1. #30001
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    Charges dropped for hundreds of alleged looters in New York City

    In late May and early June 2020, looters smashed storefronts in the Bronx and Manhattan boroughs of New York City.

    Many were caught on tape, some with their faces visible. Others even posted their own videos of their actions those nights on social media. Hundreds were arrested.

    But a review of NYPD data by the investigative team at WNBC, the NBC owned station in New York, shows that a large percentage of the cases — particularly in the Bronx — were dismissed, and that many convictions were for counts like trespassing that carry no jail time.

    "I was in total shock that everything is being brushed off to the side," said Jessica Betancourt, who owns an eyeglass shop that was looted and destroyed along Burnside Avenue in the Bronx last June.

    According to the data, 118 arrests were made in the Bronx during the worst of the looting in early June.
    Since then, the NYPD says the Bronx district attorney and the courts have dismissed most of those cases — 73 in all. Eighteen cases remain open and there have been 19 convictions for mostly lesser counts like trespassing, counts which carry no jail time.

    Betancourt, who is also vice president of a local merchants 'association, called the numbers "disgusting." She said local business leaders are upset few are being held accountable for the destruction they caused.

    In Manhattan, much of the looting occurred in the upscale neighborhood of Soho. Amid the Covid pandemic, mobs and organized criminals were taking advantage of huge protests in the city after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.
    he NYPD data shows there were 485 arrests in Manhattan. Of those cases, 222 were later dropped and 73 resulted in convictions for lesser counts like trespassing, which carries no jail time. Another 40 cases involved juveniles and were sent to family court; 128 cases remain open.
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  2. #30002

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    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    My money's on Sanders.
    The book of terrible quotes is longer on her, admittedly, but Andrew's just getting warmed up in the NY Governor's race. A lot of stupid out the gate, though. Maybe I should let Andy marinate in his own dumbassery for a wee bit longer...
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    On this date in 2015, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published its profile of Steve Vaillancourt, a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives who in 2012, protested being told his time at the podium is up by saluting, “SIEG HEIL!” at New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien. He also shot his mouth off in 2014, when he said Republican Congressional candidate Marilinda Garcia would win because her Democratic opponent, Anne Kuster, was “ugly as sin” and “looked like a drag queen”. Vaillancourt thus managed to not only tick off female voters with his misogynistic assessment, but insulted the drag queen community, as well. But that’s hardly the biggest beef the LGBTQ community has with Vaillancourt, who in spite of him being openly gay, has towed the party line and voted multiple times against same-sex marriage, and voted for a “religious freedom” bill that would allow individuals to refuse to provide services for marriage based on their own “religious conscience”. Vaillancourt lost his 2014 re-election bid by 89 votes, and apparently decided to sit out the 2016 elections. He probably should stay seated.


    In 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented profiles of the sitting U.S. House Representative from New York’s 1st Congressional District, Lee Zeldin, who barely won his first term in office in 2014 with 53% of the vote. Way back in 2008, Zeldin made a first disastrous attempt at getting elected to Congress, and instead, with the winds of the Tea Party Hot-Air machine blowing at his back, he did manage to get elected as a New York State Senator in 2010. And what makes Zeldin stand out in particular is his vomit-inducing levels of partisanship, as relates to his military record (we’re grateful for his service, but not his attitude). Zeldin’s taken up the sort of banner once waved by former Congressman Allen West, where he’s the first person in Congress to puff out his chest and accuse Democrats of not supporting the troops enough, to attack them for not caring enough about national security in fighting the war on terror, or to take care of veterans when they get home. He’s also great about running off onto Fox News to do so, and talk a big talk about how the Obama administration’s strategies were counterproductive to defeating ISIS, in particular, his belief that we should ban Syrian refugees from entering the United States, already fear-mongering scenarios where those refugees strap on suicide vests to attack us on the floor of the House. (But when white Trump supporters storm the Capitol, he won't bat an eye.)

    There’s just one problem…. The New York Post noticed that Rep. Zeldin has a nasty habit of missing half the meetings of the House Foreign Affairs committee that would have been keeping him abreast on the subject of the troops, and two thirds of the meetings that he could have attended in relation to ISIS and Syria. So perhaps folks should be taking his “expert” opinion on these matters with a grain of salt. Well, that and that he’s better than his counterparts across the aisle on national security, because if he was, he wouldn’t have a vote against funding the Department of Homeland Security as part of a petty vote to thumb his nose at the Obama administration’s immigration policy (see below for more details). He also was part of a GOP effort to even block debate back in December of 2015 regarding Democratic efforts to deny gun sales to people on the “no fly list” for suspicion of terrorism, so there’s that to factor in.

    Rep. Zeldin was one of the first people in Congress to offer an endorsement to Donald Trump for president, and while most Congressman have gone out of their way to avoid talking to the press about the big bad bigoted cheeto puff, Zeldin didn’t have the good sense to say, “No comment” and get the heck out of dodge. Instead, after Trump attacked Gonzalo Curiel, the judge in the Trump University case, as being biased because he was of Mexican heritage, Zeldin was on CNN to try and defend the Donald from what many Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan, begrudgingly admitted to be the textbook definition of racism. Plus, Zeldin done goofed his riposte. Not only did Zeldin voice his disappointment with PAUL RYAN and not Trump, he refused to withdraw his support for Trump, and instead tried countering that he thought you could “easily argue that President Obama is racist with his policies and rhetoric.


    On November 2nd, 2016 when all the polls showed his hero the Gropenfuhrer was going to be losing to Hillary Clinton on election Day, Lee Zeldin even released a statement that the Clinton Foundation was “the largest white collar crime in America. Which, given the rumors around the time Trump’s own charitable organization (that proved true), was pretty ballsy of Zeldin to say.

    His entire voting record reeks with that sort of one-sided fanaticism, with votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act or defund Planned Parenthood, and that was just as a Congressional freshman. Rep. Zeldin currently is in the unenviable position of being one of Donald Trump’s “favorites” in Washington, and gets invited to private dinners with him. He obviously understands that between his voting record and that, he’s going to be really unpopular back in his home district. And he understands enough that he’s decided to cancel all in-person town halls, and instead, host “telephone town halls” in their place. You know, so his aides can screen calls for people who will actually complain, and mitigate what audio gets released.
    Last edited by worstblogever; 06-21-2021 at 03:11 AM.
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  4. #30004

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    Zeldin barely survived re-election in 2018, winning office again with only 51% of the vote, and in 2020, pulled down 56%.

    Back in Washington, he has returned to toadying for Donald Trump, even though he watched him get bounced from office:



    Perhaps our least favorite new thing to report about Lee Zeldin is that he finds one of his top priorities in Congress to just be an outright Islamophobic bigot to fellow Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who he named as his reason for voting against Congress’ condemnation of anti-Semitism because it didn’t single her out by name, and whom a few weeks later in April of 2019, he accused of “targeting Jewish people” after she voiced criticism of Trump administration official and all-around hatemonger Stephen Miller. Rep. Omar has brilliantly responded to that line of attack by ignoring him and joining a new Black-Jewish Caucus with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and Brenda Lawrence. Still, Zeldin has not relented, and has claimed her intent is to “poison” the new group.

    Zeldin also was a cheerleader for Donald Trump from the very start of the first impeachment inquiry into his illegal withholding of military aid for Ukraine, trying to pretend that Trump wasn’t leveraging the President of Ukraine into beginning a sham investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden (when there’s goddamn transcript of it), calling the effort to impeach a “charade”, while effectively shoving his fingers in his ears and yelling, “LALALALA” as a defense of the worst occupant of the Oval Office in our nation’s history.

    And of course, Lee Zeldin was just as much as a sea-worthy douche-canoe when Trump’s attempts to steal the 2020 election went down, not just in Zeldin’s support of the Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit, nor his vote against confirming the election results, but that when literal audio emerged of Trump calling Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rafffensperger to “find” Trump enough votes to win the state, who did Lee Zeldin condemn? THE MEDIA, FOR REPORTING IT! Y’know, like a fascist would.

    So it is with a great deal of consternation that we have to report Lee Zeldin is considered to be the front-runner for the GOP nomination to be their candidate for the next Governor of New York, which would be a slam dunk for a Democrat to win in 2022, provided that Democrat isn’t say, someone embroiled in Covid-19 failures and sexual harassment scandals like Andrew Cuomo. (Please pick someone else in the primary, Team Blue.) We don’t know if being a hateful bag of d***s is a winning campaign strategy in a blue state, but the thought of this putz getting any more power should make anyone shudder.
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  5. #30005
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    This seems to be a dumb idea. The looters should be prosecuted.
    Sincerely,
    Thomas Mets

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    Not the normal kind of news we post here, but the nerd in me found this to be the stuff of comic book origins

    Usain Bolt and partner Kasi Bennett welcome newborn twins with fitting names

    Legendary Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt and his partner, Kasi Bennett, have welcomed newborn twin boys — and they have fitting names.

    Bolt announced on Father's Day on Sunday that his daughter Olympia Lightning is now an older sister. The newborns' names? Thunder Bolt and Saint Leo Bolt.

    Bolt shared an adorable photo of the family of five, with the lightning bolt emoji next to each of his children's names. The 34-year-old Jamaican sprinting icon did not specify when exactly the twins were born.
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    Supreme Court upholds NCAA antitrust challenge on athlete compensation

    The Supreme Court sided with college athletes on Monday, ruling the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s restrictions on education benefits for players violate the nation’s antitrust laws.

    The 9-0 decision represents a landmark victory for college players and a significant moment in the history of college athletics, as lawmakers in Congress and statehouses weigh new laws to allow athletes to profit from personal endorsements and sponsorships.
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    If they've been caught on camera or otherwise and they committed crimes like looting or arson they should absolutely be prosecuted. Trespassing, depending on the offense, should probably be let go.

  9. #30009
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    Texas Empties Prison to Prepare to Detain Immigrants Arrested During Ramped-Up Border Enforcement

    Texas officials have emptied a prison to prepare it to hold immigrants arrested by state troopers as Gov. Greg Abbott ramps up the state’s law enforcement presence on the border.

    Officials began transferring prisoners Wednesday from Dolph Briscoe Unit in Dilley — a small city around an hour drive southwest of San Antonio — to other facilities with available capacity so the prison can be used as a central holding facility for immigrants arrested as part of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Jeremy Desel said in a statement. It will be used to hold immigrants who have been charged with state or federal crimes, he said. It is unclear what charges these could entail, and Desel could not confirm whether that would include low-level charges.

    Officials have not yet started detaining immigrants in the facility, but it will have capacity for about 1,000 people. Desel confirmed the facility has no air conditioning, which is true about many prisons in the state. Weather forecasts for the area show highs surpassing 100 degrees next week.
    “The state of Texas continues to deal with a record-high influx of individuals illegally crossing the border,” Desel said in the statement. “To address the ongoing crisis, Governor Abbott is directing state resources to arrest and confine those individuals crossing the border unlawfully and who have committed a state or federal crime.”

    Plans for the prison were first reported by Keri Blakinger, a reporter with The Marshall Project.

    The clearing of the prison began Wednesday — the same day that Abbott announced details of his plan for a Texas border wall, saying he would reallocate $250 million in funds from the TDCJ budget as a “down payment” while also soliciting private donations.

    “State leadership has assured the agency that this is a temporary measure, and the money will be reappropriated without a negative impact on TDCJ,” Desel said.
    President Joe Biden and Abbott have continued to publicly spar over immigration policies as the number of immigrants crossing the border has increased. In March, Abbott launched Operation Lone Star, which deployed the National Guard and “air, ground, marine and tactical border security assets” to the border. The Republican governor declared the situation at the border a disaster on May 31. Biden’s administration has threatened legal action over Abbott’s previous order instructing state agencies to yank child care licenses from facilities that serve migrant children.

    In his order, Abbott instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety to enforce all state and federal laws on trespassing, smuggling and human trafficking and ordered two state criminal justice commissions to provide guidance and request “any necessary” waivers to give counties “the flexibility needed to establish adequate alternative detention facilities.”
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    New book offers fresh details about chaos, conflicts inside Trump’s pandemic response: At one point, the president mused about transferring infected American citizens in Asia to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba

    In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, as White House officials debated whether to bring infected Americans home for care, President Donald Trump suggested his own plan for where to send them, eager to suppress the numbers on U.S. soil.

    “Don’t we have an island that we own?” the president reportedly asked those assembled in the Situation Room in February 2020, before the U.S. outbreak would explode. “What about Guantánamo?”

    “We import goods,” Trump specified, lecturing his staff. “We are not going to import a virus.”

    Aides were stunned, and when Trump brought it up a second time, they quickly scuttled the idea, worried about a backlash over quarantining American tourists on the same Caribbean base where the United States holds terrorism suspects.

    Such insider conversations are among the revelations in “Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration’s Response to the Pandemic That Changed History,” a new book by Washington Post journalists Yasmeen Abutaleb and Damian Paletta that captures the dysfunctional response to the unfolding pandemic.
    “Testing is killing me!” Trump reportedly exclaimed in a phone call to then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on March 18, yelling so loudly that Azar’s aides overheard every word. “I’m going to lose the election because of testing! What idiot had the federal government do testing?”

    “Uh, do you mean Jared?” Azar responded, citing the president’s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Just five days earlier, Kushner had vowed to take charge of a national testing strategy with the help of the private sector, Abutaleb and Paletta write.
    Kadlec, who had overseen the purchase of 600 million masks, took the plan in late March to Kushner — who exploded in anger, throwing his pen against the wall in frustration when he learned the masks would not arrive until June.

    “You f---ing moron,” Kushner reportedly said. “We’ll all be dead by June.”
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    New book offers fresh details about chaos, conflicts inside Trump’s pandemic response: At one point, the president mused about transferring infected American citizens in Asia to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba
    <<deadpan expression>>........Okay, I'll play. Maybe there's a line he'll draw in social discourse that I'm just not seeing yet. Like........I don't think he'll talk **** about Joe Biden's dog, Champ dying. I think that even Donald J. Trump just MIGHT be above that. May the culture of sound bites and stenography vindicate me on this one.

  12. #30012
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    New book offers fresh details about chaos, conflicts inside Trump’s pandemic response: At one point, the president mused about transferring infected American citizens in Asia to Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba
    Just reading those excerpts, I'm genuinely amazed the country didn't suffer a million dead from the virus before Trump lost the election back in November. We're talking a four alarm clusterfuck in that White House with Trump worried more about his own ass over the lives of the citizens he was tasked with protecting as president.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ragged Maw View Post
    <<deadpan expression>>........Okay, I'll play. Maybe there's a line he'll draw in social discourse that I'm just not seeing yet. Like........I don't think he'll talk **** about Joe Biden's dog, Champ dying. I think that even Donald J. Trump just MIGHT be above that. May the culture of sound bites and stenography vindicate me on this one.
    Don't kid yourself. The only reason Trump hadn't bad talked Biden's dog was probably because he hadn't gotten around to it yet. Give him time, there's NO depth Trump won't sink to if it'll benefit him, or just for the sake of a cheap shot against someone he hates.
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  13. #30013
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    Anchorage gunman argued with homeless people the day before he opened fire, killing 1 and wounding 4, witness told police


    An Anchorage 21-year-old had argued with a group of homeless people the day before he returned to the area and opened fire, a witness told police, leaving a woman dead and four people seriously injured, according to charging documents in the case.

    Anthony Herring was arrested late Saturday on numerous charges, seven of which relate to murder.

    Police were called to the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Gambell Street around 2:45 a.m. Saturday, according to a felony complaint signed by Detective Christina Roberts. Officers found three people shot on the south side of a former state office building at 400 Gambell St. and one victim to the north of the building, the complaint said.

    Officers were then called to the nearby Ramada Inn, where a man had walked in with a gunshot wound to the head, Roberts wrote. The man said he had been driving a red sedan; police found it with a bullet hole through the windshield, the complaint said.
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    Ultimate Member Malvolio's Avatar
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    A pleasant surprise that it was a 9-0 decision. The NCAA has been so hypocritical for years touting their student athletes that supposedly benefit from scholarships even though they never have to attend class. They want them to play football or basketball for free while everyone else profits from it, but they can't even accept a pair of shoes in compensation? It's long past time to throw out the canard of "amateur athletics" and pay them as the de facto professionals that they are.
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    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Malvolio View Post
    A pleasant surprise that it was a 9-0 decision. The NCAA has been so hypocritical for years touting their student athletes that supposedly benefit from scholarships even though they never have to attend class. They want them to play football or basketball for free while everyone else profits from it, but they can't even accept a pair of shoes in compensation? It's long past time to throw out the canard of "amateur athletics" and pay them as the de facto professionals that they are.
    You couldn't get the liberals and conservatives on SCOTUS to agree on the time of day, yet, they were unanimous on slamming the hypocrisy of the NCAA. A shame this ruling didn't happen a long, long time ago.
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