NOTABLE
Collin Rugg@CollinRugg
NEW: The View's Joy Behar says people like their show because they tell the truth, unlike "dragon believer" Joe Rogan. Lmao.
Whoopi Goldberg later chimed in & claimed conservatives on X are bullying people off the platform and that Elon Musk is the real Vice President.
Behar: "I think that that's why people like our show, because they know that we are checked by ABC News."
"We went from Walter Cronkite, to this guy, Joe Rogan, who believes in dragons."
Goldberg: I think a lot of Republicans who have different opinions are leaving X… I believe Elon Musk is the actual vice president.
11:49 AM · Nov 21, 2024
·9.2M Views
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1859640224428523864
News South Dakota: Sen. Mike Rounds introduces bill to eliminate US Department of Education
The 'Returning Education to Our States Act' is the latest effort to remove the department by Rounds, who said he’s been pursuing the goal 'for years.'
By Joshua Haiar / South Dakota Searchlight November 21, 2024 at 10:26 PM
Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota introduced legislation Thursday that would eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and redistribute some of its programs across other federal agencies.
The “Returning Education to Our States Act” is the latest effort to remove the department by Rounds, who said he’s been pursuing the goal “for years.”
The Department of Education was established in 1979 during the administration of Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Rounds alleged in a news release that the department’s budget has swollen ever since then without improving education.
“Local school boards and state departments of education know best what their students need, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.,”Rounds said.
Nevertheless, Rounds’ release also said “there areseveral important programs housed within the Department,” which the bill would redirect to other departments. The release went on to list 25 such programs.
Critics of similar proposals have raised concerns that eliminating the department could lead to inequities in education funding, oversight and access among the states.
Calls to eliminate the Department of Education have been boosted by Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who recently issued a statement supporting the idea when he announced his plan to nominate Linda McMahon for secretary of the department. McMahon is a decades-long executive with World Wrestling Entertainment and was the head of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first presidency.
“We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort,”Trump said.
https://www.siouxfallslive.com/news/south-dakota/sen-mike-rounds-introduces-bill-to-eliminate-us-department-of-education
Jordan Neely’s cause of death wasn’t Daniel Penny chokehold — but ‘combined effects’ of drugs, struggle and schizophrenia: defense expert
Story by Melanie Marich, Kyle Schnitzer 10 minutes ago
Daniel Penny’s chokehold of Jordan Neely isn’t what killed the homeless man — he died from the “combined effects” of synthetic marijuana, schizophrenia and other factors, the defense’s medical expert testified Thursday.
Dr. Satish Chundru, a forensic pathologist based in Texas, told jurors in Manhattan Supreme Court that Neely’s autopsy records and video of the fatal F train altercation in May 2023 didn’t show signs typical of known chokehold deaths.
• “In your opinion, did Mr. Penny choke Mr. Neely to death?” Penny’s attorney Steven Raiser asked.
• “No,” replied Chundru, “the chokehold did not cause death.”
• Chundru, who said he has worked as a medical examiner for county governments in Florida and Texas, ruled out two medically recognized chokeholds — the air choke and the blood choke — because he believed Neely, 30, died from other causes.
• He also pointed out what he said were discrepancies in Neely’s medical records, specifically bruising on the homeless man’s neck, and how there was “almost negligible” petechia — tiny spots of bleeding — found on his eyelids, that Chundru claimed were inconsistent with a fatal chokehold.
• Instead, Chundru — who dubs himself the “Forensic Doc” on his website — said that Neely died by “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana.”
• Chundru claimed that schizophrenia carries an “increased risk of sudden cardiac death.”
•Dr. Satish Chundru, a forensic pathologist based in Texas, told jurors that Neely’s autopsy records didn’t show signs of known types of fatal chokeholds.
• He also testified that he’d seen deaths caused by K2 toxicity alone.
Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator with a history of mental illness and drug abuse, had the synthetic marijuana in his system at the time of his death, trial evidence has shown.
The findings from Chundru — who was called by Penny’s defense attorneys — were far different from those of the city medical examiner, who stood by her ruling that Neely’s death was caused by asphyxiation as a result of the former Marine’s chokehold.
Dr. Cynthia Harris, who performed the autopsy, said video of the fatal encounter convincingly showed the chokehold was his cause of death — that she wouldn’t change her ruling even if it turned out Neely had enough drugs in his body “to put down an elephant.”
Harris testified earlier this week that she and the other doctors at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, including the chief, believed that Neely’s death was caused by “asphyxia,” consistent with being choked, after seeing a journalist’s video of the homeless man “dying” with Penny’s arm wrapped around his neck.
Chundru was pressed Thursday by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yorna about his claim regarding the petechia on Neely’s eyelids — and eventually conceded that other medical professionals, including his mentor, did find that such symptoms were consistent with death by asphyxiation.
• The prosecutor also grilled Chundru about whether the darker color of Neely’s face compared to his arms proved that blood wasn’t flowing to his head because his arteries and veins were being blocked as a result of the chokehold.
• Yoran pointed to the bystander video where Neely’s face is darker than the rest of his skin as veins protrude from his forehead, and asked Chudru what he made of that.
• “One suggestion is that he has some blockage, another suggestion is that he has a suntan,” Chundru said, before eventually agreeing with the prosecutor.
Chundru’s cross-examination will continue Friday, with closing arguments in the lightning-rod trial expected for Dec. 2.
Several eyewitnesses have testified that Neely, who was unarmed, was threatening passengers on the train during the May 1, 2023 encounter, but had not touched anyone before Penny took him down to the subway floor and held him in the chokehold.
Penny’s lawyers have said he acted to protect other straphangers and shouldn’t be held criminally liable for Neely’s death.
Prosecutors say Penny knew his actions could be deadly and continued with them anyway.
Penny, 26, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on the top charge.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/jordan-neely-s-cause-of-death-wasn-t-daniel-penny-chokehold-but-combined-effects-of-drugs-struggle-and-schizophrenia-defense-expert/ar-AA1uwOqq
Citizen Free Press
@CitizenFreePres
Disturbing story from North Carolina mountains. Forcing them to move into to tiny homes.
From Wall Street Apes
12:27 PM · Nov 22, 2024
·25.7K Views
https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1860012138892607724
The guilt of Laken Riley's killer was never in doubt
For all the political controversy surrounding Jose Ibarra, the case against him was always a simple one.
Jose Ibarra sentenced to life in prison for murder of Laken Riley
Updated Nov. 22, 2024, 9:53 AM EST Danny Cevallos,MSNBClegal analyst
Jose Antonio Ibarra was convicted on multiple counts of murder Wednesday in the February killing of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Ibarra was immediately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, along with other consecutive sentences for lesser crimes, including aggravated assault with intent to rape and “peeping Tom.”
Riley’s murder became a political rallying cry at this summer’s Republican National Conventionbecause Ibarra entered the country illegally in 2022. But for all the political controversy, the outcome of this trial was never in doubt. (Twisted understanding by the writer here.)
• The verdict was going to be guilty.
• The sentence was going to be life without parole.
• Generally, defense attorneys prefer jury trials to bench trials. One reason is math.
• For the defense, this was a hopeless case. The defense did the best it could with bad facts. It almost surely knew it was going to lose. That’s probably why it requested a bench (judge-only) trial instead of a jury trial.
Generally, defense attorneys prefer jury trials to bench trials. One reason is math. With a jury, it takes only one out of 12 to deadlock and avoid a conviction. With a judge, there’s only one “juror,” so those chances decrease by 11. There are only a few reasons defense attorneys will waive a defendant’s constitutional right to a jury trial. Perhaps the case involves unusually complex legal issues that a jury might have trouble understanding.
But even then, complexity can benefit the defense: If jurors don’t understand the prosecution’s case, they can’t find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The Ibarra case involved no complex legal issues.
Defense attorneys might alternatively push for a bench trial becausethe evidence against a defendant is both overwhelming and horrific. That’s likely what happened here.
The defense had no chance with a jury.
But it apparently had no chance with the judge, either, since he was convicted anyway. Still, the bench trial was a good call by the defense. Saving the judge from a pointless jury trial might have been Ibarra’s best chance at life with the possibility of parole. While you probably won’t see that written in any rules or law books, in my experience as a defense attorney, judges (and prosecutors) appreciate defendants who don’t waste the court’s time.
Sometimes abench trial can help avoid the “trial tax” — the harsher sentencingwhen a defendant opts for a three-week jury trial instead of a four-day judge-only trial.
Of course, inIbarra’s case, the judge cut him no breaks— jury or no jury. In fairness, Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard, who presided over the trial, didn’t have that much to decide. Normally, judges have a lot of sentencing options. Criminal statutes often provide for a mandatory minimum or a statutory maximum sentence, leaving a lot in between.
For example, when FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of masterminding a massive fraud last November, federal prosecutors asked the judge to sentence “SBF” to 100 years in prison. His defense argued for 6½ years. It’s often a challenge for a judge to determine what is an appropriate sentence while considering minimum sentences, maximum sentences and sentencing guidelines. (Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year sentence.)
Not in this case.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/analysis/nursing-student-laken-riley-murder-guilty-jose-ibarra-rcna181256
Matt Gaetz says he doesn't plan to rejoin Congress after withdrawing as Trump's pick for attorney general
There was some question as to whether Gaetz, who resigned from the House after Trump chose him for attorney general, would want to be sworn into the next Congress. Updated Nov. 22, 2024, 12:46 PM EST By Rebecca Shabad
WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Friday that he doesn't plan to rejoin Congress after he withdrew his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general amid sexual misconduct allegations.
"I'm still going to be in the fight, but it's going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress," Gaetz said in an interview with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
“There are a number of fantastic Floridians who stepped up to run for my seat, people who have inspired with their heroism, with their public service. And I’m actually excited to see Northwest Florida go to new heights and have great representation,” he added. Gaetz, who was first elected to Florida’s state House when he was 28 years old, notedhe has been in elected office for 14 years,
“I’m 42 now, and I’ve got other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue — my wife and my family — and so I’m going to be fighting for President Trump," he said. "I’m going to be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”
• Gaetz said it seems like “a pretty poetic time to allow that great new blood to come in, to allow my district to have high-quality representation.”
• He also alluded to playing a continued role in Trump's plans, without getting into specifics.
• "We need a leadership structure under President Trump that’s going to allow for durability of our movement and the ability to continue this great realignment of our politics, and so I’ll play a part in that," he said. "I plan to be a big voice, but maybe not as an elected member of the government."
NBC News reached out to Gaetz's former House aides for comment.
After Gaetz removed his name from consideration to be Trump’s attorney general on Thursday, there was some question as to whether the Florida Republican would choose to rejoin Congress since he had just been re-elected this month to another two-year term.
If he were to rejoin Congress, there was also the question about whether the House Ethics Committee would proceed with releasing its report on its investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz.
The panel had been investigating him over allegations that he paid a minor and an adult woman for sex at a party in 2017. During the probe, the committee was informed that the minor, who was 17 years old, had had two sexual encounters with the then-congressman at the party, NBC News reported Thursday, citing a source familiar with the discussions.
The Department of Justice had also been investigating Gaetz on sex trafficking allegations, but chose not to pursue charges against him. Gaetz has denied those allegations as well. Gaetz's forthcoming nomination was on shaky ground because of the allegations. On Friday, he told Kirk that the allegations are false and an attempt to “smear” him.
“Like if the things that the House Ethics report [said] were true, I would be under indictment and probably in a prison cell,” Gaetz said. “But of course, they're false, because when you test them against other records, when you test them against other testimony, it all falls apart very quickly.”
Gaetz resigned from Congress last week after Trump announced he had selected him to serve as attorney general. Gaetz cannot return to the current Congress because of his resignation.
The congressman joined the U.S. House in 2017 and was disliked by some members of the House Republican Conference because of his role leading the successful effort to the ouster of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House speaker last year.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/matt-gaetz-says-doesnt-plan-rejoin-congress-withdrawing-name-attorney-rcna181378
THANK THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!
Excellent explanation of the DS, and the Unitary Executive System
Jeff Clark Discusses President Trump's Strong Nominations, Potential For Recess Appointments, And The Never Trumpers Who Will Try To Stop Him
27:11
https://rumble.com/embed/v5prw7e/?pub=4
This is the confirmation why Bondi shouldn’t be the AG
Ana Navarro Defends Pam Bondi for Trump’s AG: ‘She’s Not a Kook’
Pam Key22 Nov 20242
Ana Navarro said on Friday on ABC’s “The View” that President-elect Donald Trump’s newest nominee for Attorney General, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, is not a “kook.”
Navarro said, “I am glad. I want to acknowledge that they stood up to Donald Trump, that they are doing their jobs of providing checks and balance of doing advising and concept and there is a bridge, a line that they will not cross, and we need them to continue doing this.”
She added,“I have known Pam Bondi for many, many, many years. I will tell you, I don’t want to ruin her reputation with MAGA people, but Pam Bondi and I hung out a lot when she was attorney general of Florida and she would come to Miami. We drank a lot together. I liked her a lot. She’s not a kook. What’s a little election denialism between friends when at least — Listen, everything in life is relative.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “Election denialism is a very big deal.”
Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said, “You got to take the wins where you can find them, folks.”
Navarro said, “Everything in life is relative. There is no accusation of sexual harassment or assault against her.”
Co-host Joy Behar said, “She’s a woman.”
Griffin said, “She’s also qualified.”
Navarro said, “She hasn’t beheaded a whale. She hasn’t stabbed a dead bear cub. I mean, my God.”
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/11/22/ana-navarro-defends-pam-bondi-for-trumps-ag-shes-not-a-kook/