According to a study conducted by the USDA, veterans in the United States have a 7.4 percent greater chance of experiencing food insecurity than do non-veterans. If they are disabled, this number triples to 22.5 percent. [snip]

New Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska, fresh off of beating one Sarah Palin in a special election, also thought it was kind of messed up that veterans were going hungry and decided to do something about it, by making the first bill she introduced the Food Security for All Veterans Act. The act will establish an an Office of Food Security in the Department of Veterans Affairs that would be responsible for developing initiatives meant to address food insecurity among veterans, as well as providing information and assistance in enrolling in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other federal programs designed to address hunger.

And it passed! It even passed bipartisan-ly, 376-49, likely due to the fact that even a lot of Republicans don't want to be seen taking the bold stance of being basically cool with veterans starving to death.

Forty-nine of them, however, were — including such favorites as Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Dan Crenshaw, Jim Jordan, Thomas Massie, and Louie Gohmert, whom we can assume was very concerned that those veterans might go and spend their SNAP money on king crab legs. Oh! Or that this was a plot devised by the congresswoman from Alaska to increase sales of Alaskan king crab legs across the country. Could be!

Brennan Prill @WxBrenn
I've been capturing video from this webcam in Fort Myers all day and I've put it into a Timelapse. Check out the storm surge rushing in! Crazy. #Ian #flwx
[video]
2.2M views
6:37 PM · Sep 28, 2022

Brennan Prill @WxBrenn
Those asking for time length. 10:17am-11:43am (camera connection cuts out) — 1 hour, 26 minutes.
9:45 PM · Sep 28, 2022

In late 2013, however, Mark Lillienfeld’s focus was on a subject far from his usual beat: a middle-aged San Fernando Valley housekeeper named Connie Romero.

Lillienfeld scoured Romero’s past for any criminal history, tracked down her personal details and ran her name through confidential databases, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Times. One evening, he drove to her Porter Ranch home and poked through a Dumpster, the records say.

But Romero was no killer. Rather, prosecutors considered her the victim of a crime.

She had, in fact, suffered bruises and cuts to her face during a confrontation over dog poop months earlier in a Chatsworth neighborhood. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department, not Lillienfeld’s agency. A battery charge had been filed against one of Lillienfeld’s longtime acquaintances, another veteran of the county’s justice system: Superior Court Judge Craig Richman.

The unit, named the Civil Rights and Public Integrity Detail, has pursued a long-running investigation into one of Villanueva’s most vocal critics, L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman, and others despite sheriff’s officials being told by the FBI and state law enforcement officials that it appeared no crimes had been committed, a senior sheriff’s official said.

The team also has an open criminal inquiry into a nonprofit that is run by a member of a county board that oversees the sheriff and is associated with county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, both of whom have clashed fiercely with Villanueva and called for his resignation. [skip]

The unit has spurred a bitter confrontation between Villanueva and the Civilian Oversight Commission, which oversees the sheriff and his agency. Commission members say they fear the sheriff is using it to intimidate people who challenge him and to score points in personal vendettas, not conduct legitimate inquiries into possible crimes. [snip]

A central member of the team, several law enforcement sources said, was Mark Lillienfeld, a longtime homicide investigator who had retired in 2016.

Caren Carl Mandoyan played a special role last month at the swearing-in of Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, standing on stage and holding the box of gold pins that would adorn the collars of the top cop and his senior executives.

Mandoyan served as a trusted member of Villanueva’s campaign team, acting as his driver and rallying rank-and-file deputies to lobby their union to endorse his long-shot candidacy.

But Mandoyan didn’t have the typical resume of a campaign worker. He served as a deputy for 10 years until he was fired in 2016 by then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell in connection with allegations of domestic abuse and stalking. A county appeals board heard evidence and upheld the dismissal.

Despite this, Villanueva decided to reinstate Mandoyan as a deputy in the Sheriff’s Department, where he is assigned to the South Los Angeles station.

Scott Stedman @ScottMStedman
Newly unredacted. DOJ is calling Christina Bobb "INDIVIDUAL 2"

Notably, not calling her "counsel" as they do for Corcoran...
[images]
4:08 PM · Sep 13, 2022

Chris Pinesworth
@chrispinesworth
I get asked "Why do liberals think Trump supporters are traitors?" a lot, so I thought I would put this 🧵 together.

Here's what Democrats and progressives honestly think about Trump supporters and Republicans today...

Change my mind!
4:24 PM · Sep 6, 2022

[Finchem] added: "We are in battle against a cartel."

Seven local councilors from St. Petersburg’s Smolninskoye municipality who called on the Russian parliament to prosecute Russian dictator VladimirPutin for treason have been summoned to the police, Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Sept. 9.

The appeal to the State Duma concerned Russia’s failed invasion of Ukraine. [snip]

Smolinsky councilor Dmitriy Palyuga said that he and his colleagues would face charges on allegedly committing “actions aimed at discrediting the government.”

Absentee ballots are an option for registered voters who prefer not to vote in person. You do not need an excuse to request an absentee ballot. [snip]

To vote by absentee ballot, you must first submit an absentee ballot application. You can do this online, by email, by mail, by fax, or in person.

You must submit your application for an absentee ballot by the deadline. Absentee ballots may be requested any time between 78 and 11 calendar days prior to Election Day. It’s important to request and return your absentee ballot early. This will give your ballot enough time to travel through the mail and resolve any issues that may arise when voting by absentee ballot. View a list of upcoming elections and registration deadlines on the Secretary of State’s election calendar.