Not enough Whisky for this Tango Foxtrot

[Frelga]

I don't think there is any kind of context that could possibly make this better.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

time to send some more postcards

[Impenitent]

There is no way those two clips are real. Faked, yes? I mean, no matter how outlandish some of these MAGA candidates are, this could not be real.

[RoseMorninStar]

There is no way those two clips are real. Faked, yes? I mean, no matter how outlandish some of these MAGA candidates are, this could not be real.

Oh, were it so, but no, they are quite real. Honestly, (and sadly) and I don't believe Walker's 'speech' is much worse than many of Trumps meandering diatribes, especially those from his rallies.

[Sunsilver]

Yes, very true, Rose! I just came across the one where he was talking about water use and toilets flushing. Pretty crazy stuff!

[N.E. Brigand]

Free and Open Town Square! (Only $19.95/mo!)

Most of the exposure I have to Twitter are stories linked on this forum, so I don't use it much. I really don't see the new direction it's being taken to be a good one.

I saw a report earlier today that Twitter's rapid implosion could contribute to chaos on Tuesday because there may be lots of newly "verified" accounts tweeting false reports about the election with practically no moderation team to filter out the lies. But at the rate things are going, I'm half wondering if Twitter will even exist in four days.

Thirteen days after I wrote that, Twitter still exists -- and its shaky status seems to have made no particular difference to last week's U.S. election -- but all Twitter employees were just notified that they will have no access to Twitter's offices from now, the evening of Thursday Nov. 17, until next Monday Nov. 21.

[RoseMorninStar]

He's BAAaaaaacccck (?) Musk re-instated Trump's Twitter account. Thus far Trump has rejected the outreach.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Rose, there is already a discussion of that in the "Elon's Twitter" thread.

[RoseMorninStar]

Rose, there is already a discussion of that in the "Elon's Twitter" thread.

Ooops sorry. HOF comes up under 'frequently visited' and opens to the notifications page. As such I tend to miss new threads. I need to do something about that.

[RoseMorninStar]

Will he be able to pull an OJ and avoid paying it by moving to a different state?

Sandy Hook families sued Alex Jones. Then he started moving money around.

Partial quote from article:

As the potential for damages mounted, Jones began moving millions of dollars out of his company, Free Speech Systems, and into companies controlled by himself, friends or relatives, according to a Washington Post review of financial statements, depositions and other court records. The transfers potentially put those funds out of reach of the Sandy Hook plaintiffs.

Between August 2020 and November 2021, Free Speech Systems signed promissory notes — essentially IOUs — for $55 million to cover what it said were past debts to a company called PQPR Holdings that Jones owns with his parents, according to financial records filed in court by Jones’s attorneys. PQPR, which is managed by Jones’s father, a dentist, had bought tens of millions of dollars in supplements for Jones that he then sold on his show, the records say. A lawyer for Free Speech Systems has said in court that the debt accrued unnoticed due to sloppy bookkeeping.

This year, Jones started paying his personal trainer $100,000 a week to help ship supplements and other merchandise, a Free Speech Systems attorney said in court. A company managed by Jones’s sister and listed as a “supplier or vendor” was paid $240,000, financial records show.

Sadly, no surprise.

*edited to fix quote tag

[N.E. Brigand]

The jury found that Alex Jones must pay $4.1 million in compensatory to Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, the parents of Jesse Lewis, who was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. The jury still has to determine punitive damagers, but because the jury was not unanimous (the vote was 10-2), and because a unanimous decision is required for punitive damages in Texas, it's likely that the punitive damages, which can be as much as twice the compensatory damages plus $750,000 (i.e., another $8.85 million), will be far less (or even nothing at all).

Jones faces two more such trials.

Meanwhile, Jones's attorneys have been ordered to appear in Connecticut superior court next week because apparently they also improperly shared confidential medical records when they carelessly provided discovery materials a couple weeks ago.

The judge in the Texas case today said that she believed the state law capping punitive damages is unconstitutional, so she's ordering Jones to pay the entire $49 million that the jury determined he owes. Jones will surely appeal this decision.

[N.E. Brigand]

The CBS affiliate in Colorado Springs has interviewed the father of the person who shot 24 people, killing 5, at Club Q a few days ago. He says his first reaction upon hearing the news was fearing that his son was gay. He also says he taught his son from a young age to be violent because "you'll get immediate results."

I would add that some prominent conservatives are gleeful at reports from the Colorado Springs police that the shooter identifies as non-binary. (Edited to add: however, I've also seen reports that the shooter has regularly taken homophobic stances with friends and family, some of whom believe that any claim the shooter is now making about being non-binary is mere trolling. And of course, one can be non-binary and still commit hate crimes against LGBTQ people.)

[N.E. Brigand]

The CBS affiliate in Colorado Springs has interviewed the father of the person who shot 24 people, killing 5, at Club Q a few days ago. He says his first reaction upon hearing the news was fearing that his son was gay. He also says he taught his son from a young age to be violent because "you'll get immediate results."

I would add that some prominent conservatives are gleeful at reports from the Colorado Springs police that the shooter identifies as non-binary.

Jenna Ellis, who was much seen on TV as part of Donald Trump's legal team in 2020-21, said today that what's even more tragic than the deaths of these five people is that they're probably burning in hell. And there have been several right figures over the past few days who have said, in essence, that the victims got what they deserved.

[RoseMorninStar]

Wow. That's stomach churning.

[Eldy]

The usual conservative suspects are certainly keeping it on-brand.

I feel like this merits a proper response, but I can't think of anything else non-profane to say right now.

[Frelga]

Eldy,

[Sunsilver]

Horrible!

[Túrin Turambar]

The CBS affiliate in Colorado Springs has interviewed the father of the person who shot 24 people, killing 5, at Club Q a few days ago. He says his first reaction upon hearing the news was fearing that his son was gay. He also says he taught his son from a young age to be violent because "you'll get immediate results."

Even by the dire standards of contemporary politics, the "phew" reaction to "He's not gay, he's just a mass murderer" is truly astounding.

[River]

The paid blabbermouths aren't even paying attention. One of the dead was there with his girlfriend. His girlfriend survived. She is the daughter of the Army vet who led the successful counter-attack. They were at the club to celebrate a birthday.

We saw this at the Pulse shooting in Orlando too. A gay bar means LGBTQ+ people can feel safe being themselves. It doesn't mean heterosexual and cis-gendered people aren't allowed.

As for the shooter's sexuality or gender identity...the homophobe turning out to be a closet case happens so often it would be a joke if the effects weren't so awful. I suspect there's some of that going on with transphobia as well. That said, when the news first broke I was hoping it was some sort of lover's quarrel gone really foul (no reason homosexual men can't be nutty abusers too) rather than what it's shaping up to be. And, of course, it happened in the Springs. It would happen in the Springs. Boulder's counterweight on the I-25 corridor.

[N.E. Brigand]

Yikes.