All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[inisideguy]

There has been a weird conservative movement by fans of Trump blasting Baldwin as being responsible. Even as details emerge that the AD involved and Armorer was more at fault. Videos and more have these angry Trumpsters not seeming to care whats coming out.

But as mentioned Baldwin as producer could be just coming to set , do his role and leave. Because it could be a "name only" position.

Its lunacy that people think Alec Baldwin on set is somehow in charge of inspecting a weapon and the ammunition inside to make sure its ok to use. With a revolver he would need to open it up and if there are blanks in the weapon pull those rounds out to confirm they are blanks. If they were dummies he would need to be able to tell, that they are dummies. And if he were to do this, he shouldn't be doing it on a set. You can't just look into cylinder and say hey they are blanks. That is a totally unsafe way to clear a weapon. So you would need to be handed it, open it up, and inspect the rounds. Now there is jargon being used like someone told him cold gun. I don't know what that means on a set. If that means unloaded then good lord someone really really screwed up. I don't know what type of gun this was. It could have been your standard colt .45 with a relativlely open cylinder where you can see rounds to some extent. It could have been a different type where you can't see into the cylinder clearly. It could have been a cap and ball type civil war revolver. Who knows.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Its lunacy that people think Alec Baldwin on set is somehow in charge of inspecting a weapon and the ammunition inside to make sure its ok to use. With a revolver he would need to open it up and if there are blanks in the weapon pull those rounds out to confirm they are blanks. If they were dummies he would need to be able to tell, that they are dummies. And if he were to do this, he shouldn't be doing it on a set. You can't just look into cylinder and say hey they are blanks. That is a totally unsafe way to clear a weapon. So you would need to be handed it, open it up, and inspect the rounds. Now there is jargon being used like someone told him cold gun. I don't know what that means on a set. If that means unloaded then good lord someone really really screwed up. I don't know what type of gun this was. It could have been your standard colt .45 with a relativlely open cylinder where you can see rounds to some extent. It could have been a different type where you can't see into the cylinder clearly. It could have been a cap and ball type civil war revolver. Who knows.

From whats reported the AD yelled "Cold Gun" to symbolize the gun was ok for use. Baldwin being like myself and 99% of the general public would believe , this is safe to use. And we have to remember...Baldwin's been on TONS of movie sets before. He's been told this a LOT. So once someone yells COLD GUN he's like , time to do my scene. He isn't thinking this isn't safe.

[inisideguy]

From whats reported the AD yelled "Cold Gun" to symbolize the gun was ok for use. Baldwin being like myself and 99% of the general public would believe , this is safe to use. And we have to remember...Baldwin's been on TONS of movie sets before. He's been told this a LOT. So once someone yells COLD GUN he's like , time to do my scene. He isn't thinking this isn't safe.

Totally agree. No argument from me.

[Tendrin]

They are totally gonna try to hang this on the armorer, and let everyone involved in producing an unsafe work environment using scab labor to avoid union regulations that would have prevented this get off scott free, and that includes Baldwin.

[inisideguy]

They are totally gonna try to hang this on the armorer, and let everyone involved in producing an unsafe work environment using scab labor to avoid union regulations that would have prevented this get off scott free, and that includes Baldwin.

It should be hung on the armorer and whomever else was responsible for having live rounds on a movie set. I don't care if they were union or non union. That weapon went from point A to point B with at least one live round inside it. That isn't acceptable. Was the armorer non union?

[Tendrin]

It should be hung on the armorer and whomever else was responsible for having live rounds on a movie set. I don't care if they were union or non union. That weapon went from point A to point B with at least one live round inside it. That isn't acceptable. Was the armorer non union?

Yes, based on descriptions that I've seen, the armorer was non-union. In fact, the Union workers stopped working because of safety concerns.

Union members walked off the set of “Rust” hours before Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun that killed the film’s cinematographer — and cited “poor gun safety” as one of the reasons for the move, according to a text message obtained by The Post.

An unidentified woman claiming to be a union member on the Baldwin-produced movie said the crew was upset about their hotels and poor COVID protocols — but most worried about an overall lack of safety on the set, especially gun safety.

https://nypost.com/2021/10/23/union-...essage-claims/

So, yes. The armorer bears responsibility for the failure, but the things that made that failure possible were the result of other choices made at a production level. it should never have reached this point, and the armorer would never have been in a position to make this screw-up without them.

[inisideguy]

Yes, based on descriptions that I've seen, the armorer was non-union. In fact, the Union workers stopped working because of safety concerns.

https://nypost.com/2021/10/23/union-...essage-claims/

So, yes. The armorer bears responsibility for the failure, but the things that made that failure possible were the result of other choices made at a production level. it should never have reached this point, and the armorer would never have been in a position to make this screw-up without them.

I know some union members walked off. I also know the armorer was the daughter of some long time famous armorer in the movies. I don't know, any details but I would be surprised given her pedigree if she was also non union. She sounded like an idiot for sure. But from what I have read she had been an armorer on sets before and was the one on this movie since the beginning. And the armorer is responsible for the weapons on a set. There could have been idiots everywhere. But ultimately she is the one who is responsible for keeping live rounds out of guns.

[Tendrin]

I know some union members walked off. I also know the armorer was the daughter of some long time famous armorer in the movies. I don't know, any details but I would be surprised given her pedigree if she was also non union. She sounded like an idiot for sure. But from what I have read she had been an armorer on sets before and was the one on this movie since the beginning. And the armorer is responsible for the weapons on a set. There could have been idiots everywhere. But ultimately she is the one who is responsible for keeping live rounds out of guns.

I mean, it's possible she is. I can't find any confirmation.

[Tendrin]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/202...-Michael-Flynn

Everett Stern is certainly not a household name, but he may about to be. He is a Republican candidate for Senate in 2022 in Pennsylvania. A long time whistleblower he is responsible for blowing the lid in the 2010 HSBC money laundering scandal for Middle East terrorists, resulting in a nearly $2 billion fine against HSBC. He subsequently established Tactical Rabbit, a company dedicated to exposing wrongdoing by financial companies and corporations that has had several notable successes. He is now running for the United States Senate in Pennsylvania.

This weekend Stern held an amazing news conference making blockbuster allegations against Michael Flynn and Houston billionaire Al Hartman. In a nutshell, he claims an organization run by Flynn, and funded by Hartman, is attempting to gather information on members of Congress, and judges, to “extort” (his word) them into supporting “audits” aimed at overturning the 2020 Presidential election. He also claims this group explicitly endorses “domestic terrorism” (again his words) to achieve these goals. You can view Stern’s full press conference here.

God damn. o.o

https://www.newsweek.com/gop-senate-...makers-1644308

Flynn absolutely should be in prison.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

QAnon Influencer Who Accuses Democrats of Being Pedophiles Is Identified as Convicted Child Molester Designated as ‘Sexually Violent Offender’

A QAnon influencer who accuses Democratic Party politicians of being pedophiles has been identified in two reports as a registered child sex offender. David Todeschini, 70, goes by the name of “David Trent” online where his thousands of fans listen to him opine on any number of conspiracy theories related to the broader QAnon movement.

“Why this country hasn’t risen up and hung these bastards by now is beyond me,” Todeschini said in a September video complaining about federal vaccine mandates. “These treasonous rat bastards need to be taken out of Washington, D.C. I say get all the children out and nuke it.”

According to RightWingWatch, a project of People for the American Way, the title of that video describes President Joe Biden as a “Cho-mo,” which, the outlet says, is “prison slang for a pedophile.” RightWingWatch first reported that David Todeschini was the real name behind the pseudonym David Trent.

There is, however, a public record of one David Todeschini’s own child abuse.

On May 19, 1999, the QAnon adherent and influencer was convicted of one count each of sexual abuse in the first degree and sodomy in the second degree for coercing an 8-year-old boy into sexual activity in 1996. He was given a sentence of 28 months to seven years in state prison. The convicted child molester ultimately served a five-year sentence. Todeschini had no known prior relationship with his victim.

According to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, the conspiracy theorist is considered a Level 3 threat, which is defined as a “high risk of repeat offense and a threat to public safety.”

He is also considered to a be a “Sexually Violent Offender” in New York.

[Mister Mets]

There has been a weird conservative movement by fans of Trump blasting Baldwin as being responsible. Even as details emerge that the AD involved and Armorer was more at fault. Videos and more have these angry Trumpsters not seeming to care whats coming out.

But as mentioned Baldwin as producer could be just coming to set , do his role and leave. Because it could be a "name only" position.

Yeah, it's definitely wrong to blame him when it's possible that the investigation will show he wasn't at fault.

Movie sets themselves do not follow basic firearms rules. One can watch any of the thousands of movies over the last 100 years to know that. They point weapons at people. A typical John Wick w movie has hundreds of actors pointing guns at people. You are not even suppose to do that, with basic firearms rules, unless you intent is to shoot them. So that right there is a violation of a basic firearms rule. This is why there are experts on sets. Or there is suppose to be. These people are in charge and are suppose to make sets safe. Not actors. Actors act. They are not trained in clearing firearms and making sure they are safe. The movie industry has run on this idea for decades. Of course blanks can be dangerous.Thats why you have safety officers and armorers on sets to make sure things are being done right. Even when I was in the Military where I shot thousands and thousands of rounds when I came off the range with a weapon I myself knew inside and out, the range master checked again to see if my weapon was cleared properly. And even then there were accidents.

With the John Wick series and any movies that have close quarter gun combat (which looks cool on film, but is unrealistic) the armorers basically created fake guns.

https://www.cracked.com/personal-exp...y-not-die.html

But we've grown to love watching Keanu Reeves shoot people from two feet away, and that means Mike and his team have had to create new, fake guns to simulate close combat:

"It's something we developed called a zero blank, it does eject a shell, but there's nothing that comes out of gun ... basically it's a blank that doesn't have any charge to it, just a mechanism in it ... to eject a shell casing. That way, there's no chance of an actor being hurt."

And what if you want to show, say, Bob Saget executing a cartel member at point-blank range? "We also have another type of gun where the flash goes out of the top ... so basically ... the flash is going upwards, but the barrel is totally plugged."

Mike and his team even maintain several fake guns made specifically for "suicide shots."

[thwhtGuardian]

I've said previously that I once identified as conservative, but stopped as the Republican party became more and more extreme...and this article should be the straw for just about any other rational person to do the same.

The survey was conducted between Sept. 16 and Sept. 29 through online interviews with a random sample of 2,508 adults living in all 50 states. Nearly one in five, or 18 percent, of overall respondents said they agreed with the statement: “Because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country,” including 30 percent of Republicans, 11 percent of Democrats and 17 percent of independents.

30% is not an insubstantial number...and if you can look at that and not think, "Yikes, that's not someone I want to be grouped with" then you are no longer rational. It's as simple as that.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I've said previously that I once identified as conservative, but stopped as the Republican party became more and more extreme...and this article should be the straw for just about any other rational person to do the same.



30% is not an insubstantial number...and if you can look at that and not think, "Yikes, that's not someone I want to be grouped with" then you are no longer rational. It's as simple as that.

Save the country? Save it from what? Critical Race Theory? Whites losing their place at the top of the societal food chain while minorities demand their time in the sun? Vaccine mandates? Uppity women demanding full control over their own bodies? I’d love it if those people were more specific.

[CSTowle]

QAnon Influencer Who Accuses Democrats of Being Pedophiles Is Identified as Convicted Child Molester Designated as ‘Sexually Violent Offender’

Like pastors and politicians going hard against homosexuality/LGBTQ+ rights, when in reality it shouldn't impact day-to-day bigots beyond being an easy lay-up moral superiority stance (if you're not gay, pretty easy to slam someone for being gay if you view that as a bad thing sky daddy disapproves of), when someone "protest too much" there's probably some fire beneath the smokescreen.

[Xheight]

I've said previously that I once identified as conservative, but stopped as the Republican party became more and more extreme...and this article should be the straw for just about any other rational person to do the same.



30% is not an insubstantial number...and if you can look at that and not think, "Yikes, that's not someone I want to be grouped with" then you are no longer rational. It's as simple as that.

The assumption here being that rational equals being against the use of violence in order to save our country. Unless you are a Quaker or something, Redemptive Violence is completely within the American Tradition. It is debatable but it is a rational debate. Curious though how that number might have shifted since the Sixties over political affiliation or non-party Americans like SDS or Black Panthers. There is something contradictory of old school conservatives who tout the 'thin blue line' now being revolutionaries so I see how the OP might see it as irrational even if it isn't.