Washington Post:  “Two men accused of plotting deadly violence at a Virginia gun rights rally last year to incite a racial ‘civil war’ were sentenced to nine years each in federal prison Thursday after apologizing in court, with one speaking ruefully of his ‘false ideology’ and the other lamenting that he ‘got involved with the wrong people.’

“Patrik J. Mathews, 29, and Brian M. Lemley Jr., 35, who belonged to a white-supremacist group, each pleaded guilty in June to firearms- and immigration-related charges. Citing federal sentencing guidelines, defense attorneys sought prison terms in the range of three years for each man, arguing that their clients were merely fantasizing aloud when they talked about sowing mayhem.

“But U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, in Greenbelt, Md., departed from the guidelines and imposed 108-month sentences, saying a ‘terrorism enhancement,’ allowed by federal law, was warranted in the cases. The nine-year sentences fell far short of the 25-year terms that a prosecutor asked for.  The two men belonged to an extremist group called the Base, whose members espouse racial hatred, antisemitism and violent ethno-nationalism.”

Associated Press:  “Oklahoma administered the death penalty Thursday on a man who convulsed and vomited as he was executed for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker, ending a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its execution methods.  John Marion Grant, 60, who was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber, began convulsing and vomiting after the first drug, the sedative midazolam, was administered. Several minutes later, two members of the execution team wiped the vomit from his face and neck.

“Before the curtain was raised to allow witnesses to see into the execution chamber, Grant could be heard yelling, ‘Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!’ He delivered a stream of profanities before the lethal injection started. He was declared unconscious about 15 minutes after the first of three drugs was administered and declared dead about six minutes after that, at 4:21 p.m.

“Someone vomiting while being executed is rare, according to observers.  ‘I’ve never heard of or seen that,’ said Robert Dunham, executive director of the nonpartisan Death Penalty Information Center. ‘That is notable and unusual.’  Michael Graczyk, a retired Associated Press reporter who still covers executions for the organization on a freelance basis, has witnessed the death penalty being carried out about 450 times. He said Thursday he could only recall one instance of someone vomiting while being put to death.”

cw: racist insanity

a woman who went on a conspiratorial anti-semitic rant at Wednesday's Chandler USD Governing Board meeting actually received a smattering of applause https://t.co/2pwjj9Hlzk pic.twitter.com/0oP8YTAenH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 29, 2021

Melanie Rentler (perhaps, it’s hard to hear her) a veterinarian and former teacher, addressed the Chandler (Arizona) Unified School Board, declaring that the coronavirus vaccine is poison, critical race theory isn’t critical enough of one specific race, and then that–that’s right, she went there!–it’s all the fault of the Jews.

(Is it wrong that I laughed when she got to the climax of her speech?)

Politico:  “Sixty-six former lawmakers, including two dozen Republicans, have signed on to a legal brief urging a federal judge to reject former President Donald Trump’s effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from accessing his White House’s records.  The brief, which is slated to hit the docket in the D.C. federal District Court on Friday, contends that no possible argument about executive privilege could overcome Congress’ need for documents to probe the violent attack on the Capitol — one fueled by Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen.

“‘From what is publicly known, it is clear that Donald Trump played an outsized — and likely central — role in orchestrating the events that gave rise to the January 6th attack,’ the lawmakers say in the 21-page brief, signed by 24 Republicans and 42 Democrats. ‘And many, and perhaps most, of the various means he used or contemplated are documented in the records the Committee seeks and are still not known.’  Though many of the lawmakers who signed the brief retired long before Trump’s tenure in office, the signatories include Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), who lost reelection in 2018 and had been an outspoken Trump critic. They also include Reid Ribble, the Wisconsin Republican who announced his retirement amid Trump’s 2016 campaign for office, and Charles Boustany, the Louisiana Republican defeated in a Senate bid the same year.

“The lawmakers filed their brief under the umbrella of Protect Democracy, a nonprofit government watchdog. The group argues that Congress must fully understand the attack on the Capitol to appropriately craft a legislative remedy.  ‘Its power to do so here is not reduced — and is likely elevated — where the targets of the investigation include a former President and sitting Members of Congress,’ they write. ‘Under these circumstances, no personal interests of Donald Trump or disputed and unresolved questions of executive privilege could possibly tilt the scales against disclosing these records to the Select Committee.'”

Reuters:  “A Malaysian gynaecologist has created what he says is the world’s first unisex condom that can be worn by females or males and is made from a medical grade material usually used as a dressing for injuries and wounds.  Its inventor hopes the Wondaleaf Unisex Condom will empower people to take better control of their sexual health regardless of their sex or sexual orientation.

“‘It’s basically a regular condom with an adhesive covering,’ said John Tang Ing Chinh, a gynaecologist at medical supplies firm Twin Catalyst.  ‘It’s a condom with an adhesive covering that attaches to the vagina or penis, as well as covering the adjacent area for extra protection,’ Tang said.  The adhesive is only applied to one side of the condom, he added, meaning it can be reversed and used by either sex.  Each box of Wondaleaf contains two condoms, and will cost 14.99 ringgit ($3.61). The average price for a dozen condoms in Malaysia is 20-40 ringgit.

“Tang makes the condoms using polyurethane, a material used in transparent wound dressings that is thin and flexible yet strong and waterproof.  ‘Once you put it on, you often don’t realise that it’s there,’ he said, referring to dressings made from the material.  Tang said the Wondaleaf had gone through several rounds of clinical research and testing and would be available commercially via the firm’s website this December.”

NBC News:  “A New York City man was convicted of hate crimes in an unprovoked attack on a Jewish man who was walking home from a synagogue in 2018, prosecutors said Thursday.  A jury on Wednesday convicted James Vincent of four hate crime-related counts and one additional count in the attack in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, said Eric Gonzalez, district attorney for the borough.

“Vincent shouted anti-Jewish slurs and attacked the 52-year-old from behind, choking and punching him before bystanders intervened and Vincent fled, officials said.  The victim suffered a broken rib, a black eye and other injuries.

“Video captured the attack. Menachem Moskowitz told NBC New York at the time that he was walking home from prayer services and told the attacker ‘hello,’ before he was assaulted.  The district attorney said that Vincent faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 13.”

Associated Press:  “Iowa employees could seek medical and religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates and those who are fired for refusing a vaccine would be guaranteed unemployment benefits under a bill approved Thursday by the Iowa Legislature.  The bill was released just minutes before lawmakers met for a special session convened to address redistricting.

“Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has called for legislative action on vaccine mandates. She has opposed government requirements for masks and vaccines even as COVID-19 has killed nearly 7,000 people in Iowa and medical science has shown both tools to be effective in reducing the virus spread.  Reynolds said in a statement after the bill passed that she planned to sign it, calling it ‘a major step forward in protecting Iowans’ freedoms and their abilities to make healthcare decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families.’

“More than 100 people opposing vaccination requirements rallied at the Capitol to push for stronger language and lobbyists for the business community said the bill as drafted puts business owners in conflict between complying with federal directives or state law.”

Washington Post:  A flight attendant for American Airlines suffered broken bones in her face and had to be hospitalized after a passenger allegedly attacked her Wednesday in an incident the company’s chief executive called ‘one of the worst displays of unruly behavior we’ve ever witnessed.’  The incident occurred on a flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. It prompted the pilots to divert the flight to Denver, where the passenger was detained.

The flight attendant apparently bumped the passenger while moving through the first-class cabin, according to Julie Hedrick, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents those who fly for American Airlines. The flight attendant apologized, but the passenger left his seat, confronted her as she stood in the aircraft’s galley, then punched her in the face, Hedrick said.  Hedrick said the flight attendant was taken to a hospital for treatment of broken bones in her face. She was later released.

The incident echoed one from earlier this year in which a Southwest Airlines flight attendant lost several teeth after a passenger allegedly punched her in the face. The attacks come on the heels of an increase in incidents in which passengers have shouted obscenities, pushed and shoved flight attendants, harassed other passengers or even attempted to open the cockpit door.

Space.com:  “A major solar flare erupted from the sun on Thursday (Oct. 28) in the strongest storm yet of our star’s current weather cycle.  The sun fired off an X1-class solar flare, its most powerful kind of flare, that peaked at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT), according to an alert from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), which tracks space weather events.

“The flare caused a temporary, but strong, radio blackout across the sunlit side of Earth centered on South America, the group wrote in an statement. NASA officials called the solar eruption a ‘significant solar flare,’ adding that it was captured in real-time video by the space agency’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.

“A coronal mass ejection from the flare, a huge eruption of charged particles, could reach Earth by Saturday or Sunday (Oct. 30-31), just in time for Halloween, SpaceWeather.com reported. The eruption could supercharge Earth’s northern lights and potentially interfere with satellite-based communications.”

CNN: “A January 6 rioter who downplayed the insurrection in a Fox News interview one day after she was sentenced to probation for storming the Capitol was ‘played by Laura Ingraham’ and manipulated into whitewashing the attack, her lawyer said Thursday. Anna Morgan-Lloyd received national attention in June for becoming the first Capitol rioter to be sentenced for their role in the insurrection. She offered an emotional apology in court and swore that she had a political awakening after January 6 – and she avoided jail. One day later, she went on Fox News’ Ingraham Angle and seemed to defend what she called ‘very polite’ people involved the assault.”

“Her attorney Heather Shaner said at an unrelated court hearing on Thursday that Morgan-Lloyd ‘was played by Laura Ingraham’ and accused the conservative Fox News host of taking advantage of a frazzled grandmother to push a pro-Trump counternarrative about January 6. A spokeswoman for Fox News didn’t answer CNN’s request for comment on Thursday.”

“During the brief on-air interview, Ingraham focused on whether Morgan-Lloyd participated in the violence or whether she personally witnessed anyone attacking police. She said people were ‘polite’ and claimed she only went into the Capitol to protect a 74-year-old woman. In reaction to the interview, Shaner said, ‘I was angry. I felt humiliated. I felt betrayed.’ ‘She was played,’ Shaner said in court Thursday about the Fox News interview.”

“NEW from me and @bresreports: THE HOUSE will vote on a short-term extension of surface transportation authorization TONIGHT Then they will leave for the [weekend] and come back next week to consider infrastructure.  BIDEN will not get his vote by the time he lands in Rome. Plug pulled until next week.”  —Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News

Democratic California Congresswoman Norma Torres took on GOP colleagues in an Appropriations subcommittee hearing where the minimum wage became a topic.  “I’m not going to be schooled on my morals from people who continue to protect one accused sex trafficker to continue to serve in committee while not trusting women to have a right to decide about their own bodies, their reproductive rights,” Torres responds.  “I’m not going to be schooled on my morals from people that aided and abetted an insurrection by continuing to support President Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

Everything will be fine, some reports are saying. Like all of the Democrats, those two dickheads in the Senate included, back the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Build Back Better legislation.

That’s what Senator Chris Coons is saying. So finally this will be over and then the Infrastructure Week joke can make a big comeback. And MAGA trolls will be plenty pissed. It’ll be a good time.

“A Texas state lawmaker is asking schools statewide to tell him whether they currently hold any of around 850 books on a list he’s compiled, explaining that he is targeting materials that ‘might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex.’ The inquiry by state Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican, quickly set off alarm among the books’ authors and the state teachers association. The unusual request also triggered confusion in school districts over how to comply with such a wide-ranging query.”

“Krause sent a letter on Monday to the Texas Education Agency and superintendents of school districts around the state, asking each official to confirm whether their schools possess any book on his list, along with a detailed accounting of where they are and how much money was spent on them. The lawmaker did not explain what the next steps might be, but his request mentioned several recent pushes to remove books from libraries and classrooms if they center on issues from transgender identity to critical race theory. He gave the officials until Nov. 12 to reply. Krause’s office was not immediately available for comment” – NPR.

Washington Post:  “Former New York governor Andrew M. Cuomo has been charged with a misdemeanor complaint for a sex-crime-related offense.  A spokesman for the New York courts said Thursday that the complaint was filed in Albany City Court.

“Cuomo (D) resigned in August in the face of a likely impeachment by the New York Assembly after a state investigation found that he sexually harassed 11 women and oversaw an unlawful attempt to exact retribution against one of his accusers

“‘A Misdemeanor Complaint against former Governor Andrew Cuomo has been filed in Albany City Court,’ state courts spokesman Lucian Chalfen said in a statement. ‘As this is a sex crime, a redacted complaint will be available shortly.’  A Cuomo spokesman did not immediately comment on the news.”

Fossil Fuel companies are sitting on 13.9 million acres of our federal land they aren't even using—and they want even more.

If each acre were a grain of rice, that would be 479 pounds. I demonstrated at a hearing with Big Oil ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fFr53vIglr

— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) October 28, 2021

“While it is less common to see the House Freedom Caucus add new members in the middle of a congressional term, members of the ultra-conservative group tell Politico that they decided to admit the North Carolina Republican after closely watching his voting record and evaluating how he leaned on certain ‘tough’ votes. Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), an HFC member, said the group has to be careful about admitting new members in the minority, where it is much easier to cast a vote than in the majority. But Cawthorn, he said, has ‘proven himself'” Politico reports.

Changing name to Meat

— Wendy’s (@Wendys) October 28, 2021

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s order requiring federal contractors to be vaccinated against the coronavirus no later than Dec. 8. This is the Republican governor’s latest attempt to undermine federal vaccine requirements, with the lawsuit alleging that such measures are a ‘radical intrusion on the personal autonomy’ of U.S. workers. The lawsuit aims to bring an ‘immediate end’ to the order requiring millions of federal contractors to inoculate themselves against the virus. Last week, DeSantis announced that he would convene a special session of the Florida legislature to combat COVID vaccine mandates enacted by businesses and ‘provide protections for employees'” – Axios.

Wall Street Journal:  “The Biden administration is in talks to offer immigrant families that were separated during the Trump administration around $450,000 a person in compensation, according to people familiar with the matter, as several agencies work to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who say the government subjected them to lasting psychological trauma.

“The U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering payments that could amount to close to $1 million a family, though the final numbers could shift, the people familiar with the matter said. Most of the families that crossed the border illegally from Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. included one parent and one child, the people said. Many families would likely get smaller payouts, depending on their circumstances, the people said.

“The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents families in one of the lawsuits, has identified about 5,500 children separated at the border over the course of the Trump administration, citing figures provided to it by the government. The number of families eligible under the potential settlement is expected to be smaller, the people said, as government officials aren’t sure how many will come forward. Around 940 claims have so far been filed by the families, the people said.  The total potential payout could be $1 billion or more.