Be ready for an exploded Federal Bldg. near you.‘Perfect storm’: Bulletin warns of extremist violence as pandemic restrictions lift — No specific threat was mentioned for Independence Day. — Federal authorities are deeply concerned about the possibility of domestic terror and violence, including mass shootings, as the Fourth …Joe Jurado / The Root: Federal Authorities Warn That Extremist Violence Could Rise as COVID-19 Restrictions Are EasedJohn Wright / Raw Story: QAnon belief in Trump's ‘reinstatement’ could spark extremist violence this summer: DHSBetsy Woodruff Swan / Politico: DHS Intel bulletin warns of risks as attack anniversaries near
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Long Hot Summertime Blues
Not Giving A Damn, Except About Lena Horne's Birthday & Meat Inspection
TCM takes Ms. Horne on the town.
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Monday, June 28, 2021
National Socialist White Peoples Party
Cameron Easley / Morning Consult:
U.S. Conservatives Are Uniquely Inclined Toward Right-Wing Authoritarianism Compared to Western Peers — Global Morning Consult data reveals a distinctive authoritarian bent in the American right — A scale measuring propensity toward right-wing authoritarian tendencies found right …Brad Reed / Raw Story: Alarming survey finds American conservatives ‘uniquely inclined’ toward authoritarianismEliza Relman / Insider: 1/4 of Americans qualify as highly ‘right-wing authoritarian,’ new poll findsTaegan Goddard / Political Wire: U.S. Conservatives More Inclined Towards Authoritarianism
Jason Wilson / The Guardian:
Revealed: neo-Confederate group includes military officers and politicians — Leaked data shows other high-profile members have overlapping membership in more explicitly racist or violent groups — Leaked membership data from the neo-Confederate Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) …
Sunday, June 27, 2021
How Dumb Is This Guy?
Dumb/stupid may not be the exact concept; boy's just a damn fool.
I keep wanting to say the building collapse isn’t being covered enough, but it’s literally the top story.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) June 27, 2021
What’s actually happening is people aren’t tweeting about it. pic.twitter.com/v3xd7gsIbO
Same Gullible Cretins,
Possibly Different Day?
Not actually positive that the bitter clingers won't cling to the same horseshit forever. Who knows what he'll say next to keep the deplorables excited?
Benjamin Fearnow / Newsweek:QAnon Supporters Express Boredom With ‘Same Old’ Trump Speech: ‘This Is Getting Ridiculous’ — Both QAnon and longtime supporters of former President Donald Trump criticized his Saturday night speech in Wellington, Ohio, accusing him of the “same-old, same-old” grievances against Democrats …Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Trump, Seeking to Maintain G.O.P. Sway, Holds First Rally Since Jan. 6David Edwards / Raw Story: ‘Scores of people left early’: Trump supporters walked out of rally after his speech ‘fell flat’Ryan Nagelhout / UPROXX: Even Trump's Former Attorney General Called His Election Fraud Claims ‘All Bullshit’ As His Lawsuits Keep Failing
Saturday, June 26, 2021
"I Am A Doughnut" (Not), Human Genome Map, U.N. Charter Signed
Damnit:
Daum also debunked the widespread misconception in non-German-speaking countries that the phrase was used incorrectly and actually means "I am a doughnut", referring to the "Berliner" doughnut. That has become something of an urban legend, including equally incorrect statements about the audience's laugh at Kennedy's use of the expression.
Angry Samoan Saturday
A stupid jerk speaks:
Tucker on Milley’s comments: He’s not just a pig. He’s stupid pic.twitter.com/XNxNCBjLHp
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 25, 2021
Whoa!
This reporter was laboring under the impression that the Surfside deathtrap was a symmetrical deathtrap, & that what had collapsed was essentially the facade, just the balconies & the rooms next to them. Turns out the uncollapsed side was shorter, to allow for the pool, (note second & third bldgs. to the right of the rubble below) & an entire tower structure collapsed, as these before & after satellite shots show.Surprised there aren't more missing & unaccounted for.
Friday, June 25, 2021
Friday Fossil Frolics
Th' hell's going on? New humanoids popping up all over.
Also:Carl Zimmer / New York Times:
Discovery of ‘Dragon Man’ Skull in China May Add Species to Human Family Tree — A laborer discovered the fossil and hid it in a well for 85 years. Scientists say it could help sort out the human family tree and how our species emerged. —Kaelan Deese / Washington Examiner: Researchers say ‘dragon man’ skull found in China could be new human speciesIan Sample / The Guardian: Massive human head in Chinese well forces scientists to rethink evolutionBrian P. Dunleavy / UPI: ‘Dragon Man,’ not Neanderthals, is closest human relative, researchers say
Did homo sap off both these poor bastard species as well as the late lamented Neanderthals? Stop breeding, killer apes.Homo who? A new mystery human species has been discovered in Israel
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Last Round-Up For Lucky Cow
Visual aid to item three items down.And now you know ... the rest of the story.
Stick It, "Sticks"
What about all the ossifers who've gotten away w/ every kind of abuse & murder w/ impunity for centuries?
What about all the false accusations police (& prosecutors) have made against the innocent?
I'd have to assume the number of civilians abused by the heat outnumbers all these poor abused coppers by several factors.
And how many cops have been falsely accused by their own oinking brothers right there in the pig-sty, especially after making accusations against other piggies? Serpico, anybody?
Priorities, you fucking dimbulb.
Stupid advert spotted at MEDIAITE, where we were perusing
You can see what a shitty site it is by the censorship & the fact that one has to turn off AdBlock, Gawd's gift to iNternet surfers.Trump Wanted Military to ‘Beat the F*ck’ Out of George Floyd Protesters, ‘Just Shoot Them,’ Says New Book
About 50, 71, Whatever
Previously:
"The woman was described as being about 50 years old, 5 foot, 4 inches tall and about 150 pounds, with gray hair. She was last seen wearing a red-orange dress with floral print and black pants and was carrying a black bag."
It's murder out there!A homeless woman was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of fatally shooting a homeless man in Mid-Wilshire hours earlier, the Los Angeles Police Department said.Eva Fekete, 71, of Los Angeles was booked on a murder count and is being held in lieu of $2-million bail, police said. The case will be reviewed for possible charging by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Fekete could not be reached for comment, and did not have an attorney listed in court records.
Officers responded to the reported shooting near the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Ridgely Drive, just east of the La Brea Tar Pits and near a Ralphs supermarket, about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday and found a man believed to be in his 40s suffering from a gunshot wound, police said.
The man was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He has yet to be identified, police said.
At about 7 p.m., officers patrolling the area of the shooting spotted a vehicle belonging to Fekete, who had been identified as a suspect, and arrested her. Police said they recovered a weapon during the arrest.
A preliminary investigation indicated that Fekete and the man did not know each other, but had “been involved in a verbal dispute prior to the shooting,” police said.
The shooting comes amid a continuing surge in gun violence in the city. It also was the latest incident of violence that appeared to fit a growing trend in L.A.: people experiencing homelessness becoming involved in violent crime, both as suspects and victims.
As of Tuesday, L.A. had seen 162 homicides this year, compared with 129 at the same point last year. It had 651 shootings, compared with 434 at the same point last year. On average, 27 people are being shot per week this year in L.A., compared with 18 in 2020.
LAPD Chief Michel Moore told the Police Commission on Tuesday that “the influences on this continue to be gang-related as well as persons experiencing homelessness.”
The number of homicides linked to homeless people — again either as suspects or victims — is up by several killings over this time last year, Moore said. He did not give a total.
Such killings were also up last year over 2019.
Moore has previously said that criminal gangs have taken advantage of pandemic-related rules allowing homeless encampments to remain in place — turning some of them into hubs for dealing drugs and conducting other gang business out in the open.
Moore has said that gangs have targeted people experiencing homelessness, including over debts, and that homeless people have committed violence over interpersonal disputes as well.
[L.A. Times]
Last Mad Cow Item: Last Free Cow Won't Be For Dinner
[Local Action]The last of 40 cows that escaped from a slaughterhouse in Pico Rivera was found Thursday in a South El Monte-area field, and city officials said the animal’s life will be spared thanks to Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren.Shortly after 4 a.m., sheriff’s officials received a call from someone who had spotted the cow, and deputies managed to find it about 6 a.m. near Rosemead Boulevard and the Pomona (60) Freeway. It was the last of 40 cows that escaped around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, when the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Pico Rivera station received a call of cows running loose on city streets.
Sheriff’s officials said an open gate had allowed the cows to flee the Manning Beef slaughterhouse in the 9500 block of Beverly Road. The cows were on the loose for hours, roaming through residential neighborhoods and evading capture.
One of the cows charged a family of four, knocking some of them to the ground, according to the sheriff’s department. The family members were taken to a local hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries.
“To protect the family from further injury, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the animal,” according to the department.
No further injuries were reported, and all of the other cows have now been recaptured.
A leading animal rights group on Wednesday expressed sorrow at the animals’ recapture.
“PETA wishes the cows who escaped from a slaughterhouse into a Pico Rivera, California, neighborhood on Tuesday had made it to freedom, something they fought hard to gain, instead of being rounded up and returned to the slaughterhouse or — in one cow’s case — being shot on the scene by law enforcement,” according to a PETA statement.
“These cows’ desperate bid for freedom should have been recognized by moving them to a sanctuary, where they could have bonded with other rescued cows, nursed their calves in peace, and lived out their lives just as you and I hope to do,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said. “PETA invites anyone who cheered their escape or mourned their deaths to extend that compassion to all cows — and all other animals — by going vegan.”
PETA will get its wish when it comes to the cow recaptured on Thursday. According to the city of Pico Rivera, Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren has come forward to “facilitate the freedom” of the cow and will “work with local sanctuaries” to find the animal a home.
Pico Rivera City Manager Steve Carmona said the city has been talking to the owners of Manning Beef about possibly moving all of the escaped cows to a sanctuary. But he said Warren plans to arrange for the most recently recaptured animal to be relocated to Farm Sanctuary in Acton.
According to Carmona, the cow will have to be tested by state Food and Agriculture officials to determine it is free of disease before it can be moved to the sanctuary.
"Increasingly Weird"
We have no idea what is going on with Trump-loving evangelist Lance Wallnau, but his late night livestreams are getting increasingly weird. pic.twitter.com/3wpJNU3tD5
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) June 23, 2021
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
Up-Date Two: Suspect In Custody
Police function as intended. Not that it could have been especially difficult to find a mentally disturbed homeless woman in an area where the pedestrians are mostly young people in show biz/media & retirees. Yes, homeless people as well, but they do stand out. I s'pose seven hrs. is acceptable, & one never knows whether someone is a kill-crazed loon or a perfectly sweet lady who'd never think of hurting anyone but that rat bastard she plugged, but there was someone w/ a gun & apparently willing to use it loose on the streets for those seven hrs.*
*Hell, this reporter was at Wilshire & La Brea, six blocks west of the action, around 1830. Might not've been had I thought/remembered the killer was still on the loose. Or maybe, subconsciously, I knew but just didn't care.
[Contributing Editor]A homeless woman suspected of fatally shooting a homeless man during an argument outside a grocery store near the La Brea Tar Pits was arrested Wednesday evening.The shooting occurred at about 12:35 p.m. outside the Ralphs market at 5601 Wilshire Blvd., said Officer William Cooper of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Division.
The woman produced a gun during the argument and shot the man, Cooper said.
The woman fled before police arrived, and the man was taken to a hospital, where he died of his wounds.
Police located and arrested the woman near the area of the shooting at about 7:30 p.m., CBS2 reported. Her name was not immediately released.
The man’s name was not released, though he was described as being approximately 45 years old.
*Hell, this reporter was at Wilshire & La Brea, six blocks west of the action, around 1830. Might not've been had I thought/remembered the killer was still on the loose. Or maybe, subconsciously, I knew but just didn't care.
Delusional Chumps Self-Chump Again
Stupid fucking hippies.
Just as bad as the friends of Jesus. Personally, this reporter never believed a word of the cosmic debris, even an eternity ago when he kinda sorta wanted to be a "hippie", freak or weirdo.Laura J. Nelson / Los Angeles Times:Jessica Camille Aguirre / Los Angeles Magazine: QAnon Just Keeps Making Inroads into New Age Wellness Circles
Note well: Nagonna type one gawddam thing about spoiled upper-middle-class housewives w/ too much money & time on their manicured paws. Horrid witches.
Shooting Up-Date: It's Murder!
[mynewsLA.com]A homeless man was shot and killed Wednesday during an argument with a homeless woman outside a grocery store near the La Brea Tar Pits, police said.The shooting occurred at about 12:35 p.m. outside the Ralphs market at 5601 Wilshire Blvd., said Officer William Cooper of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Media Relations Division.
The woman produced a gun during the argument and shot the man, Cooper said.
The woman fled before police arrived, and the man was taken to a hospital, where he died of his wounds.
The man’s name was not released, though he was described as being approximately 45 years old.
The woman was described as being about 50 years old, 5 foot, 4 inches tall and about 150 pounds, with gray hair. She was last seen wearing a red-orange dress with floral print and black pants and was carrying a black bag.
No One Is Safe ...
... not even this reporter, who has shopped at this very Ralphs many a time. Not in the last yr.-&-a-half, mind you ...
Taken in its entirety from the L.A. Times. If they don't want readers who don't subscribe, I see no reason to arse myself providing a link to their paywalled recycled police press release & on-scene reporting from a civilian (w/ a worse diet than mine) they probably found on Twitter or the 'Gram. What a fucking media universe.Los Angeles police are searching for a woman who allegedly shot a man outside a Los Angeles Ralphs grocery store Wednesday afternoon, sending him to the hospital, authorities said.The shooting was reported about 12:35 p.m. at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Ridgeley Drive, LAPD Officer William Cooper said, where a Ralphs grocery store is located.
A 911 caller described the suspect as a woman about 60 years old, wearing a red and orange flowered dress and black pants. She allegedly shot a pistol, Cooper said, and was last seen headed west on Wilshire.
Anybody who sees the woman fitting the description should contact 911, Cooper said.
“It will be a high risk situation, especially given the possible shooting that she’s being accused of,” he said.
The condition of the man who was shot is unknown, Cooper said, adding that he was taken to a hospital.
While Sarah Hayden was getting her car washed nearby, she witnessed LAPD cars racing to the scene. She drove to Ralphs and noticed police tape blocking off part of the east side of the store, along Ridgeley Drive. She managed to complete most of her grocery shopping, lining up her ham, eggs, bread, milk, ice cream and candy on the conveyer belt.
“I abandoned them in line,” she said. "[This is] definitely not what I was expecting today.”
Just as she was checking out, Hayden said, about a dozen armed police officers came into the store and told everybody to evacuate. All customers and employees were directed to stand on the south side of Wilshire Boulevard, Hayden said, while police searched the underground garage.
Twenty-Five Yrs. Ago
The Sex Potatoes went on a 20-yr. reunion tour.More or less 55 yrs. ago (4 October 1966, per comments) some original American punks rip off the Yardbirds.
Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Eat Mor Chikin
L.A.S.D. can't do a damn thing w/o killing someone or something.Urban cowboys.Cows running wild: Sign of the apocalypse?
Monday, June 21, 2021
STOP BUYING PLASTIC SHIT FROM AMAZON, YOU PLASTIC SHITS!!
If you buy your plastic consumer shit from Amazon, you're part of the problem, not the solution. Fuck every last one of you consumerist sheep in your ugly stupid mouths. W/ my fist. Amazon is a fascist shithole that is apparently controlled by robots.
Internal Amazon documents shed light on how company pressures out 6% of office workersThe documents also highlight how much of Amazon’s human resources processes are reliant on apps and algorithms, even among the company’s office workforce.
Sunday, June 20, 2021
This Season In History, 66 Yrs. Ago
The News Magazine of the Screen
(Vol. 5, Issue 10; Summer Review 1955)
I.C.Y.M.I. children, here's what the grown-ups did this summer. You'll be in Saigon before you know it.Newsreel stories reformatted for classroom use.Shotlist
"...war in Saigon...rehearsal of an atomic attack...the end of the 'El'."
saigon vietnam morocco riot west germany austria atomic attack civil defense elevated subway railroad old ironside sail ship Third Avenue Elevated, New York City
Knock It the Hell Off, Breeder Scum!!
Fathers Day my ass. We're already knee-deep in sub-human cretins on this fucking planet. Put it back in your pants.
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Got to Serve Somebody, I Guess
Fake News Round-Up From The Usual Gang Of Idiots
Sources say, allegedly.
Isn't this exactly how we should respond to such idiots? And why can't the fucking Army tell these whining little brats to vax up or get out? Are they not a risk to others, & national security?Lee Brown / New York Post:
Friday, June 18, 2021
Friday Freak-Out Mit Jackie Mittoo
White S.U.V. Goes On AZ Shooting Spree, Gun Death At Local Dispensary
Six hundred miles closer:
Still the 19th century, apparently.An argument between two men and a security guard outside a marijuana collective in Eagle Rock Thursday ended in gunfire that left one man dead and two others hospitalized, one in critical condition.Officers responded at 4:40 p.m. to the Green Earth Collective, 4801 York Blvd., where they found three men with gunshot wounds, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
All the victims were taken to a hospital where one of the suspects was pronounced dead, the security guard was in critical condition and the second suspect was listed with stable vital signs, police said.
Thursday, June 17, 2021
I Don't Get It
Quack time:
Yeah, but didn't their actual, competent leader say Joe's jes' fine?BREAKING NEWS: Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson and 13 Republican Reps send letter to Biden urging him take a cognitive test to prove he is ‘mentally fit to be commander in chief’ — Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, who served as Donald Trump's White House physician …Kevin Tober / The Daily Caller: Former White House Physician, 13 Republican Lawmakers Request Biden Take Cognitive TestVictor Morton / Washington Times: Ex-White House doctor, House Republicans push for Biden cognitive test
That fuck Jackson should be court-matialed & have his croaker's certificate lifted pronto. Was he too drunk to read the latest spin?Putin blows up disinfo claims about Biden’s mental fitness: ‘He doesn’t let anything get by, I assure you’
Tinhorn*
We noted this bee ess earlier; now Mr. Tinhorn has been shown to be an even bigger jerk than one might suspect. Or not. Asshole about the plague, no doubt a fool about everything else. Pay your rent, moron.
*A contemptible person, especially one pretending to have money, influence, or ability.
(Los Angeles County Department of Public Health)
BURBANK (CBSLA) — Tinhorn Flats, the Burbank bar that repeatedly defied orders to close its doors during the pandemic, has been evicted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.Possession of Tinhorn Flats’ building and property were turned over to the owner, Isabelle Lepejian, as the last step in the eviction process she initiated against the sports bar, according to Burbank city officials.
Tinhorn Flats had defied COVID-19 restrictions ordered by the city, the county, and the state since October. The bar’s business license had been revoked, the city got a judge’s permission to disconnect its electricity, and its owner, Lucas Lepejian, had been arrested repeatedly.
Isabelle Lepejian is the ex-wife of restaurant owner Baret Lepejian and the mother of Lucas Lepejian. She was granted a writ of possession, and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies placed the property in her possession Tuesday morning.
The eviction is a separate legal action from the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction issued against Tinhorn Flats for continuing to operate after its public health permit and conditional use permit were revoked.
*A contemptible person, especially one pretending to have money, influence, or ability.
How Hot Did You Say?
This hot? (And stupid.)
Boil in your own effluvia, stupid apes.Tik Root / Washington Post:
Earth is now trapping an ‘unprecedented’ amount of heat, NASA says — New research shows that the amount of heat the planet traps has roughly doubled since 2005, contributing to more rapidly warming oceans, air and land …
Another Non-Surprise
Decades of sexual abuse, misconduct allegations roil exclusive Ojai boarding schoolI'll bet. Bet you could find this stuff going back to the wk. the dump was opened in 1889.The allegations of misconduct and inappropriate "boundary crossing" at the Thacher School date to the 1980s.
This, we might note, is among the reasons the moneyed class is all pieces of shit. Their parents don't want them around, so they're shipped to a hell of abuse & "boundary crossing". Doesn't result in a positive attitude.
[Behind the L.A. Times paywall. You don't need further details anyway.]
Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Some Seriously Sick Shit From Gunmerica
"Road Rage" Bullshit Too
This senseless tragedy filled the local news when it happened; can't beleve it's already been three+ wks., but here are some horrifying details.A literal "Killer on the Road". What next, United Snakes, what next?Details Emerge From Prosecutors on Killing of 6-Year-Old on Freeway in OC
Days after the man and woman charged with killing a 6-year-old boy in a road-rage shooting on the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, they got into another traffic altercation in which the alleged shooter waved a gun at another motorist, prosecutors said in court papers filed Wednesday.Marcus Anthony Eriz, 24, and Wynne Lee, 23, are scheduled to be arraigned on Friday when Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin will consider a request from prosecutors to set bails at higher-than-usual levels.
The victim, Aiden Leos, was fatally shot May 21 as his mother, Joanna Cloonan, was driving him to kindergarten in her Chevrolet Sonic on the freeway.
About 8 a.m. that day, the two were cut off by the defendants, who were in a Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen, according to prosecutors.
Lee was behind Cloonan in the diamond lane before swinging over to the fast lane and then accelerating at an “extremely high rate of speed” to get in front of Cloonan, prosecutors said in the motion.
“Wynne Lee motioned to the victim vehicle a `peace sign’ with her hand and continued driving,” prosecutors said in the motion for higher bail.
A few miles later as Cloonan was attempting to merge over to the Riverside (91) Freeway east she passed the defendants and was “still angry about being cutoff and she put up her middle finger at the two as she passed,” prosecutors said.
“She then heard a loud bang to the rear of her vehicle and heard her little boy in the backseat say, 'Ow,'" prosecutors said.
Cloonan immediately pulled over and saw Aiden suffered a chest wound, prosecutors said. Aiden was pronounced dead at 8:39 a.m. at Children’s Hospital Orange County.
In an interview with investigators on June 6, Eriz said he “was angry after being `flipped off’ by Ms. Cloonan, so he grabbed his loaded Glock 17 9mm and racked a round,” according to the motion.
“He then rolled the passenger window down and took a shot at her vehicle. After shooting the victim, the defendants continued on to the 91 eastbound and on to work in the city of Highland.”
During the week of May 24-28, the two got into another “altercation on the freeway,” prosecutors said.
“As Wynne Lee was driving on the 91 eastbound on the way to work with defendant Eriz as her front passenger, a driver in a blue Tesla did something to make defendant Eriz angry, acting aggressively,” prosecutors alleged.
“Defendant Eriz again took out his gun and brandished it to the driver of the Tesla. That driver told the defendants that he had called the police and then he drove away.”
A co-worker of Eriz told him on May 28 that it looked like their car was the suspect vehicle police were seeking, prosecutors said.
Eriz “claims that at that time, he looked on the internet and saw the story about Aiden Leos’ death,” prosecutors alleged. “He said he `immediately’ knew he was responsible for the boy’s death. He then told Wynne Lee about his revelation.”
Prosecutors allege that after May 28 Eriz hid the Volkswagen at a family member’s garage and did not drive it again, instead driving his red truck to and from work.
Eriz shaved his “substantial beard” on June 3 and “started to wear his long hair back in a tie,” prosecutors said.
The couple also applied for a new job after May 28, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors argue that Eriz is an “extreme danger to the community” who has “shown that he cannot control his temper and he goes to extremes in the snap of a finger when he is angered.”
Eriz has “multiple firearms in his possession,” including an “AR, a revolver and the Glock 17 that was used in this murder,” prosecutors argued.
“He has various photos and videos on his social media that show him shooting different kinds of guns,” prosecutors said. “He is also a skilled shooter as evidenced by those same videos. He admittedly and regularly carried his loaded Glock with him on his person and in Ms. Lee’s vehicle while they drove to work.”
Taking his guns away would not deter the defendant from using another weapon, prosecutors argued. Also, putting him on GPS monitoring would only tell investigators where he was when he “commits his next crime of violence,” prosecutors argued.
Lee is also a danger to the public because she knew Eriz had his loaded gun in her vehicle and never pulled over to check on Cloonan following the shooting, prosecutors argued. She also failed to call 911 “or do anything to follow up about what her passenger had done,” prosecutors said.
She was driving during the next altercation on the freeway as well, prosecutors said.
The two were also considered risks to flee prosecution, prosecutors argued.
Eriz is charged with murder and a felony count of discharge of a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, with sentencing enhancements for discharge of a firearm causing death. He faces up to 40 years to life in prison if convicted at trial.
Lee is charged with a felony count of being an accessory after the fact and a misdemeanor count of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle. Lee faces up to four years behind bars if convicted at trial of all charges. Three of those years would be prison and one in jail.
Both defendants were originally being held on $1 million bail, but Yellin tentatively increased Eriz’s bail to $2 million, and dropped Lee’s bail to $500,000.
Those bail amounts, which were requested by prosecutors, will remain in place until Friday’s arraignment, when attorneys will present their arguments to keep the bails at $2 million and $500,000.
Bail could potentially be reduced further for Lee, who was originally booked on suspicion of murder but was only charged with being an accessory, Yellin said.
Today's Paranoid Republican Delusion
What Is Wrong W/ These People?
[TPM]In the minds of the right, the international communist threat is back. And this time, it’s not just personal — it’s genetic.At least, that’s according to a letter that Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) sent to President Biden this week.
In the letter, Cotton warns Biden that Beijing plans on using the 2022 Winter Olympics as a giant funnel for precious American DNA, harvesting the nation’s fittest and finest for their genomic information as part of a plan to achieve military dominance.
Written in the language of a Cold War-era B-movie and filled with a mixture of sci-fi scheming, eugenics, and stentorian warning, Cotton demands that Biden withdraw American participation from the 2022 winter Olympics absent guarantees from China that it will not collect the data or DNA of visiting American olympians.
“In 2022, thousands of world-class athletes will gather to compete in China,” the letter reads. “Their DNA will present an irresistible target for the CCP.”
He added that, “thus, we should expect that the Chinese government will attempt to collect genetic samples of Olympians at the Games, perhaps disguised as testing for illegal drugs or COVID-19.”
Why, you, the White House, or unsuspecting internationally ranked snowboarders may ask, would the Chinese government wish to do this?
The answer, Cotton wrote, is simple: supersoldiers.
“The CCP has reportedly conducted tests to develop biologically-enhanced soldiers and intends to use DNA data to catapult Chinese biotechnology companies to global market dominance,” Cotton wrote, citing a column written by Trump-era Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe.
Cotton’s office did not return TPM’s request for comment. But his terror that red-blooded American winter athletes could have their genetic information harvested by Communists hell-bent on world domination has a background in the fever swamps of the late Trump period.
Gordon Chang, author of the 2001 book “The Coming Collapse of China,” supports Cotton’s demands, though he told TPM that he did not consult with the senator on the letter.
“If you want to develop a race of superhuman Chinese, you would certainly want the DNA of the world’s most fit and athletic people,” Chang said. He added that the Chinese could harvest the flood of figure skaters, curling players, and bobsleigh jockeys for their most promising traits, though he said that Beijing would most likely be interested in “superintelligence.”
Chang echoed Cotton’s suggestion that the Chinese would harvest DNA through COVID testing.
The athletes, Chang mused, “are going to eat stuff, leave napkins around the place — they’re going to poop. They’re going to leave a lot of DNA.”
Ratcliffe wrote in his December 2020 Wall Street Journal column that “China has even conducted human testing on members of the People’s Liberation Army in hope of developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities,” citing unspecified intelligence.
That strain of thought appears to have made it into the intelligence community itself, with the National Counterintelligence and Security Center in February 2021 releasing a fact sheet cited in Cotton’s letter titled “CHINA’S COLLECTION OF GENOMIC AND OTHER HEATHCARE DATA FROM AMERICA: RISKS TO PRIVACY AND U.S. ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY.”
That document informs readers that “your DNA is the most valuable thing you own.” A DNI spokesman told TPM that the agency stands by the report.
“Losing your DNA is not like losing a credit card,” the document reads. “You can order a new credit card, but you cannot replace your DNA.”
It’s a bit of a non-sequitur from there to the document’s next claim, which is not that the Chinese plan on depriving you, citizen, of your DNA: rather, it is a “strategic commodity to be collected and used for its economic and national-security priorities.”
The document is silent on what exact uses the Chinese would have for American genetic material. It cites the country’s sprawling and invasive surveillance system, saying that Beijing includes genomic information to identify its citizens and links the collection of DNA to the mass internment of the Uighur minority.
It’s totally unclear how those abuses relate to a supersoldier program.
But according to Cleo Paskal, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies whose May column “Is Beijing Planning a Rob, Replicate, Replace Olympics?” was cited in Cotton’s letter, it has to do with war.
“There are defensive and offensive aspects to it,” Paskal told TPM. “One is you could understand better the genetics of high performing individuals, lung capacity, heart, the other is that you could figure out how to attack people from a wide range of different genetic profile backgrounds.”
She told TPM that Cotton’s office had called her to verify a quote in the letter that it eventually sent to Biden.
FDD has long distinguished itself as one of D.C.’s most hawkish think tanks among a blob of foreign policy outfits that already make themselves known for favoring military solutions whenever possible.
Paskal told TPM that China was likely planning on using information gathered from the Beijing Winter Olympics to refine its military operations against India in the cold-weather, high-altitude Himalaya mountains. The two nations clashed there last year.
“If you’re involved in cold weather fighting — which they are in the Himalayas, they’ve now got people who have spent millions of dollars perfecting cold weather equipment — the tech is coming to you,” she said, referring to the Olympics. “As is the training regime — how do you train to be in top shape in cold weather environments? What do you eat? How do you combine individual genetics with training to be most effective.”
Chang, the author, took it even further — the offensive capability would not just be supersoldiers, but superweapons: “pathogens that leave the Chinese immune but sicken and kill everyone else.”
When asked whether the technology was there for that, he replied, “I don’t know if they’ve developed those pathogens, but we don’t want the first evidence of that to be 330 million dead Americans.”
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