Zorro
Zorro's JournalExperts say San Diego case likely first to use conspiracy charges against antifa
Case against anti-fascists stemming from counterprotest of Jan. 9 ‘Patriot March’ in Pacific Beach appears to be first alleging ‘Antifa’ conspiracySAN DIEGO — When San Diego prosecutors charged a group of individuals this week with conspiracy to commit the crime of riot, it was believed by experts who study domestic extremism to be the first time nationwide that a conspiracy charge has been used specifically to prosecute alleged anti-fascists, or “antifa supporters” as prosecutors described them.
The charges stemmed from a Jan. 9 “Patriot March” in Pacific Beach, which was organized in support of then-President Donald Trump and came just three days after his supporters had stormed the U.S. Capitol. In response to the rally, dozens of black-clad anti-fascists showed up on the boardwalk and streets near Crystal Pier to counter protest.
Throughout that Saturday afternoon, violence broke out several times, often between the counterprotesters and the pro-Trump group — among which there were at least five people who’d been at the Capitol three days earlier, according to reporting by The Appeal — and between the counterprotesters and police officers.
Videos also showed members of the pro-Trump group attacking a barefoot man, a Trump supporter throwing a munition canister at the counterprotesters and anti-fascists attacking people, including pepper-spraying an apparent bystander walking his dog.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2021-12-11/experts-say-san-diego-case-likely-first-to-use-conspiracy-charges-against-antifa
Florida man guilty of kidnapping, torturing plastic surgeon
The 56-year-old could face up to life in prison after he and another man used a blow torch on the doctor.MIAMI — A federal jury convicted a man of kidnapping the plastic surgeon who had treated his wife and torturing him with a blow torch to get money from him.
Federal prosecutors had brought the case against 56-year-old Serge Nkorina, who was found guilty of conspiring to commit kidnapping and kidnapping earlier this week. Nkorina could face up to life in prison at his sentencing hearing in February.
Nkorina’s attorney, Omar F. Guerra Johansson, said the defendant intends to appeal the verdict.
“This case was a hard fought trial, and the jury deliberated for four hours,” he said in a statement.
Assistant U.S. attorneys Robert F. Moore and Marc Chattah said Nkorina and another man, who already pleaded guilty, plotted to kidnap the plastic surgeon. Prosecutors said they placed a GPS tracker on the bottom of his car, bought devices from hardware and medical supply stores and rented a storage container in Margate, Florida.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/2021/12/12/florida-man-guilty-of-kidnapping-torturing-plastic-surgeon/
There are some really heinous people abiding in this state.
Blueair air purifiers anyone?
For those interested, blueair.com has their Classic 605 on sale for $332 (regular $830). It's top-rated by Consumer Reports.
Still a lot of money for basically a fan with some filters, but ~$500 discount is nothing to sneeze at.
South Carolina lawmaker facing multiple charges
NEWBERRY, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina lawmaker has been charged with giving alcohol to a teenage girl and using his position to try to influence a Social Services investigation.
State Rep. Rick Martin was indicted Friday by a Newberry County Grand Jury on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and misconduct in office, according to state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
In January 2019, Martin allegedly gave alcohol to a then-15-year-old girl. About a year later, prosecutors allege, he attempted to use his position as a state lawmaker to influence an investigation at the Department of Social Services.
Authorities did not say if the two charges were related. According to his bio on the Legislature’s website, Martin has four children and has been a foster parent since 2010.
https://apnews.com/article/legislature-south-carolina-social-services-4c9a81c52f071aa847e996f404bba0b5
Florida lawmakers look to make school board candidates run as either Democrats or Republicans
TALLAHASSEE – Just weeks after several school boards defied Gov. Ron DeSantis on COVID-19 mask policies, Florida Republican lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to ask voters to make school board candidates run as either Democrats or Republicans.
Voters made such contests non-partisan in 1998, with 64% casting ballots in favor of the constitutional amendment. But Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota, who also is chair of the Florida Republican Party, said times have changed.
Gruters said that his proposal – which would go before voters next year – would end what he called a “shell game.” He said candidates with partisan leanings are running – but they can shield their true political views from voters because they’re seeking a non-partisan office.
Also, he added, Democratic or Republican activist organizations are already choosing their favorites in these contests – even though the candidates are running ostensibly non-partisan.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/politics/state/2021/12/01/florida-republican-lawmakers-look-make-school-board-races-partisan/8814896002/
If this dipshit Joe Gruters proposes anything, you know it's going to be a bad fucking proposal. And proposing making school board elections partisan is an awful idea.
Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy Have One Brain and No Heart Between Them
But at least the Senate’s top Republican is still connected to reality, while his House counterpart is tethered only to Trump.Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer started talking to each other a few weeks ago.
It began with a confab in Schumer’s car and continued long enough for McConnell to clear the way for Democrats to raise the debt ceiling Thursday afternoon. This follows on McConnell killing a serious threat last Friday by two senators to shut down the government unless Joe Biden withdrew his vaccine mandates. The Old Crow, as Trump derides him, delivered 13 votes for infrastructure, to give his 2022 candidates ribbon-cutting opportunities but also because it was the right thing to do for the nation’s falling down bridges and roads.
It shouldn’t be news that the Senate Minority Leader talked to Schumer—Bob Dole talked to Tom Daschle all the time–but one-on-one in today’s toxic atmosphere is as rare as a total eclipse of the sun. The two are never going to throw back Kentucky bourbons on the Majority Leader’s balcony, but slipping off together instead of communicating through aides and the press is a start.
There’s little chance of a similar thaw in the House. The war between House Minority “Leader” Kevin McCarthy and Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains hot.
From his permanent position on Donald Trump’s lap, Kevin McCarthy remained strenuously opposed to lifting the debt ceiling and in favor of a government shutdown and reminded McConnell of his prior vow to never, ever help those truffle-eating, big-spending Democrats. Trump, who accumulated the largest deficit in history when he was president, piled on from Mar-a-Lago, slamming McConnell for giving up the “debt ceiling card” for “nothing.” Nothing? We don’t know exactly what would happen to the party perceived to run out on the check for years of four-star meals, but McConnell is not dumb enough to find out.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mitch-mcconnell-and-kevin-mccarthy-have-one-brain-and-no-heart-between-them
Election denier who circulated Jan. 6 PowerPoint says he met with Meadows at White House
Source: Washington Post
A retired U.S. Army colonel who circulated a proposal to challenge the 2020 election, including by declaring a national security emergency and seizing paper ballots, said that he visited the White House on multiple occasions after the election, spoke with President Donald Trump's chief of staff "maybe eight to 10 times" and briefed several members of Congress on the eve of the Jan. 6 riot.
Philip Waldron, the retired colonel, was working with Trump's outside lawyers and was part of a team that briefed the lawmakers on a PowerPoint presentation detailing "Options for 6 JAN," Waldron told The Washington Post. He said his contribution to the presentation focused on his claims of foreign interference in the vote, as did his discussions with the White House.
A version of the presentation made its way to the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Jan. 5. That information surfaced publicly this week after the congressional committee investigating the insurrection released a letter that said Meadows had turned the document over to the committee.
"The presentation was that there was significant foreign interference in the election, here's the proof," Waldron said. "These are constitutional, legal, feasible, acceptable and suitable courses of action."
The PowerPoint circulated by Waldron included proposals for Vice President Mike Pence on Jan. 6 to reject electors from "states where fraud occurred" or replace them with Republican electors. It included a third proposal in which the certification of Joe Biden's victory was to be delayed, and U.S. marshals and National Guard troops were to help "secure" and count paper ballots in key states.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/phil-waldron-mark-meadows-powerpoint/2021/12/11/4ea67938-59df-11ec-9a18-a506cf3aa31d_story.html
Lindsey Graham and Ron Johnson were briefed on this plan before 1/6, but I want to see the names of the other traitorous Senators and Representatives who were also briefed and did not speak up against it.
This top Florida official spent $391,000 on office furniture
While Jamie Grant was remodeling his state office, $30 million in cybersecurity funding remained unspent by the agency.TALLAHASSEE — When former state lawmaker Jamie Grant was chosen to lead Florida’s new cybersecurity office last year, he didn’t like the look of his new digs.
So he set about with a remodel.
Grant spent $391,980 this year replacing the office furniture. Tearing out and installing new carpet cost another $144,705. And $85,042 went to equip the office with a dozen 86-inch interactive 4K touch monitors.
Grant intended the office makeover to give the new Florida Digital Service department the same vibe as a tech startup company, according to former employees. Gov. Ron DeSantis chose Grant last year to be the state’s chief information officer despite his lack of a technology background.
In July, a month after Grant finished the remodel, the new secretary of the Department of Management Services, a former Trump administration official named Todd Inman, moved to limit spending by Grant and nearly everyone else in the office to $100,000 without higher approval, records show. Grant’s previous limit was $1 million.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/12/10/this-top-florida-official-spent-391000-on-office-furniture/
Police, prosecutors bugged a Vista courtroom to get evidence against defendants in a murder case
Defense lawyers say the bugging operation was misconduct. The DA’s office says such tactics are legal -- but will now be prohibited under a new policy.When Mallissa James pleaded guilty on Nov. 19 to her role in the killing of Marjorie Gerwitt two years earlier in Carlsbad, it ended one part of a case where James once faced the death penalty.
But it left unresolved serious issues about the conduct of police, prosecutors and a judge.
In the months before the guilty plea, James’s defense lawyers had assembled evidence that in 2019, at the outset of the case, Carlsbad police and a prosecutor had secretly planted four electronic listening devices in the holding area inside an empty Vista courtroom — just an hour before James and a co-defendant were scheduled to make their first court appearance, and before either had spoken with a lawyer.
They then arranged for James and the co-defendant, Ian Bushee, to be placed inside the holding area, and recorded their conversation while listening from a nearby room.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/story/2021-12-11/police-prosecutors-bugged-courtroom
It seems to me that this obvious misconduct could very well lead to future conviction reversals, if other similar actions and teh evidence collected weren't revealed to defense counsels.
The James Webb Space Telescope is human hope on a rocket
The James Webb Space Telescope, which weighs 7.2 tons and cost $11 billion, launches Dec. 22. (NASA/Desiree Stover)
Though it won’t receive the hype given to actor William Shatner’s recent joyride to the nearest edge of space, a daring voyage of enormous scientific promise will lift off in coming days from a base in South America.
The James Webb Space Telescope, decades in the making, is designed to travel nearly 1 million miles to reach a very particular spot to take up orbit. For comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope is about 340 miles from Earth. Shatner went up about 66 miles. The difference between 340 miles and 1 million miles is roughly comparable to the difference between a leisurely 20-minute stroll and a hike from New York to Los Angeles.
Even more extraordinary, the new telescope is much larger than Hubble, with a primary mirror so big engineers had to figure out how to fold it to fit onto a rocket. Such a large mirror, placed so far away, will — scientists fervently hope — allow the telescope to examine the formation of early galaxies and greatly accelerate the search for Earthlike planets.
Webb’s scheduled launch from French Guiana on Dec. 22 atop a European Space Agency rocket will begin one of the most harrowing and potentially stunning moments in the history of human engineering. Like an $11 billion origami, the 7.2-ton telescope will use advanced motors, firing pins and springs to open itself like a flower. A multilayered sun shield, as big as a tennis court, with each layer paper-thin, must be pulled taut. A rip in the shield could doom the entire mission.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/10/james-webb-space-telescope-nasa-human-hope/
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