Criminal Charges Possible in Shooting on Alec Baldwin Set, D.A. Says

SANTA FE, N.M. — The Santa Fe County district attorney said on Tuesday that she was not ruling out criminal charges in last week’s fatal shooting on a film set. The actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with a gun that he had been told did not contain live ammunition when it went off, killing the film’s cinematographer and wounding its director.

“We haven’t ruled out anything,” the district attorney, Mary Carmack-Altwies, said in a telephone interview. “Everything at this point, including criminal charges, is on the table.”

Ms. Carmack-Altwies said that the investigation was focusing on ballistics in an effort to determine what kind of round was in the gun that killed Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer — and who had placed the ammunition in the gun.

“There were an enormous amount of bullets on this set, and we need to find out what kinds they were,” Ms. Carmack-Altwies said. Detectives said that they recovered three revolvers, spent casings and ammunition — in boxes, loose and in a fanny pack — while executing a search warrant on the set, according to an inventory of the items released on Monday. The inventory did not specify what kind of ammunition was found on the set.




https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/26/movies/criminal-charges-shooting-alec-baldwin.html

GOP candidate: God told me Trump left the presidency voluntarily because 'he's a good father'

Speaking at the QAnon-linked For God and Country Patriot Double Down conference in Las Vegas this past weekend, GOP candidate for California secretary of state, Rachel Hamm, said that through her prayers, it became clear to her that Donald Trump was “anointed” by God to be president.

“I had no doubt that [Trump] was going to be our president,” she said, adding that the day after Joe Biden was inaugurated, she was “furious.”

“…because we’ve been stolen from, and we knew it,” she continued. “And all the way up to the inauguration I kept holding out hope that … something’s gonna fix this.”

But when things didn’t turn around and Biden continued to be president, Hamm had another conversation with God and asked why Trump was “not fighting harder.”

God replied: “Because he’s a good father.”

“But what does that have to do with him quitting on us?” Hamm asked.

God replied: “Because good fathers know that sometimes, unfortunately, as much as they do not want to have to do it this way, sometimes their children do not learn lessons unless they learn it the hard way.”


https://deadstate.org/gop-candidate-god-told-me-trump-left-the-presidency-voluntarily-because-hes-a-good-father/

Prosecutors cannot call those shot by Kyle Rittenhouse 'victims,' a judge has ruled

Prosecutors in the criminal trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot and killed two protesters last year in Kenosha, Wis., will not be able to refer to the people he shot as "victims," a judge has ruled, while defense attorneys may be able to call them "arsonists" or "looters."

In a proceeding about the ground rules for the upcoming trial, prosecutors and defense lawyers debated whether certain language, witnesses or evidence would be allowed. The trial begins next week.

"The word 'victim' is a loaded, loaded word. And I think 'alleged victim' is a cousin to it," Judge Bruce Schroeder said on Monday, asking prosecutors to instead use the terms "complaining witness" or "decedent" to refer to those shot by Rittenhouse. (Though not universal, it is not unheard of for judges to feel that the word "victim" presupposes the defendant's guilt.)

Meanwhile, the defense will be allowed to refer to the three people Rittenhouse shot as "arsonists," "looters" or "rioters" so long as they took part in those activities, Schroeder ruled — a decision prosecutor Thomas Binger called "a double standard."

"Let the evidence show what the evidence shows," Schroeder said. "And if the evidence shows that any or more than one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting, or looting — then I'm not going to tell the defense they can't call them that."




https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1049458617/kyle-rittenhouse-victims-arsonists-looters-judge-ruled

Texas House committee to investigate school districts' books on race and sexuality

A Republican state lawmaker has launched an investigation into Texas school districts over the type of books they have, particularly if they pertain to race or sexuality or "make students feel discomfort."

State Rep. Matt Krause, in his role as chair of the House Committee on General Investigating, notified the Texas Education Agency that he is "initiating an inquiry into Texas school district content," according to an Oct. 25 letter obtained by The Texas Tribune.

Krause's letter provides a 16-page list of about 850 book titles and asks the districts if they have these books, how many copies they have and how much money they spent on the books.

His list of titles includes bestsellers and award winners alike, from the 1967 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Confessions of Nat Turner” by William Styron and “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates to last year's book club favorites: “Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot” by Mikki Kendall and Isabel Wilkerson's “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”

But race is not the only thing on the committee chair’s list. Other listed books Krause wants school districts to account for are about teen pregnancy, abortion and homosexuality, including “LGBT Families” by Leanne K. Currie-McGhee, “The Letter Q: Queer Writers’ Notes to their Younger Selves” edited by Sarah Moon, and Michael J. Basso’s “The Underground Guide to Teenage Sexuality: An Essential Handbook for Today’s Teens and Parents.”



https://www.texastribune.org/2021/10/26/texas-school-books-race-sexuality/

Secretaries of state targeted by Trump election lies live in fear for their safety and are desperate

(CNN)"I am a hunter -- and I think you should be hunted," a woman can be heard saying in a voicemail left for Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in September. "You will never be safe in Arizona again."

Or there's the man who spit, "Die you bitch, die! Die you bitch, die!" repeatedly into the phone, in another of several dozen threatening and angry voicemails directed at the Democratic secretary of state and shared exclusively with CNN by her office.

Officials and aides in secretary of state offices in Arizona and other states targeted by former President Donald Trump in his attack on last year's election results told CNN about living in constant terror -- nervously watching the people around them at events, checking in their rearview mirrors for cars following them home and sitting up at night wondering what might happen next.

Law enforcement has never had to think much about protecting secretaries of state, let alone allocating hundreds of thousands of dollars in security, tracking and follow-up. Their jobs used to be mundane, unexciting, bureaucratic. These are small offices in a handful of states with enormous power in administering elections, from mailing ballots to overseeing voting machines to keeping track of counted votes.

None were prepared to be publicly attacked. They don't have the budgets to monitor threats, and certainly not to suddenly protect officials who never had to be protected before. No systems were in place on the state or federal level to back them up, and the Department of Justice admits that the federal government doesn't yet have the infrastructure to handle the situation.



https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/26/politics/secretaries-of-state-personal-threats-trump-election-lies/index.html

Tweet of the Day

Anti-LGBT+ Chick-fil-A promises not to 'discriminate'... against anti-vaxxers

The sign, pasted on the window of the Chick-fil-A in Franklin, Tennessee, reads: “We do not discriminate against unvaccinated, religion, race, sex, vaccinated, maskless, mask. All neighbours are welcome.”

When the message was shared on Twitter by anti-LGBT+ right-wing YouTuber Lauren Chen, social media users were quick to point out that “equating mask/vaccine policy with religion/ race/ sex is so fundamentally stupid”, and that one significant group was missing from the list.


https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/10/25/chick-fil-a-discrimination-lgbt-tennessee/

Japanese princess marries commoner in subdued end to royal saga

When Princess Mako of Japan, Emperor Naruhito’s niece and the daughter of his younger brother, Crown Prince Fumihito, wed in Tokyo on Tuesday, there was no lavish ceremony, and none of the rites traditionally associated with Japanese royal weddings. In another first, she is forgoing the lump-sum payment of about $1.3 million that female royals receive after they lose their imperial status by marrying a commoner.

The reason: public disapproval of her groom, Kei Komuro, 30, a recent law graduate, because of a financial dispute involving his mother. Rather than spend taxpayer money on the wedding, which was delayed for years amid the controversy, the couple simply registered their marriage at a government office. In the coming weeks, they are expected to quietly leave Japan for a new life in the United States.

The couple’s dramatic exit from royal life has riveted the media in Japan and elsewhere, drawing comparisons to Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle. Palace officials said this month that Mako, who turned 30 Saturday, had developed complex post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being “unable to escape” the attacks on her, Komuro and their families.

Their story has also drawn attention to a looming succession crisis for the Japanese monarchy, which is said to be the oldest in the world. With ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne restricted to the male bloodline, the family is running low on members — 17 in total now that Mako is married. Neither Naruhito’s daughter, Aiko, nor Mako and her sister, Kako, are in line because they are women. Now the crown’s future rests on the shoulders of Mako’s 15-year-old brother, Prince Hisahito, the only heir of his generation.



https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/japanese-princess-set-marry-commoner-subdued-end-royal-saga-rcna3702?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma

Border Agent Who Posted Doctored AOC Sex Photo Got Away With It

The committee report paints a picture of an organization rife with a violently abusive mentality toward the public, a sense of total impunity to revel in that abuse, and virtually zero accountability. The agency’s Discipline Review Board found 60 cases of misconduct and ultimately recommended removal in 24 cases, but only two agents ultimately lost their jobs. Many others had their lesser recommended disciplinary actions reduced even further.

It’s worth zeroing in on the specific cases, though, to get a sense of what is allowed at CBP. Many of these agents are still serving the public and policing people crossing the border.

The most high-profile findings in the ProPublica report were the revelations about multiple members sharing sexually violent images of Ocasio-Cortez. One of those agents, who shared a doctored image of Donald Trump sexually assaulting Ocasio-Cortez, was fired. But the other, who posted an image of a penis going through a fence and Ocasio-Cortez superimposed on the other side of the fence with the caption “Lucky Illegal Immigrant Glory Hole Special Starring AOC,” had his sanction reduced from dismissal to 60-day suspension with back pay.

In another case, an agent was recommended for removal after he posted an “internal video of CBP’s Tactical Unit that showed a group of migrants under pursuit, including a migrant fleeing and falling off a cliff to their death” and an obscene comment about an unnamed member of Congress. “The deciding official reduced the discipline to a 30-day suspension,” the committee notes.



https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/10/border-patrol-aoc-photo-facebook-group.html?via=rss_socialflow_twitter

Michigan Rep. Steve Marino (GOP) won't face charges over allegations of domestic abuse

INGHAM COUNTY, Mich. – The Ingham County prosecutor will not seek charges against Harrison Township State Representative Steve Marino.

Marino was stripped of his committee assignments in November after a female legislator said they had a “volatile” personal relationship that included domestic abuse and threats.

Rep. Mari Manoogian sought a personal protection order last month after alleging domestic abuse. The protection order was granted from the Ingham County Circuit Court.

Michigan State Police are investigating angry text messages that Marino sent to Manoogian. Both individuals said they were in a personal relationship that ended in 2019.

State police submitted a report to the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office last month and has now decided that no charges against Marino are warranted.

Manoogian deferred comment to her attorney. Her attorney declined to comment and said there are still legal proceedings and they aren’t commenting until they are resolved.



https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2021/10/26/michigan-rep-steve-marino-wont-face-charges-over-allegations-of-domestic-abuse/