Category: Uncategorized

A federal judge blocked the proposed purchase of Simon & Schuster by publishing giant Penguin Random House, saying such a mega-publisher would limit opportunities for authors and opinions to be heard, ABC News reports.

Although much of her decision remains under seal due to “highly confidential information” provided by the parties, U.S. District Court Judge Florence Y. Pan agreed with Department of Justice Antitrust attorneys, who argued that the proposed merger would have a chilling effect on authors’ thoughts and their bank accounts.

Saying the decision “protects vital competition for books and is a victory for authors, readers, and the free exchange of ideas,” Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division noted in a statement, “The proposed merger would have reduced competition, decreased author compensation, diminished the breadth, depth, and diversity of our stories and ideas, and ultimately impoverished our democracy.”

Astronomers looking for asteroids and other heavenly bodies blocked from view by sunlight that could impact Earth have found a mile-wide asteroid that will come within an astonishing 4.4 million miles, close enough to raise astronomical eyebrows, the New York Times reports.

Dubbed 2022 AP7, the asteroid will not come close to crashing into Earth as far as current models can calculate, but the gap it will have on its next pass will not likely be the same path as in the future, given the influence gravity from various objects can play on its path.  Astronomers say it will be thousands of years before it will run a true possibility of hitting Earth.

There are tens of thousands of asteroids that cross the path of Earth, with astronomers tracking about half of them.  Scientists are concerned with rocks measuring about 460 feet in diameter because those are large enough to survive traveling through the atmosphere and could devastate a large city.

If Herschel Walker’s campaign isn’t paying Trump Advisor and Fox stuffed shirt Sean Hannity for air time, the FEC should investigate.  Hannity goes on a resume-reading rant to show that the Texas resident should be elected to the Georgia Senate seat the state Republicans brought him in to run against another Black man, incumbent Rev. Raphael Warnock, because Donald Trump told them to.

Rejoice Chicago-area Christmas music lovers! Your season of George Michael and Mariah Carey is nigh! WLIT-FM will start playing your favorite holiday hits of the 80s, 90s, and today starting 4:00 PM CST on Tuesday, a full two days earlier than they started last year, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Don’t be a Grinch! LOL! Just tune to 9.39 FM and pretend everything’s okay and you’re not dead inside at all while listening to “All I Want For Christmas is You” at least twice an hour, every hour, for the next 1,320 hours. Only a total Scrooge would say no to that!

“What is hate speech, by the way?” Hungarian tourism czar and man who has yet to read the Constitution Tucker Carlson muses on his Fox show in a recurring rant like a Dennis Miller tribute act. “All of a sudden, everybody in the media, without explaining why agree that there’s this thing called ‘hate speech’ that’s real and probably actionable.  They could find a billion-dollar judgement against you if you commit hate speech.  Just to remind everyone watching, there’s no such thing as hate speech.  Hate speech is speech people hate, usually the people in power.  The truth is, all speech except speech that encourages people to imminent illegal action, like ‘go shoot that guy,’ short of that there’s no hate speech.  All of it’s allowed under the US Constitution, which is our final hope.”

No, Tuckems.  Hate speech is speech used to direct hate and violence at others.  It’s a verbal act, like a threat, and it’s not typically directed at people in power but at vulnerable people as a way to scare and intimidate them.  And yes, it could, in certain circumstances bring a “billion-dollar judgement against you,” when it’s called slander and defamation.  Finally, remember Tucker’s First Rule:  When he says, “the truth is…,” his next statement is a lie.

Voters in Kansas and New Jersey started receiving customized text messages informing them of their voting locations, but in actuality directing them to wrong sites, and authorities don’t know if it’s an error or an effort to frustrate voters, NBC News reports.

Text messages with the recipients’ names and street addresses say, “We want to make sure you have what you need to vote,” citing the address and directing them to an address it says is the voting precinct for that address.  It even features a photo of the building.  But the information is incorrect and the message directs them to incorrect addresses.

The messages say they’re from a group called Voting Futures, but there is no contact information provided.  A website exists for a group called Voting Futures Trust, but it’s unclear if the two are related.  It’s possible the messages contained incorrect information because the service used old polling addresses or precinct boundaries.  Until authorities can track down the originators of the messages, the motives are unknown.

A federal judge has tossed disgraced former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ lawsuit against the House January 6th Select Committee, Politico’s Kyle Cheney reports.

And have a spooktacular midterm election too!

“It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering,” President Joe Biden said in an address Monday on the little coinkidink of increasing prices at the pump and record oil company corporate profit reports, Reuters explains.

Biden pointed out that if oil companies were simply maintaining their profits instead of jacking up prices, gas would be 50¢ lower at the pump.  Instead, he said, the fuel companies are increasing their profit margin by percentages of the price of oil, allowing them to enjoy windfall profits as oil from Russia is being boycotted due to its invasion of Ukraine.

Biden said oil companies should be reinvesting these profits into their infrastructure and renewable energy projects.  The oil industry, Biden said, “has not met its commitment to invest in America and support the American people.”

After ten confirmed cases of coronavirus were found in the region on Saturday, the Chinese government ordered the complete shutdown of Shanghai Disney–with tens of thousands of guests forced to stay at the resort until they test negative, the BBC reports.

Disney officials are keeping the rides and amusements open for park guests.  Other areas subject to the lockdown, including a nearby street of retail shops, has been closed.  Government officials made an announcement around 11:30 a.m. local time announcing the park’s quarantine, prompting hundreds of people to run for the gates to try to get out before the lockdown was put into effect, but the park gates had already been locked.

The Chinese government has gone to extreme measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with lockdowns of everything from hotels and condominiums to entire towns, cities and provinces.  The government is also requiring anyone who visited the park since last Thursday to have proof of a negative Covid test before returning to work.

Upset of news that the United States will build a base in Australia to support at least six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers, China has raised concerns about increased tensions the move creates as it continues to threaten and harass Taiwan, USA Today reports.

According to a weekend report by the Australia Broadcasting Company, the US will expand operations at Tindal Royal Australian Air Force Base, on Australia’s northern portion where thousands of US  Marines are stationed for about six months each year in an arrangement made during the Obama Administration.

The project will provide long-term facilities for the bombers to hold up to six aircraft, and it will provide servicing and maintenance to planes.  Australia does not have nuclear weapons, and at this point, it is not hosting any US or other nation’s nuclear weapons.

According to the federal criminal complaint filed, David DePape, the man accused of breaking into the Pelosi family home in San Francisco, wanted to capture and question Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, saying he was going to “break ‘her kneecaps'” if she didn’t tell him “the truth,” or what he wanted to hear.  From the filing:

• “DEPAPE stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DEPAPE the “truth,” he would let her go, and if she “lied,” he was going to break “her kneecaps.” DEPAPE was certain that Nancy would not have told the “truth.” In the course of the interview, DEPAPE articulated he viewed Nancy as the “leader of the pack” of lies told by the Democratic Party. DEPAPE also later explained that by breaking Nancy’s kneecaps, she would then have to be wheeled into Congress, which would show other Members of Congress there were consequences to actions. DEPAPE also explained generally that he wanted to use Nancy to lure another individual to DEPAPE.”  It’s either unstated or unknown who the other individual DePape wanted to attack is.
• DePape broke a laminated glass door to gain access to the house, getting into the primary bedroom where Paul Pelosi was asleep.  DePape woke Pelosi and told him he was waiting for “Nancy,” whom Pelosi told DePape would be at the San Francisco home for days.  DePape responded “that he would sit and wait.”
  Read More ▶ “Pelosi attacker wanted to interrogate Nancy; said “he was fighting against tyranny without the option of surrender””

With all the drama on the American political scene this weekend–an assassination attempt on the Pelosis, Musk smothering Twitter, various continuing Trump crimes–the Ukrainian defense against the Russian invasion continues, with a number of significant updates.

As the Washington Post reports, Russia terminated an agreement to allow grain shipments out of Ukrainian ports along the Black Sea, with most of the grain going to African nations suffering from drought and starvation.  The Kremlin pulled out after a number of its navy ships moored at the Crimean port of Sevastopol were attacked by drones last week.  The government of Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack, and the BBC reports nine drones were launched, damaging an unspecified warship.

Russia has also launched a series of missile and rocket attacks to cripple infrastructure in and around Kyiv, successfully disrupting water and electrical delivery to residences in the region.  USA Today reports 40% of Ukraine’s capital does not have water service, half the number that was cut off yesterday. 

Justice Department: “A California man was charged today with assault and attempted kidnapping in violation of federal law in connection with the break-in at the residence of Nancy and Paul Pelosi in San Francisco on Friday. According to the complaint, David Wayne DePape, 42, of Richmond, was arrested on Friday inside the Pelosi residence by San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) police officers responding to a 911 call from Paul Pelosi, husband of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Paul Pelosi later described to police that he had been asleep when DePape, whom he had never seen before, entered his bedroom looking for Nancy Pelosi.”

“According to the complaint, minutes after the 911 call, two police officers responded to the Pelosi residence where they encountered Paul Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer. Officers told the men to drop the hammer, and DePape allegedly gained control of the hammer and swung it, striking Pelosi in the head. Officers immediately restrained DePape, while Pelosi appeared to be unconscious on the ground. As set forth in the complaint, once DePape was restrained, officers secured a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties from the crime scene, where officers also observed a broken glass door to the back porch. DePape is charged with one count of assault of an immediate family member of a United States official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. DePape is also charged with one count of attempted kidnapping of a United States official on account of the performance of official duties, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.”

Federal prosecutors on Monday revealed Kelly Meggs, a top Oath Keeper on trial on charges of seditious conspiracy alongside founder Stewie Rhodes, had been more than happy to plan for the group’s frenemy, the fascist street gang Proud Boys, get gunned down while the Oath Keepers would stealthily execute their “mission” on January 6th. “When real shit starts, Proud Boys die first. It’s ok someone has to be first. It’s always the loud mouths with air soft shit on. I’d rather bet he silent killer than the loud mouth dead,” wrote Meggs in a text to other Keepers in December 2020.

Disgraced former President Trump on Monday took last week’s DC appeals court decision which allowed the House Ways and Means Committee to obtain his tax returns from the IRS to the Supreme Court, NBC News reports. So probably the court sits on it and the clock runs out in the likely event Republicans take the House, but sometimes they just fuck off and leave him high and dry like they did with the January 6th Committee’s subpoena of White House records.

Nah, there’s nothing dictatorial or meglomaniacal about this:  new owner of Twitter Elon Musk has dissolved the board of directors for the company and installed himself as the “sole director” of the social media giant, The Independent reports.

The move was one of the first Musk undertook Thursday after he took possession.  It was reported in SEC filings disclosed Monday.  Musk reportedly paid $44 billion for Twitter, and is now attempting to remove the checks on leadership that would impede his impetuous–and frequently misguided–effort to reformat the platform.

Just days after Musk took control, he tweeted a false story about the attack against Paul Pelosi, the spouse of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who was attacked in his home by a QAnon adherent over the weekend.  Such dissemination of disinformation by Musk signals the social media site will accept any reckless, careless information without review, leading to critics fearing the platform will be used to promote debunked and dangerous lies.

Democratic groups fund third-party conservative long shots to siphon votes from Republican candidates https://t.co/6KzYBIU7UZ

— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 31, 2022

Gregg Phillips and Catherine Engelbrecht of “True the Vote,” Dinesh D’Souza’s partners in the lame sci-fi conspiracy thriller “2000 Mules,” have been jailed for contempt by a federal judge in Texas after they refused to comply with court orders in a lawsuit filed by a Michigan-based election system HR management platform called Konnech, VoteBeat.org’s Jessica Huseman reports.

Long and pretty funny story as short as possible: The lawsuit stems from Phillips and Engelbrecht accusing Konnech of storing the personal data of election workers on a server in China. The thing is that they were actually right about it, according to an indictment of Konnech’s CEO Eugene Yu, who was charged with breach of government contract by the Los Angeles District Attorney on Engelbrecht and Phillips’ tip. Though it appears that Yu’s intent was never more nefarious than simply trying to pad profits by outsourcing tech labor to China (while still lying about that to client jurisdictions and being pretty fucking reckless with the personal data of people already under constant threat), that naturally did nothing to stop True the Vote and their QAnon fanboys from taking it way further, publicly accusing him of being an agent of the ChiComs trying to meddle in elections, hence the defamation lawsuit even as Yu faces indictment for the original accusation.

The bottom line is that even when they finally get a win by identifying a real vulnerability for election integrity – though it’s with workers, not the voting or tabulation itself – and are actually taken seriously by law enforcement for once in their lives, 2020 election conspiracy assholes can’t help themselves. They take it too far and end up getting tossed in jail for contempt.

A new OH Predictive Insights survey finds Dem Adrian Fontes leads MAGA asshole Mark Finchem 48 to 42 percent in the race for Arizona Secretary of State, a crucial contest for the 2024 election’s legitimacy as Finchem has pretty much ruled out ever certifying a win for a Democrat.

So has Republican gov candidate Kari Lake, who unfortunately leads current Dem Secretary of State Katie Hobbs 49 to 47 percent. The survey also found a tight 48 to 46 lead for Dem Senator Mark Kelly over Reptilian humanoid Blake Masters. However Libertarian Marc Victor takes 3% of the field, creating a serious handicap for Beijing Blake with only 3% undecided remaining. Dem Attorney General candidate Kris Mayers leads Ultra MAGA rival Abe Hamadeh 45 to 42 percent.