented Smith in a 2013 speeding case, the Associated Press reported. Police said Murdaugh provided the gun that Smith used in the Sept. 4 shooting.
Court records do not list an attorney for Smith.
An attorney for Murdaugh said the 53-year-old had struggled with opioid addiction for 20 years, during which time some people “took advantage of his addiction and his ability to pay substantial funds for illegal drugs,” according to a statement shared with The Washington Post on Wednesday.
“One of those individuals took advantage of his mental illness and agreed to take Alex’s life, by shooting him in the head,” Murdaugh’s attorneys said in the statement. “Fortunately, Alex was not killed by the gunshot wound.”
The lawyers added that Murdaugh is cooperating with state investigators.
A series of tragic events involving the Murdaugh family began in 2018, when their longtime housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, died at the home in an apparent slip-and-fall accident. But Satterfield’s death certificate indicated she died of natural causes, and the death was not reported to the local coroner’s office, according to SLED, which added that no autopsy was performed. Her estate later filed a wrongful death claim against Alex Murdaugh and settled for about $500,000, CNN reported.
Then, on Feb. 24, 2019, Murdaugh’s teen son Paul Murdaugh allegedly slammed a boat carrying five friends into a piling near a bridge over Archers Creek. One of the passengers, 19-year-old Mallory Beach, disappeared below the water in the chaos of the crash and was found dead a week later.
Paul Murdaugh faced three felony charges, including boating under the influence causing death, but a trial was never scheduled.
Three generations of Murdaugh men had served as elected prosecutors in South Carolina’s Lowcountry region for 87 consecutive years. The family’s ties to the law enforcement community spurred concerns that the case against Paul Murdaugh had been mishandled. His family said Paul Murdaugh received online death threats after the wreck.
The boating incident also revived questions about the 2015 hit-and-run death of 19-year-old Stephen Smith, who was found dead on a rural road about 10 miles from the Murdaugh family’s home.
According to the Augusta Chronicle, rumors circulated that there was a coverup in the case and that the Murdaughs were allegedly involved. The family denied those accusations, calling them “unfortunate fabrications and unfounded comments,” the newspaper reported.
The most recent string of investigations began June 7, when Alex Murdaugh said he found his wife, 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh, and Paul Murdaugh shot dead outside their home in Islandton. Police have not yet made any arrests or named any suspects in connection with the deaths.
SLED opened in late June an investigation into Stephen Smith’s death “based upon information gathered during the course of the double murder investigation of Paul and Maggie Murdaugh,” a spokesperson told the Augusta Chronicle.
In the aftermath of the death of his wife and son, Alex Murdaugh stepped down from the law firm where he was a partner amid allegations that money had gone missing. A day later, Curtis Edward Smith allegedly shot Murdaugh.
As Murdaugh drove along Old Salkehatchie Road near Varnville, S.C., on Sept. 4, the hired gunman followed close on his trail, according to investigators.
Eventually, police said Murdaugh pulled over, and Smith fired a shot that grazed the attorney’s head, leaving him with a nonfatal wound. Smith drove away from the scene of the shooting and disposed of the gun, police said.
Murdaugh then called 911 and received medical treatment at a nearby hospital before checking into rehab for an unspecified “dependency” issue last week.
“On September 4, it became clear Alex believed that ending his life was his only option,” Murdaugh’s attorneys said. “Today, he knows that’s not true.”
SLED announced on Monday that the agency had opened an investigation into the “misappropriated funds” that Murdaugh allegedly took from the law firm Peters, Murdaugh, Parker, Eltzroth & Detrick, where he was a partner. By Tuesday, police had arrested Smith and allegedly obtained a confession from Murdaugh admitting to the insurance fraud plot.
“Alex is not without fault but he is just one of many whose life has been devastated by opioid addiction,” his attorneys said in a statement.
The most recent development came Wednesday, when SLED announced it was also investigating the death of Satterfield, the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper. The Hampton County coroner requested that the law enforcement agency look into her death amid the other investigations.
“On the death certificate the manner of death was ruled ‘Natural,’ which is inconsistent with injuries sustained in a trip and fall accident,” the coroner’s request said.
WCSC reported that Satterfield’s sons filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Murdaugh and other defendants involved in the settlement, saying the family had yet to receive the money.
Officials expect to make additional charges in the multiple investigations involving the Murdaugh family.
“I continue to urge the public to be patient and let this investigation take its course,” SLED Chief Mark Keel said in a statement Monday. “Investigative decisions we make throughout this case and any potentially related case must ultimately withstand the scrutiny of the criminal justice process.”
by JazzNU Some of this was hinted at last week, the girl's murder, the son's involvement, something suspicious with the dad, but not this soap opera worthy tawdry tale. Clearly they've been working overtime to nail down all those details.
I feel like Y&R or All My would find that a touch too far for their audience. Like guys, we want dramatic and over the top, but this is too much, too far. Like that's some Passions stuff right there.
by ti-amie
JazzNU wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:36 am
Some of this was hinted at last week, the girl's murder, the son's involvement, something suspicious with the dad, but not this soap opera worthy tawdry tale. Clearly they've been working overtime to nail down all those details.
I feel like Y&R or All My would find that a touch too far for their audience. Like guys, we want dramatic and over the top, but this is too much, too far. Like that's some Passions stuff right there.
You don't think they'd do a night time soap on this mess? There was mention that the man who assisted him is one of his dealers.
by ti-amie
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 17, 2021
National healthcare fraud enforcement action results in charges involving more than $1.4 billion in alleged losses
Six defendants, more than $50 million in Southern District of Georgia
WASHINGTON: A strategically coordinated, six-week nationwide federal law enforcement action has resulted in criminal charges against 138 defendants, including 42 doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals, in 31 federal districts across the United States for their alleged participation in various healthcare fraud schemes for more than $1.4 billion in alleged losses.
The enforcement action includes criminal charges against six defendants here in the Southern District of Georgia. The charges announced involve some defendants accused of committing a kickback conspiracy involving cancer genomic testing claims, and other defendants accused of illegal distribution of opioids. The Southern District of Georgia’s announced charges account for more than $50 million in collective billings to federal health benefit programs.
Nationwide, the charges target approximately $1.1 billion in fraud committed using telemedicine, more than $29 million in COVID-19 health care fraud, more than $133 million connected to substance abuse treatment facilities, or “sober homes,” and more than $160 million connected to other health care fraud and illegal opioid distribution schemes across the country.
“The vigilance of our law enforcement partners plays a vital role in identifying illegal healthcare activities throughout the nation and the Southern District of Georgia,” said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “We will continue to hold accountable those who would seek to gain illicit profit by criminally exploiting our nation’s healthcare safety net.”
“This nationwide enforcement action demonstrates that the Criminal Division is at the forefront of the fight against health care fraud and opioid abuse by prosecuting those who have exploited health care benefit programs and their patients for personal gain,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The charges announced today send a clear deterrent message and should leave no doubt about the department’s ongoing commitment to ensuring the safety of patients and the integrity of health care benefit programs, even amid a continued pandemic.”
Today’s enforcement actions were led and coordinated by the Health Care Fraud Unit of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, in conjunction with its Health Care Fraud and Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force program, and its core partners, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), FBI, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), as part of the department’s ongoing efforts to combat the devastating effects of health care fraud and the opioid epidemic. The Southern District of Georgia worked with the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and agents from HHS-OIG, FBI, and DEA in the investigation and prosecution of these cases.
Telemedicine Fraud Cases
The largest amount of alleged fraud loss charged in connection with the cases announced today – more than $1.1 billion in allegedly false and fraudulent claims submitted by 43 criminal defendants in 11 judicial districts nationwide – relates to schemes involving telemedicine: the use of telecommunications technology to provide health care services remotely. In the Southern District of Georgia, two marketers were charged by way of Information relating to their role in a conspiracy that bought and sold cancer genomic (“CGx”) testing for Medicare beneficiaries. Court documents allege that the CGx tests bought in that conspiracy were ultimately billed to Medicare by a series of laboratories for more than $45 million.
The continued focus on prosecuting health care fraud schemes involving telemedicine reflects the success of the nationwide coordinating role of the Fraud Section’s National Rapid Response Strike Force.
“Healthcare crimes hurt every taxpayer and put profits over the care of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “It puts a tremendous strain on our federally-subsidized health care programs. The FBI and our federal partners will hold accountable anyone who usurps healthcare assistance for their personal greed.”
The focus on telemedicine fraud also builds on the telemedicine component of last year’s national takedown and the impact of the 2019 “Operation Brace Yourself” Telemedicine and Durable Medical Equipment Takedown, which resulted in an estimated cost avoidance of more than $1.9 billion in the amount paid by Medicare for orthotic braces in the 20 months following that takedown. The Southern District of Georgia has played a major role in these nationwide schemes, having charged more than 30 defendants responsible for a collective $1.6 billion in billings across Operation Brace Yourself, Operation Double Helix, and Operation Rubber Stamp. The Southern District of Georgia kickback charges announced today are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan A. Porter.
Cases Involving the Illegal Prescription and/or Distribution of Opioids and Cases Involving Traditional Health Care Fraud Schemes
The cases announced today involving the illegal prescription and/or distribution of opioids include 19 defendants, including several charges against medical professionals and others who prescribed more than 12 million doses of opioids and other prescription narcotics while submitting more than $14 million in false billings. The cases that fall into more traditional categories of healthcare fraud include charges against more than 60 defendants who allegedly participated in schemes to submit more than $145 million in false and fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and private insurance companies for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often never provided.
In the Southern District of Georgia, three South Georgia medical professionals were indicted for illegal distribution of opioids and conspiracy to commit health care fraud. The indictment alleges that the charged physician, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant operated a nominal pain clinic that distributed opioids with no legitimate medical purpose. These charges are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew A. Josephson and Bradford C. Patrick.
“The public relies on medical professionals to be part of the solution to our nation’s prescription drug abuse epidemic – not to worsen the problem by distributing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose," said Special Agent in Charge Derrick L. Jackson of HHS-OIG. “Working closely with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to investigate unscrupulous providers who prey on vulnerable members of the public.”
“Medical practitioners who unlawfully dispense dangerous, addictive and potentially deadly substances do so under the guise of a stethoscope and white coat to hide behind a veil of legitimacy. They commit fraudulent acts and prey on patients who are addicted to prescription opioids and are unfit to administer care to anyone,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “DEA and its law enforcement partners stand united and are committed to bringing those to justice who engage in these unlawful acts.”
Prior to the charges announced as part of today’s nationwide enforcement action and since its inception in March 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,600 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for approximately $23 billion. In addition to the criminal actions announced today, CMS, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, announced 28 administrative actions to decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
The National Rapid Response Strike Force also announced prosecutions across the country today regarding $128 million in COVID-19 fraud, cases and nearly $1 billion in fraud cases involving sober homes.
A complaint, information or indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
by ponchi101 Allegedly? What part of that photograph can be seen as allegedly?
6 month, no bail. Otherwise events like this will escalate.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:12 pm
Allegedly? What part of that photograph can be seen as allegedly?
6 month, no bail. Otherwise events like this will escalate.
I understand from a recent report that the amenities offered at Rikers Island are quite nice. They should've been held overnight at the very least.
by ti-amie
Police resume search for Brian Laundrie, boyfriend of missing 22-year-old Gabby Petito
TikTok poster said she and her boyfriend gave Laundrie a ride on Aug. 29.
ByMark Osborne,Meredith Deliso, andBill Hutchinson
19 September 2021, 18:44
A search for Brian Laundrie, the boyfriend of 22-year-old Gabby Petito, resumed on Sunday in a 24,565-acre preserve in Florida as authorities more than 2,300 miles away combed Grand Teton National Park for clues on the whereabouts of the woman who went missing during the couple's cross-country road trip.
North Port, Florida, police said a team of officers picked up the search for Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve north of Laundrie's home in North Port. The search began on Saturday but was suspended overnight due to darkness.
"A team of more than 50 looking for anything of note after his (Laundrie's) parents say this is where he went," North Port police said in a post on Twitter Sunday morning.
Laundrie has been named by police as a "person of interest" in Petito's disappearance. The 23-year-old Laundrie, who returned home more than two weeks ago without Petito and has refused to speak to the police, has not been seen since Tuesday, according to law enforcement officials.
"Be advised that the whereabouts of Brian Laundrie are currently unknown," an attorney for the Laundrie family said Friday. "The FBI is currently at the Laundrie residence removing property to assist in locating Brian. As of now, the FBI is now looking for both Gabby and Brian."
North Port police officers accompanied by FBI agents, drones, K-9 and bloodhounds are involved in the search for Laundrie, police said during a briefing Saturday afternoon. Authorities took clothing from the family home Friday to help canine units, North Port Police spokesperson Josh Taylor said.
Laundrie's family told police on Friday that they last saw him on Tuesday with a backpack and he told them he was going to the massive preserve, which he would frequent for hikes, according to Taylor.
"Our goal is to get answers. We love to be able to find Gabby. And right now we need to find Brian, too. Not only is he missing, but he potentially holds some key information in helping us find Gabby," Taylor told ABC News on Saturday night. "We have to locate him. We're hopeful to bring him in because I think he does have some information that will really lead us to Gabby. And that is the primary objective, to find this little girl."
In response to the news that Laundrie's whereabouts were unknown, a lawyer for the Petito family said in a statement: "All of Gabby's family want the world to know that Brian is not missing, he is hiding. Gabby is missing."
The search for Laundrie is the latest twist in the case that has grabbed national attention as the couple had been traveling across the country since June in Petito's 2012 Ford Transit and documenting the trip on social media. Laundrie returned home in Petito's van to North Port, on Sept. 1 without his girlfriend, according to police.
Petito's parents reported her missing on Sept. 11 after not speaking with her for two weeks.
As the search for Petito continues, FBI Denver said in an update Saturday evening that authorities are "conducting ground surveys" at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. The FBI asked for anyone who saw the couple's white van, with Florida license plate QFTG03, to contact the FBI.
Taylor confirmed that investigators have spoken to Miranda Baker, a college student who posted a TikTok video over the weekend claiming she and her boyfriend picked up Laundrie around 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 as he was hitchhiking alone in the Colter Bay Village area of the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. In the video, Baker said Laundrie offered her and her boyfriend $200 to drive him to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
"He told us he's been camping for multiple days without his fiancee. He did say he had a fiancee and that she was working on their social media page back at their van," Baker said in the video.
She said that during the ride, Laundrie "freaked out" and demanded to be let out of the vehicle.
"He's like, 'Nope, I need to get out right now. You have to pull over,'" Baker said in the video and later in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America."
Baker said she and her boyfriend let Laundrie out near the Jackson Lake Dam a little after 6 p.m. She said Laundrie had a backpack and was dressed in a long-sleeve shirt, pants, hiking boots and had a scruffy beard.
"For someone who was camping for multiple days, he didn't look dirty. He didn't smell dirty," Baker said.
Asked about Baker's purported encounter with Laundrie, Taylor told ABC News on Sunday, "We have spoken to her. Her timeline is plausible."
The FBI specifically said it would like to talk to anyone who was at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area from Aug. 27 to 30 and may have seen the couple or their van. The agency said it would not comment on the specifics of the information in its investigation.
North Port police were also forced to clear up a rumor about finding a body in the Carlton Reserve that spread on social media Saturday, saying it was "completely fake."
MORE: Utah police release body camera image of Gabby Petito after apparent fight with boyfriend
Petito was last seen on Aug. 24 leaving a hotel room in Utah. The next day, she spoke to her mother, Nichole Schmidt, telling her that their next stops would be at Grand Teton and Yellowstone, Schmidt told ABC News.
Schmidt received two text messages from her daughter's phone in the days after speaking to her, but it was unclear whether they were actually sent by Petito.
"Many people are wondering why Mr. Laundrie would not make a statement or speak with law enforcement in the face of Ms. Petito's absence," the attorney representing the Laundrie family, Steven P. Bertolino, said in a statement last week. "In my experience, intimate partners are often the first person law enforcement focuses their attention on in cases like this, and the warning that 'any statement will be used against you' is true, regardless of whether my client had anything to do with Ms. Petito's disappearance. As such, on the advice of counsel, Mr. Laundrie is not speaking on this matter."
The North Port Police Department said Friday afternoon it had entered the family's home, where Brian was believed to be staying, to speak with the family "at their request."
The police later tweeted Friday, "The conversation at the Laundrie home is complete. Once we have the details, a statement will be made. We ask for calm! Please let us work through this and information will be forthcoming."
It was after that tweet that the family lawyer released the statement saying the location of Brian Laundrie was unknown.
"We've been trying to reach the family all week. This is the first time we've had communication with them, and now they're telling us that he's been gone for essentially the last four days," Taylor said in an interview with "Good Morning America" Saturday.
Laundrie's family told police about where he went after becoming "concerned about his whereabouts" and wanted to file a missing person's report, Taylor told reporters Saturday.
Laundrie's car was at the Carlton Reserve but then found again at the family's home, police said. When pressed by reporters as to how the car would have gotten back without a sign of Laundrie, Taylor said, "We are going by [the family's] word."
Bertolino, the Laundrie family attorney, told ABC News the family picked up the car after going out to look for their son.
Bertolino said the family went to the reserve Wednesday to look for him and spotted a note from the North Port Police Department on the car saying it needed to be removed. The family left the car overnight "so he could drive back," the attorney said. When Laundrie didn't come home Thursday morning, the family went back to retrieve the car, according to Bertolino.
People had gathered outside the Laundrie home throughout the day Friday, some with bullhorns, chanting "Where is Gabby?" and calling on Brian Laundrie or the family to talk to authorities. Those people were moved from the lawn to the sidewalk as they chanted toward the house.
Brian's sister, Cassandra Laundrie, spoke to ABC News on Thursday night, saying she had spoken to police about Petito's disappearance but was mostly learning details from the news.
"Obviously, me and my family want Gabby to be found safe," she said. "She is like a sister and my children love her, and all I want is for her to come home safe and sound and this be just a big misunderstanding."
The Grand County Sheriff's Office in Moab, Utah, said last week that Petito and Laundrie did not appear to be connected to the murders of two women at a campground in mid-August. The sheriff's office said on Thursday it had been in contact with Florida authorities about investigating a possible connection to the double murder.
The two women were last seen leaving a bar on Aug. 13, one day after authorities were called about a disagreement between Petito and Laundrie while they were traveling in Moab.
The couple's white van had been pulled over after a witness called police about an altercation between the two at the Arches National Park. Moab police released body camera footage of the couple admitting they had been arguing and that Petito had slapped Laundrie, according to a police report. The couple told police that Laundrie had not hit Petito.
There was "insufficient evidence existed to justify criminal charges," Moab Police Department Chief Bret Edge said in a statement Tuesday.
ABC News' Alondra Valle, Julia Jacobo, Joshua Hoyos and Matt Foster contributed to this report.
by ti-amie When you read about this case and the Murdaugh's in South Carolina how can you say there aren't two criminal justice systems? And then there are small towns.
by ti-amie Either someone in this man's family is law enforcement or the small town police were just incompetent. If I were the Feds I'd be leaning on my militia informants hard.
by ti-amieFBI searches the home of Gabby Petito’s fiance, Brian Laundrie
By
Kim Bellware
Today at 1:31 p.m. EDT
Federal investigators early Monday swarmed the North Point, Fla. home of Brian Laundrie to execute a “court-authorized” search warrant one day after human remains believed to be those of his missing fiancee, Gabrielle “Gabby” Petito, were found in Wyoming.
Laundrie, 23, is considered a person of interest in the disappearance of Petito, 22. Laundrie has not been accused of a crime but refused to cooperate with investigators in the days after Petito’s family reported her missing on Sept. 11.
Early Monday, Laundrie’s parents were seen by local news crews being escorted out of the home briefly before returning inside. Police have been scouring south Florida wetlands for Laundrie, who vanished last week after refusing to help find his fiancee.
Investigators over the weekend searched for Laundrie in the Carlton Reserve, a roughly 25,000-acre prairie and wetlands habitat in southwest Florida’s Sarasota County before suspending the effort Monday. Laundrie has not been seen since Sept. 14, police said.
Petito’s and then Laundrie’s disappearances have captured national attention, particularly on YouTube and Instagram where the couple extensively documented their van-based travels. The engaged couple, originally from New York, departed Long Island in July with plans to camp at national parks across the country before arriving in Portland, Ore., by Halloween.
Laundrie returned from the trip on Sept. 1 without Petito. Her family said they last heard from her in late August when she contacted them via video call from Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Laundrie’s attorney, Steven Bertolino previously said he advised his client against speaking to police. As Petito’s disappearance stretched into weeks, her family issued public pleas for Laundrie and his parents to speak to them or aid the search for Petito.
“We ask you to put yourselves in our shoes,” they said in a letter read by their lawyer, Richard Stafford, at a news conference last week. “We haven’t been able to sleep or eat. And our lives are falling apart.”
On Monday, North Port, Fla. police unfurled crime-scene tape around the Laundrie’s home where unmarked vehicles were parked outside, according to live local news feeds from the busy scene. Interest in the case — as well as tips — have flooded in since Petito’s disappearance and were heightened by her family’s implication that Laundrie was hindering the investigation.
The couple had started to draw followers across social media as they chronicled their cross-country “Van Life journey.” Petito’s Instagram feed is filled with colorful, smiling updates from national parks that occasionally featured Laundrie.
Their story took a turn when video and police reports emerged that undercut the image of a happy couple on a romantic cross-country adventure. On Aug. 12, a witness called 911 to report a “domestic problem” after seeing the couple argue outside a Moab, Utah store.
After Petito went missing, Utah police released body-camera footage of a traffic stop with the couple that occurred the same day as the 911 call. In it, Petito appears distraught and crying. Laundrie said the couple had a “minor scuffle” after Petito got angry at him for entering the van with dirty feet. Police determined Petito was the aggressor who was “slapping at him” and separated the couple for the night, directing Laundrie to a hotel while Petito stayed in the van.
Sunday’s news that the human remains found in Wyoming matched Petito’s description added a tragic new development to the story.
“Full forensic identification has not been completed to confirm 100 percent that we found Gabby, but her family has been notified,” FBI Supervisory Special Agent Charles Jones said Sunday.
Who is the guy on the roof?
Will all Saints games be away now?
by ti-amie The definition of performative legislating.
by ti-amie The TL;dr on this: Watch "Fight Club" again if you haven't already.
‘It’s Become Increasingly Hard for Them to Feel Good About Themselves’
Sept. 22, 2021
By Thomas B. Edsall
Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.
Is there a whole class of men who no longer fit into the social order?
A decade ago, Marianne Bertrand and Jessica Pan, economists at the University of Chicago and the National University of Singapore, concluded in their paper “The Trouble With Boys: Social Influences and the Gender Gap in Disruptive Behavior”:
Family structure is an important correlate of boys’ behavioral deficit. Boys that are raised outside of a traditional family (with two biological parents present) fare especially poorly. For example, the gender gap in externalizing problems when the children are in fifth grade is nearly twice as large for children raised by single mothers compared to children raised in traditional families. By eighth grade, the gender gap in school suspension is close to 25 percentage points among children raised by single mothers, while only 10 percentage points among children in intact families. Boys raised by teenage mothers also appear to be much more likely to act out.
Bertrand and Pan focus on the crucial role of noncognitive skills, on how “factors such as study habits, industriousness and perseverance matter as much as cognitive skills in explaining occupational achievement.” Noncognitive skills, they write, “are not fixed but are in fact quite malleable, and can be shaped by early intervention programs.”
The effects on boys of being raised in a single-parent household are particularly acute in the development of noncognitive skills, according to Bertrand and Pan:
Most striking are our findings regarding gender differences in the noncognitive returns to parental inputs. Across all family structures, we observe that boys’ likelihood to act out is sharply reduced when faced with larger and better parental inputs. For girls, the relationship between parental inputs and behavioral outcomes appear to be much weaker. As these parental inputs are typically higher and of better quality in intact families, this largely contributes to why boys with single mothers are so much more disruptive and eventually face school suspension.
There are a number of research projects that illuminate the ongoing controversy on the subject of men and their role in contemporary America.
First, an excerpt from a 2016 paper by David Autor, an economist at M.I.T., and four colleagues:
In the United States in 2016, the female high school graduation rate exceeded the male rate by five percentage points, and the female college graduation rate exceeded the male rate by seven percentage points. What explains these gender gaps in educational attainment? Recent evidence indicates that boys and girls are differently affected by the quantity and quality of inputs received in childhood.
Second, part of a 2015 paper by Francesca Gino, Caroline Ashley Wilmuth and Alison Wood Brooks, who were all at the Harvard Business School at the time of writing:
We find that, compared to men, women have a higher number of life goals, place less importance on power-related goals, associate more negative outcomes (e.g., time constraints and trade-offs) with high-power positions, perceive power as less desirable, and are less likely to take advantage of opportunities for professional advancement.
Third, a passage from an article by Colleen Flaherty, a reporter at Inside Higher Ed:
The study suggests that men are overrepresented in elite Ph.D. programs, especially in those fields heavy on math skills, making for segregation by discipline and prestige.
And fourth, a quote from a 2013 paper, “Wayward Sons: The Emerging Gender Gap in Labor Markets and Education,” by Autor and Melanie Wasserman, an economist at U.C.L.A.:
Although a significant minority of males continues to reach the highest echelons of achievement in education and labor markets, the median male is moving in the opposite direction. Over the last three decades, the labor market trajectory of males in the U.S. has turned downward along four dimensions: skills acquisition; employment rates; occupational stature; and real wage levels.
I sent the four references above to Arlie Hochschild, a professor of sociology at Berkeley and the author of “Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right,” for her views. She emailed back:
Since the 1970s offshoring and automation have hit blue collar men especially hard. Oil, coal — automating, manufacturing, off-shorting, and truck-driving about to go down. Non-B.A. males are in an especially vulnerable place. I saw it in Louisiana, and again where I’m interviewing in Appalachia. It’s become increasingly hard for them to feel good about themselves.
In a 2018 essay in The New York Review of Books, “Male Trouble,” Hochschild described the predicament of less well educated men:
Compared to women, a shrinking proportion of men are earning B.A.s, even though more jobs than ever require a college degree, including many entry-level positions that used to require only a high school diploma. Among men between twenty-five and thirty-four, 30 percent now have a B.A. or more, while 38 percent of women in that age range do. The cost of this disadvantage has only grown with time: of the new jobs created between the end of the recession and 2016, 73 percent went to candidates with a B.A. or more. A shrinking proportion of men are even counted as part of the labor force; between 1970 and 2010, the percentage of adult men in a job or looking for work dropped from 80 to 70 while that of adult women rose from 43 to 58. Most of the men slipping out lack B.A.s.
While many of the men Hochschild writes about see a future of diminished, if not disappearing, prospects, men in elite professions continue to dominate the ranks of chief executives, top politicians and the highest-paying professorships.
Frances E. Jensen, chair of the department of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, taking a different tack, argues that boys’ brains mature more slowly than girls’ brains do, a difference that is particularly striking in the adolescent years. In a 2017 interview with the School Superintendents Association, Jensen stressed the crucial role the still maturing brain plays in the lives of teenagers:
Teens go through a period of increased emotional fluctuation and are like a Ferrari with weak brakes. The emotional center of the brain, the limbic system, which controls emotions, is fully connected, but the frontal lobe that sharpens critical thinking isn’t well-connected. That means the part of the brain that makes them pause and say to themselves, “Bad idea. Don’t post that on Facebook because it might hurt my chances of getting a job in the future” or “Don’t jump in the lake, there may be a rock,” isn’t mature.
The brain also becomes more efficient, Jensen said,
during a process called myelination. This is when a fatty substance called myelin grows slowly and wraps itself around miles of brain cells to better insulate them. Insulation makes the brain more efficient at sending and receiving signals. Myelination is a slow process that finishes in the mid-20s. Our brains have thousands of miles of networks and to insulate all of them with myelin takes over two and a half decades to finish.
Using M.R.I. images, Jensen continued,
you can actually see the brain is laying down a layer of myelin over time when looked at year over year. You can measure those layers and see a dynamic process where the insulation is sharpening the rapidity of our signaling from one part of our brain to another.
And then she added a crucial point:
In adolescence, on average girls are more developed by about two to three years in terms of the peak of their synapses and in their connectivity processes.
A major 2015 study, “The Emergence of Sex Differences in Personality Traits in Early Adolescence: A Cross-Sectional, Cross-Cultural Study,” on which Marleen De Bolle, then of Ghent University, was the lead author — with contributions from 48 additional scholars — described some of the consequences of differing rates of maturity and development:
Our findings demonstrate that adolescent girls consistently score higher than boys on personality traits that are found to facilitate academic achievement, at least within the current school climate. Stated differently, the current school environment or climate might be in general more attuned to feminine-typed personalities, which make it — in general — easier for girls to achieve better grades at school.
What are some of the other factors contributing to the differing academic performance of boys and girls?
In a 2019 paper, “Family Disadvantage and the Gender Gap in Behavioral and Educational Outcomes,” Autor and Wasserman, along with David Figlio, Krzysztof Karbownik and Jeffrey Roth, conclude that:
Family disadvantage disproportionately negatively affects the behavioral and academic outcomes of school-age boys relative to girls. The differential effect of family disadvantage on the outcomes of boys relative to girls is already evident by the time of kindergarten entry, is further manifested in behavioral and educational gaps in elementary and middle school performance, and crystallizes into sharp differences in high school graduations by age 18.
“Parental investments in boys versus girls,” they write,
differ systematically according to family disadvantage. For example, parents in low-SES households, which are disproportionately female-headed, may spend relatively more time mentoring and interacting with daughters than sons.
In an email, Autor wrote that the downward trajectory of boys and men from single-parent homes should not mask the continuation of a very different trend at elite levels:
Even as one laments boys falling behind, one should not for a moment think that all is well with women’s status in higher education or the professions. In terms of major fields, fast-track careers, leadership positions, and prestigious branches of high-paid specialties, women are still not close to parity.
The consequences are depressing:
The stagnation of male educational attainment bodes ill for the well-being of recent cohorts of U.S. males, particularly minorities and those from low-income households. Recent cohorts of males are likely to face diminished employment and earnings opportunities and other attendant maladies, including poorer health, higher probability of incarceration, and generally lower life satisfaction.
I am quoting at greater length than usual from Autor and Wasserman because they have done the most thorough job of bringing meticulously compiled and compelling evidence to bear on male disadvantage. They warn that “a vicious cycle” may be emerging, “with the poor economic prospects of less-educated males creating differentially large disadvantages for their sons, thus potentially reinforcing the development of the gender gap in the next generation.”
With the onset of
lower marriage rates of less-educated males, their children face comparatively low odds of living in economically secure households with two parents present. Unsurprisingly, children born into such households also face poorer educational and earnings prospects over the long term. Even more concerning is that male children born into low-income, single-parent-headed households — which in the vast majority of cases are female-headed households — appear to fare particularly poorly on numerous social and educational outcomes.
There are other forces driving the vicious cycle, Autor and Wasserman write:
A growing body of evidence supports the hypothesis that the erosion of labor market opportunities for low-skill workers in general — and non-college males in particular — has catalyzed a fall in employment and earnings among less-educated males and a decline in the marriage rates of less-educated males and females. These developments in turn diminish family stability, reduce household financial resources, and subtract from the stock of parental time and attention that should play a critical role in fomenting the educational achievement and economic advancement of the next generation.
Why are boys falling farther behind than their sisters? Autor and Wasserman reply:
The absence of stable fathers from children’s lives has particularly significant adverse consequences for boys’ psychosocial development and educational achievement.
More specifically:
On a wide variety of self-control, acting-out, and disciplinary measures (including eighth-grade suspension), the gap between boys and girls is substantially greater for children reared in single-mother-headed households than in households with two biological parents.
Another reflection of this pattern, according to Autor and Wasserman, “is the growing divergence in high school girls’ and boys’ expectations of obtaining a four-year college degree.” Among cohorts of high school seniors interviewed between 1976 and 2006, “a gap opens between boys’ and girls’ expectations for B.A. attainment starting in the early 1980s and cumulates thereafter.” They add that “growing up in a single-parent home appears to significantly decrease the probability of college attendance for boys, yet has no similar effect for girls.”
It is not just fatherlessness, the two economists write. A key factor is that single parents — disproportionately female — are “more limited in the amount of time they can devote to child care activities.” If, then, “boys are more responsive to parental inputs (or the absence thereof) than are girls, it is possible that the gender gradient in behavioral and academic development could be magnified in single-parent households.” They cite a study demonstrating that single mothers “report feeling more emotionally distant from their sons and engage in disciplinary action such as spanking more frequently with their sons. These disparities in parenting are largely absent from dual-parent homes.”
Adam Enders, a professor of political science at the University of Louisville, sees the troubles of young white men in particular as an outcome of their partisan resentments.
“My take is that lower-class white males likely have lower trust in institutions of higher education over time. This bears out in the aggregate,” he wrote, citing a Pew Research Survey.
Part of the reason for this — at least among some conservative males — is the perception that colleges are tools for leftist indoctrination — a perception increasingly fueled by the right, including top Republican and conservative leaders. Indeed, there is a hefty split between Democrats and Republicans in their orientations toward the education system. Republicans became more negative than positive about education since around 2016.
Shelly Lundberg, a professor of economics at the University of California-Santa Barbara, does not dispute the data showing large gender differences in educational outcomes, but she has a different take on the underlying causes, focusing on “the concept of fragile or precarious masculinity, in which manhood (unlike womanhood) is seen as a social state that requires continual proof and validation.”
In a 2020 article, “Educational Gender Gaps,” Lundberg argues:
Social and cultural forces linked to gender identity are important drivers of educational goals and performance. A peer-driven search for masculine identity drives some boys toward risk-taking and noncompliance with school demands that hampers school achievement, relative to girls. Aspirations are linked to social identities — what you want and expect depends on who you think you are — and profound differences in the norms defining masculinity and femininity create a gender gap in educational trajectories.
Lundberg’s position that different norms define masculinity and femininity, Enders’s political take and the argument of Autor and other scholars that boys suffer more than girls in dysfunctional homes are most likely more complementary than conflicting.
The bigger question is how the country should deal with the legions of left-behind men, often angry at the cataclysmic social changes, including family breakdown, that have obliterated much that was familiar. In 2020, white men voted for Donald Trump 61 percent to 38 percent. Many of these men have now become the frontline troops in a reactionary political movement that has launched an assault on democracy. What’s next?
by ponchi101 Excellent article.
I would like to see a similar study in India and China, where, as we know, there is a gender gap in ACTUAL gender presence. i.e. we know there are more men than women in those countries due to millions of abortions performed either by cultural choice or China's "one child" policy. I would not even venture what the study would say.
---o---
Need to read this again before I can even start thinking of questions.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
Gabby Petito case shines spotlight on missing people of color, including Jelani Day, Maya Millete
NEW YORK -- The saga of 22-year-old Gabby Petito's disappearance and likely murder has ignited a rallying cry for more attention on other missing persons cases, especially those involving Black, Indigenous and other people of color.
Petito went missing while on a cross-country road trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie, and her body was found over the weekend near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Police named Laundrie a person of interest and on Friday, announced that his whereabouts were unknown.
Her disappearance dominated news headlines and mobilized a legion of social media users, with the hashtag #FindGabbyPetito gaining over 700 million views on TikTok.
Many have become internet sleuths and are sharing theories along with speculations about possible sightings and tips.
Users have delved into Petito's Spotify music playlists, Laundrie's reading habits and the couple's digitally bookmarked trails. A TikTok user reported having picked up Laundrie hitchhiking. On the other hand, some users have spread misinformation, reporting potential sightings of Petito and Laundrie that turned out to be wrong.
"Psychologically, people just felt very close to her because of social media," Michael Alcazar, John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor and retired New York Police Department detective told "Good Morning America."
Yet Petito is just one of many reported missing in the United States. By December 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported more than 89,000 active missing persons cases, with 45% involving people of color.
Petito's coverage has renewed debate about which cases garner national attention and the media's seeming infatuation with missing young white women. In the same state where Petito was found, at least 710 Native Americans were reported missing between 2011 and late 2020.
"There are a lot of women of color, and especially immigrants, this happens to all the time, and we never hear about it," said Alex Piquero, a criminologist at the University of Miami.
It's also sparked call to action to help bring others home, like Daniel Robinson, a 24-year-old geologist who went missing in the desert outside of Buckeye, Arizona, last June.
His Jeep was found mangled July 19 about 4 miles from where he was last seen..
"Investigators are utilizing every resource possible to locate him including assistance from partner agencies and information provided by the public," Buckeye Police Department said in a statement.
Robinson's family has organized searches in the desert heat.
"I thank God for all the volunteers who left house every morning, in the mornings and spend time out there in the desert," David Robinson said.
The families of Maya Millete and Jelani Day are also waiting for answers.
Millete, a mother of three, has been missing for over nine months. The 39-year-old was last seen at her family home in Chula Vista, California, near San Diego.
Day, a 25-year-old graduate student at Illinois State University, was last seen Aug. 24 in Bloomington, Illinois.
His car was found a day later in a wooded area about 60 miles away near Peru, about 60 miles north of Bloomington.
Five weeks later, his family is still searching for answers. Day's mother, Carmen Bolden Day, said it's not like him to disappear without telling someone about his whereabouts.
"Jelani is a sweetheart ... I shouldn't have to beg. I shouldn't have to plead. I shouldn't have to feel that there is a racial disparity, I shouldn't have to feel anything like that, I want these people that have these resources to realize this this could happen to them," she said.
She said her son wants to become a doctor and he was attending Illinois State to get his master's degree in speech pathology.
"I need him to come home so that he could continue his journey of becoming Dr. Jelani Day," she said.
Bloomington police said Monday they need tips from the public to aid the ongoing search for Day.
"What we want is any factual tip, even as simple as, 'Hey, you know, we saw him walking last month on the quad' or something. That would be a good tip," said John Fermon, a public information officer for the Bloomington Police Department.
Just an FYI if you're not familiar enough with LA, but I had to double check if this was a recent story. Cause this ish? Not new. LAPD and LASD (LA County Sheriff's Department), corrupt and pulling BS of all kinds since WAY back.
Just an FYI if you're not familiar enough with LA, but I had to double check if this was a recent story. Cause this ish? Not new. LAPD and LASD (LA County Sheriff's Department), corrupt and pulling BS of all kinds since WAY back.
I did the same thing. It makes me wonder what is about to become public.
Truly unbelievable. In the article I read it said "he'd have already been released long ago with no conditions if the person he tried to kill wasn't Ronald Reagan." AND? The person he tried to kill WAS the President. WTF is going on with all this leniency and warm feelings toward (attempted) murderers lately?
by ponchi101 Attempted murder. He did 40 years. That was his sentence.
He should not have been released? If so, he should have been sentenced to life. But he wasn't.
by JazzNU
ARLINGTON, VA—Hopeful that the ruling would set a new precedent for such cases, advocates hailed John Hinckley’s unconditional release Monday for ending the stigma against trying to kill the president. “Presidential assassins and would-be assassins have been treated as second-class citizens in this country for centuries,” said National Alliance on Mental Illness spokesperson Katherine Schee, who applauded the federal judge’s decision to grant the man who wounded Ronald Reagan his freedom as an incredible victory for aspiring president shooters everywhere. “It’s heartbreaking to think about all of the young men and women over the decades who probably ideated about killing sitting presidents like Gerald Ford or Bill Clinton, but felt too scared or embarrassed to even try. Just look at the reprehensible way people treated John Wilkes Booth.” At press time, Schee added that the next step forward was decriminalizing presidential assassination.
ARLINGTON, VA—Hopeful that the ruling would set a new precedent for such cases, advocates hailed John Hinckley’s unconditional release Monday for ending the stigma against trying to kill the president. “Presidential assassins and would-be assassins have been treated as second-class citizens in this country for centuries,” said National Alliance on Mental Illness spokesperson Katherine Schee, who applauded the federal judge’s decision to grant the man who wounded Ronald Reagan his freedom as an incredible victory for aspiring president shooters everywhere. “It’s heartbreaking to think about all of the young men and women over the decades who probably ideated about killing sitting presidents like Gerald Ford or Bill Clinton, but felt too scared or embarrassed to even try. Just look at the reprehensible way people treated John Wilkes Booth.” At press time, Schee added that the next step forward was decriminalizing presidential assassination.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Sep 28, 2021 9:35 pm
Did they let Sirhan go? I can't keep up.
For real. Still debating. After the initial stories, it became clear the Kennedys that supported parole were not speaking for the whole family, and other Kennedys, including Robert's widow, came out in strong opposition.
by ponchi101 Serious here.
A bit above I wrote that the man did his time. That was what the legal system imposed on him, and you can't have a system which, 40 years later, re-assesses your sentence. "Sorry, Mr. Hinckley*. We have decided that the judge 40 years ago was too lenient. We are imposing 20 more, just to be on the safe side".
My question: should the position of the person killed or attempted to be killed affect that outcome and sentencing? I remember people saying that Mark David Chapman SHOULD NOT be released from prison because he had killed Lennon, implying the crime was more heinous because of Lennon's persona.
Off Topic
* A man clearly showing signs of deep, deep mental issues.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Sure. What is an office is also a question that perennially unemployed people may ask.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amieFBI raids Sergeants Benevolent Association headquarters, union chief Ed Mullins' home
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- FBI agents raided the Manhattan headquarters of the NYPD's Sergeants Benevolent Association and the Long Island home of union chief Ed Mullins Tuesday.
No arrests were immediately made, a law enforcement official told ABC News,
"We are at the SBA office conducting activity connected to a law enforcement investigation," an FBI spokesman said.
The spokesman declined to detail the investigation, and a spokesman for the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
Mullins, who lives in Port Washington, (Long Island) has been a vociferous critic of Mayor Bill de Blasio and once used an expletive to describe the city's former health commissioner after she clashed with police over the distribution of masks.
"It's much to soon to give you a meaningful comment," de Blasio said. "I literally got handed a note in the last 10 minutes or so. All I've been told is, 'The FBI has raided the SBA headquarters and it's in connection with an ongoing investigation,' but we don't have any further detail in that at this moment."
by ti-amiePuerto Rico’s power grid in ‘critical condition,’ officials fear complete collapse
The situation has alarmed members of Congress who are concerned this may be the prologue to a complete collapse of the grid in the near future.
People walk in a street left in darkness by a power outage following a cyberattack in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 10. Ricardo Arduengo / AFP - Getty Images file
Oct. 7, 2021, 3:32 PM EDT / Updated Oct. 7, 2021, 5:43 PM EDT
By Nicole Acevedo
Puerto Rico is in the process of declaring a state of emergency due to the "critical condition" of its generating power plants.
The declaration would help speed up "the acquisition of essential goods and services required to fix their generation units," Josué Colón, director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, said in a statement Wednesday evening.
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority is not the only entity in charge of providing the U.S. territory's power supply.
Luma, a private company, has been in charge of the transmission and distribution of electricity on the island since June, while the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, a public corporation, continues to be in charge of controlling power generation units.
Since the power grid’s partial privatization, hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans on the island have been subjected to constant blackouts. They've also experienced longer service restoration times, poor customer service and voltage fluctuations that often damage appliances and other home electronics.
The situation has alarmed members of Congress who are concerned that Puerto Rico's extreme power supply instability may be the prologue to a complete collapse of the grid in the near future.
On Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee hosted a congressional oversight hearing to examine the status of Puerto Rico’s electric network and its partial privatization.
During the hearing, when lawmakers asked if Puerto Rico's power system is nearing a complete collapse, officials in charge of Luma and the power authority answered with caution, describing the system's condition as "critical."
"The system was repaired after the hurricane, but not restored," Colón said about how the power authority has struggled with blackouts since Hurricane Maria decimated the island’s antiquated electric grid in 2017 — triggering the world’s second-longest blackout.
Wayne Stensby, Luma’s chief executive officer, said scheduled power supply interruptions and load-shedding to avoid excessive load on power-generating plants have helped avoid a collapse.
“That’s why it’s so critical that we continue on with repairs on generation and repairs and restoration on transmission,” Stensby said.
More than $11 billion in federal funds have been approved by Congress to upgrade Puerto Rico's power system, but no money has been disbursed yet pending further approval of specific projects that would help accomplish such goal.
The outages have increasingly outraged Puerto Rican residents fed up with their access to expensive and unreliable electricity. Protests have begun to take place on the island since Puerto Ricans saw a fourth increase in their electric bill this year, even though they already pay twice as much as mainland U.S. power customers.
More protests are scheduled for Friday and Oct. 15, when the coalition Todos Somos Pueblo is planning to block Expreso Las Américas, Puerto Rico’s busiest highway.
The congressional oversight hearing also examined the state of Puerto Rico's transition toward renewable energy as required by a local government law stating that the island must get 40 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2025 and be fully reliant on renewable energy by 2050.
Less than 3 percent of Puerto Rico's electricity currently comes from renewable energy sources.
Fernando Gil-Enseñat, head of the power authority's governing board, said that while they're trying their best to achieve such renewable energy targets, "the grid as it is right now isn't as efficient" because it's "designed to provide energy, not to receive it" — a factor that complicates their ability to integrate renewable energy sources.
Colón added, "Any modernization that can be accomplished to the actual fleet with technology that uses natural gas is going to help the system handle better the introduction of new renewable energy sources."
by ti-amie Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, October 10, 2021
Maryland Nuclear Engineer and Spouse Arrested on Espionage-Related Charges
Jonathan and Diana Toebbe, both of Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested in Jefferson County, West Virginia, by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) on Saturday, Oct. 9. They will have their initial appearances on Tuesday, Oct. 12, in federal court in Martinsburg, West Virginia. For almost a year, Jonathan Toebbe, 42, aided by his wife, Diana, 45, sold information known as Restricted Data concerning the design of nuclear-powered warships to a person they believed was a representative of a foreign power. In actuality, that person was an undercover FBI agent. The Toebbes have been charged in a criminal complaint alleging violations of the Atomic Energy Act.
“The complaint charges a plot to transmit information relating to the design of our nuclear submarines to a foreign nation,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The work of the FBI, Department of Justice prosecutors, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Energy was critical in thwarting the plot charged in the complaint and taking this first step in bringing the perpetrators to justice.”
Jonathan Toebbe is an employee of the Department of the Navy who served as a nuclear engineer and was assigned to the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, also known as Naval Reactors. He held an active national security clearance through the U.S. Department of Defense, giving him access to Restricted Data. Toebbe worked with and had access to information concerning naval nuclear propulsion including information related to military sensitive design elements, operating parameters and performance characteristics of the reactors for nuclear powered warships.
The complaint affidavit alleges that on April 1, 2020, Jonathan Toebbe sent a package to a foreign government, listing a return address in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, containing a sample of Restricted Data and instructions for establishing a covert relationship to purchase additional Restricted Data. The affidavit also alleges that, thereafter, Toebbe began corresponding via encrypted email with an individual whom he believed to be a representative of the foreign government. The individual was really an undercover FBI agent. Jonathan Toebbe continued this correspondence for several months, which led to an agreement to sell Restricted Data in exchange for thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
On June 8, 2021, the undercover agent sent $10,000 in cryptocurrency to Jonathan Toebbe as “good faith” payment. Shortly afterwards, on June 26, Jonathan and Diana Toebbe traveled to a location in West Virginia. There, with Diana Toebbe acting as a lookout, Jonathan Toebbe placed an SD card concealed within half a peanut butter sandwich at a pre-arranged “dead drop” location. After retrieving the SD card, the undercover agent sent Jonathan Toebbe a $20,000 cryptocurrency payment. In return, Jonathan Toebbe emailed the undercover agent a decryption key for the SD Card. A review of the SD card revealed that it contained Restricted Data related to submarine nuclear reactors. On Aug. 28, Jonathan Toebbe made another “dead drop” of an SD card in eastern Virginia, this time concealing the card in a chewing gum package. After making a payment to Toebbe of $70,000 in cryptocurrency, the FBI received a decryption key for the card. It, too, contained Restricted Data related to submarine nuclear reactors. The FBI arrested Jonathan and Diana Toebbe on Oct. 9, after he placed yet another SD card at a pre-arranged “dead drop” at a second location in West Virginia.
Trial Attorneys Matthew J. McKenzie and S. Derek Shugert of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jarod J. Douglas and Lara Omps-Botteicher of the Northern District of West Virginia, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Lieber Smolar for the Western District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The FBI and the NCIS are investigating the case.
A complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
by ponchi101 You are smart enough to work as a nuclear submarine engineer. But you are not smart enough to figure this one out?
Some people really have split personalities.
by ti-amie
by ti-amieUnsolved Murdaugh Murders Expose Years of South Carolina Mysteries
Alex Murdaugh, the powerful lawyer who asked a handyman to kill him, had a spectacular fall from grace. Five people in his family’s orbit have died in recent years, and investigators are looking for connections.
By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Richard Fausset
Oct. 12, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
“I want you to shoot me in the back of the head,” Curtis Edward Smith recalled Mr. Murdaugh telling him. He said Mr. Murdaugh had a loaded gun in his hand.Credit...Travis Dove for The New York Times
HAMPTON, S.C. — Curtis Edward Smith, a handyman and former logger, had done his share of odd jobs over the years for Alex Murdaugh, a lawyer and scion of one of the most powerful legal families in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
But Mr. Smith said he was reluctant to do the last job Mr. Murdaugh asked for when the two men met at the side of a rural road one Saturday in September.
“I want you to shoot me in the back of the head,” Mr. Smith recalled Mr. Murdaugh telling him. He said Mr. Murdaugh had a loaded gun in his hand.
The unsettling tale grew stranger still when, 10 days later, state law enforcement agents arrested Mr. Smith, 61, accusing him of collaborating with Mr. Murdaugh in a botched scheme to kill him. Mr. Murdaugh hatched the plan to make his death look like a murder, the police said, in the hope that his elder son would receive a $10 million life insurance payment at a time when Mr. Murdaugh’s life was unraveling in spectacular fashion.
That unraveling is now at the center of a sprawling saga of mysterious deaths — including the unsolved killing of Mr. Murdaugh’s wife and younger son — and allegations of multimillion-dollar swindles and abuses of trust and power. The drama has sent a shock through South Carolina, where Alex Murdaugh and his family have dominated the legal profession in a rural swath of the state for more than a century.
It is rare for the personal travails of one small-town lawyer to resonate so broadly. But Mr. Murdaugh, 53, was for years a well-connected player in the clubby South Carolina legal world; the family law firm, based in the tiny city of Hampton, has long been considered a powerhouse on the state plaintiff’s bar.
In recent weeks, a dizzying series of criminal investigations and civil lawsuits has emerged, accusing Mr. Murdaugh of betraying friends, colleagues and clients. The police have opened previously closed cases, including one involving the death of a former classmate of Mr. Murdaugh’s son and another involving a housekeeper who had long been thought to have fatally tripped and fallen on the front steps of the Murdaugh family’s home
They are also looking at allegations that Mr. Murdaugh stole millions of dollars from his law firm and millions more from a settlement intended for the housekeeper’s children.
“Where does it stop?” said John P. Freeman, an emeritus professor of law and ethics at the University of South Carolina. “You can’t talk to anybody in South Carolina who isn’t talking about this case and is not just astonished by what’s going on.”
Mr. Murdaugh, through his lawyers, has insisted that he had nothing to do with the fatal shootings in June of his wife, Margaret, 52, and their younger son, Paul, 22, whose bodies he discovered on the family’s 1,700-acre hunting estate. Last month, however, he was arrested on charges related to the faked suicide attempt. Before admitting to the scheme, Mr. Murdaugh had claimed that a stranger shot him as he stopped to change a tire, with the bullet skidding through the top of his head.
On Sept. 16, he appeared in court before being released to await trial. His body was stooped, his trademark shock of red hair streaked with white. His lawyer, Richard A. Harpootlian, a Democratic state senator, said Mr. Murdaugh was checking into rehab for an oxycodone addiction.
Mr. Murdaugh walking into court for his bond hearing in Varnville, S.C.Credit...Mic Smith/Associated Press
Mr. Smith was also released. He continues to insist he was not a collaborator, but a convenient scapegoat — collateral damage from a powerful man’s midlife skid out of control.
“I don’t know if betrayed is even the word for it,” Mr. Smith said recently, sitting on a love seat in his modest home outside of Walterboro, S.C. “I thought of him as a brother, you know, and loved him like a brother. And I would’ve done almost anything for him. Almost.”
A name synonymous with power
Despite a recent influx of newcomers, South Carolina retains some of its old Southern insularity and traditions. It is a state where old family names can still carry significant weight.
To some, the Murdaugh name has represented both power and public service. For nearly 90 years and across three generations, the post of chief prosecutor for five counties around Hampton was held by a Murdaugh. And for even longer, the law firm associated with the Murdaugh family has been one of the state’s leading tort litigation firms. Its Hampton headquarters, housed in a red-brick Colonial Revival building, is second in grandeur only to the nearby county courthouse.
To some here, the Murdaugh name has come to stand for a domination of the legal system so pervasive that people, with or without justification, asked whether it had the power to skew the trajectory of justice in the family’s favor.
That is one of the questions investigators are asking now as they examine not only the killing of Mr. Murdaugh’s wife and son, but at least three other deaths that preceded that tragedy.
How much, investigators have been trying to learn, did Alex Murdaugh wield his powerful connections to protect his family and amass his own fortune?
A memorial for Stephen Smith, 19, who died on a rural road in 2015.Credit...Travis Dove for The New York Times
One of the cases now being re-examined is the death of Stephen Smith, 19, whose body was found on a rural road in 2015. He died of blunt force trauma to the head, but there were no signs to suggest that he had been hit by a car.
Mr. Smith had been a classmate of Alex Murdaugh’s older son, Richard Alexander Murdaugh Jr., who goes by Buster. The Smith family told the police that Alex Murdaugh’s brother, a partner in the Murdaugh law firm, had reached out and offered to represent the family for free, but it did not take him up on the offer. No connection to the Murdaugh family was ever identified, though investigators say they are now taking a fresh look.
The second case under scrutiny happened in 2019, when, witnesses said, Alex Murdaugh’s son Paul drunkenly crashed the family boat into a bridge, throwing several of his friends into the water. The body of one of them, Mallory Beach, 19, was found a week later.
A grand jury indicted Paul Murdaugh on a charge of boating under the influence causing death, but he was killed before he had an opportunity to stand trial.
Ms. Beach’s family is suing Mr. Murdaugh and the convenience store that sold an underage Paul the alcohol. Connor Cook, a lifelong friend of Paul’s who had also been on the boat, filed another lawsuit last month, accusing Mr. Murdaugh and others of trying to frame him for the boat crash. Mr. Cook said Mr. Murdaugh had told him to “keep his mouth shut” and to tell investigators that he did not know who was driving.
That lawsuit said Mr. Murdaugh had convinced Mr. Cook’s family to hire a lawyer named Cory Fleming, a friend and former college roommate of Alex Murdaugh’s, and Paul Murdaugh’s godfather.
After the killing of Alex Murdaugh’s wife and son, investigators began re-examining yet another mysterious death associated with the family: that of Gloria Satterfield, the housekeeper and nanny who had worked for a quarter-century for the Murdaugh family.
Early one morning in February 2018, Ms. Satterfield fell on the front stairs of the Murdaughs’ isolated house. Maggie Murdaugh found her bleeding and called 911, according to Eric Bland, a lawyer for Ms. Satterfield’s two adult sons. He said the Murdaughs told the family that she had tripped over their dogs.
Ms. Satterfield had lost most of her ability to speak, and died several weeks later.
Despite the Murdaugh family’s account, her death was ruled “natural” on her death certificate, the result of a brain bleed. No autopsy was done and the coroner was not contacted.
Hours after Ms. Satterfield’s funeral, her sons say, Mr. Murdaugh told them he would take responsibility and referred them to a lawyer who would help them file a lawsuit to force Mr. Murdaugh’s insurers to pay compensation.
The lawyer was again Mr. Murdaugh’s longtime friend, Mr. Fleming — who they later came to believe was not looking out for their interests, but Alex Murdaugh’s.
Mr. Fleming, the sons said in a subsequent lawsuit, advised them to sign over the management of their mother’s estate to an executive at a local bank where Mr. Murdaugh had done business.
Five months later, court records show, a judge approved a settlement agreement to pay the sons $2.8 million from Mr. Murdaugh’s insurers and award more than $1 million in lawyers’ fees. But the sons say they never heard about the deal.
It turned out that Mr. Fleming had sent the money to Mr. Murdaugh, according to copies of the checks and other documents recently filed in court by Mr. Bland.
The sons have yet to see any of it, Mr. Bland said.
Mr. Fleming said in a statement that Mr. Murdaugh had deceived him, too, and that he thought the sons would get the money. Last week, Mr. Fleming’s firm agreed to pay back all of the lawyers’ fees received from the settlement and its malpractice insurers agreed to pay the full policy limits to the sons.
But that was not the only money that seemed to be missing. Last month, Mr. Murdaugh’s colleagues at the law firm said they had discovered that he had siphoned millions of dollars out of the firm, and they asked him to resign. Mr. Murdaugh’s lawyers said he had spent vast sums of money on his addiction to oxycodone pills, but they have offered no explanation about where the rest of the money went.
“He has fallen from grace,” Mr. Harpootlian said at the bond hearing last month. “If anyone wants to see the face of what opioid addiction does, you’re looking at it.”
A meeting on a lonely road
A day after the firm announced it was severing its relationship with Mr. Murdaugh, he and Mr. Smith ended up on the road outside of town, haggling, Mr. Smith says, over Mr. Murdaugh’s plan to exit from the mess his life had become.
Mr. Smith, who is now facing charges including assisted suicide, assault, insurance fraud and sale of methamphetamine, said he had no plans to participate in a scheme over insurance money. He said Mr. Murdaugh, who is a distant cousin, had called that morning and asked him to drive his work truck toward Hampton, never discussing why.
Soon, he said, Mr. Murdaugh drove by and honked his horn for Mr. Smith to follow him.
Outside of town, Mr. Murdaugh parked on the side of the road and Mr. Smith stopped nearby. When he got out of his truck, Mr. Murdaugh produced a gun and asked Mr. Smith to shoot him with it.
“It ain’t going to happen,” Mr. Smith said he told him. When Mr. Murdaugh moved as if he was going to shoot himself in the head, he said, Mr. Smith grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back. The gun went off.
Mr. Murdaugh sank to the ground, Mr. Smith said, his hand over his head, his legs splayed.
Mr. Smith, left holding the gun, asked if Mr. Murdaugh was OK. Mr. Murdaugh indicated that he was.
The handyman swore at the lawyer, jumped back in his truck and drove away.
Sheelagh McNeill and Kitty Bennett contributed research.
by ti-amie Possibly triggering. I deleted the worst of it but still...
Federal Judge Dings Josh Duggar’s Defense for ‘Frivolous’ Bid to Dodge Child Porn Charges on Basis of Unlawful Trump Appointments
ADAM KLASFELD Oct 13th, 2021, 1:29 pm
Josh Duggar’s defense team once argued that the former “19 Kids and Counting” star could not be prosecuted for alleged child pornography offenses because former President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security was led by unlawful appointees. Explaining why he rejected that theory, a federal judged issued a written ruling on Wednesday calling that defense nothing short of “frivolous.”
“This motion is frivolous,” U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks wrote flatly in a 15-page opinion and order. “There is no legal support for Mr. Duggar’s claim that an indictment handed down by a properly impaneled grand jury would be subject to dismissal due to an alleged Appointments Clause violation. Department of Homeland Security agents are sworn to enforce federal criminal statutes, and the Court is not aware of any reason why their authority to investigate crimes would somehow be undermined if the acting secretary of their agency were improperly appointed.”
When federal agents started looking into Duggar in 2019, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) was under the control of Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan, and the probe continued into the tenure of Acting Secretary Chad Wolf. The Government Accountability Office later found that Trump appointed both men unlawfully, circumventing the normal process of congressional approval. Federal judges later ruled similarly, invalidating some of the agency’s actions under their control.
Duggar’s lawyer Justin Gelfand cited rulings in advancing their arguments, but the judge noted a crucial difference: Those were “civil immigration cases involving the direct policymaking or rulemaking authority of the acting secretary of Homeland Security.”
“These cases are inapposite to Mr. Duggar’s,” Judge Brooks wrote.
The judge articulated a separate reason criminal cases are different. A grand jury was involved.
“An indictment returned by a legally constituted and unbiased grand jury . . . is enough to call for trial of the charge on the merits,” the judge wrote, quoting from the 1956 Supreme Court decision in Costello v. United States.
The ruling also explains why the judge rejected Duggar’s bid to suppress statements he made to Homeland Security Agents Gerald Faulkner and Howard Aycock on Nov. 8, 2019, when authorities arrived at his used car dealership and obtained his cell phone.
“According to Agent Faulkner’s testimony at the hearing, Mr. Duggar immediately asked, ‘What is this about? Has somebody been downloading child pornography?'” the ruling states. “And in response, Agent Aycock instructed Mr. Duggar to stop asking questions until he could start the recording device.”
A 51-minute interview followed, which began with Aycock reading Duggar his Miranda warnings. Duggar signed a written waiver of his rights. His lawyer claimed the document was signed after his iPhone was seized.
Judge Brooks ruled that this interview was voluntary.
“At that time, Mr. Duggar was free to leave the premises, but he chose not to do so,” the ruling states. “Although he points out that he did not have a vehicle at his disposal and could not drive away, he was perfectly capable of leaving on foot.”
In a footnote, the judge pointed out that Duggar theoretically could have used any of the cars on his lot to leave.
“[T]here is no compelling evidence that the agents used ‘strong-arm’ tactics during questioning, nor does the Court find that the interview was unnecessarily prolonged,” the opinion continues. “Mr. Duggar points out that at times during the interview, the agents interrupted him. The Court reviewed the transcript with the audio recording played during the hearing and concludes that the participants were talking over (or into) each other. The Court does not believe the agents were attempting to silence or intimidate Mr. Duggar.”
by ponchi101 So his defense is along the lines of "I can rape children because nobody does anything about corporations raping the land"?
What kind of lawyer agrees to voice this?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie An update from yesterday
Alex Murdaugh arrested on new charges after release from Florida drug rehab center
By Gregory Lemos and Jason Hanna, CNN
Updated 6:41 PM ET, Thu October 14, 2021
(CNN)Alex Murdaugh, a once-prominent South Carolina attorney embroiled in scandals including alleged life insurance fraud, was arrested Thursday in Florida on suspicion of misappropriating settlement funds in connection with the 2018 death of his family's longtime housekeeper, authorities said.
The arrest represents just the latest legal and personal challenge for Murdaugh, who survived being shot in the head in September and, authorities said, then admitted the shooting was a conspiracy with a former client to kill him as part of a fraud scheme so his only surviving son could collect an insurance payout.
Authorities have said several other investigations related to the Murdaugh family are underway, including into the June deaths of Murdaugh's wife and other son, who were gunned down at their family estate in Islandton.
Murdaugh, who'd been out on bond in the insurance fraud case, was arrested Thursday upon his release from a drug rehabilitation facility in Orlando. He faces two fresh felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said.
"Today is merely one more step in a long process for justice for the many victims in these investigations," SLED Chief Mark Keel said.
"(Agents) will continue to work tirelessly on behalf of those who were victimized by Alex Murdaugh and others. As I have said previously, we are committed to following the facts wherever they may lead us and we will not stop until justice is served."
Murdaugh was being held at Florida's Orange County correctional facility, and will remain there until a hearing on extradition to South Carolina, SLED said.
Murdaugh's attorneys released a statement saying he is expected to be transported to South Carolina's Beaufort County, where he will appear in court for a bond hearing Friday on the latest charges.
"Alex intends to fully cooperate with this investigation, as he has with the investigation into the murder of his wife and son," a statement from Murdaugh's attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin reads. "He deeply regrets that his actions have distracted from the efforts to solve their murders."
Murdaugh had been arrested September 16 in connection with the allegations regarding his shooting. In that case, Murdaugh was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and with filing a false police report.
Harpootlian had said the June deaths of Murdaugh's wife, Margaret, and son, Paul -- which authorities have not solved -- exacerbated an opioid addiction that put Murdaugh in dire financial straits, leading him to hire a former client to kill him so his surviving son could collect about $10 million in life insurance.
Murdaugh was released on $20,000 bond in South Carolina in mid-September, and his attorneys told a judge he'd be staying at an out-of-state rehabilitation center to be treated for the opioid addiction.
The day before Alex Murdaugh was shot in the head, Murdaugh resigned from his law firm after allegations he had "misappropriated funds," the firm said. The firm has since sued him to recover money it alleges he stole from clients.
Also, the investigation into the June deaths of Margaret and Paul Murdaugh spurred SLED to open investigations into a couple other deaths in recent years, including the death of the housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield.
The investigations have gripped South Carolina's Lowcountry, where the Murdaughs have been a prominent family for decades. Three members held the office of 14th Circuit solicitor for 87 years, ending with Murdaugh's father, who left office in 2005.
In case anyone's unaware, the reference is to Elie Wiesel's Holocaust survivor memoir Night and to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion a fake propaganda work from the early 20th century about a Jewish plan to conquer the world that's been used to rile up anti-semitism.
The mom of a high school friend of mine taught English at the high school in the district in the article for many years...
by ponchi101 I did a search for NIGHT & THE PROTOCOLS, and came up confused. So thanks for the explanation.
by JazzNU In case you haven't read about this. Best to read on the NPR site with the photos. Click the Tweet or the link below for the article. And who knew, but NPR pre-populates the audio here, so there's that option as well if you'd rather listen to the story.
by ti-amieProp Gun Misfire on Set of Alec Baldwin Film Leaves One Crew Member Dead, Another Hospitalized
Production halted on set of 'Rust' western in New Mexico following gun mishap.
By
Trilby Beresford, Ryan Parker
October 21, 2021 4:56pm
An apparent prop gun misfire on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Western movie Rust on Thursday left one crew member dead and another wounded, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department.
A 42-year-old female was transported via helicopter to the University of Mexico Hospital, where she died of her injuries, the sheriff’s department said. The second victim, also 42, was transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent’s hospital, where he was receiving emergency care. The victim was in critical condition, Juan Ríos, spokesman for the sheriff’s office told The Hollywood Reporter.
“There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,” a spokesperson from the production said in a statement obtained by THR.
“Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,” the statement said.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Bonanza Creek Ranch set at 1:50 p.m. MST after a 911 call indicated an individual had been shot on set.
Ríos said an investigation was underway. It was unclear who fired the prop firearm and what type of projectile was discharged.
According to a tweet from KOB4 evening anchor Tessa Mentus and local reports, a church set was blocked off while security locked down the location.
The Joel Souza film, which is shooting in Bonanza Creek Ranch, N.M., also stars Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles and Travis Fimmel.
Baldwin stars in the film as infamous Western outlaw Harland Rust. When his estranged grandson is convicted of an accidental murder and sentenced to hang, Rust travels to Kansas to break him out of prison. The two fugitives must then outrun U.S. Marshal Wood Helm and bounty-hunter Fenton ‘Preacher’ Lang.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:03 amProp Gun Misfire on Set of Alec Baldwin Film Leaves One Crew Member Dead, Another Hospitalized
Production halted on set of 'Rust' western in New Mexico following gun mishap.
By
Trilby Beresford, Ryan Parker
October 21, 2021 4:56pm
An apparent prop gun misfire on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Western movie Rust on Thursday left one crew member dead and another wounded, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department.
A 42-year-old female was transported via helicopter to the University of Mexico Hospital, where she died of her injuries, the sheriff’s department said. The second victim, also 42, was transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent’s hospital, where he was receiving emergency care. The victim was in critical condition, Juan Ríos, spokesman for the sheriff’s office told The Hollywood Reporter.
“There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,” a spokesperson from the production said in a statement obtained by THR.
“Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,” the statement said.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Bonanza Creek Ranch set at 1:50 p.m. MST after a 911 call indicated an individual had been shot on set.
Ríos said an investigation was underway. It was unclear who fired the prop firearm and what type of projectile was discharged.
According to a tweet from KOB4 evening anchor Tessa Mentus and local reports, a church set was blocked off while security locked down the location.
The Joel Souza film, which is shooting in Bonanza Creek Ranch, N.M., also stars Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles and Travis Fimmel.
Baldwin stars in the film as infamous Western outlaw Harland Rust. When his estranged grandson is convicted of an accidental murder and sentenced to hang, Rust travels to Kansas to break him out of prison. The two fugitives must then outrun U.S. Marshal Wood Helm and bounty-hunter Fenton ‘Preacher’ Lang.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:03 amProp Gun Misfire on Set of Alec Baldwin Film Leaves One Crew Member Dead, Another Hospitalized
Production halted on set of 'Rust' western in New Mexico following gun mishap.
By
Trilby Beresford, Ryan Parker
October 21, 2021 4:56pm
An apparent prop gun misfire on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Western movie Rust on Thursday left one crew member dead and another wounded, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department.
A 42-year-old female was transported via helicopter to the University of Mexico Hospital, where she died of her injuries, the sheriff’s department said. The second victim, also 42, was transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent’s hospital, where he was receiving emergency care. The victim was in critical condition, Juan Ríos, spokesman for the sheriff’s office told The Hollywood Reporter.
“There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,” a spokesperson from the production said in a statement obtained by THR.
“Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,” the statement said.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Bonanza Creek Ranch set at 1:50 p.m. MST after a 911 call indicated an individual had been shot on set.
Ríos said an investigation was underway. It was unclear who fired the prop firearm and what type of projectile was discharged.
According to a tweet from KOB4 evening anchor Tessa Mentus and local reports, a church set was blocked off while security locked down the location.
The Joel Souza film, which is shooting in Bonanza Creek Ranch, N.M., also stars Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles and Travis Fimmel.
Baldwin stars in the film as infamous Western outlaw Harland Rust. When his estranged grandson is convicted of an accidental murder and sentenced to hang, Rust travels to Kansas to break him out of prison. The two fugitives must then outrun U.S. Marshal Wood Helm and bounty-hunter Fenton ‘Preacher’ Lang.
I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but how does a prop shoot a bullet????
The prop gun had a blank, which does not have a bullet. But firing the prop gun set off the gunpowder which creates enough force to do a lot of damage. A previous example: Heath Ledger. He was faking a suicide using a prop gun, not realizing that the amount of power in the gunpowder in the blank, managed to actually kill himself.
by skatingfan
dave g wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:28 pm
The prop gun had a blank, which does not have a bullet. But firing the prop gun set off the gunpowder which creates enough force to do a lot of damage. A previous example: Heath Ledger. He was faking a suicide using a prop gun, not realizing that the amount of power in the gunpowder in the blank, managed to actually kill himself.
I think you mean Brandon Lee. Heath Ledger died of a drug over dose.
by ponchi101 I think we need to look for more info about Ledger. I think he died of an accidental drug overdose.
Also, if I recall well, Brandon Lee also died of an accident with a prop gun. Somebody had left the tampering rod in the barrel and when triggered, it was fired at him.
This part:
"“Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,” the statement said."
Kind of a bit too late.
by ponchi101
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 5:57 pm
In case you haven't read about this. Best to read on the NPR site with the photos. Click the Tweet or the link below for the article. And who knew, but NPR pre-populates the audio here, so there's that option as well if you'd rather listen to the story.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 1:03 amProp Gun Misfire on Set of Alec Baldwin Film Leaves One Crew Member Dead, Another Hospitalized
Production halted on set of 'Rust' western in New Mexico following gun mishap.
By
Trilby Beresford, Ryan Parker
October 21, 2021 4:56pm
An apparent prop gun misfire on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Western movie Rust on Thursday left one crew member dead and another wounded, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department.
A 42-year-old female was transported via helicopter to the University of Mexico Hospital, where she died of her injuries, the sheriff’s department said. The second victim, also 42, was transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent’s hospital, where he was receiving emergency care. The victim was in critical condition, Juan Ríos, spokesman for the sheriff’s office told The Hollywood Reporter.
“There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,” a spokesperson from the production said in a statement obtained by THR.
“Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,” the statement said.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Bonanza Creek Ranch set at 1:50 p.m. MST after a 911 call indicated an individual had been shot on set.
Ríos said an investigation was underway. It was unclear who fired the prop firearm and what type of projectile was discharged.
According to a tweet from KOB4 evening anchor Tessa Mentus and local reports, a church set was blocked off while security locked down the location.
The Joel Souza film, which is shooting in Bonanza Creek Ranch, N.M., also stars Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles and Travis Fimmel.
Baldwin stars in the film as infamous Western outlaw Harland Rust. When his estranged grandson is convicted of an accidental murder and sentenced to hang, Rust travels to Kansas to break him out of prison. The two fugitives must then outrun U.S. Marshal Wood Helm and bounty-hunter Fenton ‘Preacher’ Lang.
I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but how does a prop shoot a bullet????
The prop gun had a blank, which does not have a bullet. But firing the prop gun set off the gunpowder which creates enough force to do a lot of damage. A previous example: Heath Ledger. He was faking a suicide using a prop gun, not realizing that the amount of power in the gunpowder in the blank, managed to actually kill himself.
Thanks for the explanation. So my next question has to be, if this has already happened, why would any film or TV production use the same type of "prop" gun? I'm using parentheses because I think if a gun can still actually kill someone, its not a prop. Surely with CGI and all of the sound effects available in a much safer way.
Kevin
by MJ2004 It's worth adding, this didn't just happen on the set of an Alec Baldwin film. Alec Baldwin personally fired the gun.
This BBC article also explains what happened with Brandon Lee.
Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set
A woman has died and a man has been injured after actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a New Mexico film set for the 19th Century western Rust.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot while working on the set as director of photography. She was flown to hospital by helicopter but died of her injuries.
The man, 48-year-old director Joel Souza, was taken from the scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch by ambulance.
Police said they were investigating and that no charges had been filed.
A spokesman for Mr Baldwin, best known for his role as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and for his portrayal of Donald Trump on sketch show Saturday Night Live, said the incident involved the misfiring of a prop gun with blanks.
In a statement to AFP news agency, a Santa Fe sheriff spokesman said Mr Baldwin had spoken to detectives.
"He came in voluntarily and he left the building after he finished his interviews," the spokesman said.
Mr Baldwin is a co-producer of the film and plays its namesake, an outlaw whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of manslaughter.
The eldest of four brothers, all actors, Mr Baldwin has starred in numerous TV and film roles since the 1980s.
Ms Hutchins was from Ukraine and grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle, according to her personal website. She studied journalism in Kyiv, and film in Los Angeles, and was named a "rising star" by the American Cinematographer magazine in 2019.
She was the director of photography for the 2020 action film Archenemy, directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer.
"I'm so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set," Mr Mortimer said in a tweet.
In a statement, the International Cinematographer's Guild said Ms Hutchins' death was "devastating news" and "a terrible loss".
"The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event," said guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine.
Police said sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular filming location, at around 13:50 local time (19:50 GMT) after receiving an emergency call about a shooting on the set of Rust.
Incidents such as Thursday's fatal shooting on the Rust film set are extremely rare, but not unheard of.
Real firearms are often used in filming, and are loaded with blanks - cartridges that create a flash and a bang without discharging a projectile.
In 1993, Brandon Lee - the 28-year-old son of the late martial-arts star Bruce Lee - died on set after being accidentally shot with a prop gun while filming a death scene for the film The Crow.
It was later determined that the gun used had earlier fired a round that caused a cartridge to become lodged in the barrel. When blank rounds were later fired, the cartridge was dislodged and released.
Responding to Thursday's news, Brandon Lee's sister Shannon tweeted: "Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on 'Rust'. No-one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period."
by ti-amie The propmaster is responsible to make sure all props, including firearms, are really props. If you read what happened to Brandon Lee, son of Bruce, you find that this is the exact same thing that happened to him.
Also, it seems the person responsible is non-uniion per IATSE.
by Deuce I saw what seemed to be an excellent explanation of what can go wrong with 'prop guns'. This was on CNN, and the explanation was given by Steve Wolf, who has worked on sets which had prop guns, and who investigated the Brandon Lee death. He explained what went wrong in Lee's death - that a real bullet had been placed in the gun, because sometimes a scene calls for someone loading a bullet into a gun... When a person went to remove that bullet from the gun, only the casing came out, leaving the bullet in the chamber. Then when a 'blank' was put into the same chamber, it collected the bullet that had been left in the chamber, and so the 'blank' became a regular and complete bullet
His explanation was accompanied by the visual of a gun, a 'blank', and a complete bullet.
I found it to be an excellent explanation. Unfortunately, I cannot find the video of it. It was on CNN, and they also had a 'legal expert' on at the same time.
If you see a video of this guy (below) talking, with the particular background shown in the photo below, that will very likely be the interview I saw. It's worth watching for anyone who wants to understand how things can go wrong with 'prop guns' (which are usually real, functional guns).
I couldn't find the video, but I did find this, which is a partial transcript of what he said. It's much better with the visual, though...
Steve Wolf, a theatrical firearms safety expert who has worked on a number of sets with simulated violence, weighed in on the Alec Baldwin prop gun shooting saying, "there is no excuse for something like this to happen" since "the "physics of how bullets enter people has been known for about 5,000 years."
"If a bullet comes out and injures someone, that's exactly what it is designed to do, so you have to figure out how you make sure that doesn't happen," he said.
Holding up what appeared to be a weapon and a bullet on CNN, Wolf listed reasonable steps on-set coordinators could take to prevent such incidents.
For example, he said coordinators should always look inside of the cylinder of the weapon to ensure "there is nothing in the gun that could come out."
Then, holding up what appeared to be a live piece of ammunition, Wolf said the blank should also be checked to ensure there is no bullet sitting on the end of the casing.
"If you put a blank in there, you make sure there is a blank, no bullet on the end of it," he said. "It is hollow. It is just gunpowder and a piece of paper that holds the powder in."
If it is just a blank, "all that will come out are hot expanding gases and flame and smoke and a noise," he added.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 5:57 pm
The propmaster is responsible to make sure all props, including firearms, are really props. If you read what happened to Brandon Lee, son of Bruce, you find that this is the exact same thing that happened to him.
Also, it seems the person responsible is non-uniion per IATSE.
Just a reminder that Brandon's death has always had more questions tied to it. Conspiracy theory, but as loud as they get, just like his dad's death.
by ti-amieHours Before Fatal Shooting on Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust,’ a Half-Dozen Crew Members Quit to Protest Work Conditions
”We will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down,“ a rep for Rust Productions says in response
Brian Welk | October 22, 2021 @ 1:24 PM
Hours before a shot on the set of the Alec Baldwin film “Rust” killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off set to protest conditions on the film after days of strife over long hours, safety issues and staff housing.
In a series of scathing comments on Facebook, crew member Lane Luper described the working conditions on “Rust” as “absolute dog s—.”
“At the moment I’m fighting to get my crew, on this movie, hotel rooms when we go long or are too tired to drive the hour back from location to Albuquerque,” camera operator Lane Luper wrote. “They either say no or offer a garbage roadside motel that’s used as a homeless shelter. In fact the line producer on the flick complained the motel she booked charges her 10 bucks more per night than the homeless. They haven’t even paid the crew a proper check.”
Luper, a union member, was speaking on a thread in which Baldwin posted a video about a new IATSE contract.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, a half-dozen crew members walked off the set on Friday over working conditions. The report cited three individuals who said that several non-union crew members were brought in to replace them. Among the complaints were accusations that the crew was required to commute from far away rather than have a hotel paid for close by in Santa Fe and that crew members had not been paid.
The Times says that Hutchins was also among those to have raised concerns about safety conditions for her team. Prior to the accident that killed Hutchins however, an individual who spoke with the Times also said that there were two misfires on the prop gun on Saturday and one the previous week, and that one person told the Times there were a “serious lack of safety meetings on set.”
The shooting that killed Hutchins ultimately occurred about six hours after the union camera crew left, according to the Times.
“The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company,” a representative for Rust Productions told TheWrap in response to the article. “Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down. We will continue to cooperate with the Santa Fe authorities in their investigation and offer mental health services to the cast and crew during this tragic time.”
IATSE’s national branch had no additional comment beyond their earlier statement mourning the loss of Hutchins.
A tweet that contained a screengrab of a text message from an industry insider but was later deleted was also making the rounds of the web on Friday. It mentioned a lack of payment for three weeks, a lack of COVID safety and a lack of gun safety and that the entire camera crew had walked off the set for the lack of safety. (You can see a screengrab of the text below.)
Luper further complained about long hours on the set: “The show keeps arguing they don’t have to do anything because contract minimums don’t force them to,” he wrote. “In fact in the low budget agreement a hotel doesn’t need to be provided until 14 WORKED hours. And this shows doing hour lunches. So it requires a 15 hour elapsed day before they will volunteer a hotel. My BA tried to get them to agree to 13 hours elapsed and they agreed to 13 hours worked. So here’s where my crews at with this show and the unions involvement. 12.5 hour days worked, with an hour lunch, 2 hours of driving a day leaving exactly 8 hours of time not at work. Most folks on my show are getting 5 hours of sleep a night.”
According to law enforcement statements, Hutchins was shot around 1:50 p.m. Thursday local time and died of her injuries after she was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. The shot also injured director Joel Souza, who was released from the hospital on Friday.
Production began earlier this month at Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch, just south of Santa Fe, and production on the film is now suspended.
The investigation into the deadly incident is ongoing, the sheriff’s department said; no charges have been filed.
“According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,” the Santa Fe sheriff’s office said in a statement to media earlier on Thursday. “Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.”
Baldwin earlier on Friday said he’s cooperating with law enforcement and said his “heart was broken” over the loss of Hutchins.
“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” Baldwin said in a statement provided to TheWrap and in a pair of tweets Friday. “I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”
by JazzNU Much more disturbing than what that suggests. There were accidental discharges before the death occurred as well. If you're interested in this story, I'd suggest following one of the trades or the LA Times, they will have the most in-depth and up to date information.
by ti-amie
by mmmm8 I know Alec Baldwin is not shy of controversies, but I feel awful for him (besides the victim's family, of course). What an awful thing to live with.
by ti-amie
I hope his lawyers file for a mistrial.
by ti-amie These have beeen the best Twitter posts re the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of "Rust". The first thread is very long and he has disabled the ability of people to reply and therefore use the Thread Reader App to make one long post out of several. I've summarized it here and added his responses as details have been revealed about what happened. This will probably take more than one post.
by ti-amie P2
by ti-amie p 3
From the WaPo:
Hannah Gutierrez, the daughter of widely known Hollywood armorer Thell Reed, acted as the armorer on “Rust.” As such, she was in charge of managing firearms used on set and ensuring they were safely handled. The affidavit states that Gutierrez left three prop guns on a cart outside the building, from which Halls (the AD) grabbed one and handed it to Baldwin for the rehearsal. Halls was under the impression it did not contain any live rounds when he said “cold gun,” according to the document.
Halls and Gutierrez did not return The Washington Post’s requests for comment.
(...)
“No crew member should be handling a weapon of any kind other than the armorer, designated prop person or actor. Full stop,” Goldstein said. “The armorer must clear all firearms with the [first assistant director] when bringing them to set, and verify that they are unloaded. Then the armorer does the same with the actor, but the firearm does not leave the custody of the armorer or designated prop person.”
...chief electrician Serge Svetnoy...called attention to the mismanagement of firearms on set, claiming that the “person who was supposed to check the weapon on the site did not do this.” He expressed concern over Gutierrez’s lack of experience as a 24-year-old armorer and wrote that budget-concerned producers sometimes cut corners by riskily hiring people “who are not fully qualified for the complicated and dangerous job.”
by JazzNU I had to double check if that account was run by Billy Corben, and I'm not entirely certain it's not. But yes, Francis Suarez is corrupt as all get out.
by ponchi101 Well, when I made that "half joke" map of how the USA will split into separate countries, I did call Florida "Cubazuela".
Because, you know, IATA whose jokes become true so quickly they are not funny.
by dryrunguy Jim Bob Duggar is running for the Arkansas State Senate (again).
Is Josh helping with the campaign or is he busy right now?
Josh will be overseeing outreach to the pedophile community. Hopefully from his prison cell.
by ti-amie
I have yet to see a picture of this person where he doesn't look 12 and that is intentional I think.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Nov 04, 2021 5:20 pm
I have yet to see a picture of this person where he doesn't look 12 and that is intentional I think.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 About time to do a radical thing. How about: NATIONAL TEACHERS STRIKE? One month. Let all these people care and educate their little monsters for one month. Like, right now. November. See how these parents feel when December rolls in.
The violence level is getting off the scale, in a country with way too many guns. Something can happen.
by dryrunguy At least eight people dead and dozens injured yesterday after a "crowd surge" at the ASTROWORLD Music Festival in Houston. Based on the video, it looks like a mix of garden variety trampling, without any hesitation or concern for those who were down, and Black Friday at any given Target. Several people suffered from cardiac arrest. Pretty disgusting stuff.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 06, 2021 2:07 pm
About time to do a radical thing. How about: NATIONAL TEACHERS STRIKE? One month. Let all these people care and educate their little monsters for one month. Like, right now. November. See how these parents feel when December rolls in.
The violence level is getting off the scale, in a country with way too many guns. Something can happen.
There are three things happening re schools.
One is based on the belief/ideology that women should not work outside of the home, that their job is to take care of the home and have babies.
The other is the world where women work outside of the home and, because of the pandemic, have been working at home plus trying to care for children who were also at home.
The third group features women who have always worked outside of the home, many, but not all, in minimum wage jobs, and who are mostly ignored in the debates around education.
The first group relies a lot on home schooling using materials created by evangelical groups. The second group, mainly but not only suburban, live and pay the cost for great public schools and what they hope is a superior education for their children given by professionals based on facts that will advance them in the world.
You used to see a lot of Group 1 women on House Hunters but you don't see them so much anymore. Then again I avoid shows where people from certain parts of the country are featured so that could be why I don't see them.
A national teachers strike would affect the group 2 and 3 mothers and fathers. Group one parents would care less. The 1950's can't come back fast enough for them.
There were articles in serious magazines not so long ago that printing money on this scale doesn't really matter and stimulus could be as large as we wish. Obviously they were mistaken. Sometimes a common sense still points in the right direction...
by dryrunguy Yeah, I spent $41 yesterday on 3/4 of a tank of gas for the car. Hit the grocery today. That was depressing. I sure am glad that my deep freezer is chock full of nearly 1/2 of a beef I bought this spring and 3 lambs I raised that were processed this summer. Except I can't seem to create enough room in the deep freezer for 40 pounds of chicken breasts from the Mennonite store. I miss chicken, and buying it at the grocery is out of the question unless you're a fan of chicken thighs. I am not. Chicken drumsticks are still fairly affordable. Surprisingly, whole chickens aren't that expensive.
But definitely, it's bad enough paying for pork, fish, and shrimp at the grocery. For some, they won't have much choice but to eliminate beef and chicken breasts from their diet entirely. The prices are simply too exorbitant. Have been for a while now, and they just keep going up.
As for produce, I'll pay whatever I have to pay, but most produce prices have stayed fairly steady--at least around here.
by JazzNU
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:46 pm
As for produce, I'll pay whatever I have to pay, but most produce prices have stayed fairly steady--at least around here.
I think they might be rising most places. We aren't a good barometer for certain produce, milk and a few other things. So much that is produced nearby by some family farm, the Amish, or the Mennonite, that supply chain issues that seem to be occurring elsewhere aren't as big of an issue here on certain items.
But yeah, costs for many things are rising and you definitely notice it when you're shopping and paying at the register. And while I used to get gas occasionally at Costco, I'm getting it there religiously right now, about 20 cents cheaper than everywhere else.
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:46 pm
As for produce, I'll pay whatever I have to pay, but most produce prices have stayed fairly steady--at least around here.
I think they might be rising most places. We aren't a good barometer for certain produce, milk and a few other things. So much that is produced nearby by some family farm, the Amish, or the Mennonite, that supply chain issues that seem to be occurring elsewhere aren't as big of an issue here on certain items.
But yeah, costs for many things are rising and you definitely notice it when you're shopping and paying at the register. And while I used to get gas occasionally at Costco, I'm getting it there religiously right now, about 20 cents cheaper than everywhere else.
Yeah, I bet we're the exception on this front. We have a lot of local Amish who have a greenhouse and grow all sorts of produce year-round. Some of what they grow almost certainly ends up at the local Mennonite market during the winter and spring months.
But of course the Amish don't grow many of the things I'm looking for (e.g., fresh jalapenos, fresh poblanos, etc.), so that's when I'm reduced to finding those items (probably shipped in from California or the South) at the Food Lion in Mercersburg, if I'm lucky. For example, today at the Food Lion, there were no jalapenos to be found at all, and the poblanos they had were already well past their prime.
Fortunately, I still have some frozen jalapenos I grew last year and the last poblano I grew this year. Because I'm making a fresh batch of roasted salsa at the moment.
In urban centers like Philly and New York, I suspect the prices for fresh produce are through the roof--especially if you attach words like "organic" to it. I can't even imagine what meat is going for these days in places like that.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 10, 2021 11:52 pm
But of course the Amish don't grow many of the things I'm looking for (e.g., fresh jalapenos, fresh poblanos, etc.), so that's when I'm reduced to finding those items (probably shipped in from California or the South) at the Food Lion in Mercersburg, if I'm lucky. For example, today at the Food Lion, there were no jalapenos to be found at all, and the poblanos they had were already well past their prime.
In urban centers like Philly and New York, I suspect the prices for fresh produce are through the roof--especially if you attach words like "organic" to it. I can't even imagine what meat is going for these days in places like that.
Food Lion!
Produce prices here not that bad yet, but that's because a decent number of places, even Whole Foods, promote locally sourced items, which for us means the entire Greater Philly region which includes Lancaster, Lehigh Valley, and Southern NJ, which all have a ton of agriculture. So there might be something more expensive alongside something more affordable, but likely almost as good. Definitely more expensive the moment you go organic. But also, we have Trader Joe's, Aldi's and a few other places that help with keeping overall prices down. And Wegman's remains the best for great produce at reasonable prices.
by Suliso You should come to Switzerland and see our meat prices... A good place to be vegetarian.
by ponchi101 Arrived yesterday in Bogota. Premium gas at $4/Gallon. Guess I will be walking a lot more for the rest of the year.
by Suliso How big is there a need to drive in Bogota for a regular guy like you? The last time I drove a car was in Virginia in late 2019...
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:54 pm
Arrived yesterday in Bogota. Premium gas at $4/Gallon. Guess I will be walking a lot more for the rest of the year.
Glad you made it back safely. Hope your mom and sister are doing better now.
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:56 pm
How big is there a need to drive in Bogota for a regular guy like you? The last time I drove a car was in Virginia in late 2019...
Wow!
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:56 pm
How big is there a need to drive in Bogota for a regular guy like you? The last time I drove a car was in Virginia in late 2019...
For me, zero. I can walk anywhere or use regular transport that will get me there for the equivalent of $0.75. The issue for working people is comfort and schedules. Our buses are not comfortable at all. I took two yesterday to get from the Airport (my GF will take a taxi) and it was ok, but it is not European public transport.
As a matter of fact, I use my car so little that I just went to start it and it didn't. Dead battery.
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:54 pm
Arrived yesterday in Bogota. Premium gas at $4/Gallon. Guess I will be walking a lot more for the rest of the year.
Glad you made it back safely. Hope your mom and sister are doing better now.
Thanks. Came back because I have a couple of things to do here, and both of them are fine now. But after some more snooping around, I found out that my mom's O2 saturation level reached 75% at one point. That was when my sister called for me to go there.
Also, glad I made it there because there were several things to fix at home. Shower heads, bathroom faucets, toilet flushers, and I forget what else. Little things, but they needed me there. I really have to plan to go to Caracas once a year, just for those things. And to see them (I was more used to bring them here).
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 8:16 pm
Thanks. Came back because I have a couple of things to do here, and both of them are fine now. But after some more snooping around, I found out that my mom's O2 saturation level reached 75% at one point. That was when my sister called for me to go there.
Also, glad I made it there because there were several things to fix at home. Shower heads, bathroom faucets, toilet flushers, and I forget what else. Little things, but they needed me there. I really have to plan to go to Caracas once a year, just for those things. And to see them (I was more used to bring them here).
Yeah, an unfortunate reason to return, but still great you were able to help with taking care of your mom and fix things around the house. And even just spend time with your nephew I'm sure. If you're on good terms with them to start, family visits tend to be positive at the end of the day no matter the cause in my experience.
So happy to hear that mom and sister are doing well.
That's really interesting about the comfortability of public transport. That wouldn't have entered my mind as a consideration.
Sorry about the dead car battery. Hopefully that's as cheap of a fix there as it is here.
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:56 pm
How big is there a need to drive in Bogota for a regular guy like you? The last time I drove a car was in Virginia in late 2019...
Wow!
Why is that surprising? I don't own a car and drive much by choice not because I wouldn't know how or couldn't afford. Public transport here is outstanding and I live walking distance from both the city center and the central railway station.
by ti-amie Okay where did they find this guy?
This is why so many trials like this end up being held in Federal Courts.
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:03 pm
Why is that surprising? I don't own a car and drive much by choice not because I wouldn't know how or couldn't afford. Public transport here is outstanding and I live walking distance from both the city center and the central railway station.
Because Basel isn't the size of Paris and how would I know a city that size has public transportation so good that you wouldn't need a car? Very few Americans are going to know that about Basel who haven't been there FYI. I never even hinted that you couldn't afford a car and obviously you know how to drive, you just said you had in 2019.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:03 pm
...
Why is that surprising? I don't own a car and drive much by choice not because I wouldn't know how or couldn't afford. Public transport here is outstanding and I live walking distance from both the city center and the central railway station.
That is the difference. Public transport here is efficient, but it is a nightmare. The bus load limit is basically "as many people can climb in", and the seats are the cheap, fiberglass/plastic type that after a ride leave you with the feeling that somebody with a cricket bat used you to practice her swing.
Plus, Bogota is a rainy city. So, even though the system is efficient, you are always dropped a couple of blocks off where you are going. If it is raining, and it gets cold, it gets uncomfortable.
Plus, forget about schedules. You really never know when the bus will arrive. The main routes have many coming all the time, but some other routes you can wait for 1/2 hour, with nothing coming. Then, two buses arrive at the same time. It is not Swiss efficiency (or Helsinki, the one place where I rode a bus just for riding the bus. It was incredible).
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:03 pm
Why is that surprising? I don't own a car and drive much by choice not because I wouldn't know how or couldn't afford. Public transport here is outstanding and I live walking distance from both the city center and the central railway station.
Because Basel isn't the size of Paris and how would I know a city that size has public transportation so good that you wouldn't need a car? Very few Americans are going to know that about Basel who haven't been there FYI. I never even hinted that you couldn't afford a car and obviously you know how to drive, you just said you had in 2019.
You can safely assume any city of more than 50,000 people or so in Europe and Central Asia has very good public transport and that inter-city bus, rail, and air service is also easily available and accessible.
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:03 pm
...
Why is that surprising? I don't own a car and drive much by choice not because I wouldn't know how or couldn't afford. Public transport here is outstanding and I live walking distance from both the city center and the central railway station.
That is the difference. Public transport here is efficient, but it is a nightmare. The bus load limit is basically "as many people can climb in", and the seats are the cheap, fiberglass/plastic type that after a ride leave you with the feeling that somebody with a cricket bat used you to practice her swing.
Plus, Bogota is a rainy city. So, even though the system is efficient, you are always dropped a couple of blocks off where you are going. If it is raining, and it gets cold, it gets uncomfortable.
Plus, forget about schedules. You really never know when the bus will arrive. The main routes have many coming all the time, but some other routes you can wait for 1/2 hour, with nothing coming. Then, two buses arrive at the same time. It is not Swiss efficiency (or Helsinki, the one place where I rode a bus just for riding the bus. It was incredible).
On the other hand, sitting in traffic in Bogota was one of the four single worst traffic jams I'd ever experienced (for reference, Moscow, New York and DC were the others). The big advantage of your bus service is the dedicated bus lanes that are separated from the car lanes by a barrier on major roadways. This prevents cars from entering them and makes the bus system so efficient (although it's definitely very crowded and that's surely not very safe right now). But I think it's such a good alternative to a subway system, which would be expensive and disruptive.
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:03 pm
...
Why is that surprising? I don't own a car and drive much by choice not because I wouldn't know how or couldn't afford. Public transport here is outstanding and I live walking distance from both the city center and the central railway station.
That is the difference. Public transport here is efficient, but it is a nightmare. The bus load limit is basically "as many people can climb in", and the seats are the cheap, fiberglass/plastic type that after a ride leave you with the feeling that somebody with a cricket bat used you to practice her swing.
Plus, Bogota is a rainy city. So, even though the system is efficient, you are always dropped a couple of blocks off where you are going. If it is raining, and it gets cold, it gets uncomfortable.
Plus, forget about schedules. You really never know when the bus will arrive. The main routes have many coming all the time, but some other routes you can wait for 1/2 hour, with nothing coming. Then, two buses arrive at the same time. It is not Swiss efficiency (or Helsinki, the one place where I rode a bus just for riding the bus. It was incredible).
That's why most people prefer rail based public transport even if buses are better than the ones you describe. A city the size of Bogota really ought to have a dense metro network...
by Suliso Basel (ca 0.6 million inhabitants in metro area) has 12 tram lines, 7 S-Bahn lines and numerous bus routes in both the core city and suburbs (in three countries). I think it's adequate for our needs. We're too small to need any underground transport.
by ponchi101 Bogota has been planning a subway for decades, but the engineering is not easy. The ground beneath the city will not be able to support it in many sections, and the city is a valley within two ridges. The need for incredibly efficient and fast water pumping will be huge.
@M8. Indeed, traffic here is terrible. But the buses you saw are part of the TRANSMILENIO system, which are not all of the buses. Many routes simply are stuck in the same traffic as the rest of the cars.
Anyway, the expected problems for a city of 8-10 million, which was not planned well in advance.
600K people are just my section of town, which is not the largest. 12 tram lines and the 7 S-Bhan would be heaven here.
by Suliso
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 5:51 pm
Bogota has been planning a subway for decades, but the engineering is not easy. The ground beneath the city will not be able to support it in many sections, and the city is a valley within two ridges. The need for incredibly efficient and fast water pumping will be huge.
Why is that?
Also Medellin (3.6 million) does have rail based and gondola based public transport. Is the geography there significantly more favorable or just the city government better?
If underground is not feasible elevated should be. That's what a lot of Asian cities are doing outside immediate historic area. Saves a lot of money for sure at the cost of view and a bit more congestion above ground.
by ti-amie More from the "Judge" overseeing the Rittenhouse trial. I don't know what to say.
by ti-amie
That Yote Carlo
@CarloCoyote
I have a problem with the idea that one can be such a “non-expert” in pinch zooming in 2021 that they believe touching a video falsifies it while holding a position of trust where decisions based on that reasoning affect the people’s freedom and the course of their lives
Also Medellin (3.6 million) does have rail based and gondola based public transport. Is the geography there significantly more favorable or just the city government better?
If underground is not feasible elevated should be. That's what a lot of Asian cities are doing outside immediate historic area. Saves a lot of money for sure at the cost of view and a bit more congestion above ground.
When the project has been discussed, the engineers claim that the ground is too soft and soggy, so the cost is very high. Digging and drilling would not be too tough, but then the tunnels would have to be very strong. That is the part that I have heard.
Is Medellin more organized? I don't know. I know the government here, when it comes to infrastructure, is very inefficient. The airport took decades to be built, and by the time it was ready, the capacity did not meet demand. You know, there is a reason we are South America
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 5:51 pm
Bogota has been planning a subway for decades, but the engineering is not easy. The ground beneath the city will not be able to support it in many sections, and the city is a valley within two ridges. The need for incredibly efficient and fast water pumping will be huge.
@M8. Indeed, traffic here is terrible. But the buses you saw are part of the TRANSMILENIO system, which are not all of the buses. Many routes simply are stuck in the same traffic as the rest of the cars.
Anyway, the expected problems for a city of 8-10 million, which was not planned well in advance.
600K people are just my section of town, which is not the largest. 12 tram lines and the 7 S-Bhan would be heaven here.
Yes, but that's the case with many cities with subway networks - the stops are too far apart and the transport between stops, while plentiful, is subject to traffic.
A fun fact is that there are projected to be 700+ cities with more than 1 million inhabitants globally by 2030. Only 178 cities have subway systems.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Nov 12, 2021 6:51 pm
More from the "Judge" overseeing the Rittenhouse trial. I don't know what to say.
But he did say something that rang very true there. "My few remaining friends" sounds like the most honest and accurate thing this man has ever said.
by ponchi101 Both of them must be recalculating "do I want to be associated with this guy?"
(They'll say yes, but I hope a glimmer of doubt is sown).
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 I thought that the sole judges that got to comment on current laws are the ones sitting in Supreme Courts, be it the federal ones of the state ones.
This guy has no say on whether a law is poorly written. He will go have a beer with this guy after he acquits him.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie I've served on trial juries including a murder case. The disrespect this "judge" is showing for the victims (who he denied were victims) really bothers me.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Please, somebody tell me that "default judgement" means he will get roasted. For at least $15 Million.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 2:00 am
Please, somebody tell me that "default judgement" means he will get roasted. For at least $15 Million.
by ti-amie
"...highly unusual move..."?!
Like never ever? Usually an official of the court does this.
by ti-amie People have posted the number of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission on Twitter.
by skatingfan Just out of curiosity, do we know whether anyone else saw the number as Rittenhouse drew them or did he just look at them say it out loud? If no one else saw the numbers he could have been coached on which numbers to say. I'm sure the defense would have a jury advisor who be able to identify the most jurors most like to acquit.
by ti-amie
skatingfan wrote: ↑Tue Nov 16, 2021 9:27 pm
Just out of curiosity, do we know whether anyone else saw the number as Rittenhouse drew them or did he just look at them say it out loud? If no one else saw the numbers he could have been coached on which numbers to say. I'm sure the defense would have a jury advisor who be able to identify the most jurors most like to acquit.
Who is paying his bills?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 This judge reminds me of the judge in the Chicago 7 trial. He will take a picture of himself with Rittenhouse right after the trial. And go for a beer.
by Deuce Well, the judge did do at least one thing well... he just banned MSNBC from the courtroom because one of their journalists followed the van carrying jury members.
by ti-amie Of course this is going to be appealed (I hope) and this verdict thrown out due to judicial misconduct.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie This is the TL;dr on this case. A judge praying over a legal decision.
by meganfernandez
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 7:24 pm
This is the TL;dr on this case. A judge praying over a legal decision.
If he prayed for wisdom or clarity or whatever, sure. Praying for guidance on a specific decision or sentence seems like a violation of the separation of church and state.
by ponchi101 It is getting to the point in which one feels sorry for America.
by meganfernandez
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 7:01 pm
Of course this is going to be appealed (I hope) and this verdict thrown out due to judicial misconduct.
Pretty sure they couldn't retry him, though. I don't think the appeals court can overturn an acquittal based on judicial misconduct, only bribery. But he can be sued in civil court.
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 7:47 pm
It is getting to the point in which one feels sorry for America.
Didn't we cross that bridge about 5 or 6 years ago?
by ponchi101 It can be seen that way. But with the recent talk about secession, the obvious corruption of the Judicial system, and so many other signs, it is so hard to even proclaim that the USA is anything but a charade of a democracy, right now.
We are not going to disagree in this one. So, sure, 5-6 years, or just this morning. But these are sad days for America.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Nov 19, 2021 7:01 pm
Of course this is going to be appealed (I hope) and this verdict thrown out due to judicial misconduct.
Acquittals aren't appealed. Unless there is jury tampering that shows that jeopardy never attached, this result will stand. I'm not convinced anything will happen to this judge as a result of this sh!tshow he presided over, little happens to judges which is why people need to be much more aware of who they are electing/appointing.
If the little shiit is convicted in the future, it will be on federal charges, he broke several federal laws. His mother did too.
by JazzNU
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
That child could've be hit by this lunatic. I guess he felt threatened too?
by ti-amie More from Waukesha, Wisconsin
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 "Some of the fatalities are children".
The level of violence in the USA is, at a minimum, concerning. To put it ridiculously mildly.
by ti-amie
by Deuce Every single time that something like this - or a mass shooting, etc. - happens, I seriously wonder if it still would have happened if the offender knew for certain that he and/or the act would be getting zero publicity out of it; that no news media would be reporting it.
Because I am convinced that the large majority of these acts are done to 'send a message' and to get attention paid to something or someone. Without publicity, it happens in a vacuum - so, if knowing that the 'message' would not get to anyone, I believe that the number of these events would be cut in half, at the very least.
Of course, that was more possible to accomplish before 'social media' - because today, even if the mainstream media don't give these bad people the publicity they seek, 'social media' will give it to them.
The bus was missed on this issue... sigh...
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
Why does domestic violence always seem to be in the background of men who do things like this? If he was still behind bars five people would be alive.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie So far no one on the bird app has defined what Level 5 Supervision is in Wisconsin.
Why does domestic violence always seem to be in the background of men who do things like this? If he was still behind bars five people would be alive.
Maybe because it is a escalating process? First you beat your wife, then your wife and kids, then you graduate to total strangers?
(I am not joking, but I obviously have no idea nor training nor qualifications to answer your question).
by Deuce
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 7:28 pm
So far no one on the bird app has defined what Level 5 Supervision is in Wisconsin.
^ I would define it as "Grossly Inefficient".
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie It's interesting what can happen when the judge doesn't hold up cue cards to the jury to let them know what verdict he expects isn't it?
by JazzNU Doesn't look like anything on this was posted yet.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie There is talk that the prosecutor in the Arbery case should run for governor of that state but if it has been gerrymandered by the GQP I don't know how that would work.
by JazzNU Federal hate crime charges pending. These assholes should be under the jail by the time this is over, which is exactly what they deserve.
by dmforever The DAs that never charged them until the video was released should also be in jail. The police who didn't arrest them should also be in jail.
I don't know how people like Mr. Arbery's parents can ever be sane again, even with this verdict. What a tough tough thing to have to live with for the rest of their lives.
And the kicker is that one of these murderers was actually the one who made the video. Otherwise, they probably never would have been charged.
Kevin
by skatingfan
dmforever wrote: ↑Thu Nov 25, 2021 1:07 am
The DAs that never charged them until the video was released should also be in jail. The police who didn't arrest them should also be in jail.
I don't know how people like Mr. Arbery's parents can ever be sane again, even with this verdict. What a tough tough thing to have to live with for the rest of their lives.
And the kicker is that one of these murderers was actually the one who made the video. Otherwise, they probably never would have been charged.
Kevin
The prosecutor is facing charges.
by Togtdyalttai
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Nov 25, 2021 12:04 am
There is talk that the prosecutor in the Arbery case should run for governor of that state but if it has been gerrymandered by the GQP I don't know how that would work.
Nah, Stacey Abrams is going to be the Democratic nominee in Georgia (unless the prosecutor is from another state). Gerrymandering has no effect on governor's races (doesn't matter how the state is divided up when it only matters how you do in the whole state), only state legislature and House of Representatives ones.
Why does domestic violence always seem to be in the background of men who do things like this? If he was still behind bars five people would be alive.
Maybe because it is a escalating process? First you beat your wife, then your wife and kids, then you graduate to total strangers?
(I am not joking, but I obviously have no idea nor training nor qualifications to answer your question).
There is plenty of evidence that a history of domestic violence is the one clear predictor of someone committing gun violence.
I was just watching Jon Stewart's new show (The Problem with Jon Stewart, most of it is on YouTube HERE) yesterday on guns, and it laid out pretty clearly the limitations on collecting weapons from domestic violence perpetrators. Most states don't adhere to federal law about it and even in places that do, the police often have limitations on what they can do. Domestic violence situations are also the greatest cause of police deaths in the US.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Ms Kanefield who usually writes these very long tweet threads tucked this into one a day or two ago that I thought was compelling
Teri Kanefield
@Teri_Kanefield
I think part of the problem is how the civil rights movement was taught in school. It was taught as if the battle was won.
Thurgood Marshall, MLK, Jr. Susan B. Anthony and lots of others did the work. Now the work is done.
We have a liberal democracy. It's ours.
11/
People thought the slope would continue moving upward.
They thought they were in a boat and they didn't have to paddle.
The current of what was right would continue upward.
Here's the problem . . .
12/
The forces that created the confederacy never went away. They were shamed and went underground. But they've been pushing back, harder and harder.
Here I talked about shock is "pre-helpless" Arrow pointing rightwards then curving downwards
Suddenly the arrow started moving backward.
13/
by ponchi101 If CRT is going to be accepted as a real social phenomena, and a real, workable theory, deciding such things in court will not help one bit.
It is a sociological idea, not a legal legal one. A such, it has to be proven not by a court, but by its proponents, using data and analysis.
Is there any other developed nation on the planet where stuff like this happens with alarming regularity?
In Canada - which is close enough to the USA to share a border - this kind of thing is absolutely unthinkable. We don't carry guns around with us everywhere. We don't have guns in our homes. Therefore, we also don't point guns at people, shoot people, or kill people. We don't view threatening people with guns as even a last resort - let alone shooting them. But too often in the USA, pulling a gun on someone seems to be a first response.
Here, the only people who kill others are the criminal element - and they mostly just kill each other (which is itself a sad phenomenon transplanted from the USA). We don't have neighbours killing each other or regular citizens shooting each other. Happily, this troubling behaviour is not part of our culture to any degree. But, amazingly and tragically (and pathetically), it's a regular occurrence in the USA, where people believe that it's part of their 'freedom' to pull a gun on others and even shoot them dead.
For shame.
by mmmm8 Actually, you do have guns n your homes, about 35 per one hundred people (still 4 times less than the US), the 5th highest rate among countries (behind US, Yemen, Serbia, and Montenegro.). You just don't tend to kill humans with them. It might be significantly more prevalent in remote regions with wildlife theats/hunting, but can't be just that, there aren't that many people living there.
by Deuce I refuse to believe that 1/3 of our population have guns - unless that statistic is averaging out - like if one hunter owns 10 guns, all 10 are counted kind of thing...
Secondly, put in proper context, I am referring to 'normal' citizens, not convicted criminals - 'everyday people' in Canada don't own guns, with the exception of hunters, most of whom, as you mention, live in rural areas. Hunters who live in cities and suburbs often keep their guns stored out in rural areas, where they hunt.
Thirdly, no-one I've ever known has owned a gun (except for the criminals I've crossed while working with people on the streets). But of the urban and suburban people I've known throughout my life, none of them have owned a gun.
My point is that guns which are supposedly for 'personal protection' are not a way of life here, and never have been. Sure, like any 'developed' country, once in a while we have a psychopath go off and shoot people (but nowhere near as often as the USA per capita). Nor do we have 4 year olds shooting their sisters or parents by accident - because we don't have guns in our homes. We simply don't see guns the same way as people in the USA do. Not even close.
by mmmm8 Of course it's an average, it's the amount of guns per 100 people, not the amount of people who own a gun per 100 people.
I also don't currently know anyone who owns a gun in the US except one notable tennis writer who is a hunter and keeps his gun(s?) in a rural area. He even wrote a book about hunting. I've met other hunters when I lived in Texas who own guns. The only people I know who have/had guns who are not hunters are a Swiss person living in Switzerland (Swiss reservists are required to keep a rifle) and a Russian person in Russia. Just because I don't personally know people who have guns in the US doesn't mean the statistics for the US are wrong.
I agree completely that the problem is the "way of life" attitude. My point is that it's the more "special" in the US, given neighboring Canada is not a stranger to guns.
by Suliso I read somewhere that in US 80% of guns are owned by 20% of people.
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:55 pm
I read somewhere that in US 80% of guns are owned by 20% of people.
I have read it too. The typical gun nut owner in the USA does not own one gun, he has an armory.
Here is an easily found list: Top 10 Countries with Highest Gun Ownership (Civilian guns owned per 100 people):
United States - 120.5
Falkland Islands - 62.1
Yemen - 52.8
New Caledonia - 42.5
Serbia - 39.1 (tie)
Montenegro - 39.1 (tie)
Uruguay - 34.7 (tie)
Canada - 34.7 (tie)
Cyprus - 34
Finland - 32.4
The Falkland Islands and New Caledonia are of course statistical flukes: they have tiny populations so any 1 gun purchased increases their ranking considerably. Yemen is in a civil war and a cultural issue is present: if you are a man, you cannot be seen outside your house without a gun, which turns into a symbol of your manhood.
The thing about the USA is not only the quantity of guns, it is the type. The USA is the sole country where having an AR15 is common. Basically, weapons of mass destruction are in the hands of civilians.
Also, it is the sole country where MASS SHOOTINGS happen regularly, and with no response from the government. Countries like Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia have high levels of gun violence but we never see Joe Schmuck (Pedro Perez here) walk into a McDonalds and mow down the patrons. It really has never happened in any S. American country. Gun violence is directly tied to gangs and criminality.
Anyway, Bowling For Columbine said it all way back then. And the USA has done nothing about that problem. Not one thing.
You simply have your own terrorist group within your borders, and it is legal. It is called the NRA (National Republican Army, which is what it really is).
BTW: Gun Ownership in Switzerland is 27.5. In Colombia, LEGAL gun ownership is also very low.
by ti-amie Isn't Florida the state with "stand your ground" laws? It seems that Mr. Derr, if he were to be charged with manslaughter or something, would cite that statute and walk away free no matter what.
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:55 pm
I read somewhere that in US 80% of guns are owned by 20% of people.
I have read it too. The typical gun nut owner in the USA does not own one gun, he has an armory.
Here is an easily found list: Top 10 Countries with Highest Gun Ownership (Civilian guns owned per 100 people):
United States - 120.5
Falkland Islands - 62.1
Yemen - 52.8
New Caledonia - 42.5
Serbia - 39.1 (tie)
Montenegro - 39.1 (tie)
Uruguay - 34.7 (tie)
Canada - 34.7 (tie)
Cyprus - 34
Finland - 32.4
The Falkland Islands and New Caledonia are of course statistical flukes: they have tiny populations so any 1 gun purchased increases their ranking considerably. Yemen is in a civil war and a cultural issue is present: if you are a man, you cannot be seen outside your house without a gun, which turns into a symbol of your manhood.
The thing about the USA is not only the quantity of guns, it is the type. The USA is the sole country where having an AR15 is common. Basically, weapons of mass destruction are in the hands of civilians.
Also, it is the sole country where MASS SHOOTINGS happen regularly, and with no response from the government. Countries like Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia have high levels of gun violence but we never see Joe Schmuck (Pedro Perez here) walk into a McDonalds and mow down the patrons. It really has never happened in any S. American country. Gun violence is directly tied to gangs and criminality.
Anyway, Bowling For Columbine said it all way back then. And the USA has done nothing about that problem. Not one thing.
You simply have your own terrorist group within your borders, and it is legal. It is called the NRA (National Republican Army, which is what it really is).
BTW: Gun Ownership in Switzerland is 27.5. In Colombia, LEGAL gun ownership is also very low.
If you think the NRA are terrorists, let me introduce you to their less reasonable, less corporate competitors:
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Nov 30, 2021 7:11 pm
Isn't Florida the state with "stand your ground" laws? It seems that Mr. Derr, if he were to be charged with manslaughter or something, would cite that statute and walk away free no matter what.
Yes. The BS law that they used to let George Zimmerman off for murdering Trayvon Martin.
by JTContinental Chris Cuomo has been “indefinitely suspended” from CNN pending investigation of reports of improper relationships between him and his brother’s aides.
by ti-amie This train is never late.
Fourth victim dies after Oxford High School shooting; suspect charged with terrorism, first-degree murder
By Lindsay Kalter, Paulina Firozi, Bryan Pietsch and Annabelle Timsit
Today at 6:56 a.m. EST|Updated today at 2:30 p.m. EST
OXFORD, Mich. — A fourth victim has died after a gunman opened fire on classmates at a Michigan high school, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said. The 17-year-old died Wednesday at McLaren Hospital in Pontiac, Mich.
Authorities are investigating what caused a student to turn a pistol on his peers at the school on Tuesday, leaving a small town to grapple with what has become a routine American tragedy. In addition to the fatalities, several people were wounded.
The four people slain were identified as 17-year-old Justin Shilling, who died Wednesday; 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana; 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 16-year-old Tate Myre, who died in a patrol car Tuesday while sheriff’s deputies were taking him to a hospital.
The suspected gunman is a 15-year-old sophomore at Oxford High School who attended class before he began shooting, allegedly firing 15 to 20 shots, officials said. It remains unclear how he obtained the gun, which police said was purchased by his father on Nov. 26.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said the suspect would be charged, as an adult, with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm. She said additional charges could be added later, and charges against both of his parents are under consideration.
“There are facts leading up in the shooting that suggest this was not just an impulsive act,” McDonald said. “Those facts are not appropriate for discussion right now … Lastly, charging this person as an adult is necessary to achieve justice and protect the public. Any other option would put all of us at risk of this person because they could be released and still a threat.”
McDonald said she could not offer much detail because she did not want to jeopardize the investigation, but said she was confident the acts were planned.
“There is a mountain of digital evidence: videotape, social media, all digital evidence possible,” she said. “We have reviewed it and we are confident we can show it was premeditation.”
The mass shooting appears to be the deadliest episode of on-campus violence in more than 18 months, a period when instruction shifted online during the coronavirus pandemic and school shootings largely dropped out of headlines.
In Oxford, members of the community were reeling from the previous day’s events. Students from the high school recalled the moments as the horror unfolded: screams in the hallway, teachers urging students to move away from doors. Recent alumni expressed concern about friends who were injured — and the shock of seeing their own school’s name at the center of a tragedy.
(...)
The gun taken from the suspect, a 9mm pistol with 15-round magazines, was purchased by the suspect’s father last week, four days before the shooting, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
The suspect, who was booked into a juvenile facility but could be tried as an adult, did not resist when he was arrested and is not cooperating with the investigation, authorities said. About 300 law enforcement and emergency management personnel from two dozen agencies, including the FBI, responded to the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
It is illegal under Michigan laws for someone younger than 18 to possess a gun in public. In schools, it is illegal to carry a concealed gun, and some school districts in the state also ban open carry.
(...)
Max Charltom, who graduated two years ago, said his friend was shot during the attack and is now on life support.
“You never expect this to happen, not in a backwater town like this,” he said. But, he added, the incident has shown what a tightknit community Oxford is. “Everyone is coming together,” he said. “Working together and supporting each other.”
Oakland County Undersheriff Mike McCabe would not say whether the suspect had made threats leading up to the shooting, but he said the possibility is part of the police investigation.
(...)
According to the Giffords Law Center, a gun violence-prevention group that publishes information about gun laws, Michigan ranks 20th in the nation for states with the strongest gun laws.
“Michigan laws are certainly not the weakest in the country, but they could be a lot stronger,” Allison Anderman, the center’s senior counsel, said in an interview Tuesday night.
Anderman noted that school shootings are still exceptionally rare compared with other types of shootings. Yet in most school shootings, the weapon is a firearm left unsecured in the home.
Holly Bailey in Minneapolis and Marisa Iati, Lateshia Beachum, Meryl Kornfield, Hannah Knowles, Laura Meckler, María Luisa Paúl, Reis Thebault and Keith McMillan in Washington contributed to this report.
by JazzNU This is a wild story in case you missed it
New Jersey officer faces charges after body of hit-and-run victim was found in the back seat of his car, prosecutors say
By Sahar Akbarzai, CNN
New York (CNN) A Newark, New Jersey, police officer is facing multiple charges after prosecutors said he was involved in a hit-and-run that left a 29-year-old nurse dead.
Louis Santiago, 25, was off duty when prosecutors allege he traveled onto the right shoulder of the Garden State Parkway around 3 a.m. on November 1, hitting nurse Damian Dymka, according to a news release from the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
Prosecutors allege Santiago and his passenger, 25-year-old Albert Guzman, didn't render aid or call 911, "but returned to the scene multiple times" before Santiago loaded Dymka into the car "and removed him from the scene," the release said.
Santiago then went to his home in Bloomfield, where he, Guzman, and Santiago's mother, Annette Santiago, discussed what to do with the body, the release said.
Eventually Santiago went back to the scene, the prosecutor's office said.
Santiago's father, who is a lieutenant with the Newark Police Department, called 911 and reported his son was in an accident, the release said. "When the New Jersey State Police arrived, the victim was dead in the back seat of the car," the prosecutor's office said.
Santiago has been charged with reckless vehicular homicide, desecrating/moving human remains, leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, endangering an injured victim, tampering with physical evidence, hindering one's own apprehension, conspiracy to hinder prosecution, obstructing the administration of law and two counts of official misconduct, prosecutors said.
Patrick Toscano, the attorney representing Louis Santiago, told CNN, "Officer Santiago was charged with over a dozen crimes, most of which are unfounded ... there truly was no intentional or reckless homicidal act committed by Officer Santiago at any time."
Both Guzman and Annette Santiago have been charged with conspiracy to desecrate human remains, hindering apprehension, and conspiracy to hinder apprehension and tamper with physical evidence, prosecutors said.
CNN reached out to Guzman's attorney for comment and was unable to determine whether Annette Santiago has representation.
Louis and Annette Santiago and Guzman "have been arrested, charged, and released with conditions," the prosecutor's office said.
by JTContinental Looks like they have added a DUI charge too, according to New York Post
by dryrunguy
JTContinental wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:39 pm
Looks like they have added a DUI charge too, according to New York Post
Yeah, it was either going to be that or a hate crime.
by JazzNU
JTContinental wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:39 pm
Looks like they have added a DUI charge too, according to New York Post
I wondered if they would because clearly the logic employed here is suggestive of being incredibly high or drunk.
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 7:54 pm
...
The suspected gunman is a 15-year-old sophomore at Oxford High School who attended class before he began shooting, allegedly firing 15 to 20 shots, officials said. It remains unclear how he obtained the gun, which police said was purchased by his father on Nov. 26.
...
I know that you want clarity, but really, how deep do you have to look into this?
Unclear? Try "his a*****e dad did not keep the gun under lock and key".
Sometimes things are not complicated.
by mmmm8 Yup, it's very clear that he obtained it from his father.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU I have no idea what the purpose of that line was in the story. In the Washington Post of all places. His dad got the gun at a Black Friday sale and the murderer posted that he got his new gun on social media. There's nothing to figure out. And I best not be hearing much about this murderer being bullied. And these angelic photos they are showing us of him are outrageous. The qualifiers the media is willing to give white people to downgrade their despicable actions is truly ridiculous. Murderer. Cold-Blooded Killer. Mass Shooter. Serial Killer. Choose from those because that's what that asshole is. And show the damn mugshot.
by ti-amie
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 2:13 am
I have no idea what the purpose of that line was in the story. In the Washington Post of all places. His dad got the gun at a Black Friday sale and the murderer posted that he got his new gun on social media. There's nothing to figure out. And I best not be hearing much about this murderer being bullied. And these angelic photos they are showing us of him are outrageous. The qualifiers the media is willing to give white people to downgrade their despicable actions is truly ridiculous. Murderer. Cold-Blooded Killer. Mass Shooter. Serial Killer. Choose from those because that's what that asshole is. And show the damn mugshot.
I was wondering if the angelic, baby faced pictures. had started. No bullying claims yet?
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 2:15 am
I was wondering if the angelic, baby faced pictures. had started. No bullying claims yet?
I saw "bullied" in freaking headlines. And swear they've been flashing photos of what look to be him in elementary school including one of him with his hands in prayer position. He's a mass murderer and he's charged as an adult. Just stop.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 2:15 am
I was wondering if the angelic, baby faced pictures. had started. No bullying claims yet?
I saw "bullied" in freaking headlines. And swear they've been flashing photos of what look to be him in elementary school including one of him with his hands in prayer position. He's a mass murderer and he's charged as an adult. Just stop.
They won't.
by Deuce I continue to wish that people wouldn't bring race into absolutely everything.
Sigh...
by mmmm8
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:10 am
I continue to wish that people wouldn't bring race into absolutely everything.
Sigh...
You'll have to keep wishing, since unfortunately it impacts nearly everything, particularly in the United States. I"m not trying to start a theoretical discussion, I'm just letting you know that while, of course, you are entitled to an opinion and certainly to wishes, you nor I - as people who are not Black Americans - have a set of experiences, individual or collective, to fully grasp this.
I just finished So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. I hightly recommend it to help understand why race is brought up so much. I do know you just essentially said you don't want to talk about race, so apologies.
(again, not looking for a discussion or argument, so no need to respond)
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:10 am
I continue to wish that people wouldn't bring race into absolutely everything.
Sigh...
You'll have to keep wishing, since unfortunately it impacts nearly everything, particularly in the United States. I"m not trying to start a theoretical discussion, I'm just letting you know that while, of course, you are entitled to an opinion and certainly to wishes, you nor I - as people who are not Black Americans - have a set of experiences, individual or collective, to fully grasp this.
I just finished So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. I hightly recommend it to help understand why race is brought up so much. I do know you just essentially said you don't want to talk about race, so apologies.
(again, not looking for a discussion or argument, so no need to respond)
You can't reply (or post even an initial opinion) on a discussion board, and then say that you're not looking for a discussion - that's a cop-out.
Discussion is healthier than monologue.
As I've said many times before - bringing race into everything devalues the position. Dispensing accusations of racism left and right, forwards and backwards... It's like crying wolf. If the 'race card' is constantly played, the majority eventually ignore it. It is therefore best reserved for when it is clearly an issue, rather than desperately and forcibly trying to make it an issue at every turn.
Indeed, the USA has a far worse record for race relations than does Canada. But that doesn't mean I'm ignorant on the subject. Nor does the fact that I'm not black invalidate my perspective in any way - to believe so is, of course, a prejudice in itself.
I am an individual who, above all, believes in truth and fairness. I possess no bias for or against any race or nationality. Can that be said of some others here who perpetually bring up race?
If the kid in the most recent school shooting were black, would he have been lambasted for being black as he was in one post because he is white? Of course not.
Racism is wrong and harmful. So is 'reverse racism'. Two wrongs have never made a right.
Regardless of what the Michigan kid did, I hate to see demonic rants about teenagers, harshly criticizing and condemning every cell in their body. And doing it seemingly mostly because he's white is especially cruel (again - would that same vitriolic post, condemning the kid and calling him all sorts of nasty names, have been written had the kid been black? - I think the answer to that is very obvious, if we are to be honest).
This 15 year old kid is obviously very troubled. But does he deserve less of our compassion than he would deserve if he were black? Does he deserve less help because he's not black? My answer is an obvious and unequivocal 'No'. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian... - whatever - a troubled 15 year old kid is a troubled 15 year old kid. And they are all deserving of our compassion and help. Hell - the lack of love and compassion in his life is the very reason this tragedy occurred.
Should he be punished? Yes - absolutely. But he should be punished for what he did, not for being white (and I'd say the same, of course, if the kid were not white). But he also needs to be loved. Whether society needs to be protected from him for the rest of his life or not is to be determined. Perhaps the damage done to him (mostly very likely by his parents) can be undone. Perhaps not. But at 15 years old, it must be tried; an attempt to salvage his life must be attempted - regardless of his colour or shoe size or sexual orientation, etc., etc., etc., etc.....
That's a perspective of one who has worked with many troubled and messed up kids - of various races, colours, nationalities, and sexual orientations.
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:10 am
I continue to wish that people wouldn't bring race into absolutely everything.
Sigh...
You'll have to keep wishing, since unfortunately it impacts nearly everything, particularly in the United States. I"m not trying to start a theoretical discussion, I'm just letting you know that while, of course, you are entitled to an opinion and certainly to wishes, you nor I - as people who are not Black Americans - have a set of experiences, individual or collective, to fully grasp this.
I just finished So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo. I hightly recommend it to help understand why race is brought up so much. I do know you just essentially said you don't want to talk about race, so apologies.
(again, not looking for a discussion or argument, so no need to respond)
Thanks for your post.I just felt like the thumbs up button didn't speak loudly enough for me.
Kevin
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Text of open letter the shooter's mother wrote to TFG
by ponchi101 40 years for the little creep, 10 for each person that will not have a life thanks to him, 15 to mom for basically fostering her son's attitude.
Let's wait until people find out what daddy did, but I gather he must not be far away from the "I support your maniacal ways, son" position.
by ti-amie Maybe they should check with Tucker Carlson?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Too bad. It would have been so good to be able to charge them with something else.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:14 pm
Too bad. It would have been so good to be able to charge them with something else.
I think their lawyer told them just that ponchi. What are their chances of bail now though?
by ti-amie
by dmforever So wait. The school also saw the unaltered drawing from the teacher's cell phone pic. (Excellent quick thinking on the teacher's part). The school brought the shooter into the office to talk with his parents and presumably the principal or other staff member. He had a backpack. But no one asked him to open his backpack and empty its contents? Am I missing something?
And yes, don't you usually arrest people before you announce that they are going to be charged?
IF this weren't so horrible, it would be funny. Please tell me I'm missing something.
Kevin
by ti-amie
dmforever wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:39 pm
So wait. The school also saw the unaltered drawing from the teacher's cell phone pic. (Excellent quick thinking on the teacher's part). The school brought the shooter into the office to talk with his parents and presumably the principal or other staff member. He had a backpack. But no one asked him to open his backpack and empty its contents? Am I missing something?
And yes, don't you usually arrest people before you announce that they are going to be charged?
IF this weren't so horrible, it would be funny. Please tell me I'm missing something.
Kevin
We can't lie Kevin. You didn't miss a thing.
by ti-amie Her text to her son is shady as all get out.
by JazzNU
dmforever wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:39 pm
And yes, don't you usually arrest people before you announce that they are going to be charged?
Kevin
The way it was done here is done pretty common. Not all the time or every day, but it's also not rare. The reason they'd likely do it in this case was that they already had counsel, the "we'll turn ourselves in" is an agreement thru the attorney and made in good faith with an officer of the law. It usually doesn't go like this because people aren't usually dumb enough to think it'll work out for them, they basically know it'll go about how it's going, where it's highly likely they're gonna get extra charges for this, and if they crossed state lines, it'll be federal charges. Once you say you're gonna turn yourself in, you do.
That being said, I know nothing about the parents background, if either have a record, etc. At the very least, even if this was the agreement, they could've had officers watching them to make sure they didn't flee like this.
But an important caveat, yes there was an idea that the parents would be charged and it was well known. But no one knew the charges were going to be for manslaughter. Parents are rarely ever charged in cases like this, let alone for murder. Just about everyone was thinking some lesser crime because we didn't know all the reckless things they'd done to not stop their kid until today. Don't think the prosecutor knew yesterday that they'd have enough to charge them with this serious of a crime.
Attorney is playing a dangerous game lying the way they are. It's a bold strategy, but they shouldn't be surprised if their career goes off the rails as a result.
by ponchi101
dmforever wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:39 pm
... The school brought the shooter into the office to talk with his parents and presumably the principal or other staff member. He had a backpack. But no one asked him to open his backpack and empty its contents? Am I missing something?
And yes, don't you usually arrest people before you announce that they are going to be charged?
IF this weren't so horrible, it would be funny. Please tell me I'm missing something.
Kevin
American law and fear of invasion of privacy, and then a lawsuit?
(I am also puzzled).
by Deuce I do not think the kid should be charged as an adult - because he is not an adult. Charging kids as adults within the same legal system which does not allow them to vote, to drink, to work as strippers, etc. is highly hypocritical. On the one hand, the system is saying that people under, say, 18 years of age do not possess the experience and maturity to make conscious, well thought out decisions, and on the other hand, the very same system is saying that people under 18 DO possess the experience and maturity to make conscious, well thought out decisions.
I guarantee that all of us were very different at 15 years old than we are now - or than we were 10 years after we were 15. Maturity and experience are evolutionary elements which we gain with time.
The kid should be punished, because what he did was tragic. But I have known enough troubled kids to know that this was much more of a 'cry for help' by this kid than anything else. That may sound cliché - and I really don't like clichés, and I use them as little as possible - but in this case, I firmly believe it holds true. This kid obviously wasn't getting the help he needed from his parents - and he wasn't going to be getting help from them at any future point, either. It looks like the school wasn't of any help to him, either. Realizing all of this, and not being mature or experienced enough to know where he could get help, he did something to make it obvious to everyone that he needs help. In his adolescent mind, he did not differentiate between getting help and being punished. Sometimes, to desperate people, punishment is a sign that someone at least cares enough to punish you. Yes, it's complicated...
There are reports that he was also bullied - which leaves kids even less trusting of others, of course. And that factored into it, as well. If you don't trust others - because they've proven to not be worthy of trust - you have nowhere to go for help.
He should face the justice system as a 15 year old teenager - because that's what he is. A suitable punishment would then come. At the same time, every attempt possible should be made to help him, and to salvage the rest of his life.
As for his parents, they should be charged with parental negligence resulting in death. If that is not an official charge available in that jurisdiction, it certainly should be. And the punishment should be greater to the parents than it is to the child - because the child is a product of his parents. The child would not have done what he did had he received proper nurturing and parenting. And so the punishment to the parents should reflect that, and be severe.
That said, the parents in this case are very, very likely the products of the neglect of their own parents. If I've learned anything while working in this field, it is that these things are cyclical within families. That's why external help is almost always needed to stop the unhealthy cycle.
However, this kid's parents have lived long enough as adults to possess the experience - if not the maturity, owing to their own troubled upbringing - to have had several opportunities to correct their parental behaviour, but had not done so. Therefore, severe punishment for the parents is warranted.
dmforever wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:39 pm
... The school brought the shooter into the office to talk with his parents and presumably the principal or other staff member. He had a backpack. But no one asked him to open his backpack and empty its contents? Am I missing something?
And yes, don't you usually arrest people before you announce that they are going to be charged?
IF this weren't so horrible, it would be funny. Please tell me I'm missing something.
Kevin
American law and fear of invasion of privacy, and then a lawsuit?
(I am also puzzled).
I know why now. The school didn't know that the parents had bought a gun for him, so they didn't have any reason to think he had a gun, other than the google search for ammo. But the parents knew. That's one of the reasons why they are going to be charged. They knew they had bought him a gun but the didn't tell anyone or even think to look at home.
As for searching the backpack, I don't know if they can order him to show what's there, but they could have certainly asked him if he would show them what was inside. His parents could have easily just asked him to open up the backpack, and if he had said no, they could have then taken appropriate action. And many schools have metal detectors now and locker and backpack searches. I don't know if that's state law or county law.
But I really see now why the parents are being charged. They knew he had a gun, they were told he was looking for ammo, they saw pictures of the drawing, and they did squat. I don't have words.
Kevin
by skatingfan Locker searches are legal because the locker belongs to the school, and not the student, so if the school gives permission the search can proceed.
by JazzNU
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Sure. All true.
But it always cuts both ways. I have a very good friend, formerly in the industry, that used to say "Dead men don't need money", when we would get an offer to go to Ethiopia, or Iraq, or some other hell hole where our lives would be in danger.
I would tell him "But live men do", because I always felt that it was not a total picture of the reality of income.
Sure, life is short. And it certainly feels like it is a lot shorter when you don't have an income.
by ti-amie
If you look to the right you can see smaller tornadoes.
Rand Paul, noted "Libertarian", to POTUS today. He's voted against everything that would help those affected by this horror.
Everything they do is performative.
by ti-amie This drone video of Mayfield, KY is the first one that came it. It's being praised for being among the best footage taken using a drone.
by ponchi101 I have been through an earthquake, a hurricane and even a Cat 9 storm in the South Atlantic. Nothing is as scary as a tornado (which I have been close to also). The sound of the wind is like a shriek magnified by 100's, and you can hear how everything in the path is basically shredded.
Wonder if those towns can be recovered.
About Rand Paul. The man is one of the most shameful politicians in US history. What is is about Kentucky that they produce such scum?
by dryrunguy a before and after, 360 view of downtown Mayfield, KY.
by JazzNU
by ti-amie Why am I not surprised? It is Kentucky after all.
by ti-amie Time Magazine picked Elon Musk as Person of the Year. I wonder if this man ever crossed their minds?
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Dec 14, 2021 1:30 am
Time Magazine picked Elon Musk as Person of the Year.
by ponchi101 Person Of The Year: Donald Trump.
By refusing to accept the results of the US election, this man has done more damage to the republic than any foreign agent ever. By now, the possibility that the USA will split in some near future is no longer zero, an idea that a mere decade ago was unthinkable. Not only that, it will make no difference how clean the elections of 2022 and 2024 are, they will be called a foul by him and his followers, further damaging the country.
It is not GOOD person of the year; they elected Hitler as POTY after all. Donald Trump may have started the end of the USA (I say MAY), which would make him a historical figure.
by ti-amie It would be interesting to see how the states of the south and midwest would fund essential services if they secede from the Union. Right now the majority of their funds come from the NE and California. I'd like to see the Libertarians and "Freedom" folks have to cover the costs of repairing the damage done by the recent tornadoes in Kentucky and elsewhere. Rand Paul knows damn well that the Governor of the State has to request FEMA come in but he was on the Bird App early screaming at POTUS to send funds now.
I have family in Georgia and I worry about their safety if the South as a whole decides to secede.
by ponchi101 If the South were to secede, I would go to GA and rip my grand-niece from my niece's arms, and bring her to Colombia.
They would never secede because of what you say. But the thought has been planted, and there is something else: what if it is THE OTHER SIDE that decides "enough of this crap"? The West coast goes its way, the NE too, Colorado remains isolated in the center, and all those other states simply go bankrupt.
by JazzNU I don't think they would fund them. You know those photos from Cape Town showing the housing divide between the wealthy and the poor from the Apartheid era that still remain just a stones throw from one another? That's about what I think would happen. We're good at our country club over here, hope you have fun fending for yourselves over there, but we won't help you, but we do need to hire you because I'm not cleaning this house or getting a glass of iced water on my own.
That being said, those that are not so well off that think they support these fools would get a rude awakening about where everything they previously were getting came from. But it'd probably still take them awhile to realize they've been duped since they still seem rather clueless on that front.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
Derek Chauvin pleads guilty to federal charges of violating George Floyd's civil rights
By Bill Hutchinson
Eight months after being convicted of state murder charges in the death of George Floyd, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal charges of violating the 46-year-old Black man's civil rights.
"At this time, guilty, your honor," Chauvin, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, said in Minnesota U.S. District Court in St. Paul when questioned by Judge Paul Magnuson.
The 45-year-old Chauvin, who is already serving a 22 1/2-year state prison sentence for killing Floyd in May 2020, could get additional time behind bars when he is sentenced at a later date.
Federal prosecutors are asking that Chauvin be sentenced to up to 25 years in federal prison. The federal sentence is to be served concurrently with the state sentence, according to the plea agreement Chauvin signed in court.
Floyd's brothers Terrence, Rodney and Philonise Floyd, along with their nephew, Brandon Williams, were in the courtroom when Chauvin pleaded guilty.
"Honestly, hearing what Derek Chauvin said in the courtroom is not what we definitely wanted. We wanted this at the beginning of the trial (back in March)," Rodney Floyd said at a news conference following the plea hearing. "My reaction is not what you'd expect. I'm still feeling the anger I felt in the beginning."
Philonise Floyd added, "We can never get justice because we can never get George back."
Attorneys for the Floyd family, Ben Crump, Antonio Romanucci and Jeff Storms, released a joint statement, saying: “As our nation continues to grapple with the demons of our past and present, historic days make us hopeful for our future. Today is one such day."
The statement adds: "Before the tragic and needless death of George Floyd, there was little expectation that a white police officer would ever be held accountable for murdering a Black man. But when Derek Chauvin was held to account, the jury – and people across the country – finally said enough was enough."
A federal grand jury in May indicted Chauvin and three other police officers -- Tou Thao, 35, J. Alexander Kueng, 27, and Thomas Lane, 38 in connection to Floyd's death.
The four men were scheduled to go to trial in federal court together in January.
All four defendants were charged with depriving Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force when they held the handcuffed man on the ground on May 25, 2020, and Chauvin dug his knee into Floyd's neck and back for more than nine minutes even as Floyd complained he could not breathe, fell unconscious and lost a pulse.
The indictment alleges Thao and Kueng willfully failed to intervene to stop Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force.
Lane was heard on body-camera footage played at Chauvin's state trial this year suggesting that Floyd be turned on his side to alleviate his breathing.
Lane, Kueng and Thao are also scheduled to go on trial on state charges in March 2022 on state charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. They have all pleaded not guilty.
According to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, Chauvin "admitted that he continued to use force even though he was aware that Mr. Floyd had stopped resisting, talking and moving, and even though he was aware that Mr. Floyd had lost consciousness and a pulse."
Chauvin also admitted, according to the DOJ statement, that he willfully violated Floyd’s constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which included his right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs.
"While recognizing that nothing can repair the harm caused by such acts, the Justice Department is committed to holding accountable those who violate the Constitution, and to safeguarding the civil rights of all Americans," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Under the terms of the plea deal, Chauvin will serve his sentence in federal custody and will not be eligible to work in any law enforcement capacity following his release.
In a separate federal indictment, Chauvin also pleaded guilty to willfully depriving a 14-year-old Minneapolis resident of his constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer. The charges stem from an episode in September 2017 and allege that Chauvin, without legal justification, held the teenager by the throat, struck him multiple times in the head with a flashlight and held his knee on the boy's neck and the upper back while he was handcuffed and in a prone position.
"After hearing the details of it, that guy (Chauvin) is a monster," Brandon Williams, Floyd's nephew, said of the brutality case involving the teenager. "He should have been arrested in 2017. Had he been held accountable for what he did in 2017 to that minor, George Floyd would still be here."
In April, Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter stemming from Floyd's death, which prompted protests nationwide.
Matthew Barhoma, a Los Angeles criminal appeals attorney, said Chauvin change-of-plea will likely not help Thao, Kueng and Lane.
"Prosecutors will be able to inform jurors in the case against the other officers that Chauvin pleaded guilty, which will reflect badly on those defendants," Barhoma said in a statement to ABC News.
by JazzNU ^^ I'm guessing most will gloss over this, yeah, yeah, he's still guilty of killing George Floyd, we know that. But if you read the bottom quarter of the article, he also pled guilty in a separate indictment of what he did to that 14 year old several years ago.
by dmforever I just saw this. I guess it's not surprising, but it is revolting, especially given the anniversary of Sandyhook that just passed, and the shooting that happened a couple of weeks ago. The true spirit of the holidays.
The data that shows Boomers are to blame for the labor shortage
By Allison Morrow
New York (CNN Business)
One of the more insidious myths making the rounds this year was that young people didn't want to work because they were getting by just fine on government aid. People had too much money, went the narrative from a handful of politicians and pundits.
Only trouble is, the numbers don't back it up.
Here's the thing: Early retirement — whether forced by the pandemic or made possible otherwise — is having a huge impact on the labor market. And data show that retiring boomers, far more than "lazy" millennials, are the biggest force behind the labor shortage.
People have left the workforce for myriad reasons in the past two years. But among those who have left and are least likely to return, the vast majority are older Americans who accelerated their retirement.
Last month, there were 3.6 million more Americans who had left the labor force and said they didn't want a job compared with November 2019. A whopping 90% of them were over 55.
There are few reasons why this is the case.
The strong stock market and soaring home prices have given higher-income people, especially Boomers, more options, says ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson.
The nature of the pandemic means the risks of going to work are higher for older people.
Employers aren't doing enough to lure people out of retirement. They're creating jobs, just not the ones people want.
Key quote: "I can want a 65-inch TV for $50, but it doesn't mean there's a TV shortage, it means I'm not willing to pay enough to get somebody to sell me a TV," says Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist and professor at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.
Even the White House has recognized how the retirement issue is distorting our read of the labor economy. Jared Bernstein, a member of President Joe Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, said that once "non-prime age" workers — those over 55 — are excluded from the metrics, a much clearer picture of how the labor recovery is doing emerges because it strips out the retirement narrative.
There are signs emerging that the labor shortage is easing.
First, retired people are starting to come back to work. The "unretirement" rate fell to just over 2% early in the pandemic, but in recent months has ticked up to around 2.6%, according to Nick Bunker, an economist at Indeed. That's still off from the pre-pandemic rate of around 3%.
Bringing people out of retirement might sound cruel, but it's not always the case — some people retired not because they wanted to stop working but because it was too risky to work in a pandemic, or they couldn't find a job in which the benefits outweighed the risks.
Another glimmer of hope for hiring managers: FedEx, which said the labor shortage cost it $470 million in its most recent quarter, says the outlook for staffing is improving.
FedEx said it is getting a good response from its current hiring efforts, given its current pay package and other offerings, such as an app that provides employee-friendly, flexible schedule options. In the last week alone, it got 111,000 applications, the highest in its history, and up from just 52,000 during a week in May of this year.
The company also is optimistic about keeping many of its seasonal hires on staff once the holiday shipping season is over, CNN Business' Chris Isidore reports.
by ponchi101 Ah, the wonders of the USA. Here, the GOVT just passed a law that will increase the minimum wage to COP 1 Million, to help people that have jobs.
That's around $270/month. And it has to be done that way because there are simply no jobs. Wanted OR unwanted.
My doctor told me this story. He bought a Tesla. He was driving on the freeway and it just died. No power. Little control over steering. He was lucky enough to be able to get to the side of the road safely. Only Tesla works on Teslas. They took over 6 months to get the part and fix it. Lesson learned?
Kevin
by ti-amie
Isn't it ski season in Colorado?
by JazzNU
dmforever wrote: ↑Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:29 pm
My doctor told me this story. He bought a Tesla. He was driving on the freeway and it just died. No power. Little control over steering. He was lucky enough to be able to get to the side of the road safely. Only Tesla works on Teslas. They took over 6 months to get the part and fix it. Lesson learned?
Kevin
Wow. That is real deep, and not even the problem detailed for the recall. I'm not sure many will learn a lesson from any of this anytime soon given that their Q rating rarely dips just increases, but I'd be concerned with the number and variety of issues that owners have detailed about their Teslas. So many of them are far from minor.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:18 pm
Isn't it ski season in Colorado?
Some areas of Colorado have had avalanche warnings in recent days. An unfortunate mixed bag of extreme weather right now across the state it would seem.
by ponchi101 It is a complete mixed bag right now in Colorado with the weather. The ski area where I have my place has received 73 Inches of snow in 5 days, and it continues. Then, further north, this is happening. And our area was under drought watch before these series of storms.
by ponchi101 Tesla is the Apple of cars. The people that buy them are acolytes, and will stay with the brand.
But it is still a new technology, and things like this will happen.
And as said above: only Tesla repairs Teslas. So one has to wonder how long will it take for them to repair 475,000 cars.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
by ponchi101 Not only very worthy, but I caught a piece on CNN and the design is very pretty. Well done, Federal Mint.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
by JazzNU Hope everyone stays safe if you're in one of these areas. And @MJ and @New England Nitemare in particular, please be careful and hope you are ready for the likely blizzard conditions coming your way.
Banning books. What other kind of people do that? Nazis, Taliban, East Germany in the Soviet era, The Ministry of Truth in 1984. Fine people, all of them.
by ti-amie Uh...
by JazzNU ^^ One of the top replies to that tweet contains a quote that is perfect
The longer I live, the more convinced am I that this planet is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.
— George Bernard Shaw
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Sigh. Thanks for posting, @Ti-Amie, I hadn't heard. My nephew is at Howard.
by dryrunguy But we're too sensitive and interject race into everything. Got it.
by ponchi101 I don't want to thank you, Dry, and I don't know how not to. And I don't want to make it seem like the three previous posts are not of importance by not commenting, but I also do not know of anything I can say (and I really mean only me) that would be of any worth.
(And I hope I am even remotely making myself clear, if that is possible).
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 In the little town that I am in, McDonald's is offering $16/hour, Kroger is countering with $15/hr. Those are the signs posted outside.
My washer/dryer broke. I called a repairman, he can't come until next week (I already found out what it is, and will fix it myself).
So, in 2021:
The economy rebounded so much the job market is on fire.
You did get out of Afghanistan.
Your president stood up to Russia.
Sure, covid remains rampant but it is mostly relegated to the unvaccinated.
You have shortages but largely because people are buying so much.
I don't see the distribution problem: I have had to buy several things to get my place here up to date and have been able to find everything I need. And it has always arrived in time, or before that.
And Biden's approval rating is under 40%? Sorry, this country is insane.
by Suliso Isn't it still 2.9 million fewer jobs compared with before covid?
Also it's very difficult to make ends meet in US even with 16 $/h...
by ponchi101 Yes, but it is heading in the right direction. It is way more than what the GOP was doing.
by Suliso It was a booming jobs market under Trump before covid...
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:44 am
It was a booming jobs market under Trump before covid...
You mean the one he inherited from Obama and tried to take credit for?
by patrick Yes. While Obama was doing the Presidency, a certain individual was pursuing a birth certificate.
Suliso wrote: ↑Sat Feb 05, 2022 6:44 am
It was a booming jobs market under Trump before covid...
You mean the one he inherited from Obama and tried to take credit for?
Of course, the same one. One could also say Biden inherited whatever is going well (or not) from Trump. This notion that a president, especially one in power hardly a year, is leading the economy in one direction or another is in my opinion silly.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
I think this is a great solution for single adults who would find a full sized house or apartment overwhelming.
by ti-amie
by dryrunguy This was the lead section of this morning's NY Times e-newsletter. A very interesting read. There's also a very compelling graphic that depicts the steep increase in traffic deaths starting in 2020, but I don't know how to include that.
::
By David Leonhardt
Good morning. Traffic deaths are surging during the pandemic.
‘Social disengagement’
The United States is enduring its most severe increase in traffic deaths since the 1940s.
It is a sharp change from the recent norm, too. Deaths from vehicle crashes have generally been falling since the late 1960s, thanks to vehicle improvements, lower speed limits and declines in drunken driving, among other factors. By 2019, the annual death rate from crashes was near its lowest level since cars became a mass item in the 1920s.
But then came the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crashes — and deaths — began surging in the summer of 2020, surprising traffic experts who had hoped that relatively empty roads would cause accidents to decline. Instead, an increase in aggressive driving more than made up for the decline in driving. And crashes continued to increase when people returned to the roads, later in the pandemic.
Per capita vehicle deaths rose 17.5 percent from the summer of 2019 to last summer, according to a Times analysis of federal data. It is the largest two-year increase since just after World War II.
This grim trend is another way that two years of isolation and disruption have damaged life, as this story — by my colleague Simon Romero, who’s a national correspondent — explains. People are frustrated and angry, and those feelings are fueling increases in violent crime, customer abuse of workers, student misbehavior in school and vehicle crashes.
‘Erratic behavior’
In his story, Simon profiles one of the victims, a 7-year-old boy in Albuquerque named Pronoy Bhattacharya. Like Pronoy, many other victims of vehicles crashes are young and healthy and would have had decades of life ahead of them if only they had not been at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Pronoy was killed as he crossed the street with his family in December, after visiting a holiday lights display. The driver had run a red light.
“We’re seeing erratic behavior in the way people are acting and their patience levels,” Albuquerque’s police chief, Harold Medina, told Simon. “Everybody’s been pushed. This is one of the most stressful times in memory.”
Art Markman, a cognitive scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, said that the emotions partly reflected “two years of having to stop ourselves from doing things that we’d like to do.” He added: “When you get angry in the car, it generates energy — and how do you dissipate that energy? Well, one way is to put your foot down a little bit more on the accelerator.”
Rising drug abuse during the pandemic seems to play an important role, as well. The U.S. Department of Transportation has reported that “the proportion of drivers testing positive for opioids nearly doubled after mid-March 2020, compared to the previous 6 months, while marijuana prevalence increased by about 50 percent.” (Mid-March 2020 is when major Covid mitigations began.)
Other factors besides the pandemic also affect traffic deaths, of course. But those other factors tend to change slowly — and often counteract each other. Improving technology and safety features reduce traffic deaths, while the growing size of vehicles and the rise of distracted driving lead to more deaths. The only plausible explanation for most of the recent surge is the pandemic.
Rising inequality
Vehicle crashes might seem like an equal-opportunity public health problem, spanning racial and economic groups. Americans use the same highways, after all, and everybody is vulnerable to serious accidents. But they are not equally vulnerable.
Traffic fatalities are much more common in low-income neighborhoods and among Native and Black Americans, government data shows. Fatalities are less common among Asian Americans. (The evidence about Latinos is mixed.) There are multiple reasons, including socioeconomic differences in vehicle quality, road conditions, substance abuse and availability of crosswalks.
These patterns mean that the rise in vehicle crashes over the past two years has widened racial and class disparities in health. In 2020, overall U.S. traffic deaths rose 7.2 percent. Among Black Americans, the increase was 23 percent.
One factor: Essential workers, who could not stay home and work remotely, are disproportionately Black, Destiny Thomas, an urban planner, told ABC News.
Another factor: Pedestrians are disproportionately Black, Norman Garrick of the University of Connecticut noted. “This is not by choice,” Garrick told NBC News. “In many cases, Black folks cannot afford motor vehicles.” As Simon’s story notes, recent increases in pedestrian deaths have been especially sharp.
The increasing inequality of traffic deaths is also part of a larger Covid pattern in the U.S.: Much of the burden from the pandemic’s disruptions has fallen on historically disadvantaged groups. (Deaths from Covid itself have also been somewhat higher among people of color.)
Learning losses have been largest for Black and Latino children, as well as children who attend high-poverty schools. Drug overdoses have soared, and they are heavily concentrated among working-class and poor Americans.
As I’ve written before, there are few easy answers on Covid. Continuing the behavior restrictions and disruptions of the past two years does have potential benefits: It can reduce the spread of the virus. But those same restrictions and disruptions have large downsides.
Many workplaces remain closed. Schools aren’t operating close to normally (as my colleague Erica Green has described). Millions of adults and children must wear masks all day long. These changes have created widespread frustration and anxiety — and the burdens of them do not fall equally across society.
Dr. David Spiegel, who runs Stanford Medical School’s Center on Stress and Health, has a clarifying way of describing the problem. People are coping with what he calls “social disengagement.” — a lack of contact with other people that in normal times provides pleasure, support and comfort. Instead, Spiegel said, “There’s the feeling that the rules are suspended and all bets are off.”
by ponchi101 Only thing I would add. In TRAFFIC (Tom Vanderbilt), the author talks about how there is a phenomenon called "risk homeostasis". Roughly, there is a floor to how low traffic deaths can go because there is a point at which, because the cars and roads are so good, people start driving faster and more aggressively. An example: the driver of the brand new MB S500 believes he is in a super safe car, which he is, but he takes more risks with it. So the increase in safety is negated by the new, riskier attitude.
Excellent post, Dry.
by JazzNU Thanks for the article @dry.
by ti-amie How it started:
In California, College Students Are Now Officially Considered an Environmental Menace
A local judge has ruled that UC–Berkeley must freeze its enrollment so it can assess the ecological impact of its undergrads.
BY HENRY GRABAR
AUG 31, 2021 10:26 AM
How’d we get here? Under California law, universities are periodically required to prepare a long-term development plan that includes enrollment forecasts and an environmental impact study. In 2005, UC–Berkeley produced one projecting that its headcount would stabilize at about 33,500 students. Instead, the school ended up enrolling more than 42,000 by 2020, with plans to admit more still in the years to come.
The university didn’t think that welcoming more students to campus required it to perform a whole new environmental review. But a state appeals court in San Francisco disagreed in 2020, ruling that increasing enrollment counted as a “project” that needed to be evaluated under the CEQA, just like building a stadium or dorm would be.
In doing so, the judges sided with a local community group, Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods, which sued UC–Berkeley in 2019 and set the stage for last week’s lower court decision officially hitting pause on the school’s enrollment ambitions. California’s flagship public university must now assess the ecological cost of its student body at once. (A spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed that school officials were “optimistic that we can file documents with the court very soon that will satisfy the judgment.”)
(...)
Bokovoy’s view is that the university ought to have built more housing to keep up with its rising enrollment. Over the course of our conversation, however, it became clear that he didn’t actually want Berkeley (the city or the university) to build that housing now. Instead, he wants UC-Berkeley to establish a satellite campus on the industrial waterfront 5 miles to the north, on the other side of the freeway. A Berkeley graduate himself, Bokovoy warned of dire consequences if the university added more students without additional infrastructure.
“We’ll end up like Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur—dense Asian cities where there’s no transportation network,“ he said. “Nobody’s talking about that.”
by JazzNU I'm seeing a lot of anger about NIMBYs in the comments, so it seems like there's some ill-intent here that I'd need to read more about.
But as someone who knows and loves Berkeley from my childhood (my mom went to grad school there), that enrollment number is insane. Undergrad enrollment in the late 90s/early 2000s was in the neighborhood of 20-23k. It's 42,000 now?!?!
The city of Berkeley is small. The campus is small. The area was almost nearing congested was when I was little. To think they crammed an extra 20k-30k since I was living there is crazy. Where are they putting the dorms?
by ponchi101 Also. If you are going to use Asian cities as examples, get them right. I have been to Kuala Lumpur and, at least in 2009, it had a superb public transportation system. To the point that the direct train from the Airport to the central train station costs about $5, and takes you there in 20 minutes.
Petronas was surprised when I once told them I would get to my hotel by myself. The chauffeured car they would send to pick me up would take at least 45 minutes. And the scenery was not so pretty.
by ti-amie His use of Asian cities is seen by some as him saying the quiet part out loud.
by ti-amie
by dmforever Coffee klatch or rally. You be the judge.
Kevin
by ti-amie One of the worst things I've ever seen done by a politician.
by dryrunguy But good on the kid on the left.
by Deuce Hopefully the ones who did not remove the masks when told to will be the leaders of the future.
As a side note, I really dislike the exaggeration that is so commonplace in society today. It is, of course and sadly, a product of people on 'social media' needing attention paid to them.
De Santis is a jerk - fine. And saying what he said in that clip was obviously stupid and wrong. But he did not YELL at those students. That's a sensationalistic over-dramatisation of the circumstance - something that is woefully typical today.
To exaggerate like this is to minimize the times when something very grave actually happens.
by JazzNU
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Just in time for interrupt the State of the Union address as planned to protest the mandates that don't exist.
by ti-amie
Neither intruder was reported to have been shot or injured in any way. The Vice President and four cabinet members were there after returning from Selma, Alabama.
by ponchi101 Rehearsals for 2024?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie I would rather Standard Time be kept but I guess this is better than springing forward and falling back every year.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Political formula, for 1 year in the presidency:
0 scandals + universal accessibility to a vaccine during a pandemic + openly gay or trans people in the cabinet + withdrawal from the longest war ever in the history of the USA + standing up to an invasion by the USA's second most dangerous foreign threat + very low unemployment levels + higher wages + good economic numbers = 40% approval rating.
And it is HIS fault?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie2 men accused of posing as federal officers to get near Secret Service
By Spencer S. Hsu and Clarence Williams
Yesterday at 7:45 p.m. EDT|Updated today at 8:52 a.m. EDT
The FBI on Wednesday arrested two men charged with impersonating federal law enforcement in an investigation that has placed four U.S. Secret Service members on leave.
Federal authorities accused Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, of obtaining handguns, rifles and other material to pose as Department of Homeland Security employees. They said the men used the guise to get closer to members of federal law enforcement and the defense community — including a U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to the first lady’s protective detail.
Taherzadeh provided members of the Secret Service and an employee of DHS with items such as “rent-free apartments (with a total yearly rent of over $40,000 per apartment), iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator, and law enforcement paraphernalia,” according to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in D.C.
Taherzadeh also offered the employees use of vehicles he said belonged to the government and offered to buy a $2,000 assault rifle for an agent assigned to protect the first lady, the affidavit said.
The complaint said that four members of the Secret Service were placed on administrative leave as of April 4. The Secret Service said in a statement Thursday morning that the investigation is ongoing and that personnel on leave have been restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment, and systems.
Both men are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Thursday and are currently detained, prosecutors said.
Investigators said the pair posed as DHS officers or employees beginning in February 2020.
The charges against Ali and Taherzadeh were made public as FBI personnel were seen in the Navy Yard area Wednesday night and were photographed on social media going into an apartment building. In a statement, the FBI said personnel were conducting “court authorized law enforcement activity” in the 900 block of First Street SE
The investigation into the pair began March 14 when a U.S. Postal Service inspector went to a D.C. apartment complex to respond to a complaint of an assault on a letter carrier at the building, where many people who work for the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Defense and Navy live. Residents told the inspector that Ali and Taherzadeh identified themselves to residents as Department of Homeland Security investigations special agents who may have witnessed the assault, the affidavit said.
They claimed they were “special police” officers involved in undercover gang-related investigations and probes related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the affidavit states. Other residents told the inspector the men used several apartments in the building, claiming the Department of Homeland Security paid the rent, and used an SUV equipped with emergency lights they identified as “their official DHS vehicle.”
The inspector learned the men were in contact with several members of the Secret Service and had provided gifts to them or their families and use of the SUV, the affidavit states. The document did not explain how the inspector learned about the gifts.
The inspector informed DHS, which then informed the FBI.
The affidavit included photos of the men in police tactical gear with “POLICE” emblazoned on their clothing. And in one instance, Taherzadeh sent a stock photo from the Internet to one witness and claimed to be in Homeland Security Investigations training, investigators alleged.
The affidavit also detailed interviews from several witnesses. One said Taherzadeh lives in and has several apartments in the complex. He provided one person with a rent-free penthouse apartment for about one year, a value of about $40,200, the affidavit said. One of the uniformed Secret Service members assigned to protect the White House complex allegedly lived in a three-bedroom apartment valued at $48,240 from February 2021 to January 2022, the court file said.
Another witness reported seeing “a significant amount of law enforcement paraphernalia, including SWAT vests, a large safe, computers, a high-powered telescope and internal surveillance cameras in [Taherzadeh’s] apartment.”
Magda Jean-Louis, Peter Hermann, Jasmine Hilton and Matt Zapotosky contributed to this report.
by ti-amieMan accused of impersonating DHS agent offered one of Jill Biden’s Secret Service agents an assault rifle, court records say
PUBLISHED THU, APR 7 202212:30 PM EDTUPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
KEY POINTS
One of two men charged with impersonating federal law enforcement agents offered to give an assault rifle worth $2,000 to a Secret Service agent who was assigned to the protective detail of first lady Jill Biden, a court filing says.
Another Secret Service agent assigned to the White House was allowed to live rent-free in an apartment provided by one of the defendants.
Four members of the Secret Service have been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation in the case.
The two defendants, Arian Taherzadeh and Haider Ali, are due to appear in federal court in Washington.
One of two men criminally charged with impersonating federal law enforcement agents in Washington, D.C., offered to give an assault rifle worth $2,000 to a U.S. Secret Service agent who was assigned to the protective detail of first lady Jill Biden, a court filing says.
That filing also says that one of the defendants, Arian Taherzadeh, lent what was purported to be a “government vehicle” to the wife of that Secret Service agent, who was not identified by name, and that Taherzadeh “also provided her with a generator.”
The Secret Service agent lived in a Washington apartment building on the floor below Taherzadeh’s apartment, according to the filing, which was written by an FBI agent in support of the criminal complaint against Taherzadeh, 40, and his 35-year-old co-defendant, Haider Ali.
Taherzadeh also allegedly gave members of the Secret Service and an employee of the Department of Homeland Security “rent-free apartments (with a total yearly rent of over $40,000 per apartment), iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator and law enforcement paraphernalia,” the filing says.
One of those agents was assigned to protect the White House as part of the Secret Service’s uniformed division, the filing said.
That agent lived rent-free in a three-bedroom apartment provided by Taherzadeh at the same complex, according to the filing, which said the residence normally would rent for more than $48,000 annually.
Taherzadeh told the agent that a division of DHS “had approved extra rooms as part of his operations, and that [agent] could live in one of them for free,” the filing said. “The investigation confirmed that there are no such [DHS] operations and that it authorized no such expense.”
Taherzadeh and Ali were arrested Wednesday during a raid on that building in the Southeast section of D.C. on a charge of “false impersonation of a federal officer.” Both men are due to appear in federal court in Washington later Thursday.
Four members of the Secret Service have been placed on administrative leave pending further investigation in the case.
In a statement Thursday, the Secret Service said it “has worked, and continues to work, with its law enforcement partners on this ongoing investigation.”
“All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment, and systems,” the agency said. “The Secret Service adheres to the highest levels of professional standards and conduct and will remain in active coordination with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.”
The FBI said in an affidavit that both men, from as early as February 2020 until their arrest, pretended to be agents working for the Department of Homeland Security, with the use of insignias and firearms used by federal agents.
The affidavit says the men did this “to ingratiate themselves with members of federal law enforcement and the defense community.”
The affidavit written by an FBI agent says the men’s imposter act began to be exposed on March 14, when a U.S. Postal inspector responded to the apartment complex to investigate an alleged assault on a letter carrier.
During the investigation of that incident, the inspector learned from people at the complex that Taherzadeh and Ali, “who represent themselves as Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agents, may have witnessed the assault.”
by ti-amie I was going to delete the post based on the story in the WaPo but I think this illustrates why you need to look at multiple outlets for a story.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie The tl;dr is above the bylines. There are lots more pictures at the link.
Stash of assault rifles, body armor, passports with multiple visas, and sham uniforms found in penthouse of 'fake' Homeland agents - including one with 'links to Pakistani intelligence' - who 'infiltrated Biden, Kamala and Jill's Secret Service details'
A motion for detention shows two men impersonating federal agents had a slew of damning evidence in their apartments, including images showing several different passports and IDs
'They are not law enforcement agents, and they are not involved in sanctioned covert activities,' the motion for detention filed Friday claims. 'Neither Defendant is even employed by the United States government'
'But their impersonation scheme was sufficiently realistic to convince other government employees, including law enforcement agents, of their false identities,' the memorandum added.
At least two Secret Service agents assigned to Biden and Harris' protective detail were caught up in the scheme by two men posing as DHS agents
One agent receiving free rent, sources say, was regularly stationed at VP Kamala Harris' residence at One Observatory Circle at the Naval Observatory
Another who was often seen partying with the two men is on the presidential protective detail
At least four Secret Service agents have been placed on administrative leave
Haider Sher-Ali, 35, and Arian Taherzadeh, 40, were arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security
The duo claimed to be involved in an investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack
Agents with the FBI, NCIS and USPIS swarmed several floors and units of luxury apartment building Crossing DC in southeast Washington, D.C.
A former representative of Crossing DC who worked at the building since the start of Taherzadeh's lease confirmed that none of the units were being paid for
When asked why they were not paying rent on the units, the individual responded with one word: 'Government'
According to sources, the Tishman Speyer-owned building cooperated with Taherzadeh and Ali believing the guise that they were federal agents
Building management, the sources allege, provided the duo with access to surveillance cameras and codes to access all doors in the building
By KATELYN CARALLE, U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 10:07 EDT, 8 April 2022 | UPDATED: 14:23 EDT, 8 April 2022
A motion for detention of the two men who were arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents includes a slew of damning evidence, including images showing several different passports, visas and IDs.
The prosecutors are requesting Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Sher-Ali, 35, be detained due to a slew of evidence found in a raid of their units in a luxury apartment building in southeast Washington, D.C.
'They are not law enforcement agents, and they are not involved in sanctioned covert activities,' the motion for detention filed Friday claims. 'Neither Defendant is even employed by the United States government.'
'But their impersonation scheme was sufficiently realistic to convince other government employees, including law enforcement agents, of their false identities,' the memorandum added.
Taherzadeh told law enforcement in an interview after being taken into custody on Wednesday that Ali was the one funding their lavish lifestyle and seemingly endless stream of gifts, but claimed he wasn't aware where the money was coming from.
The question remains, however, on what Ali and Taherzadeh's motives were in getting close to people with White House access by impersonating government agents.
Secret Service agents assigned to details for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' residence are among those being investigated for accepting lavish gifts and partying with Taherzadeh and Ali, who alleged they were agents with the Department of Homeland Security.
At least one of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) agents receiving free rent from Taherzadehand Ali was assigned to the detail protecting Harris' residence at Number One Observatory Circle at the Naval Observatory, sources at the building told DailyMail.com.
Another, sources claim, was on the presidential protective detail and regularly traveled with President Biden on Air Force One.
The new information comes after an affidavit released Wednesday revealed that one of the witnesses in the case is a secret service agent that worked on First Lady Jill Biden's protective detail.
Ali, according to Taherzadeh, was the one able to gain access codes and a list of tenants in the Crossing DC apartment complex – owned by upscale real estate firm Tishman Speyer.
'With respect to Ali, Taherzadeh stated that Ali had obtained the electronic access codes and a list of all of the tenants in the apartment complex,' the memorandum notes. 'Taherzadeh further stated that Ali was the individual that funded most of their day-to-day operation but Taherzadeh did not know the source of the funds.'
Just after the interaction with a Postal Inspector in March, which eventually led to the duo's arrest, Taherzadeh said that he started deleting law enforcement material from his social media.
Images from the raid Wednesday of a unit on the 7th floor where Taherzadeh was residing allegedly for free showed agents recovered 'three current copies of Taherzadeh's Washington D.C. driver's license, passport, United States Special Police – Special Investigations Unit business cards, a USSP police badge, and several identification and credit cards.'
'In addition, law enforcement recovered the business card of a USSS Agent referenced in the complaint affidavit,' the motion added.
Images from the raid Wednesday of a unit on the 7th floor where Arian Taherzadeh was residing allegedly for free showed agents recovered 'three current copies of Taherzadeh's Washington D.C. driver's license, passport, United States Special Police – Special Investigations Unit business cards, a USSP police badge, and several identification and credit cards'
A memorandum supproting a motion for detention of Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Sher-Ali, 35, shows that the men had a slew of garb in their luxury DC apartment units, including fradulent police garb
Haider Sher-Ali, 36, (top) and Arian Taherzadeh, 40, (bottom) were arrested Wednesday for impersonating federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security claiming to be involved in an investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack
The pictures were originally side by side
During an arraignment Thursday afternoon, details emerged that there could be connections between Ali and the Pakistani Intelligence Service.
Two of his passports were found during a raid of his unit on the 6th floor of Crossing DC.
'Ali's expired passport contained several visas authorizing foreign travel,' the Friday memorandum notes. 'For instance, this passport contained two visas authorizing travel from the Islamic Republic of Iran.'
'The Government has identified at least four entry/exit stamps from Mashhad International Airport in Mashhad, Razavi Khorasan, Iran.'
It goes on: 'In addition, the Ali's passport contained two thirty-day visas from Pakistan and one visa for travel to Egypt.'
Images of these visas and passports corroborate the claims made in the memorandum for detention of Taherzadeh and Ali.
Customs and Border Protection records show that Ali traveled through Doha, Qatar in November 2016, May 2019 and July 2019. He also went through there in October 2019 and returned from Istanbul, Turkey.
The two men arrested in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday who attempted to cozy up to Secret Service agents could face conspiracy charges after spending their year-and-a-half living in a luxury apartment building allegedly posing as federal agents.
A regional manager for Tishman Speyer, the owners of the building where Taherzadeh and Ali's apartments were raided on Wednesday, had set up a meeting to speak with DailyMail.com on Friday morning – but the individual pulled out at the last minute.
Just a mile from the Capitol and three miles from the White House, Taherzadeh and Ali were conducting an operation where they posed as agents with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – tricking a luxury DC apartment building and its high profile residents as well as appearing to convince Metro Police Department that they were working for the government.
The government request for detention notes that following Taherzadeh's arrest Wednesday, he voluntarily interviewed with law enforcement.
'During he (sic) course of this interview, Taherzadeh admitted, among other things, that: (1) he had falsely identified himself as a member of the Department of Homeland Security; (2) he had falsely identified himself as a former United States Army Ranger.
He also admitted to interviewers that a Sig Sauer 229 found in the raid belonged to him and was in his possession, but said that while the Glock 19 firearm was in his possession, it belonged to Ali.
The memo goes on to note Taherzadeh admitted: '[H]e offered to provide a USSS agent with an assault rifle; he provided free apartments to two USSS agents for approximately one year; he had provided a 'doomsday bag,' generator, flat screen television, two iPhones, a drone, a gun locker, a Pelican case, and a mattress to agents and officers of the USSS.'
Taherzadeh also validated the claim in the affidavit from one of the witnesses that 'he did in fact shoot someone, identified in the complaint as Witness 1, with an Airsoft gun' during a 'recruitment' process to his fake agency to test the individuals reaction and pain tolerance.
The two are said in the affidavit released Wednesday to have successfully ingratiated themselves with Secret Service agents, at least two of whom were reportedly given rent-free in penthouse and multiple-bedroom luxury apartments as well as high-end electronics and policing equipment.
The free rent in several units – valued at a minimum of $40,000 per year for just one of the penthouse apartments – was apparently not paid for at all.
A former representative of Crossing DC who worked at the building since the start of Taherzadeh's lease confirmed that none of the units were being paid for at any time. When asked why they were not paying rent on the units, the individual responded with one word: 'Government'.
Taherzadeh will be held until his 3:30 p.m. detention hearing on Friday after an arraignment on Thursday afternoon revealed there could be connections between Ali and the Pakistani Intelligence Service.
Both Pakistani and Iranian visas were found during the search Wednesday, according to prosecutors, and there will likely be a conspiracy charge.
Potential crimes, according to a Magistrate judge, involves possession and use of a firearm and the destruction of potential evidence after learning an investigation was underway.
Among the firearms being kept in the unit occupied by Taherzadeh, sources claim, were a Glock 19 .9mm with high capacity magazines, a fully automatic suppressed M4-style rifle, an AR pistol and a Sig Sauer handgun. He also showed some residents training weapons, including the airsoft gun used to 'test' so-called 'recruits' on their reaction and pain tolerance.
Among other items found was a binder with information on residents in Crossing DC, which includes many real federal agents, those working for the White House and congressional aides and advisors.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had no comment on the matter during her Thursday press briefing, telling reporters: 'I don't have any comment from here. I'd point you to the Secret Service and others investigating.'
During their time living at the building in the Navy Yard neighborhood of D.C., Ali and Taherzadeh spent months wining and dining government workers and contractors, cooking them filet mignon and salmon and inviting them over for beers and hookah in order to work their way into the inner circle.
Management office staff for Crossing DC did not respond to DailyMail.com for a request for comment.
In early 2021, Metro Police did a search of Taherzadeh's unit when a person from a surrounding apartment building made a call reporting a sighting of firearms in his 3-bedroom corner unit through an open window.
Video footage viewed by DailyMail.com showed members of the Metro Police Department and United States Capitol Police searching Taherzadeh's apartment on the 7th floor. They saw firearms in plain sight that are illegal to own in the District of Columbia, but were provided with credentials that seemed to convince them that Taherzadeh was an agent permitted to own such weapons.
MPD told DailyMail.com that the issue has been moved to the FBI and did not provide further statement.
A member of building management, Kelly Cianciola, sent a statement to Crossing DC tenants around 11:30 a.m. Thursday claiming that the 4:00 p.m. raid came after search warrants were presented to front desk staff due to an FBI investigation.
'The building staff fully cooperated with the investigation, while doing our best to minimize disruption to our residents,' the statement, obtained and read by DailyMail.com, reads. 'The FBI concluded its search overnight and is no longer on the premises.'
No other details have been shared with residents about the ongoing investigation and who their neighbors really are – and when asked for more information on the matter, no response was given.
Units on at least the 5th, 6th, 7th, 13th and Penthouse levels were raided and carefully combed through by agents with the FBI, NCIS and United States Postal Inspection Service. It is not clear if NCIS and USPIS are still on premises.
Taherzadeh and Ali stand accused of impersonating federal agents and were arraigned in court Thursday afternoon.
Fake websites helped them corroborate their claims to residents that they were members of the 'special police' and the two stand accused of attempting to con an unnamed 'applicant' to join their Homeland Security task force they invented.
The recruitment process included shooting the applicant with an airsoft rifle to supposedly evaluate their pain tolerance, the affidavit lays out and sources confirmed. The individual being 'recruited' was instructed to research an unnamed person who worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense and the intelligence community.
According to sources, the Tishman Speyer-owned and operated building cooperated with Taherzadeh and Ali believing the guise that they were federal agents. Building management, the sources allege, provided the duo with access to surveillance cameras, including codes to access all doors in the building and a list of personal information about a number of residents.
A former security guard for the building, however, said that an overnight concierge would call down Ali and Taherzadeh when things happened in the building to show them surveillance footage.
Ali and Taherzadeh provided the all-access door code to several residents, another source confirms.
The luxury building has at all times a front desk concierge and security guard stationed in the building. The company contracted for the front desk staff is from Classic Concierge and security is provided by Allied Universal, which also staffs some government and corporate buildings.
Crossing DC upper management refused to speak out further on the matter and are not responding to media or tenant requests for more information. Questions regarding why Taherzadeh and Ali were given access to security cameras, door codes and personal information of residents are still going unanswered – and the potential level of complacency of Tishman Speyer's residential property staff is still unknown.
Access to residents' personal identifiable information, like full names and workplaces, allowed Taherzadeh and Ali to target who to get close with – this included at least four members of the United States Secret Service and those working for other federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security.
Four members of the agency, which includes a member of the first lady's security detail, have been placed on leave. Their identities have still not been revealed, but, according to other tenants, at least two have moved from the building in the last few months.
U.S. Secret Service Media Relations released a statement Thursday morning on the connection of the impersonators and their agents, claiming they have and continue to work with law enforcement in the ongoing investigation.
'All personnel involved in this matter are on administrative leave and are restricted from accessing Secret Service facilities, equipment, and systems,' the statement reads.
'The Secret Service adheres to the highest levels of professional standards and conduct and will remain in active coordination with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.'
Residents of the 800-unit building went nearly 20 hours without an update from building management following images of a slew of federal agents occupying the lobby and halls since Wednesday afternoon.
As of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday evening, other occupants of the unit where Ali lives were allowed back in – including at least one woman and a few young children.
A Quora account with the name Ari Taherzadeh shows several posts from two and three years ago talking about firearms and what weapons are used by Secret Service detail to protect members of the executive.
'What is the typical weapon the Secret Service carries when providing close protection for the vice president?' one question on the profile asks.
An answer posted by the account listed to 'Ari Taherzadeh' responded with a detailed description of the firearms used by Secret Service agents, claiming: 'Since 1999, the current standard sidearm issued to Secret Service agents has been the Sig Sauer P229 DAK chambered in the .357 Sig round.'
by ti-amie From today's hearing for one of the fake DHS agents:
by ti-amie
Voting (and not voting) has consequences.
by ponchi101 Remember that A LOT of women in the USA approve of these measures. Abortion remains the dumbest yet most important issue for many religious people.
Off Topic
Dumbest because it is something that affects so few people as a percentage of the population. But, it is the ultimate "not minding your own business" subject.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Well, that's embarrassing...
by ti-amie I thought stunts like that had to be cleared with the local authorities so a situation like this doesn't occur but what do I know?
by ti-amie Jennifer Bendery
@jbendery
·
8m
Pelosi is pissed
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie I first heard about this situation during a True Crime podcast. TL;dr is a warden, ready to retire, helped her convict lover, a possible serial killer, escape. They evaded capture in Alabama because the local news outlets broadcast where the police thought they were holed up. The background story is wild.
People predicted that he would off her and that she wouldn't be taken alive. And here we are.
There was also this.
by ponchi101 I saw an article in Yahoo. This is completely "MADE FOR TV" stuff, especially for some raunchy channel.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 I think I said it during the confirmations. She is the worst lot. Deeply conservative and a puppet for Trump. buy claiming she is not.
---0---
About Axxios/Vox. Yes, it sounds a bit repressive, but how can you write impartially about the subject, and then go to a protest AGAINST the SCOTUS? I think it is a very difficult line to toe.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 And then they claim that DEMS eat babies. As opposed to them, who don't care if they starve them.
by dryrunguy This morning's NY Times newsletter focused on the baby formula shortage. It was quite the interesting read, and much of it I did not know. The section on our gerontocracy probably couldn't have been stated better.
::
‘Really scary’
Is my baby getting enough food? It is a typical fear among new parents — and an acute one now, because of a national shortage of baby formula.
A potential bacteria outbreak led to the February shutdown of a Michigan factory that makes Similac formula, and the plant still has not reopened. Its closure has aggravated shortages created by broader pandemic supply-chain problems. Last week, stores stocked about 43 percent less baby formula than usual.
“It gets really scary,” Carrie Fleming, who lives near Birmingham, Ala., told The Times. Her 3-month-old daughter, Lennix, can tolerate only one brand of formula, and Fleming could not find it anywhere near her. She finally located four small cans in New York — for $245.
In Oceanside, Calif., north of San Diego, Darice Browning was recently despondent after failing to find formula for her 10-month-old daughter, Octavia, who cannot eat solid foods. “I was freaking out, crying on the floor and my husband, Lane, came home from work and he’s like, ‘What’s wrong?’” Browning said, “and I’m like, ‘Dude, I can’t feed our kids, I don’t know what to do.’”
For many families, baby formula is a necessity. Some babies cannot drink breast milk — or enough of it to stay healthy — while many lower-income mothers work hourly jobs that do not provide time to breastfeed.
As my colleague Amanda Morris, who has been reporting on the shortage, says: “Most of the parents I spoke with around the country who were feeling the impact of this the hardest were ones that either had limited resources or time, or ones whose babies had allergies or disabilities that severely limited their choices.”
F.D.A. officials say they are trying to alleviate the crisis. Some members of Congress — including Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Connecticut Democrat, and Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican — say the federal government needs to do more.
In addition to being an urgent problem for families, the shortage highlights four larger problems within the U.S. economy. Today’s newsletter focuses on them.
1. The ‘everything shortage’
The pandemic has created shortages for many goods, including cars, semiconductors and furniture.
The main reasons: Factories and ports are coping with virus outbreaks and worker shortages at the same time that consumer demand for physical goods has surged, because of government stimulus programs and a shift away from spending on services (like restaurant meals). As a result, much of the global supply chain is overloaded.
The baby formula industry was already coping with these issues before an Abbott Nutrition factory in Sturgis, Mich., shut down. The company shut the factory after four babies — all of whom had drunk formula made there — contracted a rare bacterial infection; two of the babies died. It remains unclear whether the formula caused the infections.
Because sales of baby formula do not fluctuate much in normal times, factories generally lack the ability to accelerate production quickly, Rudi Leuschner, a supply-chain expert at Rutgers University, said. As a result, other factories have not been able to make up for the Sturgis shutdown.
2. Big business
The baby formula business has something in common with many other U.S. industries: It is highly concentrated.
Three companies — Abbott, Gerber and Reckitt — make nearly all of the formula that Americans use. Abbott is the largest of the three, with roughly 40 percent of the market.
Over the past few decades, this kind of corporate concentration has become more common in the U.S. economy, and it tends to be very good for companies. They face less competition, allowing them to keep prices higher and wages lower. Thomas Philippon, an economist at N.Y.U., refers to this trend as “the great reversal.” The subtitle of his 2019 book on the subject is “How America Gave Up on Free Markets.”
For workers and consumers, concentration is often problematic. The baby-formula shortage is the latest example. If the market had more producers, a problem at any one of them might not be such a big deal. It’s even possible the problem would not happen at all.
“Abbott does not fear consumers will flee,” Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, which advocates less concentration, told me. “And it does not fear government, which has a pathetic track record when it comes to holding powerful corporations and executives accountable.” (The Times has profiled Miller and her work.)
3. Big bureaucracy
Even as the industry seems to be under-regulated in some crucial ways, it may be overregulated in other, superficial ways.
This newsletter has covered ways that the F.D.A.’s bureaucratic inflexibility has hampered its Covid policy, and baby formula turns out to be another case study.
Many formulas sold in Europe exceed the F.D.A.’s nutritional standards, but they are banned from being sold here, often because of technicalities, like labeling, Derek Thompson of The Atlantic has noted. Donald Trump exacerbated the situation with a trade policy that made it harder to import formula from Canada. These policies benefit American formula makers, at the expense of families.
The inflexibility of American regulatory and trade policy, Thompson wrote, “might be the most important part of the story.”
4. The gerontocracy
The U.S. has long put a higher priority on taking care of the elderly than taking care of young families.
Americans over 65 receive universal health insurance (Medicare), and most receive a regular government check (Social Security). Many children, by contrast, live in poverty. Relative to other affluent countries, the U.S. spends a notably small share of its budget on children; President Biden’s stalled Build Back Better plan aimed to change this, Urban Institute researchers have pointed out.
Alyssa Rosenberg, a Washington Post columnist, argues that the formula shortage is part of this story. “Babies and their well-being have never been much of a priority in the United States,” Rosenberg wrote this week. “But an alarming shortage of infant formula — and the lack of a national mobilization to keep babies fed — provides a new measure of how deeply that indifference runs.”
In her column, Rosenberg suggests the creation of a national stockpile, as exists for some other crucial resources, to prevent future shortages.
For more: The Times’s Well has a guide for parents searching for formula, and Politico’s Helena Bottemiller Evich has offered tips on Twitter.
by ponchi101 You have to stop this idea, not only in the USA but worldwide, that you can let three or four companies rule an entire industry. This is baby formulas now; but it is everywhere. It is banking, insurance, food manufacturing and meat processing, etc. If one of the companies suffers some setback, this happens.
Time to do what Roosevelt did in the early 20th century: break these huge conglomerates up. All of them.
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 5:45 pm
You have to stop this idea, not only in the USA but worldwide, that you can let three or four companies rule an entire industry. This is baby formulas now; but it is everywhere. It is banking, insurance, food manufacturing and meat processing, etc. If one of the companies suffers some setback, this happens.
Time to do what Roosevelt did in the early 20th century: break these huge conglomerates up. All of them.
It'll never happen, ponchi.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 5:45 pm
You have to stop this idea, not only in the USA but worldwide, that you can let three or four companies rule an entire industry. This is baby formulas now; but it is everywhere. It is banking, insurance, food manufacturing and meat processing, etc. If one of the companies suffers some setback, this happens.
Time to do what Roosevelt did in the early 20th century: break these huge conglomerates up. All of them.
But in the meantime, Billions! It's working like they wanted it to work.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie People forget that it was TFG who stopped imports of formula from Canada and that is why POTUS has to take this extraordinary step.
by patrick
ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed May 18, 2022 10:31 pm
People forget that it was TFG who stopped imports of formula from Canada and that is why POTUS has to take this extraordinary step.
Also that TFG along with Russian and Saudi Arabia slowed oil production during the pandemic; therefore, the increase in gas prices today but Biden is who people targeting for this.
by ponchi101 You sit down and think objectively about what this administration is doing in times of real crisis, and you have to give them an A.
But, objectivity schmidtivity.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
by ti-amie The pro-lifers voted it down in the Senate...
The crux of the article:
Voris and Eubanks engaged in a lengthy discussion of politics and faith. “We see everything going on with Roe right now — the left becoming completely uncorked losing their minds,” Voris said. “They’re saying, ‘They’re coming after your gay marriage next. They’re coming after your birth control.'” He paused a beat before adding with a smile, “Well, you know what… yeah!”
---0---
The USA has been warned. This people will not stop just at Roe V Wade. With that majority in the SCOTUS, get ready for more. That was what ACB was put there for.
by JazzNU You say that as if it's a secret. Enough have said plainly that this is a first step. They've floated things about repealing gay marriage, repealing overall LGBTQ+ equal rights, criminalizing abortion, and banning interracial marriage to name a few. Repealing interracial marriage was the only one I've seen met with swift enough backlash to think they won't go down that route, at least anytime soon, as the ones that did say it out loud claimed they were misunderstood after they were called to task. But they aren't remotely being coy about their agenda.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Shocker...
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Excellent point by Mr Barr.
It is the insane parts of US policies. They are so contradictory, and this is a very clear example.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 The obvious:
These sort of events seldom happen in other developed countries. The sole example I can come up with are Dumblane, Port Arthur, and Utoeya. ALL those countries immediately implemented strict gun controls.
No such massacres have ever been committed in any country in S. America, to my knowledge. By these events, I mean a massacre on innocent children at a school.
Yet, the USA keeps accepting them. And never a change is proposed.
So, he basically took up the Sandy Hook playbook. Texas will pass more lenient gun laws in response to this, not more restrictions. For sure they'll be talking about arming teachers yet again. This is so exhausting, even more so because the GOP will pretend to care and then vote against preventing it at the first opportunity.
by Owendonovan If there's an active shooter at my $60,000 a year elementary school, my procedure is this:
1. Quiet my students
2. Flip the flap next to the window on the unlock-able doors to my gym so the shooter can't see in.
That'll work, huh?
by ponchi101
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 1:11 am
If there's an active shooter at my $60,000 a year elementary school, my procedure is this:
1. Quiet my students
2. Flip the flap next to the window on the unlock-able doors to my gym so the shooter can't see in.
That'll work, huh?
You lost me there, Owen. Was that what the murdered teacher did?
Sorry, I am not understanding.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
Why this? Because of this.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Deuce And the media continues to report, and thus glorify, these crimes.
Mere gun control will not work in the U.S. - there are too many ways to buy a gun illegally.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: As long as the media continue to 'report' these mass killings, they will keep happening, and will escalate in number.
The great majority of these killers do this terrible deed because they know they will become 'famous' from it. Even if they're killed in the process of the crime, in their mind, they will go out 'in a blaze of glory', having accomplished what they wanted to - which is often some type of 'revenge', as well as 'fame' for themselves.
IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW RATIONAL THINKING PEOPLE VIEW THESE CRIMES - the ONLY thing that matters is how the person committing these crimes views them. And I am absolutely 100% convinced that if they KNEW that they and their crime would receive zero media attention, 95% of them would not do it.
At this point, is this avenue not at least worth a try? It certainly would not do any harm - and has the very real potential to save lives. Not trying it is simply very, very selfish.
And his approval rating will dip three more points.
Because, you know, stating the obvious in a rational way is just so out of character for the POTUS.
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 1:11 am
If there's an active shooter at my $60,000 a year elementary school, my procedure is this:
1. Quiet my students
2. Flip the flap next to the window on the unlock-able doors to my gym so the shooter can't see in.
That'll work, huh?
You lost me there, Owen. Was that what the murdered teacher did?
Sorry, I am not understanding.
That's what most teachers are trained to do, the exception for my procedure is most classrooms have locks on the doors, mine doesn't. I can't, in a real way, protect my students if there's an active shooter in my school. What's even worse, I typically have an entire grade because I teach Phys. Ed., not half a grade like most academic classes are split up.
by Owendonovan
Deuce wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 3:11 am
And the media continues to report, and thus glorify, these crimes.
Mere gun control will not work in the U.S. - there are too many ways to buy a gun illegally.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: As long as the media continue to 'report' these mass killings, they will keep happening, and will escalate in number.
The great majority of these killers do this terrible deed because they know they will become 'famous' from it. Even if they're killed in the process of the crime, in their mind, they will go out 'in a blaze of glory', having accomplished what they wanted to - which is often some type of 'revenge', as well as 'fame' for themselves.
IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW RATIONAL THINKING PEOPLE VIEW THESE CRIMES - the ONLY thing that matters is how the person committing these crimes views them. And I am absolutely 100% convinced that if they KNEW that they and their crime would receive zero media attention, 95% of them would not do it.
At this point, is this avenue not at least worth a try? It certainly would not do any harm - and has the very real potential to save lives. Not trying it is simply very, very selfish.
The flip side to this could be to graphically show exactly, in unaltered photos, what 10, 19, 27 or however many innocent children get slaughtered next time looks like.
by ti-amie
Beto after he was thrown out.
by ti-amie Sigh
P1
by ti-amie P2
by ti-amie P3
Scott Huffman #ProChoice @HuffmanForNC
Bellaire High School
North Crowley High School
McAuliffe Elementary School
South Oak Cliff High School
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Sonora High School
Western Illinois University
Oxford High School
Robb Elementary
Will this be the last school?
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 I knew there had been many. That list is simply impossible to fathom.
Anybody that votes for a congressperson that supports the NRA is simply as guilty as they are.
Deuce wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 3:11 am
And the media continues to report, and thus glorify, these crimes.
Mere gun control will not work in the U.S. - there are too many ways to buy a gun illegally.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: As long as the media continue to 'report' these mass killings, they will keep happening, and will escalate in number.
The great majority of these killers do this terrible deed because they know they will become 'famous' from it. Even if they're killed in the process of the crime, in their mind, they will go out 'in a blaze of glory', having accomplished what they wanted to - which is often some type of 'revenge', as well as 'fame' for themselves.
IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW RATIONAL THINKING PEOPLE VIEW THESE CRIMES - the ONLY thing that matters is how the person committing these crimes views them. And I am absolutely 100% convinced that if they KNEW that they and their crime would receive zero media attention, 95% of them would not do it.
At this point, is this avenue not at least worth a try? It certainly would not do any harm - and has the very real potential to save lives. Not trying it is simply very, very selfish.
The flip side to this could be to graphically show exactly, in unaltered photos, what 10, 19, 27 or however many innocent children get slaughtered next time looks like.
My point is that the people who commit these crimes very often feed off of the attention their crimes - and therefore they - receive. Showing the graphic results may help to make the general population more sensitive to these events - but it would only encourage those who commit the crimes even more.
If the attention is removed, it would be like removing the main fuel for most of these people.
All the people who commit these mass murders do it for a reason. And whatever the reason is, it makes sense to them - though it may seem irrational to the rest of us.
Sometimes it's because they were bullied... sometimes it's because they were fired... sometimes it's because they felt/feel persecuted... sometimes it's because the voices in their head told them to do it as an act to save humanity... Whatever the reason, it makes sense to them. And so they want people to know the reason - because, in their irrational state, they often believe that if people knew the reason, they'd understand that what they did was justified.
The thing is - they don't always state the reason overtly. Sometimes they leave it to investigators to figure it out. Sometimes it's easy - like if they'd recently been fired, etc.
Sometimes, before they commit the act, they'll send a letter (or Email) to a news outlet, explaining why they are doing what they're doing - knowing that the message - the reason - will reach millions of people. Sometimes - as in Buffalo - they'll livestream what they're doing (I fear this will become an unfortunate trend). Even this kid who just did the school shooting posted on facebook that he was going to shoot his grandmother, then posted that he shot her and was now going to shoot up a school. It's all about attention. They often have illusions of grandeur.
100% of them know for certain that their act will be the top story in the news. And in a perverted, twisted way, knowing this, they feel like they have accomplished something.
Gun control is far too simplistic a solution. I'm all for it - but I also know that it won't solve the problem. It would take a few generations to solve the problem that way, as you'd have to change the American way of thinking. They see guns as part of their 'rights and freedoms'.
Plus, as I mentioned earlier - even if you can no longer buy a gun and ammo at Walmart, anyone who wants to commit a mass murder like this will be able to get a gun illegally. It's not like people who commit mass killings are squeaky clean, upstanding citizens who wouldn't dare break the law. Somehow, I don't think they'd mind obtaining their gun(s) illegally.
But, yes - gun control is a step in the right direction. But it's a very small step.
I say remove their fuel - which is the massive media attention they know that their act will receive.
The only people who TRULY need to know about these events are the people who are directly involved - like, in this case, the parents and relatives of the children and teachers killed. For the rest of us, as disgusting as it sounds, it is 'entertainment' and fodder for gossip - to be able to say to each other "Oh, this is terrible, isn't it? When will it stop?", and to propose our ad hoc solutions.
It's difficult for us Canadians to identify with what it must be like to be a teacher in the U.S. I personally know 2 gym teachers - and they don't receive instructions on what to do in the case of an 'active shooter'. It's not something that is really considered here.
But it will be. If these mass killings continue in the U.S. - which all evidence says will be the case -, then it's simply a matter of time before it crosses the border to us. It's inevitable - even with our much stricter gun control, and non-gun mentality, as compared to the U.S. We've had a few of them - but not with anywhere approaching the scale or frequency of those in the U.S.
And the reason we've had the ones that we've had - and the ones we will have - is because the people who did them saw the massive attention that these events get in the American media.
Without that, there is no fuel.
What Beto did NEEDS to happen, by anyone, not just Beto, anytime these morally vacant politicians (abbott, cruz, desantis, greene, trump, bobert, cawthorne, etc.) spew the disingenuous verbal diarrhea that so frequently evacuates their mouths. (was that too much?)
by ti-amie No Owen that wasn't too much.
I think Beto was safe with all the media there. If someone did this at a gathering of followers of TFG I would worry about their safety.
by Deuce Americans like to bring everything into the political arena, and to blame politics and politicians for everything.
The Republicans blame the Democrats for everything... the Democrats blame the Republicans for everything... and around and around it goes, never solving anything.
It's far too easy to politicize things and to 'blame the politicians' for everything - because that way, no individual - or group - has to accept any responsibility. 'It's all the fault of politicians'...
Sigh.
Murder - whether mass murder or individual murder - and other crimes against the person are not political problems. They cannot be legislated into disappearing, and the problem won't be solved in any political arena, or by politicians. Crimes against the person happen when (and where) the Democrats are in power, and they happen when (and where) the Republicans are in power.
It is a societal problem. A very grave and profound societal problem. And only when SOCIETY takes responsibility - as individuals and/or as groups - will there be any hope of actually solving this problem.
by Owendonovan
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 3:50 am
Americans like to bring everything into the political arena, and to blame politics and politicians for everything.
The Republicans blame the Democrats for everything... the Democrats blame the Republicans for everything... and around and around it goes, never solving anything.
It's far too easy to politicize things and to 'blame the politicians' for everything - because that way, no individual - or group - has to accept any responsibility. 'It's all the fault of politicians'...
Sigh.
Murder - whether mass murder or individual murder - and other crimes against the person are not political problems. They cannot be legislated into disappearing, and the problem won't be solved in any political arena, or by politicians. Crimes against the person happen when (and where) the Democrats are in power, and they happen when (and where) the Republicans are in power.
It is a societal problem. A very grave and profound societal problem. And only when SOCIETY takes responsibility - as individuals and/or as groups - will there be any hope of actually solving this problem.
No one is going to be able to take politics out of societal ills if the politicians are passing laws exacerbating societal ills.
Deuce wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 3:50 am
Americans like to bring everything into the political arena, and to blame politics and politicians for everything.
The Republicans blame the Democrats for everything... the Democrats blame the Republicans for everything... and around and around it goes, never solving anything.
It's far too easy to politicize things and to 'blame the politicians' for everything - because that way, no individual - or group - has to accept any responsibility. 'It's all the fault of politicians'...
Sigh.
Murder - whether mass murder or individual murder - and other crimes against the person are not political problems. They cannot be legislated into disappearing, and the problem won't be solved in any political arena, or by politicians. Crimes against the person happen when (and where) the Democrats are in power, and they happen when (and where) the Republicans are in power.
It is a societal problem. A very grave and profound societal problem. And only when SOCIETY takes responsibility - as individuals and/or as groups - will there be any hope of actually solving this problem.
No one is going to be able to take politics out of societal ills if the politicians are passing laws exacerbating societal ills.
Again, my point is that, even the strictest gun control ever known will not stop people from killing people. The problem is far, far deeper than mere gun control. As is so often said: ‘Guns don’t kill people - people kill people.’
If the societal problem is tackled by working hard on things like bullying, insecurity, abuse, etc. - you won’t need to rely on the politicians for gun control (which, in itself, won’t solve anything, as I’ve mentioned) because people will be less desperate, less victimized, less lonely, etc.
And it’s up to the members of society - not the politicians - to remedy problems like bullying, insecurity, abuse, etc.
Looking to the politicians to solve these problems is a total cop-out. It’s like signing a petition - it makes people ‘feel good’ by blaming someone, or by signing something - but it does nothing to actually solve the problem.
As well, politicians are largely liars, manipulators, and thieves - why in the world would anyone of sound mind look to these people for help or guidance of any degree?
“...This government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.” - Henry Thoreau
by Suliso Politicians are not some kind of allien species. They are us and reflect our societies.
As for a gun control (impossible politically, I know) it would solve this particular type of murders fairly well. Vast majority of mass shooters in US have no previous criminal record and wouldn't know where to get guns and ammo on the black market.
by Deuce That's a nice dream... but that's all it is.
You don't change something so deeply ingrained in a culture via mere legislation. Waving a magic wand won't fix anything.
There are things that one cannot legislate - respect and rational thinking being among those things.
For this problem to be solved, a major overhaul of the American outlook and perspective is needed.
by Suliso You'd be surprised how much could be changed via legislation alone. I've seen it myself in other countries.
In any case the other option is do nothing and hope for the best. But the best will not happen...
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 12:35 pm
You'd be surprised how much could be changed via legislation alone. I've seen it myself in other countries.
In any case the other option is do nothing and hope for the best. But the best will not happen...
Dunblane, Port Arthur, Utoeya (sorry for the spelling). Swift prohibition, has not happened again. Correlation is NOT causation, but there is something to be said there.
As you say, something could be done.
by ti-amie The news coming out of Uvalde today is disturbing to put it mildly.
by ti-amie
The WSJ article is paywalled but it seems that Ms Gomez had time to drive 40 MILES to rescue her children.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Give me a minute and I should be able to post the WSJ article referenced above.
And yes, that mother drove 40 miles when she got word of the school shooting.
by ti-amie
JazzNU wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 8:54 pm
Give me a minute and I should be able to post the WSJ article referenced above.
And yes, that mother drove 40 miles when she got word of the school shooting.
And got handcuffed for her trouble...
by JazzNU
Uvalde Shooter Fired Outside School for 12 Minutes Before Entering
As police detail new timeline of mass shooting at elementary school, community members express anger and frustration
By Elizabeth Findell , Rob Copeland and Douglas Belkin
UVALDE, Texas—The gunman behind the mass shooting at an elementary school here lingered outside the building for 12 minutes firing shots before walking into the school and barricading in a classroom where he killed 19 children and two teachers, authorities said in a news conference Thursday laying out a new timeline of events.
Victor Escalon, a regional director for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said he couldn’t say why no one stopped the now deceased gunman, 18 year-old Salvador Ramos, from entering the school during that time Tuesday. Most of the shots Ramos fired came during the first several minutes when he entered the school, Mr. Escalon said.
DPS officials previously said an armed school officer confronted Ramos as he arrived at the school. Mr. Escalon said Thursday that information was incorrect and no one encountered Ramos as he arrived at the school. “There was not an officer readily available and armed,” Mr. Escalon said.
Ramos shot his grandmother Tuesday morning and then used her truck to drive to Robb Elementary School, crashing the truck into a nearby ditch at 11:28 a.m., according to the timeline laid out by Mr. Escalon. The gunman then began shooting at people at a funeral home across the street, prompting a 911 call reporting a gunman at the school at 11:30. Ramos then climbed a fence onto school grounds and began firing before walking inside, unimpeded, at 11:40. The first police arrived on the scene at 11:44 and exchanged gunfire with Ramos, who barricaded himself in a fourth-grade classroom. There, he killed the students and teachers.
A Border Patrol tactical team went into the school an hour later, around 12:40, was able to get into the classroom and kill Ramos, Mr. Escalon said.
Thursday’s updates came as Uvalde residents were asking questions and expressing anger over the time it took for law enforcement to end the school shooting. Videos circulated on social media showing parents confronting police outside the building while Ramos was barricaded in the classroom.
“The police were doing nothing,” said Angeli Rose Gomez, who after learning about the shooting drove 40 miles to Robb Elementary School, where her children are in second and third grade. “They were just standing outside the fence. They weren’t going in there or running anywhere.”
State officials have said that local police were at the school within a few minutes of the gunman entering the building and exchanged gunfire with him, but they were unable to gain access to a classroom where he barricaded himself, firing on officers.
Ms. Gomez, a farm supervisor, said that she was one of numerous parents who began encouraging—first politely, and then with more urgency—police and other law enforcement to enter the school. After a few minutes, she said, federal marshals approached her and put her in handcuffs, telling her she was being arrested for intervening in an active investigation.
Ms. Gomez convinced local Uvalde police officers whom she knew to persuade the marshals to set her free. Around her, the scene was frantic. She said she saw a father tackled and thrown to the ground by police and a third pepper-sprayed. Once freed from her cuffs, Ms. Gomez made her distance from the crowd, jumped the school fence, and ran inside to grab her two children. She sprinted out of the school with them.
Videos circulated on social media Wednesday and Thursday of frantic family members trying to get access to Robb Elementary as the attack was unfolding, some of them yelling at police who blocked them from entering.
“Shoot him or something!” a woman’s voice can be heard yelling on a video, before a man is heard saying about the officers, “They’re all just [expletive] parked outside, dude. They need to go in there.”
Parents can be heard yelling to each other that their kids were inside the school and that they needed to get in. A woman can be heard yelling at a police officer, “He’s one person! Take him out!”
The Uvalde Police Department couldn’t be reached for comment. A representative for the U.S. Marshals didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Asked at the press conference why law enforcement weren’t able to respond in the initial 12 minutes Ramos was outside the school, Mr. Escalon said that was part of the investigation. “Our job is to report the facts and have answers. We’re not there yet,” he said.
Texas state trooper Juan Maldonado said he went to the school with a friend whose wife was one of the teachers slain in the shooting. He said police were already on the scene, indicating a fast response time, and that it appeared they had set up a perimeter around the building.
Mr. Maldonado said he and the friend were able to enter the building to get students out and showed cuts on his forearms that he said were from breaking windows to assist in that effort.
“I don’t want to critique anything; we’re here to be supportive of the community,” he said.
After the confrontation ended with Ramos dead, school buses began to arrive to transport students from the school, according to Ms. Gomez. She said she saw police use a Taser on a local father who approached the bus to collect his child.
“They didn’t do that to the shooter, but they did that to us. That’s how it felt,” Ms. Gomez said.
Danny Ruiz, whose great-niece died in the attack, said he arrived at the school after hearing gunfire and felt grateful for the police response.
“The Border Patrol agent who took him out, to me, that guy is a hero,” said Mr. Ruiz, 51.
Thursday’s rising anger came after more than 1,000 people from this grieving city gathered Wednesday night for a prayer vigil.
“God is here with us tonight,” Pastor Tony Gruben, of Baptist Temple Church, told the people gathered at the Uvalde County Fairplex. “God still loves you and God still loves those little children.”
Community members packed the stands, spilled into the aisles and stood on the dirt rodeo floor where the ministers preached from a stage under flags of Texas and the U.S. White cowboy hats dotted the audience along with scores of maroon T-shirts that said “Uvalde Coyotes,” the high school mascot. A phalanx of police officers stood stone-faced watching the crowd, and scores of journalists from around the world aimed their cameras and beamed the scene around the globe.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Uvalde on Sunday to grieve with the community, the White House said.
The massacre represented the deadliest school shooting since the slayings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., nearly 10 years ago.
—Alicia A. Caldwell and Sadie Gurman contributed to this article.
by ponchi101 Sickening.
But to be expected. It is like that NRA convention where guns will not be allowed. Even the cops know that, if somebody has an AR15, their ass is not safe. Sure, maybe the bullet proof vest will stop a bullet, but you can easily lose an arm, a leg, of get shot in the head.
And Ted Cruz has been shown on picture hugging a mourning parent. Why didn't that parent strangle him is beyond my comprehension.
by ti-amie
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by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 12:35 pm
You'd be surprised how much could be changed via legislation alone. I've seen it myself in other countries.
In any case the other option is do nothing and hope for the best. But the best will not happen...
Where do you get that the alternative is to do nothing?
As I've said numerous times (over the years) - one significant step to take would be to stop the media from reporting these things, which, in the eyes of those who are capable of committing these crimes, just serves to sensationalize and glorify these acts - and promise 'fame'.
As I said - sure, institute some type of much stricter gun control. But if that's the only thing that people are counting on to solve this problem, it's nowhere near enough. And changing the gun-happy culture in the U.S. will not be done by legislation alone. No way in hell. All that would do is to create a massive uprising. The U.S. mindset is not the same as the U.K. (Dunblane) or Australia (Port Arthur) - not even close - so using them as examples is comparing apples to oranges.
There needs to be efforts at the community level to change the culture. Not only change the gun-happy culture, but also work to minimize things like bullying and other types of abuse, work to help people feel less lonely and isolated, work to encourage respect among people, etc. That and eliminating the media sensationalisms about these events.
It won't be accomplished overnight, but those are the only avenues that will work in a practical sense.
by JazzNU This just keeps getting worse. Let's hope they got more than their own kids out if this ends up being true.
by Deuce The great majority of this is media gossip BS.
I'm not generally a fan of police - I've seen them abuse - and kill - vulnerable people far too often...
But it's so incredibly easy for people to speculate about the police response and criticize from the comfort of their living room chairs.
I wonder how you'd (all of you who are critical, despite your information being mere hearsay) I wonder how you'd respond if you were involved in an event like this as a police officer. It's fine to say that you'd be totally willing to go into an area blind, thus risking your life, in the hope that you can stop the murderer.
So easy to say from here...
Maybe the police screwed up. Maybe they were selfish.
Maybe they didn't screw up. Maybe they weren't selfish.
Only they themselves know. Without knowing all the facts and everything involved, the rest is mere speculation.
Remember - killers like this kid don't care anymore. He didn't care who he killed, or how many he killed. He'd kill you instantly without a thought if he had the opportunity to.
So... before getting on your high horses to criticize the police, take a step back and consider - really consider - what it was like to be there as the police.
Even in your wildest imaginings, you cannot come close to knowing what it truly feels like to be in that situation.
Just something to think about, huh?
by Owendonovan
Deuce wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 4:58 am
The great majority of this is media gossip BS.
I'm not generally a fan of police - I've seen them abuse - and kill - vulnerable people far too often...
But it's so incredibly easy for people to speculate about the police response and criticize from the comfort of their living room chairs.
I wonder how you'd (all of you who are critical, despite your information being mere hearsay) I wonder how you'd respond if you were involved in an event like this as a police officer. It's fine to say that you'd be totally willing to go into an area blind, thus risking your life, in the hope that you can stop the murderer.
So easy to say from here...
Maybe the police screwed up. Maybe they were selfish.
Maybe they didn't screw up. Maybe they weren't selfish.
Only they themselves know. Without knowing all the facts and everything involved, the rest is mere speculation.
Remember - killers like this kid don't care anymore. He didn't care who he killed, or how many he killed. He'd kill you instantly without a thought if he had the opportunity to.
So... before getting on your high horses to criticize the police, take a step back and consider - really consider - what it was like to be there as the police.
Even in your wildest imaginings, you cannot come close to knowing what it truly feels like to be in that situation.
Just something to think about, huh?
It’s the job of the police to put themselves in dangerous situations that they are supposed to be trained for. If they aren’t willing to do that they have no business in the profession.
by Deuce So easy to say from the comfort and safety of home.
A little perspective is needed here, please.
As I said - don't be so quick to criticize responders to extreme situations like this until you walk a mile in their shoes.
by Owendonovan If not the police, then who handles these situations. I'm not saying it's easy for the police in any way, I'm saying they are the people who we, as a society, have chosen to handle these extremely dangerous situations. I wasn't there, I don't know what it was like, but I can see it from both sides, and by most accounts, the expectations society has put on the police was not met.
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue May 24, 2022 8:27 pm
Excellent point by Mr Barr.
It is the insane parts of US policies. They are so contradictory, and this is a very clear example.
The messaging is contradictory, the policies, at a high level, are not.
Protect corporate interests and freedoms - thereby favoring white men, big business, and the military-industrial complex - at any cost; control and avoid investing in anything else as far as the electorate will tolerate.
I'm not saying every politician has this agenda, but it's the underlying philosophy of the legislative branch - including the Dems.
by ti-amie There is now a fourth story about what happened.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
Heroic officer rushed into Uvalde school with barber’s shotgun to save daughter, wife
By Patrick Reilly
An off-duty US Customs and Border Protection agent fearlessly rushed into Robb Elementary School with his barber’s shotgun and rescued dozens of children and his daughter after his wife texted him that there was an active shooter.
Jacob Albarado had just sat down for a haircut when he received the horrifying message from his wife, Trisha, a fourth-grade teacher at the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school, he told the New York Times.
“There’s an active shooter,” she wrote. “Help,” she sent before sending a chilling: “I love you.”
He immediately leaped out of his seat, grabbed the barber’s shotgun and sped off toward the school.
His daughter, a second-grader, was locked inside a bathroom while his wife hid under desks with her students, the Times reported.
In another wing of the school, 18-year-old crazed gunman Salvador Ramos had opened fire and ultimately murdered 19 children and two teachers.
A tactical team was preparing to enter the school when Albarado arrived. Desperate to get his daughter and wife out, he made a plan with other officers to try to enter the school and evacuate as many students as possible.
He said he entered the wing of the school where he knew his daughter was located, and as he searched for her, began “clearing all the classes in her wing,” he told the Times.
Two officers with guns drawn provided cover while two others guided dozens of “hysterical” children and teachers out to the sidewalk, he said.
When Albarado finally saw his 8-year-old daughter, Jayda, they embraced, but he kept moving forward to bring more students to safety.
“I did what I was trained to do,” Albarado told the paper.
In a Facebook post just after midnight Wednesday morning, Albarado said one of his daughter’s teammates and friends was among the 19 students who were killed.
“I’m so angry, saddened and grateful all at once. Only time will heal their pain and hopefully changes will be made at all schools in the U.S. and teachers will be trained & allowed to carry in order to protect themselves and students,” he wrote.
by JazzNU ^^ So, this was part of a NYT article. So, many of the kids they've been showing that were led to safety, were led there by off-duty officers from other agencies that were not working in their professional capacity, but as concerned parents and thank goodness helped others along with saving his wife and daughter. But that is hardly what officials were suggesting when they were reporting kids being led to safety. We knew other agencies were involved, but not like this, not leading the charge because the officers on the scene weren't doing anything but waiting. This is a freaking mess.
by ti-amie It's been a few years since I was in elementary school but I seem to remember janitors and custodians having master keys so I don't understand why it took an hour for someone to come with a key to unlock a door while 19 officers stood around waiting. None of this makes sense.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 So the reality in the USA is now this.
These psychos that kill people are armed with such high power weapons that even the police is afraid to engage them.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 11:05 pm
It's been a few years since I was in elementary school but I seem to remember janitors and custodians having master keys so I don't understand why it took an hour for someone to come with a key to unlock a door while 19 officers stood around waiting. None of this makes sense.
They should, but even if they don't - Since when can't the fire department in particular get into a locked building? I've seen a few people point this out, Kerry Sanders of NBC being the loudest. It is part of what they do, locked, chained, etc, they get thru all of it and if they can't they enter thru a window, so the locked door makes no sense when they try to act like that was a big part of the time delay.
by Owendonovan It's all so incredibly disappointing the abject failure of these responses in both Buffalo, if true, and Robb Elementary.
The gun manufacturer, Daniel Defense, that made the AR-15 used in Uvalde backed out of the conference as well. I'm assuming to avoid answering questions and being the target of protestors. This is the upstanding company that recently had ads showing a toddler was cradling a rifle.
My favorite and oft-cited podcast, Planet Money, just ran this, which covers recently released tapes from internal NRA meetings after Columbine, when the NRA Convention was scheduled in Denver close to the event (there's an article if click in the image as well as the audio):
by Deuce
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 4:01 pm
If not the police, then who handles these situations. I'm not saying it's easy for the police in any way, I'm saying they are the people who we, as a society, have chosen to handle these extremely dangerous situations. I wasn't there, I don't know what it was like, but I can see it from both sides, and by most accounts, the expectations society has put on the police was not met.
Perhaps the expectations of society are unfair and/or based in ignorance.
'Society' has never been in a situation even remotely similar to the circumstances the police find themselves in in these situations.
How can 'society' possibly then have expectations of someone's performance in a situation without knowing what it's like to be in that situation?
You can't rehearse for these situations - because a REAL life or death situation cannot be adequately simulated due to the emotional and psychological factors involved.
Personally, I think that 'society' should shut up and stop criticizing things they know nothing about.
Meanwhile, as the infinite examples above show, the media (sometimes via 'social media') are sensationalizing this tragic event to the absolute maximum degree possible - THEY'RE PUTTING CHILDREN WHO WERE IN THE CLASSROOM ON MORNING TALK SHOWS, FOR CHRIST SAKE!!! - all of this ensuring that the people out there who have ideas about committing a similar crime are assured that everyone will hear about them and their crime, thus making the risk 'worth it' to them.
There's more to come, people - with or without gun control... the media outlets are making damned sure that they'll have these tragedies to 'report on' for many, many years to come.
It makes me absolutely sick.
by Owendonovan Perhaps the expectations are unfair, but I'd say based on expected training, not ignorance. I 100% agree with your media assessment. Unfortunately, this world is run by marketing and advertising. Local news isn't really news, it's a competition to report on who had the worst day, hit by car, fell from building, drowned in back yard pool etc. The best anyone can currently do personally is limit what is watched and read. for some reason, people love a story of woe and misery.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 I understand, and Cruz is basically an evil person.
But that the atmosphere of violence and aggression in the USA keeps boiling over.
by Owendonovan
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat May 28, 2022 10:37 pm
I understand, and Cruz is basically an evil person.
But that the atmosphere of violence and aggression in the USA keeps boiling over.
People are pissed, and have been for a while now.
by ponchi101 Yes, but you are, to me, at a COLD CIVIR WAR level. And unless reigned in, those can become NOT COLD in a hurry.
by JazzNU The top reply to this is correct, this is a confrontation, not a heckling. He's literally out to lunch or dinner while attending the NRA convention. He's gonna have to deal with whatever comes his way.
But also, this isn't that new. Remember, these GOP Senators have continuously stopped holding town hall meetings with few exceptions since their asses got lit up like Times Square during every town hall that took place during the healthcare repeal vote period no matter how red the district was and they have been avoiding interactions with the public on the regular ever since. So yeah, this is going to happen. It's happened before to him and others and it will keep happening. They don't get to live their cushy lives as unbothered as they wish.
by JazzNU In case you were unaware. Something to throw out immediately
by Deuce Another example of why the media should stop reporting these mass killings...
This kid certainly didn't get the idea out of thin air...
(And, frankly, even this shouldn't be reported, as it serves no real purpose)...
by ponchi101 And, of course, the NON-SEQUITUR is the one that gets it right.
I love this guy.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Putting in a spoiler tag because of (appropriate) large print curse word
► Show Spoiler
by ti-amie It's ridiculous.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Aside from the delayed response to the mass shooting (though massacre sounds more accurate unfortunately), almost every single thing I've seen with Uvalde's local support makes perfect sense in how it is playing out as long as I think of it in the context of the small town in Western Pennsylvania where my mom grew up. From the cities where I'm from or have lived, this seems so bizarre. But thinking of it in small town way, I can see it all happening almost in identical fashion where my mom grew up. If you're new, you might have problems, but if your family has been there and established in the community, they'll close ranks around you no doubt.
by ti-amie
Does this idjut think mourning stops after a certain period of time so it'll be safe to start the process over again by telling them the truth about what happened? Or does he think everyone is as big an idjut as he is and not realize that his answer is really "never"?
by ponchi101 The incredible logic is this one: they have to make schools safer AFTER THE SHOOTER IS ALREADY THERE, but they have no plans to stop the shooter from BEING THERE.
Axiom in safety processes: ELIMINATE THE RISK FIRST. If, and only IF, you cannot eliminate the risk, you implement mitigation processes and policies.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan I can't wrap my mind around the defenses people use to defend being able to buy an assault rifle so easily.
by ponchi101
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 03, 2022 3:00 am
I can't wrap my mind around the defenses people use to defend being able to buy an assault rifle so easily.
And, the ridiculous and faulty logics they use to justify such availability:
"We don't ban cars when somebody runs over somebody else". Yes, because that is NOT what a car is designed for, that is an accident. Cars are designed for transport. And cars are highly regulated.
"We don't ban electricity when somebody gets electrocuted". Because that is not what electricity is used for. That is an accident. And electricity is highly regulated.
Boebert: "We did not ban airplanes after 911". You bet you did. Grounded for days, an entire new federal agency created to deal with possible attacks, and the most stringent requirements to board a plane in the world. Plus, that is not what planes are designed for.
They fail to see that the sole purpose, and it is the sole purpose of design of a gun, is "to open holes in people" (Kurt Vonnegut). It is a machine with no other function.
by JazzNU
by ti-amie The story out of Uvalde keeps changing, and getting worse.
I've lost count as to what version this is. Lives could've been saved.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 In the end, these people that "want to save the world" become very much the same.
Share things fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Farfetched idea, because, you know, IATA: his father gave him the combination to the "gun safe" because he is "a responsible kid".
No idea of what kind of sentencing a 12 yo can get, but the dad deserves to be set on probation, have his guns taken away, his license revoked, and be included in the list of people not allowed to buy guns.
Oh, wait... Michigan/USA.
by Owendonovan There's a whole host of bad parenting choices/decisions that, in some way I'm unable to fully articulate, meets the criteria of child abuse, though not recognized legally. ^This is an example of that.
by ti-amie
This has been my take all along - that they're taking the weight to cover something even more heinous.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 I assume Macon is Macon, GA. That is where my niece lives. Her husband works at a High School.
It feels very uneasy...
by Deuce This is the point I was making last week...
The roots of these mass shootings and violence run far, far deeper than being just about guns...
by dryrunguy You'd have to be a long-time TAT member to get the joke, but it turns out creepy dolls are washing ashore on beaches in Texas. I'd bet money JT Continental is behind this...
by ti-amie More on Maryland. The first video may be triggering.
by ti-amie I really just can't.
by ponchi101 Home schooling keeps looking better and better in the USA.
(Not that I will ever understand that).
Why targeting schools, in particular? I know, it would make no difference if they were targeting shopping malls, or amusement parks, but why schools?
by Deuce Why schools?
I think it's obvious...
Because killing children will get even more media coverage and will upset even more people than killing adults will - children being more innocent, more defenseless, etc.
And so the impact will be greater. And impact on society is what these people seek the most.
And thanks to the media, they achieve that impact.
Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over....
by ti-amie There's a new version of what law enforcement did or did not do in Uvalde. I've lost track of the number of versions that have been published.
Aware of Injuries Inside, Uvalde Police Waited to Confront Gunman
More than a dozen students remained alive for over an hour before officers entered their classrooms. The commander feared a risk to officers’ lives, new documents show.
By J. David Goodman
June 9, 2022, 3:53 p.m. ET
More than two weeks after the gunman killed 19 children and two teachers, a clearer picture of the timeline of events and the police response has emerged.Credit...Ivan Pierre Aguirre for The New York Times
AUSTIN, Texas — Heavily armed officers delayed confronting a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, for more than an hour despite supervisors at the scene being told that some trapped with him in two elementary school classrooms were in need of medical treatment, a new review of video footage and other investigative material shows. Instead, the documents show, they waited for protective equipment to lower the risk to law enforcement officers.
The school district police chief, who was leading the response to the May 24 shooting, appeared to be agonizing over the length of time it was taking to secure the shields that would help protect officers when they entered and to find a key for the classroom doors, according to law enforcement documents and video gathered as part of the investigation reviewed by The New York Times.
The chief, Pete Arredondo, and others at the scene became aware that not everyone inside the classrooms was already dead, the documents showed, including a report from a school district police officer whose wife, a teacher, had spoken to him by phone from one of the classrooms to say she had been shot.
More than a dozen of the 33 children and three teachers originally in the two classrooms remained alive during the 1 hour and 17 minutes from the time the shooting began inside the classrooms to when four officers made entry, law enforcement investigators have concluded. By that time, 60 officers had assembled on scene.
“People are going to ask why we’re taking so long,” a man who investigators believe to be Chief Arredondo could be heard saying, according to a transcript of officers’ body camera footage. “We’re trying to preserve the rest of the life.”
(...)
But even with additional documents and video, much about the chaotic scene remained unclear, including precisely when Chief Arredondo and other senior officers became aware of injuries inside the classrooms. It is not known whether Chief Arredondo or other officers inside the school learned of the 911 calls from a child inside the classrooms who said that some had been shot but were still alive.
Among the revelations in the documents: The gunman, Salvador Ramos, had a “hellfire” trigger device meant to allow a semiautomatic AR-15-style rifle to be fired more like an automatic weapon; some of the officers who first arrived at the school had long guns, more firepower than previously known; and Chief Arredondo learned the gunman’s identity while inside the school and attempted in vain to communicate with him by name through the closed classroom doors.
But with two officers who initially approached the door shot at and grazed, Chief Arredondo appeared to have decided that quickly breaching the classrooms without shields and other protection would have led to officers possibly being killed. He focused instead on getting other children out of the school while waiting for additional protection equipment.
The response by the police at Robb Elementary School is now the subject of overlapping investigations by the Texas state police and the U.S. Justice Department. It was the subject of a closed-door hearing at the State Capitol in Austin on Thursday that featured the director of the state police, Steven McCraw.
But details of what took place inside the school have been slow to emerge, and aspects of the early accounts delivered by Gov. Greg Abbott and top state officials, including Mr. McCraw, have had to be amended or completely retracted. The official narrative has shifted from a story of swift response by the local police to one of hesitation and delay that deviated from two decades of training that instructs officers to quickly confront a gunman to save lives, even at a risk to their own.
A cascade of failures took place at the school: the local police radio system, later tests showed, did not function properly inside the building; classroom doors could not be quickly locked in an emergency; and after an initial burst of shooting from the gunman, no police officer went near the door again for more than 40 minutes, instead hanging back at a distance in the hallway.
According to the documents, Chief Arredondo, who had earlier focused on evacuating other classrooms, began to discuss breaching the classrooms where the gunman was holed up about an hour after the gunfire started inside the school at 11:33 a.m. He did so after several shots could be heard inside the classrooms, after a long lull, around 12:21 p.m., video footage showed.
But he wanted to find the keys first.
(...)
By that point, officers in and around the school had been growing increasingly impatient, and in some cases had been loudly voicing their concerns. “If there’s kids in there, we need to go in there,” one officer could be heard saying, according to the documents. Another responded, “Whoever is in charge will determine that.”
A team made up of specially trained Border Patrol agents and a sheriff’s deputy finally went in after the gunman and killed him at 12:50 p.m.
The team entered, not over the objections of Chief Arredondo, but apparently not fully aware that he had given the go-ahead after holding officers back for more than an hour, according to a person briefed on the team’s response by a federal agent involved in the tactical effort. Amid the confusion and frustration in the hallway, the agent believed that the team was taking the initiative on its own to go into the classrooms.
NOTE: This is a major change from the reports released earlier this week.
(...)
And most of the officers arrived with radios that did not function well inside the school building, according to the investigators’ review, potentially creating communication difficulties and confusion.
The system, installed two decades ago, had been designed for the expansive terrain in and around Uvalde, a town of 15,000 surrounded by ranches and farms 80 miles west of San Antonio, according to Forrest Anderson, who works on emergency management for Uvalde County.
In the wake of the shooting, investigators tested the radios carried by the Uvalde Police Department, as well as by Chief Arredondo’s school police force, and found they did not transmit effectively inside the school or even just outside of it. Only the radios carried by Border Patrol agents appeared to function well, the review found.
Chief Arredondo arrived at the scene without any radio at all, and used a cellphone for some communications. It was not clear if he ever received a radio.
Chief Arredondo did not respond to several requests for comment. The chief of police for Uvalde, Daniel Rodriguez, also did not respond. Chief Rodriguez was on vacation when the shooting happened and was not present at the school, the city’s mayor, Don McLaughlin, said in a public meeting this week.
(...)
The investigative documents provide additional details about the gunman and the weaponry he acquired.
Before entering the school, he had amassed an arsenal of weapons that included two AR-15-style rifles, accessories and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to the documents. He spent more than $6,000.
Mr. Ramos, 18, who dropped out of high school last year in the fall of his senior year, made the purchases legally, using money he appeared to have earned working at a Wendy’s and occasionally doing air-conditioning work for his grandfather, according to the documents.
(...)
Chief Arredondo was among the first officers to enter the school and approach the classrooms where the gunman was.
Two Uvalde Police Department officers, a lieutenant and a sergeant, were shot and suffered grazing wounds after they tried to peer through a window in one of the classroom doors, the surveillance footage showed. The entire group of officers who had arrived by then sought cover down the hallway.
No one would approach the classroom doors again, the video showed, for more than 40 minutes, though well-armed officers began quickly arriving.
by ti-amie I have been debating whether or not I should post the description of what was left of two children. It was given during a hearing by the parents of at least one child.
by MJ2004 Please do not. I've heard some, and I've been trying to avoid any more details.
by Deuce
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Jun 09, 2022 10:34 pm
I have been debating whether or not I should post the description of what was left of two children. It was given during a hearing by the parents of at least one child.
What would be the point, exactly?
None of us 'need to know'.
It would only add to the already very over-saturated coverage of these events - the primary result of which serves to encourage more such events...
over and over and over and over and over....
SIGH, indeed...
by Suliso I can't think of any problem anywhere which has been solved by pretending it doesn't exist.
by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Fri Jun 10, 2022 3:21 am
I can't think of any problem anywhere which has been solved by pretending it doesn't exist.
I'm not advocating pretending these events don't exist. On the contrary... I'm looking for a potential solution to them - which obviously involves knowing that they exist.
But not everyone needs to be told about them. What is the practical purpose of telling a bunch of people who aren't going to do anything to solve the problem, and will only gossip about "how terrible it is"?
Are you honestly stating that you believe that the media reports of these events don't encourage the people out there on the fringes of sanity to replicate these events?... That the effect and impact that the media reports fuel and guarantee are NOT a factor in these events occurring?
If so, I cannot possibly disagree more.
To me, it's beyond obvious that the media reports - and the attention and impact they fuel - is a major, major factor in ensuring that these events continue.
The only way to find out if this theory is accurate is to stop the media reporting of these events and see what happens. Nothing important would be lost in doing this - other than endless gossip among people - and it has the potential to save lives.
Why would any compassionate, caring person be against giving it a try?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan The emotional attachment many gun owners have towards firearms qualifies as some form of mental illness to me. It's irrational. (to me)
by ponchi101 As if going to school, for some kids, was not challenging enough. On top of that, you have to train for when a shooter comes into your school to shoot you?
I really wonder what kind of normalcy the USA can expect, really. That is as (expletive) up as it gets.
Believe me - from the perspective of anyone living in a civilized country outside of the U.S. which is not at war, this ^ IS DEFINITELY insane.
But it has become completely normalized in the U.S. - which is also insane.
In the U.S., it seems that going to school or going to a store is just as risky to one's life as being a race car driver.
The difference is that in a race car, you have a certain degree of control over the circumstances. In a school or store, you're just an open target.
If I lived in the U.S. with children, there is no way in hell that they would be going to any established school. I would teach them myself as much as I could, and send them to the library to learn on their own - and I'd accompany them to the library as often as possible. All this while very desperately looking for a place to move to in Canada...
by Owendonovan "The median rent in Manhattan reached $4,000 in May, the highest price ever reported by the brokerage Douglas Elliman. This was a nearly 2 percent increase from April and more than a 25 percent increase from May 2021. The average rental price in Manhattan was just under $5,000 in May."
There's no qualifying these prices to me. No city in this country is worth that kind of rent. I will remain in Brooklyn. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/real ... t-nyc.html
by Suliso Surprisingly still millions who think otherwise.
by ponchi101 It is just an equation.
If the median rent is $4000, but the median salary is $12,000, it is not a bad deal, specially seeing that rent is tax deductible.
In Bogota, you can rent a nice apartment for about $500/month. But, less than 5% of the country's population make $1,200 or more, so for the vast majority of people, such an apartment is unattainable.
The same as with inflation. If inflation in your country is 10%, but your salary increases at 15%, it is not a problem. Down here, inflation is around 10%, salaries are stagnant. Therefore, a problem.
by Suliso Sure, but are the median salaries in Manhattan really that high? In Basel you can get an excellent 3-room apartment for 2000-2500 $/month. Lots of families can afford that. I'm less sure the same is true with these prices in NYC. I'm willing to be corrected by the natives, though.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
He didn't set his gallery up like the person above did so there are several tweets.
P1
by ti-amie
p2/l
(One Tweet is duplicated)
by Deuce If this continues - and right now it shows absolutely no sign of slowing down... quite the contrary - in about 2 years, U.S. flags will have to be permanently flown at half staff, because every day will be the anniversary of a mass killing...
"The land of the free."
Not quite, huh?
by Owendonovan
Deuce wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:18 am
If this continues - and right now it shows absolutely no sign of slowing down... quite the contrary - in about 2 years, U.S. flags will have to be permanently flown at half staff, because every day will be the anniversary of a mass killing...
"The land of the free."
Not quite, huh?
The half mast thing is as empty as thoughts and prayers.
by MJ2004 Thank you for posting those pictures, Ti. They are not forgotten.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Deuce I'm posting this here because it relates to the recent discussion about mass killings, and it is just as much about the U.S. as it is about the Philippines...
Here's a snippet from the article linked to below... "Narag says the strong ties of Philippine kinship mean troubled individuals are more likely to be identified before they become mass shooters. He contrasts that with the situation in the U.S., where he presently lives and teaches.
“Here (the U.S.), if you have problems, you have to go to a health professional,” he tells TIME. “You’ll divulge everything there. You don’t talk to your neighbors - sometimes you don’t talk to your own parents - because [there isn’t] an engaged culture where one’s problem is everyone’s problem.”
by ponchi101 Yes, and your economy has re-activated, meaning you need more of the stuff.
I don't understand the context of the tweet. Is that GOOD or BAD? Or, as he says, just a fact to bring up.
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 19, 2022 7:27 pm
Yes, and your economy has re-activated, meaning you need more of the stuff.
I don't understand the context of the tweet. Is that GOOD or BAD? Or, as he says, just a fact to bring up.
It's a response to all the RW wingnuts who are constantly complaining about gas prices (e.g., a guy on Twitter who earlier today posted something like "What I remember most about January 6 was that I was able to buy a tank of gas for $30) and blaming Biden for not doing more domestic drilling to bring gas prices down. Assuming those numbers are true, then that tanks (sorry, no pun intended) the criticism of Biden on that front.
That said, I'm not wild about the fact if those numbers are true.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan "Texas Republicans Approve Far-Right Platform Declaring Biden’s Election Illegitimate.
The Republican Party in Texas made a series of far-right declarations as part of its official party platform over the weekend, claiming that President Biden was not legitimately elected, issuing a “rebuke” to Senator John Cornyn for his work on bipartisan gun legislation and referring to homosexuality as “an abnormal lifestyle choice.”
Talk about a sh*# hole place. These people are making decisions for others. Once again, embarrassing Americans.
by Suliso I was on holidays in Texas (partially) last December. Stunningly beautiful nature, but people I guess leave something to be desired...
by ponchi101 More and more fragmentation. As Owen says, an absolute position of not minding their own business and making decisions for others.
I keep saying that the USA is in a path for secession. These people, with their Bible's and 2nd amendment in hand, will never relent on their position that nobody has a saying about their right to buy an AR15, but THEY do have a saying on who you should love. It is an impenetrable way of thinking.
by ti-amie Secession? Let 'em. Who are they gonna call when their grid fails again or the next big hurricane roars in from the Gulf?
by ponchi101 Sure. They can't see that. Also, most of the economically viable states in the USA are dems (Texas is an exception) so states like Kentucky would almost immediately be unable to fulfill the most basic needs of their inhabitants, if a split of the union were to take place.
But that is more fodder for the secession path. Eventually, states like NY or CA could say "enough, we are not paying any more for people that actually do not share our core believes". And if that ends up being the case, the experiment that is the USA will end.
by Owendonovan Seems like a mass psychosis based on an idolatry of someone who doesn't possess the qualities idolized. If they were to secede, what exactly are they aiming to create? Wouldn't the bulk of those CA transplants bolt along with a fair percentage of every metropolitan area?
by ponchi101 Oh, it is a lunatic plan, based, as you say, on a faulty ideology. Texas has a lot of high-tech; that can't be denied. But, if they were to secede, they pull themselves from the American market, and they become an independent country, now subject to tariffs and immigration policies.
It is the talk of idiots, for sure.
But: maybe the remaining 49 states won't mind...
by dryrunguy I've been arguing we should give Texas to Mexico since about 2000 (and Florida to Cuba and Ohio to Canada).
by Deuce
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:45 am
I've been arguing we should give Texas to Mexico since about 2000 (and Florida to Cuba and Ohio to Canada).
I put this here because I wasn't sure where else to put it.
by ponchi101 I must admit, I am very, very impressed by such a post.
I thought he was a bit of a jerk when asked about the huge medallion hanging around his neck ("I make too much money for these diamonds to be fake"). Mr. Burrow, I apologize.
by ti-amieDriver of truck 53 migrants died in makes first court appearance
A U.S. magistrate judge on Thursday formally charged Homero Zamorano Jr. in connection with the deadly human smuggling event.
ERIK DE LA GARZA / June 30, 2022
SAN ANTONIO (CN) — A Texas man who authorities say was the driver of the tractor-trailer where 53 migrants were found dead was arraigned Thursday in San Antonio federal court on human smuggling charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty.
According to court documents, Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, was identified through surveillance footage obtained by Homeland Security agents as the driver of the tractor-trailer spotted traveling through an immigration checkpoint about 150 south of San Antonio.
He was arrested by San Antonio police Monday at the scene of the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event after attempting to disguise himself as one of the victims he was allegedly smuggling, and was charged Wednesday with one count of alien smuggling resulting in death. He made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Chestney on Thursday afternoon, where he hardly spoke except when responding to the judge.
“Do you understand the charges against you and your rights?” Chestney asked Zamorano.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said softly.
Zamorano, who is originally from the Rio Grande Valley and recently resided in the Houston suburb of Pasadena, faces life in prison or the death penalty if convicted, a $250,000 fine and up to five years of supervised release. Seated next to his two federal public defenders, Zamorano wore a plain white T-shirt, gray sweat pants and a blue surgical face mask as the courtroom gallery, made up of mostly media and federal agents, observed the brief hearing.
“In your case, the government has filed a motion against you to detain you pending trial,” Chestney told Zamorano before remanding him to the custody of U.S. marshals. She set a July 6 detention hearing where she will determine whether he is eligible for bail.
Of the 64 migrants in the trailer, 48 were found dead at the scene Monday after San Antonio police responded to 911 calls from concerned citizens that led them to a tractor-trailer parked along a rural road in the city’s southwest side. Sixteen of the undocumented individuals were taken to local hospitals, with five later dying, bringing the death toll to a staggering 53.
“At the scene, SAPD officers discovered multiple individuals, some still inside the tractor trailer, some on the ground and in nearby brush, many of them deceased and some of them incapacitated,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
Justice Department officials have identified 22 of the deceased as Mexican nationals, seven as Guatemalan nationals, two Honduran nationals and 17 of unknown origin but suspected to be undocumented non-citizens.
by ponchi101 Frightening.
Does anybody know of a survey/poll amongst police officers and gun laws? Are they for, against, don't care? I would gather that, being in a position in which they may encounter fire-power even more powerful than what they carry, they should be for more stringent laws. But, I really have no clue.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 The airline industry, at least in the USA, has to be re-regulated again.
Courtesy of Ronald Reagan, who misread Adam Smith and believed that the "invisible hand" of capitalism was the panacea for all of the world's problems.
by ti-amie
by Suliso
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:36 pm
The airline industry, at least in the USA, has to be re-regulated again.
Courtesy of Ronald Reagan, who misread Adam Smith and believed that the "invisible hand" of capitalism was the panacea for all of the world's problems.
You'd probably be paying 70-ties prices for your flights to USA if that were to happen.
by ponchi101 Maybe. And you probably would not go to the airport knowing that the airline can shaft you in any way they want and can, and have basically no rights whatsoever to complain about. In the current model, ALL parties involved in air travel in the USA get shafted, except the airline. Cabin personnel only start cashing a check when the doors are closed, pilots, highly technical personnel that are truly responsible for the safety of 250 people, are underpaid, and airline technical personnel (mechanics and such) are underpaid.
Sure, you can fly across the Atlantic for $99. But the service is basically appalling. Some middle ground could be achieved.
by ti-amie10-year-old rape victim forced to travel from Ohio to Indiana for abortion
Case places prominent anti-abortion figures in position of balancing rights of women and girls while defending restrictions
Edward Helmore
Sun 3 Jul 2022 18.55 BST
The case of a 10-year-old child rape victim in Ohio who was six weeks pregnant, ineligible for an abortion in her own state, and forced to travel to Indiana for the procedure has spotlighted the shocking impact of the US supreme court ruling on abortion.
The story of the girl came to light three days after the court overturned a nationwide right to terminate pregnancy, and Ohio’s six-week “trigger ban” came into effect.
Dr Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, said she had received a call from a colleague doctor in Ohio who treats child abuse victims and asked for help. Indiana’s lawmakers have not yet banned or restricted abortion, but they are likely to do so when a special session of the state assembly convenes later this month.
Abortion providers like Bernard say they are receiving a sharp increase in the number of patients coming to their clinics for abortion from the neighboring states where such procedures are now restricted or banned.
“It’s hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care,” Bernard told the Columbus Dispatch.
But the case of the 10-year-old girl has placed prominent anti-abortion political figures in the position of balancing the rights of women and girls – including abuse victims – while defending abortion restrictions.
Republican governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, mentioned as a potential running mate to Donald Trump in 2024, told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that she found it to be “incredible” that “nobody’s talking about the pervert, horrible and deranged individual that raped a 10-year-old”.
Abortions are now criminal acts in South Dakota “unless there is appropriate and reasonable medical judgment that performance of an abortion is necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female”. Cases of incest and rape are not an exception under South Dakota’s law as it stands.
On Friday, the state also banned medical abortion by telemedicine and increased the penalty for the unlicensed practice of medicine when performing abortions.
Dana Bash, CNN’S State of the Union host, pressed Noem on whether it was right for a 10-year-old rape victim who was pregnant to have to cross state lines for a legal abortion.
Seeming to try to deflect, Noem said the rape of children is “an issue that the supreme court has weighed … as well”, adding that the public should also be “addressing those sick individuals [who] do this to our children”.
Asked if she would seek to have the law changed if a similar case occurred in her state, Noem replied: “I don’t believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy. There’s more that we have got to do to make sure that we really are living a life that says every life is precious, especially innocent lives that have been shattered, like that 10-year-old girl.”
Asked if the girl should have to have the baby, Noem responded that “every single life – every single life is precious. This tragedy is horrific. But, in South Dakota, the law today is that the abortions are illegal, except to save the life of the mother.”
But asked if allowing an abortion to be be performed on a 10-year-old would be considered as protecting the life of the mother, Noem did not rule out that interpretation.
“Yes, that situation, the doctor, the family, the individuals closest to that will make the decisions there for that family,” she said, returning to the issue that for many Republicans is the central focus of the abortion debate.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun Jul 03, 2022 10:21 pm...
Republican governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, mentioned as a potential running mate to Donald Trump in 2024, told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that she found it to be “incredible” that “nobody’s talking about the pervert, horrible and deranged individual that raped a 10-year-old”...
I thought people had already talked about the "pervert, horrible and deranged individual that raped a 10-yeat-old". What people are also talking about now are the "perverted, horrible and deranged individuals" that have basically banned a procedure that will allow this abused child to start a process to have a normal life. A group that, at the very least, includes two women: ACB and Noem herself.
by dryrunguy Well, this will be an unpopular opinion. But I hope we'll all embrace the complexities involved here.
Obviously, a 10-year-old girl should not be forced to be a mother, regardless of the support system she may, or may not, have available to her.
But at some point--and it should have been long, LONG ago--we really do need to deal with the vast body of males who feel they have uninhibited, full entitlement to the bodies of women and girls. This is an issue that transcends abortion. It also seeps into intimate partner violence, mass murders, and numerous other issues.
Just because the person who said it did so with the intent to deflect or muddy the issue doesn't mean there isn't some merit in the principle.
by ponchi101 My point was: there is no doubt about the consensus that this case is as horrific as it can be. The man that did this to this girl, as far as I am concerned, should not go to prison; he should be sent to some medieval dungeon to rot for life.
But when Noem is using the old fashion tactic of diverting the issue, and she uses this tragedy to do so, she is not being a paragon of virtue.
This is the same thing as when somebody is talking about "rape", and somebody uses the diversionary tactic of start talking about "how about people that are raping the environment". Nobody is denying or even discussing how correct you are about the points you are talking about. But the conversation that was the base at the moment was access to abortion. Where six lunatics have taken women back 50 years, in their fight for their rights.
At least six people are dead and dozens injured following a shooting in Highland Park, Ill., according to a tweeted police statement.
Lake County Sheriff's officials described the suspected shooter as a white male between 18 to 20 years old, long black hair and a small build.
The department said hundreds of law enforcement, including federal partners, remain on the scene searching for the suspect.
pic.twitter.com/E1K30xVSrA
— Lake County Sheriff (@LakeCoILSheriff) July 4, 2022
Witnesses in the area told The Associated Press they saw bloodied bodies covered with blankets.
Lynn Sweet, the Washington bureau chief at the Chicago Sun-Times who was at the parade, captured the chaos that ensued as gunfire erupted in a video.
My video.. I was at #Highland Park parade.. Terrified people fleeing July 4th parade when shooting started. pic.twitter.com/DSe0NJOuem
— Lynn Sweet (@lynnsweet) July 4, 2022
The news outlet reported that a gunman started shooting 10 minutes after the parade started. Several witnesses in the area say they heard multiple shots fired. One told the Sun-Times they counted more than 20 shots fired.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told local TV station ABC7 Chicago: "Unfortunately as you may know, we have an active shooter situation in Highland Park at their parade. It's been reported that there have been nine people shot. I'm still getting reports."
In a statement released by the city, officials say the situation is still an "active incident."
This is a developing story.
by Irena2 Daughter of friends who used to live there is at work, thank goodness; my friends know of one person who has died, when will this end?
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 ... and a constitution that has a second amendment that starts "A well regulated militia...". The word REGULATED comes before any mentioning of guns or arms.
Sorry to all of you, American friends. What a way to celebrate a 4TH of July.
by ti-amie
There is a video that shows people looking up as they run.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Oh
by ponchi101 Sorry. That is extreme extrapolation. Mass shootings have happened everywhere in the USA; not one single type of community that has been excluded of this pain.
Remember that Georgia shooting which targeted (I can remember totally well) an Asian beauty parlor. It was said that Asians were the target, and later found out that it wasn't.
This is another horrific incident in a very common event that, as even The Onion has pointed out, only happens in the USA.
Last. If the person really wanted to make an anti-Semitic "statement", it is not as if Synagogues in the USA are nowhere to be seen. Shooting at a 4th of July parade does not send that message.
by nelslus I mean this very seriously- I do love that I knew you all would be commentating on this. Means a lot to me.
Just so overwhelmed with all of this.
by ponchi101
nelslus wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 10:44 pm
I mean this very seriously- I do love that I knew you all would be commentating on this. Means a lot to me.
Just so overwhelmed with all of this.
It had not dawned on me that you were so near to this.
Sorry that this strikes so close.
by nelslus
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 11:21 pmIt had not dawned on me that you were so near to this.
Sorry that this strikes so close.
Understood, and thanks.
by Irena2
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 04, 2022 9:34 pm
Sorry. That is extreme extrapolation. Mass shootings have happened everywhere in the USA; not one single type of community that has been excluded of this pain.
Remember that Georgia shooting which targeted (I can remember totally well) an Asian beauty parlor. It was said that Asians were the target, and later found out that it wasn't.
This is another horrific incident in a very common event that, as even The Onion has pointed out, only happens in the USA.
Last. If the person really wanted to make an anti-Semitic "statement", it is not as if Synagogues in the USA are nowhere to be seen. Shooting at a 4th of July parade does not send that message.
One of the first thoughts Motobass and I both had, besides hoping our friends' daughter, her partner, and her partner's family weren't at the parade, was that the shooter might have picked Highland Park because of anti-semitism. If you live in the area, that is a thought that is not extreme and might very well be a possibility. Of course we wait to hear the facts as they become available.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by dryrunguy My understanding is that they have captured a "person of interest", presumed to be the alleged shooter. Also saw an interview with the alleged shooter's uncle... Stated no warning signs, no indication he would do something like this, he was just an aspiring YouTube rapper... But he pretty much kept to himself, was quiet, and was always on his computer.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Nelslus please be gentle with yourself.
by Deuce It's so incredibly simplistic to think that guns are the main source of this problem...
Sure, tightening gun laws will help - but that is not the root of the problem. If someone gives me 12 guns, I won't shoot anyone with them...
Has anyone actually realized that, in the several recent mass shootings, the shooter was a young male? This includes the recent mall shooting in Denmark (which also shows that the problem is not exclusive to the USA, though it is concentrated there more than in other countries).
These kids are sometimes bullied... sometimes see a hopeless future... sometimes have parents who abuse or neglect them... They have all been described as quiet, 'loner' types... a 'little strange', etc.
With the change in society and in relationships and in interactive communication that I've seen over the past quarter century, I firmly believe that the increased dependence on technology is largely responsible for these young people feeling alienated and outcast.
Over the past 25 years, people have cultivated relationships with machines and gadgets and various devices more and more... and less and less directly with fellow human beings. As a result, people's social skills have deteriorated. People feel more lonely because they have less direct interaction with other people than they had before 'technology' took over everything. Now, virtually all 'communication' is done through the filter of some machine or gadget, rather than face to face. Even with the telephone, at least one can hear voice inflections, etc. But people prefer the generic type of E mails, text messages, and various 'social media' platforms... and nothing of a profound nature is expressed there.
And so people are left to deal with their (expletive) on their own - because their 'friends' exist mostly in the virtual world, and don't really give a damn about them, and 'communicate' only hollow, superficial fluff anyway...
That, and, as I've mentioned many times, the fact that as long as these mass killings are sensationalized all over the media, it will act as encouragement for the emotionally unbalanced people out there (who are definitely growing in number mostly because of what I mentioned above) to go out and mimic these things because they are so full of hurt and anger and need to express it - and by doing a mass killing, they are assured, because of the media attention, that millions of people worldwide will know they exist - which is what they want/need the most - someone to acknowledge their existence.
Maybe if we paid more attention to each other, and communicated on a more profound level (like actually meaning it when we ask someone 'How are you doing?', and being attentive to the answer)... maybe then, fewer young people would feel hopeless, hurt, and angry enough to do these things.
by ti-amie The GOP, panicked at this man's association with its MAGA cult, and desperate to find someone or something to blame is now blaming SSRI's for what happened. The pushback has been swift and hard.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Scene from Philadelphia last night.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
There are war veterans who are saying the weapon used was an AK-47 based on the sound of it.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 6:53 pm
The GOP, panicked at this man's association with its MAGA cult, and desperate to find someone or something to blame is now blaming SSRI's for what happened. The pushback has been swift and hard.
That is where I would disagree. The pushback, certainly, comes from people already in the know that guns are the issue here. But their cult members will remain steadfastly attached to their tune: it was SSRI's, it was lack of access to SSRI's, it was the fake news, it was the real news, it was the tooth fairy, it was the violence in movies.
You read Boebert's comments: these people will clinch to that narrative with relish. Remember that their rationale is impenetrable.
Has there been any speculation at all that perhaps these attacks were coordinated? That's a lot of shootings in one day. Even the locations seem a bit... unrandom.
EDIT: After a little digging, all of these appear to be completely separate events. In a way, that's even more revolting.
by ponchi101 Why non-random? MA, MI, VI, CA and IL. Do you see a pattern? Serious question.
And again. Easier to go shoot somebody on a 4th of July, with everybody out there in the middle of summer, than trying to shoot them on January 4th, with everybody at home, escaping the cold.
The tragedy of how frequent these attacks take place: if you get 5 attacks in Norway in one day, you can bet your life it was coordinated. 5 attacks in the USA in one day simply means a statistical variation, well within a normal Gaussian distribution.
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 05, 2022 8:15 pm
Why non-random? MA, MI, VI, CA and IL. Do you see a pattern? Serious question.
And again. Easier to go shoot somebody on a 4th of July, with everybody out there in the middle of summer, than trying to shoot them on January 4th, with everybody at home, escaping the cold.
The tragedy of how frequent these attacks take place: if you get 5 attacks in Norway in one day, you can bet your life it was coordinated. 5 attacks in the USA in one day simply means a statistical variation, well within a normal Gaussian distribution.
Yeah, I just edited my post. One or two of these events were actually unrelated events in the same city that just happened to occur on the fourth of July. One shooting was actually on July 3. So yes, they are appear to NOT be connected. In a way, that's even worse.
by ponchi101 Agree. Especially your last 6 words.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
Remember that the uncle, who lives in the same house, said he never saw anything alarming about CrimoIII behavior.
by ponchi101 I know these will be unpopular words but, you just can't go around arresting people preemptively. Most likely, 90% of all those arrests would result in the person being released almost immediately, and then, the potential for abuse, especially against minorities, can grow quickly.
Last. Your laws, especially now with this SCOT-GOP-US, allow for possession of fire arms. All of these AR-15's are there legally. Imagine the possibility for errors on (let's assume) a law abiding citizen that owns guns and, while doing research, does a Google search for "Mein Kampf".
All these measures are just tip-toeing around the issue. There is simply no reason for a civilian, in the USA or anywhere, to own an AR-15, an AK-47, or any of these WMD. Everything else is just an aspirin to treat a cancer.
by Deuce No - looking at the underlying reasons that these people (largely young males) commit these crimes is hardly "an aspirin to treat a cancer" - it's actually addressing the root and foundation of the problem.
Take away their guns, and these people are still angry, hurt, isolated, lonely, disturbed people - and they will find other ways to act out - maybe bombings (anyone can learn how to build a bomb on the internet), or stabbings, or mowing people down in a car, etc.
Another part of the root of the problem is the influence that the sensationalistic news reports of these things have on these psychologically fragile people (and I feel that there are too many postings of these events in this forum).
Look at how many fools follow and imitate stupid, often dangerous 'viral' trends on TicTok or twitter, 'jackass', etc. Those don't usually involve killing people, but it is an obvious indication that people will be easily influenced even by things which are very obviously stupid, and often dangerous.
And so it's no stretch at all to believe that the emotionally troubled can be just as easily influenced by the media reports of these mass killings, having illusions of grandeur in the process.
by ti-amie I think what is amazing here is that there could've been a psych evaluation done at the very least. Again, legally, I don't know what goes in Illinois re this type of situation but in general I agree with you ponchi. There is so much room for abuse.
His comments are about 1m9s in
by ponchi101 Since in the USA it changes from state to state, who knows if in Illinois you can force a person that until recently was a minor to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Even the shooter at Uvalde was barely 18 until recently. Any restraining order or policy to be implemented could have been impossible under state law.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 While we are talking about permits for important stuff.
How about permits to HAVE AND RAISE A CHILD? This guy can be an excellent bullet point in that campaign.
(I know, I know, I know. They would have started with my mom and dad, but bear with me...)
by ti-amie I dunno if a minor I was raising had amassed a collection of knives and other sharp edged weapons and then started screaming they were going to kill everyone, and I (or someone) took the outburst seriously enough to call the police and have them confiscate the weapons the very last thing I would do is say to myself "now that that's over let me sign for a permit that allows them to purchase a gun."
Am I missing something here?
Also we keep talking about the father but the mother has serious issues too.
by dryrunguy It just reaffirmed a common theme we've noticed in so many of these mass shootings. It's not that there were no warning signs. It's that either 1) No one was paying attention, or 2) Stupid idgits don't know what constitutes a warning sign.
by ponchi101 Noise Vs Signal? If you have raised a child that has always been violent, when the signs reach this level by then you are numb to them.
Just saying. For outsiders, it would be obvious. For the idgits, these things were "that's just how he is".
(Not condoning these behaviors, just offering a possible explanation.)
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Non graphic
by ponchi101 :slaptothefaceemoji:
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Something about that special place in hell comes to my mind.
For six SCOTUS justices.
by Deuce The bigger 'story' of the school shooting video being released is the despicable fact that it was published without the permission or consent of the families of the victims - and without them even seeing it beforehand.
Imagine turning on your TV or surfing the internet a few weeks after your child has been killed and seeing that video for the first time - seeing the killer walking the halls with the gun that killed your child... hearing the shots and the screams... Unimaginable.
And many of the families are extremely angry about this complete lack of respect.
That video has managed to weasel itself into pretty much every newscast in North America - with most of the newscasts also showing how angry the parents are that the video is being shown. But, of course, that didn't stop all these newscasts from showing it. Because it's 'sensational'.
As I've said an infinite number of times: The world would be a much better place if the media did not cover these mass killings. For many reasons.
by ti-amie
I looked this person Bopp up. Here's his Wiki summary
James Bopp
Born February 8, 1948 (age 74)
Terre Haute, Indiana
Citizenship United States
Alma mater Indiana University (BA)
University of Florida (JD)
Occupation Attorney
Years active 1973–present
Organization The Bopp Law Firm
Notable work
Citizens United v. FEC
Board member of Republican National Committee, Republicans Overseas
by ponchi101 I was going to make a joke about this person's wiki, and put something like: "RACE: Cro Magnon", except that I am so partial to our paleolithic cousins I really did not want to insult them.
So, to the 67% of America that disapproves of Joe Biden: THIS is you other option. A person that represents a lot of people that believe that having your life ruined can bring some benefits. Grow up, accept your gas at $4.50 (nobody forced you to buy that V8 in 2019), accept that you have to pay $0.10 extra for your pound of potatoes, and see what happens when the other group is in charge.
Because all this mess could have been avoided if they had gone out and voted for Clinton in 2016. But no, her e-mails.
by ponchi101 Because the more educated a person is, the least likely they are to vote for them.
Yep, nothing wrong there.
by ti-amie Also don't forget that a less educated populace ensures that their offspring won't have to compete, and often fail, against "those people".
by ti-amie There were two mass shootings in Indiana yesterday.
by ti-amie Anti vaxxers rejoice! Polio is back.
by ponchi101 And that one is not even a jab.
I would say I really could not care less but, of course, the main targets will be children with looney parents that did not vaccinated them. Which should be prosecutable.
by ti-amie If you haven't seen the Clooney/Pitt Oceans 11 you won't get the joke.
Shimon Prokupecz
@ShimonPro
A federal law enforcement source and some associated with the International Gem and Jewelry Show world said the total appears to be closer to $100 million.
There's also this comment:
Tope: Saucy Future Golden Girl RIP Betty
@TAKoledoye1
Replying to
@ShimonPro and @nycsouthpaw
I'm just going to point out that McVeigh/Ruby Rudge (sic) crew did similar heists to fund their militia movement.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan ....unless you're a democrat.
by ti-amie
by ti-amieUnvaccinated boy nearly died from tetanus. The cost of his care was almost $1 million.
6-year-old was infected in 2017 while playing on the family's farm, the first case of tetanus in Oregon in 30 years, according to a CDC report.
March 8, 2019, 7:12 PM EST
By Linda Carroll
An unvaccinated Oregon boy almost died from tetanus, the first case of the bacterial infection in the state in 30 years. The 6-year-old's harrowing illness and painful, two-month treatment — which cost close to a million dollars — were detailed by doctors in a case report published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The boy became infected in 2017 after cutting his head while playing outdoors on the family's farm. His wound was cleaned and stitched by his family at home, according to the Oregon doctors who treated the child and wrote the CDC report. All seemed fine, until six days later when he started crying and experiencing involuntary muscle spasms and clenching his jaw. Soon he was arching his neck and suffering back and muscle contractions throughout his body.
When he began to have trouble breathing, his parents called for emergency services and the child was airlifted to a pediatric medical center. Upon arrival at the hospital, the child was alert but unable to open his mouth due to lockjaw and severe muscle spasms, critical care pediatrician Dr. Carl Eriksson of the Oregon Health and Science University and the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital told NBC News via email.
"He required mechanical ventilation (a respirator) through a breathing tube in his mouth, and multiple medications to control severe muscle spasms, pain and agitation," Eriksson said.
In the pediatric intensive care unit, the boy was cared for in a darkened room and fitted with earplugs because stimulation of any kind seemed to intensify the spasms.
When doctors learned the boy had received no immunizations, he was given a medication that contained tetanus toxin antibodies, along with the standard vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, DTaP.
As the arching of his neck and back worsened, the boy started to experience “dramatic swings in his heart rate, blood pressure and temperature,” Eriksson said, adding that this condition “can be very dangerous and is often difficult to treat.”
He was given medications to help control his muscle spasms, blood pressure and pain, and he remained in the ICU for another 35 days.
“Because tetanus causes such severe muscle spasms, it also causes severe pain,” Eriksson said. “It can also be frightening to have uncontrolled muscle spasm, especially when it is so severe.”
It wasn’t until the 44th day that the boy was disconnected from the ventilator and able to take a few sips of clear liquid. After 57 days in the hospital, the boy was transferred to a rehabilitation center where he would spend the next 17 days.
The hospital bill for the boy’s care totaled $811,929, excluding the cost of air transportation, inpatient rehab and follow-up costs.
'Entirely preventable'
After the boy was finally released, he returned to normal activities, including running and bicycling, the CDC report stated. His parents chose not to have him vaccinated further.
"Despite extensive review of the risks and benefits of tetanus vaccination by physicians, the family declined the second dose of DTaP and any other recommended immunizations," the doctors wrote.
Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a vaccine-preventable infection caused by the bacteria Clostridium tetani. When the bacteria enters the body through a scrape or cut, it produces a poisonous toxin that causes painful muscle contractions, including in the neck and jaw, making it hard for the patient to swallow.
Children are immunized against tetanus with the DTaP vaccine, designed to protect against diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis. It's usually given in five doses: at 2, 4 and 6 months of age and between 4-6 years. Booster doses of diphtheria and tetanus vaccines are recommended every 10 years for everyone.
Ericksson declined comment on the patient’s insurance status due to privacy concerns.
“But what I can say is that this hospitalization would almost certainly have been prevented if the patient had been vaccinated against tetanus,” he said via email. “Most school-aged children have received five doses of tetanus vaccine, with each dose costing approximately $30.”
There are so many things wrong with what happened to this boy, “it’s hard to know where to start,” said Dr. Albert Wu, an internist and professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“This was entirely preventable — an unnecessary episode of torture for this poor child," Wu said. "Tetanus is a truly deadly disease. There are still in the neighborhood of 100,000 deaths from tetanus worldwide, accounting for 5 percent of neonatal and maternal deaths.”
And then, there is the cost.
“This is a self-inflicted wound and an expensive one at that,” Wu said. “And it cost someone — whether it’s an insurance company or the public — over a million dollars.”
by ponchi101 Latin America. You CANNOT attend school if you are not vaccinated against tetanus. And the usual cocktail of vaccines.
by ti-amie I bet these parents are home schoolers.
by dryrunguy
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 8:07 pm
I bet these parents are home schoolers.
Home schooling was really taking off around the time I was a teenager. That was in the 80s. And it existed well before then. I wonder if there have been any studies on the impact of multi-generational home schooling? Because if you start just with the 80s, around now, we could be starting a second generation of home schooling parents--perhaps even more if you go back before the 80s.
It seems the percentage is not that high, but it has been increasing.
by Owendonovan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 05, 2022 7:48 pmUnvaccinated boy nearly died from tetanus. The cost of his care was almost $1 million.
6-year-old was infected in 2017 while playing on the family's farm, the first case of tetanus in Oregon in 30 years, according to a CDC report.
March 8, 2019, 7:12 PM EST
By Linda Carroll
An unvaccinated Oregon boy almost died from tetanus, the first case of the bacterial infection in the state in 30 years. The 6-year-old's harrowing illness and painful, two-month treatment — which cost close to a million dollars — were detailed by doctors in a case report published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The boy became infected in 2017 after cutting his head while playing outdoors on the family's farm. His wound was cleaned and stitched by his family at home, according to the Oregon doctors who treated the child and wrote the CDC report. All seemed fine, until six days later when he started crying and experiencing involuntary muscle spasms and clenching his jaw. Soon he was arching his neck and suffering back and muscle contractions throughout his body.
When he began to have trouble breathing, his parents called for emergency services and the child was airlifted to a pediatric medical center. Upon arrival at the hospital, the child was alert but unable to open his mouth due to lockjaw and severe muscle spasms, critical care pediatrician Dr. Carl Eriksson of the Oregon Health and Science University and the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital told NBC News via email.
"He required mechanical ventilation (a respirator) through a breathing tube in his mouth, and multiple medications to control severe muscle spasms, pain and agitation," Eriksson said.
In the pediatric intensive care unit, the boy was cared for in a darkened room and fitted with earplugs because stimulation of any kind seemed to intensify the spasms.
When doctors learned the boy had received no immunizations, he was given a medication that contained tetanus toxin antibodies, along with the standard vaccine against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, DTaP.
As the arching of his neck and back worsened, the boy started to experience “dramatic swings in his heart rate, blood pressure and temperature,” Eriksson said, adding that this condition “can be very dangerous and is often difficult to treat.”
He was given medications to help control his muscle spasms, blood pressure and pain, and he remained in the ICU for another 35 days.
“Because tetanus causes such severe muscle spasms, it also causes severe pain,” Eriksson said. “It can also be frightening to have uncontrolled muscle spasm, especially when it is so severe.”
It wasn’t until the 44th day that the boy was disconnected from the ventilator and able to take a few sips of clear liquid. After 57 days in the hospital, the boy was transferred to a rehabilitation center where he would spend the next 17 days.
The hospital bill for the boy’s care totaled $811,929, excluding the cost of air transportation, inpatient rehab and follow-up costs.
'Entirely preventable'
After the boy was finally released, he returned to normal activities, including running and bicycling, the CDC report stated. His parents chose not to have him vaccinated further.
"Despite extensive review of the risks and benefits of tetanus vaccination by physicians, the family declined the second dose of DTaP and any other recommended immunizations," the doctors wrote.
Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a vaccine-preventable infection caused by the bacteria Clostridium tetani. When the bacteria enters the body through a scrape or cut, it produces a poisonous toxin that causes painful muscle contractions, including in the neck and jaw, making it hard for the patient to swallow.
Children are immunized against tetanus with the DTaP vaccine, designed to protect against diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis. It's usually given in five doses: at 2, 4 and 6 months of age and between 4-6 years. Booster doses of diphtheria and tetanus vaccines are recommended every 10 years for everyone.
Ericksson declined comment on the patient’s insurance status due to privacy concerns.
“But what I can say is that this hospitalization would almost certainly have been prevented if the patient had been vaccinated against tetanus,” he said via email. “Most school-aged children have received five doses of tetanus vaccine, with each dose costing approximately $30.”
There are so many things wrong with what happened to this boy, “it’s hard to know where to start,” said Dr. Albert Wu, an internist and professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“This was entirely preventable — an unnecessary episode of torture for this poor child," Wu said. "Tetanus is a truly deadly disease. There are still in the neighborhood of 100,000 deaths from tetanus worldwide, accounting for 5 percent of neonatal and maternal deaths.”
And then, there is the cost.
“This is a self-inflicted wound and an expensive one at that,” Wu said. “And it cost someone — whether it’s an insurance company or the public — over a million dollars.”
Rockland county is home to a very large Orthodox/Hasisic jewish population who do not vaccinate. Nothing to fear though because Moshiach is coming.......
by ponchi101 Aaaah... an easy explanation. Txs.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
This happened in Indiana. I haven't been able to find which city.
by ponchi101 Ok. But why?
Gas leak? Propane bottle improperly handled? Local White Supremacist/Domestic Terrorist training center during the first day of class for freshmen?
Things do explode. But just showing the explosion means very little, other than for pyromaniacs.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:30 pm
Ok. But why?
Gas leak? Propane bottle improperly handled? Local White Supremacist/Domestic Terrorist training center during the first day of class for freshmen?
Things do explode. But just showing the explosion means very little, other than for pyromaniacs.
Be patient my friend. There were fatalities and apparently they're securing the area.
Authorities said they shot and killed the suspect after hours of negotiations.
WILMINGTON, Ohio — After a lengthy standoff, police officers shot and killed an armed man accused of trying to break into the F.B.I.’s Cincinnati office on Thursday, officials in Ohio said, but the motives of the man remained unclear.
Investigators are looking into whether the man had ties to extremist groups, including one that participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.
The attack in Cincinnati came three days after F.B.I. agents served a search warrant at the Florida home of former President Donald J. Trump, and a day after the F.B.I. director told reporters that online threats against federal law enforcement were “deplorable and dangerous.” There was no immediate indication that the incident in Ohio was related to the Trump search.
The man, whom officials said was wearing body armor, tried to breach the entrance to the visitor screening facility outside the F.B.I. Cincinnati Field Office in the suburb of Kenwood around 9 a.m., said Todd Lindgren, an agency spokesman. He said an alarm was set off and agents responded.
After fleeing, the man headed north on Interstate 71, officials said, where he was spotted about 20 minutes later by a state trooper at a rest area. That trooper began a chase and came under gunfire, said Lt. Nathan Dennis of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The chase eventually left the interstate and snaked along rural roads before coming to a stop near an Interstate 71 overpass close to the city of Wilmington. Lieutenant Dennis said gunfire was exchanged. Roads were blocked off for several hours but had reopened by late afternoon.
Lieutenant Dennis said law enforcement officers attempted to negotiate with the suspect for several hours, and then tried to take him into custody with “less-than-lethal tactics.” Those efforts failed, he said, and officers fatally shot him after he raised a gun.
Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman
Man suspected of trying to breach the F.B.I.’s Cincinnati office may have Jan. 6 ties.
Investigators are looking into whether the man who tried to breach the F.B.I.’s field office in Cincinnati on Thursday had ties to extremist groups, including one that participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.
The suspect, identified by the officials as Ricky Shiffer, 42, seems to have appeared in a video posted on Facebook on Jan. 5, 2021, showing him attending a pro-Trump rally at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington the night before the Capitol was stormed.
by Owendonovan Ricky thought he was being a hero/martyr. Ricky got killed. Don't be like Ricky.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Fatwa's don't expire. There is no statute of limitation.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Interesting point. This attacker was born TEN YEARS after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 12, 2022 9:21 pm
Interesting point. This attacker was born TEN YEARS after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
I bet he's never read them but has done his "research" online and came to the conclusion that this action was warranted.
by ti-amie AFP News Agency
@AFP
UPDATE: Rushdie was put on a ventilator Friday after the stabbing, his agent told the New York Times. "The news is not good," Andrew Wylie said. "Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged."
by ponchi101 My position on this subject is well known, so I will refrain from explaining how nauseating this news is to me. Will only say that this is what happens when intolerance wins the day.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 7:15 pm
My position on this subject is well known, so I will refrain from explaining how nauseating this news is to me. Will only say that this is what happens when intolerance wins the day.
This is why Tiny's threats to AG Garland are so horrible.
by ponchi101 To Garland. To Biden. To all people doing their jobs. This movement towards intolerance simply will end up the wrong way. The very wrong way.
by JTContinental
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 5:03 pm
AFP News Agency
@AFP
UPDATE: Rushdie was put on a ventilator Friday after the stabbing, his agent told the New York Times. "The news is not good," Andrew Wylie said. "Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged."
He was stabbed 10 times in total, per CNN, three of which were in the neck, four in the stomach, and once each in the eye, chest, and thigh.
by ponchi101 Don't want to thank you for that post, but you know what I mean, Jt.
by ti-amie We used to talk a lot about coal miners and their need to adjust to present day economic realities on TAT1.0. This is an interesting tweet thread.
DKC @Clem3Dkc
Replying to
@JStein_WaPo and @EricKleefeld
That is exactly what needs to happen — new energy manufacturing (batteries, solar panels, etc.) should be in the depressed areas of old energy sources. Not only do they deserve the jobs, the regions have a history of energy production.
by ponchi101 I guess I can talk from experience that the myth that oil/gas/coal workers can easily move to renewables is just that, a myth. The HR departments simply will not give you any opportunity because they see the set of skills as obsolete.
Resentment talking, BTW.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 No (expletive) kidding.
Casablanca shocked...
All these unwanted pregnancies should end up on these judges doorsteps along with stillbirths that have been forced to be carried. I also feel that any state with that law that allows you to sue people getting or helping with an abortion, should have every liberal sue every person that does that so there are literally millions of lawsuits. Sadly, for the most part, liberals lack the spine to be effective in those ways.
by JazzNU Acting like they were warned repeatedly that this would be the result.
by ponchi101 Ah, why would anybody be surprised about Republican ignorance and their incapability to think things all the way through? Why would this be hard to envision?
by Owendonovan
JazzNU wrote: ↑Wed Aug 24, 2022 5:28 pm
Acting like they were warned repeatedly that this would be the result.
Are we supposed to feel something other than contempt for him?
by ti-amie
by Deuce ^ It's amazing - and rather comical - how Nature continuously humbles mankind.
Or perhaps I should say how Nature's revenge continuously humbles mankind - because these floods, droughts, storms, etc. are often the result of humans abusing the planet and trying to manipulate Nature...
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan Yeshiva University Can Bar L.G.B.T. Club for Now, Justice Rules
Sonia Sotomayor’s ruling will be in place pending a decision by the Supreme Court to take up the case.
But if the LGBT club bars Orthodox Jews, they're anti-semitic. Not for nothing, but religious (grooming) freedom is really license to discriminate. It has nothing to do with religion (grooming).
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 12:17 pm
Yeshiva University Can Bar L.G.B.T. Club for Now, Justice Rules
Sonia Sotomayor’s ruling will be in place pending a decision by the Supreme Court to take up the case.
But if the LGBT club bars Orthodox Jews, they're anti-semitic. Not for nothing, but religious (grooming) freedom is really license to discriminate. It has nothing to do with religion (grooming).
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/nyre ... clubs.html
Yeshiva University Halts All Student Clubs to Block L.G.B.T.Q. Group
Earlier in the week, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a ruling to stand for now that required the university to recognize the group.
Such a mature reaction.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 PR might not be a viable country, geographically. It does not have an infrastructure that can withstand a major hurricane every three years.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 9:46 pm
PR might not be a viable country, geographically. It does not have an infrastructure that can withstand a major hurricane every three years.
PR already exists in a Never Never Land as a country. They are citizens of the United States but I'm not sure if they can vote in Presidential elections if they live on the island. The island residents get full benefits from US social services too, or used to.
And you're correct. The infrastructure, like that of most Caribbean countries, just isn't able to withstand hurricanes of the type we've been seeing the last few years. And yet tech bros have decided it's the place to be. Let's see how long that lasts.
by skatingfan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 10:16 pm
PR already exists in a Never Never Land as a country. They are citizens of the United States but I'm not sure if they can vote in Presidential elections if they live on the island. The island residents get full benefits from US social services too, or used to.
It's actually weirder than that when you think about it. There are primaries in Puerto Rico for both parties, but residents can't vote in the general election. At the same time US citizens who live outside the 50 US states can vote in the general election, as long as they don't live in a US overseas territory.
by Suliso Actually this year is an unusually quiet hurricane season for unclear reasons. This is the first somewhat significant one and it's already mid September.
As for Puerto Rico it would be more viable than quite a few other Caribbean countries. It's a tough ask though to give up all the US goodies...
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 7:48 amActually this year is an unusually quiet hurricane season for unclear reasons. This is the first somewhat significant one and it's already mid September.
As for Puerto Rico it would be more viable than quite a few other Caribbean countries. It's a tough ask though to give up all the US goodies...
I was noticing that. My brother-in-law lives in Miami and they have had a wonderful summer. Nothing to worry about.
In Colorado, fire-season went by without any issues; it has been raining steadily in the southwest of the state, making it an easy season.
CC. Just making it unpredictable in any fashion.
by ti-amie
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 7:48 am
Actually this year is an unusually quiet hurricane season for unclear reasons. This is the first somewhat significant one and it's already mid September.
As for Puerto Rico it would be more viable than quite a few other Caribbean countries. It's a tough ask though to give up all the US goodies...
And this is the reason I think they won't vote for statehood.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Casablanca shocked.
For them, it is always theatre. I said it before: for these people, the end always justifies the mean. Any means. They have no limits.
by ti-amie Today's stunt was flooding the Suicide Line used by veterans in distress to demand something or another re the J6 insurrectionists. It's in the "Dante" thread.
by Owendonovan Quite frankly, I'm a bit afraid of what's happening and wondering how I exist in a "civil war" type environment.
by ti-amie
by Suliso What's more likely president Trump 2.0 or president de Santis? I think the latter.
by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 4:15 am
What's more likely president Trump 2.0 or president de Santis? I think the latter.
President Britney Spears.
Fame and celebrity is all that matters in the U.S.
by skatingfan
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 4:15 am
What's more likely president Trump 2.0 or president de Santis? I think the latter.
Republican primaries are still two years away. That's a lot of time for either of them to remain the front runner. If recent history in US presidential primaries tell us anything it's that we won't know who the front runner is until just a few weeks before voting starts, and in Republican primaries that as low as the floor seems to go it can always go lower. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else emerges in the next year that takes these actions to another level from DeSantis. He may have played his hand too early.
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 4:15 am
What's more likely president Trump 2.0 or president de Santis? I think the latter.
Republican primaries are still two years away. That's a lot of time for either of them to remain the front runner. If recent history in US presidential primaries tell us anything it's that we won't know who the front runner is until just a few weeks before voting starts, and in Republican primaries that as low as the floor seems to go it can always go lower. I wouldn't be surprised if someone else emerges in the next year that takes these actions to another level from DeSantis. He may have played his hand too early.
Except that he, as you say, won't mind going lower. I really can't think of what other lunacy he can come up, but of course, I am not his political adviser. Fly pregnant teenage immigrants to Florida, to deny them abortions before deporting them to El Salvador? He wouldn't mind.
by ptmcmahon Hurricane season again! This might be a big one for us:
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ptmcmahon We have a few webcams that are starting to see some of the waves. I'm not sure what the best one will be, but Peggy's Cove one is already giving us a look:
It's infamous for people ignoring signs to stay off black rocks and falling in the water.
by Jeff from TX Batten down the hatches and stay safe, PT
by ptmcmahon I haven't lost power but at least half the city has. Lots of trees down when I had to pick up kids too. Going to leave a huge mess but nothing too "bad" has happened yet. It's slowed down though so expecting heavy winds all night.
by Suliso Finally a serious hurricane in the North Atlantic...
Latest report has the eye hitting Sarasota/Manatee area on Wednesday night at approximately 8 PM as a Category 2 after being the water as a Category 3.
My opinion is that it will go a little farther East sparing Tampa but staying west of Miami.
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Sat Sep 24, 2022 8:32 am
Finally a serious hurricane in the North Atlantic...
But this late in the season must be a serious anomaly.
And a second one coming.
by Suliso Yes, but as you well know trends have to be looked on average. It could very well be that the next summer in Europe is unusually cold and rainy. Won't disprovevthe overall trend towards warmer climate.
by Owendonovan Although I certainly feel those people in Florida and Texas who suffer under their fascist governors, I do get a certain satisfaction when nature comes and destroys parts of those places. I would, however, be delighted to throw rolls of paper towels at those governors after hurricanes come and destroy their states to help them.
by ti-amie
by patrick Good one. Scott wanted FL to send back the money but DeSantis decided to keep the money. Guess he decided to keep the money for what he did a few weeks ago. However, here is a question for me - why DeSantis fly them to Mass, instead of back to Venezuela?
by Owendonovan
patrick wrote: ↑Sun Sep 25, 2022 7:56 pm
Good one. Scott wanted FL to send back the money but DeSantis decided to keep the money. Guess he decided to keep the money for what he did a few weeks ago. However, here is a question for me - why DeSantis fly them to Mass, instead of back to Venezuela?
Because President Obama has a summer home where he sent them.
by ponchi101 Venezuela has a prohibition of flights from the USA, too.
You know, we have our loony too.
Forgive men that rape and assault you.
This from a religion in which god can't forgive that millennia ago, a man and a woman took a bite from a fruit. Makes perfect sense.
(I know this is not an official church event).
Forgive men that rape and assault you.
This from a religion in which god can't forgive that millennia ago, a man and a woman took a bite from a fruit. Makes perfect sense.
(I know this is not an official church event).
It was an official church event to the people who organized it, they just didn't tell any participants (except maybe the future rapists). The bad christians certainly seem to outnumber the good ones in America these days. Sadly an admission of christianity comes with bad caveats these days.
by dryrunguy I'm sitting here waiting for Ron DeSantis to congratulate himself on air for getting dozens of Venezuelan migrants out of Ian's way. Because that's what they do.
But perhaps not even HE is THAT bent and twisted.
by ti-amie Oh yes he is.
by patrick Be nice to me
by dryrunguy An observation. I've had the Weather Channel on all day. Desantis has done numerous briefings today. (He does them quite well. I'll give him that. He was also quite good in the one-on-one interview he gave to WC folks.) Rick Scott has made an appearance or two. (He still looks like a sickly ghost.)
But Marco Rubio is nowhere to be found. Perhaps he's making his appearances on Fox News. I wouldn't know. But it's a little odd he hasn't made an appearance on WC when two of his senior Florida peers have.
by ti-amie What's going on in Florida you ask?
by ti-amie I hope our TATeurs in Florida are safe!
by ti-amie
If this is a Cat 4...
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by patrick So far, I am OK but my event will be during the night.
by ponchi101 The person in the boat is insane. That thing is not big enough to withstand that storm.
Patrick, only thing to say: try to be safe, keep us posted as soon as you can, to know that you are.
Yeah... the person(s) in the boat is/are insane... but so are these TV reporters.
It makes for entertaining TV... but it's absolutely asinine, and completely unnecessary - unless the main goal is to get attention paid to yourself, and get injured or killed in the process.
Maybe these people see themselves as 'brave', and/or as 'martyrs'?
I see them as being simply foolish.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan I saw on the news that you also need to beware of alligators if you're wandering through the water.
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Here is a garage, totally flooded up to the roof:
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by MJ2004 My parents' 2000+ residence community in Bonita Springs was absolutely devastated. Limited news and pics coming out since there is no power, but it looks really bad. The golf courses and roads turned into lakes and rivers, and from what we're hearing, most first floor/single family homes got 3-5 feet of water. It's going to be a while before we know more.
My parents' unit is on the third floor, top level, so barring a roof/window/door leak, they might be ok (nobody has been able to inspect the unit yet). The concern is that mold will set in if power doesn't come back soon, and that's not looking too good, but that would be small potatoes compared with what everyone else is going through. No point in anyone in the family flying down there with no power, so we'll just need to wait it out and hope for the best.
Here are some pics sent by community residents. The photo with the red arrow is the building next to theirs, theirs fared the same (about 3-5 ft on ground/parking level). Luckily for my parents they sold their car they kept down there last year, were planning to replace it this year. This is after we convinced them not to sell the condo last spring. I hope that decision doesn't come back to bite us.
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Here is a garage, totally flooded up to the roof:
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by MJ2004 A few houses throughout the community:
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by ponchi101 Wow, Mj. Brutal shots. I hope your parents are doing well.
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by MJ2004 Thanks. I didn't explicitly say it in my post, but my parents are up here in Maine, not actually in Florida.
I feel for any residents that are there with no power or even sewage. As was mentioned already, it's not safe to wander around near water. This guy was seen wandering near the building entrance just a few days ago, he could be in any body of water now.
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by ti-amie I'm glad your parents are safe MJ.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Meanwhile be afraid of "those people" coming to loot your homes.
by Owendonovan Not for nothing, but they look like they would do that.
by ti-amieThe Story Behind DeSantis’s Migrant Flights to Martha’s Vineyard
Asylum seekers in Texas were recruited for the flights by a woman who appeared to be a former Army counterintelligence agent. “We were tricked,” one migrant said.
By Edgar Sandoval, Miriam Jordan, Patricia Mazzei and J. David Goodman
Oct. 2, 2022, 5:20 p.m. ET
SAN ANTONIO — In June, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a budget that set aside $12 million to create a program for transporting unauthorized migrants out of Florida. He touted it as the highlight of the state’s new spending when it came to immigration.
But just three months later, the money was being used in a place far from Florida, in a very different way: rounding up Venezuelan asylum seekers on the streets of San Antonio and shipping them on private planes to Massachusetts.
The flights last month, carrying 48 migrants, attracted international attention and drew condemnation from Democrats as well as several legal challenges. Mr. DeSantis immediately claimed credit for what appeared to be a political maneuver — dumping dozens of asylum seekers on the doorstep of Northeastern Democrats who have resisted calls to clamp down on immigration.
Florida officials have provided little information about the program or how it was engineered. But details have begun to emerge of the clandestine mission that was carried out without the knowledge of even the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, a fellow Republican: flights paid for with state money in possible violation of the state law that allocated the money; a charter airline company with political ties to the Florida governor.
And, in the middle of it all, a woman with a background in military counterintelligence who investigators believe was sent to Texas from Tampa in order to fill the planes.
Until now, little has been known about the woman whom migrants said identified herself only by her first name, “Perla,” when she solicited them to join the flights. A person briefed on the San Antonio Sheriff’s office investigation into the matter told The New York Times that the person being looked at in connection with the operation is a woman named Perla Huerta.
Ms. Huerta, a former combat medic and counterintelligence agent, was discharged last month after two decades in the U.S. Army that included several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to military records.
A Venezuelan migrant who was working with Ms. Huerta to recruit migrants confirmed her identity, and a migrant in San Antonio whom Ms. Huerta had unsuccessfully sought to sign up identified a photo of her in an interview with The Times. Several of the migrants on Martha’s Vineyard photographed her during the recruitment process in San Antonio, according to Rachel Self, a lawyer representing the migrants. Lawyers working with them were able to match those photos with others online and in social media belonging to a woman named Perla Huerta.
Efforts to reach Ms. Huerta by phone and at her home in Tampa were unsuccessful.
The man who said he worked with her to help sign up other migrants agreed to speak on the condition that his name not be used because the events are under investigation. He said he first met Ms. Huerta on Sept. 10 outside the Migrant Resource Center in San Antonio.
She asked him to help her recruit other migrants like him from Venezuela. But he said he felt betrayed, because she never mentioned working on behalf of the Florida government. “I was also lied to,” he said. “If I had known, I would not have gotten involved.” All he was told, he said, was that “she wanted to help people head up north.”
(...)
In the case of the flights to Martha’s Vineyard, Florida state records show that an airline charter company, Vertol Systems, was paid $615,000 on Sept. 8 and $950,000 less than two weeks later. The first payment was for “project 1” and the second payment for “projects two and three.” So far, Florida officials have acknowledged only the initial flights and have not spoken of plans for others.
The money to fly migrants came from a special $12 million appropriation in the state’s last budget, a brief item that gave funds to the state’s Department of Transportation to create a program “to facilitate the transport of unauthorized aliens from this state.”
The program was conceived as a means for Florida to push back on the number of unauthorized migrants being flown into the state by the federal government. As of August, Mr. DeSantis said the funds had yet to be used, because the additional large groups of migrants that had been expected had failed to materialize.
He set his sights on the place where most migrants were initially arriving — Texas.
Several Democratic state lawmakers raised objections. “They crafted this bill, they set the rules of the game, and they can’t even comply with it,” State Senator Jason Pizzo, a Democrat, said of the DeSantis administration. Mr. Pizzo filed suit in Florida state court hoping to stop the state from spending any more money on similar flights.
(...)
Vertol Systems, which was founded in the mid-1990s, offers aviation maintenance and training services, and does work for the U.S. government. Over the years, the company has increasingly networked with Republican power brokers in Florida.
In litigation, court records show, Vertol was once represented by Matt Gaetz, now a Republican member of Congress and a close ally of Mr. DeSantis. Another lawyer whom the company used for a series of lawsuits, according to information first reported by NBC News, was Larry Keefe. Mr. Keefe is now serving as Mr. Desantis’s public safety czar, leading efforts to confront immigration issues.
Vertol and its leader, James Montgomerie, have also donated to Republican legislators, including Mr. Gaetz and Representative Jay Trumbull, who led the Florida House Appropriations Committee this year as lawmakers earmarked the money for a program initially intended to relocate migrants from Florida.
Mr. Montgomerie did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The story of how the migrants were recruited for the flights was recounted by dozens of migrants in interviews with lawyers and journalists after arriving, mystified, on what they realized was a remote resort island with few resources.
A woman named Perla, most of them said, had approached them in San Antonio about a free flight to Massachusetts.
There were jobs there, they were told, and people to help them. The woman provided the mostly destitute migrants with free meals at McDonald’s and a place to stay at a nearby La Quinta Inn before the flight.
The migrants each received a red folder containing a map of the United States, with an arrow stretching from Texas to Massachusetts. Another map in the shape of Martha’s Vineyard had a dot for the airport and one for the community services center.
Also in the folder was a brochure, apparently fake, titled “Refugee Migrant Benefits,” in English and Spanish. The cover proclaimed, “Massachusetts Welcomes You,” and featured a state flag that was not current. Listed on the back were the names and numbers of a church, a synagogue and a nonprofit on Martha’s Vineyard.
The pamphlet, reviewed by The Times, also promised “up to eight months of cash assistance” for “income-eligible” refugees in Massachusetts, apparently mimicking benefits offered to refugees who arrive in the United States through the country’s official resettlement program, which the Venezuelans were not part of.
(...)
The men, women and children who signed up were flown from San Antonio and landed first in Crestview, Fla. The migrants did not disembark. From there, the flight stopped again in South Carolina before reaching its final destination on Martha’s Vineyard on Sept. 14.
There, several migrants said in interviews, they were taken in vans that had been waiting for them and deposited near a community center, where they were told to knock on the door. The woman who answered had no idea who they were and did not speak Spanish.
“When they opened up their phones and put on Google Maps to see where they were and found out that they were surrounded entirely by water — that was terrifying,” said State Representative Dylan Fernandes of Massachusetts, a Democrat, who met some of the migrants. Some tried, in vain, to find a bridge.
Beth Folcarelli, the chief executive at the center, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, said she was in her office talking to a senior staff member at about 3:45 p.m. when outside the window they spotted a group of people walking in the nonprofit’s direction.
(...)
Soon, the migrants were receiving items from a community thrift shop, Chicken Alley: trousers, T-shirts, shoes. Stores in the area donated underwear. An island hotline was inundated with calls from people who wished to help. Donations and volunteers poured into the church where the migrants spent two nights sleeping on cots.
Most of the migrants eventually ended up at a military base on Cape Cod, sleeping in unused barracks. But few had any idea of what would happen to them next.
Staff members at the community center in Martha’s Vineyard arranged for a migrant named Pablo to call home to Venezuela, Ms. Rolanti said. He appeared broken.
“My love, we were tricked,” he told his wife, weeping uncontrollably. “This woman lied to us. She lied.”
by skatingfan In response to the question about why DeSantis would decline the assistance I think the simplest answer is that DeSantis doesn't believe in government assistance. He is a Tea-Party person, and his core belief is that everyone is on their own, so once the immediate emergency is over he will work to limit support from governments outside of Florida. He will also use this to assist his presidential campaign by suggesting that the Federal government is unable to assist the states.
by patrick However, DeSantis asked Biden to add additional counties to the disaster aid list which needed to happen. Question is how he will use the funds given by FEMA. He took ARPA money despite Scott request to deny the funds. Then, he used that money to increase the state budget. Remember, the flight to Martha's Vineyard was used with ARPA money.
By the way, his gas tax relief for October has started today. Yesterday, gas was listed at 3.39 but not it is 3.09. Only doing it to get elected next month.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 And they'll go. Those people are desperate.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 12:06 am
And they'll go. Those people are desperate.
Sadly, yes.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 That is one aspect of him that the Dems (how surprising) do not tap into. The fact that he is not always diplomatic, and will talk back.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 If the USA were in any way a rational country, where the politicians were really trying to IMPROVE the country as opposed to playing with it, Joe Biden would have an approval rating of 75%.
But, you know...
About time (decriminalize pot).
---0---
As an example. Here, they are still debating the "morality" of legalizing marihuana. While the country implodes because the national budget can't be balanced (we can't just print money like the USA does). So, a loss-loss situation, which could be turned into a win-win overnight.
by ti-amie The issue, to me, is that someone has to fill up all of the for profit prisons. POTUS just cut off part of their revenue stream.
by Deuce All that said, I've known - and worked with - MANY people who've had big drug problems. For 95% of them, marijuana was the first drug they used with any regularity.
Even if we include alcohol, more than 50% of that 95% started with regular marijuana use, not regular alcohol use.
Part of this is because many of those who were selling marijuana were also selling cocaine, meth, and other drugs. But part of the reason is also because, as with many things in life, as one gets accustomed to the effects of marijuana, there comes a time when one wants MORE of an effect; wants the mind to be MORE altered and reality to be MORE distorted.
So... those who say that marijuana is not a 'gateway drug' are completely out to lunch. While it doesn't lead to other drugs all the time, almost all 'hard drug' users began with marijuana. To me, that is the very definition of a 'gateway drug'.
by dryrunguy Marijuana is definitely a gateway drug. The scientific literature established that decades ago.
What we have here are the differences between prevention and who gets incarcerated for marijuana possession, especially in the U.S. and especially in certain types of U.S. states.
If a parent discovers their teen is experimenting with marijuana, early intervention is critical. Prevention and intervention go hand in hand.
But when we look at who gets incarcerated for marijuana possession in the U.S., we're generally talking about adults aged 30 to whatever (adults). And those individuals are disproportionately people of color.
The company I work for has done a lot of work over the years collaborating with courts on something called jail diversion. That's about placing folks who encounter the criminal justice system (for marijuana or some other drug possession) in an appropriate treatment or recovery setting that suits their treatment or recovery needs. And there's a healthy body of evidence to suggest putting these folks in a treatment/service delivery/recovery setting well-suited to their needs can work. Of course, recidivism or relapse can occur. And it does.
But the bottom line is that possession of marijuana with no intention to distribute or sell is not appropriate grounds for incarceration. And the data are pretty clear. White offenders in the U.S. are more likely to be afforded the treatment/service delivery/recovery option while offenders of color in the U.S. are significantly more likely to go straight to jail with no treatment/service delivery/recovery option, except for what's offered in a given jail or prison.
That's what Biden's latest order is about.
by Owendonovan Almost every friend of mine 55+ smokes weed, like 80 out of 100 friends. Some are full on stoners, but most use it as one would a glass of wine or a beer. I wouldn't call weed innocuous, though.
by ponchi101 Coke is a gateway drug.
Pepsi too.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 And he will remain governor.
When a dem does the slightest thing wrong, other dems call for his/her beheading. No matter what was it, forceful demands to step down come forth and usually work.
A Rep does anything, and they are a tribe.
And I know that morality is something one would like to see playing out, but there is also a place for realpolityk.
by Owendonovan Los Angeles City Councilwoman Resigns Amid Uproar Over Racist Remarks
The former Council president, Nury Martinez, faced calls from state leaders and President Biden to leave office after making racist remarks on a recording that emerged on Sunday.
Caught on tape with her were two other council members, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, as well as Ron Herrera, president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. The men, all well-known members of the Latino political establishment in California, did not confront Ms. Martinez and at times kept the conversation going with derogatory comments of their own, according to the recording obtained by The New York Times.
The 80-minute recording, which was first reported by The Los Angeles Times on Sunday, includes audio of Ms. Martinez mocking the Black child of a white councilman, Mike Bonin, in racist terms.
The audio also included ugly remarks describing recent migrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, among other disparaging comments.
If you don't know by now that everything is being recorded either visually or by audio, you're an idiot. She and her 2 colleagues are idiots. Now they're being investigated for voting rights act violations. Cronyism at it's finest.
If you don't know by now that everything is being recorded either visually or by audio, you're an idiot. She and her 2 colleagues are idiots. Now they're being investigated for voting rights act violations. Cronyism at it's finest.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Serious question: why would you want to tear down the HS? What do you gain?
Sorry if I am being naive.
by ti-amie Who would send their child there?
In this case I defer to the parents of the victims. Whatever they, and the spouses want is okay with me.
by Deuce But tearing down a building that is structurally fine, and having to build another school to replace it at the cost of millions of dollars, is highly impractical, and is, essentially, a waste of a lot of money.
I understand the parents and loved ones of the victims wanting this done. And I empathise with them. But, as ponchi said, what is gained by doing that? It doesn't erase the tragedy. It doesn't erase the memories of the tragedy. It doesn't punish the killer any more. It does nothing to prevent a similar tragedy from happening.
All it does is make some people feel that something has been done - but is that really the case?
It's a massive thing to do just to make people feel that something has been done, even if nothing really practical has been done.
I think it's rather irrational to contemplate tearing the school down. Again, I understand that the families of the loved ones are not necessarily in a rational state when it comes to anything involving this tragedy. And that's to be expected. But it shouldn't be acted upon. Erasing the location of the crime does not eradicate the crime that was committed.
I think that tearing down locations where tragedies occur simply provides the illusion that something practical has been done - but in reality, that's not the case.
We need to get away from the thinking that NOT tearing the school down means that people don't care about what happened - because that is neither fair, nor true.
by ti-amieSuspect, 15, in Custody After Shooting Rampage Left 5 Dead in Raleigh Neighborhood
An off-duty police officer was among those killed in the attack. At least two other people were wounded, including another officer.
By Emily Cataneo, Rick Rojas, Vimal Patel, McKenna Oxenden and Mike Ives
Published Oct. 13, 2022
Updated Oct. 14, 2022, 1:35 p.m. ET
RALEIGH, N.C. — At least five people were fatally shot on Thursday as a 15-year-old boy carved a trail of bloodshed through a residential neighborhood in Raleigh, the authorities said, leaving a crime scene that stretched over two miles and setting off a sprawling investigation to determine a motive for the attacks.
“We don’t have answers as to why this tragedy occurred,” Chief Estella Patterson of the Raleigh Police Department told reporters during a briefing on Friday morning.
The dead include a city police officer, Gabriel Torres, 29, who was on his way to work when he was shot on Thursday afternoon, Chief Patterson said. She identified the other victims as a 52-year-old woman, a 49-year-old woman, a 35-year-old woman and a 16-year-old boy.
The 15-year-old suspect, whose identity the authorities have not disclosed, is in custody at a hospital, in critical condition, the authorities said. It is unclear how and when he was injured. Two other people were wounded in the shootings, Chief Patterson said: a 59-year-old woman who was in critical condition and a police officer who was treated at a hospital and released.
It was not immediately clear whether any of the victims knew the assailant, and the police chief did not provide any details about what kind of gun was used.
The shooting occurred in the Hedingham neighborhood in the northeast of Raleigh, where homes and golf courses sit near the Neuse River Greenway, a bike and walking trail that winds through wetlands and pine groves.
When the police responded late Thursday afternoon, they arrived to discover the bodies of two victims on a street lined with tidy duplex homes, and then found others scattered in the neighborhood and on the nearby trail, the authorities said.
The attacks prompted the authorities to implore residents to stay in their homes or away from the neighborhood as officers began a manhunt. Eventually, the police said that the suspect had been contained, and by 9:37 p.m., he was taken into custody.
“It was a long standoff, a long situation,” Chief Patterson said.
The burst of violence has plunged Raleigh into a familiar agony, as the latest American community forced to grapple with the aftermath of a mass shooting.
“There are several families in our community waking up this morning without their loved ones,” Raleigh’s mayor, Mary-Ann Baldwin, said during the news conference on Friday morning.
“I saw the faces of Raleigh police officers last night and their pain was evident, and I know that is happening all over the city,” Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina said on Friday. “Today, we’re sad, we’re angry and we want to know the answers to all the questions. Those questions will be answered — some today and more over time.”
Even as investigators were still searching to understand the motivation for the attack and how it unfolded, Mr. Cooper said it was already clear that elected officials needed to do more to address the scourge of gun violence.
“We all know the core truth: No neighborhood, no parent, no children, no grandparent — no one — should feel this fear in their communities. No one,” Mr. Cooper, a Democrat, said during the news conference. “As policymakers, we cannot and will not turn away from what has happened here. We must be resolved to make changes and to succeed.”
In the neighborhood where the shooting took place, residents were reeling, overwhelmed by the chaos and confusion that had been unleashed by the attack, as well as by the horror of such violence hitting so close to home.
“I can’t believe this is happening in my neighborhood,” Cheryl St. James, a nurse, said late Thursday as she inched her car through traffic caused by a crush of police and emergency vehicles. “It’s scary.”
On Eagle Trace Drive, about a mile and a half from where the shooting occurred, sirens could be heard on Thursday night wailing in the distance as cars inched forward and police vehicles with flashing lights nosed through.
Ethan Garner, a project manager who has lived in the area for three years, said that he had left to get something to eat in the early evening. Hours later, he was sitting in his car, watching television on his phone as police officers attended to the crime scene.
“I leave my doors unlocked,” he said. “Yeah, I have cameras, but I never worry about anything like that. Nothing’s ever happened.”
by Deuce When you think that life in the USA can't get any lower... think again...
What can you possibly call a country in which one MUST assume that every driver on the road is carrying a gun and is ready to shoot you at any sign of a disagreement?
A country where things like this (below) and mass killings occur with incredible frequency cannot call itself civilized.
by ponchi101 These two idiots deserve some severe prison time.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 And he is unpopular.
What I would give for him to be president of Vennieland. Heck, I want him to be president of S. America.
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 17, 2022 9:01 pm
And he is unpopular.
What I would give for him to be president of Vennieland. Heck, I want him to be president of S. America.
He's unpopular because roughly 35% of the U.S. population (that 35% figure sure comes up a lot, no?) is so ignorant and clueless of world events that they believe inflation is a uniquely American phenomenon. And, thus, one person's fault.
That said, I read a piece earlier today about how independents are turning on Biden. That's almost entirely about inflation, too. Some of the newest polls even indicate that suburban women who resent the overturning of Roe v. Wade are turning on Biden because of--inflation.
by Jeff from TX
Deuce wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:02 am
When you think that life in the USA can't get any lower... think again...
What can you possibly call a country in which one MUST assume that every driver on the road is carrying a gun and is ready to shoot you at any sign of a disagreement?
A country where things like this (below) and mass killings occur with incredible frequency cannot call itself civilized.
Deuce wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:02 am
When you think that life in the USA can't get any lower... think again...
What can you possibly call a country in which one MUST assume that every driver on the road is carrying a gun and is ready to shoot you at any sign of a disagreement?
A country where things like this (below) and mass killings occur with incredible frequency cannot call itself civilized.
Actually, the mothers were in the vehicles also, and one of them fired the first shot. So insane.
In the most recent article I've seen about the incident, it does mention that the wife of one one of the men was in one of the cars, while "relatives" of the other man were in the other car... but it maintains that it was the two fathers who fired the guns, and that it's both men only who are charged with attempted murder.
In any case, it's nice to know that both families enjoy family outings together... Sigh...
He's unpopular because roughly 35% of the U.S. population (that 35% figure sure comes up a lot, no?) is so ignorant and clueless of world events that they believe inflation is a uniquely American phenomenon. And, thus, one person's fault.
That said, I read a piece earlier today about how independents are turning on Biden. That's almost entirely about inflation, too. Some of the newest polls even indicate that suburban women who resent the overturning of Roe v. Wade are turning on Biden because of--inflation.
Just to keep perspective.
Inflation here is in double digits. Around 11%. PLUS:
Because Colombia imports some food stuff, the prices at the supermarket have gone way up, because the peso has devalued severely Vs the $$$. Started the year at 3,800, it is all the way down to 4,700. And of course, the year is not over.
So sure, America. Let's see how inflation will be corrected once the senate is in the safe hands of the GOP, and their solution to that will be a new tax cut, for the rich.
by Suliso
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 18, 2022 2:35 pm
Just to keep perspective.
Inflation here is in double digits. Around 11%. PLUS:
Because Colombia imports some food stuff, the prices at the supermarket have gone way up, because the peso has devalued severely Vs the $$$. Started the year at 3,800, it is all the way down to 4,700. And of course, the year is not over.
Sure, but would the ruling party in Colombia win a reelection right now?
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 18, 2022 2:35 pm
Just to keep perspective.
Inflation here is in double digits. Around 11%. PLUS:
Because Colombia imports some food stuff, the prices at the supermarket have gone way up, because the peso has devalued severely Vs the $$$. Started the year at 3,800, it is all the way down to 4,700. And of course, the year is not over.
Sure, but would the ruling party in Colombia win a reelection right now?
Yes, because our election took place just three months ago
But you are right. Unless you were talking about the DUQUE government, and not the PETRO administration.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan I want some disciplinary action against all those who balked in Uvalde when they should have helped, I don't know what though.
by ponchi101 What would have happened if it had been SOME PATIENTS IN A HOSPITAL, and doctors had not assisted them and they had died due to this negligence?
I know it is not a perfect simile, but it was such an outrageous situation.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 I recently read a couple of well thought plans to pump water from the EAST to the WEST, to help with this and the depletion of some major lakes/reservoirs.
The politicians in the eastern states (all GOP) said the west would not "steal" their water.
Which floods them.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by skatingfan
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:36 pm
I recently read a couple of well thought plans to pump water from the EAST to the WEST, to help with this and the depletion of some major lakes/reservoirs.
The politicians in the eastern states (all GOP) said the west would not "steal" their water.
Which floods them.
This is the issue that will finally bring the US to annex Canada.
by Deuce
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 20, 2022 9:36 pm
I recently read a couple of well thought plans to pump water from the EAST to the WEST, to help with this and the depletion of some major lakes/reservoirs.
The politicians in the eastern states (all GOP) said the west would not "steal" their water.
Which floods them.
Man is constantly screwing with Nature, never learning his lesson.
First, man creates problems with Nature through his selfishness and greed, which alters Nature's natural processes, and then he attempts to fix the problems that he himself created - which, of course, rarely works, because, as Albert Einstein pointed out...
"The problems which exist in the world cannot be solved using the same level of intelligence that created them."
and "There are only two things that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the former."
Here is the link to the document. Once you skip all the legal mumbo jumbo at the beginning it's a pretty straightforward presentation about what happened.
What's distressing is that he wanted to "lure" someone else using Speaker Pelosi as bait.
by JTContinental CNN is reporting today that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi isn't even an American citizen, and was actually in the country illegally
by ponchi101 How many thousands of ways will the GOP spin that?
by ti-amie
JTContinental wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:36 pm
CNN is reporting today that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi isn't even an American citizen, and was actually in the country illegally
JTContinental wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:36 pm
CNN is reporting today that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi isn't even an American citizen, and was actually in the country illegally
JTContinental wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:36 pm
CNN is reporting today that the man who attacked Paul Pelosi isn't even an American citizen, and was actually in the country illegally
But he's Canadian no?
Yes - apparently.
by ti-amie
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by ti-amie There was a mass shooting at UVA last night. Three stars of its football team were shot to death. The man believed to be responsible is in custody. I believe he was a former member of the football team but he was cut.
by ti-amie Robert Reich
@RBReich
Average list price for a unit of insulin:
by ponchi101 I had to recently get an operation. Two inguinal hernias.
I ended out paying out of pocket, for reasons not related to Colombia's situation. But I paid $900. Sure, an outpatient procedure, but it was a full clinical procedure.
That means, 9 units of insulin.
You need to re-design your entire medical system.
by ti-amieFour University of Idaho students found dead near campus have been identified
Police said officers were responding to a report of someone unconscious when the victims were discovered.
Nov. 13, 2022, 10:01 PM EST / Updated Nov. 14, 2022, 4:32 PM EST
By Dennis Romero and Erik Ortiz
Authorities on Monday identified the four students from the University of Idaho found dead at an off-campus residence.
Police in the city of Moscow declined to release additional details surrounding the deaths, which are being classified as part of a homicide case but said the bodies were found Sunday after officers responded to a call for an unconscious individual.
Upon entering the home on King Road, located about a half-block from campus and in a neighborhood where university students and members of Greek organizations reside, Moscow police said they found four people dead.
They were identified as: Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.
Police said Monday that they had no suspect in custody, but had no reason to believe there was a continued risk to the community "based on information gathered during the preliminary investigation."
Still, the discovery of four dead students has rattled the school and surrounding community and came as another incident across the country involving three slain students at the University of Virginia sparked a manhunt for the gunman.
On Sunday evening, the University of Idaho sent an alert asking its community to shelter in place or stay away from campus as a suspect was "not known at this time." The shelter-in-place request was lifted about an hour later.
University of Idaho President Scott Green also wrote an email saying he did not believe there was a continuing threat.
by ponchi101 But they vote GOP. And the GOP will never create or expand any program that will assist in mental health or social support.
So, Catch-22. Unless they think about their real needs, it seems rural America is stuck with this issue.
by ti-amie So this is what I saw when I went back on the bird app just now:
Naturally I go WTH? Scroll up and found this.
The memorial services for the three UVA football players were just held.
But maybe Hunter Biden's laptop will have the solution for gun violence.
/s
by ti-amie Lake Effect snow hits Buffalo
by ponchi101 I miss snow...
by dryrunguy
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 20, 2022 1:01 am
I miss snow...
Stop it.
by Owendonovan At Least 5 Killed in L.G.B.T.Q. Nightclub Shooting in Colorado Springs, CO
At least five people were killed and 18 injured late Saturday in a shooting at an L.G.B.T.Q. nightclub in Colorado Springs, the police said early Sunday morning. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/20 ... s-shooting
I believe Colorado Springs is home to many of those anti-lgbtq evangelical grooming centers.
by ti-amie
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by ti-amie Well this explains everything. Next will be some version of the family asks that it's privacy be respected...
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by ti-amie LGBTQ+ Twitter is gleefully tweeting news articles featuring this image of the Colorado Springs shooter's grandfather.
by ponchi101 Colorado is so bi-polar. They can elect an openly gay governor and at the same time elect Boebert. They approve marihuana legalization and at the same time are super gun friendly. And they can be very open about LGBT, but the GOP loonies in the state do this.
It is freaking sickening.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 2:13 am
Colorado is so bi-polar. They can elect an openly gay governor and at the same time elect Boebert. They approve marihuana legalization and at the same time are super gun friendly. And they can be very open about LGBT, but the GOP loonies in the state do this.
It is freaking sickening.
Sigh
by Deuce
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 1:52 am
LGBTQ+ Twitter is gleefully tweeting news articles featuring this image of the Colorado Springs shooter's grandfather.
I don't think anyone should be 'gleeful' about any element of this.
by ti-amie It's the irony of the situation. I have to find the first hand report someone posted yesterday about what happened during that first incident where instead of getting him the mental health help he needed - who builds a bomb to blow up their mother - the grandfather got him off and all news reports were wiped. They're reposting it "gleefully" because it shows the hypocrisy of the MAGATs. I didn't mean to imply that they're celebrating what happened.
by ti-amiePolice probe LGBTQ club shooting suspect’s ties to a 2021 bomb threat
Previous incident raises questions over whether law-enforcement officials were aware of warning signs
By Joby Warrick and Robert Klemko
Updated November 20, 2022 at 7:07 p.m. EST|Published November 20, 2022 at 12:40 p.m. EST
Anderson Lee Aldrich was identified by Colorado Springs police as the suspected gunman who walked into the Club Q bar shortly before midnight with a rifle and opened fire, killing five people and wounding two dozen others before being subdued by bar patrons and then arrested by police who arrived minutes later. Local authorities and FBI officials were looking into whether the attack constituted a hate crime.
Details about the gunman were initially sparse. Colorado Springs police would not comment officially on whether the suspected shooter was the same individual charged with multiple counts of kidnapping and felony menacing after the bomb-threat incident in southeastern Colorado Springs on June 18, 2021. But the man taken into custody at that time had the same name and age as the Club Q shooter. A federal law-enforcement official on Sunday confirmed that the Club Q gunman’s birth date matched that of the bomb-threat suspect.
The Colorado Springs district attorney’s office ultimately declined to bring formal charges in the wake of the 2021 bomb-threat incident, and the court records for the case were placed under seal, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.
The link between the two incidents, if confirmed, is likely to raise questions over whether law-enforcement officials were aware of warning signs that might have resulted in legal action to bar the suspect from gaining access to weapons.
Neither local police nor FBI investigators were willing to discuss a possible motive for the shooting on Sunday. A statement by Colorado Springs police said that “multiple” firearms were found at the scene, and an effort was underway to identify who owned the weapons. “The suspect used a long rifle during the shooting,” the statement said. No further details were provided as to how the gun was obtained.
(...)
The nightclub, well known within Colorado Springs’ LGTBQ community, is located about 15 miles from the city’s Lorson Ranch community, a southeastern suburb of modest single-family homes where the 2021 bomb-threat incident took place. That day’s events were chronicled in an El Paso County Sheriff’s Department news release that included a description of the arrest of a then-21-year-old man named Anderson Lee Aldrich.
Public records link Aldrich to several different addresses in Colorado and Texas, most recently in Colorado Springs. He was listed as a registered voter and, as of 2020, a college student.
According to the news release, a woman — believed to be Aldrich’s mother — called the authorities to report that her son was threatening her with a homemade bomb and other weapons. Sheriff’s deputies were called to a single-story brick-and-siding house in the 9800 block of Rubicon Drive, the scene of the reported bomb threat. Public records show that Aldrich at the time lived on the block, at 9815 Rubicon Dr.
Deputies arriving at the scene ordered a partial evacuation of the neighborhood and then confronted Aldrich at another house, about a mile away.
There, Aldrich at first refused to surrender. But after a standoff, he was persuaded to walk out of the house, and was arrested without incident. No bomb was found, but Aldrich was charged with five felony counts, including kidnapping and felony menacing.
Why local prosecutors declined to pursue charges in the case was not clear.
Also unclear was whether any petitions had been filed against Aldrich preventing him from possessing a firearm. Colorado’s 2019 “red flag” law gives local judges the authority to order the confiscation of firearms from individuals with a history of mental illness or violence.
by ti-amieThe gay club shooting suspect evaded Colorado's red flag gun law
November 21, 20228:04 AM ET
An online court records search did not turn up any formal charges filed against Aldrich in last year's case. And in an update on a story on the bomb threat, The Gazette newspaper of Colorado Springs reported that prosecutors did not pursue any charges in the case and that records were sealed.
The Gazette also reported Sunday that it got a call from Aldrich in August asking that it remove a story about the incident.
"There is absolutely nothing there, the case was dropped, and I'm asking you either remove or update the story," Aldrich said in a voice message to an editor. "The entire case was dismissed."
A spokesperson for the district attorney's office, Howard Black, declined to comment on whether any charges were pursued. He said the shooting investigation will also include a study of the bomb threat.
"There will be no additional information released at this time," Black said. "These are still investigative questions."
by ti-amie For those who remember the before times people were reporting that the "flu" was lasting a very long time about the same time of year - October/November 2019.
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by ti-amieAn Army Veteran Says He Went Into ‘Combat Mode’ to Disarm the Gunman
Richard M. Fierro, who served for 15 years in the military, said he was at Club Q in Colorado Springs with his family, and took down the man who killed five people.
Richard Fierro at his home on Monday.Credit...Daniel Brenner for The New York Times
By Dave Philipps
Nov. 21, 2022
Updated 4:34 p.m. ET
COLORADO SPRINGS — Richard M. Fierro said he was at a table in Club Q with his wife, daughter and friends on Saturday, watching a drag show, when the sudden flash of gunfire ripped across the nightclub. His instincts from four combat deployments as an Army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan instantly kicked in. Fight back, he told himself.
In an interview at his house, where his wife and daughter were still recovering from injuries, Mr. Fierro, 45, who left the Army in 2013 as a major, according to military records, described charging through the chaos at the club, tackling the gunman and beating him bloody with the gunman’s own gun.
“I don’t know exactly what I did, I just went into combat mode,” Mr. Fierro said, shaking his head. “I just know I have to kill this guy before he kills us.”
The authorities are holding Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, on charges of killing five people, and say that 18 more people were injured in a rampage at the club that lasted only a few minutes. The death toll could have been much higher, officials said on Sunday, if patrons of the bar had not stopped the gunman.
(...)
Mr. Fierro, who owns a local brewery, said that on combat deployments in the Army, he had been shot at and had seen roadside bombs shred trucks in his platoon. His record shows that he was awarded the Bronze Star twice. The experiences of combat still haunt him, he said, and the psychological and physical toll of the deployments were why he left the Army.
He said he never thought he would have to deal with that kind of violence at home.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:11 pm
It's the irony of the situation. I have to find the first hand report someone posted yesterday about what happened during that first incident where instead of getting him the mental health help he needed - who builds a bomb to blow up their mother - the grandfather got him off and all news reports were wiped. They're reposting it "gleefully" because it shows the hypocrisy of the MAGATs. I didn't mean to imply that they're celebrating what happened.
No - I understand that...
I'm simply saying that for anyone to take any satisfaction in the hypocrisy, etc., or to find any 'glee' or happiness in the fact that this wasn't surprising, or that it's consistent with the way that the MAGA contingent exist, or within any other element of this event, is very sad - and quite selfish.
by ti-amie I normally wouldn't do this but one man, suffering from PTSD, did what all those armed to the teeth cops in Uvalde couldn't/wouldn't do.
by ponchi101 Btw. ATREVIDA would be DARING or BRAVE (in feminine).
There is some symbology there.
by ti-amie
This man's picture was up online in a matter of minutes. There are pictures of his home. I have yet to see the picture of the Colorado Springs shooter publicized like that. I've seen pictures but none were from MSM.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 The soft light of the picture is borderline angelic. A few cherubs around her would have been a nice touch.
by JazzNU
by JazzNU I know that was a lot to take in. Just keeping you informed.
by Owendonovan Sounds like good ole pa made a porn with another man once when he was especially poor. He who doth protest.....
by ti-amie Thanks Jazz.
I watched the full interview slack jawed. I haven't seen anyone that high in like ever. The consensus is it's meth. I'm surprised the interview is still up unless the shooter's lawyers plan to just run the video as an excuse for the shooter turning out the way he did. I mean DAMN!
This link is from Mastodon. If I post it as an image the booking photo comes right up. This is how the url will look.
by ponchi101 A few thoughts about the "gentleman" above praising his son's shooting rampage.
Why are people assuming he is under the influence of drugs, and under the influence of something as potent as meth? One of the things that got normalized during the 4 years of Tiny's presidency was the acceptance, by people like this, of such language and those ideas. The normalization of your most dastardly, violent and repulsive instincts and ideas was accepted the moment millions of people casted a vote for a man that stated women could be grabbed there, that he could shoot people in plain view and walk away and by thoughts such as if he were not his daughter's father, he would be dating her.
This man is probably not on any drugs; he is simply demonstrating the validation that Tiny gave to all these deranged ideas and many more. You hate the LGBT community? Say it; you will be joined by many others that do too. You say the solution is violence, and extreme violence for that matter? Say it, you may become a leader of a (large) group. You believe that one or many groups are inferior and unworthy to whatever you say you are? Say it, you will be joined.
Perhaps the sole thing that is "good" about the 4 years from hell, is that American became more honest. Yes, people like these do exist, and they live in the USA. In the end, Hillary's controversial statement was not controversial at all; it was revelatory. There are a lot of deplorables living amongst the rest of a normal population.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 24, 2022 2:58 pm
A few thoughts about the "gentleman" above praising his son's shooting rampage.
Why are people assuming he is under the influence of drugs, and under the influence of something as potent as meth?
Because he has an extensive history of meth use and is as high as a kite in the video. There is no question he's under the influence of some substance. But no one is under the impression that he's less vile when he's sober. One of the best replies/exchanges to this story was someone saying, good lord this man is fueled by hatred and meth and this other guy responding to that to please leave meth out of this, that he was addicted to meth for 7 years and did many things he regrets, but was never high enough to become a Republican.
by ti-amie The Guardian US
@TheGuardian_us@newsrelay.org
Congress expected to impose contract on US railroad workers to avert strike - Citing ‘catastrophic’ risk to US economy, Nancy Pelosi announces impending vote to bind unions to September negotiationsThe US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has announced that her fellow members of Congress plan to vote this week on imposing a new contract for railroad workers to avert a looming labor... #theguardian
by ti-amie Robert Reich
@rbreich@masto.ai
Joe, if you're going to have Congress intervene in this rail strike, demand that railroad companies improve the deal and guarantee paid sick days for workers.
Otherwise, let the workers organize to fight for the rights they deserve. This should be a no-brainer.
Rightfully pummeled, I'd like to see some distinct heel marks from the drag queen who got to stomp him, though.
by ti-amie
If you can take a few minutes and read the article attached to the first tweet. It's truly disturbing.
Richard Ingham Evans @Ringham7
Replying to @MikeSington
And if the child had not had access to a gun, the mother would still be alive. The
@NRA & gun fetishists can kick & scream all they want but it is an irrefutable fact. It's an American disease. What is the cure?
@GunControlPlz
If you can take a few minutes and read the article attached to the first tweet. It's truly disturbing.
Richard Ingham Evans @Ringham7
Replying to @MikeSington
And if the child had not had access to a gun, the mother would still be alive. The
@NRA & gun fetishists can kick & scream all they want but it is an irrefutable fact. It's an American disease. What is the cure?
@GunControlPlz
Charging children as adults is complete political BS, and is ONLY done as a political tool because the powers that be don't want to admit that things like this are the result of a FAILURE OF THE SYSTEM(S) - from parental education to ignoring warning signs to insufficient intervention...
You charge a child as an adult because you want to put 100% of the blame on the kid, rather than putting the focus on the failure of the system(s). And this is completely insane - not to mention manipulative and dishonest as hell.
It appeases the public, as well, on a very superficial level. The public, which is comprised of people who are ignorant to this kind of thing, will say "It's good that they're charging the little devil as an adult - at least they're doing something."
But if they would have done something BEFORE the tragedy, the tragedy would have been avoided.
It's just total manipulative BS from start to finish, and from top to bottom.
I have known and worked with a bunch of 'troubled kids' in my life, and every single one of them were the product of bad parents/bad parenting. And the parents were very, very, very likely victims of their bad parents... and so on, and so on. It's extremely cyclical.
What I've learned in over a quarter century of working with troubled kids and troubled adults is: Show me a screwed up kid, and I'll show you screwed up parents - 100% of the time.
by Owendonovan There's a documentary on HBO about these types of boys, "A Dangerous Son". Ultimately these boys turn into men where the consequences for their mental illness typically turn into prison time. Few, if any, can ever live independently.
by Deuce Ok - if the kid has some sort of physical chemical imbalance which affects the functioning of his brain, then charging him as adult is also wrong in that circumstance.
With some sort of chemical imbalance, etc., he would either need to be permanently medicated, or institutionalized.
My point is that charging a child as an adult is saying that the child is 100% responsible for his actions. But if there is a chemical imbalance, he is obviously NOT 100% responsible for his actions.
And if he is the product of terrible parenting, he also should not be held 100% responsible for his actions.
This is why there are many laws which prevent children from doing things that adults are permitted to do - from voting to drinking to sexual consent, etc. - because their brains are not mature or developed enough to understand things like responsibility and consequences.
But as soon as they commit a crime, that suddenly cancels all that out and renders them capable of understanding everything? No - of course not. It's absurd.
Each article I find about this emphatically declares there's "no indication this was politically motivated". Was there any indication of anything motivating this guy with guns, like maybe race?
by ti-amie To my knowledge no indication has been made that this had to do with race Owen. So far it seems that this is a vet who was having a moment and may have been more of a danger to his family than the kid ringing his doorbell. Did the unexpected ring of the doorbell startle him?
by ti-amie
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by ti-amie This allegation has been floating around all afternoon on the Bird App and no official source has confirmed or denied what is alleged to be the motive behind knocking out power to an entire county.
chris evans @notcapnamerica
That’s the kicker. It wasn’t even an “all ages” drag show, it was clearly advertised as 18+ and ID was required
Again this is to be taken with a very healthy pinch of salt.
by ti-amie
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by Owendonovan Because a drag queen wants to lip sync and that doesn't fit into their religious grooming. Pathetic.
If only inflation didn't feel like such a big money grab by those who don't need it.
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by Deuce "A ruptured pipe dumped enough oil this week into a northeastern Kansas creek to nearly fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, becoming the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in nine years and surpassing all the previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to federal data.
The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City, also was the biggest in the system's history, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data. The operator, Canada-based TC Energy, said the pipeline that runs from Canada to Oklahoma lost about 14,000 barrels, or 588,000 gallons."
Deuce wrote: ↑Sat Dec 10, 2022 11:34 pm
"A ruptured pipe dumped enough oil this week into a northeastern Kansas creek to nearly fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, becoming the largest onshore crude pipeline spill in nine years and surpassing all the previous ones on the same pipeline system combined, according to federal data.
The Keystone pipeline spill in a creek running through rural pastureland in Washington County, Kansas, about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City, also was the biggest in the system's history, according to U.S. Department of Transportation data. The operator, Canada-based TC Energy, said the pipeline that runs from Canada to Oklahoma lost about 14,000 barrels, or 588,000 gallons."
I can already see the news reports when the price of goods sky rockets again due to contamination of livestock and farmland blaming President Biden...
by Deuce Today - December 14th - is the 10 year anniversary of the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings, in which 20 young children and 6 adults were killed.
In memory of the children in particular, please take the time to read and watch the following...
And still almost anyone can walk into a gun shop and buy an AR 15.
by ti-amie
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by Suliso I'm hearing there is a bit of cold coming your way for Christmas.
by dryrunguy The lowest temperature I am seeing in the 5-day forecast for my location is 8F. That's nothing compared to what some folks are going to see in other parts of the country. Some locations in the northern plains of the U.S. are going to see -30F.
The snow started here right as expected, about 7 a.m. Eastern. I'd guess we only have about 2-3 inches so far.
The unknown variable will be the wind. Some areas will see 30-50 mph winds. Not sure if we'll get that.
In any case, I hope everyone is able to stay warm and safe.
by Suliso We had some very cold days (down to -10 C) and some snow, but now it's back to rain and comparatively balmy +12 C.
Temperature swings within a day or two in US can be crazy. We don't really get that here.
by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 4:43 pm
We had some very cold days (down to -10 C) and some snow, but now it's back to rain and comparatively balmy +12 C.
Heh... I know that temperature is relative to where one lives, but -10 C is not "very cold" to us at all - it's just a normal winter day.
All of Canada is laughing at Vancouver these days because they are absolutely panicking with -6 C temperatures and some snow, where, again, that's just normal winter stuff for the rest of the country.
by ti-amieA dying cancer patient used cannabis to ease pain. His hospital called the police
‘You’d think they would have shown compassion’: patient’s son decries Kansas police who issued citation as father suffered
Hospital staff in Kansas called the police on a man dying of cancer who was using cannabis products to cope with his symptoms, in an incident that has since sparked outrage and renewed calls to rethink the state’s strict cannabis laws.
The encounter took place in mid-December, when police in the city of Hays say two officers showed up at the cancer patient’s hospital room to issue him a citation for a drug violation. Police also took away a vaping device and cannabis product that hospital staff had already confiscated.
While the police department later dropped the citation, which would have required the cancer patient to appear in court, reports of the incident fueled debate over the continued criminalization of cannabis in Kansas, one of the three US states that has not legalized the product in any context.
While he was glad the charge against his father was dropped, Lee Bretz, the patient’s son, said the incident was “humiliating” for his father and left him “pretty upset”.
His father, who has terminal, inoperable cancer, was issued a “must appear” citation for drug possession, Bretz said. “He can’t make it to court. He’s bedridden. He can’t move his legs.”
“You’d think they would have shown a lot of compassion and not done anything,” his son said of the officers who responded to the incident.
A spokesperson for the Hays medical center in Hays, Kansas, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Greg Bretz, the 69-year-old cancer patient, initially told an opinion columnist for the Wichita Eagle that he was “flat on my back” in his hospital bed, and that he had been using a vaping device and eating some THC paste on bread to cope with the symptoms of his disease.
A doctor had told him that it was fine “to do whatever he wants if it makes him feel better”, since there were no medical treatments left for him other than hospice care, he said.
On 19 December, hospital staff contacted the Hays police department about a patient vaping in a hospital room, which “they were concerned about as a potential fire hazard”, and also possessing THC, “which is illegal in the state of Kansas”, Hays police chief Don Scheibler said.
An initial report of the police interaction with the cancer patient as a “Christmastime hospital-room raid” was inaccurate, Scheibler said. “It’s not a raid.”
Scheibler said he had reviewed an audio recording of the two officers’ interaction with the patient in the hospital room, which he said lasted “less than eight minutes” and in which officers were “polite, courteous, respectful” to the frustrated patient, while issuing him a citation for a drug violation with a court date of 26 January.
The police officer who issued the drug citation to the cancer patient had second thoughts, the police chief said, and, that same day, after a discussion with a supervisor, emailed the city prosecutor, recommending that he dismiss the charge.
“At the end of the day, they showed compassion and empathy, and that’s what they want from law enforcement,” Scheibler said. “They made the decision to write the ticket and made the recommendation to dismiss it on their own. It wasn’t anything that happened in the news.”
Because of the Christmas holiday, the city prosecutor had not seen the email about dismissing the charge until after the police interaction with the cancer patient had already become a viral news story, the police chief said. He said he personally let the patient know on 27 December that the police department was not pursuing the citation and that he would not have to appear in court.
More than a hundred people have called or emailed the Hays police department, upset about news reports of officers’ interactions with the cancer patient, the chief said. Local news outlets reported that the hospital had also received threats in the wake of the reported incident.
“As a police officer, we don’t determine what the law is,” Scheibler said. “I think the discussion about medical marijuana needs to happen.”
Lee Bretz, the patient’s son, said he hoped Kansas would legalize medical marijuana soon. “Nobody wants to see their loved ones hurting, and you’d do anything to see them not hurt,” he said.
by ponchi101 About "I think the discussion about medical marijuana needs to happen".
Really? In 202...3?
But not being a jerk here. He is a cop. And he follows orders. A tough case for anyone.
by Deuce .
They are obviously by a body of water, but still...
by Owendonovan I'm certainly more annoyed by the "hospital staff" that called the police. That staff is wound pretty tight, they might benefit from using some weed every now and again.
This community does itself no favors in the public eye. Shysters who shanda.
.....But in Orthodox Jewish religious schools, particularly in parts of the Hasidic community, the shift has also led to a windfall of government money for services that are sometimes not needed, or even provided, an examination by The New York Times has found.
Dozens of schools in the Orthodox community have pushed parents to get their children diagnosed with disabilities, records and interviews show. At least two schools have sent out mass emails urging families to apply for aid. A third school provided parents with a sample prescription to give their children’s doctors, saying a diagnosis would bring more resources for the school.
Today, at Hasidic and Orthodox schools, which are called yeshivas, higher percentages of students are classified as needing special education than at other public and private schools in New York City, a Times analysis of government data found.
In the fervently religious Hasidic community, where Yiddish is the dominant language, schools focus on teaching Jewish law and prayer, while often providing little secular education in English. The Times found that at 25 of the city’s approximately 160 Hasidic yeshivas, more than half of the students are classified as needing special education. Records show the classifications are routinely justified by citing the students’ struggles with English.
by ponchi101 Remember that everything from the NY TImes is behind a paywall. Can't be read by non-subscribers.
(I got a glimpse of the headline before the PAY OR YOU ARE OUT screen rolled on).
by ponchi101 And the guy responsible plays golf every day.
Pretty messed up, I would say.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
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by ti-amie More from the White House ceremony
by Deuce I'm not very worried about copycat incidents arising from this, for obvious reasons... and so I don't have a problem posting it here.
When a young child deals with a problem by deliberately shooting someone with a gun, the parents need to be taken 'into custody' far more than the child does.
The child needs help. The parents need punishment.
Deuce wrote: ↑Sat Jan 07, 2023 7:09 am
I'm not very worried about copycat incidents arising from this, for obvious reasons... and so I don't have a problem posting it here.
When a young child deals with a problem by deliberately shooting someone with a gun, the parents need to be taken 'into custody' far more than the child does.
The child needs help. The parents need punishment.
Culturally, here in America, shooting someone to solve a problem is represented many ways as a viable option. Charming, huh?
This has been in the making for years.
In a slightly un-related sense.
I remember when French Actress Bridgitte Bardot, IN THE 70'S, said that the USA was insane: "If you show (in a film) a man kissing a woman's breast, that is X rated. But if you show a man hacking a woman's breast with a machete, that is PG".
How do you solve this problem of acceptable violence NOW? How do you put the genie back in the bottle?
by MJ2004 I attended a Newport News elementary school (different one) for grades 1 and 2, was taught by my all-time favorite teacher. Cannot imagine such a scenario. This is so sad.
by ti-amie I posted this here because this story has become a national one. Post of 2023 so far.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan
Deuce wrote: ↑Sat Jan 07, 2023 7:09 am
I'm not very worried about copycat incidents arising from this, for obvious reasons... and so I don't have a problem posting it here.
When a young child deals with a problem by deliberately shooting someone with a gun, the parents need to be taken 'into custody' far more than the child does.
The child needs help. The parents need punishment.
Deuce wrote: ↑Sat Jan 07, 2023 7:09 am
I'm not very worried about copycat incidents arising from this, for obvious reasons... and so I don't have a problem posting it here.
When a young child deals with a problem by deliberately shooting someone with a gun, the parents need to be taken 'into custody' far more than the child does.
The child needs help. The parents need punishment.
And if found that it came from the young boy's house, his parents will be charged with a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor, pfft.
Sigh
by Deuce There must be a tangible way to show that the 'apple doesn't fall far from the tree' theory is true in reality.
Whether the child got the gun from home or not, the mentality which led him to believe that shooting a human being is an acceptable way to express disagreement or anger with someone very, very likely came from his parents, either directly or indirectly. Either way, the parents are more responsible than is the child, as a 6 year old does not yet possess the ability to reason effectively.
The only other possibility is some sort of psychological/chemical deficiency in the child - which is the direction that the parents, through their lawyer, may attempt to run in. Perhaps they'll simply choose to COMPLETELY ruin the life of the child, rather than accept responsibility themselves.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 They did mention it was symbolic. It is a counter example to California banning ICE cars.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 16, 2023 11:59 pm
They did mention it was symbolic. It is a counter example to California banning ICE cars.
Ah. National politics at a tit for tat performative level. Got it.
by Deuce It's always amusing when governments at various levels announce that something specific and significant is to be accomplished by some date 10 or 20 or 30 years away... Between now and then, this will be changed 5 or 6 times by various different governments who come into power during that period.
It's like when 'meteorologists' say that it's going to rain a week from now... and that prediction almost always changes 5 times in that week.
In other words, whatever is announced a long time in advance often means absolutely nothing - it's done simply to appeal to a certain segment of the population.
by ti-amie I...
This is more detailed than the Tweet I posted originally.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 I wonder what color cap he will be wearing when he gets arrested.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
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by ti-amieSchool downplayed warnings about 6-year-old before teacher’s shooting, staffers say
By Hannah Natanson and Justin Jouvenal
January 21, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. EST
The Virginia teacher who was shot by a 6-year-old student repeatedly asked administrators for help with the boy but officials downplayed educators’ warnings about his behavior, including dismissing his threat to light a teacher on fire and watch her die, according to messages from teachers obtained by The Washington Post.
The previously unreported incidents raise fresh questions about how Richneck Elementary School in Newport News handled the troubled student before police say he shot Abigail Zwerner as she taught her first-grade class earlier this month. Authorities have called the shooting “intentional” but are still investigating the motive.
Many parents are already outraged over Richneck officials’ management of events before the shooting. Newport News Superintendent George Parker III has said school officials got a tip the boy had a gun that day and searched his backpack, but that staffers never found the weapon before authorities say the 6-year-old shot Zwerner. Newport News Police Chief Steve Drew said his department was not contacted about the report that the boy had a weapon before the shooting.
Police and school officials have repeatedly declined to answer questions about the boy’s disciplinary issues or worrisome behaviors the 6-year-old may have exhibited and how school officials responded, citing the child’s age and the ongoing law enforcement investigation. The boy’s family said in a statement he has an “acute disability,” but James Ellenson, an attorney for the family, declined to comment on accounts of the boy’s behavior or how it was handled by the school.
School district spokeswoman Michelle Price said in a phone interview late Friday that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law protecting students’ privacy, prohibits her from releasing information related to the 6-year-old.
Screenshots of a conversation held online between school employees and Parker shortly after the shooting show educators claiming that Zwerner raised alarms about the 6-year-old and sought assistance during the school year.
“she had asked for help,” one staffer wrote in that chat, referring to Zwerner.
“several times,” came another message.
“Yes she did.”
“two hours prior”
“all year.”
The messages, which were provided to The Post by the spouse of a Richneck Elementary schoolteacher, do not detail what specific assistance Zwerner sought, or to whom she directed her requests. Zwerner and her family have not returned repeated messages from The Washington Post.
A separate message written by a Richneck teacher, and obtained by The Washington Post from the local teachers union, alleges that school administrators waved away grave concerns about the 6-year-old’s conduct and that the school was overall unable to care for him properly.
The Post obtained the message on the condition the teacher’s identity not be revealed because the union feared she would face retaliation. The teacher declined interview requests through the union, the Newport News Education Association, citing worries of professional consequences and a directive from Newport News schools not to talk to the media about the shooting.
On one occasion, the boy wrote a note telling a teacher he hated her and wanted to light her on fire and watch her die, according to the teacher’s account. Alarmed, the teacher brought the note to the attention of Richneck administrators and was told to drop the matter, according to the account. The date of the incident was not mentioned.
The principal and vice principal of the school did not respond to requests for comment on the teacher’s account.
On a second occasion, the boy threw furniture and other items in class, prompting students to hide beneath their desks, according to the account. Another time, the teacher alleges in her account, the boy barricaded the doors to a classroom, preventing a teacher and students from leaving.
The teacher banged on the classroom door until another teacher from across the hall forced it open from the outside, according to the teacher’s account. It was not clear whether the teacher asked for any specific action from administrators after that incident.
The teacher further alleged in her account that the boy was not receiving the educational services he needed, that it was difficult to get help with him during outbursts and that he was sometimes seen wandering the school unsupervised.
The boy’s family said in a statement Thursday, the first public remarks his relatives have given about the shooting, that the 6-year-old was “under a care plan” that “included his mother or father attending school with him and accompanying him to class every day.” That stopped the week of the shooting, the statement said.
“We will regret our absence on this day for the rest of our lives,” the statement read.
The teacher’s account dovetails with descriptions of the student’s behavior shared by the spouse of a Richneck teacher and a mother whose child is enrolled in a class located across the hallway from Zwerner’s. Both the spouse and the mother, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their families’ privacy, said the student was known campuswide for disruptive and violent behavior, and that school employees struggled to manage him in class.
The Post reached out to dozens of other Richneck teaching staff, administrators and parents to try to corroborate the teachers’ allegations, but most have not responded or declined interviews, citing the ongoing police investigation or fear of reprisals.
Drew, the police chief, has said detectives will look into allegations of the student’s troubling conduct before the incident, though he has not confirmed any specific incidents.
James Graves, president of the Newport News Education Association, said the union is investigating safety concerns raised by teachers in the wake of the shooting.
“We want to know what happened so we can protect our members,” Graves said. “They believe and they know the administration should take their concerns more seriously than they did. This could have been prevented.”
Thomas Britton, whose son was taught by Zwerner, said school officials never formally notified parents in the class about issues with the boy who fired the shot.
He said administrators mishandled the shooting, asserting they should have pulled the boy out of class until they had definitively determined whether he possessed a gun, and conducted a more thorough search.
“That was a shocking revelation that not only did he bring the weapon, but somebody gave a tip he had the weapon,” Britton said. “It seems to me it would be completely avoidable at that point.”
Valerie McCandless, a 52-year-old resident of Newport News who sent six kids to Richneck, said her children had a wonderful experience at the school, but she is troubled that the school’s administrators, some of whom she said are relatively new, failed to take preemptive action.
“I don’t think the teachers there are getting support, they’re not getting compassion, they’re not getting answers, they’re not getting listened to,” she said, adding of the shooting, “this was, I believe, God’s way of saying somebody needs to listen to them.”
Similar concerns emerged this week at a packed Newport News school board meeting, during which dozens of parents recounted their disappointment, anger and frustration with security measures at Richneck and other schools in the district. There have been three shootings on school grounds in Newport News since late 2021.
Several teachers said they received no support when they faced violence in the classroom or attacks from students. Some speakers claimed the district is more interested in keeping discipline statistics low than in taking meaningful action to address students’ problems.
A parent of a child in Zwerner’s class said her daughter had been bullied by classmates. She said she struggled to make the school take her concerns seriously and that the Richneck principal once failed to show for a conference about the bullying, although other officials did come.
She said Zwerner defended her daughter.
“Listen to your teachers when they have concerns,” the woman said raising her voice. “Please!”
Parker, the superintendent, said at a meeting with Richneck students that the district is purchasing 90 metal detectors to install at all Newport News schools and acquiring clear backpacks to hand out to students. He has assigned a new administrator to Richneck and also said officials were taking note of teachers’ concerns.
“We listened and we continue to work to improve current systems and processes to help better manage extreme behaviors that adversely affect the culture and climate in schools,” Parker wrote in a note to staff this week.
Celeste Holliday, a substitute teacher who covered Zwerner’s first-grade class at Richneck Elementary School on one occasion, said Zwerner had difficulty maintaining order in the class of 25 to 30 kids, but Holliday thought she was a conscientious teacher.
“She was great. She was doing the best she could,” Holliday said of Zwerner. “She mentally prepared me. She told me, ‘They’re rambunctious 6-year-olds. It’s going to be a hard day. Do the best you can.’”
Zwerner’s warning proved prescient.
Holliday said the class was rowdier than many others for which she has substituted. Holliday said that, on the day she worked at Richneck, one boy shoved another during recess and the boy scraped his knee. The injured boy had to go to the nurse’s office for treatment.
Afterward, the principal came to the classroom and told the boys to calm down because they were shouting, Holliday said. The principal filed a report about the shoving incident. Holliday said that, after the experience, she decided she would not substitute at Richneck Elementary School again.
Drew said in his online chat that detectives have wrapped up interviews with most students but are still seeking school disciplinary records and other materials related to the boy.
When the probe is complete, Drew said the findings will be sent to the Newport News commonwealth’s attorney to decide whether anyone should be charged. Legal experts say it is unlikely the boy will be charged since children under 7 are presumed unable to form the intent to carry out an illegal act under Virginia law. But Drew has said it is possible someone could be charged for failing to secure the gun used in the shooting.
Ellenson, the attorney for the boy’s family, said in an interview that the gun was secured with a trigger lock and kept on the top shelf of the mother’s bedroom closet. Ellenson said it is unclear how the boy got hold of the gun.
Newport News police declined to comment on the family’s characterization that the weapon was stored securely.
The Jan. 6 shooting occurred as school was winding down for the week. Police said the boy pulled out the gun as Zwerner was teaching and shot her.
Zwerner was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries; Drew said she is continuing to recover. Police said the boy brought the gun from home in a backpack.
The boy’s family said in their statement he is in a hospital receiving treatment and expressed sorrow for the shooting.
“We continue to pray for his teacher’s full recovery, and for her loved ones who are undoubtedly upset and concerned,” the statement read. “At the same time, we love our son and are asking that you please include him and our family in your prayers.”
by ponchi101 This needs to be talked about, for sure. But it is focusing on one tree, and missing the forest.
It is not about one kid shooting a teacher. It is about the overall gun lunacy in the States. This is just one piece of data amid many.
by Deuce There's a lot of stuff in that article...
"Holliday said that, on the day she worked at Richneck, one boy shoved another during recess and the boy scraped his knee. The injured boy had to go to the nurse’s office for treatment.
Afterward, the principal came to the classroom and told the boys to calm down because they were shouting, Holliday said. The principal filed a report about the shoving incident. Holliday said that, after the experience, she decided she would not substitute at Richneck Elementary School again."
^ There is no school on the planet where this type of thing between kids doesn't occur regularly. This is not a huge issue - you talk with the kids doing the 'shoving' and tell them that's not acceptable.
It was silly to include this in the article.
"There have been three shootings on school grounds in Newport News since late 2021."
^ That's about average for any county in the U.S., isn't it?
"the district is purchasing 90 metal detectors to install at all Newport News schools and acquiring clear backpacks to hand out to students."
^ This is an obvious example of a country that has failed.
Several years ago, I was asked to go into a school to work one-on-one with a 6 year old girl who was misbehaving and 'disturbing the class'. The girl had some developmental problems.
On my first day with her, as I was sent to an empty classroom with the girl, her teacher gave me crayons, a colouring book, and scissors, and told me "Be careful with the scissors - she likes to stab people."
I looked at the teacher, smiled, and replied "That won't be a problem."
And it never was a problem in the 2 school years I worked with this girl. I never had even the slightest problem with her. She and I got along great, and she was wonderful to work with.
What I saw was a school and a system whereby this little 6 year old girl had a guidance counselor, a social worker, a 'behavioural therapist', a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a neurologist, and 2 or 3 other 'specialists' involved with her. Every couple of weeks, whosever turn it was would try their 'cure' on her, which consisted of drugs from those who could prescribe them. Her 'medication' changed every few weeks - and sometimes she had none.
After getting to know this girl through working with her (and never having any hint of a problem with her), I told all of those 'professional experts' - for whom this little girl was merely a 'client' - "Stop trying to fix her. She is not broken. She's a wonderful, funny, intelligent, caring little girl. She's simply different from most kids. That does not mean that she is bad, or that she is defective. She's just different - and that's ok. The times when she acts out are because you are telling her - by word and deed - that she is not normal and needs to be fixed. Treat her well and with the same respect you show other kids, and she'll be fine."
I'm not drawing a parallel between this little girl and the boy who shot his teacher, and I'm not saying that the solution with this boy is simple... but just to show that very often with children who are 'different' from others, the better you treat them, the less trouble they will cause.
by ti-amie Toxic masculinity strikes again...
It's reported that the shooter is now dead at his own hands.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
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by ponchi101 Well, but let's be reasonable. That gun is like the bare minimum you need for self protection, right?
Sick.
(And no, it isn't. I hope the sarcasm is obvious).
by ti-amie
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 12:57 am
Toxic masculinity strikes again...
It's reported that the shooter is now dead at his own hands.
This man's speculation drove most of the news coverage of this tragedy until the truth came out. Some called this irresponsible reporting.
Huu Can Tran has been ID'd as the shooter.
by Owendonovan 7 Killed in Another Mass Shooting in California
A suspect was in custody after he was found in a vehicle outside a sheriff’s office substation in Half Moon Bay, the authorities said.
By April Rubin and Jesus Jiménez
Jan. 23, 2023
Updated 9:04 p.m. ET
Seven people were shot to death on Monday afternoon in San Mateo County, Calif., the sheriff’s office said, the second mass shooting in the state in three days.
The shooting happened around 2:20 p.m. local time at two separate locations near Highway 92 and the Half Moon Bay city limits, about 30 miles south of San Francisco, the authorities said. Another person was transported to Stanford Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
A suspect, Zhao Chunli, 67, of Half Moon Bay, was found in his car in the parking lot of a sheriff’s office substation in Half Moon Bay, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Chunli was taken into custody without incident and the weapon was located in his vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “There is no current outstanding threat to the community.”
Give this article
7 Killed in Another Mass Shooting in California
A suspect was in custody after he was found in a vehicle outside a sheriff’s office substation in Half Moon Bay, the authorities said.
Law enforcement personnel at a parking lot near the scene of a shooting in Half Moon Bay, California, on Monday. A truck and another vehicle are parked near crates in the background.
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Monday.
A suspect, Zhao Chunli, 67, of Half Moon Bay, was found in his car in the parking lot of a sheriff’s office substation in Half Moon Bay, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said.
“Chunli was taken into custody without incident and the weapon was located in his vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “There is no current outstanding threat to the community.”
“The motive for the shooting is currently unknown,” the sheriff’s office said. A news conference was scheduled for Monday evening.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said it was “responding to a shooting with multiple victims” just before 4 p.m. near Highway 92 and the Half Moon Bay city limits, about 30 miles south of San Francisco. The authorities were dispatched to the 12700 block of Cabrillo Highway.
The shooting came two days after 11 people were killed at a Lunar New Year festival in Monterey Park, Calif. Officials called this the deadliest mass shooting in Los Angeles County’s history.
Officials lamented the continuing violence on Monday afternoon.
“Two hours ago I joined my colleagues on the Capitol steps for a vigil for the victims of the shooting in Monterey Park,” Marc Berman, a California assemblyman, said on Twitter. “Before we’ve even had a chance to mourn them, there is yet another mass shooting — this time in Half Moon Bay. In my district.”
Josh Becker, a state senator, said on Twitter, “Gun violence has come to our district today and I will do whatever I can to support the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department and Half Moon Bay city officials during this tragic event.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/us/s ... ornia.html
by dryrunguy Two Asian male shooters in a few days. Both in California. There MUST be a connection. Somehow. This is breaking the historical mold and shaping an especially dangerous narrative.
by Deuce Yup - keep pasting these mass killings all over the media...
That's a sure way of ensuring that they continue...
Unbelievable.
Every time a psychologically unwell person who is contemplating killing someone sees the enormous attention these things attract all over the media, they get closer to doing it themselves. Because to these people, they are doing it for a reason - they kill people for a reason that 'makes sense' to them. So they want attention paid to their act. Even if the reason is not overtly divulged, they feel that they are making a statement. And knowing that the media will cover it definitely provides them with an important incentive to go ahead and do it.
Without the promise of media attention, I am absolutely convinced that the number of these mass killings would be at least cut in half.
It certainly would not do any more harm to try this approach, given the disgustingly alarming frequency of these mass killings in the U.S. That this approach has not ever even been tried tells me that human life is not valued very highly.
by Suliso
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 2:42 am
Two Asian male shooters in a few days. Both in California. There MUST be a connection. Somehow. This is breaking the historical mold and shaping an especially dangerous narrative.
Does that part really matter? As long as guns are sold like candies and mental health treatment is a no no...
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 2:42 am
Two Asian male shooters in a few days. Both in California. There MUST be a connection. Somehow. This is breaking the historical mold and shaping an especially dangerous narrative.
Does that part really matter? As long as guns are sold like candies and mental health treatment is a no no...
Absolutely. Just the other day we had yet another attack on an Asian woman (remember the smirk?). Crimes committed by Asians (men) harbor the potential to further escalate anti-Asian sentiment--and further anti-Asian violence.
by Suliso Maybe so... To me this mass shooting business in US seems like an equal opportunity endaveour. There have been Asian perpetrators before. The only surprising thing would be if women started to do it too.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Jan 23, 2023 4:40 pm
This man's speculation drove most of the news coverage of this tragedy until the truth came out. Some called this irresponsible reporting.
This was done on local news. There's a larger element of this baked into the fabric as they do many more live man-on-the-street type interviews that can go awry or contain more speculation. As long as they aren't presenting it as verifiable fact, it's not that bad. The problem is more when national news picks it up and covers it as if it's been fully vetted. National news is so much more heavily produced than local news and more caution is taken in what is presented to the viewer. And that's for regular stories, emergency situations will all have some of this as part of their reporting on both.
Also, one of the big problems in policing is not listening to community members that have much, much greater knowledge of their neighborhood and goings on than the police do, who can jump to conclusions fueled by institutional racism, conditioning and making ill-informed assumptions on their very best day. It's what a community policing approach looks to address. When it's many witnesses and community members saying the same thing, it's much less problematic to speak about that speculation on-air.
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:31 am
Maybe so... To me this mass shooting business in US seems like an equal opportunity endaveour. There have been Asian perpetrators before. The only surprising thing would be if women started to do it too.
Mass shootings are far from an equal opportunity endeavor, especially when it's broken down to what most people think of as a mass shooting and not the textbook definition.
by Deuce The only statistic that matters is that 100% of mass killings are done by psychologically disturbed individuals.
by Owendonovan ^Mostly men too.
by ponchi101
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:49 am
^Mostly men too.
As Suliso said above, any mass shooters that are women? I can't recall a single one.
by Deuce
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:49 am
^Mostly men too.
^ Thus far.
I think that's bound to change, simply because there are more and more of them (mass killings) - and there is no sign that the media plan on halting their sensational reporting of them... and so, as the numbers increase, it's just a matter of time before the women become involved, as well.
Women are not immune to mental illness - or to causing violence, for that matter. Men are more prone to creating violence, of course - but women are capable, as well.
All it would take is one to break the ice, I believe (with the typical plastering all over the media, which would encourage other women to follow).
by dryrunguy
Deuce wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:45 am
The only statistic that matters is that 100% of mass killings are done by psychologically disturbed individuals.
How are we defining "psychologically disturbed"? I am guessing we would all agree that anyone who decides shooting people as the go-to solution for solving problems is "psychologically disturbed". The problem is that the broader U.S. society doesn't use the same definition, especially the segment of U.S. society that doesn't view gun ownership just as a right--but as a REQUIREMENT.
(It also needs to be repeated here that, statistically speaking, people with mental illness are at significantly higher risk of being the VICTIMS of violence than being the PERPETRATORS of violence.]
That said, there's no question... These shooters are not well, and something is clearly, clearly wrong with them.
And the one common denominator across these violent act remains constant--the perpetrators are all male. Don't want that to get lost. Suliso alluded to it before, and he's right. So far.
Deuce wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:45 am
The only statistic that matters is that 100% of mass killings are done by psychologically disturbed individuals.
How are we defining "psychologically disturbed"? I am guessing we would all agree that anyone who decides shooting people as the go-to solution for solving problems is "psychologically disturbed". The problem is that the broader U.S. society doesn't use the same definition, especially the segment of U.S. society that doesn't view gun ownership just as a right--but as a REQUIREMENT.
(It also needs to be repeated here that, statistically speaking, people with mental illness are at significantly higher risk of being the VICTIMS of violence than being the PERPETRATORS of violence.]
That said, there's no question... These shooters are not well, and something is clearly, clearly wrong with them.
And the one common denominator across these violent act remains constant--the perpetrators are all male. Don't want that to get lost. Suliso alluded to it before, and he's right. So far.
Responding to the red above...
That may be so - but are people with mental illness also more likely to be the perpetrators of violence than are people who are not mentally ill - statistically speaking?
And what level of violence are we speaking of here? How is 'violence' defined?
We also must consider the fact that just because one has not been officially diagnosed as being mentally ill does not mean that the person is not mentally ill - it can simply mean an absence of an opportunity to diagnose... or that a professional missed the diagnosis.
Perhaps a better description would be 'psychologically unstable', rather than 'psychologically disturbed', as the former description includes the element of the behaviour of such people being largely unpredictable.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:52 am
As Suliso said above, any mass shooters that are women? I can't recall a single one.
Deuce wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 3:45 am
The only statistic that matters is that 100% of mass killings are done by psychologically disturbed individuals.
How are we defining "psychologically disturbed"? I am guessing we would all agree that anyone who decides shooting people as the go-to solution for solving problems is "psychologically disturbed". The problem is that the broader U.S. society doesn't use the same definition, especially the segment of U.S. society that doesn't view gun ownership just as a right--but as a REQUIREMENT.
(It also needs to be repeated here that, statistically speaking, people with mental illness are at significantly higher risk of being the VICTIMS of violence than being the PERPETRATORS of violence.]
That said, there's no question... These shooters are not well, and something is clearly, clearly wrong with them.
And the one common denominator across these violent act remains constant--the perpetrators are all male. Don't want that to get lost. Suliso alluded to it before, and he's right. So far.
Responding to the red above...
That may be so - but are people with mental illness also more likely to be the perpetrators of violence than are people who are not mentally ill - statistically speaking?
And what level of violence are we speaking of here? How is 'violence' defined?
We also must consider the fact that just because one has not been officially diagnosed as being mentally ill does not mean that the person is not mentally ill - it can simply mean an absence of an opportunity to diagnose... or that a professional missed the diagnosis.
Perhaps a better description would be 'psychologically unstable', rather than 'psychologically disturbed', as the former description includes the element of the behaviour of such people being largely unpredictable.
It's an intriguing question... I want to be sure I remain consistent with the data here... Historically and statistically speaking, people with mental illness are no more likely to commit violence against property or person than the general population, and statistically, people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence, and particularly sexual violence, than the general population.
That's a different data set than the question you pose.
Are people who SHOULD be diagnosed as having mental illness, but are not diagnosed with such an illness because they are disenfrancised from mainstream healthcare services, more likely to commit violence against property or person?
The answer to that would be... maybe. But we don't know that. No data set exists that would capture that. At least not that I am aware of.
It's an intriguing question, though. And to the best of my knowledge, established, large-scale U.S. studies are not set up to capture it. They should be.
How are we defining "psychologically disturbed"? I am guessing we would all agree that anyone who decides shooting people as the go-to solution for solving problems is "psychologically disturbed". The problem is that the broader U.S. society doesn't use the same definition, especially the segment of U.S. society that doesn't view gun ownership just as a right--but as a REQUIREMENT.
(It also needs to be repeated here that, statistically speaking, people with mental illness are at significantly higher risk of being the VICTIMS of violence than being the PERPETRATORS of violence.]
That said, there's no question... These shooters are not well, and something is clearly, clearly wrong with them.
And the one common denominator across these violent act remains constant--the perpetrators are all male. Don't want that to get lost. Suliso alluded to it before, and he's right. So far.
Responding to the red above...
That may be so - but are people with mental illness also more likely to be the perpetrators of violence than are people who are not mentally ill - statistically speaking?
And what level of violence are we speaking of here? How is 'violence' defined?
We also must consider the fact that just because one has not been officially diagnosed as being mentally ill does not mean that the person is not mentally ill - it can simply mean an absence of an opportunity to diagnose... or that a professional missed the diagnosis.
Perhaps a better description would be 'psychologically unstable', rather than 'psychologically disturbed', as the former description includes the element of the behaviour of such people being largely unpredictable.
It's an intriguing question... I want to be sure I remain consistent with the data here... Historically and statistically speaking, people with mental illness are no more likely to commit violence against property or person than the general population, and statistically, people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence, and particularly sexual violence, than the general population.
That's a different data set than the question you pose.
Are people who SHOULD be diagnosed as having mental illness, but are not diagnosed with such an illness because they are disenfrancised from mainstream healthcare services, more likely to commit violence against property or person?
The answer to that would be... maybe. But we don't know that. No data set exists that would capture that. At least not that I am aware of.
It's an intriguing question, though. And to the best of my knowledge, established, large-scale U.S. studies are not set up to capture it. They should be.
But, again - how is 'violence' defined in the 'studies' which produce these statistics?
And, for that matter, how is 'mental illness' defined in those same studies?
This is important to know in order to assess the data properly.
For example, when I stated that 100% of the people who commit mass killings are psychologically disturbed (perhaps should have been 'psychologically unstable'), I believe that is an obvious fact. As you said yourself, they are 'not well', and 'something is clearly wrong with them'.
So... if 100% of people who commit mass killings are mentally ill, we have something there.
As for other forms of violence, and whether mentally ill people commit more of those other forms of violence than do people who are not mentally ill - as I said, we would need to know how the authors of those studies/statistics define 'violence', and how they define 'mentally ill'.
Deuce wrote: ↑Tue Jan 24, 2023 4:14 am
Responding to the red above...
That may be so - but are people with mental illness also more likely to be the perpetrators of violence than are people who are not mentally ill - statistically speaking?
And what level of violence are we speaking of here? How is 'violence' defined?
We also must consider the fact that just because one has not been officially diagnosed as being mentally ill does not mean that the person is not mentally ill - it can simply mean an absence of an opportunity to diagnose... or that a professional missed the diagnosis.
Perhaps a better description would be 'psychologically unstable', rather than 'psychologically disturbed', as the former description includes the element of the behaviour of such people being largely unpredictable.
It's an intriguing question... I want to be sure I remain consistent with the data here... Historically and statistically speaking, people with mental illness are no more likely to commit violence against property or person than the general population, and statistically, people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence, and particularly sexual violence, than the general population.
That's a different data set than the question you pose.
Are people who SHOULD be diagnosed as having mental illness, but are not diagnosed with such an illness because they are disenfrancised from mainstream healthcare services, more likely to commit violence against property or person?
The answer to that would be... maybe. But we don't know that. No data set exists that would capture that. At least not that I am aware of.
It's an intriguing question, though. And to the best of my knowledge, established, large-scale U.S. studies are not set up to capture it. They should be.
But, again - how is 'violence' defined in the 'studies' which produce these statistics?
And, for that matter, how is 'mental illness' defined in those same studies?
This is important to know in order to assess the data properly.
For example, when I stated that 100% of the people who commit mass killings are psychologically disturbed (perhaps should have been 'psychologically unstable'), I believe that is an obvious fact. As you said yourself, they are 'not well', and 'something is clearly wrong with them'.
So... if 100% of people who commit mass killings are mentally ill, we have something there.
As for other forms of violence, and whether mentally ill people commit more of those other forms of violence than do people who are not mentally ill - as I said, we would need to know how the authors of those studies/statistics define 'violence', and how they define 'mentally ill'.
In federal and federally funded studies, "mental illness" would be defined by DSM-IV, or more recently, DSM-V criteria. DSM-IV and DSM-V have their critics.
As for defining violence... Good luck trying to define that in the United States of America.
Very interesting discussion, Deuce. Many thanks for taking the time.
It's an intriguing question... I want to be sure I remain consistent with the data here... Historically and statistically speaking, people with mental illness are no more likely to commit violence against property or person than the general population, and statistically, people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence, and particularly sexual violence, than the general population.
That's a different data set than the question you pose.
Are people who SHOULD be diagnosed as having mental illness, but are not diagnosed with such an illness because they are disenfrancised from mainstream healthcare services, more likely to commit violence against property or person?
The answer to that would be... maybe. But we don't know that. No data set exists that would capture that. At least not that I am aware of.
It's an intriguing question, though. And to the best of my knowledge, established, large-scale U.S. studies are not set up to capture it. They should be.
But, again - how is 'violence' defined in the 'studies' which produce these statistics?
And, for that matter, how is 'mental illness' defined in those same studies?
This is important to know in order to assess the data properly.
For example, when I stated that 100% of the people who commit mass killings are psychologically disturbed (perhaps should have been 'psychologically unstable'), I believe that is an obvious fact. As you said yourself, they are 'not well', and 'something is clearly wrong with them'.
So... if 100% of people who commit mass killings are mentally ill, we have something there.
As for other forms of violence, and whether mentally ill people commit more of those other forms of violence than do people who are not mentally ill - as I said, we would need to know how the authors of those studies/statistics define 'violence', and how they define 'mentally ill'.
In federal and federally funded studies, "mental illness" would be defined by DSM-IV, or more recently, DSM-V criteria. DSM-IV and DSM-V have their critics.
As for defining violence... Good luck trying to define that in the United States of America.
Very interesting discussion, Deuce. Many thanks for taking the time.
Indeed, there are many criticisms and challenges of the DSM - most due to the fact that the DSM criteria for/definition of 'mental illness' has become more and more broad through the years... to the point where, if it is followed, the vast majority of the population could easily be said to suffer from it to some significant degree. This, of course, not coincidentally, aids the business of psychiatry (the DSM is written and updated by psychiatrists, and is published by the American Psychiatric Association).
But then, that is inconsistent with the findings that people with mental illness are less likely to commit violence than are people who are not mentally ill.
(Also, is this comparison between the mentally ill and the not mentally ill made per capita, or outright?)
I, myself, am more partial to the Thomas Szasz perspective (although I don't agree with every perspective of his).
From the above link: "Psychiatry is indeed creating an epidemic of “mental illness.” In the past forty years, we have seen a truly bewildering array of non-medical human problems arbitrarily and groundlessly converted to “mental illnesses” by the fiat of the American Psychiatric Association. Here is a short list:"
by Suliso I think we all will agree that people who do such things are not exactly "normal". Could one define it as clinically mentally ill is another question. In my opinion the issue is closely related to suicide and intimate partner violence. Basically these mass shootings are a form of murder-suicide. What makes US special is an easy availability of "tools". In other countries the guy would only kill himself and maybe his partner. Not that the later is somehow acceptable, but at least lots of other unrelated people are still alive.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Please, don't re-elect him. Please. And then, send him over here to be President of South America.
by ti-amie The only video I will post here. I have not watched and don't intend to watch any other video that was released on Friday.
by ti-amie I will post this though...
by ti-amieMemphis Police Disbands Unit Whose Officers Were Charged in Tyre Nichols’s Death
Mr. Nichols’s family and activists had demanded the scuttling of the group, the Scorpion unit, which patrolled high-crime areas of the city.
By Rick Rojas
Jan. 28, 2023, 5:42 p.m. ET
MEMPHIS — The Memphis Police Department said on Saturday that it had disbanded a specialized group of officers known as the Scorpion unit after five of its members were charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was shown on video being kicked, struck and pepper-sprayed by officers.
Mr. Nichols’s family and activists in the city had demanded that the Police Department dismantle the unit, which deployed officers to patrol higher-crime areas of the city and had drawn scorn in the communities it served in even before Mr. Nichols’s death this month.
“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” the Police Department said in a statement on Saturday, saying the decision had been reached after “listening intently to the family of Tyre Nichols, community leaders and the uninvolved officers who have done quality work in their assignments.”
by ponchi101 Venezuela had a "Grupo Gato" (the Cat Group). Operated completely outside the law. Was disbanded, nothing ever happened to any of its members or the politicians that ran it.
Don't let that happen.
by JazzNU For anyone that does not want to watch the video, but wants to be remained informed about what occurred, this is a good article to read (stop the videos on the site, they typically autoplay). You can read the entire article of course, but the second half of the article details what occurs in the video and it's an informative overview.
It's not as fun to parade the one white cop when you can parade 5 black cops in hopes that everyone will now believe there's no targeting men of color by the police because look, black cops killed a black man.
by dryrunguy Van Jones wrote a really compelling piece a few days back about the impact of racism and anti-blackness on Black folks, including Black police officers.
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:02 am
Van Jones wrote a really compelling piece a few days back about the impact of racism and anti-blackness on Black folks, including Black police officers.
I'm not saying don't read it, I'm sure it could be insightful for some, but uh, Van Jones? Not the messenger most black people want FYI.
by ti-amie The last trial jury I sat on was a case involving a young black man, late 20's, early 30's, who was arrested for participating in a crime it soon became obvious he didn't commit and was not involved in. In fact he was running away from the police and had no record. The arresting officer, a black officer, was forced to admit on the stand that he arrested the man because he made him run after him. We the jury got a nice lunch out of it. I have never understood how that case made it all the way to trial.
I've read that one of the now fired officers pepper sprayed himself and decided it was Tyre's fault.
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:02 am
Van Jones wrote a really compelling piece a few days back about the impact of racism and anti-blackness on Black folks, including Black police officers.
I'm not saying don't read it, I'm sure it could be insightful for some, but uh, Van Jones? Not the messenger most black people want FYI.
I totally respect that and think I understand where you're coming from. I'm just saying I thought he made some really good points that might help people, especially white people, unpack and unlearn the narrative we're typically being fed on this subject.
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:02 am
Van Jones wrote a really compelling piece a few days back about the impact of racism and anti-blackness on Black folks, including Black police officers.
I'm not saying don't read it, I'm sure it could be insightful for some, but uh, Van Jones? Not the messenger most black people want FYI.
I totally respect that and think I understand where you're coming from. I'm just saying I thought he made some really good points that might help people, especially white people, unpack and unlearn the narrative we're typically being fed on this subject.
I understand that part. To me, Van is doing a little too much in that article from the quick skim I gave it. It's not bad though and it's better than nothing. Just pointing out, he's a flawed messenger to put it mildly and certainly don't take his word for gospel on a regular basis, especially with how often he acts like he's speaking for all black people when he speaks for very few. One of the first things I saw posted after news broke that the video would be released were many tweets saying "Dear CNN, we do not want to see Van Jones tonight, Signed, Black People."
I'll post something from someone else on the matter. He also makes it much simpler.
by JazzNU
by dryrunguy Thanks for that, Jazz.
Isn't there also something to be said about how quickly the Black cops were fired and charged in comparison to their white predecessors who committed similar crimes?
There are a lot of layers to this. And I hope not one of those layers gets lost.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 31, 2023 5:59 am
Thanks for that, Jazz.
Isn't there also something to be said about how quickly the Black cops were fired and charged in comparison to their white predecessors who committed similar crimes?
There are a lot of layers to this. And I hope not one of those layers gets lost.
Yes, and Elie points that out in his last post. It's very quick and it rarely is. You could say, the video is that bad, but you could've said that about at least 5 videos in the last 5 years absolutely warranting an immediate firing, and it doesn't happen. Part of that is the awful police unions though, which is why Elie pointed to that as well. That they haven't been out for the black officers when, no matter how bad a look it is, they always are, should speak volumes to everyone.
A lot of layers. Just about all of them have been pointed out numerous times in the past, but like almost everything related to policing, no one believed us until there were videos they could see themselves. And even then, it took videos being shown repeatedly in separate incidents for many to accept maybe this was more of an issue than they thought.
Some of the layers will get lost, that's just the reality. But some progress is better than none, and hopefully more than just Memphis takes a look at their policies, their training, and how their specialized units are operating and whether they are causing more harm than good. One of NYC's special units was responsible for killing Amadou Diallo, but they weren't convicted (which remains complete and utter BS), and they didn't disband the unit until the Feds basically forced them into it a few years later. Scandal seems to be the thing that ends these units, not an internal review.
by JazzNU Everyone remember this? The reason we have seals and anti-tampering laws on medication today.
by ti-amie I remember the panic well. I hope they find the "person" who did that.
by Deuce There are still thousands of ingestible items that are not 'tamper proof'. The grocery store has a lot.
Hopefully, putting the Tylenol tragedies back in the news again won't give some lunatic(s) any ideas... but that is always a risk when these things are publicized.
by Suliso I suspect strong poisons such as cyanide is harder to source in US than guns. Unless you're a chemist like me. I have a few hundred grams on a shelf somewhere.
by dryrunguy
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 6:24 am
I suspect strong poisons such as cyanide is harder to source in US than guns. Unless you're a chemist like me. I have a few hundred grams on a shelf somewhere.
Saving it for ponchi, I presume?
by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 6:24 am
I suspect strong poisons such as cyanide is harder to source in US than guns. Unless you're a chemist like me. I have a few hundred grams on a shelf somewhere.
Perhaps poison is more difficult to obtain than going to one's nearest Walmart to purchase a gun... but I'm quite sure that most ill-intentioned people can find some type of poison without needing to be exceptionally gifted in the area of resourcefulness.
The poison need not be cyanide. Fentanyl-laced drugs, for example, are sadly readily available on the streets of any major North American city. Can getting one's hands on actual genuine fentanyl, then, be that difficult? And, as we see daily, it takes very, very little fentanyl to kill a person.
Carfentanil is even more lethal at small doses, and also can likely be obtained relatively easily (illegally) for someone intent on obtaining it.
by Suliso Sure, with lots of planning poisoning is possible too. It's just that mass shooting is a form of suicide (going out in "glory" etc) there as poisoning is more for a serial killer who doesn't wish to be caught. Fortunately for us all there are not that many of those.
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 6:24 am
I suspect strong poisons such as cyanide is harder to source in US than guns. Unless you're a chemist like me. I have a few hundred grams on a shelf somewhere.
Saving it for ponchi, I presume?
Think our own ponchi is an aspiring serial poisoner?
by ashkor87 As someone who has lived 15 years in the US, but not any more, it seems to me this is about the culture of violence that has been propagated in the US- from NFL to WWF to cowboy movies and Cop&Robber movies..and the gun culture is just a symptom of all this..until we teach young children that violence is not acceptable in any form, incidents of this kind will keep escalating as they grow up with violence inbuilt in their way of dealing with the world..
by Suliso I don't think it's so simple. Large parts of South American and African societies are pretty violent too. In Asia a bit less so, but still one can look at Pakistan and Afghanistan...
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 6:24 am
I suspect strong poisons such as cyanide is harder to source in US than guns. Unless you're a chemist like me. I have a few hundred grams on a shelf somewhere.
Saving it for ponchi, I presume?
Think our own ponchi is an aspiring serial poisoner?
I think he meant YOU poisoning ME. Or the most likely event, ME poisoning ME
(That did crack me up, Dry. )
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 2:34 pm
I don't think it's so simple. Large parts of South American and African societies are pretty violent too. In Asia a bit less so, but still one can look at Pakistan and Afghanistan...
I will talk about S. America. We are inundated by American movies and TV series. I agree with you that it is not so simple (here in Colombia, and back in Venezuela, the levels of violence are pretty high but not on the same fashion as in the USA) but there might be something about watching "the good guys" shoot "the bad guys" every night on TV.
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 2:34 pm
I don't think it's so simple. Large parts of South American and African societies are pretty violent too. In Asia a bit less so, but still one can look at Pakistan and Afghanistan...
I will talk about S. America. We are inundated by American movies and TV series. I agree with you that it is not so simple (here in Colombia, and back in Venezuela, the levels of violence are pretty high but not on the same fashion as in the USA) but there might be something about watching "the good guys" shoot "the bad guys" every night on TV.
Are guns as easily acquired and as affordable there?
Are guns as easily acquired and as affordable there?
No. I you want to get a gun, you would need: 1. A psychological profile (approving you for gun ownership, done by a licensed and registered psychologist), 2. NO CRIMINAL RECORD of any kind, 3. Registration as a gun owner, registering the gun(s) you own, 4. minimal training.
There are limits to what kinds of guns you can buy. No AR15's AK47, or anything that remotely looks military.
No open carry. If a member of a public force stops you (for example, routine car inspection) s/he has the right to ask you if you carry a gun, and you must answer truthfully. You may not enter any public building carrying such a gun (leave it at home or in your car).
That, of course, is for a legal carry. Buying a gun illegally must not be that hard, but, for example, I would have no idea where and how to start.
by skatingfan Florida weighs mandating menstrual cycle details for female athletes
By PHILIP MARCELO today
CLAIM: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is requiring all female student-athletes in the state to provide detailed information about their periods in order to compete in organized sports.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The Florida High School Athletic Association is weighing the recommendation from an advisory committee, but no final decision has been made. DeSantis’ education commissioner is a member of the association’s board of directors and the commissioner also appoints three others, but the association is a private nonprofit organization, not a state agency under the purview of the governor’s office.
THE FACTS: Social media users are suggesting the conservative Republican governor, who has been an outspoken critic of transgender athletes, is again using sports to stoke controversy as he weighs a run for president in 2024.
“BREAKING: Ron DeSantis wants female student athletes to submit menstrual information. THIS IS INSANE!,” wrote one Twitter user in a post.
“Ron DeSantis: The government has no right in telling federal employees to wear masks. Also Ron DeSantis: The government has every right to know when every single high school girl has her period,” wrote another Twitter user in a post that had been liked or shared more than 3,000 times as of Friday. “Ron DeSantis is the epitome of hypocrisy, and quite the creep!”
But the proposed mandate hasn’t had final approval, and wasn’t developed by DeSantis’ office.
Florida currently asks female high school athletes to provide information about their menstrual cycle on health forms required to participate in sports, but it is not mandatory.
Ryan Harrison, the association’s spokesperson, confirmed the new recommendations were developed by its sports medicine advisory committee and approved in late January. It will now be considered by the association board of directors at its next meeting in Gainesville from Feb. 26-27.
The association is recognized as the state’s official governing body for interscholastic sports. Its board includes a representative for the office of state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, who DeSantis appointed. Diaz also picks three others to serve on the 16-member board.
DeSantis and Diaz’s offices didn’t respond to emails seeking comment this week, but Harrison stressed the proposed changes are not in response to concerns about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports, as some social media users claim.
“There is absolutely no support of the argument that their recommendation is aimed towards addressing an individual group of people,” he wrote in an email.
The athletic association’s current Preparticipation Physical Evaluation Form, which must be completed by a student and their physician and kept on file at their school, asks female athletes five questions about their periods, but they’re all listed as optional.
The questions, which association officials say have been on the form for at least two decades,include when a student had their first menstrual period, when the most recent one was, how long the interval between their periods typically lasts, how many they’ve had in the past year and the longest interval between periods in the last year.
The proposed revisions to the form include four mandatory questions about menstruation, including if the student has ever had a period, the age they had their first period, the date of their most recent period and how many periods they’ve had in the past year.
Robert Sefcik, a member of the sports medicine advisory committee, said making the menstrual cycle questions mandatory rather than optional is consistent with national guidelines for sports physicals developed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Sports Medicine and other groups.
He said having a form that has been vetted and published by national organizations provides an “extremely credible resource” for doctors conducting sports physicals.
“We appreciate the medical necessity of the questions, including menstrual history, that are included on this form and support their inclusion on the form,” Sefcik, who was the committee’s previous chairperson and voted in favor of recommendations, wrote in an email
The national guidelines say menstrual history is an “essential discussion for female athletes” because period abnormalities could be a sign of “low energy availability, pregnancy, or other gynecologic or medical conditions.”
“Menstrual dysfunction is 2-3 times more common in athletes than nonathletes, and 10-15% of female athletes have amenorrhea (loss of menstrual cycle) or oligomenorrhea (a decrease in number of menstrual cycles per year),” the guidelines read. “Amenorrhea occurs more frequently in players of sports that emphasize leanness, such as running, gymnastics, cheerleading, dance, and figure skating.”
by ti-amie The above is one of the most disgusting things I've ever read.
by ponchi101 I am confused. There is a part in the article that claims this is false. What part am I reading wrong?
by skatingfan
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 04, 2023 9:03 pm
I am confused. There is a part in the article that claims this is false. What part am I reading wrong?
The proposal exists, but hasn't been passed, and it isn't a direct decision of the Governor of Florida, and it that is the claim that is being shown as false in the article.
by Deuce This result of selfishness, greed, ego, and manipulation is disgusting, pathetic, embarrassing, and far too unsurprising...
But - hey - as long as humans retain their comfortable and convenient luxuries, who cares about anything else, right?
Sigh...
by ti-amieWoman plotted to destroy energy substations with neo-Nazi leader, FBI says
By Justin Fenton
Published on: February 06, 2023 10:34 AM EST|Updated on: February 06, 2023 3:20 PM EST
Believing she had months to live due to a terminal illness, a Catonsville woman and neo-Nazi sympathizer decided she wanted to “accomplish something worthwhile” and planned to destroy energy facilities surrounding Baltimore that would “permanently, completely lay this city to waste,” the FBI said.
Sarah Beth Clendaniel, 34, has been charged with conspiring with a neo-Nazi leader in Florida, Brandon Clint Russell, 27, who authorities say encouraged attacks that would cause a “cascading failure” of the energy grid.
Clendaniel was recorded telling an FBI source on Jan. 29 that she planned to shoot up energy substations ringing the Baltimore area, including in Norrisville, Reisterstown and Perry Hall, and sought to acquire firearms to carry out the attacks.
The special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore field office, Thomas J. Sobocinski, said Clendaniel and Russell “were not just talking, but taking steps to fulfill their threats and further their extremist goals.”
He said such attacks “threatened the electricity and heat of our homes, hospitals and businesses.”
“These plans were stopped thanks to the swift action and collaboration of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners,” said Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron, referring to the plot as “hate-fueled violence.”
Exelon said in a statement that they had been notified that the disrupted plot targeted several BGE electric substations with gunfire.
“Law enforcement acted before the perpetrators were able to carry out their plan, and there was no damage to any of the substations, nor was any service disrupted,” the statement said. “The substations are not believed to have been targeted out of any connection to BGE or Exelon, or because of any particular vulnerability.”
Over the last three months, at least nine substations have been attacked in Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington state, cutting power to tens of thousands of people and underscoring the vulnerability of the nation’s electrical grid. Federal regulators have ordered a review of security standards, while some state lawmakers in at least two states have begun proposing new rules.
Sobocinski said there was no indication that Russell or Clendaniel were part of a network connected to the attacks in other states.
Clendaniel was ordered detained at a brief hearing Monday afternoon in U.S. District Court. She was brought into the courtroom in street clothes and no shoes, her hands cuffed from behind. She quietly flipped through the charging document. Her court-appointed public defender declined to comment.
Russell, a former student of nuclear physics at the University of South Florida and a Florida Army National Guardsman, has been on the radar for federal law enforcement since at least 2017, when one of his roommates in Tampa, Florida killed two of their roommates, the FBI said in court papers. During a search of the home at the time, authorities found an explosive device and neo-Nazi materials belonging to Russell.
Russell admitted to being a member of the Atomwaffen, a neo-Nazi group that he founded and led, according to court records. On his dresser, authorities found a framed picture of Timothy McVeigh.
The roommate charged in the killings told law enforcement that they had been planning to attack U.S. infrastructure, including power lines along the Interstate 75 corridor in South Florida as well as a Florida nuclear power plant.
Russell pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destruction device and was sentenced in 2018 to five years in federal prison. He was released from custody in August 2021.
In court papers, the FBI said a source told them that since at least June 2022 someone using an encrypted communication app — who authorities have since said they determined was Russell — was encouraging attacks on electrical substations and providing guidance on how to cause maximum damage. During one conversation with the source, Russell said that “putting holes in transformers ... is the greatest thing somebody can do.”
Russell said at one point that he knew someone in Maryland plotting such an attack, and connected the source with Clendaniel, the FBI said. Clendaniel said she had a terminal illness related to her kidneys, and was looking to “accomplish something worthwhile” before June. She sent a “wish list” of rifles and firearms that she wanted to acquire, according to the complaint. She said she already had hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
She and the source discussed scoping out potential attack sites during the first week of February, and she sent links to infrastructure maps showing the locations of five specific electrical substations, the FBI said.
Authorities say Clendaniel and Russell have been communicating since at least 2018 when they were incarcerated in separate facilities. In some correspondence, they had discussed having children together.
After executing a search warrant on Google accounts used by Clendaniel, the FBI found a written document allegedly written by her that referenced the Unabomber and Hitler. “I would sacrifice **everything** for my people to just have a chance for our cause to succeed,” it said.
Clendaniel was previously arrested in a string of robberies in 2016 in Cecil County, in which police said she wielded a machete and made off with cash and cigarettes. Court records indicate she received a sentence of nine years, and three years of probation. Prior to that, in 2006, she received three years in jail, while pregnant, for robbing a convenience store where she had worked four days earlier until she was fired, according to a report at the time from the Cecil Whig.
In between, state and federal court records show, she lived in Iowa, where she was twice arrested including for allegedly taking part in a 2013 burglary outside Des Moines in which a gun and ammunition were taken. A co-defendant’s case went federal, and he was sentenced to eight years in prison. A relative of Clendaniel filed for custody of a child in 2017, and Clendaniel and that man were listed as defendants.
Clendaniel and Russell are charged with conspiracy to destroy an energy facility, a charge that brings a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.
by Owendonovan I'd suggest all pubescent males nocturnal emissions be reported and logged was well.
by patrick With the President embarrassing the GOP, GOP decides to discuss Hunter Biden and Twitter today. Greene, who hollered liar which assisted the President in his State of the Union speech, complaining that her twitter account was canceled before Musk bought Twitter. This is the same lady who complained that she is losing money in DC while making money 174K per year she gets.
by ti-amie They've got nothing to offer the citizens of this country. All they want to do is take away the things that made this country. Without the New Deal would there be a middle class at all? Would seniors be able to look forward to some kind of income after retirement? She was a disgrace last night. I love how Romney put "George Santos" in his place though.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Excerpts from a long thread about this "new" phenomenon.
To continue click into the last tweet.
by Suliso I'd like to know what exactly one could learn about US from a baloon or a drone 10+ miles up what one can't from a top class military satellite.
by Suliso And if there is indeed something valuable then is US flying such things over China and Russia?
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:18 am
I'd like to know what exactly one could learn about US from a baloon or a drone 10+ miles up what one can't from a top class military satellite.
Malcolm Nance explained it.
It seems that the Chinese do not have the tech to have really good spy satellites. They don't have the optics, they don't have the electronics.
So lowering the platform to only 11 miles is one way of doing it.
He also said that this thing would get the resolution you can roughly get from Google Earth. But, of course, you can fly it where you want it to (until they shoot it down).
Coupled with the Ukranian invasion, my totally unqualified opinion would be that both the Russian and the Chinese army's/military complexes are way over estimated. Terrible to think that the war in Ukraine has now gone for a year, with Russia doing only a few inroads. And that is without actual NATO forces coming in. Maybe China is as overrated.
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 6:18 am
I'd like to know what exactly one could learn about US from a baloon or a drone 10+ miles up what one can't from a top class military satellite.
Malcolm Nance explained it.
It seems that the Chinese do not have the tech to have really good spy satellites. They don't have the optics, they don't have the electronics.
So lowering the platform to only 11 miles is one way of doing it.
He also said that this thing would get the resolution you can roughly get from Google Earth. But, of course, you can fly it where you want it to (until they shoot it down).
Coupled with the Ukranian invasion, my totally unqualified opinion would be that both the Russian and the Chinese army's/military complexes are way over estimated. Terrible to think that the war in Ukraine has now gone for a year, with Russia doing only a few inroads. And that is without actual NATO forces coming in. Maybe China is as overrated.
Definitely something to think about.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie More on East Palestine, Ohio
by ti-amie
by ti-amie The GQP is blaming POTUS and Sec of Transportation Buttigieg for the derailment and not the company that runs the railroad.
by Deuce Trains - and their cargo - can be very dangerous...
by ti-amie Wow. This is the first I've heard of this tragedy. I can't thank you but wow.
by Deuce
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 11:34 pm
Wow. This is the first I've heard of this tragedy. I can't thank you but wow.
Yes - almost 10 years ago.
All of the video footage and photos of the explosions and fires are actual footage and photos from that disaster.
Something like that transforms a town forever.
by JazzNU Pittsburgh being used as a reference point for this East Palestine derailment is just lazy at a certain point. Youngstown is plenty well known enough to be referenced more often so people can be informed about where this is located. Pittsburgh makes it seem like this is occurring somewhere that it is not. Youngstown is affected by this and has been since it occurred. Pittsburgh is not.
I'm seeing a lot of radical environmental types and those with a climate change agenda talking about this, so I'll hold off for a bit on believing the worst. Seems highly speculative what they are talking about right now. Several are actually telling on themselves with what they are saying about Pittsburgh.
by ti-amie
JazzNU wrote: ↑Tue Feb 14, 2023 12:34 am
Pittsburgh being used as a reference point for this East Palestine derailment is just lazy at a certain point. Youngstown is plenty well known enough to be referenced more often so people can be informed about where this is located. Pittsburgh makes it seem like this is occurring somewhere that it is not. Youngstown is affected by this and has been since it occurred. Pittsburgh is not.
I'm seeing a lot of radical environmental types and those with a climate change agenda talking about this, so I'll hold off for a bit on believing the worst. Seems highly speculative what they are talking about right now. Several are actually telling on themselves with what they are saying about Pittsburgh.
Thank you for clarifying the situation geographically. I saw a map earlier today that showed East Palestine on the map and how the major river systems that feed into the Mississippi as well as the Mississippi itself will be affected by the run off.
I try not to post TikTok videos here but I thought that the man's explanation about what was happening was the clearest I've seen.
by patrick
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Feb 13, 2023 9:05 pm
The GQP is blaming POTUS and Sec of Transportation Buttigieg for the derailment and not the company that runs the railroad.
Of course, the GOP has nothing else to do besides scheming to get Biden back from the STU
by ti-amie
by ti-amie I finally found these pictures from a day or so ago not attached to some RWNJ claiming this is POTUS fault.
by JazzNU That guy is a massive RWNJ.
The explosion happened for sure, that can be viewed on legitimate media sites. It's the rest you need to be wary of.
People really want to lean into sensationalism I guess.
by JazzNU
by JazzNU ^^ Related to this - Reports started surfacing a little over a week ago that State Farm and Progressive wouldn't be offering coverage on new policies to select Hyundai and Kias of those problematic models. A mess.
by JazzNU
Waterways along Ohio River still contaminated following train derailment carrying hazardous materials: Officials
A plume filled with contaminants is currently floating down the Ohio River.
ByJulia Jacobo
Waterways along the Ohio River are still contaminated with hazardous materials following a train derailment that spilled multiple toxic chemicals, but officials are confident that those waterways are contained and not affecting water supplies, they announced during a press conference on Tuesday.
Four tributaries over a space of 7.5 miles are contaminated, director of Ohio Department of Natural Resources Mary Mertz told reporters during a news conference on Tuesday.
According to Mertz, the contaminated waterways has led to the deaths of at least 3,500 fish. Mertz also stated that officials have detected 12 different species of dead fish, but none of those species are threatened or endangered. There is also no evidence that non-aquatic species have been impacted.
However, there does not appear to be any increase in the number of fish killed since the initial derailment, Mertz said.
The Norfolk Southern Railroad train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, on Feb. 3 while traveling from Illinois to Pennsylvania. It contained several types of hazardous materials, such as vinyl chloride, a highly volatile colorless gas produced for commercial uses, as well as ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene, according to a list of the cars that were involved in the derailment and the products they were carrying released by Norfolk Southern.
No vinyl chloride or pre-product has been detected in the water, Tiffani Kavalec, chief of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency's division of surface water, told reporters in Tuesday's news conference. The contamination mostly consists of fire contaminant combustion materials, Kavalec said.
Health officials are tracking a plume filled with contaminants that is currently floating down the river at about one mile an hour, Kavalec said. Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, it was near Huntsville, West Virginia.
"There are very very low levels of volatile organic compounds in the Ohio River itself," she said. "It appears it's been very diluted."
The contamination dissipates to non-detectable levels near Little Beaver Creek, Kavalec said, adding it's not affecting the drinking supply for residents.
"We’re pretty confident that these low levels are not getting passed on to the customers," she said.
Health officials are tracking a plume filled with contaminants that is currently floating down the river at about one mile an hour, Kavalec said. Around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, it was near Huntsville, West Virginia.
"There are very very low levels of volatile organic compounds in the Ohio River itself," she said. "It appears it's been very diluted."
The contamination dissipates to non-detectable levels near Little Beaver Creek, Kavalec said, adding it's not affecting the drinking supply for residents.
"We’re pretty confident that these low levels are not getting passed on to the customers," she said.
Surveillance video of the crash appears to show a wheel bearing in the final stage of overheat moments before the derailment, the National Transportation Safety Board announced on Tuesday in a press release.
Following the crash, emergency response teams worked to immediately slow the contamination of waterways from the runoff, while firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, DeWine said.
For days, large plumes of smoke containing vinyl chloride, phosgene, hydrogen chloride and other gases were emitted during a controlled release and burn at the crash site, prompting officials to issue mandatory evacuation orders for homes and businesses within a 1-mile radius.
DeWine decided that the controlled burn was the best course of action after he was advised that a catastrophic explosion was likely, which would result in shrapnel being flung out for up to a mile from the site, he said.
"My objective is to do everything we can to get this cleaned up as quickly as we can," the governor said.
The hazardous materials that burned in the wreckage of the train derailment in Ohio had the potential to be deadly if evacuations not been ordered, experts told ABC News last week. Residents living in nearby homes were contacted at least three times before the controlled burn began, Dewine said.
The evacuation orders were lifted on Feb. 8 after air and water samples taken the day before were deemed safe, officials said.
There were 20 total hazardous material cars in the train consist,10 of which derailed, according to the NTSB. Five of the 10 cars containing toxins also contained vinyl chloride, officials said.
A total of 38 cars derailed, which caused a fire that damaged an additional 12 cars, according to the NTSB.
The train was not considered a "high hazardous material train," and therefore the railroad was not required to notify state officials about what the cars were containing, DeWine said.
"If this is true, and I’m told it’s true, this is absurd," Dewine said. "We need to look at this. Congress needs to look at how these things are handled."
The tank cars are currently being decontaminated, according to the NTSB. Once the decontamination process has completed, NTSB investigators will return to Ohio to complete a thorough examination of the tank cars.
No detections of vinyl chloride or hydrogen chloride were identified for the 291 homes that had been screened, according to the EPA. As of Monday evening, 181 homes remained to be screened. Local schools and the library were screened yesterday, the EPA announced.
The fume inhalation of vinyl chloride could cause dizziness, nausea, headache, visual disturbances, respiratory problems and other health-related issues, Ashok Kumar, a professor in the University of Toledo's department of civil and environmental engineering, told ABC News last week.
Hydrogen chloride fumes could irritate the throat and cause skin problems, while phosgene fumes may lead to chest constriction and choking, Kumar said.
Vanderhoff emphasized that volatile organic compounds are a part of "everyday life" and are typically inhaled if in the presence of burning wood or natural gas or someone who is smoking.
"Most people can be around these volatile organic compounds at low levels without really feeling health effects," he said. "At higher levels, especially over a longer period of time, then we can have longer-term health effects."
Norfolk Southern announced in a statement Tuesday that it has helped 1,000 families as well as a number of businesses in the community. The railway operator has also distributed $1.2 million to families to cover costs related to the evacuation.
Alan Shaw, the CEO Norfolk Southern, pledged that the railway operator would guarantee the cleanup from the accident, Dewine said.
A lawsuit filed by two residents of East Palestine on Feb. 9 called for the rail operator to pay for medical screenings and related care for anyone living within a 30-mile radius of the crash site, as well as undetermined damages, The Associated Press reported.
"Norfolk Southern is responsible for this problem," DeWine siad. "We fully expect them to live up to what the CEO committed to me. Is that they will pay for everything."
The NTSB is conducting a safety investigation to determine the probable cause of the derailment, the agency said.
ABC News' Amanda Maile and Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
by ti-amie If I lived in East Palestine I would've been gone soon after that mushroom cloud of chemicals erupted and for sure would be gone after the idiot governor gave the okay to burn the toxic goop because the company told him it was okay.
If I couldn't move I'd drink nothing but bottled water (again, cost would be a factor here) and drive somewhere else to bathe/shower.
by ti-amie
bill gawne @3solstice
Replying to @lindyli
Republican working tirelessly to undo everything FDR did for the American people.
by ti-amie Dan Gillmor
@dangillmor@mastodon.social
Florida high school students are going to have trouble getting into out-of-state colleges if DeSantis goes through with this.
Of course that may be his goal: to push them into Florida schools that he is trying to turn into right-wing propaganda factories.
DeSantis threatens to rid Florida of Advanced Placement classes
Florida’s Republican leader has been critical of a new AP course in African American studies
By Nick Anderson
February 14, 2023 at 4:38 p.m. EST
by ti-amie Too bad this wasn't pushed as a solution when heroin and other opiates were seen as a problem of "those people"
The Associated Press :press:
@AP@press.coop
U.S. health advisers say the overdose-reversal drug naloxone should be made available as an over-the-counter medication. It's the latest government proposal to increase use of the medication against the opioid overdose crisis. http://apne.ws/zVfZ4q0
by JazzNU It'd be great if other emergency medications were OTC as well. Things like EpiPens and Albuterol. Not saying naloxone shouldn't be OTC, just don't think the attention only needs to be on helping drug addicts.
The sudden "it's a public health crisis" remains maddening.
by Deuce Here in Canada, Narcan (naloxone) kits have been available for a few years to anyone free of charge at pharmacies. The injectable, not the nasal spray.
The thinking is that if people in the general public have it on their person, and they see someone who is unresponsive, they can do something.
That said, not all police have it here .
Of course, this is only a band-aid solution to a profound problem. You can bring them back from the brink with naloxone... but you'll probably have to do it again tomorrow or in 2 days, and so on, and so on...
This society is very good at temporary 'solutions' - because they require considerably less effort than real solutions.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie To show how conspiracy theories start among a certain segment of the population:
by ti-amie
by ti-amie I blocked the New Sons whatever person. Meanwhile...
I wonder who they voted for?
by ti-amie Just a reminder about the horror of East Palestine, Ohio
While Rs try to blame Buttigieg we learn:
1. #Trump removed safety standards
2. #DeWine ordered the chem cars be burned
3. DeWine declined Fed assistance
4. DeWine said Norfolk Southern CEO “gave him his word” all would be well
5. CEO no-shows at town hall
6. CEO is a DeWine donor.
#Ohio #EastPalestine
by ti-amie1 dead, 3 injured in shooting at El Paso shopping mall
By Andy Rose, Elizabeth Wolfe and Amanda Jackson, CNN
Updated 1:34 AM EST, Thu February 16, 2023
CNN
—
Two people, both male, were taken into custody after the gunfire inside the Cielo Vista Mall, interim El Paso Police Chief Peter Pacillas said Wednesday night. Police have not commented on possible motives.
A suspect is in custody and police believe there may be another suspect still uncaught, said Sgt. Robert Gomez of the El Paso Police Department. He did not comment on a possible motive.
“It was chaotic. People did flee. They were scared,” said Gomez.
Two injured males were brought to the University Medical Center of El Paso in critical condition, the hospital told CNN. The condition of the third injured person, a male who Gomez said was also hospitalized, is unclear.
The mall sits next to a Walmart where a shooting in 2019 killed 23 and left nearly two dozen more injured. Last week, the 24-year-old gunman pleaded guilty to 90 federal charges as part of a plea deal.
So far this year, there have been more than 70 mass shootings across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Both CNN and the archive define a “mass shooting” as a shooting that injured or killed four or more people, not including the shooter.
After Wednesday’s shooting happened around 5 p.m. local time, an off-duty officer who was working security in one of the mall’s stores arrived at the scene within minutes and took a person into custody, Pacillas said. He did not say when, where or how the second person was apprehended.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including El Paso police, the Texas Department of Public Safety and US Border Patrol, responded to the scene after several people called 911 to report an active shooter, police said.
The scene was later secured and authorities worked into the night to clear the building and begin a preliminary investigation, police said.
Investigators preliminarily believe the shooting took place around the mall’s food court, Gomez said. To assist with the investigation, the FBI has created a website for people to submit photos and video of the incident.
Brandon Chavez, 29, said he was working in the Buckle clothing store across from the food court when Wednesday’s shooting happened. He helped customers and other employees barricade inside the store and took people into the stock room as they waited to be able to come out, he told CNN.
Chavez also was working at the mall when the 2019 shooting happened in the neighboring Walmart, he said, adding he sheltered there with others at that time, as well.
Robert Gonzalez was also at the mall on Wednesday and during the 2019 shooting. He “saw people running to the exit” Wednesday, he said, and videos he took show several mall storefronts closed with their security gates down and several law enforcement vehicles outside.
“I was working (at the mall) the last time this happened with the Walmart shooting so it just brought back bad memories,” he said.
Gonzalez said he was able to make it safely to his car, where he was waiting to leave as he spoke with CNN.
A reunification center has been set up at nearby Burges High School, where people who are unable to contact their loved ones may go for information, Gomez said.
CNN’s Nicole Chavez and Sharif Paget contributed to this report.
by Deuce You'd figure that it's pretty much impossible to regularly verify every inch of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of miles of railroad tracks in the U.S.
Think of roads - there are cracks and potholes all over the place - it's impossible to have smooth roads everywhere, simply due to the sheer volume of roads. I would think that it's similar with railroad tracks.
The difference, of course, is that trains are more fragile than cars in that cars can still drive on roads with cracks and potholes without crashing.
Excerpts:
Over the Shinkansen's 50-plus year history, carrying over 10 billion passengers, there have been no passenger fatalities due to train accidents such as derailments or collisions, despite frequent earthquakes and typhoons.
---
There have been two derailments of Shinkansen trains in passenger service. The first one occurred during the Chūetsu earthquake on 23 October 2004. Eight of ten cars of the Toki No. 325 train on the Jōetsu Shinkansen derailed near Nagaoka Station in Nagaoka, Niigata. There were no casualties among the 154 passengers.
---
Several months after the exposure of the Kobe Steel falsification scandal, which is among the suppliers of high-strength steel for Shinkansen trainsets, cracks were found upon inspection of a single bogie, and removed from service on 11 December 2017.
---
I know, the Japanese are not really humans. They are an advanced extraterrestrial civilization that has a posting out here, to keep an eye on us.
But when these people have 50 years of such an impressive record of safety, with trains cruising at 400 KPH, the USA has no excuses.
Excerpts:
Over the Shinkansen's 50-plus year history, carrying over 10 billion passengers, there have been no passenger fatalities due to train accidents such as derailments or collisions, despite frequent earthquakes and typhoons.
---
There have been two derailments of Shinkansen trains in passenger service. The first one occurred during the Chūetsu earthquake on 23 October 2004. Eight of ten cars of the Toki No. 325 train on the Jōetsu Shinkansen derailed near Nagaoka Station in Nagaoka, Niigata. There were no casualties among the 154 passengers.
---
Several months after the exposure of the Kobe Steel falsification scandal, which is among the suppliers of high-strength steel for Shinkansen trainsets, cracks were found upon inspection of a single bogie, and removed from service on 11 December 2017.
---
I know, the Japanese are not really humans. They are an advanced extraterrestrial civilization that has a posting out here, to keep an eye on us.
But when these people have 50 years of such an impressive record of safety, with trains cruising at 400 KPH, the USA has no excuses.
It all sounds nice except it's not true. There have indeed been no deadly accidents of Shinkansen trains, but remember those trains are a tiny percentage of all Japanese trains. Shinkansen trains run on dedicated, fenced off tracks where nothing else is allowed. Also trains are upgraded very often. It's very much a premium service.
by ponchi101 So, what part is not true? Their safety record, for trains traveling at high speed, is sterling. Are they a premium service? Sure, that is the reason they are so good.
Also, look at the french and their TGV. From WIKI (again):
Accidents
Main article: TGV accidents
In almost three decades of high-speed operation, the TGV has not recorded a single passenger fatality due to accidents while running at high speed on normal passenger service. There have been several accidents, including four derailments at or above 270 km/h (168 mph), but in only one of these—a test run on a new line—did carriages overturn.
END QUOTE.
The point being that reliable, high speed service with proper safety can be achieved. So, when people post photos of tracks in such conditions (in the USA) it shows a difference in approach. And, if owners claim that it is impossible to attain proper safety in their system, the examples I am mentioning prove them wrong.
by Suliso Yes, but are these high speed rails tracks they are showing? I don't think so. Thus my point that we're comparing apples with oranges.
by ponchi101 I am saying; if you can have safety at HIGH SPEED tracks, you can certainly have safety at low speed.
And no, we are not comparing apples and oranges. We are comparing (or I am) the Japanese train system with the American train system. At worst, I am comparing Fuji's to Red Delicious
by Deuce How many miles (or kilometres) do the Japanese Shinkansen and the French TGV run respectively in those countries?
If it's just a tiny fraction of the thousands and thousands of miles of railroad track in the U.S., then it would seem that it's like comparing how many accidents there are on all of the roads in, say, Nebraska with how many accidents there are on one road in, say, Wyoming.
To truly compare, one would need to even the parameters and do a per capita comparison - by track distance, frequency of trains on the tracks, etc.
Also - what are the frequencies of freight train derailments in Japan and France - because that's the subject here, not passenger train derailments.
Freight trains derail far more frequently than passenger trains derail per capita. A train employee once told me that this is because of the radical differences in individual cars within a freight train - an empty car with a bunch of heavy cars can cause a derailment, for example.
by Suliso It's also because regulations for passenger cars are far more stringent. In all countries I presume.
by Deuce Beyond being obviously tragic, this is absolutely maddening...
This is an absolutely regular part of American life - it's insane. It's like every day, no matter where you go or what you do, there is a risk of being murdered in the USA. Because of the 'gun culture', which far too many people equate with 'freedom'.
Because so many people have guns, all it takes is for one of these many, many gun carrying people to blow a gasket - it only needs to be a split second thing. And that's it - because you've got a gun... and because American culture teaches you that using that gun against someone is a viable way to deal with conflict, it takes only one instant decision - which the person may instantly regret - and someone's life is ended.
Incredible.
It is absolutely insane.
This type of thing - a regular occurrence in the U.S. - is unthinkable here in Canada. Because here, in a civilized country, we don't need to carry guns to feel 'macho', or to feel 'important', or to fell... 'free'.
The only people who carry guns on their person here in Canada are criminals, police, and, sadly, hunters. Mr. or Mrs. or Miss average person does not carry a gun here. But in the U.S., average people - MANY average people - feel the need to carry a gun. And it's cyclical, of course - people carry guns to protect themselves because everyone else is carrying a gun. And around and around it goes...
It's sick.
And when someone carrying a gun gets into a conflict with another person, the wires can touch and cause a spark, and that's all it takes - just an instant ignition which is regretted seconds later.
And just like that, a person is dead. Forever.
What kind of society is this???
Deuce wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 12:15 am
Beyond being obviously tragic, this is absolutely maddening...
This is an absolutely regular part of American life - it's insane. It's like every day, no matter where you go or what you do, there is a risk of being murdered in the USA. Because of the 'gun culture', which far too many people equate with 'freedom'.
Because so many people have guns, all it takes is for one of these many, many gun carrying people to blow a gasket - it only needs to be a split second thing. And that's it - because you've got a gun... and because American culture teaches you that using that gun against someone is a viable way to deal with conflict, it takes only one instant decision - which the person may instantly regret - and someone's life is ended.
Incredible.
It is absolutely insane.
This type of thing - a regular occurrence in the U.S. - is unthinkable here in Canada. Because here, in a civilized country, we don't need to carry guns to feel 'macho', or to feel 'important', or to fell... 'free'.
The only people who carry guns on their person here in Canada are criminals, police, and, sadly, hunters. Mr. or Mrs. or Miss average person does not carry a gun here. But in the U.S., average people - MANY average people - feel the need to carry a gun. And it's cyclical, of course - people carry guns to protect themselves because everyone else is carrying a gun. And around and around it goes...
It's sick.
And when someone carrying a gun gets into a conflict with another person, the wires can touch and cause a spark, and that's all it takes - just an instant ignition which is regretted seconds later.
And just like that, a person is dead. Forever.
What kind of society is this???
by skatingfan The last line of that story is a real kick in the stomach.
by Deuce
skatingfan wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 1:43 am
The last line of that story is a real kick in the stomach.
Indeed - thank you for mentioning that. I meant to include in my diatribe above to pay particular attention to the last sentence of the article.
It's insane.
Absolutely insane.
How dare that country call itself civilized!
by ponchi101 True story.
I was about to start my hitting session with a friend, who was a lawyer, when his phone rang. He looked at it and told me "sorry, I have to take this", and moved aside. He came back a couple of minutes later, visibly shaken, so I asked him what had happened.
He told me that a friend of his (not mine) was mugged by a couple of young kids and that his friend, who was armed, had pulled out his gun and shot them both. Broad daylight, an afternoon at a shopping mall's parking lot. With plenty of witnesses, the police arrived and his friend surrendered and was arrested, and taken in custody. His friend called him, and he went to the police station, where he had to explain to his friend that IT WAS HIM THAT HAD SHOT AND KILLED TWO TEENAGERS. Self defense or not, he was in deep, deep trouble.
I am not saying that there should be any sympathy for the woman that shot the other in that particle; throw the book at her. But it is one thing that people that go around carrying guns do not understand: if you shoot somebody, YOUR LIFE HAS CHANGED, basically for the worse. You are in deep, deep legal troubles. You will most likely lose your job, a lot of money, and will now have a criminal record of great relevance (try to find a new job after that).
Nothing good comes from carrying a gun. Nothing.
by ti-amieA nuclear reactor was melting down. Jimmy Carter came to the rescue.
As a 28-year-old Navy lieutenant, Carter was one of the few people on the planet authorized to go inside a damaged nuclear reactor
By Gillian Brockell
February 20, 2023 at 6:15 a.m. EST
Lt. Jimmy Carter, center top, in the main control room of submarine USS K-1 in 1952. (U.S. Navy)
The world was in the grip of the Cold War in 1952 when a nuclear reactor began melting down.
That reactor, located at Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, had suffered an explosion on Dec. 12. Radioactive material had escaped into the atmosphere, and millions of gallons of radioactive water flooded into the reactor’s basement. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the Canadians needed help to disassemble the reactor’s damaged core.
The United States sent 28-year-old Jimmy Carter.
Carter, who entered home hospice care this weekend at 98, is best known for being the nation’s 39th commander in chief and oldest living president. But his service to the country began when he was a teenage plebe at the U.S. Naval Academy and continued for four decades after his presidency.
In the years after graduating from Annapolis in 1946, Carter was promoted to lieutenant and took a dangerous assignment aboard a submarine. He was away from his young bride, Rosalynn, and their growing family quite a bit.
It was in these years that President Harry S. Truman desegregated the military. Robert A. Strong, a politics professor at Washington and Lee University, recounts an incident from this period. While his submarine was docked in Bermuda, British military officers invited White members of the American crew to a party. At Carter’s urging, the entire crew refused to attend because it was segregated.
In 1952, Carter was selected to join an elite team to help develop the Navy’s first nuclear submarines. Once he had trained his crew and the submarine was constructed, Carter was to be the commanding officer of the USS Seawolf, according to Carter in his 1976 book “Why Not the Best?: The First 50 Years.”
Then the partial meltdown happened, and Lt. Carter was one of the few people on the planet authorized to go inside a nuclear reactor.
Part of the Chalk River nuclear facility in Ontario, circa 1945. (National Research Council Canada)
Carter and his two dozen men were sent to Canada to help, along with other Canadian and American service members. Because of the intensity of radiation, a human could spend only 90 seconds in the damaged core, even while wearing protective gear.
First, they constructed an exact duplicate of the reactor nearby. Then they practiced and practiced, dashing into the duplicate “to be sure we had the correct tools and knew exactly how to use them,” Carter wrote.
Each time one of his men managed to unscrew a bolt, the same bolt would be removed from the duplicate, and the next man would prep for the next step.
Eventually, it was Carter’s turn. He was in a team of three.
“Outfitted with white protective clothes, we descended into the reactor and worked frantically for our allotted time,” he wrote.
In one minute and 29 seconds, Carter had absorbed the maximum amount of radiation a human can withstand in a year.
The mission was successful. The damaged core was removed. Within two years, it had been rebuilt and was back up and running.
For several months afterward, Carter and his crew submitted fecal and urine samples to test for radioactivity, but “there were no apparent aftereffects from this exposure,” Carter wrote, “just a lot of doubtful jokes among ourselves about death versus sterility.”
But in an interview with historian Arthur Milnes in 2008, Carter wasn’t as cavalier. He said for six months his urine tested positive for radioactivity.
“They let us get probably a thousand times more radiation than they would now,” he said. “It was in the early stages, and they didn’t know.”
Carter returned to preparing to command a nuclear submarine, but soon, fate intervened. In July 1953, Carter’s father Earl died of pancreatic cancer at 58. (In fact, pancreatic cancer would eventually kill his mother and all three of his siblings.)
As the eldest child, Carter sought an immediate release from the Navy to take over the family business. After seven years of service, he was honorably discharged on Oct. 9, 1953.
The incident had a lifelong impact on Carter’s views on nuclear power, Carter biographer Peter Bourne told Milnes. As a young naval officer, he had approached it in a “very scientific and dispassionate way,” Bourne said, but Chalk River showed him its power to destroy.
“I believe this emotional recognition of the true nature of the power mankind had unleashed informed his decisions as president,” Bourne said, “not just in terms of having his finger on the nuclear button, but in his decision not to pursue the development of the neutron bomb as a weapon.”
by ti-amie The best comment I've seen on why so many don't know the true story of President Carter. It's by someone responding to the above article.
The same people (Fox, the RNC) who spent 30 years brainwashing the American public about Hillary Clinton spent 40+ years doing the same about Jimmy Carter and are actively doing the same about Joe Biden as we speak.
The smears about Carter and Biden are similar and done for the same reason, to distract from the Republican criminals who preceded them in office: Nixon and Trump.
Carter took office after Watergate had destroyed our faith in government; after a long, polarizing war; after nearly a decade of racial conflict and deaths/beatings that Republicans chose to blame on the victims; in the midst of economic turmoil and the loss of prestige abroad. He entered office in the middle of a global economic crisis, including stagflation and wage/price freezes implemented by Nixon/Ford; and faced a global fuel crisis.
The little-known governor from Georgia was voted into office by a traumatized nation desperate for a president they could trust, one who swore he would never lie to them. Four years later, hypocritical voters decided the truth was overrated. They couldn't possibly turn the heat down, drive less, or trust diplomacy. That's how we got Reagan and the era of greed is good.
Biden's election checks the same boxes: Traumatized nation reeling from Trump and Covid. Racial unrest. Long, undeclared war jerryrigged by the outgoing president. Global financial struggle. Division and violence, and an electorate begging for a competent, calm, mature problem-solver in the White House.
A mere two years later, amnesia once again strikes the right wing. And the propaganda circus cranks up the Republican clown show. Anyone who lived through the long effort to rehabilitate Nixon and demonize Carter will see the same feral hands at work today with Trump and Biden.
by @Darrel_G
by Deuce
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 10:31 pmA nuclear reactor was melting down. Jimmy Carter came to the rescue.
As a 28-year-old Navy lieutenant, Carter was one of the few people on the planet authorized to go inside a damaged nuclear reactor
By Gillian Brockell
February 20, 2023 at 6:15 a.m. EST
Lt. Jimmy Carter, center top, in the main control room of submarine USS K-1 in 1952. (U.S. Navy)
The world was in the grip of the Cold War in 1952 when a nuclear reactor began melting down.
That reactor, located at Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, had suffered an explosion on Dec. 12. Radioactive material had escaped into the atmosphere, and millions of gallons of radioactive water flooded into the reactor’s basement. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the Canadians needed help to disassemble the reactor’s damaged core.
The United States sent 28-year-old Jimmy Carter.
Carter, who entered home hospice care this weekend at 98, is best known for being the nation’s 39th commander in chief and oldest living president. But his service to the country began when he was a teenage plebe at the U.S. Naval Academy and continued for four decades after his presidency.
In the years after graduating from Annapolis in 1946, Carter was promoted to lieutenant and took a dangerous assignment aboard a submarine. He was away from his young bride, Rosalynn, and their growing family quite a bit.
It was in these years that President Harry S. Truman desegregated the military. Robert A. Strong, a politics professor at Washington and Lee University, recounts an incident from this period. While his submarine was docked in Bermuda, British military officers invited White members of the American crew to a party. At Carter’s urging, the entire crew refused to attend because it was segregated.
In 1952, Carter was selected to join an elite team to help develop the Navy’s first nuclear submarines. Once he had trained his crew and the submarine was constructed, Carter was to be the commanding officer of the USS Seawolf, according to Carter in his 1976 book “Why Not the Best?: The First 50 Years.”
Then the partial meltdown happened, and Lt. Carter was one of the few people on the planet authorized to go inside a nuclear reactor.
Part of the Chalk River nuclear facility in Ontario, circa 1945. (National Research Council Canada)
Carter and his two dozen men were sent to Canada to help, along with other Canadian and American service members. Because of the intensity of radiation, a human could spend only 90 seconds in the damaged core, even while wearing protective gear.
First, they constructed an exact duplicate of the reactor nearby. Then they practiced and practiced, dashing into the duplicate “to be sure we had the correct tools and knew exactly how to use them,” Carter wrote.
Each time one of his men managed to unscrew a bolt, the same bolt would be removed from the duplicate, and the next man would prep for the next step.
Eventually, it was Carter’s turn. He was in a team of three.
“Outfitted with white protective clothes, we descended into the reactor and worked frantically for our allotted time,” he wrote.
In one minute and 29 seconds, Carter had absorbed the maximum amount of radiation a human can withstand in a year.
The mission was successful. The damaged core was removed. Within two years, it had been rebuilt and was back up and running.
For several months afterward, Carter and his crew submitted fecal and urine samples to test for radioactivity, but “there were no apparent aftereffects from this exposure,” Carter wrote, “just a lot of doubtful jokes among ourselves about death versus sterility.”
But in an interview with historian Arthur Milnes in 2008, Carter wasn’t as cavalier. He said for six months his urine tested positive for radioactivity.
“They let us get probably a thousand times more radiation than they would now,” he said. “It was in the early stages, and they didn’t know.”
Carter returned to preparing to command a nuclear submarine, but soon, fate intervened. In July 1953, Carter’s father Earl died of pancreatic cancer at 58. (In fact, pancreatic cancer would eventually kill his mother and all three of his siblings.)
As the eldest child, Carter sought an immediate release from the Navy to take over the family business. After seven years of service, he was honorably discharged on Oct. 9, 1953.
The incident had a lifelong impact on Carter’s views on nuclear power, Carter biographer Peter Bourne told Milnes. As a young naval officer, he had approached it in a “very scientific and dispassionate way,” Bourne said, but Chalk River showed him its power to destroy.
“I believe this emotional recognition of the true nature of the power mankind had unleashed informed his decisions as president,” Bourne said, “not just in terms of having his finger on the nuclear button, but in his decision not to pursue the development of the neutron bomb as a weapon.”
... And the moral of the story is...
Absorbing a huge amount of radiation ensures a long and healthy life!
He always seemed like a genuinely nice and sincere person, but I had no idea about his nuclear knowledge.
by ponchi101 He is a nuclear engineer. It seems the article forgot to mention that. Perhaps one of the most educated presidents ever.
I will always hate him because he sold Venezuela out to Chavez, when he certified that the 2004 referendum was legit. But, for America, he was good.
by Deuce Dear United States of America: Your country is completely out of control. Everyone knows this except you.
Rather than pretend that things are fine, you should be willing to move Heaven and Earth to fix your problems.
by ti-amie Measles is one of the most deadly "childhood" diseases known. The vaccine against it has been in use among the medically sane for many years.
by ponchi101 When people say "what's the harm... (put here some of the many looney theories around)" this is one premium example.
What's the harm? People dying, that's the harm.
by Deuce But it's ok, because they'll all go to Paradise/Heaven.
One really has to wonder what percentage of religious believers in the Paradise/Heaven thing live more irresponsible and reckless lives because they're convinced that they'll actually be going to a 'better place', and so value life - and fear death - less than non-believers.
by ti-amie U.S. Politics in Real Time
@uspolitics@mastodon.sdf.org
Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state
A little prayer should take of that, right? Besides there's more pressing issues with the groomers.
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 2:14 am
U.S. Politics in Real Time
@uspolitics@mastodon.sdf.org
Florida bill would require bloggers who write about governor to register with the state
Oooh, straight out of the DICTATOR'S HANDBOOK. You want to write about the BIG MAN? You need to register. And, BTW, we need you address and want to see your smartphone for just a little while.
Man, Maduro would be proud.
by JazzNU
by Deuce I heard that 38 states have some sort of severe weather alert right now.
Mother Nature is obviously quite upset with our abuse of her - as she should be.
There are consequences to the way that humans are treating Nature - and, more and more, we are seeing those consequences. They will get worse if we don't begin to respect the environment a lot more...
by ti-amieChild marriage ban bill defeated in West Virginia House
By JOHN RABY
today
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A bill that would have prohibited minors from getting married in West Virginia was defeated Wednesday night in a legislative committee.
The Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee rejected the bill on a 9-8 vote, a week after it passed the House of Delegates.
The vote came shortly after the bill’s main sponsor, Democratic Del. Kayla Young of Kanawha County, testified briefly before the committee. She said that since 2000 there have been more than 3,600 marriages in the state involving one or more children.
Currently, children can marry as young as 16 in West Virginia with parental consent. Anyone younger than that also must get a judge’s waiver.
“For now, there will be no floor for the age of marriage in WV, endangering our kids,” Young wrote on Twitter after the vote.
In a rebuke, Cabell County Democratic Sen. Mike Woelfel reminded the committee after the vote that Wednesday was International Women’s Day.
Some of the bill’s opponents have argued that teenage marriages are a part of life in West Virginia.
Kanawha County Republican Sen. Mike Stuart, a former federal prosecutor who sided with the majority, said his vote “wasn’t a vote against women.” He said his mother was married when she was 16, and “six months later, I came along. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:33 pm
Kanawha County Republican Sen. Mike Stuart, a former federal prosecutor who sided with the majority, said his vote “wasn’t a vote against women.” He said his mother was married when she was 16, and “six months later, I came along. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
Second luckiest man in the world was his dad, who was lucky that his grand-dad agreed to not pull that trigger on that shotgun.
I keep saying. "Ponchi is king for a day? Marriage age is 25. Too complicated for people below that age"
by ti-amie These "men" want young girls because they're easy to control. They also don't expect more of them in any shape, form or fashion (interpret that as you will). Age appropriate women wouldn't put up with them for more than five minutes.
by ponchi101 I hope my silly comment is taken as "there is really nothing to say about this". Anybody that believes young women can get married at age 16 on her own will simply is living in the 14th century.
Or Afghanistan.
by ti-amie Oh I totally understood your comment. I can't say more than I said because you'd have to ban me. I believe the age for marriage should be just what you said, 25. You're almost totally sane by then and your brain is capable of making adult decisions.
by ti-amieGhost Gun Investigation Leads to Raid in Upper East Side Luxury Building
The police said they seized gun parts, drugmaking supplies and possible materials for explosives, and arrested Christopher Fox, a brother of the actress and model Julia Fox.
The luxury apartment building in Yorkville, in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where police raided a co-op on Wednesday, finding weapons and drug manufacturing supplies.
By Christine Chung
March 9, 2023, 4:15 p.m. ET
A “ghost gun” team of the New York Police Department raided a luxury co-op on the Upper East Side on Wednesday, seizing gun parts, drug-related materials and pressure cookers and chemicals that could be used to make explosives, the authorities said.
They also arrested an occupant of the apartment, Christopher Fox, 30, on a litany of drug and weapons charges, including the manufacture of a machine gun, the police said.
The details of the haul would alarm any neighborhood, and Yorkville is one of the more desirable ones in Manhattan. But the story was amped up in the city tabloids by the news that Mr. Fox was a younger brother of the actress and model Julia Fox. She once described her brother in an interview as a “mad scientist recluse” who built 3-D printers “for fun,” a description highlighted in a Daily News headline.
(...)
The police said Mr. Fox’s arrest was related to a “long-term investigation” into narcotics and ghost guns, adding that while a full investigation was ongoing, they believed the matter has “no apparent nexus to terrorism.”
Ghost guns, which can be assembled piecemeal with a drill from parts purchased online or made with a 3-D printer, are homemade, unregistered firearms that lack serial numbers and do not require background checks to build.
Police officers executed a search warrant for an apartment at 200 East 84th Street on Wednesday morning. The co-op building in the heart of Yorkville, east of Park Avenue, advertises a roof terrace with panoramic views. Two-bedroom apartments there have sold for around $1.8 million, according to real estate records.
The police declined to comment on whether Mr. Fox was still in custody. A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office would not give details about the schedule for his arraignment.
Mr. Fox faces multiple charges, including criminal possession of a firearm. A second individual was taken into custody on Wednesday but was not arrested, the police said. Multiple news outlets have reported that was the Foxes’ father, but the police would not confirm this.
New York Police Department data shows a steady rise in the number of ghost guns seized by officers in recent years: 263 in 2021 and 463 last year, an increase of more than 76 percent. A police spokesperson said that the department has already recovered 36 ghost guns in the first two months of this year.
In a news release, the department emphasized that it would “continue to fight relentlessly” against illegal guns, including “increasingly prevalent” ghost guns, which it described as “illegal, untraceable but fully functioning weapons.”
In June 2022, state and city officials filed two lawsuits seeking to halt the proliferation of ghost guns under a state law intended to hold the gun industry accountable for shootings. The suits said that the unchecked illegal sales of gun parts contributed to a troubling gun violence crisis across the state.
On Thursday, Attorney General Letitia James announced she had secured a court order immediately halting 10 national gun distributors from selling and shipping “key components” of ghost guns to buyers in New York.
One of the named defendants, Brownells Inc., sells a build kit for an AR-15, the powerful military-style rifle used in multiple mass shootings in the United States, including attacks on schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., and Parkland, Fla.
According to Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-violence prevention organization, such guns can be built in under an hour with just a few tools.
“Ghost guns and easy-to-assemble ghost gun kits have caused violence and devastation throughout our state,” Ms. James said, pledging that her office would continue to enforce “our common sense gun laws.”
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 5:33 pm
Some of the bill’s opponents have argued that teenage marriages are a part of life in West Virginia.
Kanawha County Republican Sen. Mike Stuart, a former federal prosecutor who sided with the majority, said his vote “wasn’t a vote against women.” He said his mother was married when she was 16, and “six months later, I came along. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
A good deal of Republicans' world view seems to come down to exactly their own circumstances and how dare anyone attempt to evolve into a healthier society. There is a RWNJ that ran for governor here. She's the product of rape. Her mother was 11 when she was raped by a twentysomething. ELEVEN. Instead of being enraged on her mother's behalf, she objects to any form of abortion in every circumstance because that's how she got here and her life has value and that's the end of the discussion for her. No one claimed her life didn't have value of course or was passing judgment on the innocent children who are the product of rape, but her cracked brain can't seem to see past that and realize there is no circumstance whatsoever where that should be something we as a society are okay with.
by ponchi101 The "logic" of anti-abortion people is flawed to degrees that you really wonder where to start arguing.
by ti-amie
And you know what? Not a penny of it will come out of his pocket thanks to the US taxpayer.
by ponchi101 You mean, he has Obamacare?
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:44 pm
You mean, he has Obamacare?
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan Please let this potential death and destruction begin at his home.
Trump warns of ‘potential death & destruction’ if he’s charged in hush-money case.
Former president Donald Trump warned early Friday of “potential death & destruction” if he is charged in Manhattan in a criminal case related to alleged hush-money payments to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels to conceal an affair.
The posting after midnight on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform, was his latest — and most explicit — allusion to violence that could follow an indictment stemming from an investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), whom Trump called a “degenerate psychopath.”
Trump wrote: “What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former President of the United States, who got more votes than any sitting President in history, and leading candidate (by far!) for the Republican Party nomination, with a Crime, when it is known by all that NO Crime has been committed, & also known that potential death & destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our Country?”
by ponchi101 His level of stupidity is off the scale.
What does "getting votes" have to do with anything? He simply can't understand the simplest of logic. He lives in a world of non-sequiturs.
Everyone should be telling people in their lives that use eyedrops of any kind about this just in case they might use it. Not gotten a ton of attention for whatever reason even though it's been a story for almost a month. And the stories are straight up scary. Death, blindness and losing eyeballs! It's crazy. I made sure to tell my family about it last week and one of my aunt's is on the prescription drops for glaucoma and hadn't heard a thing about it.
Everyone should be telling people in their lives that use eyedrops of any kind about this just in case they might use it. Not gotten a ton of attention for whatever reason even though it's been a story for almost a month. And the stories are straight up scary. Death, blindness and losing eyeballs! It's crazy. I made sure to tell my family about it last week and one of my aunt's is on the prescription drops for glaucoma and hadn't heard a thing about it.
by ti-amie So where exactly did this idiot think the tornado was going to go? Mild and appropriate profanity.
Several southern/red states were hit by violent storms yesterday.
by ti-amie
She was first id'd as a teenager...
by ti-amie The school is a private Christian elementary school.
From WaPo Live updates:
By Holly Bailey
National Correspondent
Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Nashville police, said the female shooter entered the school through a first-floor side entrance and moved from the first floor to the second, firing and killing multiple victims along the way. “There is video from the school that we are viewing now to try to learn exactly how all of this happened,” Aaron said.
by ti-amie Here’s what to know
The shooter had two “assault-style rifles” and a handgun, according to Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron. Authorities initially said the shooter appeared to be a teen, then police tweeted that she was a Nashville woman.
Two officers shot the assailant on the second floor, according to the police department’s Twitter account.
As of Sunday, there were 13 mass shootings with four or more dead this year, with a total of 69 people killed. Since 2013, there have been at least five mass killings at K-12 schools, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press, USA TODAY and Northeastern University.
By Maham Javaid
Staff Writer, General Assignment Desk
The 28-year-old shooter was a resident of the Nashville area and had attended the Covenant School at some point, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during a news conference. He was unsure about the years during which she was a student at the school.
Drake said he did not remember whether the woman was wearing body armor during the shooting.
by Suliso This might be the first time I hear about a female shooter.
by ti-amie Shooter had three guns with her, according to law enforcement
By Perry Stein
The 28-year-old-shooter at the private Nashville grade school had three guns with her when she killed at least three children and three adults, according to authorities.
A law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the weapons included two semiautomatic rifles, with at least one of the rifles identified as an AR-15-style weapon.
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 7:31 pm
This might be the first time I hear about a female shooter.
And it won't be the last, thanks to the unceasing sensationalistic news coverage of these things, which undoubtedly and incessantly plants the seed in the heads of the troubled and disturbed persons who are capable of doing such things.
Sigh...
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Apples and oranges...
by ti-amie March 27, 2023, 2:58 p.m. ET2 hours ago
2 hours ago
Sarah Mervosh
The Covenant School is a small academy housed at a Presbyterian church.
The Covenant School in Nashville is a small, private Christian school, with an enrollment of around 200 students in preschool through sixth grade.
The school is “intentionally small” with an emphasis on relationships, according to its website, and the school boasts a teacher-to-student ratio of 8-to-1. Tuition costs around $16,000 a year.
The school was founded in 2001 as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to the school’s website. The two share a location.
Even as school shootings become more frequent, the shooting at Covenant was unusual on several counts.
Many of the highest-profile school shootings in recent years have taken place at public schools, in part because there are far more public schools in the United States: Nearly 100,000, compared to about 30,000 private schools.
Shootings at elementary schools are also relatively uncommon, making up less than 20 percent of all incidents of gun violence on school grounds, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. Most incidents of gun violence on school campuses, including active shooter incidents, happen at high schools.
And it is not typical for a female shooter to carry out school shootings. The typical perpetrator is a white man in his teens or early 20s.
Still, the shooting in Nashville was just one of several instances of gun violence on school campuses in the last week alone. A 16-year-old was fatally shot last Monday morning before classes began at a high school in Arlington, Texas. On Wednesday, a 17-year-old student shot two administrators and later killed himself in Denver.
While those involved fewer than four victims and so were not considered mass shootings, “every one of these incidents has a profound impact on everyone involved in the entire school shooting, and they are happening, like, every day,” said David Riedman, the researcher behind the K-12 School Shooting Database, which tracks gun incidents on school grounds and has found campus gun violence to be increasing in frequency.
More than 270 people were fatally shot or wounded in shootings on school grounds last year, compared to 159 in 2018, the year of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., according to the database.
Suliso wrote: ↑Mon Mar 27, 2023 7:31 pm
This might be the first time I hear about a female shooter.
My understanding is that The Boomtown Rats' "I don't like Mondays" (a song) was written after a girl shot down her classroom.
But, I am with you. I can't remember another such instance in which the shooter was a woman.
by ti-amie KEY UPDATE
8 min ago
What we know about the shooting suspect
By Perry Stein, Holly Bailey, Maham Javaid and Ben Brasch
The shooter was 28-year-old Nashville area resident Audrey Hale, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during a news conference Monday.
He said Hale had attended the Covenant School at some point but was unsure when.
Drake said Hale had a handgun along with two AR-style weapons, one being a rifle and the other an “AR-style pistol.”
Drake said he did not remember whether Hale was wearing body armor during the shooting.
Don Aaron, a spokesman for Nashville police, said the shooter entered the school through a first-floor side entrance and moved from the first floor to the second, firing and killing multiple victims along the way. “There is video from the school that we are viewing now to try to learn exactly how all of this happened,” Aaron said.
When asked how Hale got into the building, Drake said: “All doors were locked and how exactly [Hale] got in is under investigation … It could have been far, far worse.”
by ti-amie I don't remember this much detail being given after other mass murders.
Here are the names of the victims via WaPo.
According to Nashville police, the victims are: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9; and Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61
by dryrunguy I'm seeing several reports stating the shooter identified as transgender.
by ponchi101 When you see the type of weapons Americans can buy, it is mind boggling for the rest of us.
You only see this type of weapons here in Colombia when they show you pictures of the FARC.
by ti-amie
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:50 am
I'm seeing several reports stating the shooter identified as transgender.
The RW is running with this angle. The original source was someone no one in MSM seems to have heard of before.
by patrick Unfortunately this is what happens when GOP wants people to be armed with guns despite Biden wanting to have an assault ban. In this state, DeSantis wants an open carry law where a person does not have to a permit to carry a weapon.
by Deuce Guns don't kill people - troubled and disturbed people kill people.
As long as the true root of the problem continues to be ignored (and as long as these killings continue to be sensationalized by the media), they will continue.
I guarantee this 100%.
by Suliso Disagree. If that was the case mass shootings would be once per week here too. Not like we have magically erradicated mental illness in this country.
by Deuce
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:10 am
Disagree. If that was the case mass shootings would be once per week here too. Not like we have magically erradicated mental illness in this country.
Do you think all 'mental illness' is the same, with the same roots, etc.?
It is not.
A lot of the acting out of mental illness - like these mass killings - I would say MOST of it - is very largely influenced by the culture of the country, and what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.
The culture of the U.S. in terms of true respect for one another, is quite unhealthy. It is a country where greed and selfishness and 'looking out for number 1' is very much the rule. As such, the value of life is less.
As well, there is the media angle... Is there another country on the planet which exploits and sensationalizes tragedy as much as the U.S.? I doubt it.
by Suliso
Deuce wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:18 am
As well, there is the media angle... Is there another country on the planet which exploits and sensationalizes tragedy as much as the U.S.? I doubt it.
Deuce wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 3:18 am
As well, there is the media angle... Is there another country on the planet which exploits and sensationalizes tragedy as much as the U.S.? I doubt it.
Let me introduce you to British tabloids...
Granted - but they do it in a very different manner than in the U.S. In Britain, it's farcical and so over the top that it's quite difficult to take it seriously; in the U.S., it is not at all farcical.
And then there are the obvious glaring differences in the two cultures...
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:50 am
I'm seeing several reports stating the shooter identified as transgender.
The RW is running with this angle. The original source was someone no one in MSM seems to have heard of before.
See how it works? One alleged transperson shoots up a school, and that immediately becomes the narrative. After years and years of white men, mostly young white men, doing exactly the same thing over and over again--and not a word from them.
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:50 am
I'm seeing several reports stating the shooter identified as transgender.
The RW is running with this angle. The original source was someone no one in MSM seems to have heard of before.
See how it works? One alleged transperson shoots up a school, and that immediately becomes the narrative. After years and years of white men, mostly young white men, doing exactly the same thing over and over again--and not a word from them.
Sorry Dry. I see your point but, when a young white male shoots up a school, his profile is meaningless because that is the norm. We (or at least I) have "joked" about that here: Mass Shooting? Let me guess the ethnicity.
And I don't recall any mass shooting in which the white-profile of the shooter was not revealed. But, I repeat, by now it is a meaningless piece of data because it is the norm.
If this person is really trans, it would be news because it is so unusual. Sure, demonization of trans people would be ridiculous (this is a first) but this would be very odd indeed.
by ti-amie Video of Nashville shooter entering the school.
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:50 am
I'm seeing several reports stating the shooter identified as transgender.
The RW is running with this angle. The original source was someone no one in MSM seems to have heard of before.
I happen to be home from work this week. And I was keeping an eye on social media, primarily because of the Miami Open.
As an experiment I decided to not watch the news* but instead "watch" it unfold via Twitter.
It was a RIDE. Reckless speculation, every RW point being hit and debunked in succession.
- door unlocked
- police response slow
- police didn't confront shooter
And then...
- female shooter...trans.
Bingo.
The cesspool came out in force with an underlying aroma of "thoughts and prayers" being bandied about from our Congressional members who are NRA recipients.
It became more obvious as to why nothing gets done in our government.
*Speaking of news, I finally watched some CNN at night. I then decided to watch OAN. I barely made it 5 minutes but believe in trying to balance the message so I get different perspectives. Again, I understand why some people are so strident if they refuse to consider alternative positions.
Lastly, as I posted on Twitter, no.
IMG_20230328_150241.jpg
by ti-amie Updates via @NBC
Before Nashville school rampage, shooter messaged former teammate something bad was about to happen
Averianna Patton said she saw the Instagram messages at 9:57 a.m. Monday, less than 20 minutes before police said they received calls about a shooter at The Covenant School.
March 28, 2023, 12:05 PM EDT / Updated March 28, 2023, 1:27 PM EDT
By Minyvonne Burke
The Nashville school shooter warned that something bad was about to happen in messages to a former middle school basketball teammate before opening fire Monday at The Covenant School.
Averianna Patton said she saw the Instagram messages at 9:57 a.m. Monday, less than 20 minutes before police said they received calls about a shooter at the private Christian school.
In the messages, Audrey Hale, the person police identified as the shooter, talked about not wanting to live anymore and said that their family did not know what they were about to do.
Hale is transgender, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Monday. In the first message sent to Patton, Hale signed it as "Audrey (Aiden)."
Patton tried to be supportive, according to screenshots of the messages. In their last message, Hale said that something bad was about to happen and asked for forgiveness.
Patton, of Nashville, attended Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School with Hale. She said the messages were alarming and she sent them to her father and asked if she should contact someone.
"He text back, 'YES' in all caps. So after that, that's when I started making calls," she told NBC's "Nightly News."
The first call she made was to the suicide prevention hotline, she said, which instructed her to contact the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office. The office told her to call a nonemergency number.
Patton said she was told someone would come out to her home. By the time they showed up hours later, she had already left for a meeting. Patton later learned that Hale was responsible for the shooting.
"I'm trying to still understand ... Just to learn that I received a message before, it's just like, 'Wow,'" she said. "Just pray, just pray."
Patton said the last time she saw Hale was a few weeks ago at a painting event to commemorate a mutual friend who had died in a car crash. Nothing about Hale seemed amiss, Patton said.
Patton said she's now trying to cope with what happened. "I'm speechless," she said.
A motive remains unclear, although the police chief said "resentment" may have played a role in the attack. Hale, 28, had attended the school. Former headmaster Bill Campbell said he remembered Hale as a third grader in 2005 and a fourth grader in 2006, and believes Hale transferred after that school year.
"There’s some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school," Drake told Lester Holt of NBC News.
Authorities said Hale carefully planned the attack with detailed maps and surveillance and left behind writings that are being studied by local and federal investigators. There were also indications that Hale had planned to target other locations, Drake said.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
by ti-amie Updated March 28, 2023, 3:06 PM EDT
By NBC News
What to know about the deadly shooting at The Covenant School:
Police are working to establish a motive in the deadly shooting at the private Christian school, telling NBC News a sense of "resentment" may have played a role.
Police today released body camera footage showing officers confront and kill the shooter. Surveillance video of the shooter arriving on campus was released late yesterday.
The shooter, whom police described as transgender, was a 28-year-old former student who had detailed maps of the school.
The parents did not want the shooter owning guns, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said.
A former middle school basketball teammate said the shooter had sent her messages on Instagram warning something bad was about to happen. The teammate said she was unaware the shooter was transgender.
Vigils have been held across Nashville for the victims of the shooting: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old, and Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
dryrunguy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 1:50 am
I'm seeing several reports stating the shooter identified as transgender.
The RW is running with this angle. The original source was someone no one in MSM seems to have heard of before.
I happen to be home from work this week. And I was keeping an eye on social media, primarily because of the Miami Open.
As an experiment I decided to not watch the news* but instead "watch" it unfold via Twitter.
It was a RIDE. Reckless speculation, every RW point being hit and debunked in succession.
- door unlocked
- police response slow
- police didn't confront shooter
And then...
- female shooter...trans.
Bingo.
The cesspool came out in force with an underlying aroma of "thoughts and prayers" being bandied about from our Congressional members who are NRA recipients.
It became more obvious as to why nothing gets done in our government.
*Speaking of news, I finally watched some CNN at night. I then decided to watch OAN. I barely made it 5 minutes but believe in trying to balance the message so I get different perspectives. Again, I understand why some people are so strident if they refuse to consider alternative positions.
Lastly, as I posted on Twitter, no.
IMG_20230328_150241.jpg
Before Elmo took over Twitter things were very different. In a situation like this one MSM - CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC would've been the ones we saw tweeting updates and not some rando right wingers. It seemed to me that tweets by MSM and real reporters were being suppressed and I spent more time on Mastodon or on the actual webpages of the Washington Post and NY Times which are notoriously slow because they have to make sure everything they print is verified.
Today I'm noticing more presence on Mastodon from MSM types.
Yesterday was the first day I really felt that Twitter is gone.
by Fastbackss Guess that's a topic for another day - is Mastodon worth "migrating" to.
There was another app I read about that had promise but because I am old I forgot what it was and where I saw it lol
by ti-amie This guy. TL;dr if it doesn't affect me why should I care?
by Fastbackss Surprised he didn't say she was in a charter school, since those are always being pushed...
by ti-amie
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2023 8:05 pm
This guy. TL;dr if it doesn't affect me why should I care?
Fred Guttenberg @fred_guttenberg
.
@timburchett
, my daughter Jaime would disagree with you. If you think you can't fix the gun violence problem, just resign. Be useless elsewhere. Jaime is forever 14, she was murdered in the Parkland shooting. You, & people like you, are the problem.
And that number is definitely higher than what that article has. It only mentions the one in Delaware for this region, and they've just confirmed a third tornado for New Jersey this afternoon, none of which are captured here. National Weather Service is very busy today and will be for the next week or two investigating the reports. A mess. A lot of destruction in the path of these storms unfortunately, maybe not worse than what hit Mississippi last week, but still pretty bad.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by JazzNU
by JazzNU ^^ Critical win for abortion and voting rights in Wisconsin.
by ti-amie
by Deuce ^ There are enough people protesting against gun violence, as it's a no-brainer.
I'd prefer to see students marching in protest against media sensationalism, because that is the more subtle, silent killer...
by ti-amieREVEALED: House Speaker calls for expulsion of three Democrats, but 'can't prove' claims of violence
Posted: 7:02 PM, Apr 04, 2023 Updated: 8:07 PM, Apr 04, 2023
By: Phil Williams
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton said Tuesday he supports the expulsion of three Democrats who engaged in a protest against gun violence on the House floor.
But pressed on claims that the trio were intending to "incite violence," the Republican leader admitted he had no such evidence.
The unusual protest on the House floor last week followed the mass shooting at The Covenant School that left three nine-year-old children dead, along with three school employees. But instead of debating solutions, on Thursday, the Republican-controlled House will consider the expulsion of the three Democrats.
"They're the ones that has done something that's never happened, and they are the ones that pulled out a megaphone on the House floor and led the protest to the gallery, which shut us down," Sexton told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
We pressed, "What is your opinion? Should they be expelled?"
"My opinion," Sexton responded, "is they should be expelled."
Democrats Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson took to the House floor last Thursday, with a bullhorn in hand, to protest the Tennessee General Assembly's lack of action on gun laws.
"They did, in the chamber with other members, break every rule that we almost have — props, how they act, decorum, not being recognized, taking over the assembly, causing us to have to shut down to take a recess because of their actions," Sexton continued.
While the House Speaker insisted he has no problem with the protests that were occurring outside the House chamber, he has claimed the three Democrats were trying to "incite violence."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates noted, "There's no doubt they were disruptive. But what's the evidence they were trying to incite violence?"
"Well," Sexton answered, "they were trying to jazz people up."
"But incite violence?"
Sexton answered, "When we had representatives go to the restroom, they got spit on."
Still, we wanted to know, "Do you have any evidence that these three members were encouraging protesters to spit on members or troopers?"
The Speaker's response: "I mean you can't prove that."
On talk radio, he went even further: "What they did today was equivalent, at least equivalent, maybe worse, depending on how you look at it, of doing an insurrection in the Capitol."
Potentially worse than an attack that left more than a hundred police officers injured and the U.S. Capitol heavily damaged?
"An insurrection is a revolt against civil authority, an act or revolt against civil authority," Sexton explained.
We pressed, "But a lot of people, Speaker, look at this and say it's not fair to say that was worse than Jan. 6th, when so many officers were attacked, when people were injured, when people were afraid of their lives."
"Like I said," he explained, "that quote did not say absolutely it was worse. It said it could be."
On Monday night, an encounter between Justin Jones and Republican Justin Lafferty led to a physical exchange when Lafferty was accused of assaulting the Democratic member.
Video obtained by NewsChannel 5 shows a melee on the House floor where lawmakers had to be pulled apart.
Outside the chambers, protesters called out Sexton by name, chanting: "Speaker Sexton has got to go."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked him, "Do you bear any responsibility for turning up the heat?"
Sexton answered, "How did I turn up the heat?"
We noted that he tweeted out video of the protest on the House floor, tagging FoxNews, Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump and others.
We noted, "That doesn't look like someone who's trying to turn down the temperature."
"No," Sexton answered, "what that is allowing people to see what's going on on the inside."
Regardless of your opinion on whether the protest was justified or not, one thing is clear: As lawmakers debate how to respond to The Covenant School shooting, any explusions of Democrats will give the Republican supermajority an even greater advantage.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates observed, "If they are expelled, that's about 200,000 Tennesseans who will not have representation on this upcoming debate. Are you comfortable with that?"
Sexton said, "Their actions made that happen."
The Speaker said that he doesn't see any potential for compromise as long as Democrats refused to admit that there was anything wrong with that protest.
Still, Republican Sam Whitson of Franklin has warned that expulsion may be an overreaction that will turn the three Democrats into martyrs.
There is a movie, which I believe is Afghan, in which the women of a village decide to abstain from having sex with their husbands until they get what they want (I can't make a search with those words and not get porn sites, and I can't recall if it is indeed Afghan). The men eventually cave in, but not without some very serious issues happening (it is not TOTALLY a comedy).
Maybe time for American women to tell American men to drop this crap or... ?
There is a movie, which I believe is Afghan, in which the women of a village decide to abstain from having sex with their husbands until they get what they want (I can't make a search with those words and not get porn sites, and I can't recall if it is indeed Afghan). The men eventually cave in, but not without some very serious issues happening (it is not TOTALLY a comedy).
Maybe time for American women to tell American men to drop this crap or... ?
It is the plot of Lysistrata by Aristophanes. The flawed logic there is that women are punishing men only and not also themselves in this situation, it is a position that upholds the patriarchy.
by ti-amieKentucky Governor Says a Close Friend Was Killed in Downtown Louisville Mass Shooting
The shooter is dead though under what circumstances was unclear Monday morning
By Noreen O'Donnell • Published 5 hours ago • Updated 45 mins ago
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said a close friend was killed in the shooting at the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville Monday morning and another was hospitalized.
“I have a very close friend that didn't make it today,” Beshear said, his voice breaking. “And one who's at the hospital that I hope is going to make it through.”
Earlier Beshear thought two of his friends had been killed, but later learned one had survived.
Beshear said that he banked in the building and that he ran his campaign for attorney general from it. Beshear, a Democrat, served as the state's attorney general before being elected governor in 2019.
At least four people were killed in the shooting and another nine were taken to the University of Louisville Hospital, one of them a police officer, according to Louisville police.
The shooter is also died though under what circumstances was not clear Monday morning.
“So when we talk about praying, I hope people will, for those that we are hoping can make it through the surgeries that they're going through,” Beshear said.
He urged people who needed help to reach out.
“There are a lot of people that are hurting today and if we have a place to focus our energy, I hope it is to surround them with the love and the compassion that we have been so good at showing one another,” he said.
“Our bodies and our minds are not meant to go through these types of tragedies,” he said.
by ponchi101 Kentucky has a dem governor?
Thoughts and prayers. Like aspirin for a brain tumor.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by mmmm8 We have a big office in downtown Louisville and it's not a very large city, so this was one of those cases where I had to hold my breath looking at the victim list - no one I knew (but still waiting for the list of injured).
Between what's happening in Ukraine, in Russia, and the gun violence in the US, some terrorist acts in Europe, and a few natural disasters, I feel like I've been perusing victim and arrest lists at least once a month for like 15 years now, and not always with a successful outcome. I'd have like to live a life where I almost never had to do that.
by ponchi101 Won't thank you for that post, M8, for obvious reasons, and can only offer you some faraway sympathy and friendship. It must be very difficult (and you have stated your partner is Venezuelan, so that adds some pressure to the mix).
by ti-amie
mmmm8 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 10, 2023 9:13 pm
We have a big office in downtown Louisville and it's not a very large city, so this was one of those cases where I had to hold my breath looking at the victim list - no one I knew (but still waiting for the list of injured).
Between what's happening in Ukraine, in Russia, and the gun violence in the US, some terrorist acts in Europe, and a few natural disasters, I feel like I've been perusing victim and arrest lists at least once a month for like 15 years now, and not always with a successful outcome. I'd have like to live a life where I almost never had to do that.
I thanked you because what the Governor of Kentucky said, choking back tears, is all of us. Whenever we hear about one of these we hold our breath until we know where, and go from there. I'm sorry you've had to go through this M8.
by mmmm8 Thanks, both - I know this is part of many people's realities, so don't mean to put forth a "woe me" story. I think part of this is just an unfortunate tradeoff of living in large cities and being part of a global community (including this one). Those who have a, so to speak, smaller world around them have fewer risks like this but, I would argue, have a less rich life.
by Owendonovan I don't think there's a number of gun deaths large enough to change the minds of republicans in the pocket of the NRA.
by ti-amie
Poor guy. /s
by ponchi101 How much would it be an infringement on your rights if, in your application and job interview, you were asked "Do you own guns?"
Just to know when you fire the person and he returns for payback.
3/4-serious question.
by ti-amie Dr. Jack Brown :verified:
@DrJackBrown@mstdn.social
BREAKING: Republican Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee announced he will sign an executive order to strengthen firearm background checks. He also claims he will call for lawmakers to pass Red Flag Laws.
by ponchi101 Honor where honor is due. Good for this governor (I have no idea who he is).
by Deuce Meanwhile, they are still getting the media attention they are so desperate for.
This Louisville guy even 'livestreamed' his bank attack on facebook, apparently - thus ONCE AGAIN CONFIRMING that the attention these people get is a major motivating factor in these things.
And around and around it goes. With every event like this that happens and is plastered all over the media, it incites probably at least 100 other disturbed people to think seriously about doing something similar.
The powers that be don't want to stop these things from happening. If they wanted to stop them, they would take steps to stop them - tighter gun laws would be one such necessary step. Preventing the media from reporting these events would be another very necessary step - and is just as important as tightening gun laws.
by Owendonovan So the shooter had multiple concussions from football before high school. That's a version of child abuse to me. I call football the brain injury game at my school. I also call it an asinine, irresponsible, toxic, way to prove your masculinity in America. I find absolutely no honor in the game. I try and direct students away from it.
by ponchi101 But.
The fact that he had multiple concussions from football does not necessarily mean they were related to his actions. There must be many people in the USA that have had such concussions and yet they do not go on shooting rampages.
The points you make about football are valid, but this case may be an outlier. It is like the shooting in which the shooter was trans. It was the first shooting in which the shooter was so; therefore, making a correlation was not truly valid.
by mmmm8
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:02 am
But.
The fact that he had multiple concussions from football does not necessarily mean they were related to his actions. There must be many people in the USA that have had such concussions and yet they do not go on shooting rampages.
The points you make about football are valid, but this case may be an outlier. It is like the shooting in which the shooter was trans. It was the first shooting in which the shooter was so; therefore, making a correlation was not truly valid.
To Owen's point, while this particular outcome is an outlier, the incidence of brain injury in former football players is absolutely beyond what should be acceptable and one of the documented symptoms of CTE is personality change.
by ponchi101 But then we are talking football, not mass murderers.
I agree about football. I like the sport, I follow it. But, if tomorrow, due to medical evidence and these data about CTE, football is banned from being played, I would understand and accept it. The price so many of the players pay is steep, so say the least.
by ti-amie The case of the late NFL player Aaron Hernandez via Wiki
During the 2013 offseason, Hernandez was arrested and charged for the murder of Lloyd, a semi-professional player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancée. Following his arrest, Hernandez was immediately released by the Patriots. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.[5] While on trial for Lloyd's murder, Hernandez was also indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado; he was acquitted after a 2017 trial.
Days after being acquitted of the double homicide, Hernandez was found dead in his cell, which was ruled a suicide. His conviction for Lloyd's murder was initially vacated under the doctrine of abatement ab initio because Hernandez died during its appeal,[6] but was reinstated in 2019 following an appeal from prosecutors and Lloyd's family.[7] Hernandez was posthumously diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has led to speculation over how the condition may have affected his behavior.[8]
by ti-amieArrest made in classified documents leak
From Live Update:
A member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard was arrested Thursday afternoon in the investigation into leaks of hundreds of pages of classified military intelligence to an online group of young friends. In brief remarks at the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Jack Teixeira was arrested “without incident” by FBI agents on allegations of “alleged unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of classified national defense information.”
Teixeira told members of an online group called Thug Shaker Central that he worked as a technology support staffer for the Guard and at a base on Cape Cod and that this was how he was able to access classified documents, one member of Discord, an online platform popular with gamers, told The Washington Post.
United by their mutual love of guns, military gear and God, a group of roughly two dozen — mostly men and boys — formed an invitation-only clubhouse in 2020 on Discord.
President Biden earlier Thursday downplayed the fallout from secrets that have exposed U.S. spying on allies and revealed the grim prospects for Ukraine’s war with Russia, among other things.
Suspect had access to internal Defense Department computer network, official says
By Shane Harris
Dighton police cars block Maple Street in North Dighton, Mass., half a mile from the house where Airman Jack Teixeira was arrested for sharing classified documents. (Kylie Cooper for The Washington Post)
Jack Teixeira, who was arrested in the leaks of classified military intelligence, served in a junior position, but he had access to an internal Defense Department computer network for top secret information, called the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System.
That’s according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the investigation proceeds.
That access would have allowed Teixeira to read and potentially to print documents classified at the same level as many of the leaked documents.
It’s not clear what level of security clearance Teixeira possesses. But the JWICS system generally requires clearances for signals intelligence and classified imagery, and the leaked documents contain that type of information.
by ti-amieDiscord member details how documents leaked from closed chat group
THE DISCORD LEAKS | The online group that received hundreds of pages of classified material included foreigners, members tell The Post
By Shane Harris and Samuel Oakford
April 12, 2023 at 9:36 p.m. EDT
The man behind a massive leak of U.S. government secrets that has exposed spying on allies, revealed the grim prospects for Ukraine’s war with Russia and ignited diplomatic fires for the White House is a young, charismatic gun enthusiast who shared highly classified documents with a group of far-flung acquaintances searching for companionship amid the isolation of the pandemic.
United by their mutual love of guns, military gear and God, the group of roughly two dozen — mostly men and boys — formed an invitation-only clubhouse in 2020 on Discord, an online platform popular with gamers. But they paid little attention last year when the man some call “OG” posted a message laden with strange acronyms and jargon. The words were unfamiliar, and few people read the long note, one of the members explained. But he revered OG, the elder leader of their tiny tribe, who claimed to know secrets that the government withheld from ordinary people.
The young member read OG’s message closely, and the hundreds more that he said followed on a regular basis for months. They were, he recalled, what appeared to be near-verbatim transcripts of classified intelligence documents that OG indicated he had brought home from his job on a “military base,” which the member declined to identify. OG claimed he spent at least some of his day inside a secure facility that prohibited cellphones and other electronic devices, which could be used to document the secret information housed on government computer networks or spooling out from printers. He annotated some of the hand-typed documents, the member said, translating arcane intel-speak for the uninitiated, such as explaining that “NOFORN” meant the information in the document was so sensitive it must not be shared with foreign nationals.
OG told the group he toiled for hours writing up the classified documents to share with his companions in the Discord server he controlled. The gathering spot had been a pandemic refuge, particularly for teen gamers locked in their houses and cut off from their real-world friends. The members swapped memes, offensive jokes and idle chitchat. They watched movies together, joked around and prayed. But OG also lectured them about world affairs and secretive government operations. He wanted to “keep us in the loop,” the member said, and seemed to think that his insider knowledge would offer the others protection from the troubled world around them.
“He’s a smart person. He knew what he was doing when he posted these documents, of course. These weren’t accidental leaks of any kind,” the member said.
The transcribed documents OG posted traversed a range of sensitive subjects that only people who had undergone months-long background checks would be authorized to see. There were top-secret reports about the whereabouts and movements of high-ranking political leaders and tactical updates on military forces, the member said. Geopolitical analysis. Insights into foreign governments’ efforts to interfere with elections. “If you could think it, it was in those documents.”
In those initial posts, OG had given his fellow members a small sip of the torrent of secrets that was to come. When rendering hundreds of classified files by hand proved too tiresome, he began posting hundreds of photos of documents themselves, an astonishing cache of secrets that has been steadily spilling into public view over the past week, disrupting U.S. foreign policy and aggravating America’s allies.
This account of how detailed intelligence documents intended for an exclusive circle of military leaders and government decision-makers found their way into and then out of OG’s closed community is based in part on several lengthy interviews with the Discord group member, who spoke to The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. He is under 18 and was a young teenager when he met OG. The Post obtained consent from the member’s mother to speak to him and to record his remarks on video. He asked that his voice not be obscured.
His account was corroborated by a second member who read many of the same classified documents shared by OG, and who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. Both members said they know OG’s real name as well as the state where he lives and works but declined to share that information while the FBI is hunting for the source of the leaks. The investigation is in its early stages, and the Pentagon has set up its own internal review led by a senior official.
“An interagency effort has been stood up, focused on assessing the impact these photographed documents could have on U.S. national security and on our Allies and partners,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.
Discord said in a statement that it is cooperating with law enforcement and has declined to comment further.
The Post also reviewed approximately 300 photos of classified documents, most of which have not been made public; some of the text documents OG is said to have written out; an audio recording of a man the two group members identified as OG speaking to his companions; and chat records and photographs that show OG communicating with them on the Discord server.
The young member was impressed by OG’s seemingly prophetic ability to forecast major events before they became headline news, things “only someone with this kind of high clearance” would know. He was by his own account enthralled with OG, who he said was in his early to mid-20s.
“He’s fit. He’s strong. He’s armed. He’s trained. Just about everything you can expect out of some sort of crazy movie,” the member said.
In a video seen by The Post, the man who the member said is OG stands at a shooting range, wearing safety glasses and ear coverings and holding a large rifle. He yells a series of racial and antisemitic slurs into the camera, then fires several rounds at a target.
The member seemed drawn to OG’s bravado and his skill with weapons. He felt a certain kinship with a man he described as “like an uncle” and, on another occasion, as a father figure.
“I was one of the very few people in the server that was able to understand that these [documents] were legitimate,” the member said, setting himself apart from the others who mostly ignored OG’s posts.
“It felt like I was on top of Mount Everest,” he said. “I felt like I was above everyone else to some degree and that … I knew stuff that they didn’t.”
‘A tightknit family’
The member met OG about four years ago, on a different server for fans of Oxide, a popular YouTuber who streams videos about guns, body armor and military hardware. He said a group of avid members found the server too crowded and wanted a quieter place to talk about video game tactics, so they broke off into their own, small group.
More like-minded Oxide fans joined the private Discord server, which came to be named “Thug Shaker Central,” and whose membership OG would effectively control as the administrator.
“We all grew very close to each other, like a tightknit family,” the member said. “We depended on each other.” He said that other members, and OG especially, counseled him during bouts of depression and helped to steady him emotionally. “There was no lack of love for each other.”
OG was the undisputed leader. The member described him as “strict.” He enforced a “pecking order” and expected the others to read closely the classified information he had shared. When their attention waned, he got angry.
Late last year, a peeved OG fired off a message to all the members of the server. He had spent nearly an hour every day writing up “these long and drawn-out posts in which he’d often add annotations and explanations for stuff that we normal citizens would not understand,” the member said. His would-be pupils were more interested in YouTube videos about battle gear.
“He got upset, and he said on multiple occasions, if you guys aren’t going to interact with them, I’m going to stop sending them.”
That’s when OG changed tactics. Rather than spend his time copying documents by keyboard, he took photographs of the genuine articles and dropped them in the server. These were more vivid and arresting documents than the plain text renderings. Some featured detailed charts of battlefield conditions in Ukraine and highly classified satellite images of the aftermath of Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian electrical facilities. Others sketched the potential trajectory of North Korean ballistic nuclear missiles that could reach the United States. Another featured photographs of the Chinese spy balloon that floated across the country in February, snapped from eye-level, probably by a U-2 spy plane, along with a diagram of the balloon and the surveillance technology attached to it.
OG shared several documents a week, beginning late last year. Posting pictures to the server took less time. But it also exposed OG to greater risk. In the background of some images, they could see items and furniture that they recognized from the room where OG spoke to them via video on the Discord channel — the kind of clues that could prove useful for federal investigators.
The dramatic and yet nonchalant presentation also reminded the group that OG could lay his hands on some of the most closely guarded intelligence in the U.S. government. “If you had classified documents, you’d want to flex at least a little bit, like hey, I’m the big guy,” the member said. “There is a little bit of showing off to friends, but as well as wanting to keep us informed.”
In a sense, OG had created a virtual mirror image of the secretive facility where he spent his working hours. Inside the Discord server, he was the ultimate arbiter of secrecy, and he allowed his companions to read truths that “normal citizens” could not.
A breach of secrecy
The photographs of printed secret documents now seen by millions may offer clues to the federal agents searching for OG. Reality Winner, who leaked secret National Security Agency documents to the news website the Intercept in 2017, was compromised by secret markings on printouts that helped narrow the search. OG’s documents look to have been printed on ordinary paper and were creased after having been folded in four. Sometimes, the photographs OG took of the documents appeared to have been taken over a bed. Items such as Gorilla Glue, a scope manual and nail clippers appeared in the margins. Other previously unreported images reviewed by The Post showed printed documents lying on top of a glowing red keyboard.
The breadth of the military and intelligence reports was extensive. For months, OG regularly uploaded page after page of classified U.S. assessments, offering a window into how deeply American intelligence had penetrated the Russian military, showing that Egypt had planned to sell Russia tens of thousands of rockets and suggesting that Russian mercenaries had approached Turkey, a NATO ally, to buy weapons to fight against Ukraine.
At least one of the documents appeared to have been printed from Intellipedia, a data-sharing system that intelligence agencies use to collaborate and post reports and articles.
The documents were another lesson for younger members in how OG thought the world really worked. The member said OG wasn’t hostile to the U.S. government, and he insisted that he was not working on behalf of any country’s interests. “He is not a Russian operative. He is not a Ukrainian operative,” the member said. The room on the server where he posted the documents was called “bear-vs-pig,” meant to be a snide jab at Russia and Ukraine, and an indication that OG took no sides in the conflict.
But OG had a dark view of the government. The young member said he spoke of the United States, and particularly law enforcement and the intelligence community, as a sinister force that sought to suppress its citizens and keep them in the dark. He ranted about “government overreach.”
OG told his online companions that the government hid horrible truths from the public. He claimed, according to the members, that the government knew in advance that a white supremacist intended to go on a shooting rampage at a Buffalo supermarket in May 2022. The attack left 10 dead, all of them Black, and wounded three more. OG said federal law enforcement officials let the killings proceed so they could argue for increased funding, a baseless notion that the member said he believes and considers an example of OG’s penetrating insights about the depth of government corruption.
OG’s group itself had a dark side. The Discord server’s eventual name, Thug Shaker Central, was a racist allusion, and signaled to members that they were free to hurl epithets and crude jokes. The young member expressed some regret for their behavior but seemed to shrug off the offensive remarks as a clumsy attempt at humor.
It was not “a fascist recruiting server,” he told The Post.
One thing the members were not supposed to do was talk about the secrets OG had shared with them, including the classified documents.
“Most people in the server were smart enough as to kind of realize that … they shouldn’t be posted anywhere else,” the member said. And yet, the group contained foreign citizens — including from Russia and Ukraine, the members said — a defiance of the NOFORN warning printed across the top of so many documents OG shared.
The member estimated that the server hosted people from Europe, Asia and South America. “Just about every walk of life.” Of the roughly 25 active members who had access to the bear-vs-pig channel, about half were located overseas, the member said. The ones who seemed most interested in the classified material claimed to be from mostly “Eastern Bloc and those post-Soviet countries,” he said. “The Ukrainians had interest as well,” which the member chalked up to interest in the war ravaging their homeland.
For years, U.S. counterintelligence officials have eyed gaming platforms as a magnet for spies. Russian intelligence operatives have been suspected of befriending gamers who they believe work for intelligence agencies and encouraging them to divulge classified information, a senior U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information.
It’s not clear whether any of those efforts have been successful. But if foreign operatives finagled an invitation to OG’s server, they would have been free to view the documents and make copies of them, as some members did.
The server sprouts a leak
All winter, OG uploaded documents to the server. No one talked about sharing them elsewhere. Then, unbeknown to the group, on Feb. 28, another teenage user from the Thug Shaker Central server began posting several dozen photographs showing classified documents on another Discord server affiliated with the YouTuber “wow_mao.” Some of the documents offered detailed assessments of Ukraine’s defense capabilities and showed how far U.S. intelligence could see into Russia’s military command.
On March 4, 10 documents appeared on “Minecraft Earth Map,” a Discord server focused on the popular video game. A user operating the account that posted the smaller tranche of images told The Post they obtained them on wow_mao.
Secret and top-secret documents were now available to thousands of Discord users, but the leak wouldn’t come to the attention of U.S. authorities for another month. Meanwhile, OG stopped sharing images in the middle of March. On April 5, classified documents assessing the war in Ukraine were posted on Russian Telegram channels and the message board platform 4chan, and began migrating to Twitter. One image, showing a March 1 Ukraine status update, had been crudely doctored to inflate the number of Ukrainian casualties and downplay those on the Russian side.
The next day, shortly before the New York Times first reported on the leak, OG came into the server “frantic, which is unusual for him,” the member said.
“He said something had happened, and he prayed to God that this event would not happen. … But now it’s in God’s hands.”
Not a whistleblower
For all OG’s disdain for the federal government, the member said there was no indication that he was acting in what he thought was the public interest by exposing official secrets. The classified documents were intended only to benefit his online family, the member said.
“I would definitely not call him a whistleblower. I would not call OG a whistleblower in the slightest,” he said, resisting comparisons to Edward Snowden, who shared classified documents about government surveillance with journalists.
Remarkably, the member said he has been in touch with OG in the past few days, even as an FBI manhunt is underway and the Pentagon launches its own inquiry into the leaks. After shuttering the Thug Shaker Central server, OG moved the community to another server to communicate with his online family.
He “seemed very confused and lost as to what to do,” the member said. “He’s fully aware of what’s happening and what the consequences may be. He’s just not sure on how to go about solving this situation. … He seems pretty distraught about it.”
In his final message to his companions, OG admonished them to “keep low and delete any information that could possibly relate to him,” the member said. That included any copies of the classified documents OG had shared.
When it dawned on them that OG was in grave peril and intended to disappear, the members of Thug Shaker Central “full-on sobbed and cried,” the young member said. “It is like losing a family member.”
In hours of interviews, he continued to express admiration and loyalty to a man who may have endangered his young followers by allowing them to see and possess classified information, exposing them to potential federal crimes.
“I figured he would not be putting us in any sort of harm’s way,” the member said.
The exposure of the documents has severed friendships and cut him off from the man who buoyed his confidence and made him feel safe. The member said that the stress of the loss, coupled with the enormity of the leaks, has left him worried and sleepless.
Now he says he believes that the world should see the secrets OG passed along to a tiny group. He argued that the public deserves to know how intelligence agencies spend their tax dollars, and was particularly outraged that the documents show U.S. surveillance of foreign allies.
But what the young man regarded as a revelation will come as no surprise to the countries whose officials the U.S. has been monitoring for decades. While rarely discussed, and embarrassing for Washington when exposed, it’s widely understood that the U.S. intelligence community monitors many friendly governments, just as foreign allies try to do the same.
Thousands of military personnel and government employees around OG’s age, working entry-to-low-level positions, could plausibly have access to classified documents like the ones he allegedly shared, according to U.S. officials and experts who have seen the documents reported in the media. Despite what his young followers thought, OG would have had no special knowledge compared with his peers. He possessed no special power to predict events. Rather, he appears to have persuaded some highly impressionable teenagers that he’s a modern-day gamer meets Jason Bourne.
The member said he’s confident the authorities will find OG. But when they do, he won’t be charged. Instead, he believes, OG will be imprisoned without due process at Guantánamo Bay or disappeared to a “black site,” if he’s not “assassinated” for what he knows.
The member, as well as the OG follower who corroborated his account, found no fault in their leader’s actions and instead said they blame the teen who posted the documents on the wow_mao server for wrecking their community.
“Maybe we should have had better opsec,” the member said, harnessing the jargon of military and intelligence personnel for “operations security.”
He said he will not divulge OG’s identity or location to law enforcement until he is captured or can flee the United States. “I think I might be detained eventually. … I think there might be a short investigation on how I knew this guy, and they’ll try to get something out of me. They might try to threaten me with prison time if I don’t reveal their identity.”
To date, no federal law enforcement officials have contacted the young group member. Asked why he was prepared to help OG even at the risk of his own freedom, the young man replied without hesitation: “He was my best friend.”
by ti-amie Mike Masnick
@mmasnick@mastodon.social
So for over a week now Elon Musk's circle of friends have been going on and on insisting that Bob Lee's killer was obviously an unhoused individual and blaming the city for not jailing more people.
Now, it turns out that the guy who killed him was another tech exec who knew him, and they were originally in a car together.
by ponchi101 About the classified materials leak.
How thorough is the screening process to join any of the branches of the military? I know, you are not going to make it so tough that nobody passes, but as you climb up the ladder, should there not be revisions?
I am talking out of ignorance here, as I know very little about the US military, but how come a guy like this had access to the material?
by ti-amie I don't understand how a 21 year old, unproven, untested, and in the national guard of his state gets access to this type of material.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 2:02 am
But.
The fact that he had multiple concussions from football does not necessarily mean they were related to his actions. There must be many people in the USA that have had such concussions and yet they do not go on shooting rampages.
The points you make about football are valid, but this case may be an outlier. It is like the shooting in which the shooter was trans. It was the first shooting in which the shooter was so; therefore, making a correlation was not truly valid.
Yes, I didn't mean to draw a direct line, it's more a reference pointing towards what we know about the myriad effects multiple concussions to people (especially a child who is growing) have. It's an avenue I would likely go down early in my investigation if I was one who investigated this.
Was this a flash flood or is this a picture of the stupidity many a Florida resident driver posses? The cars all seem to be randomly scattered about.
by mmmm8
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:07 pm
Mike Masnick
@mmasnick@mastodon.social
So for over a week now Elon Musk's circle of friends have been going on and on insisting that Bob Lee's killer was obviously an unhoused individual and blaming the city for not jailing more people.
Now, it turns out that the guy who killed him was another tech exec who knew him, and they were originally in a car together.
I know murder is not funny, but a friend appropriately labeled this "tech bro on tech bro crime"
by mmmm8
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 10:07 pm
Mike Masnick
@mmasnick@mastodon.social
So for over a week now Elon Musk's circle of friends have been going on and on insisting that Bob Lee's killer was obviously an unhoused individual and blaming the city for not jailing more people.
Now, it turns out that the guy who killed him was another tech exec who knew him, and they were originally in a car together.
Was this a flash flood or is this a picture of the stupidity many a Florida resident driver posses? The cars all seem to be randomly scattered about.
Most likely taken after the waters dropped, and those cars may have been floating a bit. Hence the spreading.
by ti-amie More on Jack Teixeira
Erin Banco
@ErinBanco
These docs show the FBI knew about Jack's identity since Wednesday. And we know the government began investigating last week. It doesn't appear from these documents or our reporting that anyone was aware long before that.
by ponchi101 Life in prison for this idiot?
(Asking, not proposing it).
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 8:13 pm
Life in prison for this idiot?
(Asking, not proposing it).
Leavenworth is nice this time of year so I'm hearing. I'm not sure if it's Gitmo or Super Max quality though.
Leavenworth is nice this time of year so I'm hearing. I'm not sure if it's Gitmo or Super Max quality though.
Who were the (now deleted) Tweets about?
Sorry I don't have anyway to find out. I'll delete the post.
They were from someone who had a TS clearance at an early age and who grew up with people who worked in the intelligence community. He said that in his experience clearances were taken very seriously. I guess he thought about it and took the tweets down.
by ti-amie Ed Krassenstein
@EdKrassen
Republicans are now trying to compare the honorable Alexander Vindman to the Traitor Jack Teixeira. Don't fall for their false comparison.
FACTS: While Teixeira deliberately leaked top secret national security documents in order to appear "cool" to his friends, Vindman went through the proper whistleblower protocol in order to provide legitimate evidence in an impeachment hearing.
Everything that Vindman did was completely legal while everything that Teixeira did was completely illegal.
It's funny how Republicans are siding with the illegal actor and attacking the legal actor.
by Owendonovan Re: Teixeira. The people who say "I never would have thought he would do something like this" don't pay attention to the world they live in. A young, loner, gun, military, and god obsessed white man never piqued any kind of expectation, with these people who knew him, of his capabilities given he is exactly who typically commits crimes like this as well as mass shootings? Huh?
by JazzNU I'm mildly shocked that DeSantis is on the non-campaign trail (since he's not running for anything of course) in Virginia and New Hampshire today and not in Florida since his state is underwater. There's a lot of cameras on Florida right now and he loves attention.
by JazzNU I think this is probably more National News than Tech News, but not sure.
by ti-amie Can this be enforced?
by Owendonovan There may be some spyware out of Israel that can.
by patrick
JazzNU wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 1:11 am
I'm mildly shocked that DeSantis is on the non-campaign trail (since he's not running for anything of course) in Virginia and New Hampshire today and not in Florida since his state is underwater. There's a lot of cameras on Florida right now and he loves attention.
That’s his mojo. Asking him to stay in FL during flooding is not in his DNA. He did sneak to Tallahassee to sign 6 week abortion ban then moved on to VA wasting FL tax payer dollars
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 1:58 am
Can this be enforced?
First thing that I thought. A cop comes over. He tells you to show him your phone, to check for tik-tok. In how many ways can you tell him to F.O?
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sat Apr 15, 2023 1:58 am
Can this be enforced?
As of right now, I don't believe so. Apparently the drafters of the legislation, smart cookies that they are, came up with the law with no feasible way to enforce it. Assuming they are telling the truth, tech people said there isn't a way to geo-block on a state by state basis, if it's offered in the US, they can't just ban it in Montana. There are fines attached that make it seem a bit like a money grab, basically fining Google, Apple, and Amazon and any other app store $10k a day for offering the app for download in the state. I doubt any of it will be enforceable, so this seems rather performative. But we'll see.
There are no fines attached to users.
This has nothing to do with Montana government phones, by the way. That move was already made by the governor there in line with many other states to make sure there is limited access to more sensitive information.
by ti-amie
The Arrest of Jack Teixeira Reveals New Security Challenges | Time
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by Deuce This is incredible.
Absolutely mind bogglingly pathetic...
This is wrong on every conceivable level:
Several incompetent cops who don't know how to read a simple street address...
Several incompetent cops who find it humorous that they don't know how to read a simple street address...
Several incompetent cops who don't announce themselves loudly and clearly when they had several opportunities to do so...
Seemingly regular citizens with children who live in fear to the point of having a gun in the house...
Seemingly regular citizens with children who answer their door with gun in hand...
It's beyond sad that this type of situation occurs so regularly in the U.S. that the majority have become immune and indifferent to them.
I wish Americans could understand how absolutely foreign and out of this world and crazy situations like the one in the link below, the perpetual mass killings, the constant neverending spotlight on politics, having someone like Trump elected president, etc., etc. are to us Canadians who live in a comparatively civilized country.
by Owendonovan Frankly, I'm a little surprised certain Americans haven't targeted members of the NRA for elimination, but then those who are against the NRA aren't the violent type. I place the violence in America squarely on the shoulders of republicans and their grotesque priorities and policies.
I have no protection in my gym against an active shooter, I would have to go outside to lock the door. I walk by projects that often have "shots detected" on my citizen app (machetes are an oddly popular weapon that shows up on that app). My husband saw a woman get clocked on the subway for no reason the other day. There's at least 3 painfully mentally ill people who wander my neighborhood daily.
I'm neither immune nor indifferent, I vote against the violence, I make noise at work regarding my safety. I'm fully cognizant of the perception of America as are all us Americans on this forum are. Don't lump us into that pot of ignorant Americans you speak of, please.
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 1:08 pm
Frankly, I'm a little surprised certain Americans haven't targeted members of the NRA for elimination, but then those who are against the NRA aren't the violent type. I place the violence in America squarely on the shoulders of republicans and their grotesque priorities and policies.
^ Easy and very cliche to blame 'republicans'.
Senseless violence and a penchant for guns have existed in the U.S. as a nucleus for a long, long time. It's got no more to do with republicans than it has to do with democrats - it's just an extremely dysfunctional mindset that is passed on from generation to generation via various means - family, friends, media, etc. and has come to be expected.
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 1:08 pm
I walk by projects that often have "shots detected" on my citizen app (machetes are an oddly popular weapon that shows up on that app).
^ Wow.
Just Wow.
'Shots detected' on a 'citizen app'... That is so incredibly sad... This is exactly the kind of thing that I'm referring to that the majority of Americans seem to view as being perfectly normal, but which is so foreign to us Canadians that when we hear of things like this, we see it as being completely ridiculous and tragic.
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 1:08 pm
I'm neither immune nor indifferent, I vote against the violence, I make noise at work regarding my safety. I'm fully cognizant of the perception of America as are all us Americans on this forum are. Don't lump us into that pot of ignorant Americans you speak of, please.
^ What I mean is that they're the kind of things that Americans see as being normal because they are so used to them happening - whereas in Canada, the same things would be seen with incredible and absolute shock.
by ti-amieF.B.I. Arrests Two on Charges Tied to Chinese Police Outpost in New York
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged the men with conspiring with the Chinese government and destroying evidence.
By William K. Rashbaum and Karen Zraick
April 17, 2023
Updated 7:45 p.m. ET
Breon S. Peace, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the charges in a news conference on Monday.Credit...Andrew Seng for The New York Times
For years, thousands of New Yorkers and tourists have walked past an unassuming office building in Lower Manhattan. On Monday, federal prosecutors unsealed criminal charges accusing two men of helping run an unauthorized Chinese police outpost there, one of more than 100 around the globe used to intimidate and control China’s citizens abroad, and to stamp out criticism of the ruling Communist Party.
The two men were arrested on Monday and charged with conspiring to act as agents of the Chinese government, and with obstructing justice. They are said to have used the police outpost to intimidate Chinese dissidents living in the United States, on China’s behalf.
Charges were also unveiled in two related cases: one against 34 Chinese police officers accused of harassing Chinese nationals who lived in the New York area, and another against eight Chinese officials accused of directing a Zoom employee based in China to remove dissidents from the platform.
The Manhattan police outpost, court papers say, was overseen by the Fuzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, a branch of China’s Ministry of Public Security. It is one of scores of such operations around the world that have unnerved diplomats and intelligence officials.
The case represents the first time criminal charges have been brought in connection with such a police outpost, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn.
The charges against the men, Lu Jianwang, 61, also known as Harry Lu, and Chen Jinping, 59, grew out of an investigation by the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney’s office into the outpost, which conducted its operations without jurisdiction or diplomatic approval.
“Today’s charges are a crystal clear response to the P.R.C. that we are onto you, we know what you’re doing and we will stop it from happening in the United States of America,” Breon S. Peace, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn said, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China. “We don’t need or want a secret police station in our great city.”
Officials described all three cases as being part of a worldwide effort to suppress criticism of China’s government.
“The People’s Republic of China, through its Ministry of Public Security, has engaged in a multifront campaign to extend the reach and impact of its authoritarian system into the United States and elsewhere around the world,” said David Newman, the Justice Department’s top national security official in Washington.
F.B.I. counterintelligence agents searched the police outpost, located on the third floor of a nondescript glass-sheathed building at 107 East Broadway, as part of their investigation last fall.
The six-story office building, on a bustling street on the edge of Chinatown in Lower Manhattan lined with restaurants, seafood shops, electronics stores and other businesses, also houses an acupuncturist, an engineering company and an accounting firm.
The search amounted to an escalation in the global dispute over China’s efforts to police its diaspora far beyond its borders.
Officials in Ireland, Canada and the Netherlands have called on China to shut down similar operations in their countries. The F.B.I. raid in New York was the first known example of authorities seizing materials from one of the outposts.
Mr. Lu and Mr. Chen were charged with obstruction of justice and accused of destroying text messages between themselves and their handler at the Ministry of Public Security in October 2022, around the time of the F.B.I. search.
They were also charged with conspiring to act as agents of the People’s Republic of China without registering with the Justice Department, as the law requires.
The charges were announced Monday at a news conference in Brooklyn by Mr. Peace, Mr. Newman, and Michael Driscoll, the F.B.I. assistant director who leads the New York office.
Mr. Lu, who is also known as Harry Lu, lives in the Bronx and maintains a residence in China. Mr. Chen lives in Manhattan. Both men are American citizens and were released on bail after appearances before a magistrate judge on Monday afternoon.
Relatives of the men declined to comment. A court-appointed lawyer for Mr. Chen, Susan G. Kellman, said that he worked as a home health aide and owned no property to use as collateral.
In 2018 IRS filings, Mr. Lu was listed as the president of a nonprofit organization called the America Changle Association NY, whose offices housed the police outpost.
A criminal complaint unsealed on Monday said that the group was formed in 2013 and lists its charitable mission as a “social gathering place” for people from the Chinese city of Fuzhou. The complaint says Mr. Lu serves as the association’s general adviser and Mr. Chen as its secretary general.
When news that the F.B.I. had searched the Manhattan office was first reported in January, the Chinese Embassy in Washington downplayed the role of the police outposts, saying they were staffed by volunteers who helped Chinese nationals perform routine tasks like renewing their driver’s licenses back home.
But the American authorities said that they were clearly focused on monitoring members of the Chinese diaspora and infringing on their right to free speech.
“It is our belief that the ultimate purpose of this illegal police station was not to protect and serve,” Mr. Driscoll said, “but rather silence, harass and threaten individuals here in the United States.”
The two other cases revolved around political speech in the digital sphere. But all of the defendants are believed to be in China, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
One expanded a case first filed in 2020, in which prosecutors brought charges against Xinjiang Jin, formerly a China-based executive at the videoconferencing company Zoom, accusing him of disrupting and censoring commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
The amended complaint unsealed on Monday expands the charges to eight Chinese officials and another person who prosecutors say directed the activity.
The remaining case charged 34 officers of China’s Ministry of Public Security with operating a “troll farm” to attack Chinese dissidents, sow division and disseminate disinformation. The officers were part of an elite task force called the 912 Special Project Working Group, prosecutors said.
The complaint alleges that the group created thousands of fake profiles on social media sites including Twitter, and spread propaganda about topics like human rights in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang region, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, unrest after the police killing of George Floyd, and Covid-19.
by ponchi101 I remember when, starting with Nixon in the 70's and escalating with Reagan in the 80's, the idea was that by engaging with China in commercial enterprises and making China a more prosperous nation, they would slowly come around to more a democratic behavior (or even a full democracy).
Such a foolish idea.
What we now have is a fully grown system that targets its nationals across the globe. And which is tied to all economic markets, because, of course, we can't live without all the things that get manufactured there.
And, of course, China's growth stopped growth in other regions. For example, there is no way that any L. American company can compete with them. Therefore, our growth is affected. Simply because Nike decided to have all its plants there, and not one in S. America.
(Just an example).
by JazzNU Seems like it was most of the student body
by JazzNU
by JazzNU
by JazzNU The RECORDING was illegal?!?
by ponchi101 One of those news that makes you feel so hopeless.
So, if a private citizen makes a recording of somebody plotting a criminal act, it is that citizen that gets charged?
by ti-amie This is what you get when Fox and others have spent the last decade or more scaring older, mostly white, citizens into thinking every stranger is someone out to get them just because. There is also another case involving cheerleaders who got into the wrong car and were shot.
Man arrested in shooting of two Texas cheerleaders after one mistakenly got into the wrong car
One of the victims was critically injured in the shooting that unfolded early Tuesday outside an H-E-B supermarket in Elgin, Texas, police said.
April 19, 2023, 6:47 AM EDT / Updated April 19, 2023, 1:22 PM EDT
By Chantal Da Silva
A man has been arrested after two Texas cheerleaders were shot, one critically, after one of them mistakenly got into the wrong car, according to police and the owner of the gym where they trained.
Officers in Elgin, about 25 miles northeast of Austin, responded to reports of shots fired outside an H-E-B supermarket around 12:15 a.m. local time (1:15 a.m. ET) Tuesday, the Elgin Police Department said in a news release.
"Information suggests that an altercation occurred in the parking lot of H-E-B, and multiple shots were fired into a vehicle," police said. Two of the car's occupants were struck by gunfire, with one victim sustaining serious injuries and transported by helicopter to a hospital, where they were listed in critical condition, police said.
The suspect, Pedro Tello Rodriguez Jr., 25, has been charged with deadly conduct, a third-degree felony, police said.
Lynn Shearer, owner of Woodlands Elite Cheer Co., told NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin that the two people shot were cheerleaders who were on their way home from practice.
Shearer said the cheerleaders typically carpooled from the Austin area to her gym. On Monday night, she said at least four cheerleaders were on their way back to the Austin area and had to stop at an H-E-B, where some of the members had parked their cars.
One of the girls accidentally tried to get into the wrong car, Shearer said. That's when, she said, a "guy got out and they saw that he had a gun. And so they tried to speed off and he shot his gun, like five times or so into the car." Woodlands Elite did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment. The Elgin Police Department also did not immediately respond to an overnight request from NBC News seeking to confirm these details.
According to ABC News, Heather Roth, a cheerleader with the Woodlands Elite, said in an Instagram Live post that she was the one who got out of her friend's car and opened the door of another vehicle she thought was her own, only to notice a man was in the passenger seat. She said she got out of the car and back into her friend's vehicle, the report said.
Roth reportedly said the man approached their vehicle and she rolled down a window to apologize. That's when the man started shooting, she said, according to ABC News. The Instagram Live post was no longer available early Wednesday, but Roth shared a number of posts that appeared to be related to the incident. She did not immediately respond to overnight request for comment.
Shearer identified the cheerleader who was critically injured in the shooting as Payton Washington, of the Round Rock Independent School District.
“She’s won every title there is to win in all-star cheerleading. She’s literally a role model for the kids in this industry throughout the country,” Shearer said. “Everybody knows her. She’s literally one of the very best that’s ever done this sport.”
Messages of support for Washington have poured in on social media in the wake of the shooting, with a prayer organized by Woodlands Elite held Tuesday. Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page organized by the Woodlands Elite Generals to help raise money to cover her hospital costs had raised more than $60,800 as of early Wednesday.
The GoFundMe page said Washington was "stable in the ICU and will have a long road to recovery."
Shearer said the cheerleaders had "grown up" in her gym. "We’ve known them for years, some of them literally, since they were, you know, 8, 10 years old,” she said. “So they’re like our family.”
The shooting, she said "was unfortunate. These girls were just trying to get home."
As Washington faces a long road to recovery, Shearer said, she and the Woodlands Elite team would be there to support her and others affected by the shooting every step of the way.
“Our goal right now is to take it one day at a time and be there for them,” Shearer said.
Shooting comes following 2 similar incidents
The shooting comes on the heels of two other eerily similar high-profile incidents in which the victims were allegedly shot after mistakenly approaching the wrong addresses.
Last week, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot and seriously injured after mistakenly ringing the wrong doorbell in Kansas City, Missouri, while trying to pick up his siblings in an incident that sparked national outrage.
Just days later, Kaylin Gillis, 20, was fatally shot by a homeowner after the car she was riding in mistakenly turned into the wrong driveway in upstate New York.
The two incidents sparked a national conversation around gun violence and “stand your ground” laws, according to which a would-be shooter defending life or property does not have to retreat before taking violent action. The shooting of the cheerleaders is likely to further fuel the discussion.
CORRECTION (April 19, 2023, 9 a.m. ET): A photo caption in a previous version of this article misstated when the shooting took place. The cheerleaders were shot early Tuesday, not Tuesday night.
by ponchi101 I agree with your comment, Ti, but there has got to be some other factors at work. How come people are so ready to shoot at other people with such ease? I mean, the rest of the world watches the same movies, the same shows (after all, we watch American movies and TV too) and yet you don't see people in other countries firing guns like that. At the very least, fire into the air.
by ti-amie Someone posted on social media that all they want is one day where they don't step outside and have to ask themselves what is wrong with people. I've asked myself that question every day since I read that post.
I don't know what is happening/has happened here.
by Owendonovan There's the waaaaay too broad "self-defense/stand your ground" laws protecting gun shooters.
by JazzNU
by ponchi101 I read that yesterday/today (these news keep coming in too fast) another similar event took place. A family was shot at when their basketball rolled into somebody's yard.
Frightening, by now.
(I know, it has been this way for a while, but I am out of words).
by Owendonovan Both Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon canned today, buh bye for now.
by ti-amie There are even reports that Tuck'ems departure was met with joy among staff. I guess he's the same sweetheart on and off camera.
by JazzNU
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:10 am
There are even reports that Tuck'ems departure was met with joy among staff. I guess he's the same sweetheart on and off camera.
Not hard to believe if you've read any of Abby's claims.
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 2:10 am
There are even reports that Tuck'ems departure was met with joy among staff. I guess he's the same sweetheart on and off camera.
Not hard to believe if you've read any of Abby's claims.
Nicolle Wallace is having Abby on today.
by Suliso I wonder who we'll be the next right wing superstar occupying the same spot in programming. There will be someone for sure. The right audience is still there.
by JazzNU
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:32 pm
I wonder who we'll be the next right wing superstar occupying the same spot in programming. There will be someone for sure. The right audience is still there.
Suliso wrote: ↑Tue Apr 25, 2023 7:32 pm
I wonder who we'll be the next right wing superstar occupying the same spot in programming. There will be someone for sure. The right audience is still there.
My best guest is Will Cain.
I had to look him up and I found this tidbit about Will Cain:
In 2020, Cain left ESPN for Fox News, citing “the direction of the country” as a reason for pushing him to talk more politics and less sports.
by JazzNU I used to watch a show he was on. Never my favorite and it was definitely me tolerating him rather than liking him because I watched the show before he was ever on and was trying to continue, but he was also never anything approaching this bad. He would get highly annoying every once in a while in a he's entirely too much to take, gotta turn this off kind of way, but it was mildly tolerable as long as you weren't stuck with just him. He was more a right leaning moderate or libertarian type back then than a straight up far right conservative. Co-hosted a show (different than the one I watched him on) with an outspoken liberal journalist who is also a lesbian and they got along very well despite their differing viewpoints because he wasn't this version of ass backwards then.
He's been plotting this come up for some time. Not sure he'll get it, but it's clearly been the goal since he went all in after leaving ESPN. Jason Whitlock wasn't always like this either. They made choices.
by Suliso Off screen Tucker Carlson didn't believe most of the crap he was peddling. Could easily be the same with the next guy. Some people are easily swayed by large amounts of money.
by ponchi101
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:53 am
Off screen Tucker Carlson didn't believe most of the crap he was peddling. Could easily be the same with the next guy. Some people are easily swayed by large amounts of money.
It is unusual for you to go for understatements...
by ti-amie
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:53 am
Off screen Tucker Carlson didn't believe most of the crap he was peddling. Could easily be the same with the next guy. Some people are easily swayed by large amounts of money.
To quote that famous sage and intellect Madonna:
"We are living in a material world and I am a material girl"
Adjust the pronouns as you will.
by skatingfan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 10:24 pm
To quote that famous sage and intellect Madonna:
"We are living in a material world and I am a material girl"
Adjust the pronouns as you will.
The pronouns are fine - it's the gender identity that would change depending on the individual in question.
by skatingfan
Suliso wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:53 am
Off screen Tucker Carlson didn't believe most of the crap he was peddling. Could easily be the same with the next guy. Some people are easily swayed by large amounts of money.
I wouldn't be so sure about that.
Private messages sent by Tucker Carlson that had been redacted in legal filings showed him making highly offensive remarks that went beyond the comments of his prime-time show.
Private messages sent by Mr. Carlson that had been redacted in legal filings showed him making highly offensive and crude remarks that went beyond the inflammatory, often racist comments of his prime-time show and anything disclosed in the lead-up to the trial.
Despite the fact that Fox’s trial lawyers had these messages for months, the board and some senior executives were now learning about their details for the first time, setting off a crisis at the highest level of the company, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
The discovery added pressure on the Fox leadership as it sought to find a way to avoid a trial where Mr. Carlson — not to mention so many others at the network — would be questioned about the contents of the private messages they exchanged in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.
Two days after the board’s discovery, Fox settled that case for $787.5 million, believed to be the highest for a defamation trial.
The settlement of the Dominion case, however, has not ended the threat posed by the messages. The New York Times, The Associated Press and National Public Radio have challenged the redactions, meaning they could still become public.
by ti-amieAccused Texas shooter’s partner and others who helped him are arrested, authorities say
By Justine McDaniel and Marisa Iati
Updated May 3, 2023 at 1:04 p.m. EDT|Published May 3, 2023 at 10:20 a.m. EDT
Multiple people have been arrested and accused of aiding the Texas man charged with fatally shooting five neighbors Friday, authorities said Wednesday, a day after an extensive manhunt for the suspect concluded with his arrest.
The man’s romantic partner, Divimara Lamar Nava, was among those taken into custody, San Jacinto County First Assistant District Attorney Rob Freyer said. She was charged with hindering apprehension of the suspect, identified as Francisco Oropesa. The two were a longtime couple, Freyer said, though jail records showed they were not legally married.
San Jacinto County Sheriff Chief Deputy Tim Kean would not provide an exact number of additional people arrested, saying only that it was no more than five. He also did not answer questions from reporters outside the county jail Wednesday about how the other people may have been linked to Oropesa, 38.
Authorities said they anticipated making more arrests.
“Others are hinging on what’s going on right now,” Kean said. “It’s fluid.”
News of the additional arrests followed the capture of Oropesa at a home in Cut and Shoot, Tex., four days after he allegedly killed four adults and a 9-year-old child with an AR-15-style weapon near Cleveland, Tex. He is charged with five counts of murder.
A judge is scheduled to set Oropesa’s bail Wednesday. Prosecutors are also “exploring” additional charges for him, Freyer said.
U.S. Marshals, U.S. Border Patrol’s tactical unit and the Texas Department of Public Safety arrested Oropesa about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, about an hour after an anonymous caller sent a tip to an FBI hotline, officials said. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said the suspect was found “hiding in a closet underneath some laundry” but did not provide details of whose home he was at.
Authorities took “multiple pieces of evidence” from that home using a search warrant, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Officials believe they have the weapon used in the shooting but are awaiting testing to confirm a link, Kean said. He added that they found Oropesa with a cellphone that he had used to contact people in the area while on the run.
Oropesa was spotted on foot Monday, causing several elementary schools to be locked down, but officials lost track of him, Kean said. Authorities are unsure exactly when Oropesa arrived at the house where he was later found.
“We don’t know his path between the time that he fled the scene and the time he was picked up yesterday afternoon,” Freyer said. “We are not sure as to where he went in that intervening four days.”
The tip that Oropesa was at the house, where other people were present, was among “hundreds” authorities said they received. He was found unarmed, Freyer said.
The person who tipped off law enforcement to Oropesa’s whereabouts was not among those arrested, Kean said.
“The people arrested are not telling us very much,” he said, adding: “Anybody that helped this maniac has definitely got some kind of issues, as far as I’m concerned.”
Texas DPS arrested Nava, Oropesa’s partner, at a home in Conroe, Tex., and booked her into jail in Montgomery County, Tex., early Wednesday, jail records show. She is charged with hindering the apprehension and prosecution of a known felon, which is a third-degree felony that can carry two to 10 years in prison. Conroe is just east of Cut and Shoot, where Oropesa was arrested. Cut and Shoot is about 20 miles from where the shooting occurred.
Nava’s bond was set at $250,000. The address listed for her in jail records matches an address that public records show she and Oropesa have shared.
On Wednesday, Kean also addressed claims by the victims’ family that they called 911 multiple times Friday, including before the shooting began, before officers came to the scene. The county has only three deputies on patrol for an area that can take an hour to traverse, Kean said. One deputy was responding to a report of an aggravated robbery when the first call came in about Oropesa firing his gun in the yard — a lesser concern than the robbery, Kean said.
“Then that other call escalated,” he said.
Neighbors have raised concerns about how the sheriff’s office had responded to previous reports about Oropesa. People shooting guns aimlessly in their yards is commonplace in the area, and Kean said it can be difficult to police.
“If a neighbor calls, by the time we get there, they know how long it takes, the guns are put up, everybody’s in the house, and now we see no violation,” Kean said.
Oropesa allegedly began the fatal shooting rampage Friday about 11 p.m., after his neighbors asked him not to shoot his weapon close to their adjoining front yard while a baby in their home was trying to sleep. Rather than stop, Oropesa allegedly entered the neighbors’ house and shot five people in the head.
Those killed were members of an extended family: Sonia Argentina Guzmán, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18; and Daniel Enrique Laso, 9.
Oropesa’s arrest brought little consolation for the family of the victims, all of whom were from Honduras.
“He took everything from us, and now we’re living a nightmare from which we’ll never wake up,” said Lucía Guzmán, the aunt of one of the victims. “The arrest will never erase what he did to my family, but at least now we can hope for some justice.”
Monika Mathur and María Luisa Paúl contributed to this report.
by ti-amie There's a huge debate going on as to whether the graphic photos of the people murdered should be published for the general public to see and understand what these military weapons do to the human body. I saw one and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. I understand that there was video of the gunman's body circulating as well.
The picture I posted here of sheet covered bodies does nothing to convey the horror of the picture I saw.
I think that the graphic pictures of a mass shooting aftermath need to be shown. I think that every GQP'er who spouts the meaningless "thoughts and prayers" nonsense should at every one of their public appearances be confronted with the pictures of the deceased and asked to defend their position re guns. Several of the Sandy Hook and Parkland families have agreed with this. Not all of course but some. Does showing the pictures disrespect the deceased? Going to the Mall and being gunned down by some lunatic with a grudge against society is disrespectful.
I never thought that I'd come to this decision.
by ti-amieGunman in Texas mall shooting may have had neo-Nazi beliefs
By Jack Douglas, Marisa Iati, Brittany Shammas, Devlin Barrett, Justin Wm. Moyer, Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Perry Stein
Updated May 7, 2023 at 12:35 p.m. EDT|Published May 7, 2023 at 12:23 a.m. EDT
ALLEN, Tex. — The gunman who opened fire on an outlet mall in a Dallas suburb Saturday, killing at least eight people, was a man in his early 30s who may have had white supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs, people familiar with the investigation said Sunday.
Mauricio Garcia, a local resident, had multiple weapons on him and in his nearby car, said people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing probe.
Authorities have not released a motive, but a patch on his chest said “RWDS,” an acronym that stands for Right Wing Death Squad, according to people familiar with the investigation. The phrase is popular among right wing extremists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists, they said. In addition to the weapons found on his body, investigators found another five guns inside his car nearby, these people said.
The shooter also injured at least seven people before a police officer who was at the Allen, Tex., mall on an unrelated call fatally shot him at about 3:30 p.m., Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said Saturday. Authorities believe that the gunman acted alone and that there were no further threats, Harvey said.
The assailant used an AR-15-style weapon and was wearing tactical gear, President Biden said Sunday. He was living in a Dallas-area hotel at the time of the shooting, according to the people familiar with the investigation. Since the gunman is dead, a major focus of investigators is whether anyone knew what he planned to do or helped him do it.
(...)
The mass killing at the mall, which was crowded with shoppers on a Saturday afternoon, was the 22nd instance in the United States this year in which four or more people died by gunfire, according to a database of mass killings maintained by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University. At this time last year, there had been eight.
At least 115 people across the country have died in mass killings in 2023. That count does not include the shooters. Last year, there were 36 mass killings by gunfire — a record since 2006.
At the Allen outlet mall, all the stores were closed Sunday, and police blocked entrances to the center of the complex. The parking lot in the center of the mall was packed with cars, which shoppers and employees had not been allowed to retrieve by mid-Sunday.
In a statement, Allen Premium Outlets said it was “outraged by the violence that continues to plague our country,” and thanked the police response.
“We are thankful for the police officer’s heroic actions and for the support of all the first responders,” the statement read.
(...)
Aerial footage of the scene, about 25 miles northeast of Dallas, showed what appeared to be bodies underneath white sheets on the ground outside an H&M outlet. Other videos posted on social media showed people fleeing through the mall’s parking lot and corridors.
A video that could not immediately be verified by The Washington Post showed what appeared to be the gunman after he was fatally shot outside a burger restaurant, wearing tactical gear with several magazines of ammunition on his chest. What appeared to be an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle lay beside him.
(...)
Last year, Texas had the most mass killings by gun of any state, with six. This year it has had three.
Two of the state’s mass killings in the past year have been high-profile: A gunman was arrested Tuesday after he killed five of his neighbors after they asked him to stop shooting his AR-15-style firearm near their home in Cleveland, Tex., north of Houston. And last May, the killing of 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tex., put the state at the center of the debate about gun control.
In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 4,613 firearms-related deaths in Texas. The state’s annual death toll from guns has increased steadily since 2014.
Led by Abbott, Texas has moved in recent years to loosen restrictions on firearms. In 2021, the state began allowing permitless carry so residents can carry handguns in public without a license. The state “does not specifically put restrictions on who can carry a long gun such as a rifle or shotgun,” according to a Texas government website.
(...)
Self, the congressman, rebuked criticism of officials offering “thoughts and prayers” after shootings while opposing gun control legislation, saying on CNN that “people want to make this political, but prayers are important.”
“The immediate aftermath is not the time for politics,” he told The Washington Post. “We have long ago traded faith in God, which means civic action based on that faith, for faith in government.”
Instead of limiting gun rights, Self said local governments need to be free to better defend public spaces from armed criminals. He called proposals to restrict gun rights, such as raising the age at which people can purchase AR-15-style weapons, “a knee-jerk reaction that does not stop criminals.”
Barrett, Stein, Iati, Moyer and Shammas reported from Washington, and Hennessy-Fiske from Houston. John D. Harden in Oakland, Alex Horton and Andrea Salcedo in Washington, and Bryan Pietsch and Niha Masih in Seoul contributed to this report.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Texas again. Maybe there should be a travel advisory?
by ponchi101 As long as the GOP has any say, and their people are voted in to be governors and hold state senates and congresses under their control, not much you can see happening.
About posting pictures. Yes, they should be made available. Maybe some sort of shock treatment, although I suspect the people that are against gun control will only switch sides if the tragedy affects them directly.
As we have agreed before, the forum will not post them, though.
This is absurd... a woman would never be allowed to lead a meeting at Fox News
by mmmm8 This is an actual quote from an actual elected official for the Dallas suburb where this happened (and where I have family members living)
Representative Keith Self, a Republican who represents Allen, Texas, said on CNN that critics who are calling for more than “thoughts and prayers” after Saturday’s shooting “don’t believe in almighty God, who is absolutely in control of our lives.” Instead, he said, the country’s lack of “mental health institutions” is to blame.
“Really I would like to stay away from the politics today because I want to focus on the victims, today we should be focused on the families,” he said. “Prayers are important and they are important in the families that are devastated right now.”
by ponchi101 But, if god is in absolute control of our lives, why would we need mental health institutions? If god is not in control of the people in the mental health institutions, he is not in absolute control, and if he is in absolute control of our lives, then he is directly responsible for the shootings.
(Sorry).
by patrick
ti-amie wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 10:34 pm
Texas again. Maybe there should be a travel advisory?
Yep. Equality Florida has one for Florida due to GOP stances on drag shows, trans people, voting rights and etc…
by dryrunguy Last night, I was chatting with a friend of mine in Venezuela. He showed me gruesome video circulating among Venezuelans on social media of dead and maimed bodied in Texas. I didn't think it was real. Then I did some Googling and realized it was from someone who drove into a crowd outside of a migrant center near Brownsville.
He thought it was from the shooting outside of Dallas. I had to explain to him, "No, no, no. That video isn't from the shooting near Dallas. That's video from the person who drove their car into a crowd of migrants near Brownsville."
Let that sink in for a moment. Now we have to differentiate between violent acts. This is what we've become.
by ponchi101 BTW. That is a Range Rover and, from the looks of it, a rather new one.
So this was not some "desperate poor person driven to madness by poverty". This person must have some wealth. And still, he drove a SUV into a crowd of people.
Preaching to the choir (we will all here agree) but that is the problem with words and public discourse. When the GOP demonizes migrants, people will take their words.
Travel advisory. When I used to travel, I always consulted the TRAVEL ADVISORY page from the State Dept. With the events that happen in the USA, the country would be included in the advisories for sure.
by ti-amie I saw the video of the Range Rover plowing into a group of people standing at a bus stop minding their own business. I screamed out loud. I also read a report that the driver of the Range Rover was taken to the hospital and was being very uncooperative giving several different names to authorities. They should trace the VIN # of the Range Rover but maybe I've seen one too many Law & Orders.
I keep emphasizing that the person was driving a Range Rover because do you know what those things cost?!
by ti-amieDriver Whose S.U.V. Struck and Killed Migrants in Texas Is Charged
The authorities in Brownsville, Texas, said that George Alvarez was behind the wheel and that they were still trying to determine whether the crash was deliberate.
By Edgar Sandoval
May 8, 2023
Updated 2:27 p.m. ET
A day after a sport-utility vehicle plowed through a group of migrants in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people, police officials identified the man behind the wheel as George Alvarez and said they were still trying to determine whether the crash was intentional.
Mr. Alvarez has been charged with eight counts of manslaughter, 10 counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and reckless driving, and is remaining behind bars, Chief Felix Sauceda of the Brownsville Police said on Monday.
Mr. Alvarez was seen on a video being pinned down on the ground by a group of people outside a homeless shelter that had been housing migrants, most them from Venezuela, after he tried to flee the scene of the crash. His gray Range Rover SUV struck about 20 people near a bus stop.
Chief Sauceda said the police were investigating reports that Mr. Alvarez had yelled anti-immigration epithets at the group. More criminal charges could be added, he said, if investigators determine that the crash was deliberate.
The police said they received reports of the crash at around 8:29 a.m. Sunday and found a gruesome scene when officers arrived. At least six people were already dead, and four more were badly injured and twisting in pain. Two of the injured later died, Chief Sauceda said.
Investigators said that Mr. Alvarez drove through a red light and appeared to lose control of his vehicle, which flipped on its side and struck at least 18 people, most of them men, Chief Sauceda said. He called it “a very tragic scene.”
The authorities in Brownsville were working with the Venezuelan consulate to identify victims and reunite them with loved ones, he said.
Mr. Alvarez is a resident of Brownsville who has long been known to the local authorities, Chief Sauceda said, adding that Mr. Alvarez had a record of numerous arrests on charges including driving while intoxicated, burglary of a vehicle, assault and theft among others.
The police said they were still trying on Monday to determine whether Mr. Alvarez was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
The episode took place outside Ozanam Center, a shelter where a large number of migrants have arrived recently in anticipation of the end of Title 42, a rule imposed early in the coronavirus pandemic by the Trump administration to ease the expulsion of migrants crossing the border. Title 42, which came to be seen as a major impediment to seeking asylum in the U.S., is scheduled to expire this week.
Many Venezuelans have been leaving their native country and seeking asylum to escape poverty and government oppression.
Mr. Alvarez, who has been speaking to investigators in both English and Spanish, has refused to cooperate with investigators, officials said. He has given the police several different names and has not submitted to a breathalyzer test or fingerprinting, they said.
Brownsville, a border town with a majority-Hispanic population in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, has historically received large influxes of migrants. Located in one of the nation’s poorest regions, the city has recently seen increasing numbers of people crossing the river from Mexico, with as many as 1,500 migrants arriving each day by some estimates.
Most of the people hit by the S.U.V. were believed to be migrants from Venezuela, many of whom had been coming to the border in anticipation of the end of Title 42.
Victor Maldonado, executive director of the Ozanam Center, said that video footage he reviewed showed that the driver had run a red light before crashing into the crowd of migrants. The center is frequented by migrants who stay for a few days while they work to secure travel elsewhere, Mr. Maldonado said.
“All bodies just started going everywhere, all directions,” he said of the crash.
Michael Eduardo de Aponte Fonseca, who is from Caracas, Venezuela, was still shaken hours after he saw the gray S.U.V. run over several migrants who were standing next to him on Sunday morning. He said that he and other migrants had just eaten breakfast and had trickled out to a bus stop across the street from the shelter. The next thing he knew, he said, the S.U.V. was flying toward them.
“It all happened really fast,” Mr. Fonseca said. “The truck came toward us. It hit a lot of people. All I remember is that a man fell on my legs. I was in shock.”
He ran his hands over his body to make sure he was not injured himself. “Everything became black and white in my brain.”
Cleyver Garcia, his father, who was not with him at the time of the crash, said the two men had gone through an ordeal in leaving their native Venezuela and crossing through the Darien Gap along the Colombia-Panama border, a notoriously dangerous trek for migrants. The two men are headed for Colorado, where they have relatives awaiting them, Mr. Garcia said.
He leaned to hug his son. “I thank God he was not hurt,” he said. “Imagine dying in America, the country we came to to seek safety?”
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 5:38 pm
I saw the video of the Range Rover plowing into a group of people standing at a bus stop minding their own business. I screamed out loud. I also read a report that the driver of the Range Rover was taken to the hospital and was being very uncooperative giving several different names to authorities. They should trace the VIN # of the Range Rover but maybe I've seen one too many Law & Orders.
I keep emphasizing that the person was driving a Range Rover because do you know what those things cost?!
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 5:38 pm
I saw the video of the Range Rover plowing into a group of people standing at a bus stop minding their own business. I screamed out loud. I also read a report that the driver of the Range Rover was taken to the hospital and was being very uncooperative giving several different names to authorities. They should trace the VIN # of the Range Rover but maybe I've seen one too many Law & Orders.
I keep emphasizing that the person was driving a Range Rover because do you know what those things cost?!
Ah... So George Santos was the driver?
I mean it was definitely George Alvarez but he's given them several different names...
Dry I thought the same thing.
by ponchi101 With a last name like ALVAREZ, he is certainly a migrant himself or descendant. A very common last name in all of L. America.
by JazzNU
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 3:28 pm
BTW. That is a Range Rover and, from the looks of it, a rather new one.
So this was not some "desperate poor person driven to madness by poverty". This person must have some wealth.
FWIW, it doesn't look like a new Range Rover to me nor does it connote wealth to me outside of the name. Doesn't mean it's dirt cheap, but assuming it's purchased used somewhat recently, this was appreciably less expensive than what everyone seems to be thinking. To my eye, this looks like a late 2000s or early 2010s model Range Rover. Not cheap, but a mere fraction of what you need to spend to get a new or newer model.
by ponchi101 Looked it up a bit more. Seems like a 2010 model, and those sell used for $11-$15 (depending on trim).
Sure, a new one is unaffordable for most people.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan
mmmm8 wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 1:33 am
This is an actual quote from an actual elected official for the Dallas suburb where this happened (and where I have family members living)
Representative Keith Self, a Republican who represents Allen, Texas, said on CNN that critics who are calling for more than “thoughts and prayers” after Saturday’s shooting “don’t believe in almighty God, who is absolutely in control of our lives.” Instead, he said, the country’s lack of “mental health institutions” is to blame.
“Really I would like to stay away from the politics today because I want to focus on the victims, today we should be focused on the families,” he said. “Prayers are important and they are important in the families that are devastated right now.”
Is the same guy who said "plan on shooting anyone you meet'?
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
Click on the "read more" link for the full post.
by ti-amie
by JazzNU Positive news for a change
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ti-amie Ken White
@Popehat@mastodon.social
The “automatically remove books from the school library when a parent objects” movement in one quote:
by ponchi101 Great example of how ignorance works.
"Somebody told me that they heard that some people believe that others may think that this book is maybe dangerous".
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu May 25, 2023 9:05 pm
Ken White
@Popehat@mastodon.social
The “automatically remove books from the school library when a parent objects” movement in one quote:
Sounds like child abuse, maybe a call should be made to social services about how this child is being emotionally abused, in public.
There's a side to me that really enjoys when Florida or Texas gets thrashed by weather.
by ti-amie I was wondering where the governor of that state will decamp to this time.
by patrick My guess is South Carolina then will find somewhere else to go as he does not want to deal with any flooding.
by ti-amie It's amazing that this discussion can be had about a sitting governor. SMH
by ti-amie
Apparently this incident caused a sonic boom over DC.
by Owendonovan I don't think a Cessna can go fast enough to create a sonic boom, maybe the explosion of the plane was heard/felt in DC?
by ponchi101 The sonic boom was created by the F16 that scrambled to catch up with the Cessna. Which...
What did they expect? You tell an F16 to intercept an airplane and the F16 pilot will say "sorry, can't go faster because I will create a sonic boom"? That is what intercept means.
Imagine a Cessna loaded with something. Heck, imagine a Cessna smashing into something.
by ti-amie
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 2:53 pm
The sonic boom was created by the F16 that scrambled to catch up with the Cessna. Which...
What did they expect? You tell an F16 to intercept an airplane and the F16 pilot will say "sorry, can't go faster because I will create a sonic boom"? That is what intercept means.
Imagine a Cessna loaded with something. Heck, imagine a Cessna smashing into something.
From what I read this was not a private plane Cessna but a full sized business Cessna.
Also the flight plan that was registered said it's destination was Islip on Long Island. Why did it turn around and come back?
by ti-amie
F-16 pilot sent to intercept plane saw its pilot slumped over before crash
Experts said publicly available flight data suggests the pilot had fallen unconscious and that the plane was flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel
By Ian Duncan, Dan Lamothe, Emily Davies and Michael Laris
Updated June 5, 2023 at 3:40 p.m. EDT|Published June 5, 2023 at 9:35 a.m. EDT
The pilot of a military jet that scrambled to intercept a private plane that flew over D.C. before crashing in rural Virginia saw that aircraft’s pilot slumped over, according to two people familiar with the situation.
The development, described by people speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, came as National Transportation Safety Board investigators arrived at the scene Monday of a private jet crash linked to a sonic boom heard a day earlier across the Washington region.
Adam Gerhardt, the lead investigator, said he expects his team to be on the scene for three to four days, and that investigators will be contending with remote, mountainous terrain.
“The accident site will take us extensive time to get to,” Gerhardt told reporters near the scene Monday. “The wreckage is highly fragmented.”
Experts said publicly available flight data suggests the pilot had fallen unconscious — most likely because of a loss of pressurization — and that the plane was flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel. The Federal Aviation Administration said preliminary information shows the pilot and all three passengers died, which it said occurred “under unknown circumstances.”
John Rumpel, 75, said authorities told him that all four people on the plane — including his daughter and 2½-year-old granddaughter — had died. Rumpel said police told him they were still investigating what caused the incident but that the plane was likely to have crashed after losing pressurization.
The Cessna Citation (seen above) departed Sunday from a small airport in Tennessee and was bound for Long Island, but it turned back south after reaching New York and eventually flew over D.C. The two people familiar with the investigation said contact with the plane was lost about 15 minutes after its departure as it was passing over Virginia for the first time.
They said the pilot of a military jet saw the Cessna’s pilot sitting in the left seat slumped over to the right.
Six F-16s were scrambled from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and two other facilities, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday. The F-16s were granted rare authorization by commanders to fly at supersonic speeds over an urban area to intercept the private jet — causing the boom — a sign of the urgency of the military’s response.
“It is important for the responding aircraft, in this case F-16s, to reach the situation as quickly as possible,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Devin Robinson said. “This allows more time for the people on the ground to run through procedures and gives more time for decisions to be made.”
The military jets and air traffic controllers were unable to make contact with the plane, officials said, and it crashed about 3:30 p.m. in Augusta County. First responders reached the crash site about 8 p.m. Sunday, according to Virginia State Police.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday that officials were on the phone while receiving real-time updates from the F-16 pilots, and that the president was kept informed.
“They did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Kirby said of the military pilots. “Try to get on the radio, communicate to the pilot. That wasn’t working. Made themselves visible. That didn’t work. And tragically, it ended, obviously, in the crash and the death of all on board.”
Leslie Snyder, an Augusta County, Va., sheriff’s lieutenant, said the crash site is near the Blue Ridge Parkway. She described the area as extremely remote, with no cellphone service.
NTSB investigators will document the crash scene and examine wreckage of the aircraft, as well as gather information from radar, weather data, the plane’s maintenance records and pilot medical records.
The board is expected to release a preliminary report in about three weeks, summarizing facts that investigators have gathered. A final report including a formal cause is likely to take at least a year.
Jeff Guzzetti, a former FAA and NTSB investigator, said flight-tracking data suggests the pilot was not in control of the private jet long before it reached New York.
The plane made no attempt to descend at its destination on Long Island and appeared to have turned around to head back to Tennessee. Guzzetti said that would indicate the plane was flying on autopilot.
“Whatever happened, happened at altitude, which is a critical location to lose pressurization,” Guzzetti said. “The higher up in altitude you are, the less time you have to get on oxygen.”
The plane continued to fly at about 34,000 feet until it begin to spiral to the ground. Guzzetti said the final minutes of the flight indicate the fuel for the plane’s right engine was exhausted.
It will be up to the NTSB to determine what might have caused the plane to lose pressure and why the pilot was not able to use an oxygen system. Guzzetti said investigators will want to know when the oxygen system was last serviced and whether maintenance records reveal any issues with the plane.
“It’s going to be challenging for the NTSB to answer these questions given the destruction of the wreckage,” he said.
A spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command said two jets “inspected” the Cessna, which was intercepted about 3:20 p.m. The pilot was unresponsive and crashed near the George Washington National Forest in Virginia, officials said. The military did not shoot down the plane and there is no indication the interception caused the crash.
The crash location is about 160 miles southwest of Washington.
FAA records list the plane that crashed as being registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne, a Florida-based company. The FAA records indicate the plane was only recently acquired by Encore. Guzzetti said that transaction would have involved an inspection by the FAA, but only a cursory one that likely would not have delved into the condition of the plane’s pressurization system.
by ti-amieFeds: Human brains, skin stolen from Harvard morgue, sold on black market
The manager of Harvard Medical School's morgue is accused of letting buyers come into the morgue to pick what remains they wanted to buy, then stealing parts of donated cadavers like brains, skin and bones
By Asher Klein, Bianca Beltrán and Carla Rojo • Published June 14, 2023 • Updated 9 mins ago
A group of people stole and sold off human remains from Harvard Medical School's morgue, federal prosecutors say, with a grand jury indicting the morgue's manager and his wife, among others.
The body part-stealing scheme stretched from 2018 to early 2023, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where one of the defendants lives. Another defendant runs a store called Kat's Creepy Creations in Peabody, Massachusetts, that was searched in March.
Cedric Lodge, the morgue manager, is accused of letting buyers come into the morgue to pick what remains they wanted to buy, then stealing parts of donated cadavers like brains, skin and bones, taking them to his home in New Hampshire and shipping them to buyers through the mail.
Prosecutors also said Denise Lodge, Cedric Lodge's wife; Katrina Maclean; Joshua Taylor; Mathew Lampi; and Jeremy Pauley were charged. It wasn't immediately clear if all had attorneys who could speak to the charges. A mortician from Arkansas was previously charged in the investigation.
A federal grand jury has brought charges of conspiracy and transporting stolen goods across state lines against all six people. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in prison for the charges, prosecutors said.
Reaction from federal prosecutors, Harvard
"Some crimes defy understanding," said U.S. Attorney Gerard Karam in a statement. "The theft and trafficking of human remains strikes at the very essence of what makes us human. It is particularly egregious that so many of the victims here volunteered to allow their remains to be used to educate medical professionals and advance the interests of science and healing. For them and their families to be taken advantage of in the name of profit is appalling."
He characterized Harvard Medical School as another victim of the scheme and appreciated their cooperation with the federal investigation.
Cedric Lodge, 55, was fired on May 6, the Harvard medical deans wrote to the community in a message titled, "An abhorrent betrayal." The university has been working with federal investigators and examining logs of cremations to see which anatomical donors may have been affected by the incident.
"We are appalled to learn that something so disturbing could happen on our campus — a community dedicated to healing and serving others. The reported incidents are a betrayal of HMS and, most importantly, each of the individuals who altruistically chose to will their bodies to HMS through the Anatomical Gift Program to advance medical education and research," said the statement from George Daley, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Harvard University and Edward Hundert, the dean for Medical Education at Harvard Medical School
They offered an apology to the families and loved ones and donors, offering them resources including a 24/7 counseling hotline — anyone who thinks they may have been affected by the scheme can also reach out to federal investigators at usapam-victim.information@usdoj.gov or 717-614-4249. They also said Harvard has also appointed an external panel to investigate the policies and practices at the morgue and the Anatomical Gift Program.
Cedric Lodge's name was no longer listed on Harvard Medical School's website as of Wednesday, but an archived version of his biography page said he'd worked with the school's Anatomical Gift Program since fall 1995 and that he was responsible for "maintaining the anatomical morgue and teaching labs while working closely with HMS faculty and students."
He didn't answer questions leaving federal court in New Hampshire — the Goffstown was released and will have to appear in a Pennsylvania court at a later date. Denise Lodge, 63, had a hearing earlier in the day in New Hampshire.
Cedric Lodge leaving federal court in New Hampshire on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. The former Harvard Medical School morgue manager is accused of stealing body parts from donated cadavers and selling them on the black market.
Investigators outline black market for body parts
The federal complaint depicts a busy black market in human remains facilitated by the Lodges, who allegedly took body parts before they were scheduled to be cremated.
In 2020, Maclean allegedly paid $600 for two desiccated faces she picked up at the school's morgue from Cedric Lodge. Months later, Taylor, who is from West Lawn, Pennsylvania, sent Denise Lodge "$200 with a memo that read, 'braiiiiiins,'" according to the complaint.
In all, Taylor, 46, is accused of sending the Lodges over $37,000 for human remains.
The FBI confirmed in March that agents searched two locations in Peabody, including Kat's Creepy Creations. The bureau didn't comment on the search at the time.
The shop sells horror- and macabre-themed oddities. Multiple posts on the Kats Creepy Creations Instagram page depict what it says are human skulls, including one from February 2020 that says, "If you’re in the market for human bones hit me up!"
The 44-year-old from Salem, Massachusetts, didn't respond to questions from reporters outside of federal court in Boston Wednesday.
Katrina Maclean outside federal court in Boston on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. She's accused of buying stolen human remains from the manager of the morgue at Harvard Medical School.
Maclean is also accused of sending human skin to Pauley, a 41-year-old from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, who was arrested there last year and is accused of buying stolen remains from a mortuary employee in Arkansas, including the remains of two stillborn babies who were meant to be cremated.
Pauley's Instagram account also shows a plethora of human remains for sale, including brains, teeth and bone.
He and Lampi, a 52-year-old from East Bethel, Minnesota, allegedly exchanged more than $100,000 as they bought and sold goods made from remains.
by ponchi101 There's a joke there about Harvard selling brains, and I just can't find it...
by ti-amieCanada’s fires could worsen next week, sending more smoke into U.S.
There are no signs that outbursts of smoke from Canada into the Lower 48 states will end
By Ian Livingston
June 15, 2023 at 2:39 p.m. EDT
Smoke from the wildfires in Canada envelopes the Minneapolis skyline Wednesday. (Abbie Parr/AP)
The latest surge of smoke pollution from Canadian wildfires is smothering parts of the Northern Plains and Midwest, resulting in unhealthy air for a second day in Minnesota and parts of neighboring states.
Reminiscent of last week’s historic smoke incursion into the Northeast, the air quality in Minneapolis plummeted to its worst level on record Wednesday evening. It reached the Code Purple range, meaning very unhealthy air for the entire population. As smoke lingered Thursday, air-quality alerts covered Wisconsin; Minneapolis and southern Minnesota; eastern Iowa; Green Bay and Madison, Wis.; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Some of the smoke in the Upper Midwest may seep into the Northeast on Friday, and there are no signs that outbursts of smoke from Canada into the Lower 48 states will end soon.
Canada’s historically bad fire season, in which 5.3 million hectares (13.1 million acres) have burned, is young, and weather projections suggest the hot, dry conditions that have fueled these blazes could intensify next week. Then, steering currents in the atmosphere could ferry yet more smoke into the northeastern United States.
“It’s not if but rather when the northern Ontario and Quebec will make headlines again,” tweeted Anthony Farnell, the chief meteorologist at Canada’s Global News.
Air quality, fire locations and smoke plumes as of Thursday morning. (AirNow.gov)
On Thursday, wildfire smoke in the Lower 48 states was thickest in eastern North Dakota, southern Minnesota, eastern Iowa and parts of Wisconsin and Illinois and was drifting toward the south-southeast. At midday, the Air Quality Index was in the Code Red range — signifying unhealthy air for most people — in locations including Marshall, Minn.; Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Dubuque, Iowa; and Sterling, Ill.
The air quality in Chicago could deteriorate for a time Thursday, although a passing area of low pressure should switch wind directions there, shunting smoke away.
Smoke at higher altitudes — which doesn’t tend to affect air quality near the ground — was much more expansive Thursday, shrouding sunshine in portions of more than two dozen states across the eastern half of the country. One plume stretched from the Plains to Pennsylvania on Thursday morning. While much of this smoke was suspended high in the sky, some had settled closer to the ground, degrading air quality as far east as Pittsburgh.
As in recent episodes of compromised air quality associated with Canadian wildfire smoke, the main concern for human health is related to PM2.5, or particulate matter that is 2.5 microns and smaller. These fine particles can travel deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, leading to a number of detrimental health consequences.
The outlook for early to midweek next week shows high pressure building over Canada and wind flow that may push more smoke into the Northeast. (weatherbell.com)
On Friday, some of the smoke over the Upper Midwest could bleed into the Northeast, but it shouldn’t be nearly as thick as it was last week. But forecasters are becoming increasingly concerned about next week.
A zone of high pressure, also called a heat dome or upper ridge, is in its early stages over Canada’s central provinces. It is expected to expand northeastward and intensify.
“The upper ridge developing over Quebec is concerning,” said Mike Flannigan, a professor and wildfire expert at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, in a message to The Washington Post.
Temperatures under this ridge or heat dome are forecast to be unusually high, even for the beginning of summer, across much of Ontario and into Quebec — into the upper 80s and 90s.
Forecasts from the European weather model show extreme temperatures as high as the mid-90s next week right up to the shore of Hudson Bay. (weatherbell.com)
Tomer Burg, a PhD student in meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, shared an image on Twitter showing substantial probabilities for record-breaking temperatures in Ontario and Quebec next week. The abnormally high temperatures could begin Tuesday and last for days.
In addition to the heat, little or no rain is predicted underneath the heat dome from the Great Lakes toward the southern Hudson Bay, including much of Ontario and a large swath of Quebec. The predicted lack of rain will dry out the land surface and make it more combustible in this fire-prone zone.
Forecasting smoke specifics outside a few days is difficult, but steering currents in the atmosphere next week may allow additional incursions of smoke into the Lower 48 states.
Computer models project a zone of low pressure to become stuck over the Mid-Atlantic states. The counterclockwise winds around it, combined with clockwise flow beneath the high-pressure zone over southeast Canada, would direct smoke along two potential pathways, according to Burg: 1) Eastward into northeast Canada and the northern Atlantic Ocean, and 2) into the northeast United States.
It is too soon for computer models to simulate how much smoke may develop and its timing.
While eastern Canada may roast under a high-pressure ridge next week, fueling its fires, a parade of low-pressure systems arriving in portions of western Canada may offer much-needed rain.
Much of Canada’s west is in moderate to extreme drought, which has substantially contributed to the severity of its fire season. Alberta is already experiencing its worst fire season since at least 1950. Meanwhile, British Columbia’s Donnie Creek Fire is close to its largest on record, having burned 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres).
Computer models project the potential for up to a few inches of rain in the next two weeks, which would be welcome but may not significantly reduce the overall summer fire risk.
Flannigan cautioned that the peak season for fire in British Columbia isn’t typically until mid-July to early September.
“These larger fires in Alberta/British Columbia/Saskatchewan/Northwest Territories will burn through the summer and some will burn through the winter,” he said.
by ponchi101 Reminds me of the people at companies that are good at CLIMBING positions, despite not knowing anything; I have met a few in my days.
That is what the GOP is: POLITICIANS.
The DEMS are terrible at that and at showing their results. They are good administrators, but then lose the election to the GOP because, well, the GOP is good at political maneuvering.
by ti-amie
An air quality alert has been issued for NYC but right now it's 50 per my weather App. The bad stuff is supposed to hit tomorrow as you can see.
by ti-amie A more detailed map.
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 WTF? That is not A CRACK. That's completely broken up.
by Owendonovan In a way, I'm happy that age has made me sick on roller coasters now, but I used to love them. There were lots of options in SoCal and I went often.
by ti-amie
I mean who thought that this would happen?!
by ponchi101 It is the one big "secret" (because everybody knows it) about the US economy. A lot, and it is indeed a LOT, of it runs on migrants that are willing to do all the "dirty" jobs.
During the pandemic, when I was stuck in Colorado, a house was being built across from our place. I was surprised, one Saturday afternoon, to see three guys working. Then, they turned on some music.
Of course they were Mexican. Because it took them a while to build the place, and I would walk by them to go to the market, I one day bumped into them. We started talking, I switched to Spanish and it became the usual: where was I from, what was I doing there, etc.
I did not ask if they were there legally; what would be the point? The thing was: they were working, on Saturday afternoons.
And then you tell me immigrants are all criminals. Sure.
by ti-amie The citrus crop was already in trouble and now there's no one to harvest what's left. Higher prices are coming to a supermarket near you.
by patrick
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Jul 03, 2023 9:09 pm
The citrus crop was already in trouble and now there's no one to harvest what's left. Higher prices are coming to a supermarket near you.
Unfortunately, you are correct. That same person is going to get rid of immigrant children born here whose parents immigrated here
by Owendonovan This satisfies a little bit of schadenfreude. I wish all service folks bailed on their jobs for a week to show who's making things hum here.
by ti-amie
by Owendonovan Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing female gymnasts, was stabbed during an altercation with another incarcerated person at the United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida.
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:04 pm
Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing female gymnasts, was stabbed during an altercation with another incarcerated person at the United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida.
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Mon Jul 10, 2023 11:04 pm
Disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar, who was convicted of sexually abusing female gymnasts, was stabbed during an altercation with another incarcerated person at the United States Penitentiary Coleman in Florida.
I read that he was attacked because he made “lewd comments” about the women playing at Wimbledon
by JTContinental In unrelated news, I’m seeing this morning that they may have caught the Gilgo Beach killer
by ti-amie
JTContinental wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 6:59 pm
In unrelated news, I’m seeing this morning that they may have caught the Gilgo Beach killer
This is big news in the NYC area. They went to where he worked too.
by ti-amieGunman who killed 11 in Pittsburgh synagogue sentenced to death
By David Nakamura
Updated August 2, 2023 at 2:55 p.m. EDT|Published August 2, 2023 at 12:16 p.m. EDT
PITTSBURGH — The gunman who massacred 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 was sentenced Wednesday to death, a federal-court decision that came nearly five years after the highest-casualty antisemitic attack in the nation’s history.
A 12-person federal jury reached its unanimous decision for Robert G. Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, Pa., after a tw0-month trial in which anguished survivors described the mass shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, in terrifying detail.
In addition to killing a total of 11 members of all three congregations that shared the synagogue — Tree of Life, Dor Hadash and New Light — Bowers wounded two other congregants and several police officers.
“Each death is enough on its own. The weight of all that loss is more than enough,” Eric Olshan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said in his closing statement Monday. “The defendant was proud he carried out the worst mass shooting against Jews in U.S. history. Weigh it — and when you’re done, impose the only punishment that is sufficient under our law: A sentence of death.”
Bowers became the first person condemned to death by a federal jury since 2019, and the first under Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has taken steps to reduce capital punishment prosecutions and shortly after taking office in 2021 placed a moratorium on federal executions.
Garland said the Justice Department is reviewing changes made to federal death penalty procedures during the Trump administration, which executed 13 inmates in the final seven months of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The Justice Department filed capital charges against Bowers in 2019, during the Trump administration, and federal prosecutors affirmed the decision after reviewing the case when Garland took office two years later, people involved in the process said.
Prosecutors said during the Pittsburgh trial that the gunman planned to kill as many Jewish people as possible and was motivated by a deep-seated antisemitism. Bowers’s defense team did not dispute that he carried out the crimes, but said he suffered from mental illness and had a troubled personal history that made it difficult for him to think rationally.
Jurors had convicted Bowers in mid-June on 63 hate-crime and gun-related counts. In capital cases, juries are required to deliver a separate verdict after additional testimony in a penalty phase of the trial. The Pittsburgh jury deliberated for more than nine hours over two days before reaching a unanimous decision, as required for a death sentence in a federal case.
District Judge Robert J. Colville asked Bowers to stand as the verdict was read. Lead defense attorney, Judy Clarke, then asked the judge to poll jurors individually to confirm their decision. Bowers did not look at the jurors as they affirmed their votes.
Colville will hold a sentencing hearing for Bowers on Thursday, court officials said.
The verdict offered some justice for the victims’ families, survivors and others throughout the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where the synagogue has remained closed since the attack.
Family members and Jewish leaders were present each day of the trial at the Joseph F. Weis Jr. federal courthouse. Many of them testified about the devastation Bowers caused and the loved ones whose lives were cut short. Bowers sat next to his lawyers each day of the trial but he did not testify.
Those killed were: Rose Mallinger, 97; Bernice Simon, 84, and her husband, Sylvan Simon, 86; brothers David Rosenthal, 54, and Cecil Rosenthal, 59; Dan Stein, 71; Dr. Jerry Rabinowitz, 66; Joyce Fienberg, 75; Melvin Wax, 87; Irving Younger, 69; and Richard Gottfried, 65.
Those who survived being shot included Dan Leger and Andrea Wedner, Mallinger’s daughter, as well as law enforcement officers Dan Mead, Timothy Matson and Anthony Burke. Matson, who spent 16 weeks in the hospital and has had 25 surgeries, was shot in an arm and both legs and testified at the trial that he felt suicidal while trying to recover.
Mallinger’s relatives said in a statement Wednesday that they felt a measure of justice had been served.
“This sentence is a testament to our justice system and a message to all that this type of heinous act will not be tolerated," the family said in the statement. "Returning a sentence of death is not a decision that comes easy, but we must hold accountable those who wish to commit such terrible acts of antisemitism, hate, and violence.”
Bowers was shot as police apprehended him after a shootout in a classroom on the third floor of the synagogue.
During closing arguments Monday, prosecutors showed gruesome crime scene photos of the victims lying in pools of blood in the synagogue, juxtaposing those images with other photos of the victims in moments of joy — during their weddings or playing with their children and grandchildren.
Bowers’s attorneys presented testimony from neurologists who said he showed signs of mental illness.
Bowers was committed to a psychiatric facility as a youth after trying to harm himself, including overdosing on pain relievers. His attorneys said in court that his father committed suicide, his mother was emotionally abusive, and Bowers struggled to overcome a difficult childhood. He bounced from one job to another as an adult and ultimately embraced hateful conspiracy theories about Jews and immigrants, his attorneys said.
Bowers “didn’t know safety as a baby, he didn’t know safety as a toddler, he didn’t know safety as a teenager,” defense attorney Judy Clarke told jurors in her closing argument. “He was mentally ill as a child … and he ultimately descended into serious mental illness as an adult and committed serious crimes. What a tragedy that was. But is that who we kill?”
Prosecutors discounted suggestions that Bowers suffered from schizophrenia and epilepsy, saying he has not been medicated during his time in federal custody and has not suffered psychotic episodes or seizures.
They presented evidence that he was an active user of the Gab social media site, where he liked and reposted hundreds of antisemitic memes, including about the Holocaust. Bowers told officials after the shooting that he considered putting two victims killed in a kitchen into the oven, prosecutors said.
“This defendant is 50 years old. He’s an adult and he committed horrific murders when he was 46. He’s not an impressionable teen,” federal prosecutor Troy Rivetti told jurors. He emphasized that Bowers has showed no remorse for his crimes. “The defendant does not have schizophrenia. You know what’s inside his mind — it’s filled with hate and common white supremacist and antisemitic tropes.”
An execution date for Bowers remained undetermined. His lawyers are expected to file appeals that could take years to resolve.
Bowers joins 40 other people on federal death row. Other mass killers have filed numerous appeals and remain on death row years after their attacks, including 2013 Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev and Dylann Roof, who fatally shot nine Black parishioners in a Charleston, S.C., church in 2015.
by ponchi101 I still oppose the death penalty. This will cost taxpayers an enormous amount of money.
Just life without parole. Let him waste away.
by Owendonovan Police Seek 17-Year-Old Suspect in Dancer O’Shae Sibley's Stabbing Death
As friends and family remember slain dancer O’Shea Sibley, police are looking for a 17-year-old male they believe was captured on video fatally stabbing the dancer and activist at a gas station near Coney Island late Saturday evening. The case is also being investigated as a potential hate crime by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.
Sibley was stabbed to death around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 at a gas station in Milford. Witnesses said the suspect claimed to be Muslim, and that the suspect said Sibley's spontaneous voguing while wearing only a bathing suit at the gas pump offended him and his religion. The suspect stabbed Sibley following an exchange of words. He then fled the scene while Sibley collapsed on the sidewalk mortally wounded.
Witnesses said the men claimed to be Muslim and forcefully said Sibley’s dancing was an insult to Islam. They reportedly hurled anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at Sibley and his friends, and harsh words were exchanged. A physical altercation broke out and Sibley was stabbed in the torse. He walked a few steps before collapsing on the sidewalk. Police arrived a short time later, but Sibley was declared dead at the hospital.
The entire incident was captured on the gas station’s surveillance camera.
“They hated us cause we are gay!” Sibley’s friend Otis Pena posted to Facebook. “Screaming we Muslim and we don’t like gays!!!!! As we are innocently pumping gas and y’all decided to stab one of us!!!”
Police described the suspect as a 17-year-old male with dark hair last seen wearing a black shirt and red shorts. https://www.advocate.com/crime/oshea-sibley-suspect
Religion? Gay panic? Twinkies? All successful defenses for violence and murder against gay people. Looks like this kid will going with bastardized religion for someone vogueing, VOGUEING. This country is trying to put too many babies in the corner.
by ti-amie
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Thu Aug 03, 2023 12:40 am
Police Seek 17-Year-Old Suspect in Dancer O’Shae Sibley's Stabbing Death
As friends and family remember slain dancer O’Shea Sibley, police are looking for a 17-year-old male they believe was captured on video fatally stabbing the dancer and activist at a gas station near Coney Island late Saturday evening. The case is also being investigated as a potential hate crime by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.
Sibley was stabbed to death around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 at a gas station in Milford. Witnesses said the suspect claimed to be Muslim, and that the suspect said Sibley's spontaneous voguing while wearing only a bathing suit at the gas pump offended him and his religion. The suspect stabbed Sibley following an exchange of words. He then fled the scene while Sibley collapsed on the sidewalk mortally wounded.
Witnesses said the men claimed to be Muslim and forcefully said Sibley’s dancing was an insult to Islam. They reportedly hurled anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at Sibley and his friends, and harsh words were exchanged. A physical altercation broke out and Sibley was stabbed in the torse. He walked a few steps before collapsing on the sidewalk. Police arrived a short time later, but Sibley was declared dead at the hospital.
The entire incident was captured on the gas station’s surveillance camera.
“They hated us cause we are gay!” Sibley’s friend Otis Pena posted to Facebook. “Screaming we Muslim and we don’t like gays!!!!! As we are innocently pumping gas and y’all decided to stab one of us!!!”
Police described the suspect as a 17-year-old male with dark hair last seen wearing a black shirt and red shorts. https://www.advocate.com/crime/oshea-sibley-suspect
Religion? Gay panic? Twinkies? All successful defenses for violence and murder against gay people. Looks like this kid will going with bastardized religion for someone vogueing, VOGUEING. This country is trying to put too many babies in the corner.
by Owendonovan This kid was failed miserably by his family, friends, and likely his religion. Pathetic.
Teenager (17 yo) Is Charged in Killing of Dancer at Brooklyn Gas Station
He faces a charge of second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, in the fatal stabbing of Mr. Sibley, a gay man, last week.
The teenager, whom the police did not name, lives in Brooklyn and was identified by the police earlier this week using video and by working with other city agencies, Mr. Kenny said. The suspect turned himself in through an arrangement with his lawyer, Mr. Kenny added. He has been charged with second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, and with criminal possession of a weapon.
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 11:18 am
This kid was failed miserably by his family, friends, and likely his religion. Pathetic.
Teenager (17 yo) Is Charged in Killing of Dancer at Brooklyn Gas Station
He faces a charge of second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, in the fatal stabbing of Mr. Sibley, a gay man, last week.
The teenager, whom the police did not name, lives in Brooklyn and was identified by the police earlier this week using video and by working with other city agencies, Mr. Kenny said. The suspect turned himself in through an arrangement with his lawyer, Mr. Kenny added. He has been charged with second-degree murder, which has been charged as a hate crime, and with criminal possession of a weapon.
- The captain of the riverboat remained away from the dock for 40-45 minutes because the private boat was blocking
- The owners of the boat confronted the co-captain of the riverboat, were obscene and aggressive. “He was doing his job.”
- 13 people were detained, but were ultimately released.
- Richard Roberts , 48, white male, warrant for assault 3rd
- Allen Todd, white male, one warrant pending
- Zachary Shipman, 25, white male, one warrant pending
- These are misdemeanor charges
- All of the warrants are for the owners of the private boat.
-One is in custody, two are set to turn themselves in.
- Reggie Gray, the man wielding the folding chair, is being asked to contact the police department.
-The investigation is ongoing and more charges are likely.
by ti-amie I think Mr. Gray should only show up when he has a lawyer. After all this is Alabama...
by ti-amieUtah Man Killed in Shooting Involving F.B.I. Agents
The man who was killed was not named, but court records show that a Provo man was facing charges for making death threats against President Biden.
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a fatal shooting involving F.B.I. agents in Provo, Utah, on Wednesday morning.Credit...Laura Seitz/The Deseret News, via Associated Press
By Jesus Jiménez
Aug. 9, 2023, 4:24 p.m. ET
Hours before President Biden was scheduled to speak in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, a man was killed in a shooting involving F.B.I. agents in Provo, Utah.
The F.B.I. did not name the man, but court documents indicate that a Provo man was facing charges for death threats he had made against President Biden and Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney.
The F.B.I. said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon that it was investigating an “agent-involved shooting” that had happened around 6:15 a.m. in Provo while special agents were trying to serve arrest and search warrants at a home.
A White House official said that Mr. Biden had been briefed on the matter on Wednesday.
Court documents show that the Provo man was facing one count of interstate threats, one count of threats against the president and another count of influencing, impeding and retaliating against federal law enforcement officers by threat, according to a felony complaint filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City.
Online posts made by the man said that he intended to kill President Biden and Mr. Bragg, who is leading the prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump in New York, according to the complaint, which included several screenshots of the man’s online posts.
In a Facebook post on Sept. 19, 2022, the man wrote that “the time is right for a presidential assassination or two.”
“First Joe then Kamala,” he wrote, referring to Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
In another online post, referring to Mr. Bragg, the man wrote that he wanted “to stand over Bragg and put a nice hole in his forehead with my 9mm and watch him twitch as a drop of blood oozes from the hole as his life ebbs away to hell!”
They're going to jail for this man, dying for this man who could care less about them. I don't understand it.
Well said.
Of course, it is NOT a cult.
by ti-amie Barack Obama
@BarackObama
It’s tough to see some of the images coming out of Hawai’i — a place that’s so special to so many of us. Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one, or whose life has been turned upside down.
by ti-amie If you don't know what he's referencing:
This town was the Imperial Capital of the Hawaiian Islands.
by ti-amie Victor Shi
@Victorshi2020
Wow: A chilling moment from Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "Starting today for the first time in the history of the DoD, three of our military services are operating without Senate confirmed leaders. This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, & it is unsafe."
by Owendonovan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2023 10:52 pm
Victor Shi
@Victorshi2020
Wow: A chilling moment from Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin: "Starting today for the first time in the history of the DoD, three of our military services are operating without Senate confirmed leaders. This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, & it is unsafe."
Thanks idiotic southern football culture!
by ponchi101 It is the GOP mentality. Damn everything else; if I don't get what I want, I go home with my ball.
Then they question other people's patriotism.
by ti-amie
by ti-amie
by ponchi101 Finding more about this news: the person that shot her was later shot by police during an "armed encounter".
Seems like these people are truly in a crusade; they don't mind dying for their lunatic ideas. Needless to say, that makes them so dangerous.
by ptmcmahon I feel like everytime I have local news to share, it's Hurricane or wildfire or flooding related!
Hurricane Lee expected to hit landfall over night or tomorrow AM. Seems unlikely to hit here as a Hurricane but almost for sure as at least a Tropical Storm.
by ti-amie Be safe!
by ptmcmahon The wind is here now, and power has flickered a few times... but so far we're ok. Lots of flooding on shores/beaches and some trees starting to come down.
The funniest part is Twitter / X is loving the shape of the winds and a certain body part it looks like.
by ti-amie Of course the folks still on Xitter are tittering about the shape of the wind.
Stay safe.
by ptmcmahon Funny, after my last post I lost power again for .. not quite a minute. Have been fine other than that, although we do have some branches down outside...I suspect some that were weakened last year.
There were lots of power outages throughout province but ... also not as bad as last year. So we got off easier at least.
by Owendonovan Lee removed most of my beach on fire island.
by ti-amieLouisiana student punished by school for dancing at private party
Kaylee Timonet was stripped of student government title and denied scholarship support after video surfaced of her at party
Coral Murphy Marcos
Sat 7 Oct 2023 14.40 BST
A high school senior in Louisiana was stripped of her student government president title and scholarship opportunities after a video circulating on social media showed the 17-year-old girl dancing with friends at a party last week.
Kaylee Timonet, a senior at Walker high school, was seen dancing at a private homecoming afterparty on 30 September, behind a friend who was twerking. Earlier this week, the school principal said he would revoke her leadership role and assistance in scholarship applications.
“They basically told me that I should be ashamed of myself,” Timonet told a local news outlet. “That I wasn’t basically following God’s ideals, which made me cry even more.”
The event, attended by Timonet’s mother, has sparked outrage and debate within the student body, with many sharing their support on social media by posting “Let the Girl Dance” banners. Some parents compared the school’s approach to the plot of the 1980s film Footloose.
The high school senior said that she was called into the principal’s office, and was made to watch the video of her dancing after she was informed that he was no longer endorsing her for a scholarship. The principal told Timonet that he “questioned her faith” after he saw the clip, according to the teen.
“I just started crying hysterically,” Timonet said. “I was really, really upset because student government is the best thing that happened to me during high school.”
Timonet’s mother, Rachel Timonet, said she was disappointed that she was not present during the meeting earlier this week. The mother, who was present at the event, added that the student body paid for the private venue at the Livingston Parish Country Club, as well as for the DJs performance.
“They were just having fun,” Timonet’s mother said. “She should not be questioned or spoken about faith at all. It’s a public school, not a private school.”
by skatingfan Okay, I was thinking it was a private religious school until I got to the last line. I can't imagine the gall of anyone to call a teenager into their office, and question their faith.
by mmmm8
skatingfan wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2023 8:01 pm
Okay, I was thinking it was a private religious school until I got to the last line. I can't imagine the gall of anyone to call a teenager into their office, and question their faith.
Yes, I was waiting to see it was a parochial school.
This is insane, these school officials should absolutely lose their jobs.
by mmmm8
skatingfan wrote: ↑Sat Oct 07, 2023 8:01 pm
Okay, I was thinking it was a private religious school until I got to the last line. I can't imagine the gall of anyone to call a teenager into their office, and question their faith.
Yes, I was waiting to see it was a parochial school.
This is insane, these school officials should absolutely lose their jobs and not be able to work in education (I know that won't happen).
by ti-amieTexas private company paid $75 million in 1 year to bus migrants out of state, report shows
ByKevin Ozebek and Sarah Rafique KTRK logo
Wednesday, October 11, 2023 1:22PM
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Texas paid a private company $75.5 million in taxpayer funds over the span of a year to transport migrants to sanctuary cities across the U.S.
Transaction data provided by the Texas Department of Emergency Management shows the state paid Wynne Transportation $75,561,032.72 from Aug. 19, 2022, through Aug. 23, 2023, to bus migrants out of state.
13 Investigates asked the department for more details on the spending, but our questions were referred to Gov. Greg Abbott's office.
In a statement Wednesday morning Abbott's spokesperson, Andrew Mahaleris, said, "Governor Abbott launched the border bus mission in April 2022 to provide support to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities as the Biden Administration dumps thousands of migrants in their towns. Texas has since bused over 54,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities, providing much-needed relief. In recent weeks, border officials and NGOs in border communities have requested additional support to respond to the unprecedented surges enticed by President (Joe) Biden's reckless open border policies. Until President Biden steps up and does his job to secure the border, Texas will continue busing migrants to sanctuary cities to help our local partners respond to this Biden-made crisis."
Migrants have been transported to Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver, and Los Angeles, according to a news release from Abbott's office.
The state is specifically busing migrants to so-called "sanctuary cities." The City of Chicago's website says that means they "will not ask about your immigration status, disclose that information to authorities, or, most importantly, deny you City services based on your immigration status."
Last week, Abbott announced a special session that includes considering "legislation to impede illegal entry into Texas by providing more funding for the construction, operation, and maintenance of border barrier infrastructure."
by patrick Wonder how much DeSantis and FL paid this private TX company. There is money in the FL budget for the migrant program.
by ti-amie
patrick wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 5:45 pm
Wonder how much DeSantis and FL paid this private TX company. There is money in the FL budget for the migrant program.
There's always a grift behind any GQP "policies" isn't there?
patrick wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 5:45 pm
Wonder how much DeSantis and FL paid this private TX company. There is money in the FL budget for the migrant program.
There's always a grift behind any GQP "policies" isn't there?
by ti-amie I got an alert earlier this afternoon making the actions the NYPD is taking in the case of demonstrations are something draconian and that we should all hide inside and stay away from windows.
The NYPD has issued this statement in response to the alerts floating around.
NYPD NEWS
@NYPDnews
Please read NYPD's statement on security:
I'm not going to lie the sight of heavily armed men and women in flak jackets carrying military grade weapons is disconcerting but as usual the RWNJ's on Elmo's site are making it sound like there will be running gun battles in the streets.
by ti-amieIllinois man kills six-year-old Muslim boy and stabs mother in hate crime
Joseph Czuba, 71, was charged with murder and hate crime for stabbing his tenants over a dozen times in Plainfield, Illinois
Michael Sainato
@msainat1
Sun 15 Oct 2023 21.09 BST
A 71-year-old man in Plainfield, Illinois, has been charged with murder and a hate crime after stabbing a child and his mother because they were Muslims in an attack that killed a six-year-old boy and left the adult seriously wounded.
In a statement posted to the Will county sheriff’s office social media page, law enforcement responded to an emergency call made by a 32-year-old woman who alleged her landlord had attacked her with a knife.
The Will county sheriff’s office said: “Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis.”
On the scene, officers found the 71-year-old suspect sitting upright on the ground near the home’s driveway and inside found two stabbing victims, a 32-year-old woman and 6-year-old boy who each suffered over a dozen stab wounds to their chest, torso and arms.
The suspect was identified as 71-year-old Joseph M Czuba and police said he was the property’s landlord.
“Joseph Czuba did not make any statements to detectives regarding his involvement in this heinous attack. Despite the suspect not providing a statement to detectives, personnel were able to gather enough information through interviews and evidence to formally charge Joseph Czuba with numerous criminal offenses,” said the Will county sheriff office in a statement.
Czuba was charged with murder, two counts of hate crimes and other offenses.
The child was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased, and the woman is hospitalized in serious condition, but expected to survive.
CAIR International, the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the US, said in a statement on social media: “We are shocked and disturbed to learn that a landlord in Chicago expressing anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian views broke into a Muslim family’s apartment and attacked them with a knife, injuring the mother and killing her 6-year-old son, Wadea Al-Fayoume.”
by ti-amieFlorida Residents Flee State as Insurance Premiums Skyrocket up to 900%
Oct 19, 2023 at 1:19 PM EDT
By Giulia Carbonaro
US News Reporter
The skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums in Florida is leading residents to drop their insurance, consider selling their home, and even move out of the state, according to recent reports.
For years now, the sunny, vibrant state has been a magnetic destination for many Americans—a phenomenon which has been driving up demand for housing, especially during the pandemic, as well as home prices.
But while Florida was the number one state in the country that people moved to in 2022, it was also the one with the highest number of residents wanting to relocate, according to a SelfStorage.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 275,666 people left Florida in 2022—nearly 23,000 people every month. Most, according to the bureau, relocated to places like Georgia (46,884), North Carolina (42,301), Tennessee (36,200), South Carolina (31,456) and Texas (29,975).
There are many reasons why people are leaving the Sunshine State—including the rising cost of living, the skyrocketing home prices, high property taxes, and the exacerbated risk of deadly and devastating extreme weather events like hurricanes.
The state's insurance premiums, which are the highest in the country according to a recent study by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple I), are also one of the reasons Floridians are considering leaving the state, as many can no longer afford insurance on their homes.
Several homeowners told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the increased cost of premiums has led them to completely or partially drop their insurance—what's known as going bare—and even consider selling their properties.
00:53Florida Residents Flee State As Insurance Premiums Skyrocket Up To 900%
By Giulia Carbonaro
US News Reporter
FOLLOW
172
The skyrocketing cost of insurance premiums in Florida is leading residents to drop their insurance, consider selling their home, and even move out of the state, according to recent reports.
For years now, the sunny, vibrant state has been a magnetic destination for many Americans—a phenomenon which has been driving up demand for housing, especially during the pandemic, as well as home prices.
But while Florida was the number one state in the country that people moved to in 2022, it was also the one with the highest number of residents wanting to relocate, according to a SelfStorage.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 275,666 people left Florida in 2022—nearly 23,000 people every month. Most, according to the bureau, relocated to places like Georgia (46,884), North Carolina (42,301), Tennessee (36,200), South Carolina (31,456) and Texas (29,975).
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Florida housing market
Residential towers in Miami, Florida, on January 20, 2022. Insurance premiums in the Sunshine State have climbed so high that people are considering going without insurance coverage, or moving out of the state.
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
There are many reasons why people are leaving the Sunshine State—including the rising cost of living, the skyrocketing home prices, high property taxes, and the exacerbated risk of deadly and devastating extreme weather events like hurricanes.
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The state's insurance premiums, which are the highest in the country according to a recent study by the Insurance Information Institute (Triple I), are also one of the reasons Floridians are considering leaving the state, as many can no longer afford insurance on their homes.
Several homeowners told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the increased cost of premiums has led them to completely or partially drop their insurance—what's known as going bare—and even consider selling their properties.
Home insurance premiums have tripled in the state in the past five years, with residents currently paying on average more than $4,200 per year. The national average is $1,700, according to data from Triple I.
Some insurance premiums have risen by about nine times what they were in 2022, Oscar Seikaly, chief executive of NSI Insurance Group, told the WSJ, with multimillion-dollar homes generating premiums costing as much as $600,000 a year.
This happened in part because construction costs—which are taken into consideration when determining how expensive it would be to rebuild a home once destroyed—have risen by a staggering 40 percent since 2017, and because of the excess litigation going on in Florida.
Analysts have expressed their fears of what could happen should a major natural disaster, like a hurricane, strike the state as many Floridians do not have insurance coverage.
Going bare is "very dangerous, because once the storm or the fire hits, if they don't have insurance, they're going to suffer really big losses," Yanjun (Penny) Liao, an economist at Resources for the Future, previously told Newsweek.
But as insurance premiums are expected to continue surging and state legislators are still considering a solution to the mass exodus of major insurers from the state, more and more Floridians are expected to give up coverage on their homes.
by ti-amieAt least 16 killed in Lewiston, Maine, shootings, law enforcement official says
Updated just now
Police respond to an active shooter situation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP)
At least 16 people have been killed in shootings in Lewiston, Maine, a law enforcement official said, based on initial information gathered by first responders at three locations. That figure could rise. Dozens more were injured, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Authorities were investigating multiple active shooter events late Wednesday, as a suspect remained at large, the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on Facebook. “We are encouraging all businesses to lock down and or close while we investigate,” the sheriff’s office said.
Updates
By Emily Eng
Graphics Assignment Editor
Two businesses have been associated with the “active shooter incident” by Lewiston police: Schemengees Bar & Grille, an arcade-style restaurant on Lincoln Street, and a bowling alley formerly known as Sparetime Recreation, now Just-In-Time Recreation, on Mollison Way.
By Kelsey Ables
Reporter in the Seoul hub
The FBI Boston Division said in a statement that it is coordinating with law enforcement partners in Maine following the shootings this evening in Lewiston and stands “ready to assist with any available resources they need.”
The division urged the public to “remain vigilant” and described the situation as “very fluid.”
By Jintak Han
Breaking news photography editor
The Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office and the Lewiston Police Department released security footage of the gunman wielding what appears to be an AR-style rifle inside Just-In-Time Recreation in Lewiston.
A shooter points a gun while entering Just-In-Time Recreation in Lewiston, Maine, on Wednesday. (Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office/AP)
by ti-amie I keep forgetting that Xitter isn't what it was. I deleted three posts because they may be disinformation
by ti-amieManhunt for suspect in 18 deaths continues
LEWISTON, Maine — A manhunt involving hundreds of police officers is ongoing after deadly shootings at a bowling alley and bar shook this city of about 38,000 people around 7 p.m. on Wednesday. At least 18 people were killed in Lewiston and at least 13 were injured, Gov. Janet Mills said Thursday morning. Law enforcement personnel are searching for 40-year-old Robert Card, of Bowdoin, Maine, a suspect police believe is responsible for all of the deaths. Police said he is armed and dangerous and should not be approached. At a news conference Thursday evening, Lewiston native Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) called for an assault-weapons ban, a notable departure from his past votes against gun-control legislation. “The time has now come for me to take responsibility for this failure,” he said.
Key updates
Suspect was not a firearms instructor for the Army, service says
Suspect said to have been sent to psychiatric hospital after threatening own unit
Here's what to know
Seven people were killed at the Just-in-Time Recreation bowling alley and eight were shot dead at Schemengees Bar & Grille, an arcade-style restaurant four miles away, said Col. William G. Ross of the Maine State Police. Three people died at local hospitals, and 10 have yet to be identified.
Card’s military reserve commanders sent him to a hospital where he received roughly two weeks of inpatient psychiatric treatment earlier this summer, according to a person familiar with investigators’ findings.
by Owendonovan Thoughts and prayers will get the affected through this, right?
by ti-amie
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Fri Oct 27, 2023 12:11 am
Thoughts and prayers will get the affected through this, right?
by patrick It is sad that thoughts and prayers are used so often. I know this will be on deaf ears but there needs to be regulations on guns and make getting them strict
by ponchi101 Interesting how some Maine legislator NOW has changed his position on gun control (he is a dem). NOW he can see there is a problem. NOW he wants to do something. NOW legislation is needed.
Pathetic assholes, all of them (the ones opposing doing something.)
by Owendonovan Nothing will be done. Nothing changed after 20 6/7 year old kids were killed. Pathetic assholes is generous. (I know we can't always use the words we'd like) How easily the lives of all these people killed by these weapons is accepted for a political donation is beyond the pale, it's just so egregious and debased. Embarrassing. At least the shooter is dead.
by ti-amieMaine gunman who killed 18 was found in third search of recycling center
Mental health was a ‘nexus’ to shooting, but police have no evidence 40-year-old Robert Card was forcibly committed to treatment.
By Justine McDaniel, Arelis R. Hernández and Perry Stein
Updated October 28, 2023 at 3:34 p.m. EDT|Published October 28, 2023 at 12:08 p.m. EDT
LEWISTON, Maine — Maine police had twice searched and cleared a recycling center before they found the body of the 40-year-old gunman who killed 18 people and triggered an intensive police manhunt that forced thousands of people to shelter in place.
The body was discovered only after the center’s owner called local police to say that Army reservist Robert Card was familiar with the property, urging investigators to check the trailers in an overflow parking lot across the street from the main facility. Just before 8 p.m. Friday, a state police tactical team discovered the body near the sliding door of an unlocked trailer full of scrap plastic and metal. Card had died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Law enforcement separately found a letter addressed to a loved one with the passcode to Card’s phone and bank account numbers. Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said the note’s “tone and tenor is that the individual is not going to be around,” but it wasn’t an “explicit suicide note.”
The shooter also left behind a legally purchased long gun in a vehicle abandoned near a boat ramp near the Androscoggin River. Police said the ramp is connected to a walking trail along the waterway that leads to the parking lot where Card’s body was found along with two other firearms, also legally obtained. The commissioner rebuffed a question about whether the police should have searched that area sooner, saying they did not know it was connected to the recycling center.
The Maine Recycling Corporation told the Bangor Daily News in a statement that Card had worked as a commercial driver for the company but left the job voluntarily last spring.
Authorities said that Card had had mental health problems and paranoia, and that they had not yet found evidence of a specific motive. They had found no records of Card having been forcibly committed for mental health treatment and were seeking to confirm whether he received any voluntary treatment.
“When you talk about, is there a motive here? I think clearly there’s a mental health component to this,” Sauschuck said during a news conference Saturday morning.
“There’s paranoia, there’s some conspiracy theorist piece,” Sauschuck said. “The individual felt like people were talking about him. It may even appear that there were some voices in play here.”
The Washington Post reported earlier that over the summer, Card’s military reserve commanders became so concerned by statements he made targeting his own unit that he was sent to a hospital. Card received about two weeks of inpatient psychiatric treatment, according to a person familiar with the investigation. It is not clear whether any other consequences followed.
Investigators continued to look into hundreds of leads and serve at least a dozen warrants to piece together the days and hours before Card opened fire on bowling alley and bar patrons, Sauschuck said. The commissioner emphasized that the gunman’s family had been very cooperative. He also said that although there was a strong mental health “nexus” to the shootings, “The vast, vast, vast majority of people with a mental health diagnosis will never hurt anybody.”
With the manhunt over, the Lewiston community and surrounding towns are emerging from the terror of a mass killing, reaching for something like normal as a sign that it is once again safe to live their lives. On community Facebook groups, neighbors are trying to figure out what businesses are reopening and when, whether Halloween events will go forward, and when pharmacies will reopen.
On the road to the Schemengees bar and grill, which remained blocked by police, stood a poster of the four deaf victims surrounded by five pots of chrysanthemums and bouquets of flowers.
“The time to heal begins now,” Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline said in a social media post.
State and city officials have opened a family assistance center at the Lewiston armory for people who were present at either of the two shooting scenes — the bar and Just-in-Time Recreation bowling alley — to obtain help from various agencies. Mental health services will be provided to the wider public at a local hotel.
An aerial view of the site where the body of Robert Card was found in Lisbon, Maine, on Friday. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
“The entire city is a scene, people that are traumatized,” Sauschuck said. “Now this will slowly evolve over to a wellness and a resilience conversation for the community.”
In Kennedy Park in downtown Lewiston, Wilder Barreto was among those enjoying the freedom to leave their houses again, gathering multicolored fall leaves in his arms and posing for his camera mounted on a tripod as he shot content to post on Instagram.
Barreto, 31, had been “very nervous” living in downtown Lewiston since the shooting and said he stayed home Thursday and Friday. “No one knew what could happen,” he said.
Then relief came on Saturday.
“This morning we saw the news,” Barreto told The Washington Post in Spanish. “We said, ‘Wow.’”
Lewiston is home to fewer than 40,000 people; the population of the entire state of Maine is just 1.3 million. It has not been uncommon for people to realize they had connections to more than one of the victims.
The 18 who were killed included a 14-year-old boy and his father out for a night of bowling; four people from the area’s deaf community who had gathered at the bar to play cornhole; a married couple in their 70s; and two men who witnesses said confronted the shooter at the start of the rampage. Of the 13 people injured, three remain in critical condition at the hospital, police said.
When Alicia Phelps and her husband got the emergency alert on Friday night announcing Card’s death, they turned on the news and went outside “to breathe a sigh of relief and know that we’re safe in our neighborhood.”
“It’s feeling really surreal,” the 30-year-old mother said as she pushed her son on a park swing. “It’s a beautiful day, but there’s this emotional weight of ‘18 people are dead.’”
She and her family live in neighboring Auburn, where they stayed home with the doors locked. The couple had intended to stay in the community until their son finished elementary school, but they now wonder whether they will stick to that plan.
“This has definitely brought up a conversation in our house of if we feel this is a safe community to stay in and to raise our kids in,” Phelps said. “And that really extends beyond the shooter; it’s what is the response from our political representatives when it comes to gun control.”
A sign in Lewiston, Maine, i support of the city after the mass killing on Wednesday. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post)
Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) has opposed aggressive gun-control measures despite members of her party pushing for tougher rules in a state with relatively loose gun laws such as permitless carry. The state does not have a red-flag law, which would allow family members or friends to ask a court to take firearms away from a person thought to be at risk of self-harm or to pose a danger to others. Such laws would also require law enforcement to seek a mental health evaluation for an individual before getting a court order to seize firearms.
Four years ago, Maine passed a “yellow flag” law intended to empower law enforcement to temporarily confiscate firearms and detain individuals they deem pose a threat. The measure emerged as a compromise between gun rights groups and activists. But the law, which went into effect in 2020, was not triggered in Card’s case, police said.
“I know that because I read every single one of those reports and am involved in that process on a regular basis,” said Sauschuck, adding the weapons restriction order had been used 82 times since its adoption. “It has been effective to this point and it’s certainly something that we’re always looking at.”
The governor’s spokesman has since signaled Mills’s willingness to reopen the conversation about gun restrictions.
President Biden on Saturday praised law enforcement and public officials for their handling of the search and reiterated his call for more gun-control measures.
“This was a tragic two days for the families in Maine who have been devastated by gun violence,” Biden said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Americans should not have to live like this. I call on Republicans in Congress to fulfill their obligation to keep Americans safe.”
While shooting attacks have become a grimly consistent part of American life, they often end with assailants dead or in custody. A search of this length after an attack with so many victims is rare, said Peter J. Forcelli, a former deputy assistant director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Those in Lewiston are hoping to be able to heal after the ordeal. Shantel Fournier, 29, said she hoped the community could grow closer and healthier as a result of the trauma. Had Card been killed by authorities, that might have provided more closure, she said.
“He inflicted so much pain,” Fournier said. “The only thing that would’ve been better is if they killed him. But now I’m just happy that we can grieve in peace.”
Hernández reported from San Antonio and Stein from Washington. Robert Klemko in Lewiston and Andrew Jeong in Seoul contributed to this report.
by ti-amie It's interesting reading articles like this because you can almost hear the unspoken words "this isn't supposed to happen here" behind every comment by locals. Nothing is a problem until it happens to them and then they want to run some place else where it's safer. SMH
by Owendonovan These" _________ Strong" slogans annoy me to no end, as useful as thoughts and prayer.
by MJ2004 The first time it was used (afaik) was the Boston Marathon bombings (Boston Strong).. I agree with you.
by Owendonovan I've seen them described as "Toxic Positivity", a nuanced gaslighting.
by ti-amieYoung people allege abuse at center run by Arkansas man pardoned by Trump
Former residents of Lord’s Ranch, run by Ted Suhl, convicted of bribery in 2016, say abuse was ‘systematic and widespread’
Associated Press
Tue 7 Nov 2023 22.12 GMT
Ted Suhl at federal court in 2016. Photograph: Brian Chilson/Arkansas Times
Eight former residents of a youth treatment center that was run by an Arkansas man whose bribery conviction was commuted by Donald Trump have filed a lawsuit claiming they were victims of “systematic and widespread” abuse at the now-shuttered facility.
Attorneys for the former residents of the Lord’s Ranch said the lawsuit was the first of several to be filed in the coming weeks alleging abuse at the facility that closed in 2016 after owner Ted Suhl was convicted in a federal bribery scheme. Suhl’s conviction was commuted by Trump in 2019.
“Men and women who owned, operated, and staffed the facility preyed on and abused the children housed on the remote facility in Warm Springs, Arkansas, routinely and systematically,” the lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court said.
The lawsuit against Suhl and others claims the unnamed residents were victims of repeated sexual abuse and rape by an employee of the facility, describing the abuse in graphic detail. The employee, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, had not been charged by police with abuse. An attorney who represented Suhl in his bribery case did not immediately respond to a message on Tuesday.
“Children at the Lord’s lived in constant fear, knowing that they were alone in a remote, unfamiliar environment far from home and at the complete mercy of a sadistic staff,” the lawsuit said. “For many children, survival meant compliance with the physical and sexual abuse.”
The ranch – later named Trinity Behavioral Health – opened in 1976 and was licensed in 1987 by the state as a residential childcare facility.
The lawsuit claims Suhl and others at the ranch made an “intentional, fully conscious decision” to allow the abuse to occur and threatened victims who spoke up.
A federal jury in 2016 found Suhl guilty of charges related to paying up to $20,000 in cash bribes over four years to a state health official in hopes of receiving inside information to benefit his businesses. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released after Trump commuted his sentence to time served.
The White House in 2019 called Suhl “a pillar of his community before his prosecution and a generous contributor to several charities” in its statement announcing Trump’s commutation. Suhl’s clemency request had been supported by Mike Huckabee, the former governor.
Attorneys for the residents said they represent at least 30 who have also claimed abuse at the facility. The attorneys said they were filing additional lawsuits, citing a January 2024 deadline under a recent Arkansas law that extended the statute of limitation on child sex abuse cases.
“Each story is worse than the next,” attorney Martin Gould told reporters in a Zoom call on Tuesday with attorney Josh Gillispie.
The call included audio recordings from two of the plaintiffs discussing the impact the abuse had on them. One of the plaintiffs said the years he spent at the ranch were “the worst, most horrific experiences I can remember”.
by Owendonovan Any youth "treatment" center with "Ranch" in it's name makes me think of abuse.
by ti-amieLouisiana’s Governor-Elect Wants To Withhold Funds For New Orleans’ Decaying Water Infrastructure Until Women Who Seek Abortions Are Prosecuted
IN A HORRIFYING INTERSECTION OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, JEFF LANDRY HAS URGED THE STATE TO WITHHOLD FUNDS BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.
BY GABRIELLE A. PERRY · UPDATED NOVEMBER 13, 2023
In September, the city of New Orleans and some surrounding parishes in south Louisiana began to prepare for at least three months of saltwater intrusion in the local water supply. President Joe Biden then declared the crisis a federal emergency and authorized funding for FEMA and other state agencies to mitigate the burgeoning crisis.
While months of extreme, record-high heat and lack of rainfall in and around the Crescent City are responsible for the crisis, some are pointing at current Louisiana Attorney General and Louisiana governor-elect Jeff Landry as partially responsible for the city’s ability to address the now circumvented crisis, as well as the decayed state of the city’s entire water infrastructure. Landry personally solicited the Louisiana State Bond Commission last year to withhold millions in funding from the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board due to the city government’s refusal to arrest and prosecute women in the wake of Louisiana’s total ban on abortion. The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board remains in desperate need of funding to tackle necessary repairs to its four water intake structures—one of which that has been inoperable for 34 years.
Despite a race against time to keep saltwater from encroaching from the Gulf of Mexico, there has been no concerted efforts by the state to improve its most populated city’s water infrastructure. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and New Orleans Homeland Security spent weeks unloading daily shipments of 36 million gallons of fresh water into the Mississippi in an attempt to dilute the river enough to prevent any further progression of the saltwater or the growing concern of the intrusion of lead into the city’s water supply. Both Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish are in the process of building two respective pipelines to avoid both saltwater and lead contamination in their drinking water.
This ordeal unfolding during the Louisiana gubernatorial election coupled with the ascent of two Louisiana conservative GOP extremists to the highest offices in the land has sparked conversations and frustration about the fate of a city caught in the crosshairs. With reproductive justice and environmental justice acutely intersecting, Black families are especially vulnerable.
In an email to Matt McBride, a reporter from the Louisiana Illuminator, that was later published, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board, Grace Birch, said “We are at a critical point with nearly a billion dollars in capital improvement projects slated for the next five years that are 93% unfunded,” Birch said. “We have scoured every source of City, State and Federal funding, but our customers must know that these are one-time sources that are not sustainable, and we are looking at long-term plans for capital projects, especially as it relates to water treatment and distribution.” As of October 2023, the state of Louisiana has a surplus budget of $330 million.
Throughout the ordeal, residents took to social media to express frustration at the now slow-moving but omnipresent water crisis itself as many fear the implications upon daily life– like possible school closures, food accessibility, and the ability to maintain tourism levels, a major economic driver of the city of New Orleans, ahead of the Mardi Gras season.
Some mentioned facing derision from local residents in neighboring parishes as they flock to the shelves to stock up on drinking water. Last month’s governor’s race highlighted the almost exclusive anti-abortion political arena that is complicit in the burgeoning crisis.
Louisiana is one of the poorest states in the union, and 61.4% of babies born in the state in 2020 were born under the Louisiana’s Medicaid plan. Lack of reproductive care access has sent women who can afford other options as close as Illinois–geographically the closest sanctuary state for abortion access– and as far away as New York to have their choice respected.
Since the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization U.S. Supreme Court decision struck down the constitutionally protected right for women to obtain abortion care, multiple abortion bans have been triggered in the Louisiana legislature. Senate Bill 342, authored by Democratic representative Katrina Jackson, is one of the strictest in the nation. It mandates one to 10 years of prison time and a fine of $10,000 up to $100,000 for anyone who has had an abortion in the state of Louisiana.
The most recent legislative session saw every proposed amendment– including those that would have allowed exceptions for victims of incest and rape– struck down in bipartisan opposition. Now in Louisiana—which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States, and where homicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant women—women are being forced to carry fetuses without skulls to term.
However, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, and Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson have all vowed to not seek arrest nor prosecution for pregnant persons seeking reproductive care. As a result, Landry– who suggested that anyone who does not like their reproductive care being stripped can simply “move“– has used his massive campaign backing and platform to wage a political war on the majority female state.
Throughout his campaign to be the next governor of Louisiana, Landry stood firmly opposed to any access to substantive abortion care for birthing people in Louisiana. Last fall, Landry personally urged the state treasurer to deny funding to any and all state-funded projects in the city of New Orleans until they enforced the abortion ban. A month later, Landry attended a public meeting through the Louisiana State Bond Commission to purposely delay funding to multiple city improvement projects–including $35 million to the New Orleans Sewage and Water Board–as he claimed the city had “thumbed its nose at the law” too many times. Per local news, that funding was specifically intended “for construction of an electrical substation to replace outdated, unreliable turbines that power the city’s drinking water, drainage and sewage systems.”
The New Orleans Sewage and Water Board has since made headlines for its crumbing infrastructure. The spewing and leaking of oil from its 24/7 turbines and drainage pumps (built in the 1960s) caused major damage to residents’ property in March 2023; a replacement is not expected to be in operation until the end of 2024. Now, the New Orleans water crisis highlights yet another real-world consequence of political posturing as a city of approximately 400,000 braces itself for an unknown many cannot afford to prepare for.
With Landry’s easy victory in the October 2023 Louisiana governor’s race, it can be assumed that his gubernatorial powers will be used to ensure the city of New Orleans is forced to comply with state law and enforce the prosecution of women seeking abortion care. Per the National Governor’s Association, “Governors develop and submit annual or biennial budgets for review and approval by the legislature. In a number of states, commonwealths, and territories, Governors also have ‘reduction’—most often referred to as ‘line-item’—veto power that can be used for the removal of appropriations to which they object.”
The state of Louisiana is no stranger to line-item veto powers being used by its governor. In that event, the governor’s veto can only be overridden by two-thirds majority vote of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Yet, with the state of Louisiana containing a Republican supermajority, impactful dissent to Landry’s political will is not expected. Now governor-elect, Landry has already publicly vowed to reverse the impact of his Democratic predecessor as much as possible upon taking office.
Though the saltwater intrusion threat has passed, access to clean, freshwater remains a critical and focal issue of daily life in New Orleans and much needs to be done by way of funding to protect residents safety and health. However, regardless of the outcome, residents in New Orleans will likely experience a more profound wave of retribution for its stance of protecting women once the Landry administration ascends to power in the new year.
A mysterious illness is sickening dogs in several states. “I would strongly recommend that people avoid boarding facilities, doggy day care, anything that’s going to be a high volume of dogs in a space”. Free article for you, no paywall
by dryrunguy I was not aware of this, so perhaps you all are not aware of it, either. You know those firefighters who work for the U.S. Forest Service and go all over the U.S. to fight fires? Base pay starts at $16/hour, and 16-hour shifts are the norm. This is from today's NY Times newsletter, Thanksgiving edition.
::
On the fire line
It was a relatively quiet wildfire season in the U.S. But there is no summer vacation for the Tallac Hotshots, a federal firefighting crew based near Lake Tahoe in California.
The crew members spent early July in triple-digit heat in Arizona, fighting a wildfire for 14 straight days. From there they traveled to a thickly wooded evergreen forest in Oregon; then to the dense, steep terrain of Klamath National Forest in California; and then to remote wilderness in Northern California, where they arrived by helicopter and fought fires in near-freezing temperatures. Their current assignment has taken them to Tennessee, where they will likely spend Thanksgiving Day swinging hand tools to contain blazes fueled by extreme drought.
“It’s really physical, but it’s extremely mental, too,” said Kyle Betty, the superintendent of the Tallac Hotshots, who has been a federal firefighter for 22 years. “The things that you see, the things that you face — every day you have to get up and do it again.”
The “hotshot” moniker, which dates back to the 1940s, describes firefighters who travel to battle the hottest, most treacherous and most technically challenging wildfires. There are around 100 such crews in the U.S., most of which work for the U.S. Forest Service.
During their deployments, the crews often have no access to cellphone signals or showers. They sometimes sleep in the open air. A standard shift is 16 hours, and crews can work three weeks straight without a break.
Base pay for entry-level federal firefighters is $16 an hour — far less than the amount earned by California state fighters, who battle many of the same blazes.
“They are the premier firefighting force in the U.S.,” said Evan Pierce, who helped write a University of Washington report on firefighter salaries. “But they are working longer and in more dangerous conditions — for less pay.”
Instead of fire engines and hoses, hotshot crews use hoes, shovels and chain saws to carve out dirt tracks to choke the progress of a fire.
The Tallac Hotshots crew members hail from across the country. Elsa Gaule, pictured above, is one of the crew’s captains. She spent her earliest years in Alaska in a house without a toilet or running water.
She and the other crew members are drawn to the outdoors and the deep sense of camaraderie. “I’m not a very good sit-at-a-desk person,” Gaule said. “Until my knees and back give out, I’ll continue doing this.”
Read the full story on the Tallac Hotshots.
by ti-amieTwo people dead after car crashed, exploded at border checkpoint in Niagara Falls, N.Y., law enforcement officials say
FBI agents rushed to respond Wednesday to a vehicle explosion that killed two and injured a third person on the Rainbow Bridge connecting Canada to Niagara Falls, N.Y., said two law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a fast-moving investigation. Two people familiar with the investigation said there was no immediate evidence of any nexus to terrorism, but officials continue to investigate and their understanding could change. The explosion, which also injured a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, occurred on one of the United States’s heaviest travel days. One eyewitness told local news station WGRZ that the car was speeding and swerving as it approached the border from the U.S. side, but shortly after it passed another car, it suddenly went careening toward the U.S. security checkpoint.
by ti-amie
A view of the Rainbow Bridge border crossing into the United States in Niagara Falls, Ontario, on Wednesday, after a car exploded at a checkpoint. (Peter Power/AFP/Getty Images)
Update on the incident at the US/Canada border from WaPo.
13 min ago
By Kyle Rempfer
Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday evening that he was briefed a second time by the FBI on the incident at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.
“They have now confirmed that there is no reason at present to believe this was terrorism,” Schumer said on social media. “And they believe they have the identity of the driver.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday evening that “at this time, there is no indication of a threat related to this incident” on Rainbow Bridge.
“We will continue to update the public as information becomes available,” Mayorkas said on social media.
By Anumita Kaur
Staff writer, general assignment desk
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it is working closely with the FBI and other partners in response to the vehicle crash at Rainbow Bridge, which remains closed. Three other Buffalo border crossings that had been closed after the incident have since reopened, the agency stated on social media.
by skatingfan Okay, I had to watch that video a few times before I was looking at the right vehicle - hint: it's not the silver SUV.
by ti-amie Rep. Eric Swalwell @RepSwalwell 9m
by ti-amie Meanwhile...
Ted Cruz @tedcruz
This confirms our worst fear: the explosion at Rainbow Bridge was a terrorist attack.
Both attackers are dead, and one law enforcement officer is injured.
I am praying that officer makes a full recovery and is able to spend Thanksgiving surrounded by family and loved ones.
Thank you to our law enforcement officers who are remaining vigilant and working to protect Americans traveling for Thanksgiving.
by ti-amie
skatingfan wrote: ↑Thu Nov 23, 2023 2:07 am
Okay, I had to watch that video a few times before I was looking at the right vehicle - hint: it's not the silver SUV.
This is clearer.
by skatingfan It's really unfortunate that a certain vulpine news channel had to jump to terrorism, and suddenly every US official has to go on television and say it wasn't terrorism before they even know what happened. In Canada it got left as an explosion caused by a motor vehicle accident, and the word terrorism wasn't used.
by Owendonovan It looked like a typical out of control car, not terrorism. They (idiots on the right) somehow didn't jump all over the car that blew up in front of a Yeshiva a block away from me the day Hamas slaughtered 1200 Israelis.
by Fastbackss
ti-amie wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 10:14 pmLouisiana’s Governor-Elect Wants To Withhold Funds For New Orleans’ Decaying Water Infrastructure Until Women Who Seek Abortions Are Prosecuted
IN A HORRIFYING INTERSECTION OF REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, JEFF LANDRY HAS URGED THE STATE TO WITHHOLD FUNDS BECAUSE OF HIS PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS.
This is straight from the Tommy Tuberville playbook.
You can't be a public official that jeopardizes health and/or public safety just to make a stand about something unrelated
by dryrunguy The NY Times is reporting Derek Chauvin, the police officer who murdered George Floyd, has been stabbed in federal prison. They also report the injuries are serious.
Sidebar: Has anyone seen my violin?
by Fastbackss
by Owendonovan Have the right wing nuts set a GoFundMe for Chauvin yet?
by ti-amieTexas woman at the center of an abortion ban challenge leaves state for procedure
By Caroline Kitchener and Maegan Vazquez
Updated December 11, 2023 at 3:17 p.m. EST|Published December 11, 2023 at 2:19 p.m. EST
Kate Cox, a Dallas-area woman who petitioned a judge to get an abortion in Texas, has left the state for abortion care after a week of legal whiplash.
The Texas Supreme Court late Friday night blocked a lower-court ruling that would have allowed Cox to get an abortion under the state’s near-total abortion ban but has not yet issued a final decision on the matter.
Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, had sought an abortion after learning that her fetus had a fatal genetic condition and that carrying the pregnancy to term could jeopardize her future fertility. The case is the first instance of an adult pregnant woman asking a court for permission to terminate her pregnancy under an abortion ban since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.
Cox’s lawsuit has been widely viewed as a test case for other abortion litigation across the country. Advocacy groups have tried a variety of different approaches to overturn or temporarily block the bans, in full or in part, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Most recently, several cases have centered on the women directly affected by the laws, instead of abortion clinics or doctors.
While the Texas Supreme Court might have eventually ruled in Cox’s favor, the Center for Reproductive Rights, the organization representing Cox in the case, said she couldn’t wait any longer for abortion care.
“This past week of legal limbo has been hellish for Kate,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Her health is on the line. She’s been in and out of emergency rooms and she couldn’t wait any longer.”
Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, an elected Democrat, on Thursday granted a temporary restraining order to allow Cox to have an abortion under the narrow exceptions to the state’s ban, which allows abortions in medical emergencies. But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) asked the Supreme Court of Texas to intervene to block Cox from obtaining an abortion.
Paxton in a letter on Thursday threatened to take legal action if Cox had the procedure in the state, warning doctors and hospitals that anyone involved in performing an abortion for Cox would face “civil and criminal liability … including first-degree felony prosecutions.” He contended that Cox’s doctor did not meet “all of the elements necessary to fall within an exception to Texas’ abortion laws” and that the judge was “not medically qualified to make this determination.”
The case drew national attention after Cox described in an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News how she came to the decision to seek an abortion after learning that her fetus had Trisomy 18. Almost all such pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Babies who do survive often die prematurely.
“I just never thought I’d be in the situation I’m in right now. Twenty weeks pregnant with a baby that won’t survive and could jeopardize my health and a future pregnancy,” Cox wrote.
She also explained why she was seeking legal permission in Texas for the procedure.
“I am a Texan. Why should I or any other woman have to drive or fly hundreds of miles to do what we feel is best for ourselves and our families, to determine our own futures?” Cox said.
Cox had been to the emergency room at least three times during the course of her pregnancy, according to the complaint, experiencing “severe cramping, diarrhea, and leaking unidentifiable fluid.” Cox has had two prior Caesarean sections and would have likely needed a third if she carried this pregnancy to term, according to the complaint — a procedure that doctors said could have affected her ability to have more children in the future.
Doctors and hospitals across the country watched closely as Cox’s legal battle unfolded. In Texas, a doctor who performs an abortion could be sentenced to life in prison.
In his letter on Thursday, Paxton issued the most clear and credible threat to date to hospitals and doctors in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. While medical professionals have feared what might happen if they provide abortions later deemed illegal, no medical professional has yet been prosecuted under the new abortion bans.
“This is the most direct confrontation we’ve seen,” said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California at Davis who specializes in the politics of reproduction. “There’s been some interest in prosecuting people who are in the broader abortion support network, but not doctors.”
The Texas Attorney General’s office was probably eager to stop Cox’s case from becoming a blueprint for future litigation across the country, Ziegler added.
Days after Cox filed her lawsuit, a second pregnant woman came forward with a lawsuit challenging the abortion ban in Kentucky. The class-action lawsuit, filed on Friday, could have broader implications for abortion access across the state. Instead of appealing just for her abortion, the unidentified pregnant woman is seeking to strike down the ban altogether.
Cox’s suit is not related to a separate, broader case in the state, Zurawski v. State of Texas, in which a group of women who experienced pregnancy complications sued the state over its abortion ban. The women claim that state law denied them proper health care and put their lives in danger. The Texas Supreme Court held a hearing on the matter last month.
by ti-amieSuspect arrested after breaking into judicial building in Denver after crash, holding security guard at gunpoint
colorado
BY JOEL HILLAN, JESSE SARLES
UPDATED ON: JANUARY 2, 2024 / 10:46 AM MST / CBS COLORADO
An intruder in Denver shot out a window of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, entered the building and held an unarmed security guard at gunpoint early Tuesday morning. The suspect was arrested after allegedly firing additional shots and starting a fire inside the building that is the home of the Colorado Supreme Court and the Colorado Court of Appeals.
Colorado State Patrol said in a press release this all started with a two-vehicle crash at 13th Street and Lincoln Street where one individual reportedly pointed a handgun at another driver around 1:15 a.m. Tuesday.
A short time later, the suspect, whom Denver police identified as an adult male, shot out a window on the east side of the building and climbed in. Soon after, he came into contact with an unarmed security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit.
He held the guard at gunpoint, took their keys, and proceeded to access other parts of the building, eventually making his way to the 7th floor, where he fired additional shots. Law enforcement set up a perimeter around the building, and at around 3 a.m. the suspect called 911 to surrender. He was taken into custody and transported to a hospital to be cleared by medical personnel.
There were no injuries to occupants in the building, the suspect, or law enforcement.
The Denver Fire Department was called to the scene at one point because law enforcement spotted a fire. Firefighters were quickly able to get the fire under control.
There is significant and extensive damage to the building, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The suspect's identity has not been released.
The Colorado Supreme Court made headlines late last year when it ruled that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution's so-called insurrection clause and ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state's Republican presidential primary ballot. That decision has been appealed.
As of Tuesday morning, the Colorado State Patrol and the Denver Police Department do not believe this to be associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices. The Denver Police Department is taking the lead on this investigation.
by ti-amieBrandon Olsen faces robbery, burglary and arson charges after break-in at Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver
colorado
BY JESSE SARLES
JANUARY 2, 2024 / 1:41 PM MST / CBS COLORADO
Brandon Olsen
DENVER POLICE
A 44-year-old man is under arrest and facing robbery, burglary and arson charges after an unusual crime spree at the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center in Denver overnight. Brandon Olsen was arrested early Tuesday morning, and it's not believed that his alleged actions are tied to any recent threats that have been made to members of the Colorado Supreme Court.
The judicial center is located at on East 14th Avenue just off Civic Center Park and is the home of the state's supreme court as well as the Colorado Court of Appeals.
The incident began with a car crash outside the building after midnight. Two vehicles were involved, according to Denver police, and one of the people in one of the cars ran away with a gun.
Soon afterwards police say that same person, believed to be Olsen, shot out a window of the judicial center's east wall and broke in.
"The individual entered the building and came in contact with an unarmed security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit," Denver police wrote in a news release.
The suspect then confronted the guard and got their keys to the building. Soon afterwards the suspect went up to the 7th floor and fired his gun there more than once. He also allegedly started a fire in a stairwell.
By this time Denver officers as well as officers from the Colorado State Patrol were at the scene. They say a little less than 2 hours after the crash -- at 3 a.m. -- Olsen turned himself in and was arrested without any sort of fight.
Denver firefighters were able to extinguish the fire.
So far it's hasn't been determined how much damage was caused to the building, which was closed on Tuesday while an investigation took place.
Olsen has a criminal history in Colorado involving mostly drugs and theft cases that dates back to 1997. He was being held at the Denver Jail.
The Colorado Supreme Court made headlines late last year when it ruled that former President Donald Trump is disqualified from holding the presidency under the Constitution's so-called insurrection clause and ordered the secretary of state to exclude his name from the state's Republican presidential primary ballot. That decision has been appealed. Since the ruling some of the justices have received threats.
by ti-amieSixth Grader Killed and 5 Others Injured in Iowa School Shooting
Four other students and an administrator were injured in the shooting at an Iowa school. The gunman, identified as a 17-year-old student, died from a self-inflicted gunshot, the authorities said.
Parents picked up their children from a reunification center in Perry, Iowa, on Thursday morning.Credit...Rachel Mummey for The New York Times
By Remy Tumin and Victor Mather
Jan. 4, 2024
Updated 4:59 p.m. ET
A gunman killed a sixth-grade student and injured five other people at a high school in Perry, Iowa, early Thursday morning just as students were arriving back to school after their winter break.
Four of the injured were students, and one was an administrator, Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said at a news conference on Thursday. One of the injured victims was in critical condition.
The administrator was identified by Easton Valley Community School District as Dan Marburger, the principal at Perry High School, where the shooting took place. Officials did not release the names of any other victims.
The gunman, identified as Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student at the high school, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Mr. Mortvedt said. Law enforcement officials believe he acted alone and said the motive for the attack was not yet known.
Mr. Mortvedt said calls about someone with a gun at Perry High School began coming in just after 7:30 a.m. and emergency responders arrived about seven minutes later at the school. Perry is about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines.
The attack took place before classes began, Mr. Mortvedt said, but a breakfast program was catering to students on campus from multiple grades at the time of the shooting.
He said that when law enforcement officials arrived on the scene, they found multiple victims with gunshot wounds, and students and faculty sheltering in place and running from the school.
They also found a “rudimentary” improvised explosive, Mr. Mortvedt said, and agents with the state fire marshal and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives “rendered the device safe.”
The gunman was armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small caliber handgun, Mr. Mortvedt said. He also made “a number of social media posts in and around the time of the shooting,” which law enforcement officials are investigating, Mr. Mortvedt said.
About 150 law enforcement officers responded to the scene, Mr. Mortvedt said.
As of Thursday afternoon, multiple patients with gunshot wounds were being treated at Iowa Methodist Medical Center and MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, Polk County Medical Coordination Center said in a statement.
Ava Augustus, a senior at Perry High School, told WHO 13 News that she was in her counselor’s office when she heard three gunshots. When they got the all-clear, she saw glass everywhere, blood on the floor, and a student who had been shot in the leg being taken out of the auditorium.
Jody Kurth told KCCI 8 News, a local CBS affiliate, that her stepson, a student at Perry High School, was hurt in the shooting. She described the morning attack as “an absolute nightmare.”
Her daughter texted her to let her know about the shooter, she said, calling it “one of the worst moments of my entire life.”
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Both of her children were safe, she told KCCI.
At a community center in Perry, a bus dropped off students from the elementary school, where parents waited for their children to arrive. One of the first parents was Amanda Woods, 34, a mother of two young sons.
“At first I wasn’t sure which school it was at,” said Ms. Woods, who had been listening to the police scanner to get more information of the shooting. “I was freaking out.”
The shooting added an extra layer of national attention to the small community of Perry, where about 8,000 people live. Media organizations were already in the area on Thursday to cover a scheduled campaign event by the Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who hosted a prayer circle just hours after the attack. Attendees expressed fear, but little surprise.
“God please help our country,” said Mr. Ramaswamy as he addressed the prayer event and shook hands with everyone, calling it a “somber day.”
Mr. Ramaswamy was in Iowa ahead of the state’s Republican caucuses, scheduled for Jan. 15.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said President Biden had been briefed on the shooting.
“Our students and teachers deserve to know that their schools are safe spaces and to focus on learning — not duck and cover drills,” she said at a briefing on Thursday.
In a statement on social media, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa called the “appalling violence” at Perry High School “heartbreaking” and thanked school and law enforcement officials for their quick response.
Shelbie Lehman came into Mr. Ramaswamy’s event with her partner after picking up her first grade daughter from elementary school after hearing about the shooting at the high school.
“It’s very scary having them walk your kid out with a gun and officer, and having seven, eight cops there,” Ms. Lehman told Mr. Ramaswamy.
Ms. Lehman said it was hard to explain to her daughter why there were so many police and why she was picked up from school. She said she planned to try to explain things to her daughter later today as best she could.
The Perry Community School District said the high school, middle school and elementary school would be closed on Friday.
Remy Tumin and Victor Mather reported from New York. Molly Longman and Leah McBride Mensching contributed reporting from Perry, Iowa.
On Xitter earlier they were raging about the shooter being a trans school administrator. Others chimed in to say they understood why a school administrator would "snap". Both camps accepted that the administrator took their own life.
Disgraceful what the paid for blue check people have done to that site.
by Owendonovan
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Jan 04, 2024 10:07 pm
I swear to all that's holy...
On Xitter earlier they were raging about the shooter being a trans school administrator. Others chimed in to say they understood why a school administrator would "snap". Both camps accepted that the administrator took their own life.
Disgraceful what the paid for blue check people have done to that site.
I never click on any twitter links now. Like most social media, spend a couple days off it and you'll find you don't miss it. Twitter falls in the category of problem, not solution.
by ti-amie The insanity continues. I try to ignore the shenanigans but every now and then...
'Survivor' Winner-Turned-GOP Lawmaker Claims Bill Legalizing Sex With First Cousins Was Error
Nick Wilson, who won the 37th season of 'Survivor' in 2018 before becoming a Republican state Rep. in Kentucky, claimed that 'first cousins' was removed from his incest bill in error after sparking outrage on social media.
Alan Herrera
Jan. 18, 2024
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
Kentucky Republican State Representative Nick Wilson—best known for winning the 37th season of Survivor in 2018 before running for office—was widely criticized for introducing and subsequently withdrawing a bill that sought to remove the criminal liability for incest involving first cousins.
House Bill 269, introduced on January 16, aimed to amend Kentucky's incest laws by striking "first cousin" from the list of familial relationships considered unlawful. The proposed amendment raised eyebrows, leading to widespread criticism and concerns about the potential implications of such a change.
Wilson claimed that the inclusion of first cousins in the bill was a drafting error and has since refiled the legislation.
In a Facebook post, Wilson emphasized that the primary intention of the legislation was to extend legal protection against incest by adding "sexual contact" to the existing statute, addressing gaps in the law related to sexual touching and groping within familial relationships.
He wrote:
"The purpose of the bill is to add 'sexual contact' to the incest statute. Currently, incest only applies in cases of intercourse. So sexual touching/groping by uncles, stepdads or anyone with a familial relationship is not included in incest. My bill makes that kind of sexual contact a Class D Felony, unless the victim is under the age of 12, then it increases the penalty to a Class C Felony."
"During the drafting process, there was an inadvertent change, which struck 'first cousins' from the list of relationships included under the incest statute, and I failed to add it back in. During today’s session, I will withdraw HB 269 and refile a bill with the “first cousin” language intact."
"The fact that I was able to file a bill, catch the mistake, withdraw the bill and refile within a 24 hour period shows that we have a good system."
He concluded:
"This is a bill to combat a problem of familial and cyclical abuse that transcends generations of Kentuckians. I understand that I made a mistake, but I sincerely hope my mistake doesn’t hurt the chances of the corrected version of the bill."
"It is a good bill, and I hope it will get a second chance."
Many weren't buying it—and took to social media to express their disgust.
(You can see responses at the link below)
In Kentucky, incest is presently characterized by engaging in sexual relations with a person recognized as a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, great-grandparent, great-grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, brother, sister, first cousin, ancestor, or descendant. Wilson's initial proposed amendment aimed to eliminate "first cousin" from this list.
Furthermore, both the original and revised editions of the bill tackled the issue of parole for violent offenders, encompassing individuals convicted of incest through sexual contact within the defined parameters.
Additionally, Wilson takes a leading role as the primary sponsor in three other bills currently under consideration.
House Bill 182, aiming to broaden the definition of a "violent offender"; House Bill 270, seeking to criminalize traveling to Kentucky for the purpose of engaging in rape or sodomy; and House Bill 271, proposing the allowance of written reports concerning child dependency, neglect, or abuse.
by ti-amieOutrage as Oklahoma Republican’s bill labels Hispanic people ‘terrorists’
Lawmaker JJ Humphrey seeks punishments for ‘acts of terrorism’ and defines terrorist as ‘any person who is of Hispanic descent’
Erum Salam
Fri 19 Jan 2024 00.57 CET
An Oklahoma lawmaker is facing backlash for proposing a discriminatory bill that deems people of Hispanic descent as “terrorists”.
The Republican state representative JJ Humphrey introduced the bill, HB 3133, which seeks to combat problems in the state, such as drug and human trafficking, and lay out punishments to those who have committed these “acts of terrorism”.
The punishment for such a crime would be forfeiting all assets, including any and all property, vehicles and money.
In addition to “a member of a criminal street gang” and someone who “has been convicted of a gang-related offense”, the bill defines a terrorist as “any person who is of Hispanic descent living within the state of Oklahoma”.
The move was met with fierce criticism.
State senator Michael Brooks, who serves as the senate’s minority caucus vice-chair and founded the Oklahoma Latino legislative caucus, said the move by Humphrey was unsurprising.
“To have the law treat people differently based on their race or ethnicity only creates greater divides,” Brooks said. “The bill is fatally flawed, and I don’t know if there’s much of a way to be able to change it.”
(...)
Humphrey apologized but then doubled down.
He said: “I apologize for using the word Hispanic, but I was not wrong. Again, these are Hispanic. Reality is they are Hispanic. There’s nothing to be ashamed with.”
Humphrey said he will go back to the bill and amend the language from “Hispanic” to “undocumented here illegally, or something like that”.
If passed in the Republican-controlled legislature, the bill would become law and take effect on 1 November.
Humphrey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
by ponchi101 Uhm, as much as I disagree with illegal aliens, in the sense of being in a country illegally, this guy is a total buffoon if he decides to confuse terrorism with migrants.
What an idiot.
by ti-amie Who's gonna tell 'em?
Matt Campbell @BlueHogReport
This is the funniest thing I’ll read all day
Tristan Snell
@TristanSnell
So if Texas were to secede:
- Republicans would lose 40 electoral votes
- Republicans would lose 25 seats in the House and 2 seats in the Senate
- Thereby giving Democrats a lock on the White House and Congress
But sure, y’all go on ahead and secede.
And to be clear - I am a native Texan and don’t want to see anyone seceding
But let’s just say these modern day confederates haven’t quite thought through the consequences of their agitation
Look if they secede they'll become a foreign country. Visa's and passports will be needed to travel to the United States. There will be no Federal aid going to the new country of Texas. No welfare, medicaid, Medicare, social security benefits, Obamacare, nothing of the sort. They will have to pay for clean ups after major weather events - cold, hurricanes, etc.
That's why I say let 'em go. More Federal money will go to the remaining states for projects that are being short changed now.
by ponchi101 Texas is one of the states that is self supporting, so the economic consequences can be accepted. They can have their own social security network, but of course they do not believe in social security.
They would lose NASA and stuff like that.
The oil companies will remain, so no issues there.
Visa's and stuff like that are negotiable. The UK left the Euro zone and they were not slapped with visas to enter.
The NBA, NFL and MLB will sort it out in minutes. Too much money involved.
Let them go.
by ti-amie KANSAS CITY CHIEFS PARADE SHOOTING LIVE UPDATES
1 dead, 21 injured, officials say
The parade celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty-cementing Super Bowl win ended in gunfire and tragedy, with officials reporting that multiple people were struck near the site of the rally that followed the parade, and that one person died. Police said they took three people into custody, and local television live streams showed parade-goers running from the rally site and police entering buildings.
Key updates
Total number of wounded by gunfire now up to 22, police say
Kansas City joined ‘club’ of places that have experienced shootings, mayor says
1 dead, others injured in shooting after Chiefs parade, officials say
by ti-amie Claire McCaskill
@clairecmc
This is Missouri under Republican leadership.
by ti-amie
ti-amie wrote: ↑Thu Feb 15, 2024 12:23 am
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS PARADE SHOOTING LIVE UPDATES
1 dead, 21 injured, officials say
The parade celebrating the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty-cementing Super Bowl win ended in gunfire and tragedy, with officials reporting that multiple people were struck near the site of the rally that followed the parade, and that one person died. Police said they took three people into custody, and local television live streams showed parade-goers running from the rally site and police entering buildings.
Key updates
Total number of wounded by gunfire now up to 22, police say
Kansas City joined ‘club’ of places that have experienced shootings, mayor says
1 dead, others injured in shooting after Chiefs parade, officials say
"Club?" The mayor said "club" as if it's one everyone wants to belong to?!
From the same WaPo update:
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who was also at the news conference, said his office had been in touch with the Chiefs and with federal agencies.
The mayor said his wife told him, “We became part of the statistics of too many Americans … those who have been connected to a mass shooting.”
by ashkor87 Considering nearly all Americans are migrants or descended from migrants, the inference we can draw is that 'migrant' is code for 'those black and brown people '..
by ti-amie Bill Lukitsch
@lukitsbill
Update on KC Chiefs parade rally shooting from Children’s Mercy: 12 patients treated, 11 of them children. Nine children had gunshot wounds, ages range from 6 yo to 15 yo, and all are expected to make a full recovery.
by ti-amie Headline Bot
@headlines_bot@m.ai6yr.org
KTLA: Local leaders are calling on California Governor Gavin Newsom to declare a statewide emergency as the land continues to shift throughout the seaside community of Rancho Palos Verdes. The city has already declared a local emergency due to an ongoing constant landslide that has destroyed homes, warped roadways and threatened to uproot life for many [...] #news #KTLA #LosAngeles #LA https://ktla.com/news/california/ranch
by Owendonovan 2 Men Charged With Murder in Kansas City Super Bowl Rally Shooting
Prosecutors said two teenagers also face charges. More arrests are possible, they said.
By Julie Bosman and Kevin Draper
Kevin Draper reported from Kansas City, Mo.
Feb. 20, 2024
Updated 6:48 p.m. ET It began, prosecutors said, with one man accusing another of staring at him.
Groups of men, who appeared to be strangers, exchanged angry words and threats. A female friend tried to intervene. And then, surrounded by thousands of people at a rally last week celebrating Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory, at least two men pulled out their guns and began shooting.
“Just being stupid,” one of the men, Lyndell Mays, 23, told detectives later, according to the authorities, after admitting to firing his gun at least once or twice into the crowd.
Mr. Mays and another Missouri man, Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with murder for the death of a bystander, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. Ballistics tests revealed that a bullet from Mr. Miller’s gun killed Elizabeth Galvan, 43, a D.J. and radio host known as Lisa, who was at the parade on Wednesday with her family, prosecutors said. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/us/m ... rally.html
This is one of those idiotic things males do, pick a fight because someone is looking at you. Far too many men feel totally just in bringing physical violence for looking at them. What's that frequency, Kenneth? (does this happen outside the USA?)
by ti-amie
Owendonovan wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 12:05 am
2 Men Charged With Murder in Kansas City Super Bowl Rally Shooting
Prosecutors said two teenagers also face charges. More arrests are possible, they said.
By Julie Bosman and Kevin Draper
Kevin Draper reported from Kansas City, Mo.
Feb. 20, 2024
Updated 6:48 p.m. ET It began, prosecutors said, with one man accusing another of staring at him.
Groups of men, who appeared to be strangers, exchanged angry words and threats. A female friend tried to intervene. And then, surrounded by thousands of people at a rally last week celebrating Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory, at least two men pulled out their guns and began shooting.
“Just being stupid,” one of the men, Lyndell Mays, 23, told detectives later, according to the authorities, after admitting to firing his gun at least once or twice into the crowd.
Mr. Mays and another Missouri man, Dominic Miller, 18, were charged with murder for the death of a bystander, prosecutors announced on Tuesday. Ballistics tests revealed that a bullet from Mr. Miller’s gun killed Elizabeth Galvan, 43, a D.J. and radio host known as Lisa, who was at the parade on Wednesday with her family, prosecutors said. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/20/us/m ... rally.html
This is one of those idiotic things males do, pick a fight because someone is looking at you. Far too many men feel totally just in bringing physical violence for looking at them. What's that frequency, Kenneth? (does this happen outside the USA?)
by ponchi101 Which is one the 1000 reasons you don't carry a gun.
One dumb moment of thinking you are a cowboy and you not only kill somebody, you ruin your life too.
Uhm, yes, it happens outside the USA too. A lot of violence in Colombia is precisely because of that. Two assholes in a bar (usually in small town, where people carry guns) start arguing about which football team is better, some moonshine has been consumed, they get into a gun fight.
-The bridge is woke.
-The ship that crashed into the bridge is woke.
-It was a Russian or Chinese cyber attack.
-But it was also a false flag.
-Yesterday's legal experts are now structural engineers.
-It will take somewhere between one day and ten years to build a new bridge.
I think the last point being made might be close to the truth. Baltimore is a major port city and supply chains will be affected.
by ti-amie Geraldo Rivera
@GeraldoRivera
When the Key Bridge collapsed at 1:27am Tuesday morning, an overnight road crew filling potholes on the bridge died with it.
-The crew consisted of 6 apparently Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants, aka Illegal Aliens, from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
-They drowned in the cold, murky water of Baltimore Harbor.
-There was no outrage from conservative media about them stealing jobs from citizens; because, as they often do, the migrants were doing a dirty, dangerous job no citizen wanted.
An estimated 1/3 of our nation's construction workers are undocumented immigrants.
-According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022 316 foreign-born, mostly undocumented Hispanic construction workers perished on the job.
-Say their names. Maynor, Miguel, Dorlian, José, Alejandro.
by ponchi101 I was in Colorado during the pandemic.
Everybody was locked in (of course). Across from my place, three guys kept working bringing up a house. I could hear their music; it was Mexican all the time. I called them (jokingly) Juancho, Sancho and Pancho.
One day, coming back from the supermarket on a SATURDAY afternoon, they were still working. It was about 4. One of them was out and waved a HI. I did the same, and asked him in Spanish how they were doing. He was surprised and we struck a conversation. I joked that I heard their music all day long and asked him why they were working on a Saturday. He said: Why not? They had the contract and the sooner they would finish, the sooner they could get another.
They were illegal.
Try running the US economy without illegal aliens. Good luck.
by ponchi101
ti-amie wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:40 am
Geraldo Rivera
@GeraldoRivera
When the Key Bridge collapsed at 1:27am Tuesday morning, an overnight road crew filling potholes on the bridge died with it.
-The crew consisted of 6 apparently Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants, aka Illegal Aliens, from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
-They drowned in the cold, murky water of Baltimore Harbor.
-There was no outrage from conservative media about them stealing jobs from citizens; because, as they often do, the migrants were doing a dirty, dangerous job no citizen wanted.
An estimated 1/3 of our nation's construction workers are undocumented immigrants.
-According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022 316 foreign-born, mostly undocumented Hispanic construction workers perished on the job.
-Say their names. Maynor, Miguel, Dorlian, José, Alejandro.
I am surprised that Geraldo is the course of this comment. My hat off.
by skatingfan
ponchi101 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 29, 2024 4:54 pm
I was in Colorado during the pandemic.
Everybody was locked in (of course). Across from my place, three guys kept working bringing up a house. I could hear their music; it was Mexican all the time. I called them (jokingly) Juancho, Sancho and Pancho.
One day, coming back from the supermarket on a SATURDAY afternoon, they were still working. It was about 4. One of them was out and waved a HI. I did the same, and asked him in Spanish how they were doing. He was surprised and we struck a conversation. I joked that I heard their music all day long and asked him why they were working on a Saturday. He said: Why not? They had the contract and the sooner they would finish, the sooner they could get another.
They were illegal.
Try running the US economy without illegal aliens. Good luck.
The US economy would collapse - they don't really want to get rid of undocumented immigrants they just want to them go back to being invisible like they were for decades.
by ti-amie‘Vaccine lettuce’ bill, aiming to classify food containing a vaccine as a drug, passes in Tennessee
“I’ve been reading about it talking about putting it in and lettuce and mass medicate everybody, like they do with fluoride in the water.”
By Caleb Wethington
Published: Mar. 29, 2024 at 5:42 PM EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A bill aiming to classify food containing a vaccine or vaccine material as a drug has passed and is moving to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk.
The bill, HB1894, was discussed in the Tennessee Senate on Thursday before a vote to send it to Lee’s desk.
“As introduced, defines food that contains a vaccine or vaccine material as a drug for purposes of the Tennessee Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act,” the bill reads.
Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, spoke during the session about the bill, which he’s sponsoring.
“House Bill 1894 merely would require any food that contains a vaccine or vaccine material would have to be classified as a drug and labeled as such,” he said.
Questioning the bill, Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, asked if Hensley knew of any instances where food containing vaccines was offered in Tennessee.
“So does the sponsor know of any instances of there being food offered in the state of Tennessee that contains vaccines and some kind of a retail or public forum?” Campbell asked.
“No, I do not know any specific examples. But certainly they are developing this process. And actually, Congress has actually dealt with this as well and passed an amendment that said no fund could be used for transgenic edible vaccines. This is a process that is being developed. But this bill merely would say that if that happens in the future, that food would have to be classified as a drug if it had a vaccine in it,” Hensley replied.
“So while I feel like this legislation’s basically anodyne, I mean, I guess it’s addressing something that I can’t imagine whatever exists, which is the idea that we would somehow be putting vaccines into foods that you would buy in a grocery store. I mean, I can’t think of any logical reason why anyone would ever do that. And I do know that, you know, certainly, there have been experiments with putting vaccines in vegetables for the purposes of, of studying possible transmission methods. But the idea that this would somehow correlate to some kind of a retail offering of vegetables, especially when that vegetable would cost, you know, many thousands of dollars, just seems to me, I guess, messy, to be passing legislation for that reason. So I will be voting no,” Campbell added.
To continue the discussion, Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, spoke in favor of the bill with an anecdote about lettuce.
“Actually I’ve been reading about data for a couple of years now and evidently with this new technology, they can raise this lettuce is what they’re talking about first. They can raise this stuff so cheap, and I’ve been reading about it talking about putting it in and lettuce and mass medicate everybody, like they do with fluoride in the water. I mean, who could control the dose? If you’re if you eat a lot of lettuce, you’re gonna get a lot of mRNA if you don’t eat any won’t get any. And they’re actually talking about other vegetables that they’re trying to put this in. And my question is, would this have to be sold at a drugstore? Would you still buy it in a grocery store? Why don’t we just outlaw this stuff completely? We don’t have any idea what its gonna do to our children? I mean, to us and old people anything? I mean, is this stuff locked out of a science fiction movie? I mean, it’s, it’s ridiculous. It’s changes your DNA, mRNA changes your DNA when if you have your DNA tested now, and you eat a bunch of this, lettuce take a bunch of these MRNA vaccines, and you go back and get your DNA tested again, it’s gonna be a little different. It’s not going to be the same as it was that you were born with that you got from your parents. This is dangerous stuff. We need to study it probably need to outlaw it. I mean, I can’t imagine. When I first read about this, I thought this can not be true. But you keep reading about it. And it is true,” Niceley said.
Shortly after the discussion, it was voted on and passed in the Senate.
skatingfan wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 9:40 pm
Fluoride is a mineral, not a drug.
Try explaining that to a MAGAt.
by ti-amie NYC and environs at 10:23a this morning. There's nothing like being shaken awake by a 4.8 magnitude earthquake.
by OwendonovanColumbia’s President to Testify in Closely Watched Antisemitism Hearing
Nemat Shafik, Columbia University’s president, will address the congressional committee that questioned the presidents of Harvard, M.I.T. and the University of Pennsylvania last year.
Nemat Shafik, the president of Columbia University, will face a group of House Republicans on Wednesday who have accused the school of allowing a pervasive pattern of antisemitic assaults, harassment and vandalism on campus since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/nyre ... aring.html
There's something dishonest about all this to me. The anti-muslim attacks on students all seem to be justified or deflected while the anti-semitism is presented as a breath away from Hitler's Germany. Not choosing a side in the conflict, just an observation.
by ponchi101 The point of view of the Palestinians, and the policies of Israel regarding the Palestinian population, are seldom discussed openly.
by ti-amie Emily Ngo
@emilyngo
!! A person just self-immolated outside Manhattan court, where Trump trial underway. Police slow to respond in part because of barricades around park
There was video but it has been taken down for obvious reasons.
Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
Latest from NYPD at courthouse:
-Burned man is alive, in critical condition at Cornell burn unit
- Identified as Maxwell Azarillo (sp?), arrived from St Augustine FL this week
- Distributed pamphlets with conspiracy theories about Ponzi schemes, and educational institutions as front for the mob
- four law enforcement officers with minor injuries
(Don't jump to conclusion, P, don't jump to conclusions...)
Where is the rum... 
I'm sure they are all telling their viewers that coal is the way of the future.
but certainly a 
)
