“Infowars host Alex Jones has lost two of several lawsuits filed against him by relatives of Sandy Hook victims after he routinely failed to comply with requests to produce documents related to his involvement in spreading lies about the deadly shooting. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble on Monday issued her ruling for default judgments against Jones in two different cases, which means he and the conspiracy-theory-spewing outlet Infowars have been found liable for all damages and a jury will now be convened to determine how much he will owe the plaintiffs. The new rulings became public Thursday. In the filings, Gamble eviscerated Jones and reasoned that default judgments should be ordered because ‘an escalating series of judicial admonishments, monetary penalties, and non-dispositive sanctions have all been ineffective at deterring the abuse,’ caused by Jones’ unwillingness to turn over documents related to the cases, the Texas judge ruled.”

“The ruling – which is often referred to in Texas as a ‘death penalty sanction’ for a party unwilling to comply with court orders – is a rarity in the legal world. Jones, who is now on his seventh lawyer in these cases, had years to provide documentation requested by the court, including internal company emails. HuffPost was the first to report the start of Jones’ Sandy Hook legal woes in 2018 when parents Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa filed a defamation lawsuit related to Jones’ continued lies that the 2012 school shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead was a ‘false flag’ hoax filled with ‘crisis actors.’ Pozner and De La Rosa’s 6-year-old son, Noah, was killed in the shooting. In the years since, the parents have dealt with continued harassment from those who followed Jones’ lead and claimed the shooting was faked” – Huffington Post.

Des Moines Register: “Hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake for a suburban Des Moines school district Friday if incensed parents follow through with a plan to artificially lower the district’s enrollment numbers. Ankeny School District families angry over a new mask mandate are threatening to unenroll their children from school ahead of the state’s Oct. 1 student count date.”

“The number of students enrolled in a district on that date helps set funding levels for the next school year. As part of the plan, some parents would then re-enroll their children on Oct. 2, effectively forcing the district to educate their children with less money. The Ankeny School Board approved a mask mandate 5-2 last week that requires people to wear masks while inside school buildings. The move came after Federal Judge Robert Pratt issued a temporary restraining order on a state law that bans school districts from implementing mask mandates earlier this month.”

Here are the 35 radical Senate Republicans who voted today to shut down the government. pic.twitter.com/vzB3AEkkcd

— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) September 30, 2021

CNN:  “The House just approved the Senate-passed stopgap funding bill to avert a shutdown by extending government funding through Dec. 3. The vote was 254-175, with some Republicans voting in favor of the measure.

“Government funding was set to expire at midnight. The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed.

“In addition to funding the government, the stopgap bill will ‘provide funding to help process and resettle Afghan refugees and finally deliver on critical disaster aid for Americans battered by storms and wildfires this summer,’ Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.”

A mother has sued an Alabama hospital claiming that her newborn baby daughter died because the hospital was dealing with a ransomware attack on its computer systems and therefore didn’t provide optimum care during her birth, the Wall Street Journal reports.  The suit is believed to be the first of its kind linking a ransomware attack at a hospital to an individual’s death.

Teiranni Kidd went to the Springhill Medical Center on July 16, 2019 to deliver her baby, but unbeknownst to her, the hospital was dealing with a significant cyber attack that prevented staff from sharing medical reports and monitoring patients’ conditions.  Information provided in the lawsuit says hospital personnel were overwhelmed with the work needed to keep track of patients, tests and even other hospital workers as information needed to be printed and physically delivered to various locations around the facility.

Kidd’s daughter, Nicko Silar, was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, cutting off oxygen to her brain; the baby died nine months later due to complications of the delivery.  Kidd’s lawsuit alleges the hospital was unable to provide adequate care, such as monitoring the baby’s oxygen levels, because of the crippling ransomware attack.

AP: “A former secretary for the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp skipped the start Thursday of her trial in Germany on more than 11,000 counts of accessory to murder. She was picked up several hours later and ordered held in custody. The 96-year-old woman left her home near Hamburg in a taxi on Thursday morning, a few hours before proceedings were due to start at the state court in Itzehoe, court spokeswoman Frederike Milhoffer said. The court issued an arrest warrant and delayed the reading of the indictment until the next scheduled hearing on Oct. 19 because that couldn’t be done in the defendant’s absence.”

“The accused woman previously had ‘announced that she didn’t want to come’ to court, but that did not provide sufficient grounds for detaining her ahead of the trial, Milhoffer said. Given the woman’s age and condition, she had not been expected ‘actively to evade the trial,’ Milhoffer added. Police found the defendant and she was brought to the court on Thursday afternoon. A court statement said that she was being taken to a detention center. Prosecutors argue that the woman was part of the apparatus that helped the Nazi’s Stutthof camp function during World War II more than 75 years ago. The court said in a statement before the trial that the defendant allegedly ‘aided and abetted those in charge of the camp in the systematic killing of those imprisoned there between June 1943 and April 1945 in her function as a stenographer and typist in the camp commandant’s office.’ Despite her advanced age, the German woman was to be tried in juvenile court because she was under 21 at the time of the alleged crimes. German media identified her as Irmgard Furchner.”

Saying that he “cannot accept our economy or basically our society moving towards an entitlement mentality,” Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin designated the top line number he’d support for any “Build Back Better” initiative pushed by the White House:  $1.5 trillion.

HuffPost reports that Manchin told reporters today that he would support a bill that would trim some of the aspects of the proposals put forth by President Joe Biden and liberal Democrats, but he did not specify which programs he favors or dislikes.  The current proposal, with a $3.5 trillion price tag that would be greatly offset by taxing corporations and the top 1% wealth holders, includes programs such as free daycare for working families and no-cost community college.

“I cannot accept our economy or basically our society moving towards an entitlement mentality,” Manchin said on Thursday. “Because I’m more of a rewarding ― because I can help those who really need help if those who can help themselves do so.”

GM to switch to all renewable power sources for US sites by 2025 https://t.co/QtZLD2j1Rj via @detroitnews

— Kalea (Kay-lee) Hall (@bykaleahall) September 30, 2021

A memo from a National Labor Relations Board attorney puts college athletes one step closer to controlling their own business opportunities and jeopardizes the way the NCAA manages college athletics, the Associated Press reports.

“The freedom to engage in far-reaching and lucrative business enterprises makes players at academic institutions much more similar to professional athletes who are employed by a team to play a sport,” NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo wrote.

The status of college athletes has been questioned increasingly lately as overarching NCAA rules governing the ability of the athletes to leverage their fame and talents to earn money independent of their school affiliation are challenged.  This NLRB opinion will impact only athletes at private colleges; state schools are governed by state and federal laws, and therefore will require legislation by either state governments or Congress.

“South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has severed ties with Corey Lewandowski. ‘Corey was always a volunteer, never paid a dime (campaign or official). He will not be advising the Governor in regard to the campaign or official office,’ says Noem spokesman Ian Fury” – Alex Isenstadt, Politico.

The Commerce Department revised its third and final estimate of GDP growth in the second quarter of the year from 6.6% to 6.7%, demonstrating that the US economy made significant strides in recovery from the historic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press reports.

The final estimate, which was increased from the initial estimate of 6.4%, parallels the first quarter estimate of 6.3% growth.  The third quarter estimate, which is scheduled for release around October 29th, will reflect the impact the spreading delta variant of the coronavirus had on the economy.

The Guardian:  “A leaked document has revealed the membership list of the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP), showing how it provides opportunities for elite Republicans, wealthy entrepreneurs, media proprietors and pillars of the US conservative movement to rub shoulders with anti-abortion and anti-Islamic extremists.  The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors rightwing hate groups, describes the CNP as ‘a shadowy and intensely secretive group [which] has operated behind the scenes’ in its efforts to ‘build the conservative movement’.

“The leaked membership list dates from September last year, and reveals the 40-year-old CNP put influential Trump administration figures alongside leaders of organizations that have been categorized as hate groups.  The group was founded in 1981 by activists influential in the Christian right, including Tim LaHaye, Howard Phillips and Paul Weyrich, who had also been involved in founding and leading the Moral Majority. Initially they were seeking to maximize their influence on the new Reagan administration. In subsequent years, CNP meetings have played host to presidential aspirants like George W Bush and 1999 and Mitt Romney in 2007, and sitting presidents including Donald Trump in 2020.”

The Boys & Girls Club was a big part of last night’s Congressional Baseball Game.

So of course Joe Biden showed up.

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) September 30, 2021

“America’s public schools and its education leaders are under an immediate threat. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) respectfully asks for federal law enforcement and other assistance to deal with the growing number of threats of violence and acts of intimidation occurring across the nation. Local school board members want to hear from their communities on important issues and that must be at the forefront of good school board governance and promotion of free speech. However, there also must be safeguards in place to protect public schools and dedicated education leaders as they do their jobs. NSBA believes immediate assistance is required to protect our students, school board members, and educators who are susceptible to acts of violence affecting interstate commerce because of threats to their districts, families, and personal safety.”

“As our school boards continue coronavirus recovery operations within their respective districts, they are also persevering against other challenges that could impede this progress in a number of communities. Coupled with attacks against school board members and educators for approving policies for masks to protect the health and safety of students and school employees, many public school officials are also facing physical threats because of propaganda purporting the false inclusion of critical race theory within classroom instruction and curricula. This propaganda continues despite the fact that critical race theory is not taught in public schools and remains a complex law school and graduate school subject well beyond the scope of a K-12 class” – Letter from NSBA leadership to President Joe Biden.

AP: “A former secretary for the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp was being sought on an arrest warrant Thursday after skipping the planned start of her trial in Germany on more than 11,000 counts of accessory to murder, officials said. The 96-year-old woman left the home where she lives in a taxi on Thursday morning, heading for a subway station on the outskirts of Hamburg, German news agency dpa quoted Itzehoe state court spokeswoman Frederike Milhoffer as saying. Her destination wasn’t known. Presiding judge Dominik Gross said the court had issued an arrest warrant, and it remained to be seen whether she would be caught.”

“Prosecutors argue that the woman was part of the apparatus that helped the Nazi camp function during World War II more than 75 years ago. The court said in a statement before the trial that the defendant allegedly ‘aided and abetted those in charge of the camp in the systematic killing of those imprisoned there between June 1943 and April 1945 in her function as a stenographer and typist in the camp commandant’s office.’ Despite her advanced age, the German woman was to be tried in juvenile court because she was under 21 at the time of the alleged crimes. German media identified her as Irmgard Furchner.”

I totally agree w Governor Noem that this is a sexist attack against an effective conservative woman in power. https://t.co/uFexQvO2JM

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 30, 2021

A relief pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers knocked himself out of the playoffs by breaking his pitching hand after a celebration of the team winning the National League Central division, the Associated Press reports.

“After our celebration, I went out to have a few drinks,” 27-year-old Devin Williams said Wednesday. “On my way home, I was a little frustrated and upset, and I punched a wall. That’s how it happened.”

Williams, the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year, will likely require surgery to fix the injury.  The right-hander was a set-up man for the Brewers, appearing in 54 games this year.

A Washington state leader of the local Atomwaffen neo-Nazi group was convicted in federal court for attempts to intimidate journalists and people connected with the Anti-Defamation League, NBC News reports.

Twenty-five year old Kalen Cole was convicted of conspiracy, three counts of mailing threatening communications and one count of interfering with a federally protected activity in a trial in the Western District of Washington federal court.  Each count can lead to a five-year sentence at least.

Along with three other people who have already pleaded guilty, Cole traveled to various places around the western US in efforts targeting primarily Jewish reporters.  In one case, a poster with slogans including “You have been visited by your local Nazis” was glued to the window of the Arizona home of an editor for a Jewish publication.

USA Today: “Suicide among U.S. troops increased 15% in 2020 from the previous year, a troubling trend that has defied Pentagon initiatives to prevent service members from taking their own lives.  In 2020, 580 troops died by suicide compared with 504 in 2019, according to figures confirmed Wednesday night for USA TODAY by congressional and Defense Department sources. The sources were not authorized to speak publicly about the figures, which the Pentagon plans to release on Thursday.

“In 2018, there were 543 suicide deaths among troops. It’s not clear why there was a decrease in 2019 followed by a jump in 2020, according to the Defense Department official.  Most of the troops who have died by suicide are young enlisted men, the congressional aide said. The Army has seen a spike in suicide among its soldiers in Alaska, including six suspected suicides in the first five months of 2021. The Army has spent more than $200 million in recent years to improve the quality of life and prevent suicide on its bases in Alaska.”

Mailer depicting Dem Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer as a greedy, blood-sucking Shylock, paid for by his opponent Harold Pyon’s campaign, via the Washington Post. Pyon should be asking for his money back from the asshole who made this. If your job is to make a Jewish guy look like Count Chocula, then you make him fucking look like Count Chocula! Don’t beat around the bush.